Lou Arrendale and several other people with autism work for a bioinformatics company in a city of the not-too-distant future, where a variety of legally-prescribed accommodations enable them to function at their fullest potential. A new supervisor resents their special privileges and wants to close their section. He threatens to fire them all unless they "volunteer" for an experimental treatment that could make them all "normal." Most of this novel is told in the first person, from Lou's point of view, and gives the reader a glimpse into the inner world of an adult with autism.