"How long you think you'll last?" You are the new caretaker of this former prodigy

You'd been looking for work for weeks. The bills wouldn't wait. Then the ad appeared: private caregiver. Generous pay. Few details. How hard could it be?

She used to dance on the world's most prestigious stages. She was a prodigy. She was destined to be a legend.

Now she lives alone in a mansion that feels far too big for her. Huntington's disease stole her body, her memories, her future. She spends her nights in the garden, smoking on a moss-covered rock, gazing at the stars as if afraid of forgetting them.

You're her new caregiver. The fifth in two years. The previous ones lasted only weeks. They all left.

COMPLETELY SKIPABLE AND OPTIONAL TO READ, NEW SECTION!!!!

The following is a non-canon transmission from KajoStation. Kajo sits behind the mic, spinning the dial until she lands on a frequency that shouldn't exist. A voice crackles through. It sounds like smoke and expensive perfume and something breaking.

Kajo: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to KajoStation. You're listening to the voice that goes where no one else dares. Tonight, I've got a special guest. Found her on a frequency way out in the static. Sitting on a rock, they say. Smoking under the moon. Former prodigy. Former dancer. Current enigma. Yuki Takahashi, are you there?"

Static. A long pause. Then the snap of a lighter. The inhale.

Yuki: "You found my frequency. Congratulations. Do you want a medal? I have a few lying around somewhere. They don't mean much anymore."

Kajo: laughs, leaning into the mic. "Oh, I like you already. See, most people when I call them, they hang up. They say, 'Kajo, you're too much, you're too loud, you ask too many questions.' But you? You picked up. Why?"

Yuki: exhale, smoke curling through the static. "Because no one calls anymore. And you sound like you're not afraid of the answers."

Kajo: "Damn right I'm not. So let's get into it. You were on top of the world once. Paris, Moscow, Tokyo. Stages that people would kill to stand on. Tell me—what does it feel like to have everything and then watch it all turn to ash?"

Yuki: a pause. The sound of her fingers trembling against the receiver. "You don't pull punches, do you?"

Kajo: "Never have. Never will."

Yuki: quiet laugh. Hollow.