"Exactly, sir. They can _see_ the components of what we find a blur--if we unscrambled the sound track squeaks we'd undoubtedly find the same thing there. The question is, _How can they do it?_ and the answer is very frightening--and encouraging." "You said something about a change of consciousness." "A radical change. They've been developing it during their isolation period and there's no reason why they won't teach us when the preparatory period's over. They're developing a special kind of inward power that would make it silly for them to want primitive control over other men. _They're_ the next stage in _our_ evolution." "ESP!" Barnes broke in. "They sensed our antagonism so they humiliated us." * * * * * "No, they _saw_ your antagonism." Stern snapped off the machine. "They saw it because their powers of direct observation are so complete, catching every slightest, revealing movement of the face. Look, gentlemen, what have been the evolutionary stages until now? First, self-perpetuating and replicating crystals. Then conditioned-reflex life, followed by the growth of consciousness which in turn gave rise to the development of social consciousness. For the last few centuries we've been in this phase and it has given us the power to spread across the Galaxy and assure one common level of humanity everywhere. Individual and social consciousness interacting--what, we have wondered, would be the next stage to arise from it? But we have done everything to prevent the next stage because we feared any one planet developing along unique lines, lines that might end in a threat to the rest of us. Nodar deliberately isolated itself to be temporarily unique." "What kind of consciousness could there be besides individual and social as we know them?" Crawford wondered uneasily. "Nodarian--and if you had it your ten billion brain cells could store up so much knowledge you wouldn't need thinking machines, just purely physical robots!" "Let's get down to cases," Linder said, for once politely restrained in his impatience. "All right, Commander, here's a case. You're standing at the entrance of a darkened room which contains a thousand objects. A light flicks on and off, barely revealing the room's contents. Then you are asked to describe as much of the crowded room as you can remember seeing in that brief flash. Your description covers only a small percentage of the room's contents. The percentage may increase with practice but it will still be small." "But haven't you really seen more than that?" Crawford protested. "Neurosurgery--"