Maria is beginning a serious depression. Her husband, Victor, has been gone for three weeks, and Maria is really feeling his loss ("I thought I didn't need friends with Victor around, and now that he's gone, my friends have decided the same thing."). Maria is neglecting her work--she is the inventor of an experimental female fertility drug, and her colleague, Vladimir, is picking up the slack. Vladimir is also willing to replace any other missing facets of her life, if Maria will let him in. Maria lives day by day, slowly floating away from reality. As Maria's drama unfolds, a black-gloved killer is roaming around the city, targeting young women.