Neuromancer

by

William Gibson

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:
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
).
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?”

Related Characters: Henry Dorsett Case (speaker), McCoy “Dixie” “Flatline” Pauley (speaker), Molly, Armitage / Corto
Page Number: 78
Explanation and Analysis:
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.

Related Characters: Molly (speaker), Aerol (speaker), Henry Dorsett Case
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:
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.”

Related Characters: Henry Dorsett Case (speaker), McCoy “Dixie” “Flatline” Pauley (speaker), Wintermute
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Neuromancer LitChart as a printable PDF.
Neuromancer PDF

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
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...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
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...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)
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
...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
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
...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)
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
Self-Interest vs. Human Connection Theme Icon
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
Technology and the Body Theme Icon
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
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
Identity and Personhood Theme Icon
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)