Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

freebooter posted:

But those men had names and the ranks were used in conjunction with them. The Yeerks have names but don't appear to use them once they're ranked; nobody ever refers to him as anything other than Visser Three. And in a time of war like this where people are getting killed and executed and promoted all over the joint, it would get real confusing real fast as to who was who when you say "orders from sub-visser 12" or whatever.

Also I was thinking about how Akdor was killed and how we haven't heard anything about the Council of Thirteen other than Seerow at the start saying they couldn't have known; maybe they did know but they don't seem to be present aboard the exiled fleet, which I think supports the theory that the Yeerk homeworld has been liberated sometime after the Hork Bajir war but before the time of the Animorphs. Since (minor spoilers) we learn in Visser Chronicles at least that the Council is a very active part of the interstellar empire by the modern day.

The other option is the Yeerks that got off the planet as part of Akdor's rebellion formed their own Council of Thirteen as some sort of government-in-exile and the original planet-bound one still exists under Andalite occupation and there's been zero communication between the de jure and de facto versions in decades.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 01:46

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# ? May 25, 2024 03:12

Tunzie: Aug 9, 2008

I think I�d assumed that the Andalite blockade of the Yeerk home world wasn�t as absoloute as they might have hoped.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 02:27

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

I do find it interesting that.... Temrash? Bags on the Andalites as the great meddlers of the galaxy, when.... well, this entire book.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 02:37

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

I do find it interesting that.... Temrash? Bags on the Andalites as the great meddlers of the galaxy, when.... well, this entire book.

"I learnt it from watching you, dad!!"
On that note, it's fun how this series for young people features a species that has run away from home and is now in trouble with the [space] cops.

Tree Bucket fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Jun 8, 2021

# ? Jun 8, 2021 03:27

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

I do find it interesting that.... Temrash? Bags on the Andalites as the great meddlers of the galaxy, when.... well, this entire book.

I don't know that Temrash is entirely wrong. See, for instance, in the Andalite Chronicles, they have dedicated anti-piracy/smuggling patrols and have pretty much unilaterally set themselves up as space cops. Temrash's specific complaint, though is probably more because they won't let the Yeerks conquer and enslave the galaxy, so he doesn't have some sort of idealistic or sympathetic place to stand....err....slither.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 03:59

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Well sure, but that entirely is doing an awful lot of heavy lifting.
"Look, all we want is to enslave every conscious being in the entire galaxy, but WHAT ABOUT THE ANDALITES?!?!?!?!"

# ? Jun 8, 2021 04:01

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

This is where the US/Andalites analogy sort of starts to fall flat, because as far as we can see the Andalites are a fairly peaceful vegetarian society of space deer whose atrocities (do we know of any yet other than (spoilering this even though I'm pretty sure it was revealed in Andalite Chronicles the quantum virus Alloran is about to crack out?) are genuinely done for the greater good, whereas the US' various crimes across centuries have been for, you know, capitalist imperialism and all that jazz.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 04:11

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

It is a pretty good stab at adding shades of grey though. It really is.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 04:12

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 31
Aldrea

quote:

I went to see Alloran without telling Dak. I asked him what was in the guarded room. He told me very coldly to mind my own business. Alloran had always been arrogant. Now, after months of hopeless battle, he was brutal, distant, and above all, exhausted.

I pleaded with him. I even took his hand in mine.

The morphing technology was still so new that most people didn�t know how it worked. It never occurred to Alloran, as he felt the strange calm and lethargy steal over him, that I was acquiring his DNA.

I rejoined Dak in the quarters we remnants of the Hork-Bajir army had taken. <I�m ready,> I said.

�You went to see Alloran,� Dak said.

I was surprised. I saw Delf Hajool, Jagil�s partner, looking ashamed. Jagil himself refused to look at me.

<Dak, you don�t have to use Jagil and Delf to spy on me. I went to Alloran for a reason. I acquired him.>

That surprised him. I got some small pleasure out of his expression.

�The morphing technology? But he must know what you did. His warriors must have seen.�

I went over to Delf and took her claw hand in mine. <It was just like this, Dak. Alloran felt a momentary peace and calm. As Delf is now feeling. No one watching would even know.> I released Delf�s hand.

Dak nodded. He even smiled. �Good plan.�

<We do want to get in without anyone getting hurt,> I said.

It was so easy morphing Alloran that I barely knew it was happening. There was no mental change. I still had the same Andalite instincts. But now, as I walked ahead of Dak, I felt the increased physical power of being in a male form. When I turned my stalk eyes back, I saw the heavy tail blade of a male. I also felt the slight male clumsiness, the lack of subtle balance that a female Andalite possesses.

I marched steadily, unswerving, unhesitating, toward the guarded door. The guards saw me coming, straightened their pose, and stopped talking.

<Report,> I said. I halfway expected the guards to burst out laughing at me. I may have looked and sounded like Alloran, but I didn�t feel like him.

<Nothing new since � well, since this Hork-Bajir here, or one who looks just like him, came by with Seerow�s daughter today.>

<Different Hork-Bajir,> I said. <But then, they do all look alike. Open up.>

<Yes, War-Prince Alloran. But the Hork-Bajir?>

I turned my stalk eyes on him. <Are you questioning me?>

<No! No, War-Prince Alloran. Not at all.>

The door opened. The guards stepped aside. <Stay out here. Watch for the girl. She may come back.> We went inside. It was a medium-sized room. I saw no Andalites, no Arn. The room was filled with equipment, machinery, much of it glowing and flashing. It was an eerie scene.

�What is all this?� Dak asked.

 I admitted. <Some of this is Andalite, but I believe most of it is Arn.> I went over to something I recognized - An Andalite computer panel.

<Computer on,> I said.

<Identify user,> the computer�s thought-speak voice requested.

I took a deep breath to drive away the fluttering in my stomach. <Alloran-Semitur-Corrass,> I said.

<Thought-speak identification confirmed. Ready,> the computer said.

<We will be in very serious trouble if we get caught,> I said.

Dak smiled. �Aldrea, we�ve been in trouble since we first met.�

<Computer, identify the purpose of this facility.>

Fortunately, computers don�t understand the concept of a suspicious question. The computer answered.

<This facility uses Arn biotechnology matched with Andalite computer technology to formulate and produce biological specimens.>

I frowned. <What biological specimens?>

<Onkalillium �>

<That�s an organic medicine,> I told Dak.

<And Virus Q-One-Eighteen.>

My hearts skipped a beat. Why would anyone be creating a virus?

<Explain the exact purpose of Virus Q-One-Eighteen.>

<Virus Q-One-Eighteen is a Quantum virus. It is designed to attack a specific type of living creature at the subatomic level, bypassing all possible countermeasures. It is designed to cause death within minutes.>

<No,> I whispered.

�Ask it what �specific type of living creature�?� Dak demanded.

For a moment, I just couldn�t do it. I just couldn�t, because the computer would answer. The computer would tell the truth, and I couldn�t hear the truth.

�Ask it!� Dak snapped.

<Computer, what species is Virus Q-One-Eighteen designed to attack?>

<Hork-Bajir.>

Welp, there's your Quantum Virus.

Chapter 32
Dak Hamee

quote:

We stood there, the two of us, motionless. I don�t know what Aldrea felt. I know what I felt. I was angry, filled with rage at the Andalites for having done this evil thing.

But beneath the rage was such sadness. Such awful sadness. All for nothing. All the fighting, the killing. For what? The Andalites had seen the truth: We had lost. The Hork-Bajir people would be slaves of the Yeerks.

This virus was an admission of failure. The Andalites couldn�t save the Hork-Bajir. So rather than let them fall into Yeerk hands, they would annihilate them.

 Aldrea said. 

