He's still struggling to grasp her meaning, but Athena can see him reaching for it. Tragos never heard what she was telling him, ultimately. Too defensive, too suspicious, too rigid in his thinking, a soldier who only saw as far as the current battlefield. It wasn't his fault. Tragos was a product of his environment, and the War Dogs are aptly named. Ares' priority is in breeding fighting animals, not critically thinking men. Kaden, though: Kaden once wanted to be a vet. He wanted to escape the Hole. Some part of him must always have been looking outwards.
Athena lifts an eyebrow. "Could it not be said that this city is at war with itself? Corruption, violence, incompetence, the strong imposing their wills on the weak. It's not a single war; it's dozens of smaller wars being played out each day in halls of power and in the backstreets. Urban planning is about building better, more cohesive cities. Fortifying them, you might say, against those who try to wage war."