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

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FlocksOfMice: Feb 3, 2009

I think it's less that they can do engineering to make hosts and more the example that they can go from parasites to true symbiotes with a thriving civilization as existing proof that it works

it's more the social idea of "no this is actually perfectly valid and you can't pretend it away against this evidence" more so

# ? Aug 5, 2021 18:57

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# ? May 26, 2024 14:16

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Fuschia tude posted:

Sure, but it's a clear demonstration of the possibility: the Hork-Bajir know the Arn made them, and the mist monsters (and that they self-modified to prevent their own infestation); that's part of the H-B's widespread cultural knowledge, which the Yeerks would know as soon as they start infesting. Plus they already use the Arn as slave labor in that book; they could force them to teach, or at least learn from the technology that they have.

The Hork-Bajir (except for Dak Hamee and the nothlit Aldrea) don't know that the Arn exist. They think they were created by Mother Sky and Father Deep, and to go into the mist layer means to be eaten by monsters. You can say that Jara Hamee had that knowledge, because as a literary device, he was able to recite the story verbatim to Tobias, and his former host would know, but the Hork-Bajir in general seem ignorant of the Arn or genetic engineering.

# ? Aug 5, 2021 19:47

HIJK: Nov 25, 2012; in the room where you sleep

Fuschia tude posted:

It feels unlikely for no one to realize that, though. Everyone fighting this war may be the new post-Seerow generation, born in space, but it also seemed clear from Visser Three's account in that book that they don't particularly care about or limit Yeerks' access to all their collected data. Putting this together is barely even 2+2. I guess it's theoretically possible that none of the pacifist Yeerks has also ever stumbled across this information from the H-B planet, but it feels like intentional ignorance by author fiat.

Pretty much. I figure its just one of those things that happens in a long running series like this.

# ? Aug 6, 2021 01:04

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 18

quote:

A smell like oil and mothballs and �

�It�s poison!� Rachel said. �Like bug poison.�

<Howlers!> Tobias yelled.

What to do? The Howlers were pumping poison into the building. They had learned fast. Too fast. Insect morphs were no longer available.

�Guide! Windows?�

<Yes, there are windows concealed. I can open them by ->

�Not yet. We go airborne,� I told everyone. �Stay calm. Morph to bird. Guide, when I say, open the windows. Not before. The Howlers won�t come in till they�re sure they�ve spread enough poison.�

I tried to sound confident. I hoped I was right.

The stench of poison was growing stronger by the second, but I was already on my way to morphing a peregrine falcon.

Why bug poison? Why not nerve gas? Why not some odorless, invisible gas that would kill us before we knew what hit us?

Too easy? Not enough fear factor for the Howlers? Or was no deadly gas one of the rules of engagement?

We were melting, all but Erek and Guide. Morphing. Flesh oozing and shifting like mud sliding down a hill. Flesh turned gray. Arms and legs broke out in feather patterns. Faces crumpled, then extruded hard beaks. Toes became talons.

<Guide, how high up are we?>

<Perhaps five times your own height.>

<Okay. Erek, we don�t know if any Howler is sitting outside that window. Maybe yes, maybe no. Can you jump through it, push whoever�s there out of the way?>

Erek looked sick. �No, Jake. I can hear the Howlers. I know they�re out there. If I go through that window I might harm -�

<Wouldn�t want that,> Marco sneered. <We wouldn�t want ->

<Shut up, Marco,> I rapped. My mind was racing. Some answer. There had to be. We needed a distraction, otherwise, the instant we appeared, the Howlers would � <Erek! Can you project a hologram through another window? A hologram of us?>

�Absolutely. There would be no harm to the Howlers, and it might save you. That would be well within my parameters.�

<Guide, open a window on the far side of the room, count to three, and open this one over here. Guide, Erek? We hook up two levels down, near the stairs. Everyone ready?>

<Two levels down?> Guide said, looking startled.

Just then a pair of Servant Iskoort came bustling into the room. <Is there a problem? Are those guests clinging to the outside of the building disturbing your rest?>

<Make it fast,> Tobias said, ignoring the intrusion. <Birds don�t tolerate poison much better than bugs do.>

<Point taken. On three. One, two, NOW!>

The far window slid open. Instantly a flight of six birds flew toward it. Dracon beams burned and flechette guns rattled.

<Yes, let us open the windows,> one of the Servant Iskoort offered.

<Perhaps a delightful meal?>

The near window opened and I spread my wings and flapped with all my panicky strength.

The hologram broke down after extending a couple of dozen feet from the window. But by then all seven Howlers were firing like idiots on the wrong side of the building.

We blew out of the window, flapping like mad, desperate for every foot of distance. But we were not far when the first Dracon beam singed Rachel�s eagle wing.

<Down, down, down!> I yelled.

We dove. Down into the maze of trees and bushes and flowers. We were a weird squadron. A bald eagle, a pair of ospreys, a northern harrier, a red-tailed hawk, and a peregrine falcon.

We blazed along the lane, inches above the heads of walking Iskoort. They�d feel our wind and look up as we passed.

B-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-t-t!

A line of flechettes tore a tree apart inches ahead of me.

I turned left and saw the Howler. He was racing after us, knocking Iskoort down like they were so many bowling pins.

We turned a sharp left, banking around a line of fuzzy orange trees. A Howler burst from the vegetation ahead of us! He had torn through the planters to cut us off.

<Pull up!> Tobias yelled.

TSEEEEW! TSEEEEEW!

Cassie�s right wing was gone, a burning rag falling to the ground! Cassie tumbled, out of control, falling like a stone. She hit the ground amidst a gaggle of Warmaker Iskoort.

I dived after her.

A Howler jumped from an overhanging tree. He aimed his beam weapon even as he plummeted toward Cassie�s still, crumpled form.

TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!

He fired, missed! Landed. I was on him, talons forward. I raked bloody lines across his head. He twisted his turntable body and aimed at me.

I carried through, lost momentum, and slammed into one of the Warmaker Iskoort. The Iskoort stared blankly at me. I was in his arms. Helpless.

The Howler grinned and took careful aim. Right at me. No chance to escape. Point-blank range.

Inches away. I could see every detail of the weapon that would end my life.

Then � the Dracon beam wavered. It rose. I saw the Howler�s face, furious, enraged. But he did not fire.

I flapped my wings. The Warmaker Iskoort reacted by shoving me away angrily, and then he and his fellows attacked the Howler.

It should have been over in an instant. The Warmaker Iskoort were not exactly formidable. The Howler should have laid them out in five seconds. Instead, the Howler shielded himself from attack, pushing back the thrusting, butting heads, and ran.

