Ghost Work

The world thought Vanguard was dead. Jessica knew better. Three years since the fall. Three years since the files leaked, the outrage burned hot—and just as quickly, burned out.

The world thought Vanguard was dead. Jessica knew better. It had been three years since the fall of Vanguard Biotechnics. Three years since the world saw leaked files exposing the truth about Project Prometheus and the genetic experiments conducted in the shadows. The media frenzy had been relentless, the outrage palpable—but as always, time passed, attention drifted, and people moved on.

But Jessica, Leanna, and Olivia never moved on.

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Jessica and Leanna had stayed in Belize, opening Black Orchid Investigations, a small but fiercely independent detective agency. Officially, they took on cases of missing persons, corporate espionage, and fraud. Unofficially, they hunted ghosts—Vanguard’s remnants, lost experiments, and the people still being manipulated.

Olivia had gone full journalist. Her exposé on Vanguard won a Pulitzer, making her a household name. But instead of settling into newsroom politics, she kept digging. She traveled constantly, hopping from city to city, always chasing new leads, always running toward the truth.

Hannah and Kevin had moved on, a family, a home in Miami, stability. They still checked in, but their days of running through jungles and dodging bullets were over. And Jessica didn’t blame them.

Ryan... She let that name drift like smoke. Some ghosts were better left unspoken about.

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The Black Orchid Investigations office was tucked away in a quiet part of Belize City, above a coffee shop with terrible espresso and a view that wasn’t half bad on clear days. It wasn’t much. But it was honest. That was rarer than most things these days. The furniture was second-hand, the air smelled of sea salt and rain, and the case files stacked on their desk were never-ending.

Leanna handled the tech. Jessica handled the fieldwork. Olivia handled everything in between. They worked well together. Too well, sometimes.

Jessica had thought, once, that she could disappear into a normal life. That was before the missing athletes, the erased identities, the people who weren’t supposed to exist. Before the whispers of a new Vanguard, stronger, smarter, more dangerous.

The hydra had grown new heads.And today, unbeknownst to either of them, the hunt was about to begin again.

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Jessica sat behind her desk, flipping through a case file, when the office door creaked open. A man stood in the doorway, eyes shadowed, uncertainty written across his face.

"I need help," he said, stepping forward. "I don’t know who I am."

Jessica exchanged a glance with Leanna. This wasn’t just another case. This wasn’t just another case. This was how it always started. Funny thing about ghosts. They never stayed quiet for long.