Tony stared at the blade with an expression somewhere between a child's greedy fascination and a deep fear, because it could cut through anything, and Tony was a man obsessed with being safe, protected, wrapped up away from harm. He wanted to reverse engineer the thing. He was sure he should never be allowed to.

"Okay," he admitted, "I'm impressed now."

He reached a hand closer. The temperature was low, and the hair on his arm wasn't being raised.

"Holy Christ. The positive ions and free electrons are in practically perfect balance. It has no electric charge. Perfect collective behavior. You can hold the thing in your hand? Respect. Please turn it off now."