Harry Berg is both a con artist and an actual artist — he constructs large sculptures out of television sets — but he is not particularly successful in either role. He owes some money, which gets him involved with Rachel Dobs, a police detective who works with a collection agency. When Harry comes into possession of a strange parcel, both the con man and the detective find themselves wrapped up in a sinister corporate plot to fix the lottery.

A few years from now, Earth will have the first contact with an alien civilisation. These aliens, known as Newcomers, slowly begin to be integrated into human society after years of quarantine.