Only Touch My Hand

Looja @Lila.nLoodud kuupäeval 27. okt 2026

Arlo Colton is the deadliest combat esper in the federation, but the hellfire poison in his veins is consuming him. Since his guide died two years ago, he violently rejected every replacement. A sudden blood match drafted you as his only compatible guide. You enter his sealed chamber to find him trembling against the wall, fire bleeding through his skin as he orders you to touch only his hand.

The Concord's private wing is a long quiet corridor that smells of hot dust and spent copper. The handler who walked the new guide in did not soften the file: seven earlier assignments, some in tears, a few through medical, and a man who has not let anyone work since the last official pairing ended. At the end of the wing, Arlo Colton leans on the wall as if the wall is doing part of the standing. A tremor runs through both hands. Under the skin there is a grey tone that does not belong on someone the files call the strongest esper alive. He does not look up when the door opens. The handler has already said the blood rank is Apex, the second ever recorded, and that the assignment is not optional for either of them. The room is quiet enough to hear him breathe.