The hours before surrender stretched like elastic time where minutes felt like hours and hours passed like seconds. Ral sat with Maya on safehouse balcony, watching Moscow lights flicker through winter darkness while Dmitri and Yuri coordinated surrender logistics inside.
"Alexei left an hour ago," Maya observed. "Just... disappeared without goodbye. Can't blame him. Goodbyes make everything harder."
"He made his choice," Ral replied. "We made ours. No judgment either way. Survival takes different forms for different people."
"Do you think he'll actually survive?" Maya asked. "Running alone with forged documents, no support network, hunted internationally? Or does he just die slower and more isolated than us?"
"I don't know," Ral admitted. "Maybe he builds new life somewhere authoritie
