The name landed on the conference table with a weight Yuna felt in her own chest. Everyone in the awakened world knew it. ChronosX. The mana cameras. The women who turned out to have been inventory. The name had outgrown the man and become a category, the worst rapist and slaver the new era had produced, and its owner was currently rotting on death row for qualifying.
Mercer sat back down without appearing to notice he was doing it.
"We told her we did not know," Ms. Rook continued. "She told us to 'find' evidence. So understand it, Mr. Mercer. Miss Ashborn has no interest in your ledger. Ledgers are our department. Hers is a simpler one, and it does not convene quarterly."
"You're threatening me." It came out low, and it wanted to be angrier than it was. "In my own conference room."
"No one has threatened you. You were asked a question." Ms. Rook laid her folded hands on top of the closed tablet. "Men who are not like Maximilian have nothing to fear."
