The Invisible Swarm
Glittering specks fill the air over Comfort City. Too small to see, The Invisible Swarm and his dust bunnies ride every breath of air into the big return vents.
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The end… for now!
Pure saved a scan file from this mission. Read it to learn the real science behind the story.
Read the story as text
Page 1
Last night at 8:00, every heater in Comfort City clicked on.
7:00 PM
Talon: “Talon's got a question! What IS that glitter?”
Pure: “Beep! DUST! Millions of specks!”
The Invisible Swarm: “Ooooh… the air's moving again. Ride it, bunnies!”
Every home pulls its air back in through a big RETURN vent… through filters nobody changed all summer.
His helpers: the DUST BUNNIES!
WHEEE!
The Invisible Swarm: “You can't punch dust…”
Goldstrike: “Wing Force, wings up! Let's clear the air!”
Manny: “Fresh filters are loaded!”
VWOOOM!
Page 2
LAIR OF THE INVISIBLE SWARM: the Hollow Hall.
It's built like a giant RETURN duct, the big pipe that pulls a home's air back to its system.
Pure: “Beep! Scanning… DUST BUNNIES. Mostly cat fur.”
HOP! HOP!
Pure: “Every bit of air in town flows through here!”
Talon: “I'll blow you away!”
FWUMP! FWUMP!
The Invisible Swarm: “Thanks for the LIFT! We are the INVISIBLE SWARM. Too small to see. Too many to count!”
The Invisible Swarm: “We go where the AIR goes!”
Page 3
All night, every return in town pulled the Swarm closer…
3:00 AM
Talon: “Talon's got a question! Why is there light coming around the filter?”
Pure: “Beep! Packed gray filter. Air sneaks through the GAP!”
Talon: “Oops. Flapping made it WORSE!”
Goldstrike: “Flapping just throws dust back in the air. Now we know!”
The Invisible Swarm: “You can't punch dust!”
Goldstrike: “Two steps! SWAP the filter. Make it SNUG!”
The Invisible Swarm: “Uh-oh.”
Page 4
Goldstrike: “Wing Force! Step one: SWAP!”
The Invisible Swarm: “Go ahead. That filter's FULL. We'll just go AROUND it!”
Pure: “Beep! See? Air takes the easy way, around the full filter.”
Manny: “Out with the old!”
HEAVE!
Talon: “Arrow points toward the system. SNUG! No gap!”
Manny: “SWAP! In with the clean one!”
KA-THUNK!
The Invisible Swarm: “We go where the air goes… and the air goes through the FILTER! NOOO!”
Goldstrike: “Filters don't punch. They CATCH!”
FWOOOSH!
Page 5
SUNRISE
Every return in Comfort City pulls air through a clean filter again.
Talon: “Clean air, everybody!”
The Invisible Swarm: “Dust ALWAYS comes back… and we'll be waiting.”
Then the whole Hollow Hall began to shake…
CRUNCH!
Staticus: “You caught my partner. Now NOTHING gets through.”
Talon: “Talon's got a question… who is THAT?”
NEXT: STATICUS
Pure’s Scan File
- What
- Dust: tiny bits of fuzz, lint, pet fur and dirt floating in the air. Every home has it.
- Where
- The big RETURN vent pulls room air back to the system, through the air filter.
- Why Now
- When the heat or AC runs again, lots of air goes through the filter. A full one can't keep up, so air sneaks around it.
- The Fix
- SWAP in a fresh filter. Make it SNUG: right size, arrow pointing toward the system, no gaps.
- Your Hero Job
- Hold the flashlight while a grown-up checks the filter. Gray? Tell them it's time for a new one!
