Whoever has the amulet in their possession can 1) cause great pain by pointing at another living creature, 2) cause time to go into slow motion by saying the word "Zotz!", or 3) cause instant death by simultaneously pointing and saying "Zotz!". Both government and Communist agents immediately develop an interest in the amulet's possible military use. (This is a metaphor for the age of nuclear weapons, as the novel was written two years after atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).