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"…we store information differently, reading a science fiction story, to make it make sense."
- Samuel R. Delany
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| Skullgun | ||
| A pistol that is concealed in your cranium. |
Basically, this one-ups the head-butt. The technology is pretty well visualized by the author; you can get your choice of rounds for the gun. Regrettably, getting more ammo requires surgery.
| The mod artist wanted to see Bud's yuks before he installed the gun, which in other surroundings might have been construed as an insult but was standard business practice here in the Leased Territories. When he was satisfied that this wasn't a stick-up, he theezed Bud's forehead with a spray gun, scalped back a flap of skin, and pushed a machine, mounted on a delicate robot arm like a dental tool, over Bud's forehead. A nasty popping sensation radiated through Bud's skull when the robot arm snapped in the new model… "It's loaded with a hundred rounds of popcorn," the proprietor said, "so you can test out the yuvree. Soon as you're comfortable with it, I'll load it for real." He stapled the skin of Bud's forehead back together so it'd heal invisibly. You could pay the guy extra to leave a scar there on purpose, so everyone would know you were packing… |
| Technovelgy from The Diamond Age,
by Neal Stephenson. Published by Bantam Books in 1995 Additional resources -
|
I like the details that show that he has thought it through; not just the technology, but the customs and other cultural oddities that would surround such a device.
Although I don't think that small, concealable pistols are an American invention (there are European varieties), the Henry Derringer Pocket Pistol became the generic term for a small gun by the 1840's. The skull gun is yet another in a similar vein.
For an earlier version of this idea - for robots - take a look at the nose gun from Arm of the Law, a 1958 story by Harry Harrison.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Diamond Age
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and Technology by Neal Stephenson
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
