The Projac

The projac has always been a popular piece of personal armament. They can be divided in 3 categories: light - only delivering a stun, normal - delivering either a stun or a fatal discharge and the army strength, capable of firing accurately from a long range of up to 200 meters. Arguably there's a forth: the special purpose projac.

The first projac was built by Smith & Wesson in Massachusetts, Earth. It was roughly the size of a rather large handgun and was capable of delivering a fatal discharge for up to 7 meters. After that the discharge quickly lost potency and would merely stun the target. The projac was armed by a pack containing special charges and Smith & Wesson sold separate packs ranging from 6 up to 16 charges.

The first batches of projacs were known to be rather unreliable and given their limited range made it a less desirable weapon. Smith & Wesson came close to abandoning the project when the NYPD showed interest in the new weapon. With funding from the government (probably the army), Smith & Wesson improved the first model: the reliability was hugely improved and the effective range went up to 50 meters. The NYPD was the first official entity to carry the projac as a primary weapon and abandoned the traditional handgun.

After the first projac by Smith & Wesson, more companies entered the marketplace, delivering innovative improvements. Like the projac from Tokai Industries, which only operates upon recognition of a pre-programmed bio signature, or the miniature projac from Feritse which can be integrated into a personal ornament like a ring, ear piece or a watch and delivers a powerful stun charge incapacitating the target for well over an hour.

Projacs can be purchased anywhere throughout the Oikumene, although carrying them requires a permit in most worlds of the Oikumene. Carrying an unlicensed projac can be subject to fines of up to 2.500 SVU's and sometimes a jail sentence.