Ch 66: The Weight of Knowledge
Mira sat in the worn-out chair of her rented room, staring at the glass of whiskey on the table. She hadn't taken a sip. The liquid barely rippled, yet it felt like her entire world had shifted beneath her.
She had seen strange things in her life.
She had fought in hopeless battles.
She had survived against impossible odds.
But this?
This was something else entirely.
She tapped her fingers against the table, her mind replaying the last job in painful clarity.
It hadn't taken her long to put the pieces together.
The mission wasn't about protecting Koss.
It wasn't about getting him safely to the base.
The real security detail—the one that actually mattered—had been there all along.
She hadn't seen them.
Not because they were hiding.
But because they didn't need to be seen.
Somewhere, in the ruins, in the wasteland, in the dead cities she had passed through, there had been an army of mercenaries.
They had swept through the region before she even arrived.
They had silenced every threat, crushed every potential ambush.
By the time her escort convoy passed through, there was nothing left to fight.
And her role in all of this?
Bait.
She had been brought in just in case something slipped through the cracks.
If anyone had attacked, they would have been drawn to her first.
She would have absorbed the first bullets, the first strike, the first explosion.
They hadn't needed her.
She had been expendable.
And the worst part?
She hadn't even known.
The Price of Ignorance
She exhaled, rubbing a hand over her face.
She wasn't angry.
Not really.
If she was being honest, it made sense.
Whoever had organized this operation was working on a scale beyond anything she had encountered.
They had the money, the planning, the connections.
They didn't take risks. They didn't gamble.
They controlled the battlefield before the battle even began.
That was the level of warfare they operated on.
And compared to that?
She was still just a hired gun.
The realization burned more than she cared to admit.
The credits had come through the moment she left the base.
More money than she had seen in a long time.
Enough to live comfortably for years.
Enough to walk away from this life if she wanted.
And yet…
She reached for the whiskey, took a sip, and let the burn settle in her throat.
Doubt still lingered.
This wasn't just about the money.
This wasn't just another job.
Because now, she knew.
She knew there was something bigger happening.
She knew there were forces moving behind the scenes.
And most of all…
She knew that whatever was out there, it wasn't just about the Blanks.
It was about something far grander.
And the worst part?
She wanted to know more.