Xandrya

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

Surviving Iceland

“Don’t mind if it do,” she pulled out the chair directly across from him, placing her duffle bag on the empty one next to her. Sophia grabbed the small, one-sided menu that all tables had instead of standing across the counter to look at the choices up on the wall. Honestly, she wasn’t all that hungry. She was used to not eating for extremely long periods of time, not that she was a fan of that.

Some toast and a bowl of fruit, that’s what she’d decided on. “I’ll see you in a minute...” And with that, she got up to place her order. Even with both of them sitting down, Sophia could tell he had at least half a foot on her. She was agile, and had been trained plenty of times in self-defense, but this one particular job had her slightly doubting her own abilities, especially after reading his file, if all that was even true. The Russians couldn’t ever be trusted to play nice, but she had this one all planned out, now it was only a matter of executing said plans

A few minutes later she was back at the table with him with what could be could be confused for a child’s snack. “Hope you had a good flight, mine was long. Didn’t get much rest.” Sophia bit into the toast, appreciating its warmth.

Surviving Iceland

The dark circles under her eyes were a sure tell that she had gotten practically no sleep during the long flight, despite her being the only passenger. The small plane stopped on the tarmac just shy of the hangar. Sophia pushed the table tray aside and grabbed the duffel bag not too far from her feet, gracing the pilot with a quick wave as she made her way to the exit. He in turn offered a mock salute with a smile. Funny guy that one.

Someone else from the flight crew had already opened the exit door, and Sophia went down the steps, the sudden chill practically cutting through her. As previously discussed in the briefing, she made note of the black vehicle waiting a couple of hundred feet from the plane. The small sheet of paper with the address to the cafe was in her back pocket, and she’d hand it to the driver so he could drop her off at the location. Sophia could only hope this Dmitry guy was already there as she certainly wasn’t in the mood to sit around and wait.

The 10-minute drive was non-eventful. She was looking out the window at the scenery, noticing certain features in the different buildings they passed. Sophia recognized some of them from before. She’d never been to Iceland, but she took it upon herself to take a virtual tour beforehand. One could never be too prepared, after all.

A few moments later the vehicle stopped in front of the small, cozy cafe. It was slightly busy inside, but that was expected as it wasn’t lunchtime yet. Sophia grabbed her bag and stepped outside the vehicle without saying a word. She closed the door behind her and just as quickly, the driver made his way back into traffic. Sophia then walked inside, taking a look at all the male customers sitting alone. She spotted him on a small table by the large glass window and made her approach.

“Hope you had a good flight,” she smiled, as friendly as if she were meeting a long-time friend. Needless to say, the two were the furthest thing from friends.

Surviving Iceland

Timeline:

1. The Meeting - Complete
2. Safehouse - In Progress

Note: The RP is on hold or has possibly ended as my writing partner announced he'd be going offline for the foreseeable future.

Backrooms: The Thing that Breathes

“Well look at that, you’re my good luck charm!” A few brief moments that were filled with relief once the water had drained and Michelle didn't have to risk drowning, which would have more than likely happened as she didn't know how to swim. "And we have snacks for the road..." She smiled down at the worm, petting the top of its head as if she were petting a little kitten. Michelle made her way to the door, noticing the basket to be just the tiniest bit out of her reach. But that was an easy fix.

"Hey little guy, I'm gonna put you down for a moment, okay?"

She was gentle in placing him on the ground, as if a rougher handling would have put its delicate life in danger. Looking up at the basket, Michelle jumped up an inch or two to knock down the basket, pushing it away from her with her hand. She was successful the first try, and quickly retrieved back a few steps to avoid being hit in the head. The somewhat loud crash didn't startle her, but being it was a few feet away from the plushie, it could have done a number on its tiny body. "Sorry about that, I should have put you further away."

Michelle grabbed the snacks and bottle of water, taking a knee to place them inside her bag. She figured it was be better to save them until they were truly needed. "Let's head out, shall we?" She scooped up the little worm before heading through the door, fully intending on keeping the plushie for as long as possible.