Although the Missionaria Protectiva supposedly had been disbanded during the Imperi-um of Leto n, compelling evidence indicates PARACOMPASS 420 PARACOMFASS that the Panoplia Propheticus collection in the Benc Gessent Archives is stilt open to the Sisterhood and active I A C Further references BENE GESSEMT entries MISSIONARY PROTECTIVA Panoplia ?rophettcvs vol I HI (available only through application to the B G Sisterhood R M MarceUus Jrufan Moiam A Survey of Ancient Bene Gessent Cultural Maintenance Tbsis Archives Quarterly Review 14 26 53 R M Cassms [da Tieac * New Views of an Old System Archives Quarterly Review 15 199253 RM CI Treac and Ahna Judehic, The Roots of Tomorrow (Wallach Soror), Pyer Bnizvair, ed , Samma of Ancient Belief and Practice (Bok-htff Collegium Tanio) PARACOMPASS. Direction-finding device of Zensunni ongm adapted for use on Arrakis The paracompass is a plastic cylinder from 5 to 7 cm in diameter and 5 to 7 mm thick The clear exterior case can be separated to expose the dial face, the powerpack and the reset mechanism The fiat, calibrated dial is mounted above the powerpack, which uses its parabtchlorotolene (para-B) crystals to filter and amplify minute magnetic fields The reset mechanism a used to "lock on" the chosen force The paracompass is an adaptation of ancient direction-finding devices Sources in the Rakis Hoard, cross-referenced through die Gmkt Libraries, trace its origin to Harmonthep, whose magnetic field was notoriously ' 'random " There the Zensunm manufactured the first crude paracompass, a liquid-fitted, heavy, and awkward instrument The design evolved as the Zensunm moved, until the magnetic characteristics of Arrakis, coupled with the static disruptions caused by onolis storms, fostered the precise simplicity demonstrated m paracompass examples recovered from sietch sites on Rakis Working examples of the paracompass show almost no deterioration of the melange-based plastic casing When the casing has been broken and die powerpack exposed, the para B has degenerated into a large volume of punucekke material As anticipated, the chemical combination of para-B with moisture and small traces of spice creates a fast-expanding and quick-stabilizing foam Powerpacks used para-B crystals as the ring-shaped core of a special conductive coil made up of discs separated by insulators The crystals are earned through the drilled centers of the discs The characteristic stable ion properties of the crystals allow them to detect magnetic fields They respond by gen erating electronic impulses which are trans ferred to the conductive disc around the active area and then sent \ia microconnectors to the mimcoils that wrap the connectors These coils cause the dial face to rotate, giving a direction setting The dial is calibrated in standard radian increments The 0 2 radian mark is polanzed to be attracted by the mimcoils The reset system is ingeniously simple It lets the user select the magnetic pull that is to be the reference point, and then read directions relative to that source The reset button, when depressed seats m one of the notches that surround the rotating powerpack The dial can still rotate freely relative to the powerpack When the dial is properly lined up with a known magnetic "pull, the user releases the reset button so that the powerpack and dial will rotate together from then on The powerpack s crystals remain sensi tized to the alignment of forces at the mo ment the powerpack is released to rotate The level of intensity produced by a particu lar "pulF remains embedded m the crystalline ' memory" until the paracompass is reset the next time If the user had set his compass to the magnetic "pull source he had intended, he could count on reading accurate relative directions from his para compass until the next time it was reset The Fremen used their paracompasses to maintain their hearings in spite of sand storms and dune shifts Children were trained in compass use from an early age, and learned the relative positions of various magnetic sources because their survival would often depend on their accuracy with the instrument The Kitab al Ibar's tag, 'Know always that which pulls you, a human led blindly is easily led astray,' is testimony to the importance of the "pull Everyone who could walk the sand possessed and mastered the paracompass Outline knowledge of major magnetic sources, and even a rough calibration of their absolute strengths, was available on some of the sinkcharts published in villages In spite of some drifting since the Imperial 421 PROCES VERBAL era, the references remain approximately accurate Extant working models of the paracompass have been tested and found to work faultlessly J L G Further references.