An American man moves to Germany and falls in love with a married Norwegian woman in his language class. Their contrasting artistic tastes foretell a fundamental rift.

A crew of global explorers realize they may not be alone in the universe when they encounter a traveler from another world who wants to use his space technology for evil.

When married scientists invent a means of observational time travel, they hope to expose the WWII atrocities committed on Chinese prisoners by the Japanese at Unit 731 in Pingfang. However, their efforts only stir up political controversy and hateful backlash from denialists, and ultimately reveal that nations - and individuals - often choose to hide from the past rather than confront it.