Logan’s rapid self-upgrade detonates inside his body: seizures wrack him, sensory input becomes unbearable, and his heart flatlines for 148 seconds before restarting. After a night of kaleidoscopic agony and revelation, he wakes with new control—able to split his attention into multiple concurrent threads and throttle sensory intake, effectively slowing his perception of time.

Testing this ability, Logan realizes how Kara could dodge bullets and, crucially, forms a precise model of how she’ll release her transmissible upgrade. Concluding he needs institutional reach without being predictable, he infiltrates GPA director Edwin Rogers’s home, injects him with a sleeper gene as leverage, and secures Edwin’s promise to help. Logan outlines Kara’s plan: enlist willing geneticist-believers as carriers and seed global hubs before lockdowns.

A nightmare of Ava plunging into a chasm breaks Logan’s emotional containment, underscoring what’s at stake. That night, Edwin brings Logan into Constitution Center, where Nadine greets him. After a tense but genuine reunion, Logan works alone on MYSTIC, dividing his consciousness to run parallel searches.

He assembles four target sets: high-risk virologists (Block A), Kara’s trusted special forces contacts (Block B), Kara’s altered face (Block C), and potential volunteers/super-spreaders (Block D). Cross-referencing CCTV and travel data, he finds clusters around New York City; waterfront cameras in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Jersey City suggest boat trips into flooded, CCTV-free Lower Manhattan—an ideal covert lab zone. He also uncovers 94 international tickets for Block D, all departing the Northeast within 72 hours.

With a tight window before a global release, Logan demands a bio-SWAT team, gear, and Nadine at his side for an immediate pre-dawn operation. Despite the NYC findings, he concludes with a curveball: the raid’s destination will be Miami.