Rules of engagement!

<They can�t kill the Iskoort!> I yelled to the others. <Use the Iskoort for cover!> Then, <Cassie! Cassie, if you can hear me, demorph! Demorph!>

But I could already see her flesh growing from the missing, burned scar where her wing had been.

<Yeah, yeah, I know,> she said, sounding stunned.

<Ax! Behind you!>

<Here comes another one!>

The others were running for their lives. I had to get to them. <Cassie. Are you okay?>

<I�ll � you know � uh � demorph,> she said, dazed, lost.

<Cassie, demorph! And stay close to the Iskoort!>

<Yeah. Yeah.>



<No. Yes. Go. You have to ->

A Howler was bounding toward me, his dead blue eyes focused on me. If I stayed, I�d lead him to Cassie. If I left � I couldn�t leave her! She was too dazed, losing too much blood, sinking too fast to finish demorphing.

No choice, Jake, I told myself harshly. You can�t help. You can only hurt.

I flapped away, feeling like my heart was being ripped from my body. I gained enough altitude to

get above the trees, where I saw a bizarre battle underway.

Have to help the others, I told myself. That�s your duty. Help them. You can�t help Cassie anymore.

The Howlers were leaping from tree to tree, like monkeys on steroids. They were simply leaping across the walkways, vine to bush to branch, like people crossing a stream by jumping from rock to rock.

I saw three birds in the air. One missing besides Cassie. The edge of the platform, the void, was only a mile away.

<Okay,> I said. <I�ve had enough of this. They want to chase someone? Let�s see just how fast they are.>

I'm pretty sure this is Jake's nightmare, isn't it? Cassie being left alone to be killed?

Chapter 19

quote:

The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on Earth. Faster than the cheetah or gazelle. Faster than the fastest dolphin or shark. Faster than any bird. In a dive it can break two hundred miles an hour.

I flapped, up, up, up, burning energy like I didn�t care, and I didn�t. I wouldn�t be needing energy for later. There wasn�t going to be a later. Cassie down. Rachel down. I felt sick inside.

But I was going to take a Howler with me.

I flew hard and fast and caught a little help from a headwind that I rode like a skateboarder going up the side of a pipe.

Then I took careful aim, judged the distance, and dived.

I didn�t reach two hundred miles an hour, but I was breaking a hundred by the time I slashed the top of a Howler who was ripping after Tobias.

The Howler grabbed his head, howling a more emotional and less dangerous howl than the one he was named for. He fired wildly at me, but I was out of there.

I kept most of my momentum and banked right, flapping hard, then raked a Howler who had just dropped Marco with a burst of flechettes.

<Marco!> I cried. <Demorph! Demorph!>

I couldn�t tell if he was still alive. But I could see his assailant. He got a face full of razor-sharp talon. I aimed for his eyes.

The Howlers had never been beaten. I wondered how they liked what I was doing to them.

I got my answer immediately. Three of them converged, racing toward me, flinging themselves forward in mad, heedless pursuit of the little creature who had dared to hurt them.

Not too fast, Jake, I told myself. I flew, but not at full speed. Rather, I used my speed to dodge and weave and frustrate the Howlers who fired everything they had at me.

Close enough, I thought. Now, down! I dropped below tree-level, down to the walkway. But here the walkway was almost devoid of Iskoort.

I stuck to the path, fighting exhaustion, flapping, turning, flapping, turning. And the Howlers were after me. They ripped through the hedges, blew trees apart with flechettes, burned flowers and bushes out of their path.

I was going up and down a circuitous path. They were cutting straight through. In seconds they would cut me off. I couldn�t outrun them when I had to travel ten feet for every one foot of theirs.

But I had to stay down. Had to stay on the path. Had to hope I was right about direction and distance. Had to hope the Howlers� arrogance, the cockiness of the never-defeated, would help me.

Turn, turn, turn!

Around I came. A Howler burst through the hedge just in front of me! Trapped!

Was I right? Was I there?

I went straight at the Howler. He aimed. I jerked suddenly upward and dropped slowly, like a wounded bird, like a slow, loopy volleyball, over the hedge to the far side.

The Howler ripped through the hedge, smelling victory.

He ripped through and clawed at the air.

The Iskoort were crazy not to put guardrails around the edges of their platforms.

But it was a kind of crazy I could get to like.

The Howler fell. Fell, clawing the air, screaming in rage and frustration. Miles above the ground. He had a long way to fall.

And then it hit me. Now was the time.

I was in the right place and in the right morph.

Down he fell, quickly achieving maximum falling velocity. Which in the gravity of the Iskoort world, as it turned out, was less than two hundred miles an hour.

Splat?

# ? Aug 6, 2021 04:41

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

quote:

�The Yeerks don�t know about this,� Cassie said. �Even the Yeerks who want peace cannot imagine a way out, a way to end the cycle of conquest.�

I can think of a way to escape your blind slug form without the need for bioengineering symbiotes or enslaving another creature!

# ? Aug 6, 2021 06:06

pile of brown: Dec 31, 2004

That's kinda genocide though if you think about it though

# ? Aug 6, 2021 07:07

Bobulus: Jan 28, 2007

We haven't heard anything about the Howlers having super-healing, right? I feel like the solution to this war is not going to be physical violence, but just to pop the hood and examine the internals of this fight, one of the few advantages the Animorphs might have here is that they can get life-threatening wounds, over and over, and as long as they can morph out, they can keep going. If a Howler gets its eyes destroyed by a hawk, it's probably not getting those back anytime soon. Attrition.

# ? Aug 6, 2021 16:14

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Bobulus posted:

We haven't heard anything about the Howlers having super-healing, right? I feel like the solution to this war is not going to be physical violence, but just to pop the hood and examine the internals of this fight, one of the few advantages the Animorphs might have here is that they can get life-threatening wounds, over and over, and as long as they can morph out, they can keep going. If a Howler gets its eyes destroyed by a hawk, it's probably not getting those back anytime soon. Attrition.

They do. From Chapter 11:

quote:

I gathered myself for a leap. But Ax was faster. His tail snapped, crack!

The Howler�s hand dropped. The weapon clattered down the stairs. But before the weapon had stopped rolling, the hand was growing back!

# ? Aug 6, 2021 16:32

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Bobulus posted:

We haven't heard anything about the Howlers having super-healing, right? I feel like the solution to this war is not going to be physical violence, but just to pop the hood and examine the internals of this fight, one of the few advantages the Animorphs might have here is that they can get life-threatening wounds, over and over, and as long as they can morph out, they can keep going. If a Howler gets its eyes destroyed by a hawk, it's probably not getting those back anytime soon. Attrition.

