"Have you ever experienced hallucinations?"
"No. You never gave us that capability," Amon answered truthfully. "We cannot even dream."
"Suppressing magical talent is an extremely difficult task. It is done to prevent symptoms that affect the mind, such as hallucinations and dreams," the Emperor told the Praetorian Guard. Every Praetorian Guard could see the darkness in the Emperor's mood, yet no one but the Emperor himself knew what information he had obtained. Nor did the Emperor intend to bring it up. Instead, he began another story. "Generally speaking, removing the frontal lobe is the safest approach. Without cognitive ability, without consciousness, no matter how powerful the soul is, it cannot accomplish anything. But if the goal is merely temporary suppression to avoid adverse consequences, then a great many procedures are required, just as the Sorcerer Supreme once did for me. Without such precise measures, those with talent often become immersed in layer upon layer of hallucinations and dreams the moment their talent awakens, unable to distinguish the boundary between reality and illusion."
"You seem to have written a work on this subject, from the perspectives of neuroscience and cognitive psychology," Hammurabi interjected. "Although our modified bodies have little need for sleep, that paper possessed magic capable of affecting the Praetorian Guard. It even made me yawn."
"Then you should know what the paper says about the effects of psychiatric drugs and Outer Dimensions energy on brain receptors. Imagination is limited by cognition, and cognition is limited by the senses. For those with talent, abnormal brain activity allows them to activate serotonin receptors frequently without taking psychiatric drugs. Sometimes, they can even directly stimulate them into a state akin to LSD plateau four or five. Frenzied imagination, distorted cognition—these are all talents." The Emperor was not amused. He pointed to his