Vergil's work is integral to his identity. To destroy the cultures would spell the death of Vergil's dream to belong to society's mainstream, create "billions of capable cellular computers," then found his own laboratory and company. Tests show the cells to be very intelligent — each as intelligent as a mouse, with potential for becoming as intelligent as a rhesis monkey. The novel's themes of personal identity and alienation involve all of humankind as well, since Vergil's "selfish" genes overwhelm him and spread beyond his body.

A related theme of social structure arises as other characters observe and speculate. What happens to individuality in an all-consuming group? Bear extrapolates here on the basis of information theory, largely through another "infected" character, Dr. Michael Bernard. "Was the noosphere a rigid hierarchy, lacking in dissent or even comment?" Michael asks. The engulfing cells prompt his comment on the theme of...