Fledgling

Most of Shori’s symbionts—humans who have formed a physical and emotional bite bond with an Ina—initially display uneasiness in their new relationships with Shori and each other. Because he is her first symbiont, Wright forms a stronger attachment to Shori and has more trouble adjusting to their growing family. He is easily angry and jealous, struggling with his new submissive role. He also repeatedly questions his lack of free will and sometimes seems to resent the Ina-symbiont relationship.

Shori’s second symbiont, Theodora, is an older woman in her forties. She joins Shori at the Gordon compound, agreeing to be part of Shori’s family because she feels lonely and unsatisfied with her life; she likes feeling needed. Later, during the Council hearings, Katharine Dahlman orders one of her symbionts to murder Theodora in order to weaken Shori’s morale: “Theodora had been murdered so that I would begin to stumble in all sorts of ways” (268). Shori struggles to overcome her guilt over Theodora’s death, only being satiated once Katharine is sentenced and killed.

Shori’s next three symbionts are Brook, Celia, and Joel—three humans who grew up surrounded by Ina and teach the amnesiac Shori about Ina culture. Brook and Celia were previously symbionts to Shori’s father and brother. Shori takes them in to save them because a symbiont without an Ina will eventually die. At first, the feeding process is uncomfortable for everyone involved because switching hosts goes against Ina nature. However, Brook and Celia eventually begin to enjoy their relationship with Shori.

Joel is the only human to willingly choose Shori as his Ina host. He helps her learn that the Ina-symbiont relationship does not have to be as complicated or painful as it has been with Wright, Theodora, Brook, and Celia. He also helps Shori’s other symbionts, especially Wright, learn to tolerate her various relationships. The symbionts must navigate their “workable group marriage”—their “Found” Family of five—because companionship is key for Ina-symbiont survival (127). Eventually, Shori learns that although she cannot restore her deceased family (and Theodora), she can build a new one by treating her symbionts with care and respect. Thus, Wright, Brook, Celia, and Joel are put at ease by Shori’s character.

The Gordons are old friends and business partners of Shori’s father. Because adult male and female Ina live separately, the Gordons are a community of three generations of male Ina. Hayden and Preston are the eldest; their sons are Wells, Manning, Henry, and Edward; and their sons are Daniel, Wayne, Philip, and William. They all live in a large, isolated community with their symbionts. Before Shori’s female relatives were murdered and Shori lost her memory, Daniel had been negotiating with her parents to arrange marriage between him and his siblings and Shori and hers when they came of age. Shori is uncertain if this arrangement will hold up without her sisters, as group marriages are more fruitful to the Ina than single ones. The Gordons are initially skeptical of Shori when she arrives alone at their compound, seeking protection from the people who murdered her family. Daniel especially seems to hate her sudden appearance.

However, after Shori helps defend the Gordons’ compound during an attack, the family is more willing to help her. She also discovers that her female pheromones are what make Daniel and other adult males uneasy in her presence. To her relief, Daniel and his brothers are still willing to mate with her in a few years. The Gordons help Shori learn more about her former connections and species; they also help her settle her financial affairs after her father’s murder. They take on the responsibility of calling a Council of Judgment to ensure Shori receives justice for the murder of her family. They reintroduce her to the Braithwaites, a female family who offer to take Shori in for a few years. While initially reluctant to work with Shori, the Gordons eventually become part of her extended and future family.

A foil to the Gordons, the Silks are a bigoted family of male Ina responsible for the murders of Shori’s family and their symbionts. According to the Gordons, Ina are not racist because their species exists beyond human prejudice. However, the Silks prove that racism is pervasive and in the context of the novel, transcends species. The Silks are white supremacists who laud their advantages over humans: Ina are tall, pale, physically strong, and live longer than humans. Because Shori is Black due to a genetic mixture of human and Ina DNA, the Silks see her as inferior. Instead of seeing her skin color as an evolutionary advantage—as it allows her to remain awake and stay in the sun longer—they consider her an abomination.

Shori reflects on the Silk family dynamic:

I thought about Milo [the older Silk elderfather], about his contempt for me and his less lethal, but no less real, contempt for symbionts—probably for all humans. Ina could not survive without humans, and yet Milo seemed to consider them little more than useful domestic animals (257).

The Silks’ failure to understand how companionship and symbiosis are essential for survival ultimately leads to their demise. While they are allowed to live, their family is disbanded—the most severe punishment for a species that values family above all else.