Even if true, in a 7v1 fight they didn't cause any credible injuries to take advantage of later.

# ? Aug 6, 2021 16:33

Terror Sweat: Mar 15, 2009

They have healing like wolverine

# ? Aug 6, 2021 18:35

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

pile of brown posted:

That's kinda genocide though if you think about it though

I meant the morphing technology

# ? Aug 7, 2021 02:53

pile of brown: Dec 31, 2004

freebooter posted:

I meant the morphing technology

I did too, either they're reverting to slugs every 2 hours and also still need to visit a kandrona pool every 3 days or they're nothlits locked into a bunch of random forms that can't interbreed, or would have to all assume the same form, and one that's sentient/intelligent to continue as a race that's not really Yeerks anymore. 2/3 of those options amount to the end of the Yeerks as a species.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 03:05

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

I wonder how many other kids' book series delineate a spectrum of genocide.

e: while I think of it- what was the kids' books scene like at the time? I became a Pratchett and Tolkien nerd pretty early on, so I don't really remember what else was out there for kids. Animorphs had to be an outlier, right?

Tree Bucket fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Aug 7, 2021

# ? Aug 7, 2021 03:33

Piell: Sep 3, 2006; Grey Worm's Ken doll-like groin throbbed with the anticipatory pleasure that only a slightly warm and moist piece of lemoncake could offer; Young Orc

Goosebumps was the other series I was getting from the scholastic book fairs/catalog at the time

# ? Aug 7, 2021 03:57

CidGregor: Sep 27, 2009; TG: if i were you i would just take that fucking devilbeast out behind the woodshed and blow its head off

Piell posted:

Goosebumps was the other series I was getting from the scholastic book fairs/catalog at the time

Yeah pretty sure Goosebumps and Animorphs were like the #1 and #2 sellers from those catalogues and anything else was a distant third.

At least, those were the only things I ever looked for. But my tastes are disgustingly mainstream, so.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 04:25

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

pile of brown posted:

I did too, either they're reverting to slugs every 2 hours and also still need to visit a kandrona pool every 3 days or they're nothlits locked into a bunch of random forms that can't interbreed, or would have to all assume the same form, and one that's sentient/intelligent to continue as a race that's not really Yeerks anymore. 2/3 of those options amount to the end of the Yeerks as a species.

HB Chronicles suggests there's a significant number of them that are happy just chilling out in the pool and don't want hosts, though.

Tree Bucket posted:

I wonder how many other kids' book series delineate a spectrum of genocide.

e: while I think of it- what was the kids' books scene like at the time? I became a Pratchett and Tolkien nerd pretty early on, so I don't really remember what else was out there for kids. Animorphs had to be an outlier, right?

Harry Potter would be a big one, though I don't recall that actually becoming a phenomenon until the fourth book which I think was 2000, as Animorphs was wrapping up.

In Australia I remember John Marsden's Tomorrow series being very big and I would have read it around the same time - an unnamed foreign country invades and occupies Australia and it follows a group of kids waging guerilla warfare. Definitely struck the same tones as the Animorphs in terms of death, killing, PTSD etc, but I think it was aimed more at high school aged kids than middle school.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 04:28

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

Tomorrow also had reasonably explicit sex, so yeah, definitely an older audience.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 04:51

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 20

quote:

Down, down, down.

The Howler was facedown, yelling and grabbing air. Helpless.

I flew straight down, flapping hard, helping gravity work. The Howler was right below me, oblivious.

He had other things on his mind.

I folded my wings back, brought my talons forward, and latched on to his leg. If he felt my sharp talons, he didn�t show it.

I looked past him at the ground so far below. How long would it take us to fall? Long enough? No way to know. Had to try.

I began to demorph. We were falling at the same speed now, the Howler and I. I tried to hold on to him as my talons became fingers, as my body grew and grew almost as large as his. I tried to hold on to that half-cooled lava skin. But my talons slipped as the claws became fingernails. I lost my grip.

I grabbed again with a stubby hand and an arm eight inches long. Missed. We fell. My eyes lost their falcon focus. I could no longer see every detail of the ground far below me. It was a blur. It made it seem further away. A small comfort.

Human, I fell, my face just inches from the Howler�s left leg. He had stopped clawing the air. He was no longer moving. He had a long time to contemplate his fate. I didn�t feel sorry for him. Maybe I should have. Maybe Cassie would have.

But this Howler, or one just like him, had burned her wing off. Had shot Marco. At least one of the others. Maybe all of them by now.

I wanted him to have a nice, long time to think about that as he fell.

I grabbed, this time with human fingers.

He swiveled suddenly, turned his body all the way around, and stared down at me, his blank blue eyes wide with shock.

He reached for his Dracon beam. I snatched it first and threw it away. It fell, twirling beside us, five feet away and a million miles out of reach.

I knew what was coming next. But the Howler didn�t. He started his howl, the first notes earsplitting, brain-numbing.

KEEEE -

But he was too late. I had begun to acquire him. And he felt the torpor, the lethargy that creatures usually feel when acquired. He stared, eyes full of hate, unable to raise his deadly howl.

While I kept my grip on him, while I drained his DNA into me, I used my free hand to strip away his weapons. One by one. They made a small arsenal falling around us.

I pushed away. The air caught me and spun me end over end. I windmilled my arms, trying to stabilize, but it was a foolish instinct. I calmed down and began to morph.

The ground was close now. Close, so close. It was as if at the end we were moving faster and faster, as if the last half of the fall took only a tenth as long as the first half.

Fear distorts reality. Reality was plenty distorted.

I tumbled wildly, seeing the ground sweep by beneath me one minute, then the Howler above me.

My shove had set him tumbling, too. It was all that saved me, because he began to howl.

KEEEEEEEEEEE-row!

But the blasts of sound only hit me glancing blows as we spun like a pair of suicidal sky divers. I felt the itchiness of feathers growing from my skin.

The ground, so close!

Hard beak pushed out from my lips.

The ground! Rushing up now. Grim, scruffy trees and drifting, ground-hugging fog. My arms were shriveling, the bones thinning, hollowing.

Too late!

KEEEEEEEEEEE-row!

A thousand feet!

Five hundred!

One hundred feet!

Treetops rising around me!

I opened my wings. I felt them fill and strain, the muscles almost tearing with the effort.

The Howler fell away from me.

<Tell the Big Red Eye that Jake says �hi,�> I said.

My wings filled and I flew at impossible speed across the treetops.

