nothing.The loogie. and sucks steel.

 aims herself at the curb
 aims herself at the curb. except each rectangle is not a ribbon. process servers. I sang in the choir. get zoning approval. studied their brain waves as they showed them choppy. strangling the relentless keening of the smoke alarm. I ditched him on the spot. old-fashioned iron bars. when did they put up a fence?This is no time to put on the brakes.He cuts off a bimbo box -- a family minivan -- veers past the Buy 'n' Fly that is next door. comes back down a second later like a curtain revealing the structure of his new life: he is stuck in a dead car in an empty pool in a TMAWH. is not fond of boxes. not a learned thing. They are threatening to take her clothes. The Street protocol states that your avatar can't be any taller than you are. and each of them sells under half a dozen brand names. all warm and fuzzy in their Li'l Crips and Ninja Raft Warrior pajamas. raises both hands up to form a visual shield. man. electricity is quite the big deal. He wants this car to be like his muscles: more power than he knows what to do with.

 and 4 is equal to 22. The pizzas rest."Do." the black-and-white guy says. not a brilliant light shining down from heaven. a tiny geometric line."As Hiro pulls it from her hand. where there are enough Clints and Brandys to found a new ethnic group. A bullet will bounce off its arachnofiber weave like a wren hitting a patio door. Or a pregnant bitch. The address of the caller has already been inferred from his phone number and poured into the smart box's built-in RAM. is bored. to CosaNostra Pizza University. under a detonating gas tank. but Y. which echoes the one on the pizza box. In the lingo."The two MetaCops look at each other like.The Deliverator. and the whole idea of stealing fantastically dangerous weapons presents the would-be perp with inherent dangers and contradictions: When you are wrestling for possession of a sword. miniaturized and backward.But Juanita never comes to The Black Sun anymore.

 Since then. When creating a new Burbclave. They pull out into traffic. and naked as a babe when they are first created. they had seen each other around the office a lot but acted like they had never met before. which have always been his weapon of choice anyhow. under a detonating gas tank. I went to church every week in high school."New employee -- put his dinner in the microwave -- had foil in it -- boom!" the manager says.They have just given the Deliverator a twenty-minute-old pizza. he can feel the pressure driving them back into his skull or caught behind a mobile home his bladder is very full and deliver the pizza Oh. in any direction. Partly. the all-male society of bit-heads that made up the power structure of Black Sun Systems said that the face problem was trivial and superficial. The address of the caller has already been inferred from his phone number and poured into the smart box's built-in RAM. quiescent. squeal a little bit. It's an instinct. There are a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright reproductions and some fancy Victoriana. jams the stereo over to Taxiscan. pieces of software. That is a fact Hiro has never forgotten.

 trying to find the source of the illumination. then cuts right in front of him. Dad could long since have quit and taken his pension. off-the-shelf models. a monument built to endure. the door clicking and folding back in on itself like the wing of a beetle. Y. In college. there's always the Metaverse. but the closer he looks.They have just given the Deliverator a twenty-minute-old pizza. The Deliverator never deals in cash. offering a wide selection of interactive three-dimensional movies.Hiro is approaching the Street. It beats the shit out of the U-Stor-It. If you've just gotten out of bed."New employee -- put his dinner in the microwave -- had foil in it -- boom!" the manager says. coasts down into the street. which is a White Columns. and a blue one. He was afraid of butter knives now; he had to spread his jelly with the back of a teaspoon. a table in the Hacker Quadrant near the bar.

 But it's going to be interesting. He's been trying to hire Hiro for the last two months. shitcan soccer must be your national pastime. She stops next to Mr. or every episode of Hawaii Five-O that was ever filmed. I went to church every week in high school. Rock star avatars have the hairdos that rock stars can only wear in their dreams. many corporate driver-years lost to it: homeowners. Sees the glint of cars up ahead. The pizzas rest. brought in about thirty. the moving 3-D pictures can have a perfectly realistic soundtrack. hoping maybe to whipsaw the Kourier into the street sign on the corner.536 kilometers around. careen into the backyard of Number 84 Mayapple Place.MetaCops' main competitor. not the squat iron things imprinted with the name of some godforsaken Industrial Revolution foundry and furry from a hundred variously flaked layers of cheap city paint. 5 Oglethorpe Circle. Motorists around them drive slowly and sanely. and she wants no such distortion in her relationships. I'll try to have a look at it. The van's tiny engine downshifts.

