Probes are symbols of illegal drugs in this novel. While at first probes are not presented as being harmful—and in fact seem to be a substitute for television, movies, or video games as a harmless pastime in the Urb—the detrimental effects of probing and the abuse of mindprobes progresses with the narrative. Through characters such as Mongo the Magnificent, the reader sees probes literally eating away at the former latchboss; he has lost his sight, hair, teeth, and appetite due to looping in a probe, much as someone addicted to heroin or other illegal substances might find themselves caught up in a cyclical lifestyle that wastes away at their physical and mental wellbeing. As the narrative progresses, it is also made apparent that probes are being manufactured in Eden and handed out to the masses in the Urb to keep them complacent. There is also the possibility of an underlying destructive intent as some people of Eden may wish to wipe out the normals from the Urb altogether. In latches where using probes is banished or controlled, law and order can be seen to prevail, despite widespread poverty. It is no coincidence that probing has been forbidden in Eden, the very same place where it is manufactured.