Snow Crash Chapter 51 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Hiro's boat approaches the Raft, slowly but surely. Eliot, who's been at sea longer than any of the others, talks them through it: Everyone has battle stations, and they have to watch out for people trying to board their boat because the citizens of the Raft are probably very bored and very hungry.
  • Boats approach and shoot at them, swimmers try to climb aboard, and things generally get gory, though Hiro and his buds seem to be holding their own.
  • Then the Rafters start throwing Molotov cocktails. Fisheye brings out Reason and does some damage.
  • A figure approaches in a kayak. It's Raven. He throws a harpoon and kills Fisheye.
  • Hiro tries to figure out how to use Reason, but its software, inconveniently enough, crashes. With flecks on the screen that look like snow. Hmm…
  • As the boat gets closer to the Raft, more people try to board, and their boat gets caught in a bunch of netting. Everyone but Hiro is dead—except for the Filipino boy, who says he'll be Hiro's guide.
  • The boy also starts speaking in tongues. Nothing like a native guide, eh?