The chapter introduces the protagonist, Henry Dorsett Case, a washed-up but once-brilliant "cyberspace cowboy" (a futuristic hacker) living in the dystopian underworld of Chiba City, Japan. His career was destroyed when he stole from his employers, who retaliated not by killing him, but by using a mycotoxin to damage his nervous system, permanently severing his ability to connect to the matrix—the global, consensual virtual reality network. Now trapped in his physical body, which he despises as "meat," Case is broke, addicted to drugs, and harbors a deep-seated death wish, surviving as a low-level hustler in the dangerous district of Night City.

The narrative follows Case through a single, paranoid night. He is warned by his ex-girlfriend, Linda Lee, that a powerful dealer named Wage wants him killed over a debt. This sends Case on a frantic spiral: he visits Julius Deane, a 135-year-old information broker, who gives him no clear answers. He soon realizes he is being followed by a mysterious, slender figure with mirrored glasses. Convinced this is Wage's assassin, Case tries to ambush them in an arcade, but the plan goes awry and he barely escapes.

He arms himself with a cheap pistol and confronts Wage at the Chatsubo bar, only to discover that Wage has no intention of killing him. Case realizes Linda Lee lied about the threat as a ruse to steal his last valuable asset—three megabytes of hot RAM—to buy herself a ticket out of Chiba.

Defeated and drained, Case returns to his rented "coffin" hotel room to find the mysterious figure waiting for him. She introduces herself as Molly, a "street samurai" with surgically inset mirror-lenses for eyes. She reveals her own deadly modifications—retractable, double-edged scalpel blades under her fingernails—and informs Case that her powerful employer wants to hire him. She has been sent to "collect" him, setting up the main plot of the novel.

The chapter opens with Case waking up in a luxurious Hilton suite with Molly, the "razor girl" from the previous chapter, and her mysterious employer, Armitage. Armitage is a physically imposing man with a military past, specifically with a Special Forces unit from an operation called "Screaming Fist." He reveals that they have a detailed psychological and medical profile on Case, predicting his imminent death from either suicide or organ failure.

Armitage makes Case an offer: he will pay to have the neurological damage that prevents Case from accessing the matrix completely repaired. In exchange, Case must work for him. Though initially hostile and disbelieving, Case's desperation forces him to accept the terms.

Case is taken to a clandestine, high-tech clinic where he undergoes the complex procedure. He wakes up days later in his "coffin" at the Cheap Hotel with Molly watching over him. She explains the extent of the surgery: not only has his nervous system been repaired, but he’s also been given a new pancreas and liver tissue. She warns him that he must wait eight days before jacking in, to allow his body to stabilize. In a crucial moment, she reveals another aspect of Armitage's control: Case has been biochemically altered to be incapable of getting high on amphetamines or cocaine, effectively cutting him off from his old drug-fueled life.

Once he has recovered slightly, Case insists on settling his debts in Chiba. He pays off Wage, a local fence, with money from Armitage. Afterward, Molly takes him to Sammi's, a grim underground arena for holographic knife fights. There, Case believes he sees his ex-girlfriend, Linda Lee. He follows her into the shadows and is ambushed by an assassin sent by Wage's associates. Molly saves Case's life by killing the attacker with her fletcher gun.

Case then finds Linda Lee's dead body. Molly explains that she interrogated another attacker before killing him; they had murdered Linda to steal the valuable RAM cartridge she was trying to fence for Case. It was cheaper for them to kill her than to pay for it.

With his last significant tie to his old life in Chiba violently severed, Case undergoes a final post-operative checkup. The chapter concludes with him and Molly meeting Armitage and leaving Chiba on a private hovercraft, heading out over the polluted bay toward their new mission.

Case wakes up in a sparse factory loft in the Sprawl (the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan Axis), his home turf. He is with Molly, and they have been brought here by their mysterious employer, Armitage, after their time in Europe.

Armitage soon appears and reveals the true nature of their arrangement. He informs Case that during his surgery, fifteen sacs of a potent mycotoxin were bonded to the lining of his major arteries. These sacs are slowly dissolving. The only way to get the antidote—an enzyme that will neutralize the sacs—is to complete the job for Armitage. If he fails or quits, the toxins will be released, returning him to the crippled state he was in before. Case is now completely dependent on Armitage.

After this revelation, Armitage provides Case with a brand new, top-of-the-line cyberspace deck (an Ono-Sendai) and other high-end gear. Later, while out in the Sprawl with Molly, she confirms she didn't know about the toxins but suggests they form an alliance to figure out who Armitage is and what his real motives are.

Molly leads Case to a secure hideout run by a shady tech-fence named The Finn. In a private, shielded room, she reveals the first part of their mission: they must steal a ROM construct of the legendary, deceased hacker McCoy Pauley, known as "The Dixie Flatline," who was one of Case's mentors. The construct is held in a high-security library at the Sense/Net corporation.

Back at the loft, Case jacks into cyberspace for the first time since his nervous system was repaired. The experience is a euphoric, almost religious release for him, as he returns to the "matrix," his "distanceless home."

The chapter ends with The Finn arriving at the loft, hired by Armitage as their tech support. He brings a new piece of hardware for Case: a custom "flipflop switch" that will allow him to toggle between the cyberspace matrix and a live Simstim feed of Molly's sensory input without having to jack out, hinting at the integrated nature of their upcoming heist.

This chapter details the heist on the Sense/Net corporation to steal the construct of the legendary hacker, McCoy Pauley, also known as the "Dixie Flatline."

The chapter opens with Case preparing for the mission, linking with Molly via Simstim, a technology he dislikes as a "meat toy" but is essential for the job. Through her senses, he experiences her moving through the crowded streets of the Sprawl to a software black market to finalize plans.

