| abstract | - The Fun-Sized Mobile Agony and Death Dispensers are powerful animal-shaped clanks inside Castle Heterodyne. They were created by an unknown-at-this-writing Heterodyne as [ "independent guardian systems"] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] not unlike the Torchmen, to patrol the Castle interior, providing rapid remote access anywhere inside the complex, and efficient dispatch of unwanted visitors. They are [ commonly called] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] Devil Dogs by the current residents even though they have a feline appearance (Even the Foglios call them "tiger-like".). The novelization rewrites this scene to have Moloch call them Steam Cats. Certainly they are called other things by the prisoners, but this is, after all, a family-friendly semi-fictional historical romance and such names are not appropriately printed here. Normally these clanks are controlled universally by the Castle, but when Agatha first encounters them they are operating independently due to the building's widespread damage and system disconnections. In this state they are [ not very smart] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]], able to hunt only by detecting motion, and are [ easily] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] [ distracted] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]], but are still physically powerful. Why is not so clear. Despite being the size of a wagon, they have no obvious source of power. Perhaps they draw power from Castle systems. When Agatha and her various friends and minions finally succeed in fully [ restoring] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]]The Castle's power, it is able to reassert control the FSMADDs. Additionally, once the Castle's current crop of resident Sparks [ transfer] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] the consciousness of Muse of Protection Otilia into an [ upgraded] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]]FSMADD, she also can [ control the other FSMADDs to a point] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]]. Among the features one might expect from a generally feline physiognomy, the Fun-MADD has a scorpion-like tail which provides defense for its own dorsal area; and self-luminous eyes and mouth, which could possibly be providing infrared illumination as well as systems heat exhaust.
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