MT Mae Thompson
[Wayne shows the Thompsons the shrunken furniture]
Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?
D Diane
Well, up until now, the machine just... blew things up.
MT Mae Thompson
Are you saying that that machine...?
RR Russell 'Russ' Thompson, Sr.
Blew up my kids?
Wayne & Diane No, no!
Wayne No, if the machine had blown up the kids, there'd be pieces of them everywhere...
Wayne Sorry, but I'm positive about this. The machine shrunk our kids.
RR Russell 'Russ' Thompson, Sr.
You're the one who needs a "shrink", Szalinski! You are a nutcase. And I'll tell you something: I have got an air hammer in my attic, and if you did do something to my kids, there's gonna be pieces of you all over the neighborhood! Come on, Mae!
Wayne [Russ Sr. storms out of the house, taking Mae with him]
I think that went well.
D Diane
I think we should have them over more often.
[Amy Szalinski is watching the Thompson boys that sunny Saturday morning. She studies them, mostly Little Russ, from the kitchen window of the rundown Szalinski house next door to the Thompson house] [Amy sighs heavily. Like Little Russ, she is fifteen. But she is tall, rather than short like Russ. And she wears glasses. Russ just doesn't seem to notice her. She sighs again and returns to making breakfast for the rest of her family] [Amy's mother has had an argument with Amy's father the night before, and her mother has spent the night at Amy's grandmother's house. Amy is filling in for her mum as best she can] [But cooking isn't one of Amy's strong suits] [She picks up the bowl of eggs she has just done beating and looks down at her nine-year-old brother, Nick. He is seated across the table, reading a science fiction paperback, as usual. Amy puts some bread into the toaster near Nick]
Watch the toast for me, Nick.
Sure. [The book he is absorbed in that morning is called "Peace Feelers and Other Stories". Amy notices that Nick's current book has the sort of weird creature-cover Nick seems to prefer in his light reading. Nick is small and thin, and seems to be allergic to everything. He is not much help around the house]
[Amy walks to the sink and runs cold water into the bowl of eggs. Then she crosses the kitchen to the stove and pours the mixture of eggs and water into a waiting frying pan. She turns the flame down to low heat. Nick lays his book down and walks over to the stove. On his tiptoes, he peers into the pan]
Mum never made scrambled eggs that looked like that.
Where do you think she's coming back?
I don't know. Perhaps never....
I hope she comes back soon.
Then how come it's smoking?
[Nick strolls back to the table and sits down]
It's hot? [He bursts the toaster handle. Two smoking black squares rise slowly into view]
[Amy walks to the table holding the frying pan and scrapes some of its contents onto the plate in front of Nick]
A straight-A student, but you can't make toast.
I want to be a scientist like Dad. Not a cook!
Wayne [At that moment, Wayne Szalinski, physicist, is tinkering with his latest invention in his attic "laboratory". Amy and Nick's dad wears one red sock and one yellow, with rumpled clothing above. He chatters merrily to Quark, the family terrier, about his "electromagnetic pulse invention"] [It looks like a very big amateur radio station] [Puzzled, Quark listens to Mr. Szalinski. Quark has been named after a mysterious subatomic particle]
This is it, Quark. A red-letter day. [He flicks a switch. The machine begins to hum. Quark retires toward the door] A common laser device, you say? [Quark's ears flop up] Wrong, Quark. It's an amazing electromagnetic pulse device. If this honey works and my calculations are correct, its computer scanners will home in on a solid object, analyze and isolate its molecular structure, and then reduce the space between its electrons. You know what that means, don't you?
Wayne [Quark just stares at his master]
It will actually shrink the object. It will be a real boon to the space program and other scientific work.
Wayne [Quark's yawn echoes. Wayne takes an apple from a paper bag on the couch. Quark barks and wags his tail. Perhaps it is snack time. Quark carefully approaches the strange equipment. To Quark's disappointment, his master walks over to a large steel plate and places the apple on a pedestal in front of the plate] [Quark heads to the door] [Mr. Szalinski puts on a set of safety goggles. He walks across the attic to Quark's place among the door and absently puts another set of goggles on the dog. The scientist walks back across the attic to his strange machine]
The only problem is that I haven't gotten this nonsense to work yet. But I'm close, Quark. I'm very, very close.
Wayne [Mr. Szalinski activates his double-beamed machine. The beams crackle in the air. They join to form a powerful single beam which is focused on the apple. A shimmer of light shines around the apple. It begins to vibrate in the frown] [Suddenly, the apple explodes in a powerful spray of warm applesauce] [Dejectedly, Mr. Szalinski flicks off the machine. Its beams die and its vibrations wind down. The scientist strips off his goggles and flops onto the couch]
A bummer, Quark. [Quark trots over and jumps up onto the couch. He begins to lick the applesauce off his master's face. Mr. Szalinski scribbles something on a large mound of notes stacked on the couch next to him]
Wayne [The scientist brightens and looks up from his notes. He says to Quark with a grin]
On the plus side, we have discovered a very expensive fashion to make applesauce!
