Philip K. Dick's Ubik introduces a world where "half-life" allows the recently deceased to exist in a state of suspended animation within moratoriums, enabling communication with the living. The narrative follows Glen Runciter, head of a "prudence organization" that employs individuals with "anti-psi" abilities, who is attempting to combat the rival psionic firm run by Ray Hollis. After a mysterious attack, Runciter appears to die, and his team, led by Joe Chip, experiences a bizarre phenomenon where their reality rapidly regresses through time, with everyday objects and currency aging and deteriorating around them. This inexplicable decay and the unsettling manifestations of the deceased Runciter's voice and appearances lead them to question their own existence, ultimately revealing that they are the ones in "half-life," caught in a decaying state, and Runciter is trying to help them from the living world using a mysterious substance called Ubik. The excerpts also hint at a deeper, malevolent force, Jory, a young deceased individual who is actively preying on and accelerating the decay of those in half-life, contrasted by Ella Runciter, who is working to counter Jory's influence.