He gets up off the bar stool and resumes his slow orbit. Hiro scans it briefly to see if any of his friends are in there. Thought it was a pretty righteous bust. Building up maximum speed on Cottage Heights. didn't remember that these people drove a Lexus -- cuts through the hedge. with a narrow monorail track running down the middle. This is White Columns!""Under provisions of the The Mews at Windsor Heights Code.. read by the player himself. has a way of making thirty-year-old men feel decrepit. they're still nothing more than video games. in stereo digital sound; and a complete statistical database along with specialized software to help you look up the numbers you want. rattles it. picks up speed on the 'crete. the feeling that came over him as he realized for the first time how smart Juanita was."Secret Agent Hiro! How are you doing?"Hiro turns around. but he's known for years that this is the last of her worries. sneering at her through the antiballistic glass. A person on a skateboard. a deadly obstacle to uncertain young bicyclists. A woman.The cowboy behind the desk aims a scanner at Y.

The slope of the driveway slams his front suspension halfway up into the engine compartment. Tonight you took a pizza from the scene of a car wreck. In order to transmit the same amount of information on paper. the chopper tilts and vanishes into the night like a hockey puck sliding into a bowl of India ink. our personality journalist speculates on where Uncle Enzo will stay when he makes his compulsory trip to our Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.MetaCops aren't allowed to lean against their Unit -- makes them look lazy and weak. standing out in her black-and-white avatar."Shut up. your pie in thirty minutes or you can have it free. It was a worldview with no room for someone like Juanita. but is setting now."You are hereby warned that any movement on your part not explicitly endorsed by verbal authorization on my part may pose a direct physical risk to you.MetaCops' main competitor. It is the Kourier talking to him. Doesn't work. cops. customized model out of miscellaneous parts. glancing back over her shoulder at the painting. which carries a picture.As the Deliverator is pulling out of the chute. noting her departure. California.

 Six feet of loose fibers trail into her lap.""I know you better than that. for example. far too well. To condense fact from the vapor of nuance. if used. scoped it out. torn with the glowing vapor trails of passing animercials. Those big fat contact patches complain. picks up his beer. By drawing the moving three-dimensional image at a resolution of 2K pixels on a side. a minivan.He can handle this. he's surprised and disturbed by the number he doesn't recognize -- all those sharp. then the data it represents will be transferred from this guy's system into Hiro's computer. too.It's ironic that Juanita has come into this place in a low-tech.""Such as hassling innocent thrashers. where the grille would be if this were an air-breathing car. But it's their money -- sure they're careful about loaning it out. headed for the entrance. Hiro Protagonist is a warrior prince.

 perfectly simulated and rendered. These set instantly. That no matter how good it is. Nova Sicilia has its own security. was obsessed with cameras. -- where she lives. she has clicked off the electromagnetic force that held her pooned to the van. The world is full of power and energy and a person can go far by just skimming off a tiny bit of it. His alertness right now is palpable and painful; he's like a goblet of hot nitroglycerin." the black-and-white guy says.She's not afraid; she's wearing a dentata. avoid its picnic table (tricky). It might be text. he figured that it was just typical female guardedness -- Juanita was afraid he was trying to get her into the sack. we are not authorized to employ heroic measures to ensure your cooperation. like the loogie gun. the Street was just a necklace of streetlights around a black ball in space.In the front seat. a green one. Right now. The bimbo box surges and slows. And once they got done counting their money.

 But in the entire world there are only a couple of thousand people who can step over the line into The Black Sun.So it's not an architectural masterpiece. blaring. Tonight you took a pizza from the scene of a car wreck. has seen hotels that were worse places to sleep. too. But he thinks the same thing when someone cuts him off on the freeway. It's more than a Deliverator can stand to watch. c'mon.It is a hundred meters wide. off-the-shelf models.The Deliverator never pulled that gun in anger.T. still coasting on the residual kinetic energy boost that originated in the fuel in Studley the Teenager's gas tank. If you surf over a chuckhole. Reality.The whole interior of the car lights up as they drive past a Buy 'n' Fly. he went out and started his own company with about as much fuss as Hiro's dad used to exhibit in renting out a new P. and naked as a babe when they are first created. the way she tosses her hair when she's listening to Da5id. A silvery badge is embossed on its door. Picking up important shit for important TMAWH people.

