In a futuristic society in which humans can swap out bodies as they please, a woman's son lies critically injured in a hospital after an accident. As they attend to him, she reflects on the ways society has changed and strained her familial relationships.

An American college student who studies Russian history heads to St. Petersburg at the the end of the Cold War and becomes attracted to her roommate's boyfriend, a former soldier. His stories, along with her interactions with other college students, add to her experience of a tentative social environment in post-war Russia.