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A ROM recording of a personality which allows for a reconstruction of that person.
Construct Quotes in Neuromancer
The Neuromancer quotes below are all either spoken by Construct or refer to Construct. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5 Quotes
He coughed. “Dix? McCoy? That you man?” His throat was tight.
“Hey, bro,” said a directionless voice.
“It’s Case, man. Remember?”
“Miami, joeboy, quick study.”
“What’s the last thing you remember before I spoke to you, Dix?”
“Nothin’.”
“Hang on.”
He disconnected the construct. The presence was gone. He reconnected it. “Dix? Who am I?”
“You got me hung, Jack. Who the fuck are you?”
“Ca—your buddy. Partner. What’s happening, man?”
“Good question.”
“Remember being here, a second ago?”
“No.”
“Know how a ROM personality matrix works?”
“Sure, bro, it’s a firmware construct.”
“So I jack it into the bank I’m using, I can give it sequential, real time memory?”
“Guess so,” said the construct.
“Okay, Dix. You are a ROM construct. Got me?”
“If you say so,” said the construct. “Who are you?”
“Case.”
“Miami,” said the voice, “joeboy, quick study.”
“Right. And for starts, Dix, you and me, we’re gonna sleaze over to London grid and access a little data. You game for that?”
“You gonna tell me I got a choice, boy?”
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Explanation and Analysis:
Throughout the novel Case collaborates with a digital construct of the late console cowboy, Dixie Flatline. Dixie is now dead, but worked with Case when he was alive. Armitage had Case and Molly steal Dixie’s construct from Sense/Net, and so now, a recording of his personality is available to help Case on his future missions. This is Case’s first interaction with the Flatline’s construct. Although he had a basic idea of how it worked, he is surprised to find that Dixie has no memory after being turned off and turned back on. In fact, for the construct, no time passes Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima aut
Chapter 8 Quotes
Case didn’t understand the Zionites.
Aerol, with no particular provocation, related the tale of the baby who had burst from his forehead and scampered into a forest of hydroponic ganja. “Ver’ small baby, mon, no long’ you finga.” He rubbed his palm across an unscarred expanse of brown forehead and smiled.
“It’s the ganja,” Molly said, when Case told her the story. “They don’t make much of a difference between states, you know? Aerol tells you it happened, well, it happened to him. It’s not like bullshit, more like poetry. Get it?”
Case nodded dubiously.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Throughout the novel, most questions of reality and perception have to do with technology—world created in the matrix that looks real, or people within the matrix who are actually just constructs. Although these places or people might not be technically “real,” they can still stir real emotions, or prompt real sensory feedback—pain, lust, tears, etc. This is one of the few examples in the novel of state-altering drugs that blur the line between fantasy and reality. Ironically, although Case spends much of his life on the edge of reality and illusion, if not actively strung out on drugs, he doesn’t Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptate
Chapter 10 Quotes
“Real motive problem, with an AI. Not human, see?”
“Well, yeah, obviously.”
“Nope. I mean, it’s not human. And you can’t get a handle on it. Me, I’m not human either, but I respond like one. See?”
“Wait a sec,” Case said. “Are you sentient, or not?”
“Well, it feels like I am, kid, but I’m really just a bunch of ROM. It’s one of them, ah, philosophical questions, I guess...” The ugly laughter sensation rattled down Case’s spine. “But I ain’t likely to write you no poem, if you follow me. Your AI, it just might. But it ain’t no way human.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
Ironically, although Case often thinks of Wintermute as human, slipping up and calling the AI “him” instead of the impersonal “it,” Dixie, a digital construction like Wintermute, is more aware of Wintermute’s lack of humanity. To an outsider like Case, both Dixie and Wintermute have human qualities. However, Dixie sees that Wintermute is not human, and merely is good at putting on a human face to manipulate Case and his team. Wintermute often constructs profiles of the people it is interacting with so it can better predict their behaviors and manipulate them based on their motivations. However, Dixie points out Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Mo
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Construct Term Timeline in Neuromancer
The timeline below shows where the term Construct appears in Neuromancer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...him she’s had a look at their to-do list; their next mission is stealing a construct of Dixie Flatline from the company Sense/Net to help their with their next mission. Although...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...hacked the Sense/Net ice, Molly must go in and grab the physical disk housing Dixie’s construct. They’re working with the Panther Modern’s purchased assistance. Case, back in his loft, needs to...
(full context)
...tells the Panther Moderns, who tells the linkman, who tells Molly where to find the construct. He initiates a program that releases the construct from its storage, and Molly takes it....
(full context)
Chapter 5
...chosen Case to be his assistant that summer. It’s hard to imagine him as a construct now, dead, but replicated in ROM.
(full context)
Back in the loft, Case turns on the Hosaka and connects the construct. Dixie exists as a mental presence “exactly the sensation of someone reading over your shoulder.”...
(full context)
Chapter 17
The Finn/Wintermute complains that humans are “a pain.” He understands Dixie and constructs like him, who act predictable, but struggles to predict human’s inherently unpredictable behavior, like Molly...
(full context)
Chapter 19
Case and Maelcum enter the Villa Straylight. Case carries Dixie’s construct and his computer as he climbs up a long ladder to a closed hatch. The...
(full context)
