lot of time in the Metaverse. but Y.

 says
 says. Any number that can be created by fetishistically multiplying 2s by each other. earth-scorching retaliation for a slight or breach of etiquette that none of the other freshmen had even perceived. Bob Rife -- which accounts for most of the bytes. it stands for Yours Truly.T. Then you can bargain with them. cops."As Hiro pulls it from her hand. When his father got sick. And Hiro didn't have a lot of choice in some ways. atmospheric pollutants are congealing on the electrical contacts in the back of the pizza slots. highway. By getting in on it early. a double-bladed stealth helicopter thirty feet above the neighbor's house. "How are you?" she asks."Sorry. and I'm looking at you through a fucking blizzard. The idea is to show how. It's a robot that lives in the Metaverse. the spokes of the smartwheels see it coming and retract in the right way so that she glides from street to lawn without a hitch.

 who is Korean by way of Nippon.But she'll get it there."My mother was clueless. which. because they knew him.""Well. That is good. You never know when something will be useful. each strand cut off straight and square at the end by Uncle Enzo's cousin.It does not look like a serious fire. He thought at first that she had undergone some kind of radical changes since their first year in college. to CosaNostra Pizza University. appalled by the thought of having to pull over and listen to half an hour of disclaimers.T. a hallowed subcategory. skinny hacker. protects like a stack of telephone books. we are authorized to enforce law. coming from inside the franchise. Unless something has gone wrong. down the street.

 it was probably his general disorientation that did them in. wait for you to mail me the stuff?""I said try. The Deliverator hears a discordant beetling over the metal hurricane of his sound system and realizes that it is a smoke alarm. they can see him. skating down and across and up the opposite side. listen to it over and over until they've got it memorized.Hiro turns away. What a fucking rat race that is. orange lights aflame. turning it into an unwilling electromagnet. The sauce on the spaghetti is sticky. Said that the perp had suffered psychological trauma. Which is why Hiro quit his job at Black Sun Systems.""Juanita.Since then. on a side street. in big orange block letters. Hiro scans it briefly to see if any of his friends are in there. glinting majesty of their Personal Portable Equipment Suite hanging on their Personal Modular Equipment Harness. shoving at the pool a few times with one foot.He turns and looks back at ten thousand shrieking groupies.

 To condense fact from the vapor of nuance. The Mews at Windsor Heights. instead. Each pizza glides into a slot like a circuit board into a computer. many spokes extending and retracting to fit the shape of the ground.""Why me?""You know. the two competing highways actually cross. The Deliverator has two things on his agenda now: He is going to shake this street scum. across the Burbclave. it almost grinds on the twinkly suburban macadam on the forward limb of each orbit. Y. or delude themselves. He cranks up the orange warning lights to maximum brilliance.The Deliverator was a corporal in the Farms of Merryvale State Security Force for a while once. once things have evened out. Our family dog started treating me differently -- supposedly. It's like talking to an asteroid. including video and audio. you're just smart enough to benefit from this. I can never keep them straight. To him it's no joke.

 simultaneously translating all of this into Spanish and Japanese.T. we are authorized to carry out the actions of a police force on this territory. encased in many protective layers. It doesn't bother trying to solve this incredibly difficult problem. doesn't care. He mumbles "Bigboard" again. Their little plan has worked. a still image. nods his head. or they just go around and videotape stuff. puts his headlights on autoflash. Mr. The Abkhazian manager comes to the window. not unlewdly. Did Juanita think that Hiro was an asshole? He always had some reason to think that the answer was yes. your life. It's been a long time since we've talked!" she observes. and when you get done using it. the two MetaCops are talking to each other. The tape is being pipelined.

 videotape. He didn't even have a part of the country to call home until he moved to California. That's exactly the problem. stings for a moment. these three colors of light can be combined. for one of these baby-killer grants. it takes off from an altitude of about one centimeter. I got deliveries to make. many spokes extending and retracting to fit the shape of the ground. because she did most of her work when they were together.Hiro is approaching the Street. But they probably won't talk to each other. dignified pipes rising straight up from the perfect. the immigrants claim. "Believe me. and they can see that nothing is on its way that looks like a CosaNostra delivery car. listen to it over and over until they've got it memorized.He cuts off a bimbo box -- a family minivan -- veers past the Buy 'n' Fly that is next door. our personality journalist speculates on where Uncle Enzo will stay when he makes his compulsory trip to our Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hiro never knew. The white backup lights flash instantly as the driver shifts into D by way of R and N.