�It makes perfect sense,� I said. �To the brilliant, ruthless mind of an Andalite, it makes perfect sense. They would rather destroy us than have us become tools of the Yeerks.�

<No!> Aldrea cried with more force than I�d ever heard from her. <No! That is not how we are. Alloran has lost his mind. The Electorate will never support this. Never!>

�Maybe not,� I said. �But the Andalite Electorate is not here. Alloran is.�

<We are not going to let this happen,> Aldrea said. <We are Andalites. We do not destroy sentient species.>

�What can we do?� I shrugged helplessly at the rows of flashing and glowing machines all around me.

<Computer!> Aldrea snapped. <Can you place all the Q-One-Eighteen produced so far in one container small enough to carry safely?>

<Yes.>

<Then do it!>

�What are you going to do, Aldrea?�

<I�m going to destroy the virus and destroy this laboratory.>

�You�d be going against your own people!�

She began to change, to morph out of Alloran�s form back into her own. She then looked at me through her own eyes again and spoke with her own silent voice. <No. My people do not wipe out entire populations. My people came to protect the Hork-Bajir, not to destroy them. I don�t know what
Alloran has become, but he is not one of my people.>

�Alloran and his warriors will try and stop us.�

<Yes. I know.>

I smiled, despite everything. Alloran had failed us. My people were doomed now, either way. But in the end, Aldrea was my true friend. She had lied to me, used me from time to time, and yet now, here, in this black moment, she was my true friend.

�I didn�t believe you,� I admitted. �When you said if you were forced to choose, you�d choose me.�

<Of course you didn�t believe it,> Aldrea said. 

�You and I alone, going against the Yeerks and the Andalites,� I said.

Aldrea nodded. 

�Then from now on, no more lies. No more manipulation. No more Andalite subtlety.�

Aldrea nodded. <Let�s just hope that �from now on� lasts longer than the next few minutes.>

She pointed at a shining, steel cylinder that had risen dramatically from a console. <That must be the virus. Would you mind carrying it? Your arms are stronger than mine.>

I lifted the deadly cylinder. Aldrea drew her shredder.

<Be ready to run,> she said, and raised the shredder.

I�d seen many brave deeds since the war had begun. But none braver than that. The Andalite girl turning against her own people to save mine.

I cared very much for her then. I probably had before that, but that was when I finally realized it. With all her lies, all her inbred Andalite arrogance, all her manipulations, I loved her.

<Let�s blow this place up.>

She began firing, and I didn�t have time to think, only act.

TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!

Consoles exploded. Machinery melted. The room was instantly as hot as sun on the highest branches.

TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!

Buh-BOOOM!

The guards came rushing in.

WHUMPF! I hit one on the side of his head using the canister. He went down, unconscious. Aldrea calmly shifted the shredder, dialed down the power, and shot the other guard with a low power blast that left him stunned and stupid on the floor.

<That should be sufficient damage,> Aldrea said. <Let�s get out of here!>

We ran outside, with me dragging the two Andalites out of harm�s way. The room kept exploding in showers of sparks and sudden arcs of megavoltage.

I cradled the container and Aldrea led the way. Down the walkway we raced. The city was empty and as dark as it ever got with the low glow from the core. All the Arn were asleep.

But then the front wall of the laboratory exploded. The sound echoed all around the valley. No one was asleep after that.

<Out onto the bridge!> Aldrea cried. <We�ll throw the canister into the Deep. It should burn up safely that way.>

We turned to head out onto the bridge. But the Andalites had reacted quickly to the sound of the explosion. Andalite warriors were pouring from their quarters.

I saw Alloran appear on the far side of the valley. He was unmistakable, even from a thousand feet away. And even from that distance he realized what was happening.

<Stop them!> he cried in a thought-speak roar.

Andalites rushed onto the bridge from the far side. Andalites were coming up behind us on the walkway.

Trapped!

And then �

TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!

Down the length of the valley, three Bug fighters swooped, firing their Dracon beams. The sonic boom of their passing shook the stone beneath my feet.

TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!

Dracon beams ripped open the stone walls like an arm blade going through rain-soaked Stoola bark.

Andalite defenses, shredder cannon mounted above walkways, fired back. The valley erupted in blistering light and explosions. Everywhere shredders and Dracon beams fired. Everywhere the stones cracked and shattered and exploded into pebbles.

TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!

Three more Bug fighters were coming in, fast as the first flight, firing just as madly. Groggy Arn were dying by the hundreds. Furious Andalites were being hit by flying rock and by direct Dracon beam fire.

Kah-BOOOOOM! Shredder cannon hit a Bug fighter! It blew open on one side, careened wildly, then slammed into a wall.

�Yaahhhh!� I cheered. Madness! I was cheering the Andalites who would destroy us.

We began to run out onto the bridge. We still had to destroy the canister. But a Dracon beam slashed across my path, stopping me in my tracks. I was half-blinded by the flash.

We had been temporarily forgotten by the Andalites who rushed to their weapons. Forgotten by all but one Andalite.

When I could see again, Alloran was halfway across the bridge, coming toward us, oblivious to the danger.

He was a brave Andalite, racing across that narrow span miles above the red-hot core of the planet, with Yeerk Bug fighters zooming literally feet above his head. He was brave, yes. That I had to acknowledge. But I would see him dead before I would let him use his virus against my people.

<It�s over, Alloran,> Aldrea cried. <You are not going to destroy the Hork-Bajir!>

<I�m trying to save this planet, you fool!> Alloran said.

<Will you save it by destroying it?>

<Give me that canister,> Alloran warned.

He was almost across. Other Andalites were responding again to his orders by blocking us from behind. We could no longer hope to get far enough out on the bridge to drop the canister into the Deep.

We were trapped, and now, down the length of the valley, came a ship whose very appearance struck fear in me. Andalite shredder cannon fired, but the Blade ship�s shields turned the attacks into harmless light shows.

On it came, much slower than the Bug fighters, huge and invulnerable. Its very slowness was insolent, a slap in the face of the Andalites who could not harm it.

The Blade ship fired.

TSEEEEEW! TSEEEEW!

The bridge exploded before me, opening up a gap a hundred feet across. Alloran on one side. Me and Aldrea on the other.

<Kill them!> Alloran ordered his warriors. <Kill that Hork-Bajir, and kill that treasonous spawn of Seerow�s, too!>

The Blade ship approached, firing and flying low.

The Andalite warriors leveled their shredders at Aldrea and me. They looked confused, doubtful. Would they obey their battle-maddened prince?

Aldrea turned her face to me. She took my free hand in hers. <We tried,> she said simply.

But I was not ready to die. Not just yet. The Blade ship came on, flying low. I tightened my grip on Aldrea�s hand. �Jump!�

<What?>

�Trust me. Jump!�

It's kind of ironic that a Yeerk attack probably saved them.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 04:32

Bobulus: Jan 28, 2007

Not to be all pro- war crimes, but if you're making a virus that only targets one species, why not target the yeerk? If you're concerned about them being protected from it inside a brain, give it a long incubation period so it spreads through the pool before they notice it exists.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 13:54

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Bobulus posted:

Not to be all pro- war crimes, but if you're making a virus that only targets one species, why not target the yeerk? If you're concerned about them being protected from it inside a brain, give it a long incubation period so it spreads through the pool before they notice it exists.

Couple of reasons. First, don't Yeerks die when their host does? Something about shock. So if you target the Hork Bajir you get the Yeerks too. Second, if you think about the Hork Bajir as a resource instead of a people, it makes more sense. Killing the Yeerks on-planet gives you time for more Andalites to show up, sure, but you then still have to devote resources to protecting the Hork Bajir from the Yeerks. They'll still want those host bodies, and they will still come for them If you just remove the Hork Bajir as viable host options, well, problem solved.

If the Andalites freed the Hork Bajir and enlisted them as true allies, it would make sense but they honestly seem too arrogant to believe that they would ever be anything other than a liability. They don't even see them as possibly useful ground forces, which is incredibly short sighted.

