Freddy explained. “At first I just made them out of my Dad’s secret potatoes and wired them so they could do a few movements. But after seeing the Spanker float I knew I needed something a lot cooler than that. So I used microchips from some old computers to hardwire their brains. I used the biggest microchip I had in the blue one. I call him Theodore. The purple one is Wally, because he’s in the shape of a waffle fry. The chip in his brain got damaged, but I figured it would still work. The yellow one is Ziggy. I gave him a very funny feature.” He pointed to the green Fry. “That’s Curly, because he’s a curlicue Fry. He can stretch twenty feet into the air, although I had some problems wiring his voice box.”

“So they can talk?” asked an amazed Howie.

“Well, that’s the general idea. The red Fry I don’t have a name for yet. I split its brain chip in half and did some special wiring to give it two different personalities. I thought it’d be kind of neat.”

Howie timidly walked over and gently touched the purple Fry’s leg.

“What are they made of?”

“That’s the best part. Like I said, I used my dad’s super secret potatoes, but I reinforced them with carbon tubes bonded together. Carbon tubing is stronger than anything else in the universe and it’s more flexible than rubber or plastic. It’s called nanotechnology. My dad worked on it when he was with the government. I also built in an electronic-based nervous system and aluminum skeletal platform.”

“Does your dad know you used his stuff?”

Freddy looked a little nervous. “Uh, I haven’t exactly told him yet. I just sort of borrowed the nanotechnology formula and added the potatoes and a few things of my own. I’m sure he won’t mind.”