although jack has the outward appearance of a normal human child, his intellect and mental prowess rapidly set him apart from the rest of humankind, as does the fact that his body begins to generate inoperable and incurable tumours that are slowly overwhelming him. despite the fact that jack possesses each of the five higher mindpowers (also known as metafaculties) at the highest known level (paramount grand master), he is incapable of effecting change in his own physiology. the lylmik, the oldest and most powerful of the alien races in the milieu, veto his euthanasia and leave it up to jack. an attack by fury on jack as he lies in his hospital room leads to an evolutionary jump in which jack discards his physical form and metamorphoses into his final state as a disembodied brain.