A/N: Okay, so this ended up being a very, very long chapter that I had to split in two- this ones's still quite a monster! Hope you enjoy despite that.

Carla was sure she must be visibly shaking as she waited with Kalran on the street outside the apartment. Cars whipped past them: it was a busy Saturday morning, the sun warm on their faces. Carla just wanted to go back to bed and curl up under the duvet, and had to keep forcibly reminding herself of that little room with its communicator, that was Oglud's only contact with the outside world, to make herself stay standing there.

"How are you doing?" Kalran asked her kindly.

"Nervous," Carla admitted. "Terrified, really."

"I'm sure everyone will be anxious," Kalran said gently. "Elsa included. And you can always back out if you need to. Neither Oglud nor I would blame you, if it's too much. We're both so grateful for everything you've done already."

If Carla had given any serious consideration to backing out, those few sentences got rid of them completely. Despite much effort, Kalran clearly couldn't keep her voice from catching as she said Oglud's name, and Carla couldn't abandon either of them now.

"I'm not gonna back out," Carla said softly. "I can be pretty stubborn when I want to be."

Kalran smiled at her. "I know." As her eyes shifted away from Carla, they fixed on a point over her shoulder. "They're here."

Carla turned to see Akhir's small car pulling in hesitantly at the kerbside.

"Good morning," Kalran said once she'd opened the door, greeting Akhir with a wider smile than Carla had seen on her face for some time.

"Hey," Carla said, opening the back door to slide in next to Jasmine. Akhir was going to drop them off around the corner from the cafe: it was at least better than getting a lift from Elsa herself, and meant Carla didn't have to arrive on her own.

"Hi," Jasmine said quietly, glancing up only momentarily to meet Carla's eyes.

"Morning, Carla," Akhir greeted, turning round in her seat to look at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Yeah, just great," Carla muttered sarcastically. "Not scared at all."

"You'll be just fine," Akhir said reassuringly. "And I really admire your bravery."

"How are you, Jasmine?" Kalran asked.

"I'm okay," Jasmine said quietly. "A bit nervous, too, but I'm sure it'll be okay."

"Is there anything I can do to make things easier for you?" Kalran asked. "You know I'm coming to support you all."

Kalran had already asked the question of Carla, so she waited for Jasmine to speak.

"I don't think so," Jasmine said softly. "It'll just be nice to have you there." Jasmine glanced sideways at Carla again, nervously.

"You can perhaps ensure no-one snaps at Jasmine, this time," Akhir said with a certain firmness in her voice, looking at Carla.

Carla swallowed, looking guiltily at the floor. "Sorry," she muttered.

"It's okay," Jasmine said gently. Carla felt a hesitant touch on her arm, and raised her eyes to meet Jasmine's face, which wore a nervous smile. "It wasn't easy for anyone, last time. It should be better today."

"Not having Alniss and I there should help enormously," Akhir agreed. "We shouldn't have done it that way, the whole atmosphere was too tense."

"I've never seen Elsa so on edge," Jasmine agreed. "She's been so much calmer just with me, even when we first met. It'll feel much calmer today, Carla, I'm sure it will."

"Maybe for her," Carla muttered. "Not for me, though."

"I'll be right there," Kalran said quickly. "If you need some time, if you need anything, you only need to say. I know that might not help much…"

"No, it does," Carla said, raising her head to give Kalran a smile. "I'm really glad you're coming. Are you- are you sure you feel up to it?"

"I've been wondering that too, schrellatie," Akhir added after a moment, reaching to touch Kalran on the arm. "No one would blame you, if you don't."

Kalran shook her head. "Everyone who's going is a friend to me." Her voice was soft, and she smiled gently first at Carla, then Jasmine, before letting her gaze drift back to Akhir, her smile lingering on her face as she looked at her. "It'll probably help."

"As long as you're sure," Akhir said softly. "I'll only be just around the corner if you need me. Obviously, I won't come in, but I could meet you… any of you… if you need a moment."

"Thank you, Akhir," Kalran said warmly. "You're incredibly kind."

Carla could have sworn Akhir's cheeks flushed at the compliment, but she turned round towards the wheel before Carla could be sure.

"It's nothing," Akhir murmured. "Honestly." She hesitated for a moment. "Are you all ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Carla replied.

It seemed no time at all before Akhir pulled into the car park around the corner from the café.

"I'll wait here," she announced once she'd turned off the engine. "Take as long as you need. I've brought a book." She turned around to smile at Jasmine, touching her host gently on the shoulder, then smiled at Carla. "Good luck, both of you. For what it's worth, Carla, I don't think Elsa bears any negative feelings for you, not at all. She wasn't reacting to you the way she was to Alniss or I. I can tell she's angry with us, but I really do think you're fine."

