Here’s an excerpt from Cory Doctorow‘s upcoming novel for Tor Books, Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom . ( Courtesy of Infinite Matrix.)

My cochlea struck twelve noon and a HUD appeared with my weekly backup reminder. Lil was maneuvering Ben Franklin II out of his niche. I waved good-bye at her back and walked away, to an uplink terminal. Once I was close enough for secure broadband communications, I got ready to back up. My cochlea chimed again and I answered it.

“Yes,” I subvocalized, impatiently. I hated getting distracted from a backup