I tried reading this once back before I learned how interesting [1] this part of English history is and bounced off it. Maybe I'll try it again. My dance card is pretty full.

The Company has been creating super-intelligent cyborgs since Neanderthals were around. It seems likely that some of these immortals have devoted their long, long lives to considering how to best manage the inevitable crisis that is sure to arise between them and their bosses in the 24th century. I can see no way that could go horribly wrong for the Company.

For absolutely no reason, I am thinking of the djinn from The Thief of Bagdad.

[1] Awful but interesting.