The relief hearth served its first refugees while the Watcher studied Ash across the benches, weighing an answer nobody wanted.
Ash listened with his bowl untouched while the Watcher decided how much of her own mother's history the boy could bear.
Refugees from the nearby tenement blocks gathered along the benches, their hollow expressions softening under the warmth of fresh food.
Across the hearthstone sat the cloaked Watcher, her weathered gaze resting with solemn intensity upon young Ash.
"The boy will carry this weight whether you understand it or not," she began, her raspy voice cutting through the morning chatter.
"You need to hear what the network nodes were before Concord turned them into inescapable anchors!"
Juna shifted her position on the bench, moving closer to Ash while Loccy rested her gauntleted hand against the table.
Ferra set down her charcoal notebook, leaning forward across the table to listen to the ancient history.
