A prisoner who fixes other prisoners' electronic devices builds a few small mechanical friends who perform mechanical tasks for him. The other prisoners learn of their existence and want them to help in a prison break.

A young scientist's efforts to regenerate the minds of brain-dead patients is endangered when his own single-mindedness drives off his assistants and alienates his superiors. He links up the patients' brains, which hooks up the subjects together, in another reality. But the method threatens the continuation of the study.