A voice on the radio announces that gas masks are now needed to breathe outdoors but does not explain why. Instead, the announcer says that the threat may be from an unknown source. A woman listens with her boyfriend of five years, Victor, who was previously her professor, and Victor jokes that he would like a mask shaped like the face of an anteater.  The woman leaves home to go to a museum, where she works as a tour guide, and, on the way, she sees a man already wearing a gas mask. During her first tour of the day, she talks to her group about the news and tries to cater the tour to their interests. She sees a man with beautiful hands and imagines him as a musician, and she thinks about how she used to only date men her age prior to Victor, who will be forty-five soon.  After work, the woman goes to an elementary school which is being used as a distribution center for volunteers to hand out gas masks, and picks up a mask for herself and Victor. She returns home to see that Victor has bought many groceries, and he hugs her. He says that he was worried that she missed his last call. Victor explains that news people have instructed people to seal their windows with duct tape but will not explain why. Victor then prepares dinner, and they make love in the middle of their meal. They also decide to play Scrabble after dinner, and, during the game, the woman realizes that she wants to tell Victor that she is thinking of leaving him. When Victor wins, she begins to cry, and he tells her it is just a game. The woman does not explain why she is really crying.  The next morning, the news people announce that the whole ordeal was a test to make sure the city would be prepared for any potential crisis, and the mayor thanks the city. Victor and the woman take a walk together and see someone still wearing a gas mask.  Weeks later, the woman finds out that she is pregnant, and although she doesn’t tell Victor for a few days, she decides to keep the baby.