The Device
"All right," Perry relented. "But just the one."
"Yes!" Seth said and reached immediately with two fingers to pluck a single grub from the writhing mass trapped within the jar.
"No!" Mark screamed wordlessly as he saw the giant fingers drop to grab him from the jar. He needed freedom, but not at the expense of being fed to his own pet. "No! No! No!"
Seth's fingers pinned a neighboring grub, much to the transformed scientist's relief. He tried to calm himself after being spared, but as he watched the drama unfold outside the jar, he couldn't help but sympathetically feel terror for his unsuspecting brethren.
With a free hand, Seth unlatched the lid on the enclosure holding the pet frog of Perry's uncle. "Here you go," he said. "A nice snack."
He dropped the grub, and the well-trained frog, conditioned to expect food every time the lid lifted, shot out its sticky tongue and whipped the grub into its mouth. Across the room, able to dimly witness the incident, the transformed scientist groaned from fear. Would he eventually share the same fate?
"He seemed hungry," Seth said, grinning widely. "Maybe we should give him another."
"Yes!" Seth said and reached immediately with two fingers to pluck a single grub from the writhing mass trapped within the jar.
"No!" Mark screamed wordlessly as he saw the giant fingers drop to grab him from the jar. He needed freedom, but not at the expense of being fed to his own pet. "No! No! No!"
Seth's fingers pinned a neighboring grub, much to the transformed scientist's relief. He tried to calm himself after being spared, but as he watched the drama unfold outside the jar, he couldn't help but sympathetically feel terror for his unsuspecting brethren.
With a free hand, Seth unlatched the lid on the enclosure holding the pet frog of Perry's uncle. "Here you go," he said. "A nice snack."
He dropped the grub, and the well-trained frog, conditioned to expect food every time the lid lifted, shot out its sticky tongue and whipped the grub into its mouth. Across the room, able to dimly witness the incident, the transformed scientist groaned from fear. Would he eventually share the same fate?
"He seemed hungry," Seth said, grinning widely. "Maybe we should give him another."