ACT TWO
the russian code.

ARLO HELD HIS FINGERS TO his temples as he listened to the tape again, his eyes glued shut as his headache pounded against his skull.

They had listened to the tape over and over, hoping they could make out what the men were saying. They hadn't even been close to figuring it out so far.

"So, what do you think?"

"It sounded familiar." Steve paced, shoving a bit of a banana into his mouth. His words making Arlo's eyes slowly open.

"No shit it sounded familiar, we have listened to it twenty times." Arlo reminded, removing his hands from his temples.

"No—no, not the message.. The music, the music in the end."

"Why are you listening to the music, Steve? Listen to the Russian! We're translating Russian!" Dustin yelled, causing Arlo's headache to only get more irritating.

"I'm trying to listen to the Russian, but there's m—" The Harrington boy was cut off when the breakroom door swung up, Robin entering the small room.

"Alright, babysitting time is over. You need to get in there." Robin demanded, Steve being taken back by her words.

"I can't, i'm doing important shit." Steve paused, turning to Arlo for backup.

Despite the pain in Arlo's head, he still caught onto Steve's silent plea; making him butt into the conversation. "He's right—This is important."

"Yeah? Well, if you don't get in there right now, so help me I will—Hey! my board. That was important date, shitbirds."

"I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data." Dustin finally added, Steve tossing his banana peel in the trash as his friend spoke. A proud smile placed over his lips as he did so.

"Yeah? and how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?"

Dustin's jaw turned into slack at her words, his head shooting towards Steve. This time with accusing eyes. "How does she know—You told her about the Russians?"

"It wasn't me!"

"Arlo, did you tell her about the Russians?" Dustin turned to his other friend, receiving a head shake in response.

Arlo wasn't even friends with Robin, he wouldn't tell her about anything. Much less about this.

"Hello, I can hear you—Actually, I can hear everything. You are all extremely loud... You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate but you haven't figured out a single word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet. Sound about right?"

"Lucky guess." Arlo mumbled, placing his hand under his cheek. Hoping his poker face was evident enough to show the girl that he didn't want her help.

When Robin attempted to grab the tape recorder, it was obvious the face wasn't clear enough. Making Steve be the one to snatch it before she could get a hold of it.

"Woa—what do you think you're doing?"

"I want to hear it."

"Why?" The three boys asked in unison, not bothering mentioning the jinx.

"Cause maybe I can help. I'm fluent in four languages, you know?" Robin pleaded, making Arlo raise his eyebrows in some shock.

"Russian?" Dustin questioned hopefully.

"Ou-yay are-yay umb-day" Robin's response made Steve and Dustin whoop, excited to hear that they'd be able to figure this out sooner rather than later.

Arlo was less excited, catching on fairly quickly that that wasn't Russian. Robin proving his theory when she spoke again, this time in a much harsher tone.

"That was Pig-Latin, dingus."

"Idiot." Steve softly hit Dustin's shoulder, the curly haired boy sending him a look of shock.

"But—I can speak Spanish, French and Italian, and i've been in band for twelve years.. My ears are little geniuses, trust me." Steve chuckled at her words, not buying it. "C'mon, it's your turn to sling ice-cream and my turn to translate. I don't even want credit i'm just bored."

She then placed her hand out, patiently waiting for Steve to cave in. Which she knew he would.

He sighed before placing the recorder in her hands, taking the scoop in return as he tightly pulled his lips together. Regretting his choice already.

    Arlo had began to repeatedly softly hit his head on the table, while he was sure a light bruise would form he didn't care. He was exhausted.

The tape had been played well over fifty times now, each time making the Leone boy more and more irritated.

"Wait—just play that last part one more time." Robin stopped pacing, Dustin immediately following instructions.

He rewinded the tape a bit, pressing play once it was a few seconds prior.

Once it played Robin spoke again, this time pointing at the recorder. "Okay, that word.. Um—It's pronounced dly-nna-ya."

"Dly-nna-ya.." Dustin repeated, hoping this was going somewhere.

"Which is spelled... D—"

Dustin now hopped up from his seat, rushing towards the board as Arlo lazily stopped hitting his head. Paying attention to what was happening, for now at least.

Once the Henderson boy reached the board he read out the letters to Robin, who had begun to scribble them onto a piece of paper.

Arlo had realized he wasn't being helpful, he just didn't care. After all, he didn't assume this was actually going to lead to a secret message. He was just using it as a way to pass time, avoiding going home for as long as possible.

Arlo trudged his feet along the hardwood floor, a smile tugging at his lips as he walked closer to Steve. Who currently had two customers in his line.

Once he reached Steve, the Harrington boy let a smile cover his lips. His mood instantly less damp.

"We got a sentence." Arlo spoke, his quiet voice making Steve lean forward. Getting a bit closer to the boy.

"Well? What is it?"

"The week is long." Arlo answered, he knew the sentence was boring. But, when they volunteered him to go update Steve, he wasn't going to deny the request.

"Well, that's thrilling."

Arlo nodded, leaning his body weight against the wall behind him. Not wanting to go back to the break-room just yet. "Man, can you switch back with Robin? She's—bossy.."

Instead of answering, Steve held up a finger. Handing the two teen girls the ice-cream cones.

It was then that Arlo recognized who the girl's were, or at-least one of them. Max Mayfield.

Once he made eye-contact with the redhead, a smile appeared on his lips. His feet dragging him closer to the counter. "Max."

"Arlo."

"Wait a second—are you guys even suppose to be here?" Steve butt in, aiming his question mainly at Eleven.

Eleven and Arlo had never met, yet he didn't question Steve. Instead he turned towards the girls once more, this time furrowing his eyebrows a bit.

