Marco nodded her head excitedly, then turned and went down the spiraling stairs towards the lower level.
Sergio headed up the staircase to the main level, as Maro was likely in the mess hall or, god forbid, looking for him in his room. He quickened his pace, hoping to reach the men’s barracks before anyone noticed that he hadn’t been in his own bunk overnight.
Upon reaching the barracks hall, Sergio was relieved to find that it was also vacated, and he had not passed Maro or many other people on his way here. He slipped into his room quietly, just in case, pausing for a moment to collect himself before slumping into the chair at his desk as if his body weighed a hundred pounds more than usual. He reached for his notebook and pen, his journaling always helped cement his experiences in place, and there was certainly a lot of new information to remember from the previous day and night.
He had heard the full story of Sacco and Marco’ introduction at Kitai-Gorod, and then the emotional departure where Sacco had kissed her goodbye before coming to Exhibition – and sounding as if he knew that his quest would not turn out well for him. Mostly, it was the middle part that Sergio wondered about now, how often did Sacco go to see her? Did he take her along on his missions in order to show her how to operate in combat? No, he couldn’t have been so arrogant as to bring her into a dangerous situation or involve her with any of the Order’s covert undertakings. Maybe he just showed up at Venice and Avtozavodskaya whenever he had time, and would just teach her about weapons and combatives there? As usual, getting an answer to one question simply spawned twenty more in its place.
Giving a hopeless sigh, he threw his head back and looked up at the ceiling, the paint or whatever substance sealed the concrete structure was cracked and peeling. In each chasm he could see an image from his memories and daydreams, and each one led to the one next to it, branching off into a hundred different possibilities and overlapping realities, merging and diverging until everything looked the same.
“Hey Sergio, are you awake in there?” Makarov’s voice called from near the open door.
Sergio’s mind came back to reality in a snap, and he turned his head to answer affirmatively, quickly closing the cover of his notebook so Maro couldn’t pry.
“I didn’t see you in the mess hall, so, I was worried. Usually you’re in there before me, and that’s really saying something!” Maro huffed out a soft chuckle as his casually-clad frame filled the doorway.
“You got the day off, eh?” Sergio gave a nod to his partner’s attire. “Special occasion?”
“Nah, just hit my limit on patrols. I feel fine but you know the med bay guys, ‘take a mental health day’ or so they say.” Makarov’s eyes rolled.
“Hey, can I ask you something?” Sergio scooted his chair back as a way of inviting Maro to come into the room.
“You just did!” Maro teased, but then took a step inside and looked more serious. “What’s up?”
“I asked Vera about the cartridges, like you said. He still had the same one, from Sacco.” Sergio began digging in his pants pocket for the trinket. “I just thought, well wondered, if you had any idea what the note inside might mean?”
“Hmm, let’s see it then.” Maro said thoughtfully, stepping in closer and taking a knee.
Sergio finally produced the capsule on the string, dropping it gently into Makarov’s outstretched hand. The Hunter took it carefully before his eyes, examining the exterior before unscrewing the cap. Unfolding the small piece of paper, Maro studied the note carefully for a long minute before speaking.
“I mean, it’s pretty straightforward. He spells out his mission right here – that we know. And then he mentions you, and yeah we sure did need you – you helped the Order find D6. So that must have to do with why the Colonel accepted you so readily.” Maro bobbed his head back and forth as he was working through the possibilities aloud.
“And the ‘you know what to do’ part?” Sergio pressed, peering at the note in Makarov’s hands as if it might have some hidden codeword on the back of it that would help decipher the meaning.
“I dunno, could be about tying up a loose end somewhere, his last will and testament carried out? But he didn’t have any family to notify or anything. We were his family.” Maro made a sneer, looking as if he might sneeze or something.
“Could it be referring to Marco?” Sergio wondered aloud, eliciting a wry smile from Makarov.
“Huh, now you may be on to something there – since she’s here as well, isn’t she?” Maro suppressed a giggle. “I told you she was part of the family, even if she never came over here before.”
“But what, though? Vera didn’t even seem to know what station she was from, it’s not like Sacco could have expected anyone to bring news to her if he never told anyone where she was. And she had to set a trap just to find out any news at all about Sacco; they got me from Venice because of my uniform.” Sergio continued thinking out loud, not caring if Maro was hearing it all or not, maybe some magic word would come spilling out that would crack the code. “Even if he really wanted her to come to Polis, why would he write this to Vera at that point?”
“Maybe it was some kind of pact they had. Maybe there’s a secret file that Sacco kept hidden about how to contact her. It might not even be about Marco at all. I think you’re reading too much into it.” Maro clapped Sergio on the arm, helping to bring him out of his thoughts. “There’s no way to really know unless Sacco was actually here – or if you want to go asking Vera about it.”
Sergio shook his head in the negative, pursing his lips in frustration.
“Come on, kid, have you eaten at all? Let’s go back down there together. I’ll help you keep your head on straight for a bit.” Maro smiled, but his voice was calm and comforting so Sergio didn’t even mind being called a kid.
“I have to stop by the laundry room first.” Sergio said as he slowly rose from his chair. He motioned to turn out the light and realized he had never turned it on in the first place.
“Alright, to the laundry room then, come on.” Maro placed a hand around Sergio’s shoulder, and began steering him out of the room and down the hall.
After retrieving the clean Roten Spaten grey fatigues, Maro steered Sergio into the mess hall. Here there was a moderate level of activity, a mellow din of Hunters and support staff having a meal and plenty of conversations. Sergio quickly scanned his eyes around the room but did not come across Marco or even Anna. Internally disappointed and slightly worried, he fully gave in to Makarov’s control and allowed his partner to guide him all the way to the buffet line.
“You better eat plenty enough to get your strength up; your name is on the docket for tonight’s patrols.” Maro scolded, giving a lazy swish of his hand as he turned and left Sergio to the task. “I’ll be sitting with Viktor and Herman, come join us.”
Sergio nodded his head and turned to look at the day’s selection; fish stew, pork belly, and fried potatoes. He helped himself to a portion of each and poured a cup of tea to wash it down with. Walking over to where Maro was sitting with the other aforementioned men in the front corner, he could hear snippets of conversations around them about a variety of topics. Two Hunters were talking about their turn at the Church outpost the previous day, and it sounded as if everything was quiet there now and Sergio was relieved. Although he wondered where Marco was or if she’d already come and gone, he wasn’t worried about her like he had been before. Knowing that she was somewhere safe inside D6 was enough to soothe his nerves; he would save his anxiety for their mission later on, and wondered what it might entail.
“Did I miss much from the briefing this morning?” Sergio asked before taking a slurp of his soup.