14
JULIA RODE A NATURAL HIGH in the car on the way to meet with the DARPA team. She had allowed Sam past her defenses! Giving Sam access to her mind felt like a significant triumph over her deep-seated fear of connection. Her abusive childhood and young adult years had left her badly damaged and isolated from others. Julia had worked a lot on these issues with Dr. Reynolds and made great progress. However, actually letting someone into her, inside her mind, was a monstrous test of the skills she had learned from Susan. Sam’s personality helped as well; she could sense him in a way you can sense someone you’ve known for years, in an almost intimate way, and everything about him seemed benign. Even so, if she focused on the thought for too long, panic would set in. She tried to lean into it