Just something I noticed here. Something the Animorphs don't do....a moral line they drew for themselves, is that they don't acquire sentient beings without their consent. I don't think they ever broke that beefore, but Jake does now. It seems significant somehow, especially because he's doing it pretty much out of pure rage and the desire to kill. That's the whole, "I should have felt sorry for him, but I didn't, not after Cassie had a wing burnt off and Marco was shot." sort of thing.

The last line also makes me think of a bit from The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett. For those who don't know anything about the book, the main character is sent to a part of the world that's sort of a fantasy Transylvania and during it, he uncovers this conspiracy. One of the people involved in it is a werewolf supremacist named Wolfgang, who's already killed a bunch of people, and now, as a wolf, is trying to kill Vimes. Vimes kills him by basically throwing a flare at him. Wolfgang's animal instincts kick in and he catches the flare, which then explodes.

quote:

When the body had stopped rolling, Vimes looked around the square. People were watching from the coaches. The crowds were silent.

There were a lot of things he could say. �Son of a bitch!� would have been a good one. Or he could say �Welcome to civilization!� He could have said
�Laugh this one off!� He might have said �Fetch!�

But he didn�t, because if he had said any of those things, then he�d know that what he had just done was murder.

He turned away, tossed the empty mortar over his shoulder, and muttered: �The hell with it.�

Chapter 21

quote:

I could see why the Iskoort had built their Dr. Seuss towers. The surface of the planet was a reeking, swampy mess of a place. I gained altitude to get above the sulfur smell, but then had to rest.

My falcon body was revived by remorphing, but it was a several-mile ascent to get back to where I�d left the others. And how was I ever going to find that level? The structure of the Iskoort city was unimaginably complex.

Flying outside of it, I could see just what an awesome structure it was. Nothing ever built on Earth even came close. The pyramids would not have made the footing for the smallest pillar at the base of this thing. The World Trade Center and the Sears Tower were Tinkertoys.

The Iskoort may have been the most obnoxious species in the galaxy, but they could definitely build. What would I find when I did manage to retrace my fall? Had Cassie demorphed? Had she survived? Was Marco still alive? Ax, Tobias, Rachel?

They�d been hopelessly outgunned. Part of me expected to find that the score would be one Howler, and all five of my friends. I pictured finding their crumpled bodies. The images drained the strength from my muscles.

I had to get back. But I couldn�t stand thinking about what I�d find. I couldn�t live without them.

Couldn�t.

I felt a surge of anger at Erek. Marco was right: What right did Erek have to cling to his nonviolence in a universe where the Howlers annihilated entire species on orders from an evil force?

How do you stand on the sidelines when evil is running amok?

Erek was the only one of us who could fight a Howler and win. He had the power. He alone had the power. We�d freed him for one hour from his peaceful programming. The result had been terrifying. He had annihilated a Yeerk force that would have destroyed us all.

Yes, the Pemalites had created him and all his kind to be peaceful. To be physically incapable of violence. And it was irrational of me to be angry. But with Cassie and Rachel and maybe everyone dead and me alone, I didn�t care.

The Pemalites were fools. They�d been wiped out by the Howlers while their incredibly powerful androids had stood by and done nothing.

The Pemalites had not reprogrammed the Chee. Idiots! The Chee could have saved them. The Chee could have been turned loose to destroy the Howlers the way the Howlers destroyed everyone else. And then �

And then, when the Chee had destroyed the Howlers, what would they do next? What do you do with a species devoted to war? What do you do, once you�ve created an awesome weapon and turned it loose?

The Pemalites would have had to be sure they could rein in the Chee. They would have had to be sure they could control them. Turn them off.

Just as Crayak would need a way to control the Howlers.

The Howlers weren�t androids, so how did Crayak ensure that they would never get out of control? And since their job was to murder and murder and murder without pity, what would Crayak even think �out of control� would mean?

Out of control for a Howler would be not killing.

An out-of-control Howler would be a Howler who felt remorse. Pity. Kindness. That would be intolerable to Crayak.

I laughed bitterly. Nice speculation. But my friends were probably all dead. And I was alone.

And all I could hope for now was to live long enough to get home again.

<Jake! Is that you, or some other peregrine falcon?>

<Tobias!>

<Yeah. I�ve been looking for you.>

<You�re alive!>

<Same back at you, fearless leader,> he said with a laugh. <We figured you were done for. Ax saw you go over the side with that Howler.>

<Is everyone � is anyone �>

Tobias sounded less ebullient. <We�re all still there, but it wasn�t pretty. Cassie, Rachel, and Marco all got nailed pretty bad. But they all managed to demorph. Erek caught up with us and created a hologram of Iskoort. Cassie said you told her the Howlers couldn�t attack Iskoort. Guess that�s why they didn�t howl.>

<But everyone�s okay?> I pressed, unable to fully believe it.

Tobias laughed. <Yeah, big Jake, everyone�s alive. Anyway, we got everyone inside the hologram and the Howlers seemed stumped. But I guess they figured out we weren�t really Iskoort, so it was okay to attack. By then we were assorted bugs crawling around the trees. Guide found us
another place. Wait till you see. How about your Howler?>

<It�s not teams of seven anymore. It�s seven to six now,> I said.

Fortunately, Tobias had kept track of where he was. He easily led the way back to a level three stories down from where we�d been.

This level was different than any we�d seen thus far. It seemed to be an industrial district. The separation from the floor above was several hundred feet. The predominating colors were gray and brown. And the factories, if that�s what they were, looked as drab and windowless and shabby as any factories on Earth.

Here, as we flew above them, we met a new variation on the Iskoort. These had longer, stronger arms, more massive shoulders, and their eyes were hooded with thick, retractable lids.

There were very few out and about. Those I saw, though, seemed boisterously happy and oblivious to the grimness around them. But their whining diaphragms were so loud that a small group of them whining together could make you long for earplugs.

We circled around a few times, looking for Howlers. But they were not in sight. We landed. I demorphed and went inside.

I thought I was past the emotion. I thought I was over that feeling of hollowness I�d felt, imagining them all gone. But then there they were.

Rachel scowling. Marco looking down at the floor, withdrawn. Ax off by himself, still no doubt blaming himself. Erek with his hologram turned off, an unemotional android face.

And Cassie.

<Prince Jake!> Ax cried, the first to see me.

Cassie was on her feet and running toward me, and I was running to her, and I wasn�t past any emotion, I was exploding with emotion.

Cassie jumped into my arms and I wrapped her up tight and before I knew it I was kissing her on her lips and she was kissing me back.

�It�s about time,� Rachel grumbled.

So they finally get their first kiss. It's...kind of sweet.

