Tacoma—and the Optiman enclave. Major characters Harvey and Lizbeth Durant - protagonists, "viables" (parents), Courier dissidents Dr. Vyaslav Potter - a surgeon, performs the "cut" on Harvey and Lizbeth's embryo, refuses to destroy it Dr. Thei Svengaard - a lower-ranking surgeon. Shanghaied by the resistance after becoming suspicious Glisson - a high-ranking Cyborg The Tuyere - the ruling triumvirate of the Optimen, elected for a century. Comprises the Optimen Calapine, Nourse and Schruille Dr. Boumard and Dr. Igan - high-ranking surgeons in the service of the Optimen Max Allgood - the Tuyere's Chief of Tachy-Security. A succession of clones, replaced at 400-year intervals Plot Chs. 1–4: Harvey and Lizbeth Durant arrive to witness the cutting of their embryo. Svengaard, a low-ranking doctor, tries to convince them to skip the procedure, but they are adamant and insist on their right, all the while secretly communicating their contempt for Svengaard in a silent Courier code. Potter, a high-ranking surgeon, arrives to perform the cut. During the procedure, he is shocked to discover that the embryo has qualities not seen in millennia; superior genetics in the areas of intelligence, plus vocation for immortality and full fertility. Obligated to destroy it, Potter is surprised to find himself unwilling to do so, aided by the on-the-spot collusion of one of the nurses who sabotages the record of the operation. Ch. 5: Max Allgood, Boumard and Igan arrive at the Hall of Counsel for an audience with the Tuyere. Tachy-Security monitoring has detected something amiss with the Durant embryo cutting. The nurse has been arrested, but has died under interrogation. The Optimen Calapine, Nourse and Schruille playfully mock their subordinates, always with a faint undercurrent of menace. Calapine flirts with Allgood in a semi-bemused fashion. The Tuyere order that Svengaard be brought before them. Boumard and Igan are revealed to the reader as Cyborg agents. Ch. 6: Svengaard is interrogated by the Tuyere. Badly frightened, he fumbles and grows agitated under their mockery, becoming insubordinate. The Tuyere calm him down by a display of magnanimity, reminding him of their power, wisdom and seniority. Ch. 7: In a service area under the Seatac Megalopolis, the Durants have gone into hiding. They meet with the Cyborg Glisson, who informs them of events, tells them that a strange external force had (beneficially) interfered with the cutting process of their embryo, and orders them to stay put. The Durants chafe