The familiar world of Lena Slutskaya and Pavel Shirokov is stratified in time: before the destruction of Atlantis and after. The distant ghosts of a disappeared country are increasingly taking on real shape. Her ex-fiancé is trying to kill Elena because he is being pursued by a woman very similar to Elena. And Paul turns to the hermit to find out what is happening to him. But he calls it a “key” and refuses to explain anything. Is it nice to feel like you are the “key” to unlocking secrets? There is no choice, everything happened a long time ago and it is impossible to resist. Everything is explained by Paul’s long-dead friend, in whose image the Messenger comes to him from his homeland, so distant and fallen into the depths of the sea...