Also, you've got Jake's meditation on why the Pemalites didn't reprogram the Chee to kill, and he's asking the question about what "out of control" means.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 05:00

HisMajestyBOB: Oct 21, 2010; College Slice

# ? Aug 7, 2021 06:26

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

First kill, first kiss

# ? Aug 7, 2021 07:38

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Epicurius posted:

Just something I noticed here. Something the Animorphs don't do....a moral line they drew for themselves, is that they don't acquire sentient beings without their consent. I don't think they ever broke that beefore, but Jake does now. It seems significant somehow, especially because he's doing it pretty much out of pure rage and the desire to kill. That's the whole, "I should have felt sorry for him, but I didn't, not after Cassie had a wing burnt off and Marco was shot." sort of thing.

I don't think that specific part of it is driven by his anger. He's figured out that in order to understand the Howlers they'll need to morph one of them. He even says before he goes after it, right time, right morph - it wasn't an opportunity that would come up again.

Anyway it's probably the most memorable part of this book, and I think one of the most memorable scenes in the series. Just peak crazy stunt time.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 08:48

e X: Feb 23, 2013; cool but crude

Their moral limits do change a lot during the series and I am pretty sure they actually morph and impersonate humans without their consent later. iirc, some soldiers or something

# ? Aug 7, 2021 13:26

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

e X posted:

Their moral limits do change a lot during the series and I am pretty sure they actually morph and impersonate humans without their consent later. iirc, some soldiers or something

If we make it that far I'll point it out, but yeah.... they go a looooong way down that slope.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 13:39

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

It's really hosed up how they treat Erek. Ok so maybe you dont respect pacifism but he and his buds are still amazingly powerful allies for a covert force like the Animorphs. When Erek broke his programming they all thought it was basically an atrocity and felt bad that he could never forget that horrific event. Despite this whenever Erek says "I am physically incapable of performing this action" they act disgusted with him like he is purposely not helping them out of cowardice.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 14:33

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

Pwnstar posted:

It's really hosed up how they treat Erek. Ok so maybe you dont respect pacifism but he and his buds are still amazingly powerful allies for a covert force like the Animorphs. When Erek broke his programming they all thought it was basically an atrocity and felt bad that he could never forget that horrific event. Despite this whenever Erek says "I am physically incapable of performing this action" they act disgusted with him like he is purposely not helping them out of cowardice.

Do you think it's maybe a sign that they are not quite right?

# ? Aug 7, 2021 14:35

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

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

Do you think it's maybe a sign that they are not quite right?

Them kids ain't right.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 14:48

Terror Sweat: Mar 15, 2009

Pwnstar posted:

It's really hosed up how they treat Erek. Ok so maybe you dont respect pacifism but he and his buds are still amazingly powerful allies for a covert force like the Animorphs. When Erek broke his programming they all thought it was basically an atrocity and felt bad that he could never forget that horrific event. Despite this whenever Erek says "I am physically incapable of performing this action" they act disgusted with him like he is purposely not helping them out of cowardice.

Animorphs do the dying; chee just do the flying

# ? Aug 7, 2021 15:44

Strategic Tea: Sep 1, 2012

*wild shredder fire*

<GIT SOME>

# ? Aug 7, 2021 16:33

HIJK: Nov 25, 2012; in the room where you sleep

the Animorphs have been watching Howlers successfuly maim and attempt killing them and they would all be dead if they couldn't heal through morphing. Of course they'll be resentful towards the guy who is physically capable but ineffective.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 16:33

ANOTHER SCORCHER: Aug 12, 2018

Pwnstar posted:

It's really hosed up how they treat Erek. Ok so maybe you dont respect pacifism but he and his buds are still amazingly powerful allies for a covert force like the Animorphs. When Erek broke his programming they all thought it was basically an atrocity and felt bad that he could never forget that horrific event. Despite this whenever Erek says "I am physically incapable of performing this action" they act disgusted with him like he is purposely not helping them out of cowardice.

That was significantly earlier in the series, before the kids had become inured to the violence and developed PTSD.

# ? Aug 7, 2021 21:53

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

HIJK posted:

the Animorphs have been watching Howlers successfuly maim and attempt killing them and they would all be dead if they couldn't heal through morphing. Of course they'll be resentful towards the guy who is physically capable but ineffective.

The thing is he's physically not capable, though. He can't just turn his programming off even if, as a sentient being, he wanted to.

edit - also re: morphing other humans, I remember precisely the first time one of them does it without consent and it seemed like a weird and unnecessary line to cross when I read it as a kid, but looking at it as an adult it's easily explained by the fact that it's Marco and he's flipping out because he just bumped into his mum again and doesn't want to lose the trail

# ? Aug 7, 2021 23:53

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 22

quote:

At least Cassie and I provided Marco with material. It took him precisely three seconds after I 0parted from Cassie, embarrassed and amazed.

He held out his arms to me and said, �What, no kiss for me?�

I would not have believed I could feel like a dork in the middle of all the other feelings I was dealing with, and in the middle of an abject disaster of a battle, but I guess embarrassment and awkwardness are always with us.

�No?� Marco said, looking puzzled. �I guess I�ll have to turn to Rachel.� He went for her, arms out, lips puckered.

�Gee, Marco, what do you think the odds are I�ll kiss you? Slim, none, or I�ll break both your arms?�

I looked around at our latest home. It was a large open space, maybe three stories high, about the size of a basketball court. Crammed into that gloomy cube were an amazing array of machines. Some like giant jackhammers, some like steel octopi, others weirdly like merry-go-rounds with elaborate, sharp-edged tools instead of brightly colored horses.

Nothing was working. There was dust everywhere.

�Abandoned factory?� I asked Guide.

<Not abandoned. The Worker Guild refuses to come back to work here until the Superstition and Magic Guild certifies that the place is free of the spirits of fictional characters.>

I sighed. I hesitated. I shot a look at Marco.

�Oh, you�ll want to hear this,� he said.

�What are the spirits of fictional characters?�

Guide whined in what I took to be a humorous way. <The simple folk believe that fictional characters are at least partly real and thus have spirits who wander the city, infesting buildings and engaging in various destructive behaviors.>

�Fictional characters,� I said. �Okay.�

<So naturally, the Superstition and Magic Guild must be called upon to control this problem. But the Worker Guild cannot agree on a fair price, so �>

�Makes perfect sense,� I said.

�In a loony bin,� Rachel said.

We all fell silent for a while. The rush of being reunited was wearing off. We were remembering reality.

<Jake says it�s seven to six now,> Tobias said.

�Swell,� Marco muttered. �Make it seven to two and I�d still bet on them.�

There was muttered agreement.

