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

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

«‹›236 »

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

HIJK posted:

I think that kind of approach requires more gumption than Yeerks are capable of when dealing with a relatively sophisticated and hostile species as Yeerks.

Oh yeah, this whole supposition relies on "But what if the Yeerks were smart", and as we've seen over the course of going into 47 books now... they are anything but.

# ? Apr 22, 2022 22:12

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 02:42

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

Epicurius posted:

The one problem with the Yeerks playing the long game, from the Yeerk perspective, is that they're in the middle of a war with an enemy that wants to wipe them out. The Yeerks are suffering from a massive host shortage now, and they're worried that at any time, the Andalites can discover Earth and the Yeerk presence on Earth, and wipe them out or wipe humanity out. So time is their enemy here. They have to get Earth Yeerk controlled and defended ASAP. Publically revealing themselves and hoping they can get enough people who would voluntarily agree to get a Yeerk implanted in their head is pretty risky, because it requires them to assume 1. There are no Andalites on earth undercover, 2. Humanity won't consider them a threat and wipe them out, and 3. They'll actually be able to convince people to put Yeerks in their heads. Really the two safest plans are Visser One's or Visser Three's. Either you do this entirely through innocent looking front organizations that shuffle people into an infestation path, or you do a massive surprise attack to wipe out human resistance and force people into the pools and hope you can do it fast enough so that it's done before the Andalites find you.

While they have some real boneheaded decisions from people, it would require an actually pretty solid level of understanding of humans and human societies that, frankly, are just as alien to Yeerks as they are to us.

To add onto that, there's no such thing as "society," "family," or even "civilian" really in the Yeerk Empire. All the non-combatant are on the home world. If you're out here, from the Andalite perspective, you're an existential threat. It likely makes you a bit jumpy for quicker answers. The idea of having leisure enough to be bored of relaxation and needing someone else to straighten out your life was a revelation that Visser One took years to crack, and by all accounts, she's basically a genius.

# ? Apr 22, 2022 23:29

TheGreatEvilKing: Mar 28, 2016

People would absolutely ally up with the Yeerks for the ability to turn Dracon beams and starships against people they hated.

Hell, you could probably get some kind of dystopia going where people knowingly sell other humans as host in exchange for Dracon beams.

Make your own historical analogies kids!

# ? Apr 23, 2022 01:29

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 16-Aximili

quote:

�Look, son, I just want to try and help you. But I can�t help you if you don�t talk to me.�

I had lived on the surface of planet Earth for several days. I had accomplished some things. I had observed that a species called humans were the dominant life-form. This had taken some time.

For one thing, I wanted to guard against the problem of cultural prejudice. Coming from a relatively large species myself, I tended naturally to look first to species that were of a similar size. I didn�t want to be a victim of my own expectations. So I deliberately investigated a number of other fairly ubiquitous species. But none of those species possessed even rudimentary technology.

I considered a species called cows. In places they were numerous. But despite their superficial similarity to my own species, I determined that they were not highly intelligent.

�You�re making this awfully hard on me. How can I prescribe for you if you won�t even talk to me? I know you can communicate. You�ve communicated with other patients.�

�Yesssss,� I said. �I can communicate. Cate-uh. I can-nuh com-yew-yew-nicate. Is it not time for cookies?�

In the end it became clear that my first instinct was correct: Humans were the dominant species.

I had acquired a human morph. And I had learned to pass as a human. In fact, I had been asked - forcefully - to adopt a particular location as my primary residence.

�You have to at least give me your name.�

�I am called Hey Moron. Hey! Moron-nuh!�

The human before me closed his eyes and used his five-fingered hand to rub the flesh stretched across his forehead. Then he rubbed the back of his neck. Then he exhaled breath through his mouth.

He was called Dr. Duberstein. Early in my stay at this location I had not fully understood his function.

Now I did.

�That�s not exactly a name. That�s just something someone called you.�

�Ah. When will I receive ree-seeeve the cookies-zuh? They are delicious, mmm-mmm.�

�Well, to tell you the truth, the nurses don�t want you around at cookie time. You made quite a scene yesterday.�
This was disturbing news. �No cookies?�

He shook his head back and forth and looked at me with his two small eyes located on the front of his face. �No cookies.�

�Then I must go elsewhere in search of cookies,� I said. �The cookies formed by two thin, round, black discs with a layer of adhesive white substance between them are the finest accomplishment of your species!�

�My species?�

I had made a mistake. I had allowed my agitation over the cookies to cause me to be careless.

This was not the time to reveal myself.

Humans use their mouths for eating - much as the Blue Blade - which I learned the humans call a shark. But humans possess an incredible sense that goes beyond anything the shark could boast: taste.

Taste! And such tastes! Cigarette butts, baloney sandwiches, grape juice, Vaseline, and best of all, the indescribably vibrant, mind-altering, overwhelming taste of cookies!

Especially the cookies formed by two thin, round, black discs with a layer of adhesive white substance between. Someday I hope my fellow Andalites will be able to visit Earth and morph to human simply for the intense pleasure to be had from eating cookies with a mouth.

�I meant our species.�

�You said your species.�

�Evidently I am insane. May I go now?�

The human raised his hands vertically and said, �Why me, Lord? Why?�

I left the small room and went back out into the larger room where numerous humans wandered back and forth holding discussions using mouth-sounds. At first I had assumed that these discussions were being transmitted by some sort of very small communications link since they were addressed to persons who were not in evidence.

Later I understood this, as well.

The humans had various names. Two of them were named Elvis Presley. One was named John. He was the one who had first witnessed me demorphing.

It was an accident. I�d hidden within a small enclosed area used for voiding biological wastes.

But John had caught me. He had seen me in my natural state.

He had seemed unsurprised.

John told one of the nurses that I was an alien. And for a moment I was quite concerned. But the nurse seemed bored by this fact. And it seems that many of the residents of this particular group habitation are aliens.

It took me several days before it occurred to me that the humans in this group were not entirely like the broader spectrum of humans. They suffered from mental illnesses. But, on balance they seemed less aggressive and hostile than the humans portrayed on the two-dimensional audiovisual
display screen called a TV.

So I stayed with them. But now, if there were no more cookies, I would clearly have to leave. In any case, it was time for me to be about my primary mission. Whatever that was. I waited till darkness, when the orderlies turn out the lights and the first Elvis Presley sings an awful musical composition about a place called Heartbreak Hotel.

I demorphed. I used my tail blade to slice open the steel wire mesh that covered the windows. I was out in Earth�s night, wiser about humans, and about cookies, but no closer to finding an answer to Elfangor�s fate. Or a way home.

Humans lacked the technology for Zero-space travel. Their spacecraft was laughable explosive devices used to propel satellites into orbit. They were centuries away from Z-space travel.

Which left me just two possibilities: One was to hope that some Andalites survived and were present on Earth.

The other possibility was only very slightly more likely: the Yeerks.

Were the Yeerks on Earth? I didn�t know. I knew that they were in orbit. I knew that they had located the sunken Dome ship. But were they engaged in a conquest of Earth?

And if they were, what were the odds that I could steal a Bug fighter and escape?

I needed a plan. I needed to learn whether the Yeerks were here. But how?

How? TV.

I had come to understand at least some aspects of human technology, in particular their communications technology. They have telephones, which communicate only the spoken mouth-sounds of their primary communication. They have an inexplicable artifact of which they are absurdly proud called the Internet, which is evidently meant to be a sort of adjunct to other, more effective technologies. They have books, of course, models of efficiency. And they have TV.

TV is immediate, pervasive, and transmits sound, images, and text.

In my time at the residence for insane humans I had learned to locate structures within the gridwork of streets. I knew the location of a television studio. And I knew at what time they would begin a �live� broadcast of news.

My method of discovering whether the Yeerks had infiltrated the human species was quite simple: Show them an Andalite.

That is quite simple. And Ax only thought of it because they stopped giving him cookies.

Chapter 17-Tobias

quote:

I felt it enter my ear.

