Chapter 20 Summary

Case and Maelcum's conveyance shoots sparks and stops working in front of a door, and they pass through the door on foot, entering a library. A monitor on the wall comes alive, and the image of Finn tells Case to jack in. The small robot guide tries to stop Case, but he kicks it away and jacks in to cyberspace.

Instead of the familiarity of cyberspace, Case enters an alternate reality - a gray beach with a city in the far distance. Case imagines he is talking with Ratz as he walks along the beach, and he derives comfort from the friendly and familiar face. Ratz tells Case that his self-destructive impulses are complex and ridiculous and that he could easily have ended it all in Chiba City.

Case walks for a long time and comes to a dilapidated concrete bunker. He enters...