The robot, who’s also a jazz player, struggles to get a taxi, as robots are generally discriminated against by humans. Eventually, he gets one. His driver asks him why he’s on the asteroid. He ignores his question and says he’s going to Botsville, which is on Mars. He listens to jazz as he rides there, thinking about his friend who he’ll see soon, a drum player he knew from Earth. He thinks about how he used to play music there together but lost touch after the uprising. Now, Mars is the only planet in the solar system where robots comprise a majority. Towns like Botsville are mostly if not all robots.

When they get there, the robot looks out the window and sees only robots on the streets. Outside, he calls up his friend, whom he meets up with soon enough in his rover. They drive through to the club, where the friend pledges to introduce him to the other players. There, he meets a human, which surprises the robot, who was told that he was going to be an all-robot place. However, his friend assuages his fears and shows him around to the stage. Soon, he hears the music playing and meets the band. Together, they start warming up, and he plays after not having played for a while.

After two Earth weeks, the robot gets used to his band. He enjoys playing with them and hanging out with them when they’re not performing. They live in tiny alcoves of the club, and after some time, the robot asks if he can get a door for his. The human tells him that he’s a robot and doesn’t need privacy. They argue back and forth about it for a while, including other issues such as the lack of pay, to which the human says that he gets to live here for free with several amenities for the cost of performing. Later, the friend asks the robot why he’s instigating and side with the human.

Two days later, the robot and his band perform again. Now, most of the audience is human. Some people clap, but others throw bottles at them and say that robots can’t play jazz. Although the agitators are kicked out, the robot still feels bad that a human accused him of not being able to play jazz, as he’s a machine rather than a human with a soul.

Later, the robot leaves. Outside of the transit station, his friend asks him where he’s going. The robot says he’s going to a place with only robots. The friend says humans are everywhere now and there’s no escaping them. However, the robot can’t be in a place where humans will say he has no soul. His friend lets him go. The robot gets into a taxi. The driver asks him where he wants to go. He asks for all-robot cities. The driver tells him there’s one outside of Saturn. He tells him to drive there.