I�ve never felt anything like it. It wasn�t that it was painful. It wasn�t, not really. But something was crawling into my ear. Into my ear.

�No! No! No! Help me, someone help me! Mr. Chapman, you have to � Bill, help me!�

It wasn�t stopping. It kept writhing, forcing itself into my head. I could feel it through a numbness. I could feel it inside my ear, deeper, oh God, in my head!

�Let me go. I�ll do anything you want. Let me go! Please, please:�

Deeper.

Then �

Then I felt the first tingling sensation of a new presence. A mind. It was � I didn�t hear it, didn�t see it, but it was there, there and touching my own thoughts.

Suddenly my hands, which had been clenched in rage, relaxed. The fingers hung limp.

I felt a chill. Cold as death.

No. It couldn�t be.

All at once memories were spilling out. Like I was thinking back over my life, only I wasn�t. I wasn�t, I didn�t want to. I was sitting there, standing, hovering, I don�t know where I was, but I was there watching as my memories were replayed at hyper speed, tumbling, spilling out.

My mouth said, �I have him.�

My mouth had moved! Lips, tongue, throat, all had worked to form words I didn�t mean to say.

�Let me up, this is rather uncomfortable,� my mouth said.

My voice! I heard my own voice with my own ears but I hadn�t spoken. Had I? Was I losing my mind?
�Report,� Mr. Visser said.

Only he wasn�t Mr. Visser. He was Visser Three. Not a human at all. An alien.

Okay, this was all a dream. This was all not happening. None of it. Aliens called Yeerks who infested other species?

Insane! I was dreaming or something.

My mouth said, �Odret-One-Seven-Seven, of the Culat Hesh pool. Reporting for duty.�

A Yeerk. In my brain. In my brain, scanning my memories, moving my mouth, rubbing my chafed wrists, stretching my fear-strained back.

All of them, it�s what they all were. Chapman, Bill, Tom, all the full members. Them, and thousands more. Policemen, politicians, newspeople, businessmen, teachers, writers. And kids.

Why kids? Because kids are never suspected. They can be used anywhere.

I tried to look at Chapman. But I couldn�t move my eyes! I wanted to scream. But my mouth, my vocal cords, it was like being paralyzed. Paralyzed and no one even to know that I was there, frozen, frozen inside my own body.

Out of the corner of eyes I could no longer aim, I saw Bill smirk. He leaned close. �I know you can still hear me, Tobias. Now do you see what I meant? You have to give something up human, to be a part of something larger.�

He laughed.

But Visser Three snapped, �Shut up, fool. Get out.�

Bill disappeared from the room. Fast. Very fast.

�All right, Odret-One-Seven-Seven, you have your human host,� Visser Three said. �Now, what orders do you bring from the Council of Thirteen?�

The Yeerk in my head, I could see his thoughts. Not all, but enough. I knew he was wary of Visser Three. But not frightened. This Yeerk was under the protection of another power. But not the Council of Thirteen! He had lied to Visser Three. Or at least twisted the truth.

�The council congratulates you on taking command of the Earth invasion,� my mouth said. �The council wishes you to know that your request to alter the tactics established by Visser One is denied. Earth will be taken by infiltration and subversion. It will not be openly attacked.�

Visser One. Yes, Odret was her ally. Visser One was Visser Three�s enemy. She had been the first Yeerk on planet Earth. She had discovered the planet and launched the invasion.

But Odret was leery even of Visser One. She told some story of being instantaneously transported from her ship to a museum on the planet. It made no sense to Odret.

Visser Three had begun to demorph. He was becoming an Andalite. The Yeerk inside me, in my head, the slug creature who had wrapped himself around my brain and gained total control of me, knew about Andalites.

They were the enemy. Duplicitous, hypocritical, sanctimonius, deadly, and dangerous. Visser Three had the only Andalite host body in all the Yeerk Empire. The Andalite in question was morph-capable.

It made Visser Three very dangerous. Odret was worried. And Odret was confused. He did not understand why Visser One opposed using greater force against the humans. That was not his concern, he told himself. His concern was to stay alive. To do so he - I - had to obey Visser Three while pretending to obey the Council of Thirteen and avoid so angering Visser Three that his life would end in hideous torture.

My life, my very mind, everything that was me, had been stolen. Stolen by a creature who was almost certainly doomed.

Bill came back into the room, rushing.

�Visser! On the TV! Right now!�

<What, you idiot?>

�An Andalite.�

So, if people were wondering why the visser were here for the ceremony, this is why.

# ? Apr 23, 2022 02:31

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

This infestation could have been an E-mail.

# ? Apr 23, 2022 03:04

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

So in this timeline, Ax likes cookies, not cinnabon. Truly a hosed up situation.

# ? Apr 23, 2022 03:31

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 18-Jake

quote:

�Look, Tom, it�s just not me, okay?�

�Yeah, whatever,� Tom said. He was mad. He was hurt. He felt like I was rejecting him. �It�s just that tonight was kind of special, with Mr. Visser being there and all. I mean, right now probably your friend Tobias is becoming a full member. He�s probably already one of us.�

�That�s good for him. And for you,� I said. I was losing my patience. The whole thing was giving me the willies. �But you know what? The more you pressure me, the less I�m interested.�

We got home. Tom slammed in through the front door. I slammed through behind him. I didn�t need this. Just because I didn�t want to join some stupid club. I had homework to do. I�d passed up a chance to be with Cassie.

�Besides, he�s not my friend,� I said to Tom�s retreating back. �He�s just some guy from school.�

My mom was in the kitchen paying bills. She had the TV on as background noise. The local news.I entered in search of junk food. Tom started to take off upstairs, then I guess he reconsidered. He flopped down in the family room and snapped on the TV. Some game was on.

�Hey, Mom, what�s up?� I said.

�The electric bill,� she muttered. �What the � What is going on, is that some kind of gag?�

I followed the direction of her amazed stare. It was the familiar news set with the familiar newspeople.

But standing in front of them was something decidedly unfamiliar.

It was a centaur. No, not a centaur. Not like it was half-horse and half-human, more like it was half-muscular blue deer, half-human. Only with a face that was definitely not human. For a start, it had no mouth. But it had two additional eyes mounted on moveable stalks atop its head. And it had a tail like a python with a blade at the end.

�Special effects,� I said. �It must be for some movie or whatever.�

�Tom!� my mom called. �Turn on channel seven.� Then, to me, �I don�t think the anchors expected this. They look scared to death.�

I shot a look toward Tom, illuminated by the glow of the TV in the family room. He was standing up. Rigid. Staring. But not amazed or amused or curious.

His face was a mask of rage and hatred.

The TV screen went blank. Up came a still shot saying Sorry, we are experiencing technical difficulties.

�That was weird,� my mom said.

�Yeah,� I agreed. But I was watching Tom. His fists were clenched. He bolted for the stairs and took them two steps at a time.

�You want some chicken? There�s some in the fridge.�

�No. Thanks,� I said. I headed for the stairs. I didn�t know why. I crept up them, moving as silently as I could.

At the top of the stairs I paused, measuring my breath, quieting my heart.

� � I saw,� Tom said into the receiver.

I waited. Hugged the wall.

�It will take ten minutes -�

I peeked around the corner. Tom yanked the receiver from his ear. Someone was screaming abusively. I could hear the sound if not the words.

�Immediately!� Tom said and dropped the phone. He ran into his room and came out a few seconds later. He was shoving something into his waistband up under his jean jacket.

It was impossible to avoid thinking it was a gun. I walked past him, pretending not to notice. He grabbed me. Pushed me against the wall.

�I have to go out. Cover for me. If Mom or Dad asks, I�m studying. Got it?�

I nodded. It wasn�t so different from any number of times Tom had playfully put on a similar act. We both knew not to take it seriously. Just one problem: This time Tom was deadly serious.

I can imagine Tom was serious. This is really bad for the Yeerks.

Chapter 19-Jake

quote:

Wherever Tom was going he�d have to take my mom�s car. He wasn�t thinking clearly if he thought I could cover for that. My dad wasn�t home yet and when he got home he�d see my mom�s car was out. How was I supposed to explain that?

