Wharington has ample opportunity to hone his powers of persuasion when Alpha escapes captivity and kidnaps her former captor, taking him to a series of hideouts and depots in the hope of finding her maker and master, Charon still alive and in hiding.

This being an Asaro story, much of its interest is in the relationship which develops between the inexhaustible, near-perfect Alpha, and the seriously ill Wharington, who already has one heart attack behind him, and is constantly at risk for the next one, particularly without his medicines. Wharington must constantly attempt to degrade her dedication to her mission, while surviving his own government's efforts to rescue him.

There have been any number of SF treatments of the ethics of ownership of intelligent machines; these also touch on questions of humanity: what makes a man? When does machine intelligence transcend machinery? Asaro takes the discussion beyond intellect and computation, and suggests that the answer might be love. That which can love and be loved is human; what else matters.