Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"I wrote many novels which … contained the element of the projected collective unconscious, which made them simply incomprehensible to anyone who read them, because they required the reader to accept my premise that each of us lives in a unique world."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Homer | ||
| A device fired from a gun that ends the life of a citizen, based on the color of their palm flower. |
| There was someone in the shadows ahead. A silent scream ripped at her throat.
Sandman! Panic drove her heart against her chest in shuddering strokes. She spun about, clawed at the blistered boards, her fingernails breaking as she sought a grip on the coarse wood. The fence was too high... Huddled into herself, she studied the char-black flower crystal centered in the palm of her right hand. A few days ago it had been a warm blood-red—just as seven years before it had been electric-blue, and seven years earlier, sun-yellow. A color for each seven years of her life. Now she was twenty-one and her flower was dull black. Sleep black. Death black. The figure moved calmly toward her, across the moon-pavement. She didn’t look up. She stared at her palm, because her future and her past were written there. All of her days and her nights and her fears and her hopes. Why had she believed in Sanctuary? Insane. Impossible. Why hadn’t she been like all the others who had accepted Sleep? Now the dark figure, in black, stood over her, but she did not look up. She didn’t beg because begging was useless... She saw the Gun come up. The homer! She saw the moonlight dazzle off the dark-blue barrel. The homer! She saw the pale, tight-set face of the Sandman, and saw his eyes above the Gun, as his fingers whitened on the trigger. The homer! There was a soft explosion. That was the last thing she heard. And the last thing she felt was raw, blinding agony, as the homer struck, burned, ripped and unraveled her. |
| Technovelgy from Logan's Run,
by William Nolan (w/G.C. Johnson). Published by Unknown in 1967 Additional resources -
|
The homer was mostly able to distinguish humans at 98.6, I don't think it was able to distinguish a particular person.
Compare the homer with the mechanical hound from Ray Bradbury's 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 (used unique scent characteristics), the mechanical cobra from Roger Zelazny's 1967 novel Lord of Light (ised unique encephalogram pattern) and the smart bullet from Michael Crichton's 1985 movie Runaway (used the unique heat signature of a person).
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Logan's Run
More Ideas
and Technology by William Nolan (w/G.C. Johnson)
Tech news articles related to Logan's Run
Tech news articles related to works by William Nolan (w/G.C. Johnson)
| Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier? |
| Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran? |
| We Need To Build Anti-Drone Systems For Civilian Spaces |
| Bullet Steers Itself! The Advanced Low-Cost Munitions Ordnance ALaMO |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'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 ...'
