10,000 years ago, when a planet-killer asteroid threatened to destroy their world, the organic robotic servants of a race known as the Ancient Children, uploaded the consciousness of their creator species into their ships and set off to find a new home. Upon finding Earth and conducting experiments on abducted humans, the Servants decided human females to be a compatible species to their creators, while males were deemed irrelevant. Yet, the Ancient Children found males fascinating if frightening, and so experiments were conducted to see if men should be culled or allowed to live. Thomas Wolf, a druggist with a background of interest to the Servants, must prove to the aliens he is the honorable man he claims to be, under increasing pressure by the Servants to prove that he is not.