After a few moments, the gentle smile that had been lingering on Robin's face slowly dissolved, replaced by an expression of deep contemplation and thoughtfulness.
Theo had asked him to decide on the location where the grand effort of galactic consolidation would begin. Should they focus on building around Nihari's current location in the Young Sector 99? Or would it be wiser to relocate Nihari entirely to Sector 100, and then begin the long-term development there?
And honestly... Robin had no clear answer.
His decision to expand operations into both Mid Sectors 99 and 100 had always been built around two key objectives.
The first was simple in concept, but difficult in practice: to determine whether he could find a stable foothold in either of the two sectors and to uncover the deeper truths they held. If he tried to settle in one and failed—if that sector rejected him or proved too volatile—then the other would naturally become his fallback plan.
