Mirrors to Atlantis

Chapter 2

Polina entered the town grocery store, greeted by the sweet chime of the bell above the door. The warm air welcomed her, a soothing caress against the slivers of skin exposed around her eyes and ears. It felt good to escape the bitter cold outside. The hum of the fluorescent lights and the soft music playing in the background offered a comforting background symphony. Work, she thought, was her solace, a brief respite from the otherwise depressing reality of her life, or the lack thereof.

"Good morning, Polina!" chimed a friendly voice from behind a tower of hats and scarves.

"Hello, Marta. You're working the morning shift today?" Polina replied to the dark-haired, stocky clerk who typically worked the afternoons.

"Yes, we've got some new holiday displays to assemble," Marta explained. "I volunteered. I need the extra hours to visit my family this year."

"I see," Polina nodded as she headed to the back office to clock in.

Viktor, the reserved manager in his thirties with salt-and-pepper hair, sat at his desk when Polina entered. He raised his coffee mug in a casual greeting. Polina reciprocated with a nod, punched her timecard, and settled into her position at the checkout counter up front.

As she counted her till and prepared for her shift, Polina gazed at the store bulletin board. It held the same in-store sales and local business advertisements she saw every day. The bulletin board rarely changed, and many of the fliers and announcements were faded and falling apart.

As the day passed, Marta completed the Christmas displays and headed out for lunch before her shift officially started. Viktor retreated to his office for a third cup of coffee, and only two customers made their way through the checkout line. Polina once again found herself idly staring at the bulletin board to pass the time.

Then, she noticed something unusual. An advertisement had slipped from its place and now rested on the floor. It wasn't old and tattered like the other papers that had become part of her daily routine. This one was new, and she hadn't seen it before.

Polina bent down to retrieve the fallen ad, realizing that whoever had put it up hadn't done a very thorough job. She shook her head as she read the writing on the paper:

In Search of Test Subjects
High Compensation
Submit Applications with Viktor

Curiosity piqued, Polina knocked on Viktor's office door. "Hi, Viktor, what's this?" She waved the paper at him.

Viktor looked up from his book and adjusted his glasses. "Ah, some scientists came by. They're conducting a test and asked if we could help them find test subjects."

Polina leaned in, her interest growing. "What kind of tests are they conducting?"

Viktor shrugged. "I don't know."

"And what's the compensation?"

"I don't know," he repeated.

"But why are they having you collect the applications for them?"

Viktor's gaze hardened. "I'm not privy to that information. They'll be picking up the applications next week. If you have questions for them, you can ask when they arrive."

Polina felt dismissed, her excitement slightly deflated. She filled out an application for the test subject advertisement and returned it to Viktor's office with a smile. He barely looked up, sliding the paper into his desk drawer without a word.

"Thank you, Polina. I'll make sure the scientists receive this. You may go now."

Turning away, Polina made her way back to her post at the register. An unexpected flutter of excitement danced in her chest. What could this mysterious scientific experiment be? What brought these scientists to Dikson? What kind of facility did they have out here, in the middle of nowhere? And most importantly, what would they have their subjects do?

But then, darker thoughts crept in. What if they injected them with something dangerous? Could it be a physically taxing experiment? Polina quickly dismissed these fears; anything new would be a welcome change from the monotonous existence she had endured for the past four years.