Carla shrugged. "Thanks. Wish I could believe it, but thanks for trying."

The three of them were quiet as they trudged down the street, Carla feeling as though her feet were dragging with every step. The café was busy, thankfully loud enough to drown out their conversation. Kalran found them a table out of the way, towards the back: there was no sign of Elsa yet.

"Where is she?" Carla muttered impatiently. The last thing she needed was more time to get nervous.

"She's probably late," Jasmine said with an amused smile. "She'll be here soon." Right on cue, her phone buzzed, and Jasmine smiled again as she looked at it. "Yeah. She says a few minutes, she's just getting parked. Would either of you like anything?" she added, picking up her purse.

"Shouldn't we wait?" Carla asked her, trying to keep her voice as polite as she could. "She's probably gonna want to order anyway, once she gets here."

"I was going to get her something," Jasmine replied.

What for? Carla wondered in her head but managed to keep herself from saying anything aloud. "Just a black coffee, thanks." Carla reached into her pocket for some cash.

"Oh, no, my treat," Jasmine said quickly.

"I can get my own coffee," Carla muttered.

Jasmine's face fell a little, and she turned towards Kalran. "Can I-"

"I'd love a caramel latte, if you're sure. As long as I can get something for you later." Kalran gave Carla a meaningful look. "I'm sure we'll be here long enough to pay each other back in kind."

Carla sighed, and shoved the dollars she'd taken out back into her pocket. "Fine. I'll get the next ones."

"Carla, what's the matter?" Kalran asked as soon as Jasmine had headed off to the counter. "Why won't you let-"

"Please don't," Carla said quickly. "It was enough having Akhir tell me off."

"I'm not telling you off," Kalran said, sounding pained. "I'm sorry if-"

"No, no, I know you're not." Carla forced a smile; she knew how hard things were for Kalran at the moment, and immediately felt guilty for upsetting her. "I just- I don't like her. And I hate seeing her and Akhir together, it reminds me of… I know it's silly."

"It's not silly," Kalran said softly, reaching to squeeze her shoulder gently. "Not at all. I should have thought about how it might make you feel."

"You've got enough to think about. I'm sorry."

"It's been ten times better with your support than it would have been without. You've been amazing, Carla, you really h- oh!" Kalran's eyes moved to look over Carla's shoulder, towards the door. "Elsa's here."

Carla tensed again, biting her lip.

"It's okay," Kalran whispered hastily, letting her hand fall from Carla's shoulder. "You're okay." Lifting her head, she turned to smile, a little forcedly, at Elsa. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Elsa said, smiling back more genuinely as she slid into the chair opposite Carla. "Hi, Carla. Thanks for coming. How're you doing?"

Carla carefully didn't meet her eyes, keeping them on the tabletop. "I'm fine. You?" she managed, dreading the answer.

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks," Elsa said breezily. Jasmine had been right: she was much more relaxed. "Been looking forward to seeing you guys. Where's- oh, there you are!"

Jasmine had reappeared. "Hi, Elsa," she said quietly, sliding a tray onto the table. She picked up a large cappuccino and a slice of chocolate cake and passed them to Elsa.

"Oh, wow, thanks, Jaz. You really didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to." Jasmine handed Kalran a tall coffee, piled with cream and drizzled with syrup.

"Thanks," Carla muttered as she received her own coffee, looking at Jasmine rather than daring to turn her eyes towards Elsa.

"How is everyone?" Elsa said through a mouthful of cake. "Kalran, how are you, honey? You sure you still want to do this? I heard it hasn't been the best week for you."

Kalran frowned slightly. "How do you- oh. Sara."

"She didn't tell me what it was about," Elsa replied, immediately looking guilty. "Sorry. She just said you might not be feeling your best, that's all. Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's fine," Kalran said, smiling a little forcedly. "And yes, I'm okay to do this. It's nice to spend time with you all."

"You're probably the only person in the world who could say that with any honesty," Carla muttered.

"Sorry to be contrary, but I can," Elsa said. "Carla, will you… can you look at me?"

Reluctantly, Carla raised her eyes.

"Thanks." Elsa did look much calmer, smiling gently at her. It didn't help Carla feel any better: she'd seen that face contorted with screaming more than once, or coldly controlled by a Yeerk, and she felt almost physically sick with the guilt of it. "I honestly can say I'm pleased to see you. All of you. It's okay, I promise. I've not got any sort of ulterior motive or… or whatever you're worried about."

