This whole neighborhood was the province of the mechanical—vast and brutal, created by machines for machines. Long-haul ships had evolved from the simple metal tubs of the past to become organic, cellular organisms. Cargo containers now formed the hull as if they were Lego blocks, each container connected to the adjacent one via hydraulic locks. This enabled them to be absorbed into the ship in any order, the only permanent part being the MI hub and fusion reactor at the rear. The MI extended data conduits throughout the ship like the roots of a tree to connect every container together. When docked at a port, cargo containers joined the hull like limpets and were assimilated into the huge multicolored bundle moving inside and away from the edge, only reappearing when they reached their destination.