How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Your mistake, and it's quite a logical one, is in confusing the Wintermute mainframe, Berne, with the Wintermute entity." (9.112)
Wintermute basically says that his hardware is different from his software. This is the computer version of saying that the body (hardware) is separate from the soul (software).
Quote #8
"I don't know. You might say what I am is basically defined by the fact that I don't know, because I can't know. I am that which knoweth not the word." (14.115)
In a way, people are as equally defined by what they don't know as Wintermute is. If you don't know anything about building bridges, then you can't go around saying you're a bridge builder, can you?
Quote #9
Armitage had been a sort of edited version of Corto, and when the stress of the run had reached a certain point, the Armitage mechanism had crumbled; Corto had surfaced, with his guilt and his sick fury. (17.12)
The Armitage personality is like a computer program, and Corto is the original buggy program Armitage was based on. So, when Armitage broke down, all that was left for backup was Corto, the oh-so buggy personality. The results ain't pretty, Shmoopers.