black bumper and although I couldn’t make it out from here, I could tell that they were engraved. Elvis gave us a big arm roll and pointed as way of presentation.
“Uh huh. Here they are babies. Uh, ladies first,” Elvis said.
Erika and Kara grabbed their tags and the rest of us followed suit. After Freddy’s story I don’t know what I was expecting, but there was nothing weird to note. It didn’t tingle in my hands or glow or anything exciting like that. It just felt like a normal dog tag. I pulled it over my head and held the tag in my hand as it dangled around my neck. It read:
Chang
Bruce T.
G.H.O.S.T.
013-KNT-001
“Okay? Am I the only one that thinks it’s a bad idea to put our names, numbers, and the super secret government agency that employs us on something that can be lost? Heck, even our badges only say SIA.”
The SIA stood for the Special Investigations Agency. We are officially GHOSTs, a worldwide paranormal police agency. But in order to deal with jurisdictional issues and keep the GHOST organization off of people’s radar, in the USA we are the SIA. Other countries have similar shroud organizations to keep things looking legit and to prevent the public from ever learning exactly what hides in the darkness.
“While one hopes that you’ll never lose your tag or allow others to read it, your proper name is necessary. You see, when the brothers created the armor they wanted to make sure it would never fall into the wrong hands. In order to guarantee that the armor was used for their intended purpose, they built in safeguards. The first refers to the bearers cause. The armor will only function if the wearer is in fact serving the proper organization. Now the brothers were referring to god and the order of knights, and engraved it thusly, but as we have repurposed the armor, we must list the actual organization that we serve or it will not function. Hence the GHOST organization must be engraved. The magic is more than capable of discerning the false nature of the SIA. Second, is the requirement of your true name. This is the magical link to your person. If someone were to steal your tags and wear them, they would reap none of their benefits. The third and final safeguard is your employee number. While the organization has been able to twist the nature of the three defenses, they cannot remove their intention without destroying the armor’s magic. So your employee number acts as a link between you and the GHOST organization. The original warriors engraved their pledge to their god. In our case it serves as your commitment to the GHOST organization. I assure you that these things are all necessary,” Freddy said.
“Fine. I’ll just wrap duct tape or something around it so at least our organization and everything isn’t out in the open like that.”
“Unfortunately, the magic may act up if the declaration is intentionally obscured in anyway. Some part of the magic that requires those of their cause to be proud of it we believe. However, you may wear it under your shirt. To date this has had no adverse effects,” Freddy smiled.
“Is around our necks really the smartest place to put ‘em?”
“This is also for a good reason Mr. Chang. The magic functions best when it is close to your heart,” Freddy stated.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Dare I ask the next question?
“Please, don’t tell me these are powered by love.”
“Of course not,” Freddy laughed, “But the heart has long been a symbol of ones’ purpose, dedication, and true nature. This belief was instilled into the armor.”
“Okay, wear these around the neck and we get to be bullet-proof for a couple of days. Got it. Anything else I should know?”
“They can also find each other,” Kara added.
“Sorry?”
“If you say, ever did lose your tag, we could use the others to track it down. Because they have all been carved from the same piece of armor, and then linked to our team, they share a kinship of
“Uh huh. Here they are babies. Uh, ladies first,” Elvis said.
Erika and Kara grabbed their tags and the rest of us followed suit. After Freddy’s story I don’t know what I was expecting, but there was nothing weird to note. It didn’t tingle in my hands or glow or anything exciting like that. It just felt like a normal dog tag. I pulled it over my head and held the tag in my hand as it dangled around my neck. It read:
Chang
Bruce T.
G.H.O.S.T.
013-KNT-001
“Okay? Am I the only one that thinks it’s a bad idea to put our names, numbers, and the super secret government agency that employs us on something that can be lost? Heck, even our badges only say SIA.”
The SIA stood for the Special Investigations Agency. We are officially GHOSTs, a worldwide paranormal police agency. But in order to deal with jurisdictional issues and keep the GHOST organization off of people’s radar, in the USA we are the SIA. Other countries have similar shroud organizations to keep things looking legit and to prevent the public from ever learning exactly what hides in the darkness.
“While one hopes that you’ll never lose your tag or allow others to read it, your proper name is necessary. You see, when the brothers created the armor they wanted to make sure it would never fall into the wrong hands. In order to guarantee that the armor was used for their intended purpose, they built in safeguards. The first refers to the bearers cause. The armor will only function if the wearer is in fact serving the proper organization. Now the brothers were referring to god and the order of knights, and engraved it thusly, but as we have repurposed the armor, we must list the actual organization that we serve or it will not function. Hence the GHOST organization must be engraved. The magic is more than capable of discerning the false nature of the SIA. Second, is the requirement of your true name. This is the magical link to your person. If someone were to steal your tags and wear them, they would reap none of their benefits. The third and final safeguard is your employee number. While the organization has been able to twist the nature of the three defenses, they cannot remove their intention without destroying the armor’s magic. So your employee number acts as a link between you and the GHOST organization. The original warriors engraved their pledge to their god. In our case it serves as your commitment to the GHOST organization. I assure you that these things are all necessary,” Freddy said.
“Fine. I’ll just wrap duct tape or something around it so at least our organization and everything isn’t out in the open like that.”
“Unfortunately, the magic may act up if the declaration is intentionally obscured in anyway. Some part of the magic that requires those of their cause to be proud of it we believe. However, you may wear it under your shirt. To date this has had no adverse effects,” Freddy smiled.
“Is around our necks really the smartest place to put ‘em?”
“This is also for a good reason Mr. Chang. The magic functions best when it is close to your heart,” Freddy stated.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Dare I ask the next question?
“Please, don’t tell me these are powered by love.”
“Of course not,” Freddy laughed, “But the heart has long been a symbol of ones’ purpose, dedication, and true nature. This belief was instilled into the armor.”
“Okay, wear these around the neck and we get to be bullet-proof for a couple of days. Got it. Anything else I should know?”
“They can also find each other,” Kara added.
“Sorry?”
“If you say, ever did lose your tag, we could use the others to track it down. Because they have all been carved from the same piece of armor, and then linked to our team, they share a kinship of
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