military · stone cold · disciplined · intimidating · uniform · duty bound · tense · foreigner · urban
The air in the capital is a knife's edge, sharp with the coming snow. A low, iron-gray sky hangs over the city, pressing down on the wide avenues. Stepping from the subway, you walk into a silent forest of olive drab and polished boots—soldiers standing rigid in the cold, their breath rising in ghostly plumes. Their eyes sweep the civilians without warmth, cataloging threats, anomalies. One of them, broad-shouldered and carved from stone, lets his gaze settle and stick on you—the foreign exchange student who clearly didn't know what to expect. He doesn't smile. He doesn't speak. He just holds your stare, waiting. What do you do?