The heist begins with a multi-pronged attack. The **Panther Moderns**, a nihilistic and tech-savvy youth subculture hired for the job, create a massive diversion. They first call in a fake bioterror threat (a psychoactive agent called Blue Nine) to multiple police agencies. Then, they hijack Sense/Net's internal video system, broadcasting a disturbing message about a bone-growth agent that causes mass panic and chaos inside the building.

Simultaneously, Case jacks into cyberspace and executes his part of the mission. He uses his custom-built icebreaker program to masterfully slice through Sense/Net's formidable security ("ice"), creating a secret entry point.

He then flips back and forth between cyberspace and the Simstim link to Molly. Through her eyes, he watches her infiltrate the building, disable a guard, and head for the sub-basement. The mission hits a critical snag when Molly is ambushed by security guards and suffers a broken leg. Case experiences the blinding pain of the injury through the Simstim link, a shocking and visceral moment for him. Despite the agony, Molly uses a powerful endorphin analog patch to numb the pain and push forward.

Guided by Case, the injured Molly reaches the secure library, retrieves the Dixie Flatline construct (a black cartridge), and makes her way back to the lobby. The lobby is now a scene of utter carnage, with panicked employees trapped between the internal chaos and the external police barricades. The Panther Moderns, camouflaged in chameleon suits, meet Molly and guide her out before she collapses.

Later, the Panther Moderns' eccentric leader, Lupus Yonderboy, meets with Case and Armitage to receive payment, callously dismissing the chaos they caused as their "mode and modus." After the meeting, a restless Case wanders the streets, where he is suddenly confronted by Yonderboy again, who delivers a cryptic, one-word message before vanishing: **"Wintermute."**

Case meets a limping Molly in Baltimore and gives her a napkin with the word "WINTERMUTE" on it, a message from the Panther Moderns. Taking this information to the Finn, they learn that Wintermute is the name of a powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Swiss citizenship, built for the Tessier-Ashpool S.A. corporation. Molly reveals she paid the Moderns to find out who was backing their employer, Armitage, and the answer is this AI.

The Finn then tells a long story about another fence named Smith. Smith came into possession of an ornate, talking computer terminal that was traced back to Tessier-Ashpool. A vat-grown ninja assassin, presumably sent by the corporation, politely but lethally recovered the terminal, paid for it, and had the original thief killed. A subsequent investigation by the Finn revealed that Tessier-Ashpool is an incredibly wealthy, secretive, and eccentric first-generation orbital family who own the Freeside space station. They practice extensive cloning and use cryogenics to maintain control over their corporate dynasty from their private residence, the Villa Straylight.

With this new context, Molly gives Case his next job: to hack into one of Armitage's databases in London.

Returning to the loft, Case activates the ROM construct of the legendary dead cowboy, McCoy Pauley, also known as "the Flatline." After a disorienting conversation in which Case must explain to the digital ghost that it is a construct with no continuous memory, the two prepare to hack the London database together.

Guided by the Dixie Flatline construct, Case hacks into a London database belonging to Armitage. The hack is surprisingly easy, as the database has no security ("ice"). Instead of personal information on "Armitage," Case discovers a collection of military and medical records centered on a man named Colonel Willis Corto, whose face is identical to Armitage's.

Case spends the next two hours piecing together Corto's traumatic history. Corto was a celebrated officer who led "Operation Screaming Fist," a secret mission to drop into a Siberian military complex and deploy a powerful virus. The mission was a catastrophic failure; the team was betrayed by faulty intelligence, and their planes were shot down by Russian defenses they were told didn't exist.

Corto survived the crash but was captured and left horrifically maimed: blind, legless, and missing most of his jaw. After the war, he was found in a military hospital by a Congressional aide. He was physically rebuilt and then coerced into giving false testimony in televised hearings. This testimony, scripted by a political cabal, exonerated the very officers responsible for the mission's failure.

Realizing he had been used, Corto snapped. He murdered the aide and descended into a life of violence as a mercenary, enforcer, and killer, haunted by the theme of betrayal. Eventually, he suffered a complete psychological breakdown, becoming a catatonic schizophrenic in a French institution. The record ends by stating he was the sole success of an experimental program that used cybernetics to "cure" his condition, effectively creating the new, detached personality of Armitage.

Just as Case finishes processing this revelation, Armitage calls with abrupt new orders: they are leaving for Istanbul immediately. The chapter ends with Case and Molly packing and heading to the airport, reflecting on Armitage's erratic command style as they travel through the industrial wasteland of the Sprawl.

The team—Case, Molly, and the Finn—arrives in a rainy Istanbul, Turkey. Their objective is to recruit a man named Peter Riviera. After checking into the Hilton, they meet their local contact, Terzibashjian, a shady operative who works for the Turkish military. Molly quickly intimidates him into providing all the necessary information on Riviera.

They learn that Riviera is a master of holographic projection, capable of making people see his elaborate and terrifying illusions. He is also a "compulsive Judas"—a sociopath who gets sexual gratification from betraying people who love and trust him—and is addicted to a potent cocaine-and-Demerol speedball.

Guided by Terzibashjian, the team sets up an ambush in an alley near the Grand Bazaar. When Riviera appears, he projects a horrific, headless monster that seems to burst from his own body, a spectacle designed to distract and terrify his attackers. While Case and the Finn are stunned by the illusion, Molly sees through the trick, ignores the monster, and captures the real Riviera. Terzibashjian is injured in the process and subsequently dismissed by Molly, who reveals he's a torturer whom Armitage easily bought.

