Neuromancer: Chapter 16 Summary & Analysis

Dixie connects Case to Armitage, who is phoning in from the ship next door. Armitage looks “utterly crazy.” He asks if Case has seen Wintermute, and if he appears as General Girling. He then disconnects. Case tells Dixie to look General Girling up. He then flips to Molly’s simstim.

Molly waits in the steel ceiling beams above a large hanger, waiting for a guide. A Braun microdrone, a small robotic spider controlled by Wintermute, approaches her, and leads her up a ladder. As Molly climbs, she talks to Case, telling him she had always expected to die on this mission, that’s she been “on a bad roll for a while,” and Case is the only good thing that’s happened to her recently. Case notices that Molly’s broken leg has begun to hurt.

A message flashes in the corner of Molly’s vision for Case from Dixie. He explains General Girling trained Corto for Screaming Fist, and that Wintermute has been appearing to Armitage/Corto as Girling. The fact that Armitage is mentioning Girling at all means Armitage/Corto is beginning to lose his mind.

Case jacks out. Back on the Garvey, Maelcum informs Case that Armitage/Corto is acting weird and giving orders about some war. Aerol and Maelcum talked to the founders, who want them to cut and run. Maelcum says he’ll take Case with him. Case considers it—but he also thinks about the toxin sacs in his blood, and about Molly. He tells Maelcum that he can’t leave Molly behind. Maelcum wonders if they’re together romantically, and Case says he doesn’t know. Still, he wants to help her. He suddenly becomes angry and tells Maelcum, “I’m stayin’ right here.

Maelcum smiles, and tells Case Maelcum owns his boat, and so can make his own choices. He’s going to stay and help, and will call Aerol and convince him to help too. Case tells Maelcum that he doesn’t understand him, and Maelcum says he doesn’t understands Case either, but says “we mus’ move by Jah love, each one.” Case jacks in.

In the matrix, Dixie tells Case that Armitage/Corto wiped his Hosaka, almost wiping Dixie and Case’s computer as well.  Dixie passes on information from Wintermute, he told him most Tessier-Ashpools are in cold sleep. 3Jane is the only one awake in Straylight. The other two who were awake are either dead (Ashpool), or back on earth (8Jean). 8Jean was informed of Ashpool’s death through lawyers who monitored a medical implant, and is on his way back to Straylight. He’ll return at 9:00pm, cutting it close, as the Kuang is supposed to penetrate the T-A core at 8:30.

Armitage/Corto’s insane face pops up in front of Case. He’s video calling from the other ship. Armitage is gone, and Corto is all that’s left. He believes he’s still in the war, and orders Case around like he’s a foot soldier. Case wonders where Corto was hidden away, during those years after Wintermute built up the façade of Armitage.

Corto wants to escape. He thinks he’s in an airplane, and so can eject himself, however, he’s in space and will surely die. Case recognizes this and tries to get Corto to open the lock between their two ships. When Corto abruptly ends the call, Case can only think of his toxin sacs.

Case jacks out, and Maelcum helps him put on a vacuum suit and cross the gangway from the Marcus Garvey to Corto’s Haniwa. Maelcum helps open the lock, and pulls Case inside the other ship. They make their way through the ship to the bridge. The pass the Japanese pilot, whose throat Corto has cut. Case turns to the dead Hosaka, which Corto blasted with a laser.   

Maelcum points out that the bridge is an escape pod, and it is counting down. However, the seal isn’t working, and so Corto will die if he takes off. Panicked, Case tries to open the door to the bridge. Corto talks to him through the door, but won’t open it. He says “one of us have to get out. One of us has to testify.”  Case screams and even cries, but he’s unable to do anything. Maelcum, checking a wall monitor, tells Case that Corto is gone. The hatch separating the escape pod from the rest of the ship was slightly open, meaning that it shouldn’t have been able to eject, given it would not be airtight and Corto would die. However, Wintermute overrode the ejection failsafe, allowing Corto to launch even though it was unsafe.