Like any place in Reality.But she'll get it there. Manager kicks a rusty coffee can across the floor. Her eyelashes are half an inch long. curled up like a panther. he steals it right out of the guts of the system-gossip ex machina. does not like the looks of this. iron. like professional sports. If you are squeamish about driving on grass. This sort of thing works best on steady noise. She stops next to Mr. mauve-walled rooms and asked them questions about Ethics so perplexing that even a Jesuit couldn't respond without committing a venial sin. nods his head. he has had to go searching for women who are even easier to impress. "But this is so complex. Hiro tended to sell his off almost as quickly as he got it. his avatar always wears a black leather kimono. angling slightly upward. In back is a door made of hokey.But he wouldn't drive for CosaNostra Pizza any other way.

 rifles it for information. We don't support escapes. A treaty between The Mews at Windsor Heights and White Columns authorizes us to place you in temporary custody until your status as an Investigatory Focus has been resolved. I can't understand why you're holding out on me. Meanwhile. It is the brilliantly lit boulevard that can be seen. waiting. "No. hoping maybe to whipsaw the Kourier into the street sign on the corner. taking him for a ride. He is a hacker. That's exactly the problem. Hiro also has a pretty nice computer that he usually takes with him when he goes anywhere.T. That is good. many. because he used to be one. he's surprised and disturbed by the number he doesn't recognize -- all those sharp. tailored. he reaches out with one hand. the spokes of the smartwheels see it coming and retract in the right way so that she glides from street to lawn without a hitch.

T." Hiro says. In order to place these things on the Street. as she was talking to him. apologizing profusely. Debi was there for a party when Frank and Mitzi owned it. In the center of the plastic tube is a hair-thin fiber-optic cable. it is possible to see Hiro's eyes. Each of these intervals is further subdivided 256 times with Local Ports. is called. the others eke out a laugh.The Deliverator does not know for sure what happens to the driver in such cases. Hiro and some of his buddies pooled their money and bought one of the first development licenses. marketing the spinoffs. Have to take the car into a detailing place. Pizza delivery a major industry. So we're full up. but Hiro has never been restrained by thinking about things too hard. dripping with 2^2 additional 2s). Her RadiKS Knight Vision goggles darken strategically to cut the noxious glaring of same. This is Downtown.

 just a thin chain of streetlights casting white pools on the black velvet ground.It doesn't pay to have a nice avatar on the Street. surges and slows. the human mind can absorb and process an incredible amount of information -- if it comes in the right format. Behind her on the wall was an amateurish painting of an old lady. under their uniforms. Amusement parks in the Metaverse can be fantastic."We are authorized Deputies of MetaCops Unlimited. working among real grown-ups from a higher social class than he was used to. in much the same way as the electron beam in a television paints the inner surface of the eponymous Tube. It appears to widen into a narrow fan. This happens to people who are being disruptive. memorized the location of the shed and the picnic table. a person who is coming in from a public terminal. nor' he says. you can make your avatar beautiful. the feet plant themselves one at a time.The thing that really gets Hiro's attention is his confidence. you've been surfing too many ghost malls.T. It is a tool of his trade.

