Throughout the cell, special molecules form a network of channels for the hauling of construction materials. Numerous warehouses serve to stock food and  minerals. Oblong elements serve as columns and beams for structural resistance. Others are attached like oars to the outside membrane and  propel the cell in its fluid environment.

Enzymes and hormones are molecules produced by the cell and used elsewhere in the organism. A special unit controls their quality and packaging before dispatch. This same unit handles toxic wastes, keeping them locked in secured containers to avoid contamination.

In  workshops, amino acids are bolted together to make proteins. The work is done in assembly lines invented long before Henry Ford was born. As for part management, it is more accurate than  industrialists ever dreamed of:  every component is brought to the plant for immediate assembly.

The strategic center of the cell is its bulky nucleus. It is a safe where DNA, the precious genetic material, is locked. The nucleus is at all times the center of great activity. There, RNA comes to pick up job assignments and copy instructions for the rest of the cell. In addition, the nucleus is in constant communication with the nuclei of other cells throughout the entire organism to which they belong.

A cell is a truly a microscopic universe. Its Eternon population includes planners, manufacturers, assemblers, controllers, decoders, messengers, interpreters, carriers, movers, and defenders, all organized in sheets, sacks, bubbles, tubes, rods, granules, droplets, networks, as well as a host of other molecular shapes. In its chemical plants, substances are produced in seconds that would take days for humans to synthesize. In its core,  information is preserved that would fill several thousand books. And this entire universe is but a few ten-thousandths of an inch in size.

The most startling of all is the cellular division, or mitosis, so evidently simple in its principle, and so utterly intricate in its execution. Mitosis begins with the precise duplication of billions of DNA nucleotides, continues in the coordinated movements of uncounted atoms and molecules, and culminates with the presence of two identical organisms where there was one. Imagine humans stretching and splitting in the middle to find their identical twin standing next to them. The cells does just that. And so quickly that in less than a week it could generate offspring weighing together as much as the entire Earth. 

Cells thrive well as independent structures. Bacteria, algae, fungi, and amebas are complete and self-reliant single-celled beings. Even separated from large organisms, most individual cells will stay alive, provided they receive the needed sustenance. If only because of their ancestral autonomous temperament, our cells deserve our gratitude. After all, this entity that we name "I" is trillions of them  kind enough to stick together, at least for a while.

The immensely complicated structure and behavior of the cell make evident that it is a conscious entity,  not a fortuitous juxtaposition of dumb chemicals. With such an intelligent creature, Eternons could engage into the long evolutionary process that would lead to superior organisms.