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"Why does a creative person create? It's a type of compulsion. I like to explore new ideas."
- Bart Kosko
 |
| Command-Disk | ||
| A device that sends out audible tones to control flesh-monsters. |
Yes, flesh monsters!
They were simply masses of white flesh, each one several feet across. They moved by gliding over the ground as amebas glide, and like amebas could project pseudopod-like arms of flesh out of their body-mass. Their glide or flow took them over the ground with incredible speed and their muscular power was apparently enormous.
Edmond Hamilton at his macabre best for Weird Tales.
| Kirk and Madden saw one of the creatures raise a small instrument like a handled disk, pressing one of the dozen studs along its handle. From the disk a sharp note sounded, high in pitch, and in obedience to it the flesh-monsters ranged themselves in a watchful circle about the humans, apparently to prevent the escape of any of them during the rest-period. The two metal men themselves were just passing the tree behind which Kirk and Madden crouched, stopping a few steps beyond it.
"Kirk, they’re the masters!” whispered Madden. "Those metal creatures — they control the flesh-monsters by the soundnotes, and the humans are their captives!” . . . Kirk reached to pick up the command-disks that lay near them. Curiously he examined the studs on their handles that produced the different sound-note orders, then thrust them into his pocket. |
| Technovelgy from Creatures of the Comet,
by Edmond Hamilton. Published by Weird Tales in 1931 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the control helmet from Easy Money, by Edmond Hamilton, published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1938.
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'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
