Mia still didn't trust any three-letter agency, and with some difficulty, had her own translator approved before the Royal Four met with two heroes from the Russian government.
Viktoria turned to Mia sitting beside her at the table. "And you're saying he simply reappeared? Why were we never notified of this?"
It pained Mia to lie about it, but she wanted no reason for World War III. She still didn't believe in feeding gentle lies. "He's only just reappeared now."
Viktoria relayed it in Russian to one of the men, who replied likewise. "And how do you know he's reappeared?"
Mia relayed how they had tracked Daigo, replacing China with Russia and Daigo's name with 'their target.' She stifled her frown as one of the Russians replied angrily - something about Ryumi and Moscow. His subordinate interrupted him and the two spoke for a while.
"They're talking about a Russian town." whispered Viktoria. "Bilibino. It hasn't responded to any communication."
"Tell them we need to search it." muttered Mia. "Our target may be there."
Viktoria waited for them to pause, then relayed it to another angered response. "They're asking why you feel so certain he is in Russia and not China."
"China already investigated it." said Mia evenly.
Another relay & response. "Isn't your agency not authorized in China? How could you know?"
Mia sighed. "Tell them that we're searching Bilibino, and they can hold their incessant fucking questioning until after."
"Are you certain?"
Mia nodded. While she didn't appreciate Viktoria's more sycophantic qualities, part of her enjoyed that she never gave any argument. "Say whatever you need to."
Viktoria relayed it, and Mia guessed by their expressions that it hadn't been censored. One of them raised their voice at her and Viktoria raised her's. He stood up and yelled something at Mia, and when his subordinate mumbled something Viktoria gave him a glare that sealed his lips as she started shouting.
"This is about what I expected." muttered Samuel and Serena & Yuruko laughed.
"If they don't hurry up, we're leaving." muttered Mia.
Viktoria stood up and Otstoy's tentacle smacked the table hard enough it cracked. His subordinate shot up and yelled what sounded like a string of curses at her, and she responded with a few Serena & Yuruko had heard playing DOTA 2. After another minute, the two sat back down and Viktoria sighed. "They'll allow you to search first. They have a host who speaks English - they want him at the next meeting instead of myself."
Mia nodded. "We accept."
Viktoria relayed it, and the Russians mumbled something before they left the room. "I assume you do not want that translated."
Mia's head shook as the five stood.
"Time to go." chimed Serena.
Viktoria whispered to Mia. "President Swarm, may I speak to you in private?"
Mia glanced at her squadron. "I'll meet you outside." She turned to Viktoria. "What do you need?"
"May I ask you for advice?"
"Of course."
Viktoria cleared her throat. "I'm having some trouble with my protege - I do not believe she's ready for mentorship in August. I…" Viktoria frowned. "…I am not asking for an extension, but… I suppose I am at a loss for how to teach her. She's very disciplined, but she still relies too much on my orders. She has difficulty fighting on her own."
"Natasha?"
"Yes."
Mia nodded. Plenty of students had come to her for advice before; it was usually a way to ask permission for what they wanted to do anyway. "Have you spoken to her about it?"
"A bit, but I have the feeling she would rather grow an ulcer than talk about her problems. She would already be hurt enough if she knew I was asking you for advice."
"What do you mean?"
"She…" Viktoria sighed. "…she's very dependent on my approval. It's almost a bit suffocating, but…" Her head shook. "I'm sorry - this is not relevant. She's a good protege, but I'm concerned that she won't be a good mentor."
Mia stifled her frown. She hadn't seen Natasha in a while, but her last view of her was that she let her self-pity blind her to others' emotions - particularly Naomi's.
She gave Viktoria what advice she could, but privately thought of this as the issue with mentors so concerned with objectivity that they saw no value in friendship with their protege. They usually churned out second-years who only knew solutions that ended by scanning a corpse. If she presented herself like this to Natasha, it was no surprise that the neurotic had placed her on a pedestal.
Thinking back on it, it was a moment of weakness that she'd approved the swap. None of the four involved had learned to live with somebody unlike themselves.