Control Voice

They all lived, she thought, in the Mondo Video — her own generation as much as Leroy's generation and Veronica's. Who could deny it? What would it mean to resist?

For some reason Thea felt an old recollection bubbling up from deep memory. It was a sci-fi series she used to watch in her school days, the one that started each week with a test pattern, an oscilloscope trace, a picture of the moon. And yes oh yes The Control Voice. There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture.

Thea knew even then that it was pure camp — Ernie Kovacs meets the monster movies. We can make the image a shapeless blur... or give it crystal clarity. But that little voiceover came back to her tonight with a different spin. She could see now that it was the the truest thing ever said on the air.

We control the horror. We control the video.