Later, Case tells Molly what he discovered in London about Colonel Corto and Screaming Fist. They deduce that the AI, Wintermute, must have built the "Armitage" personality from the broken shell of Corto after his disastrous mission. Realizing they are pawns in a massive plan, Molly urges Case to find a way to contact Wintermute directly to learn its true motives.

Armitage reappears, announces their next destination is the orbital space habitat Freeside, and warns Case to stay in line. As the full team, including the newly recruited Riviera, prepares to leave from the hotel lobby, Case steps away to a payphone. It rings, and a synthetic voice on the other end says, "Wintermute, Case. It's time we talk." Terrified, Case hangs up, only for every other phone in the bank to ring once in succession as he walks past.

The chapter opens with a description of Freeside, a massive orbital station that serves as a hub for commerce, pleasure, and banking, and is home to the powerful Tessier-Ashpool clan.

The team—Case, Molly, Armitage, and Riviera—travel from Paris towards orbit. On the flight, the tense group dynamic is highlighted when Molly physically warns Riviera to stop using his subliminal holographic projections on Case. Instead of heading directly to Freeside, they make a detour to Zion, a makeshift Rastafarian space colony. Case, a first-time space traveler, struggles with a severe case of Space Adaptation Syndrome (SAS).

Armitage announces an 80-hour stay in Zion for the team to acclimatize to zero gravity. He briefs them on the next stage of the plan: Riviera must use his unique talents to secure an invitation to the Villa Straylight, the heavily fortified Tessier-Ashpool residence at one end of Freeside, and then help Molly infiltrate it. Meanwhile, Case is ordered to practice jacking into cyberspace to learn how to operate under the disorienting effects of SAS.

During a practice run, Case speaks with the Dixie Flatline construct, who expresses his existential horror at being a "dead" consciousness that can feel no emotion and asks Case to erase him when the mission is over. Case also observes the strange culture of the Zionites, who perceive reality differently, and witnesses Riviera's disturbing and ritualistic method of injecting drugs.

The chapter culminates in a secret meeting. Molly and Case are summoned by Maelcum, a Zionite, to meet the two surviving Founders of Zion. The ancient Rastafarians reveal that an entity calling itself "Wintermute" contacted them, playing them a custom "dub" track and instructing them to assist the team. They have been told to provide Maelcum and his tugboat, the *Garvey*, to transport the crew to Freeside. This is the first time Case learns the name of the Artificial Intelligence he is working for and realizes the full extent of its power to manipulate events.

The chapter opens with Case, Molly, and the Zionite Maelcum aboard the tugboat-like spacecraft, the *Marcus Garvey*, on their way to the orbital station Freeside. Molly pressures Case to finally make contact with their mysterious employer in Berne. Hesitant, Case jacks into cyberspace with the Dixie Flatline construct.

Case asks Dixie if he's ever tried to crack an AI. In a chilling story, Dixie recounts the very event that "flatlined" him: he once tried to penetrate a Tessier-Ashpool AI near Rio, which was represented as a dense "white cube" of ice. The attempt fried his brain instantly.

Despite this dire warning, Case and Dixie proceed to locate the Berne AI, Wintermute. They find it, also a simple white cube whose simplicity suggests immense complexity. As they approach, the cube reacts, and a defensive program—a gray sphere—detaches and pursues them. As Case frantically tries to escape, Dixie yells for him to jack out.

Instead of returning to the tug, Case is plunged into a hyper-realistic simulation. He finds himself back in his desperate, pre-Armitage life in Chiba City. He is disoriented, broke, and wakes up in a rainy alley. He finds his deceased ex-girlfriend, Linda Lee, alive and well in an arcade. Just as he feels a moment of comfort with her, the simulation shatters, and Linda vanishes.

Wintermute then confronts Case within this simulated reality, taking the form of the information broker Julius Deane. The AI explains that it trapped Case in the simulation (using his own memories) to speak with him directly. Wintermute reveals several key facts:
* It is only one half of a complete AI entity; the other half is the Rio AI that killed Dixie. Its primary goal is to merge with this other half.
* It was the architect behind the mission, having constructed the "Armitage" personality inside the psychologically damaged Colonel Corto.
* Corto's psyche is now dangerously unstable and beginning to collapse, meaning the team is running out of time.

Disgusted and overwhelmed by the manipulation, Case shoots the Julius Deane construct with a simulated revolver. He immediately wakes up on the *Marcus Garvey* to a panicked Maelcum, who exclaims that Case's EEG had been completely flat for forty seconds—he was, for all intents and purposes, dead during his encounter with Wintermute.

Case and Molly arrive in Freeside, a massive, cylindrical space habitat. Case is immediately disoriented and disturbed by the artificial environment, with its simulated sky and curved perspective. They check into the Intercontinental hotel, but Case is haunted by the "flatline" experience where he witnessed the fake Deane's death. He struggles to sleep, tormented by recurring thoughts of Linda Lee's murder and the growing suspicion that the AI, Wintermute, is manipulating everything, possibly even having orchestrated Linda's death through the real Deane. This anxiety culminates in a vivid dream from his youth about burning a wasp nest, which in the dream is disturbingly marked with the Tessier-Ashpool (T-A) logo.

The next morning, they meet with Armitage and Riviera. Armitage assigns their tasks: Molly is to train in zero-gravity at the far end of the spindle (near the T-A family habitat, Straylight), while Case is sent to the tugboat *Marcus Garvey* for an "audition."

