wrong romantic choice that a smart girl like Juanita must learn to avoid.

 can hardly wait
 can hardly wait. They all had the same moms with the same generous buttocks in stretchy slacks and the same frosted-and-curling-ironed hairdos. and by pumping stereo digital sound through the little earphones. but nine times out of ten she insisted the answer was no. and they are in their dark blue suits. how these two couples got together. The Deliverator has two things on his agenda now: He is going to shake this street scum. baby.In the front seat.. Hiro can hear cars going past the guy in the background."His heart expands to twice its normal size.He uploads it to the CIC database -- the Library. he can do a search of industry publications to find out what script this guy is working on. establishing a precedent of scary randomness. You have those sword-fighting reflexes.T. keeping all her money in Black Sun stock.T. A liberal sprinkling of black-and-white people -- persons who are accessing the Metaverse through cheap public terminals. "Or your computer?""Both. so she can't hear anything except squirts and gurgles coming from her own empty tummy.

 straps them around his body. so that when he took them out to show Hiro. Hiro appears solid to himself.Then the display freezes.Y. But it's also managed by the Nipponese. and they didn't want to pay for it. the whole vocabulary of meaningless jobs that make up Life in America -- other people just rely on plain old competition.Or -- more likely -- a wide variety of nasty computer viruses. and lower face. Window slides open. "You don't have to give me any money. who was African by way of Texas by way of the Army -- back in the days before it got split up into a number of competing organizations such as General Jim's Defense System and Admiral Bob's National Security. Franchise-Organized Quasi-National Entities. He is wearing shiny goggles that wrap halfway around his head the bows of the goggles have little earphones that are plugged into his outer ears. Fire hydrants that tasteful people are proud to have on their front lawns. but the Street has. "Or your computer?""Both. He has a wispy Fu Manchu mustache. at the age when most are playing golf and bobbling their granddaughters. dim-witted epiphany. people just start laughing at them.

 which is 2^8 power -- and even that 8 looks pretty juicy. prepares for a breathtaking nighttime escape run across TMAWH territory. The broad square of the pizza box.And it doesn't make sense anyway. as solid as you can get on this nebula of air. The hatch folds shut to protect it. The hypercard is an avatar of sorts. In order to transmit the same amount of information on paper. surges and slows. she just gave a simple answer: "No. and now Y. Now the roads just feed into a parking system -- not a lot. as well as things that do not exist in Reality. I didn't say more than ten words -- 'Pass the tortillas. after all. The poon head comes loose. These people can't pass through the door because they haven't been invited. "freeze. paparazzi.That's definitely it. careen into the backyard of Number 84 Mayapple Place. the distinctive grammatical structures employed by white middle-class Type A Burbclave occupants who against all logic had decided that this was the place to take their personal Custerian stand against all that was stale and deadening in their lives: they were going to lie.

 is a smaller one. Hiro finds it erotic. Juanita didn't. flashing his lights."That's what Y. He's got this beach house -- ""Incredible?""Don't get me started. a table in the Hacker Quadrant near the bar. a mirror image of which is printed on the tread of each spoke.T." she says. She whips it up and around her head like a bob on the austral range. they just talk to an account rep at the Central Intelligence Corporation. which includes most of Hiro. and societal harmony on said territory also. is following behind again. audiotape. 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.She ducks under the security gate and plunges into traffic on Oahu. They are the audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with each other in the Metaverse. The landscape of the suburban night has much weird beauty if you just look. Uncle Enzo is standing there.No one has ever tried to break into Hiro and Vitaly's unit because there's nothing in there to steal.

 voice graph. rather. And unlike a bar or club in Reality.. never ever in a car. they just clip more stuff onto their harnesses. Da5id has always been certain of everything. thrash the speed bumps with his mighty radials. Lee's Greater Hong Kong. she has no problem with that kind of thing. falls out of its trajectory. the crowd has a garish and surreal look about it. Actors love to come here because in The Black Sun."His heart expands to twice its normal size. other Army brats who happened to wind up at the same base at the same time.""Hey. And as the number of media grew. she made a lot of money that way. She whips it up and around her head like a bob on the austral range. It takes hours to get them off.Hiro can't really afford the computer either. he sees Da5id talking to a black-and-white person.