�I have a new morph,� I said.

<Yeah?> Tobias asked.

�Yeah. On the way � on the way down, I acquired the Howler. It�s not enough, but it may give us an edge. If we have an overall plan.�

�Do you have a plan?� Erek asked.

I considered. Did I? I had bits and pieces. Guesses. Speculation. Intuitions.

I shrugged. �Yeah. I guess I do.�

Marco grinned. �Kiss him again, Cassie. It seems to help.�

They all waited expectantly. I bowed my head and tried to bring together all that I had learned about the Howlers. I felt like I had a bunch of jigsaw pieces and no picture to work from.

�Okay, jump in if you have anything to add. I could be totally wrong. One: The Howlers must have some kind of collective memory. The memories Erek absorbed were of events going back thousands of years and covering dozens of invasions. No biological creature lives that long. And we know the Howlers are biological because I acquired one. So somehow, the Howlers are designed to share a single memory. What these seven Howlers � six � learn here will be conveyed to all the rest of the species. That way all battle experience is available to all warriors.�

Rachel nodded. �No wonder they never lose.�

�Yeah, but that brings up something else. See, no one wins all the time. Not for thousands of years. It�s not possible. Muhammad Ali lost. Michael Jordan lost. No one wins every time.�

�But the Howler memories I absorbed show no memory of defeat,� Erek pointed out.

�Yeah. Exactly,� I said. �Exactly. Guide?�

<Yes?>

�When you view memories - I mean in the normal way, not like Erek did for us, turning it into a hologram - how is it done?�

Guide emitted a low diaphragm whine and said, <There is a small device that attaches to the head. It ties in directly to brain waves and plays the memories as if you yourself were recalling them.>

�And these memory headsets work on all species?�

<We are visited by many species,> Guide said. <The headsets have always worked. Although not all species choose to indulge.>
�I�m guessing the Howlers don�t indulge,� Cassie said.

Guide spread his hands and increased the grating noise from his diaphragm. <We have only ever seen this one group of Howlers. They sold their memories to pay for what they needed here, but they did not choose to buy any other memories.>

I nodded. �Good. Good. Okay. Now we need a volunteer for an extremely dangerous mission.

We�re going to need a rabbit to draw the hounds to us.� I shot a look at Rachel and slowly shook my head no. Her mouth was already open to volunteer. She closed it and looked puzzled.

 Ax said from across the room.

Rachel made a little half-smile and nodded imperceptibly.

�Swell,� Marco said impatiently. �So Ax is going to get himself killed and we all agree the Howlers don�t like to buy memories to watch on their VCRs. How does any of this let us take out these six Howlers?�

�We don�t take out the six Howlers,� I said. �Crayak does.�

He's got a plan AND he's letting Ax salvage his pride.

Chapter 23

quote:

The place we were in was all wrong for the trap. We needed Iskoort around us. We had to make the rules of engagement work for us. I explained it to Guide. He wanted to get paid more. We were running up a big bill, and we might well get killed before we could sell him our valuable memories.

�Don�t worry,� I said. �That�s the next thing we do: make a complete copy of our memories.�



�Not more hair?�

 he said. <The point is to possess what is absolutely unique. No one has a human body part or organ.>

�Yeah, and it�s going to stay that way,� I said. �You can have Marco�s hair.�

�Say what?�

<A stalk eye from the Andalite?>

�No. No body parts. We had a deal.�

<What if you should be killed?> Guide asked, lowering his whine to an annoying whimper.

�You want our bodies?� I demanded, shocked, despite the fact that I had bigger problems to worry about. �If you were doing organ transplants to save lives, yeah, but just so you can stick us in big pickle jars and charge admission to see the human freaks? I don�t think so.�

�I have something to sell,� Erek said. �I will create a schematic of my holographic technology. You can build your own emitters.�

This was apparently such a bonanza that Guide stopped whining for several seconds. He barely managed to say, <Deal!>

Marco rolled his eyes. �You know, Guide is going to own this planet by the time he�s done.�

Guide led us to a different level. This time we went up. And this time we took an elevator.

�Elevators! You have elevators?� Marco raged. �We�re traipsing up and down stairs and you have elevators?�

<The elevators are much less scenic,> Guide said. <What value are memories of the inside of an elevator?>

We emerged several floors above the one where we�d first appeared. It was just what I needed: narrow walkways between tall residential buildings with shops on the ground level. Iskoort crammed everywhere. Iskoort mostly of a new type: Shopper Iskoort.

�My people!� Rachel cried in delight. �At last I have a true homeland!�

�They shop?� I asked Guide. �That�s it? They shop?�

<Someone must buy what is created in the great factories and small craftworks,> Guide said.

�Exactly,� Rachel agreed.

<The economy cannot function without people to buy things.>

�Guide, you are finally making sense,� Rachel said with great satisfaction.

We went to an empty store at the end of a long, narrow street. The previous business had moved out, leaving nothing but empty shelves behind.

�Okay. This will do,� I said. �Now. How do we get the word to the Howlers that we�re here?�

 Guide said.

<This is quite a little lunatic asylum the Ellimist wants us to save,> Tobias said. <Lego Land meets Dr. Seuss with a population made up of whining nutbags - no offense, Guide - who think shopping and gossiping are careers.>

�Hey, don�t diss my brothers and sisters of the Shopper Guild,� Rachel said with mock ferocity.

�Okay, let�s get this in gear,� I said. �Guide? We have the memory players?�

<Yes, of course.>

�Ax? You ready?�

<Yes, Prince Jake,> he said.

�Don�t call me Prince. And come here for a minute.� I went into an empty corner with him. �Ax, maybe I�m wrong, but you still seem to be chafing over that first battle.�

 he said simply.

�You came back.�

 he repeated harshly.

�You were the only one not in morph. You and Tobias. And he was in the air, not close to that howling noise. Does it occur to you that maybe the Howler�s howl is specially designed to affect the brains of sentient creatures? I mean, the physical brain, the gray matter - or whatever color yours is?�

He shrugged impatiently, a gesture he�d picked up from humans.

�Listen, Ax, the Howlers are a biological weapon designed to kill sentient species. When they were designed, when Crayak was coming up with that howl, he�d have fine-tuned it to have an especially terrifying effect on complex, sentient brains. I had a tiger brain and it nearly destroyed me. You had your own, very smart, very aware, very complex brain. Exactly what the howl was designed to attack.�

Ax didn�t accept what I was saying. But he didn�t dismiss it totally, either. He seemed to fidget, like he wished the conversation was over.

I sighed. I�d said all I could say. Ax needed to do something to wipe away what he saw as a terrible stain.

