In this fast-paced thriller Dr. Oleg Tupolev, a former Russian mind control expert, sets up an Institute in Berkeley California to find ways to control people's dreams and thoughts. Two of the subjects in his latest study, college students Brian and Melanie, stumble onto hidden activities at the Institute that Dr. Tupolev will kill to protect. They also uncover a serial killer among the study subjects who is intent on killing them to protect his identity. As the two are pursued they jump from one escape to another, all the while complicating things by falling in love with each other.