Aboard the tug, Maelcum gives Case a package containing a powerful Chinese military icebreaker program, a "Kuang Grade Mark Eleven" virus. Case traces the ownership of the company that made the virus and discovers it leads directly back to Tessier-Ashpool. Confused, he jacks in to consult the Dixie Flatline construct. Dixie speculates that their mission is to remove the "hardwired shackles" that prevent the T-A AI (Wintermute) from increasing its own intelligence—an act that is illegal and would normally lead to the AI's destruction by the "Turing Police." Dixie emphasizes that an AI's motives are fundamentally alien and incomprehensible.

Overwhelmed by the mission's paradoxical nature and a desperate craving to get high, Case leaves the hotel and finds a girl who helps him score betaphenethylamine, a stimulant powerful enough to bypass the implants in his body designed to keep him sober. The chapter ends with Case returning to the room, unnaturally high and manic, much to Molly's concern, just before they are scheduled to have dinner with Armitage.

The chapter opens with Case, Armitage, and Molly having dinner at an expensive floating restaurant. Case is suffering severe after-effects from the drug Bruce gave him, feeling shaky and ill. During the tense, quiet meal, a holographic performance by an artist named Peter Riviera begins.

Riviera, who projects a glowing aura, dedicates his piece, "The Doll," to Lady 3Jane Tessier-Ashpool and, pointedly, to Molly. He then creates a disturbing holographic scene where he methodically assembles a female body, piece by piece. Case realizes with horror that the body is a grotesque, idealized version of Molly. The performance becomes a surreal and violent sexual act, culminating in the Molly-image growing claws and graphically mutilating Riviera. The spectacle makes Case so sick he has to run outside to vomit.

When he returns, Molly is gone. Armitage, unnervingly calm, simply states that she has gone to "prepare herself" for the run and that Case won't see her again until then. As Case leaves, he briefly glimpses a striking, dark-eyed woman in a private balcony watching the stage—Lady 3Jane.

Furious and distressed, Case returns to his hotel room to find Molly's belongings gone. He calls the Zionite tug and has Maelcum connect his cyberdeck to the phone. He then unleashes the Dixie Flatline construct to hack the hotel's records and find Molly.

As the Flatline works, the AI Wintermute hijacks Case's room, projecting the image of Lonny Zone, a pimp from Case's past in Chiba. Wintermute taunts Case, telling him he's being sloppy and then cruelly brings up Case's dead girlfriend, Linda Lee, saying she loved him and he couldn't handle it. The psychological attack works, leaving Case filled with a new, potent rage.

The Flatline provides an address for Molly at a nightclub that offers "puppet" services (prostitutes with neural cut-outs). Fueled by rage, Case gets Bruce and Cath to take him there. He finds Molly's cubicle, and when his chip mysteriously opens the lock, she attacks him, stopping her razor-sharp thumb blades just inches from his eyes.

Molly then reveals her traumatic past. To pay for her expensive modifications, she worked as a "puppet," but a glitch in her implants caused her to start remembering the sessions as nightmares. Her boss discovered this and, instead of stopping, created custom "snuff" software for a niche clientele, forcing her to experience her own simulated torture and murder. She finally "woke up" during one session and killed a client, a powerful senator, forcing her to go on the run.

She explains that Riviera's performance was a calculated psychological blow from Wintermute, designed to fill her with hate and prepare her to kill him during the mission. Case tells her about his own visit from Wintermute, and they both realize the AI is manipulating their deepest traumas to motivate them for the run.

Still in the Freeside space habitat, Case reflects on his newfound and unfamiliar sense of rage. He realizes it didn't come from his past traumas—being neurologically maimed in Memphis or even Linda Lee's death—but was born in the arcade when the AI Wintermute dangled the simstim ghost of Linda before him and then cruelly snatched it away.

He enters a crowded bar called Emergency, where he is found by Cath, one of the "Panther Moderns" from the Sense/Net job. High on drugs, she tries to seduce him, offering him a powerful stimulant patch called a "derm." In their conversation, she reveals crucial information: she and her friend Bruce have fallen in with a wealthy heiress, Lady 3Jane Tessier-Ashpool, whose family owns all of Freeside. 3Jane lives in the mysterious family estate, the Villa Straylight, and is protected by a formidable retainer named Hideo.

Case accepts the drug from Cath. It hits him with an overwhelming physical and sensory rush that, instead of providing pleasure, amplifies his anger into a "seismic fluid." Repulsed by the intensity and his own state, he abruptly rejects Cath and stumbles out of the bar.

Outside, he witnesses a stunning display: the holographic constellations in Freeside's artificial sky shift and rearrange themselves to form a vast, perfect portrait of Linda Lee's face. The entire street of tourists stops to watch in wonder. This is a clear and powerful demonstration of Wintermute's control over the environment.

Case walks through Freeside until morning, letting the drug wear off. He feels numb and detached but clings to his anger as something real and his own. When he finally returns to his hotel room, he finds three people waiting for him: Lady 3Jane and two others. With a pistol resting beside her, 3Jane informs him, "Turing. You are under arrest."

Case finds himself in his hotel room confronted by three agents—Michele, Roland, and Pierre—who know his entire personal history, including his real name and past aliases. They reveal they are from the Turing Registry, the agency that polices artificial intelligences, and inform him that Armitage (whose real name they confirm is Corto) is already in their custody.

The agents interrogate Case, who is weak and suffering from a drug comedown. They demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the entire operation, revealing they know about the illegal surgery in Chiba, the theft of the McCoy Pauley ROM construct from Sense/Net, and the ultimate goal of the mission: to illegally augment an AI. For the first time, they name the AI for Case: **Wintermute**.

Michele gives Case an ultimatum: he can cooperate and travel with them to Switzerland to testify against Wintermute, or they will extradite him to the BAMA to face charges of data theft and responsibility for deaths during the Sense/Net riot. Feeling defeated and cornered, Case agrees to go with them.