Ravenfood fucked around with this message at 14:05 on Jun 8, 2021

# ? Jun 8, 2021 14:03

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Another thing about the virus is that the Arn already know what Hork-Bajir DNA looks like....better than anyone, actually. To target this to the Yeerk, the Andalites and Arn would have to get their hands on Yeerk DNA, sequence it, and then figure out how to make a weapon designed to it. That's a lot harder.

# ? Jun 8, 2021 14:30

Bibliotechno Music: Dec 30, 2008

Epicurius posted:

Another thing about the virus is that the Arn already know what Hork-Bajir DNA looks like....better than anyone, actually. To target this to the Yeerk, the Andalites and Arn would have to get their hands on Yeerk DNA, sequence it, and then figure out how to make a weapon designed to it. That's a lot harder.

This is a really interesting point from a historical human perspective, too. When these books were published, the human genome hadn�t even been fully sequenced yet, but the technology was there and sequencing was only a few years in the future. KAA is doing a classical SF move here by extrapolating then-current technology to its worst-case end usage. The Quantum Virus is essentially the viral warfare chuds have been accusing the Chinese of doing with COVID writ large, but in space and with another species.

Bibliotechno Music fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Jun 8, 2021

# ? Jun 8, 2021 17:20

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 33
Aldrea

quote:

We jumped into shadow.

We fell.

THUMP! Bump!

<Owww!>

We landed on the Blade ship as it passed beneath the shattered bridge. I tried to stand. But my right front leg was broken. The pain waited a few moments before hitting with such severity that I almost fainted.

Dak was lying beside me, unconscious on the black metal-composite skin of the ship.

The Blade ship rose up from the valley, up past the wall cities of the Arn, all crumbled and in flames now. Up we rose through the blue mist.

<Dak! Dak! Wake up! This thing is going to accelerate in a few seconds!>

He opened his eyes. �Are we above the Deep? Can I throw this canister?�

 I said. <You may end up dropping it into the trees!>

He jumped to his feet. We were above the mist, over the sloping valley floor. The crowns of trees were marching past on our right and our left. The ship would accelerate any moment, going from this crawling pace to many times the speed of sound to gain altitude before a second pass down the
valley.

�One more jump,� Dak said. He ran over, staggering on the moving, uneven surface of the ship. He handed me the canister. �Hold this tight!� Then he scooped me up, lifting me beneath my belly.

Dak jumped, slinging my weight along with him. He reached out a hand in the darkness and grabbed the crown of a tree. We swung, swung, swung, with the treetop bending way over, tossing us around like a spring.

�Can you morph the chadoo?� Dak asked, grunting from the effort of holding me.

<Yes. But what about the canister? I�ll drop it. The chadoo�s arms aren�t strong enough. Wait. I have a different idea.>

I began to morph. I began to morph the one creature that could swing in the trees and still hold the deadly canister safely.

�What are you doing?� Dak cried as my body changed in his arms.

<Morphing. Just hold on, it will only take a few minutes.>

I felt my tail shorten and thicken. It lost its suppleness and strength and became a sort of dead third leg.

I felt my front legs wither and shrink away, as my hind legs strengthened and grew large, clawed feet. I felt incredible new strength in my arms. They thickened, piling muscle on muscle. My stalk eyes went dark and then hardened to form the big, forward-raked horns. And then, on my arms, on my legs, the blades began to emerge.

�You�re morphing a Hork-Bajir!�

�Yes,� I said, using the Hork-Bajir mouth. �I acquired Delf.�

I clutched the canister tightly. I reached for the treetop and gripped it with my Hork-Bajir claw.

�We�re in this together, Dak. If the Quantum virus is released, now I will die, too.�

�I don�t want that!�

�I do, Dak. I�ll live or die with you.�

Then Dak pressed his forehead horns to mine, and I felt the tingle of a sensation I had not guessed Hork-Bajir could feel. It was a Hork-Bajir kiss, I suppose. What we Andalites do when we stroke another�s face with our palms.

We hung there from the crown of a thousand-foot-tall tree and for a moment, at least, forgot about the battle raging, and the war lost, and the canister that contained so much destruction.

At last, we swung down the tree, down to the ground.

And there, surrounding us on all sides, stood a small army of Hork-Bajir. All were armed with Dracon beam weapons. All those weapons were pointed at us.

One Hork-Bajir stepped forward.

�Dak Hamee, Hork-Bajir seer, and no less than Aldrea, the daughter of Seerow,� he said. �I do love this new Andalite morphing technology. It was fascinating to watch. It will be even more fascinating to use, once I have made you my host.�

Hooray! All the narrators are together.

Chapter 34
Esplin 9466

quote:

id I gloat a little? Oh, yes. Oh, yes indeed.

�Allow me to introduce myself,� I said. �My name is Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six. My rank is Sub-Visser Twelve, although with this triumph I think my rank is very, very likely to be elevated. Ah, yes, this will be a great success.�

�Enjoy it while you can, Yeerk. You won�t live long enough to see another promotion.�

I smiled down at the transformed Andalite girl. �We met before, of course. That was the first time I saw your morphing ability at work. This time I was able to watch from one of the many sensors we�ve strung through the trees. Very impressive. It will make owning an Andalite host all that more desirable. Take them!�

My warriors leaped forward and grabbed the two rebels. We shackled their hands behind them and dragged them to my fighter parked a few hundred yards away.

�Careful with them,� I scolded one of my warriors after he kicked Dak Hamee. �Those are our bodies. We don�t want them damaged.�

I glanced over at the canister they carried. It was sealed. It looked dangerous. I considered opening it to look inside. But some sense of caution warned me to leave it alone. I handed it to one of my warriors to carry.

The fighter was too small to fit all my guards, so I kept two. They stood with Dracon beams leveled at the captives as we took off. I was going to rendezvous with the Blade ship after having shot up the Andalite�s refuge.

But the Blade ship was not back in orbit yet. They were having too much fun frying the Andalites in the Deep, I suppose.

So we waited. No matter how much glory anyone else had from the battle with the Andalites, I had fulfilled my promise to capture or kill the Andalite girl and the Hork-Bajir leader.

Best of all, I had the first and only captive Andalite.

�Why not morph back to your own form?� I said to her. �There is no point in trying to deceive me.�

�I know what you want,� Aldrea said. �I�m not going to give it to you.�

�You can�t possibly stay in that form forever,� I said.

�Yes, I can,� Aldrea said. �In fact, in an hour and a half, I�ll have no choice. I�ll be Hork-Bajir permanently.�

There was no doubting the truth of what she said. She said it too triumphantly for it to be a lie.

�There�s a time limit?� I demanded.

�Yes,� she said with a sneer. �There is.�

�What is in the canister?� I asked.

�Open it and see,� Dak Hamee said.

�Oh, aren�t we just the defiant young heroes?� I mocked them. �Very brave.�

I walked over to Dak Hamee. I smiled at Aldrea. And I kicked Dak as hard as I could. Then I kicked him again. He groaned and fell over, facedown on the deck.

�Demorph, Andalite,� I said.

�NO!� the fool Hork-Bajir yelled. �Don�t let him-�

I kicked him again.

�Demorph, Andalite. I don�t want to bruise my foot hurting your friend. Just demorph. It doesn�t matter. You will both become host bodies, like it or not. So why endure the pain?�

Then it occurred to me. The realization blossomed in my head like the loveliest flower. Of course! Of course!

�Grab her. Hold her down!� I cried, ecstatic at the idea in my head. �I don�t need her to demorph. I can infest her now and then force her to demorph! Hah-hah-hah!�

My warriors rushed forward. They grabbed her head. They twisted her ear around.

�NO!�

Dak Hamee bellowed and struggled, but the shackles held him tight.

