17 A Weapon of Mass Affection

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN A WEAPON OF MASS AFFECTION Franny wasted no time dismantling the Doomsday Device. "That might have been the worst thing I ever made," she said. Then she turned her attention to the TV she had built for Igor. "And this might be the second worst."

Igor jumped in front of the TV. He knew Franny was about to smash it to bits. "Stand aside, Igor. This thing has to go," she said, and she began selecting an appropriate smasher from her collection. Igor knew begging wouldn't help. Then he noticed the remote control. Franny chose a weighty battle-ax that had been useful in the past when other experiments had gone badly and had

required swift disassembly. Igor frantically clicked through the channels. Franny raised the battle-ax. Igor kept switching, kept switching, kept switching until finally...

Franny froze in mid-swing. It was a science show about spiders. The narrator said, "A single black widow spider can have more than twenty-five hundred babies a year." "Awww! Wook at the widdle babies," she gushed, dropping the ax and settling into Igor's chair.

Igor smiled broadly and cuddled up next to her. "I know what you're thinking, Igor," she said. "You're thinking that shows like this will persuade me to keep the TV." Igor smiled and nodded.

"Well let me think. It's true that the TV caused a lot of trouble, but I guess I was the one who made the Doomsday Device in the first place and without the television, we would've been blown to bits."