Humanity's Secret Weapon
Rachel threw a glance out of the cave and was relieved to see that the Hork-Bajir-Controllers were heading in another direction.
She crept back into the cave, feeling her way along in the darkness with accustomed fingers. She quickly found her way back through the tunnels and cracks to the main "room".
The cave was almost empty. Except for the minimal storage of food in one corner, and the jumble of leaves and ragged pelts in another corner. There was also an old schoolbag, filled with what clothes and tools she had managed to steal from the Yeerks.
In the dark, somewhere, was also Tobias.
"It's safe," Rachel said softly, her voice echoing. "They lost our trail."
There was no answer. Rachel ignored that, felt her way along the wall until she found the old schoolbag. She rumbled around in it and finally took out the flashlight - that, as everything else she owned, stolen from the Yeerks. She lit the flashlight just long enough to let her eyes adjust themselves to the bright light, and to find where Tobias was.
He sat huddled against the wall, shivering. Rachel switched off the flashlight, hid it back in the bag, and walked over to sit next to him. She felt a bit insecure, thinking about her little hideout, wondering if he'd expected her to do better on her own than what she had done.
But she hadn't.
"What's wrong?" she wondered. "You hungry?"
In fact, Rachel was the hungry one. Over the years after the Yeerk victory she had gradually become thinner and thinner, and she looked very much like any wild animal on earth; starved and dirty. She was frighteningly skinny, eating only what she managed to hunt - and after the Yeerks had killed off most wild animals, that wasn't much.
She had cut her hair short; it hung in untidy tufts here and there around her head. Not two of the tufts were the same length. And if she'd told someone she was actually blonde, they wouldn't have believed her.
She had long since abandoned the luxuries of being clean and tidy. Being clean made it easier for the Yeerks to find her. Their Taxxons and dogs couldn't smell her as easily if she was filthy. Their humans and Hork-Bajir couldn't see her as easily of she was muddy.
Tobias, though, wasn't dirty. Tobias wasn't hungry. Tobias wasn't thin.
He had been fed well. Cared for. Pampered and was generally in top shape.
He had been a Controller.
And that was why he was sitting by the wall, shivering.
Rachel leaned closer and put her arms around him, letting him do the same. Letting him sit there, sobbing and shaking, clinging around her neck as if his life depended on it.
"It's okay," she whispered, pulling away just far enough to reach kissing his forehead. "It's okay."
Tobias didn't say anything for a long time. When he opened his mouth, it was a weak whisper. "It's not okay."
"What isn't okay?"
"Yeerks," he said expressionlessly. His voice had been clear and sharp before the Yeerk's victory. After Jake was killed, he'd become the unofficial leader. He always had something to say, something to do. Now, there was some weird emptiness about him. Rachel couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something was missing. She hoped it would come back.
"You're free now," Rachel said. "They won't trouble you again."
Tobias pulled away. Leaves rustled as he moved in the cave; he had stepped onto the jumble of leaves and pelts. The rustling stopped when he had found a place to sit. Rachel listened to his breaths and figured out about where he was sitting. She decided to leave him alone.
"That doesn't matter," he said, and Rachel strained her ears to hear him. "The Yeerks… they've won. They own this planet. They own everything on it." He laughed, but not happily. "They own us."
"No-one owns me," Rachel growled. "I'm free. I'm staying free." Her voice softened. "And so are you. So will you."
"Only as long as they let us!" Tobias cried. "Freedom is an illusion! They've known you're out here, Rach."
"They can't know. Then I'd have been caught long ago."
"They leave a few out there, free," Tobias said. "Enough to keep hopes up, but never enough to become any threat." A heavy sigh was heard from the other end of the cave. "There is a major downside to having a human host. And the Yeerks learned that the hard way."
Rachel was silent. She was puzzled, chocked. The Yeerks knew she was out there? And they let her walk? It made no sense. No sense at all.
"Why?" she asked.
"Rach, remember what kept us going through the hard days? Remember what kept us fighting. What kept us alive. Remember what that was, Rachel."
Rachel didn't have to think for long. "Hope," she said automatically.
Tobias nodded. Rachel couldn't actually see it, in the dark, but there was a distinct feeling of a nod taking place.
"It seems that humans who lose all hope can drop down dead."
"What?!"
A nod again. "I've seen it myself," Tobias said. "It had the Yeerks terrified before they figured out what was happening. All of a sudden, a human - with or without a Yeerk - would roll his or her eyes upwards, and fall straight backwards. Stone dead."
"And that killed the Yeerk as well," Rachel said lowly. "Unbelievable."
"Yes," Tobias said. "But that's why they'll let us live out here. That's why they'll leave us alone. We're not a real threat, we can't disturb any big plans, and we give hope to those who are still hosts. We're tools of the Yeerk Empire, Rachel. We're not free for a moment. Don't ever think we're free. We're slaves of the Yeerks, whether we're locked in a cage or starving slowly out in the wild."
"Don't say that."
"What? It's true," Tobias sneered. "It's the grim truth. Humans can't live without hope, and we're only out here to keep millions of hosts alive. We're slaves until we die, Rach. We'll be slaves until our flesh and skin and organs have rotted away, and even then they'll find some way to exploit us. Use us for their purposes."
Rachel didn't say anything. But she didn't argue with him. Maybe that was all it took.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Author's Note;
Okay. Another short, pointless fic with a silly, open ending. Just something I wrote in five minutes during the time I was supposed to be doing my homework. Review, please, and tell me off for wasting my own and your time.