I began to release my hold on the Hork-Bajir brain of my host body. I slithered out, pressing myself down to move quickly out of the Hork-Bajir ear. For a horrible long moment I was blind, connected to neither host.

But then I sensed the new Hork-Bajir ear, the one that was only a morph of the Andalite inside. I squeezed through. I reached desperately with my palps, reaching for contact.

I was still hanging half out of the Andalite�s ear when I touched her brain and felt her mind. It was a shock. There it was, a Hork-Bajir brain physically, but within it was not the idiot Hork-Bajir mind, but the lightning-fast Andalite intelligence.

I saw inside the mind, the memories of Aldrea, the Andalite. I saw it all in a flash! All that she had been, all that she had done to thwart us. I saw the secret of the canister.

But most of all, I saw her running, tail high, four eyes open, seeing in all directions at once.

Running free across the grass of the Andalite home.

<Hello, Andalite!> I cried, sensing that she was aware of me in her mind. <You are mine! My host! My slave!>

I could not wait to get completely wrapped around her brain. I had to see inside her memories, all of them. And I opened my own mind and memories, too, letting her see all that I was, all that I had been. I wanted her to fear me, to understand how hopeless her life was now.

<Yes, look into my mind, Andalite. Do you see who I am? Do you see that I am your master? Do you realize now how we will crush you, crush you all?>

I touched the area that controlled sight. I opened one Hork-Bajir eye. I saw Dak Hamee, shouting, struggling. I saw my two guards watching, fascinated. In a moment I would demorph and make the first ever Andalite-Controller! Then they would gape! Then the entire Yeerk race would � A movement! Another Hork-Bajir. But who � my own host body!

Time seemed to stand frozen, as I realized the depths of my mistake. My former host body was no longer under control.

Noooooooo! I cried silently. Noooooooo!

My host body, free now, drew back one arm and brought it down on the neck of one of my guards. My warrior dropped like a stone. The other warrior spun around, but too slow, too clumsy. My former host dispatched him, too.

And then, as I struggled helplessly to finish taking control of the Andalite and get safely inside her head, I felt a hand close around my lower body.

I was being pulled out! Noooo! Noooo!

My palps lost contact with the eyes. My palps lost contact with the Andalite mind.

I was blind again! Helpless. I felt an impact as I hit the deck.

I knew my life would end.

And yet in my powerless rage, there was a part of me that still could think of nothing but that sweet memory. Of the overwhelming beauty of an Andalite running free.

I suppose the problem of securing former hosts never was a problem until the Yeerks got to the Hork-Bajir world. Gedds don't strike me as the kind of creatures that would rebel or resist much.

# ? Jun 9, 2021 06:00

gourdcaptain: Nov 16, 2012

My theory to explain Esplin 9466 in this book and the Absolute Chronicles is that his rationality, sublety, and ability to keep his narcissism in check are proportional to his distance to away from an Andalite brain.

# ? Jun 9, 2021 07:15

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

It's probably just an analogy that Applegate chose because it makes sense to us, but it's interesting that Visser thought of the loveliest flower. Particularly since, well, Temrash described the Yeerk homeworld as lacking in diversity, and we saw in Andalite Chronicles that there isn't a lot of plant life.

Also, Jesus, dude. This is even worse than monologues. You moron.

# ? Jun 9, 2021 07:26

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

gourdcaptain posted:

My theory to explain Esplin 9466 in this book and the Absolute Chronicles is that his rationality, sublety, and ability to keep his narcissism in check are proportional to his distance to away from an Andalite brain.

I keep saying it: Alloran hosed. Him. UP.

# ? Jun 9, 2021 09:58

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

What did they say? 100k controllers? So he's about to see a very large percentage of those die. I could see that driving a slug a little crazy.

# ? Jun 9, 2021 10:12

TheGreatEvilKing: Mar 28, 2016

My interpretation is that being the smartest man in the room went to his head as he stopped respecting subordinates as the original revolutionaries were... kinda dumb!

# ? Jun 9, 2021 22:37

Tree Bucket: Apr 1, 2016; R.I.P.idura leucophrys

nine-gear crow posted:

I keep saying it: Alloran hosed. Him. UP.

Hmm. Visser 3 really makes sense as a melding of the worst aspects of Esplin and Alloran.

# ? Jun 9, 2021 23:07

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

Seems like it had to.

Spoilers: It is probably just an inconsistency/retcon but in this book Visser Three seems to be a fan of or even one of the people who originally conceives of the idea of subtle, secret infestation to take over a planet. Except the later book Visser makes it clear that is Visser One's plan, and Visser Three chafes against it and would prefer an all-out assault. Esplin basically going crazy from 20 years spent with arrogant war criminal Alloran in his head is a way to sort of make sense of this.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 00:13

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

It's interesting (and sort of refreshing) that the Animorphs wring their hands over the morality of acquiring and morphing intelligent species, whereas with Aldrea it just doesn't even occur to her.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 01:09

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 35
Dak Hamee

quote:

The Yeerk slug lay helpless on the deck. Two Hork-Bajir-Controllers lay there, too.

�Who are you?� I asked the Hork-Bajir who had been Esplin�s host.

�I am Gah Fillat,� he said. �You are Dak Hamee. You are different.�

I smiled. �Not so different. Can you help me remove these shackles?�

Gah looked concerned. He looked confused. He was, after all, one of my people. He had never known the word �shackle.� He�d had no reason to know it.

�I can do it,� Aldrea said. She crawled to one of the unconscious Hork-Bajir-Controllers. She pulled his Dracon beam from his hand and used it to burn away the shackles.

�Are you all right?� I asked her.

She nodded. �I am now.�

But there was something wrong with her. I could tell. Something had changed. She noticed me staring.

�The Yeerk. Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six. I saw inside his memories,� she said. �I guess � I guess nothing is ever as simple as it seems.�

I looked down at the squirming, writhing slug. So harmless now. So helpless.

I hated him. Hated him and all his race for what they had done to my people. But I did not want to kill him. I was just tired. Too tired to draw breath.

�What shall we do?� Aldrea asked me.

�With him?� I nodded at the Yeerk. �I don�t know.�

�Not just with him,� Aldrea said. �With everything. With us. We could use this Bug fighter. We could fly far away. Find some uninhabited planet. Leave this place forever.�

�Is that what you want to do?� I asked her.

�I am Hork-Bajir now. We could be � we could be us.�

I reached for her and took her hand. �Maybe there -�

BOOOOM!

The ship was spinning out of control. There were flames. I was thrown against the deck, the ceiling, the walls. Everything spun madly.

Through the window I caught glimpses of a ship firing at us again. Not a Yeerk ship. An Andalite fighter.

It had spotted us. We were a Bug fighter. It was attacking. And it had already crippled the fighter.

The air was almost gone. My lungs were sucking on nothing.

Aldrea fought her way to the controls. Gasping, crying, she struggled with the Yeerk control panel, slammed by the flying bodies of the unconscious Hork-Bajir-Controllers. She was having trouble using thick Hork-Bajir fingers instead of her own Andalite hands.

Down we went. The spinning slowed, but down we went.

�We�re going to crash!� Aldrea screamed.

WHAM! BUMP!

The side of the ship tore off. I saw flashes of trees! We hit again and again.

Then, suddenly, we stopped moving.

I raised my head, then lost consciousness.

When I woke again, I saw Aldrea bleeding.

Again, I lost consciousness.

It was daylight when I next opened my eyes. I looked up into Aldrea�s face. Only it was Delf�s face, of course.

�You are Hork-Bajir now,� I said stupidly, my mind groggy and confused.

�Forever,� she said. �The time limit has passed. I am Hork-Bajir.�

My head began to clear. Memories returned. �The others?�

�The two Hork-Bajir-Controllers are gone,� she said. �Our friend Gah Fillat is hunting for bark.��

And the Yeerk? Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six?�

She shrugged. �I looked. I didn�t find him. There�s a stream just over there. Maybe ��

I stood up. My head felt like it had been pummeled by a Jubba-Jubba. But I was alive. And Aldrea was alive. And �

�The canister!� I cried.

