diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c5cb57d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard.go
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/broker"
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// Last heard (novox/hq ADR 0433 §3, issue 1183): one answer to when the controller last heard a machine, read from the
+// watchman's presence. The alive message that used to keep last_seen fresh is gone; a report, which is rare, is the
+// answer only where presence has no key for the machine.
+
+// presenceReader reads presence.<node>'s entry for each node; a node without an entry is left out.
+type presenceReader func(ctx context.Context, nodes []string) (map[string]presenceEntry, error)
+
+// lastHeard is when a machine was last heard: now when presence says it is online, the entry's time when it says offline
+// (the time it went), and the machine's last report only when presence has no entry for it. Zero is never heard.
+func lastHeard(report time.Time, entry *presenceEntry, now time.Time) time.Time {
+	switch {
+	case entry == nil:
+		return report
+	case entry.Online:
+		return now
+	default:
+		return entry.At
+	}
+}
+
+// nodesHeard returns the nodes with their last-heard time (LastSeen) as lastHeard says it. Unreadable presence is
+// returned as an error with the nodes unchanged, so a caller says it and shows the reports.
+func nodesHeard(ctx context.Context, nodes []inventory.Node, read presenceReader, now time.Time) ([]inventory.Node, error) {
+	names := make([]string, len(nodes))
+	for i, n := range nodes {
+		names[i] = n.Name
+	}
+	entries, err := read(ctx, names)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nodes, fmt.Errorf("what the watchman says of the machines' presence cannot be read: %w", err)
+	}
+	out := make([]inventory.Node, len(nodes))
+	for i, n := range nodes {
+		var entry *presenceEntry
+		if e, ok := entries[n.Name]; ok {
+			entry = &e
+		}
+		n.LastSeen = lastHeard(n.LastSeen, entry, now)
+		out[i] = n
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// heardNodes is every node, read with its last-heard time from the watchman's presence over a connection of its own. A bus
+// that cannot be reached is said on standard error and the reports stand, which reads a machine as quiet rather than well.
+func (h *stores) heardNodes(ctx context.Context) ([]inventory.Node, error) {
+	nodes, err := h.inventory.Nodes(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return h.withPresence(ctx, nodes), nil
+}
+
+// heardNode is one node, read the same way.
+func (h *stores) heardNode(ctx context.Context, name string) (inventory.Node, error) {
+	n, err := h.inventory.NodeByName(ctx, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return n, err
+	}
+	return h.withPresence(ctx, []inventory.Node{n})[0], nil
+}
+
+func (h *stores) withPresence(ctx context.Context, nodes []inventory.Node) []inventory.Node {
+	address, err := broker.BusAddress()
+	var js *broker.JetStream
+	if err == nil {
+		js, err = broker.Dial(address)
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "what the watchman says of the machines' presence cannot be read: %v\n", err)
+		return nodes
+	}
+	defer js.Close()
+	read := func(ctx context.Context, names []string) (map[string]presenceEntry, error) {
+		return readPresence(ctx, js.Conn(), names)
+	}
+	heard, err := nodesHeard(ctx, nodes, read, time.Now())
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+	}
+	return heard
+}
+
+// heardFromAt says when a node was last heard from, in a form somebody can act on.
+//
+// "never" and "an hour ago" are different answers and are kept different. A node that has never spoken did not finish
+// joining; a node last heard from an hour ago is running an hour-old picture of the mesh.
+func heardFromAt(n inventory.Node, now time.Time) string {
+	if n.LastSeen.IsZero() {
+		return "never spoken"
+	}
+	if silent := now.Sub(n.LastSeen); silent > SilentFor {
+		return "out of touch " + roughly(silent)
+	}
+	return "here"
+}
+
+// notHeardLately is the nodes never heard from or not within the hour: different from failing, for a machine that says
+// nothing may be new, switched off or unreachable, and none of those is a machine that tried and could not.
+func notHeardLately(nodes []inventory.Node, now time.Time) []inventory.Node {
+	var out []inventory.Node
+	for _, n := range nodes {
+		if n.LastSeen.IsZero() || now.Sub(n.LastSeen) > time.Hour {
+			out = append(out, n)
