TEN: CASSIE
6:08 P.M.
"I said, what do you want?" the person I knew as Elle spoke in a cold, condensing tone.
Something I've never heard her say before.
(I was right,) Marco uttered. (She does have a Yeerk.)
(But, she…) I was lost with words, letting the news sink in further. (...Elle's a Controller?)
(Why is that so hard to believe? We're in the middle of a Yeerk gathering.)
Like Marco said, it shouldn't be that hard. I couldn't wrap my brain around it.
It meant some of our earlier assumptions were right. But that also meant the contradictions too. Were the Yeerks really after her to keep her quiet? They could have left her for dead like at the accident.
It made me wonder if this really was Elle's second infestation. If so, then how long had she been a Controller before today?
The dainty cop shook his head at the sudden setback. Then he grinned. Not the fake, friendly-looking smile like before. It was pure disgust at Elle. Even his partner showed no effort to hide that fact in him.
"Well. Might as well get down to business," the 'good' cop said.
It wasn't odd for Yeerks to dislike one another - we've seen some backstab each other. But something about this confrontation was a little different. More hostile even.
"Where were you this morning, Werch?"
"You haven't answered my question," Elle said languidly. "Why should I say anything to you?"
"Silence, Werch. We do the questioning here," his partner uttered.
"We know your reputation all too well," the first cop passively threatened.
"I'm flattered. Want my autograph?" Elle droned sarcastically.
Then I heard a snicker.
(Marco, did you just-) Rachel started.
(No. I didn't. Yeerks can't joke.)
The officer wasn't amused by the remark. "Conspiring with the enemy, defamation, release of prisoners, defiance of the Council, even blackmail. The list goes on. All done in one day."
(Conspiring?) I repeated.
(Whoa, did we stumble onto a dangerous Yeerk?) Marco droned.
(More dangerous than Visser Three? Please,) Rachel said.
"You know, Orekor," the Controller taunted. "You should be grateful you were spared. If Sub Visser Fifty-Four hadn't spoken up for you-"
"Is this to reminisce about my downfall or do you have a point to this meeting?" She was impatient. Spiteful of that name. This was old history and she wanted none of it.
"Where were you between three to four p.m.?"
"Delivering food on the west side."
"That's vague."
"It's straightforward," she answered. "Do you want an exact listing of addresses I was at? I've been through four this morning and three in the afternoon."
The good cop jotted the information down onto a notebook he took out. "Do those addresses include the construction site downtown?"
"What for? That place is off-limits."
"Answer the question, Werch," the cop's friend demanded.
"...Yes. There was a delivery for ten forty-five a.m. at that street." Elle's eyes tightened with disdain. "You could have talked to my watcher."
"Ah, yes. Sarric, was it? We'll run with him on his reports."
"To see if I've committed something terrible? Please. I was nowhere near those locations around that time."
"Really?" He simply smiled. Like he had caught her in a lie. "Several eyewitnesses say otherwise." The Controller relished her discomfort before reading off his notebook.
"Around 4 pm, a driver ran over a young girl fitting your host's description. And before that, you were last seen by Fifth Avenue."
"They are mistaken," Elle rebutted coolly before holding out her arms. "Look. I'm unharmed. I don't have any broken bones."
"What about that bandage on your head?"
"That is from the mugging this morning. What that human waitress just explained? It should be in the records if you bother to check."
It didn't seem to convince the men. But Elle didn't care if it did or didn't.
"Do you know about the Dzual Cell?"
"The what?" Elle's cold demeanor was replaced with confusion. For a short moment, she reprised her role as her host. She then scorned when all she got was the pen noisily scribbling on the notebook.
(Dzual Cell. Sounds very Yeerk-like,) Tobias said.
"Are we done here?" Elle complained tiredly. "I have work to do-"
"There are still too many unanswered questions," the Controller said wickedly. "It would make it easy on you to come to the station-"
She snorted. "What if I refuse?"
"Be careful, grub." He arched forward like a typical villain you'd see in those cartoons. "It's not nice to raise a voice at an 'officer of the law'."
"Hah." Elle slipped out a laugh that couldn't exhume any energy. "Mediocre tactics. Shows how desperate you are."
(Isn't this escalating fast?) I said.
(It's a bad idea to jump in,) Marco warned. (We could make things worse.)
(But still…) I looked at Jake, hoping he'd give the word. Anything.
"You claim to have no involvement. Alright. All you need to do is take a DNA swab. And we can sort this mistake out." The good cop smiled eerily at her. "It's that simple."
Elle wore her poker face throughout most of the conversation. No matter how stern and disinterested it was, it had no effect on the grinning cop. He wanted her to cave down and talk.
"No," she said.
"You cannot refuse-" the 'bad' cop started.
"No. I can. If you had any proof that puts me at those locations, you'd be arresting me by now."
"And you don't have proof that you weren't," his partner counterattacked.
"You said a human was run over by a car. Why don't you show me photos?"
The two men were strangely silent, reluctant to answer back.
"You have no photos. No evidence. Only testimonies," Elle scoffed. "I don't need to prove anything."
"...Tsk!" the nice cop clicked his tongue. "Your reputation does precede you."
"Doesn't mean you're not involved," his partner stepped in.
"And what? Do you plan to fabricate evidence? Toss in some 'bad word' that I'm up to no good? Go ahead and try," Elle taunted. Not just surprising the two Controllers but also us as well.
