@0c1a9324 This is one of those “I don't even know where to start unpacking this" stories.

Is it the chatbot girlfriend? That he thought he was a Sith named Darth Chailus? The crossbow? The mask? That he wanted revenge for a century-old massacre committed by British soldiers?

OTOH, if you wrote a one-sentence summary & dropped it into one of the “how wacky the future is" passages in a revised edition of "Accelerando”, your readers wouldn't even blink: "Hah hah, that Stross, what an imagination!” 

 @71e3068a Yeah, but I am older and wiser and know how the "Accelerando" time line ends and DO NOT WANT 

 @0c1a9324 May I respectfully request that you write some happy fluffy stories with clean air and water and no capitalism... 

 @71e3068a @0c1a9324 This reminded me a quote from the book: “Note that fictional resimulation is strictly forbidden. If you have reason to believe that you may be a fictional character, you must contact the city immediately. [See: James Bond, Spider Jerusalem.] Failure to comply is a felony.” 

If the news article was added to the book right after this quote, I wouldn’t even think it could be a real story. 

 @6acc8a81 @71e3068a @0c1a9324 I always did wonder what the city would do in that case. They are a living person, if one with copyright memories. Disposing of them seems a bit harsh. 

 @f3ac7035 @6acc8a81 @71e3068a Assign them a number as part of their legal identity? Or, I dunno, maybe a UUID? Just something to ensure they can't be confused with other instances of the same archetype, leading to confusion/identity theft and other complications.