“
Cats don't drink cocktails,' I said.
'Cats don't shoot lasers from their eyes, either, but here we are, Carl. Mama needs a night off.
”
”
Matt Dinniman (Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2))
“
Angel raised her hand. "Excuse me. What does LTC stand for?" She blinked innocently.
"Loving Tender Care?"Gazzy suggested.If our instructor had had lasers for eyes, he would have sliced Gazzy in half.
"Lieutenant colonel," he sputtered.
”
”
James Patterson (Max (Maximum Ride, #5))
“
Kate makes good sausage," Jim said.
Six pairs of eyes stared at me. Thank you, Mr. Wonderful. Just what I needed.
"Oh yeah," Andrea snapped her fingers. "The links? The ones we had the beginning of the month? I didn't know you made those. I thought they were bought. They were so good." Her smile was positively cherubic. Of all the times not to be able to shoot laser beams out of my eyes...
"What do you put into your sausage, Kate?" Raphael wanted to know, giving me a perfectly innocent look.
Werejaguars with big mouths with a pinch of werehyena thrown in. "Venison and rabbit."
"That sounds like some fine sausage," Doolittle said. "Will you share the recipe?"
"Sure."
"I had no idea you were a sausage expert," Curran said with a completely straight face.
Die, die, die, die...
Even Derek cracked a smile. Raphael put his head down on the table and jerked a little.
"Is he choking?" Dali asked, wrinkling her forehead.
"No, he just needs a moment," Curran said. "Young bouda males. Easily excitable.
”
”
Ilona Andrews (Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, #3))
“
I hug her one more time and pull her down to the bed. And in my mind, I rise up from the bed and look down on us, and look down at everybody else in this hospital who might have the good fortune of holding a pretty girl right now, and then at the entire Brooklyn block, and then the neighborhood, and then Brooklyn, and then New York City, and then the whole Tri-State Area, and then this little corner of America- with laser eyes I can see into every house- and then the whole country and the hemisphere and now the whole stupid world, everyone in every bed, couch, futon, chair, hammock, love seat, and tent, everyone kissing or touching eachother... and i know that i'm the happiest of all of them.
”
”
Ned Vizzini (It's Kind of a Funny Story)
“
His gaze had the intensity of a laser. “But it’s not the same with you.” My heart faltered. “Why?” “Because, Callahan.” The brown eyes came closer. “I never loved anyone the way I love you.
”
”
Sarina Bowen (The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years, #1))
“
Over the road there was a church: a modern gray building, which constantly played a recording of church bells. Strange it was. Why no proper bells? I never went in but I bet it was a robot church for androids, where the Bible was in binary and their Jesus had laser eyes and metal claws.
”
”
Russell Brand (My Booky Wook)
“
Sophie wished the Black Swan had given her laser eyes so she could skewer Keefe with her death glare.
”
”
Shannon Messenger (Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4))
“
I love you!" he shouted, his eyes glowing laser green.
"I love you, okay? I'm not some hopeless retard you pull along behind you because you feel sorry for him! I love you and I'm going to prove it!
”
”
Lili St. Crow (Strange Angels (Strange Angels, #1))
“
I want a riot laser," Eve snapped at Peabody. "Full body armor." She yanked a six-inch combat knife from its leather sheath and watched with glee, as its wicked serrated edge caught the sunlight through her little window.
Peabody's eyes popped. "Sir?"
"I'm going down to maintenance, and I'm going locked and loaded. I'm taking those piss-brain sons of bitches out, one by one. Then I'm going to haul what's left of the bodies into my vehicle and set it on fire."
"Jesus, Dallas, I thought we had a red flag."
"I've got a red flag. I've got one." Her eyes wheeled to Peabody. "I've got under fifty miles on my ride since those lying, cheating, sniveling shitheads said it was road ready. Road ready? Do you want me to tell you about road ready?"
"I would like that very much, Lieutenant. If you'd sheathe that knife first.
”
”
J.D. Robb (Betrayal in Death (In Death, #12))
“
Jesus,” I blurt out, lifting my hand as if to shield my eyes. “It’s like looking into the sun.” “What?” he snaps, those laser-bright eyes narrowing. Oh, this will be fun. “Just stop, will you?” I squint at him. “You’re too hot. It’s too much to take.” This is true, though I’d never have the guts to say so in normal circumstances. “Are you quite well?” he intones, as if he thinks the opposite. “No, you’ve nearly rendered me blind.” I flap a hand. “Do you have an off switch? Maybe put it on low?
”
”
Kristen Callihan (Managed (VIP, #2))
“
And what do you know, John's hands flew through the positions
of ASL in various l-got-this combinations.
"Is he deaf" the guy behind the cash register asked in a stage
whisper. As if someone using American Sign Language was some kind
of freak.
"No. Blind."
"Oh."
As the man kept staring, Qhuinn wanted to pop him. "You going
to help us out here or what?"
"Oh ... yeah. Hey, you got a tattoo on your face." Mr. Observant
moved slowly, like the bar codes on those bags were creating some kind of wind resistance under his laser reader. "Did you know that?"
Really. "I wouldn't know."
''Are you blind, too?"
No filter on this guy. None. "Yeah, I am."
"Oh, so that's why your eyes are all weird."
"Yeah. That's right."
Qhuinn took out a twenty and didn't wait for change-murder
was just a liiiiiittle too tempting. Nodding to John, who was also measuring the dear boy for a shroud, Qhuinn went to walk off.
"What about your change ?" the man called out.
"I'm deaf, too. I can't hear you."
The guy yelled more loudly, "I'll just keep it then, yeah?"
"Sounds good," Qhuinn shouted over his shoulder.
Idiot was stage-five stupid. Straight up.
”
”
J.R. Ward (Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #11))
“
Cats don’t drink cocktails,” I said. “Cats don’t shoot lasers from their eyes, either, but here we are, Carl. Mama needs a night off.
”
”
Matt Dinniman (Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2))
“
Hades finally smiles and, good gods, it’s like being hit by a laser beam. Heat strong enough to make my fingertips tingle and curl my toes. I stare up at him, caught in the intensity of those dark eyes. And then he’s shaking his head, smothering the rush of strangeness through my body. “No.” “What do you mean, no?” “I’m aware that you’ve likely not heard the word often in your privileged life, so I’ll spell it out for you. No. Nein. Nyet. Non. Absolutely not.
”
”
Katee Robert (Neon Gods (Dark Olympus, #1))
“
I kept glancing at him and away from him, as if his green eyes were hurting me. In modern parlance he was a laser beam. Deadly and delicate he seemed. His victims had always loved him.
And I had always loved him, hadn't I, no matter what happened, and how strong could love grow if you had eternity to nourish it, and it took only these few moments in time to renew its momentum, its heat?
-Lestat
”
”
Anne Rice
“
Funny how a crisis can put life into perspective, fine-tune the eye of the heart, like laser surgery. In less than a minute everything comes into a twenty-twenty view.
”
”
Rachel Hauck (Georgia on Her Mind)
“
Daemon's green eyes held a glassy sheen. His arm reached out, fingers splayed. They never reached the laser or the door. “I love you, Katy. Always have. Always will,” he said, voice thick and hoarse with panic. “I will come back for you. I will-
”
”
Jennifer L. Armentrout (Opal (Lux, #3))
“
[He]... watches the Joker rising from his wheelchair, the way a rabbit watches car headlights bearing down, unable to move a single, spotlit muscle. The madman's limbs appear to unlatch as though some psychotic god has chosen to give life to a complicated Swiss Army knife. The Joker's head rotates... the green lasers of his eyes target the keys at the big man's belt, and he shakes his head.
”
”
Grant Morrison (Batman and Son vs. the Black Glove)
“
I want everything. I want you to be the same with me that you were with other girls. His gaze had the intensity of a laser. But it's not the same with you. My heart faltered. Why? Because, Callahan. The brown eyes came closer. I never loved anyone the way I love you.
”
”
Sarina Bowen (The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years, #1))
“
Holy shit!” Moondance swung around, her face now streaked with the ashy remains of the nephilim, her eyes wide at the sight of me. “Callie’s back, and she brought a laser gun!
”
”
Carol Goodman (The Angel Stone (Fairwick Chronicles, #3))
“
And…
Eye contact.
His metallic gaze lasers open my soul from the inside out.
I’m glayed. Exposed. Ruined with a simple look.
”
”
Kendall Grey (Beats (Hard Rock Harlots, #2))
“
...a kid, maybe eight years old, ran up and poked her in the ribs with a plastic laser weapon, making electric zinging noises as he repeatedly pulled the trigger. “You’re dead,” he said victoriously. His mother came hurrying up, looking harassed and helpless. “Damian, stop that!” She gave him a smile that was little more than a grimace. “Don’t bother the nice people.” “Shut up,” he said rudely. “Can’t you see they’re Terrons from Vaniot.”
The kid poked her in the ribs again. “Ouch!” He made those zinging noises again, taking great pleasure in her discomfort. She plastered a big smile on her face and leaned down closer to precious Damian, then cooed in her most alienlike voice, “Oh, look, a little earthling.” She straightened and gave Sam a commanding look. “Kill it.” Damian’s mouth fell open. His eyes went as round as quarters as he took in the big pistol on Sam’s belt. From his open mouth began to issue a series of shrill noises that sounded like a fire alarm. Sam cursed under his breath, grabbed Jaine by the arm, and began tugging her at a half-trot toward the front of the store. She managed to snag her purse from the buggy as she went past.
“Hey, my groceries!” she protested. “You can spend another three minutes in here tomorrow and get them,” he said with pent-up violence. “Right now I’m trying to keep you from getting arrested.”
“For what?” she asked indignantly as he dragged her out of the automatic doors. People were turning to look at them, but most were following the sounds of Damian’s shrieks to aisle seven. “How about threatening to kill that brat and causing a riot?”
“I didn’t threaten to loll him! I just ordered you to.
”
”
Linda Howard (Mr. Perfect)
“
You’re still as beautiful as the first day I saw you.”
His eyes laser onto mine in a way that sends a shockwave to my core. Just like then, I’m embarrassed by my reaction to him. The idea of his touch makes my center clench with expectation.
”
”
Terri E. Laine (Cruel and Beautiful (Cruel & Beautiful, #1))
“
She knew now that being a superhero was more than just a fancy costume, a firm bust and being able to shoot whizz-bang laser beams out of your eyes.
”
”
Adam Christopher (Seven Wonders (Angry Robot))
“
which was a bit like a mouse chasing a cat, a giant mutant cat with laser eyes and a bellyful of smaller spiteful cats.
”
”
Eoin Colfer (The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7))
“
The first thing we saw at the pet store was this scary white cat sitting on his own pedestal. He fluffed out his fur in a huff of attitude. His weird eyes were like lasers, way more expressive than human eyes. It felt like he could read my soul. His eyes were all, Yeah. I know you. I know everything you’re thinking. The cat was acting all exotic and important. Which I guess is what happens when you’re put on your own pedestal.
”
”
Susane Colasanti (Something Like Fate)
“
His eyes trace the droplets branching down my chest.
They stop at my waistband.
“Brandon. Cutie.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re still wearing your boxers.”
“I am.”
“Is there something you need to tell me?”
“No.”
“Are you actually a Ken doll?”
“Nope.”
“Is your dad a secret superhero and you have a bionic penis and you make up this big religious-paranoia back story because it shoots laser beams and has the strength of a bulldozer?”
“Yes.”
“I knew it.
”
”
J.C. Lillis (How to Repair a Mechanical Heart (Mechanical Hearts, #1))
“
I was still very much a kid but, suddenly, I had the body of a teenager. This is like waking up one day and finding out that your golden retriever puppy shoots lasers from its adorable puppy eyes. Someone is bound to get hurt.
”
”
Aisha Tyler (Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation)
“
And..it was Jack. Jack. Of the many things I'd considered doing to him, most involved violence.None of them involved lip-on-lip action.
I jerked my head back,but it wasn't hard to get away,since he pulled back at the same moment.
He wrinkled his nose. "Well, that was...interesting. Always wanted to try it,but now that I have,I'm pretty sure I never want to again."
Furious,I smacked him in the shoulder with my free hand, hating that we still had to have one clasped so I wouldn't be lost forever. "You"-smack-"little"-smack-"freak!"-smack. "What was that?!" SMACK.
He dodged another volley. "And I had been under the impression that afterward was a little less"-he winced as I connected hard-"painful."
"Listen,creep,if I wanted you to kiss me,I would have asked! And I didn't. And I wouldn't! And if you ever try that again,so help me,I will find that fossegrim and throw you to a watery death!"
And then-as if his awkward,terrible kiss weren't bad enough-he started laughing.
"SHUT UP!"
He shook his head,grinning smugly. "See? Two goals accomplished. One:try out kissing. Miserable failure, no doubt your fault,but a noble effort nonetheless.I should find your friend Carlee. She's probably better at it than you are."
Why couldn't my glamour-piercing eyes have a laser function? I wouldn't kill him. I'd just burn the word "freak" into his forehead.
"Aren't you going to ask me what my second goal was?" He batted his eyelashed at me.
"No,I'm not."
He nudged me in the ribs with his elbow. "You aren't crying anymore, are you?"
I'd have to let go of his hand to throttle him. So that option was out. "Being so mad I'd like to kill you is better?
”
”
Kiersten White (Supernaturally (Paranormalcy, #2))
“
Things decided, I returned my attention to the laptop and scrolled through the stats of the principle trading account.
Meanwhile, my younger brother was attempting to drill a hole into the side of my head with his eyeballs.
“I’ll kindly ask you to stop trying to penetrate my brain with those laser beams you call eyes.
”
”
Penny Reid (Beard Science (Winston Brothers, #3))
“
I’m the only sane inmate of Asylum Earth. I’m not eager to hand tomorrow over to an interplanetary extremist with laser eyes. There’s only room on this world for one leader, Superman. When I’m finished with you, every last gibbon out there will know you for the menace you are… and they’ll realize that Lex Luthor is their savior.
”
”
Lex Luthor, Birthright
“
For a moment I am jealous: He has grown up here, fearless, happy. Perhaps he will never even know about the world on the other side of the fence, the real world. For him there will be no such thing.
But there will also be no medicine for him when he is sick, and never enough food to go around, and winters so cold the mornings are like a punch in the gut. And someday-unless the resistance succeeds and takes the country back-the planes and the fires will find him. Someday the eye will turn in this direction, like a laser beam, consuming everything in its path. Someday all the Wilds will be razed, and we will be left with a concrete landscape, a land of pretty houses and trim gardens and planned parks and forests, and a world that works as smoothly as a clock, neatly wound: a world of metal and gears, and people going tick-tick-tick to their deaths.
”
”
Lauren Oliver (Pandemonium (Delirium, #2))
“
The woman scowled so hard, he half expected a laser beam to shoot out of her eyes. ‘This
”
”
Robert Muchamore (Class A (Cherub, #2))
“
I will f*cking laser you with alien f*cking eyes
”
”
Kanye West
“
fierce-looking, a coal-eyed brunette with a gaze direct as lasers. She
”
”
Tess Gerritsen (The Surgeon (Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles, #1))
“
Cats don’t shoot lasers from their eyes
”
”
Matt Dinniman (Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2))
“
I glance over my shoulder and spot Zade a few feet behind; his eyes laser-focused on me as if he’s convinced I’ll disappear if he looks away for even a second. I’m safe now. Yet it still feels like I’m in Hell.
”
”
H.D. Carlton (Hunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #2))
“
my eyes
make mirrors out of
every reflective surface they pass
searching for something beautiful looking
my ears fish for compliments and praise
but no matter how far they go looking
nothing is enough for me
i go to clinics and department stores
for pretty potions and new techniques
i've tried the lasers
i've tried the facials
i've tried the blades and expensive creams
for a hopeful minute they fill me
make me glow from cheek to cheek
but as soon as i feel beautiful
their magic disappears suddenly
where am i supposed to find it
i am willing to pay any price
for a beauty that makes heads turn
every moment day and night
- a never-ending search
”
”
Rupi Kaur (The Sun and Her Flowers)
“
I don’t want to talk about me. We never talk about you. I probably don’t know anything about you.
He laces his fingers into mine and rests our hands on his stomach. I move my fingertips in tiny circles and he sighs indulgently.
“Sure you do. Go on, list everything.”