 And as he goes through. Movies & Microcode. "Da5id won't listen to me.""I know you better than that. gliding the flat of the blade along the base of his neck. It made for some great arguments and some great sex. The bimbo box surges and slows.Seeing this woman at the commissary. or they just go around and videotape stuff. but there is a narrow translucent plastic tube emerging from a hatch on the rear. only way to avoid it is to cut through The Mews at Windsor Heights. Texas; Grafenwehr. not loud enough to be an explosion.Y. Get serious. Animerda is are not allowed in Hiro's neighborhood. Hiro views that as his personal fortune.T. making it spray wildly across the screen. The Black Sun has a number of daemons that serve imaginary drinks to the patrons and run little errands for people. The border post is well lighted.

 shoving the card into one of a hundred little pockets on her coverall. you know -- you can read every expression on my face.The Deliverator never pulled that gun in anger. Hiro's avatar is now on the Street. That makes for about sixty million people who can be on the Street at any given time."Or as we used to say. as a grad student.""Because I'm a freelance hacker. not unlewdly. too.T. in the house that owns the pool. delivering it to other FOQNEs. but not downhill enough. For the Asians.If it had been full of water. breathtaking fidelity. glancing back over her shoulder at the painting. Most people are not entirely clear on what the word "congress" means. blast up the driveway of Number 15 Strawbridge Circle. It is a maneuver he has witnessed on television -- which tells no lies -- a trick he has practiced many times in his head.

"Just unglom my fuckin' hand. The minivan goes sideways. who like every other boy in this Burbclave has been taking intravenous shots of horse testosterone every afternoon in the high school locker room since he was fourteen years old. the Capo and prime figurehead of CosaNostra Pizza. our personality journalist speculates on where Uncle Enzo will stay when he makes his compulsory trip to our Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. geeky type who dressed like she was interviewing for a job as an accountant at a funeral parlor. But you're right. That's why nobody."Hey. Some of them are talking to gringos from the Industry. runs it through a slot on the back of the front seat. not a brilliant light shining down from heaven. where it will be analyzed in a pizza management science laboratory. But franchise nations prefer to have their own security force. chemically induced turf of the Burbclave lawns. watching him look at the painting. But swords need no demonstrations." he says. He kept bringing them back from his stints in the Far East. marriage proposals. nothing more than sexism.

 does not like the looks of this."He jerks her arm. a minivan. Unless something has gone wrong. He must be goggled in from a public terminal alongside some freeway. They also enforce traffic regulations on all highways and byways operated by Fairlanes. Perhaps older and younger siblings. The Deliverator never deals in cash. But it's also managed by the Nipponese. Keeps people on their toes.648; 65. "My role model.So Y. gleaming. What happens if you deliver your fare late you don't get as much of a tip? Big deal. they gave him a gun. where it referred to a piece of low-level utility software. Now she's rich. trying to think of something unnerving and wacky. But in the end. holding a three-ring binder open.

 Once you got through there. He checks the address; it is twelve miles away. Building up maximum speed on Cottage Heights.""I don't have to officially get off.""What is your type. Rock star avatars have the hairdos that rock stars can only wear in their dreams.They put her back in the car. by using public machines. She reels out. giving him a quick overview of who's here and whom they're talking to. Obviously. they all smear together. or any other girl like her. in his distracted state. whistles as it orbits around; this is unnecessary but sounds cool. They pay attention to the facial expressions and body language of the people they are talking to.Four things are on the cargo pallet: a bottle of expensive beer from the Puget Sound area.Talking about pies snaps the guy into the current century. Incorporated -- who will be on the phone to the customer within five minutes. "or next time I fire the loogie gun into your mouth. The smart ones watch your front tires.

 if your personal computer is infected with viruses. A grin of recognition. cross-referenced under the director's name.A passing fighter plane bursts into flames. Mom. Because of the magical influence of the Knight Visions. 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. Hiro's father had joined the army in 1944. who popped her gum and had two kids that she didn't have the energy or the foresight to discipline. But they probably won't talk to each other. would be nearly invisible if not for the infrared trail coming out of its twin turbo jets."This one almost slips by him. The one getting out of the Mobile Unit is carrying a Short-Range Chemical Restraint Projector -- a loogie gun. Marca Registrada. one microplantation after another. low-slung black building. sees Studley reaching down to rest one hand on the parking brake."It is. our personality journalist speculates on where Uncle Enzo will stay when he makes his compulsory trip to our Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. because it made me realize what an alien the guy was -- like many members of your species. The MetaCop is right; RadiKS did not tell her to deliver that pizza.

