simstim

One of the motifs in the William Gibson’s Neuromancer is extremely advanced technology. Simstim is used frequently throughout the novel. Simstim is “stimulation of the brain and nervous system of one person using a recording (or live broadcast) of another person's experience.”**In Chapter 4, Molly goes to see someone and Case sees everything through her eyes. “‘You got a rider, Molly. This says.’ He [Larry] tapped the black splinter. ‘Somebody else using your eyes.’” (pg. 56). On the way to see Larry, Case experiences what Molly hears, sees, smells, and feels. He tries to control her body, yet he can’t. Case is becomes “the passenger behind her eyes” through her glasses. Once she arrives to the place where Larry is, Larry can tell that someone else is “using her eyes.” At the click of a button, Case can no longer see, hear, smell or experience anything Molly is going through. Later on in the same chapter, Molly and Case must steal a ROM module for Armitage. Case uses simstim to help guide Molly through the process of stealing the ROM module. He uses a computer hacking system to deactivate and unlock alarm systems as Molly executes the mission. Once again, Case experiences parts of the mission through Molly’s eyes, yet he seems to move between different matrices as he controls and deactivates different systems. While completing the assignment, Molly’s code name is “Cat Mother.” Interestingly enough, the word “matrix” is derived from the Latin word mater or matr- meaning “mother.” Molly is the one who is doing the majority of the work in the assignment. Case’s code name is “Cutter,” as he is hacking into multiple systems and cutting his way through their database.

**http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=177