Prometheus Amulet
Prometheus was a Greek Titan. Possibly one of the most important Titans, as he stole fire from Zeus and gave it to the humans. This system was developed to resist those forces through technological means.
Prometheus was a Greek Titan. Possibly one of the most important Titans as he stole fire from Zeus and brought it to the humans.
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In 2079, TriCorp Industrial designed a working mobile forcefield, dubbed the Prometheus Amulet. This was not a normal forcefield, however. This forcefield would not stop bullets or push things away. It could stop one thing. Heat.
While researching plasma fields, Dr. Allan Miles stumbled on the right plasma levels mixed with electrostatic projectors to keep the superheated material from damaging the user. After many tests it was found that this 'force field' could not stop physical objects, but it was adept at blocking thermodynamics in all of its forms.
The device works as a sort of heat damper. The plasma itself absorbs the heat, therefore making the power demands lesser than a normal plasma generator of its size. This allows for normal objects to enter, but strips it of nearly all of it's heat. This originally caused a problem within the bubble, as it would absorb all heat, including that within the shield. Once the electrostatic projectors were perfected, this was no longer a problem. The projectors emitted enough heat to maintain a constant 66 degrees Farenheit within the shielding. The field typically only stretches a few inches from the body of the wearer as it is projected from multiple emitters along the entire suit.
The Prometheus Amulet is more than just an amulet, it is a full body suit. It consists of a backpack that houses most of the working parts and the amulet that emits the electrostatic projections, the plasma is emitted via transmitters along the entire suit. This is more than just another heat suit. Standard heat suits of the time could protect the user to the upper end of 300 degrees Farenheit. The Prometheus Amulet suit can protect its charge around 10000 degrees Farenheit before collapsing due to overheating. This means the shield could protect a ship close to the surface of the sun for a limited time.
To date there are multiple versions; some used to encase fire in a particular area, others as portable units to surround a particular person or object and keep the heat out. Personal amulets typically weigh around 30 lbs (13kg) while industrial sized amulets can weigh in the tons. Many starships use a modified shield such as this one to protect against attacks such as those from lasers and other heat based attacks. They have not, however, found a way to stop friction and other forms of heat that originate within the protective shield.
'FIRE!!'
Summer may be winding down (in most places), but the fires of imagination still burn bright.
Thousands upon thousands of years ago, role-playing was invented by our ancestors. Long before the first wheel rolled down a hill, and long before the first loaf of bread was sliced, early humans sat around their caves regaling each other with tales of gods, creatures, heroes and villains, and entertaining themselves with impersonations, play-acting, and role-reversals. All this was made possible by the roaring FIRES inside their caves, which warmed their bodies, roasted their meats, and shone light on their faces.
This month we celebrate FIRE and Role-Playing!
'The Quest revolves around the element of FIRE. Water, Air, and Earth need not apply.
Items, Locations, NPCs, or Plots. All are welcome as long as FIRE is involved! Don your asbestos suits and enter with us, into the all-consuming inferno that is this month's Quest!'
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? Responses (13)
Question time: This is an interesting concept, but difficult to fit to a Sci-Fi setting, because of the questions that rise about the science and applicability of it.
So... This will stop a classical flame? Okay... What happens if I thrust a hot iron bar through it? What about radiative heat-energy? Can I shoot an infrared laser through it? Can I use it to protect a spaceship descending through an atmosphere, where there's nothing but air hitting the ship, and heating the ship via collision? Will it protect a ship that's flying through a sun?
What about a moving person? Is he enveloped in a zone of constant temperature, or will it slowly drop around him, as the shield sucks up the heat from the air inside touching it? Is lower temperature air freely permeable through the barrier, or do you have to carry your own oxygen supply? After all, it's heated particles, just with a little bit less energy.
What changes has this advancement made to the greater society? How is it generally useful to people? A fireman wears it, yeah, but an infantry soldier already has 100 lbs of kit without this - is it worth the effort to him to haul it around? What about the common person? Is it in homes or vehicles? It seems like a very specialized tool, who is the market?
It's ok.
Update: Updated the entry, explaining more about how it works and what it will and not work for.
Well, the science part of the sci-fi is still very shaky, but it's still an interesting artifact, and could lead to some interesting plot-points. Overall, good job.
A room of veteran sci-fi roleplayers would have a field day with this one, but I think it is well written.
Questions: What does it do with the heat it absorbs? Does it shunt it else where? Does it store the energy? You suggest that it operates using external radiation as its power source. How much ambient energy is necessary to keep this thing running. It you walk into a dark 57 degree room with this thing on would it start lowering the temperature of the room so it can maintain its 66 degree goal.
It blocks radiation, does visible light get in?
Can you set it to admit certain wavelenths?
Would this be vunerablity? You could fry somebody with microwaves even though they are completely immune to UV.
This brings up another point, you state that it slows the speed of molecules coming through the field. In the vaccum of space energy is only moving in wavelenghts, it has no physical medium (the neutrino argument aside). Thus if this thing only slows down kinetic molecular energy (heat) then it would not protect a spaceship close to the sun.
Temperature is not good measurement of heat, you may want to discuss this in calories. Also Amps, Watts, Rads, centigreys would be better measurements of heat. The change in temperature of matter depends on its specific heat as much as it does the amount of energy it is exposed to at the moment.
Also this field, which strip things of their heat, would have effects such as condensation and sublimation when dealing with matter in different states. Wearing this field and running through Atlanta Georgia on April afternoon would cause it to 'rain inside the field', further more if as you say, matter can pass through it, then plasma would pass right through. Depending on what types of atoms the plasma contains, this would be a dramatic freezing or condensation of material.
A field which can extract heat energy from matter would grant its users god like power. You could power a sea going vessel by moving sea water through this field, changing it temperature just 4 degrees and using the released heat to power the ships motor.
In a game world with stable physical laws, that are similar to the ones in our universe, this item would never work.
Hey Axle,
I think you are putting an undue burden on this piece. Why should stuff have to follow physical laws, why can't it just be a cool idea? It is for a game after all, will it have to follow dice laws? How many physical laws do they break in Star Wars or Star Trek? I think this is fun piece and it can be useful. 5/5.
NCN
You make a science-fiction item, you get to hear from science fiction fans. :)
But I do like the general idea. The workings can be changed, the basic function can stay... a shield, that protects against heat is always handy.
A shield which completely blocked heat would be accepted in Star Trek (their shields do, within limits similar to this) and probably Star Wars. There would, of course, be severe power requirements to allow this.
This could be used without alteration in a Supers game, where all the technobabble does not come close to reality anyway.
Holding all items to Hard SF standards leads to, in my opinion, unhelpful critique that drives people away. Hard Sci fi means we are stuck in our solar system or deal with ridiculous timelines.
If someone slaps an obvious Hard SF stamp on their sub, then fire away, but obviously para-physical submissions, classify them as Soft or Space opera and so should be critiqued at a different standard.
A shield which completely blocked heat would be accepted in Star Trek (their shields do, within limits similar to this) and probably Star Wars. There would, of course, be severe power requirements to allow this.
This could be used without alteration in a Supers game, where all the technobabble does not come close to reality anyway.
Holding all items to Hard SF standards leads to, in my opinion, unhelpful critique that drives people away. Hard Sci fi means we are stuck in our solar system or deal with ridiculous timelines.
If someone slaps an obvious Hard SF stamp on their sub, then fire away, but obviously para-physical submissions, classify them as Soft or Space opera and so should be critiqued at a different standard.
Re-read it and re-voted.