I experimented. I took away the torch: the change in mass, a slow rise, stopped. Shine the torch, and the mass crept up. And when I replaced the base, no change with or without the torch. 'Hey, Squeem,' I said slowly, 'are you thinking what I'm thinking?'
'Jones, this may be a major find.'
I watched the mass of the little flower creep up in the light of the torch. It wasn't much — about an ounce per second, to be exact — but it was there. 'Energy to mass, right? Direct conversion of the radiant energy of the beam.' And the damn thing wasn't even warm in my hand.
-Vacuum Diagrams, "The Xeelee Flower"