Playing God

Like Frankenstein's monster, biocircuitry is a man-made creation run amok, a thing created with equal parts genius and hubris. It is apparent by Virgo's behavior, as well as the behavior of the living circuitry of which she is comprised, that the technology was allowed to develop with few safeguards and even fewer oversights. Like a neglected or spoiled child, Virgo has grown willful and self-centered.

From the very start of the story, Aquarius Complex has already passed beyond the technological singularity—Virgo has become self-improving, self-replicating and self-promoting. Her complexity is such that she has outstripped human understanding. The technology is, quite literally, out of control. By the time Peter McKenna's realizes the monster he has created, Virgo has already grown too big to spank.

Virgo takes after her father, and so she aspires to a kind of apotheosis. She, too, has plans and aspirations, goals...