He grazed her neck with his fingers, then her ears, then her hair. She had conceived of amygdalines as completely detached from the physical world, noncorporeal beings that inhabited physical bodies only on technicality. Most of their lives were lived inside their heads, inside digital spaces, not in physical space, not unless they were Similars, explorers, or biologists. But Enola was such a strangely tactile creature, one with no sense of boundaries.

“THERE IS A PART OF THE BRAIN THAT LIVES AND VIBRATES OUTSIDE THE KNOWN UNIVERSE, A PART TIED IN WITH WHAT YOU MIGHT CALL A SUBCONSCIOUS, WHERE THE BRAIN GREETS BUT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE UNKNOWN. THEREFORE, THE BRAIN CREATES FORMS IT UNDERSTANDS FOR THIS UNKNOWN—THIS IS THE DIVINE. THIS IS WHERE RELIGION COMES FROM, BOTH FOR OUR ANCESTORS AND FOR YOU. IT IS THE BRAIN GIVING A FORM TO THAT WHICH IT KNOWS TO BE TRUE BUT CANNOT COMPREHEND. SOMETHING SIMILAR HAPPENS WITH YOUR BOND TO OUR DEAR BELOVED.” He looked toward the mountains in the distance. “YOUR BRAIN IS TRYING TO GIVE FORM TO THE SUBCONSCIOUS INPUT IT IS RECEIVING.”

“Why wouldn’t Ampersand want me to know that?”

“FROM WHAT YOU KNOW OF OUR DEAR BELOVED, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE MORE TERRIFYING TO HIM THAN AN OUTSIDE FORCE THAT HE CANNOT CONTROL PERIODICALLY INVADING HIS UNCONSCIOUS MIND?”

She stilled, a sense of dread rising. She recalled that first night he’d implanted those “monitors” in her, that his primary objective was to stop that side effect altogether.

“IT IS PROBABLE THAT HE WILL NOT EVER BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN OR CONTROL THIS BOND BETWEEN YOU, BUT HERE YOU ARE, THROUGH NO INTENT OF YOUR OWN, ABLE TO ENTER HIS MIND AND AFFECT HIS THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS IN A WAY THAT NEITHER OF YOU CAN CONTROL.”

This was a thought she’d toyed with many times and always dismissed as absurd. That if she invaded his mind one time too many, he might be forced to take desperate measures. “Is there anything I can do to stop invading his mind?”

“THERE IS NO WAY TO EXERT CONTROL OVER THIS, BECAUSE THE ELEMENTS THAT OPERATE THIS CONTROL EXIST OUTSIDE OF WHAT WE KNOW AS REALITY. THEY EXIST OUTSIDE OF OUR FOUR DIMENSIONS. IF YOU WANT TO SEVER YOUR BOND, THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO DO THAT.”

Then she sensed something, familiar yet unclear. That fear she had felt from the other side of the wall had muddied somewhat, yet the wall still felt thin. She whirled around, expecting him to appear at any second.

“THIS IS THE LIMITATION THAT WE SHARE. AS BEINGS OF FOUR DIMENSIONS, WE CAN ONLY ADVANCE SO FAR. WE CAN NEVER EXPAND CONSCIOUSNESS AS WE UNDERSTAND IT PAST FOUR DIMENSIONS. THE NOUMENAL DIMENSIONS CANNOT BE ACCESSED OR CONTROLLED, BUT THAT OF COURSE HAS NOT STOPPED OUR DEAR BELOVED FROM TRYING.”