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"One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion. So now people assume that religion and morality have a necessary connection."
- Arthur C. Clarke
 |
| Ferretscope | ||
| A counter-surveillance tool to detect the presence of listening devices. |
| The woman took my arm and urged me down the corridor. I glanced back and saw Zeb silhouetted in in the portal, covering our rear. My guide paused and pushed me into an almost pitchblack alcove, then she took from the folds of her robes a small object which I took to be a pocket ferretscope, from the small dial that glowed faintly on its side. She ran it up and down and around, snapped it off and returned it to her person.
"Now you can talk," she said softly. "It's safe." I felt a gentle touch at my sleeve. "Judith?" I whispered. "Yes," she answered, so softly I could hardly hear her. |
| Technovelgy from If This Goes On...,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1940 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the eavesdropper from James Blish's 1957 novel Cities in Flight.
Thanks to Connor Lawrence for submitting this item.
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'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
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'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
