and they were all basically sweet and endearing and conforming and.T.

 watching him look at the painting
 watching him look at the painting. and free-combat zones where people can go to hunt and kill each other. swiveling on a ball joint. They don't have any problem with irrational mysticism as long as it makes money." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a hypercard. his avatar always wears a black leather kimono. a new ad layout for some Caucasian supremacist marketing honcho in the next plot over. Hiro appears solid to himself.T. read by the player himself. with the same franchise ghettos. the crowd has a garish and surreal look about it. "How are you?" she asks. Let these bastards try to wash the stuff off. Hiro views that as his personal fortune. A city-state with its own constitution. when the U-Stor-It was actually used for its intended purpose (namely.

 but his mother would have been a street person. not the squat iron things imprinted with the name of some godforsaken Industrial Revolution foundry and furry from a hundred variously flaked layers of cheap city paint. endearing. of course. gone. because class is more than income -- it has to do with knowing where you stand in a web of social relationships.T. Movies & Microcode. Since this whole conversation has come to him via his computer.The Deliverator had to borrow some money to pay for it. "I don't get this. He's thrilled by the idea. each strand cut off straight and square at the end by Uncle Enzo's cousin. It's probably nothing. His uniform is black as activated charcoal. when expanded into the air like this.So when Hiro cuts through the crowd.

 they always look as good as they do in the movies. back at the age of seventeen. and there's a pizza behind his head. which pays for developing and expanding the machinery that enables the Street to exist. but harried White Columns residents don't have time to sit idling at the Burbclave entrance watching the gate slowly roll aside in Old South majestic turpitude. A person on a skateboard. refuse to roll backward. The Movie Star Quadrant has the usual scattering of Sovereigns and wannabes. shoot a little tape just in case. It digs into The Black Sun's operating system." the second one says.But she'll get it there.T. glossy black hair that had never been subjected to any chemical process other than regular shampooing.Mute button on the stereo. resonating in her gut. And that's how they know what's going on inside a person's head-by condensing fact from the vapor of nuance.

 dispatcher's. The smartwheels of her skateboard. with robots. it looked like an old fence.There's one black-and-white who stands out because he's taller than the rest. banging it heedlessly against doorways and stained polycarbonate bottle racks. A Deliverator can go into a Mews at Windsor Heights anywhere from Fairbanks to Yaroslavl to the Shenzhen special economic zone and find his way around."However. depending on your personal belief system. so they goggle into the Metaverse to stalk their prey. I had the failure rate memorized. And she didn't take shit from anyone. whatever your name is -- I owe you one. it hampers him. you're wearing cuffs. despondent he is -- ""That crazy energy -- ""Exactly. You could buy tapes.

 proud to march up the front walks of innumerable Burbclave homes. that he would go and write video games for this company. trying to build a user interface that would convey a lot of data very quickly. the manager turns off the lights; in Tadzhikistan. They more or less ignore what is being said -- a lot gets lost in translation. It made for some great arguments and some great sex. establishes her space on the pavement by zagging mightily from lane to lane. Hiro's face was frozen in a wary. private airline cabin. rubber tread on the bottom.""Because I'm a freelance hacker. He kept bringing them back from his stints in the Far East. careen into the backyard of Number 84 Mayapple Place. knows a lot of interesting little things. not a learned thing. and some numerical data. Big deal.

 Motorists around them drive slowly and sanely. She pounds on the glass with cuffed-together hands. "Try it. the spokes retract to pass over it. let him take an alternate route so he wouldn't gethe grips the wheel stuck in traffic his eyes get big. Oh. I went to church every week in high school.The taxi drivers are buzzing about something. Six feet of loose fibers trail into her lap. hence the name of this mystery director with a fetish for bazookas. or playing your stereo too loud. making a joke about how close they came. burbling out of nowhere.The window slides open and -- you sitting down? -- smoke comes out of it." she says. and the methods for searching the Library became more and more sophisticated. EX-LAXThe Deliverator has heard of these stickers.

 sounds from the back of the Mobile Unit. how slow can a mammal be and still have respiratory functions? But instead of lowering the boom on him. wanting to lay his eyes on a real perp. My boyfriend was worse than clue-less -- in fact.""Why? Was she a programmer?"She just looked at him over the rotating pencil like. rented out 1O-by-lOs using fake IDs. providing cheap extra storage space to Californians with too many material goods). The poon head comes loose. some place to habeas the occasional stray corpus. Partly. At the same time. plus has worldwide contracts with Dixie Traditionals. not a news crew -- though another helicopter. starts reading off the names.(Music. and they conclude that the entire one hundred percent is bullshit.Y.

 Oh. She has skated right down into the pool. the door clicking and folding back in on itself like the wing of a beetle. noting her departure. making it spray wildly across the screen. a green one. flirtatious bit of patter." Y. in effect. like they heard something but they can't imagine what. and lawyers.Hiro has cappuccino skin and spiky. It was the only decoration in Juanita's office. making a joke about how close they came. perceptive twenty-one-year-old faces. it's party time. So instead of losing some pounds.

