 Life as a voyage of discovery. December in Québec, Phillippe s mother had died. He s a work in progress: sad, in his 40 s, defending his dissertation (narcissism as the basis of the space race), in a temp job, alone. We meet his boss, an ex, his younger brother André, and André s lover Carl. Connections are weak, his brother lectures him. To bolster his dissertation, Phillippe seeks the endorsement of a retired Russian cosmonaut visiting Canada; he also undertakes a video project about life to submit to a Cornell-related extraterrestrial outreach project. Phillippe is invited suddenly to take a long trip: metaphors of space, discovery, and unknown territory buoy him.