Swan Er Hong, an artist and former asteroid terrarium designer, is grieving over the sudden death of her step-grandmother, Alex, who was very influential among the inhabitants of Terminator.

Following the conference, Swan decides to head out to Io to visit another friend of Alex's, called Wang, who has designed one of the largest qubes, or quantum computers.

Some of these terraria fail, such as one where a mistake in programming led to the near-destruction of the asteroid, and another where a small crack in the terrarium's ice wall destroyed most of its population.

One major innovation are the qubes, which are quantum computers possessing artificial intelligence, often small enough that the wearer can have one implanted into their head or attached to their person, like one might wear a watch or carry a phone.

Capitalism has been replaced by a planned economy described as based on the mondragon concept controlled by the quantum computers, but on Earth there are still remnants of the market system.

Gender and sexuality within this world is fluid and expansive, with the principal categories of gender and sexuality listed to include feminine, masculine, androgynous, ambisexual, bisexual, neuter, eunuch, nonsexual, undifferentiated, gay, lesbian, queer, invert, homosexual, polymorphous, poly, labile, berdache, hijra, and two-spirit.

As part of a lifespan extending process many people exhibit intersex or "gynandromorphous" sex characteristics, including both penises and vaginas.