At a top-secret Soviet scientific institute in the 1950s, Natasha oversees the canteen. Everyone comes to the DAU universe's pulsating heart: institute personnel, scientists, and visiting international guests. Natasha's world is tiny, divided between the responsibilities of the canteen during the day and alcohol-fueled nights with her younger coworker Olga, during which the two share their ambitions for romance and a new future. Natasha meets a visiting French scientist named Luc Bige at a party one evening and they sleep together. Her life takes a drastic turn the next day when she is summoned to an interview by General Vladimir Azhippo of the KGB, who investigates the nature of her relationship with the foreign visitor.