Contents
28. Company
Overview
At Factory, Slick’s flashbacks steady as he tends Bobby and confers with Cherry. Little Bird crashes returning with news of armed outsiders and surveillance craft near Marvie’s. A helicopter begins circling Factory. Gentry studies a captured macroform node and decides Slick must reenter the Count’s construct, with Gentry joining, in case pursuers arrive.
Summary
Slick steadies his memory by visiting the Judge and the Witch, grounding himself while Cherry checks on him. He explains that Gentry jacked him into Bobby Newmark’s box, where Slick saw Bobby inside a castle-like construct and signs of Angie Mitchell, though not Angie herself.
Little Bird returns at dusk on Gentry’s bike, crashes, and bleeds but reports what he saw: Marvie’s place swarmed by serious operators with new hovers and a helicopter, not behaving like local cops. He admits losing the delivery Slick sent to Marvie.
The helicopter begins circling Factory. Slick races to the loft, warning Gentry. Cherry checks Bobby’s readouts while Gentry, absorbed in a holographic model he calls a macroform node, says it’s a model of something larger—an abstracted total of cyberspace data—closer than he has ever gotten.
Slick insists the visitors are after Bobby and repeats Bobby’s instruction: if anyone comes looking, they must jack him into the matrix. Gentry, uncertain who the outsiders are, concludes they must talk to Bobby inside. He tells Slick to go back in—and this time Gentry will accompany him.
Who Appears
- Slick HenryCaretaker at Factory; stabilizes his memory, reports seeing Bobby in a construct, urges action as surveillance arrives.
- GentryObsessed researcher; studies a macroform node, plans to reenter Bobby’s construct with Slick amid growing external threat.
- Little BirdScout who crashes returning; reports armed outsiders, hovers, and a helicopter near Marvie’s and Factory.
- CherryHelper with med-tech training; checks on Slick and Bobby’s readouts, cautions about Little Bird’s injuries.
- Bobby Newmark (the Count)Comatose in Factory; present in a castle-like construct, instructs jacking into matrix if pursuers come.