Besides, this was bigger than some concern over getting grounded. Tom was into something dangerous.

If he was going to avoid being seen by my mom he�d have to take the stairs down to the basement then go out that way. That gave me about five seconds� lead time.

I slid my bedroom window up and shinnied out onto the pitched roof. Rolled down, checked to make sure I was on the right side of the fence separating front and backyards, grabbed the gutter, and prayed it would hold my weight.

I dropped to the ground and ran to the back door of the garage. The automatic garage door around the front was just starting to rise.

I popped the back door of the minivan, jumped in, cursed myself for making the springs bounce, pulled the door down, and went fetal behind the back row of seats.

I heard the driver�s-side door open and slam. The key, the engine. We squealed out of the driveway. Fishtailed onto the road and blew through the subdivision at three times the speed limit.

I knew where we were heading. Knew it in my bones. We were heading for channel seven. Too\ much coincidence for anything else.

And Tom was armed.

What was I supposed to do? What could I do? Only one thing was sure-. I had to stop Tom before he got himself in some kind of serious trouble. He was my big brother and he was supposed to protect me. But that had to go both ways if he was the one who was in trouble.

A gun? Did Tom really have a gun? The idea made me sick. Who owned handguns? Criminals. Pathetic people who thought it would make them important. Nuts.

One thing was for sure. If my parents found out they�d go nuclear. My parents didn�t spank, and anyway Tom was way too old. But if they learned he had a gun, Tom was going to live out the rest of his years till his eighteenth birthday locked in his room having his food shoved in under the door.

What was he doing?

A siren! The cops. Thank God. They�d pull him over. They�d slow him down at least, writing him a ticket.

The siren was right behind us. I could see red flashing lights swirling against the seat back. I rose cautiously to peek out. Just as I did the police car turned off its siren and lights.

The cops pulled around us, revving their big engine, and started the siren again. They were escorting us! We blew through red lights, through stop signs, jerked into oncoming traffic. Wait a minute, was Tom some kind of undercover cop or something? Insane. Stupid. He was in high school.

Suddenly the cop car screeched to a halt. Crouched down I could see the big blue-and-white channel seven logo.
Slam!

I opened the door, slid out cautiously. Tom was running up the front steps of the four-story station building. Two cops were right with him.

Both had guns drawn. And Tom � Tom was armed as well. Only it wasn�t like any gun I�d ever seen.

Absurd, I thought. Ridiculous. It was all part of some elaborate practical joke. Had to be.

Because otherwise, the only other explanation was that my big brother was carrying some kind of ray gun.

They shoved through the smoked-glass doors into a dimly lit lobby, already looking like a business shut down for the night. I grabbed a side door, just off to the right.

There was a uniformed security guard fretting nervously, obviously not sure what to do.

�Hey, glad you�re here,� the guard said. �There�s some kind of a, I don�t even know what it is, but it�s in the -�

Tseeeew!

I jerked in surprise. A bright red lance of light had shot from Tom�s weapon.

The guard fell back. There was smoke billowing from his uniform.

I yelled. Not a word, just a yell of surprise and shock and horror.

Tom spun. He peered at me through the gloom. He fired.

Tseeew!

Miss!

No! He�d shot at me. He�d shot at me! Did he even know it was me? Had he recognized me?

One of the cops aimed.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

The glass behind me shattered and fell in a hail of shards. The cop emptied his gun. But I was hugging the floor and crawling behind a display bearing artwork. Paintings. Photographs.

The firing stopped. Holes had been blown through the pictures.

By the time I worked up nerve to look again, they were all three gone.

I couldn�t breathe. My heart was hammering like it was trying to bang its way out of my chest.

A ray gun. A laser or whatever. Just like Marco and Rachel. Marco would think I made it all up to top his story.

If I lived long enough to tell him.

I heard screams from some other part of the building. I heard the strange �tseeew� sound of the laser beam or whatever it was.

What could I do? I wasn�t armed. I wasn�t some action hero. All I could do was hide. Hide right here, right where I was, till the cops showed up. Only the cops were already here. So I hid. For half an hour I just crouched, waiting for it all to end.

But then � then something started to happen to me. My hands were changing, flattening out. And orange-and-black fur was growing. And my fingernails were extending, curving, forming claws!

What was happening to me? What was happening?

Then, instantly, my hands were normal again. Stress. That was it. I was imagining things.

Freaking.

Losing my mind.

There came the sound of yelling, loud protests, cries of rage and fear.

I peeked again from behind my flimsy protection. I looked through a bullet hole that had made an extra eye for a portrait of a woman.

A dozen guys, all armed, some with guns, some with the laser gun things, were herding seven handcuffed people between them. The anchorpeople were among them, makeup turning their faces orange.

Tom was there, calmly supervising.

Through the smoked glass I could see a limousine pull up. My assistant principal, Mr. Chapman, stepped out and held the door for Mr. Visser, the guy from The Sharing.

And then, last to step from the car, was Tobias.

They're probably at this point, not going to be able to get Ax, but they can neutralize the news crew, at least, and try to minimize the damage.

# ? Apr 24, 2022 03:58

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

Applegate posted:

Who owned handguns? Criminals. Pathetic people who thought it would make them important. Nuts.

I can't believe Jake hates democracy and freedom

# ? Apr 24, 2022 08:53

Remalle: Feb 12, 2020

Tree Bucket posted:

I can't believe Jake hates democracy and freedom

Jake hates handguns specifically but he's super into assault rifles to arm the proletariat

# ? Apr 24, 2022 21:35

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

Remalle posted:

Jake hates handguns specifically but he's super into assault rifles to arm the proletariat

The AR-15morphs.

# ? Apr 24, 2022 21:51

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

Tree Bucket posted:

I can't believe Jake hates democracy and freedom

quote:

�Hey, Mom, what�s up?� I said.

�The electric bill,� she muttered.

Well, maybe if KA's beloved DUMMYCRATS weren't in the dang WHITE HOUSE, am I right?!

Also I don't know what speed limits are like in the US but in my neck of the woods "three times" the speed limit of a suburban street would be 150km/h. That's one hell of a minivan.

# ? Apr 24, 2022 23:56

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

freebooter posted:

Well, maybe if KA's beloved DUMMYCRATS weren't in the dang WHITE HOUSE, am I right?!

Also I don't know what speed limits are like in the US but in my neck of the woods "three times" the speed limit of a suburban street would be 150km/h. That's one hell of a minivan.

tom has been rebuilding the old 350 in his spare time

# ? Apr 24, 2022 23:58

OctaviusBeaver: Apr 30, 2009; Say what now?

Neighborhood speed limits in the US are almost always 25mph, so 3x puts him at 75mph (120kph) which a minivan can do easy.

Jake hating guns is pretty rich for a guy packing unlicensed tiger DNA.

# ? Apr 24, 2022 23:59

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Sorry. More Animorphs tomorrow.

# ? Apr 25, 2022 04:02

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

OctaviusBeaver posted:

Neighborhood speed limits in the US are almost always 25mph, so 3x puts him at 75mph (120kph) which a minivan can do easy.

Still a hell of a thing to blast past your house while you're having a beer on the porch in the evening!

# ? Apr 25, 2022 10:01

OctaviusBeaver: Apr 30, 2009; Say what now?

In my head canon he hits Chapman's mailbox.

# ? Apr 25, 2022 13:09

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 20 - Cassie
Day Thirty-Three

quote:

Jake wouldn�t talk in my house. He was too jumpy. So we went out to the barn.

It was Saturday morning. No school. And my dad was at Home Depot buying materials for some improvements in the barn. He�d be gone for hours.

Rachel showed up about ten minutes later with Marco. Jake had called them.

Jake didn�t waste time. �I was shot at,� he said.

Marco had just sat down on a hay bale. He jumped back up. �Okay, what is this? Are you goofing on Rachel and me?�

�No.� Jake had a look I�d never seen before. There was not the slightest hint of lightheartedness in his expression. He was serious. Grim, even. He seemed older.