Aldrea�s eyes opened wide. �I forgot about it!�

We both ran to the wreckage of the Bug fighter. It was strewn across several hundred feet. Sheet composite and even an entire engine hung in the branches above us.

We searched for half an hour. Then a voice called out, �Dak Hamee, I am here!�

It was Gah. He was in the tree above us, in the high branches. He was swinging down to meet us. He was carrying the canister. He had retrieved it from the branches above. He had known that it was important. He was bringing it to us.

�No,� Aldrea whispered. �No, no, no!�

The canister top was open.

�Run, Dak! We have to run! The wind is blowing it from us, but we have to run!�

�Gah!� I cried. �Gah Fillat!� But what could I say to him? There was nothing I could do. As I watched in horror, his face twisted, his eyes bulged.

We ran.

We ran and ran.

We ran down the valley, down toward our temporary home among the Arn. We had nowhere else to go.

We ran through the blue mist, down to the edge of the cliff. Smoke billowed up from the wall city. I heard distant cries. The voices of the Arn.

And as we stood there, we saw an Andalite fighter rise up through the smoke. Behind it, a transport. Another fighter. The second transport. All that was left of the Andalite task force. We stood there watching as they rose, up and up, gaining speed. They disappeared into the blue mist. Watching the last of our pathetic hopes evaporate.

We stood there on the edge of that cliff, knowing the Quantum virus was spreading on the wind, and knowing that the Andalites were leaving forever.

The end had come. The war was lost.

�It�s over,� Aldrea said. �The Andalites are gone. The Hork-Bajir are doomed.�

But even now, I was not ready to surrender. Yes, the Andalites were gone. But surely there was still some hope. Surely there had to be some hope for my people.

�There are valleys the virus will not reach for a time,� I said. �Some will survive. Surely some will survive. And � and there are still the trees.�

�And us,� Aldrea said. �For now, for a while, we will have us.�

We stood there for a long time. The passing of the Andalite ships had left swirls in the blue mist.

But then the swirls were gone. All that remained were the pillars of smoke and the faint cries of those who had created my people.

And in orbit, and in all the valleys, and in the very heads of my people, there were the Yeerks.

I was Dak Hamee. Hork-Bajir seer. But I could not see the future. I could not see the hope I knew must still be there.

But I could see Aldrea. Different now, a Hork-Bajir. And yet still Aldrea. I could see her. And that would be enough.

A happy ending, everybody!

Epilogue

quote:

Jara Hamee�s voice fell silent.

I ruffled my wings to shake the morning dew from them. The fire was gone, not even embers now. The Hork-Bajir had all gone to sleep long ago.

All but Jara Hamee. They�d all heard the story before.

<That�s an amazing story,> I said to Jara Hamee. <Not exactly a happy one, though.>

�Yes. Good story. Sad story,� Jara said. �Jara Hamee tell. Father tell Jara Hamee. Father-father tell father. I tell daughter.�

He looked fondly at the young Hork-Bajir who had curled up beside her mother in the night.

<Your daughter? I still can�t always tell male Hork-Bajir from female Hork-Bajir,> I admitted.

<But what�s the end of the story? You didn�t tell me the end.>

�Story have no end,� Jara said, laughing like I was a great fool. �Stories go on.�

<I guess you�re right. Besides, I guess I don�t want to know the next part of that story. It was pretty sad. Too easy to see my own people going the way of the Hork-Bajir. Still, I wish I knew what became of Dak and Aldrea. And even Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six.>

�Jara know that. Dak Hamee and Aldrea daughter of Seerow live. Have child. Then die.�

<The child was your father?>

�Yes.� Once again, Jara looked at me like I was dense. �Dak and Aldrea have son. Son called Seerow. In honor of Seerow. Not Hork-Bajir name.�

<No, I kind of figured that out.>

�Son Seerow have son. That son, Jara Hamee!�

<Well. There you go, then. And Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six?>

Jara looked slyly at me. �Tobias knows Esplin-Nine-Four-Double-Six.�

Yes. Of course, I did. The Yeerk who was obsessed by Andalites. The Yeerk who had managed to survive despite everything.

<Visser Three?>

�Visser Three.�

I sighed. I had come to the Hork-Bajir looking to feel better. Now I was more depressed than before. And I was sleepy. And hungry.

It wasn�t a good story for a person already wondering what the point of his life was. The Yeerks had won. Evil had triumphed. The Hork-Bajir, all except this small band, were enslaved.

The Hork-Bajir began waking up, stirring, opening their eyes. They were probably stiff from lying in these unaccustomed positions on the ground. After all, they were used to life in the trees.

Ket Halpak woke up and smiled at me. Her daughter did not smile, just looked at me curiously.

<Thanks for telling me the story, Jara,> I said. 

�Yes,� Jara Hamee said.

�Yes,� Ket Halpak agreed.

I opened my wings, ready to catch the breeze.

�Tobias,� Jara said. �This daughter named Toby. Name for Tobias.�

<Wow. That�s an honor, Jara and Ket.> I was really touched. It was a typically sweet Hork-Bajir thing to do. <But it�s kind of a strange name for a Hork-Bajir, isn�t it?>

�Yes,� Ket agreed. �Strange name.�

�Good name,� Jara said. �Toby is different.�

�Yes,� Ket agreed, �Toby is different.�

I smiled to myself and caught the breeze beneath my wings. But then, just as I lifted off, I felt the strangest tingling sensation. I veered back and floated above the Hork-Bajir.

<When you say Toby is different �> Jara and Ket didn�t answer. Instead, the Hork-Bajir girl herself looked up at me and smiled a very serious smile. �Yes, Tobias, friend of the Hork-Bajir. Yes, I am different.�

The wind picked me up then, and I soared up and away. But with my hawk�s eyes I watched them for a long time. And at some point, I started feeling really good. I felt happy because Jara Hamee was right. Stories have no end. And my namesake, Toby Hamee, the descendant of a brave Andalite girl
and a Hork-Bajir seer, was going to write the next chapter.

So, in all the darkness, there's at least still hope. There's a place now where the Hork-Bajir are free, and there are children, the first in 30 years, who are born in freedom, and one of them's a seer, who might be able to lead her people to victory against the Yeerks and do what her great-grandfather couldn't do.

Still, this book makes me really want to have a drink. Tomorrow, we're going to see more of Tobias, with Book 23, The Pretender.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 03:56

WrightOfWay: Jul 24, 2010

I'm not sure how Esplin could have possibly made it out of that alive.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 04:17

Edna Mode: Sep 24, 2005; Bullshit, that's last year's Fall collection!

I'm assuming Dak and Aldrea died rather than being infested and that Seerow was the first of the line to get captured. It does make me wonder how generations are raised when the whole species is enslaved. When does a young Hork-Bajir get infested? Is there a birth rate they need to stick to? Were Jara and Ket a couple before they escaped? How do couples start when you're a controller, small talk in your cage every three days?

# ? Jun 10, 2021 04:30

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

WrightOfWay posted:

I'm not sure how Esplin could have possibly made it out of that alive.

An Ellimist did it.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 04:39

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

And thanks. I love, love, this book. Its so utterly brutal yet has such wonderful little moments hidden within it.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 04:39

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

That is actually quite an uplifting ending, in spite of everything. Not so much without the frame story, but like, things are now looking better for the Hork-Bajir than they have in decades. And Tobias got to have a nice evening listening to a story with his friends.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 04:40

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

It was a Hork-Bajir kiss, I suppose. What we Andalites do when we stroke another�s face with our palms.

Hmm. I guess you wouldn't always want to rub your uhh nose-slits together or something.

WrightOfWay posted:

I'm not sure how Esplin could have possibly made it out of that alive.

