Virtual Light

by William Gibson

  The term Virtual Light was coined by scientist Stephen Beck to describe a form of instrumentation that produces ‘optical sensations directly in the eye without the use of photons’ (Mondo 2000).

  Rydell’s Los Angeles owes much to my reading of Mike Davis’s City of Quartz, perhaps most particularly in his observations regarding the privatization of public space.

  I am indebted to Markus, aka Fur, one of the editors of Mercury Rising, published by and for the San Francisco Bike Messenger Association, who kindly provided a complete file of back issues and then didn’t hear from me for a year or so (sorry). Mercury Rising exists ‘to inform, amuse, piss off, and otherwise reinforce’ the messenger community. It provided me with Chevette Washington’s workplace and a good deal of her character. Proj on!

  Thanks, too, to the following, all of whom provided crucial assistance, the right fragment at the right time, or artistic support: Laurie Anderson, Cotty Chubb, Samuel Delany, Richard Dorsett, Brian Eno, Deborah Harry, Richard Kadrey, Mark Laidlaw, Tom Maddox, Pat Murphy, Richard Piellisch, John Shirley, Chris Stein, Bruce Sterling, Roger Trilling, Bruce Wagner, Jack Womack.

  Special thanks to Martha Millard, my literary agent, ever understanding of the long haul.

  And to Deb, Graeme, and Claire, with love, for putting up with the time I spent in the basement.

  Vancouver, B.C.

  January 1993