I'm Asset 704... or so the tungsten collar around my throat suggests. To Vesper, I’m a tamed god, a leashed vampire playing their bleak parlor game. I let them believe the physics of their cage, suppressing the coiled sun beneath my ribs to play the snarky, loyal dog. But I don't wear this heavy metal for the Bastion. I wear it for my Handler. She has her father's defiant jaw and a blood-rich pulse that anchors my immortal rot. She holds the leash, but I dictate the path.