When people are recruited into the Martian Army, they are taken to a medical center where an antenna is inserted into their head. These antennae are symbols of control as they are used to enforce obedience among the recruits. Anytime a person goes against orders or begins to doubt authority, the antennae deliver a short, painful electrical shock which quickly brings the person back into line. The antennae allow Rumfoord to manipulate and control the entire Martian Army, illustrating Rumfoord's ideology. By controlling them and forcing them into a doomed invasion, he is demonstrating why humans should stop trusting God as an altruistic author of their fate.

After some time spent under the control of the antennae, the people of Mars begin to crave the assurance that the antennae provide. When the control exerted by the antennae is gone—either because there is no one nearby to control the device or because the device has been removed—the characters feel a phantom presence in their thoughts which elicits a form of something close to nostalgia. They miss the antennae because the antennae removed their personal responsibility for their actions. Without the antennae, they do not need to worry about doing the right or the wrong thing.