I Work Inside Antarctica's Secret Bases As A Private Chef

Scott’s Job at “Elysium”

Freelance chef Scott is offered an unbelievably well-paid, open-ended job at an unidentified facility in Antarctica. After a $10,000 private-jet trip to meet the client, he’s driven to a hidden complex beneath the ice.

The facility seems almost like an underground town: hundreds of fit men in matching tracksuits, locked doors, key cards, and staff who offer few explanations. One manager’s constant whistling echoes through the cavernous parking area, making Scott even more uneasy.

Scott is hired to cook enormous meals—sometimes hundreds of servings—and hopes the money will let him retire early. But the facility grows more disturbing. Its Wi-Fi takes control of his phone, blocks his apps, and installs an unfamiliar “Routine” app. His assistant Tim is helpful but strangely guarded, and keeps asking how Scott “found Elysium.”

Then Scott is woken at 1 a.m. for a mysterious “training” exercise. The residents are issued matching clothes and sent in groups out into the snow, following snowmobiles. Scott gets separated and returns to find his room cleared and his belongings gone.

The facility has filled with a new group of arrivals, and the whistling manager greets Scott with: “Welcome to Venus.” When Scott insists the place was called Elysium, the manager demands to know how he knows that. Scott is sedated and tested, then spends another month among the residents, who are periodically sent out into the wilderness.

Eventually, Scott deliberately falls behind during another expedition and escapes across the snow to a nearby town. A local woman helps him reach the airport. Authorities later claim they can’t find the facility, and Scott never learns what happened to the hundreds of people—or what the operation was really doing.

Sophie’s Midnight Warning

The second story follows Sophie, home alone while her family is away. A call comes in on the rarely used landline, and a voice that sounds like her father repeatedly tells her, “Lock the door immediately.”

The voice doesn’t respond naturally, so Sophie hangs up and calls her dad, who confirms he never called. He thinks it may be a scam and stays on the phone with her until she calms down.

Still frightened, Sophie asks her boyfriend Jared to come over. They fall asleep, but a couple of hours later Jared wakes, hears someone downstairs, and tells Sophie to stay quiet. She sees flashlight beams moving through the house as intruders search below. After several terrifying minutes, the intruders leave, and Jared tells her to call her father.

The strange call turns out to have been a genuine warning. Sophie’s father had recently argued with a group of brothers who were trying to buy his Rolex watches cheaply. One of them used technology to imitate her father’s voice and warn her that the others planned to rob the house. Police later identify and arrest the men.

Key Personalities

• Scott — The private chef who takes the Antarctic job.
• Tim — Scott’s quiet assistant at the facility.
• The whistling manager — A senior figure who oversees the mysterious complex.
• Sophie — The woman home alone who receives the warning call.
• Jared — Sophie’s boyfriend, who arrives and notices the intruders.
• Sophie’s father — The person whose voice is imitated.
• The brother who makes the warning call — One of the men involved in the attempted robbery.