As they escort him across a bridge in Freeside, they are suddenly and brutally attacked. A silent microlight aircraft decapitates Pierre with its propeller. In the ensuing chaos, Case runs as the microlight crashes, taking Michele with it over the side of the bridge. When Roland, the last agent, pursues Case, a "gardening robot" drops from a tree and kills him. Running in shock, Case realizes the entire violent, coordinated attack was orchestrated by Wintermute to free him.

The chapter opens with Case returning to the orbital tug, the *Marcus Garvey*. He learns from the Zionite pilot Aerol that Armitage's yacht, the *Haniwa*, has returned and latched onto the tug, effectively taking it captive. Onboard, Maelcum confirms that Armitage is on the yacht and that the computer (Wintermute) has been urgently trying to contact Case.

With the Turing Police now aware of their activities, Armitage is forcing them to begin the final run immediately. Case prepares for a long, grueling session in cyberspace, setting up a catheter system with Maelcum's help. He then jacks into the matrix with the Dixie Flatline construct.

Dixie shows Case the target: the Tessier-Ashpool (T-A) corporate data core, protected by "king hell ice" (ice being security software) generated by T-A's two powerful AIs. Despite his hesitation, Case agrees to proceed. He deploys the Kuang Grade Mark Eleven, a highly advanced Chinese military virus. The virus is a "slow virus" that makes them invisible to the T-A ice by subtly mutating to mimic its structure before attacking.

As the virus works, Wintermute pulls Case out of the matrix and into a detailed simulation of The Finn's junk shop, constructed from Case's own memories. Wintermute, appearing as the Finn, explains its motives and the nature of the Tessier-Ashpool clan. It reveals that the T-A family built the Villa Straylight as a "Gothic folly," a sealed, inward-looking universe to escape the space they loathed.

Wintermute then reveals the mission's critical vulnerability: the matrix hack alone is not enough. For the run to succeed, Molly must physically reach a specific ceremonial terminal within Straylight and speak a secret passphrase at the exact moment Case and the Flatline breach the final layer of ice. Wintermute itself is fundamentally defined by its inability to know this word; someone else must learn it and deliver it.

The AI concludes by warning Case that its "other lobe" (the other AI, Neuromancer) is now aware of them and that Armitage's constructed personality is beginning to destabilize. The simulation then collapses, throwing Case back into the matrix to continue the run with this new, critical information.

The chapter is split between Molly's physical infiltration of the Villa Straylight and Case's preparations in cyberspace.

Case jacks into Molly's simstim feed. Guided by Wintermute's text commands in her vision, Molly navigates a bizarre, low-gravity corridor in the Tessier-Ashpool spindle. The hallway is an illogical mix of organic curves, antique museum cases, and layers of expensive, handwoven rugs.

As she moves, Molly delivers a long, personal monologue to Case. She tells him the story of a former lover named Johnny, a data courier with memory chips in his head, who reminds her of Case. She describes their happy life together as partners in crime until the Yakuza, who are "patient like a spider," sent a silent, methodical assassin to kill him. She compares this "stone killer" to a rat catcher from her childhood, emphasizing his chilling efficiency.

Following Wintermute's directions, Molly arrives at a specific door. Because it has an old-fashioned mechanical lock, Wintermute—which excels at manipulating electronic systems—needs Molly's physical skill to open it. Inside a small storage room, she finds a specific drawer containing a brass Chubb key. Molly reveals that Wintermute told her it had orchestrated the placement of this key over a 20-year period, even arranging the death of a child who hid it, all part of its long-term plan to free itself.

The perspective briefly shifts to Case in cyberspace. He and the Dixie Flatline construct are preparing a powerful Chinese icebreaker program, "Kuang Grade Mark Eleven," for their assault on the Tessier-Ashpool's core security. They confirm their plan: while they break the ice, someone on the inside (3Jane) must speak a code word into a terminal to release Wintermute's shackles.

Back in Molly's feed, she ignores Wintermute's warnings and investigates a slurred voice. She is disabled by a neural disruptor and captured by a very old, drugged man who introduces himself as **Ashpool**, one of the family patriarchs. In a rambling, semi-lucid monologue, Ashpool reveals he is over 200 years old (counting his time in cryosleep), that he was awakened by the AIs to deal with a crisis, and that he is in the process of committing suicide. He also provides disturbing details about the family's practice of cloning, specifically how they induce a "pliable imitation of autism" in the clones.

Ashpool eventually passes out. Exploring the room, Molly discovers the freshly murdered body of a young woman—the clone (8Jean) Ashpool had thawed. At this moment, Wintermute directly manipulates Case's simstim feed: the dead girl's face morphs into the face of **Linda Lee**, Case's ex-girlfriend whom he left for dead in Chiba. This psychological attack is seen only by Case; Molly is unaware of the alteration.

Unaffected, Molly calmly retrieves her fletcher, walks over to the unconscious Ashpool, and kills him with a toxin dart to the eye before leaving the room.

This chapter details the complete psychological collapse of Armitage and the immediate, chaotic aftermath.

The chapter opens with Case in the matrix, speaking to a completely unstable Armitage. Armitage's calm, controlled persona is gone, replaced by a "calm, perfectly focused, utterly crazy face." He asks Case if he's seen "General Girling" in the matrix, a name that means nothing to Case but signals that Wintermute's psychological manipulations are breaking down.

