This novel is written in Russian. The reader may notice that at no point in the text is there mention of specific dates. The time when all this was happening is depicted rather vaguely. You have my word, I struggled to avoid this drawback. But I could not. The only thing I can say about it - is that the course of events is likely to have happened in the first half of the twenty-first century. Maybe at the beginning of the first half, maybe in the middle, and maybe even at the end. That's all. However, I can indicate with precision and full responsibility where it all happened. This happened...