_ | ## Equipment: Sonic Knife

(Adapted from Larry Niven's Ringworld RPG - © Chaosium)

TL: 14
LL: 9+
Cost: 300 cr.
To use: Easy Dex+Mechanics Task

This device is similar to an slightly oversized pen, with a thin cable connecting one of the extremities to a small power battery, usually worn on the belt or strapped to a limb of the user.
The unit must be held pressed against the surface you want to cut. It can be used in vacuum, under water or in exotic atmospheres and generates an amazingly low heating effect in the cut material. It is also fairly quiet, generating only an almost inaudible buzz. The power pack weights 1 kg and allows 30 min. (360 rounds) of continuous operation.
The knife can cut through most materials commonly used in the industry. The cutting speed varies according the user's strength and the material toughness, as shown in the table below.
Starting at TL14 you can easily obtain special plastics which, besides being easily cut by the sonic knife, can be seamlessly weld together using the same tool. They are available in various forms (panels, cables, rug-like rolls, fabrics, boxes and assorted containers) and are extensively used in different industries.
The tool acts as a sort of combination drill/saw/shears and works best along previous welds and joints. Thanks to his shape, you can use a ruler or any other straight object to guide the knife action. It's mainly designed for precision work, lacking the power to cut stronger stuff. It is less dangerous than a laser cutter, but it can be used to cut trough doors, for example, so high law level worlds (especially low TL ones) would prefer to restrict ownership of this devices.
The following values for material strengths are CSV-based. If you prefer FF&S2 you will have to adjust numbers a little :

Material | TL | Thickness (cm.) | Time (turns)
Heavy Wood | 1 | 1.00 | 1
|  | 8.00 | 2
|  | 28.00 | 3
Stone | 1 | 0.12 | 2
|  | 3.50 | 4
|  | 12.00 | 6
Soft Steel | 3 | 0.01 | 8
|  | 0.12 | 16
|  | 0.35 | 24
Hard Steel | 5 | 0.01 | 8
|  | 0.03 | 16
|  | 0.12 | 24
Light Alloy | 6 | 0.03 | 3
|  | 0.34 | 6
|  | 1.00 | 9
Fiber Laminate | 6 | 0.12 | 1
|  | 1.00 | 2
|  | 3.50 | 3
Ligh Composite | 7 | 0.01 | 7
|  | 0.03 | 14
|  | 0.12 | 21
Comp. Laminate | 8 | 0.01 | 7
|  | 0.03 | 14
|  | 0.06 | 21
Crystaliron | A | 0.03 | 30
StructureComp | B | 0.03 | 1
|  | 0.34 | 2
|  | 1.00 | 3

Notes on the table:

Material and TL.
  Name of the material and TL at which is introduced. For plastics use either Wood or Stone.
Thickness.
  For the various materials the three given thickness represent a Rigid Armor value of 1, 2 and 3, except for Crystalliron, which has AV 3 at the listed thickness. The Sonic Knife can't be used with stronger stuff.
Time.
  Time required to make a STR cm. cut in a slab of the given thickness, given in 5-sec turns. For example, an A STR individual can cut 10 cm of a .12 soft steel panel in 16 turns (80 seconds).
  Lighter objects (fabric, thin cables and any stuff with no appreciable armor value) can be cut at 100xSTR cm/turn.

Players being players, they will try to use the sonic knife as a weapon. The tool contains microsensors which cut off power when pressed against something which it recognizes as flesh or other organic compounds (you can use it to cut leather, for example, but not for beef). Most models can be set to switch off when pressed against Vacc suits, too.
Players being players, they will soon ask to deactivate the safety circuits [[Difficult Electronics+Int task. Failure will break the tool]. The vibrating effect is not really designed for soft, living tissue, though. The sonic knife will damage tissues (resulting in bruising first, then a bloody pulp) at a rate of 1D6/Round.

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