�I was shot at. With guns. And with some kind of laser. Just like you two.�

Weird. Once again, I had this weird feeling. D�j� vu. The sense that we�d all been here, together. Not once, but many times. Only � only there was something missing.

My eyes rose to the rafters. Something missing.

�What is this?� Rachel exploded. �Someone has a grudge against us? What did we ever do?� She peered at Jake. �We�re cousins, does this have something to do with that?�

Marco flopped back on the hay bale. Like he did sometimes. Like he�d done so many times. And yet never done. He�d never been in our barn before.

Jake shook his head. �I don�t think it has to do with us directly. Marco says he saw his mom. Only she�s dead.� He saw Marco flinch. �Sorry, man.�

�Yeah. But it was her. Look, you know me, Jake, you�ve known me my entire life practically. Have I ever hallucinated? Have I ever seen something that wasn�t there?�

Jake shook his head. �No. You are probably the last person on earth who�d imagine something like that.�

�She was there,� Marco said. �I just don�t know how. And I don�t know why she wouldn�t stop. I mean, any answer I come up with sounds like something you�d hear in a conspiracy chat room. I don�t believe that stuff. I don�t think the big corporations or the mafia or the CIA or little green men from Mars or whatever are secretly controlling our lives. That�s crazy, wack-job stuff. But what am I supposed to think when I see my mom, and I chase after her, and these guys end up shooting at Rachel and me?�

�With laser beams,� Rachel added. She was pacing back and forth, an almost funny reflection of a recovering raccoon behind her that was pacing its cage.

Jake nodded. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he was hesitating.

�What is it?� I asked him.

�Maybe I�m a crazy wack-job,� he said. �I � I think maybe there is a conspiracy.�

Rachel stopped pacing. �Say what?�

Jake sighed. �I was following Tom. This thing happened on TV, on the news. Suddenly there�s this alien-looking thing. Very weird. Kind of cool. Anyway, I�m thinking it�s some kind of publicity thing. But Tom is freaking out. Like eight seconds later he�s grabbed my mom�s car and he�s tearing out of there. I stash in the backseat. He goes straight for the TV studio. And he has a gun.�

�Whoa! Tom had a gun?� Rachel demanded. �Did you tell your parents?�

�It�s past that,� Jake said. �At the TV station, he shot someone. Two cops were with him. They helped him. They shot at me, only they didn�t know it was me. They grabbed everyone at the station and hustled them out of there, and Tom was in charge. And by the way? The gun he had?�

�Don�t even say ray gun,� Rachel said.

�What are you even talking about?� Marco said. �I thought my story was bizarre.�

�Tom and the cops dragged those people out of there in handcuffs. These famous newspeople and all. Then Chapman showed up.�

�Chapman? Chapman Chapman? Our Chapman?�

�Yeah. And this guy named Mr. Visser. And Tobias. You know, the kid who was hanging with us for a while? They�re all there, too.�

Marco said, �Why? Why them? Tom, Chapman, Tobias. Mr. Whatever? The cops?�

Jake shook his head slowly. �I don�t even want to say this, but Tom, Chapman, Mr. Visser, and Tobias are all members of The Sharing.�

�Aren�t they just like some family thing or whatever?� Rachel asked.

Jake nodded. �So they claim. But it�s kind of a big coincidence.�

�How about this alien thing you saw on TV?� Marco asked.

�What about it?�

He shrugged. �What�d it look like?�

�I don�t know, like a-�

�Like a blue deer,� I said. �Only it had a kind of human face. And a long tail.�

Jake looked at me in surprise. �You saw it on TV, too?�

�No.� I shook my head. �No. I�ve never seen it. But I know that it has two eyes on top of its head, on these little stalks.�

No one moved. The three of them just stared at me.

�And I�ll tell you something else. He should be here.� I pointed to a spot off to one side. My arm was goose-bumped all the way up and down. �He should be standing right there.�

So Cassie knows....something, even though she doesn't know what she knows or how she knows it.

Chapter 21-Cassie

quote:

�There�s something wrong,� I said.

�Do you think? There�s plenty wrong,� Rachel said. �Marco and I get shot at. Jake gets shot at. We got some kind of cult. My cousin has a ray gun and is shooting it while cops stand around and do nothing. Marco�s mom is walking around alive, wearing a wig.�

Jake came over and took my hand and bent down to look into my eyes. It was so sweet. And I so needed it.

�Cassie, what do you mean?� Jake asked. I felt wetness on my cheeks. Why was I crying? I was the only one who hadn�t been shot at so far.

�I thought I was going nuts,� I said. �Ever since, I don�t know, for weeks I�ve had this feeling deep down inside that things weren�t right. There�s supposed � � I let go of Jake and threw up my hands. �I can�t explain it. Just that everything is wrong. This alien, I heard him talking, kind of, only he was out in the water somewhere. And I have these dreams, these amazing dreams where I�m not me, I�m an animal. A bug sometimes and I�m scared. Or a wolf. Or a bird.�

I spotted Marco rolling his eyes. I also spotted Rachel sending him a �keep your mouth shut� look.

But Jake looked at his hands like he�d never seen them before. �Or a tiger,� he whispered to himself.

And once more I was drawn to look up. Up at a particular spot in the rafters. �Just now I had the feeling that someone was missing. Two some-ones. The alien is one. He�s supposed to be here. And � and I know this sounds crazy ��

�Noooo, sounds perfectly sensible to me,� Marco said not-quite-under-his-breath.

� � there�s supposed to be a bird. A big one. Right up there. Anyway. Anyway, just now when you said Mr. Visser, I got this chill. He�s � somehow he�s part of it, too.�

�Where are Mulder and Scully?� Marco wondered.

Jake nodded, like he half-believed. But he looked away, too, like you do when someone says something crazy. �You had a bad feeling from the start about The Sharing.�

Pity. Great.

Rachel had this angry-concerned look, like she didn�t know what to say or do to help me out, but she�d gladly yell at anyone who gave me any trouble.

I�d just spilled my guts. And the result was that the three of them, including my best friend and the guy I liked more than ever, were all thinking I needed to see a shrink.

�Oh, man,� I said. �I am losing it, aren�t I?�

To my surprise it was Marco who came to my defense, in his own way. �Yeah, you are losing it. You�re crazy. Insane. Nuts. The only thing crazier than what you said is some guy who thinks that his big brother, the assistant principal, and Tobias the Mega Dweeb are shooting up a TV studio. And the only thing crazier than that is some kid who thinks his dead mom is running around town with laser shooting bodyguards.�

�We have to do something,� Rachel said decisively.

�Do what?� I asked her.

�I don�t know. Something. There really is some kind of conspiracy. I mean, what are we supposed to do, just do nothing?�

Marco said, �Rachel, what are the four of us going to do?�

�I don�t know!� she yelled in frustration. �Something! Jake? What do we do?�

�Yeah. What do we do, Big Jake?� Marco asked, half-mocking.

�What do you mean, what do we do?� Jake shot back. �Why are you asking me?�

Marco shrugged. �You�re the leader, man.�

�What are you talking about? The leader of what? And why am I the leader?�

�Because you are,� I said. The words were out of my mouth before I could think about them. I felt as if � as if I was a judge and had just passed sentence on Jake.

Marco jerked his thumb at me. �What the crazy chick said: Because you are.�

Jake looked at Rachel, dumbfounded. Rachel looked at me. An eerie look. Like she was listening to me talk, only I wasn�t saying anything.

Then Rachel said, �What do we do, Jake?�

For a long minute it felt as if the entire barn was frozen. The three of us looked at Jake. He looked back at us, each in turn, this helpless, almost hopeless look on his face.

And then he said, �We have to find out what�s going on. We start with Tom. He�s the obvious target.�

Jake. Decisive, once the moment for decision arrived.

�Let�s grab him, tie him down, threaten to give him up to the FBI unless he tells us what�s up,� Rachel said.

