Neuromancer

by

William Gibson

Jack In / Jack Out Term Analysis

To connect to or disconnect from the matrix.

Jack In / Jack Out Quotes in Neuromancer

The Neuromancer quotes below are all either spoken by Jack In / Jack Out or refer to Jack In / Jack Out. 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:
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

A year here and he still dreamed of cyberspace, hope fading nightly. All the speed he took, all the turns he’d taken and the corners he’d cut in Night City, and still he’d see the matrix in his sleep, bright lattices of logic unfolding across that colorless void….The Sprawl was a long strange way home over the Pacific now, and he was no console man, no cyberspace cowboy. Just another hustler, trying to make it through. But the dreams came on in the Japanese night like livewire voodoo, and he’d cry for it, cry in his sleep, and wake alone in the dark, curled in his capsule in some coffin hotel, his hands clawed into the bedslab, temperfoam bunched between his fingers, trying to reach the console that wasn’t there.

Related Characters: Henry Dorsett Case, Armitage / Corto
Page Number: 4-5
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

This was it. This was what he was, who he was, his being. He forgot to eat. Molly left cartons of rice and foam trays of sushi on the corner of the long table. Sometimes he resented having to leave the deck to use the chemical toilet they’d set up in a corner of the loft. Ice patterns formed and reformed on the screen as he probed for gaps, skirted the most obvious traps, and mapped the route he’d take through Sense/Net’s ice. It was good ice. Wonderful ice. Its patterns burned there while he lay with his arm under Molly’s shoulders, watching the red dawn through the steel grid of the skylight. Its rainbow pixel maze was the first thing he saw when he woke. He’d go straight to the deck, not bothering to dress, and jack in. He was cutting it. He was working. He lost track of days.

And sometimes, falling asleep, particularly when Molly was off on one of her reconnaissance trips with her rented cadre of Moderns, images of Chiba came flooding back. Faces and Ninsei neon. Once he woke from a confused dream of Linda Lee, unable to recall who she was or what she’d ever meant to him. When he did remember, he jacked in and worked for nine straight hours.

The cutting of Sense/Net’s ice took a total of nine days.

Related Characters: Henry Dorsett Case, Linda Lee, Molly
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:
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Neuromancer PDF

Jack In / Jack Out Term Timeline in Neuromancer

The timeline below shows where the term Jack In / Jack Out appears in Neuromancer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...good at what they do, that’s what they are, right?” Just like Case has to “jack,” she must “tussle.” (full context)
Addiction and Dependency Theme Icon
...on the floor in his new apartment in the Sprawl. It’s time for him to jack in. As he stares at the deck in his lap he sees the shuriken in... (full context)
Chapter 6
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Two hours later, Case jacks out. He had the Hosaka present a précis. Although it was full of holes, he... (full context)
Chapter 8
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
...gravity, and for him to brief them on Freeside and the Villa Straylight. Case practices jacking into his deck in zero gravity. He notes “cyberspace, as the deck presented it, had... (full context)
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
...so hallucinations are real because “it happened to him.” Case offers Aerol a chance to jack into cyberspace, but Aerol dislikes it. To him, it looks like “Babylon.”  (full context)
Chapter 9
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...but tells her that Wintermute reached out to him in Istanbul. Molly tells him to jack in and talk to Dixie. Although suffering from SAS, Case obeys. (full context)
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
...Case to back off; he reverses, but the cube follows him. Dixie tells him to jack out, but Case is too slow, blacking out and waking up in the rain, on... (full context)
Chapter 10
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
Case jacks in to talk to Dixie. He lays out what he knows—that Wintermute and the Rio... (full context)
Chapter 14
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...Case as he enters the ship, and announces the ghost is asking for him. Case jacks in. Dixie tells him the Hosaka has been plugged into Armitage’s boat as well. He... (full context)
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
Case jacks out for a moment, telling Maelcum he’s starting his mission, and to grab his arm... (full context)
Chapter 15
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
...Dixie warns Case to stop referring to Wintermute as “he,” and instead as “it.” Case jacks out for a moment, assuring Maelcum he’s fine, before jacking into Molly’s simstim. He watches... (full context)
Chapter 16
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
Case jacks out. Back on the Garvey, Maelcum informs Case that Armitage/Corto is acting weird and giving... (full context)
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...doesn’t understands Case either, but says “we mus’ move by Jah love, each one.” Case jacks in. (full context)
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Case jacks out, and Maelcum helps him put on a vacuum suit and cross the gangway from... (full context)
Chapter 18
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
Case jacks out. Maelcum stands over him, looking concerned. He tells Case he screamed a few minutes... (full context)
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...and get the physical key from Molly. Case can check on the virus’s progress by jacking into ports in Straylight. (full context)
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
Case jacks into Molly’s simstim as Maelcum navigates the Garvey towards Straylight. 3Jane is telling Molly about... (full context)
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
Addiction and Dependency Theme Icon
Case jacks out. Maelcum, will bring a gun to Straylight, just in case. Case checks on Dixie,... (full context)
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Case jacks out. Maelcum navigates the Garvey, which is still attached to the Haniwa, to the spindle... (full context)
Chapter 19
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
...lock the doorman in a closet. Meanwhile, Case plugs his deck into the wall, and jacks into the matrix. Dixie greets him, and jokes that it’s been a while (although, for... (full context)
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Case jacks out. The Finn/Wintermute is still on the wall screen, and announces that he’s arranging them... (full context)
Chapter 20
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
...screen in the wall, The Finn smiles. Case assumes it is Wintermute and prepares to jack in, even as the Braun climbs his leg in a panic, pinching him. On the... (full context)
Chapter 23
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
...group has made it to the Straylight’s central room, which houses the robotic head. Case jacks into the matrix, and greets Dixie. The Kuang is ready. It’s almost like a small... (full context)
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...into Molly’s simstim; Molly is choking 3Jane to get her to say the code. Case jacks out. He turns towards 3Jane and tells her to give them the code. He threatens... (full context)
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
Reality and Perception Theme Icon
Case jacks in. He rides Kuang above a neon city, T-A’s data. He calls out for Dixie,... (full context)