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[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule 34}}, which is something else entirely (although it is what the book is named for).
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[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule 34}}, which is something else entirely (although it is what the book is named for). The titular police division tracks crimes that operate on a similar "if you can think of it, it's out there" principle.
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* BreakingTheFourthWall: Some of John Christie's sections break out of the novel's SecondPersonNarration so that "Christie" can address the reader directly. Apparently Christie suspects that we're [[MindScrew figments of his addled brain]].
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* AmbiguousDisorder: The Toymaker is by his own account not neurotypical and relies on meds to maintain the control his job requires. When those meds are unavailable he demonstrates symptoms of a schizophrenia type disorder.
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''Rule 34'' is a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future]] ScienceFiction novel by CharlesStross, released in 2011, a sequel to ''HaltingState''.
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''Rule 34'' is a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future]] ScienceFiction novel by CharlesStross, Creator/CharlesStross, released in 2011, a sequel to ''HaltingState''.
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* AssholeVictim: The victims are all criminals, for starters. The first one is a bulk spammer who was previously convicted for selling fake medication online. Another one was a money launderer. Starts to get a bit greyer later in the book, when more sympathetic characters such as [[spoiler: Tariq]] start getting murdered as well.
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* AssholeVictim: The victims are all criminals, for starters. The first one is a bulk spammer who was previously convicted for selling fake medication online. Another one was a money launderer. [[DeconstructedTrope Starts to get a bit greyer later in the book, book]], when more sympathetic characters such as [[spoiler: Tariq]] start getting murdered as well.
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* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: [[spoiler: The Toymaker]] begins to suspect this towards the end. It is left unclear whether [[spoiler: ATHENA broke into The Operation's network, whether he's becoming increasingly paranoid due to having the wrong medication, whether he's been talking to ATHENA all along -- or *all of the above*.]]
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* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler: The Toymaker]] experiences this through the course of the book ([[spoiler: but that's just what the lizards want you to think]]). It might be due to a bad batch of medication [[spoiler: courtesy of ATHENA]].
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* UnreliableNarrator: [[spoiler: The Toymaker/John Christie]].
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[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule 34}}, which is something else entirely.
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[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule 34}}, which is something else entirely.entirely (although it is what the book is named for).
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!! Provides examples of:
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italics, not bold, for work titles (yes, even for the first appearance on a work\'s page)
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'''Rule 34''' is a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future]] ScienceFiction novel by CharlesStross, released in 2011, a sequel to ''HaltingState''.
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No point having the whole trope listing spoilered out, since the reader has to highlight it anyway to find out what you\'re talking about.
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* [[spoiler: AIIsACrapshoot: ATHENA]]
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* JerkassWoobie: John Christie, aside from being a very cold-blooded manipulator of people who has no problem killing when ordered to, had a troubled childhood, [[{{Understatement}} to say the least]], and suffers crippling paranoid attacks when he's unable to take his medication.
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* MemeticMutation: Liz's squad is responsible for searching the internet for memetic ''crime''. Thanks to the interconnectness of the world, copycat crime is a huge problem.
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* MemeticMutation: InUniverse, Liz's squad is responsible for searching the internet for memetic ''crime''. Thanks to the interconnectness of the world, copycat crime is a huge problem.
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** Nope, it's not. While both are psychopaths, John picked up his schizophrenic symptoms from a less-than-successful treatment with psychopharmaca during his childhood.
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* HiddenDepths: Anwar is stunned to discover that his wife is much more familiar with his dealings than he realized, knowing, for example, what the going price is for the [[MacGuffin Issyk-Kulistani bread mix]] that he's been a mule for on the Black Market. Being familiar with criminal doings is not the same as ''approving'' of them, as Anwar discovers when he is banished to the couch for asking her to go into business with him.
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* IronicEcho: Played for narrative humor a few times, when various paranoid characters fuss about the police recon drones that are no doubt watching what they do, or dismissively claim that they are just being used to enforce anti-littering ordnances. Once the narration switches to [[FairCop Liz's perspective]], it mentions the omnipresent police recon drones, which mostly get used to look out for people littering, as a means of justifying their cost.
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* HowManyFingers: Liz to Kemal, after he gets knocked down a flight of stairs by Christie. After Kemal has to think about it for a few seconds, Liz tells him to wait for the ambulance.
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** WordOfGod says that this novel is a conscious subversion of BuryYourGays and NoBisexuals. Specifically, the only straight guy is the Antagonist.
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* JerkassWoobie: John Christie, aside from being a very cold-blooded manipulator of people who has no problem killing when ordered to, had a troubled childhood, [[{{Understatement}} to say the least]], and suffers crippling paranoid attacks when he's unable to take his medication.
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* CorruptCorporateExecutive: It is widely agreed that they were to blame for the economic collapse of the early 21st century. John Christie is also this after a sort. A psychopath (er... make that [[InsistentTerminology Neurodiverse individual]]) who was recruited and given top-quality business schooling to produce the perfect sociopathic businessman.
