The writer Victor Nadezhdin, goes to an amazing city, which was formed around the Zone, created by the Guests, beings of the next evolutionary level. The city is separated from the Zone by a Wall. He hopes to see his daughter Dina, who has gone there. The so-called "runners" are constantly trying to break into the city. They are people who are ready to move to the next evolutionary level, and whom Guests are ready to accept, but ordinary people in every possible way prevent them. Victor's daughter, too, has become a "runner." She went to the city two years ago.