Chapter Text
Valeriy has become even more determined in tracking Mitya down now. The major has been following him ever since his 'death' last week and the situations starting to get out of hand.
It feels like Mitya doesn't have any say over his choices anymore. He hasn't spoken to Valeriy about it, but with how far the others going he might need to establish some boundaries. Don't get him wrong, it's clear that Valeriy is trying to protect him from whatever happened last week, and it almost sweet, but it feels like every decision that he makes has to be approved by 5 people beforehand. Its frankly ridiculous.
At least he has returned to work by now. Having nothing to do at all became boring very quickly, to the point that even he was delighted to be back.
He's been sneaking off less lately, mainly because he had less opportunities to do so with being constantly observed. And the atmosphere of his laboratory became suffocating by the time half of the week passed. That's why he couldn't miss the moment when one of the Fatui guards dozed off and Valeriy was busy elsewhere. He slowly crept out of the room trough the long, winding hallways of the Zapolyarny palace. Luckily most of the Fatui soldiers from the special assignment battalion were having a meeting with the Jester today so he didn't encounter anyone on his way.
Outside he quickly made his way to the Korolevskiy theater, as he always did when he didn't have a plan where to go.
The theatre was as lively as ever with patrons and casual fans all gathering to enjoy the following performance. After buying a ticket he sat down on his seat near a woman. She introduced herself as a reporter from the magazine "bring out the kvass" and their conversation somehow shifted to be about the upcoming veche.
"What is your opinion on Lelek, Mister Mitya?"
Was she fishing for information? This seemed like a perfect setup for an article headline.
"Hmm. I don't really have one. I don't necessarily think that what Lelek is doing is wrong, but the methods they're using are a bit excessive."
He could see the reporter - Mironova - scribble something in her notes. She's Definitely fishing for information. But he was always pretty open about most of his opinions, it wasn't like he was opposed to being 'interviewed'.
Mironovas scribing halted once the lights inside the theatre dimmed and Vodyanitsa entered the stage. She looked beautiful, just like she always did.
The song she was performing today was already familiar to him. It was the piece 'pod lodnay rekoi'. She's been performing it for ages already, but he always noticed a difference in between her performances. The changes were minor and probably not even intended, but trying to find them has become one of his favorite past times. It gave his brain something to do while he got to listen to the best singing that he's ever heard.
And once he starts focusing on something he manages to think about the best ideas for project Stuzha which meant that technically - if you stretched the definition - he was actually working. Sure most of his notes aren't really that useful at the moment, but that's the point of research. You discover around 1000 different 'useless' facts before making progress that leans on those previous theories. It's kind of like building a house in a way. Just that the house could collapse if a single previous step was done wrong.
Time goes by in a flash and soon the half an hour long performance ended. The entire audience including Mitya - well at least once he noticed that Vodyanitsa finished her song - broke out in loud clapping and cheering.
Mitya walked across the busy streets. He's aware that it's better to get back to work now, especially since the Meeting should be over in a few minutes, but signing paperwork didn't exactly sound appealing at the moment.
Snezhnograd was quieter than usually today, on any other day there would be several street vendors all fighting over people's attention. The silence was quite welcome, it meant that hearing Valeriy would be easier. Not that it would really matter, but getting a head start would give him a bit of an advantage.
Speaking of the devil. Just as he remembered Valeriy there was the telltale sound of atleast a dozen stomping boots crushing snow. Mitya immediately took shelter in an Alley, then heard the group consisting of Valeriy and his small army come to a stop. He was starting to regret his decision, this was a really stupid move on his end. Running would be better, that way he could've hid in a restaurant or a different place that had a big crowd he could blend into.
From his shelter he could see the soldiers split up in groups of two, Valeriy being the only one who was left on his own. The pairs then all went in different directions presumably to speed up the search.
He decided to head deeper inside of the alley to see if there was a way out of here.
At the end there was only a dead end in the form of a wooden fence.
It wasn't very tall, maybe he could climb over it. Sure he wasn't very athletic, but trying wouldn't hurt - or well at least it wouldn't if he was careful - it would be better than just sitting here until a Fatui soldier found him.
Ok maybe it was a bad idea. He saw a trash can nearby and the bright strategy he came up with was to use the thing as a makeshift stool. The problem with that idea was however that the damn thing had wheels. And it rolled away right after he barely managed to get a grip onto the fence. So now he was suspended in the air with no way to get down. After hanging there for Archons know how long he risked a chance and barely dragged himself over the edge falling with his face into a big pile of snow.
Never again would he do something this stupid.
"You shouldn't lie in the snow mister Mitya."
Crap. Just the person he didn't want to see now.
Mitya lifted his head from where he was laying and sure enough before him stood the Major of the battalion something something himself. He gave the major the brightest smile he could muster while being in pain. Hopefully It was convincing enough to not appear suspicious. Even stricter security would probably make him go insane.
"Ah. Valeriy, good to see you. How was your meeting withhhh" Mityas drawled the last word, he completely forgot who exactly Valeriy was in a meeting with, but his mouth sometimes worked faster than his brain. (He wasn't sure whether this should be counted as impressive or just plain annoying. Probably both, it did help in some cases if not often.)
-the Jester?"
Valeriy didn't answer and instead bent over to help the scientist get onto his feet.
