Halting State (Ace Science Fiction)

275 Pages·2008·1.11 MB·English

by  Charles Stross

Halting State
Titles by Charles Stross
SINGULARITY SKY
IRON SUNRISE
ACCELERANDO
THE ATROCITY ARCHIVES
GLASSHOUSE
HALTING STATE
Halting State
CHARLES STROSS

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a
division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
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Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand,
London WC2R 0RL, England This is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and
does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2007 by Charles Stross.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without
permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the
author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
ACE is an imprint of The Berkley Publishing Group.
ACE and the “A” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stross, Charles.
Halting state / Charles Stross.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN: 1-4295-4716-2
1. Bank robberies—Fiction. 2. Virtual reality—Fiction. 3. Computer games—Fiction. 4. Edinburgh
(Scotland)—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6119.T79H36 2007
823'.92—dc22
2007015872
In memory of Datacash Ltd. and all who sailed in her, 1997–2000.
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROLOGUE: We Know Where You Live, We Know Where Your Dog Goes
to School
SUE: Grand Theft Automatic
ELAINE: Stitch-up
JACK: Steaming
INTERLUDE: CIA World Factbook, 2017
SUE: Earning Overtime
ELAINE: Death or Coffee
JACK: Revenge of the Mummy Lobe
SUE: Wayne’s World
ELAINE: A Catastrophic Loss of Goodwill
JACK: mouth insert(foot);
SUE: Gaining Access
ELAINE: Being Constructive
JACK: In Hell
SUE: Victim Liaison
ELAINE: Stitched Up
JACK: Designs on Your Dungeon
SUE: Chop Shop
ELAINE: Game of Spooks
JACK: Meat Machine
SUE: Heavy Mob
ELAINE: Alone in the Dome
JACK: This Is Not a Game
SUE: Pigs in a China Shop
ELAINE: System Fails, People Die
JACK: The Anti-nutcase EULA
SUE: Cover-up
ELAINE: Shanghaied
JACK: Sex Offender
SUE: Missing in Action
ELAINE: Morning After
JACK: Body of Evidence
SUE: Civil Contingencies
ELAINE: Gentleman and Players
JACK: Schrödinger’s Girl
SUE: Making Plans for Nigel
ELAINE: Zombie Mush
JACK: In the Box
SUE: Plea Bargain
EPILOGUE: Banker Martin Mase
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Books do not get written in majestic isolation, and this one is no exception.
Certainly it wouldn’t exist in its current form without valuable feedback from a
host of readers. I’d particularly like to single out for thanks Vernor Vinge, Hugh
Hancock, Greg Costikyan, Ron Avitzur, Eric Raymond, Tony Quirke, Robert
Sneddon, Paul Friday, Dave Bush, Alexander Chane Austin, Larry Colen, Harry
Payne, Trey Palmer, Dave Clements, Andrew Veitch, Hannu Rajaniemi, Soon
Lee, and Jarrod Russell. I’d also like to thank my other test readers, too
numerous to name today. Finally, thanks to the publishing folks without whom
the book wouldn’t have been written: my agent, Caitlin Blasdell, my editor at
Ace, Ginjer Buchanan, and my copyeditors, Bob and Sara Schwager.