Carla nodded. "Can we get started?"

"Oh." Elsa looked surprised, as though she'd expected more of a response. "Yeah, sure. Er. So, we've got you another interview. It should be better this time, one of the people in the campaign, Karen, she's spoken to the reporters. It kinda helps that her Dad owns, like, half the paper or something. So, I figured we could all go together, which might make it… well, maybe not better, but at least different to the last one you did."

"All including me, or all meaning the three of you?" Kalran asked.

"Whichever. You're welcome to come, of course you are." Elsa gave Kalran a relaxed smile. "It would be useful to have you there, but it doesn't matter if you can't make it, or you don't feel… anyway, at least the three of us could go," Elsa finished disjointedly, gesturing to herself, Carla and Jasmine. "If you guys want to, of course."

"I'll try again," Jasmine said softly. "But I… I can't pretend it doesn't frighten me."

"You don't have to do it, Jaz," Elsa responded immediately, her voice gentle. "You've done so much already."

"No, I want to. I just- I wasn't very good, last time."

"Hey, now, it wasn't your fault. The reporter had an agenda, and we should have been more careful. Did you guys prepare together, before the last one?"

"No," Carla admitted. "Do you know who the reporter will be?"

"I know she's not been a host," Elsa began slowly. "Or had immediate family who were. We've checked that. This time."

"Oh," Jasmine said, sounding pained. "The last reporter, did she…"

"Yeah," Elsa admitted. "I found out after when I phoned them up. I had a long and really quite difficult conversation with her, so I'm keen to avoid that again, too, though I obviously realise it was a lot worse for you."

Kalran sucked in a breath. "Kandrona," she whispered.

Elsa quirked an eyebrow. "Not sure that's on the menu, but I can get you a cookie."

"It isn't funny." Kalran was looking between Carla and Jasmine, fear etched across her face, before she looked back at Elsa. "They were in a room on their own with her."

"We're okay," Jasmine said immediately, smiling hesitantly at Kalran. "She didn't hurt us."

"It's fine, Kalran. I can look after myself," Carla added, upset at the expression on the Yeerk's face. "You don't need to worry about me."

"I'm sorry. I know you can take care of yourself, Carla, I just… I can't help worrying for you, both of you."

"That's sweet of you," Jasmine said with a smile. "But it won't happen again. Elsa's just said that. Um," she added, her smile disappearing, "you won't tell Akhir, will you? It'd terrify her."

"I'm sure it would," Kalran muttered. "She's nervous enough about today and she knows Elsa won't do you any harm. It's up to you who you want to tell, Jasmine, it's not my business, I just- I don't want you, any of you, taking those kind of risks for me."

"You're not gonna tell Alniss either, right?" Carla raised an eyebrow at Kalran. "'Cos I don't think Elsa'd ever hear the end of that."

"Oh, good God no," Elsa groused. "I had enough of her the other week." She sighed. "You're absolutely right, though, Kalran. We should have checked things out more carefully. And we will, in future, I promise you both that," she added, looking into Jasmine and Carla's eyes in turn. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Jasmine said quickly. "I'm sure we weren't in any real danger… well, we weren't, were we, or we'd know. And it must be pretty hard to do background checks."

"It was without Karen's influence, yeah," Elsa replied. "It's private information, the employee has to agree to divulge it, you can't just phone the newspaper offices as a random person and ask. And finding out about families is even harder. But this time the reporter who'll be doing the interview agreed to speak with me. So I guess I only have her word for it, really, but she seems nice. It's up to you guys if that's good enough. And it'll be three against one, this time, so it should be pretty safe."

"Let's hope so," Carla muttered. "So. We know the reporter might be a bit easier to deal with this time. What else can we do to make it work better?"

"I thought we could maybe have a think about the kinds of questions she might ask, ahead of time. Hang on." Elsa reached under the table, lifting up a satchel, and began a quite lengthy process of rummaging through various papers. Eventually, she lighted on the one she wanted, and pulled out a notepad and pens, too. "I wrote a few down but I'm sure you guys can think of others. I just thought it might help to agree what questions we want to answer and what we don't and find out a bit about what we each might say. So there aren't any surprises in the interview and we can support each other."

"That's a good idea," Jasmine smiled.

Carla shrugged. "Yeah, I don't mind doing that." The idea of answering a list of what were likely to be awkward, challenging questions in front of Elsa made her anxiety even worse, but she knew it was better than doing it for the first time in front of the reporter.

