Hello I am back expect some spontaneous updates and my need for reviews to stay motivated! Thank YOU for reading!
Going from California to Russia in the dead middle of winter is not something I would ever recommend. It was just the place I found my dumb ass in right now. I would also never recommend joining the Russian Mob, but I was way past that point. It hadn't exactly been my first point, but I needed a way out of Jump fast. My initial plan had been get smuggled to Russia and sneak off to the West see Italy, France, whatever place had that fancy chocolate. The literal feet of snow that fell overnight had thrown a rather large wrench in that plan, but summer had to come I hope.
I had not mastered the Russian language, but the one contact I had Anton knew English well enough to save my ass. Being a security detail was below myself and my suit, but better than having my pound of flesh being taken by Dr . He had gotten a tracker on me in my last robbery and I was without a safe house by the time I was able to pry it off my belt. He was more of a threat with his team working on ways to peel off my skin with the suit. Resources plus crazy were not always a good cocktail to interact with. There were better stores of Zynothium in Belarus anyway so it just was a matter of finding a map and determining where the hell that country was. Geography was never my strong point. My Russian had expanded to yes along with thank you. That's all they really wanted to hear anyway when I was working a job. I understood more of it, but wasn't even going to try and read it. Why didn't everyone have the same alphabet?
My one saving grace had been the fact that Moscow as we currently were in for some personal business had both a Mcdonalds and a Subway. I had lucked out since I had learned that most Russian food was not a great selling point. It was fine in a eat or die from starvation scenario, but it was going to be an accustomed craving. Though that baklava wasn't that hard to swallow.
My suit heating system was also not entirely ideal. It trapped my body heat, but it was not designed with intention to hit subzero temperatures. I wasn't freezing to death, but I felt the cold in an entirely new kind of intensity. It was like biting into a frozen popsicle with your two front teeth. When you first stepped out you got shivers and pain, but you learned to deal. I was almost tempted to get a fur coat since that's apparently acceptable when the temp dips 20 or more below. I just still had a tinge of that Californian mindset where I was worried some crazy vegan would throw red paint on me for wearing it. I made do with what I had and a water resistant duster when we were out walking in heavy snowfall. I had gone from a boy who had never seen snow to being up to my ankles in it. It still had a bit of wonder to it for me. Partly since it meant that it was a warmer day when the fat flakes that looked like popcorn would fall. It was more fragile and inconvenient than the movies made it out to be. My boots had fair traction, but a bit of black ice on the sidewalk could make anyone fall squarely on their ass. It had happened to me a little more than the rest, but they just called me the "Californian" whenever I did anything. I asked to avocado, I didn't naturally walk in snow, I didn't know how to play curling, and I still took time to style my hair even if my face was concealed under my Red X mask.
My boy Anton had helped me a lot and I owed him one, but he had gotten promoted up when someone got shot or hit by a car. I still didn't have a solid grip on what happened , but they told it very extra. I suspected more people knew English than they were letting on, but so far my main source of information was a dude they called the "Horse". I didn't feel the need to expand on how he got that nickname, it was either dirty or lame. I had no clue his actual name, but he was a bit of a jerk so I was down to stick to calling him something simple. He was the one who gave commands on what we were doing and what was expected out of me. They were not actively working on stealing so I just added intimidation factor and numbers with security. Once personal business was concluded we would be preparing for a bigger hit for blackmail. They weren't as interesting in raiding and robbing people just wanted to ensure that they remained high enough on a pedestal. They liked being able to walk around and not worry about anyone busting them. It was strangely satisfying to not have any fucks if the police drove past me in a full on super villain suit. They were not going to do shit as long as I stayed where I was at. Though I didn't blame them for not wanting to fuck with the boss man.
He was simply called boss, but he was given the title of "Stalin Lite" by the crew. He was a meta, where he had bones that were made out of steel. His hair was alarmingly blonde and he stood at 6 foot 7 or 2 meters since people used the metric system around here. He knew English as well and was quite sociable, but I didn't know how much I wanted to be buddy-buddy with a man who had a tire iron for a femur. He liked my costume and what I could do. He also liked that I was so small it made him look even more looming. He kept me close and comfortable which was better than I expected. I just could never forget that I was only here since he had strangled the guy who had my place before him. I just needed to stay on his good side until I could get a way West and hopefully an area with more signs in English.