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We’ll give it about a minute to sync with your neural pathways, and then we’ll test it out.”
    “But how? Where did it go in?”
    “It went in through the skin,” Korum explained, smiling at her. “You didn’t feel it, right?”
    “No, I didn’t feel anything.” Were they playing a joke on her?
    Saret laughed, enjoying her reaction. “Good, you weren’t supposed to. The device itself has analgesic properties, so you shouldn’t have felt the tiny cut it made in the thin skin behind your ear.”
    Mia raised her left hand, feeling for the wound, but there was nothing.
    “So tell me, Mia, do you feel any different? Are you thinking any thoughts you shouldn’t be thinking?” Korum asked her with a mocking gleam in his eyes.
    Mia shook her head, frowning at him slightly. She didn’t appreciate his making fun of her ignorance.
    And then her breath caught in her throat.
    Korum had just spoken to her in Krinar – and she had understood his every word.
    “Wait a second,” she said, and the words that came out of her mouth were strange and unfamiliar. Yet she knew exactly what they meant, and her facial muscles seemed to have no problem forming the sounds. “You just spoke in Krinar!”
    Korum smiled. “And so did you. How does it feel?”
    Mia blinked at him. It felt strange, yet effortless. “It seems to be okay,” she said again in Krinar. “I just don’t understand how it works. What if I want to say something in English?”
    “If you want to say something in English, you just have to think English, and you’ll switch languages,” Saret explained. “Right now, your brain’s natural response is to speak in Krinar because that’s the language in which we’re addressing you. You have to actively think that you want to speak in English in order to do so when confronted with Krinar speech. However, later on, when you get used to the implant, switching back and forth will be automatic and won’t require any extra thought on your part. This is really not all that different from being multilingual. I’m sure you know people who speak several languages fluently – and now you have that same ability, just taken to a different level.”
    Mia listened to his explanation, the reality of it seeping in. “Wow,” she breathed softly, “so I can really, truly speak any known language now? Just like that?”
    She wanted to jump up and run around the room, screaming with glee, and she controlled herself with effort, not wanting to appear like a silly kid in front of Korum’s friend. It was just so unbelievably amazing. She had always been good with languages in school, studying Spanish and French throughout high school, but she’d never managed to become fluent. And now she could speak whatever language she wanted? Her earlier reluctance forgotten, Mia could now only think of the mind-blowing possibilities.
    “Just like that,” Korum confirmed, looking down at her with a smile, and Saret nodded as well.
    Struggling to appear dignified, Mia fought back the huge grin that threatened to split her face. “Thank you,” she told Saret. “I really appreciate it.”
    “You’re welcome, Mia. I hope to see you soon.” And with that, he touched Korum’s shoulder again and left, the wall to their right disintegrating to grant him passage.
     
     

Chapter 3
     
    Once Saret was gone, Mia couldn’t contain her elation any longer. She felt like she would choke from the sheer delight that filled her from within, and she knew that she was grinning now, probably looking like an idiot. But she couldn’t bring herself to care anymore, her excitement too strong to be restrained.
    She was now a polyglot!
    She tried to picture herself speaking Cantonese, and the words suddenly came to her. Opening her mouth, she heard the harsh tonal sounds coming out as she told Korum, “I can’t believe this is real.” Promptly switching to Russian, she continued, “I can’t believe I can do this!” And then again in German,