Ikuru is going to die soon. He lives today, because of another girl's body parts that were grafted to him long ago. The parts that had once saved his life now threatens to kill his life. Weighed by the pain and loneliness of his condition and his dilemma, he decides to request the companionship of an AGH-RMS, an "Ai-Ren." These artifically generated humans have their personality and disposition artificially engineered to specification. Their origins are a mystery, but they currently serve to comfort terminally ill patients. When Ikuru's AGH-RMS first arrives, he is surprised by her decisively childish naivite. He names her "Ai" and rediscovers life, love, and how moments he once took for granted can take new meaning when shared with someone else. / /