The mouse army were extensions of the automations of the Primer. Nell was able to lead and initiate things because she was the only one who really grew up. I r

The mouse army were extensions of the automations of the Primer. Nell was able to lead and initiate things because she was the only one who really grew up. I remember someone noting a similar idea in Snow Crash -- that idea of biomass, in which that which lives becomes the extension of the machine, rather than the other way around.