Neral had been patient about not understanding things, which was one of his more useful qualities. He would carry a question for days without asking it, letting it sit until either the answer arrived on its own or he decided the answer was not coming and the question needed to be put directly.
He put it directly at breakfast.
He looked at Mira across the table and said: "I would like to understand what you do. Not in general. Specifically. What happened in the eastern district when the roads activated."
Mira looked at him. She considered the question in the way she considered all serious questions: by deciding whether she had language for it before committing to an answer.
