A year and a half later
I was walking through the mall, window-shopping. I was looking at a display at the Gap when someone bumped into me.
"Hey, watch it, Blondie!" I said irritably.
The girl looked up in anger, and it seemed like she was about ready to say something not-so-nice when her eyes widened in shock and she nearly dropped her bags.
"Ariel!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's me," I said slowly, thinking that I should recognize this girl from somewhere but not really being able to place her face or her voice. I think I knew her from somewhere, somewhere important. I just can't always tell what a human should look like at a certain age.
"Ariel, it's me! Rachel! Remember?" Rachel...Oh, yes! The Animorph!
"Oh! I'm sorry, Rachel! I didn't recognize you!" I felt a little mad at myself right then. Of course I should have known who she was. How could have I forgotten? I felt like a fool. It had only been a year or so!
"I didn't realize I was in your town. How is everyone?" I could already tell things weren't going that well by the sad look in her eyes, but I had to ask.
"We're all alive, for what it matters. And free." She didn't seem to want to talk much to me.
"That's good. Well, I'll keep in touch."
"Yeah, okay." And I left.
I went into Gap, picked up an outfit I'd been eyeing, and went to try it on. It fit perfectly and looked great. But as I was admiring it in the mirror, I noticed the mirror didn't have any thing holding it up from the outside. I studied it curiously, then I tried pulling it off the wall.
To my surprise, it opened easily. It swung open like a door. I looked inside. It was dark, but my infrared elven vision allowed my to see several red-glowing forms all the way down. I changed back to my normal clothes. I stepped in, and found a flight of steep steps carved into the floor. I walked down these, looking around until the cavern lit up enough that I couldn't use my elven vision any longer. I started to hear the agonizing screams as I came down the steps.
I hesitated a moment, then I hurried along. This was exactly like what the Animorphs had said a Yeerk Pool was like. If I didn't seem like I belonged there, I would be dragged to the infestation pier and become a Controller.
As it was, I'm a good storyteller, but a bad actress.
The Controllers realized instantly that I was not one of them. One shouted an alarm and a group of human- and Hork-Bajir Controllers charged me. It caught me by surprise, so they easily grabbed me. As soon as the Hork-Bajir had even touched me, though, I was a fighting machine. I tore my dagger from it's sheath and screamed a war cry. I slashed two humans in my first thrust, and a Hork-Bajir the second. All three were dead before I could even start to fight the others.
I backed up against a wall with my dagger in front of me. And then one of the Controllers had an idea.
TSEEEEWWW!
I fell, completely stunned.
Two Hork-Bajir grabbed my arms while a human-Controler took my dagger. The Hork-Bajir dragged me to a cage and threw me in with several other human hosts. They were crying, moaning, screaming.
I saw and heard them, but I couldn't make my body respond for a few minutes.
I groaned and rolled over into a more comfortable position. I blinked several times then I tried to rise.
Bad idea.
The world spun several times right under my feet, and I collapsed again. One of the hosts, a man who looked like he was in his late forties, came over to me. "Here, let me help you," he said gently. He looked a lot like my father did, without the elven features.
"No," I growled. "Leave me alone." I'm the kind of person that refuses help from everyone, all the time.
He shrugged and stepped back a little. I was surprised that he'd even come over to help me. Most the other hosts seemed to be completely submerged in their self-pity. I shook my head slightly and tried to rise again.
I stood up, but I swayed a little. The man stepped up grabbed my elbow to hold me up. I was a few inches taller than he was, I noticed. That's odd, I thought, I should be shorter than he is, not vice-versa. He reminds me of someone I knew once.
I shook off his gentle touch irritably. I didn't need help standing! I was over one-hundred and four! Compared to me he was still a baby.
I swayed again and decided I should quit with the standing business and try sitting. I collapsed cross-legged, put my elbows on my knees palms up, and put my chin in my palms.
The man smiled sadly and nodded. "That's probably much more comfortable, right?"
I just grunted at him.
He shrugged and sat down beside me. "Do join me," I said sarcastically. He just laughed a little and shrugged.
I realized I had to act as if I didn't know what was going on, even to the hosts. So I gestured at the moaning group across the cage and said, "So, what's up with them?"
"Their begging for help from anyone, anything," he said sadly. "They don't realize there's no hope."
"Begging for help? Why?" I already knew the answer. I knew. But I had to hear it from someone.
"We're just slaves. You'll be one too." Then he told me what I already knew.
I already knew I'd become a Controller. I knew that a Yeerk will force its slimy way into my head, wrap around my brain, open my thoughts, my memories, everything I knew like it was opening a book. I knew I'd have no control. Absolutely none. I wouldn't even be able to blink by myself.
"No," I gasped. "No."
The man just smiled again and shook his head. He didn't say anything when two Hork-Bajir came and tried to drag me to the pool. I shook them off and walked between them myself. I determined right then and there that I'd be defiant to the last.
I walked over to the pier farthest from the stairway I'd come down. I was shaking in fear, and I knew I had tears rolling down my face, but I stood straight and tall (or as tall as I could get), and shook my head defiantly.
There weren't many people in front of me, only one or two, but I didn't notice. All I cared about was not showing any emotion. I blinked back my tears and tried to settle my trembling.
Soon, too soon, I was at the end of the pier. They dunked my head under the sludgy liquid, and I felt the Yeerk slithering into my ear, down my ear canal, to my brain. I felt its joy as it flattened out in my brain, taking control of my mind, opening my memories, my dreams.
You can't even begin to imagine my horror.
NOOOOOOOOO!!
