And once again a whirlpool of all kinds of events sweeps Fyodor Degtyaryov along — but now he is guiding his own path toward his goal. Ahead of him lies a difficult and principled moral choice in his personal life: in romantic relationships, he will have to decide on something that cannot simply be brushed aside. Meanwhile, war and uprising are engulfing the country. The fourth book in the "Constructor of Living Systems" series.