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"We [science fiction writers] always wanted to believe in "private sector" space -- hucksters make better characters than a government does."
- Larry Niven
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| Spetsdöd | ||
| A unique gun that is part of the shooter. |
The Spetsdöd is a very sophisticated weapon, consisting of a semi-adhesive block of plastic, a 6" barrel, and a reloading port for magazines of various sorts. The plastic adheres to the flesh of the wielder when a chemical is added to the mixture to make it pliant. The barrel is then braced in the material, behind the index finger on the hand, and a second chemical is added to the plastic, causing it to become firm and fixed in position - for the duration of its use, a part of the wielder.
It is this very facility with which this weapon can be used that makes it so dangerous. Should a person who is not fully proficient with the weapon attempt to wield it, he more often than not ends up shooting either himself of his comrades. The reason for this are simple; to fire the Spetsdöd, one merely points. A self-regenerating chemical compound exists at the very tip of the barrel which reacts to the fingernail of the wielder. This reaction causes the weapon to fire.
It is the very simplicity of this trigger which makes the weapon so deadly, either to the wielder or to his foes. Until one has truly become proficient in the use of the Spetsdöd (i.e., specialized) one stands a good chance of firing unintentionally.
| It was a difficult shot, but a man with a Spetsdöd could cut a dragonfly in half in mid-air - and hit both pieces as they fell. Point-shooting had been brought to a peak higher than craft, if not art, with the invention of the Spetsdöd: the word itself meant "point death." |
| Technovelgy from The Man Who Never Missed,
by Steve Perry. Published by Not Known in 1985 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the laser-induced plasma weapon from Daemon (2009) by Daniel Suarez.
Thanks to Trey Palmer for contributing this item.
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
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'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
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