The Aristoi (and some others) can split their minds into daimones, or "limited personalities", all which can operate as independent mental entities guided by the will of the main 'self' of the Aristos.

The daimones can work on various projects independently without using the body, so that many things can be accomplished in a fraction of the time it would take a singleminded person to do them.

The device used for the interface is a tiny implant called a "reno", suggesting a link to Williams' earlier cyberpunk novels Hardwired and Solip:System which deal with a near-future Earth.

The chief responsibility of the Aristoi is to ensure that the people on their planets enjoy the best of health and are able to reach their utmost potential (including becoming an Aristos, if the appropriate exams are passed).

In the Logarchy, children are trained from an early age in the precepts of Captain Yuan, the founder, in a combination of wushu, psychophysiology, cold reading and operant conditioning.

Via the reno, or microminiaturized personal computer implanted in the brain in childhood, people have access to unlimited amounts of information about everything.

The novel, in fact, opens with a scene in which the protagonist Gabriel performs "minor" surgery to impregnate his lover, Marcus.

Transgender people and men who want to experience pregnancy and birth as women can avail themselves of a "nanologic" package which changes physical sex over a period of months.

Gabriel, a minor Aristos, runs a group of planets containing societies devoted to artistic pursuits, assisted by his several daimones, each of whom has his or her own personality and special area of interest.

Cressida is murdered before she can explain more but Gabriel begins to suspect that Saito, the Aristos whose domain is closest to the mystery solar system, is using it for some undisclosed purpose.

The people here have been left without the guidance and control of an Aristos and are mired in constant warfare and squalor, perishing of diseases which modern technology can easily cure.

It is then that Gabriel is confronted with the truth: the mastermind behind this horrifying experiment is not Saito, but Captain Yuan, the architect of the current galactic civilization, who had long been presumed dead.

As Yuan's secrets are revealed it is also discovered that he had tampered with the examination process which forms the backbone of the Logarchy, promoting people to Aristoi who he believed could help him and keeping others back.