Dissociation tool, quark-level

A spell normally used as an offensive weapon.

The purpose of the dissociation tool (sometimes also called a dissociator, though this usage is casual and can lead to confusion with other similar spells such as the low-level matter dissociator) is to destroy¹ physical matter very, very thoroughly. It does this by abolishing not only the atomic strong force inside the spell's loci of operation -- so that all the atoms affected come apart into their component electrons, neutrons and protons -- but also by destroying both the remaining strong-force associated gluons, and any "force carrier" particles such bosons which remain within the spell locus after the strong force is abolished. The destruction of these particles prevents the dissociated matter from being reconstituted afterwards. As might be expected, a great deal of energy is released from the dissociated matter during this routine, so easily seventy percent of the dissociation spell is devoted to channeling away the released energy so that it won't blow up the wizard using the routine (along with everything else for many miles/kilometers around).

The quark-level dissociation tool is a lethal-force weapon when used against physically constituted life forms. It is less effective against energy-based life forms and supranormally constituted forms such as the Powers That Be. It can be used against the Lone Power with temporary effect: since the Lone One has to be physically present to function inside or affect a physical universe, dissolving Its present physical form into its constituent quarks is usually a good way to buy a few moments to think of something more effective to do. (And a smart wizard would have been thinking about this a lot earlier.) In AWAL, Kit is ready to use a dissociation on the Lone Power during his investigation of Darryl McAllister's unnaturally prolonged Ordeal, but then the circumstances of the situation change abruptly.

The dissociation tool has also been considered a really effective way to avoid having to take out the garbage. Unfortunately, the dissociation spell costs enough energy that taking out the trash would probably be less trouble...and also, because dissociations can be hard to fine-tune, one would very likely destroy a whole lot of garbage cans while getting the hang of it.

(There are species who use the dissociation routine as a very clunky propulsion method, similar to using atomic explosives for the same purpose. Mostly they stop wasting their time this way as soon as they invent some kind of hyperdrive, or master worldgating.) (AWAL)

(See also: Dissociator, low-level; Dissociator, laser.)

¹ Obviously (in the normal course of things) matter inside a given universe can be neither truly destroyed nor created. But it's possible to derange, denature or mess up matter so thoroughly that for all intents and purposes it's been destroyed. Example: if the sandwich you were about to eat has had a quark-level dissociation tool used on it, the difference between its present state and genuinely having been destroyed won't matter much to you. You won't be able to eat the sandwich. (Or if you are able to eat it, and you're human, then your taste for white-hot plasma really needs to be investigated by a professional.)