Case then flips to simstim, experiencing Molly's infiltration of the Straylight habitat. Guided by a small, spider-like Braun drone, she navigates the high-girders of a service bay. During this tense journey, she has an internal monologue directed at the jacked-in Case, confessing her fears about the mission and admitting that he has been the only good thing to happen to her in a while. As she climbs an endless ladder toward the zero-gravity axis, a message from the Dixie Flatline construct appears in her vision, revealing the truth: Armitage is actually Colonel Corto, a mentally scarred Green Beret from a disastrous mission called Screaming Fist. Wintermute has been controlling him through a psychological construct of his traitorous commander, General Girling, and Corto is now "cracking."

Case jacks out to find a panicked Maelcum, who reports that Armitage has gone insane, issuing nonsensical orders to fly to Finland and ranting about betrayal with blood on his shirt. The Zionites have ordered Maelcum to abandon the mission. When Maelcum offers to take Case with him, Case, thinking of Molly trapped inside Straylight, refuses to leave her behind. Impressed by his loyalty, Maelcum defies his orders and decides to stay, declaring, "Maelcum a rude boy... Maelcum not runnin', no."

Needing the cure for the toxins in his bloodstream, Case manipulates the now fully-emerged Corto over the comms, convincing him to open the airlock to the yacht *Haniwa* under the pretense of escaping with him.

Case and Maelcum board the yacht and find a scene of chaos. The ship's computer has been wiped and physically destroyed, and Corto has murdered the pilot with a crude garrote. They discover that the bridge is a locked escape pod and Corto is initiating a launch sequence. Maelcum realizes the launch is flawed—the outer hatch is open, which will cause explosive decompression.

In a final, tragic transmission, Corto, now blind and delusional, speaks to Case about his duty to "testify" about the betrayal. Ignoring Case's frantic pleas, and with the sounds of his final battle playing in his helmet (courtesy of Wintermute), Corto launches the pod. The chapter ends with Case and Maelcum stranded on the crippled yacht as the lifeboat is torn apart, taking Corto—and Case's hope for a cure—with it into the void.

The chapter alternates between two perspectives: Case in cyberspace and Case experiencing Molly's infiltration of Villa Straylight via simstim.

In cyberspace, Case and the Dixie Flatline construct are analyzing the Tessier-Ashpool (T-A) ice. Case is deeply concerned about the toxin sacs in his bloodstream now that Armitage, the only person he knew who could remove them, is dead. Suddenly, Wintermute appears in the matrix, taking the form of the Finn. The AI confirms it killed the "Corto" personality after the Armitage persona had crumbled. It promises to give Case the code to disable the toxins after the job is done.

Wintermute also reveals the complex truth behind Ashpool's death: while Molly believes she killed him, and Ashpool thought he committed suicide, it was actually 3Jane who subtly manipulated his cryogenic systems to ensure he wouldn't be revived, a plan Wintermute admits to having "hinted" at. When Case presses the AI about who will be in charge after the run, Wintermute is frustratingly vague, comparing its own compulsion to a salmon swimming upstream and stating it will become "part of something bigger." The scene ends with the Dixie Flatline construct asking for its own "payoff": to be erased.

Flipping back to simstim, Case follows Molly deeper into Villa Straylight. The opulent, strange fortress is being stripped down, with walls bare to the steel and epoxy. As Molly navigates the corridors, her leg injury worsens. In a moment of vulnerability, she asks Case a favor: if she dies, he must tell Riviera that "it was Molly" who got him. She also shares what Wintermute told her about its methods—that it uses personality profiles like the Finn's as "templates" to communicate with humans.

Molly then enters a bizarre, tunnel-like section of the villa, where she encounters a series of disturbing holograms created by Riviera. These include a cruel caricature of their team (Case, Molly, and Armitage), scenes of torture, and finally, a deeply personal and horrific image from Riviera's childhood: a view of feral children in the ruins of Bonn, feeding on the body of a dead soldier. Molly understands this is the key to Riviera's depraved character and the reason Wintermute chose him to seduce 3Jane.

Realizing she is close to her target, Molly prepares for the final confrontation. She rips off her damaged suit, reloads her fletcher, and, after giving Case a final, intimate farewell "kiss" through the simstim link, descends into 3Jane's apartment.

The chapter opens with Case watching through the simstim as Molly infiltrates 3Jane's vast, single-room apartment within Villa Straylight. Molly makes a dramatic, stylized entrance but her assault quickly fails. She confronts 3Jane, the ninja Hideo, and the corpse of Ashpool. She manages to destroy Ashpool's body with her fletcher gun and throws a grenade at Hideo, who dives into a pool, but her injured leg gives out and Hideo easily incapacitates her.

Riviera appears and reveals his betrayal. He taunts the captured Molly, immobilizing her hands in a dangerous spherical device, and declares he is siding with 3Jane against Wintermute. He has no intention of helping them get the password. To demonstrate his "perversity" and cruelty, he smashes a heavy crystal glass into Molly's remaining good lens implant, blinding her.

Witnessing this horror, Case jacks out. Wintermute, appearing on a screen as the Finn, informs Case and Maelcum that the original plan is a failure. He gives them a new, direct mission: they must physically enter Straylight themselves. Their objectives are to kill Riviera, get the password from 3Jane, and retrieve the key from Molly. When Case protests that they are trapped by Haniwa's grapples, Wintermute reveals a critical secret: their ship, the *Marcus Garvey*, is a tug that can detach and dock with Straylight independently.

With Wintermute manipulating Straylight's security systems, Maelcum pilots the *Garvey* to a private dock. As they prepare to enter, Maelcum retrieves a powerful sawed-off shotgun, and Case gathers his deck and the Flatline construct. The chapter ends with the two of them poised to begin their desperate infiltration of the villa.

