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"There's a poetry in the materials we use to construct our world of artifacts; it speaks of our long history as a technological species."
- William Gibson
 |
| Force Pencil | ||
| Device straps to forearm, projects a force beam. |
| From a closet in the wall [the Black Man] took a rather thick, black sheath, that suggested in part a coil, or a network of wires, and bound it to his right forearm. On a cabinet across the room was a shallow brass bowl, with some flowers floating in it. He pointed his right hand at it, experimentally, seeming to feel for some kind of contact. The bowl rocked slightly, rose an inch or two off the table, and suddenly upset, spilling water and flowers. He smiled satisfiedly...
The Black Man's right arm, bent at his side, moved a little, feeling for contact. He leaned a little to the left to balance the weight of the force pencil. |
| From Gather Darkness,
by Fritz Leiber. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1943 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the pencil heat ray from Ray Cumming's excellent 1931 novel Brigands of the Moon and the force-field penknife from Isaac Asimov's 1951 novel Foundation. The use of technology in religious ceremonies Gather, Darkness is very similar to that used in ceremonial events in the Foundation series.
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'Do I know protocol? Why, it's my primary function.'
'When unfolded and unrolled... it became a tough, gleaming film.'
