Jarilo-VI, the great city of Belobog, the Underworld, Rivet Town Orphanage.
Four years had passed since the Upper and Underworld were sealed off from each other.
The orphanage had once been called the Children's Home.
After Natasha took over the orphanage, she made a small change.
It was now called the Children's Commune.
The shift from a home to a commune also reflected a change in its Guardian's heart.
The former Guardian, the Old Director, had wanted to give the Underworld's orphans a home. She had devoted her entire life to that cause.
The current Guardian, Natasha, faced circumstances even crueler than her predecessor's.
The Underworld was sealed off, supplies were scarce, and its people could barely survive from one day to the next.
Under these circumstances, the children needed more than a home. They needed a place where they could unite around a shared conviction!
The commune was born here, and it would give the children the courage to press on through despair.
The orphanage now doubled as something of a daycare.
Before heading down into the mines, miners would leave their children here.
For one thing, there were plenty of children here, making it a lively place.
For another, if an accident kept them from coming back, their children would still be well cared for.
In the supply-starved Underworld, mining had become even more dangerous than before.
Yet Geomarrow mining could not stop. The people of the Underworld still depended on that Geomarrow to trade with the Upper District for a pitiful amount of supplies.
Wildfire had once organized the miners to stop mining Geomarrow, hoping to force the Upper District to raise its purchase price so they could obtain more supplies.
But the strike had not lasted long. Supplies in the Underworld were so scarce that they