In the new Russia, former middle class citizens find themselves out in the dumps. Literally. They build homes, elect their own government, work, beg, scavenge, date and fight all while living in a huge city dump. Some try to beat the odds and return to society, but it seems that there is only one place left for them to go...

The summer of 1971 was hot and dry. This circumstance ensured that the plan would be exceeded and promised large earnings for Ivan Kopyriv's geological exploration expedition, which was located in the area of the Tunguska village of Erbogachen. Upon encountering a layer of permafrost, master Yelfimov, contrary to fire safety regulations, ordered the permafrost to be thawed with bonfires. However, the dry and gusty wind did its job: the resulting fire spread with catastrophic speed to the continuous forest areas, and the situation spiraled out of control.

A popular middle-aged writer is warned by a fortuneteller that he will die in exactly 24 hours. He then meets a man, who claims to be him. The writer uses this bizarre situation to change his life and take revenge.

In an ordinary industrial Soviet town, notable only for presence of a radio-telescope, people start behaving strangely, in a robotic manner, while assuming geometry-inspired aliases and organizing into a new hierarchy. The phenomenon spreads via a device of alien origin, called “the mediator”, capable of implanting extraterrestrial minds into human bodies. The aliens are bound by limitations of the terrestrial technology, having to use the means at the disposal of humans to prepare the grounds for the full-scale invasion. With “the mediator" being unable to subdue minds of children, lunatics, geniuses, and rebels, a struggle over the fate of the town and the human civilization ensues.

Russians once called Kokui a settlement inhabited by foreigners. It was believed that the customs prevailing in such settlements had nothing to do with Russian national customs. Such a "Kokui" was the base near Moscow, located in a corner of paradise, where every morning rescue sailor Natasha swam naked and, perhaps, therefore seemed accessible to everyone. Men suddenly fell in love with morning fishing, women are preparing a terrible massacre, the authorities do not know how to prevent a social explosion...

Based on the eponymous short story by I. Bunin.

Operation "Resident", which lasted 15 years, is coming to an end. But the indestructible agent of "Nadezhda" has one important mission left. Agent Carl Brockmann, who intends to steal the work of Academician Nikolai Nesterov in the defense sector, has been abandoned in the USSR. KGB leadership asks Mikhail Tulyev to return to the Soviet Union to find the spy. Meanwhile, Brockmann recruits former fascist collaborator Mikhail Kutepov for involvement in a dangerous operation.