Xandrya

Surviving Iceland

"You're lovely complimenting me all the time," she responded dryly to his comment without bothering to look up from her screen. She then continued to passively ignore him as she typed away on the keyboard but did listen for the updates. This time, Sophia looked up at him.

"Yes, I'm still going with you. That is my job. That, and make sure you don't fuck up," she shrugged before turning her eyes to the screen once more. Her lack of sleep combined with his shit attitude was working her last nerve, but Sophia would never give him the satisfaction of seeing her worked up. She finished up what she was doing at the time and closed shut the laptop, figuring it was as good as time as any to stop. "I'm going to take a nap for an hour or two. Wake me if you need to and don't do anything stupid."

And with that, she tucked the laptop under her arm and headed upstairs.

Backrooms: The Thing that Breathes

@Xandrya How do you mean? I'm always looking for ways to improve. :)

@Estylwen

Oh no I mean sad for the two guys, and also for their little ones. It was a great read!

Backrooms: The Thing that Breathes

Well that was an ending that left me a little broken in regards to their characters...

Looking forward to a future one!

Backrooms: The Thing that Breathes

Michelle would have done for because I got none of the riddles 🤣

Backrooms: The Thing that Breathes

Michelle looked down for a moment. "Still not used to that." With a slight shake of her head, she looked over the random set of letters. The first thing she did was attempt to establish a pattern or find any words that would be easy enough to guess, and it didn't take long. "Zpv" was "you". The next thing to determine was the first word. If didn't have any of the other three letters, so she guessed it to be "if". That made sense as it certainly flowed in a sentence.

After that, Michelle took out her cell phone as it'd be hard to try to decipher the phrase with no pen or paper, especially since she was working against the clock as the worm had said.

A few minutes later, thanks to the powers of deduction, Michelle had figured out the phrase. "If you want to move past this door, stay still. Stay perfectly still." That was more or less what she had been doing up to that point as she worked on the puzzle despite the footsteps unnerving her more with each approaching step. The instructions had been clear enough, and Michelle waited in place, heart beating so hard it could practically burst out of her chest.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing," she whispered to no one in particular, though maybe the worm would offer some insight. Was the approaching person, or thing a friendly? She wasn't prepared to find out, but she didn't have any other choice.

Surviving Iceland

She chuckled at his reaction; as if they were long-time friends. The stereotype was true; Russians loved their vodka. And this one in particular fit that stereotype to a tee, with his smoking and whatnot. Sophia was impressed with how easily Dmitry downed the amount he had poured, and that told her he had been drinking for a long time, probably since his early teens. The fact that he didn't think twice about having a drink would certainly work to her advantage later on.

"Yes, I'll go with you; it's an advantage we'll have on top of the element of surprise."

Sophia had been leaning against the counter, though as soon as she finished the glass of water, she placed it in the sink. "I'll be in there," she motioned towards the front room, that which she had chosen for a multitude of reasons. She would be more comfortable, and she'd be able to see outside. The intel she was briefed on was vague; for all they knew the target was extremely connected and heavily prepared, and it was up to the two of them to figure that out prior to the takedown. Unlike the majority of her previous missions, there wasn't going to be any back-up if things took a turn for the worse. It was just them two; and in the end, just her. Eventually, whatever they managed to extract would go back to the states with her; there was no way in hell the Russians were getting their hands on it.

A few moments later and she was on the couch, laptop positioned over her crossed legs as she began to type.

Surviving Iceland

"Yes, let's go," she responded, wondering which type of firearm was in the pouch.

Sometime later, the two found themselves in front of the safehouse. Sophia unlocked the door and waited for Dmitry to walk inside, eyeing her surroundings before locking the door again. The house itself was medium-sized, sitting on a few acres with a small gravel path lined to the small dirt road. The nearest neighbor was roughly five minutes away on foot.

"Make yourself at home. The pantry and refrigerator have been stocked up with all the essentials. Your room is upstairs to the left, at the end of the hall. Mine will be on the opposite side." Sophia sidestepped so he could see the alarm panel by the door. "I'll turn this on every night; a copy of the code is in your nightstand just in case you forget." She put her bag down, walking past him to the kitchen.

"I'll do some research for the remainder of the day and maybe you can work on our approach so we can do some recon. Unless you've been told something different..."

Sophia reached for a glass in one of the cabinets and poured herself some water. She said she'd do some research, and maybe if she found herself with nothing to do afterward she'd go ahead and take a nap as well.

Surviving Iceland

“You smoke,” Sophia arched an eyebrow, eyeballing him. Great...that shit’s gonna linger. Her expression turned even more solemn at the thought. “Thought you’d be the type to keep yourself in top shape, unless they’re cutting you slack...” Sophia was being facetious with that last bit, her expression softening as a small smile formed.

They both crossed the street, and for a moment she contemplated staying behind and wait for him, but decided against it. “Lead the way, we’ll get to the house after and make a game plan, then eventually we’ll settle in."

Sophia remembered how she had practically begged to get a partner she knew; someone she had worked with before. But such decision was beyond the control of her superiors.

Surviving Iceland

A quick nod before she spent the next 5 minutes or so eating her food silently. Sophia found it slightly irritating the way he was acting overly friendly. She by no means knew the man, but the personality he was fronting was definitely not his.

Once she was done, she put whatever trash on top of her plate and started getting ready to leave. It wasn’t until they were outside and away from people within ear’s reach that she spoke again, this time her tone not as friendly; there was no need to play pretend anymore. “I’m sure you’ve been briefed but as a reminder, you’ll be on the same floor as me in the house. What you do is your own business, and it goes without saying that you should handle whatever you need to handle away from the location. No loud music, no disturbances, and don’t leave the site without letting me know. It ain’t a prison, but you know, OPSEC and all. Any questions?” She looked in his direction, adjusting her bag.

Surviving Iceland

Sophia Kensington