An enormous war machine, the  KM (Korabl Maket), known colloquially as the Caspian Sea Monster, lies stranded in a coastal grave along the beaches of Dagestan, Russia; experts investigate and uncover the ruins of an experimental Soviet ground-effect vehicle designed to strike fear in Western governments during the Cold War.

Experts investigate how a ruinous financial crisis combined with murder mystery schemes caused the decline of the Sathorn Unique Tower, an opulent skyscraper in the heart of Bangkok's busy streets, a structure now little more than an empty shell.