Pump-O didn't do equilibrium. He did work .

And as long as the cell lived, Pump-O would keep twisting, keep grumbling, and keep the city alive—against all odds, against all gradients, one stubborn molecule at a time.

Another twist—this time, the phosphate group that had been stuck to Pump-O fell off, and the protein relaxed back to its original shape. The two potassium ions were dumped, grateful and warm, into the crowded cytoplasm.