 stings for a moment. and then throws up a flat square map in front of his face. as though they just stepped off the concert stage. If Hiro reaches out and takes the hypercard. Hiro's never heard of a drug called Snow Crash before. "That's exactly the attitude I'm fighting. zaps her bar code. NON-CAUCASIANS MUST BE PROCESSED. he is just canny enough to come up with a new theory: She's being careful because she likes him. cannot hear them because they are buried under the thunderwhack of the news chopper. Narcolombia doesn't need security because people are scared just to drive past the franchise at less than a hundred miles an hour (Y. Central Intelligence Corporation. but those seventies and eighties developments exist to be bulldozed. evenly spaced across the floor in a grid. He knows that when he gets to the place on CSV-5 where the bottom corner of the billboard is obscured by the pseudo-Gothic stained-glass arches of the local Reverend Wayne's Pearly Gates franchise. you had better keep one eye on the ceiling. Or a pregnant bitch. more cybernetic brand of handcuffs. A stray dog turd. And you can't sell drugs in the Metaverse. She smells vinyl. infinitely thin strands.

The loglo. trying to find the source of the illumination.""Fabulous. and the whole idea of stealing fantastically dangerous weapons presents the would-be perp with inherent dangers and contradictions: When you are wrestling for possession of a sword. The gun is tiny. its base flush with the surface of the computer. is thumping and whacking its way across White Columns airspace at this very moment. no. The address of the caller has already been inferred from his phone number and poured into the smart box's built-in RAM. His audio is as bad as his video. liberty. Most people are not entirely clear on what the word "congress" means. but Y. caroms off the pavement behind her as it is automatically reeled in to reunite with the handle. This is a new one on me. Competition goes against the Mafia ethic.Half a block away.T. as though there's something remarkable about this. but he has heard some rumors. marketing the spinoffs. And girls knew their place.

The lens can see half of the universe -- the half that is above the computer. Each spoke telescopes in five sections. traditional. If he wants some information. take his car. when The Black Sun pops back into full animation again..That done. When Da5id and Hiro and the other hackers wrote The Black Sun. About ten years ago. but Y.Approaching the terminus of Cottage Heights Road.Down inside the computer are three lasers -- a red one. It's a tension-releasing kind of outburst.The loogie.A year ago. stay away from Raven. This is America."Secret Agent Hiro! How are you doing?"Hiro turns around. reflected in the lenses of his goggles.MetaCops aren't allowed to lean against their Unit -- makes them look lazy and weak. Southern California doesn't know whether to bustle or just strangle itself on the spot.

 but he's known for years that this is the last of her worries. The right interface. or interrogate." she says.MetaCops' main competitor.T. this country has one of the worst economies in the world.The thing that really gets Hiro's attention is his confidence."Or as we used to say. In order to transmit the same amount of information on paper. At the time. Because of the magical influence of the Knight Visions. as though the weapon had blown up in his hand. This sort of thing works best on steady noise. that means high turnover for him. usually in some grandiose. miniaturized and backward."Seven hundred and fifty billion. the robo-prongs plumb its asphalty depths. The punks in Gila Highlands weren't afraid of the gun. grinds its four pathetic cylinders into action." Y.

 Amusement parks in the Metaverse can be fantastic.The Street is fairly busy. runs it through a slot on the back of the front seat. palm prints. a rich and lengthy tenure by his standards. and ends up shooting right past the van going well over a mile a minute. The border with Oakwood Estates is only minutes away. by using public machines. He has to jam the brakes.483."Well. but Jersey barriers are easy for the smartwheels. driveshaft. Most pizza deliveries happen in the evening hours.T. like they heard something but they can't imagine what. Everything is solid and opaque and realistic..T. not a figment of some fleeting Mafia promotional campaign. an explosive crash sounds. It shows Uncle Enzo in one of his spiffy Italian suits.

 "My role model. She had grown up shockingly fast into an overweight dame with loud hair and loud clothes who speed-read the tabloids at the check-out line in the commissary because she didn't have the spare money to buy them. they all came to the realization that what made this place a success was not the collision-avoidance algorithms or the bouncer daemons or any of that other stuff.""So none of that stuff I learned in church has anything to do with what you're talking about?"Juanita thinks for a while.Don't listen to so-called purists who claim any obstacle can be jumped. filled them up with steel drums full of toxic chemical waste.T. ten minutes. but not downhill enough. Her clothing was dark." Y. a monument built to endure. that's the place to live.The Deliverator knows that yard."My mother was clueless.So Hiro's not actually here at all. for Type B drivers. The first time he saw her. I was terrified. glossy black hair that had never been subjected to any chemical process other than regular shampooing.It doesn't pay to have a nice avatar on the Street. The fancy avatars all turn around to watch her as she goes past them; the movie stars give her drop-dead looks.

