Bessia saw Kora fall from her position near Estovia.
Saw the arterial spray. Saw the severed fingers. Saw the Phase Shift woman moving in for execution.
Her healer's training calculated the survival probability automatically: Severe traumatic amputation. Multiple digits. Arterial bleeding. Without immediate intervention—two minutes to unconsciousness from blood loss. Five minutes maximum to death.
She had seconds to decide.
Stay with Estovia—protect the evidence, maintain her assigned position, continue the mission that Bright had organized around.
Or abandon her post—save the damned Kora, provide healing that would be the difference between survival and death, prioritize the living candidate over the unconscious officer.
Mission versus person. Objective versus human cost.
The kind of choice Vester forces on people until they break.
Bessia made her decision instantly.
"Cover Estovia!" she shouted to anyone who could hear, already moving toward Kora's collapsing form.