Yeah, even for an Animorphs book this ends pretty abruptly.

Huh. So, apparently I actually must have read Visser, because there are passages and reveals from a Chronicles book that I remember reading, that have not been in Andalite or Hork-Bajir.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 05:03

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Visser IMO is the best of them that relates to the main story and in fact directly ties in, when a main series book ends with a cliffhanger that then gets picked up in the middle of Visser. Ellimist is maybe better but is way more of a standalone space opera.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 05:15

Pwnstar: Dec 9, 2007; Who wants some waffles?

I don't remember if this happened in the thread yet but one of my favourite minor characters in Animorphs is the free Hork-Bajir with one eye who is super psyched to meet Tobias. He's excited because Tobias ripped that eye out when he was a controller and to him it was the dopest poo poo of all time.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 13:40

feetnotes: Jan 29, 2008

I greatly enjoyed finally reading through the final Chronicles I hadn�t before. Some thoughts:

It�s interesting that the quantum virus wasn�t deployed purposefully. I don�t know that it actually changes anything since the Andalites developed it and Alloran absolutely would have used it. Just interesting that the way it plays out adds a few more shades of grey.

Man, Esplin really dodges death repeatedly huh? I picture Ellimist and Crayak both repeatedly stepping in to save his life, each laughing about how their most important piece won�t be taken out so easily. Actually it�d be really interesting to have a full book from his perspective, and maybe Alloran�s as well, spelling out the whole crazy saga in order. Though between the andalite, hork bajir, and visser chronicles, as well as the main books, you can pretty much piece it together anyway.

I also like that we�ve now seen two andalites trapped in morph eventually having plot-relevant offspring in Tobias and Toby. I hope Arbron had a kid named Tobaxxon who�s heading a heroic team of adventurers and leading the resistance on the opposite end of the galaxy.

# ? Jun 10, 2021 20:56

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Book 23-The Pretender-Chapter 1

quote:

My name is Tobias.

That�s my name. But names don�t really tell you much, do they? I�ve known two Rachels. One was this whiny, obnoxious person. The other Rachel - the one I know now - is the bravest person I�ve ever known.

But you�d think that my telling you my name is Tobias would at least tell you that I�m human, wouldn�t you? You�d assume I have arms and legs and a face and a mouth. But names don�t even tell you that.

I am not human.

I was human once. I was born a human. There are human characteristics within me. And I can become a human for two hours at a time. But I am not human.

I am a red-tailed hawk. A very common species of hawk, nothing exotic. Red-tails tend to live in woods near an open field or meadow. We hunt best that way: by sitting on a tree branch, gazing out across the field, spotting prey, then swooping in quickly for the kill.

That�s what I do. I live in the trees near a very nice meadow. Unfortunately, the hunting has been bad lately. Partly that�s just the way it goes. There are good times and bad times in the predator business.

But more, it�s competition. Another red-tail has been moving in on my territory. He�s been eating my mice. Between him and the minor drought we�ve been having, food�s getting a little scarce.

Stupid, huh? Stupid that I�d worry about something like that. I mean, I have powers far greater than that other red-tail. I can morph to human. I can morph to any animal. I could morph to some member of the feline family or some kind of snake and take out the red-tail.

Only I don�t.

I could confront the other hawk. Red-tail to red-tail. We could fight it out.

Only I don�t.

I don�t do anything. Pretty soon he�ll make a move on me, push me aside. Maybe then I�ll have to figure out what to do. But right now, I don�t do anything. I just go hungry.

I could go to the others for help. To Rachel and the other Animorphs, my friends. But how weak is that? How can I go begging for help to deal with a situation I should be able to handle myself?

I sat on my branch, in my tree, and watched the dry grass. I watched as only a hawk can watch. With telescope eyes and a mind that never grows tired of looking for the clues to a kill.

I waited and watched and listened. A twitch of a grass stalk. A slight puff of rising dust. The faint sounds of tiny feet scrabbling in the dirt.

And from time to time I looked across the meadow at him. At the other hawk. He was a hundred yards away. The length of a football field. But I could see him clearly. It was like looking in a far distant mirror. The angry, yellow-brown eyes. The wickedly curved beak. The sharp talons dug into the bark of a branch.

He looked at me. Our eyes met. He was pure hawk. I was � I was that unique, misfit creature called Tobias.

<No,> I said to him, though of course he understood nothing. <No, I won�t use my morphing powers against you. It will be me and you. Hawk against hawk.>

He returned his gaze to the field. So did I. I had long since marked the burrow of a rabbit and its family. Three baby rabbits had survived. I was human enough to know that people - humans- would be disgusted by the sight of my killing and eating a baby rabbit. They would rather I at least go after
the adult female.

But they�d be wrong. Life in the meadow isn�t a Disney movie. If I killed the mother, the babies would all die. If I killed only the baby, the mother would survive to breed again.

Breed more babies for me to take. To rip apart. To eat.

There was another consideration: Rabbits are tougher than mice. They can aim those powerful hind legs and deliver a blow that will knock you silly.

This is my life. A meadow running short of prey. A competitor who would like to push me out altogether. And a family of rabbits who had to die so that I could live.

See what I mean about names not telling you very much? In the old days, back when I was truly human, �Tobias� was a word that meant wimp. That�s what I was. I guess I was a nice person, back then. I guess teachers liked me and girls felt sorry for me. But the bullies were drawn to me like a mosquito to a sweaty neck.

That all changed in the most unexpected way you can possibly imagine. It changed on the night Jake, Rachel, Marco, Cassie, and I went walking through the abandoned construction site. That�s where we saw the damaged spacecraft land. That�s where we met the doomed Andalite prince. Elfangor.

It was Elfangor who told us that our lives as we�d known them were going to end. Had already ended. He told us about the secret Yeerk invasion of Earth. An intimate invasion by the parasite slugs who enter your brain and enslave you.

And it was Elfangor who gave us powers no one but an Andalite had ever had before. It was Elfangor who transformed us with Andalite morphing technology.

We gained the ability to touch an animal, absorb its DNA, and then to become that animal.

Yes, to become.

I morphed a hawk. I overstayed the two-hour time limit. I was trapped. Trapped in the body of a red-tailed hawk.

Trapped in a world where another bird can be a dangerous enemy. Trapped in a world where I must kill to eat. And not like humans do, where they hire someone else to draw the blood and shatter the bone and then get the food in sanitized plastic packages at the supermarket.

I must kill my own food. I must swoop down and drive the sharp talons into the brain, into the neck. I must feel the heart stop beating. After � after I have already begun to feed.

That�s what the name Tobias means. For this Tobias. For this one, strange, unique creature.

Movement!

Just a slight twitch of a single grass stalk. I looked at my opponent. He had not seen it.

This kill was mine.

I opened my wings, caught the breeze, and swooped down low across the reaching wildflowers and waving yellow grass.

Swooooosh!

I saw the flash of brown. I saw the small rabbit. I was intensely focused. I was electrified.

It happened in seconds.

I spilled air, changed the angle of attack, flipped my tail to aim, and dropped, talons wide open, onto the baby rabbit.

It didn�t see me!

Its mother did, but she was three feet away. Too far!

In seconds my talons would close �

<Aaaahhhh!>

Suddenly, I was scared, helpless, frozen with terror! Above me the wings blotted out the sun.

Huge, monstrous talons came down, like they were reaching down from the sky itself.

I screamed in terror. I plowed into the ground, beak first. I was a hawk again. But I had hit the dirt, missing my prey.

I flapped madly, panicked. I tried to catch air, then �

FWAPP!

Two big rabbit legs kicked and hit me across the side of my head, snapping my head back so fast I almost blacked out.

There was dust in my eyes. I blinked, frantic, terrified. I saw the baby rabbit hopping away. I saw the mother rabbit keeping station between it and me. The mother gaped at me with one perfectly round eye. Her mouth worked, her ears twitched.

