Bobby Newmark
Encyclopedia
Bobby Newmark is one of the main characters in the William Gibson
novel Count Zero
. His handle
in the Matrix is "Count Zero", from which the novel derives its name. Newmark is one of several Gibson characters who live through information.
At the beginning of Count Zero, Bobby Newmark lives in his mother's condominium in Barrytown, New Jersey. Bobby is a hotdogger, a neophyte hacker
with aspirations of becoming a big-time cowboy in the worldwide cyberspace construct, the Matrix. He acquires an ICE
breaker, software designed to defeat security systems, from a friend, unaware that it is actually a stolen experimental corporate model and that he is its unwitting test dummy. His test run ends in disaster, nearly costing him his life ("pulling a wilson", in hotdogger slang). At the last moment Bobby is rescued by the apparition of a girl, which releases him from the grasp of the ICE destroying his nervous system. This episode leads Bobby to leave home. Seeking the friend who lent him the software, Bobby becomes acquainted with Beauvoir and Lucas, two Matrix cowboys who learned of his salvation at the hands of the mysterious girl, whom they refer to as the Virgin. Lucas takes Bobby to the Sprawl, where he becomes entangled in a dispute between his new chaperons and the massive zaibatsu
, Hosaka. With Bobby's help, the situation is eventually defused, and he is introduced to Angela Mitchell, the girl being sought after by Hosaka, and the mysterious Virgin who saved Bobby's life. Until this point, Angela has been in the care of the mercenary Turner, the protagonist of one of the book's other concurrent storylines. The two eventually become lovers.
In the third Sprawl novel, Mona Lisa Overdrive
, Bobby, now eight years older, plays a less central role: he is comatose and jacked into a large gray box called an aleph, which is actually an unfathomably massive data storage device which contains a virtual reality approximation of the entire world. It is here that Bobby now makes his home. Throughout the book, it is shown that Bobby and Angela have been separated for an extended period because Bobby had mysteriously disappeared. At the end of the book, they are reunited, and Angela joins Bobby inside the aleph.
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
novel Count Zero
Count Zero
Count Zero is a science fiction novel written by William Gibson, originally published 1986. It is the second volume of the Sprawl trilogy, which begins with Neuromancer and concludes with Mona Lisa Overdrive, and is a canonical example of the cyberpunk sub-genre.Count Zero was serialized by Isaac...
. His handle
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
in the Matrix is "Count Zero", from which the novel derives its name. Newmark is one of several Gibson characters who live through information.
At the beginning of Count Zero, Bobby Newmark lives in his mother's condominium in Barrytown, New Jersey. Bobby is a hotdogger, a neophyte hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
with aspirations of becoming a big-time cowboy in the worldwide cyberspace construct, the Matrix. He acquires an ICE
Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics
Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics is a term used in cyberpunk literature to refer to security programs which protect computerized data from being accessed by hackers.-Origin of term:...
breaker, software designed to defeat security systems, from a friend, unaware that it is actually a stolen experimental corporate model and that he is its unwitting test dummy. His test run ends in disaster, nearly costing him his life ("pulling a wilson", in hotdogger slang). At the last moment Bobby is rescued by the apparition of a girl, which releases him from the grasp of the ICE destroying his nervous system. This episode leads Bobby to leave home. Seeking the friend who lent him the software, Bobby becomes acquainted with Beauvoir and Lucas, two Matrix cowboys who learned of his salvation at the hands of the mysterious girl, whom they refer to as the Virgin. Lucas takes Bobby to the Sprawl, where he becomes entangled in a dispute between his new chaperons and the massive zaibatsu
Zaibatsu
is a Japanese term referring to industrial and financial business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed for control over significant parts of the Japanese economy from the Meiji period until the end of World War II.-Terminology:...
, Hosaka. With Bobby's help, the situation is eventually defused, and he is introduced to Angela Mitchell, the girl being sought after by Hosaka, and the mysterious Virgin who saved Bobby's life. Until this point, Angela has been in the care of the mercenary Turner, the protagonist of one of the book's other concurrent storylines. The two eventually become lovers.
In the third Sprawl novel, Mona Lisa Overdrive
Mona Lisa Overdrive
Mona Lisa Overdrive is a cyberpunk novel by William Gibson published in 1988 and the final novel of the Sprawl trilogy, following Neuromancer and Count Zero. It takes place eight years after the events of Count Zero and is set, as were its predecessors, in The Sprawl...
, Bobby, now eight years older, plays a less central role: he is comatose and jacked into a large gray box called an aleph, which is actually an unfathomably massive data storage device which contains a virtual reality approximation of the entire world. It is here that Bobby now makes his home. Throughout the book, it is shown that Bobby and Angela have been separated for an extended period because Bobby had mysteriously disappeared. At the end of the book, they are reunited, and Angela joins Bobby inside the aleph.