Its actually the citys "data" net , it means a lot to cent and Cella , but very little to marcus, hes human. the next page has "Human-Readable" information. and yes QR-Code is a good refernce. good catch as always.
The phrasing "veneer of humanity" troubles me. Veneer is quite literally a cheap, thin, plastic coating in order to imitate wood. To me, the phrase sort of suggests that the "human-ness" of Cent-Com's personality is fake - nothing more than an illusion. Just saying..
thats not far from the truth.. Cent maintains it for the humans around her.. she DOES have actual emotions but when shes in this mode shes as cold as space. and can be utterlly heartless..
Also, is that big orb displaying data in a visually compressed fashion (QR code-like) or does Cent-com just have a damn big icon?