"Is it okay to note down people's ideas? I thought I could maybe go through the questions I've written down first, and if there's any you think are missing, we can talk about them after?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Jasmine replied softly. "Did you draft any for yourself?"

"Oh, plenty." Elsa gave a harsh smile. "I don't think she will, but if she does try to trip us up by asking about how I feel about you guys or what happened to me in the war then she's going to find it difficult."

"Can we hear your questions first, then?" Carla interjected quickly. Those were the ones she wanted to address. She was pretty sure she could work out by herself how she wanted to respond to anything asked of her but the anxiety about what Elsa might say if asked about the war was almost overwhelming.

"Oh," Elsa sounded surprised. "Sure, if you want. Erm, let's see…" she turned over the piece of paper, muttered "Nope," and then went back to rummage in her satchel again.

After a while, she surfaced triumphantly holding another tattered piece of paper. "Here we are. I went through them with my friend Kelly, I figured she'd be good at thinking of questions I missed. If you guys think of any, though, we can add them. So, I guess they'll probably ask all of us why we want to be involved in the campaign. That's pretty straightforward, for me."

She turned to smile at Kalran. "I'll probably start by talking about what the peace movement did, what it meant to me, and then bring your situation up, Kal, if that's OK? Anonymously, of course. Then I'll explain I started the campaign to try and get the peace movement Yeerks stuck in the pool and the ones that know them outside it a better quality of life. I'm still unsure whether we extend it to those who weren't in the peace movement… some of it, sure, the chance to visit more, to touch, all the things you said, Kal-" Elsa broke off. Carla knew why: she'd also heard Kalran's pained intake of breath at the word 'touch' and already reached to put her arm around her.

"Hey, it's okay," Carla said softly.

"I'm sorry, I just…"

Jasmine reached out a hand as well, touching Kalran's arm. "Shh. It must be so hard for you. I hope you don't mind, that I know?"

Kalran shook her head. "I imagined you would. I wouldn't expect Akhir to keep anything from you."

"She didn't tell me details," Jasmine said quickly. "Just where she was going that day and why."

"Has something happened?" Elsa asked gently, hesitatingly. Her expression was warm and caring as she looked at Kalran. "Is Oglud okay?"

"They're fine," Kalran murmured. "It's just… Ilkiss and I, we haven't been mates for a long time, and he's met someone else and… and we told Oglud, and they have others they like too, they hadn't begun anything but they had other Yeerks in mind, and I just… Oglud was expecting the news, they'd heard it had happened to so many other tripartites in the same situation as us. I feel I was the only one who was still hoping we could…" Kalran trailed off, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be here to support you."

"Oh, Kal. That sounds awful, I'm so sorry. And of course you're fine. We're all friends here. It's okay to be upset." Elsa's face was still full of nothing but gentle concern.

Kalran wiped roughly at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm okay. Carry on, Elsa, please."

"Are you sure?"

Kalran nodded hurriedly, and Carla reluctantly loosened the arm she'd wrapped around the Yeerk's shoulders. She wasn't sure Kalran was really ready to move on, either.

"OK, so- yeah, I'm definitely up for improving conditions for all the Yeerks. I'm not sure about hosts for the non-peace movement ones, but at the moment I really just want to start a conversation about that. See what others think. See what systems we could put in place."

Jasmine frowned. "I thought we were campaigning for all the Yeerks," she murmured. "Geltrin's siblings… they're not… they weren't in the peace movement. Why… why don't you want…?"

"Quite a few reasons. I'm not sure how other involuntaries would feel about it, for a start. That's less of a concern, though: there are plenty of non-peace movement Yeerks currently wandering around as nothlits, so having a few more won't make much difference. But my main concern is how we make sure it's safe for you guys. Yeerks that were in the movement should be pretty safe: if they were empathetic enough to risk starvation for us in the war then they should be fine with hosts, but some of the others could be dangerous for the people hosting them."

Surprise flooded Carla, and she stared at Elsa. "Why would you care?"

There was a short silence, then Elsa shook her head slowly, giving a mirthless laugh. "Carla, what do I have to do to get you to understand that I don't hate you? I care because I don't want anyone to get hurt. Particularly including you, who I know and care about-"

"I'm taking Oglud," Carla pointed out. "Pretty sure I'm safe."

"Yeah, okay," Elsa replied quickly, shooting a glance at Kalran. "I'd forgotten that. I'm sure Oglud would be absolutely fine, I've already said I'm not worried about peace movement Yeerks. But you, Jasmine? And all the other hosts we'd have to have if we wanted to make this happen. I don't want anyone to be harmed in any way. Especially not you. You're my friend."

