In a futuristic society, five years after the development of a successful AIDS vaccine, a number of subcultures have arisen centered around sexual attraction to various categories of nonhumans. Vegisexuals, zoosexuals, and mineralsexuals all have their own cultural viewpoints and agendas, with some being more mainstream than others. The narrator of the story, Officer Jok, even gets mocked by other law-enforcers when he appears to be harboring heterosexual feelings toward a human female. Cultural clashes ensue providing a backdrop against which Officer Jok struggles as he realizes his own feelings pull him toward crossing the elaborate but strictly-defined status quo he is supposed to protect.