A man is subpoenaed by Bureau of Compliance for not paying a required 122% Companionship tax on the weekly allowance he gives a cyborg companion he built from plastic human parts purchased at drugstores and machine parts, which the government worker refers to as a "monster." His failure to pay comes with an additional fee of 212% compounded atop the original figure.

The man sadly goes to visit his cyborg companion, an agreeable individual by the name of Charles. He tells Charles he can't pay the amount required and that he must dissemble him. Charles is cheerful the whole time, asking, "Who will take out the trash?" and satisfied when the narrator says he'll do it.

While the man referred to the cyborg as a friend, he admits his true purpose was to "instruct [him] in a model of complacency." Without the cyborg to demonstrate a model of perfect complacency, the man dreads the active and risky life he may begin to lead.