"I'll be fine, Elsa," Jasmine said with a slight smile. "And how would anyone get hurt, anyway? They'll have to return to feed every few days and if we don't want them back no-one's going to force us."

Elsa hesitated, looking towards Kalran for support. "Three days is a long time."

"I'm sure I could endure someone I disliked for a few days," Carla countered. "I'd hardly call it harmful."

"Not every Yeerk is like Akhir, or Silrin," Kalran said, very quietly. "Just think for a moment what someone who wanted to hurt you, or to blackmail you into staying with them, could achieve in three days with access to all your memories. The ability to take complete control of you whenever they wanted to. Living in the same house as your child, Jasmine. Seeing other people who have every reason to trust you. It's a lot of power, if a Yeerk chooses to abuse it."

Jasmine blanched and gave a slight gasp. Carla felt a flutter of nervousness, too, despite her confidence in Oglud.

Elsa nodded. "Trust me. Three days in those circumstances feels like a lifetime."

Jasmine looked, if it were possible, even whiter. "Elsa, did… did you… did you have a Yeerk who…"

"Let's not go there," Elsa said quickly, forcing a smile. "My point is, how do we keep it safe? That might well be another question they'd ask at the interview, and I'm not at all sure how I'd answer it. I guess the blackmail thing could be addressed by cross-infestation after the three days. That's how they used to deal with unacceptable levels of host abuse in the Empire, there are systems for it. Their level of unacceptable, that is, which is pretty different to everyone else's. But that's not nice, either, it's like a sodding parade through your brain. Not fun, probably not even if you find infestation okay in itself."

"Cross-infestation?" Carla asked, confused. "Is that what it sounds like?"

"Yeah. In the Empire it used to be two other Yeerks had to infest you if they thought your Yeerk had gone beyond the 'host discipline guidelines'." Elsa made a face. "To verify if it was happening and if it was serious enough to banish the Yeerk to the Pool."

"Banish to the Pool? They did that?" Carla was confused: she'd heard of hosts being treated very cruelly, in TV or radio interviews since the war. She'd listened to the accounts despite herself, too pained, too guilty, to tear herself away. She had no idea, though, that the Empire had ever tried to do anything about it.

Elsa smiled softly. "Yeah. Only if the Yeerk was completely bonkers, though. There was plenty of nasty stuff they could do that was totally legal, encouraged, even." Elsa must have seen the horrified expression on Carla's face, as she quickly changed tack. "Sorry. We shouldn't talk about that. But we might need systems for vetting Yeerks before they're allowed to take hosts."

Carla could hardly listen: it sounded like Elsa knew the process she was describing intimately, like she'd had a Yeerk who was 'bonkers', as she'd euphemistically put it. The rest of what she'd said suggested she'd had others who were cruel too, though not illegally so, and Carla was more puzzled than ever about why she was willingly interacting with people who had let that happen to her. Been an active part of it, even.

"Elsa.." she began, her voice cracking despite herself. She was fighting tears.

"Hey," Elsa reached across to touch Carla's shoulder, concern etched across her face. "Hey, it's okay."

"It's not," Carla admitted. "You shouldn't have had to suffer that."

"Who says I did?" Elsa said quickly, glancing anxiously at Jasmine.

"We're not stupid," Jasmine replied, her voice gentle. "Elsa, I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. Either of you. And Carla, just in case you're wondering, it… it was never Silrin. She was as good to me as she could be, given she was infesting me against my will and part of an Empire trying to take my species down."

"I didn't think it was Silrin!" Carla snapped. The very idea made her sick: Silrin would never do a thing like that. "She would never hurt anyone!"

"Whoa," Elsa said, holding up both hands and appearing rather taken aback. "Calm down, I'm sorry. I just wondered if that was what was bothering you."

"Don't you think I knew her at all?" Carla knew, somewhere inside, that her anger was nonsensical, but it was easier than dealing with the storm of other emotions.

"I imagine you knew her quite a bit better than I did."

Carla made a non-committal noise, folding her arms. "Yeah. Look, can we just move on?"

"That sounds really good to me," Elsa replied. "I'm really not keen to discuss all this, to be honest. Where even were we?"

"Systems to make infestation safe," Kalran prompted. "Where the Yeerks weren't in the peace movement. Although I have to say, I imagine in the new circumstances any form of harming a host would be very rare indeed. Surely even for the nastiest Yeerks there'd be no reason now to… not that there was a reason before, but…"

"I believe that, but once would be too many times," Elsa replied, glancing between Carla and Jasmine. "Far too many."

