Fair and Warmer

"Fair and Warmer" by E. G. Von Wald, penned in the mid-20th century, is a journey through the mind and heart in a distant, telepathic future: After a mind-jarring encounter with primitive aliens, Tensor, a denizen of a highly advanced society, finds himself swimming in a sea of strange emotions and melancholia. His curiosity about these wild aliens—and particularly one of their females—burgeons, but the governing Council sees his inner turmoil as a threat, forcing him into an unexpected investigation. As Tensor makes contact, he is overwhelmed by newly awakened primal instincts, challenging everything he thought he knew about himself and what it means to be civilized, and he uncovers the inherent dangers of intellectual curiosity suppressed by civilization's constraints.