She did not see the second shadow. The one that came up from behind her, dropped, opened its talons, and flew away, dragging her baby to its death.

It's good to see Tobias has gotten over his squeamishness about hunting from the really early books. Unfortunate that he couldn't catch his prey, though. And, of course, there's the mandatory "This is what the series is about" part.

Chapter 2

quote:

I was still hungry. And now I was shaken up, too. This was not the first time I�d had a similar experience. It had started in the last couple of weeks. Weird flashes like waking dreams. I would be closing in on my prey and then, in that ultimate moment, I would feel my mind transferred into that prey.

At least that�s how it felt. I know it sounds crazy. But then, if you�re me, how can you even talk about crazy and sane?

Sometimes I wonder if the truth is that I�m some lunatic. I wonder if in reality I�m a hopeless, raving madman locked in an asylum, merely imagining that I am a hawk.

Maybe I�m wearing a straitjacket. Maybe I�m in a padded room in a row of other padded rooms full of nuts who think they�re Napoleon or George Washington or a red-tailed hawk.

How would I know? Does a madman know he�s mad? Does he realize that the delusion isn�t real?

I left the rabbit to the other hawk. But that indelible memory of being the prey instead of the predator hung over me, shadowed my mind. Even with the bright early-morning sun baking up thermals off the roads and parking lots, I felt like I was flying in shadow.

But there was a stronger need than the need for sanity. I was hungry. Hungry in that desperate, all-consuming way a predator has. It�s a mean hunger. A dangerous hunger.

It was early still. The housing development below me was quiet. Parents were getting into their cars and driving off to work. Kids were waiting for buses. Some were talking or playing around.

Most were standing glumly, wiping the sleep out of their eyes.

I floated above it all, ignored by the humans below me. And then I saw it.

It was fresh, I could see that right away. A raccoon, its back quarter smashed flat by a tire.

Roadkill. Carrion.

But it was fresh. It hadn�t been dead more than an hour. The flesh would still be warm, especially on this warm day. But the maggots would not have started growing. Not yet.

I circled above it.

If only it had still been breathing. Stupid, isn�t it? Drawing a line between prey that�s alive, that you have to kill, and somehow pretending that�s okay, that�s right. And on the other hand, acting like something already dead is off-limits.

The truth is, I�d seen hawks eat roadkill. Older, weaker hawks. Unlucky hawks. It happens. It just hadn�t happened to me.

I circled lower. So fresh. I was so hungry. Such a stupid, meaningless distinction. My hunger argued with me. My hunger was convincing.

I dropped down, as suddenly as if I were going in for the kill. Maybe I wanted to pretend that�s what I was doing.

I dropped down and landed on cracked blacktop. I looked around for cars. The street was empty.

Quickly, furtively, I ripped my beak into the raccoon�s belly. And I began to feed.

Yes, it was still warm. I gobbled. I ripped and swallowed. Ripped and swallowed.

�Tobias?�

I snapped my head around, but I had already recognized the voice.

Rachel? No! Oh, God, no! No.

She just stood there, schoolbooks under her arm. Rachel would be beautiful in the middle of mud slides and hailstorms. On a sweet, sunny day, she made my heart ache.

She looked at me. Embarrassed for me. Wanting to say something that would make it all right. Not knowing what to say. Hurting for me. Feeling my humiliation.

What could I do?

I flapped my wings, skimmed across the pavement, and finally soared into the air.

She might believe I was some other hawk. She might. Or at least she would pretend to.

A piece of raccoon liver was in my mouth. I swallowed it.

So why do you think it bothered Tobias so much that Rachel saw him eating roadkill. Do you think he'd be just as bothered if she saw him eating something he killed?

# ? Jun 11, 2021 04:19

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

This book was also one of my faves, cause as a weird kid I liked all the Tobias ones. He must feel bad about not even being a cool hawk, one of the fantasies of bullied kids is that something will happen to let them turn the tables on those who have power over them. But something did change for Tobias and yet he�s still bullied by stronger people/birds.

Though importantly, this time it is only because he�s holding himself back by not just morphing as he said and getting rid of his competitor.

# ? Jun 11, 2021 05:00

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Epicurius posted:

So why do you think it bothered Tobias so much that Rachel saw him eating roadkill. Do you think he'd be just as bothered if she saw him eating something he killed?

Nope. Display of weakness.

With the flashes he's having putting him in the mind of the rabbit, is that just because he's empathetic and has morphed other animals and knows what it is to be prey? Has he morphed a prey animal?

# ? Jun 11, 2021 09:49

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

I read this one right after #22 as a kid, so that was a hell of a one-two punch.

# ? Jun 11, 2021 12:04

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

freebooter posted:

Nope. Display of weakness.

With the flashes he's having putting him in the mind of the rabbit, is that just because he's empathetic and has morphed other animals and knows what it is to be prey? Has he morphed a prey animal?

He's morphed a mole and a housefly, so far, I know.

# ? Jun 11, 2021 13:58

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 3

quote:

I saw Rachel again two days later. I�d checked in with Jake to see if anything was going on. There were no missions - we�d worked plenty lately, dealing with the horrifying matter of David, thefirst new Animorph.

David had ended up like me, as what the Andalites call a nothlit. A person trapped in morph. But David had been trapped in the body of a rat. No flying for him. He was a prey animal.

And unlike me, David had not, and would never, regain his morphing power.

Jake said that although there was no mission, Rachel wanted to see me. He said it was important.

I said, <Okay.>

I flew to Rachel�s house that night, after the lights in her sisters� and mother�s bedrooms were turned off. She had left the window open, as she often did. Sometimes I�d come by and do her homework for her. I don�t know why. Some weird desire to stay in touch with my old life, I guess.

I flew silently, with the ease of long practice, through her open window and landed on her desk. She was sitting in the dark with one of those little book lights on so she could read. She put down her book.

�Hi, Tobias,� she whispered.

<Hi, Rachel. Listen, about the other day ->

�Something has happened,� she interrupted.

<What?>

�Someone has come around asking about you.�

My heart missed about a dozen beats. When it started again I had to gasp in air. <What do you mean, someone is asking about me?>

Rachel rolled off her bed. She was wearing a long sports jersey of some kind. It�s what she wore to bed, I guess. I didn�t recognize the team colors or the number. I was never very interested in sports, and now that whole thing means nothing at all to me.

She flicked on the dim lamp beside her bed and came over to me. �Some lawyer. He says he was your father�s lawyer. And he�s also representing some woman. She says her name is Aria. She says she�s your cousin.�

<Aria? Isn�t that a song they sing in an opera?>

Rachel shrugged with that impatient, �What are you, an idiot? Pay attention!� way she has. �Who cares what her name means?�

<My cousin? Who does she say she�s related to? I mean, who is her mother or father?>
�I didn�t exactly cross-examine her,� Rachel said snappishly.

I laughed. Don�t ask me why, but Rachel being cranky always makes me laugh.

�This comes secondhand,� Rachel clarified. �From Chapman.�

That killed any amusement I was feeling. Chapman is the vice principal at my school. Or what used to be my school. He�s also a high-ranking Controller. A human infested and utterly enslaved by the Yeerk in his head.

<Chapman?> I asked sharply. <How did he figure it out? Did he ask you specifically?>

She shook her head, a movement that caused her long, blond hair to shiver across her shoulders.

