Currently in vogue as a means of destroying items (as in the case of Demolition_Order_#32A/74-43491), the Galvanic Accelerant Dip has both a long history and varied usage. The problem is that very few people outside of the more technically-inclined service groups (R&D, Tech, and Power) really understand just what it is. It sounds impressive and extremely dangerous (both true) and more than a little frightening if one thinks about the phrase as something being done to them personally (also true), and most citizens leave it at that and assume its a horrible thing and suitable mainly for hurting or terminating people or objects.
Yet it is so much more. Take the phrase apart. "Galvanic" means having to do with electricity, particularly when chemically produced, as in the earliest batteries. "Accelerant", obviously, means something that speeds up something else, in this case the aforementioned galvanism. "Dip" clearly indicates that the process involves submersion in some more-or-less liquid substance. So, what we're talking about it is some sort of fluidy substance which, when other things are dipped into it, leads to a rapid increase in the chemical creation of electricity. Simple enough, but from such a humble concept, greatness emerges.
The Galvanic Accelerant Dip was invented in the 42nd Year of the Computer (according to the Gatzmann_Archives) as an experiment in increasing the production of components so vital to the rapid expansion of the Complex at that time. The goal was to produce a substance which would not only increase the conductivity of a given material, but would allow almost anything to be used (if somewhat temporarily) as a source of power. After several iterations, perfection was finally achieved with Galvanic Accelerant Compound K (GACK). A half-hour bath in this substance would render most ordinary metals superconductive, although they would tend to break down into component atoms after about a year. As this allowed for cheaply-produced materials to substitute for difficult-to-manufacture ordinary superconductors, the tradeoff in annual maintenance was considered worthwhile. Many of the developments we now take for granted, such as many of the bot models in use today, were originally made possible by the GAD process. Even now, when ordinary superconductor production is comparatively cheap, GACK is still used to produce inexpensive components for use in planned-obsolesence products and R&D experimental devices. Rumors that higher-than-average failure rates for experimental equipment can be attributed to the breakdown of recycled GAD-produced components are strongly denied.
Of course, eventually, an enterprising IntSec agent working undercover in R&D had the bright idea to find out what happens when an organic, living substance (such as a treasonous coworker) is immersed in GACK. Extensive testing determined that the sensation of your own body breaking itself down in an electricity-producing chemical meltdown is "unbelievably painful" and "AAAAAARARARARRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGgggg(blurble)". Since this discovery, GAD has been used extensively to extract confessions from particularly recalcitrant traitors.
There is, unfortunately, a downside to GACK and the GAD process. GACK, by its very nature, is extremely difficult to store, especially in the long term, converting even LeadLike containers to superconductors. Current procedures require it to be stored in magnetic suspension inside a nonreactive glass container. Because of the extraordinary danger presented by a containment failure, very few sectors have GACK storage and GAD facilities, and these are heavily guarded. It seems likely that at least some rumors of Phantom_Sectors are due to insufficient brainscrubbing of surviving citizens after a containment failure has first electrified and then dissolved an entire sector (as occurred three years ago in WOW sector).
Due to the recent rollout of Superconductive_Solution_SIGMA, which is now being used for most production GACK has traditionally been suited (notably, in the Easter_Bunny_Device and, unfortunately, in replacement components for Nuclear_Facility_RON-372/B), GAD is being phased out of use, except as a disposal method and means of interrogation. Rumors that recent discoveries indicate its substitution for Beta-Toxsystene in a batch of Toothpasty_Supplement_#5, and its subsequent role in the Toothpaste_Disaster, remain unconfirmed at this time. Perhaps one of my colleagues in a production-related service group could confirm or deny this?
Refs: Beta-Toxsystene, Demolition_Order_#32A/74-43491, Easter_Bunny_Device, Nuclear_Facility_RON-372/B, Phantom_Sectors, Superconductive_Solution_SIGMA, Toothpaste_Disaster, Toothpasty_Supplement_#5
-- Servs-U-RIT-7
Commentary:
I'm surprised you've not made mention of the connection between the Galvanic Accelerant and Project_Infinite_Hole. Clearly this was just a small oversight, and not anything that an investigative committee would determine was a deliberate attempt to hide relevant information from this panel, correct?
--- Watt
Again with the innuendoes, Watt-U. No, this was neither an oversight nor an attempt to hide anything. As you well know, I am preparing the report on Project_Infinite_Hole, and rather than clutter this entry up further with a tangental piece of information, I considered it better to discuss GAD involvement in that situation in that report. When are you going to grasp that PIH was not a Power project, that I was a GREEN middle-manager at the time, and that I'm just writing the report for this commission? Your extraordinary attempts to fabricate a more significant connection astound me, and force me to file a DebateIsFutileResolutionForm.
-- Servs-U