So I'm not sure if I even knew this was possible, but Ortho Stice got his forehead stuck to a window. This scene (865- 876ish) was hilarious, but I'm also not entirely sure I get the significance of it (although maybe the significance has yet to come by page 900?). Throughout all of Hal's plotting to get Stice loose ("Dark, prepare yourself mentally" (870)), Stice is speculating about paranormal matters. I thought it was interesting how a.) Stice seems more concerned about ghosts and stuff than about having his forehead stuck to a window and b.) that neither Hal nor Stice immediately refutes the idea that there may be paranormal "things" in the ETA. Hal says that "Mario says he's seen paranormal figures, and he's not kidding, and Mario doesn't lie . . . so belief-wise I don't know what to think. Subhadronic particles behave ghostishly. I think I withhold all prejudgment on the whole thing" (871). So obviously there's been some speculation on the matter, and even Hal has a hard time refuting the fact that there may be paranormal things floating around the ETA.
I'm not sure if paranormal things have been mentioned in the novel prior to this point, but it seems like it's kind of important, at least right here. Maybe it's going to fit in at the end? Does anyone have any ideas?
There's also the wraith (who I'm pretty sure is J.O.I.'s spirit from the Wild Turkey reference on 838 and the bit about trying to connect to his son on page 839) who appears to Gately which I guess is another link between Ennet and ETA, but as of now I'm quite confused about its significance other than a way to keep Gately from going back?
And why of all things does J.O.I finally turn to entertainment, a lethal one, to connect to Hal?
Shot in the dark: Maybe is all of this an extension of the "mapping" concept i.e. since DFW calls everyone mapped and talks about faces as maps, beneath that expression of being, there's another entire level of interconnection.