The Eschaton debacle (pp. 333–334)
‘Except is the territory the real world, quote unquote, though!’ Axford calls across to Pemulis, who’s pacing like the fence is between him and some sort of prey. […] ‘The real world’s what the map here stands for!’ Lord lifts his head from the Yushityu and cries over at Axhandle, trying to please Pemulis.
Context
Axford, stoned and needling, asks the question the scene is built on — is the territory even "the real world, quote unquote"? — and Lord, desperate to please Pemulis, answers with the game's official metaphysics: the real world is whatever the map stands for. Between them they state both poles of the theme in two shouted lines; that Lord's formulation is itself circular (a map defining the real) is the joke, and the trap.