In a future where technology has advanced to the point where humans can undergo "optimization" to rid themselves of emotions and increase their mental functions, one man decides to cling to his humanity in an effort to atone for his sins and appreciate the beauty of being human.

A writer gives an account of his friend Dr. Tokai, a kind and sophisticated plastic surgeon who died after his first real heartbreak.

Anxious ahead of an important lecture, a psychology professor blows up after finding a photo of his wife's ex-husband.

When an ex-marine put a bullet through his skull, he didn't expect to wind up in a neurological research facility, relearning how to feel and think with the help of an advanced brain implant. As his emotions return, the marine must confront once again the guilt that drove him to attempt suicide.

A patient attends regular sessions with his psychiatrist but stubbornly refuses to tell the doctor his true thoughts.

In a lengthy dialogue, two men, possibly a psychologist and a patient, discuss adultery, sin, desire, and life.

Everything all at once in word form.

When it is discovered that the human brain is key to interstellar travel, one impoverished tradesman must decide whether to sacrifice the wonderfully wise, but ultimately artificial, eagle brain residing inside a beautiful humanoid shell or his own. A desperately poor tradesman realizes his humanoid friend, a charming artificial intelligence, is the key to faster and more lucrative interstellar travel. But to achieve this, he must pry her brain from her body and risk killing her.

When his social-outcast, chess buddy from high school becomes obsessed with neuroscience research to find a way to eliminate distracting side-thoughts, a man finds himself exposed to a mysterious infection that will doom his wife and himself to

When a young man signs up to fight in an intergalactic war in exchange for his citizenship, he finds himself inexorably drawn to the killing technology they’ve given him to murder the enemy.