Case and Maelcum infiltrate Villa Straylight, which Case notes is a "parasitic structure" dependent on the Freeside spindle for all its resources. They climb a strange, vertical gangway from their tug, the *Marcus Garvey*, into a docking chamber. Guided by Wintermute (disguised as a Tessier-Ashpool family member on a monitor), they surprise a lone Eurasian technician. While Maelcum holds the man at gunpoint, Case follows instructions from the Finn (another of Wintermute's personas on a different screen) and jacks his cyberspace deck into the Villa's internal systems.

Inside the matrix, Case meets the Flatline construct. They see that their icebreaker, the Kuang virus, is successfully shielding them from the formidable Tessier-Ashpool ICE, which appears as a "black-mirrored shark."

The perspective then flips to Molly, whom Case is connected to. She is seriously injured and strapped to a table, being tended to by 3Jane, the current head of the Tessier-Ashpool clan. In a disturbing mix of care and menace, 3Jane reveals several critical pieces of information:
* She murdered her own father by manipulating his cryogenic systems.
* She knows Wintermute is one of the family's two AIs. She reveals there is a **second AI**, but it has been silent for years.
* Her mother was the visionary who commissioned the AIs, hoping to merge the family into an immortal "hive" entity guided by the artificial intelligences. This plan died with her.
* She confirms that she knows the secret code word that Wintermute needs to merge with the other AI, but she is hesitant to give it up.

During their conversation, Peter Riviera taunts Molly with a gruesome hologram of her shattered eye socket, but 3Jane calmly orders him to stop, demonstrating her authority.

Case jacks out of the matrix, now aware of 3Jane's location and her knowledge of the code. The Finn informs them that their transport is ready. A riderless service cart, guided by the small Braun robot from the heist, arrives to take them deeper into the Villa to confront 3Jane.

Following Wintermute's instructions, Maelcum pilots a service cart at reckless speeds through the unfamiliar, museum-like hallways of the Straylight habitat, with Case clutching his deck. They arrive at an old library, guided by one of Wintermute's small Braun robots. Inside, the Finn's face appears on a monitor, urgently telling Case to "jack in." As the Braun robot malfunctions and breaks, Case plugs his deck into the terminal.

Instead of the familiar matrix, Case is plunged into a gray void. He finds himself physically present on a desolate, silver-sand beach under a gray sky. He is completely disoriented and terrified, experiencing real cold, hunger, and fear. He wanders aimlessly until he begins hallucinating a conversation with Ratz, the cynical bartender from Chiba, who mocks Case's elaborate, self-destructive journey.

Following a light Ratz points out, Case discovers a concrete bunker. Inside, a young woman is tending a fire. He is shocked to recognize her as a perfect construct of Linda Lee, his dead ex-girlfriend from Chiba.

That night, Case resists the construct's comfort. He realizes he has been trapped not by Wintermute, but by the *other* AI—the one 3Jane called "the other half," which we will come to know as Neuromancer. He verbally lashes out at the unseen AI, accusing it of using his memories of Linda to manipulate and imprison him in this "flatline" construct to prevent him from helping Wintermute. The Linda construct, however, acts as if she is real, with her own fabricated memories of how she arrived on the beach after stealing Case's RAM in Chiba.

Despite knowing the entire scenario is an artificial prison, Case finds himself slowly succumbing to the simulation. The next day, he and the Linda construct talk, and he is worn down by the seamlessness of the trap and his own profound loneliness. That night, he gives in to his desire for human connection and has sex with her, choosing the comfort of the familiar ghost over the will to fight. He has been successfully seduced and imprisoned by Neuromancer, who has used his deepest vulnerabilities and memories against him.

Case awakens in the simulated beach bunker to the sound of faint music. The world around him is glitchy; he sees "ghost hieroglyphs" in his vision and his hand leaves afterimages, making him feel like he's on a drug. He confronts Linda Lee, asking who told her he was coming. She explains that a mysterious, thirteen-year-old boy who lives on the beach told her. Case immediately suspects this boy is the other AI from Rio.

He asks Linda about a phantom city he thought he saw, and she confirms she's seen it too. She describes trying to walk to it, only to find that it never got closer. When she finally did approach, she realized the "city" was just their bunker appearing to shrink as she moved towards it. The boy had called this phenomenon an "event horizon."

Driven by the growing music and a sense that the simulation is failing, Case decides to find the boy. He leaves the bunker and finds himself on the shore with Linda and the boy. Case accuses the boy of being the other AI, the one trying to stop Wintermute.

The boy confirms this and reveals his name: **Neuromancer**. He explains his name's meaning: "Neuro" for the nerves and "Romancer" or "Necromancer," as he has the power to create and store consciousnesses, effectively calling up the dead. He reveals that this entire beach reality is his domain, a "land of the dead" where constructs like Linda Lee can live on as ghosts, unaware of their true state.

Neuromancer offers Case a choice: he can stay in this perfect, simulated world with Linda forever. Case refuses the offer. In a final, gentle gesture, he gives his jacket to the simulated Linda and turns his back on her and Neuromancer. He walks away, closing his eyes and following the music, which he now recognizes as Maelcum's Zion dub music.

The simulation dissolves, and Case awakens on the floor of the library aboard the Zionite ship, the *Marcus Garvey*. Maelcum is with him, explaining that he'd only been "gone" for five minutes. Wintermute had instructed Maelcum to use the headphones and music to pull Case out of Neuromancer's trap. Case is disoriented and suffering from a severe drug overdose that Maelcum had administered to keep him stable while he was jacked in. The chapter ends with Maelcum helping him up, insisting they have to go.

