Contents
10
Overview
Case and Molly arrive on Freeside, where disorientation and haunted memories unsettle Case. Armitage orders preparations: Molly trains in zero-g and Case reports to the Zion tug. Case receives the Kuang Grade Mark Eleven icebreaker, confirming a run against Tessier-Ashpool’s AI. Dixie suggests the goal is cutting the AI’s restraints, while Case impulsively scores stimulants before a planned dinner and Riviera’s performance.
Summary
Case and Molly clear Freeside customs and enter the Rue Jules Verne, where the spindle’s inverted geography and artificial sky leave Case disoriented. At the Intercontinental, Case fails to sleep, looping through memories of Julius Deane’s death, Linda’s murder, and a wasp-nest nightmare that he imagines stamped with Tessier-Ashpool’s logo, hinting at hidden systems and manipulation. He wonders if Wintermute used Deane to have Linda killed.
In the morning, Molly bronzes Case to mask his Sprawl pallor. Over breakfast, Armitage and Riviera join them. Riviera demands more drugs; Armitage orders Molly to train in zero-g and sends Case to get fitted for a vac suit and head to the Zion tug. Armitage hints the operation is imminent.
At the spindle’s axis, Aerol ferries Case to Marcus Garvey, where Maelcum delivers a sealed cassette from a sleek yacht. The Hosaka identifies it as the Kuang Grade Mark Eleven, a Chinese military-grade icebreaker/virus, ultimately traceable through shell companies to Tessier-Ashpool. Jacked in with Dixie, Case infers the target is T-A’s AI; Dixie argues the likely aim is to cut the AI’s hardwired restraints, explaining the Turing risk and that the Kuang is a slow, six-hour crack—deadly if they’re caught.
Back at the hotel, restless and craving a high, Case wanders to the roof pool, meets Cath, and goes with her and Bruce to their room. He buys betaphenethylamine and tests a derm, bypassing his Chiba safeguards. Returning wired, he alarms Molly, who warns about the crash as they ready for a dinner with Armitage and Riviera’s upcoming audition.
Who Appears
- CaseProtagonist; disoriented by Freeside, haunted by memories, receives the Kuang Mark Eleven virus, debates AI motives with Dixie, and scores stimulants.
- Molly MillionsGuides Case on Freeside, preps their cover with bronzer, assigned zero-g training, and worries about Case’s drug use before the team’s dinner.
- ArmitageMission handler; orders Molly to train, sends Case to the Zion tug, authorizes Riviera’s drugs, and signals the operation is imminent.
- Dixie Flatline (construct)Advises Case in the matrix; identifies Kuang as a slow military virus and suggests the mission cuts the AI’s restraints.
- MaelcumZion crew; assists Case on Marcus Garvey and delivers the package containing the Kuang virus cassette.
- AerolZion ferryman; transports Case to Marcus Garvey near Freeside’s axis.
- Peter RivieraIllusionist; demands more drugs, mentions an afternoon audition, and is slated to perform at dinner.
- CathYoung Freeside resident; meets Case at the pool, brokers betaphenethylamine, and shows off Tally Isham photos.
- BruceCath’s partner; supplies the blue derms of betaphenethylamine and offers Case a test dose.