Inheritance by Malinda Lo Page B

connection. And we would like for humanity to have this ability to connect as well.”
    A reporter asked, “How does it work? Is it like telepathy?”
    “Telepathy might be your best word for the ability, but
susum’urda—
this sharing of consciousness—is not about reading someone’s mind from afar. We accomplish the shared consciousness through physical touch. When your hand touches something warm, your brain is able to understand the difference in temperature. Similarly, when one Imrian touches another, they are able to understand the other’s
interior
temperature, so to speak.”
    David nudged Reese with his knee, and thought:
But we didn’t have to be touching when we were at Plato.
    She glanced at him.
We haven’t really been able to do that since then, though. Do you think that was a fluke?
    I don’t know, but it doesn’t sound like the Imria can do it. There’s also the crowds thing. Dr. Brand hasn’t mentioned anything about that.
    “Developing a procedure to give this ability to humans has been very difficult to do, even though we believed that humans could be perfectly capable of it if certain neural pathways were opened to allow it,” Dr. Brand said. “Some human children actually have similar abilities at birth, but because they’re not developed during childhood, the brain naturally closes off those neural pathways during adolescence. It was only this past spring that we perfected what we’ve come to refer to as an adaptation procedure, which enables the human body to adapt to the addition of Imrian DNA. It is this DNA that opens up the neural pathways in the brain that allow for
susum’urda
. After the initialprocedure, in which Imrian DNA is added to human DNA, the subject is placed into an adaptation chamber. This chamber is very much like an incubator. It helps the human body to accept the Imrian DNA, and takes over regulating many common body functions during recovery.”
    “Is that what happened to the teens? An adaptation?” one reporter asked.
    “Yes. When David and Reese were discovered after their car accident, they were brain-dead. I knew that unless we performed the adaptation procedure on them, they would not survive.”
    Reese had never heard this before. Did this mean she owed her life to the Imria? The thought didn’t sit well with her.
    Dr. Brand continued: “The procedure put them into a healing coma for several weeks, during which the chamber—and the Imrian DNA—worked to repair their physical injuries. One positive side effect of the Imrian DNA is that it also promotes much faster healing. It was truly a last-resort effort. Had they not been on the verge of death, we would not have tried it, because at the time of their accident, the procedure was still in testing and was not one hundred percent safe.” Dr. Brand smiled. “We were overjoyed that Reese and David reacted so well to it. We are so happy to see them safe and sound today.”
    Everyone turned to look at them again, but Reese noticed that Amber was the only one of the Imria without a smile on her face. She seemed pensive rather than happy.
    Dr. Brand said, “I’m also very pleased to announce that we are going to make this procedure available to as many humans as we can.” A dozen questions were shouted at her all at once, and she held up her hands. “I will answer as many of your questions as I can,and my associates will be available during your tours to take your questions as well. Additionally, information on the adaptation procedure will be provided in the précis that you’ll receive later today.”
    “I thought you said the procedure wasn’t one hundred percent safe,” one reporter called.
    Dr. Brand nodded. “It is not. I must be honest with you. We were working very hard to save Reese’s and David’s lives when we operated on them, and for that reason we did not record everything as precisely as we would have in a controlled environment. Therefore, we are not going to make this procedure