Three days. Once the mandatory three days had passed to ensure any Yeerk inside Aria's head starved to death, the team arranged for the Chee android to come out to the rundown shack. He had chosen a hologram with tawny skin and chocolate eyes. His 'body' was tall and built fairly well, his age seeming to be anywhere from his early to mid twenties. All in all, he looked nothing like his 'Erik' projection.
Ax and Erik approached the conscious teen while the rest of the Animorphs watched from various places in case she tried to do anything funny. Jake insisted everyone take their fighting morphs. He was a tiger hiding up in the trees. Cassie was a wolf hidden in the underbrush. Marco was his gorilla, waiting by the front door just out of sight. Rachel was a grizzly bear, stationed by the back entrance. Tobias flew above the building, flying in tight circles to keep an aerial view on things. With his keen hearing, the leader of the band of misfits could easily pick up the conversation, Ax broadcasting the conversation going on via his thought-speak to everyone. Erik stood in front of the teen.
"You must have a lot of questions," the Chee mused. "We'll explain the best we can. What would you like to know first?"
Aria looked be between the Chee and Andalite, and they could see her brain trying to think.
"Are you from the facility, too?" she finally asked.
Erik's hologram pulled the corner of it's lips downward. "What facility?"
"That," she explained, pointing to Ax, "Isn't exactly human. They look like a mix of several animals, and, unless I've been away longer than I thought, then they're not natural. So, are you from there? The place with no name?"
Everyone was stumped. Place with no name?
《No name?》 came Marco's thought-speak after hearing Ax retell the conversation. 《How are we supposed to know what she's talking about if that's the only description she gives us?》
《Erik,》 Jake said. 《Get her to explain more.》
"What do you mean? What do they do at this 'facility'?"
The girl's expression went from curious to confusion.
"So you aren't?.." The android shook his head. "Then I can't tell you. You wouldn't believe me, anyways.."
Ax and Erik exchanged a look. They had a similar thought, that they would believe more than she expected of them. After all, both weren't native to this planet.
《Push for more information,》 Rachel suggested.
"I assure you, you couldn't surprise me if you tried."
The black haired girl raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Really?" At his nod, she continued. "What I have to say, I can't. This is highly sensitive information, the likes of which would shock the nation -no, the world. The more I tell you, the more likely you are to be targeted. Imprisonment and death have followed me since I was taken. The longer I even stay here, the higher your chances of being caught in the middle of this get."
Jake felt the tiger's urge to pace set in, but he held still. It very much sounded like Aria had been captured by the Yeerks. But, if that were true, then the Yeerks would know what the blackouts meant. They wouldn't assume it has been the Andalite bandits. Why wasn't this adding up?
《That makes no since》 Marco huffed, voicing Jake's own thoughts. 《She's gotta be messing with us.》
《Ask her if she's talking about the Yeerks.》
"Did you escape the Yeerks?" Erik questioned in response, voice tentative as though the word may set her off.
"What in the world is a 'yeerk'?"
This left them all confounded. So she hadn't meant the Yeerks? Was there another alien species after all? It had seemed unlikely before, but who else could manage to scare their enemies so badly?
Erik paused, unsure. "Then, why were they chasing you three days ago? Through the trees?"
Aria seemed a bit irritated.
"You said I could ask any questions I wanted, not the other way around. This is starting to sound like an interrogation."
"We can't help you if you don't tell us what we need to know."
"How can I trust you with information if I know nothing about you, how you got those animals to do those tricks, how a disembodied voice was speaking in my head? What are Yeerks to you that you assumed I was running from them? What is a Yeerk in the first place?"
《Wow,》 Rachel awed. 《She's just as paranoid as Marco.》
《Shut it, Xina.》
《What should we convey, Prince Jake?》
The leader of the team shook off his striped fur, green eyes watching the window of the shack.
《Tell her-》
Suddenly, the girl lunged forward, her arm free of the rope restraining her. She seemed to aim for the Chee, but Ax reacted faster, his tail-blade pressed to her neck dangerously, threat clear.
'Move one inch, and you're dead.'
Aria stilled, gaze on the alien before her. Slowly, she placed her hand in the air up, as though reaching for the collapsing ceiling.
"I didn't mean any harm," she said, placing stress on the last word. "I was just going to touch him."
"Why?"
Her eyes shifted to Erik.
"To see."
"See what?"
The teen just smiled, not bothering to answer that question, so Erik tried a different tactic.
"Let's try another topic. What's your name?"
"I'm surprised to say you already know it."
"What do you mean?"
"As I said, you already know it. Aria. You don't seem to know much else about me.. Who's this Visser Three? Hmm.. what an odd dream. I've been to that mall."
Jake most likely was just as confounded as the others. How was she getting this information? Had she really been a spy? But then, what dream was she talking about?
"There are one, two, three, four, five, six of you, not counting your friend here.. Aximili, Marco, Tobias-"
His mind frantically looked for an answer. It was like she was reading their minds-
"-Prince Jake. That's a weird one."
-or maybe just one of theirs?
"I didn't mean any harm.. I just wanted to see."
《Ax, take your blade off her neck!》
《But, Prince Jake, she could-》
《Just do it! That's an order!》
Complying with his demand, Ax took away his tail-blade, still keeping it cocked in case of emergency. Aria risked her tongue in disappointment.
"You catch on quick, Jake. But needing to keep your identities a secret is pointless now."
Even as a tiger, the leader could swear he was frowning. They'd been completely compromised in a matter of minutes. They couldn't allow her to fall into the Yeerks hands at all, especially with what he thought she could do...
Long awaited and long over-due. I'm not 100% into how this chapter flowed out. I think it's rushed, honestly, even after I spent over a week and several drafts just to get it done. I go through bouts of inspiration for each fandom, which results in me updating different stories of mine. But, as promised, updated before the year ends. Expect another update either within 2 weeks, or two months. I'll try not to wait so long, but I never know when motivation will wain again.