The mouse seems to be doing okay with a one micron filter.
“Hey, must be pretty big!” says Toby. “I’m gonna get me a fly swatter.”
“Do that,” says Dutton. “Here goes with two microns.” Dutton presses a button. The filter wheel spins and airflow continues. The mouse rolls over and dies.
“Uh-huh,” says Dutton. “Nasty. At least we’ll be able to get a good look at it.” He turns to a teleconference monitor on the wall, and presses a button on his console. “Dutton to Stone!”
Stone answers the video conference call.
“We just found out its size,” says Dutton, “about two microns in diameter.”
“Big enough to be a complete cell,” says Stone. “Interesting.”
“There’s a good chance it’s alive,” says Leavitt. “Airborne transmission?”
“Yes,” says Dutton. “What have you found?”
“So far, nothing,” answers Leavitt. “Our Nobel Laureate here won’t scan on the inside because he says if he doesn’t-“
“Alright,” says Stone. “Thanks, Charlie. Keep at it.” Stone turns off the conference monitor.
“It’s pointless to go on scanning outside,” says Leavitt. “If it’s two microns in diameter, it would have shown up at four-forty.”
“True,” says Stone, “but we didn’t know that.”