Author's Note: I didn't know what I was doing at first. But then I remembered that we hadn't seen Russia for this season so far. So, here we are. Let's check in on Ivan and Project Drioma, shall we? Ah yes, Valya seems to be developing well, isn't she? This one turned out rather nicely. What is going to happen next week? We shall have to see. But for now, enjoy this week's match.
Match Eleven: Valya:
Her debut in Japan is set for autumn. Until then, she needs some tightening up.
It didn't matter to Ivan.
Still, something didn't sit well with him. At home, he sat in his office.
"Wang Ja," the Russian man spoke up. His butler raised his eyebrow.
"Hm?" he asked.
"What would happen if your siblings would reunite?" Ivan asked.
"I don't really know," the Hong Kong butler said.
"Why is that?" his boss asked. Wang Ja shrugged and shook his head. The look on his face said that he didn't enjoy the Russian man digging into his family life. Ivan waved him off.
"Never mind," he said. "You can go." Wang Ja turned and walked out of the room. Ivan watched him leave with a dull look on his face. His boss wanted the two Koreas to reunite. The Russian man knew this wasn't going to work. Just as predicted, they wouldn't listen to him.
He was used to that by now.
But this issue still nagged at him.
Ivan picked up his phone.
"Hello?" Yao asked.
"Yao, it's me," the Russian man said. "How have you been?" There was another pause on the other line.
"Fine… why?" the man asked.
"How is your family?"
"Ju and Jing are fine. What is this about? What do you want?"
Ivan paused as his face became grim. "How is Im Yong doing?" There came another pause on the line.
"Why?" Yao asked in a whisper.
"Your brother is in trouble," Ivan said.
"What do you mean?" the Chinese man asked.
"His twin sister."
"Oh…"
"Have you heard from Mi-Soon?"
"Why are you asking me these questions?" Yao asked at last. "Why are you concerned with my family? You are creeping me out."
"I can't tell you much right now," Ivan said. "There is only one thing I can tell you."
"What?" Yao asked.
"A divided country will reunite," the Russian man said. He hung up before Yao had a chance to talk. He did his part to warn his frenemy. Just hoped that he would take it seriously.
Meanwhile, progress was going great.
Valya could now talk like a normal human. Took about three days to do it. No more low growling.
"So how are you today?" Alisa asked this morning. Valya lifted her head.
"Good," she said.
"That's good," the scientist said. She patted the siren on the head. Valya smiled at the affection. Alisa took down more notes. The siren tiled her head. Ivan watched from outside the cell. He had to admit that she looked much prettier from when he nearly hit her with his car when they first met. What was the endgame with her though?
"I feel hungry," Valya said. Alisa looked up.
"Hm?" she asked.
"I am hungry," the siren repeated.
"We'll get you something to eat in a second," the scientist said. Alisa turned to Ivan and signaled him to act. The Russian man turned and walked down the hall.
"Can you stand up for me?" Alisa asked.
"Why?" Valya asked. The scientist looked up; eyebrow raised. This was new.
"I need to see if you can use your legs without any problems," Alisa explained. "Your communication still get better each day. Don't you want to be able to move as good too?" Valya took a moment to think about that.
"You want me to move?" she asked.
"Yes," the scientist said. "Can you stand up for me?" Valya tried to push herself to her feet. She wobbled at first.
"Whoa," Alisa said. "Don't fall over on me!" She grabbed the other woman's arm. Valya caught her balance. She looked at the scientist.
"Take your time," Alisa said. Valya slowly helped herself up. It took a few minutes for her stand up straight.
"Let me look at your legs," Alisa said to the towering creature. She lifted up her tattered black skirt. The scientist made a face. The skinny pale calves were covered in deep purple splotches. The veins looked so black.
"Ooo. Does it hurt when I do this?" she asked. Alisa started to poke the other woman in the right leg. Valya didn't make a sound. The scientist looked up at her. The siren didn't have any reaction on her face. Alisa stood up before her.
"You can sit down if you want," she said. Alisa took out her small radio.
"Could you come down here with the tray please?" she asked. "There's something that we need to test right now." Valya tilted her head, silent. Alisa's conversation over the radio didn't last long.
"We will conduct another test," she said. "For now, you rest and eat." By that time, Ivan came with a large tray of red raw meat. He pressed the buzzer at the door.
"Permission to come inside," Ivan said. Alisa walked over to her side of the door and hit her buzzer.
"You may come in," she said. Ivan punched in the code on his side. The doors slid open. The Russian man rolled the tray into the room. He assisted Alisa in feeding Valya.
"Here you are!" she said. "Time to eat." The siren rushed forward and dug in. Alisa turned to Ivan as she walked out of the room.
"We need to talk. Follow me to the roof."
Ivan turned and followed behind without saying a word. Valya was left to eat up all of the meat.
