#2888: US Survey Foot

[Closeup on Cueball.]

Cueball: We thought it was over. After 60 years of struggle, the US survey foot was dead, deprecated by NIST in 2023.

[Cueball is shown to be talking to Ponytail, Hairy, and Megan. He has a presentation behind him.]

Cueball: We thought architects and engineers could rest easy, free of the headaches of having two conflicting definitions of the foot that differ by 610 nanometers.

International foot: 0.304 800 000 m

US survey foot [crossed over in gray] R.I.P.: 0.304 800 609... m

[Cueball points at an image of Black Hat with unreadable writing above it.]

Cueball: But I bring dire news:

Cueball: Someone has started using the US survey foot again.

[Closeup on Cueball again.]

Off-panel voice: Why!?

Cueball: We don't know.

Cueball: Some people just want to drag the world 610nm closer to madness.

[Farther view of Cueball only. He clenches a fist.]

Off-panel voice: What can we do!?

Cueball: A NIST team is already in the air. We will capture the scofflaw and end this nightmare.

[Two helicopters flying, with mountains in the background.]

Caption: 8,000 miles away

[Two operatives in a forest by a pond with NIST helmets. One talks on a walkie-talkie.]

Operative: We've reached the coordinates of the target's device. There's no one here.

Voice from walkie-talkie: How!?

Caption: 8,000.016 miles away

[Black Hat walking elsewhere in the forest, apparently by the same pond. He is holding something resembling a phone.]

Black Hat: ♫ ♪