As with any work of art, a ride was nothing without an audience. Until it had rattled down the track (and it had better rattle-too quiet was no good) with riders aboard, it was still an unproven entity. The ride-testers were there to prove that pudding.

            The team included Omega Mob's two hardcore thrill ride addicts, Do-Wop and Mahatma, as well as Tusk-anini, who had an uncanny ability to spot minor imperfections in the trackwork just by riding over it. The Gambolts, especially Rube, also proved to be good testers; if Rube made it to the end without howling, the ride was far too tame. And to lead the group, Phule chose Brandy, who kept the group focused on analyzing the ride, rather than simply enjoying it.

            It was shortly after ride-testing the Topper that Mahatma raised his hand and said, "Sarge, may I ask a question?"

            "I doubt I'll get any peace until I let you," said Brandy. "What is it this time, Mahatma?"

            "The reason we're testing out rides is to find out whether they're better than the government's rides, isn't it?"

            "Got it in one," said Brandy.

            "But Sarge, how can you compare two things when you only know one?"

            "Say what?" Brandy's face took on a particular puzzled expression that Mahatma's questions often seemed to elicit.

            "Listen, Sarge," said Mahatma. "If you want to compare apples and oranges, you have to taste an apple, and then an orange, not so?"

            "Nobody can compare apples and oranges," said Brandy, furrowing her brow. "You can't do it..."

            Mahatma interrupted her. "Then why does everyone say to me always, You're comparing apples and oranges, if I don't do it? If I do it, you can't say nobody does it."

            "Brandy, Mahatma making sense this time," said Tusk-anini.

            "I'm supposed to take your word for that?" scoffed Brandy. Tusk-anini's intellect was highly respected by the Omega Mob, but his approach to logic didn't always match the human model.

            "Listen, Brandy," said Tusk-anini. "We only test our rides. How we know if they better than other rides unless we go on other rides?"

            "Oh, I get it," said Brandy. "Well, I guess the question does make sense, after all. Except we can't go on the government's rides until they open the park. Which is a shame, come to think of it..."

            "Yo, Sarge, I got a great idea," said Do-Wop.

            "Now we're really in trouble," said Brandy, covering her eyes in mock horror. "There's probably no way I can stop you from telling me this brilliant idea, so maybe you better tell me now. But don't expect me to do anything about it, OK?"

            "Ahhh, Sarge, you ain't gonna hafts do anything about it," said Do-Wop, grinning. "Leave it to me and the guys..."

            "Right," said Brandy. "I'm not leaving anything up to you until I know the whole story. Spill it, Do-Wop. I expect I'm gonna regret this..."

            The idea was exactly what she would have expected. The only problem was, the more Do-Wop explained it, the better it sounded. Almost against her will, she found herself nodding in agreement...