Grown only on Salma Secundus and III Delta Kaismg, the Shiga Vine (Narvi narviium) is widespread on both planets, and gains its advantage in the ecological battle on those sere worlds by its production of metallic crystals of incredible tensile strength The crystals range in diameter from monomo-lecular to one tenth of a millimeter, depending upon the base metal and any impurities in the mix, and have been found to grow up to a kilometer m length from very old, established vines Shigawire has numerous uses, including sabotage, assassination, and mayhem (the monomolecular shigawire being especially prized for these uses), but the most common uses take advantage of the fact that not only is shigawire extremely compact and strong, but it is also metallic and able to hold an electrical charge The crystalline structure of SIAYNOQ 458 the wire leads to an extremely stable environment for recorded information so that spools of shigawire ("filmbooks") had a considerable popularity among early space-travelers when space and mass were strictly rationed Some of die earliest filmbooks were made from artificial shigawire, before the discovery of Sal usa Secundus and III Delta Kaising The popularity of filmbooks continues to the present day, but more as a result of the con vemence of filmbooks than because of their low