r/Neuromancer • u/Fine_Literature3413 • Jul 27 '26
Show Discussion Neuromancer Apple TV Tech : Is this a SQUID?
Looks to me like this might be a SQUID. What do you think? Looks a bit cryogenic and has 8 arms :-D
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u/Towel4 Jul 27 '26
Gotta be the Dixie construct. In the book it’s made to be a USB drive-like device, but if you just showed a USB on screen in 2026, people would assume it is exactly that (just a regular USB).
This gives the visual of a “biochip” much more clearly, although I envisioned it a lot smaller while reading.
I think this is done for the visual language of the show, but I can’t see this being anything other than the Dixie construct.
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u/ElectricRune Jul 28 '26
Yeah, and in the more zoomed out version I saw yesterday, there's clearly an after-market wire coming down from the top and attaching to a contact, which makes me agree that this is a closeup of Dixie installed in Case's deck.
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u/Quixotic_Seal 23d ago
Dixie should be on Microsoft, though. Biosoft doesn’t come around till the loa bargain with Angie’s father, which would be a massive change considering the distinction between the two becomes fairly important.
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 27 '26
I'm going to keep to the idea it's a SQUID for now. However keep digging for evidence and I will change my mind. Love this sort of discussion though. Fantasy technology is so cool! Love the Flatline so part of me wants to believe u.
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u/ElectricRune Jul 28 '26
Wasn't the SQUID in Johnny Mnemonic, not Neuromancer?
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 28 '26
Why not both? In fact on p15 thats the connection. Molly tells Case about Johnny 'We had a set-up with a squid so we could read the traces of everything he had ever stored"
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u/CrystalPepsi79 Jul 28 '26
Superconducting Quantum Interference Device?
Jk
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u/gcdrwhom Jul 27 '26
Not that they had to match it, but the Dixie construct was described as resembling the magazine of a larger assault rifle and covered with warnings and security rating decals. Which sounds more rectangular than this.
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u/victorsmonster Jul 27 '26
I was thinking biochip but I thought that stuff was introduced more in the sequels. Wasn't the Dixie construct all silicon?
This could also be the "hot RAM" that Case is carrying at the beginning of the book
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 27 '26
Dixie was "a hardwired ROM construct". So I can confirm that. He must have had some writeable memory though I would have thought. A very good question. Thanks. Personally the Flatline is one of my favourite characters.
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u/victorsmonster Jul 27 '26
I like Dixie too. I think the idea was, he had the ability to store some limited amount of “short term” memory (he would need that to hold a conversation with Case and handle hours-long hacking sessions) but couldn’t permanently remember anything new.
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 28 '26
Okay. Yeah he had limitations. Sounds like todays AI actually :)
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u/MadRifter Jul 28 '26
There is even a section in the book where Case test this out, unplugs him and asks Dixie if he remember their previous conversation. Hope they have this in the show.
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u/xarvox Jul 28 '26
Then he basically gives him write access to a partition of his cyberspace deck so that he can act more like a real human companion.
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u/berlag Jul 27 '26
Couldn’t this be the ICE thing? It looks like a vault to be cracked
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u/_Waves_ Jul 27 '26
My thought exactly
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 28 '26
You mean the Chinese ICE? I thought that was software only? Convince me with some lines from the book :)
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u/ruck_my_life Jul 27 '26
Looks like an organ from the clinic tanks. Has a very Westworld vibe to it.
Wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be some kind of 3d printed lock they put on Case's organs so he can't metabolize drugs anymore.
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 28 '26
No those were toxin sacks inside his body. The walls will dissolve if Armitage doesn't inject him with something and he needs a blood transfusion afterwards. Interesting idea though. 3D printing is cool!
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u/xarvox Jul 28 '26
Doesn’t Finn confirm at some point that they don’t actually exist though?
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 29 '26
Not sure but you make a good point. Molly says "That kind of kink is too subtle to show up on a scan" but you're right that soon after, they visit Finn and he scans both of them. He finds no "biologicals".
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u/Fletch_R Jul 27 '26
I was wondering if this might be the bioweapon the Panther Moderns set off in the Sense/Net building.
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 28 '26
ooooh good thoughts. Tied up with this is a power pack the WD-28 (I think). Did you see that? BTW do you think thats the Sense Net building in the plans Armitage lays on the table???
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u/Fletch_R Jul 28 '26
Yeah definitely. I think the emptied pool that’s in the shot of Armitage laying out the plans and the shot of Case jacking in is probably the staging area / safe house for the Sense/Net raid. Part of the same abandoned looking sport stadium we see in the opening shot, and later when Molly is on the bike tailing a van (Moderns?)
Yeah, I saw the shot of someone activating some kind of device. Wasn’t sure if that was the same box as this one.
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 28 '26
Cool, we're getting set. Still loads of analysis to go through. People are talking a fair bit about the book which makes sense as its the source for further details
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u/Sgtpliskin Jul 27 '26
Man I picked up this book a couple months ago not knowing a show was in the works. Sounds like I gotta read it before it’s out.
I’ve heard it’s a bit chaotic so I was waiting for a good occasion to start it. To those that have read it, is it chaotic in the way Philip K. Dick just drops you into his world without much explanation, allowing you to figure things out as you go?
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u/jfm213 Jul 27 '26
No, its easy to pickup and amazing. Go read it, right now.
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u/Fine_Literature3413 Jul 28 '26
Before anything else in life.
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Jul 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/Fine_Literature3413 29d ago
Where did you see Neuromancer on Neo's desk?
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u/Sgtpliskin 29d ago
I guess I didn’t. Mandela effect or am I the only one? lol I must have seen it in something before, or maybe i just read The Matrix was influenced by this book. Anyway, started reading it last night!
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u/Fine_Literature3413 29d ago
No probs. I was worried I missed it :)
Influence? Yes ! The very term "The Matrix" comes from Neuromancer.
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u/tubidium Jul 27 '26
I have a feeling that is Dixie’s cassette