"But, Perry," she asked in the same awed tone he had used. "Is that possible--that we've been shrunken, and still remain alive afterward?" "Why not?" he questioned in response. "Everything is practically the same--really--just scaled down.[1] Every cell in our bodies must have been correspondingly shrunken, of course, so that there are as many cells now as in the beginning. Otherwise we wouldn't be--ourselves. If there weren't somewhere near the normal number of grey cells in our brains, for instance, we'd lose our reasoning powers. [Footnote 1: Judging from the vat in which Perry and Troubles were reduced, the apparatus attached to it, and the sensations of being in that green fluid, it would seem that the process of reduction is partly electrical. Perhaps similar to electroplating--the drawing away of substance from one electrode, and its transfer, in the form of ions, to the opposite electrode. Each cell in Perry's and Troubles' bodies, and in their clothing, could have been reduced that way. This isn't so startling when reduced to prime factors. The human body is simply chemicals. So are clothes. And life may be electrical in itself.--Ed.] "We were thrown into the vat. Energy worked on us, drawing substance away from each living cell--fat, protein, sugar, water--and the cell-walls shrank, and we shrank with them. Our excess body substance was perhaps absorbed by the green fluid, maybe being preserved for a reversal of the process--a return to normal size. Only judging from what happened to our metal buttons and things, the trick doesn't work out very well for inorganic substances." Perry halted, recalling something significant. "Remember how you fell down those stairs up there, without being hurt at all, Troubles?" he questioned. "That you weren't hurt is part of the relativity of being small. Take a mouse and drop him from a high place, and his injury doesn't amount to much. Drop a man from the same height, and he gets all smashed up."[2] [Footnote 2: For a given shape and density of material, the smaller an object the higher the proportionate resistance it offers to the air. This is because, in relation to its bulk, a small object has a greater surface area than a large one. Hence, relatively more friction. Thus, in air, a mouse might be expected to fall slightly slower than a man. But this is not the most important reason why small objects are not as easily damaged by proportionate forces as large objects. Take the model of an ocean liner. It seems very firm and rigid. Build a full-size ship under the same specifications--same steel, same relative thicknesses and lengths. If it was possible to pick such a ship up from either end, it would be in danger of breaking in two under its own weight! Small objects are relatively stronger. In order to make a full-size ship as strong as its model, the strength of the materials used would have to be increased in proportion.--Ed.]