Hiro and Raven battle in the Metaverse to stop the Snow Crash nuke. Y.T. makes a daring escape from Rife’s chopper with the help of her fellow Kouriers, and breaks up with Raven. Uncle Enzo finds himself unexpectedly in combat at LAX, where Y.T. sees a heroic Fido save the day. Then she calls her mom for a ride home. Fin!

Hiro finds an old friend on the Raft, and broadcasts the nam-shub of Enki to all aboard. L. Bob Rife and the President escape to L.A. with Y.T. A friendly Kourier witnesses her predicament and sends out the Code. Hiro chases Raven through the Street, trying to stop him from delivering a Snow Crash nuke that would fry the brains of every hacker. Fido wakes up, eager to help the nice girl who loves him.

Hiro gives Uncle Enzo, Mr. Lee and Ng the download on Enki, the Metavirus, and what L. Bob Rife is up to. Y.T. finds Street access on the Raft to make contact with Hiro before being taken hostage by Rife and his goons. Hiro engages in a gatling gun battle to come to her rescue.

Hiro, Fisheye, and crew storm the Raft and fight off a variety of foes. Transubstanciacion is returned to his family. Y.T. date goes awry when she forgets a very important detail. And Hiro finds refuge and jacks into the Metaverse to meet Uncle Enzo, Mr. Lee, and Ng.

The Orthos turn the tables on the Mafia, rescuing the bigwigs and annihilating the Kowloon. Hiro and Fisheye and a couple others escape in a life raft, float around in the specific, and have a run-in with the Bruce Lee gang. Meanwhile, Y.T. finds herself on a date on the Raft, and her gentleman caller is none other than Raven. Oh boy.

Y.T. gets lured to Fedland and kidnapped, and then trafficked to the Raft with the Falabalas. Hiro arrives in Port Sherman, Oregon, and hitches a ride on the Kowloon just as war breaks out between the Orthos and the Mafia.

Hiro travels up the Alcan highway, learns more about Enki, and some of Raven’s back story, and runs into trouble with some bastards from New South Africa. Y.T.’s mom is questioned about YT’s action at her job in Fedland.

Hiro learns about Enki and me from the Librarian. YT steals a sample of snow crash for the Mafia, with the help of Ng Security. After interviewing one of the falabalas, she learns that someone is using infected hackers as blood bags to produce more snow crash.

It’s time for the big info dump section where Hiro goggles into his office and learns all about ancient religious history, Sumer, the Deuteronomists, and the origins of language. He has an illuminating chat with Jaunita, who is headed on a dangerous mission to Oregon. Meanwhile, Y.T. meets up with Ng to go on a special mission for the Mafia.

Y.T. meets Uncle Enzo and receives a special assignment from the Mafia. Hiro checks in on Da5id in the hospital and contemplates his place in the dystopian hellworld. And we get our first taste of the Reverend Wayne’s Pearly Gates franchise.

This week on the pod, we’re discussing Chapters 16-20 of Snow Crash. Y.T. goes to the Vitaly Chernobyl concert that Hiro is promoting, and things take a turn for the ultra-violent, as we finally get a real introduction to Raven: the sovereign nuclear power.

It’s time for the first big info dump of Snow Crash as Hiro learns all about evil megalomaniacal Lord of Bandwidth L. Bob Rife, the hardcore religious fundamentalist who controls the world’s telecommunications networks. Also in this section, Y.T. helps a Rat Thing, partners up with Hiro to gather intel, and gives him the tip about Nuclear Fuzz-grunge. Later, at the Vitaly Chernobyl and the Meltdowns concert that Hiro is promoting, he’ll meet Lagos the Gargoyle, and get his first meatspace look at Raven.

This week on the pod, we journey to the Black Sun in the Metaverse, delve into Hiro’s backstory, his history with Jaunita and Da5id, and encounter the titular Snow Crash for the first time. Also, Y.T. makes a daring escape.

Welcome to the pod. We plan on tackling Neal Stephenson’s catalog at a leisurely pace. In this episode, we talk about our history with Neal Stephenson books and cover chapters 1-5 of Snow Crash.