SNOW CRASH

“Or trying to reproduce it.”

“The Mafia wouldn’t do that.”

“Don’t be a sap,” Hiro says. “Of course they would.”

Y.T. seems miffed at Hiro.

“Look,” he says, “I’m sorry for reminding you of this, but if we still had laws, the Mafia would be a criminal organization.”

“But we don’t have laws,” she says, “so it’s just another chain.”

“Fine, all I’m saying is, they may not be doing this for the benefit of humanity.”

“And why are you inhere, holed up with this geeky daemon?” she says, gesturing at the Librarian. “For the benefit of humanity? Or because you’re chasing a piece of ass? Whatever her name is.”

“Okay, okay, let’s not talk about the Mafia anymore,” Hiro says. “I have work to do.”

“So do I.” Y.T. zaps out again, leaving a hole in the Metaverse that is quickly filled in by Hiro’s computer.

“I think she may have a crush on me,” Hiro explains.

“She seemed quite affectionate,” the Librarian says.

“Okay,” Hiro says, “back to work. Where did Asherah come from?”

“Originally from Sumerian mythology. Hence, she is also important in Babylonian, Assyrian, Canaanite, Hebrew, and Ugaritic myths, which are all descended from the Sumerian.”

“Interesting. So the Sumerian language died out, but the Sumerian myths were somehow passed on in the new languages.”

“Correct. Sumerian was used as the language of religion and scholarship by later civilizations, much as Latin was used in Europe during the Middle Ages. No one spoke it as their native language, but educated people could read it. In this way, Sumerian religion was passed on.”

“And what did Asherah do in Sumerian myths?”

“The accounts are fragmentary. Few tablets have been discovered, and these are broken and scattered. It is thought that L. Bob Rife has excavated many intact tablets, but he refuses to release them. The surviving Sumerian myths exist in fragments and have a bizarre quality. Lagos compared them to the imagin