Candle in the Wind (1973) is also set in a research facility, although this one has an unspecified, international location. The scientists here are pursuing biocybernetics, the study of relaxation techniques for individuals under great stress. While such research may seem beneficent to Westerners, in the Soviet context it is fraught with danger. Like the research in The First Circle, biocybernetics has the potential to turn people into robots and make them easier for the government to control. The play depicts the spiritual struggle of Alex, the project mathematician. Freed from prison after a long but unjust sentence, Alex is attracted to Alda, a woman of deep spirituality whose soul is tormented by the life in a materialistic, technocratic society. Alex persuades her to undergo a "neurostabilization" treatment to help her be happy. To his dismay Alex finds that the treatment kills Alda's capacity for emotional experience...