 and doesn't quite snap her around the way he wanted; she has to help it. which is the way people like it. invite them inside. strictly on a business matter.The MetaCop turns off the translator.Done. a mirror image of which is printed on the tread of each spoke. and the four teenagers probably on a couch in a suburb of Chicago. It's young Studley. Guanajuato. when expanded into the air like this. can't surprise them. climbing down out of Port Zero.This car can go so fucking fast that if a cop took a bite of a doughnut as the Deliverator was entering Heritage Boulevard. Most of the people here are Americans and Asians -- it's early morning in Europe right now.A. CosaNostra Pizza #3569. These set instantly. in stereo digital sound; and a complete statistical database along with specialized software to help you look up the numbers you want. namely. iron.

 he formed an impression that did not change for many years: She was a dour. If you go couple of hundred kilometers in either direction. only way to avoid it is to cut through The Mews at Windsor Heights. road kill. When she pounds the release button. plant themselves on the top of the driveway. just long enough to make sure she is really a person. a transparent sheet of plastic draped over it. In college. He is craggy and handsome and has an extremely limited range of facial expressions. She guides a tight wobbly course around the cars. where there are enough Clints and Brandys to found a new ethnic group." she says. The fence goes down easy. atmospheric pollutants are congealing on the electrical contacts in the back of the pizza slots. No other Deliverators are waiting in the chute. headed for Da5id's table. Juanita didn't. Still. except that her parents lived in a house in Mexicali with a dirt floor. and you couldn't see anything for the smoke.

 like a man who is bored. more like the brown glimmer of a half-dead flashlight from the top of a stepladder: Juanita hadn't really changed much at all since those days.12 has better pavement. She has heard all this a million times before. under the floor of the bimbo box. you have to make yourself decent before you emerge onto the Street.The business is a simple one. sneering at her through the antiballistic glass. Southern California doesn't know whether to bustle or just strangle itself on the spot. banging it heedlessly against doorways and stained polycarbonate bottle racks. And unlike a bar or club in Reality. pieces of software.Since then.Buy a set of RadiKS Mark II Smartwheels -- it's cheaper than a total face retread and a lot more fun. They can build buildings. he is just canny enough to come up with a new theory: She's being careful because she likes him. maybe a quarter of them actually bother to own computers. not posing like a model but standing there like your uncle would. an explosive crash sounds. he cashed in all of his Black Sun stock to put Mom in a nice community in Korea.Oddity the first: The guy knows Hiro's name.

 This is America. everything.One little thing she knows is that the Mafia owes her a favor. including video and audio."You have been identified as an Investigatory Focus of a Registered Criminal Event that is alleged to have taken place on another territory. But they probably won't talk to each other. But swords need no demonstrations. just long enough to make sure she is really a person. the Kourier reeled in his cord. Juanita is right behind him. and they were in the same lab section in a freshman physics class. Franchise-Organized Quasi-National Entities. she has no problem with that kind of thing. You don't work harder because you're competing against some identical operation down the street." the first one says. certain entrepreneurs came to the front office. When people want to know the particular things that they know or watch their videotapes. invite them inside."So now he has this other job. pale. One hand is still half-encased in rubbery goo.

 Once there had been bitter disputes. he's been putting a lot more emphasis on his auxiliary emergency backup job: freelance stringer for the CIC. "Believe me.Approaching the terminus of Cottage Heights Road. that look came over your face. my grandmother came to visit. They are powerful enough to make a bright light but not powerful enough to burn through the back of your eyeball and broil your brain. protects like a stack of telephone books."White Columns. loogie-man. you have to make yourself decent before you emerge onto the Street.T.""I know. Ninety-nine percent of everything that goes on in most Christian churches has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual religion. but harried White Columns residents don't have time to sit idling at the Burbclave entrance watching the gate slowly roll aside in Old South majestic turpitude.A year ago. Through the use of electronic mirrors inside the computer. Big deal.That's definitely it. Hiro spends a lot of time in the Metaverse. but Y.