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/ "Good afternoon, madam. How may I help you?"                                    \
|                                                                                 |
| "Good afternoon. I'd like a FrintArms HandCannon, please."                      |
|                                                                                 |
| "A--? Oh, now, that's an awfully big gun for such a lovely lady. I mean, not    |
| everybody thinks ladies should carry guns at all, though I say they have a      |
| right to. But I think... I might... Let's have a look down here. I might have   |
| just the thing for you. Yes, here we are! Look at that, isn't it neat? Now that |
| is a FrintArms product as well, but it's what's called a laser -- a             |
| light-pistol some people call them. Very small, as you see; fits easily into a  |
| pocket or bag; won't spoil the line of a jacket; and you won't feel you're      |
| lugging half a tonne of iron around with you. We do a range of matching         |
| accessories, including -- if I may say so -- a rather saucy garter holster.     |
| Wish I got to do the fitting for that! Ha -- just my little joke. And there's   |
| *even*... here we are -- this special presentation pack: gun, charged battery,  |
| charging unit, beautiful glider-hide shoulder holster with adjustable fitting   |
| and contrast stitching, and a discount on your next battery. Full instructions, |
| of course, and a voucher for free lessons at your local gun club or range. Or   |
| there's the *special* presentation pack; it has all the other one's got but     |
| with *two* charged batteries and a night-sight, too. Here, feel that -- don't   |
| worry, it's a dummy battery -- isn't it neat? Feel how light it is? Smooth,     |
| see? No bits to stick out and catch on your clothes, *and* beautifully          |
| balanced. And of course the beauty of a laser is, there's no recoil. Because    |
| it's shooting light, you see? Beautiful gun, beautiful gun; my wife has one.    |
| Really. That's not a line, she really has. Now, I can do you that one -- with a |
| battery and a free charge -- for ninety-five; or the presentation pack on a     |
| special offer for one-nineteen; or this, the special presentation pack, for     |
| one-forty-nine."                                                                |
|                                                                                 |
| "I'll take the special."                                                        |
|                                                                                 |
| "Sound choice, madam, *sound* choice. Now, do--?"                               |
|                                                                                 |
| "And a HandCannon, with the eighty-mill silencer, five GP clips, three six-five |
| AP/wire-fl'echettes clips, two bipropellant HE clips, and a Special Projectile   |
| Pack if you have one -- the one with the embedding rounds, not the signalers. I |
| assume the night-sight on this toy is compatible?"                              |
|                                                                                 |
| "Aah... yes, And how does madam wish to pay?"                                   |
|                                                                                 |
| She slapped her credit card on the counter. "Eventually."                       |
|                                                                                 |
\ -- Iain M. Banks, "Against a Dark Background"                                   /
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