The 300 Development Points pulsed in Reuben's mind, a seething cluster of potential. It was a reservoir of power so vast it was almost intimidating. In the quiet of the Riverside clinic, the lingering odor of antiseptic a chilling reminder of their recent battle, he and Anna examined the System's interface. The [NATIONAL MAP] lay before them, a bitter brocade of need. The Kojin Foothills pulsed with its Category-4 threat, a distant, ominous drumbeat. But between them and that mountain emergency stood Harbor City—a huge, seeping sore of city blight.
"We can't go storming into the Foothills," Anna said, tracing the perilous, roadless paths on the map. "We'd be wiped out before we ever located patient zero. We need a staging area. A supply line."
Reuben nodded, his gaze remaining on the ti
