Chapter 3
I guess I had a strange expression on my face, because when I looked at the cages I saw a human man staring at me. He looked right into my eyes and jerked his head backward, beckoning me toward him. I walked to the cages and he gestured for me to follow him to a dark corner, in a little nook where no one would see us.
"I'm assuming..." he began quietly, "...this is your first visit to The Happiest Place On Earth, and I trust you're not...taken?"
"You assume, and trust, correctly," I replied, "what is this place?"
"This is a yeerk pool. Those things coming out of people's ears? Those are yeerks."
"What's a yeerk?"
"A yeerk is a parasite. In it's natural form it's no more than a slug. Maybe even a little less. But they have one thing that slugs don't: they can enter your brain, flatten themselves around it, and take control of your body. Complete control. Almost complete control," he corrected.
"Aliens?"
"They certainly aren't locals."
"And the others?"
"The big bladed ones are Hork-Bajir. Despite their intimidating appearance, they are peaceful. The centipede things are Taxxons. They're the nasty ones, barely sentient, so terrified of going hungry that they eat nearly any living thing in sight. Including each other. The yeerks inside them are able to contain them mostly. Unless blood is spilled. The little monkey things are Gedds. They aren't intelligent enough to be evil. They're just victims. Slaves. Controllers. That's what a creature is called when it is taken by a yeerk. A controller. Nothing is safe from a yeerk once you become a controller. Every thought, every memory, everything, is vulnerable."
"Then why are you telling me this? Won't your yeerk be able to tell that you told me all that?"
I'm different from other controllers," he grinned, "how did you find this place?" I told him, and he said, "smart boy, very resourceful, you may be of use."
"So now what do I do?"
"Study people. Very closely. Three days at a time. They have to come back here every three days for feeding. When you have a list of non-controllers, get together a group of them you trust, and build an army. If you were able to shadow a controller here without being detected at all, then I get the feeling you would know what to do beyond that."
I guess I had a strange expression on my face, because when I looked at the cages I saw a human man staring at me. He looked right into my eyes and jerked his head backward, beckoning me toward him. I walked to the cages and he gestured for me to follow him to a dark corner, in a little nook where no one would see us.
"I'm assuming..." he began quietly, "...this is your first visit to The Happiest Place On Earth, and I trust you're not...taken?"
"You assume, and trust, correctly," I replied, "what is this place?"
"This is a yeerk pool. Those things coming out of people's ears? Those are yeerks."
"What's a yeerk?"
"A yeerk is a parasite. In it's natural form it's no more than a slug. Maybe even a little less. But they have one thing that slugs don't: they can enter your brain, flatten themselves around it, and take control of your body. Complete control. Almost complete control," he corrected.
"Aliens?"
"They certainly aren't locals."
"And the others?"
"The big bladed ones are Hork-Bajir. Despite their intimidating appearance, they are peaceful. The centipede things are Taxxons. They're the nasty ones, barely sentient, so terrified of going hungry that they eat nearly any living thing in sight. Including each other. The yeerks inside them are able to contain them mostly. Unless blood is spilled. The little monkey things are Gedds. They aren't intelligent enough to be evil. They're just victims. Slaves. Controllers. That's what a creature is called when it is taken by a yeerk. A controller. Nothing is safe from a yeerk once you become a controller. Every thought, every memory, everything, is vulnerable."
"Then why are you telling me this? Won't your yeerk be able to tell that you told me all that?"
I'm different from other controllers," he grinned, "how did you find this place?" I told him, and he said, "smart boy, very resourceful, you may be of use."
"So now what do I do?"
"Study people. Very closely. Three days at a time. They have to come back here every three days for feeding. When you have a list of non-controllers, get together a group of them you trust, and build an army. If you were able to shadow a controller here without being detected at all, then I get the feeling you would know what to do beyond that."