Rachel, bold, ready to act regardless of consequences.

�If he really shot someone, Tom�s dangerous,� Marco disagreed. �Which means whatever we do has to be subtle. If there�s some kind of conspiracy involving The Sharing, we�re not going to know if anyone we talk to is hooked up with them. We need proof before we make a move.�

Marco, cautious and clever.

A chill crawled up my spine. I felt as if the universe had just shifted. Like � like for weeks I�d been riding a bike with the chain always slipping. And like the chain had just caught again.

Things weren�t right. Not right. But more right than they�d been since we�d left the mall together.

I mean, even though its different circumstances, except for Tobias, they've still all come together.

# ? Apr 26, 2022 05:01

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I think that Stephen King-ing this one into them having always meant to be together because of ~*~fate~*~ or whatever is less interesting than just a one-off glimpse at how hosed they (and maybe Earth) would be if they'd never become the Animorphs. Which would in turn be kind of nice because it's evidence that they are actually making a difference.

Sucks for them that in this timeline they have to Hardy Boys their way through it without even getting superpowers, though.

edit - wait, I don't remember how this one ends up playing out, but since it started with Crayak, Cassie's visions etc must be the Ellimist trying to counter it, right?

# ? Apr 26, 2022 09:25

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

freebooter posted:

edit - wait, I don't remember how this one ends up playing out, but since it started with Crayak, Cassie's visions etc must be the Ellimist trying to counter it, right?

Spoilers for the rest of the book.

The Ellimist isn't trying to counter it, he already has. The whole reason Cassie's on the team at all is because she's a weird metaphysical anchor, and if you change the timeline around her too much, her presence eventually breaks your changes. The Drode throws a fit about this later on.

"Hey, but why didn't that happen in the last Megamorphs?" Good question. My guess has always been that the changed timeline in MM3 was only a thing for a few hours in absolute terms, not weeks, so this didn't come into play in that small amount of time. There are a few other possible hypotheses, too. But the real answer is almost certainly "Because KAA hadn't thought this part up back then."

# ? Apr 26, 2022 13:48

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

I mean, plus, one reason they're all together is that Jake and Marco are best friends, Rachel and Cassie are best friends, Cassie has a crush on Jake, and Jake and Rachel are first cousins who live in the same town. So they're already in a situation where it's natural for them to hang out together, Elfangor or no Elfangor. The only one who isn't part of that natural grouping is Tobias.

# ? Apr 26, 2022 14:21

Strom Cuzewon: Jul 1, 2010

quote:

�Chapman? Chapman Chapman? Our Chapman?�

This is a masterpiece.

# ? Apr 26, 2022 14:21

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

Epicurius posted:

I mean, plus, one reason they're all together is that Jake and Marco are best friends, Rachel and Cassie are best friends, Cassie has a crush on Jake, and Jake and Rachel are first cousins who live in the same town. So they're already in a situation where it's natural for them to hang out together, Elfangor or no Elfangor. The only one who isn't part of that natural grouping is Tobias.

the alternate timeline where Rachel lives with her dad and Jake's annoying cousin Saddler (RIP) becomes an animorph

# ? Apr 26, 2022 16:35

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

QuickbreathFinisher posted:

the alternate timeline where Rachel lives with her dad and Jake's annoying cousin Saddler (RIP) becomes an animorph

I'm down for it.

# ? Apr 26, 2022 16:46

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

disaster pastor posted:

Spoilers for the rest of the book.

The Ellimist isn't trying to counter it, he already has. The whole reason Cassie's on the team at all is because she's a weird metaphysical anchor, and if you change the timeline around her too much, her presence eventually breaks your changes. The Drode throws a fit about this later on.

"Hey, but why didn't that happen in the last Megamorphs?" Good question. My guess has always been that the changed timeline in MM3 was only a thing for a few hours in absolute terms, not weeks, so this didn't come into play in that small amount of time. There are a few other possible hypotheses, too. But the real answer is almost certainly "Because KAA hadn't thought this part up back then."

That definitely has Stephen King vibes. Especially (11/22/63 spoilers) in his book where a time traveller goes back to stop the Kennedy assassination, is ultimately successful, but returns to the present to find the world is being ripped apart by "timequakes" and the secret regulators of time confront him and make him undo it because you can't mess with time, it tears reality apart. Boring! Give me the material unforeseen consequences of trying to change history, not the mumbo jumbo metaphysical stuff!

# ? Apr 26, 2022 21:19

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

New chapters are coming tomorrow, I promise.

I apologize for the last week. My mom died last Tuesday, and between planning the funeral,, sorting her stuff, and then dealing with family stuff, I don't always get on here until late, and when I do, I'm usually ready to go to bed. So, this has slipped a little. The funeral was yesterday, though, and starting tomorrow, I should be on a more regular posting routine. Thanks for understanding.

# ? Apr 27, 2022 04:25

FlocksOfMice: Feb 3, 2009

take as much time as you need the thread will be here whenever, you've been a champ so far

# ? Apr 27, 2022 04:31

HisMajestyBOB: Oct 21, 2010; College Slice

Sorry to hear that. Take care of yourself, this can definitely wait! Whether it's time with family to grieve together or time with friends or by yourself to get away from it and decompress, do that and don't worry about Animorphs. We'll still be here whenever you're ready.

# ? Apr 27, 2022 04:44

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

Really sorry to hear that. Thanks for the thread, take all the time you need.

# ? Apr 27, 2022 05:40

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

I'm really sorry man. Take as long as you need, even put it on hiatus for a while, you've been posting this almost daily for like two years now.

# ? Apr 27, 2022 08:51

Andrew_1985: Sep 18, 2007; Hay hay hay!

Sorry to hear, Epicurius. Take as much time as you need.

# ? Apr 27, 2022 12:51

disaster pastor: May 1, 2007

Very sorry to hear it. The thread will be fine while you take your time.

# ? Apr 27, 2022 16:22

QuickbreathFinisher: Sep 28, 2008; by reading this post you have agreed to form a gay socialist micronation.
`

no pressure at all Epi, condolences. keep yourself safe and have a nice day at the beach not morphing or thinking about yeerks.

# ? Apr 28, 2022 03:20

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

Real life obligations always come first. I'm really sorry that you lost your mom.

# ? Apr 28, 2022 06:35

Zaphiel: Apr 20, 2006; Fun Shoe

I'm so sorry Epicurius. Come back whenever it works for you, long or short.

# ? Apr 29, 2022 01:48

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

You take your time and do what you need to do. Best wishes from all of us.

# ? Apr 29, 2022 01:49

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Ok, thanks for indulging me.

Chapter 22 - Tobias
Day Thirty-Four

quote:

I was helpless. Powerless. Unable to move an eye. Unable to lift a finger. Unable to speak. Unable to alter a facial expression. To smile. Frown. Give any sign that I was alive within my own body, a captive inside my own brain.

I had watched, helpless to cry out, as the Yeerks had dragged the poor men and women from the channel seven studio into vans. Had driven them at breakneck speed toward a water tower that concealed a secret entrance to the vast underground complex of the Yeerk pool.

I�d been unable to cry out in horror as one by one they were dragged, kicking and crying and begging, down the steel pier. The Hork-Bajir-Controllers had held them tight and kicked them to their knees, and shoved the heads down into that seething cesspool.

Every one of them was infested. Every one would now agree on the same cover story to explain away the odd appearance of the blue-furred alien. No charges would be filed. The guard Tom had shot survived, but would never be free. He was infested in his hospital bed. I was there, observing.

And now I was in my room. At home. Odret was still playing the role of Tobias. Still being me. Odret, the Yeerk, was growing ever more nervous. I could sense his emotions at times.

Sometimes he would sift through my memories, looking for a thrill, an escape. Like someone scanning the shelves at Blockbuster, looking for a movie to take his mind off his troubles.

I had to laugh, down in my corner of powerlessness. Odret had the wrong host if he wanted a lot of good times.

He was nervous because of Visser Three. The visser was not behaving as he should, somehow. It wasn�t anything obvious. More a question of something missing.