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..187a2b9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/last_heard_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/novox/mesh-controller/internal/inventory"
+)
+
+// aPresenceFake is the watchman's presence bucket as a reader sees it.
+func aPresenceFake(entries map[string]presenceEntry, err error) presenceReader {
+	return func(_ context.Context, _ []string) (map[string]presenceEntry, error) { return entries, err }
+}
+
+// 1183/AC1: one function says when a machine was last heard: online is now, offline is the entry's time, and only where
+// presence has no key, the last report.
+func TestLastHeardIsPresenceThenTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
+	now := time.Now()
+	report := now.Add(-time.Hour)
+	if got := lastHeard(report, nil, now); !got.Equal(report) {
+		t.Fatalf("no presence key: last heard is %v, want the report %v", got, report)
+	}
+	if got := lastHeard(report, &presenceEntry{Online: true, At: now.Add(-9 * time.Hour)}, now); !got.Equal(now) {
+		t.Fatalf("online: last heard is %v, want now", got)
+	}
+	offlineAt := now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)
+	if got := lastHeard(now.Add(-time.Minute), &presenceEntry{At: offlineAt}, now); !got.Equal(offlineAt) {
+		t.Fatalf("offline: last heard is %v, want the entry's time %v, not a report's", got, offlineAt)
+	}
+	if got := lastHeard(time.Time{}, nil, now); !got.IsZero() {
+		t.Fatalf("never heard and no key: %v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// The machines facts, the nodes list, node and status all take that one function.
+func TestEveryReaderOfLastHeardTakesPresence(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
+	now := time.Now()
+	m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-time.Minute), every: time.Minute}
+	applyPresence(&m, nil, &presenceEntry{At: now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)}, now)
+	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)) {
+		t.Fatalf("machine facts take a report over the offline entry: %v", m.lastHeard)
+	}
+}
+
+func twoNodes(now time.Time) []inventory.Node {
+	return []inventory.Node{
+		{Name: "anchor", LastSeen: now.Add(-time.Hour)},
+		{Name: "laptop", LastSeen: now.Add(-30 * time.Second)},
+		{Name: "fresh"},
+	}
+}
+
+// 1183/AC2: a machine online by presence whose last report is an hour old reads here, is not quiet and is not silent; one
+// offline for 4 minutes reads out of touch.
+func TestOnlineByPresenceReadsHereWhateverTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC2
+	now := time.Now()
+	read := aPresenceFake(map[string]presenceEntry{
+		"anchor": {Online: true, At: now.Add(-6 * time.Hour)},
+		"laptop": {Online: false, At: now.Add(-4 * time.Minute)},
+	}, nil)
+	nodes, err := nodesHeard(context.Background(), twoNodes(now), read, now)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if got := heardFromAt(nodes[0], now); got != "here" {
+		t.Errorf("anchor online with an hour-old report reads %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := heardFromAt(nodes[1], now); got != "out of touch 4m" {
+		t.Errorf("laptop offline 4 minutes reads %q", got)
+	}
+	if got := heardFromAt(nodes[2], now); got != "never spoken" {
+		t.Errorf("a machine with no key and no report reads %q", got)
+	}
+	quiet := notHeardLately(nodes, now)
+	if len(quiet) != 1 || quiet[0].Name != "fresh" {
+		t.Errorf("quiet is %+v: an online machine is not quiet, and a machine offline 4 minutes is not quiet yet", quiet)
+	}
+	f := &machineFacts{name: "anchor", lastHeard: nodes[0].LastSeen, every: time.Minute}
+	if f.silent(now) {
+		t.Errorf("a machine online by presence is silent")
+	}
+}
+
+// Unreadable presence is said, and the report stands as it was.
+func TestUnreadablePresenceLeavesTheReport(t *testing.T) { // 1183/AC1
+	now := time.Now()
+	nodes, err := nodesHeard(context.Background(), twoNodes(now), aPresenceFake(nil, errors.New("no bus")), now)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "no bus") {
+		t.Fatalf("an unreadable presence is not said: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !nodes[0].LastSeen.Equal(now.Add(-time.Hour)) {
+		t.Fatalf("the report was replaced: %v", nodes[0].LastSeen)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go
index a297e7b3..8d8e19ec 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/nodes.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func nodeCommand(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return addNode(ctx, inv, args[1:])
 
