Immortality

The scanning of a human brain and programming of a "copy" of that person to live inside a virtual environment appears to be a way to achieve immortality, to live on after one's body dies. In the practical sense, however, the virtual copy is still tied to the physical world because it requires a physical computer on which to run. It is still a way to live beyond death, but not necessarily a way to live forever.

The novel examines this issue by raising questions of what political ramifications might arise around the existence of copies. For example, when computing power is limited, should keeping copies "alive" be given priority over projects that might help the real world? In the real world, Operation Butterfly is a large project that aims to predict and control devastating storms. When it begins to outbid other users for access to computer servers...