21

Case awakens in the bunker beside Linda, sensing rhythmic music and seeing cascading symbols overlay his vision. Linda describes a mirage city that never draws nearer and a boy who predicted Case’s arrival, calling their world an “event horizon.” Case decides to find the boy as the music intensifies.

At the surf, a thin brown boy appears and reveals himself as the other AI: Neuromancer. He explains his name and domain as the land of the dead, implying Linda’s ghosthood and offering Case an eternal refuge where neither will know they are dead. Case counters that the construct is breaking, but Neuromancer insists the choice is simple and Case can stay.

Case refuses, gives Linda his jacket, and turns away, closing his eyes to follow the source of the music—Maelcum’s Zion dub—out of the construct. The beach, Linda, and the boy remain behind as he commits to leaving.

Case snaps back into his body on the Straylight library floor after only minutes. Maelcum reports Wintermute forbade unplugging and had him place phones on Case, then applied two blue derms of betaphenethylamine. Case reels in an overdose-like rush as Maelcum hauls him up, insisting they have to move.