Screaming Fist

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Screaming Fist was a military operation in William Gibson's novel Neuromancer.

Operation Screaming Fist was an American military operation aimed at introducing a major virus into a Russian military computer. One of the main characters of the book, Corto, took part in the operation as a colonel. The operation was significant in that it involved dropping the team assembled for it by flying them across enemy lines on light gliders, with each member plugged into the first prototype cyberdecks. Unfortunately, the operation had been grossly mismanaged and had not taken into account certain aerial defenses. As a result, Russian EMP weapons were used against the gliders shortly after they entered Russian airspace. In the ensuing chaos, Colonel Corto escaped in a Soviet helicopter gunship and was the only survivor.

The AI Wintermute spoke to Corto through a bedside computer during his hospitalization. Corto had been heavily injured physically and mentally (having developed schizophrenia) as a result of the botched operation, which left his mind very responsive to Wintermute's influence. Over a long period, Wintermute successfully convinced Corto that he was actually Armitage, the wealthy and mysterious businessman who contracted the team that would carry out the Neuromancer run. Wintermute used this puppet to persuade Case and Molly to help him merge with his twin AI, Neuromancer.