Read Online Mind Storm by K.M. Ruiz - Free Book Online

Act, which set the requirements needed for a person to be accepted into the Registry with clean DNA? The Serca family was one of the first elevated out of the trenches of mutation after the fifth-generation benchmark passed. They continue to work toward the betterment of humankind, and I’ll be damned if you’ll belittle their accomplishments, so choose your next words carefully, Ciari.”
    Ciari paid lip service to the order, but the silence lasted only a few seconds. “Allowing them an autonomy you’ve refused all others in this venture the World Court has spent generations hiding from the public view won’t end well. It can’t. You have a right to keep your secrets, and it’s our duty to guard them, but we can’t guard what we aren’t allowed to see. We need to know what the Serca Syndicate is working on in order to protect you.”
    â€œTrade secrets are granted exceptions from the laws that govern us. The Sercas have more than earned their right over the years to retain the cornerstone of their company. What they intend to pursue is integral to the survival of all of us.”
    â€œWhat about oversight?”
    â€œIt will be taken care of.” Erik studied her through slightly narrowed eyes, his calm tone belying the annoyance his microexpressions were projecting. “You don’t need to concern yourself with the how or the why, just that it will be done.”
    Ciari’s own expression was remote and cold as she said, “By letting the Sercas dictate this human trial for however long it takes won’t result in the findings that you think will be uncovered, sir. Genetics, especially since the Border Wars, have never been easily harnessed or explained. I and those like myself are living proof of that.”
    They were psions, people born with a disease caused by mutated genes that could be traced back to the Border Wars. Humanity had spent over two centuries trying to eradicate that taint in their own genetic groups. Ciari knew it was a wasted effort.
    â€œThe Serca Syndicate has the capability to discern who is and isn’t worthy to be on the colony lists we are building out of the Registry. Their results are the only thing I and the rest of the World Court care about.”
    â€œThen what of us Strykers? Will you give up all our identities to satisfy their scientific hunger? You have to know that if you do that, you’re going to strip yourselves of the privacy we’ve fought to give you. Then what? There will be too many humans fighting to reach a launchpad or gain access to a city tower’s collection of air shuttles in order to reach France. Even if you put every Stryker between unregistered humans and those on the colony lists, you still won’t be able to stop all of them.”
    Erik reached for the glass of water that sat near the edge of his desk, ice half-melted in the expensive liquid that had been distilled and filtered to remove any and all pollutants and heavy minerals. Water that clear was hard to come by. He drank half of it before setting the glass aside again.
    â€œWhat’s the worth of unregistered humans compared to those on the Registry lists? I’ll tell you what they’re worth. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” The smile he gave her was chilling in its intensity. “You forget that your place in this world is to protect those of us who have worked long and hard to clean our genetics of nuclear taint. If unregistered humans ever discover what we’ve built in the Paris Basin, then you and the rest of the Strykers will be on that wall, Ciari. And you will kill whoever attempts to climb it, be they human or psion. Do I make myself clear?”
    â€œOf course, sir.”
    â€œYou’ve overstepped your bounds, Ciari. Don’t come here again until I call for you. Just because you’re the face of the Strykers Syndicate doesn’t mean you are exempt from the rules every psion must