Being immortal is not as advertised in the year 2792. In a world where humans with the means to do so can live forever in artificial bodies, ‘carnationist’ (body creator and soul installer) Harry Higgins becomes entranced by a beautiful, artificial woman who he purchases from a shady dealer. This mysterious woman, Kora, has the ‘husk’ body of an immortal (transcended) human, but has illegally been installed with artificial intelligence. Those two systems were never meant to mesh, and Harry tries to mentor Kora as she struggles to control her functionality and recover ‘human’ memories she insists she has.

Meanwhile, Harry faces his own demons. He is suffering from an affliction called ‘expiration fever’. When artificial bodies (husks) were developed, it was recognized by the creator of this technology (a genius named LaPorte) that human minds and souls occasionally need to recharge. His stasis deep sleep system, or SDS, is the answer to this, allowing for multiple year naps for this purpose. However, the SDS system has been offline for more than 50 years, with zero sign of ever returning.

As expiration fever takes him, Harry’s mind wanders from being sane to delusional. Soon, Harry comes to believe that he can do the impossible and pass Kora off as a transcended human in his secluded society. He whimsically mentions this to his friend and colleague, Melbray, and a bet is placed as to whether he can fool everyone at festival celebrating the creation of immortal technology.

This ignites an adventure, as Harry attempts to keep his mind sound while navigating this wager to a successful end.