When he wakes up, it's the middle of the day and he is all dried out from the sun, and birds are circling overhead, trying to decide whether he's dead or alive. Hiro climbs down from the roof of the turret1 and, throwing caution to the wind, drinks three glasses of L.A. tap water. He gets some bacon out of Da5id's fridge and throws it in the microwave. Most of General Jim's people have left, and there is only a token guard of soldiers down on the road. Hiro locks all the doors that look out on the hillside, because he can't stop thinking about Raven2. Then he sits at the kitchen table and goggles3 in.
The Black Sun is mostly full of Asians, including a lot of people from the Bombay film industry, glaring at each other, stroking their black mustaches, trying to figure out what kind of hyperviolent action film will play in Persepolis next year. It is nighttime there. Hiro is one of the few Americans in the joint4.
Along the back wall of the bar is a row of private rooms, ranging from little tete-a-tetes to big conference rooms where a bunch of avatars can gather and have a meeting. Juanita is waiting for Hiro in one of the smaller ones. Her avatar just looks like Juanita. It is an honest representation, with no effort made to hide the early suggestions of crow's-feet at the corners of her big black eyes. Her glossy5 hair is so well resolved that Hiro can see individual strands6 refracting the light into tiny rainbows.
"I'm at Da5id's house. Where are you?" Hiro says.
"In an airplane -- so I may break up," Juanita says.
"You on your way here?"
"To Oregon, actually."
"Portland?"
"Astoria."
"Why on earth would you go to Astoria, Oregon, at a time like this?"
Juanita takes a deep breath, lets it out shakily. "If I told you, we'd get into an argument."
"What's the latest word on Da5id?" Hiro says.
"The same."
Juanita sighs, looks tired. "There won't be any diagnosis," she says. "It's a software, not a hardware, problem."
"Huh?"
"They're rounding up the usual suspects. CAT scans, NMR scans, PET scans, EEGs. Everything's fine. There's nothing wrong with his brain -- his hardware."
"It just happens to be running the wrong program?"
"His software got poisoned. Da5id had a snow crash last night, inside his head."
"Are you trying to say it's a psychological problem?"
"It kind of goes beyond those established categories," Juanita says, "because it's a new phenomenon. A very old one, actually."
"Does this thing just happen spontaneously, or what?"
"You tell me," she says. "You were there last night. Did anything happen after I left?"
"He had a Snow Crash hypercard that he got from Raven outside The Black Sun."
"Who's the bastard? Raven or Da5id?"
"Da5id. I tried to warn him."
"He used it." Hiro goes on to explain the Brandy with the magic scroll9. "Then later he had computer trouble and got bounced."
"I heard about that part," she says. "That's why I called the paramedics."
"I don't see the connection between Da5id's computer having a crash, and you calling an ambulance."
"The Brandy's scroll wasn't just showing random10 static. It was flashing up a large amount of digital information, in binary11 form. That digital information was going straight into Da5id's optic nerve. Which is part of the brain, incidentally -- if you stare into a person's pupil, you can see the terminal of the brain."
"Da5id's not a computer. He can't read binary code."
"He's a hacker12. He messes with binary code for a living. That ability is firm-wired into the deep structures of his brain. So he's susceptible13 to that form of information. And so are you, home boy."
"What kind of information are we talking about?"
"Bad news. A metavirus," Juanita says. "It's the atomic bomb of informational warfare14 -- a virus that causes any system to infect itself with new viruses."
"And that's what made Da5id sick?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't I get sick?"
"Too far away. Your eyes couldn't resolve the bitmap. It has to be right up in your face."
"I'll think about that one," Hiro says. "But I have another question. Raven also distributes another drug -- in Reality -- called, among other things, Snow Crash. What is it?"
"It's not a drug," Juanita says. "They make it look like a drug and feel like a drug so that people will want to take it. It's laced with cocaine15 and some other stuff."
"If it's not a drug, what is it?"
"It's chemically processed blood serum16 taken from people who are infected with the metavirus," Juanita says. "That is, it's just another way of spreading the infection."
"Who's spreading it?"
"L. Bob Rife's private church. All of those people are infected." Hiro puts his head in his hands. He's not exactly thinking about this; he's letting it ricochet around in his skull17, waiting for it to come to rest. "Wait a minute, Juanita. Make up your mind. This Snow Crash thing -- is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?"
Juanita shrugs18. "What's the difference?"
That Juanita is talking this way does not make it any easier for Hiro to get back on his feet in this conversation. "How can you say that? You're a religious person yourself."
"Don't lump all religion together."
"Sorry."
"All people have religions. It's like we have religion receptors built into our brain cells, or something, and we'll latch19 onto anything that'll fill that niche20 for us. Now, religion used to be essentially21 viral -- a piece of information that replicated22 inside the human mind, jumping from one person to the next. That's the way it used to be, and unfortunately, that's the way it's headed right now. But there have been several efforts to deliver us from the hands of primitive23, irrational24 religion. The first was made by someone named Enki about four thousand years ago. The second was made by Hebrew scholars in the eighth century B.C., driven out of their homeland by the invasion of Sargon II, but eventually it just devolved into empty legalism. Another attempt was made by Jesus -- that one was hijacked25 by viral influences within fifty days of his death. The virus was suppressed by the Catholic Church, but we're in the middle of a big epidemic26 that started in Kansas in 1900 and has been gathering27 momentum28 ever since."
"Do you believe in God or not?" Hiro says. First things first.
"Definitely."
"Do you believe in Jesus?"
"Yes. But not in the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus."
"How can you be a Christian29 without believing in that?"
