Inside the pavilion’s demonstration room, Hidar Fen Ajidica stood at the dome-shaped enclosure. His mind sang with energy, and possibilities rippled around him like rainbows.

He checked the sealed sample chamber daily in order to monitor the progress of the new captive sandworm inside, another one that had survived here for a few months. He enjoyed feeding it additional ajidamal, which the creature devoured voraciously. During the years of experimentation, the tiny sandworm specimens had died promptly once they were taken from Arrakis. But so far this one had survived, even thrived. Ajidica had no doubt it was because of the synthetic spice.

With ironic humor, he had named the worm after the late Tleilaxu leader. “Let us take a look at you, Master Zaaf,” he said with a cruel smile. Just that morning, he had consumed an even larger dose of ajidamal himself, tapped directly from the tank-trapped body of Miral Alechem. He felt the drug’s workings now, the wild expansion of his consciousness and enhancement of his mental functions.

Glorious!

Pressing a button at the base of the tiny sandworm’s dome, the euphoric Master Researcher watched the foggy plaz clear. The sand became visible inside the enclosure. Dust had been thrown against the sides of the dome, as if the little beast had thrashed about in a frenzy.

The worm sprawled motionless atop the sand, its body segments split open, its round mouth agape. Pinkish slime oozed from between its gaping rings.

Flipping open an exterior panel on the dome, Ajidica read the life monitor frantically. His eyes bulged in disbelief. Despite regular doses of ajidamal, the worm had died horribly.

Fearless of the risk, he reached inside to retrieve the flaccid shape of the creature. The carcass felt soft and loose, and its rings peeled apart like sections of rotting fruit in his fingers, sloughing from its main body. The worm looked as if it had been flayed by an inept dissection student.

But Ajidica had been feeding it the same drug he had taken himself, in varying forms. Suddenly he did not feel so euphoric. He seemed to be plunging into a dark abyss.