Scott may have been shrinking, but he was still a formidable animal... moreso with the addition of teeth and claws. The last thing he wanted was to have David messing things up. Moving Saul to one side, he put a foot on the chest and looked up slightly at David.
"David, you've got to get out of here. Obviously this thing is contagious," Scott said, motioning to Saul. "And it is not entirely clear what is going to happen next. So, unless you want to become a fox too and start shrinking, you'd better get yourself and the crew out of here. We'll call you tomorrow if it is safe to come back. For this afternoon you'd better keep a lid on it unless you want to be locked up in the nut house."
Whether it was what Scott said, or watching Scott shrink almost a full foot, or the way Scott showed his teeth at the very end of his remarks, David nodded and fled without another word.
With David disposed of, Scott turned around to see what he was going to do next with Tim and Saul. The first thing he noticed was how much smaller they were. Tim shrunk the most, only about as high as Scott's waist. Saul was in between, and Scott noticed that his own shrinking was already starting to taper off. Evidently whatever happened was not shrinking them all equally.
"Let me get another look at that thing," Tim said, moving forward to examine the chest again.
"Don't! That thing is dangerous!" Saul cried and reached to stop Tim. Scott stepped forward and wrapped Saul up in his big arms, feeling Saul's wet nose against Scott's own furry chest.
"Unless you have a better idea, I think we should let Tim decide the risks he's going to take." Scott said, with a look that brooked no discussion from Saul.
"I'll be careful!" Tim protested, his small high voice a little squeaky now. "But look at this. The chest has a button clearly marked 'man' next to the one that changed us all. And look, there are also up and down buttons on the other side -- obviously opposites too." Tim fetched out the key, "Stand back; I'm going to give it a try."
"No!" Saul said, but Scott lifted him easily out of the way. Scott could see the flash on the wall, and let go of Saul to turn back towards Tim.
Tim was sprawling near the box, his sensitive fox senses a little dazed by the flash. "Did it work?" Tim asked, looking up at Scott.
Scott knelt down next to Tim's small body. Although everyone seemed to have stopped shrinking, Tim wasn't much more than knee-high to Scott now. Surveying Tim closely, Scott didn't see any sign that Tim was changing back into a person. But there was another obvious change that made Scott lick his lips.