Brian Dawson is a rising star at a small data-service company in Detroit. However, his increasingly erratic behavior draws the concern of his co-workers, and they struggle to find ways to help -- becoming frustrated when their attempts fail to produce any improvement. His employer ultimately becomes personally involved and leads a far more direct intervention -- a decision that leads him down a path that he could never have anticipated.

Four mostly unrelated and rueful short stories about mice, dissidents and soup -- two, centrally devoted to very bad puns.