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"Bureaucracies hide their mistakes, because people's careers are tied to those mistakes. Therefore, bureaucracies are a perfect mechanism for perpetuating mistakes."
- Frank Herbert
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| Punishment Sphere | ||
| Used to bring disruptive elements of society into line. |
The Sphere uses a technology called "Nerve Stapling", which is used to pacify rioters. No details are given, but to use this technology is considered an atrocity. The Sphere does this, but instead of applying every few hours, it does it every five minutes. In game, it reduces research, and subjugates not only the disruptive elements of society, but also the highly educated as well.
| "It is not uncommon to see patients undergo permanent psychological trauma in the presence of the Sphere, before the nerve stapler has even been strapped into position. Its effect on the general consciousness of the culture is profound: husbands have seen wives go inside, and mothers their children. Dr. Xynan left the surface of the sphere semitranslucent for a reason. You can hear them in there; you can see them. It is a thing of terrible beauty." Baron Klim, "The Music of the Spheres" |
| Technovelgy from Alpha Centauri,
by Sid Meier. Published by Fraxis Games in 1999 Additional resources -
|
Thanks to Gatomon41 for the reference.
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'Clothes are no longer made from dead fibers of fixed color and texture that can approximate only crudely to the vagrant human figure...'
'Books were just a commodity that had to be produced, like jam or bootlaces.'
'...it rears and spreads its fan. It can pick one man out of a crowd.'
'...a new plastic with the characteristics of an avian eggshell.'
'It was a pushpot, which could not possibly be called a jet plane because it could not possibly fly. Only it did.'
'She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew about whatever it was that she was playing with on her screen.'
'Does thinking you're the last sane man on the face of the Earth make you crazy?'
