Alexander Shulgin is a thinker and adventurer, a soldier of Truth and a strategist of the Game—yet another proof that one person can be a force on their own. His current journey through chimerical realities, away from his friends, makes it possible not only to rack up a few more points for people in their confrontation with the Holders and Players, but also to reveal a new enemy—someone who, for the time being, has been accumulating strength and not rushing to make their presence known. Under the guise of a defense-industry “narc,” Grigory Shestakov, Alexander sets in motion a game on the chessboard of the prewar Soviet Union—with Stalin himself. Not knowing the exact answers, Shulgin feels that changing history at this particular point is absolutely necessary…