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DOC :ch3.txt

part two
 the shopping expedition

home
 home was bama the sprawl the bostonatlanta met
ropolitan axis
 program a map to display frequency of data exchange every
thousand megabytes a single pixel on a very large screen 
manhattan and atlanta burn solid white then they start to
pulse the rate of traffic threatening to overload your simulation 
your map is about to go nova cool it down up your scale 
each pixel a million megabytes at a hundred million mega
bytes per second you begin to make out certain blocks in
midtown manhattan outlines of hundredyearold industrial
parks ringing the old core of atlanta

case woke from a dream of airports of mollys dark leathers
moving ahead of him through the concourses of narita schipol
orly he watched himself buy a flat plastic flask of danish
vodka at some kiosk an hour before dawn
 somewhere down in the sprawls ferroconcrete roots a
train drove a column of stale air through a tunnel the train
itself was silent gliding over its induction cushion but dis
placed air made the tunnel sing bass down into subsonics 
vibration reached the room where he lay and caused dust to
rise from the cracks in the dessicated parquet floor
 opening his eyes he saw molly naked and just out of reach
across an expanse of very new pink temperfoam overhead
sunlight filtered through the sootstained grid of a skylight 
one halfmeter square of glass had been replaced with chip
board a fat gray cable emerging there to dangle within a few
centimeters of the floor he lay on his side and watched her
breathe her breasts the sweep of a flank defined with the
functional elegance of a war planes fusilage her body was
spare neat the muscles like a dancers
 the room was large he sat up the room was empty aside
from the wide pink bedslab and two nylon bags new and
identical that lay beside it blank walls no windows a single
whitepainted steel firedoor the walls were coated with count
less layers of white latex paint factory space he knew this
kind of room this kind of building the tenants would operate
in the interzone where art wasnt quite crime crime not quite
art
 he was home
 he swung his feet to the floor it was made of little blocks
of wood some missing others loose his head ached he
remembered amsterdam another room in the old city section
of the centrum buildings centuries old molly back from the
canals edge with orange juice and eggs armitage off on some
cryptic foray the two of them walking alone past dam square
to a bar she knew on a damrak thoroughfare paris was a
blurred dream shopping shed taken him shopping
 he stood pulling on a wrinkled pair of new black jeans that
lay at his feet and knelt beside the bags the first one he
opened was mollys neatly folded clothing and small expen
sivelooking gadgets the second was stuffed with things he
didnt remember buying books tapes a simstim deck clothing
with french and italian labels beneath a green tshirt he
discovered a flat origamiwrapped package recycled japanese
paper
 the paper tore when he picked it up a bright ninepointed
star fell to stick upright in a crack in the parquet
 souvenir molly said i noticed you were always looking
at em he turned and saw her sitting crosslegged on the bed
sleepily scratching her stomach with burgundy nails

someones coming later to secure the place armitage
said he stood in the open doorway with an oldfashioned
magnetic key in his hand molly was making coffee on a tiny
german stove she took from her bag
 i can do it she said i got enough gear already infrascan
perimeter screamers
 no he said closing the door i want it tight
 suit yourself she wore a dark mesh tshirt tucked into
baggy black cotton pants
 you ever the heat mr armitage case asked from where
he sat his back against a wall
 armitage was no taller than case but with his broad shoul
ders and military posture he seemed to fill the doorway he
wore a somber italian suit in his right hand he held a briefcase
of soft black calf the special forces earring was gone the
handsome inexpressive features offered the routine beauty of
the cosmetic boutiques a conservative amalgam of the past
decades leading media faces the pale glitter of his eyes
heightened the effect of a mask case began to regret the ques
tion
 lots of forces types wound up cops i mean or corporate
security case added uncomfortably molly handed him a
steaming mug of coffee that number you had them do on
my pancreas thats like a cop routine
 armitage closed the door and crossed the room to stand in
front of case youre a lucky boy case you should thank
me
 should i case blew noisily on his coffee
 you needed a new pancreas the one we bought for you
frees you from a dangerous dependency
 thanks but i was enjoying that dependency
 good because you have a new one
 hows that case looked up from his coffee armitage
was smiling
 you have fifteen toxin sacs bonded to the lining of various
main arteries case theyre dissolving very slowly but they
definitely are dissolving each one contains a mycotoxin youre
already familiar with the effect of that mycotoxin it was the
one your former employers gave you in memphis
 case blinked up at the smiling mask
 you have time to do what im hiring you for case but
thats all do the job and i can inject you with an enzyme that
will dissolve the bond without opening the sacs then youll
need a blood change otherwise the sacs melt and youre back
where i found you so you see case you need us you need
us as badly as you did when we scraped you up from the gutter
 case looked at molly she shrugged
 now go down to the freight elevator and bring up the cases
you find there armitage handed him the magnetic key go
on youll enjoy this case like christmas morning

