Contents
9. Up the Projects
Overview
Badly injured, Bobby is revived by Pye and taken by Jackie and Rhea to Two-a-Day’s apartment. There, two serious visitors interrogate him about the mysterious Virgin who saved him, framing it through Ezili and Legba. The pressure on Bobby escalates while Two-a-Day shows strain, signaling deeper forces at work.
Summary
Bobby drifts through pain, dreams, and TV-saturated visions while overhearing two women—his rescuers—discuss the damage done to him. A calm, methodical medic explains he’s using a neural cut-out and begins repairing Bobby’s wounds.
As Bobby’s vision returns, he realizes he’s on a mirrored-ceiling table. The medic, Pye, staples his back and seals a chest gash with a Chiba “claw” device, finishing a rough but effective patch-up. Bobby slips in and out of dreams, then stabilizes.
Jackie and Rhea dress Bobby in pajamas and wheel him from Pye’s makeshift surgery through crowded corridors to Two-a-Day’s surprisingly expansive, tree-filled apartment. Endorphins keep Bobby lucid and pain-free. He learns his clothes are ruined and his deck likely stolen; a hidden cash screwdriver is confiscated to repay Rhea’s ruined shirt.
Two-a-Day, exhausted and tense, barely acknowledges Bobby. The cluttered room suggests ongoing deals and stress. Two men flank Two-a-Day: one in a gray robe with oversized, lensless glasses, the other a large man in a precise black suit.
The man with glasses says they have a problem and need Bobby’s help. Addressing him as “Count Zero,” they press him about the “Virgin,” identified as Vyèj Mirak/Ezili Freda. They assert she came to Bobby during his first run and declare he was chosen of Legba, loa of communication. Two-a-Day’s shaking hand underscores the gravity of their demand as Bobby, panicked and uncertain, realizes powerful, enigmatic beliefs and forces are converging on him.
Who Appears
- Bobby Newmark (Count Zero)Badly wounded novice cowboy; survives makeshift surgery and is questioned about the Virgin and Legba.
- Two-a-DayExhausted ’wareman host; tense and detached while others interrogate Bobby in his apartment.
- PyeUnlicensed medic; repairs Bobby using improvised tools, derms, and a Chiba “claw” stapler.
- JackieProject girl rescuer; wheels Bobby from surgery to Two-a-Day’s apartment.
- RheaProject girl rescuer; blunt and annoyed, confiscates Bobby’s cash-screwdriver for her ruined shirt.
- Man with glassesCalm interrogator in gray robe; frames the Virgin as Ezili and invokes Legba’s choosing.
- Big man in black suitImposing associate; confirms they know the Virgin came to Bobby and applies pressure.