Limio roared as his processes splashed into the sweet liquid that washed the gulleys at the foot of the cliff.
Sandra screamed as one of the processes struck a rock a few feet from her.
"It isn't working!" she cried. "It can't work. The extract simply prevents crime and individualism. You can't prevent individualism when there is only one individual in a species; and there can be no crime without fellow creatures to harm!"
"Hurry, Sandra!" Karns urged. "Save your breath. It wasn't the extract I gave him, but the antidote!"
A huge tentacle raised above the fleeing pair. Sandra closed her eyes. She couldn't escape this blow.
The tentacle did not fall. Instead it snapped back to Limio's body, landing with the crack of a whip.
Suddenly Limio seemed to writhe in pain. Sparks flew from the rocks. The planet shook as if it was in the throes of dissolution. Searchlights from Adstrom's craft flickered down into the valley to reveal a billowing ocean of flesh struggling with itself, fighting itself.
At the top of the cliff Karns and Sandra paused for breath.
"His mind was in unity, now it is in discord," he said. "His evolution was different from ours. He grew as one individual, while life on our planet resolved itself into countless individuals. The antidote served to separate the individuals of his being for the first time in history. Every nerve cell in his body now has individuality. Limio is a billion intellects instead of one."
"In other words, he is crazy!"