The duo then giggled to each-other, grabbing one another's hands before rushing out of the ice-cream shop. Smiles plastered on their lips.

"That doesn't—okay." Steve mumbled turning back to Arlo, unfortunately, before he could start a conversation someone else had ran into the ice-cream shop. This time calling the Leone boy's name.

Ida.

The girl seemed dazed as she walked towards the counter, her outfit seeming disheveled. "How'd I know you'd be here."

"Lucky guess."

"Mhm." Ida hummed, glancing at Steve with a smirk appearing on her lips. She hadn't forgotten about Arlo's crush, and she knew her brother wasn't over it either. "Hi Stevey."

"Hi? Listen if you're not gonna order then I have some.. Important business to take care of. You know—the thing."

While Arlo was about to question what he meant, it clicked his brain a second later making the boy nod. "Mhm. We have to go."

The boys then began walking back to the break room, being stopped in their tracks when Ida spoke up again. "I ain't got any where to be."

They then shared a look, Steve sighing when Arlo had shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon Leone." Steve caved, a smile creeping onto Ida's face once she was invited back.

"The week is long, the silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west." The group read in sync, Arlo being the only one to not help read the words out-loud.

"This is so dumb." Arlo mumbled as they finished talking, picking his hoodie up that he had discarded thirty minutes prior.

"He's right, when you told me Russian Secret I was expecting something cool. Not this lame shit." Ida added on. Robin staring at her intently, seeming to hang onto every word.

"This is something cool. We just uncovered a secret, we just need to find out what it means." Dustin rebutted, shaking his head as he began to make his way out of the break-room. The rest of the group following him.

Once the group reached the ice-cream shop lobby, Steve spoke from his spot beside Arlo. "I mean, it just—it can't be right."

"It's right."

"Honestly, I think it's great news." Dustin added on again, refusing to admit the code was dumb.

"How is this great news? I mean—so much for being American heroes. It's total nonsense." Steve dragged his feet, his pace purposefully slower than Dustin, Robin's and Ida's. After all, Arlo had always been a slow walker, and Steve wanted to walk beside him.

"It's not nonsense, it's too specific. It's obviously a code."

"A code?" Ida questioned the curly haired boy, her interest peaking just a little bit.

"Like a super secret spy code."

"Bullshit." Arlo mumbled, speaking up louder once Dustin had turned around to look at him. Now walking backwards. "That's gotta be bullshit, they're probably talking about an animal shelter—"

"I don't know.." Robin shook her head, not believing the Leone boy.

"You're buying into this?" Steve's eyebrows were now furrowed, shock written across his face. Robin seemed skeptical of everything, yet here she was. Believing some made up excuse.

"Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What'd you think they were gonna say? Fire the warhead at noon? My translation is correct, I know that for sure, so.. The silver cat feeds? Why would anyone talk like that unless they're trying to mask the meaning of their message. Why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message, unless the message was somehow sensitive?"

"Yeah—I kinda get it." Ida nodded along, suddenly fully convinced on the topic.

"I guess that confirms your suspicions."

"Evil Russians!" Dustin said happily, Robin laughing quietly at his enthusiasm.

"I can't believe i'm about to agree with this strange child, but, yeah, Evil Russians."

"So, how do we crack it?"

"Well, I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges."

"A pattern?" Arlo mocked, dragging a hand down his face. This all still sounded like bullshit.

"Yes, Arlo. A pattern. Maybe Silver Cat is a meeting place? Or a weapon? A person?" Dustin rambled on, Robin being the only one still intently listening.

Arlo's annoyance was placed on hold when a hand had grabbed onto his sleeve, softly tugging the boy back.

The bleached-blonde boy turned at the action, confusion covering his feature when he realized it was Steve tugging on his jacket.

While both boys felt a spark of electricity at the simple touch, they brushed it off once Steve began to hint at the boy to follow him.

Steve silently led him to a tiny indoor carnival ride. It was a small brown horse, Indiana Flyer was painted in blue letters along the side.

When the reached it Steve knelt down, pointing at the horse.

When Arlo still looked confused, Steve sighed. Calling out to the trio who had kept walking. "Guys, I need a quarter."

Robin and Dustin then turned around, a little confused to see the boys kneeling beside a kid toy.

Ida had a different expression than the other two, a proud smile over her lips as she sent Arlo a subtle thumbs up.

Her brother ignored it as he watched Robin pull a quarter out of her pocket, tossing it towards Steve. "Are you sure you're tall enough for that ride?"

Steve didn't reply to her question, pushing the quarter into the horse as he remained silent.

The group watched in collective confusion now, not understanding why Steve had been so adamant on turning on this ride.

"You need help getting up?" Ida questioned, earning a giggle out of Robin.

"Will you three just shut up and listen?" Steve scolded, his attention fully on the horse. None of the group catching on that he had told three out of four of them to shut up. Arlo being the only one he wasn't annoyed at.

It was then that the group noticed the quietly song, it was upbeat and cheery. A strong contrast to the vibe of Hawkins.

Dustin was the first to catch on, his finger pointing at the horse as soon as he did. "Holy shit! The music—" He then paused, urgently pulling the recorder out of his backpack. "The music!"

Once he had fully gotten the recorder out, he pressed play. When the recording had started, both Ida and Arlo caught on fairly quickly. Robin being the last one to understand.

"It's the exact same song on the recording!" Dustin explained to the Buckley girl, the Russian recording still faintly playing.

"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia."

Arlo's face dropped into a deadpan, staring at the blue letters as soon as he processed the words. Steve seemed to be thinking the same thing seeing as he read the words outloud. "Indiana Flyer? I don't think so.. This code—didn't come from Russia—"

"It came from here." Ida added on, glancing around the group. Her belief that the Russians were evil only growing as the discovery.