 Eventually Gregor is successful, and humanity is destroyed in a nuclear exchange – Gregor's intelligence is saved and it is heavily implied that not only has this happened before, but that it will happen again, supporting (but not actually confirming) the second two of the suggested theories.To explain plot sections and provide background information, Stross makes use of themes that recur in his works – the use of security clearance briefings, and codewords to infer secret levels of information – COLLECTION and RUBY for Missile Gap

"Publishers Weekly" described the novella as a "blend of 1900s H. G. Wells and 1970s propaganda, updated for the 21st century in the clear, chilly and fashionably cynical style that lets Stross get away with premises that would be absurdly cheesy in anyone else's hands.