"Would've been better if I didn't have to chase you down immediately after returning." Well he didn't correct him, that must mean that he was right.
"I have no doubt that your work at the armory palace would have already been done if you were willing to invest even half of the amount of energy that you invest into running from me." Valeriy glanced at him briefly, Mitya learned long ago that this was his way of being annoyed. Either that or he was mildly disappointed. it was kind of difficult to tell with his reactions being limited to somewhat passive aggressive glares. Though it made him all the more interesting. Trying to figure out Valeries mood was surprisingly or unsurprisingly - depends on who you ask - quite fun.
"Now where's the fun in that." Mitya chuckled but the Major didn't look particularly amused.
"You need to learn how to relax off work Sarge. I don't think I ever saw you doing anything but work."
"Belief it or not Mister Mitya but I do have Hobbies. I just know that working hours aren't the time to pursue those."
The scientist sighed. "I fail to see why you're this interested in strictly adhering to a timetable. I'm telling you. You only really start enjoying your life once you let go of your rigid schedules." He smiled.
Valeriy looked unimpressed. After that conversation they continued walking in mostly silence. If Valeriy noticed that Mitya was being quieter than usually than he didn't comment about that.
Back at the armory palace things continued as usually. Mitya was back in his office looking over some of the reports with Valeriy standing in a corner so still that you could mistake him for part of the interior design.
This peace didn't last forever though and soon Mitya was starting to feel bored again. Over time all of the letters morphed into a blurry mess, practically unreadable.
Mitya pushed his reading glasses on his forehead to rub his eyes and took a moment to look at the clock.
15:30, there was still some time until he could go home.
After reading the same sentence for what seemed to be the 15th time he decided that the best move now would be to go on a walk. He needed to move, otherwise he will just sit here with no ability to comprehend the sentences.
There was only one person shaped Problem standing in his corner. Valeriy would probably not let him go before his shift ended, Mitya knew that arguing with the Major was about as effective as debating with a door.
That meant that he had to become creative. Think outside the box if you'd like to call it that.
He drummed with his pen upon the stacks of paper as he always did when he was thinking about something. What distraction could he pull off that wouldn't be suspicious and effective at the same time.
Out of the hallway came a loud crash, Valeries attention was immediately on the noise. He looked at Mitya accusingly, the scientist just shrugged.
The Major sighed. "Can I trust you to stay here? If you leave then I will make sure to organize someone to stay here next time I need to leave."
"What are you talking about Sarge. I assure you that there is no need to worry about me. I will totally stay here." Mitya flashed the brightest smile he could manage. Valeriy didn't look convinced but still left after a threatening glare.
Mitya jolted out of his seat as soon as Valeriy was out of the door. He did want to leave at first but his curiosity won and he decided to follow in order to see what happened earlier. Damn the consequences that would surely follow from being seen outside his office.
Inside the hallway there were several people who were all heading in the same direction of the crash. Looks like he wasn't the only one who decided to check out what happened. He could even spot a few of his coworkers from the energy commission. The noice must've been pretty loud if it reached them from the other part of the building.
All of the Foot traffic ceased at one of the bigger labs in the building. Most of the people were all gathered in a big circle around the door. He could hear them all chatter with each other but understanding the entire situation from a couple words was difficult. The sentence that was thrown around the most was a reason for worrying though. "Are they dead?!" Several variations of this sentence were all muttered all in the same allarmed tone.
He pushed himself to the front of the crowd. Most of the people grumbled at first but parted and let him trough once they recognized him.
Mitya could hear a few Fatui soldiers barking out orders. They were all of higher ranks judging by their uniforms. In the very front of the small army of officers was Valeriy who was knelling down next to one of the scientists. That's what seemed to be the problem.
There were atleast a dozen of researchers lying on the floor. All immobile as if passed out or worse. He rushed over to the scene.
"What happened here?" Valeriy immediately snapped over to Mitya once he heard him.
"Mitya, didn't I tell you to stay in your office."
"That's not important at the moment. What happened. Is anyone hurt?" Mitya tried his best attempt at a glare. He was deadly serious about this. These were all people that he knew for years. He had a right to know if they were in serious danger. Valeriy didn't answer at first, Mitya could see him hesitate. But whether due to his serious tone or him being his superior he finally answered.
"They're not responsive. No vital signs either. The medical team has already been called to examine them." Hearing this was like a punch to the gut. How? He just saw them. He was sitting with Ivana on his lunch break just yesterday, giggling about some dumb story. Now she was dead just like everyone else?
Soon medics rushed in and brought all of the victims to the medical wing.
The rest of the day moved by in a blur. He remembered returning to his office. Death or not he had work and the Fatui didn't see dying people as a good enough excuse to skip work.
Valeriy was way more lenient with him today though. He didn't comment after seeing Mitya staring off into space lost in his thoughts instead of signing paperwork. There was something seriously wrong.
One person dying - well nearly dying - was a coincidence but 12 people dying in the same room all at the same time that was suspicious. Maybe a workplace accident? There was a crash earlier. Did something detonate and harm everyone. But the room itself was completely fine. Not even a single scratch, if that was true then there would be way more damage. A chemical explosion was off the table too. There were plenty of people after the incident. The smell of the gas would logically kill everyone else too, but that didn't happen.
He had to investigate, there was something fishy going on and he wouldn't stand on the sidelines.