"I know exactly what it is," she says. "The slugs on their own don't make enough of the drug, even if you put one in a girl. But if people have ever injected it, you can extract it from their bodies after they die, give it to a girl to drink, and the slug multiplies it. The girl brings it up, and it's ready to process. When it's passed through the dead, it carries their memories and essence with it--that's why my mother does it."

There are a lot of dead people in her city.

"I can give you a sample, if you like. If you've got a test tube or something."