Well, Carla had no idea what to make of that. It sounded, to anyone who didn't know their history, like Elsa genuinely cared about them. Yet Carla couldn't believe that was true, not after what they'd done to her. It was especially hard to believe after what she'd heard today, about what Elsa had suffered, she thought, feeling yet another stab of guilt.

"So, er, do you guys have any other ideas about making things safe?"

Carla shrugged. "Maybe we could start off with a shorter time than three days. A few hours, then have them come out, ask if we still want to do it, and build it up from there."

"They could wait to hurt you until the monitoring stopped," Elsa pointed out, "but it's a good idea in general, just to check things are okay. I can imagine the host changing their mind and the Yeerk conveniently not mentioning that for three days happening more often than anything calculated. Once they've got eyes back, they're not going to want to give them up."

"What about references?" Jasmine contributed. "Or Yeerk records? The kind that are nasty enough to try and hurt someone now almost certainly… did something horrible… in the war. Maybe their former hosts or Yeerks who knew them could be interviewed first. I don't know how you feel, Carla, but for me it would be good to get to know them a little beforehand anyway. When Akhir first… I mean, the whole situation was new, which didn't help, but… it took me a long time to feel comfortable with her. If we do get there, with this campaign, I'd rather host Geltrin's siblings, or another Yeerk I had a connection to, than a stranger." Jasmine smiled slightly. "It feels strange, having a choice. Not that I would have chosen differently, in the war."

"Yeah," Elsa said slowly, drawing out the word. "That probably brings me on to my next question, which is how would you make sure it's true consent? Or in a reporter's words, more likely, 'aren't you exploiting Stockholm Syndrome' or something."

Jasmine looked down at the table. "It's not like that."

"I hope not," Elsa murmured softly. "Although I have to say I'm not sure, about you and Akhir I mean, and it does worry me. I meant for anyone, though. How can we make sure the hosts are psychologically healthy enough to give true consent?"

"Are you suggesting we're nuts?" Carla demanded, her sympathy for Elsa evaporating in an instant.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" While Jasmine's tone was politer, she seemed to have a similar reaction to Carla, her head snapping up to stare at Elsa incredulously. "Akhir's not hurting me. She's not manipulating me or… or whatever it is you think."

"Good," Elsa said softly, looking at Jasmine first. "I'm glad to hear that you feel that way, at least, but-"

"But what?" Jasmine's voice was angry now. "Elsa, I know you don't like her and you have good reason for that. I know that. She knows that, she feels so guilty about what she did to you, she'd do anything to make amends for it, but just because she hurt you doesn't mean you can assume she's… she's cruel to me, or manipulative, or…"

"I didn't say that," Elsa said quickly, looking alarmed. "I just meant that, well, you've admitted yourself that you weren't sure about her at first, that you didn't exactly want her there."

Jasmine shrugged. "I consented, though, didn't I? And she was… she is… so good to me. Don't you dare… how can you even suggest that she's deliberately hurting me?"

"And I didn't say deliberately," Elsa countered. "There're plenty of other ways that a friendship with someone that took complete control of your brain during a war could be unhealthy, don't you see that?"

"If it helps, it doesn't seem unhealthy to me," Kalran said softly. She touched Jasmine's arm. "Jasmine, Elsa isn't trying to insult Akhir. She's just concerned for you, that's all." Kalran lifted her eyes to Elsa. "Have you had this conversation with Sara?"

Elsa frowned, perplexed. "Huh? Sara? Why on Earth would I have this conversation with Sara, of all people?"

Kalran looked down at the table for a moment, before raising her eyes to meet Elsa's again. "She also meets the definition of being friends with someone who took complete control of her brain during a war." Kalran shuddered. "It was almost five weeks before I joined the movement, before I offered to let Sara go." Her voice was very quiet as she spoke, hanging her head. "And Sara didn't want me there, so that has to be worse."

"Five weeks, huh?" Elsa quirked a smile. "That's quite a quick turnaround against years of indoctrination, especially given you were offering to commit very painful suicide if she'd taken you up on letting her go. Don't feel guilty, Kal, honey. You're exceptionally good, to have done what you did."

"I think five weeks was a long time for Sara," Kalran pointed out, looking even guiltier. "Well, I don't think, do I, I know. I know exactly how it felt for her. And afterwards, as well, she agreed to host me for the sake of the war effort, but she hated it… I shouldn't even be saying this."

Elsa shrugged. "You're not telling me anything I didn't already know, except for exactly how long it was before you joined the movement. She's fairly open with all of this. She's also happy to say that she likes you despite all that."

