Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 182
"People had tried to destroy 3340 from without," Axel
continued. "Cal found the way that worked--she killed him
from within."
"You told me."
Axel shook his head. "I gave you the sanitized version.
You know 3340 was in the habit of ‘promoting’ humans-turning
them into demigods pretty much at random by making
them immortal, replacing their biological cells with nano, that
sort of thing. He’d subverted the whole human civilization on
Hsing to this perverse lottery. Once you became a demigod,
though, he took control of your mind using some sort of
sophisticated virus program. One of his ‘conscious thoughts’, I
guess. The place really was hell, there was no morality there,
everyone just scrambled to try to become immortal, and didn’t
care what they had to do to get it.
"3340 looked unbeatable. But we kept hearing rumors
that one demigod--and only one--had beaten the virus thought,
and thrown off 3340’s enslavement. Calandria tracked him
down, and got the secret. Then she arranged to be ‘promoted’
by 3340."
"How did she do that?" Jordan had been dabbing at the
blood spots one at a time; now Axel upended the bucket and
poured the contents down the steps. "It’ll be dry by morning,"
he said.
Axel looked at his now-wet feet. "You needed to really
impress 3340 to get promoted. So Calandria betrayed us." He
glanced up and, apparently satisfied by Jordan’s shocked look,
nodded. "The whole underground that Choronzon and the
Archipelago had built up on the planet. Had us arrested,
thrown in jail... sentenced to be eaten by 3340’s data gatherers.
"It worked." His voice had become uncharacteristically
flat. "The god took notice of her. He promoted her to demigod