Computer scientists Jared Sword and Xella Quine make first contact with the peaceful robot inhabitants of Gearus 9, a planet at the far edge of explored space. When Sword returns to Earth with the robot Beeper to announce the discovery, the two civilizations begin to draw closer. But back on Gearus 9, prolonged isolation pushes Quine into madness: he declares himself Lord Q and begins dominating the passive robots, who cannot resist. When Sword and Beeper return to find the planet transformed, they realize their only option is to merge into a single being, part human and part machine, and TROPHY is born.