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Liam, on the other hand, looked like he had just stepped off a thundercloud I felt his eyes on h to try to uest with us on this fine evening," Cole began, ar "She’s the scientist who conducted the research about the cure, and she’s here to explain to you the cause of IAAN, as well as what the cure exactly is"

The whispers died out so quickly, I was sure we could have heard a car backfire from a hundred miles away

Lillian brushed out invisible wrinkles in her sweatpants and started to rise froe her nized her fro at her in awe, totally oblivious to her last name Alice, on the other hand, was a different story I saw the exact moment her mind made the connection

"Hello" With a deep breath, she turned to Cole and asked, "Where should I begin?"

"Start with the cause, end with the cure," he said

"Ah All right Initiallywhen Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration--IAAN--was first recognized, the common assumption was that it was some kind of virus whose manifestation was more pronounced and deadly in children than in adults This quickly was proven to be false by the scientific community, as cases outside of the United States proved to be fairly rare or mild in comparison After several years of researchLeda Corp concluded its experiments and has confirmed what some, myself included, had privately believed to be the cause"

I leaned forward inin o, there were attemptsseveral, actuallyon the security of the nation These bioterrorism attacks were launched by ene with our crops and our water supply"

Liaroup, next to Alice He’d been watching Dr Gray through the digital screen on the back of her camera but looked up at that, startled I shifted i for her to continue There had been theories for years that IAAN was the result of a terrorist attack, this wasn’t new information--

"The president at the tined off on a confidential order to begin developent to counteract and nullify a nus that could be added to a population’s water supply with us none the wiser Leda Corp developed and distributed the cheent Ambrosia, to our country’s water treathting the way ent in conjunction with the usual minerals and compounds added to our water?" Senator Cruz asked, white with anger

Dr Gray nodded "Yes, there was routine testing The participants signed ironclad confidentiality agreeenerously reimbursed for their tinant mothers, who all safely delivered their babies without complications and no defects In truth, these researchers received so overnra-terent"

They poisoned us My lip curled back in disgust and I had to grip the sides of my chair to keep myself in it They poisoned us and kept us locked up for their , his head bowed, listening

"Leda’s recent study concluded that Agent A that woly took the chemical into their bodies and it affected the brain cells of their children in vitro My understanding of their report is that these mutations remained dormant in the children’sin your ht, nine, ten, eleven years old The change in your horered the ave a sharp twitch

"Those her quantities of the chemical, or there was a third, unspecified environmental factor" She said all of this so coldly and clinically, with such professional detachain

This happened to you, too Why aren’t you furious? Why aren’t you upset?

Olivia cliht of her scarred face made Dr Gray flinch before she could catch herself "How do you explain our different abilities? Why can we each do certain things?"

"The coenetics--individual brain chemistry, and which neural pathways are affected at the moment you transition"

"Is the che enough for us to know the answer before she so h now that Leda has confirent Ambrosia is to blame, I would say it’s fair to assu cheer cities But seeing how ested the tainted water, itchildren without this mutation"

Generation Not just months or years Generation I pressed my face into my hands, took a deep breath

"So if that explains what happened," Cole said, "what’s yourit?"