Janet Tyler, a women with facial deformities in a totalitarian society that emphasizes conformity even in in physical appearance, is undergoing her twelfth surgery in an attempt to make her appear normal. It is the last chance she can legally receive to alter her looks, and if it succeeds, she will fit in with those around her for the first time in her life. If it fails, she must be transported to a "segregated" colony of those who look like her rather than as the norm do.