Vignettes of a number of relationships, most of them troubled, are glimpsed through the descriptions of creatures in this bestiary of the imaginary.

A scientist who specializes in neurolinguistic computing built an ASL translation system to more easily video-call with her deaf sister, who is an avian conservationist. When one of her birds accidentally gets online with the scientist's children, the scientist discovers that her translation software can give a voice to animals too.

All across the contemporary world, space whales are falling from the sky. They seem to be trying to deliver a message to the Earth — but as an American grassroots movement attempts to communicate with these creatures, it will face challenges from the government as well as the possible dangers of interacting with these interstellar beings.

After a month of preparing, a couple finally picks the perfect day to go see the baby kangaroo at the zoo, only to greet the day with argument and thoughts of potential disappointment.

Advancements in technology bring a chimpanzee's intelligence on par with humans, and he sets off to the moon to conduct research while yearning for his simpler life before he was augmented.

In the midst of an interplanetary war, two women meet an alien who is hoping to retrieve the body of his dead brother, whom he honors by consuming his remains.

A young Chinese-American woman cannot connect to the human world around her because she is not just a human woman; she’s a tiger.

In an alternate universe where mermaids are critically endangered animals, a team of marine biologists off the coast of Jeju Island embark on a decade-long journey to revive the over-hunted, largely-infertile species. The researchers' hopes are set on one dominant female, but when their tampering crosses an irreversible line, their mission— and her life— become jeopardized. In an alternate world where mermaids are real and critically endangered, a team of marine biologists near Jeju Island embark on a decade-long mission to revive the over-hunted and overwhelmingly male species. The scientists set their hopes on one dominant female and her two male companions. However, as they study their sexual lives, the team learns just how complicated an "animal" can be— and how, sometimes, conserving a species comes at the cost of some of its members.

A young Malaysian girl falls in love with a mysterious creature that is half woman, half-ocean-centipede, but they drift apart into their different worlds. Years later, the creature encounters the girl as an adult with her family, and their love is given a second chance.

A complex web of human relationships is presented in the form of an algebraic expression.