So Dr. Cabanis was here. He looked around, but the psychologist was not in sight. He would probably arrive later.
The thought stirred a strange mixture of emotions. Some of the most painful moments of his life were associated with the presence of Dr. Cabanis. His early life, the life of a predatory carnivore, had been an unthinkingly happy one. He supposed that he could call his present life a happy one too, if you weren't overly particular how you defined the term. But that period in between!
That had been, to say the least, painful. Those long sessions with Dr. Cabanis had stirred him to the depths of a soul he hadn't known he possessed. The electric shocks and the druggings he hadn't minded so much. But the gradual reshaping of his entire psyche, the period of basic instruction, in which he had been taught to hate his old life so greatly that he could no longer go back to it even if the way were open, and the conditioning for a new and useful life with human beings—that was torture of the purest kind.
If he had known what was ahead of him, he wouldn't have gone through it at all. He'd have fought until he dropped, as so many of the others like him did. Still, now that it was over, he supposed that the results were worth the pain. He had a position that was more important than it seemed at first glance. He exercised control over a good part of the food supply intended for the outer planets, and his word was trusted implicitly. Let him condemn an intended shipment, and cancellation followed automatically, without the formality of confirmation by laboratory tests. He was greatly admired. And feared.
They had other feelings about him too. He overheard one whisper that surprised him. "My dear, I think he's really handsome."
"But, Charlotte, how can you say that about someone who isn't even human!"
"He looks more human than many human beings do. And his clothes fit him beautifully. I wonder—does he have a tail?"
"Not that I know of."
"Oh." There was disappointment in the sound. "He looks like a pirate."
"He was a kind of wolf, they tell me. You'd never guess, to see him, that he ran on all fours, would you?"