A backpack stuffed to the brim with choice pearls worth a total of fifteen million dollars has come into your possession. What do you do? And what if you also find out that all the pearls are to be destroyed? Why? For what purpose? This riddle must be solved by Samokhin, an employee of the secret project bureau "Burvodokanal." In a strange twist, his investigation turns out to be connected to the motto of the firm where he works: "He who possesses information about the future possesses absolute power."