* DeathFromAbove: A few references are made in passing to [[EagleLand Americans]] launching AttackDrone air strikes on troublesome individuals, but one Ameican official insists that they aren't in that business anymore.
* DeathFromAbove: A few references are made in passing to [[EagleLand Americans]] launching AttackDrone air strikes on troublesome individuals, but one Ameican official insists that they aren't in that business anymore.
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* PragmaticVillainy: John Christie is a psychopath who sees other human beings as being effectively disposable. However, he also knows that drawing undue attention to himself is bad for business, so he goes out of his way to keep a low profile.
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* CowboyCop: Discussed and Dismissed. It is widely acknowledged that modern police work is about managing large groups of personnel doing quite a bit of seemingly pointless tasks working towards a common goal.
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* NotSoDifferent: Kemal and Liz, who were antagonistic towards each other in ''Halting State'', now find themselves both working together after having their careers derailed by the events of ''Halting State''.
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** Kemal as well, after his actions in the same book.
* StrangeCopInAStrangeLand: Kemal, to a degree. Of course, his job with Europol ''is'' to visit other police forces and liason with them.
* StrangeCopInAStrangeLand: Kemal, to a degree. Of course, his job with Europol ''is'' to visit other police forces and liason with them.
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* EverythingIsOnline: Very nearly literally true. Late in the book, a military unit launches a raid to arrest various individuals, and one of their preperatory steps is to have every soldier turn off and lock up their radios, cell phones, computers, etc. before leaving base, effectively making them disappear from the net entirely until they get to their destination.
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* BiTheWay: Anwar Hussein and Dorothy Straight.
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* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: John Christie sounds like a harmless enough name, until you realize that his alias is taken from the name of a serial killer.
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* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: John Christie sounds like a harmless enough name, until you realize that his alias is taken from the name of a serial killer.
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* [[spoiler: AllAIIsACrapshoot: ATHENA]]
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* [[spoiler: AllAIIsACrapshoot: AIIsACrapshoot: ATHENA]]
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* GoneHorriblyRight: [[spoiler: ATHENA was designed as an AI that would use social engineering to nudge individuals showing a high chance of becoming criminals away from a life of crime, or to sniff out spam botnets and identify them for the authorities. Instead, ATHENA is nudging criminals and law enforcement agents into confrontations with each other, and arranging for unlikely deaths-by-chance of various criminals.]]
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* [[spoiler: AllAIIsACrapshoot: ATHENA]]
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: During the book's climax, one criminal is arrested for a wide variety of crimes including tax evasion, the production and sale of various illegal items and substances, and so on, and as an afterhthought, sneaking mis-labeled bread mix into Scotland.
* AssholeVictim: The victims are all criminals, for starters. The first one is a bulk spammer who was previously convicted for selling fake medication online. Another one was a money launderer. Starts to get a bit greyer later in the book, when more sympathetic characters such as [[spoiler: Tariq]] start getting murdered as well.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: During the book's climax, one criminal is arrested for a wide variety of crimes including tax evasion, the production and sale of various illegal items and substances, and so on, and as an afterhthought, sneaking mis-labeled bread mix into Scotland.
* AssholeVictim: The victims are all criminals, for starters. The first one is a bulk spammer who was previously convicted for selling fake medication online. Another one was a money launderer. Starts to get a bit greyer later in the book, when more sympathetic characters such as [[spoiler: Tariq]] start getting murdered as well.
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* ChekhovsGun: The bread mix, which is not ''only'' bread mix. [[spoiler: Used with the right activating agent, it can be used to mass-produce spider silk. Used without the right activating agent, it can also be used to make [[ATankardOfMooseUrine crappy beer]].]]
* TheChessmaster: Colonel Felix Datka, working under the orders of his boss, the President of Kyrgistan. [[spoiler: And he is yet another UnwittingPawn of ATHENA. It just so happens that his goal and hers are compatible.]]
* TheChessmaster: Colonel Felix Datka, working under the orders of his boss, the President of Kyrgistan. [[spoiler: And he is yet another UnwittingPawn of ATHENA. It just so happens that his goal and hers are compatible.]]
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* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: [[spoiler: ATHENA's]] Modus Operandi: Set up a great many circumstances where an accidental death is possible, and wait for random chance to take effect. Defective replacement parts for appliances, mis-labeled or contaminated medication, etc.
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* GenreBlind: {{Lampshaded}} by Dr. [=MacDonald=], on the topic of [[spoiler: Artificial Intelligence.]]
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* NamesToRunAwayFromFast: John Christie sounds like a harmless enough name, until you realize that his alias is taken from the name of a serial killer.
