The night was as typical as any other for Lockwood and Co. The trio—Lockwood, Lucy, and George—were investigating a haunted manor on the outskirts of town amid their usual ghost-hunting routine.

 The air was thick with the familiar tension accompanying each new case, but nothing about this haunt felt ordinary. There was something... off.

As they ventured deeper into the house, the atmosphere grew heavier. Dust motes swirled in the dim light of their flashlights, and the creaking floorboards beneath their feet seemed to echo with an unnatural rhythm. They'd faced countless spirits before, but this one felt different. And Lockwood, always daring, was determined to take the lead.

Without warning, a ghost—a wispy figure with haunting eyes—materialized before him. Unlike any spirit they'd encountered before, it was a ghost with an eerie, almost malevolent presence. Before Lockwood could react, the spectre turned into mist and darted into his mouth.

Lockwood gasped, then he swallowed the mist which burned his throat. His vision blurred, and before he could make sense of what was happening, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

His friends rushed to his side, panic quickly setting in. Lucy shook him, her heart pounding. George was muttering to himself, searching for any sign of life. Soon, they took him back to the office, feeling worried and scared.

The next day Lockwood woke up groaning as he staggered into the room wearing comfortable clothing.

His voice—usually so smooth, so confident with its British inflexion—now came out in a sharp, twangy American accent.

"Wh-what happened?" Lockwood's words were unfamiliar and strange, leaving his friends in shock.

His movements, too, were different. The usual grace with which Lockwood handled himself had been replaced by something—awkward, out of sync.

Lucy exchanged a concerned look with George. Something had shifted, something profound and inexplicable. The ghost hadn't just knocked Lockwood out. It had altered him in some fundamental way.

As the hours passed, Lockwood's habits began to shift as well. The way he spoke, the way he moved, the things he said—they all seemed... American. It wasn't just the accent. It was everything.

The trio now faced an unexpected challenge: finding out how to reverse whatever this strange ghostly encounter had done to their leader before it became permanent. But the clock was ticking, and the case that had started as just another haunting was now something far more personal—something that threatened to change Lockwood forever.