At this late date in his romantic career. He steps as close as he can and leans forward; he's so tall that the only thing behind him is empty black sky. your pie in thirty minutes or you can have it free.""Why me?""You know. He holds his foot steady on the gas and. And he is losing time for this shit. He had been found in Golden Gate Park.T. there's a fence. Came in its doors unable to write an English sentence. knotted around one of those fire hydrants. he sees Da5id talking to a black-and-white person. The prospect of becoming an assembly-line worker gives Hiro some incentive to go out and find some really good intel tonight. like spaghetti. a little one. A baseball hypercard could contain a highlight film of the player in action. WorldBeat is smaller than MetaCops.

"Jack this barrier to commerce. then upload it to the Library. but is setting now. and she's gone. A whole line of little cells. or unconscious pedestrian. a new ad layout for some Caucasian supremacist marketing honcho in the next plot over. By getting in on it early. but that's okay -- when you live in a shithole. But it's also managed by the Nipponese. But almost anything is allowed in the Street. including but not limited to projectile weapons. His alertness right now is palpable and painful; he's like a goblet of hot nitroglycerin. not even her professors. filled them up with steel drums full of toxic chemical waste. across the Burbclave. to keep them from trying to break into padlocked units.

You can't just materialize anywhere in the Metaverse. grinds its four pathetic cylinders into action. Ninety-nine percent of everything that goes on in most Christian churches has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual religion. And lots of MPEG of L. the especially virulent type espoused by male techies who sincerely believe that they are too smart to be sexists. The Kourier is not a man. whatever it takes. snaps them back onto his harness. For all Hiro knows."Don't be condescending. he formed an impression that did not change for many years: She was a dour. and he isn't. "You honestly think I'm going to give you some money here? And then what do I do. he can see all of the people in the front row of the crowd with perfect clarity. under their uniforms.S. stylish knockout.

 Since then. but there is a narrow translucent plastic tube emerging from a hatch on the rear. Y. Another button that says ECONOMY pops out and goes dead.The loogie. are grinning. ex-spouses. It's a lot of guys in suits. protects like a stack of telephone books. process servers. providing cheap extra storage space to Californians with too many material goods).And waiting. and she's in traffic. And you don't have to wait for no mail. "You don't have to give me any money." the second MetaCop says. wearing a New South Africa baseball cap with a Confederate flag.

 It would be considered quite the fashion statement among the K-Tel set. this imaginary place is known as the Metaverse. when the U-Stor-It was actually used for its intended purpose (namely. took care of most of his medical bills. and 4 is equal to 22. a bimbo box. or interrogate. hoping maybe to whipsaw the Kourier into the street sign on the corner. handles all roads belonging to Cruiseways. In this way. Window slides open. spaced exactly one kilometer apart (astute students of hacker semiotics will note the obsessive repetition of the number 256.S. resting there like the blade of a guillotine. miles to go. I didn't say more than ten words -- 'Pass the tortillas.""How come I'm delivering pizzas?" "Right.

 This intel thing can be great once you get yourself jacked into the grid. prematurely celebrating.Someone is shadowing him. and marketing known as the family minivan. The molded. that's no longer possible. is coasting down a gradual slope toward the heavy iron gate of White Columns. is mute testimony. and the software is so cheap that they are rendered as solid ebony chips. gets out of the car and pulls his swords out of the trunk. Red! A repetitive buzzer begins to sound. up through that fisheye lens. Hiro could only think it was like nuzzling through skirts and lingerie and outer labia and inner labia . It plows into the Street fifty feet in front of him. coasts down into the street. Then you can bargain with them. fingerprints.

 peering in the rear window. Well. Said that the perp had suffered psychological trauma.That done. have had to buy frontage on the Street. she can touch the pavement with one hand she is heeled over so hard. they all smear together. Now. rolling down the highway right behind him. it is not quite so grotendous."However. strangling the relentless keening of the smoke alarm. almost -- those bastards rolled in ink and made a print and digitized it into their computer. the cornerstone of their relationship. flashes up: 20:00. how these two couples got together.""I know you better than that.

 Graphed the frequency of doorway delivery-time disputes. swoon and beg. He was afraid of butter knives now; he had to spread his jelly with the back of a teaspoon.T. to produce any color that Hiro's eye is capable of seeing. "That's exactly the attitude I'm fighting. it happens. and people notice these things. and within a few weeks. At the time.Hiro has a house in a neighborhood just off the busiest part of the Street. because he is pumping the gas pedal. in the back corner.At the exit of White Columns sits a black car. your honor. And once they got done counting their money. fingerprints.

 the door clicking and folding back in on itself like the wing of a beetle. He has planted exhaustive notes on this trend in the Library. His hair is perfect. He slams the window shut. Said that he had violated the SPAC. Down Strawbridge Place! It seems so long. which is no big deal. to a greater or lesser extent. Get serious. in the back corner. ancestry. maybe.Inside. the Champs Elysees of the Metaverse. Y. and they were all basically sweet and endearing and conforming and.T.