"I know." Kalran looked up at Elsa anxiously. "But… do you think that it's unhealthy, that it's hurting her?"

Carla frowned in surprise. She'd thought Kalran was trying to expose Elsa's arrogant assumption that voluntaries weren't sane enough to judge their own friendships as what it was: mere prejudice. Now, though, Kalran seemed genuinely worried about Sara, and Carla hastened to reassure her.

"Kal, when I first met Sara she was yelling her head off at you because… well, I kind of lost track of why… but anyway, does that sound like Stockholm syndrome to you?" She glanced across at Elsa. "Well?"

Elsa snorted. "It seems like a friendship on a pretty equal footing to me," she agreed. "I've heard Sara tell you when you're being an idiot, too, even if not at quite that volume."

"Akhir and I are equal, too," Jasmine cut in, seizing the opportunity. "So how is it different?"

Elsa arched an eyebrow. "Jaz, the last time we met Akhir stopped you talking mid-sentence by raising a finger. That doesn't seem all that equal to me."

"I was trying to stick up for her at the time," Jasmine shot back immediately. "If you were trying to defend me and I said I didn't want you to, you might stop, too, right?"

"I guess. Maybe. I'm sorry, Jasmine. I'm not criticising you… I shouldn't have brought it up today. I've been worried about it, that's all." Elsa turned cautious eyes to Carla. "And about you."

Carla narrowed her eyes: this was really getting ridiculous. "My Yeerk is dead, in case you hadn't noticed. What's your crazy theory now, that she's commanding me from beyond the grave?"

"Jesus, let's hope not," Elsa muttered. "No, I mean that you might be doing this because the Yeerks convinced you that you need them, in some way. And I worry about you and Alniss, too."

Carla gave a harsh laugh. "Don't be an idiot. Just because you don't like her? We're good for each other. I'd probably be homeless without her." Carla turned to Kalran, hoping for some back-up. "You live with us, Kal, has she ever hurt me?"

"No," Kalran said slowly. "Although I'm not sure that's Elsa's point."

Carla arched her eyebrows. "Then what exactly is her point?" She met Elsa's eyes, daring her to say anything. She had an idea of what Elsa was driving at: Alniss could be overprotective at times, to the point of being restrictive, but she was getting much better, and it wasn't anything Carla couldn't handle. It was obvious Alniss was trying her best, she didn't deserve this kind of criticism.

"I just- she forbade you from helping out, for a while," Elsa responded, though hesitantly, clearly seeing the furious look in Carla's eyes. "And you didn't feel like you could go against her, did you?"

Carla shrugged. She was reluctant to admit any sign of weakness in front of Elsa, even though she was beginning to think Elsa's claims of caring about her and Jasmine might be genuine. But defending Alniss was more important than maintaining her veneer of confidence.

"I was in two minds about it already, to be honest. Alniss saying no just gave me an excuse to avoid it. She's also not happy about me working at D-" Carla broke off, hesitant to give the name: the last time an involuntary knew where she worked she'd got fired, after all. "I mean, at the place I work at, she wants me to work at her café so she can give me an easy ride. I've gone against her on that. She-" Carla glanced at Kalran. "She isn't too keen on me visiting Oglud, and I'm still doing that, too. I don't exactly do everything she tells me to."

"Oh," Elsa said, apparently taken aback. "I didn't realise that. She still likes to try and tell you both what to do, though, doesn't she?" Elsa looked across at Jasmine. "That day in the mall…"

"I didn't listen to her either," Jasmine pointed out softly.

Even Carla was surprised for a moment, before she remembered that no, Jasmine hadn't changed a thing about what she was doing. She'd been so quiet and mild-mannered about it that it was easy to miss.

Elsa raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly. "You're right. You didn't, did you?" She sighed. "I'm still a bit worried, about you both, but not as much as I was."

"Maybe you should just trust us to make our own decisions," Carla muttered. "And then we can get back to the campaign. We've talked about what, two questions? And we've not come to an answer for either of them."

"True." Elsa's face fell, a little. "I'm sorry. I'm wasting your time, all of you."

Kalran shook her head. "I don't think this is a waste. It's better to discuss all these issues now, find out where the disagreements are at least, even if we can't work through them all, than someone say something in front of the reporter that takes the others by surprise. Can you imagine having the conversation you've just had in an actual interview?"

Carla snorted. "Yeah, if you can avoid calling us insane in the actual interview that'd be a good start."

"Noted. The question still remains though, for other people at least, how we make sure they give true consent."