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* NamesToRunAwayFromFast: NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: John Christie sounds like a harmless enough name, until you realize that his alias is taken from the name of a serial killer.killer.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: All of the crimes, and ultimately all of the important characters, are tied together by seemingly random coincidence. {{Lampshaded}} by the increasingly frustrated police officers because coincidences ''don't happen that often''. [[spoiler: Both the cops and the villain realize by the third act that they are being "nudged" towards a confrontation with each other.]]
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: All of the crimes, and ultimately all of the important characters, are tied together by seemingly random coincidence. {{Lampshaded}} by the increasingly frustrated police officers because coincidences ''don't happen that often''. [[spoiler: Both the cops and the villain realize by the third act that they are being "nudged" towards a confrontation with each other.]]
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* BigBrotherIsWatching: The police have flying recon drones all over the city. When they aren't needed for anything else, [[MundaneUtility they are mostly used to make sure people aren't littering.]] Similarly, police transports idly roam the city under remote control looking out for trouble when they aren't being used for moving cops around.
** PlayedForLaughs later, when Anwar gets a phone call that puts him on edge, and when he looks around for signs of anyone following him, is told by the voice on the other end of the line to stop doing that, because he's drawing attention.
* IronicName: Dorothy [[BiTheWay Straight.]]
** PlayedForLaughs later, when Anwar gets a phone call that puts him on edge, and when he looks around for signs of anyone following him, is told by the voice on the other end of the line to stop doing that, because he's drawing attention.
* IronicName: Dorothy [[BiTheWay Straight.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromFast: John Christie sounds like a harmless enough name, until you realize that his alias is taken from the name of a serial killer.
* ThePurge: [[spoiler: ATHENA uses John Christie and other unwitting pawns to eliminate the humans involved in its creation.]]
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* ThePurge: [[spoiler: ATHENA uses John Christie to eliminate the humans involved in its creation.]]
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* ThePurge: [[spoiler: ATHENA uses ThemeNaming: John Christie Christie's alias happens to eliminate be the humans involved in its creation.]]name of a prominent serial killer from the previous century. When he gets a new alias issued to him, ''that'' one turns out to be the namesake of another serial killer. He is [[DudeNotFunny not amused by this]] and suspects that an outside party is tampering with the Operation's system to make him stand out more.
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* MemeticMutation: Liz's squad is responsible for searching the internet for memetic ''crime''. Thanks to the interconnectness of the world, copycat crime is a huge problem.
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* AxeCrazy: John Christie. He is at least taking medication to keep the worst of it under control. According to his backstory, it's InTheBlood.
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* UnusualEuphemism: "Two Wetsuit Job"
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* ReassignedToAntarctica: Liz's fate after the events of ''Literature/HaltingState'', she has spent the last five years heading up the Innovative Crime Investigative Unit, known as the [[TitleDrop Rule 34 Squad]], which specializes in trawling the internet for crime-related memetic mutation, which means they get to dredge through all the worst the internet can offer them. The ICIU tends to be a [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits dumping ground]] for any cops who don't mesh well elsewhere in the force.
* ThePurge: [[spoiler: ATHENA uses John Christie to eliminate the humans involved in its creation.]]
* UnusualEuphemism: "Two WetsuitJob"Job"
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: All of the main characters, especially the villain. Most of the minor characters too.]]
* ThePurge: [[spoiler: ATHENA uses John Christie to eliminate the humans involved in its creation.]]
* UnusualEuphemism: "Two Wetsuit
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: All of the main characters, especially the villain. Most of the minor characters too.]]
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* UnusualEuphemism: "Two Westsuit Job"
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* UnusualEuphemism: "Two Westsuit Wetsuit Job"
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[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule34}}, which is something else entirely.
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[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule34}}, {{Rule 34}}, which is something else entirely.
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'''Rule 34''' is a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future]] ScienceFiction novel by CharlesStross, released in 2011.
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'''Rule 34''' is a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future]] ScienceFiction novel by CharlesStross, released in 2011.
2011, a sequel to ''HaltingState''.
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* POVSequel: Liz Cauvanaugh, the high-and-mighty Detective Inspector that Sue was working for in ''HaltingState'', now suffering from a bit of burn-out.
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* POVSequel: Liz Cauvanaugh, the high-and-mighty Detective Inspector that Sue was working for in ''HaltingState'', is now a main character suffering from a bit of burn-out.
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'''Rule 34''' is a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future]] ScienceFiction novel by CharlesStross, released in 2011.
[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule34}}, which is something else entirely.
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* POVSequel: Liz Cauvanaugh, the high-and-mighty Detective Inspector that Sue was working for in ''HaltingState'', now suffering from a bit of burn-out.
* UnusualEuphemism: "Two Westsuit Job"
[[IThoughtItMeant Not To Be Confused With]] {{Rule34}}, which is something else entirely.
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* POVSequel: Liz Cauvanaugh, the high-and-mighty Detective Inspector that Sue was working for in ''HaltingState'', now suffering from a bit of burn-out.
* UnusualEuphemism: "Two Westsuit Job"
