Photo-Resonant Microphone

by Doctor Malcolm MacGuffin
June 20, 1998

In our struggles with the Technocracy, information has always been our most important ally. It is our knowledge of Technocratic methods and tactics that has kept us out of their clutches for all of the years since our Tradition's great and fateful decision to part company with their oppressive ways. As part of our Scientific efforts, we must continue to develop new ways to garner our opponents’ most vital secrets. And so, in the spirit of fostering innovation in the area of reconnaissance, I would like to remind some of our newer members of an elementary Theory that greatly aids our cause.

Light, as a tool, is one of the most versatile implements known to Science. By itself, it both illuminates our world and, on the subatomic level, influences it. Through a simple chemical reaction, it produces electricity; properly focused and stimulated by resonant Ether, it can cut through solid steel. Nowadays, L.A.S.E.R.s (Light Amplification by Stimulated Etheric Resonance) are used for everything from delicate eye surgery, where it is precise enough to affect individual blood vessels within the eye, to the detection of speeding automobiles on our nation’s freeways. For the latter purpose, a laser beam is aimed at a reflective surface on the suspect vehicle. A portion of the beam is reflected back to its source, where a computer performs calculations based upon the speed of light and the length of time it took for the beam to return, giving the enforcing officer a measure of the vehicle’s velocity.

The Photo-Resonant Microphone requires just three pieces of equipment: a laser beam, a receiver/speaker unit and a power source. Assuming that the Scientist has the necessary skill in electronics to wire the items together, a laser pointer, a Walkman and a 9-volt battery will suffice. Beyond that, the Theory is really quite simple. So long as there is a surface sufficient to reflect a laser beam, any nearby conversations can be detected and recorded. For example, a table lamp sitting in the same room in which a desired conversation is taking place will silently resonate at the same rate as that of the sounds of the conversation itself. Aiming the Photo-Resonant Microphone at the lamp, the Scientist can pick up the lamp's minute vibrations by detecting changes in the frequency of the reflected laser light. The Microphone's electronics translate the patterns of frequencies of the reflected light into pressure waves, then amplify the vibrations and convert them into audible tones for the user. In this manner, even sub- and ultra-sonic transmissions can be detected, intercepted and recorded for use. Depending upon the preparation time and resources available to the user, a greater degree of accuracy and fidelity can be achieved. More sophisticated models could perform a brief pre-scan for background noise and other extraneous frequencies such as those caused by electrical outlets. Ultra-sonic emitters could then produce a “tunnel” of inverse frequencies around the laser, thereby acting as active noise control. This practice eliminates 99.2% of all interfering sound waves for the Scientist, and in most cases takes less than a second to perform.

Because this technology is now available in a very primitive form to the Consensus, it is my opinion that this Theory will become obsolete within the next 5 - 10 years. I offer it up anyway, in the hopes that we may all survive to see that day.
 

Game Notes

(Second Edition.) Through Forces •/ Correspondence ••, the Scientist uses the Photo-Resonant Microphone to transmit the desired sound from its original location to his own. Alternately, Forces ••• can transmute the sound into light and reflect it back to the mage’s location before turning it back into sound again.

1998 Derek D. Bass
 

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