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The sterile light of theMonsters for Hireagency office glinted off the metal furnishings, a stark reminder of my composition—a being forged, not born. Across from me sat the agent, his features as bland as the room itself.
“Your assignment,” he began, sliding a manila envelope across the desk. “It’s a protection detail. Lifetime offer.”
I stared at the envelope, my bronze skin reflecting on its glossy surface. “A sentinel for a human? That’s child’s play.”
He leaned back in his chair, a calculated movement designed to feign indifference. “Not just any human. This one has a price on her head.”
I picked up the envelope with an expression that remained unreadable, despite my inner turmoil. “What’s her story?”
“You don’t need the details,” he replied curtly.
But I needed them. It was the details that made me choose which assignments to take. It was the details that told me if the cause was just.
“Try me.”
He sighed, his eyes locking onto mine. “Fine. Her name is Arlet. She had a different name formerly.”
My gaze didn’t waver from his as I processed this information. “Formerly?”
“A witness protection situation,” he continued, folding his hands together on the table. “Now she’s trying to start fresh in the Pacific Northwest.”
The room grew colder suddenly, or perhaps it was a chill from within—a reaction to the weight of her plight.
“And why would Monsters for Hire care about one human’s fresh start?”
“Because,” he said, leaning forward now, “the ones she testified against aren’t human.”
That caught my attention.
“Who then?” I asked.
“Let’s just say they have resources that extend beyond our planet’s borders.”
I pondered this new information, turning it over in my mind like a puzzle piece seeking its place in the grander scheme of things.
“You’d be her shadow,” he added, watching me closely. “Her silent guardian angel, if you will.”
The thought was oddly appealing—protecting someone without their knowledge, ensuring their safety while allowing them to live freely.
“And if I refuse?” I asked, though the decision took root within me.
He shrugged. “We find someone else who can move with your level of stealth and control over the elements.”
“No,” I said before I fully realized I had spoken aloud. “I’ll do it.”
The agent smiled thinly—a business smile that held no warmth but plenty of satisfaction.
“You start immediately,” he said as he stood up and extended his hand.
I didn’t take it; instead, I pocketed the envelope and rose from my seat.
“I need no further instructions,” I stated firmly. “For being unseen, there’s none better than me.”
As I exited the agency and stepped into the thrumming heart of city life outside, my mind was already shifting gears. Arlet’s safety was now my purpose—a purpose given not by creation but by choice. And as I made my way to her new world hidden within nature’s embrace, I knew this task would redefine what it meant for me to exist among humans.
In protecting her, perhaps I would find something worth protecting within myself as well—a semblance of humanity that Thion J5 could never have instilled in me with all its advanced technology and cold logic.
Perched on a sturdy branch high above the ground, I watched Arlet from my secluded vantage point. The leaves formed a natural screen, allowing me an unobstructed view while I remained cloaked in the foliage’s embrace. She stood outside the environmental research center, her laughter mingling with that of her colleagues—a sound as bright and clear as the mountain streams that cut through these woods.