“I know surface things. The color of your shirts. Your lovely blue eyes. You live on mints and make me look like a pig in comparison. You scare three-quarters of B and G employees absolutely senseless, but only because the other quarter haven’t met you yet.”
He smirks. “Such a bunch of delicate sissies.”
I keep ticking things off.
“You’ve got a pencil you use for secret purposes I think relate to me. You dry clean on alternate Fridays. The projector in the boardroom strains your eyes and gives you headaches. You’re good at using silence to scare the shit out of people. It’s your go-to strategy in meetings. You sit there and stare with your laser-eyes until your opponent crumbles.”
He remains silent.
“Oh, and you’re secretly a decent human being.”
“You definitely know more about me than anyone else.” I can feel a tension in him. When I look at his face, he looks shaken. My stalking has scared the ever-loving shit out of him. Unfortunately, the next thing I say sounds deranged.
I want to know what’s going on in your brain. I want to juice your head like a lemon.
”
”
Sally Thorne (The Hating Game)
“
As we reach the next corner, the entire block ahead of us lights up with a rich purple glow. We backpedal, hunker down in a stairwell, and squint into the light. Something’s happening to those illuminated by it. They’re assaulted by . . . what? A sound? A wave? A laser? Weapons fall from their hands, fingers clutch their faces, as blood sprays from all visible orifices — eyes, noses, mouths, ears. In less than a minute, everyone’s dead and the glow vanishes.
”
”
Suzanne Collins (Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3))
“
I realized then that there are moments when life seems to be happening to you. These are those moments that you later reflect on, wondering how you survived them. Getting the injections in my eye was like that. So were the laser treatments. It was even a little like that when I lost my virginity. These are moments that change and shape you, and they’re so imposing that you can’t stay present for them. So you slip away, someplace safe inside yourself, and wait for the storm to pass.
”
”
Renée Rosen (Every Crooked Pot: A novel)
“
Fine, Jackson,” he whispered, eyes lasering in on the frog. “You win. I’ll leave, do bit of hunting. I am, after all, a creature of the night. Meantime, you get to work.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “On what, exactly?” “The facts. You need to tell the truth, my friend.” The frog twitched, and Crenshaw froze, pure muscle and instinct. “Which facts? Tell the truth to who?” Crenshaw pulled his gaze off the frog. He looked at me, and to my surprise, I saw tenderness in his eyes. “To the person who matters most of all.
”
”
Katherine Applegate (Crenshaw)
“
The Words of an Angel
As I sit in a world of darkness
I look around to see no one
The cold wind has filled my soul
The rivers have poured inside my body
And the weight of the waters holds me back from seeing the light of day
What should I do?
I feel helpless,
Paralyzed in my own fears
And lost with no directions or roads to take
Suddenly, a felt a laser of energy bolt though my body
I yelled, “I’m so tired of feeling this way, I need help”
Suddenly, gold light appeared
And a man stood before me
You foolish man,
You choose this path the moment you chose to give up and wallow in your sorrows
I cannot help you
You need to help yourself.
There are no rivers in your soul holding you back from light of the world
The strength lies within you
Look in my eyes and tell me what you see
The lost man looked into the angels eyes and said, I see a man who gets his strength from helping others
He does not waste time focusing on useless matters
If you dig deep enough my child
You will find precious gift inside yourself
Gifts you never knew you had
Learn from others
Then help yourself
Once you helped yourself
Go out and help the world around you
Because many people feel as you do
The angel suddenly disappeared
The lost man was no longer lost
He was determined to waste no time
He was going to use his time to help others
Just as the angel helped him
The man got up
He realized the only thing holding him down was himself
The room was no longer dark
The light of life had entered
Dig deep in yourself and lift yourself
The answer to your problems lies within
Use your gifts
For the greatest gift is the gift of giving.
”
”
Stacey Chillemi (Life's Missing Instruction Manual)
“
Human beings tend to think that light-sensitive molecules exist only in the eyes, but they come in four major types: rhodopsin (in the retina, which absorbs light for vision), hemoglobin (in red blood cells), myoglobin (in muscle), and most important of all, cytochrome (in all the cells). Cytochrome is the marvel that explains how lasers can heal so many different conditions, because it converts light energy from the sun into energy for the cells. Most of the photons are absorbed by the energy powerhouses within the cells, the mitochondria.
”
”
Norman Doidge (The Brain's Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity)
“
Everyone’s eyes stick on me like those sticky toy balls you get in dentist office vending machines. Ezra glares at me like he’s trying to shoot laser beams across the hall through me. I imagine cage bars in the doorway, made to protect zoo guests from me but also to protect me from zoo guests.
”
”
Meg Eden Kuyatt (Good Different)
“
Scarlett activated the viola and it came down like short shimmering curtain that covered her eyes with a band of violet light. It dilated her eyes, increasing her binocular summation so that everything in her field of vision was magnified and clear. It also protected her retinas from any sort of laser fire or plasma flash.
”
”
April Adams (Drawing the Dragon)
“
Twas the night before Christmas, and all
through the base
Only sentries were stirring--they guarded the place.
At the foot of each bunk sat a helmet and boot
For the Santa of Soldiers to fill up with loot.
The soldiers were sleeping and snoring away
As they dreamed of “back home” on
good Christmas Day.
One snoozed with his rifle--he seemed so content.
I slept with the letters my family had sent.
When outside the tent there arose such a clatter.
I sprang from my rack to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash.
Poked out my head, and yelled, “What was that crash?”
When what to my thrill and relief should appear,
But one of our Blackhawks to give the all clear.
More rattles and rumbles! I heard a deep whine!
Then up drove eight Humvees, a jeep close behind…
Each vehicle painted a bright Christmas green.
With more lights and gold tinsel than I’d ever seen.
The convoy commander leaped down and he paused.
I knew then and there it was Sergeant McClaus!
More rapid than rockets, his drivers they came
When he whistled, and shouted, and called
them by name:
“Now, Cohen! Mendoza! Woslowski! McCord!
Now, Li! Watts! Donetti! And Specialist Ford!”
“Go fill up my sea bags with gifts large and small!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away, all!”
In the blink of an eye, to their trucks the troops darted.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Through the tent flap the sergeant came in with a bound.
He was dressed all in camo and looked quite a sight
With a Santa had added for this special night.
His eyes--sharp as lasers! He stood six feet six.
His nose was quite crooked, his jaw hard as bricks!
A stub of cigar he held clamped in his teeth.
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath.
A young driver walked in with a seabag in tow.
McClaus took the bag, told the driver to go.
Then the sarge went to work. And his mission today?
Bring Christmas from home to the troops far away!
Tasty gifts from old friends in the helmets he laid.
There were candies, and cookies, and cakes, all homemade.
Many parents sent phone cards so soldiers could hear
Treasured voices and laughter of those they held dear.
Loving husbands and wives had mailed photos galore
Of weddings and birthdays and first steps and more.
And for each soldier’s boot, like a warm, happy hug,
There was art from the children at home sweet and snug.
As he finished the job--did I see a twinkle?
Was that a small smile or instead just a wrinkle?
To the top of his brow he raised up his hand
And gave a salute that made me feel grand.
I gasped in surprise when, his face all aglow,
He gave a huge grin and a big HO! HO! HO!
HO! HO! HO! from the barracks and then from the base.
HO! HO! HO! as the convoy sped up into space.
As the camp radar lost him, I heard this faint call:
“HAPPY CHRISTMAS, BRAVE SOLDIERS!
MAY PEACE COME TO ALL!
”
”
Trish Holland (The Soldiers' Night Before Christmas (Big Little Golden Book))
“
She knew that if she tied this man up in a quiet room, gagged him so his screams wouldn’t block the other noises, and held a laser like this one to his eyes, she’d hear a low pop as the surface of his retinas flash-boiled and seared onto the face of his optic nerves. Ever afterward, his would be a world of pain and darkness and weird flashes in the shadows.
”
”
Jonathan Moore (Close Reach)
“
I want to try one of Miss Beatrice’s favorite drinks. Either a Sex on the Beach or a Long Island Iced Tea. Or that one. What is it, Carl? She always says it’s her Kryptonite.” “A Dirty Shirley,” I said. “Yeah, I want to try that one.” “Cats don’t drink cocktails,” I said. “Cats don’t shoot lasers from their eyes, either, but here we are, Carl. Mama needs a night off.
”
”
Matt Dinniman (Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2))
“
Poor guy," Zack replied with such genuine pity that I almost bought it. Almost. “Hey, Steph, you mind turning down the heat from your glare? It’s making me a little uncomfortable.”
I glared harder.
“Seriously. Look I didn’t have anything to do with Rob’s injury if that’s what you’re implying. We were just tossing the ball back and forth. Now, quit with the laser beam eyes
”
”
Cait Reynolds (Downcast (Olympus Falling #1))
“
Tall and slim with exquisite high cheekbones, shining skin and a perfect jaw line, this Glamazon sauntered across the hall towards us. Her blonde hair was cut in dramatic spikes, punkish style. Her eyes were an astonishing shade, a kind of electric blue. When she looked at you, it was like having high intensity lasers trained on you. She had a kind of lustrous, supernatural beauty.
”
”
Mike Hockney (The Millionaires' Death Club)
“
And as Sean climbs into bed and closes his eyes, Mother comes, riding astride a lion the size of a house, blowing a clarion from a horn made out of a hollowed-out elephant's tusk. Her eyes have a faint crimson glow from the lasers that are mounted behind her irises, ready to fire at will.
'I touched a prince's chest today and made his heart stop,' she says. 'I'll do it again if I have to: they'll see what happens if anyone gets in my way. Good night, my son. Remember that I will always keep you safe; that I am always everywhere and always here.'
'Good night, Mom,' Sean says, and falls asleep.
And Mother recedes, wise and beautiful and strong, a genius and a hero, a punisher of thieves and a slayer of wicked men, to watch over her son in all her different versions.
”
”
Dexter Palmer (Version Control)
“
For a moment I am jealous: He has grown up here, fearless, happy. Perhaps he will never even know about the world on the other side of the fence, the real world. For him there will be no such thing.
But there will also be no medicine for him when he is sick, and never enough food to go around, and winters so cold the mornings are like a punch to the gut. And someday—unless the resistance succeeds and takes the country back—the planes and the fires will find him. Someday the eye will turn in this direction, like a laser beam, consuming everything in its path. Someday all the Wilds will be razed, and we will be left with a concrete landscape, a land of pretty houses and trim gardens and planned parks and forests, and a world that works as smoothly as a clock, neatly wound: a world of metal and gears, and people going tick-tick-tick to their deaths.
”
”
Lauren Oliver (Pandemonium (Delirium, #2))
“
Beau has facial hair?” Ian clutched his boyfriend’s shoulders. “I honestly thought he had laser hair removal.” “Seriously?” I said, at the same time Jesse rolled his eyes. “I can grow a beard if I want to. I just never want to, okay? It comes in patchy and it itches.” “Huh.” Ian watched me suspiciously, like I was going to turn into a werewolf. “I’m just having a bit of a lie-in,” I said. Ian’s eyes got bigger. “A lie-in? What are you, British?” Jesse,
”
”
Megan Erickson (Mature Content (Cyberlove, #4))
“
He was the most astonishing contradiction of components I’d ever encountered. Shy yet fiercely communicative when putting an idea into your head. Vocally astringent regarding his own abilities but not to the point that he couldn’t produce—he was as prolific an artist (yes, an artist, and I never use the term, especially regarding people I like) I’ve ever seen. But I could feel it. Everything he sketched, penciled, inked, made—was a payment, one he could scarcely afford; as if it physically hurt him to put pencil to paper. Yet that only seemed to spur him on, to live far beyond his means. He was unable not to. For Sketch, to draw was to breath, and so the air became lead—silvery in the right light, dark soot in the wrong; heavy, slick and malleable—into shapes he brought together in glorious orchestration, with a child’s eye and a rocket scientist’s precision, all fortified by a furious melancholy, a quiet engine of sourceless shame and humility.
When it came to another’s work, he longed to praise it but then couldn’t resist critiquing it all within an inch of its life, analyzing deficiencies with uncontrollable abandon and laser accuracy. He was sharp as his Radio 914 pen nibs, and as pointed.
And then he’d apologize. Oh, he would apologize: Oh my GOD, forgive me, please don’t hate me, I’m SORRY, don’t listen to me, why am I saying things, what do I know, I don’t know anything, why do you listen to me you should just tell me to shut UP, I’m awful, forgive me, you hate me, don’t you? Tell the truth. Please don’t hate me. Please don’t. Please.
”
”
Chip Kidd (The Learners)
“
What is this?” demanded Sergeant Framingham. Quinn took a deep, slow breath. “Framingham, we left the Admiral downside.” “Have you lost your mind, he’s right there—” Framingham’s finger sagged in mid-point at Mark. His hand closed into a fist. “Oh.” He paused. “That’s the clone.” Quinn’s eyes burned; Mark could feel them boring through to the back of his skull like laser-drills. “Maybe not,” Quinn said heavily. “Not as far as House Bharaputra has to know.” “Ah?” Framingham’s eyes narrowed in speculation. No! Mark screamed inside. Silently. Very silently.
”
”
Lois McMaster Bujold (Mirror Dance (Vorkosigan Saga, #8))
“
There exists a sac of skin that distends when I'm tired, beneath my eye. Irreversible tissue damage. Something stretched too far, which has come back changed. I've thought of having it surgically corrected. Michael swears it's unnoticeable, the tiny pouch of loose skin. Yet not long ago, seeing me stare critically into a mirror one morning after a late night, he offered to pay to have it removed with lasers.
I declined. I didn't tell him that I need it, in some perverse way. A reminder that you can never, for any reason or length of time, no matter how much you love or believe you love, change someone.
That believing you can might end you.
”
”
Suzanne Finnamore (Otherwise Engaged)
“
I’m surprised you even remember that day. You were so into Kavinsky, I don’t think you even noticed who else was there.”
I push him in the shoulder. “I was not ‘so into Kavinsky’!”
“Yes you were. You kept your eyes on that bottle the whole game, like this.” John picks up the bottle and lasers his eyes at it. “Waiting for your moment.”
I’m bright red, I know I am. “Oh, be quiet.”
Laughing, he says, “Like a hawk on its prey.”
“Shut up!” Now I’m laughing too. “How do you even remember that?”
“Because I was doing the same thing,” he says.
“You were staring at Peter too?” I say it like a joke, to tease, because this is fun. For the first time in days I’m having fun.
He looks right at me, navy-blue eyes sure and steady, and my breath catches in my chest. “No. I was looking at you.
”
”
Jenny Han (P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #2))
“
I’m surprised you even remember that day. You were so into Kavinsky, I don’t think you even noticed who else was there.”
I push him in the shoulder. “I was not ‘so into Kavinsky’!”
“Yes you were. You kept your eyes on that bottle the whole game, like this.” John picks up the bottle and lasers his eyes at it. “Waiting for your moment.”
I’m bright red, I know I am. “Oh, be quiet.”
Laughing, he says, “Like a hawk on its prey.”
“Shut up!” Now I’m laughing too. “How do you even remember that?”
“Because I was doing the same thing,” he says.
“You were staring at Peter too?” I say it like a joke, to tease, because this is fun. For the first time in days I’m having fun.
He looks right at me, navy-blue eyes sure and steady, and my breath catches in my chest. “No. I was looking at you.”
There’s a humming in my ears, and it’s the sound of my heart beating in triple measure. In memory, everything seems to happen to music. One of my favorite lines from The Glass Menagerie. If I close my eyes I can almost hear it, that day in John Ambrose McClaren’s basement. Years from now, when I look back on this moment, what music will I hear then?
His eyes hold mine, and I feel a flutter that starts in my throat and moves across my collarbone and chest. “I like you, Lara Jean. I liked you then and I like you even more now. I know you and Kavinsky just broke up, and you’re still sad, but I just want to make it unequivocally clear.”
“Um…okay,” I whisper. His words--they come clearly; they don’t miss in either direction. Not even a trace of a stutter. Just--unequivocally clear.
”
”
Jenny Han (P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #2))
“
He lay back against the crunching branches ad half shut his eyes. The rain was a soft sweet veil of silver around him. As he glanced upwards the heavens opened as if for a laser beam, and he saw the moon, the full moon, the meaningless and irrelevant full moon in all its blessed glory, floating in a wreath of clouds, against the distant stars.