Rachel threw a glance out of the cave and was relieved to see that the Hork-Bajir-Controllers were heading in another direction.
She crept back into the cave, feeling her way along in the darkness with accustomed fingers. She quickly found her way back through the tunnels and cracks to the main "room".
The cave was almost empty. Except for the minimal storage of food in one corner, and the jumble of leaves and ragged pelts in another corner. There was also an old schoolbag, filled with what clothes and tools she had managed to steal from the Yeerks.
In the dark, somewhere, was also Tobias.
"It's safe," Rachel said softly, her voice echoing. "They lost our trail."
There was no answer. Rachel ignored that, felt her way along the wall until she found the old schoolbag. She rumbled around in it and finally took out the flashlight - that, as everything else she owned, stolen from the Yeerks. She lit the flashlight just long enough to let her eyes adjust themselves to the bright light, and to find where Tobias was.
He sat huddled against the wall, shivering. Rachel switched off the flashlight, hid it back in the bag, and walked over to sit next to him. She felt a bit insecure, thinking about her little hideout, wondering if he'd expected her to do better on her own than what she had done.
But she hadn't.
"What's wrong?" she wondered. "You hungry?"
In fact, Rachel was the hungry one. Over the years after the Yeerk victory she had gradually become thinner and thinner, and she looked very much like any wild animal on earth; starved and dirty. She was frighteningly skinny, eating only what she managed to hunt - and after the Yeerks had killed off most wild animals, that wasn't much.
She had cut her hair short; it hung in untidy tufts here and there around her head. Not two of the tufts were the same length. And if she'd told someone she was actually blonde, they wouldn't have believed her.
She had long since abandoned the luxuries of being clean and tidy. Being clean made it easier for the Yeerks to find her. Their Taxxons and dogs couldn't smell her as easily if she was filthy. Their humans and Hork-Bajir couldn't see her as easily of she was muddy.
Tobias, though, wasn't dirty. Tobias wasn't hungry. Tobias wasn't thin.
He had been fed well. Cared for. Pampered and was generally in top shape.
He had been a Controller.
And that was why he was sitting by the wall, shivering.
Rachel leaned closer and put her arms around him, letting him do the same. Letting him sit there, sobbing and shaking, clinging around her neck as if his life depended on it.
"It's okay," she whispered, pulling away just far enough to reach kissing his forehead. "It's okay."
Tobias didn't say anything for a long time. When he opened his mouth, it was a weak whisper. "It's not okay."
"What isn't okay?"
"Yeerks," he said expressionlessly. His voice had been clear and sharp before the Yeerk's victory. After Jake was killed, he'd become the unofficial leader. He always had something to say, something to do. Now, there was some weird emptiness about him. Rachel couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something was missing. She hoped it would come back.
"You're free now," Rachel said. "They won't trouble you again."
Tobias pulled away. Leaves rustled as he moved in the cave; he had stepped onto the jumble of leaves and pelts. The rustling stopped when he had found a place to sit. Rachel listened to his breaths and figured out about where he was sitting. She decided to leave him alone.
"That doesn't matter," he said, and Rachel strained her ears to hear him. "The Yeerks… they've won. They own this planet. They own everything on it." He laughed, but not happily. "They own us."
"No-one owns me," Rachel growled. "I'm free. I'm staying free." Her voice softened. "And so are you. So will you."
"Only as long as they let us!" Tobias cried. "Freedom is an illusion! They've known you're out here, Rach."
"They can't know. Then I'd have been caught long ago."
"They leave a few out there, free," Tobias said. "Enough to keep hopes up, but never enough to become any threat." A heavy sigh was heard from the other end of the cave. "There is a major downside to having a human host. And the Yeerks learned that the hard way."
Rachel was silent. She was puzzled, chocked. The Yeerks knew she was out there? And they let her walk? It made no sense. No sense at all.
"Why?" she asked.
"Rach, remember what kept us going through the hard days? Remember what kept us fighting. What kept us alive. Remember what that was, Rachel."
Rachel didn't have to think for long. "Hope," she said automatically.
Tobias nodded. Rachel couldn't actually see it, in the dark, but there was a distinct feeling of a nod taking place.
"It seems that humans who lose all hope can drop down dead."
"What?!"
A nod again. "I've seen it myself," Tobias said. "It had the Yeerks terrified before they figured out what was happening. All of a sudden, a human - with or without a Yeerk - would roll his or her eyes upwards, and fall straight backwards. Stone dead."
"And that killed the Yeerk as well," Rachel said lowly. "Unbelievable."
"Yes," Tobias said. "But that's why they'll let us live out here. That's why they'll leave us alone. We're not a real threat, we can't disturb any big plans, and we give hope to those who are still hosts. We're tools of the Yeerk Empire, Rachel. We're not free for a moment. Don't ever think we're free. We're slaves of the Yeerks, whether we're locked in a cage or starving slowly out in the wild."
"Don't say that."
"What? It's true," Tobias sneered. "It's the grim truth. Humans can't live without hope, and we're only out here to keep millions of hosts alive. We're slaves until we die, Rach. We'll be slaves until our flesh and skin and organs have rotted away, and even then they'll find some way to exploit us. Use us for their purposes."
Rachel didn't say anything. But she didn't argue with him. Maybe that was all it took.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Author's Note;
Okay. Another short, pointless fic with a silly, open ending. Just something I wrote in five minutes during the time I was supposed to be doing my homework. Review, please, and tell me off for wasting my own and your time.