�No. He was asking his daughter Melissa if she knew anything about Tobias. I just happened to be there.�



�No one trusts anything about this,� Rachel said. �Marco is in full-blown psycho paranoia mode. But for what it�s worth, it sounded real to me. I mean, maybe Chapman knows more than he�s letting his daughter know, but I didn�t get the feeling he was interested in me.�

<This still reeks. Marco�s right to be paranoid. This smells bad.>

Rachel laughed. �Definitely. Chapman was all like, �Tobias hasn�t been in school in months. I contacted his last address and his guardian says he thought he was with some other aunt.��

<Yeah, well, that�s my family, all right,> I said, trying to sound lighthearted. Both of my parents are probably dead. I used to be sort of passed back and forth between an uncle and an aunt. One was a drunk and the other just couldn�t be bothered. No one wanted me. I don�t say that to get pity; it�s just reality. I couldn�t blame them, I guess. I mean, they didn�t ask to have a kid all of a sudden. And when I disappeared I don�t guess either of them spent much time looking for me.

�Look, I know where this lawyer is staying,� Rachel said. �Jake says we are all available to help check this out.�

<Has to be a trap,> I said. <My father�s lawyer? Doesn�t make any sense. When my mom disappeared and my dad died there wasn�t any will or anything.>

�I don�t know what to tell you,� Rachel said.

<My father�s lawyer. And some woman named Aria who is supposedly my cousin. It�s a trap. Someone has figured out who I am.>

Rachel nodded, but not like she completely agreed. �Maybe. Probably. But I guess this woman has been in Africa all this time. She just got back and found out that no one knew where you were. I guess she contacted this lawyer of your dad�s. She told him and Chapman she wanted to take you in.�

<Take me in?>

�Give you a home, Tobias. A home.�

Tobias has always wanted a home. A real home, I mean.

Chapter 4

quote:

The lawyer�s name was DeGroot. His office didn�t look like much. It was in one of those strip malls with a convenience store at one end and a State Farm Insurance office on the other end. It didn�t look like a place to lay a trap. But that�s the thing about traps: If they looked like traps, they wouldn�t be very effective.

And the place did have one big problem for us: There was nowhere to hide any big morphs.

Nowhere to conceal Jake�s tiger or Rachel�s grizzly bear.

Behind the building was a fenced-in dumpster. Between the dumpster and the back wall of the building was a narrow space. Dark enough, private enough for me to morph.

But I hesitated, floating above the building on the wonderful updrafts created by sun and concrete. I could see in the front window of the lawyer�s office. I saw a secretary sitting at a desk. I saw some old magazines on tables in the waiting room. I couldn�t see DeGroot.

Didn�t matter. Seeing a man�s face doesn�t tell you much. Not when the most important thing about him is the slug hiding, wrapped around his brain.
I
looked around. I saw some of the others. Jake and Cassie were sitting on the outside benches of a Taco Bell across the street. Jake was eating nachos, looking past Cassie at me. He knew I could see him. I did a little roll, you know, rocking side to side to say �hi.� He raised a nacho to me, like he
was making a toast.

I saw Marco coming out of the convenience store with a drink I could have taken a bath in. He acted like he�d just noticed Ax - in human morph, of course - and ambled over to say hello.

I could not see Rachel. But I knew she was in the laundromat next door to the lawyer�s office.

She was my first backup. If I yelled for help she�d head into the Laundromat�s bathroom, morph to grizzly bear, and come straight through the wall to save me.

I pitied any poor soul who happened to be using the bathroom if Rachel needed it.

Everyone in place. Everything was ready.

Still I hesitated. Not because the situation worried me. Not because I was afraid. It�s very comforting, knowing you have an on-call grizzly bear.

Mostly I was just nervous. What was I going to discover? What was I going to learn? What temptations would I have to face?

Strange word, temptations. Strange concept. But that�s what worried me most. Temptation.

Okay, Tobias, I told myself, everyone can see you�re dawdling. Get it over with.

I swooped low over the roof of the strip mall and dropped swiftly down into the space behind the Dumpster. A lovely place: beer cans, weathered Dorito bags, candy wrappers, cigarette butts.

I landed on damp dirt and scraggly grass. And I began to morph.

It�s funny, you know, because when Jake or one of the others becomes human, that�s demorphing.

But for me, the human is just another animal shape I can take on. Human DNA flows in my veins. My own human DNA, thanks to some neat work by the vastly powerful creature called the Ellimist.

On one of our first missions, I was trapped in the hawk body I now thought of as my own. Some months later the Ellimist used me to help some free Hork-Bajir escape. The Ellimist paid me for my services. But as usual with that unfathomable creature, there was a complication. I had asked him to give me what I wanted most. I had assumed he�d make me human again. Instead, he left me a hawk but gave me back my morphing powers. And by twisting time itself, he brought me face-to-face with my old self and let me acquire my �own� DNA.

I could be my old human self. I could be that human boy for two hours and keep my morphing powers. Or I could remain more than two hours, be my old self forever, and forever lose my morphing ability.

Ax�s people, the Andalites, know a little about the race or the individual called �Ellimist.� No one knows for sure whether there�s just one, or many, or whether it matters.

Anyway, the Andalites tell fairy stories of the Ellimists. They see them as tricksters. Unreliable. Creatures who use their power in unpredictable ways.

Well, the Ellimist had tricked me. He left me hanging, stuck between two impossible choices: become human and stop being an Animorph. Or live the life I live now.

All this flashed through my thoughts as I began to focus on the change I wanted to make. I felt the resentment I�d often felt for the Ellimist. But more, I felt my own indecision.

Slowly at first, because my mind was confused, then faster as I focused, my body began to change.

I grew taller. My sharp talons dulled, became pink and chubby toes. My leathery legs sprouted out of their feather sheath and thickened. I heard the bones stretching, becoming more solid.

I felt, as though it were happening far off, my internal organs shift and change. It was a squirmy, almost nauseating feeling. Which wasn�t bad, considering the bizarre transformation that was going on in my insides.

My wing bones thickened and became heavy. Fingers began to emerge from the feathers, and at the same time, all over my body the feathers curled and twisted and disappeared. In their place was pink skin and the minimal clothing I�d managed to incorporate in my morph.

My beak became soft, gradually melting into lips. Teeth appeared in my mouth with a grinding, disturbing sound that resonated in my expanding skull.

My hearing grew confused. My eyesight dimmed. It was as if anything more than a couple of dozen feet away grew irrelevant. My eyes would not naturally focus on faraway things, preferring to see up close.

I felt exposed without my feathers. I felt deaf and blind. It was as if someone had gotten hold of the �brightness� and the �contrast� knobs on an old TV and turned them both down by half, then lowered the volume to a whisper.

Human senses work okay for what humans do. But compared to a hawk, a human is deaf, blind, and helpless.

Worst of all was the leaden pull of gravity. Not that a hawk ignores gravity. It�s just not so �final when you have wings. I felt like someone had remade me in iron and the earth was one big magnet.

We�d left a paper bag with more appropriate clothing behind the Dumpster. I put it on as quickly as I could with unfamiliar fingers. Still, even clumsy fingers are a marvel. If there�s one big physical advantage a human has over a hawk, it�s the hand.

Yes, human brains are the best around. But the brain would be nothing without that hand.

I checked my clothing. I looked down at my shoes. I ran my tongue around inside my mouth, feeling the barbaric sensation of big, bony teeth.

�Hello,� I said, trying out my voice. �Hi. Hi. My name is Tobias.�

My favorite part is Tobias's observation that the thing about traps is that they never look like traps.

# ? Jun 12, 2021 03:53

Mazerunner: Apr 22, 2010; Good Hunter, what... what is this post?

Epicurius posted:

My favorite part is Tobias's observation that the thing about traps is that they never look like traps.

except when they do look like traps and they just want you to think it's so obvious that it can't be a trap...

but then BAM! Trap-trap!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZYeZ6zA5gE

# ? Jun 12, 2021 04:47

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# ? May 25, 2024 03:12

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Mazerunner posted:

except when they do look like traps and they just want you to think it's so obvious that it can't be a trap...

but then BAM! Trap-trap!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZYeZ6zA5gE

You realize Tobias would eat Rufus, right?

# ? Jun 12, 2021 04:50

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