The film commences the island St. Croix, which, together with its neighboring islands St. John and St. Thomas, were a Danish colony until 1917, when they were sold to the US. The film combines 16mm footage from an abandoned house (a typical example of the 19th century colonial architecture at St. Croix) with a story about the Moravian Brothers. The Moravian Brothers came from Germany to the Virgin Islands in the 18th century to baptize the slaves, and the film addresses how the islands through history have been used as a labo-ratory for empires elsewhere. The Moravian Brothers had some remarkable procedures for decision-making: all decisions were taken by the drawing of lots. Many unexpected decisions were made on the islands those years.