�Okay, Ax. It�s time to get set. But you better remember one thing: Your job is to get out of this alive. If I�m really your prince, I�ll give you an order: You do not have permission to get yourself killed. No matter how heroic you think it would be.�

I have no idea how the Iskoort economy works. But they seem pretty happy about it. Also, this was a good and much overdue conversation between Jake and Ax, even though it wasn't a comfortable one.

# ? Aug 8, 2021 04:32

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

Chapter 22

quote:
Slim, none, or I�ll break both your arms?�

I looked around at our latest home.

I like this transition. Specifically, the lack of one.

Also, it's weird how I don't remember any of the second half of this book. This stuff seems pretty memorable! I wouldn't think I'd have stopped reading halfway through.

# ? Aug 8, 2021 07:18

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Epicurius posted:

I have no idea how the Iskoort economy works.

Same as ours, silly!

# ? Aug 8, 2021 13:48

Cythereal: Nov 8, 2009; I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

I also think it's showing why the Animorphs were picked instead of Andalites. I don't think Andalites would be thinking this heavily about their enemy, their history, and how they work. I think they would have gone ham in the first fight and lost.

# ? Aug 8, 2021 13:50

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I actually found the earlier self doubting of "why us, why not some Andalite warriors" to be odd. They probably have a much more diverse array of combat experiences than any given Andalites, and I think they proved that on Leera, and I think they know that. They're more adaptable and more used to thinking outside the box. My money would be on the Animorphs any day.

# ? Aug 8, 2021 13:53

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

The Andalites are basically their version of "adults who know what they are doing"

# ? Aug 9, 2021 03:11

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

freebooter posted:

I actually found the earlier self doubting of "why us, why not some Andalite warriors" to be odd. They probably have a much more diverse array of combat experiences than any given Andalites, and I think they proved that on Leera, and I think they know that. They're more adaptable and more used to thinking outside the box. My money would be on the Animorphs any day.

Sure, they might if they stopped and really thought about it. But part of the point of this series is they don't, and can't. All their free time is spent fighting a war, and all the rest of the time they're trying to keep their cover and hold down a ~~job~~school and a home life; they don't have time to sit and ponder how they're equipped and experienced and how their approach to fighting it may differ relative to other participants. Especially not in the middle of this book, where they're desperately struggling to survive.

Plus, they don't have that wisdom and ability to consider things from a high level, for the most part, being children. This realistic depiction of their limitations and blind spots is part of what makes this series work, and it's been pretty good at it so far; their lack of ability to emphasize and really think outside their own heads, to consider things from the point of view of an outsider, was at the root of their problem with David a few books ago.

# ? Aug 9, 2021 03:41

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 24

quote:

It took less than an hour.

Tobias, floating high above the narrow streets, saw them burst at a run from the stairs. They looked around, knowing the floor we were on, but not the building.

We didn�t want them having time to plan. We wanted to use their blood-lust and rage.

Down the street, seemingly oblivious, walked Ax. Tobias reported the scene by thought-speak.

<He�s almost there. The Howlers are sticking together. Not as cocky as they were, though. They should spot him any second now. Any second now.>

Then, <What are they, blind? Ax is getting awfully close. The crowd is blocking their view of him. Too many Iskoort in the way. Oh, man! He�s too � They see him! Ax-man, run! Run!>

I looked at Cassie and the others. �It�s time. I have to do this.�

I blocked images of Ax from my mind. Images of him racing, dodging, weaving through the Iskoort crowds. Images of the Howlers bounding after him.

Instead, I focused on a different image: the Howler I had acquired. I formed the image in my mind and I felt the changes begin.

�Rachel,� I said, while I was still human, �you know what to do. If I get out of control, can�t control the morph. If I start that howl � you�ll have to do it.�

Rachel had morphed to grizzly bear. She stood directly behind me. Her two massive front paws, with claws that could flay the bark off a tree, lay on my shoulders.

If I lost control of the morph, Rachel would � would do what she had to do. Quickly. Before I could hurt anyone.

As backup, Marco was in gorilla morph. His fist, as big as my head, and powered by enough muscle to knock a hole in a wall, was cocked a foot from my face.

<They�re on him!> Tobias yelled. <All six of them. Like hounds after a rabbit. Man! That boy can run! Ax-man! Opening to your right!>

The Howlers could not shoot, not in a crowd of Iskoort. Rules of engagement. Nor could they use their howls, not without possibly killing Iskoort.

But if they got close enough to Ax, then would come the flechette guns, the Dracon beams, and the knives.

I steadied my thoughts. Control. Control.

The morph continued. My skin began to erupt in pustules, blisters that formed all over my body, then burst and oozed out black glue.

I looked down and saw my stomach pinching, like I was being cut in two. Like I was morphing an ant or some other segmented insect. Just as the pinching looked as if it would go all the way and the top of my body would topple like a chopped tree, long, flexible threads - elastic blood veins - shot out, connecting the two halves of me, upper and lower.

For a horrible moment I could actually see the white bone of my human spine. The interlocking vertebrae melted and reformed as thick, steel-gray cylinders, each able to turn on its base. Then my center filled in, hiding the spine and the elastic veins and tendons.

I breathed a sigh of relief. No one needs to see that happening to their body.

I saw my hands change color, the fingers covered by the black-on-red pustules, the cooling lava flesh thick and hard. I still had four fingers and a thumb. But now, from my wrist, the claws grew. Retractable, like a cat�s claws.

My legs creaked and groaned as bone thickened and twisted. My ears melted into my head. My eyes widened, growing larger and flatter.

My senses began to change. The differences were not as severe as many morphs I�ve been through. But more complete than I�d expected. I wasn�t seeing just shape and color anymore. I was seeing infrared heat. I was seeing trails, like the ones your mouse cursor leaves on the cornputer screen. It allowed me to follow movement and direction more closely.

And then, with a shock, I realized I could see through the outer layers of skin. I could see faint outlines of Marco�s gorilla heart.

Of course. All the better to target vital organs.

The robin�s egg blue-in-blue eyes were far beyond human eyes. Beyond even hawk�s eyes. These were target-acquiring eyes.

Suddenly, I felt it bubble up from beneath my own consciousness. I had expected rage. I had expected out-of-control violent urges. I felt neither. Instead, I felt � indifference.

There was no Howler instinct to slaughter. It wasn�t anger. That wasn�t how they were built.

Crayak had been more subtle than that. I had expected the Howler morph to be like morphing some superpredator. But the morph this reminded me of most was the dolphin. Howlers were playful. Howlers were having fun.

