The abilities of Eleutheria force Chrys involvement concerning correcting the construction problems of their last carrier s creation, the Comb. In her tester Daeren, Chrys discovers an unlikely political ally in the fight for recognition of the rights of the micro race. Slonczewski never short-changes the science element of Brain Plague . It's present in the microscopic activities of the microbes building cities, complete with nightclubs, in the Cisterna Magna, patrolling the bloodstream, gathering enzymes and arsenic, and visiting other microbes in other hosts. Chrys, and everyone else, is capable of communication via the blink of an eye through implants, which give new meaning to the concept of fiber optics.
Gender changes are as routine as tummy tucks.
Transplants are conducted at the cell level of mitochondria. But quality health care is still an issue. Plan One gets you a portal but no service of that portal while Plan Ten offers something akin to eternal youth and you get only what you can pay for. One could quibble with the portrayal of space travel and yet, this is a world in which living organic matter constructs buildings that grow to fit the needs of the populace. This is a world where doctors are sentient artificial life forms who marry humans.