Set in the near future, an aging ex-convict and thief named Frank Weld lives alone and is experiencing increasingly serious mental deterioration and dementia. Frank's son Hunter, an attorney at law with a family of his own, grows tired of making weekly visits to his father's home, but is reluctant to put his father into full-time care, so he purchases a robot companion, which is programmed to provide Frank with therapeutic care, including a fixed daily routine and cognition-enhancing activities like gardening.