A deep love of all he saw settled over him-love for the splendor of the moon and the sparkling fragments of light that drifted beyond it-for the enfolding forest that sheltered him so completely, for the rain that carried the dazzling light of the skies to the shimmering bower in which he lay.
A flame burned in him, a faith that a comprehending Power existed, animating all this that it had created and sustaining it with a love beyond anything that he, Reuben, could imagine.
”
”
Anne Rice (The Wolf Gift (The Wolf Gift Chronicles, #1))
“
Chapter 28 Genghis Cat
Gracing Whatever Shithole This Is, Washington, USA You can all relax now, because I am here. What did you think? I’d run for safety at the whim of a fucking parrot with under-eye bags like pinched scrotums? Did you suspect I—a ninja with feather-wand fastness and laser-pointer focus—had the spine of a banana slug? Then you are a shit-toned oink with the senses of a sniveling salamander. Then you don’t know Genghis Cat. I look around and can see that we are surrounded by The Bird Beasts, those crepe-faced, hair ball–brained fuck goblins. I intensely dislike these lumpy whatthefuckareyous who straddle between the Mediocre Servant and animal worlds, trying to be one thing and really not being, like imitation crabmeat in a sushi log that is really just fucking whitefish and WE ALL KNOW IT. “Would you like a little of the crabmeat, Genghis?” my Mediocre Servants seemed to ask with their blobfish lips and stupid faces. “THAT’S FUCKING WHITEFISH, YOU REGURGITATED MOLES!” I’d yowl, and then I’d steal the sushi log and run off and growl very much so they couldn’t have it back, and later I would pee on their night pillows for good measure. I cannot imagine their lives before me. We mustn’t think of those bleak dark ages. But the Beasts are dangerous. I have watched them morph and chew into a house. I have seen them with spider legs and second stomachs and camouflage skins. I have seen them tear the legs off a horse and steal flight from those with feathers. Orange and I have lost family to their fuckish appetites. But they are still fakish faking beasts and I’m fucking Genghis Cat. They are imitation crab and Genghis is filet mignon Fancy Feast, bitch. Probably I should come clean here and tell you that I’m immortal. I always suspected it but can confirm it now that I have surpassed the allocated nine lives. I’m somewhere around life 884, give or take seventy-eight. Some mousers have called me a god, but I insist on modesty. I also don’t deny it. I might be a god. It seems to fit. It feels right. A stealthy, striped god with an exotically spotted tummy—it seems certain, doesn’t it to you? I’m 186 percent sure at this point. Orange insists we stay away from the Beasts all the time, but I only let Orange think he’s in charge. Orange is incredibly sensitive, despite being the size of a Winnebago. He hand-raised each of my kittens and has terrible nightmares, and I have to knead my paws on him to calm him down. Orange and I have a deal. I will kill anything that comes to harm Orange and Orange will continue to be the reason I purr.
”
”
Kira Jane Buxton (Feral Creatures (Hollow Kingdom #2))
“
Everyone in the delivery room was laughing at the story, including me. I never knew whether the doctor thought it was funny or not. She certainly did not join in the lightheartedness the rest of us felt. Because my doctor was also one of my bosses, I respected her and yet felt a bit intimidated by her at the same time. Jase was not intimidated at all. He was so relaxed, and that alleviated all the stress and tension I had felt since I first arrived at the hospital. True to his personality, he kept most of the room enthralled and laughing at his stories. As a lifelong hunter, he is no stranger to blood and gore. He thought the surgical process was very interesting and wanted to study everything inside of me. I’m sure his comment that my insides looked like a deer he had skinned the previous day was the first of its kind uttered during a C-section.
At one point, the doctor said to him, “Jason, you have to be quiet now.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because I’m getting close to the baby with this scalpel, and Missy has to stop laughing.”
“Oh,” he said. “My bad.”
As the doctor prepared to remove Cole, the room became quiet; I didn’t know exactly what was going on because I couldn’t see around the sheet, but I knew the time had come for our baby to be born. Jase watched everything intently. The doctor pulled on the baby, but he would not budge. In Jase’s words, “He just wouldn’t come out.”
So Jase decided to lend a hand. He reached into the area near where the doctor was working, which caused every person to freeze. The room fell completely silent. As Jase recalled later, the doctor’s eyes filled with fire, and she shot him laser-sharp looks. No words were spoken, but he immediately raised his hands as if to say, “Don’t shoot,” and backed off.
”
”
Missy Robertson (Blessed, Blessed ... Blessed: The Untold Story of Our Family's Fight to Love Hard, Stay Strong, and Keep the Faith When Life Can't Be Fixed)
“
Jethro had a scar near one of his eyes, an angry tear that scraped through his eyebrow and reached up to his forehead where it disappeared beneath his hairline. In winter he wore black motorcycle boots and a checked sheepskin jacket that was orange and brown. He had sideburns like a man and the other kids said his eyes were like laser beams in comics, that your face would explode if he even looked at you. That was why he wore those steel-rimmed reflective sunglasses, they said, as he cruised around in his car with his hairy arm out the window, fingers spread wide on the door.
Jethro Sands was like the scariest crackers on Guy Fawkes Night. He was the loudest thunder, the meanest dog. Out of everyone she was scared of Jethro Sands the most. She imagined buildings and trees bursting into flame on either side of the road as he drove along, turning his head slowly from side to side. He was threatening, noxious. Dark.
”
”
Jenny Ackland (Little Gods)
“
Cataract Treatment Advanced by Laser Eye Surgery
It is estimated that half of individuals aged 65 and above will grow a cataract at some period in their life. A cataract is an eye condition that may be hazardous to your eyesight. In a healthy eye, there's a clear lens which enables you to focus. For those who have a cataract, the lens slowly deteriorates over a long period of time. Your vision can be blurry as the cataract develops, until the whole-of the lens is muddy. Your sight will slowly get worse, becoming blurry or misty, which makes it tough to see clearly. Cataracts can occur at any age but generally develop as you get older.
Cataract surgery involves removing the cataract by emulsifying the lens by sonography and replacing it with a small plastic lens. This artificial lens is then stabilised within your natural lens that was held by the same lens capsule. The results restore clear vision and generally wholly remove the significance of reading glasses. However, years following the surgery, patients can occasionally experience clouding of their sight again. Vision can become blurred and lots of patients have issues with glare and bright lights. What is truly happening is a thickening of the lens capsule that holds the artificial lens. Medically this is known as Posterior Lens Capsule Opacification.
This thickening of the lens capsule occurs in the back, meaning natural lens cells develop across the rear of the lens. These cells are sometimes left behind subsequent cataract surgery, causing problems with the light entering the-eye and hence problems with your vision.
Laser Eye getlasereyesurgery.co.uk y Treatment
Lasers are beams of power which may be targeted quite correctly. Nowadays the technology will be used increasingly for the purpose of rectifying the vision of patients after cataract operation. The YAG laser is a focused laser with really low energy levels and can be used to cut away a small circle shaped area in the lens capsule which enables light to once again pass through to the rear of the artificial lens. A proportion of the lens capsule is retained in order to keep the lens in place, but removes enough of the cells to let the light to the retina.
If you want to read more information, please Click Here
”
”
getlasereyesurgery
“
He’s not a superhero, he’s a vigilante. He’s just a rich bloke with cool toys. If Bane (he’s the pork chop with all the pipes coming out of his dust mask) can break Batman’s back, then what chance would he have against Superman? I mean, Batman versus Superman! What the hell is that all about? Bruce Wayne in a bat suit is no different to you or I, we would break a hand in multiple places if we punched Superman. Spiderman is a superhero and – as I’ve already said – my favourite of them all, but facts are facts. Spidey wouldn’t even get to quip, ‘Hey, over here red pants!’ before he was melted into red and blue jelly. No. If you are Superman, then you are invincible and completely awesome. You can fucking fly. You get to shoot lasers out of your eyes, and see through shit. And you know the best part? The bit that most people don’t even think about? Just because you’re Superman doesn’t mean you have to dress like him. If I were Superman, I would wear the Spiderman outfit by day (pretending to spin webs and climb walls etc.) and then switch to Batman at night (fighting crime, being cool and laughing – high pitched to piss the bad guys off, not like Christian Bale – while bullets bounced off me). Plus, who the hell would ever think about using Kryptonite on those two? No one.
”
”
Nick Jones (The Unexpected Gift of Joseph Bridgeman (The Downstream Diaries, #1))
“
Do you remember that time we played spin the bottle in my basement?”
I nod.
“I was nervous to kiss you, because I’d never kissed a girl before,” he says, and picks up the glass of sweet tea again. He takes a swig, but there’s no tea left, just ice. His eyes meet mine, and he grins. “All the guys gave me such a hard time afterward for whiffing it.”
“You didn’t whiff it,” I say.
“I think that was around when Trevor’s old brother told us he made a girl…” John hesitates, and I nod eagerly so he’ll go on. “He claimed he gave a girl an orgasm just by kissing her.”
I let out a shrieky laugh and clap my hands to my mouth. “That’s the biggest lie I ever heard! I never saw him talk to even one girl. Besides, I don’t think that’s even possible. And if it was possible, I highly doubt Sean Pike was capable of it.”
John laughs too. “Well, I know it’s a lie now, but at the time we all believed him.”
“I mean, was it a great kiss? No, it wasn’t.” John winces and I quickly continue. “But it wasn’t an altogether terrible one. I swear. And listen, it’s not like I’m an expert on kissing anyway. Who am I to say?”
“Okay okay, you can stop trying to make me feel better.” He sets down his glass. “I’ve gotten much better at it. That’s what the girls tell me.”
This conversation has taken a strange and confessional turn, and I’m nervous but not in a bad way. I like sharing secrets, being coconspirators. “Oh, so you’ve kissed that many, huh?”
He laughs again. “A respectable number.” He pauses. “I’m surprised you even remember that day. You were so into Kavinsky, I don’t think you even noticed who else was there.”
I push him in the shoulder. “I was not ‘so into Kavinsky’!”
“Yes you were. You kept your eyes on that bottle the whole game, like this.” John picks up the bottle and lasers his eyes at it. “Waiting for your moment.”
I’m bright red, I know I am. “Oh, be quiet.”
Laughing, he says, “Like a hawk on its prey.”
“Shut up!” Now I’m laughing too. “How do you even remember that?”
“Because I was doing the same thing,” he says.
“You were staring at Peter too?” I say it like a joke, to tease, because this is fun. For the first time in days I’m having fun.
He looks right at me, navy-blue eyes sure and steady, and my breath catches in my chest. “No. I was looking at you.
”
”
Jenny Han (P.S. I Still Love You (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #2))
“
He finds a basket and lays fish inside it. Charcoal is in a wooden bucket. Enrique lifts it, basket in his other hand, and moves through shadow toward daylight.
A presence makes him turn his head. He sees no one, yet someone is there.
He sets down fish and charcoal. Straightening up, Enrique slips his Bowie knife clear of its sheath. He listens, tries to sense the man’s place. This intruder lies low. Is concealed. Behind those barrels? In that corner, crouched down? Enrique shuts his eyes, holds his breath a moment and exhales, his breath’s movement the only sound, trying to feel on his skin some heat from another body.
Where?
Enrique sends his mind among barrels and sacks, under shelves, behind posts and dangling utensils. It finds no one.
He is hiding. Wants not to be found. Is afraid.
If he lies under a tarpaulin, he cannot see. To shoot blind would be foolish: likely to miss, certain to alert the others.
Enrique steps around barrels, his boots silent on packed sand. Tarps lie parallel in ten-foot lengths, their wheaten hue making them visible in the shadowed space. They are dry and hold dust. All but one lies flat.
There.
Enrique imagines how it will be. To strike through the tarp risks confusion. Its heavy canvas can deflect his blade. But his opponent will have difficulty using his weapon. He might fire point-blank into Enrique’s weight above him, bearing down. To pull the tarpaulin clear is to lose his advantage; he will see the intruder who will see him. An El Norte mercenary with automatic rifle or handheld laser can cut a man in half.
Knife in his teeth, its ivory handle smooth against lips and tongue, Enrique crouches low. Pushing hard with his legs, he dives onto the hidden shape. The man spins free as Enrique grasps, boots slipping on waxed canvas. His opponent feels slight, yet wiry strength defeats Enrique’s hold. He takes his knife in hand and rips a slit long enough to plunge an arm into his adversary’s shrouded panic. Enrique thrusts the blade’s point where he believes a throat must be. Two strong hands clamp his arm and twist against each other rapidly and hard. Pain flares across his skin. Enrique wrests his arm free and his knife flies from his grasp and disappears behind him. He clenches-up and, pivoting on his other hand, turns hard into a blind punch that smashes the hidden face.
The dust of their struggle rasps in Enrique’s throat. His intended killer sucks in a hard breath and Enrique hits him again, then again, each time turning his shoulder into the blow. The man coughs out, “Do not kill me.”
Enrique knows this voice. It is Omar the Turk. [pp. 60-61]
”
”
John Lauricella (2094)
“
The phone rang and Chassie excused herself to answer it. Silence hung between them as heavy as snow clouds in a winter sky.
Eventually, Edgard said, "She doesn't know anything about me. Not even that we were roping partners. Not that we were..."
He looked at Trevor expectantly.
"No." Trevor quickly glanced at the living room where Chassie was chattering away. "You surprised?"
"Maybe that she isn't aware of our official association as roping partners. There was no shame in that. We were damn good together, Trev." The word shame echoed like a slap. As good as they were together, it'd never been enough, in an official capacity or behind closed doors.
"What are you really doin' here?"
Edgard didn't answer right away. "I don't know. Feeling restless. Had the urge to travel."
"Wyoming ain't exactly an exotic port of call." "You think I don't realize that? You think I wouldn't rather be someplace else? But something..." Edgard lowered his voice. "Ah, fuck it."
"What?"
"Want the truth? Or would you rather I lie?" "The truth."
"Truth between us? That's refreshing."
Edgard's gaze trapped his. "I'm here because of you."
Trevor's heart alternately stopped and soared, even when his answer was an indiscernible growl. "For Christsake, Ed. What the hell am I supposed to say to that? With my wife in the next room?"
"You're making a big deal out of this. She thinks we're friends, which ain't a lie. We were partners before we were..." Edgard gestured distractedly. "If she gets the wrong idea, it won't be from me."
"Maybe I'm gettin' the wrong idea. The last thing you said to me when you fuckin' left me was that you weren't ever comin' back. And you made it goddamn clear you didn't want to be my friend. So why are you here?"
Pause. He traced the rim of his coffee cup with a shaking fingertip. "I heard about you gettin' married." "That happened over a year ago and you came all the way from Brazil to congratulate me in person? Now?"
"No." Edgard didn't seem to know what to do with his hands. He raked his fingers through his hair. His voice was barely audible. "Will it piss you off if I admit I was curious about whether you're really happy, meu amore?"
My love. My ass. Trevor snapped, "Yes."
"Yes, you're pissed off? Or yes, you're happy?"
"Both."
"Then this is gonna piss you off even more."
"What?"
"Years and miles haven't changed anything between us and you goddamn well know it."
Trevor looked up; Edgard's golden eyes were laser beams slicing him open. "It don't matter. If you can't be my friend while you're in my house, walk out the fuckin' door. I will not allow either one of us to hurt my wife. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Good. And I'm done talkin' about this shit so don't bring it up again. Ever.
”
”
Liz Andrews
“
The top surface of the computer is smooth except for a fisheye lens, a polished
glass dome with a purplish optical coating. Whenever Hiro is using the machine,
this lens emerges and clicks into place, its base flush with the surface of the
computer. The neighborhood loglo is curved and foreshortened on its surface.
Hiro finds it erotic. This is partly because he hasn't been properly laid in
several weeks. But there's more to it. Hiro's father, who was stationed in
Japan for many years, was obsessed with cameras. He kept bringing them back
from his stints in the Far East, encased in many protective layers, so that when
he took them out to show Hiro, it was like watching an exquisite striptease as
they emerged from all that black leather and nylon, zippers and straps. And
once the lens was finally exposed, pure geometric equation made real, so
powerful and vulnerable at once, Hiro could only think it was like nuzzling
through skirts and lingerie and outer labia and inner labia. . . . It made
him feel naked and weak and brave.
The lens can see half of the universe -- the half that is above the computer,
which includes most of Hiro. In this way, it can generally keep track of where
Hiro is and what direction he's looking in.