I was walking through the mall, window-shopping. I was looking at a display at the Gap when someone bumped into me.
"Hey, watch it, Blondie!" I said irritably.
The girl looked up in anger, and it seemed like she was about ready to say something not-so-nice when her eyes widened in shock and she nearly dropped her bags.
"Ariel!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah, that's me," I said slowly, thinking that I should recognize this girl from somewhere but not really being able to place her face or her voice. I think I knew her from somewhere, somewhere important. I just can't always tell what a human should look like at a certain age.
"Ariel, it's me! Rachel! Remember?" Rachel...Oh, yes! The Animorph!
"Oh! I'm sorry, Rachel! I didn't recognize you!" I felt a little mad at myself right then. Of course I should have known who she was. How could have I forgotten? I felt like a fool. It had only been a year or so!
"I didn't realize I was in your town. How is everyone?" I could already tell things weren't going that well by the sad look in her eyes, but I had to ask.
"We're all alive, for what it matters. And free." She didn't seem to want to talk much to me.
"That's good. Well, I'll keep in touch."
"Yeah, okay." And I left.
I went into Gap, picked up an outfit I'd been eyeing, and went to try it on. It fit perfectly and looked great. But as I was admiring it in the mirror, I noticed the mirror didn't have any thing holding it up from the outside. I studied it curiously, then I tried pulling it off the wall.
To my surprise, it opened easily. It swung open like a door. I looked inside. It was dark, but my infrared elven vision allowed my to see several red-glowing forms all the way down. I changed back to my normal clothes. I stepped in, and found a flight of steep steps carved into the floor. I walked down these, looking around until the cavern lit up enough that I couldn't use my elven vision any longer. I started to hear the agonizing screams as I came down the steps.
I hesitated a moment, then I hurried along. This was exactly like what the Animorphs had said a Yeerk Pool was like. If I didn't seem like I belonged there, I would be dragged to the infestation pier and become a Controller.
As it was, I'm a good storyteller, but a bad actress.
The Controllers realized instantly that I was not one of them. One shouted an alarm and a group of human- and Hork-Bajir Controllers charged me. It caught me by surprise, so they easily grabbed me. As soon as the Hork-Bajir had even touched me, though, I was a fighting machine. I tore my dagger from it's sheath and screamed a war cry. I slashed two humans in my first thrust, and a Hork-Bajir the second. All three were dead before I could even start to fight the others.
I backed up against a wall with my dagger in front of me. And then one of the Controllers had an idea.
TSEEEEWWW!
I fell, completely stunned.
Two Hork-Bajir grabbed my arms while a human-Controler took my dagger. The Hork-Bajir dragged me to a cage and threw me in with several other human hosts. They were crying, moaning, screaming.
I saw and heard them, but I couldn't make my body respond for a few minutes.
I groaned and rolled over into a more comfortable position. I blinked several times then I tried to rise.
Bad idea.
The world spun several times right under my feet, and I collapsed again. One of the hosts, a man who looked like he was in his late forties, came over to me. "Here, let me help you," he said gently. He looked a lot like my father did, without the elven features.
"No," I growled. "Leave me alone." I'm the kind of person that refuses help from everyone, all the time.
He shrugged and stepped back a little. I was surprised that he'd even come over to help me. Most the other hosts seemed to be completely submerged in their self-pity. I shook my head slightly and tried to rise again.
I stood up, but I swayed a little. The man stepped up grabbed my elbow to hold me up. I was a few inches taller than he was, I noticed. That's odd, I thought, I should be shorter than he is, not vice-versa. He reminds me of someone I knew once.
I shook off his gentle touch irritably. I didn't need help standing! I was over one-hundred and four! Compared to me he was still a baby.
I swayed again and decided I should quit with the standing business and try sitting. I collapsed cross-legged, put my elbows on my knees palms up, and put my chin in my palms.
The man smiled sadly and nodded. "That's probably much more comfortable, right?"
I just grunted at him.
He shrugged and sat down beside me. "Do join me," I said sarcastically. He just laughed a little and shrugged.
I realized I had to act as if I didn't know what was going on, even to the hosts. So I gestured at the moaning group across the cage and said, "So, what's up with them?"
"Their begging for help from anyone, anything," he said sadly. "They don't realize there's no hope."
"Begging for help? Why?" I already knew the answer. I knew. But I had to hear it from someone.
"We're just slaves. You'll be one too." Then he told me what I already knew.
I already knew I'd become a Controller. I knew that a Yeerk will force its slimy way into my head, wrap around my brain, open my thoughts, my memories, everything I knew like it was opening a book. I knew I'd have no control. Absolutely none. I wouldn't even be able to blink by myself.
"No," I gasped. "No."
The man just smiled again and shook his head. He didn't say anything when two Hork-Bajir came and tried to drag me to the pool. I shook them off and walked between them myself. I determined right then and there that I'd be defiant to the last.
I walked over to the pier farthest from the stairway I'd come down. I was shaking in fear, and I knew I had tears rolling down my face, but I stood straight and tall (or as tall as I could get), and shook my head defiantly.
There weren't many people in front of me, only one or two, but I didn't notice. All I cared about was not showing any emotion. I blinked back my tears and tried to settle my trembling.
Soon, too soon, I was at the end of the pier. They dunked my head under the sludgy liquid, and I felt the Yeerk slithering into my ear, down my ear canal, to my brain. I felt its joy as it flattened out in my brain, taking control of my mind, opening my memories, my dreams.
You can't even begin to imagine my horror.
NOOOOOOOOO!!