summer in the sprawl the mall crowds swaying like wind
blown grass a field of flesh shot through with sudden eddies
of need and gratification
 he sat beside molly in filtered sunlight on the rim of a dry
concrete fountain letting the endless stream of faces recapi
tulate the stages of his life first a child with hooded eyes a
street boy hands relaxed and ready at his sides then a teenager
face smooth and cryptic beneath red glasses case remembered
fighting on a rooftop at seventeen silent combat in the rose
glow of the dawn geodesics
 he shifted on the concrete feeling it rough and cool through
the thin black denim nothing here like the electric dance of
ninsei this was different commerce a different rhythm in
the smell of fast food and perfume and fresh summer sweat
 with his deck waiting back in the loft an onosendai
cyberspace 7 theyd left the place littered with the abstract
white forms of the foam packing units with crumpled plastic
film and hundreds of tiny foam beads the onosendai next
years most expensive hosaka computer a sony monitor a
dozen disks of corporategrade ice a braun coffeemaker ar
mitage had only waited for cases approval of each piece
 whered he go case had asked molly
 he likes hotels big ones near airports if he can manage
it lets go down to the street shed zipped herself into an
old surplus vest with a dozen oddly shaped pockets and put on
a huge pair of black plastic sunglasses that completely covered
her mirrored insets
 you know about that toxin shit before he asked her by
the fountain she shook her head you think its true
 maybe maybe not works either way
 you know any way i can find out
 no she said her right hand coming up to form the jive
for silence that kind of kinks too subtle to show up on a
scan then her fingers moved again wait and you dont
care that much anyway i saw you stroking that sendai man
it was pornographic she laughed
 so whats he got on you hows he got the working girl
kinked
 professional pride baby thats all and again the sign
for silence were gonna get some breakfast okay eggs real
bacon probably kill you you been eating that rebuilt chiba
krill for so long yeah come on well tube in to manhattan
and get us a real breakfast

