13

Case is confronted in his hotel by three Turing Registry agents—Michle, Roland, and Pierre—who lay out his identity and sift through his belongings. They question him about “Kolodny” (Molly) and his recent movements, pressing him on his role in a conspiracy to augment an AI. Case slips by calling Armitage “Corto,” confirming knowledge the agents seize on.

The agents run a calculated good-cop/bad-cop routine: Pierre hostile, Roland conciliatory, and Michle observant and recording. They recount their investigation, tracing Case from his Chiba repair—whose unprecedented patents drew attention—through the Sense/Net riot and theft of McCoy Pauley’s ROM. They insist Armitage is already in custody and call Molly only hired muscle.

Michle frames the stakes as a species-level threat, accusing Case of aiding a demon-like intelligence. The agents present extradition options—Switzerland for an AI trial or the BAMA for criminal charges—and threaten immediate death if he refuses compliance. They also vow to erase the Dixie Flatline construct with a pulse weapon. Case, drained from a drug crash and resigned, dresses and is marched out.

Escorted across Freeside’s meadow toward a waiting ship, Michle keeps a concealed pistol on Case. On an iron bridge over Desiderata, a silent microlight suddenly strikes, its propeller decapitating Pierre before crashing into the railing and sweeping Michle into the canyon. Roland chases Case, but a crablike gardening robot drops from a tree and kills him.

Case runs, realizing an unseen actor orchestrated the ambush. Shaken and blood-spattered, he recognizes that the Turing threat has been violently neutralized, and he is free—for the moment—to continue the larger, increasingly dangerous game around Wintermute and Straylight.