Han Zhang: Yes! That's the ticket!
After a few flickers, the lights inside the room come back on.
Woman: Impressive. Where did you learn how to tinker with machines like that?
Kiperina falters for a moment under the woman's admiring eyes.
Kiperina: Have you heard of those old stories about the end of the world? I used to believe in them, so I studied a lot about things like homemade generators and survival skills.
Kiperina: I thought that, with enough preparation, I could protect everything around me from disaster. But ...
Kiperina: In the end, it didn't make a difference.
She realizes this isn't a topic she is eager to discuss right now. She looks around the room.
It's strange, though; for a "home," it lacks a certain lived-in quality, and as a "holiday cabin," it feels too much.
Kiperina: Speaking of which, what is this place?
Woman: This cabin used to belong to a bear hunter. I made some changes, brought in some furnishings.
Woman: For now, it's just a hut open to all weary travelers. I would never turn anyone away.
Noticing Kiperina's questioning look, the woman smiles.
Woman: You think it's a little odd, don't you? Why would I be out here in such a remote place? I have my reasons.
Woman: We're about ten kilometers west of Zapolyarny; to the northwest, there's a drilling site. I work as the doctor there, and my husband is a mechanic.
Kiperina: That's quite far on foot.
Woman: Yes, it took us quite a while to get out here, but I didn't expect the weather to turn against us like this.
The woman stares out the window as the snow continues to pile outside.
Woman: The storm doesn't seem like it'll let up anytime soon. Let's just pass the time, then.
Woman: It all began a long time ago.
Woman: Back then, my husband and I were still young. We had good jobs in the city.
Woman: Then, one day, he came rushing home with a pile of papers.
Arseny: Look at this! These fools are insane!
Arseny: They want to dig a deep well, digging through the earth all the way to the deepest depths.
Arseny: It's not for oil or any other minerals, but just to find out what's at the earth's core!
Arseny: Tell me, is there really anything more ridiculous than that?
The man points to a line on the paper, his face glowing with a beaming smile.
Arseny: They're recruiting, and they need mechanics and a doctor.
Arseny: So, what do you say, Larissa?
Woman: We stayed for several years. Our first child was even born in their dormitory.
Woman: Heh, doesn't it all seem ridiculous to you?
Kiperina: No, it's not like that.
Kiperina: Whether it's the Earth's core or the edge of the universe, discovery is always valuable.
Kiperina: No one person can complete such a massive task. But if everyone does what they can, it's not impossible.
Woman: Arseny—my husband—he often says the same thing.
From the woman's fading smile, Kiperina senses something is amiss.
Kiperina: Are you saying that the project was not going well?
Woman: There were many difficulties that we hadn't anticipated, but in the end, we worked together to overcome them.
Woman: The deeper the well went, the more we believed that one day we would uncover the mysteries down below.
Woman: Until they claimed we had opened the gates of hell.
Driller I: I heard it, and there's no question, that sound could only come from hell itself!
Driller II: You think that's bad? I've seen it with my own eyes!
Driller II: I was smoking outside a few nights ago when I saw this—freakishly tall—figure near the kennels.
Driller II: I didn't really know what I was looking at. How could a person possibly be two or three meters tall, eh?
Driller II: And that was the night those dogs died. That thing was only about ten meters away from me at the time!
Driller I: We've got to stop this thing! Who knows what we could let out!
The crowd's fear spreads like wildfire.
But in the end, a bright, cheerful laugh drowns out the flame.
Arseny: Enough, enough, comrades! You don't really believe all that silly talk, do you?
Arseny: That sound was just the wind. As for the bear, Yakov and the others are already chasing it down.
Arseny: I see, everyone's been worn out lately, but pull yourselves together, comrades! Didn't we train for this?
Arseny: We're standing on the crust; beneath that is the mantle, and the Mohorovicic discontinuity is in between. Where do you think hell is supposed to be?
Sometimes, all it takes is a single voice for the flames of anxiety to subside.
Woman: Arseny has always been that way. He hasn't changed since we first met.
Woman: At times, he's almost like a kid still, always causing trouble, but when he takes the lead, people can't help but follow him.
Pride shines in the woman's eyes, but her smile changes.
Woman: He shouldn't have stood up like that.
Woman: That evening, I was called to attend to a worker with a sudden fever, leaving Arseny to watch over our eldest daughter in the dormitory.
Woman: The next morning, they found him lying in the snow.
Woman: Blood ran from the house all the way outside, and our child was gone.
Woman: They called it a punishment from hell itself.
