On the eleventh day, the cells were busy. Some of the new kids that had been born that day started calling themselves "XEN's," which they said was short for 'extra embryonic endoderm,' but even they had no idea what that actually meant. They took one look at the apartment and said this wouldn't do, because where was the food? They immediately got to work building a kitchen, even though the only nutrients available for now were little packets of sugar and protein from outside. The cells took turns fishing for these packets, using nets on the ends of long poles they stuck out through small gaps in the walls.

But there weren't enough nutrients anymore, especially with the ever-growing number of cells living in the apartment - there were hundreds of them now, nearly a thousand! - so it was a good thing the TEs had come up with a plan for getting more food to cook in the kitchen the XENs were building. They had broken through the outer wall of the apartment with their pickaxes, and were now drilling into the weird red wall behind it. For lack of anything better to do, PGC1 kept wandering over to check the progress of their work.

They'd secured the apartment to the red wall with ropes and nails, and had already drilled a pretty significant tunnel into the wall. PGC1 took a few steps into the entrance of the tunnel, marveling at how quickly the TEs worked. She hadn't really spoken with any of them since the brief conversation with TE59 the other day, and they all seemed so absorbed in their work. She wondered again what her own job would be, and why she hadn't yet been assigned anything to do besides random odd jobs that any cell could take care of.

She walked further down the tunnel, so close to the end that she was practically standing behind one of the TEs as he swung his pickaxe at the wall.

"Hey, get back," he grumbled, glancing back for a second to make sure he wasn't going to hit her as he swung. As he hit the wall, a tiny chink appeared in the edge of the tunnel, just large enough to allow a ray of light to shine through.

"What's back there?" PGC1 knew she was being too curious for her own good and interrupting cells who were actually working, but she really wanted to see what they'd broken through to. What on earth could be behind the thick red wall?

As if drawn by some invisible signal, the TE's all converged on the end of the tunnel, abandoning the individual branches some of them had been starting to carve out. PGC1 found herself pushed back and away as they all worked together, lengthening and widening the end of the tunnel and expanding the hole at its tip. At this point, some of the other cells in the apartment had seen the commotion too, and they began to gather at the tunnel entrance to see what was going on. PGC1 had her view partially blocked by the TEs working on the tunnel, but since she'd been the first one to the scene she had one of the best views.

After one particularly mighty blow by TE68, who'd initiated this whole thing in the first place, a large chunk of the red wall crumbled away, leaving a hole big enough to walk through. It opened up into another tunnel going crossways to this one, but oh, what a tunnel! To call it a tunnel was doing it a disservice, for it barely resembled the crudely carved labyrinth carved into the red wall. It was smooth and sleek, with a well-paved path covering the floor and bright colors painting the curved walls. And, most amazing at all, it was full of other cells!

Well, not full exactly, but there were three girls dressed in red jackets and caps who'd been walking through the tunnel when the TEs broke through. They initially seemed shocked, and had jumped back from the miniature explosion of debris that had come from the broken wall, but then one of them smiled and they all seemed to relax.

The cells of the embryo were a little more nervous, and even the usually confident TEs were a little taken aback. "Uh… hello…" one of them muttered. "Guess you're cells like us, huh?"

"Oh, this is so cool!" gushed one of the red-jacketed cells on the other side of the wall. Her hair was brighter red than the other two, and stuck up in a little cowlick near the rim of her cap. "I heard Ms. Egg got fertilized, but I never thought we'd be the first ones to meet you!"

The second red girl stepped forward and offered a brown cardboard box to one of the TEs. "Here you go, have some nutrients! You must be starving after all your hard work."

The TE staggered under the weight of the box. These other cells were tall; veritable giants compared to the ones PGC1 had been living with, and apparently really strong too if they could casually carry such items.

"Ooh, give them some oxygen too," said the third red jacket, unloading some cylinders from her cart. "You might not think you need any extra yet, but the more cells you have, the more they'll take up all the air."

One of the TEs thanked her and took the canisters.

"Sorry kids, gotta go!" chirped the red blood cell who had given them the box of food. "We've got more deliveries to make, but some of our friends will come by later. Try to stick to this hallway and stay out of big blood vessels, but other than that just make yourselves at home!"

The three of them turned away and kept walking down the hallway in a tight huddle, giggling softly amongst themselves. "Aww, they were so cute," PGC1 thought she heard one of them say. "Just little itty babies, aren't they? Remind me of the platelets."

"I kinda wish I could be one of them," sighed another. "They're so pluripotent. I bet they get to pick any job they want in the new body."

The others made noises of agreement, and PGC1 strained to hear the rest of the conversation, but by that time the red blood cells were too far away.

Could they really pick any job in the new body? PGC1 wondered. It seemed like the TEs and the XENs already knew what they were meant to be doing, but the rest of them weren't really sure yet. And for all her vague sense of potential, even PGC1 had no idea yet of her ultimate role. She resolved that she would find out as soon as possible, no matter what it took. But perhaps the search would have to wait for a little while, because she could sense that it was close to time to divide again.

PGC1 mentally shrugged and joined the rest of the cells as they divided out the nutrients the red blood cells had brought. She needed to keep up her strength and get some extra purines so she could get down to the business of replicating her DNA. She'd been dividing a lot recently, so maybe that was what she needed to be doing, at least for now.

Yes, she'd find her permanent job… tomorrow.