Chapter 10

10 "What if you cover your mouth?" Violet shouted to Aria. "Okay!" Aria held the petri dish in front of her face and coughed through her gloved hand. Then she covered the dish and placed it in the incubator and pressed start.

DING! "There's definitely not as many germs," shouted Aria, holding the petri dish up for Violet and Pablo to see. "But there are still plenty there." Pablo scratched his cheek. "What if you hold the dish as far away from your face as you can?" "Like this?" said Aria. She grabbed a new dish and held it in her outstretched hand. "Yeah! Give it a try!" cheered Violet.

Aria let out another cough and put this dish in the incubator. DING! "Nope!" Aria yelled. "That definitely didn't work. There's even more germs than before!" "We've got to figure this out soon!" said Pablo, looking at his Magnificent Maker Watch. Violet bit her lip. "I have an idea! What if you cover your mouth with your hand AND hold the

petri dish far away?" "Got it!" Aria shouted back. She tried Violet's suggestion. But when she took the dish out of the Incredible Incubator, it still had a few germs on it. The Makers were stumped. And they only had ten Maker Minutes left! Then, suddenly, Pablo said, "Wait a minute!" He looked down at his gloved hands and lab coat. He raised his hands and gripped his goggles. "We use PPE to keep the germs off us," he began. Violet nodded and listened carefully.

"What if we used PPE to stop spreading germs, too?" Pablo finished. "Yes!" cheered Violet. "We need something to cover Aria's mouth." Pablo paused. "Maybe a mask?" he suggested. "Perfect!" Violet and Pablo tapped elbows. Violet shouted over to Dr. Crisp. "Do you have any masks, Dr. Crisp?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Dr. Crisp dug in her backpack and pulled out a purple mask. She jumped in the air and flung it like a slingshot over to Aria. Aria leaped up and grabbed it. She fixed it to her face and coughed onto the petri dish. Aria quickly opened the Incredible Incubator and plopped the dish inside. Then she waited. And waited. Suddenly, Dr. Crisp's watch flashed purple.