The real Julia is a loving mother and wife, as well as a driven professional. Her experiences at Xymos drive her to riskier behavior than she is used to. In the ruthless field of cutting-edge tech development in Silicon Valley, Julia must move quickly to stay ahead of her competition. However, this involves cutting corners in an increasingly-desperate situation as she tries to salvage the DOD contract and keep her competitive advantage.

Some of Julia’s erratic behavior can be attributed to the influence of the swarm that has infected her, but Crichton also indicates that her original mistakes stem from her aggressive ambition: When she has a moment to speak to Jack after her car crash, she says that she is sorry and that she never meant to do anything wrong. Julia pursued her ambitions without bad intentions, but that doesn’t change the catastrophic results. Her heart was in the right place, but her greed and unstoppable drive for success still created a disaster. By the end, her ambition has cost her her values, her family, and her life.

Ricky Morse is another example of someone with too much faith in his own abilities and too little regard for possible dangers.