I always did like postsingular stories.
This one was perfect.
Good world building, the slow buildup, and the final epic choice. All predictable, but all wonderful.
What really got me was the choice at the end. It was obvious that that is what she was leading up to, and since we were watching her escape from the hospital for the 16th time (and not the first) it was obvious what she was going to choose.
But I still kept hoping she would choose something else.
One thing I didn't quite understand: Why did the main character make a different decision at the end of the story instead of stalling another time? What was different from previous iterations?
Because every time she goes back to the hospital she loses a little bit more of herself. It's a hard decision to sacrifice everything for the good of the people, and not many people can do that. By going back to the hospital she was slowly rubbing herself out, so that there would be less to lose when she finally went back to the Source (sorry Neo). Alternatively, there was less of her to make the decision not to make the sacrifice. In any event, there was a slow constant buildup over the years until we got to this point, where she is capable of making the "correct" choice.
One thing that I particularly like about post-singularity stories is the way that humanity is now forced to face the music of not being the (third) smartest race on the planet. How do we cope with this? What kind of new challenges does it bring?
I'm happy to see that in this case humanity's fear of the unknown is sufficiently strong to shackle the new technology and prevent humanity from realizing its full potential.
This is nothing new, Asimov's US Robot and Mechanical Men company fought against the Frankenstein Complex for centuries. I sometimes wish we could all embrace new technology, but that would make for very boring fiction. So, well done on that regard.
Also the solution is unique and intriguing. I like it.
If anybody wants to read more excellent post-singularity fiction, I recommend Rudy Rucker's books Postsingular and The Ware Tetralogy, available free from Feedbooks.