Ah, Symkaria. It's good to see that some things never change...
This is the top of Silver Sable Tower. There's a penthouse atop it.
Silvija sits in a window, and looks out...towards Latveria. She's distraught. Her BFF almost got killed, on her last mission. What's even worse, he's not the same man. He's not a man at all. He's an android...and he seems okay with that...for some reason.
Below the windowsill she sits in, a Russian blue paces back and forth, rubbing on her bare leg. She picks up the cat, and pets her.
She can't take this anymore. She stands, throws the cat on the bed, and takes a trip to a room downstairs.
In it, there's a high-tech telephone. North America sill has six years to go before Bell invents the telephone. All the Russian States have to do is wait for someone else to invent it for them...and never hear of Bell when the time comes.
Silvija doesn't even have to dial. She picks up the receiver, and presses a button. She wipes her eyes, and waits for Victor to pick up. He sure takes his time. But then, he's still getting used to being an OsCorp android, isn't he?
At last, he picks up. "Silvija," he mutters. "How are you?"
"I've been thinking, Victor. And I can't do this anymore. You're off the Wild Pack. I don't want you to come with me to do jobs anymore."
"Look, Silvija, I like what's happened to me. I didn't die..."
"I don't care. You could've. I almost lost you. I can't ever risk that again. Plus, you're not the same man. You're not a man. You'll never be...never again. I'm serious. This is my op. Let me handle it...without you."
Depressed, Victor lies on his bed, in his own royal mansion in Latveria. He sighs, and acknowledges his longtime unfair-weathered friend's concern.
"Fine," he says. "Your op. I'll stay away. I'm sorry it has to be this way."
"Me too." She wipes her eyes. "See you socially, at least."
"You too." With that, Victor hangs up, and sighs. On one hand, he likes what he's become. OTOH, he must confess his life hasn't been the same since that mission...
Overwhelmed, he clasps his robot hands behind his head, and tries to get some sleep. The lights in his eye-slits dim...
And, they brighten again, as he has a vision. In it, there's a bright light. It's shaped like a phoenix. It's far away. It keeps calling his name...
You are strong, it says. We need your help. Come. Free us.
Slowly, Victor sits up, in bed. He turns his robot head here, and there. He thinks he knows where that voice came from. Funny; up until a few moments ago, he didn't even know that place existed...
He rises. He grabs his green cloak, and heads out.
He has a rendezvous with a mysterious force...out in the Kazakh desert. With or without luck, he'll return a different man...and it's already bad enough, for sweet Silvija, that she can no longer look at Victor without being reminded of how horrible it was to lose him.
He doesn't expect this rendezvous to make him feel better. But it sure would be nice for him, if not Silvija, if it did.