Spyballs
In the modern era you'll find spyballs EVERYWHERE. By using these floating faer a person can record pictures of their surroundings and channel them to the intermesh. They can also take pictures of themselves - something they don't need telling if the surplus of selfies is anything to go by.
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| Spyballs by Zuza Gruzlewska |
When people first began employing these faer, each one was a giant sphere the size of an elephant that required several people to wrangle. Over time, the faer got smaller and less expensive to employ, and most citizens now own their own (if not several).
It's not just people employing these floating see-spheres, either. Governments and private businesses like having a good, old snoop at what's going on, so many public places have several swimming around. As a result of there being so many, crowded metropolises have a constant, wet, slipping noise in the background - the sound of spyballs blinking en masse.
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Types of Spyball
Several varieties of spyball exist - all of which do different things. Those of note include:
Cat Eyes
These allow those recording to deploy the cattiest of night vision. They also get used for security purposes as some 90% of burglaries occur at night (this number is reversed for owl-nappings, as it's easier to catch them while they're asleep).
Classic Peepers
The most popular spyballs. Great for capturing images that look like what you expect things to look like.
Demon Spheres
You need a special license to operate these. Primarily they exist to detect the presence of infernal entities, although they can also be used to freak out household pets.
Fish Eyes
Give everything they see a spherised look. Primarily used by teenage pictographers and people who dabble with extreme sports.
Goat Eyes
Allow you to see the world as a goat does - a sight which has led to more than one nervous breakdown.
Some other types include:
- Constabulary Eyes: Generally obvious because they have little sirens on top. Will often be accompanied by the flying mouths that constables use to shout at rogue pedestrians.
- Mesh Peepers: These tiny spyballs record people while they're on the intermesh - sometimes without permission. You can tell when they're on because their pupils glow red. The smarter browsers will often cover them up with a bit of tape or an unused codpiece.
- Pro-Balls: The spyballs used to record big-budget quests tend to come bigger and more expensive. Those which work for news channels will have their station's logo emblazoned on their side.
- Security Orbs: Designed to keep an eye on private premises, these ones will sometimes have little spikes on them.
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Creation Notes
Spyballs pop up in all of the Tumultiverse books I've written so far (they quite literally 'pop' in a couple of them). Obviously they exist as a parallel with cameras - those things which became so ubiquitous that you forget they're even there. Do you know how many cameras are watching you right now?
I do.
No - I'm only joking. Unless of course you're the actor Mads Mikkelsen, in which case it's 14 (9 of which I can guarantee you'll never find, Mads).
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