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"I long ago realized that I could reach far more people by writing something, than by walking down the street with a banner."
- John Brunner
 |
| Para-Beam | ||
| A beam of energy that paralyzes the victim. |
In the controlled future of the novel, terrifying metamen using para-beams pursue enemies of the state.
| Curt skidded to a halt, staring wildly at the advancing figure of the metaman, and darted to one side.
Blue fire streamed through the air where he had stood a moment before. It swung, lifted and Curt felt his legs go numb and almost lifeless as the blue ray stabbed past him, missing him by a fraction. ...Again the blue ray sent coldness through him, slowing his reflexes and chilling his blood with the touch of paralysis and he sobbed with pain as he forced his sluggish muscles to carry his sagging weight... Then blue fire seared him with a freezing cold and he fell into a bottomless pit of overwhelming darkness. |
| Technovelgy from The Mechanical Monarch,
by E.C. Tubb. Published by Ace Books in 1958 Additional resources -
|
Para-beams had originally been designed as non-lethal weapons, but in time they had evolved into something else.
The para-beam can cripple a man, bring him down and render him helpless, but it's a dangerous thing to use...
Compare to the paralysis ray from Arthur Barnes' Satellite Five (1938).
"...we had to give you artificial respiration, massage the heart, keep your blood circulating and make sure your brain cells didn't deteriorate...
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Mechanical Monarch
More Ideas
and Technology by E.C. Tubb
Tech news articles related to The Mechanical Monarch
Tech news articles related to works by E.C. Tubb
Para-Beam-related
news articles:
- Paralysis Beam From Peak Beam Systems
| Tornyol Microdrone Kills Mosquitoes |
| PLATO Spacecraft, Hunter Of Habitable Planets, Now Ready |
| Did The Yautja Have These First? |
| Jetson ONE Air Races Begin, Can Air Polo Be Far Behind? |
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'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
