Yeah, it’s from two published books so far, called the “Jackpot” series. The Jackpot is a Black Swan Event that decimates the population in the future and creates a new kind of techno-oligarchical society. These future oligarchs are in constant conflict with each other and as such develop a way in which to infiltrate the past through VR sims to alter their destiny.

Yeah, I think it’s a bit easier to digest if you have some background with Gibson’s world building. It didn’t seem like it was too opaque to me, but I’m coming in with a bit of previous context. I think you’d find that Gibson’s writing is a lot more opaque when you start one of his books. He writes notoriously short chapters at times and tosses from one POV to another rather often. It can be disorienting but it is intentional. Like when you watch a thriller that seems inchoate going in, flooding you with disparate unresolved information, then when it’s snaps together, you get the satisfaction of mentally revisiting all those previous clues/details with that “ah ha!” feeling. I believe it’s meant to work this way. It’s a more satisfying reward for the reader/watcher.