With some of the test substances the "nerve impulse" would go part way and then turn around and come back. With others it would just "get lost." Super-delicate instruments "followed" the impulse, telling what happened to it in fine detail. Nerve fluid from living animals had been tested and found to behave properly even in the fine glass tubing. But it was highly unstable. If a synthetic brain capable of integrated thought processes was to be constructed, a non-deteriorating nerve fluid would have to be found. One that duplicated the performance of the actual nerve threads of the human brain. All that held back Project Brain was the proper synthetic nerve fluid! Maybe it's one of those ten, Earl thought. But he entertained that thought with every ten he tested. But right now there was a more pressing problem. Nadine Holmes. She should have arrived on the afternoon bus--instead of appearing as a pastel blue miniature girl on a bench in his lab--and growing to an embarrassing full five foot three of emotion disturbing nudity in a few minutes. An impossible fact, but still a fact. Where had she come from? That was what he had been going to ask her when Ethel Glassman barged in. Dear old Mrs. Glassman. * * * * * Earl went to the door to his living quarters and unlocked it. Slipping in quickly, he locked the door again. Nadine was curled up in a chair, one of his technical books on her lap, looking altogether too domestic for Earl's peace of mind. She had paused in her reading, and was looking up at him questioningly. "Now then," Earl said. He groped for a sequence of thought. She was beautiful. "Now then," he repeated. "We've got to get you some decent clothes and decide what to do with you. What sizes do you wear?" "I don't know," Nadine said. "I've never worn clothes before. I don't think I like them." "You'll get used to them," Earl said hastily. "Those things you have on are my pajamas. We'll need some nylon stockings, shoes, and other things. I'll have to go buy them." "Do you have other clothes like the ones you are wearing?" Nadine asked. "Why wouldn't they do? They're too large, but I could wear them." Earl stared at her in amazement. And now the big question came again. He moved closer to her. "Where do you come from?" She puzzled over his words. "I'm not sure what you're talking about," she said, a tone of wariness in her voice. "Where I come from--perhaps we'd better not discuss that now. I don't quite understand what happened. Things didn't happen as they were supposed to. Could you take me where you first found me?" "Not until I get you some clothes. Imagine what people would think if you walked out of here wearing my pajamas!" "What would they think?" Nadine said, frankly puzzled. "Why are clothes? Are they connected in some way with religion? I think that's the word for it--religion. Do clothes bring you good luck? Is that it? You seem so--so intense about it. Does everyone wear them?"