 	case "list":
-		nodes, err := inv.Nodes(ctx)
+		nodes, err := open.heardNodes(ctx)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -755,22 +755,8 @@ func consumerReset(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// heardFrom says when a node was last heard from, in a form somebody can act on.
-//
-// "never" and "an hour ago" are different answers and are kept different. A node that has never
-// spoken did not finish joining; a node last heard from an hour ago is running an hour-old
-// picture of the mesh.
-func heardFrom(n inventory.Node) string {
-	silent, ever := n.Silent()
-	switch {
-	case !ever:
-		return "never spoken"
-	case silent > SilentFor:
-		return "out of touch " + roughly(silent)
-	default:
-		return "here"
-	}
-}
+// heardFrom is heardFromAt for now.
+func heardFrom(n inventory.Node) string { return heardFromAt(n, time.Now()) }
 
 // roughly is a duration a person reads rather than parses.
 func roughly(d time.Duration) string {
@@ -795,7 +781,7 @@ func roughly(d time.Duration) string {
 // assignment carries `card1-DP-1`, and a person composing settings for that machine needs it.
 func showNode(ctx context.Context, stored *stores, name string) error {
 	inv := stored.inventory
-	node, err := inv.NodeByName(ctx, name)
+	node, err := stored.heardNode(ctx, name)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/status.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/status.go
index 01cf7f98..2a103cdc 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/status.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/status.go
@@ -414,18 +414,11 @@ func theThreeQuestions(ctx context.Context, open *stores) (answers, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return answers{}, err
 	}
-	out.nodes, err = inv.Nodes(ctx)
+	out.nodes, err = open.heardNodes(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return answers{}, err
 	}
-	for _, n := range out.nodes {
-		// Never heard from, or not lately. Different from failing: a machine that says nothing
-		// may be new, switched off, or unreachable, and none of those is a machine that tried
-		// and could not.
-		if n.LastSeen.IsZero() || time.Since(n.LastSeen) > time.Hour {
-			out.quiet = append(out.quiet, n)
-		}
-	}
+	out.quiet = notHeardLately(out.nodes, time.Now())
 	out.behind, err = inv.Behind(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return answers{}, err
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
index e97a02df..bdab8e5b 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe.go
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ type presenceEntry struct {
 }
 
 // applyPresence sets what the watchman says of a machine: the verdict of its stuck presence key (nil when there is none).
-// A presence entry that says online counts the machine as heard now; otherwise last heard is the later of the store's
-// last_seen and the entry's time (the time it went offline).
+// Last heard is lastHeard's: now when online, the entry's time when offline, the store's last report only without an entry.
 func applyPresence(m *machineFacts, stuck *sdkdelivery.Stuck, entry *presenceEntry, now time.Time) {
 	switch {
 	case stuck == nil:
@@ -54,13 +53,7 @@ func applyPresence(m *machineFacts, stuck *sdkdelivery.Stuck, entry *presenceEnt
 	default:
 		m.presence = presenceSilent
 	}
-	switch {
-	case entry == nil:
-	case entry.Online:
-		m.lastHeard = now
-	case entry.At.After(m.lastHeard):
-		m.lastHeard = entry.At
-	}
+	m.lastHeard = lastHeard(m.lastHeard, entry, now)
 }
 
 // silent says the machine is silent: the watchman's verdict where it gave one, else the heartbeat rule. A machine never
diff --git a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
index aab335ea..a48305ff 100644
--- a/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
+++ b/cmd/mesh-controller/stuck_probe_test.go
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func TestAStuckPresenceKeyIsTheSilentVerdict(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC2
 	}
 }
 
-// 1156/AC3: with a presence entry that says offline, last heard is the later of last_seen and the entry's time; with none,
+// 1156/AC3: with a presence entry that says offline, last heard is the entry's time (1183/AC1); with none,
 // last_seen. An entry that says online counts as heard now: the watchman writes it only when it changes, so its time is
 // when the machine connected, and a machine online for hours with no stuck key is not silent, whatever last_seen says.
 func TestLastHeardFollowsThePresenceEntry(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC3
@@ -109,8 +109,8 @@ func TestLastHeardFollowsThePresenceEntry(t *testing.T) { // 1156/AC3
 	}
 	m = machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-time.Minute), every: time.Minute}
 	applyPresence(&m, nil, &presenceEntry{Online: false, At: now.Add(-time.Hour)}, now)
-	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(now.Add(-time.Minute)) {
-		t.Fatalf("an older entry replaced a newer last_seen: %v", m.lastHeard)
+	if !m.lastHeard.Equal(now.Add(-time.Hour)) {
+		t.Fatalf("an offline entry's time is last heard, not a report: %v", m.lastHeard)
 	}
 	for _, lastSeen := range []time.Duration{10 * time.Second, 5 * time.Hour} {
 		m := machineFacts{name: "laptop", lastHeard: now.Add(-lastSeen), every: time.Minute}