Down inside the computer are three lasers -- a red one, a green one, and a blue
one. They are powerful enough to make a bright light but not powerful enough to
burn through the back of your eyeball and broil your brain, fry your frontals,
lase your lobes. As everyone learned in elementary school, these three colors
of light can be combined, with different intensities, to produce any color that
Hiro's eye is capable of seeing.
In this way, a narrow beam of any color can be shot out of the innards of the
computer, up through that fisheye lens, in any direction. Through the use of
electronic mirrors inside the computer, this beam is made to sweep back and
forth across the lenses of Hiro's goggles, in much the same way as the electron
beam in a television paints the inner surface of the eponymous Tube. The
resulting image hangs in space in front of Hiro's view of Reality.
By drawing a slightly different image in front of each eye, the image can be
made three-dimensional. By changing the image seventy-two times a second, it
can be made to move. By drawing the moving three-dimensional image at a
resolution of 2K pixels on a side, it can be as sharp as the eye can perceive,
and by pumping stereo digital sound through the little earphones, the moving 3-D
pictures can have a perfectly realistic soundtrack.
So Hiro's not actually here at all. He's in a computer-generated universe that
his computer is drawing onto his goggles and pumping into his earphones. In the
lingo, this imaginary place is known as the Metaverse. Hiro spends a lot of
time in the Metaverse. It beats the shit out of the U-Stor-It.
”
”
Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash)
“
So, instead of going right in, I lazily circled for just a moment before I decided to poke the wolf. And by poke, I meant a sudden flash of laser eyes right through his right arm. The big werewolf did try to duck away, but Matt wasn’t faster than the speed of light. The twin power beams blew through his arm, a shower of ruby drops following the burning light as it exploded out the other side. Not that he bled for long between his healing factor and the cauterization effect of the lasers. “I can’t believe it, folks!” Eric cried in overexaggerated alarm. “There’s blood in the ring! I repeat, there’s blood in the ring!” “Eric,” I heard Kristen mutter, “there is no ring.” He didn’t even care. “There’s blood. In. The. Riiiing!
”
”
Simon Archer (Arch Rivals (Super Hero Academy, #2))
“
Stupid dog, do you realize you have actually LITERALLY bitten the hand that feeds you?"
Schatzi looks at me with a withering stare, arching her bushy eyebrows haughtily, and then turns her back to me. I stick out my tongue at her back, and go to the kitchen to freshen her water bowl. Damnable creature requires fresh water a zillion times a day. God forbid a fleck of dust is dancing on the surface, or it has gone two degrees beyond cool, I get the laser look of death. Once there was a dead fly in it, and she looked in the bowl, crossed the room, looked me dead in the eye, and squatted and peed on my shoes. I usually call her Shitzi or Nazi. I suppose I'm lucky she deigns to drink tap water. Our bare tolerance of each other is mutual, and affection between us is nil. The haughty little hellbeast was my sole inheritance from my grandmother who passed away two years ago. A cold, exacting woman who raised me in my mother's near-complete absence, Annelyn Stroudt insisted on my calling her Grand-mère, despite the fact that she put the manic in Germanic, ancestry-wise. But apparently when her grandparents schlepped here mother from Berlin to Chicago, they took a year in Paris first, and adopted many things Française. So Grand-mère it was.
Grand-mère Annelyn also insisted on dressing for dinner, formal manners in every situation, letterpress stationary, and physical affection saved for the endless string of purebred miniature schnauzers she bought one after the other, and never offered to the granddaughter who also lived under her roof. Her clear disappointment in me must have rubbed off on Schatzi, who, despite having lived with me since Grand-mère died neatly and quietly in her sleep at the respectable age of eighty-nine, has never seen me as anything but a source of food, and a firm hand at the end of the leash. She dotes on Grant, but he sneaks her nibbles when he cooks, and coos to her in flawless French. Sometimes I wonder if the spirit of Grand-mère transferred into the dog upon death, and if the chilly indifference to me is just a manifestation of my grandmother's continued disapproval from beyond the grave.
Schatzi wanders over to her bowl, sniffs it, sneers at me one last time for good measure, shakes her head to ensure her ears are in place, like a society matron checking her coif, and settles down to drink.
”
”
Stacey Ballis (Recipe for Disaster)
“
My classmates were looking down at me, and their eyes were glittering like those of animals in a dark forest. Then they started blinking, and one by one they disappeared, until all that was left was Reiko’s eye, staring down at me and emitting this laser beam of light, only it was the opposite of light, because it was cold and black and empty. It grew bigger and bigger, pressing down, enveloping me and the whole world and everything in it, and the only way I could save the world was to plunge my little kitchen knife right into the pupil, and so I did. I closed my eyes and stuck the knife into the dark hole, over and over again, until I felt something tear.
”
”
Ruth Ozeki (A Tale for the Time Being)
“
A successful, intelligent, beautiful woman with a Mona Lisa smile, arctic laser beam eyes, and a reputation for being not only a ruthless bitch but also a voracious lover?
”
”
J.T. Geissinger (Wicked Beautiful (Wicked Games, #1))
“
He was apparently oblivious to the death threats I was getting via eye laser beams because he crossed the room without a single hesitation, wrapped his arms around me, picked me up, and spun me twice before setting me back down. Then, he kissed my cheek, and threw his arm around my shoulder like his dad had.
”
”
Kandi Steiner (A Love Letter to Whiskey (A Love Letter to Whiskey #1-1.5))
“
But on January 6th for the first time, I was more afraid to work at the Capitol than my entire deployment to Iraq,” Aquilino told the committee. “In Iraq, we expected armed violence because we were in a war zone, but nothing in my experience in the Army or as a law enforcement officer prepared me for what we confronted on January 6th.” During the riot, Aquilino said, he was kicked, pushed, shoved, spit on, and sprayed with chemical irritants. Someone targeted his eyes with a laser. He was attacked with hammers, rebars, batons, police shields, rods, and a metal pole flying an American flag. Aquilino said the rioters tried to pull him into the crowd, and one of them beat him with his own baton. “I, too, was being crushed by the rioters,” Aquilino said. “I could feel myself losing oxygen and thinking to myself, ‘This is how I’m going to die, defending this entrance.’ ” Aquilino suffered injuries to both hands, his left shoulder, right calf, and right foot. His foot and shoulder wounds—a labrum tear and rotator cuff damage—required painful surgery.
”
”
Michael Fanone (Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul)
“
Hacking human biology Quantum mechanics has the ability to provide us with more knowledge about human biology beyond better disease detection and highly targeted, needle-free therapies. Australian scientists have recently discovered a way to investigate a living cell's inner workings using a new method of laser microscopy based on the concepts of quantum mechanics. And we can use quantum computers to sequence DNA quickly then solve other health-care challenges with Big Data. This opens the possibility of specialized treatment, based on the unique genetic structure of people.
”
”
Adrian Satyam (Energy Healing: 6 in 1: Medicine for Body, Mind and Spirit. An extraordinary guide to Chakra and Quantum Healing, Kundalini and Third Eye Awakening, Reiki and Meditation and Mindfulness.)
Andy Griffiths (The 130-Story Treehouse: Laser Eyes and Annoying Flies (The Treehouse Books Book 10))
“
If a sigh, a grunt, and a growl had a baby, that would be the sound Bodie makes, his eyes lasered on my lips.
”
”
Sara L. Hudson (Space Balls: Houston, We Have Liftoff (Space #4))
“
Pain, fixed with laser beam focus on itself, is self-centered, allowing for thoughts only of alleviation. Even the pain of something as common and comprehensible as a toothache, one of those cavities sufficiently deep to expose the nerve endings, a cavity that feels like someone has jammed an ice pick through your eye, shrinks your world into an impenetrable bubble of agony. It hurts, and it hurts, and that, the hurt, is everything. You can’t think about anything except wanting the hurt to go away.
”
”
Binnie Kirshenbaum (Rabbits for Food)
“
I was just putting my shirt on and then I heard that you’ve been sleeping with morons that don’t know how to please a goddess such as yourself and I got a little riled up.”
I barely keep the laugh in. “Ok, well that conversation was not for your ears, and now that you seem to have found your lost shirt, how about you get out of here? I’m sure you’ve got things to do. Hockey practice or something. I don’t know. Video games, watching porn. What do you guys do in your spare time?”
“You think we’re sitting at home watching porn together?” His eyes light up. “Is that what you girls do? Can I come?”
“I think you already did.” Emma slaps a hand over her mouth at the lasers I shoot in her direction, but Jacks makes no effort to hide his amusement. His laugh is rich and hearty. Free and easy.
“You’re right. How about some breakfast. Are those Pop-Tarts?” His grin could probably power an electric car. “I love Pop-Tarts.
”
”
Nikki Jewell (The Red Line (Lakeview Lightning #2))
“
Clearing his throat and straightening in posture, Freddie spoke. “Hello.”
The creature tilted her head, her eyes scanning his face like blue lasers. She could hear him. Good. Encouraged, Freddie put a hand on his chest. “My name’s Freddie. And I’m going to be taking care of you. Feeding you, and the like.” He mimicked spooning food in his mouth to emphasize the last part.
The creature seemed to find it humorous. Even though she didn’t smile, her bony shoulders shook in silent laughter. More bubbles rose from her facial slits, all clumped together like white grapes. Freddie, in spite of himself, found the display cute.
Then, he remembered what the creature had eaten lately. Or, more specifically, who.
”
”
Minerva Hart (Primal Instinct)
“
You were right,” Reacher said. “Most of the things you’ve said are correct. A couple of inaccuracies, but we spread a little disinformation here and there.” “What are you talking about?” Ray asked. Reacher lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’m World Army,” he said. “Commander of the advance party. I’ve got five thousand UN troops in the forest. Russians, mostly, a few Chinese. We’ve been watching you on the satellite surveillance. Right now, we’ve got an X-ray camera on this hut. There’s a laser beam pointed at your head. Part of the SDI technology.” “You’re kidding,” Ray said. Reacher shook his head. Deadly serious. “You were right about the microchips,” he said. “Look at this.” He stood up slowly and pulled his shirt up to his chest. Turned slightly so Ray could see the huge scar on his stomach. “Bigger than the modern ones,” he said. “The latest ones go in with no mess at all. The ones we put in the babies? But these old ones work just the same. The satellites know where I am at all times, like you said. You start to pull that trigger, the laser blows your head off.” Ray’s eyes were burning. He looked away from Reacher’s scar and glanced nervously up at the roof. “Suis pas américain,” Reacher said. “Suis soldat français, agent du gouvernement mondial depuis plusieurs années, parti en mission clandestine il y a deux mois. Il faut évaluer l’élément de risque que votre bande représente par ici.” He spoke as fast as he could and ended up sounding exactly like an educated Parisian woman. Exactly like he recalled his dead mother sounding. Ray nodded slowly.
”
”
Lee Child (Die Trying (Jack Reacher, #2))
“
I asked him if there was still good bass fishing and got a lengthy answer that was way more complicated than I’d anticipated. His eyeballs were lasers aimed on my face the entire time. His shade of gray was pretty incredible. The color looked almost lavender sometimes.
“How much are licenses and how can people buy them?” I asked.
I ignored the way his eyes widened like this was common sense. “Online, and it depends on if they’re out of state or residents.” He then told me the prices of the licenses… and how much the fines were if someone was caught without one.
“Do you bust a lot of people for not having licenses?”
“Do you really want to waste this time asking me about work?” he asked slowly and seriously.
It was my turn to blink. Rude. What was that? Three for four times now? “Yeah, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked,” I muttered. I really did have better things to ask but fucking attitude. Jeez.
One of those dark eyebrows rose, and he kept his response simple. “Yes” was his informative answer.
Well, this was going well. Mr. Friendly and all that.
Too bad for him I was friendly enough for both of us.
”
”
Mariana Zapata (All Rhodes Lead Here)
“
Yesterday they’d taken Tally’s final measurements, rolling her all the way through an imaging tube. Should she tell this new ugly that sometime this afternoon, her body was going to be opened up, the bones ground down to the right shape, some of them stretched or padded, her nose cartilage and cheekbones stripped out and replaced with programmable plastic, skin sanded off and reseeded like a soccer field in spring? That her eyes would be laser-cut for a lifetime of perfect vision, reflective implants inserted under the iris to add sparkling gold flecks to their indifferent brown? Her muscles all trimmed up with a night of electrocize and all her baby fat sucked out for good? Teeth replaced with ceramics as strong as a suborbital aircraft wing, and as white as the dorm’s good china? They said it didn’t hurt, except the new skin, which felt like a killer sunburn for a couple of weeks.
”
”
Scott Westerfeld (Uglies (Uglies, #1))
“
Lincoln steals my attention as he pulls me over to the sink and runs the water, moving my hands under the stream. I cringe when it pours over the burn, but soon it washes away the sting and I breathe a sigh of relief. I glance over at Lincoln, his eyes laser focused on the redness of my fingers.
”
”
Emily McIntire (Be Still My Heart)
“
There are sharks in my throat, tiny sharks with supersharp teeth, with laser eyes, they are destroying my throat from the inside out.
”
”
K.A Holt
“
As you can see, we’ve been doing this for quite a while now.
”
”
Andy Griffiths (The 130-Story Treehouse: Laser Eyes and Annoying Flies (The Treehouse Books Book 10))
“
Her eyes like warm lasers of love beaming right into his soul
”
”
Lucien
“
But when my ex opens the door, her somber expression and baggy sweats do not suggest we’re about to roll around naked. Nor does the toddler asleep on the bed behind her. I’m frozen as Janelle wraps her arms around me in a hug. “I’ve missed you,” she coos in a baby voice. I would not consider myself the paragon of virtue, but there’s no way I’m doing kinky shit with my ex while a kid sleeps a few feet away. I’ve never seen her baby before. When I found out Janelle’s new guy had knocked her up, I did my best to eradicate thoughts of her from my life. It was too painful to see her move on when she’d promised me that future. I only vaguely inquire about her through my cousin Bianca when I plan trips home so I can avoid my ex. As I take a good long look at the sleeping bundle, I stop breathing. Ernest has blond hair. And Janelle has light brown. My eyes are lasered on the kid, who has thick, black hair. Much like mine. Sweat breaks out on my body, and a giant lump forms in my throat. I cough. “What the fuck is going on?” Janelle wrings her hands, tears forming in her eyes. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Why I needed to do this in person. It’s long overdue.” But like all truly messed-up things in my life, I know the answer to my question before the words are out of her mouth. “She’s yours, Ben.” 3 BEN A suffocating, twisting blackness spreads through me as I stare at this woman I once loved.
”
”
Lex Martin (Tight Ends & Tiaras (Varsity Dads #2))
“
In the Superman comics, all inhabitants of the planet Krypton possessed the power of laser vision, but only Superman and General Zod had completely mastered it. Their cells could absorb solar energy which they could emit through his eyes in the form of a heat laser beam.
”
”
John Stoddard (Quantum Physics for Beginners, Into the Light: The 4 Bizarre Discoveries You Must Know To Master Quantum Mechanics Fast, Revealed Step-By-Step (In Plain English!))
“
As she put her PJs on, she caught a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror in the corner, her eye drawn to her tattoo. It had been there so long now that she barely noticed it, like a picture that’s been hanging in a hallway too long. Actually, that wasn’t quite true. The truth was that she didn’t want to look at it, because of the memories it brought back. She had considered laser treatment but decided against it, and not because of the pain and cost. The tattoo would remain, a permanent reminder of what she’d lost.
”
”
Mark Edwards (The Devil's Work)
“
I gotta go.” His lashes flutter rapidly, startled. “What?” I walk around him, attention laser-focused on the pile of clothes I left by the bathroom door. The shirt’s wrinkled to shit, and I’m pretty sure there’s a blue vomit stain on my jeans, but at least my boxers are relatively clean. A hand grips my shoulder from behind just as I reach the door to the bathroom. “Don’t.” I freeze. With my back still to Waylon, I slide my eyes shut and count to three. “Don’t what?” His breaths seem to have sped up, and I can feel the warm puffs of air on my naked back. That’s how close he is. “Go,” he says so quietly I nearly miss it. “Don’t...go. Just—
”
”
Jessie Walker (Where There's a Will (Lost Boys, #1))
“
That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think? Our eyes are supposed to be laser-focused on our kids at all
”
”
Chandler Baker (Cutting Teeth)
“
It’s getting-up time,” Alessandro declares. “Today is the day.”
“What day?”
“The release date.”
“What are we talking about?”
