The narrator, Henry, feels everything in life is meaningless, especially how people routinize their lives and care about what others think of them. Henry refers to people as ants who go about their lives with no purpose, even though humans believe they are infinitely superior and important. Henry reveals that the “sluggers” have informed him that Earth will be destroyed on January 29, 2016, the next day, but that Henry has been given to opportunity to stop this destruction.

Sluggers are the aliens that abducted Henry. They are multi-colored and leathery, and their arms grow when needed. Henry’s first abduction occurred when he was 13 years old. He had been listening in on one of his parents’ many fights and suddenly found himself away. He believes the sluggers are conducting experiments on him, though he isn’t sure what exactly they’re doing or looking for. When the sluggers released him, he was found almost naked, miles away from home.

Henry worries that the sluggers judge his body’s flaws while they study him.

During one of his abductions, the sluggers show him an image of Earth and point a laser beam at it.