| From: | Luke Kendall <luke@********.CANON.OZ.AU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Monowire is just plain silly. |
| Date: | Tue, 17 Jan 1995 10:03:23 +1100 |
1) It would be harder to control than a mediaeval mace. Did you know
that one theory as to why there are so many well-preserved specimens
of mace, hanging on walls in stately homes and castles in England, is
the idea that they were used until the wielder nearly killed himself
with it.
Yet the SR rules still give an absurdly low fumble chance for the weapon.
2) If it's fine enough to cut through `almost anything' with little effort,
then it must not be using much energy. So it must not be permanently
breaking the chemical and electrostatic bonds of the material. So the
bonds would reform as it passed through, and the object would take little
damage because it would hardly cause a ripple as it passed through.
3) The material science belongs far in the future, even if it were ever
possible. If the monofilament is sufficiently strong to work as
described, it must have far greater strength than any other material.
So you'd have woven ropes with load strengths of thousands of tons;
skyscrapers to the top of the atmosphere ... etc. etc.
4) If it can't cut through `everything', then it would be easy to have
tangler-pieces on batons or even armour. So you'd easily disarm whip-
wielders, or trap the sorry bastards by their finger if they were
stupid enough to have it implanted in a finger.
The only reason it's there is because it appears in so many cyberpunk
novels. This is a bad reason, in my opinion.
luke
