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"We each live in a somewhat unique world of our own psychological content."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Neuronic Whip | ||
| A weapon that stimulated the nerve endings to cause extreme discomfort. |
| And then the guard's gurgle dissolved into words. He yelled, 'I'll get you all!' and the very pale, almost invisible shimmer of the ionized air in the path of the whip's energy beam made its appearance. It swept wide through the air, and the path of the beam intersected Biron's foot. It was as though he had stepped into a bath of boiling lead. Or as if a granite block had toppled upon it. Or as if it had been crunched off by a shark. Actually, nothing had happened to it physically. It was only that the nerve endings that governed the sensation of pain had been universally and maximally stimulated. Boiling lead could have done no more. |
| From The Stars, Like Dust,
by Isaac Asimov. Published by Galaxy in 1951 Additional resources -
|
Readers might also be reminded of the pain box from Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune; it also caused pain by nerve induction.
This item was contributed by Winchell Chung.
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