A scientist travels to a space station orbiting Jupiter to try and figure out why the technology linking a human to a rudimentary, genetically-engineered form on the planet's surface. Over the course of his stay, he tries to figure out the nature of the relationship between the minds of the Jovian being and the human.

An accomplished but ineffectual columnist searches for fulfillment, until a death in the family causes him to question the family he took for granted.