Contents
32. Count Zero
Overview
Bobby is tasked to reach Jaylene Slide and name Conroy as Ramirez’s killer. Jacking in with Jackie triggers Virek’s overextended system; Jackie dies, and Bobby is pulled into Virek’s Barcelona construct. A loa manifests through Bobby, destroying Paco and forcing Virek to flee. Bobby reaches Slide, confirms Conroy’s guilt, and Slide orders a strike on Conroy’s Park Avenue base.
Summary
At Jammer’s, Bobby sees Turner arrive with a brown-haired girl whom Beauvoir and Jackie call the Virgin—Angela Mitchell. Turner and Jammer press Bobby to jack into the LA grid to reach Jaylene Slide and tell her that Conroy arranged Ramirez’s murder, hoping Slide will retaliate faster than the Yakuza. Jackie insists on going with Bobby.
They jack in, but an overwhelming corporate-scale system slams them; Jackie dies within seconds. Bobby is thrown into a construct of Güell Park where Josef Virek, attended by the child Paco, reveals their system is overextended to stop Angela’s escape. As anomalies ripple through the scene, Bobby feels a presence tugging at him.
Summoning it, Bobby becomes the voice of Baron Samedi. The loa manifests, collapsing Paco into nothing and driving Virek into panicked flight between ominous white crosses. The intrusion breaks, and Bobby is yanked from Virek’s construct.
Bobby lands in Jaylene Slide’s neon environment and delivers Turner’s message: Conroy killed Ramirez. Slide, already tapping Conroy’s lines, watches him on Park Avenue. She orders her ally Bunny to blast Conroy’s entire floor; explosions cut Conroy’s feed. As the strike lands, Bobby is pulled back into darkness.
Who Appears
- Bobby Newmark (Count Zero)Young hacker sent to reach Jaylene Slide; survives Virek’s construct; channel for the loa Samedi; delivers Conroy’s guilt.
- Jaylene SlideLA ice jockey; hears Bobby’s message that Conroy killed Ramirez; orders Bunny to destroy Conroy’s Park Avenue floor.
- Josef VirekMagnate running a vast construct; overextends systems to stop Angela; flees when the loa manifests through Bobby.
- JackieDancer and ally; jacks in with Bobby and is killed instantly by Virek’s overextended system.
- TurnerMercenary who directs Bobby to contact Slide and name Conroy as Ramirez’s killer.
- JammerDeck owner coordinating the link to Slide; his gear tags Slide’s location for Bobby.
- BeauvoirGuardian at Jammer’s, armed and watchful; identifies Angela as the Virgin and urges caution.
- Angela Mitchell (the Virgin)Brown-haired girl at Jammer’s; target of Virek’s system; presence catalyzes loa attention.
- PacoVirek’s lethal child attendant in the construct; annihilated when Baron Samedi manifests.
- ConroyCorporate fixer; exposed as Ramirez’s killer; appears on a Park Avenue feed before Slide’s strike hits.
- BunnySlide’s ally; executes her order to blast Conroy’s Park Avenue floor.
- Baron SamediLoa of death manifesting through Bobby; destroys Paco and drives Virek away.