The three guardians stood in a park in the shadow of the Traveler, surrounded by City Security. A warlock and a hunter sat on their knees hugging each other tightly, the warlock sobbing softly into the hunter's shoulder. A titan stood nearby in silence.

"It's ok…you're going to be okay." The hunter whispers. "We're going to get you help."

The warlock sniffles and looks up at her friends, fresh tears staining her face. "You'll be there with me…right?"

The titan steps forward, kneeling down to their level. "Of course we will," he says reassuringly.

Suddenly, the City Security members part and a lone figure walks toward them, his stride filled with purpose. He is covered in matte black armor, a khaki trench coat draped over his frame. A matching helm obscures his face. A Hidden agent.

He stops in front of them and the titan steps up protectively, standing between the agent and his friends.

"Reed stop! We don't want any more trouble," the hunter calls out.

"Aisha, when a Hidden agent chooses to reveal himself, there's always trouble." He says without breaking eye contact.

The agent raises his hands in an attempt to diffuse the tension. "Whatever it is you're thinking, I'm not here for that," he says evenly, his voice distorted by the helmet. "I just need to ask Ms. Shayura some questions."

The titan was unfazed. "Well, ask away."

The agent sighs in exasperation. "Not here, I need her to come with me."

"She needs help, not punishment."

"That's why I'm here, to get that process started. Now, I can get it to her faster if you'll let me do my job."

The titan stood firm, unconvinced.

"...you two will be allowed to accompany us if it means getting this done faster," he says finally.

Reed looked over to his friends, the two of them standing up still holding their tight embrace, the tears on Shayura's face having dried. Looking back at the agent briefly he relented and allowed passage.

Aisha gently let go of Shayura and stepped aside as the agent approached.

"Now, Ms. Shayura. I need you to do something for me before we leave."

"What?" She whispered, not looking at his obscured face.

"Can you pull out your ghost?"

Reluctantly, she held out her hand and her ghost materialized.

The instant the ghost appeared, the agent's hand shot forward and swiped the little bot out of the air. With his other hand, he quickly snapped two Arc-enhanced restraining bands across the shell.

"What are you doing?!" Reed shouted.

"It's standard protocol to restrain the ghosts of rogue guardians, regardless if they turn themselves in willingly." He said, his voice remaining monotone.

Storing the restrained ghost into a hidden pocket of his duster, he looked at a now shocked Shayura.

"Shall we?" He asked calmly, gesturing to an airship parked behind the security team.

…sometime later…

Upon arriving at their destination, the agent led Shayura to a secluded room while her friends were escorted into another part of the complex. Presumably a waiting area, though one couldn't tell if the Hidden even had waiting rooms.

Shayura soon found herself alone with the agent in an all-white room, the only furniture being two steel chairs and table; the two of them sitting across from each other.

The agent suddenly reached into his coat and pulled out a piece of paper. After giving it a once over he slid it over to Shayura who eyed it quizzically.

"We're now going to begin your assessment… the questions I wanted to ask earlier," he started. "Before you is a passage with certain words highlighted in different colors. I'll say one of those words at the beginning of each segment and then ask a question. You'll then respond with the same word after each question. Please keep in mind that response time and your tone of voice will be factored into the assessment."

She nodded slowly.

Pulling out a datapad, he turned it on, displaying graphs with odd wavelengths.

"Ms. Shayura, are you ready to begin?"

"...yeah."

"Recite the passage please." He said, gesturing to the paper.

"Devotion inspires bravery, bravery inspires sacrifice, sacrifice leads to death."

"We'll start with devotion. Feel that in your soul?"

"Weird question but okay…"

"Um…devotion."

"Do you serve a higher power?"

"Devotion...?"

"What's it like to serve this higher power?"

"...Devotion..."

"Is there any part of you that wants to resist this higher power?"

"Devotion…"

"Do you get pleasure out of serving this higher power?"

"Devotion."

"Did they create you to serve this higher power?"

"Devotion."

"Let's move onto bravery."

"Thank the Traveler. His monotone voice isn't helping."

"They descended upon us."

"That's not a question…"

"...Bravery."

"Thousands and thousands of them."

"Bravery."

"Why did I respond to that?"

"What's it like to face overwhelming odds?"

"Bravery."

"What is happening?"

"What's it like to put your ghost in someone else's hands?"

"Sacrifice."

"What have you done in the name of this higher power?"

"Sacrifice."

"I can't…not respond. I can't control myself."

"Do you have visions when you die?"

"Death."

"What do you see in these visions?"

"Death."

"What is this…dread?"

"What have you seen out in the Sol System?"

"Leads to death."

"Are there entities beyond your understanding?"

"Leads to death."

"I want to stop!"

"Devotion. Bravery. Sacrifice. Death."

"How much longer?!"

"We're done."

She blinked, suddenly feeling exhausted. How much time had passed? How many questions did he ask?

The agent took back the sheet of paper along with the data pad, making sure to save the results before storing them in his coat.

"I'll escort you to the holding area where your friends are. Once I get the results processed, we can determine what kind of…help we can provide. Sound fair?"

"Yeah…" She responded, still in a daze.

"Excellent, please follow me." He said as he led her out of the room.

Ikora,

As per your instruction, a modified version of the Echelon's Post Action Psychological Baseline test was administered to Ms. Shayura following her apprehension. While the process has yet to be refined for active-duty guardians, I believe I was able to obtain some fairly accurate results. I will be sending a message to my superiors at the Echelon with her results for a second opinion. For now though, based on my findings I recommend that Ms. Shayura be suspended from all Vanguard operations and placed on house arrest under Hidden surveillance while she receives the appropriate therapy. I also suggest her access to the Tower vaults be blocked and the continued restraint of her ghost until she finishes the therapy program. I await your response.

Tonitrus-9, Torture and Interrogation Division.