For one thing, Visser Three had a reputation. He was notoriously volatile. He would blow up over very little. But he was treating Odret with elaborate courtesy. Allowing Odret access to anything and everything. Not even making an effort to conceal disasters like the sudden appearance of an Andalite.

Why?

<What a pathetic life you�ve led, Tobias,> Odret said to me.

<l guess I have.>

<l find nothing in your memories worth seeing again. Nothing was worth seeing a first time.>

<Well, that�s how it is, right? The Sharing is a magnet for losers. They go for the weak. So what did you expect?>

To say that I hated myself would be an understatement. Odret had rifled through my memories, each more embarrassing than the one before. I�d had to relive too many things I had tried to forget.

Most painful of all was the image of myself swallowing everything The Sharing told me. I had walked, willingly, to my own destruction. At the time I�d seen no alternative. Now I saw nothing but alternatives.

Was my home a dreary, awful place? Yes. Was I somehow marked as a bully magnet? Yes. Was I different, strange, not-quite-normal? Yes.

And to fight all of that I had destroyed myself. Brilliant, Tobias. Brilliant. All of life�s pains combined could not have equaled what I now endured.

Even now no easy answers leaped to mind. I could not easily have stood the bullying. I could not easily have survived the loneliness. In my fantasies I could construct fantastic escapes, but in reality there was no easy way. My life was non-fiction, not some story where the endings are always happy. I couldn�t simply become a different person. I couldn�t just have some great insight that would save me from myself.

All I could have done, really, was wait. I could have endured. I saw that now. It wasn�t a dramatic answer. Wasn�t exactly inspiring.

Endure. Outlast. Outwait.

I might have been able to do that. I�m not a fool, I know that school was just a part of my life. You spend eighteen years as a kid, then maybe seventy years as an adult. And what you are as a kid isn�t what you�ll be as an adult, not always, anyway.

Endure. I could have done that. Now, too late. My nose itched. I could not scratch it.

Odret checked the clock. He got up, moved my legs and arms, aimed my eyes. I walked past my uncle.�

Where do you think you�re going?�

�Out,� my mouth said.

�Not if I say you don�t!� he yelled.

I/we ignored him. Out the door. A car appeared. I waited for it, impatient. Odret was hungry. He needed Kandrona rays. He needed to feed in the Yeerk pool.

The car drove us to McDonald�s. We went in, went up to the counter and gave the counter girl there a code word. Ten minutes later I stepped off the last stair and into the Yeerk pool complex.

I walked self-importantly toward the first pier. Two Hork-Bajir were standing guard, checking people off on a sort of palm-top computer.

�Odret-One-Seven-Seven,� my mouth said.

Suddenly I was aware that two more Hork-Bajir were standing behind me. Not in line to feed. Standing poised. Ready.

I felt the sudden spike of Odret�s fear.

�Come with us,� one of the Hork-Bajir said.

Odret hesitated. But only for a moment. He knew it was pointless. The Hork-Bajir were Controllers. They were following orders. Nothing he could say would change their minds.

They marched me into one of the shabby, temporary office buildings. It looked like an old barracks or something.

Odret knew who was waiting for him. When the Hork-Bajir opened an office door he was not at all surprised to see Visser Three in his Andalite host body.

<Ah, Odret-One-Seven-Seven,> he said.

�Visser,� Odret answered neutrally.

<You�ve come to feed?>

�Yes. Obviously.�

<Then I�m sorry you�ve been at all delayed. Go. Enjoy.>

Odret did not move a muscle. He knew.

Visser Three laughed. <There is just one thing before you go, Odret. I�ll need the truth.>

�What truth is that, Visser?�

The Andalite body moved with liquid ease. The mouthless Andalite face moved to within inches of my own. Both main eyes and one of the stalk eyes bored into me. <l know that you are faithful to Visser One, Odret. That much I know beyond all doubt.>

Odret�s fear was seeping into me. Releasing my own adrenaline.

�I serve the Council of Thirteen, Visser Three, as you know. And if any harm should come to me they would investigate very thoroughly.�

The visser was unimpressed. <As I said, Odret, I know you are Visser One�s minion. The question is about the order you transmitted to me. The order to avoid open war on the humans. I need to know whether that order came from the council, or whether Visser One is its source.>

�I gave you the orders of the council,� my mouth said.

<Maybe. And if so, I shall have to obey them. But if you speak only for Visser One � well, that�s a very different matter.>

�I�ve told you -�

The Andalite tail flew so fast that human eyes could not track it. The blade stopped a millimeter from my jugular vein.

<Yes. I know what you say now. The question is, what will you say in a day or so? What will you say when you are starving, Odret?>

I felt the Yeerk�s fear rise several more notches to an intolerable level.

�You will pay for any harm that comes to me! You don�t dare to defy the council this way!�

<Very simple, Odret: Work for me, and feed. Work for Visser One, and starve. Take him away.>

I saw in Odret�s mind�s eye the results. So did he. Kandrona starvation was a horror that could not be endured.

I looked straight into Visser Three�s Andalite eyes. �The council knows nothing. Visser One hopes to convince them to restrain you. She sent me to delay you till the council issues the order. But it will come.�

Visser Three nodded. <As I suspected. I will have to move quickly. Very quickly and present the council with a done deed. Then their order will be irrelevant.>

�I work for you, then?� Odret asked pitifully.

Visser Three laughed. <You betrayed Visser One, Odret. Should I keep you around to betray me? Kill him.>

A Hork-Bajir pressed a Dracon beam against my head. I felt it. Felt Odret�s terror. Felt my own shock, fear. Regret.

�No!� my mouth cried. �NO!�

Felt slight pressure as the Hork-Bajir�s finger tightened.

Felt -[/b]

So I hope nobody got too attached to Tobias or Odret in this book. But, sadly for Tobias, he came to his revelation too late. Sometimes you just have to endure and outlast. It's a pretty grim thing, but it's true.

From Robert Frost's "A Servant to Servants"

[quote]By good rights I ought not to have so much
Put on me, but there seems no other way.
Len says one steady pull more ought to do it.
He says the best way out is always through.
And I agree to that, or in so far
As that I can see no way out but through -
Leastways for me - and then they�ll be convinced.

Chapter 23-Jake
Day Forty

quote:

t was almost impossible following Tom. We tried, but he could drive, and none of us could. Marco and I searched his room when he was out.

�Careful. Watch for any kind of little telltales he might leave,� Marco said.

�What are you talking about?�

�He might place a hair in a certain way, say, wedged into a drawer to see if it�s been opened.�

I stared at my friend. �What do you know about this?�

He grinned. �I read, man. You know, books? John le Carr�. Tradecraft, dude. It�s all about tradecraft.�

I was going to ignore him. Then I saw the hair. It was wedged into the closet door so that if the door was opened it would fall. Marco noticed and gave himself a little, �Am I smart, or what?� flourish.

I took the hair. Opened the closet and searched it carefully. Nothing. I replaced the hair carefully and closed the door.

�Nothing here, man,� Marco said. �He�s got these telltales around just to see if anyone�s been here. He wants to know if he�s suspected of anything. But he�s not dumb enough to leave his ray gun just lying around.�

I led Marco back out into the hallway, down to my room. My dog Homer was asleep on my bed, snoring.

�Maybe we�re just crazy,� I said. The phone rang. I jumped about two feet. �That�s good, Jake, very cool. Not at all like a guilty guy.�

I waited two rings to see if my folks were home and would pick up. Then I answered the call. It was Rachel.

�Turn on the TV,� she said.

�Why?�

�Just turn it on. Channel nine.�

I grabbed Marco and went to my parents� room, the nearest TV. Mine was being repaired. I flipped channels till I saw it.

�What�s going on?� Marco wondered.

The screen showed a definitely inhuman face. Two main eyes, two stalk eyes. No mouth. But it was speaking anyway.

I scanned quickly. Channel nine, channel five, channel four, all the local channels were carrying the alien. All but channel seven.

