Upon death, the neurological data that composes one's personality is downloaded and installed onto computers in the next evolution from A.I.s. These programs are known as installed intelligences, or I.I.s, and they are the secret to human immortality. In recent years, the installation process has open up for the wealthy public as a means to keep family members alive after their body has died.

This is the story of a man who is mistaken for dead and has his mind installed before recovering and becoming the first living person with an I.I. of him or herself.