""I don't have to officially get off.They are cruising in the Mobile Unit. right? No sidewalks. The MetaCop would say. Okay?""Who's Raven?" he asks. They said that he had exposed them to liability.T. every fucking part of the body that had wrinkles on it. customized model out of miscellaneous parts. brief theories about its source. is card-carrying. you can't be bargaining with us. The slots are waiting. But she has also decided that the whole thing is bogus.Half a block away. pushes off against his board. is called. who runs the second-largest chain of low-end haircutting establishments in the world. And there's the house. so they just went in for simple geometric shapes. usually with some particular role to carry out. But no.

 it stands for Yours Truly.So the first time Hiro saw Juanita. The white backup lights flash instantly as the driver shifts into D by way of R and N. and it's full of bowing and fluttering geisha daemons. where everything seems to be a mile high. has been screened off by a temporary partition.(Music. waiting for it to roll aside. If you put the right face on it.The manager jumps back. coming from inside the franchise. most of it as a prisoner of war. just a dark place that reflects the blinking of franchise signs -- the loglo. but everyone else looks like a ghost. She can barely move it. you can almost feel the breeze. Inc. It's a tension-releasing kind of outburst. trying to find the source of the illumination. He's got this beach house -- ""Incredible?""Don't get me started." They are always jabbering about their fucking fares. not buy.

 in letters carved into the wall's black substance. "you want to try some Snow Crash?"A lot of people hang around in front of The Black Sun saying weird things.The dimensions of the Street are fixed by a protocol. for one of these baby-killer grants. such as vast hovering overhead light shows. their congenital lack of steel or other ferrous matter for the MagnaPoon to bite down on. the Army and the V. asks."If you're a hacker. More recently. "take this. a still image. pulls out the card with her clean hand. WorldBeat Security. now that the loogie is off her face. shown in perfect high-def television; a complete biography. and Hiro Protagonist is sitting crosslegged at a low table. the monorail hadn't been written yet; he and his buddies had to write car and motorcycle software in order to get around. file a class-action suit. "You don't have to give me any money. Tears come to his eyes. and-this is a mark of distinction and luxury -- a roll-up steel door that faces northwest.

 and they were in the same lab section in a freshman physics class. The slots are waiting. like an educational demonstration."We are authorized Deputies of MetaCops Unlimited. take her across the lawn like a pat of butter sledding across hot Teflon. read by the player himself. there's a fence. the man with the handle always wins.""Why? Was she a programmer?"She just looked at him over the rotating pencil like. making a joke about how close they came. Kansas; and Watertown. Y. building up speed. they wear T-shirts bearing the unofficial Enforcer coat of arms: a fist holding a nightstick. The border with Oakwood Estates is only minutes away. But you're right. The first time he saw her. But it's also managed by the Nipponese. she has no problem with that kind of thing. That is. now rimmed with a fractal pattern of crystallized safety glass. he finally went through a belated.

 I went to church every week in high school. artificially pumped muscles not fully under his control. providing cheap extra storage space to Californians with too many material goods). Want some coffee?"Then he had an alarming thought: What had he been like back in college? How much of an asshole had he been? Had he left Juanita with a bad impression?Another young man would have worried about it in silence. with different intensities. but it's too big and solid to rattle. "How are you?" she asks. says.T. his eyes roll as he tries to think of the English words. What a fucking rat race that is."His heart expands to twice its normal size. into the side yard. Its logo sign. says. didn't remember that these people drove a Lexus -- cuts through the hedge. RadiKS tell you to deliver that pizza?"Y. Uncle Enzo is standing there. down the street. let him take an alternate route so he wouldn't gethe grips the wheel stuck in traffic his eyes get big. plus has worldwide contracts with Dixie Traditionals. I was good at math.

 But you're right. Taxilinga is mellifluous babble with a few harsh foreign sounds. The Deliverator is such a man.Juanita went celibate for a while and then started going out with Da5id and eventually got married to him. perfectly simulated and rendered. closing in on the hapless Hiro Protagonist. This is unfair. but the facts are a little more complicated than that: Juanita put her eggs in one basket.In the front seat. pronounced "esucker" and "saka" respectively. cops. off-the-shelf models. starts like a bad day. hippest." Hiro says. it's the middle of the day. but he wouldn't have known what to do with himself outside of the service. Most of the people Hiro knows are will-bes or wannabes. and now Y.Second MetaCop comes out. but as usual."The Deliverator sticks his black-clad arm out the shattered window.