“Daa-add. The new XBOX game. Hunting Old Sammie.”
Armand opens his eyes. He looks at his son looking at him. The boy’s eyes are only inches away. “You’re kidding.”
“It’s the newest best game. You hunt down terrorists and kill them.” Lifting his voice, “‘Deploy teams of Black Berets into the ancient mountains of Tora Bora. Track implacable terrorists to their cavernous lairs. Rain withering fire down on the homicidal masterminds who planned the horror of September eleven, two-thousand-and-one.’” The kid’s memory is canny.
Armand lifts Alex off his chest and sits up. “Who invented it?”
“I’m telling you, dad. It’s an XBOX game.”
“We can get it today?”
“No,” Leah says. “Absolutely not. The last thing he needs is another violent video game.”
“Mahhuum!”
“How bad can it be?” says Armand.
“How would you know? A minute ago you hadn’t heard of it.”
“And you had?”
“I saw a promo. Helicopter gunships with giant machine guns. Soldiers with flamethrowers, turning bearded men into candles.”
“Sounds great.”
“Armand, really. How old are you?”
“I don’t see what my age has to do with it.”
“Dad, it’s totally cool. ‘Uncover mountain strongholds with thermal imaging technology. Call in air-strikes by F-16s. Destroy terrorist cells with laser weaponry. Wage pitched battles against mujahideen. Capture bin Laden alive or kill him on the spot. March down Fifth Avenue with jihadists’ heads on pikes. Make the world safe for democracy.’”
Safe for Dick Cheney’s profits, Armand thinks, knowing all about it from his former life, but says nothing. It’s pretty much impossible to explain the complexity of how things work within the greater systemic dysfunction. Instead, he asks the one question that matters.
“How much does it cost?”
Alessandro’s mouth minces sideways. He holds up fingers, then realizes he needs more than two hands.
Armand can see the kid doesn’t want to say. “C’mon. ’Fess up.”
Alex sighs. “A one with two zeros.”
“One hundred dollars.”
Alex’s eyes slide away. Rapid nods, face averted. “Yeah.”
“For a video game, Alex.”
“Yhep.”
“No way.”
“Daa-add! It’s the greatest game ever!” The boy is beginning to whine.
“Don’t whine,” Armand tells him.
“On TV it’s awesome. The army guys are flaming a cave and when the terror guys try to escape, they shoot them.”
“Neat.”
“Their turbans are on fire.”
“Even better.”
“Armand,” Leah says.
“Dad,” says Alessandro.
He will not admit it but Armand is hooked. It would be deeply satisfying in the second-most intimate way imaginable to kill al Qaida terrorists holed up along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border—something the actual U.S. military cannot or will not completely do. But a hundred bucks. It isn’t really the money, although living on interest income Armand has become more frugal. He can boost the C-note but what message would it send? Hunting virtual terrorists in cyberspace is all well and good. But plunking down $100 for a toy seems irresponsible and possibly wrong in a country where tens of thousands are homeless and millions have no health insurance and children continue, incredibly, to go hungry. Fifty million Americans live in poverty and he’s looking to play games.
”
”
John Lauricella (Hunting Old Sammie)
“
His fingers had all been removed as had his left eye. The skin on his legs had been flayed off like the Grey’s were scaling a fish. But the real pain started when the alien lasers were used to sear and burn holes through his skin.
”
”
Adam Moon (Apex 2: Rise of the Super Soldiers)
“
She flicked off the light and was about to step out onto the balcony when she heard a familiar sound. She smiled and went to the rail. “Now I’ve seen everything,” she whispered as Lexi climbed down onto the balcony. They looked at one another for a moment without saying a word. Cate felt her heart race as Lexi’s dark eyes penetrated through her mask like lasers. Lexi reached for her and pulled her inside.
”
”
Giselle Fox (Sun Catcher: Book One)
“
My office is over here—”
He stopped. Frowned. Looked about. Had to backtrack to the kitchen in order to find the various parties.
Sola’s grandmother had her head in the Sub-Zero refrigerator, rather as if she were a gnome looking for a cool place in the summer.
“Madam?” Assail inquired.
She shut the door and moved on to the floor-to-ceiling cabinets. “There is nothing here. Nothing. What do you eat?”
“Ah . . .” Assail found himself looking at the cousins for aid. “Usually we take our meals in town.”
The scoffing sound certainly appeared like the old-lady equivalent of Fuck that.
“I need the staples.” She pivoted on her little shiny shoes and put her hands on her hips. “Who is taking me to supermarket.”
Not an inquiry. And as she stared up at the three of them, it appeared as though Ehric and his violent killer of a twin were as nonplussed as Assail was.
The evening had been planned out to the minute—and a trip to the local Hannaford was not on the list.
“You two are too thin,” she announced, flicking her hand in the direction of the twins. “You need to eat.”
Assail cleared his throat. “Madam, you have been brought here for your safety.”
He was not going to permit Benloise to up the stakes—and so he’d had to lock down potential collateral damage.
“Not to be a cook.”
“You have already refused the money. I no stay here for free. I earn my keep. That is the way it will be.”
Assail exhaled long and slow. Now he knew where Sola got her independent streak.
“Well?” she demanded. “I no drive. Who takes me.”
“Madam, would you not prefer to rest—”
“Your body rest when dead. Who.”
“We do have an hour,” Ehric hedged.
As Assail glared at the other vampire, the little old lady hitched her purse up on her forearm and nodded. “So he will take me.”
Assail met Sola’s grandmother’s gaze directly and dropped his tone a register just so that the line drawn would be respected. “I pay. Are we clear—you are not to spend a cent.”
She opened her mouth as if to argue, but she was headstrong—not foolish. “Then I do the darning.”
“Our clothes are in sufficient shape—”
Ehric cleared his throat. “Actually, I have a couple of loose buttons. And the Velcro strip on his flak jacket is—”
Assail looked over his shoulder and bared his fangs at the idiot—out of eyesight of Sola’s grandmother, of course. Remarshaling his expression, he turned back around and— Knew he’d lost.
The grandmother had one of those brows cocked, her dark eyes as steady as any foe’s he’d ever faced.
Assail shook his head. “I cannot believe I’m negotiating with you.”
“And you agree to terms.”
“Madam—”
“Then it is settled.”
Assail threw up his hands. “Fine. You have forty-five minutes. That is all.”
“We be back in thirty.” At that, she turned and headed for the door.
In her diminutive wake, the three vampires played ocular Ping-Pong.
“Go,” Assail gritted out. “Both of you.”
The cousins stalked for the garage door—but they didn’t make it.
Sola’s grandmother wheeled around and put her hands on her hips. “Where is your crucifix?”
Assail shook himself. “I beg your pardon?”
“Are you no Catholic?”
My dear sweet woman, we are not human, he thought.
“No, I fear not.”
Laser-beam eyes locked on him. Ehric. Ehric’s brother. “We change this. It is God’s will.”
And out she went, marching through the mudroom, ripping open the door, and disappearing into the garage.
As that heavy steel barrier closed automatically, all Assail could do was blink.
”
”
J.R. Ward (The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #12))
“
So tell me about yourself,” I say, mentally rolling my eyes for sounding like an interviewer. “Where’d you grow up? What’s your favorite color? Biggest fear? All the basics.”
He laughs, kicking at a cluster of broken flower petals on the ground. “I’d hardly put my biggest fear in the basics category.”
“You know what I mean. I feel like I don’t know that much about you, in the broad scheme of things.”
“Well, in the broad scheme,” he begins, “I grew up all over the world, my favorite color changes every day, and I’m terrified of green eyes.”
I raise my brows and imagine my eyes shooting him with green laser beams. “That’s--” I stop myself from saying weird. “Why?”
“It’s just this feeling I have.”
“My eyes are sort of greenish,” I say through a nervous laugh. “Am I that scary?”
He looks at me and we both slow to a stop. A Vespa shoots past, swirling our hair in the wind. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t blink, so I don’t either. I get the impression he’s trying to subliminally relay his answer to me. That I’m supposed to know what he’s thinking. I don’t.
”
”
Kristin Rae (Wish You Were Italian (If Only . . . #2))
“
She was every bit of everything he remembered about her, all at once and all at the same time. That was Kerry McCrae in a nutshell, he thought. All at once, full on, 100 percent real. No bullshit.
She froze on seeing him, and while the wariness in her beautiful green eyes wasn’t a surprise, the vulnerability sure was. “Starfish--”
“Don’t call me that,” she said, then immediately, and less stridently, added, “Not here.” She ducked around him before he could react and was down the set of wooden steps leading off the narrow cement loading dock that ran along the back of the pub, heading across the gravel lot.
He started after her. He might not have handled any of this even close to how he’d planned, but he wasn’t flying all the way back home without at least a conversation. A private conversation. You might have wanted to lead with that, you yobbo. “Kerry, wait.”
“Not here,” she repeated, then opened the driver’s side door to a beat-up old navy blue truck that looked like it was more rust than actual metal. “Get in.”
“I’ve got a rental. I’ll be happy to--”
She swung her laser green gaze to his. “Get in.” She slammed the door without waiting for a reply, then slammed it a second time to get the handle to catch.
He climbed in the passenger side, not all that surprised to find the inside of the cab surprisingly clean and as well maintained as possible, given the thing had one tire, if not two, in the grave. Kerry McCrae had never fussed about how she looked or what she wore, but when it came to property or equipment, whether it be her own or simply entrusted to her care, no matter how old or worn out, she had a dab hand at keeping it clean and neat, all systems go. Her concern was never about appearance, just functionality and getting the job done.
It was sexy as hell then, and it was sexy as hell now.
”
”
Donna Kauffman (Starfish Moon (Brides of Blueberry Cove, #3))
“
People who can see well often take vision for granted. We treat our eyes more as little bits of technology than as living parts of the body,
and are all too willing to believe that lasers are the best course of action for maintaining healthy eyes. During the past couple of
decades research has shown that these bits of technology are actually greatly affected by the foods we eat.
Among the hundreds (maybe thousands) of antioxidant carotenoids in these foods, only a dozen or so have been studied in relation to their biological effects. The abilities of these chemicals to scavenge and reduce free radical damage are well established, but the activities of the individual carotenoids vary enormously depending on dietary and lifestyle conditions.
It's much safer to consume these carotenoids in their natural context, in highly
colored fruits and vegetables.
”
”
T. Colin Campbell (The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health)
“
Star Struck
Our group visited the laser light show, an attraction mixing music and beams of bright colors as they formed constellations and abstract shapes. An awe-inspiring performance, but as it ended, I noticed the stranger, eyes still focused on me. I turned away quickly.
“Look--over by the door. There he is again.” I gestured for my friend to sneak a peek in the direction of the man.
“Where?” She squinted, her head pointed straight at him. “I don’t see him--maybe he left.”
Frustration tinged my voice. “He’s right there--hasn’t moved an inch. He’s almost smiling at me now. Please don’t try to say I’m imagining him.” Fear mounted in me. Was I being stalked? I tucked the thought away, determined to enjoy this time with my companions, to relax in the gentle warmth of the sun.
As our excursion neared its end, I glanced to the left, at the wall of a building, devoid of gates or doors of any sort. The man leaned against it, looking at me. This time I stared back, determined to show a bravery I didn’t feel. Hidden in pockets, my hands trembled.
A calm smile and deep compassion shone on his face as we locked eyes for what felt like minutes, but probably lasted only seconds. Then--I don’t know how to explain it--it was as though a burst of conversation swept from his mind to mine.
“Everything’s going to be all right.”
I felt an intense warmth head to toe, as though embraced in a spiritual hug from the inside out.
“There’s work ahead.”
I took a deep breath, maintaining the eye contact, listening.
He continued to smile with his eyes. “I’ll be watching.”
I nodded slowly, softly. I understood. And felt safe.
A friend tugged on my arm, pulling me toward another monument. I turned my head back for a glimpse of the man, but he was gone. I scanned the building once more, searching for openings he could have exited through. There were none.
I shook my head. I knew I’d seen him. And he’d seen me. I was certain he was real. I still felt his warmth.
We headed for home, my mind filled with questions about the man, and the message I’d somehow received. Reason fought against intuition. He was just an ordinary guy. Or was he?
In the months to come, I overcame my fears and visited the doctor. I underwent three cardiac catheterization operations, and a successful triple-bypass surgery. Through them all, I knew I’d be al right.
Years have passed since that day. But the peace he projected has remained with me. God sent me comfort in a way I needed, in a form I could understand and trust--an ordinary-looking man. He gave me the courage and the confidence to take care of my health problems.
My angel.
And even though I can’t see him, I know he’s still watching. I know things are going to be all right.
How can I be so sure?
Because there’s still work for me to do. He told me so.
-Nancy Zeider
”
”
Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels Among Us: 101 Inspirational Stories of Miracles, Faith, and Answered Prayers)
“
Eventually, Edgard said, “She doesn’t know anything about me. Not even that we were roping partners. Not that we were…” He looked at Trevor expectantly.
“No.” Trevor quickly glanced at the living room where Chassie was chattering away.
“You surprised?”
“Maybe that she isn’t aware of our official association as roping partners. There was no shame in that. We were damn good together, Trev.”
The word shame echoed like a slap. As good as they were together, it’d never been enough, in an official capacity or behind closed doors. “What are you really doin’ here?”
Edgard didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know. Feeling restless. Had the urge to travel.”
“Wyoming ain’t exactly an exotic port of call.”
“You think I don’t realize that? You think I wouldn’t rather be someplace else? But something…” Edgard lowered his voice. “Ah, f**k it.”
“What?”
“Want the truth? Or would you rather I lie?”
“The truth.”
“Truth between us? That’s refreshing.” Edgard’s gaze trapped his. “I’m here because of you.”
Trevor’s heart alternately stopped and soared, even when his answer was an indiscernible growl. “For Christsake, Ed. What the hell am I supposed to say to that?
With my wife in the next room?”
“You’re making a big deal out of this. She thinks we’re friends, which ain’t a lie. We were partners before we were…” Edgard gestured distractedly. “If she gets the wrong idea, it won’t be from me.”
“Maybe I’m gettin’ the wrong idea. The last thing you said to me when you f**kin’ left me was that you weren’t ever comin’ back. And you made it goddamn clear you didn’t want to be my friend. So why are you here?”
Pause. He traced the rim of his coffee cup with a shaking fingertip. “I heard about you gettin’ married.”
“That happened over a year ago and you came all the way from Brazil to congratulate me in person? Now?”
“No.” Edgard didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. He raked his fingers through his hair. His voice was barely audible. “Will it piss you off if I admit I was curious about whether you’re really happy, meu amore?”
My love. My ass. Trevor snapped, “Yes.”
“Yes, you’re pissed off? Or yes, you’re happy?”
“Both.”
“Then this is gonna piss you off even more.”
“What?”
“Years and miles haven’t changed anything between us and you goddamn well know it.”
Trevor looked up; Edgard’s golden eyes were laser beams slicing him open. “It don’t matter. If you can’t be my friend while you’re in my house, walk out the f**kin’ door. I will not allow either one of us to hurt my wife. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. And I’m done talkin’ about this shit so don’t bring it up again. Ever.
”
”
Lorelei James (Rough, Raw and Ready (Rough Riders, #5))
“
Before he could stand, he heard a familiar metallic click ring out. It was the slide on his pistol, racking back. A bright red dot pierced through the darkness and crawled up Ted’s shirt. It flared across his eyes, then landed at his forehead.
His Smith and Wesson pistol was equipped with an integrated laser sight.
”
”
Andrew Warren (Red Phoenix (Thomas Caine #2))
“
Brooke?” It was Win. “I get it,” he said. “You’re angry.” “Man, you’re perceptive.” “But more than that, you’re trying to motivate me,” Win said. “There is no need. You know that too.” Their eyes met. If someone passed a hand between those eyes, it would probably have been chopped off via laser. Her
”
”
Harlan Coben (Home (Myron Bolitar, #11))
“
My heart melted, almost erasing the image of him kissing the brunette in Creston. I forced my attention away from his laser-like eyes…
”
”
Suzanne M. Trauth (Time Out (A Dodie O'Dell Mystery, #2))
“
Rory Morrissey soared above the property like a hawk, inspecting Glenleighton with eyes as keen as lasers. He leaned further forward in the cockpit and his heart rate kicked up another notch with pure exhilaration.
