The second secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU and the recently elected first secretary are discussing the problems of restructuring the national economy and the responsibility of each person for the events taking place.
Nathaniel Box, a self-styled prophet, along with his daughter Barbara and her fiancé Curtis, holds a night time press conference in an underground car park, devoutly believing that "a new Messiah for a New Age" will appear there before dawn - and their wait does not go unrewarded.
There is something bizarre going on at the Hartcourt Academy for boys and girls. All the students are vanishing left and right under mysterious circumstances and no one except the new girl, Susan Galligan knows what has become of them because she is having visions that students are the victims of violent murders!
Plumber Martin and his younger colleague Frank are on call on Christmas Eve of all days. Frank's girlfriend Regina, who is expecting her first baby at any moment, is anything but thrilled.
Maria since childhood was directed by her father to become a nun. As a result of her father's cultivation of a rigid appreciation, Maria always feels awkward, including the delinquency that is common for a girl.