Of course, everything that Myka said to him was being absorbed. It gave him a better understanding of her, even if he didn't completely comprehend how things in her world worked. So until he could understand it, he would draw parallels between her world and his so he could understand things for himself. He would also, of course, tell Svetlana later about what he was learning. It would be useful for her to know given how close her and Helena were getting. He was certainly not above espionage for matchmaking purposes, and he had an idea Svetlana wasn't above it either. After all, while Anatoly had always been aware of how he'd felt about Svetlana, she'd been in denial. And he and Svetlana knew better than most people what it was to find happiness in a place that seemed to be so devoid of hope and safety.
Listening carefully, Anatoly digested her words about the Warehouse. It certainly did sound a lot like the Soviet Union. Well, except for the part where Anatoly had actually escaped, but that was a bit beside the point in this matter currently. But it still applied. The Soviet Union was certainly a tough place to have lived in, and it sounded like the Warehouse was either much the same, or it was just so entrenched within those that worked for it that it was impossible to escape. Or perhaps some combination of both. It probably was a good thing Anatoly wasn't exactly aware that the Warehouse was a secret branch of the government. Even with being here for a year and having been in England for a year, he was still wary of the government. Yes, it was 21st Century America and it was obviously not the Soviet Union, but Anatoly still held an inherent distrust of the government. But who could blame him given the place he'd been born and raised in?
But the question Myka posed turned him from those thoughts. Which was for the better, he didn't need to dwell on the government or anything so dire right now. Right now, he was simply listening to Myka and doing what he could for her. He did hope that by the time he got Myka back to Helena's that the agent would be in a slightly better state. None of this would be instantly made better, but perhaps if she kept talking and get some things off her chest it would help, even if she didn't feel like it would.
"You may not have your job that helped define you here, but you still have your beliefs, your principles. Do they not also help define who you are? There is more to a person than simply what they do." Which was a lesson he himself had to learn the hard way once he'd lost himself within chess.