"I would say," Juanita says, "how can you be a Christian with it? Anyone who takes the trouble to study the gospels can see that the bodily resurrection is a myth that was tacked30 onto the real story several years after the real histories were written. It's so National Enquirer-esque, don't you think?"
Beyond that, Juanita doesn't have much to say. She doesn't want to get into it now, she says. She doesn't want to prejudice Hiro's thinking "at this point."
"Does that imply that there's going to be some other point? Is this a continuing relationship?" Hiro says.
"Do you want to find the people who infected Da5id?"
"Yes. Hell, Juanita, even if it weren't for the fact that he is my friend, I'd want to find them before they infect me."
"Look at the Babel stack, Hiro, and then visit me if I get back from Astoria."
"If you get back? What are you doing there?"
"Research."
She's been putting on a businesslike front through this whole talk, spitting out information, telling Hiro the way it is. But she's tired and anxious, and Hiro gets the idea that she's deeply afraid.
"Good luck," he says. He was all ready to do some flirting31 with her during this meeting, picking up where they left off last night. But something has changed in Juanita's mind between then and now. Flirting is the last thing on her mind.
Juanita's going to do something dangerous in Oregon. She doesn't want Hiro to know about it so that he won't worry.
"There's some good stuff in the Babel stack about someone named Inanna," she says.
"Who's Inanna?"
"A Sumerian goddess. I'm sort of in love with her. Anyway, you can't understand what I'm about to do until you understand Inanna."
"Well, good luck," Hiro says. "Say hi to Inanna for me."
"Thanks."
"When you get back, I want to spend some time with you."
"The feeling is mutual," she says. "But we have to get out of this first."
"Oh. I didn't realize I was in something."
"Don't be a sap. We're all in it."
Hiro leaves, exiting into The Black Sun.
There is one guy wandering around the Hacker Quadrant who really stands out. His avatar doesn't look so hot. And he's having trouble controlling it. He looks like a guy who's just goggled32 into the Metaverse for the first time and doesn't know how to move around. He keeps bumping into tables, and when he wants to turn around, he spins around several times, not knowing how to stop himself.
Hiro walks toward him, because his face seems a little familiar. When the guy finally stops moving long enough for Hiro to resolve him clearly, he recognizes the avatar. It's a Clint. Most often seen in the company of a Brandy.
The Clint recognizes Hiro, and his surprised face comes on for a second, is then replaced by his usual stern, stiff-lipped, craggy appearance. He holds up his hands together in front of him, and Hiro sees that he is holding a scroll, just like Brandy's.
Hiro reaches for his katana, but the scroll is already up in his face, spreading open to reveal the blue glare of the bitmap inside. He sidesteps, gets over to one side of the Clint, raising the katana overhead, snaps the katana straight down and cuts the Clint's arms off.
As the scroll falls, it spreads open even wider. Hiro doesn't dare look at it now. The Clint has turned around and is awkwardly trying to escape from The Black Sun, bouncing from table to table like a pinball.
If Hiro could kill the guy -- cut his head off -- then his avatar would stay in The Black Sun, be carried away by the Graveyard33 Daemons. Hiro could do some hacking34 and maybe figure out who he is, where he's coming in from.
But a few dozen hackers35 are lounging around the bar, watching all of this, and if they come over and look at the scroll, they'll all end up like Da5id.
Hiro squats36 down, looking away from the scroll, and pulls up one of the hidden trapdoors that lead down into the tunnel system. He's the one who coded those tunnels into The Black Sun to begin with; he's the only person in the whole bar who can use them. He sweeps the scroll into the tunnel with one hand, then closes the door.
Hiro can see the Clint, way over near the exit, trying to get his avatar aimed out through the door. Hiro runs after him. If the guy reaches the Street, he's gone -- he'll turn into a translucent37 ghost. With a fifty-foot head start in a crowd of a million other translucent ghosts, there's just no way. As usual, there's a crowd of wannabes gathered on the Street out front. Hiro can see the usual assortment38, including a few black-and-white people.
One of those black-and-whites is Y.T. She's loitering out there waiting for Hiro to come out.
"Y.T!" he shouts. "Chase that guy with no arms!"
Hiro gets out the door just a few seconds after the Clint does. Both the Clint and Y.T. are already gone.
He turns back into The Black Sun, pulls up a trapdoor, and drops down into the tunnel system, the realm of the Graveyard Daemons. One of them has already picked up the scroll and is trudging39 in toward the center to throw it on the fire.
"Hey, bud," Hiro says, "take a right turn at the next tunnel and leave that thing in my office, okay? But do me a favor and roll it up first."
He follows the Graveyard Daemon down the tunnel, under the Street, until they're under the neighborhood where Hiro and the other hackers have their houses. Hiro has the Graveyard Daemon deposit the rolled-up scroll in his workshop, down in the basement -- the room where Hiro does his hacking. Then Hiro continues upstairs to his office.
收听单词发音 |
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turret
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| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
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raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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goggles
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| n.护目镜 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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diagnosis
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| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
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bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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scroll
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| n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡 | |
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random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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binary
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| adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星 | |
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hacker
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| n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客 | |
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susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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cocaine
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| n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂） | |
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serum
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| n.浆液，血清，乳浆 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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replicated
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| 复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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hijacked
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| 劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图） | |
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epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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tacked
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| 用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝 | |
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flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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goggled
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| adj.戴护目镜的v.睁大眼睛瞪视， （惊讶的）转动眼珠( goggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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graveyard
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| n.坟场 | |
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hacking
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| n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
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hackers
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| n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客” | |
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squats
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| n.蹲坐，蹲姿( squat的名词复数 )；被擅自占用的建筑物v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的第三人称单数 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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translucent
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| adj.半透明的；透明的 | |
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assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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trudging
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的现在分词形式） | |
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