<� are a parasite species.>

�What the ��

It was the alien. The blue deer. Making his second televised appearance. But this time he wasn�t on the news set. This was a remote. Probably on tape.

<In their natural form they are similar to your Earth slugs. They enter the body through the ear canal, releasing numbing chemicals to dull the pain. They wrap themselves around the brain, and tie into all neural functions.>

�He�s not making any sounds - he doesn�t even have a mouth - but I can hear him,� Marco said.

The phone on my parents� nightstand rang. I snatched it up. �Yeah, Cassie. I see it.�

<Humans who have been affected become Controllers. They will appear to be normal. But they have lost all control of their bodies. These Yeerks ->

�Yeerks?� Marco echoed.

<- have already enslaved three sentient species, the Hork-Bajir, the Taxxons, and the Gedds.>

�Hork Ba-what? This is some kind of goof?� I wondered.

�On all local channels at the same time?� Marco said. �All but channel seven? This is like a tape loop or whatever. The stations aren�t cutting in, they aren�t, like, putting any scroll or bug or even a logo under the picture.�

�What?�

�Man, do you know anything?� Marco said. �All that stuff that�s on the screen. You know, they�d put words under this, a title, like �alien spokesman,� or whatever. No, man, this is bootleg. Someone is cutting this in.�

I nodded. �Only channel seven was prepared. They thought this might happen. They were ready.�

<l am an Andalite. My people resist the Yeerks throughout the galaxy. But we are not here in sufficient strength. So you humans must fight. You must ->

The screen went blank. I hit the button on the remote. Channel five, blank.

�They cut him off,� I said.

�That�s what Tom is, Jake. A Yeerk. Or what did he say? A Controller. My mom, too. She�s not dead, she�s one of them.�

I lifted the phone receiver. �You still there, Cassie?�

�Yes.�

�What does this all mean?�

�I watched it and � every word he said, I was like �Yeah, yeah, that�s it. That�s the truth.�

Jake?�

�Uh-huh?�

�We call him Ax.�

�What? The alien?�

�I know this sounds crazy. But we�re supposed to know him. He�s supposed to be our friend. We call him Ax. And sometimes he can become human. Crazy.�

�Cassie, nothing sounds crazy. Not anymore.�

�What do we do?� she asked me.

I looked at Marco. He jerked his chin toward the screen. Two local newspeople were babbling and looking very lost. � � don�t know how this person, or creature, or prankster managed to ��

I flipped to another channel. � � some Howard Stern type of prank. Viewers should not be alarmed. We ��

Another channel had gone back to Jenny Jones.

�I have to pee,� Marco said. He went into my folks� bathroom.

�What do we do?� Cassie repeated.

�I don�t know, Cassie. But it�s not a joke. It�s real. We have to find out who is taking this seriously: cops, FBI, whoever. We have to let them know what we know. About The Sharing. About Chapman and that Mr. Visser and Tobias.�

�And Tom?� she asked softly.

�Yeah,� I said. �Yeah. Tom, too.� I hung up the phone feeling like a hundred-pound weight was suddenly sitting on my shoulders. A noise. I spun.

Tom. He was standing in the doorway. I didn�t have to ask whether he�d heard. He had. The ray gun in his hand told me he�d heard.

�I can kill you, or you can come along peacefully,� Tom said calmly. Tour call.�

A flash of movement. Marco charging out of the bathroom, rushing Tom like a linebacker.

Tom sidestepped, tripped Marco with a toe, and bashed the back of his head as he fell past.

Marco lay sprawled, stunned, on the floor.

�Let�s go. You, too, Marco. And don�t make me mad, I have a very busy day ahead of me with all this. If you slow me down ��

He let the threat hang.

Down the stairs. I couldn�t believe it, couldn�t imagine it. Couldn�t think of what to say to him. He wasn�t him. I had no trouble believing that, because there was no way Tom was doing this. No way.

I wasn�t even scared because I could not believe any of it. Impossible. Tom? Not even with an alien in his head. No matter what, Tom wasn�t going to hurt us.

Marco and I walked down the stairs, through the empty family room, the front door. I opened the door. A car was just screeching to a halt, there to pick Tom up.

The car door opened. A man�s voice yelled, �Look out!�

Tom flinched. Too late! The baseball bat came down hard on his gun hand.

�Ahhh!� he yelled.

The ray gun clattered down the steps.

The bat came up fast, caught Tom in the face. Then, one! Two! Three!

Three stiff, hard blows and Tom was down, curled in a ball, groaning, eyes rolling, blood gushing from his nose and ear.

I stared at my cousin. Rachel was breathing hard. But her outfit, hair, and makeup had remained perfect.

Rachel to the rescue, basically.

# ? Apr 29, 2022 03:02

Capfalcon: Apr 6, 2012; No Boots on the Ground,
Puny Mortals!

First up, poor Tobias. Can't catch a break in any dimension.

Also, it's still... a little weird that Jake is very aware of Rachel's appearance.

# ? Apr 29, 2022 04:05

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

Capfalcon posted:

First up, poor Tobias. Can't catch a break in any dimension.

Also, it's still... a little weird that Jake is very aware of Rachel's appearance.

California is.... kind of in the South

# ? Apr 29, 2022 04:07

Epicurius: Apr 10, 2010; College Slice

Chapter 24-Rachel

quote:

Torn was down. Someone was running from the car. Someone big.

Jake dove, landed hard, but snatched up the ray gun. He rolled, came up to his knees, and yelled,

�Freeze!�

It was so NYPD Blue.

The running man slowed, raised a weapon �

�Shoot!� Marco yelled.

Tseeeew!

Bright light stabbed from the weapon in Jake�s hand. The man screamed. His left leg below the knee no longer existed.

He fell, and fired wildly. The ray sliced into the eaves of Jake�s house.

�The car!� I cried.

Jake took aim, fired.

Tseeeew!

A hole burned and sizzled in the car�s engine compartment.

Tom was getting up, staggering down the stairs, trying to catch us from behind. I swung low, caught him in one knee. Hard. He went down. He wasn�t going to be walking anytime soon.

The injured guy from the car was groaning, rolling onto his side, ready to shoot again. I was on him.

Wham!

People will drop a weapon really fast if you hit their arm with a baseball bat. I grabbed the ray gun.

The driver of the car was out on the street, running, yelling into a cell phone.

�Shoot him!� I yelled at Jake.

�No, he�s leaving.�

I raised my newfound ray gun and took aim at the fleeing man. Jake yanked my arm upward as I squeezed the trigger. I sliced a couple of branches off an elm tree.

�We don�t shoot people in the back,� Jake snapped. �And we don�t shoot people who are willing to leave us alone.�

I shoved his hand away. �Hey, who died and made you president? What are you, the boss?�

�Yes,� he said. Then his expression softened. �And by the way, thanks.�

�No problem, cousin,� I said. �What about Tom? What about that guy there?�

�They�ll have reinforcements here soon,� Jake said. �We have to get out of here. Cassie. We have to get her before they do. Tom knows I was talking to her.�

�Yeah,� I agreed, feeling a sudden pang of worry for my best friend. I�d come to Jake�s house right away, as soon as the alien was off the air. We live just two blocks apart, less if you know the backyard routes. Cassie lived farther away.

Tom had dragged himself painfully to the steps. He was sitting there holding his knee, not sure which part of him hurt worse.

�You can run, but you can�t hide,� he said, spitting blood through his teeth. �We�ll take you. We�ll take you all!�

�Where�s that baseball bat?� I wondered.

�The soft invasion is over,� Tom jeered. �The real war is about to begin. We�ll have you all! You�re our meat! You�re our meatl�

�Come on,� Jake said softly. �Quick, before another carload of -�

�Forget carload,� Marco said.

He was looking up toward the sky. I followed the direction of his gaze.

It was not a plane. It was not a weather balloon, or swamp gas, or a trick of the light. It looked like a stylized metal cockroach, only where there might have been legs there were just two forward aimed, serrated spears.

It was, beyond any doubt, an alien ship. And it was slowing as it approached Jake�s house.