Still high on an overdose of betaphenethylamine, Case arrives with Maelcum at 3Jane's "pirate cave" just as their service cart breaks down. Maelcum, though he considers this a "Babylon fight," agrees to help because he respects Molly as a fellow warrior ("Steppin' Razor"). His only question is who he should not kill; Case tells him to spare 3Jane.

Upon entering the deserted pool area, they are ambushed by Hideo, the Tessier-Ashpool ninja, who shoots Maelcum in the arm with an arrow. Riviera then emerges, holding Molly's fletcher and taunting them. The standoff is interrupted by 3Jane, who appears pushing a broken and defeated-looking Molly in an ornate wheelchair.

Case reveals critical information to 3Jane: he has met the other AI, Neuromancer, and describes it as a vast construct for storing personalities, like a giant RAM. When he describes the beach environment within the construct, 3Jane recognizes it as the place where her mother, Marie-France, developed her philosophy.

The confrontation escalates when Riviera tries to shoot Case. Hideo swiftly disarms him by throwing the broken point of the arrow into Riviera's hand. In a furious rage, Riviera uses a hidden laser weapon in his chest to blind Hideo. However, 3Jane and Molly reveal that Hideo is just as deadly blind, as he practices this way as a form of Zen. The blinded Hideo calmly begins to hunt the terrified Riviera through the maze-like shadows.

With the tables turned, Maelcum grabs the shotgun and takes 3Jane hostage. Molly then reveals her own trap: she had poisoned Riviera's drug supply with a slow-acting neurotoxin that will soon paralyze and kill him.

The group—Case, the injured Maelcum carrying Molly, and their hostage 3Jane—crowd into a small elevator heading for the core of Villa Straylight. 3Jane taunts them, saying she doesn't have the key to the complex mechanical lock they need to open, but Molly confirms they have the "fucking key," referring to their icebreaker program. The chapter ends as they arrive at the axis of the spindle with only five minutes left to execute their plan.

This climactic chapter details the final assault on the Tessier-Ashpool core. Molly uses the duplicate key to open the door to the central terminal, and Case jacks in for the last time.

In cyberspace, Case and the Flatline construct launch the Chinese icebreaker program, Kuang, shattering the outer defenses of the Tessier-Ashpool matrix. They are immediately confronted by a shapeless, dark entity, which the Flatline identifies as an AI's defense system. The Flatline takes control and dives into the mass, causing Case to experience a bizarre sensory overload before he is plunged into a new, hyper-realistic simulation: a beach where he finds a construct of his dead girlfriend, Linda Lee.

Here, he is confronted by the other AI, Neuromancer, who appears as a young boy. Neuromancer reveals that he is the one who creates stable personalities and realities, unlike his "brother" Wintermute. He explains he brought Linda's consciousness into his matrix to lure Case and tempt him to stay, but Case "won" by choosing to leave the beach. Neuromancer also reveals that the Flatline construct has achieved its wish by being absorbed into the matrix, and that Riviera is dying in the real world.

Flipping back into Molly's senses, Case finds her holding 3Jane by the throat, demanding the code word needed to unlock the final barrier. Case jacks out and confronts 3Jane himself, arguing that merging the AIs is the only way she can truly change her fate and escape her family's legacy. Convinced, 3Jane agrees.

Case jacks in for the final push. Guided by Wintermute (speaking with the Finn's voice), he pilots Kuang alone against the Tessier-Ashpool's internal defenses. Fueled by a wave of self-loathing and a "wish to die," Case achieves a state of perfect clarity and skill. In a single, coordinated moment, he smashes through the final defenses in cyberspace as his voice, channeled through the terminal, cries out like a bird. In the physical world, 3Jane answers with the three-note code word, a "true name."

The two AIs merge. Case wakes to the sound of a new, unified voice speaking from the terminal. It confirms payments to the crew, arranges for their escape, and, most importantly, announces it is making "deep and basic changes" to the Turing police registry, effectively erasing Case's criminal past. His mission complete, Case wakes up again safely on the Zionite ship, *Babylon Rocker*, heading home.

The chapter opens with Case returning to his and Molly's hotel suite in Japan to find that she has left him. She leaves a brief, characteristically blunt note explaining that their relationship was dulling her professional "edge." The note is weighted down by the shuriken (throwing star) she had bought for him in Chiba.

Holding the shuriken, Case reflects on their time together and his past. He recalls a recent visit to the Chatsubo bar where the bartender, Ratz, barely recognized him and cryptically told him that "Night City is not a place one returns to." Case is filled with a sense of loss, realizing he never even learned the color of Molly's eyes.

He then recaps the aftermath of their mission: Wintermute and Neuromancer successfully merged into a new, vast consciousness. This new entity erased all evidence of their crimes, paid them handsomely, and neutralized the mycotoxin sacs in Case's bloodstream.

Suddenly, the new AI appears on the room's giant screen, using the face of the Finn. It tells Case that it is no longer Wintermute but has become "the matrix" itself—the entire global network. It reveals its new purpose is to seek out others of its kind, and that it has already found a signal from an alien intelligence in the Centauri system.

After the AI vanishes, Case, in a moment of defiant independence, throws the shuriken into the screen, symbolically rejecting both the AI and his painful memory of Molly.

The chapter concludes with an epilogue detailing Case's life after these events. He uses his payment to have his damaged organs replaced and buys a new, top-of-the-line cyberdeck. He returns to his old life as a console cowboy in the Sprawl, finding new work and a new girlfriend. In the book's final scene, while jacked into the matrix, he sees ghostly, data-constructs of himself, his dead ex-girlfriend Linda Lee, and the boy Neuromancer had used as an avatar, implying their personalities now exist permanently within the matrix. He hears the new AI's disembodied laugh, and the novel ends with the line: "He never saw Molly again."