Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 672
It was impossible to gauge the dimensions of the
chamber, because the walls had disappeared under a
holographic projection of the Ventus system. The planets were
all pinpointed with arrows, and to her upper left floated a
rotating box containing a zoomed-in view of Ventus and
Diadem. Dozens of tiny specks representing ships hung in the
black space of the main display. Many of them trailed Ventus
in its orbit, like a wreath of fog left behind it.
Diadem was almost obscured under a cloud of thousands
of specks.
"Ah, our Diadem expert is here," someone said. The
Voice looked behind herself; no one had entered after her.
Fifteen men and women floated under the system display.
About half wore uniforms and moved with the cat-like grace of
cyborgs. Four more were holograms of generic human beings;
each wore a complex heraldic symbol on its chest showing
which faction of Archipelagic politics it represented. These
were artificial minds whose attitudes and intentions were
controlled by the aggregate will of millions or billions of
humans back home. True to the principles of Archipelagic
politics, however, each perspective on an issue held only one
vote. These beings were not as powerful as they might at first
seem.
Of the remaining three, one was not known to the Voice.
The woman appeared to be a pilot. The last two were Marya
and Axel. When she saw them the Voice glided immediately
over to them.
"Now that you’re here, we can ask the burning question,"
said one of the cyborgs. He wore admirals bars on his
shoulders.
"How many copies of you can Diadem produce per day?
And how many in total?"