lifeless neon spelled out metro holografix in dusty
capitals of glass tubing case picked at a shred of bacon that
had lodged between his front teeth hed given up asking her
where they were going and why jabs in the ribs and the sign
for silence were all hed gotten in reply she talked about the
seasons fashions about sports about a political scandal in
california hed never heard of
 he looked around the deserted dead end street a sheet of
newsprint went cartwheeling past the intersection freak winds
in the east side something to do with convection and an
overlap in the domes case peered through the window at the
dead sign her sprawl wasnt his sprawl he decided shed
led him through a dozen bars and clubs hed never seen before
taking care of business usually with no more than a nod 
maintaining connections
 something was moving in the shadows behind metro
holografix
 the door was a sheet of corrugated roofing in front of it
mollys hands flowed through an intricate sequence of jive that
he couldnt follow he caught the sign for cash a thumb brush
ing the tip of the forefinger the door swung inward and she
led him into the smell of dust they stood in a clearing dense
tangles of junk rising on either side to walls lined with shelves
of crumbling paperbacks the junk looked like something that
had grown there a fungus of twisted metal and plastic he
could pick out individual objects but then they seemed to blur
back into the mass the guts of a television so old it was studded
with the glass stumps of vacuum tubes a crumpled dish an
tenna a brown fiber canister stuffed with corroded lengths of
alloy tubing an enormous pile of old magazines had cascaded
into the open area flesh of lost summers staring blindly up as
he followed her back through a narrow canyon of impacted
scrap he heard the door close behind them he didnt look
back
 the tunnel ended with an ancient army blanket tacked across
a doorway white light flooded out as molly ducked past it
 four square walls of blank white plastic ceiling to match
floored with white hospital tile molded in a nonslip pattern of
small raised disks in the center stood a square whitepainted
wooden table and four white folding chairs
 the man who stood blinking now in the doorway behind
them the blanket draping one shoulder like a cape seemed to
have been designed in a wind tunnel his ears were very small
plastered flat against his narrow skull and his large front teeth
revealed in something that wasnt quite a smile were canted
sharply backward he wore an ancient tweed jacket and held
a handgun of some kind in his left hand he peered at them
blinked and dropped the gun into a jacket pocket he gestured
to case pointed at a slab of white plastic that leaned near the
doorway case crossed to it and saw that it was a solid sandwich
of circuitry nearly a centimeter thick he helped the man lift
it and position it in the doorway quick nicotinestained fingers
secured it with a white velcro border a hidden exhaust fan
began to purr
 time the man said straightening up and counting you
know the rate moll
 we need a scan finn for implants
 so get over there between the pylons stand on the tape 
straighten up yeah now turn around gimme a full three
sixty case watched her rotate between two fragilelooking
stands studded with sensors the man took a small monitor
from his pocket and squinted at it something new in your
head yeah silicon coat of pyrolitic carbons a clock right 
your glasses gimme the read they always have lowtemp is
otropic carbons better biocompatibility with pyrolitics but
thats your business right same with your claws
 get over here case he saw a scuffed x in black on the
white floor turn around slow
 guys a virgin the man shrugged some cheap dental
work is all
 you read for biologicals molly unzipped her green vest
and took off the dark glasses
 you think this is the mayo climb on the table kid well
run a little biopsy he laughed showing more of his yellow
teeth nah finns word sweetmeat you got no little bugs
no cortex bombs you want me to shut the screen down
 just for as long as it takes you to leave finn then well
want full screen for as long as we want it
 hey thats fine by the finn moll youre only paying by
the second
 they sealed the door behind him and molly turned one of
the white chairs around and sat on it chin resting on crossed
forearms we talk now this is as private as i can afford
 what about
 what were doing
 what are we doing
 working for armitage
 and youre saying this isnt for his benefit
 yeah i saw your profile case and ive seen the rest of
our shopping list once you ever work with the dead
 no he watched his reflection in her glasses i could i
guess im good at what i do the present tense made him
nervous
 you know that the dixie flatlines dead
 he nodded heart i heard
 youll be working with his construct she smiled taught
you the ropes huh him and quine i know quine by the
way real asshole
 somebodys got a recording of mccoy pauley who 
now case sat and rested his elbows on the table i cant see
it hed never have sat still for it
 sensenet paid him mega you bet your ass
 quine dead too
 no such luck hes in europe he doesnt come into this
 well if we can get the flatline were home free he was
the best you know he died braindeath three times
 she nodded
 flatlined on his eeg showed me tapes boy i was daid
 look case i been trying to suss out who it is is backing
armitage since i signed on but it doesnt feel like a zaibatsu
a government or some yakuza subsidiary armitage gets or
ders like something tells him to go off to chiba pick up a
pillhead whos making one last wobble through the burnout
belt and trade a program for the operation thatll fix him up 
we coulda bought twenty world class cowboys for what the
market was ready to pay for that surgical program you were
good but not that good she scratched the side of her
nose
 obviously makes sense to somebody he said some
body big
 dont let me hurt your feelings she grinned were
gonna be pulling one hardcore run case just to get the flat
lines construct sensenet has it locked in a library vault up
town tighter than an eels ass case now sensenet they
got all their new material for the fall season locked in there
too steal that and wed be richer than shit but no we gotta
get us the flatline and nothing else weird
 yeah its all weird youre weird this holes weird and
whos the weird little gopher outside in the hall
 finns an old connection of mine fence mostly software 
this privacy biz is a sideline but i got armitage to let him
be our tech here so when he shows up later you never saw
him got it
 so whats armitage got dissolving inside you
 im an easy make she smiled anybody any good at
what they do thats what they are right you gotta jack i
gotta tussle
 he stared at her so tell me what you know about armi
tage
 for starters nobody named armitage took part in any
screaming fist i checked but that doesnt mean much he
doesnt look like any of the pics of the guys who got out she
shrugged big deal and starters is all i got she drummed
her nails on the back of the chair but you are a cowboy
arent you i mean maybe you could have a little look around 
she smiled
 hed kill me
 maybe maybe not i think he needs you case and real
bad besides youre a clever john no you can winkle him
sure
 what else is on that list you mentioned
 toys mostly for you and one certified psychopath name
of peter riviera real ugly customer
 wheres he
 dunno but hes one sick fuck no lie i saw his profile 
she made a face godawful she stood up and stretched
catlike so we got an axis going boy were together in this 
partners
 case looked at her i gotta lotta choice huh
 she laughed you got it cowboy

the matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games said
the voiceover in early graphics programs and military ex
perimentation with cranial jacks on the sony a twodimen
sional space war faded behind a forest of mathematically
generated ferns demonstrating the spacial possibilities of log
arithmic spirals cold blue military footage burned through lab
animals wired into test systems helmets feeding into fire con
trol circuits of tanks and war planes cyberspace a consen
sual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate
operators in every nation by children being taught mathe
matical concepts a graphic representation of data abstracted
from the banks of every computer in the human system un
thinkable complexity lines of light ranged in the nonspace of
the mind clusters and constellations of data like city lights
receding
 whats that molly asked as he flipped the channel se
lector
 kids show a discontinuous flood of images as the se
lector cycled off he said to the hosaka
 you want to try now case
 wednesday eight days from waking in cheap hotel with
molly beside him you want me to go out case maybe
easier for you alone he shook his head
 no stay doesnt matter he settled the black terry sweat
band across his forehead careful not to disturb the flat sendai
dermatrodes he stared at the deck on his lap not really seeing
it seeing instead the shop window on ninsei the chromed
shuriken burning with reflected neon he glanced up on the
wall just above the sony hed hung her gift tacking it there
with a yellowheaded drawing pin through the hole at its center
 he closed his eyes
 found the ridged face of the power stud
 and in the bloodlit dark behind his eyes silver phosphenes
boiling in from the edge of space hypnagogic images jerking
past like film compiled from random frames symbols figures
faces a blurred fragmented mandala of visual information
 please he prayed now 
 a gray disk the color of chiba sky
 now 
 disk beginning to rotate faster becoming a sphere of paler
gray expanding 
 and flowed flowered for him fluid neon origami trick the
unfolding of his distanceless home his country transparent
3d chessboard extending to infinity inner eye opening to the
stepped scarlet pyramid of the eastern seaboard fission au
thority burning beyond the green cubes of mitsubishi bank of
america and high and very far away he saw the spiral arms
of military systems forever beyond his reach
 and somewhere he was laughing in a whitepainted loft
distant fingers caressing the deck tears of release streaking his
face

molly was gone when he took the trodes off and the loft
was dark he checked the time hed been in cyberspace for
five hours he carried the onosendai to one of the new work
tables and collapsed across the bedslab pulling mollys black
silk sleeping bag over his head
 the security package taped to the steel firedoor bleeped
twice entry requested it said subject is cleared per my
program
 so open it case pulled the silk from his face and sat up
as the door opened expecting to see molly or armitage
 christ said a hoarse voice i know that bitch can see in
the dark a squat figure stepped in and closed the door 
turn the lights on okay case scrambled off the slab and
found the oldfashioned switch
 im the finn said the finn and made a warning face at
case
 case
 pleased to meecha im sure im doing some hardware
for your boss it looks like the finn fished a pack of partagas
from a pocket and lit one the smell of cuban tobacco filled
the room he crossed to the worktable and glanced at the ono 
sendai looks stock soon fix that but heres your problem
kid he took a filthy manila envelope from inside his jacket
flicked ash on the floor and extracted a featureless black rec
tangle from the envelope goddamn factory prototypes he
said tossing the thing down on the table cast em into a
block of polycarbon cant get in with a laser without frying
the works boobytrapped for xray ultrascan god knows
what else well get in but theres no rest for the wicked
right he folded the envelope with great care and tucked it
away in an inside pocket
 what is it
 its a flipflop switch basically wire it into your sendai
here you can access live or recorded simstim without having
to jack out of the matrix
 what for
 i havent got a clue know im fitting moll for a broadcast
rig though so its probably her sensorium youll access the
finn scratched his chin so now you get to find out just how
tight those jeans really are huh

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