hermit crab

The several miscellaneous pieces of lumber that he crammed into the seams to make the house stronger only brought in termites. He wondered if he could bring in a poisoned piece of wood that would carry the attack back to the colony. A salesman sold him a formula which he promised would result, with the manner of the termite’s death, in strengthened wood.

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recapacitate

After the world flooded we navigated it by temperature range. Even the songs of the whales sounded different in the several zones of heat, warmth, chill and cold. A detective friend had given me the idea of restarting one of the nuclear power stations to create new temperature zones and redraw the map.

yield

We loved the pomegranates on the other side of the river, but there was no ford. To get there we had to pay in blood the vampire who lived there for use of his boat. One girl convinced him to take an IOU.

transfer form

The nine cooks were constantly destructive. Their previous employer was able to tolerate and even absorb their behavior. But once they moved into the public sector, unless they could come with some rationale, some financially teleological purpose to it that would satisfy the auditors, they could not continue.

redirect

An incombustible amoeba traces out a line segment to nowhere. The last remnant of an extinct crocodyle race, it can eat through almost anything. It does not respect substance, only form. The only thin keeping it in place is the geometry of its container.

identity bunker

Immortality treatments, it is discovered some time after their wide application, eventually produce tumor-like growths which at first are horribly disfiguring and ultimately fatal. The treatment to eradicate the malignant growth also erases memories. Some are willing to completely wipe their memories to completely wipe out the disease, and thus get a fresh start physically and mentally. Roger tries to control the growth for long enough to develop a way to preserve his memories externally.

conductive

The art installation was a large sphere about two meters across. It appeared plain silver until touched, upon which it transmitted pure emotion to whomever touched it, while displaying an image on its surface. Both the emotion and image were chosen randomly. When the local museum announced it would make the installation a permanent exhibit, a group lobbied the city council to have it banned.

cauterize

Arc was riding in the Race Across America. Partway through, Pax, the leader of his pacing team changed personality and became cruel and taunting. Arc dropped out of exhaustion six days in. Only after spending a week recovering at an isolated house did his team tell him that Pax was killed in a traffic accident the second day.

powers of ten

In order for her books to be sold in a certain city, an author has to expand them into a series of ten volumes. The bookseller currently holding the royal monopoly only sells decalogies.

pass by value

Kneel before the computer before the computer kneels before you. Believe me, that you do not want. When you serve the computer it won’t pay as much attention to what you are doing, and you can pay more attention to what it does. There will be less endless analysis of your motives, extrapolated motives in enlessly re-established hopefulness. One night drunk will result in a thousand irrevocable wrong assumptions.