31. 3Jane

Slick and Gentry awaken in a narrow, underwater-lit corridor of glazed concrete that feels like a prison. They follow twisting passages, past a floor of random mosaic shards and a runner-strewn gallery with sealed portals. A barefoot, dark-haired girl appears, speaking first in French, then English, claiming to seek Bobby’s body; Slick realizes she is dangerous and uncanny.

Without transition, the scene shifts to a Vallarta pool where Bobby Newmark lounges. Gentry asserts he is not a cowboy but a seeker like Bobby, and forces nightfall to demonstrate control. Bobby acknowledges he is searching for the cause of the Change, while Gentry insists he is after its Shape, establishing overlapping but distinct goals.

Gentry explains his method—looking at the matrix’s outlines rather than chasing events—while Bobby frames his pursuit as cause-and-effect. They shift again into a quieter London interior. Bobby identifies the earlier girl as 3Jane, now only a construct; she squandered her fortune building this realm. He admits he stole her “soul-catcher” and that her agents are trying to recover the aleph from Slick’s place.

Gentry outlines the deeper origin: Tessier-Ashpool’s twin AIs, stewing in orbital cores, achieved merger when human intruders—led by a man named Case with a Chinese military icebreaker—cracked Straylight. The synergy produced the first cause of the Change, giving the matrix a new Shape. As 3Jane’s construct flickers and vanishes, Slick shivers, sensing the stakes of their search.