”
”
Kris Pearson (More than the Money (Heartlands #3))
“
hazel eyes lasered into the screen, anticipating—no craving—an instantaneous response. Jaden had told her to text him when she was about to leave the house. So why didn’t he respond? She hopped off the bed
”
”
Pamela Samuels Young (Anybody's Daughter)
“
The simplest way of keeping an eye on your progress is keeping your goals visible and reviewing them regularly.
”
”
Joanna Jast (Laser-Sharp Focus. A No-Fluff Guide to Improved Concentration, Maximised Productivity and Fast-Track to Success)
“
Juvalux Serum Plus hostile to maturing cream is exceptionally intended to complete the presence of the indications of maturing on the skin. Juvalux Serum Trials revive your skin top to bottom that gets to be matured and dull because of the low collagen level. This item has enough fixings to light up your skin and diminishes all the maturing signs. It is made by utilizing 100% regular fixings so no danger of fillers, poisons or chemicals.
Juvalux Eye Restoration Serum Review is absolutely by nature, that ladies dependably discover approaches to get out skin flaws connected with maturing and harm issues, because of time, way of life, anxiety, absence of rest and outer variables like sun's destructive UV beams, free radicals and different contaminations. What are these ways? These can be either top of the line medications like Botox, lasers, dermal fillers and restorative surgery or basically normal arrangements like DIY home cures or the utilization of healthy skin items. In any case, whichever equation, picking what's reasonable for your skin's particular needs is totally basic. It is essential to note that each lady's skin paying little heed to what sort, is verifiably sensitive and inclined to hypersensitivities and aggravations. In this way, despite the fact that picking for an age-challenging item that has heightened fixings should likewise have sheltered and tender components. The point here is that, both adequacy and safeness cought to be available in the skincare line that you decided for your maturing skin.
Among the tremendous number of hostile to maturing items Juvalux Serum Reviews is anti-aging cream stand, you can without much of a stretch decrease chestnut spots and fine wrinkles, imperfections and lines. No compelling reason to go to costly laser surgery or corrective surgery has been composed this cream so you don't encounter any symptoms. Reception of a characteristic approach to battle the indications of maturing.
”
”
marshichampi
“
My chunky rectangle legs felt like THEY were planted in a garden. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. It lumbered toward me, its stubby green arms reaching out for me. All I could do was stare at it. Suddenly, it burst into flames! It stumbled a few more steps, collapsed, and vanished in a puff of smoke. There was only one logical explanation... I have LASER VISION! I bet it comes from my stellar staring skills. I don’t like to brag or anything, but I was the Staring Contest Champion of the entire 4th grade. Of course, it came down to me and Dirk the Jerk. I beat him fair and square! (It’s not MY fault he sneezed. I didn’t give him the cold.) The bad news is that the other kids started calling me “Googly Eyes” after that. I’m glad I left that nickname back in elementary school. It wouldn’t be cool now that I’m in middle school. But it also means that I can’t remind Dirk the Jerk that I beat him at something. Anyhow... Isn’t it cool that I have a superpower here? I’m having a hard time believing it myself. Maybe I have even more superpowers! Maybe I can fly? Or turn invisible? Or walk through walls? (Um, nope. It’s confirmed. I can’t walk through walls.) But wait. Maybe I’m super strong! I bet I CAN punch a tree and ONLY break the wood. I can’t wait to try it out tomorrow!
”
”
Minecraft Books (Trapped in Minecraft! (Diary of a Wimpy Steve, #1))
“
Tarkin himself had discussed the need for such a weapon with the Emperor long before the end of the Clone Wars. But no one outside the Emperor knew the full history of the moonlet-sized project. Some claimed that it had begun as a Separatist weapon designed by Geonosian Archduke Poggle the Lesser’s hive colony for Count Dooku and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. But if that was the case, the plans had to have somehow fallen into Republic hands before the Clone Wars ended, because the weapon’s spherical shell and laser-focusing dish were already in the works by the time Tarkin first set eyes on it following his promotion to the rank of Moff—escorted to Geonosis in utmost secrecy by the Emperor himself.
”
”
James Luceno (Tarkin (Star Wars Disney Canon Novel))
“
Velvet Jesus faced a shadow man to my left. Laser beams fired from his eyes.
”
”
David Wong (This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don’t Touch It (John Dies at the End, #2))
“
At the age of 46 I was starting to see the appearance of rainbow halos and starbursts around bright nighttime lights, problems reading small print, focusing issues with my eyes, and image recognition issues. I had been exposed to bright high powered 20 watt scattered sodium LASER light a decade earlier in very high altitude astronomy.
”
”
Steven Magee
“
Heat zips like a laser beam from his eyes to my cheeks and sets them afire.
”
”
Jennifer Martucci (Planet Urth (Planet Urth, #1))
“
The career of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who headed the Manhattan Project, draws such questions to a focus that resembles the bead of a laser-gunsight on a victim’s breastbone. It was Oppenheimer whom the public lionized as the brains behind the bomb; who agonized about the devastation his brilliance had helped to unleash; who hoped that the very destructiveness of the new “gadget,” as the bombmakers called their invention, might make war obsolete; and whose sometime Communist fellow-traveling and opposition to the development of the hydrogen bomb — a weapon a thousand times more powerful than the bombs that incinerated Hiroshima and Nagasaki — brought about his political disgrace and downfall, which of course have marked him in the eyes of some as all the more heroic, a visionary persecuted by warmongering McCarthyite troglodytes. His legacy, of course, is far more complicated.
”
”
Algis Valiunas
“
Kayla jumped down off of the monkey bars. I thought she was going to apologize. Instead, she pointed at Becky and laughed as hard as she could.
My blood boiled. I glared at her so hard that I thought that lasers would shoot out of my eyes and burn a hole through her. Without thinking, I stood up, walked over to Kayla, and slapped her across the face as hard as I could. I had never hit anyone who wasn’t my brother and sister, and I had never hit them as hard as I hit her. My hand stung. I grabbed it and held it between my knees. Kayla squealed, grabbed her face, and ran home. Ashley just looked at me. I reached for Becky, helped her to her feet, and we ran to our house.
- The Castle Park Kids
”
”
Laura Smith
“
Pike did not move his eye from the sight picture. Cole, Ramos, Park. The Zeiss was fitted with a laser range finder displaying the range in tiny red numerals in the upper right quadrant of the sight picture. Elvis Cole was forty-two meters away. Overkill. Stone
”
”
Robert Crais (Taken (Elvis Cole, #15; Joe Pike, #4))
“
Clint made a lot of things happen,” Wade replied, his eyes narrowing. “I love it when he does that,” Ash said with a grin. “It’s super intimidating. His eyes are like lasers. I’ve gotta learn how to do that. Mom, you were right. He’s awesome. He can kill a man like twenty different ways and he makes great pancakes.
”
”
Lexi Blake (Protected (Masters and Mercenaries #16.5))
“
When we would work with the high powered industrial sodium LASER, we would only wear a pair of LASER eye glasses. We were not told that it potentially could affect the skin.
”
”
Steven Magee (Summit Brain)
“
Not all areas of medicine were created equal. In my humble (and extremely biased) opinion, ophthalmology is definitely the coolest. However, it is also (again, in my view) one of the more challenging ones to learn. It is neat to reflect on the variety of skills that we learn during our training, most of which demand exceptional hand-eye coordination. To excel, we require a very delicate and nuanced touch and a sophisticated appreciation of subtle alterations in the anatomy of the most beautiful organ in the body. From the different lasers to the assortment of minor and major procedures, there is definitely a lot to learn and then master. Even in our clinics, we make use of so many instruments that it’s almost like being in surgery but without the incisions!
”
”
R. Rishi Gupta (Reflections of a Pupil: What Your Med School and Ophthalmology Textbooks Can’t Teach You (But What Your Mentors, Colleagues and Patients Will))
“
Femtochemistry constructs those timelines, in steps as small as 10−15 seconds (one femtosecond). With understanding, increasingly, comes control. Lasik eye surgery exploits femtosecond laser pulses to remodel patients’ corneas.
”
”
Frank Wilczek (Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality)
“
Inside the white screen of the mosquito net, bathed in the sunlight streaming through the windows, she felt as if she were in her own little oasis. Isolated from the rest of the world and its hostility. Although she could barely see past the bright, sunlit cloth, a movement in the shadows behind the net caught her eye. She frowned, straining her eyes to see what it was when, slowly, the net parted to reveal a gigantic figure. The light shone on his body and face to reveal what turned out to be a dark-eyed, broad-shouldered man.
A strange feeling was born in Bianca’s chest. A mixture of panic and embarrassment left her body in the shape of a scream. With no clear thoughts in mind, she yelled for someone to help her, until it dawned on her that she was in an unfamiliar apartment, in a town where no one knew about her, and where there was no one who could help her. She was alone, and the pervert in front of her undoubtedly wanted to take advantage of the situation. Stopping just enough to breathe and continue screaming, she got on her knees in the bed and kept on yelling at him, who then seemed to fall off whatever disgusting trance he was, and took a surprised step back. His fingers, still tangled in the mosquito net, ripped the fabric from the ceiling, exposing her further.
Bianca knew she was on her own. She could not count on anyone else to save her. When that realization hit, an unknown instinct made its way inside her and all the accumulated frustration caused by the situation with the paparazzi, the betrayal of her husband and losing her company concentrated inside her like a laser to focus on a single aim: the man in front of her. Feeling powerful, she grabbed the sheet tight around her with one arm to cover the front of her body, set one foot on the ground, and grabbed the closest thing to her: the purse. Her screams, which initially were meant to ask for help, transformed into a sound of pure rage.
Without taking her eyes off him, Bianca reached into her bag and threw everything she found inside it: a phone, an agenda, a bottle of water, a lipstick, a tissue, the box of condoms, a book. Even a small toiletry bag. When the bag was empty, she used it as a projectile too.
”
”
Sienna Mercier (The Woman In The Red Dress (Mediterranean Love #1))
“
She thinks, You didn’t see the look he gave me just now on the stairs. You don’t know how he looks at me when you’re not in the room; the way his voice sets hard like stone, his eyes bore through me like lasers. You really don’t know.
”
”
Lisa Jewell (The Night She Disappeared)
“
In five or six years,” he begins, but he doesn’t go where I’m expecting, “no one will be using lasers. It’s dangerous.” Even the handheld kind sold for classroom lectures can damage a retina. When laser light is absorbed by pigments in the eye, it deposits energy and heats up the tissue. Because the light arrives in a tight beam—and is further focused by the eye’s lens—the energy density is high. In terms of the damage caused, think of the difference between someone in stilettos stepping on your foot and someone wearing loafers.
”
”
Mary Roach (Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law)
“
We’re not that loud,” maintained Shaya, blushing. Taryn’s expression said, “Sure you’re not.” Aloud she said, “By the way, Nick, I have to say you’re good at the dirty talk—you could give Trey a run for his money. You know who else is good at it? Cam.” Shaya gasped, shocked. Cam was a reasonably quiet mated Phoenix wolf with the cutest baby face. “Really?” “Really.” Taryn shook her head in disbelief. “To look at him, I wouldn’t have thought he had it in him. I think Derren would be good at it too. What do you think?” Before Shaya could answer that, Nick slapped a hand over her mouth. “Just in case you say something that could get Derren killed,” he explained to Shaya. He threw a warning look at a departing, laughing Taryn, who had clearly been baiting him. He looked into his mate’s amused eyes. “You have a very strange friend. I shouldn’t like her, but I find that I do.” When amusement fled from Shaya’s eyes and they became more like lasers, he dropped his hand and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Not the way I like you, baby. I told you, you never have to feel insecure about us.
”
”
Suzanne Wright (Carnal Secrets (The Phoenix Pack, #3))
“
I’m telling you, what you think is a ray of sunlight shining in your eyes might be,” she tapped a finger between her eyes, “the targeting laser of a sniper rifle.
”
”
Craig Alanson (Dragonslayer (Convergence #2))
“
I took this picture about a month ago when he invited me to an animal shelter event his brokerage was holding. Except both him and the pets have laser beams shooting out of their eyes and the heading above it says ‘Ryan Fuller, Hallowsdeep’s most untrustworthy realtor. Don’t trust him around your house or your pussy.’ The laser beams from the cat’s eyes are setting homes on fire in the background.
”
”
Sarah Blue (Charming Your Dad (Charming, #1))
“
Not my fault you were walking in the middle of the road!” I shouted. Vaughan straightened, brown eyes searing me like a laser. “I was on the side of the road, you jackass!” “Well, call an optometrist because you’re blind as a motherfucking bat if you think you were on the side of the road!” “You swerved!” he yelled.
”
”
Maggie C. Gates (Cry About It)
“
Yes.” Erica removed a small black device from her utility belt and slapped it into my hand. “Laser pointer.” Then she reached under the top of her sleek black outfit. “Erica!” her mother gasped, horrified. “What are you doing?” “We need a way to throw this stone hard,” Erica said. “I’m getting a sling.” With that, she deftly removed her bra. I averted my eyes. “Please,” Erica said. “It’s just underwear. Now, let me know where you need me to throw this.” She dropped the stone into one of her bra cups and began to whirl it around.
”
”
Stuart Gibbs (Spy School British Invasion)
“
Part Two:
When St. Kari of the Blade Met Darth Vader, Star Wars Dark Lord of the Sith
(Earlier, the Emperor commanded Lord Vader to make contact . . .
“I have felt a non-tremor in the Nether-Force”
“I have not, my master.”
“Yes, well, that is why I’m ‘the Emp’ and you are not . . . Um, we have a new enemy, the non-entity known as Blade Kári. She’s running around all over the place gunning for that brat kid of yours.”
“Hmm. Interesting,” tight-lipped Darth. “Anyway, I–hey, how can all this mish-mash be?”
“Search your feelings, Lord Vader” the Emperor solemnized. “If you feel nothing as usual, you know it to be true or false. By now your guess is as good as mine with this Force stuff.”
“Damn!–If you say so,” Vader said smacking his hand. “If she could be turned she would make a powerful ally.”
“Yesss . . . can it be done? Bring the Valkyrie creature to me. See to it personally, Lord Vader. The more she is loose the more of a train wreck waiting to happen she becomes to us. Besides, it will break up the monotony until Bingo Wednesday night.”
“Okay. She will join us or die–again and again and again–until we all get it right. “Now, what about my son?” grumbed Vader deeply.
“Why fish for guppies when you can land a Megalodon? Go on. Get out of here. You Annoy me.”
“Yes, my Mahhster . . . ”).
back to the action . . .
“—Oh yeah? Who is he, this Vader person? Someone I should meet?” Kari percolated.
Luke mulled. “No. He is evil and very powerful. A ȿith lord.”
“A Scythian, eh? Humm.—for a minute there, you had me worried.
“Look—there he is!” Luke shouted scrunching down and pulling the girl besides him. Vader stwalked down the landing craft’s platform decked in his usual evil attire looking at the pile of messy clones.
“He doesn’t look so tough’st to me. Pretty trippy wardrobe though. Maybe that is why he is evil. Clothes do that, costuming up n’ all. I think I’ll go down and see him.” Kari launched off to meet him.
Luke trying to pull her back, she running up to the battle line strewn with dead clones.
“Hey Darth’st.”
“Did you do all this? Hmmph. The Force is with you, young Blade Kári, but you are not a Valkyrie yet.”
“Sez ‘st who? You’st? Do not be so blamed melodramatic. This ’tain’t no movie ʎ’know’st, well leastways, not yet. I shall have you know I am a charter member of your friendly neighborhood Valkyrie club and my dues are so in.”
Vader ignited his red lightsaber (he was not one for small talk).
“Where can I get one of those, she asked Vader, pointing to his glowing blade of laser evil. Do they come in assorted colors? I want one!” she yelled back at Luke.
Vader struck savagely at the girl, she mildly pirouetting on her heels to evade the cut then giggling, diminutively popped him squarely in his breather-chest contraption bugging him. Again, he struck, the blade harmlessly passing through her.
“Impressive, most impressive. And you say you can’t get a date?”
“Best take it easy Sith-meister. You’re riling me.”
Luke’s eyes bulged. He could not believe it, remembering his own stupid head words to Yoda, his spry little green master.
Vader paused, breathing heavily as was typical of him like he was a 20-pack a day smoker. “Your destiny lies with me, young Kári. Look here, if you really want one of these red glow in the Nether dark cutters, come with me.”
“Honestly?”