�Run!� Jake yelled.

�Yes, run! Run! Run, ah-hah-hah-hah,� Tom jeered giddily. �Run, humans, run!�

TSEEEEEW! TSEEEEEW!

Two huge beams of light chewed furrows in the lawn on either side of us.

We ran. Across the lawn, the next lawn, the next lawn.

TSEEEEEW TSEEEEEW

A garage to our left blew apart, burning splinters.

Marco tripped. I grabbed him and hauled him to his feet. We turned a corner. Jake yelled, �This way!�

We scrambled over a fence, raced through a backyard. I jumped a Big Wheel. Another fence, taller. No problem. Amazing what you can do when you�re being fired on by a spaceship hovering a few hundred feet up in the air.

TSEEEEEW! TSEEEEEW!

The pool in the next yard blew up in a geyser of steam. My face stung, eyes watered. We couldn�t outrun this thing. There was no way: We were on foot, it flew.

But I had underestimated Jake. He was heading for a little patch of woods over behind the community playground. The trees. He was looking for cover.
Just one problem: that was three long blocks and we were already getting tired.

People were coming out of their houses, staring slack-jawed up at the spaceship. The aliens weren�t even bothering to hide. Tom had told the truth: This was war.

�Rachel! Here. Stand. Aim!� Jake ordered.

I stopped. We were back against a tin tool-shed. The ship would reappear just over our heads as it came around for another shot. We�d see it just as it saw us.

Jake and I held our ray guns straight up. Marco panted, bent over with hands on knees.

�Fire!�

The steel bug slid into view. Our ray guns burned. The ship jerked. It didn�t explode or anything, but it jerked visibly, like someone who�s been slapped.

The ship hauled away. We ran.

Two blocks before the ship found us again.

TSEEEEEW! TSEEEEEW!

Three cars and a parked RV blew apart. The concussion knocked me down. I felt grass in my face. My ears were ringing like Quasimodo was in the belltower. My skin was singed. My mind wouldn�t come together, little fragments of thoughts, little bits of me �

I looked around. Jake was just getting up. He was slapping fire off his shirttail. Marco was on his back like he was enjoying a day at the beach.

I climbed up, woozy, fading in and out, but more or less in one piece.

�Marco! Let�s go!� I yelled.

I ran to him. Stopped. Looked down. Not comprehending. Not believing.

Jake grabbed me from behind. �Run!�

�But Marco!�

�Run! Just run!� Jake sobbed. �Run!�

There goes Marco, sadly. Also, I suppose they did some damage to the bug fighter.

Chapter 25-Aximili
Day Fourty-One

quote:

Videotapes of the Bug fighter were shown on TV. Endlessly. I watched in a portion of a large establishment called a Circuit City. Circuit City was devoted to archaic electronic devices: computers, videodiscs, music players.

Humans in the establishment stared in disbelief. They shook their heads. They discussed among themselves. Some were of the opinion that these invaders were simply misunderstood. Benign, but provoked by some obscure human behavior.

�They�re advanced, right? I mean, look at that thing! If they�re way beyond us and all, they must believe in peace.�

�Yeah? They have a heck of a way of showing it. Blowing up a man�s garage? And how about that RV? You think insurance is going to cover that?�

�Either way, I�m buying that Sony big screen. I don�t want to miss any of this!�

�Yes, sir. Can I interest you in our extended warranty program?�

I had heard similar opinions from other humans. They assumed that technological superiority must necessarily be linked to moral superiority. A natural impulse perhaps for an ignorant and primitive species.

Suddenly all the many TV�s went blank. The two humans used small handheld devices to change frequencies. But they, too, were nonfunctional.

The entire establishment had grown very quiet. None of the electronic equipment was functioning.

�Power went out,� one man said.

�Uh-uh. The lights are still on. It�s not the power.�

I used my human mouth to explain what should have been obvious. �Electromagnetic pulse,� I said. �The Yeerks have simply fired a burst of powerful radiation that has rendered primitive electronic devices inoperative. Ray-dee-ay-shun. It is a complex word. You will discover that any device containing a simple human computer chip will have been overloaded. Chip is a very short word.�

The human looked at me in bewilderment. �No TV?�

�No TV,� I confirmed.

�Why would they knock out the TV? Is it all the violent shows? Are they sending us a message?�

�Yes, they are sending you a message,� I said impatiently. �The message is: We are coming to enslave and destroy you.�

I left the establishment. My duty was not clear: I could attempt to assist human efforts to resist the Yeerks. But how? These people were so primitive their vulnerable circuits were unshielded. How could they resist the Yeerks?

Or, I could try at all costs to contact the home world.

The Yeerks would move quickly to increase the pace of infestation now. And my own actions might have caused them to rush.

How many Yeerks would they have in Earth space? It could easily be a hundred thousand. Or twice that number. Their goal would be to secure the planet for additional shipments of Yeerks. Newly arriving Yeerks would be a mixed blessing for the enemy. The Yeerks suffered from a lack of sufficient host bodies. Andalite intelligence had always estimated that fewer than one in a hundred Yeerks had a host - mostly Hork-Bajir, Taxxon, and Gedd. Gedds were severely limited as were the Taxxons. The Hork-Bajir were excellent host bodies, but Andalite actions had severely reduced the number of surviving Hork-Bajir hosts.

But here, on this planet, were nearly six billion potential hosts. More than enough to supply every living Yeerk with a human host. Humans were physically unimpressive, but they did have excellent hands and very good senses - all the Yeerks needed.

Six billion hosts. A planet stocked with sufficient raw materials for building ships. If the Yeerks took Earth and held it, they would be unstoppable.

If only the Andalite fleet would arrive. It was a perfect opportunity! The Yeerks would rush transports full of Yeerks, as many as they could move. The ratio of unhosted Yeerks would rise in proportion to the number of hosted Yeerks. A fat target. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

If Zero-space had not changed configuration, the fleet could arrive within weeks. If. Zero-space was inherently unpredictable, altering and shifting randomly. A jump that might take a week one day could take a year the next.

By now the high command realized that our task force was missing. But they might not know why. And they would certainly not guess that the Yeerks had located an almost perfect target species for massive infestation.

The larger war could be won. Right here.

Or lost. Right here.

But the fact, the terrible fact was, that the Yeerks would be more vulnerable once they began shipping large numbers of Yeerks to this planet. And that would not happen until human resistance was subdued.

That is an unhappy thought, I told myself. These are simple, primitive creatures. But I would not want to see them slaughtered to afford us a tactical advantage.

What was I to do?

Do both. Contact the fleet. Then help the humans, and forget the fact that helping humans now might cause the Yeerks to be more cautious.

Yes. That would be my plan. The policy of a half-trained aristh. How would I ever explain myself to my superiors? I could picture incredulous, outraged faces of great war princes staring at me and saying, <Your policy, aristh? Your policy? And when, exactly, did galactic policy fall into your hands?>

I had walked from the Circuit City, down a hill, closer to what humans called a �mall.�

I had a clear view of what happened next. Bug fighters began dropping from the clouds. They landed, forming a loose perimeter around the mall parking area. Hork-Bajir jumped out, armed with Dracon weapons.

An interesting move. Yes, the Yeerks would be able to take several hundred humans at once. It made sense.

Several human cars attempted to exit. They were blown apart.

I had a perfect view as well of the black, dangerous shape that swooped confidently down from the blue sky and settled arrogantly atop the mall roof.

A Blade ship. The Blade ship of Visser Three.

This is a good chapter for estimates of Yeerk numbers. Also, we see sort of the attitude "Oh, the Yeerks are advanced. They must be peaceful and friendly".

# ? Apr 30, 2022 03:46

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 25, 2024 02:42

FlocksOfMice: Feb 3, 2009

Oh wow this is just terrifying. It really does a lot to make it seem like theyb are winning meaningful battles in the main timeline by showing how BAD things would be without the pressure of the andalite bandits on them.

# ? Apr 30, 2022 04:04

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

«‹›236 »