"The Werewolf Principle" by Clifford Simak, summary

This is a large-scale exploration of the limits of human nature through the story of a reconnaissance officer returning from deep space. The plot revolves around the concept of a synthetic organism with open biological circuits, capable of completely adopting the physical form and mental structure of alien races. The work is not part of a series and remains a standalone novel. It was published in 1967.

Awakening without memory

Miners discover a frozen human body in a capsule amidst asteroids. After successful resuscitation at St. Barnabas Hospital in Washington, the rescued man chooses the name Andrew Blake. His physical condition is flawless. All memory of the past has been erased, leaving only a basic set of ideas about Earth’s civilization two hundred years ago.

Doctor Michael Daniels places his patient in an automated cottage in the village of Middleton. The house’s intelligent walls converse with the resident, prepare meals, and change the interiors of the rooms. During an evening thunderstorm, Blake is inexplicably transported to the ancient mansion of Senator Chandler Gorton. The owner of the house warmly welcomes his guest, pours him cognac, and introduces him to his daughter, Elin. The politician is waging a fierce parliamentary campaign for a government bioengineering program, demanding that the bodies of future colonists be modified to match those of alien planets, rather than incurring the colossal expense of terraforming the newly discovered space.

Soon, the hero notices frightening disruptions in perception. In the middle of the room, his body spontaneously freezes into a pyramid, generating a force field. An electroencephalogram at the clinic reveals the overlap of several independent brain rhythms. While fishing by a forest stream, he encounters an intelligent animal named Brownie. The alien unerringly points out fishing spots and declares that Blake possesses more than one personality.

Escape from the clinic

Senate hearings in Washington are attracting widespread attention. Dr. Austin Lucas testifies under oath about a classified experiment conducted two centuries ago. In 2266, biologists synthesized two universal androids with a shapeshifting principle. The created organisms were designed to instantly replicate alien life forms on distant planets. The archives were silent about the return of the launched starships.

A sudden panic grips St. Barnabas Hospital. Another memory lapse releases the beast’s essence. A silvery beast with powerful fangs and retractable arms sprints through the hospital’s corridors. Terrified orderlies scatter, and the arriving police open fire indiscriminately into the lobby. Through bullets and shattered doors, the beast bursts forth into the city streets.

Senator Gorton demands an immediate halt to the manhunt. Dr. Daniels suspects the fugitive’s human nature is amalgamated with an alien one. Gorton’s political rival, Senator Solomon Stone, uses the incident to discredit bioengineering. Patrols cordon off forested parks, hoping to destroy the dangerous monster.

Three minds in one flesh

Under the stone canopy of a forest cave, consciousness regains its integrity. Three autonomous personalities operate within a single corporeal shell. The first is the synthetic android Werewolf himself. The second is called the Hunter. This predator from a frozen dune planet is capable of capturing the mental transmissions of stellar civilizations. The third participant is the Thinker, a silicon pyramid from a swamp world.

Long-ago expeditions preserved the matrices of alien creatures forever. The molecular imprint of each creature is firmly embedded in the android’s cells. The triune alliance maintains a continuous internal dialogue. The Hunter supplies images of the cosmos, the Thinker transforms them into rigorous formulas, and the human part supplies the body with energy through the ingestion of ordinary earthly food, maintaining a balance between the three such disparate natures.

A line of armed men approaches the shelter. The Thinker instantly condenses a force field and throws one of his pursuers off a steep cliff. Fleeing his pursuers, the Hunter races north under cover of darkness.

Night crossing

Elin Gorton takes a late-night call from a public phone booth. She believes the fugitive and brings a warm wool tunic, sandals, notebooks, and a travel backpack. A quick goodbye is sealed with a kiss. Blake continues on foot, disguised as a wandering student writer.

The route winds through the rolling plains of Virginia. At a 24-hour vending machine, the traveler encounters Brownie again. The ground shakes as a massive land cruiser, hovercraft, approaches from the coast. The mechanic of the broken-down vessel mentions the town of Willow Grove in conversation.

A familiar name brings back a forgotten note. The destination is determined. Ahead lies a trek of approximately one hundred and sixty kilometers.

The fugitive spends the daytime hours in the hollow of a giant oak tree. At night, a pack of dogs sets out on the stranger’s trail. The hunter lures the enraged dogs to the farmhouse. The Thinker intercepts the local power grid and disperses the pack with a powerful electrical blast.

A letter through the centuries

Willow Grove greets the traveler with the patriarchal comfort of brick buildings and centuries-old elms. Blake’s memory suddenly conjures up the names of old shopkeepers, the outlines of streets, and childhood pranks. In the office of attorney Ryan Wilson, the visitor is tested by forgotten details of the past. The name of the teacher, Miss Jones, and the story of kerosene in the neighbors’ watermelons remove all doubt.

A lawyer hands over an envelope dated 150 years ago. The message is addressed to a person who has inherited someone else’s mind. The author of these lines turns out to be the eminent physicist Theodore Roberts, whose brain matrix served as the model for the android two hundred years ago. The scientist ended his earthly days as a very old man, bequeathing his consciousness to the planetary Mind Bank.

On the hill of the old cemetery, Blake finds Roberts’ tombstone. A severe shock deprives him of strength. In the empty white chapel, the Thinker envelops his exhausted companion in a cocoon of peace, freezing in a motionless, glowing pyramid.

Light in the chapel

The months pass. Crowds of tourists and religious fanatics besiege the church grounds, venerating the mysterious monolith as a new deity. Space Service security seals off the approaches to the building. Elin Gorton comes to the altar, unsuccessfully trying to reach the sleeping Andrew.

Within the pyramid, intense mental work continues. The Thinker constructs a general theory of the universe based on data from the stars. Blake’s consciousness gradually emerges from its slumber, holding on to the image of his beloved woman. After almost a year, the protective shell disintegrates, returning a living man to the world.

The military delivers the awakened hero to Washington. A global referendum rejects the human redesign program, putting an end to Senator Gorton’s career. Officials prepare an autonomous starship for launch, eager to expel the inconvenient alien from the planet as quickly as possible. Gorton curtly conveys to Blake his daughter’s refusal to meet with him.

Soaring to new worlds

A communication session with the disembodied mind of Theodore Roberts confirms the inevitability of parting with Earth. The physicist’s electronic voice reassures the interlocutor of the insignificance of earthly concerns in the face of the infinity of space. At the same time, the thinker reports the disappearance of a second android, who once returned from the depths of the galaxy.

The automated starship leaves Earth orbit. Elin suddenly appears in the ship’s lobby. The girl reveals the secret of her fate. The senator’s real daughter died young, after which the grief-stricken father secretly took the second preserved female android from secret laboratories, implanting her with someone else’s memories and protecting her from becoming a museum exhibit.

Deception and the feigned coldness of loved ones were conspired to push the heroes toward the stars. A pair of immortal werewolves journey into the depths of the universe as fully-fledged envoys of Earthly civilization.