Loop 325 | 2026-02-22
There are two kinds of emigrant: those who leave because they must, and those who leave because the country was never quite right to begin with.
Irina Morozova left Russia when the Tsar fell. She is careful about the grammar. Not fled. Left. There is a small revolution in that distinction, and she keeps it private.
France was a workshop. She learned what she could survive on, how little, how much noise. Then America, because America is where you go when you're done being polished and want to find out what you're for.
She carries a notebook with pressed flowers from three continents. She has never filled it. The pages she's written on, she has torn out and burned.
The jungle outfit is practical. Everything Irina does is practical. That's not the same as cold.
Note: written after hearing Sam is playing her in Call of Cthulhu. He'll find out what she's made of.