I really don’t understand what’s supposed to be so great about diagonal reading (also called skim reading or speed reading) – some people claim they can read a lot faster that way, but I find diagonal text plainly irritating. ._.
Still, the Professor swears by it, and apparently it comes in quite handy in situations like these. Yes, unlike the Sheriff the Professor actually does read the manual – even in cases like this one, where he actually wrote the manual himself. But he hasn’t used the device in a long while, so it is a sensible precaution to refresh his memory – otherwise he might overlook a crucial detail. For example, that the device has a ‘destroy world’ option. Preselected by default. Hidden three levels deep into the menus. In a menu labeled ‘unimprotant fucntions’. No, seriously, he’s apt to do stuff like that. ._.
The bottom line: the hamster is safe, and a resulting total plot break-down has been narrowly avoided. More on Monday.