Luke nodded his head back and forth as if agreeing with himself. Where had he heard that before . . . ? The kid was going to be nothing but trouble from here on out he foresaw.
end
stay tuned for part iii
”
”
Douglas M. Laurent
“
Part Two: When St. Kari Met Darth Vader, Star Wars Dark Lord of the Sith
“What are those?” Kari shouted grasping Luke’s arm as her eyes jolted nervously into the air. “I’ve never seen such pretty planets before.”
Luke tracked her line of vision and grimmed as he spotted three Corellian Imperial Star Destroyers coming out of hyperspace into the same vortex that his own damaged ship was whirlpooled into. They appeared to be stabilizing the vortex opening by their anti-gravity wells maintaining their relative positional orbit.
“Hey’st, what are those white things? They look like men. Surely they are not ghosters, are they?” pawed Kari at Luke to get him to see.
“Imperial troopers,” shot Luke, grabbing her arm back. “There’s too many of them C’mon, we got to hide.”
“What’s does that mean? And what are those red light-thingy’s coming toward us?” Instantly Kari and Luke were inundated by a barrage of suppressing E-11 blaster rifle fire. Luke flinched out of reaction while Kari stood upright seemingly oblivious to the inherent danger. He was struck to see the girl-entity pluck a laser bolt out of the air and examine it with an other worldly look, as if it were a rare flower in a garden.
“I like this,” she smiled. “I’ll pin it to my cloak.” And doing so she did, it maintaining its fiery penetrating redness that did nothing more than to adorn the girl’s wardrobe for quite some time momentarily puzzling Luke. Usually they burnt out quickly. “Can I get some more of these?” she politely asked Luke.
“Not right now,” drawled Luke peering over a boulder. “If they capture us we’ve had it.”
“Had what?” asked Kari naïvely. “Them ghost-men you mean’st? Oh, don’t worry, Walker of the Skies, just leave it to me,” and with that Kari pulled her blade and sashayed toward the Imperial clones humming her favorite Top 10 battle hymns.
“Wait!” Luke shouted trying to snatch her back but it was too late. Luke never saw anything such as this. Like Han, he had seen a lot of strange galactic stuff in his time. Kari had become a misty blur and was skipping across the battlefield as some sort of sword-brandishing luminescence, hovering for a short time over those she slain.
“Hey, Walkersky, these spirits don’t have any souls,” she yelled looking up from her blood soaked garments. What do you want me to do with the rest, kill ’em?”
“I, uh ,” was all he managed to get out of his mouth as he rubbed his jaw.
Kari shrugged and went back to work, picking off the whole brigade by herself. “See’st? I told’st thou not to worry” Kari said panting, coming up to Luke and sitting besides him. “What now?”
“We gotta get outta here before more Imperials arrive.”
“Untruth oats?” (Nether Trans. “art thou nuts?”) “Run from battle?—is that that what means?”
“It means Vader’s coming—.”
go to part ii con't
”
”
Douglas M. Laurent
“
Of course, he could shoot lasers out of his eyes and his butt, just like Little Bunny Boom-Boom.
”
”
Michael Fry (How to Be a Supervillain: Born to Be Good)
“
Don’t know if you have any hobbies.”
She nodded. “I do. I may have to take a break from it for a bit while I’m out here, but normally when I have a light day on campus, I go to a class . . .”
I waited.
“It’s . . . pole dancing.”
I stopped breathing, but at least I didn’t choke.
Nodding, I took a sip of my wine to block my face, which I was pretty sure had turned the shade of a beet.
“So, like Flashdance? Welder by day, dancer by night?” I barked out, feeling a stirring in my pants that was wholly inappropriate for my roomie, who’d been talking about diode lasers a minute earlier.
She’s a goddamn pole dancer.
She chuckled and crossed her arms over her chest as though trying to keep me from picturing her dancing. “Excellent movie reference. But no, that’s not even close to what I do.”
It hardly mattered. My brain was stuck.
Like a white-hot strobe had blinded me to everything except Sarah wearing lingerie and grinding on a pole under hot lights. For me.
Stop picturing it. Fuck!
“Cool,” I finally managed to say with a straight face. Like it meant nothing.
She nodded. Like it meant nothing.
Then she spread some brie cheese on a cracker and took a bite. I choked out an excuse and went to the bathroom to get a grip.
This will be okay. It will. It has to be.
In the bathroom, I splashed some cold water on my face and took a hard look at myself in the mirror. What was happening? I hadn’t been this jacked up over a woman anytime in the past two years. My emotions had been buried in caverns so deep I felt confident they were gone for good. I was fine with that.
It made no sense. Or . . . maybe it did. I’ve always been competitive as fuck. If I’m told I can’t have something, I want it all the more and do anything in my power to make it mine.
That had to be what was happening here.
It was all in my head. I knew she was off limits, so the competitive motherfucker in me started bucking against that. I just needed to get my head together and think of her like any other human who happened to be using my second bedroom.
When I got back to the table, Sarah looked up at me with a thin slice of Parma ham twirled around her fork and put the bit into her mouth. I had no defensible reason to focus on her lips or the soft contour of her jaw while she chewed.
She swallowed and smiled at me. “I figured I should get a head start on eating while you were gone. In case you had more questions.”
“Good plan. Maybe we should focus on the food for a few minutes, or we could be here all night.”
I bit into a slider and closed my eyes at how delicious the slow-roasted meat tasted on the brioche bun. Who needed to cook when someone else could make food that tasted like this? It was how I’d become addicted to takeout and why I rarely ate at home anymore. That, and I spent a lot of time at work.
Sarah finished the last of the cheesy bread and wiped her lips gingerly on a napkin before looking right at me with those gorgeous eyes. “This is weird, right? It’s not just me?”
I tilted my head, trying to read her expression and decipher her meaning. “Could you be specific?
She waved her hands between us. “This. Us. We’re in our thirties and we’re roommates. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had a roommate for about ten years. Does it freak you out a little bit?”
Yes, but not for the reasons she meant.
”
”
Stacy Travis (The Spark Between Us (Berkeley Hills, #4))
“
Tim scratched his nose with the electronic pointer he’d forgotten to use and recoiled as the laser shone into his eye.
”
”
Michael Logan (World War Moo (Apocalypse Cow, #2))
“
Turns out, Tokyo is a city of romantics, forgiveness, and graciousness. Since the Women Now! article published, stuffed bears, lanterns, origami, plates of dorayaki, and notes have been placed outside the gates. The guards bring them in by the armload, sifting through to make sure there are no security risks---like a kawaii doll with laser beams for eyes---and bring them to me. Its mostly from teenage girls. Their notes are in the shape of hearts and express their undying support of my non-relationship with Akio. There are other letters, too, from Japanese born abroad who identify with my story and who want to share their own. The response is overwhelming. I never thought I'd ignite such a flame. I'm committed to writing back to everyone who has left an address. Mr. Fuchigami does not like it. But he has left time in my schedule for me to respond. So there.
”
”
Emiko Jean (Tokyo Ever After (Tokyo Ever After, #1))
“
Inside the vault housing Shalmaneser: cool. Waiting for the launch window, which is a decorative way of saying when the GT guide is good and ready to start, this fact has already decided several of the crowd one hundred nine strong (some of whom are tourists some of whom are genuine potential recruits lured by the handouts and TV plugs of the GT Corp. some of whom have seen themselves here so often in the personae of Mr. & Mrs. Everywhere that they couldn’t tell you why they bothered to make the visit in reality and some of whom are GT’s own plantees primed to speak up at the right moments and give the impression of Things Happening) that they aren’t going to be interested in what they’re shown. Cold! In May! Under the Manhattan Fuller Dome! And clad in Nydofoam sneakers, MasQ-Lines, Forlon&Morler skirtlets and dresslets; strung about with Japind Holocams with Biltin g’teed Norisk LazeeLaser monochrome lamps, instreplay SeeyanEar recorders; pocket-heavy with Japind Jettiguns, SeKure Stunnems, Karatands to be slipped on as easily as your grandmother drew on her glove.
Uneasy, watching their accidental companions on this guided tour.
Well-fed.
Shifty-eyed, slipping tranks into their chomp-chomp jaws.
Damned good-looking.
”
”
John Brunner (Stand on Zanzibar)
“
I do remember one thing for certain: Ben, leaning in toward me. So close our foreheads touch. Closer than we've been in a long time.
It was different. It was more. More than chivalry. More than playing soccer as kids. More than just friends. The certainty of this is a laser, slicing through the thick fog of too much tequila. I replay the scene. This time I remember how close his lips were to mine.
And the hiccups. The first one occurred at exactly that moment, his forehead resting against mine. Any other girl in any other town in any other state on any other sidewalk with any other guyâthat's a sure bet, right? I mean, forehead to forehead? You just close your eyes and lean in.
Not me. Nope, one inch from the lips of a guy who's had a few beers
on a night when Coral Sands, Iowa, is the center of the universe? Kate Weston comes through with the hiccups. Just the way I roll.
”
”
Aaron Hartzler (What We Saw)
“
Cats don’t shoot lasers from their eyes, either, but here we are, Carl. Mama needs a night off.
”
”
Matt Dinniman (Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2))
“
Kiara rubbed her bruised throat and slid from the table. She jumped in reflex as Pitala moved his weapon toward the pair standing in the doorway.
Before he could aim it at either man, two blasters came out of nowhere to balance their sights on his body. Two red targeting lasers hovered without shaking-one between his eyes and one over his grain.
"Think," Nykyrian said ominously, clicking back the release of his blaster with his thumb.
Pitala gave a nervous laugh, and held up his hands. "I wouldn't actually try to shoot you. I just wanted to see if you were as good as they say."
"Better." Syn moved forward to pull Pitala's blaster from his hand. "And that's with me drunk off my ass. Imagine what I'd do to you sober."
It was only after he was disarmed and Syn stood between her and Pitala that Nykyrian's red light vanished from Pitala's forehead.
With an amazing nonchalance, Nykyrian holstered his weapon. "Apologize to Tara Zamir for ruining her night and you can leave."
Angry black eyes focused on Kiara with an unspoken promise he would be back. "My apologies, princess," he rasped. "It was nothing personal."
Cold sweat beaded on her body as Pitala bent and slapped his partner awake. Within seconds, the pair of assassins were gone.
Her relief at their departure gave way to suspicion over the two of them and their intentions. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving you," Nykyrian said absently, looking down the corridor with his back to them.
-Nykyrian, Pitala, Syn, & Kiara
”
”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (Born of Night (The League: Nemesis Rising, #1))
“
Working the night shift exposed me to very high powered 20 watt industrial sodium LASER light. We were told that it was harmless to the naked eye if we did not look directly into the LASER beam. Walking into the observatory dome being illuminated by the bright scattered orange laser light was a common occurrence.
”
”
Steven Magee
“
LaserCare Eye Center | Plano offers LASIK, SMILE eye surgery, cataract surgery, and implantable collamer lenses to the Plano Texas and surrounding areas. LaserCare Eye Center was founded in 2000 by Sidney Gicheru MD. Our goal is to bring the latest technology and advancements to our patients. LaserCare Eye Center was the first area medical practice to give patients the option of LASIK or SMILE eye surgery and was one of the first cataract surgeons performing laser-assisted cataract surgery.
”
”
Lasik Cataract Surgery Doctor Plano
“
Rule 179 in ‘The Good Parenting Guide’ clearly states “when telling your daughter to go and clean her bedroom you must place your left hand on your hip, point to the bedroom with your right hand, and shoot lasers through your eyes burning two holes in her soul"... ...now go upstairs, learn this guide off-by-heart and practice, practice, practice. I’ll be in my messy bedroom when you’re ready.
”
”
James Warwood (49 Excuses for Not Tidying Your Bedroom (The 49... #1))
“
Your inner actions light you up, turn you on fire, send laser beams out of your eyes, teleport all the negative muons away and only positive tetrons surround you and light up the world around you. FACT!
”
”
Anonymous
“
Don’t you wear glasses, George?” “Not anymore. I had my eyes lasered.” Can you say midlife crisis? Radial keratotomy is the new red Porsche.
”
”
Lisa Scottoline (Dirty Blonde: A Riveting Legal Thriller of Murder, Greed, and a Federal Judge's Secret Life)
“
With great athletes, their eyes aren't searchlights. They aren't even spotlights. They are laser beams.
”
”
Gary Mack (Mind Gym: An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence)
“
Ihung up with Josh, and the switch flipped in my head.
Sloan called it my velociraptor brain because it made me fierce and sharp. Something big had to trigger it, and when it did, my compulsive, laser-focused, primal side activated. The one that got me a near perfect score on my SATs and got me through college finals and Mom. The one that made me clean when I was stressed and threatened to launch into full-scale manic OCD if left unchecked—that kicked in.
Emotion drained away, the tiredness from staying up all night crying dissipated, and I became my purpose.
I didn’t do hysterics. Never had. When in crisis, I became systematic and efficient.
And the transition was now complete.
I weighed only for a second whether to call Sloan and tell her or go pick her up. I decided to pick her up. She would be too upset to drive properly, but knowing her, she would try anyway.
From Josh’s explanation of the situation, Brandon wouldn’t be out of the hospital anytime soon. Sloan wouldn’t leave Brandon, and I wouldn’t leave her. She would need things for the stay. People would need to be called. Arrangements made.
I began to compile a list in my head of things to do and things to pack as I quickly but methodically drove to Sloan’s. Phone charger, headphones, blanket, change of clothes for Sloan, toiletries, and her laptop.
It took me twenty minutes to get to her house, and I got out of my car ready for a surgical extraction.
I stood there, surrounded by the earthy smell of Sloan’s just-watered potted porch flowers. The door opened, and I took in her blissfully ignorant face one more time.
“Kristen?”
It wasn’t unusual for me to stop by. But she knew me well enough to instantly know something was wrong.
“Sloan, Brandon has been in an accident,” I said calmly. “He’s alive, but I need you to get your purse and come with me.”
I knew immediately that I’d been right to come get her instead of calling. One look at her and I knew she wouldn’t have been able to put a foot in front of the other. While I mobilized and became strong under stress, she froze and weakened.
“What? ” she breathed.
“We have to hurry. Come on.” I pushed past her and systematically executed my checklist. I gave myself a two-minute window to grab what was needed.
Her gym bag would be in the laundry room, already filled with toiletries and her headphones. I grabbed that, pulled a sweater from her closet, selected a change of clothes for her, and stuffed her laptop inside the bag.
When I came out of the room, she had managed to grab her purse as instructed. She stood by the sofa looking shaken, her eyes moving back and forth like she was trying to figure out what was happening.
Her cell phone sat by her easel and I snatched it, pulling the charger from the wall. I grabbed her favorite throw blanket from the sofa and stuffed that in the bag and zipped it.
List complete.
Then I took her by the elbow, locked her front door, and dragged her to the car.
“Wha…what happened? What happened!” she screamed, finally coming out of her shock.
I opened up the passenger door and put her in. “Buckle yourself up. I’ll tell you what I know on the way.”
When I got around to the driver’s side, she had her phone to her ear. “He’s not answering. He’s not answering! What happened, Kristen?!”
I grabbed her face in my hands. “Listen to me. Look at me. He is alive. He was hit on his bike. Josh went on the call. He was unconscious. It was clear he had some broken bones and a possible head injury. He’s at the ER, and I need to get you to the hospital to be with him. But I need you to be calm.”
Her brown eyes were terrified, but she nodded.
“Right now your job is to call Brandon’s family,” I said firmly. “Relay what I just said to you, calmly. Can you do that for Brandon?”
She nodded again. “Yes.” Her hands shook, but she dialed.
”
”
Abby Jimenez
“
No. If you are Superman, then you are invincible and completely awesome. You can fucking fly. You get to shoot lasers out of your eyes, and see through shit. And you know the best part? The bit that most people don’t even think about? Just because you’re Superman doesn’t mean you have to dress like him. If I were Superman, I would wear the Spiderman outfit by day (pretending to spin webs and climb walls etc.) and then switch to Batman at night (fighting crime, being cool and laughing – high pitched to piss the bad guys off, not like Christian Bale – while bullets bounced off me). Plus,
”
”
Nick Jones (The Unexpected Gift of Joseph Bridgeman (The Downstream Diaries, #1))
“
LASIK and SMILE Eye Surgery and Laser Cataract Surgery in Dallas Fort Worth. LaserCare Eye Center is Dallas' premier LASIK and Cataract center. Lasercare Eye Center has been helping patients with vision problems since 2000.
