In the future, a ship of ten clones, known as a tendone, lands to exploit a mine that two non-clone humans have discovered on a faraway planet. An earthquake destroys the mine, killing nine of the ten clones, leaving the last one to learn to live as an individual.

A man from New York recalls his most poignant memories, realizing they were all moments when others had needed something from him and he had let them down.

A Quaker family living in the North during the Civil War is morally opposed to violence and must reckon with their son's temptations to join the battle.