“This is Session Zero. The ‘Organic Protocol.’ Student is Subject K-9. Native Moscovite, no English. We will bypass conscious learning entirely. Direct neural patterning via rapid-fire gradient interval recall.”

A cold dread slithered down Elara’s spine. This wasn’t the polite, tourist-focused Pimsleur method. This was something else.

The first few tapes were unremarkable. The familiar, gentle voice of Dr. Paul Pimsleur guiding a student through “Excuse me, do you speak English?” and “Where is the hotel?” The student was earnest, wooden. Elara almost turned off the reel-to-reel. Then she noticed the second box.

A new voice answered. A woman’s. Flat. Mechanically precise. “I am ready.”

The door to Room 117B had a small window of wire-reinforced glass. She didn’t remember locking it. But standing in the dim hallway, watching her with flat, mechanical precision, was a janitor she’d never seen before. An elderly woman in gray overalls. She held a mop bucket.

She threaded the first one, А . The audio was different. No introductory music. Just silence, then Pimsleur’s voice, but strained, as if he were recording in a closet.

There was no Pimsleur. Only the woman. She was speaking rapidly in Russian, then English, then a seamless blend of both. She described the layout of a building Elara didn't recognize—the ventilation shaft size, the guard rotation, the precise angle of a security camera’s blind spot. Then she paused.