”
”
Lasercare Eye Center
“
UV/IR vision: use AI to make sense of light invisible to humans • Perfect sound memory: every sound you hear is catalogued forever and searchable with a query • Sound triangulation: when you hear a boom or a pop, your visor or glasses will light up and tell you exactly where it is happening • Perfect recall of imagery: when you take a passing glance at a license plate, its numbers and letters will be permanently captured and searchable • Prompting: AI is always in your head suggesting ideas and integrated into a device like a Fitbit to augment physical goals • “God’s Eye” view: satellite imagery and completely autonomous pocket drones that can feed images directly to your headset, effectively giving you a pair of disembodied eyes in motion • LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensing: remote-sensing methods that can use light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges • Ability to predict exact motion and speed of any object nearby • Ability to see and detect radio waves: pull a radio wave that you perceive out of the ether with the gesture of a swipe and then decode it and catalog it permanently • X-ray vision: Look inside a building through the eyes of your autonomous robotic appendage to see if there is a leak or other technical malfunction
”
”
Amir Husain (The Sentient Machine: The Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence)
“
When St. Kari of the Blade Met Luke Skywalker, Star Wars Jedi Knight
“What’s that?” Kari asked pointing to the silvery object attached to Luke’s waist.
“It’s my lightsaber,” Luke said cautiously, not knowing where this was going. “It’s like your sword, only many years advanced.”
“I see me thinks,” grinned Kari, “although I cannot see how such a short object labors as a sword. Can you show me how? Here, block my blade.” Kari pull-whipped her sharp, simple straight edge fast and held it so that its steel shaft was stationed off Lukes left shoulder.
“I don’t want to ruin your sword,” Luke said with a slight grinning shrug. “It will cut your blade in half.”
“No it shan’t. C’mon and try” quipped Kari, her violet-grey eyes dancing with mirth.
Luke felt compelled just a little bit to teach the seemingly uncomplicated girl a lesson in advanced blade-play. He struck at her sword, but to his amazement, the laser did not cut through Kari’s antiquated, plain cross-hilt weapon, as it easily should have. She wryed and smiled.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Luke said eyes widening in surprise. “The only thing that resists a lightsaber cut is Cortosis.”
“Let me try cutting at you,” Kari said, her gridelin eyes glittering in delight. As she struck Luke’s sword, the neat humming cylindrical beam of laser light that was Luke’s blade fell as one solid piece to the ground and began to eat itself inward and disappear, both ends vaporizing and fizzling, meeting in the middle and ending with a loud “pop!”
“How did you do that?” Skywalker asked in amazement. “What’s your sword made of?”
Kari smiled. “My sword is made of adamantine eternal belief. It both cut and resisted your blade because I shalled it to. I am she. All swordplay in the ’Halla exists on the edge of belief, something you will have to learn if you are to survive here whilst your sky-ship is being refitted and rigged out. Learn about the ’Halla, Luke.”
Luke awkwardly grimaced. His lightsaber was an amazing piece of advanced technology and here this wispy backwater of a fencing lass had just “out-believed” him, making his well-ahead art of laser swordplay more primitive than the girl’s unadorned straightedge. He remembered Yoda’s words on failure and belief and felt stupid. The word Jedi was not in Kari’s vocabulary, Luke thought, but notwithstanding, she seemed more than a Jedi than he.
”
”
Douglas M. Laurent
“
Success! Great job, everyone!” I yelled, though no one could hear me. But then I noticed that the red juggernaut was even closer to the laser cannon now. Around the giant, I saw rogues and ninjas jumping everywhere as they tossed their projectiles. There were a couple of thieves trying to climb up the juggernaut again, but the monster had its eyes tightly shut. Then I saw Shadow gliding in circles and
”
”
Steve the Noob (Diary of Steve the Noob 38 (An Unofficial Minecraft Book) (Diary of Steve the Noob Collection))
“
Tala rolls her eyes. "I know. I'll stay away from the Kindergarten." But I can tell from her tone and the look in her eyes that she won't drop her mission. Atlas turns to her. "Excuse me?" What's he interested in? Because he is. Intensely. It's laser-strong. Pinpointed.
”
”
Sky Coppola (Reckless Empire: A Dark Cowboy Romance (Shotgun Mafia Book 8))
“
Her eyes are stuck on my DIY stick-and-poke tattoo, a lopsided heart, on the soft part of the back of my hand near my thumb. It’s impossible to hide. Bunny says she will pay to have it lasered off, but Mary is out there somewhere with one that almost matches. The night before she ran away, she did mine. Then I did hers. Some people who are apart like to remember they’re staring at the same moon. This blurry little blue heart is my and Mary’s moon.
”
”
Julia Heaberlin (We Are All the Same in the Dark)
“
Her elderly neighbor was watching Garrett leave with laser-sharp vision, her eyes cold and aggressive. The expression was foreign on her normally sweet face.
”
”
Nicole Scarano (Autopsy of a Fairytale (Autopsy of a Fairytale, #1))
“
but he and I have the same eyes. Very, very dark, and laser-beam focused on what we want.
”
”
Freida McFadden (The Boyfriend)
“
Cats don’t drink cocktails,” I said.
“Cats don’t shoot lasers from their eyes either, Carl, but here we are. Mama needs a night off.
”
”
Matt Dinniman (Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2))
“
If you are looking for the best skin treatment for dark circles in Danville, MD Laser Spa is the right place for you. Our Restylane® treatment is excellent for under the eyes to reduce puffiness and dark circles under the eyes.
”
”
MD Laser Spa
“
I run a clean ship here. No dust to be found,” Mateo said gravely, his mouth twitching with amusement. “How long have you two been together?” I wasn’t sure whose glare was fiercer and poor Mateo’s brown eyes widened nervously. “Not in this lifetime,” I swore. Ethan scoffed. “You should be so lucky.” He and Mateo exchanged a look. Mateo’s was knowing and Ethan’s almost…furtive? I had no idea what they were about and I didn’t have the extra brain cells to figure it out. I was laser-focused on this Tlaloc thing right about now.
”
”
S.E. Harmon (The First and Last Adventure of Kit Sawyer)
“
Dad didn't hate weddings," Mae said.
Her mom's brow creased. "Yes, he did," she said with a chuckle. "He was always going on about how he could go the rest of his life without hearing the wedding march ever again."
"No, he didn't," Mae said more firmly. She set her fork down. "He hated going to your family's weddings. Because it meant being around a bunch of white people who were just subtle enough to keep their racism discreet."
That did it. Susan froze. John took a long drink from his wineglass. Connor's gaze steadied on Mae, a haze of uncertainty in his eyes. Madison jerked her head back. Sierra watched her, looking vaguely curious. Her mom stared, mouth open.
"It was inevitable," Mae continued. "Whenever we had to be around the Parkers. Someone would always say something borderline. Dad and I would exchange a look, like, Here we go. Every wedding, every Christmas, every Thanksgiving, every Easter, we would sit across from each other at a table full of white people and share our silent little looks."
Her face was burning. Every pair of eyes at the table was laser-focused on her. Even Jayla, sitting one table over with the wedding party, was staring. Mae's mom opened her mouth, which just reminded Mae she had more to say.
"I wish you'd told me about grandma being racist to Althea."
It was mortifying, spilling her guts in front of her in-laws, but it was freeing, too. Like she was invincible. Like even though she was about to wreck her entire life, at least no one could stop her. You couldn't stop a hurricane.
"You said you didn't want me to feel different around her, but, Mom, I already did. And I wish you'd told me I had a sister. Do you know how much less alone I would have felt, knowing Sierra was my sister? Being around family that looked like me? Instead of a grandpa who said the n-word in front of me when I was eight? Or my husband's mom asking me how dark my skin gets in the sun?" Susan paled. "Or a cousin who--- you know what, Madison," Mae said, catching her eye across the table, "it is racist to say you refuse to shop at Black-owned businesses, and I shouldn't have defended you when Sierra called you on it." Madison's cheeks reddened, and she looked like she was going to object, but Mae wasn't done. "Is it any wonder that I would drive to Hobson and sacrifice so much to stay there, burning through all my PTO, giving up my entire honeymoon, because I finally had a family that didn't make me feel out of place?
”
”
Shauna Robinson (The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster)
“
In his book Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian, John Elder Robison described this progression of creativity—one that led to his career creating sound effects and musical instruments and designing laser shows and video games. He wrote that he first became interested in music as an adolescent, because he was fascinated with the patterns that music waves made on an oscilloscope, a device that displays electric signs and lines and shapes on a small screen. “Each signal had its own unique shape,” he wrote. These signals were the bottom-up details. He spent eight to ten hours a day “absorbing music and unraveling how the waves looked, and how electrical signals worked,” he wrote. “I watched and listened and watched some more until my eyes and ears became interchangeable.” In other words, he was storing up memories. “By then, I could look at a pattern on the scope and know what it sounded like, and I could look at a sound and know what it looked like.” Based on those memories of details, he had taught himself how to make the necessary associations. Then he was ready for the creative leap: If I set the scope to sweep slowly, the rhythm of the music dominated the screen. Loud passages would appear as broad streaks, while quiet passages thinned down to a single tiny squiggle. A slightly higher sweep speed showed me the big, heavy, slow waves of the bass line and the kick drum as wide squiggles. Most of the energy was contained in those low notes. Up higher, with a faster scope setting, I found the vocals. At the top of it all lay the jagged fast waves from the cymbals. Every instrument had a distinct pattern, even when they were all playing the same melody. With practice, I learned how to distinguish a passage played on an organ from the same music played on a guitar. But I didn’t stop there. As I listened to the instruments, I realized each one had its own voice. “You’re nuts,” my friends said, but I was right. The musicians all had their own ways of playing, but their instruments were unique, too. The emphasis is mine. The neurotypical response to his insight was to dismiss it. But Robison could hear what other people missed. Actually, he could see it: “I saw the whole thing as a great mental puzzle—adding the waves from different instruments in my head, and figuring out what the result would look like.” He was, he learned, working in a kind of waveform mathematics, even though he didn’t think of his work as math.
”
”
Temple Grandin (The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum)
“
Working like automatons, the team of doomed spacetroopers attached themselves to the breached wall of the Death Star’s power core. Intense radiation spewed out, darkening their faceplates so they could barely see, slowly frying their life-support systems.
Moving sluggishly as they weakened under the invisible onslaught, they wrestled thick sheets of plating in the low gravity. They used rapid laser welders to slap patches over the breach, reinforcing it to withstand an energy buildup.
One of the spacetroopers, his control pack sparking with blue lightning as the suit’s circuits all broke down, thrashed about in eerie silence; his arm movements gradually slowed until he drifted free. One of the others took his place, ignoring the lost companion. Every one of them had already received a lethal dose of radiation. They knew it, but their training had been thorough: they lived to serve the Empire.
One of the troopers completed a last weld at the hottest point of the breach. His skin blistered. His nerves were deadened. His eyes and lungs hemorrhaged blood. But he forced himself to finish his task.
The cold vacuum of space solidified the welds instantly. With a gurgling voice filled with fluid, the spacetrooper gasped into his helmet radio, “Mission accomplished.”
Then the remaining troopers, with failing life-support systems and bodies already savaged by the fatal radiation, released their hold on the power core in unison. They drifted free, dropping toward the brilliant energy discharge like shooting stars.
”
”
Kevin J. Anderson
“
He kissed back, his eyes flickered, he grinned – but he didn’t look happy. He grasped the steering wheel and peered ahead into the starlit darkness. In the high desert you can see stars above the headlights. I knew him enough to see that he was thinking about something that could whisper across the galaxies with gravitation, not using obvious means like radio or lasers. “Any mind that thinks the Riemann numbers are a calling card – and can throw around stars…
”
”
Gregory Benford (Anomalies, a Collection of Short Fiction)
“
Falon stared at Del intently, trying to figure out what was different. As usual, Del was impeccably dressed in a lavender dress that revealed her curves. Her nail polish and shoes matched her clothing perfectly. Del’s shoulder-length blond hair looked the same. “Smile at me,” Falon said suddenly, and Del showed her teeth. “You got Botox again.” “Yeah, my dentist does it at his office now. I can get my teeth cleaned and my lines erased at the same time. If I could get him to do collagen injections, I’d be set. I wish these doctors would work together. If my gynecologist worked in the same office as my dentist, I’d look like a race car in the pit. I’d get it all done in one appointment and be back on the road in no time.” Del glanced at her watch. “That reminds me, I’m going to see a plastic surgeon for a consultation tomorrow, so I’ll be late getting here in the morning.” “Would you leave your face alone? Del, you look fine.” “It’s not my face, I’m thinking about having my vagina reshaped. The other day when I was being lasered, I was staring at it in the big mirror. You can really see all your girl junk in it, but it’s kind of magnified, so I wasn’t really sure if things were as out of proportion as they seemed. When I got home, I looked at it with a hand mirror, and it still doesn’t look right to me.” Del stood and began pulling up her dress. “You’ve seen a shitload of vaginas, so I want you to tell me—” “Don’t you dare whip that out in here!” Falon covered her eyes with her hand. “I’m not looking at it, Del. I’m not!” “Come on, really?” Del looked completely taken aback. “You looked at my boobs.” “That’s because you turned them loose before I realized what you were doing.” Falon waved her hand. “Your lady junk is far more personal than boobs.” “How so?” “Cleavage,” Falon blurted out. “You wear shirts that show cleavage, that’s like a little preview. Your lady junk is a total mystery, and I want it to stay that way...
”
”
Robin Alexander (Fearless)
“
Sergeant Cortez was another story, a horror story. His head was shaved and the wrong shape, flattened out on one side, where a large piece of skull had obviously been taken out. His face was very dark and seamed with wrinkles and scars. Half his left ear was missing, and his eyes were as expressive as buttons on a machine. He had a moustache-and-beard combination that looked like a skinny white caterpillar taking a lap around his mouth. On anybody else, his schoolboy smile might look pleasant, but he was about the ugliest, meanest-looking creature I'd ever seen. Still, if you didn't look at his head and considered the lower six feet or so, he could have posed as the "after" advertisement for a body-building spa. Neither Stott nor Cortez wore any ribbons. Cortez had a small pocket-laser suspended in a magnetic rig, sideways, under his left armpit. It had wooden grips that were worn smooth.
”
”
Joe Haldeman (Forever War)
“
Jenna kept her lasered focus when she answered. “If you’re going to play games with me,” she said quietly, staring right into his eyes, “I won’t go back to Sommerley with you.” His expression still blank, his gaze sharp and frozen green on her face, Leander crushed the walnut to dust between his fingers. “Excuse me?” he whispered. She smiled in grim triumph. Not so cool after all.
”
”
J.T. Geissinger (Shadow's Edge (Night Prowler, #1))
“
Cats don’t drink cocktails,” I said. “Cats don’t shoot lasers from their eyes
”
”
Matt Dinniman (Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2))
“
In the United States, you can get laser treatments that might not help your eye disease, but not the glasses that will enable you to keep active despite your visual loss. And you can get a cochlear implant but not a hearing aid. By calling costly, “sexy” interventions medical, and cheaper more functionally focused devices nonmedical, American health care supports the high-profit pharmaceutical and device industries (that fund political candidates from both major parties) at the expense of the far larger numbers of citizens who would benefit from assistive devices (the people many politicians would like to represent but cannot because not supporting big health means not getting reelected5
”
”
Louise Aronson (Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life)
“
His eyes find mine, piercing as lasers, as if he can see deep inside. It’s unsettling. “I bet you’re not like anyone else, Alice Everly.
”
”
Carley Fortune (One Golden Summer)
“
The stairs themselves doubled back twice. This meant anyone who got past the guards on the lower level could be isolated on the middle staircase and dealt with. The landings on either side of the staircase appeared normal, but Corran knew of a dozen ways anyone traversing them could be trapped or, with a laser cannon emerging from behind a hidden panel, cut down with little or no risk to Imperial personnel. While quite fantastic in its design and execution, the Grand Corridor had not been created without an eye toward security.
”
”
Michael A. Stackpole (The X-Wing Series: Star Wars Legends 10-Book Bundle: Rogue Squadron, Wedge's Gamble, The Krytos Trap, The Bacta War, Wraith Squadron ,Iron Fist, Solo ... ... Mercy Kill (Star Wars: X-Wing - Legends))