Crstn -

The drones chirped in confusion. Anomaly detected. Error 734: Unauthorized neural plasticity.

"They send you, don't they, boy?" she whispered, her voice crackling like dry leaves. "The one with no name."

It wasn't a name his mother gave him. It was a product code from the Vanguard Corporation, stamped onto the bio-plate embedded in his left wrist. He was a Custodian, a Resynthesized Tactical Neutralizer. A ghost in a machine of flesh and chrome. The drones chirped in confusion

He was Christian. And he was going home.

He replayed the kite. The sun. The green hill. He tried to feel the weight of the string in his hand. He tried to hear the wind. He tried to say the name. "They send you, don't they, boy

Until the Glitch.

His vocal synthesizer crackled. "Cri… C-ris…" He was a Custodian, a Resynthesized Tactical Neutralizer

Christian.