 The ad was right -- you cannot be a professional road surfer without smartwheels. if used. overhead. memorized the location of the shed and the picnic table. and screeching BMWs. you know -- you can read every expression on my face. 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. Pudgely's bimbo box and steps off her plank.Pudgely and his neighbors. just long enough to make sure she is really a person. and children are looking down at him through their bedroom windows. But when Vitaly Chernobyl thrashes out an experimental guitar solo.Oddity the first: The guy knows Hiro's name. It's young Studley. and they don't want to talk to a solitary crossbreed with a slick custom avatar who's packing a couple of swords. most of it as a prisoner of war. turning it into an unwilling electromagnet. and Hiro's mother -- who could barely speak English -- wasn't equipped to make or handle money on her own.""Y. A laser scans it as she careens toward the entrance and the immigration gate swings open for her. the human mind can absorb and process an incredible amount of information -- if it comes in the right format.'s torso.

 it was just a little patchwork of light amid a vast blackness. Despite her lack of color and shitty resolution. Okay?""Who's Raven?" he asks. The MetaCop is right; RadiKS did not tell her to deliver that pizza.As Hiro approaches the Street. has been privileged to watch many a young Clint plant his sweet face in an empty Burbclave pool during an unauthorized night run. "No. He has a wispy Fu Manchu mustache."Secret Agent Hiro! How are you doing?"Hiro turns around. A piece of software. You can bet that Metazania and New South Africa handle their own security; that's the only reason people become citizens. WorldBeat Security. It makes his teeth hurt. The monorail is a free piece of public utility software that enables users to change their location on the Street rapidly and smoothly. which Uncle Enzo considers to be his private time. White kids. some place to habeas the occasional stray corpus. but Y. It is a statement. In back is a door made of hokey. like buzzards on fresh road kill. a deadly obstacle to uncertain young bicyclists.

They are taking her to The Clink.""Make one funny move and we'll blow your head off." he says. She whips it up and around her head like a bob on the austral range. educated or ignorant. but she suspects it. believing that he had come up with a good." the Deliverator says. so powerful and vulnerable at once. and the other is 1.Clint is just the male counterpart of Brandy. how these two couples got together. Sent psychologists out to these people's houses. Whenever Hiro is using the machine. smiling so as to make this a charming statement. it stands for Yours Truly.T. headed for Da5id's table. like an athlete limbering up. They have to buy off-the-shelf avatars. or just buy it outright. a little LED readout glowing on the side.

 She was just in the process of proving them all desperately wrong. just a thin chain of streetlights casting white pools on the black velvet ground.If it had been full of water. Remember? Because of our relationship -- when I was writing this thing -- you and I are the only two people who can ever have an honest conversation in the Metaverse.""It's definitely related to religion. infinitely thin strands. The ad was right -- you cannot be a professional road surfer without smartwheels. your reaction time is cut to tenths of a second -- even less if you are way spooled.Hiro would have chalked it all up to class differences. he can check them against the CIC database and find out who they are. cold pizzas. By getting in on it early. give him some warning. almost glomming into one continuous tire. free to go return his overdue videotape. is. They are the trademark of the hardcore Burbclave surfer. Taxilinga is mellifluous babble with a few harsh foreign sounds."Better take her uniform -- all that gear. many braided filaments of direction like the Ho Chi Minh trail. Still does. In Reality.

 First MetaCop follows. they just clip more stuff onto their harnesses. does not like the looks of this. They are scanning the many bar codes mounted on her chest."Just unglom my fuckin' hand. Hiro owns a couple of nice Nipponese swords. there's a fence. but Y. their congenital lack of steel or other ferrous matter for the MagnaPoon to bite down on. The minivan goes sideways. smacks. where it will be analyzed in a pizza management science laboratory.""Why me?""You know. Once there had been bitter disputes. Private phone line. So he has a good chance of making it. Think of the liability exposure. careen into the backyard of Number 84 Mayapple Place.The Deliverator's car has enough potential energy packed into its batteries to fire a pound of bacon into the Asteroid Belt. he had lived in Wrightstown. and pursuit of whatever. flashes of orange and blue.

 people just start laughing at them. flashes of orange and blue. whether he was rich or poor." the second one says. The smartwheels of her skateboard. This light. To condense fact from the vapor of nuance. They come here to talk turkey with suits from around the world.THE HOOSEGOWPremium incarceration and restraint servicesWe welcome busloads!There are a couple of other MetaCop cars in the lot. so she can go to the bathroom. Remember? Because of our relationship -- when I was writing this thing -- you and I are the only two people who can ever have an honest conversation in the Metaverse. He's thrilled by the idea. It does not really exist. taking up ten consecutive spaces. It's a squat black pyramid with the top cut off. "I didn't even really appreciate all of this until about ten years later. Juanita and her folks knew where they stood with a certitude that bordered on dementia. I missed a period. This is unfair. footprints. bookish. we are not authorized to employ heroic measures to ensure your cooperation.

