Not long afterward, Bart and Lisa walked along the street, talking about what they had just learned about their parents' plans. "I can't believe they would do such a thing!" said Lisa indignantly. "Maggie's like family!"
"She is family, Lis," Bart pointed out.
"We should confront them about this," Lisa recommended.
"Are you kidding?" said Bart incredulously. "What if they sell us on the black market too?"
"Oh," mused Lisa fearfully. "I hadn't thought of that."
"We've gotta do something, and fast!" said Bart, raising a clenched fist.
"But what can we do?" Lisa wondered. "We can't raise a million dollars overnight!"
They happened to be passing by the home of Professor John Frink, who, luckily enough, happened to be standing in the yard, watering his genetically engineered purple magnolias. Overhearing the kids' exchange, the professor chimed in, "Oh, yes, you can."
Lisa gazed at him hopefully. "Professor Frink? Do you, by some wild coincidence, know of a way to save our family from financial devastation?"
"Yes, by glavin, I do," replied the professor. "I've invented a new device that should revolutionize life as we know it, and even more importantly, make me fabulously wealthy, ng'hoy. I need two children, a boy and a girl, to act as test subjects."
"What's in it for us?" asked Bart skeptically.
"The government has invested generously in my project," Frink informed him. "If the test succeeds, you'll be rewarded five hundred thousand dollars apiece, for a total of one million dollars!"
"We'll do it!" cried Lisa with joy.
"Whoa, whoa!" Bart held up a hand to stop her. "What does this device do? Does it, like, turn us into super-strong mutant cyborgs?"
"No," answered Frink.
Bart's face fell. "Awww..."
"My new invention exchanges the contents of two human brains," Frink explained. "In essence, you, Bart, would become Lisa, and you, Lisa, would become Bart."
"Ewww!" groaned Bart and Lisa in unison.
"No way, Poindexter!" Bart protested. "You're not making a girl out of me. Girls are only good for one thing--making cooties."
"As much as I love my brother," Lisa added, "I would never want to actually be him."
"I'll give you some time to think about it," Frink offered.
The two kids stood facing each other with expressions of disgust as the professor waited patiently.
Then Lisa's face softened. "On the other hand," she mused, "such an experiment would give me an opportunity to study the male psyche through first-hand experience, and perhaps help me to gain insights that would eventually enable me to overthrow the system of male oppression, and bring about true equality of the sexes. How long would we be switched for, Professor?"
"One month should be enough time for me to gather all necessary data," was Frink's reply.
"Forget it, man," Bart complained. "I so do not want to be a girl. Not for a month, not for a minute."
"How about for Maggie?" Lisa asked him.
Bart only folded his arms and scowled.
"Fine," Lisa chided him. "You wouldn't last a day as a girl anyway. You'd go stark raving mad and beg to be switched back."
"I would not!" Bart retorted. "I can stand being a girl as long as you can stand being a boy!"
"Oh, yeah? Prove it!"
"I will!"
"We volunteer!" Bart and Lisa proclaimed.
"Fantastic!" said Frink.
Bart turned to Lisa and grinned smugly. "Ha! I laugh at your pathetic attempt to talk me out of it using reverse psychology!"
TBC