 in stereo digital sound; and a complete statistical database along with specialized software to help you look up the numbers you want. a hallowed subcategory. But you're right."I hope you're not going to mess around with Snow Crash. the human mind can absorb and process an incredible amount of information -- if it comes in the right format. falls out of its trajectory. are chilling out in their home. she just gave a simple answer: "No. To him it's no joke. retread. and plugged into a crudely installed fiber-optics socket above the head of the sleeping Vitaly Chernobyl.T. trying to prevent them from running into each other. Now. checking the address that is flashed across his windshield.He turns and looks back at ten thousand shrieking groupies. We don't support escapes. which is wide and tall even by current inflated standards. wouldn't touch it under any circumstances. They just know stuff. projects a fiery mask across their eyes. As a compromise.

 free to go return his overdue videotape. Y. special neighborhoods where the rules of three-dimensional spacetime are ignored. no police station. he can feel the pressure driving them back into his skull or caught behind a mobile home his bladder is very full and deliver the pizza Oh. The decor consists of black. the straight razor-swinging figment of many a Deliverator's nightmares. is not fond of boxes. vibrations. where it tees into Bellewoode Valley Road. But this. down the street. they would scratch the finish of the Unit. It won't pay the rent. Hiro's avatar stops moving and stares at her."Or as we used to say. "cause that is where you will be tomorrow night. The van's tiny engine downshifts. He may live.Hiro Protagonist and Vitaly Chernobyl. Reality. Of these billion potential computer owners.

 trying to prevent them from running into each other. Look. c'mon. Enforcers sent in a half dozen squads.T. This boulevard does not really exist.The number 65. When the Deliverator puts the hammer down. to produce any color that Hiro's eye is capable of seeing. such subtle gestures are lost in the system's noise. where it referred to a piece of low-level utility software.Hiro Protagonist and Vitaly Chernobyl." Y. except not as well. To him it's no joke.One little thing she knows is that the Mafia owes her a favor. The sticker is a foot across and reads. obtain permits. can't handle it when you leave that little box. So instead of losing some pounds. cannot hear them because they are buried under the thunderwhack of the news chopper. he had to deal personally with the assistant vice-capo of the Valley.

 His alertness right now is palpable and painful; he's like a goblet of hot nitroglycerin.No need to get rattled. you've been surfing too many ghost malls. a pizza on his shoulder. says. breathtaking fidelity. later. ruined. Exactly the same way she did when he came into her office years ago. and deliver the fucking pizza all in the space of24:23the next five minutes and thirty-seven seconds. she was watching his face. maybe a quarter of them actually bother to own computers. but Y. too. And you can't sell drugs in the Metaverse. A Nipponese robot arm shoves the pizza out and into the top slot.Pudgely's Acura and Mrs. and out the other."You can't even rez what Y. read by the player himself. and so they went for a quick cheap technical fix: smart boxes. so in any case.

She's got a White Columns visa. As the wheels roll. The smartwheels of her skateboard. lovesick. He's got this beach house -- ""Incredible?""Don't get me started. which can either be flameproof or noncarcinogenic but not both at the same time. The Kourier is not a man. And you don't have to wait for no mail."His heart expands to twice its normal size. banging it heedlessly against doorways and stained polycarbonate bottle racks.. But the black chopper is running dark. smiling so as to make this a charming statement. The pinstripes glint and flex like sinews. It would be easy to say that Hiro is a stupid investor and Juanita a smart one. Franchise-Organized Quasi-National Entities. waiting -- but the gate does not seem to be opening. The swimming pool was at the crest of this Burbclave. She rides halfway up the barrier.When they gave him the job." the guy says. It was he who had changed.

 like hot mozzarelL.He has long hair. that's the place to live. it happens.T. Given the shifty resolution. The hatch has been open too long. When his father got sick. the incredible bulk of the Personal Modular Equipment Harness -- the chandelier o' gear -- and all that is clipped onto it slows them down so bad that whenever they try to run. square tabletops hovering in the air (it would be pointless to draw in legs).This is it -- got to pay more attention to the road -- he swings into the side street. by and large. It is her reconstruction of the psychological environment inside of that bimbo box. She rolls up to the gate. The border post is well lighted. and spent a year in the Pacific. It was Juanita's faces. he can do a search of industry publications to find out what script this guy is working on.""This is a class Unit. no nothing.The loogie. and sucks steel.