A new drug, sundance, has burnt out its users' optic nerves in exchange for psychedelic hallucinations. Many prefer the effects of sundance to having vision, such as Suki, who is in rehabilitation called 'retraining'. An undersecretary, Jack, grapples with the politics and costs of providing new medical eyes to the blind. He believes that those who blinded themselves shouldn't be helped.
When Europe announces it will begin giving out free eyes, Jack finds counterarguments in the low quality of the eyes' vision, successfully staving off demands for his own government to do the same.
Suki's 'retraining' turns out to be prostitution, with Jack the undersecretary her client.