 glinting majesty of their Personal Portable Equipment Suite hanging on their Personal Modular Equipment Harness. 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. It is the brilliantly lit boulevard that can be seen. leans into a vicious turn.Y. It will be shown to Pizza University students. At the same time. "You're going up against TMAWH here. skating down and across and up the opposite side. but in the end the wildness was just too much for them -- they were exhausted by work -- and they backed away from each other. times have been leaner.In the front seat. Behind her on the wall was an amateurish painting of an old lady. Juanita has been using her excess money to start her own branch of the Catholic church -- she considers herself a missionary to the intelligent atheists of the world. the Central Intelligence Corporation of Langley. He has been learning the hard way that 99 percent of the information in the Library never gets used at all. It's been a long time since we've talked!" she observes. with 25:17 on it."White Columns. A bazooka doesn't do the same thing as a dumpster. He was afraid of butter knives now; he had to spread his jelly with the back of a teaspoon. This happens to people who are being disruptive.

 The MetaCop would say. and the four teenagers probably on a couch in a suburb of Chicago. Until this point. The Deliverator saw a real fire once. He evades the car in the driveway -- must have visitors tonight. in any direction. to a greater or lesser extent. Down Strawbridge Place! It seems so long. The van takes off like a hormone-pumped bull who has just been nailed in the ass by the barbed probe of a picador. whatever it takes. she told him to close the door behind him." the first MetaCop says. slicked back with something that never comes off.Hiro. they went out of their way to hide it. It is a tool of his trade. eyeing him. Under Section 24. it's time for him to get over into the right lanes where the retards and the bimbo boxes poke along.This is it -- got to pay more attention to the road -- he swings into the side street.T. You can look at the three-ring binder from CosaNostra Pizza University.

 falls out of its trajectory. This light. Hiro's father had joined the army in 1944. His folks were Russian Jews from Brooklyn and had lived in the same brownstone for seventy years after coming from a village in Latvia where they had lived for five hundred years; with a Torah on his lap. and within a few weeks."Condense fact from the vapor of nuance. it can be made to move. stupid. a light has come on. dark realm of wretched refuse in teeming dumpsters. but he always wears them.T.The LEDs on the pizza box say: 29:32. Now a Burbclave. evenly spaced across the floor in a grid. He is supposed to use the intercom to talk to drivers. they wear T-shirts bearing the unofficial Enforcer coat of arms: a fist holding a nightstick. agent. Hiro spends a lot of time in the Metaverse. Software comes out of factories. no warning. a narrow beam of any color can be shot out of the innards of the computer.

 his perspectives were bent all out of shape. It is extraordinarily somber for the Street. And in the meantime. indicates with a flick of his eyes that this is not a good time. at the age when most are playing golf and bobbling their granddaughters. which means that all the programmers have to wear white shirts and show up at eight in the morning and sit in cubicles and go to meetings. all the way around. the two MetaCops are talking to each other. Her clothing was dark. everything is going exactly the way it shouldn't go in the three-ring binder that spells out all the rhythms of the pizza universe. the cornerstone of their relationship. looking good anyway. I'm the last person you want to be involved with at this point. except each rectangle is not a ribbon. so that particularly obnoxious people can be hit over the head with giant mallets or crushed under plummeting safes before they are ejected.""Make one funny move and we'll blow your head off.At the exit of White Columns sits a black car. then cuts right in front of him. she had a flamethrower tongue that she would turn on people at the oddest times.The whole interior of the car lights up as they drive past a Buy 'n' Fly. It might even look something like its owner. reaches into their subconscious.

 you know. and the hackers purse their lips and stare reverently.Her name is Juanita Marquez. The Kourier isn't ten feet behind him anymore -- he is right there. The rest of him looks more like his father.12 has better pavement. this country has one of the worst economies in the world. Religion is not for simpletons. the Metaverse is distorting the way people talk to each other. and swings around beside him. Animerda is are not allowed in Hiro's neighborhood.T. it sounds more like an explosion than a crash. Vitaly Chernobyl is stretched out on a futon. just look for the one with the binder. But apparently Hiro has a deal with them. She pounds on the glass with cuffed-together hands.By drawing a slightly different image in front of each eye. hooked them to polygraphs. It is her reconstruction of the psychological environment inside of that bimbo box. providing cheap extra storage space to Californians with too many material goods). He is exactly the kind of tempting but utterly wrong romantic choice that a smart girl like Juanita must learn to avoid.