Karen Garrett, a promising young doctor, is assigned to perform a difficult operation on Teach, an advanced android who has never "blanked" (had his memory erased.) She soon realizes that Teach is much more than an assignment, and is drawn to his desire for a very human life. When Karen takes Teach into the outside world, they soon discover that there is something far more mysterious and dangerous than a medical experiment planned for them.
Rosemary Holmstrom is struggling to bring up her son following the death of her husband. When she is diagnosed with AIDS, at first she refuses to believe it, but soon turns her attentions to the problem of what will happen to her son when she dies.
Bitter and vengeful fugitive Luck Hatcher, dignified former slave turned bounty hunter Jessup Bush, and wily deputy U.S. Marshal Bodine all converge in a small town so they can hatch an intricate con in order to bring greedy and ruthless railroad speculator Payton McCay to justice.
In the near-distant future, a female romance writer is planning to write her next book in a remote mountain cabin. A friend convinces her to bring along a "companion", a nearly-human android to cook and clean. She settles on a male companion named "Geoffrey." Bored with some of Geoffrey's behavior, she tinkers with his programming -- first his personality, then his sexuality. Real trouble comes when she gives his mind access to "random data."