"The door dilated" moments

One of the most famous clauses [1] in all of RAH's work is "The door
dilated.", from _Beyond This Horizon. What it's famous for is the amount of
implicit exposition packed into that seven-letters of verb.

I was reading WJW's _Ambassador of Progress_ a few minutes ago. It's early
in the book. So far, we've met two women whom a spaceship has dropped off
on a backward planet. We know that they're there to do a job (the title
hints at that too), but we don't know much about them. In particular, we
have no idea how technologically advanced they might be other than having
spaceflight. Then, the women's paths diverge, and this gem describes the
one we follow:

"Fiona thought her inner clothing and hood to a bright red color in hopes
of cheering herself."

1. The full sentence is: It came promptly; the door dilated and a voice
inside said, "Come in, Felix."


.

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