Cellular assimilation

Fuchs was preparing new slides, which Blair studied under the
microscope. Two cells were visible through the eyepiece. They were active,
neither quiescent nor dead. One looked quite normal. Its companion looked
anything but.
At the moment the two were joined together by a thin stream of
protoplasm. Material from the larger cell, which was long and thin, flowed
into the smaller, spherical cell. As it did so the smaller cell swelled visibly,
until the cell wall fractured in three places. Immediately the smaller cell
assumed a flattened shape like the other and three new streams of material
began to flow outward from its interior. Neither cell appeared to have lost
any mass.
Blair pulled away from the eyepiece and frowned as he checked his
watch. It was running in stopwatch mode. He turned it off. The resulting
readout was very puzzling.