Chapter 420: The Heart

Mira arrived in Nexus with three bags, two assistants, and a list of questions that made the city’s emergency officials uncomfortable.

Her first stop was not the Hunter Association, the Church, or the central network.

It was a hospital.

Kai accompanied her through the main entrance while a hospital administrator explained the facility’s current emergency procedures. Medical supplies were stored across several floors, backup generators were available, and additional beds could be prepared if the city experienced a sudden increase in casualties.

Mira listened carefully before asking her first question.

"How many patients can you treat if the surrounding districts lose power at the same time?"

The administrator hesitated.

"We have backup generators and emergency supplies."

"I’m asking how many patients you can treat."

The administrator glanced at the accompanying staff member, who opened a tablet and began checking the records.

"Approximately four hundred under normal emergency conditions. That number would decrease if our supply deliveries were interrupted or if we received patients requiring specialized treatment."

"How long can you maintain that capacity without outside deliveries?"

"Three days, possibly longer if we restrict nonessential procedures."

Mira nodded and wrote something down.

"Then we need to know which supplies are most likely to run out first, where additional stock can be stored, and how we can deliver it if the main roads become inaccessible. I also want a list of patients who would need special transportation during an evacuation."

Kai watched her move to the next question without waiting for the administrator to finish explaining the hospital’s existing plans.

He had expected Mira to review the city’s preparations and identify obvious weaknesses.

Instead, she was asking questions that forced everyone to examine what their plans actually meant in practice.

Sera leaned toward him.

"She hasn’t even been here an hour."

"I noticed."

"Should we be worried about what she’ll find next?"

"Probably."

Mira turned toward them.

"I can hear both of you."

Sera smiled innocently.

"We were complimenting your efficiency."

"Then you can help me carry these reports to the next department."

Sera’s smile disappeared.

Kai quietly stepped aside before Mira could assign him something as well.

...

By midday, Mira had visited two hospitals, three emergency supply centers, and the city’s central transportation office.

Her findings were not encouraging.

Nexus possessed considerable resources, but they were not distributed according to the needs of a large-scale emergency. Some districts had enough medical supplies for several days, while others depended on regular deliveries from central storage facilities.

Several shelters were well equipped but located too far from residential areas that could lose transportation access if the ancient network malfunctioned.

The city’s communication systems had backup power, yet their emergency plans did not fully account for entire neighborhoods losing access to the same network at once.

Mira gathered the relevant officials in a temporary operations room.

"Your plans assume that if one service fails, the others will continue working normally," she said. "But what happens when the same failure affects transportation, communications, and power distribution together?"

A transportation official answered first.

"We have alternative routes."

"Have those routes been tested under the conditions we’re preparing for?"

"Not all of them."

"Then they’re alternatives on a map, not confirmed evacuation routes."

The official frowned, but did not argue.

Mira displayed the locations of hospitals, shelters, supply centers, and residential districts.

"I’m not saying Nexus has done nothing to prepare. You have resources, trained personnel, and established emergency procedures. The problem is that your plans were designed around individual failures. We need to prepare for several services failing together."

Gabriel, who had joined the meeting, studied the map.

"The ancient defense incident beneath District Seven demonstrated exactly that problem. The damage to one relay threatened the transit station’s ventilation, and the response teams initially lacked a complete picture of the situation."

"Then we need to plan around that possibility," Mira replied. "Not assume it will happen everywhere, but make sure one failure doesn’t leave an entire district without help."

She marked several vulnerable areas.

"These districts receive priority attention. We check their local shelters, identify nearby buildings that can serve as temporary refuge points, and establish independent communication methods where possible. Hospitals receive additional medical supplies, while food distribution centers prepare for interruptions to normal deliveries."

One official raised a hand.

"Moving resources now could disrupt normal city operations. We still don’t know whether the approaching signal represents a threat."

Mira looked at him.

"I’m not proposing that we evacuate the city based on an unknown signal. I’m proposing that we make sure people can reach safety if something goes wrong."

She brought up a revised schedule.

"We’ll move a portion of the emergency supplies closer to vulnerable districts without emptying the central storage facilities. We’ll inspect alternative routes, prepare additional medical teams, and notify residents about the steps they should take if transportation or communications are interrupted."

"And the rest of the city?"

"They continue their normal routines while we improve readiness. We issue clear instructions, not frightening predictions. People should know where to go, whom to contact, and what to bring if an evacuation becomes necessary."

The official examined the proposal.

"You’re asking us to prepare for a situation we cannot yet define."

"I’m asking you to make sure our existing resources can still protect people when normal services stop working."

That settled the argument.

The preparations would begin immediately.

...

Mira’s next challenge was making sure the plan could function beyond the conference room.

She divided the work into several teams. Hospital administrators would review medical capacity and identify patients requiring special assistance. Shelter coordinators would confirm available space and establish procedures for receiving displaced families.

Food distribution teams would prepare emergency reserves, while transportation officials inspected routes and identified vehicles that could operate if the city’s normal systems failed.

The Church would assist with medical personnel, communication volunteers, and historical records that might help identify vulnerable ancient structures.

The Hunter Association would provide escorts for dangerous areas and establish procedures for protecting evacuation teams.

