Chapter 2 Summary

Molly takes Case to the Chiba Hilton, where they meet Molly's boss Armitage. Armitage tells Case about Screaming Fist, an operation in "the war" which presumably concluded some time in the past. Armitage claims that Screaming Fist was the origin of the programs used by cyberspace cowboys: "You're a console cowboy. The prototypes of the programs you use to crack industrial banks were developed for Screaming Fist. For the assault on the Kirensk computer nexus. Basic module was a Nightwing microlight, a pilot, a matrix deck, a jockey. We were running a virus called Mole. The Mole series was the first generation of intrusion programs" (p 37-38).

Case dismisses Armitage because, Case says, "I'm never gonna punch any deck again, not for you or anybody else" (p. 38). Armitage informs Case that Armitage has built an extensive profile on Case and claims to be...