"Check they're adults and ask them?" Carla countered. "Is it really any more complicated than that?"

"Quite a bit more complicated," Elsa said softly. "Anything from Yeerks blackmailing an ex-host with their memories to make them consent, which I've only just realised could be a thing… to someone like… well, like Sara, who was going to host Oglud, probably because she cares so much about you, Kal… even though she hates infestation and it hurts her. The full range of Yeerk-human relationships from total manipulative slimeball to beautifully caring and lovely, and it makes consent complicated at every level."

"It's a big question to answer right now," Jasmine said softly. "Do you think we need an answer, for the interview?"

Carla was glad Jasmine had raised it: they were going on far too many tangents and she already needed a second coffee. "No, we don't. It'd all need to be agreed by the government or whoever, anyway."

"Preferably in consultation with yourselves, and involuntaries, and the Yeerks in the Pool," Kalran agreed. "If it comes up at the interview, maybe you could just say that it's an issue you've discussed, that you've thought about, and it would need to be considered by those people when the time comes?"

"Yeah. You're right," Elsa shook her head. "I'm sorry. I suck at time management. It's so valuable to have your contributions on all this, though. You bring a perspective none of us can."

"What, the perspective that we're not nuts?" Jasmine replied instantly, a smile on her face.

Carla was taken aback: she hadn't heard Jasmine crack a joke before, and the speed of it surprised her. Despite herself, she smiled slightly.

Kalran laughed. Elsa, however, only smiled nervously.

"I don't think that," she said softly. "I'm sorry."

Jasmine's face became more serious immediately. "I know. Don't worry. It… it's nice that you care. About us, I mean. Most humans don't."

"Most of them would rather we threw ourselves off a cliff," Carla added darkly.

Elsa looked uncomfortable. "Carla-"

"What? It's true." Carla let out a sigh. "I'm only just beginning to believe it's not true for you."

Elsa smiled, more widely than she had done for most of the meeting. "Thanks, Carla. I'm glad you feel safer with me than you did." She shuffled her papers. "Let's carry on, then. I'll try and go through them a bit faster."

She was true to her word: the next four questions were discussed within half an hour.

"Well," Elsa said after they'd finished discussing the progress of the campaign so far. "There's a few more to discuss, but I could really use something to eat. Anyone else up for getting lunch here before we carry on?"

Jasmine nodded and smiled. "I'd like that."

"Sure," Carla agreed, surprised by herself. If she'd been asked earlier she'd have insisted on getting it over with as soon as possible, been too nervous to eat anything, but she was beginning to relax.

Kalran reached into her bag, extracting her cell phone. "I'm…" she glanced at Elsa, and then looked meaningfully at Jasmine. "I'm just going to make a phone call."

Jasmine smiled at her, then turned to Elsa. "Can we stop the discussion over lunch? Just chat?"

"Yeah, if you want," Elsa said, glancing at Carla.

Carla was less sure: she still didn't feel like socialising. "Why, Jasmine? Can't you meet Elsa another time?"

"I was just thinking it might mean someone can get her lunch, too," Jasmine said, arching her eyebrows meaningfully at Carla. "If she knows we're not going to need to go out to her for a while, that we're not discussing anything that might upset one of us." Jasmine looked at Kalran. "She won't go eat, otherwise, no matter what you say. Trust me."

Oh. Carla felt immediately guilty: she'd all but forgotten Akhir, out in the car for hours by herself. She must be hungry by now. "Yeah. Sure, of course."

Kalran gave Carla a quick, sideways smile before she headed away from the table, going to stand just outside the café to make the call.

Elsa was looking at them, slight amusement in her eyes. "I have no idea who this mysterious 'she' might be," she said sarcastically. Her face changed to become more serious. "Has she really been waiting out in the car this entire time?"

Jasmine nodded. "In case any of us needed a moment, needed to talk to someone."

"By any of us she probably meant mainly you, though," Carla murmured.

She knew Alniss would have done the same for her, but she'd asked her to stay away today. She didn't have faith in Alniss' ability not to come wandering in to check on how things were going, and she hadn't wanted to see Elsa's reaction to that.

Jasmine frowned. "What? Oh no, Carla, no, she'd want to support you too. She likes you."

Carla smiled humourlessly. "You don't have to say that. I know she's mad at me for snapping at you that time… times."

Jasmine hesitated. "Maybe a little, but she still thinks a lot of you."

"I… I am sorry, about that. It wasn't really your fault."

Jasmine smiled, more widely than she had smiled at Carla for some time. "It's okay."