Mira also insisted on creating a support system for Hunter families.

"Your deployment plan lists the number of Hunters available, but it doesn’t account for what happens to their households when those people leave," she told the Association’s representative. "If a Hunter is sent to defend a district, someone still needs to make sure their family can obtain food, medicine, and reliable information."

The representative considered this.

"We have family assistance programs, but they aren’t designed for a citywide emergency."

"Then we’ll expand them before we need them. Families shouldn’t have to choose between supporting the defense effort and keeping their households functioning."

Kai watched her assign responsibilities.

Mira wasn’t trying to control every department. She was making sure every department understood what the others needed from it.

When the transportation office reported that several vehicles lacked independent communication equipment, she redirected part of the available budget toward portable radios and emergency supplies.

When a shelter coordinator discovered that one building could not accommodate residents with limited mobility, she arranged for a nearby facility to serve as an alternative.

Every correction was small compared with the possibility of a planetary threat.

Together, they made the difference between a plan that looked complete and one that could actually protect people.

Sera joined Mira at a table covered with district reports.

"You’ve been moving between departments all day. When are you planning to rest?"

"When the reports stop revealing new problems."

"That’s not a real answer."

"It’s the answer I have."

Sera picked up a stack of transportation records.

"Then I’ll take these. You can review the shelter reports while I check which routes still need inspection."

Mira looked at her, surprised.

"You don’t have to do that."

"I know. But you’re not the only person here who can be useful."

Sera carried the reports toward Aren, who was already reviewing the city’s ancient passages.

Kai watched them leave.

Mira had not needed to ask for help. The people around her were beginning to recognize what needed doing and take responsibility for it themselves.

That, too, was part of the preparation.

...

Late that afternoon, Mira received a message from Mythal.

The city’s emergency administration had completed its initial review and was preparing medical supplies, portable communication equipment, and trained support personnel for possible deployment to Nexus.

Elden’s revised infrastructure procedures had already been incorporated into Mythal’s emergency plans. Raze had organized a force that could move quickly without leaving the city defenseless.

The report also confirmed that Mythal’s local teams had identified backup personnel for essential leadership responsibilities.

Mira read the message twice.

Then she smiled.

"They’re ready."

Kai approached her.

"How much can they send?"

"Enough to provide meaningful support, provided we confirm the destinations and transportation routes. They’re keeping their central reserves intact, and the local teams can continue operating without waiting for instructions from us."

She turned the screen toward him.

"Elden has established a remote technical team. Raze has prepared a limited deployment force, and our emergency administration has already begun checking medical supplies and civilian support requirements."

Kai read the report.

No one had waited for him to personally assign every task. The people of Mythal had identified their responsibilities and begun preparing for the possibility that their city would need to support another.

It was exactly the kind of progress he had hoped to see.

"Mira, you’ve done well."

She looked up.

For a moment, her usual confidence gave way to a more personal expression.

"We learned a lot during the Disasters. We couldn’t afford to make the same mistakes again."

Kai nodded.

"Mythal has changed."

"It had to. We can’t keep depending on you to be everywhere at once."

Sera, returning with Aren, heard the last sentence.

"She’s right. If Kai had to manage every hospital, shelter, and evacuation route himself, we’d have bigger problems than an approaching signal."

"I never said I wanted to manage every hospital," Kai replied.

"No, you just tend to take responsibility for everything else."

Mira laughed softly.

Then she returned to the report, her expression becoming serious again.

"There’s one thing I want to check before we finalize the evacuation plans."

She brought up the transportation map.

"Some of these routes pass through areas connected to the ancient network. If those connections fail, the routes could become inaccessible even if the roads themselves remain intact."

Aren stepped closer.

"Which districts?"

Mira highlighted several locations.

"The eastern residential blocks, two hospital routes, and the main road leading toward the northern shelters. They all rely on transportation systems that exchange status information with the ancient network."

Lily, who had been reviewing the latest technical reports, immediately examined the markings.

"Those connections weren’t included in Elden’s redundancy test. His test covered communications, defensive coordination, and emergency monitoring. It didn’t establish that these transportation links could operate independently."

Mira nodded.

"That’s what I was worried about. The city could have enough shelters and medical supplies, but people might not be able to reach them."

Kai looked at the highlighted routes.

The technical team had improved the systems they knew were vulnerable. Mira had identified a different weakness by tracing what happened to people when those systems failed.

"Send this to Elden," Kai said. "Have the engineers determine which routes can operate independently and which need alternatives."

"I’ll also arrange temporary transport options for the affected districts," Mira replied. "We shouldn’t wait for the technical review before preparing another way to move people."

"Agreed."

She began sending the reports to Mythal and Nexus’s emergency administration.

The discovery changed their immediate priorities. The alliance would need to protect not only the ancient network itself, but also the modern services that had become dependent on it.

Kai looked toward the central display, where the seven synchronized sites continued to glow beneath the city.

Elden was making the infrastructure more resilient. Mira was ensuring that the people relying on it would not be abandoned if it failed.

Both were necessary.

And both had revealed how much remained unfinished.

The unknown signal continued approaching from beyond their world.

Before it arrived, they needed to make sure that when Nexus called for help, its people could actually reach it.