NIF stands for
Neural
Induction
Flechette
A much better weapon than the SHAKK (from the John Barnes books of the
Timeline Wars series). The NIF uses flechettes which home on human bodies
within the target area and thus can find their targets without being
aimed.
The gadget itself looks like a bit like a cordless electric drill, and
makes a squealing nosie when fired. The flechettes (needles no bigger
than pencil points) fly at about three miles in about half a minute. For
those three miles though, they rarely follow a straight line. Normally
the flechettes will circle the target area until they find the target
people.
When the targets are acquired and hit, the flechettes burrow into the skin
till they find a nerve -- and then they take control.
The flechettes induce signals that make the nervous system do funny
things: knock you out, give terrible pain all over the body; turn the
heart off; temporarily blind you; make you vomit, lose bowel and bladder
control, and itch all over(which is apparently very good for riot control.)
When the flechettes aren't able to acquire a target, they go into a seeking
mode: cross-cutting and patrolling a few inches off the ground for
anything at human body temperature. After expending their fuel in a few
minutes, they would glide down and burrow into the ground, and switch off
permanently (unless set to function as mines). They then start a chemical
process that will (within a day at most) turn all the tiny darts into
indistinguishable little lumps of organic matter that would fade into the
soil without much trace.
Ammo for the NIF is quite like that of the SHAKK. It takes raw materials,
extracts what is needed, and disposes of the excess.