In Neuromancer, Snow Crash, Johnny Mnemonic, Hackers, and just about every other chilling pseudo-cyberpunk vision of the future, there are two worlds. One is physical, where Real Death is possible, and where you choke on the pollution of New Tokyo-Beijing or whatever. The other world is virtual.
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Cyberpunk always presents the fiction of two worlds, and then deconstructs those worlds: there is really only one reality, after all. No alts.
Another good holiday read by Paul Miller.