A Jesuit biologist and his team work to uncover the mysteries of a planet in the hope that it can be inhabitable for humans. But as he interacts with the native inhabitants, he realizes he has a decision to make: protect the planet or let those on Earth use it for their own selfish needs.

On a distant planet where the citizens are made of porcelain, a low-class woman makes the mistake of falling in love with a human tourist.

When aliens land on a planet new to them, they find a population obsessed with a virtual reality and uninterested in the intense beauty of the natural world around them.