Reminds me of the escaped AIs of Willam Gibson's sprawl triology, as in "Count Zero" (1987) - all though they only manifest in cyberspace - VR not AR: > (...)

Reminds me of the escaped AIs of Willam Gibson's sprawl triology, as in "Count Zero" (1987) - all though they only manifest in cyberspace - VR not AR: > (...) The man smiled at Bobby. "Count Zero," he said, "they tell us that’s your handle." > "That’s right," Bobby managed, though it came out as a kind of croak. > "We need to know about the Virgin, Count." The man waited. > Bobby blinked at him. > "Vyéj Mirak" — and the glasses went back on — ‘Our Lady, Virgin of Miracles. We know her’ — and he made a sign with his left hand— ‘as Ezili Freda." > Bobby became aware of the fact that his mouth was open, so he closed it. The three dark faces waited. Jackie and Rhea were gone, but he hadn’t seen them leave. A kind of panic took him then, and he glanced frantically around at the strange forest of stunted trees that surrounded them. The gro-light tubes slanted at every angle, in any direction, pink-purple jackstraws suspended in a green space of leaves. No walls You couldn’t see a wall at all. The couch and the battered table sat in a sort of clearing, with a floor of raw concrete. > "We know she came to you," the big man said, crossing his legs carefully. He adjusted a perfect trouser-crease, and a gold cufflink winked at Bobby. "We know, you understand?" > "Two-a-Day tells me it was your first run," the other man said. "That the truth?" > Bobby nodded. > "Then you are chosen of Legba," the man said, again removing the empty frames," to have met Vyéj Mirak." He smiled. > Bobby’s mouth was open again. > "Legba," the man said, "master of roads and pathways, the loa of communication . . ." > Two-a-Day ground his cigarette out on the scarred wood, and Bobby saw that his hand was shaking