Set among the grey concrete apartment buildings of a rundown and soulless town in Eastern Siberia, a mentally tortured assassin for the Russian government becomes disenchanted with life as a killer.  He retires to his seedy apartment and, hearing voices in his head, he decides to experiment with 'trepnation'.  By drilling holes in his skull, he hopes to be able to see beyond the veil of everyday reality, a reality he can no longer endure.