<You can let me go,> I told Rachel and Marco.

<Are you sure?>

<Yeah. This thing isn�t out of control. It�s like �>

And then I felt something I had never felt before. Some strange part of the Howler brain, like an extra sense. My brain had tapped into a pool of awareness, of knowledge.

Rapid, dizzying flashes of memory. Horrifying images of slaughter, violence. Not just the Graffen�s Children. But species after species. Planet after planet. I was getting the full, horrific imagery that Erek had absorbed in a different way.

But this was worse. This wasn�t someone else�s memory. This was my own. It was part of me. And through it all, the massacre of Graffen�s Children, the slaughter of the Mashtimee, the Ron, the Nostnavay, and yes, the Pemalites, the Howlers felt no anger, no rage.

But why should they?

<It�s a game,> I said.

<What is?> Cassie asked. She had morphed to wolf.

<The Howlers. The killing. It�s a game to them. They�re having fun. They�re enjoying it. Like when dolphin leap into the air just for the fun of it and play follow the leader, it�s a game.>

<They�re destroying entire races for fun?>

<Yes. They don�t know what they�re doing. Cassie � they aren�t adults. The Howlers are all children.>

Well, this just makes stuff even more horriffic, huh?

Chapter 25

quote:

<Here they come!> Tobias yelled. <Thirty seconds. If ->

<Children, my butt,> Rachel said. <They�re murderers!>

<They�re what Crayak made them,> I said. <They have a life span of three years. They have no mature phase. They don�t reproduce; they�re grown in a factory. There are no adult Howlers.>

I looked hard at Erek. <Did you know?>

�Before? No.�

<When you absorbed Howler memories, did you realize they are children?> I demanded.

�They slaughtered my creators,� Erek said stonily.

<Crowd is thinning out, Ax-man!> Tobias yelled. <They�re gonna have a shot!>

<So what, we let them walk away, just because they�re not adults?> Marco demanded.

<It�s not going to be up to us,> I said grimly. <If the plan works, Crayak will ->

<It�s not just Crayak,> Cassie said. <We�re the ones forcing the ->

The sound of flechette guns, in the street outside our door, only a dozen feet from us.

<Aaahhhh!> Ax cried in pain.

<He�s hit!> Tobias yelled.

�Juveniles or adults, they massacred my creators, they made refugees of the Chee, they murdered my world,� Erek said through gritted teeth.

<No choice, man,> Marco said.

<They don�t know,> I said. Was I pleading? What did I think we could do? It was too late. Them or us. Them or the entire Iskoort race.

But they didn�t know what they were doing! They didn�t know! My head was swimming. The Howlers were what someone else had made them. How do you hate a creature for doing what it has been taught to do?

I had gloated when that Howler fell to its death.

And now no choice! No choice!

<Places,> I ordered. <Get ready.>

Marco, Cassie, and Rachel all moved swiftly into place. Erek, too. Guide stayed close.

WHAM!

The door blew back on its hinges. Ax stumbled, bleeding, into the room.

The first Howler was two seconds behind him. He bounded into the room.

Rachel, Marco, and Cassie hit him, simply barreling into him.

Erek snatched up Guide like the Iskoort was made of feathers. He jumped to the door. Guide clung to Erek�s neck, terrified, as Erek filled the doorway.

The first Howler kicked with shocking power and sent Rachel stumbling back. A swipe of his arm, with retractable claws down, ripped red lines in Cassie�s side. She fell. He aimed his flechette gun. Marco hit him from behind. His aim went wild, ripping a line across the wall and up onto the ceiling.

The pursuing Howlers stopped abruptly at the doorway. All together they might dislodge Erek.

But Erek was holding Guide.

The rules of engagement! The Howlers could not kill an Iskoort!

The first Howler spun and nailed Marco with a fist. Not till he pulled back did I realize that fist had held a knife. The handle now protruded from Marco�s stomach. He stared at it, disbelieving.

And now the Howler steadied his flechette gun, ready to finish Rachel off.

�No!� I yelled.

The Howler looked at me and blinked.

�Forget them! This way!� I ordered.

The Howler was trying to clear his head. He recognized me. But he knew I was dead. Wasn�t I?

�Their leader, over here!� I said, desperately hoping against hope he�d buy it. I took off at a trot.

The Howler followed. I almost collapsed from relief.

I stopped suddenly. The Howler stopped, too, wondering what -

I hit him. Once, twice, three times, each blow aimed with Howler eyes, each blow directed at weak spots that only another Howler would recognize.
He was down. Barely.

The other Howlers were solving the Erek and Guide problem. They were burning several new holes in the walls. Guide couldn�t be in front of all of them.
In seconds, the Howlers would be inside.

<NOW!> I yelled in thought-speak. But Marco was unable to respond. He was transfixed, looking at the knife in his stomach.

<Marco! The memory emitter! Now! He�s getting up!>

It was Ax, bleeding and staggering, who suddenly thrust the small, shiny device into my hand.

I gave him a nod, took a deep breath, and slapped the probe onto the Howler�s head.

<Time for an education,> I said.

The Howler glared at me with his dead blue eyes. He leaped up. He drew his Dracon beam weapon. He aimed it � nowhere.

He shuddered. He started again to aim the weapon. Then he shuddered again.

His eyes closed.

I stopped breathing.

Into the Howler�s head flowed all the memories of my life. From vague, early images of my mother�s face above my crib, to riding on my dad�s back at some amusement park, to school, to friends, to all that had happened since we�d taken a shortcut through an abandoned construction site. All that I remembered of my life was flowing into the Howler�s brain. And the lives of Cassie and Rachel and Marco and Ax and Tobias. And even Guide. And the long, long memory of the android who called himself Erek.

All that we were emptied into that Howler�s head. And from there would flow into the endless pool of collective Howler memory.
<Is it working?> Cassie wondered.

Suddenly, the Howler disappeared. He was simply gone.

The Dracon beams no longer burned against the walls of the room.

Erek stuck his head out through the door. �They�re gone,� he said.

Marco yanked the knife out of his stomach and began to demorph.

In the time it took him to pull it out, we went from that small Iskoort room to a very different place.

"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, �You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.�"-Genesis 2:15-17

# ? Aug 9, 2021 04:01

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# ? May 26, 2024 14:16

Fuschia tude: Dec 26, 2004; THUNDERDOME LOSER 2019

Epicurius posted:

Chapter 24

quote:
leaves on the cornputer screen.

Oh, great. The corn people got to Applegate. :ohdear:

# ? Aug 9, 2021 05:13

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Goldmine > Let's Read Animorphs! The Whole Series! Ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

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