Outgassing

For several days after the lab accident and fearing she would lose her job, Irene was able to hide her condition by slipping into a supply closet every hour and using a vacuum pump to keep herself looking somewhat normal.  That seemed to be working until she was held up in a video conference all morning long, unable to leave.  While she successfully concealed her swelling with the tactical use of her lab coat, what she didn't know was that the nanites in the helium she was outgassing had saturated the small room and her coworkers had each ingested a rather large dosage of them.

And then, later in the afternoon...

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