Nobody knew how the stories of the poison pills got started. Most people had heard them; most people even believed them. The press and public certainly did; even some at the Agency did. A new person would show up for his first day on the job at NASA, meet his first crewman, and as soon as he got back to his desk would turn to the guy sitting next to him and want to know: Have you heard of the poison pills?
Stories about the poison pills always made Jim Lovell laugh. Poison pills! Forget about it! There just weren't any situations in which you'd really consider making, well, an early exit. And even if there were, you had lots of easier ways to do it than poison pills. The command module did have a crank for the cabin vent, after all. One turn of the handle and the 5 pounds per square inch of cozy capsule pressure would instantly be exposed to zero pounds per square inch of nasty space pressure. As the atmosphere inside rushed out and the vacuum outside rushed in, whatever air was left in your lungs would explode out in an angry rush, your blood would instantly - and literally - boil, your brain and body tissues would scream for oxygen, and your traumatized system would simply shut up shop. The whole thing would be over in a few seconds. It was no slower, really, than some ridiculous poison pill, and it was a hell of a lot more respectable.
Stories about the poison pills always made Jim Lovell laugh. Poison pills! Forget about it! There just weren't any situations in which you'd really consider making, well, an early exit. And even if there were, you had lots of easier ways to do it than poison pills. The command module did have a crank for the cabin vent, after all. One turn of the handle and the 5 pounds per square inch of cozy capsule pressure would instantly be exposed to zero pounds per square inch of nasty space pressure. As the atmosphere inside rushed out and the vacuum outside rushed in, whatever air was left in your lungs would explode out in an angry rush, your blood would instantly - and literally - boil, your brain and body tissues would scream for oxygen, and your traumatized system would simply shut up shop. The whole thing would be over in a few seconds. It was no slower, really, than some ridiculous poison pill, and it was a hell of a lot more respectable.
— Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffery Kluger, page 1
Diamanda: Clip minion, swallow your cyanide suicide tooth!
Clip Minion: I'm sorry Mistress, I've forgotten which one it is!
Diamanda: Then get imaginative.
Clip Minion: [punches herself] Ow! Wrong tooth! [punches herself] Ow! Wrong! [punches herself] Right! [dies]
BoJack: Have you got your tool kit?
Todd: Check.
BoJack: Burner phone?
Todd: Check.
BoJack: Cyanide pill?
Todd: Check. Wait, why do I need––
BoJack: Okay, let's get started.
—BoJack Horseman, "Horse Majeure"
Red Line Soldier #1: There is a black capsule in my ammo pouch... what is that, an antibiotic?
Red Line Soldier #2: No- it's cyanide, in case the enemy captures you.
Red Line Soldier #1: What?! But... God forbids suicide! I'd go straight to Hell!
Red Line Soldier #2: Listen, altar boy- a Nazi prisoner is going to Hell anyway. Trust me- the pill is faster.
Red Line Soldier #1: I could never take my own life!
Red Line Soldier #2: Then, give me your pill. I'd rather take two than rot in one of their stalags.
—-Metro 2033, Armory
I was standing under this picture the day when Lazlé put a pill in his mouth before we could get to him. That was all right: he was finished and knew it and did the sensible thing and at least he died in civilized surroundings instead of where they would have put him if we’d thrown him back over the frontier. But he was on the floor and already turning green when Parkis told us to “take it away and get it buried.” We didn’t like that either: it was said for effect.
— The Striker Portfolio by Adam Hall
Lucy: Listen, I don't know who you are or how you know the things that you do, but you are going to get across that wasteland. And we're gonna do it together. Okay? That's a promise.
Dr. Wilzig: No, you see, I've just taken a cyanide pill.
Lucy: What?
Dr. Wilzig: Vault-Tec Plan D. It was the most humane product that Vault-Tec ever made. It was quick, painless. T-Tasted like banana. I... I was surprised it wasn't more popular.
Dr. Wilzig: No, you see, I've just taken a cyanide pill.
Lucy: What?
Dr. Wilzig: Vault-Tec Plan D. It was the most humane product that Vault-Tec ever made. It was quick, painless. T-Tasted like banana. I... I was surprised it wasn't more popular.
