Product: Mobility
Hyperspace Keychain   (+5, -4)  [vote for, against]
For difficult situations.

Key chain-sized device that would teleport its owner to any other location within a 50 mile radius.

THIEF: “This is a stick up!”

YOU: …fumbling for the hyperspace button…

THIEF: “Did I stutter? Lose the watch!”

YOU: >>click<<

BARISTA: “Can I start a drink for you?”

YOU: “I’ll have a percent, half decaf, caramel….”

As in Asteroids, however, the inherent risk would be the real possibility that one ends up in a situation worse than the he/she is trying to escape.

Flex the Hyperspace Button during those attempted rapes, muggings and shootouts…and get the f*&% outta Dodge.
-- iuvare, Dec 28 2000

If I were a thief, I'd buy one of these, teleport in, shoot you, loot your corpse, and teleport out. As long as I don't say anything and dress in an ordinary way (except for a mask, natch), I'd no more be a suspect than anyone else.

This is why Larry Niven called his teleporters "Alibi Machines." (Didn't I write this before?)
-- centauri, Dec 29 2000, last modified Mar 24 2001


Doh! Didn't think this one through.

Peter's right in that this device would be better suited as a non-lethal alternative to jiu-jitsu or a Glock, with the added benefit of the criminal incurring a possibly fatal Hyperspace. What's more, the possibilities for misuse would clearly outweigh its benefits, and then centauri's scenario would become the hottest new techno-crime: thieves would have a field day jacking & teleporting...until they met their untimely death by landing on an asteroid.
-- iuvare, Dec 29 2000


"I have no idea how I ended up at <preferred_location>, boss! Must've accidentally hit that hyperspace button again... *snicker snicker*"
-- absterge, Dec 29 2000


Here's my other beef with such a device: How does it know what to teleport. If it takes everything in a 6' tall 3' diameter cylinder, you'd better be sure you hold it close, and maybe crouch down a little. Be prepared to take some concrete with you.

This brings up some rather disgusting problems when you consider someone trying to blink out of a rape-in-progress. Did I already give this a -1? Dang.
-- centauri, Dec 29 2000


So it'd take along some pieces of the rapist. You say that like its a BAD thing...
-- StarChaser, Dec 30 2000



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