Benjamin Franklinstein Meets the Fright Brothers Read Online Free PDF Page A

casket hung a giant copper orb, suspended from the ceiling by heavy chains. Scott reached up to touch it.
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    THE GLASS ARMONICA

    â€œStop!” Victor yelled. “If you make contact, you’ll fry your watch and your cell phone. The charging sphere works like a battery that collects and stores electrical energy. It will suck the power out of anything.”
    â€œAnything?” Scott asked.
    â€œ Anything. You can’t just run around touching things, Scott. This laboratory is very dangerous.”
    â€œIt’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen!”
    â€œSplendid!” Franklin said, clapping his hands together. “I knew a true scientist such as yourself would appreciate this remarkable situation.”
    â€œBut you can’t tell anyone,” Victor added. “There are still unanswered questions about why Ben was awakened.”
    â€œVictor is right,” Franklin said. “As much as I would like to proclaim to the world who I truly am, I dare not. Revealing my identity might compromise our ability to respond to the Great Emergency.”
    â€œWhat’s the Great Emergency?”
    Franklin sighed. “Unfortunately, we do not yet know.”
    â€œBut the voice on the other end of the electrophone might,” Victor said. “It told us to check out news coverage of the bicycle parade.”
    â€œIt’s probably online already,” Scott said. “My dad’s station, WURP, is usually pretty quick about getting their stuff up on the Web.”

    Franklin and Scott peered over Victor’s shoulders at the glowing computer screen.
    â€œThere it is,” Scott said, pointing at the headline BICYCLE PARADE: RED, WHITE, AND AWESOME.
    Victor clicked on the link and waited for the page to load. “What could this possibly have to do with the Modern Order of Prometheus?”
    â€œThat remains to be seen,” Franklin said. “Let us keep a sharp eye.”
    A new page popped onto the screen, and Victor scanned it for any pertinent information. “It’s just an article about the parade. Nothing too unusual.”
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    WURP WEB SITE

    Scott excitedly pointed at the screen. “What about that? That stuff about giant monster bats?”
    â€œMonster bats?” Victor scoffed. “There’s no such thing. Look here: it says that both the Federal Aviation Administration and a prominent small-mammal zoologist have studied the issue. These so-called bats are just illusions caused by swamp gas. Case closed.”
    â€œSwamp gas?” Scott said. “Do we even have swamps in Philadelphia?”
    Victor rolled his eyes. “Please don’t ask silly questions.”
    â€œExcuse me, boys,” Franklin interrupted. “Can your computing machine allow us to see the lady mayor’s press conference?”
    Victor clicked on a picture of Mayor Milstead standing behind the microphone, and a video began to run. They watched the clip from beginning to end, listening carefully for clues.
    â€œIt’s the same speech we heard when we were there,” Victor said. “Nothing different.”
    Franklin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’ve noticed two unusual things. First, as you remember, they spoke unusually slowly and deliberately. Why?”
    â€œWe already talked about that,” Victor said. “They were nervous. I’d have a hard time speaking in front of a big crowd.”
    â€œVery well,” Franklin said. “But I also found it peculiar that the gentleman from the Federal Aviation Administration said precisely the same thing as the man from the zoo. Word for word. You did notice this, didn’t you, Victor?”
    â€œWell, of—of course,” Victor stammered. “How could anyone miss that?”
    â€œWouldn’t you say that is a bit unusual?”
    â€œYou know what’s unusual?” Scott said. “My grandma.”
    â€œI don’t know if them using the same