What was she doing?
"I'm sure you will get the same result as always. Like you said, I'm a Werch," Elle explained coldly. "The Council wouldn't care about what you have to say about me."
Both cops were riling in their anger. The game got turned around on them and they could do nothing but let her go off the hook.
"I'd advise you two to leave the Quarter. Two armed, male Caucasians talking to a defenseless teenager in this part of the city?" she started. "That is a very dangerous thing."
"Ha!" the big cop scoffed. "You're threatening us, you damn y'vez?"
"I'm saying it paints a nice image of you being racist."
Both cops glared at her with narrowed eyes until it slowly clicked with them. I even found that clever.
"That kind of uproar would create a lot of attention. It might even expose this invasion. All because two y'shol couldn't stay in line," Elle continued nonchalantly.
"You-!"
"And?" the 'good' cop stopped his partner. "The Council will just clean it up for us."
"They will," she said. "And they won't be happy with you two."
The two men looked nervous. Then fuming mad. It was a risk they couldn't take. They couldn't afford it. Despite how quiet and secretive they've kept this invasion from the people of Earth, there were hidden rules they couldn't break.
"Ten minutes is up. Now," Elle said with a gaze as freezing cold as ice. So distant, so 'done with their business'.
And she said the next sentence with utmost iciness.
"Get out of my sight."
Their faces said it all of how trapped they were, out in the open. They could do nothing but watch Elle walk back into the restaurant. Like some untouchable character from an action movie.
Both cops went back into the car, banging their doors very loud, and they soon drove off. Once they were out of our sight, I could relax.
(Wow. That was tense,) Marco pointed. (They really don't like this Yeerk.)
(Well, it's not uncommon to see them hate each other. But...I do agree this is a little extreme,) Tobias said. (It looked like they're bullying her.)
(She handled it just fine to me,) Rachel remarked.
(Tobias' right, though,) I said. (It's like those Controllers wanted to pin her on something.)
(And what is that something? We came here for answers and got nothing out of it,) Marco groaned. (Man, this was pointless.)
(I don't know,) Tobias disagreed. (I'd say that conversation was important.)
(That she wasn't at the accident? She could be lying to them. She even denied the swab.)
(I'm pretty sure anyone in the world wouldn't want their DNA taken, Marco,) Rachel pointed that out.
(Maybe we shouldn't be thinking of this as one incident,) I said. (What if they are two separate incidents?)
(And what? That was really her twin at the construction site?)
(Twin…) That word got to me, even if Marco meant it as a joke. (Do you think that maybe the other Elle we saw was, well-)
(Was what?)
(Someone like us. With morphing powers.)
Birds didn't have any way of expressing emotions like humans but the sheer silence spoke volume to us.
(It...actually explains a few things,) Tobias pointed.
(Wait. You're accusing one of us acquired her DNA and morphed into her?) Marco asked. (We were all there, man.)
(I'm not saying any of us did… Even though we're the only ones who have morphing powers,) I said.
(Well, it's not something we should ignore,) Jake pointed.
(I mean, besides us, there is Visser Three. Are we really saying he has some part in all of this?) Rachel pointed back to the one issue we brought up before. (What would his goal be?)
(There's a good chance it isn't us or Visser Three,) Jake suggested.
(Then...you're actually saying it's another Andalite?) Ax asked.
I could tell by his voice he was a little hopeful. That another stranded Andalite like him could be alive out there. Just a bit that he could find it hard to believe.
(...It's possible,) Jake answered.
(Ok, but what does one Andalite have to do with this one Yeerk? Why do they need her host's DNA?) Marco hit the hard questions. (It sounds so random to pick one Controller out of nowhere.)
(It isn't a random Yeerk,) Ax cut in. (In fact, if there is an Andalite alive, I don't see a reason why they would pick this specific Yeerk either.)
(Why's that?)
(Because of her Werch status. She has no value to the Yeerks.)
(Werch,) Jake repeated. (What is a Werch, Ax?)
(Yeah,) Rachel agreed. (Sounds like a name you'd give to someone you hate.)
(It is for such a reason,) he explained. (Werch is a Yeerk term for criminal.)
Criminal.
That was one word I never thought to hear.
We've learned a few Yeerk words and their meanings. Every time we heard the word, Visser, there was a sense of dread and alarm for us. Because it was a title at the top, a dangerous enemy.
Werch had a different weight compared to Visser. The word, criminal, to me, didn't sound as dangerous as Visser but it was still unsettling.
Elle had a criminal in her head.
(Oh, a criminal,) Marco groaned. (Ok. Exactly how bad is a Werch?)
A/N: Would you believe this has become one of my favorite revamped chps because of just one line? :3 A lot of the changes are something I actually had wanted to write in the original but never could cuz of how the sequence went. Now it's actually giving me what I wanted and more.
So ten chapters are up. This makes the first quarter of the whole book. I plan to take it slow for a while to give me some room to fully finish the third quarter. Second quarter is done but I don't want to rush through in fear I could fall into writer's block again. So please be patient for the next set to come. That said, I am very confident this time that I'll be able to complete a whole story and not fall into haitus.
Again, do let me know if there are some issues as I am always editing nonstop but will miss out something because I've always written in UK English and I tend to mix things around. I will do my best to try and fix but I do appreciate if I could be pointed where the faults lay. I hope you enjoy this chapter and look out for the next maybe in a few weeks time.
8/11/20 - First upload.