A soldier on the right side of the room shifted his stance. He kept glancing between Sera and the door, as if expecting Mercer to walk in at any second and tell him whether he should be afraid.
Mercer wasn't in the room.
He was above it.
Through the thin horizontal window near the top of the far wall, Sera could see the edge of an observation deck. Glass, metal railing, shadow of a man standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
He didn't pace. He didn't lean. He simply watched, like a mountain.
He sees you as a specimen, the creature observed. Not as a threat. Not yet. He thinks everything dangerous can be turned into a tool.
"He's not wrong," Sera murmured.
Kearns thought the comment was aimed at her. "The Director has kept this region alive."
"By killing a lot of people," Sera reminded.
