human
It works by electricity,
gpt
That is, the force comes from a powerful current of stored electricity.
human
Oh, then you have storage batteries in the stock?
gpt
Not exactly. There are no batteries, but the current is a sort of wireless kind. It is stored in a cylinder, just as compressed air or gases are stored, and can be released as I need it.
human
And when it's all gone, what do you do?
gpt
Make more power by means of a small dynamo.
human
And does it shoot lead bullets?
gpt
Not at all. There are no bullets used.
human
Then how does it kill?
gpt
By means of a concentrated charge of electricity which is shot from the barrel with great force. You can't see it, yet it is there. It's just as if you concentrated a charge of electricity of five thousand volts into a small globule the size of a bullet. That flies through space, strikes the object aimed at and--well, we'll see what it does in a minute. Mr. Jackson, just put that steel plate up in front of the scarecrow; will you?
human
You don't mean to say you're going to shoot through that, do you?
gpt
Surely. The electric bullets will pierce anything. They'll go through a brick wall as easily as the x-rays do. That's one valuable feature of my rifle. You don't have to see the object you aim at. In fact you can fire through a house, and kill something on the other side.
human
I should think that would be dangerous.
gpt
It would be, only I can calculate exactly, by means of an automatic arrangement, just how far the charge of electricity will go. It stops short just at the limit of the range, and is not effective beyond that. Otherwise, if I did not limit it and if I fired at the scarecrow, through the piece of steel, and the bullet hit the figure, it would go on, passing through whatever else was in the way, until its power was lost. I use the term 'bullet,' though as I said, it isn't properly one.
human
By Jove, Tom, it certainly is a dangerous weapon!
gpt
Yes, the range-limit idea is a new one. That's what I've been working on lately. There are other features of the gun which I'll explain later, particularly the power it has to shoot out luminous bars of light. But now we'll see what it will do to the image.