Amos looked for signs of irrationality and saw none. "Do you feel all right?"
"Better than you can imagine. But let me tell you what you're up against. I can at least do that for you, Mr. Parry."
"Thanks. Don't you suppose you could call me Amos now?"
"Sure, Amos. First of all, you were right about that pig trying to imitate the cat. He couldn't do much because he only had a pig's brain to work with." He stopped and grinned, evidently at Amos' expression. "I'll try to explain. What is an animal? Physically, I mean?"
Amos shook his head. "You've got the floor."
"All right. An animal is a colony of cells. Different kinds of cells form organs and do different things for the colony, but each cell has a life of its own, too. When it dies a new one of the same kind takes over. But what regulates the colony? What maintains the pattern?"
Amos waited.
"Part of it's automatic replacement, cell for cell. But beyond that there's a control; and it's the unconscious mind." He paused and studied Amos. "You think I'm theorizing. I'm not. That drug broke down some barriers, and I see all this as you see your own fingers moving."
Amos remembered the mention of hallucinations.