A short epigraph describes the life of a turtle named Tu’imalila. The turtle was given to the King of Tonga by Captain Cook in 1777 and lived for nearly 200 years. The people of Tonga held a large funeral to celebrate the life of the turtle.

In a futuristic version of 1992, Rick Deckard lives in San Francisco with his wife, Iran. An apocalyptic world war destroyed vast swaths of the environment, and the atmosphere is still filled with lingering, radioactive dust. To escape the fallout, many humans fled to other planets such as the colonies on Mars. Those who remain behind must be tested frequently to make sure that they have not developed any health concerns. Those who do are labeled “specials,” and they have been rendered infertile by radiation.

Androids, or robots, live in the off-world colonies and perform labor for humans. These androids occasionally escape and travel to Earth, and Deckard, a bounty hunter, tracks down and kills them. One day, after waking up and arguing with his wife Iran again, Iran accuses Deckard of being a “murderer hired by the cops” (9) to kill androids.