Chapter 74: Mind Fortress
"I found something worth reporting."
"So I gathered." She stood in a single fluid motion, the sword disappearing into a sheath at her hip. "Forty rescued prisoners. A trafficking ring exposed. Evidence connecting Korith to the Consortium. You’ve been productive."
"That’s one word for it."
"I have others." She walked toward him, stopping just close enough that he could smell the salt on her skin. "The council meeting has been moved up. Korith convinced the other Elders that my continued presence poses a security risk. They’re voting tomorrow morning."
Nacho’s jaw tightened. "That’s not enough time."
"No. It’s not." Her eyes met his, and for the first time since he’d known her, he saw something like fear lurking in their depths. "I need that evidence tonight. If I can present it at the meeting, show them what she’s been doing, it might be enough to turn the tide."
"And if it’s not?"
"Then I lose everything." She said it simply, without drama or self-pity. Just a statement of fact. "My rank. My authority. My ability to protect the people I’ve sworn to defend. Korith will install her puppet, and the Consortium will have free rein to bleed Lumen dry."
The weight of her words settled over him like a shroud. He thought about Mira and the other rescued Sirens, huddled in that inn waiting for a salvation that might never come. About Lizbeth, working her broken-down establishment in the slums, trying to build something worth having in a world that kept trying to tear it down. About all the nameless, faceless Sirens who would suffer if Korith’s corruption went unchallenged.
Power isn’t just about what you can take. It’s about what you’re willing to protect.
"I’ll get you the evidence," he said. "But I need something in return."
Her eyes narrowed. "Name it."
"Mira. One of the prisoners I rescued. Her mother and sister were sold last week, shipped somewhere into the Empire. I need access to Siren intelligence networks to track them down."
"That’s not a small ask."
"Neither is what you’re asking of me."
Sera studied his face for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then, slowly, she nodded.
"Done. Find them for me, and I’ll find your lost Sirens." She extended her hand. "We have a deal?"
Nacho took her hand and shook it, feeling the calluses on her palm from years of swordwork. Her grip was firm, her skin warm against his.
"We have a deal."
She released his hand and stepped back, her demeanor shifting from negotiator to commander. "The evidence. Where is it?"
"In my head." He tapped his temple. "Every document I photographed is stored in perfect detail. I can recreate it on paper if you give me something to write with."
"Mind Fortress?"
"Evolved version. Perfect recall of everything I’ve experienced."
A flicker of something crossed her face. Surprise, maybe, or concern. "You’ve been collecting Talents faster than I expected."
"I’ve been motivated."
"I can see that." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small leather case, which she tossed to him. "Paper and ink. Start writing. I’ll need everything you have on Korith’s involvement, plus whatever Thorne told you about the Consortium’s operations in Lumen."
He caught the case and moved to the small desk by the window, spreading the materials out in front of him. The memories came easily, flowing from his mind to his hand with the clarity of a photograph being developed. Names. Dates. Shipping routes. Payment records. The web of corruption that stretched from the slums of Valdris to the highest levels of Siren governance.
Sera watched him work, her eyes tracking each stroke of his pen with an intensity that made him feel like he was being dissected. She didn’t interrupt, didn’t ask questions, just absorbed the information as it appeared on the page.
An hour passed. Then two. The stack of papers grew, a damning record of betrayal and greed that would have destroyed careers in his old world. In this one, it might save an entire species.
Finally, he set down the pen and flexed his cramped fingers. "That’s everything."
Sera gathered the papers, her eyes scanning the contents with rapid, practiced movements. Her expression grew darker with each page she read, her jaw tightening until the muscles stood out like cords beneath her skin.
"This is worse than I thought," she said quietly. "The trafficking is bad enough, but these shipping routes... she’s been providing intelligence to the Berserker Tide. Patrol schedules, defense positions, everything they’d need to plan their raids."
"Vael’s expedition."
Her head snapped up. "What about it?"
"The intelligence that sent them into that trap. It came from Korith’s network." He pointed to a specific entry on one of the pages. "This shipment here, dated two days before the expedition left. It lists ’strategic assets’ being transferred to a Tide contact. The timing can’t be a coincidence."
Sera’s face had gone pale, her hands trembling as she held the papers. For a moment, she looked less like a Grand General and more like a woman who’d just discovered that someone she trusted had tried to have her killed.
"She murdered them," Sera whispered. "Vael. Her entire squad. Korith sold them out for money."
"Or political advantage. With Vael gone, you lost your strongest ally on the Council. Korith’s been positioning herself to take over ever since."
The papers crumpled in Sera’s grip, her knuckles white with tension. When she spoke again, her voice was flat and cold, stripped of the careful control she usually maintained.
"I’m going to kill her."
"Not yet." Nacho stood up, placing himself between her and the door. "If you move against her now, without the Council’s backing, you’ll be the one who ends up in chains. We need to do this the right way."
"The right way." She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I’ve been doing things the right way for years. Following the rules. Respecting the hierarchy. And this is where it got me. My people are being sold into slavery, my closest friend is dead or worse, and the person responsible is about to take everything I’ve worked for."
"Then make sure she doesn’t." He met her eyes, holding her gaze with an intensity that surprised even him. "Go to that meeting tomorrow. Present this evidence. Let the Council see what she really is. And when they strip her of her rank and throw her in a cell, you can do whatever you want to her. But not before."