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"[Science fiction] is the one literary medium left in which we have a free hand. We can do any damn thing we please."
- Alfred Bester
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| Atomician Sign Language | ||
| Specialized sign language used by those who work with atomics. |
| Brad saw the aged atomician’s burn reflected in the milky-white plastic of his desk top, saw the other side of Kozmer’s face reflected—hollow-cheeked, netted with wrinkles. A profoundly disquieting face, but unwavering graph lines gave the younger man no excuse not to look up and ask tonelessly, “Well, what is it?”
“I’d like to suggest, Mr. Lilling, that Pile Two be shut down for overhaul. Yes”— the old gaugeman answered the lift of Brad’s eyebrows—“Yes, I know it sounds off beam, sir. Temperature and radiation remain constant, power output steady.” He was talking for the sonowire that recorded for Espee ears all they said but his gnarled fingers were flashing a different message. How about it they demanded in the code all ’prentice atomicians learn serving their time in the thundering pits. Make up your mind to throw in with us? “Still,” he said aloud, “I’ve a hunch she’s getting ready to spit,” while his fingers warned, Time’s getting short. Time be blasted. Brad’s own fingers answered and the irritation was in his spoken reply. “You’ve a hunch, have you? If you’d only get it into your head that we stopped running the piles by hunch years ago you might rate something better than third grade tech.” I’m not saying yes or no till I know a lot more about what you plan than you’ve told me. I’ve told you all I dare. “Yes, sir. I guess you’re right, sir. I keep forgetting things are different from when I was in my twenties like you.” There’s some think you already know too much. |
| Technovelgy from The Faceless Men,
by Leo Zagat. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1948 Additional resources -
|
The various Great Houses in Dune all had their own unique sign languages. This excerpt is from Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert:
To Stilgar's questioning gesture asking if Edric were to be assassinated, Paul gave a negative hand-sign, amplified it with an imperative lest Stilgar take matters into his own hands.
Compare to the
humming-code from Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert and hive-sign from Hellstrom's Hive (1972) by Frank Herbert.
"Do not be certain you know my intent," Paul said, and he signaled Stilgar that the audience was at an end.
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'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
'Looks like she has bought the Avatar Construction Set and put together her own...'
'Across the ground something small and metallic came, flashing in the dull sunlight of midday.'
'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
