The world, as seen by the System, was a tapestry of pending pain. Reuben had learned to read its warp and weft, its aching reds and yellowing greens. He had become a master of its economy, trading Development Points for clinics, vaccines, for clean water. DP was hope money, earned in wakefulness and spent on getting things done.
It was during the process of stemming a fresh cholera cluster in a flooding-ravaged coastal delta that the procedures changed.
It was a classic case. Toxic water, displaced people, perfect habitat for Vibrio cholerae. The System caught on right away. Reuben, in detached competency that was fast becoming his default setting, deployed the DP. The scores trickled in—for rehydration salts, for water purification tablets, for deployment of a mobile medical unit. The a
