Wow...it's been almost a week since I last updated. Chalk up to a little
writer's block, a little burnout, a little poker misfortune, and a LOT of
school issues. Isn't college supposed to be fun, not work? Sigh.
Anyway, I realized that I have a duty to my fans...all...
(counts his reviewers)
...FIVE of them. And dammit, I am NOT leaving you guys hanging!
I ended up doing what I did when I couldn't think of a good way to end my English paper last semester. I went to Blockbuster Video. Inspiration at about $4 a week. After renting two of my favorite movies, I'm ready to get back on track again. Here we go.
Chapter 11: Forsil
The meeting was where I'd expected it to be: Angelica's office. It was in a crowded downtown area near the courthouse. I guess it was chosen for its proximity, not its accessibility. It was very difficult to locate the building in the first place, and then even more excruciating when we tried to locate a place to park Jay's vehicle.
Instead of arriving an hour early as we planned, we were fifteen minutes late.
Jay, I don't know how the Yeerk invasion will end, but when it does, you humans MUST do something about traffic congestion. This is ludicrous.
Amen to that. I'll make sure to drop that in the President's suggestion box.
Jay's sarcasm usually irritates me, but I've grown accustomed to it as of late. It's very unusual for a Yeerk and its host to keep this kind of rapport with each other, even more so when both claim to hate each other.
All right, Forsil. This is your intervention. That means you get to drive. Take control and take me in, so you can talk to Angie.
Angie? Who's that?
Short for "Angelica," genius.
I began to take control. I fitted within Jay's brain crevices, and attached myself to his neural structure.
In Jay's words, I'm driving now.
* * *
After a little trouble convincing the receptionist that we were not clients, we were here to visit Angelica, (Jay looks like a thug, kind of a byproduct of his profession: "income redistribution") we found Angelica's office. She was in there, surrounded by quite a large load of paperwork. Apparently, she had quite a caseload.
Did I recognize that secretary form somewhere? I've seen her before...oh well...doesn't really matter.
"Mr. Mitchell...come in."
I closed the door behind me and took a seat.
"Let's remember who we are, Ampriss. My name is Forsil, not Jay Mitchell."
"If my memory serves me right, Forsil does not want to be here. This is a request from Jay. So, I thought he'd be in control."
Hmmm. Made sense. She seemed to remember the details from the phone conversation she had with Jay.
"Well, I'm in control at his request. And I'll be honest with you, I believe that this will be a waste of time."
"No, letting yourself die and have Jay get either terminated or "reassigned" to another Yeerk would be a waste. I see this as an efficiency session."
"I see. All right then, Ampriss Seven-Six-Five. Since you seem to be such an expert in efficiency, tell me what you think I should do."
"I've been thinking about our conversation, Forsil. I've come to a conclusion."
"What's that?"
"You have a dark soul. You're a killer. And no matter what, a killer is what you'll always be."
That remark hurt. It's as if I just had my innards cut open and removed. And I know what that feels like. Once, when my Hork-Bajir host continued to resist me, I slit my host's stomach with his own wrist blades; then I showed it what its stomach looked like. After feeling most of its pain, I left that host before it died. With a reputation like mine, one can get away with mindlessly destroying hosts.
It took a few moments to formulate a response to that.
"Well, Ampriss...what do you believe I should do about that then? Last time I checked, your movement was opposed to killing. So explain to me how you expect to have me and not be total hypocrites?"
"No need. I'm not going to have you. I'm going to give you a way to...let's say: "channel" your aggression."
She was treating me like a savage animal. But, wasn't I exactly that?
"Forsil, the Empire is a cancer upon the galaxy, and you know it. It will not stop until everything has been either destroyed of infested. Once, you may have loved the war, but after your visit to my home two nights ago, I believe otherwise. Now, you want this to end, so you may be at peace. Am I right?"
"I guess you are."
"You can fight the Empire. You can destroy it from within. And, I've contacted someone. He won't be able to help you fight, but he knows a few who can."
Ampriss reached over to the intercom to call her secretary.
"Alisha, bring Erek in."
Chapter 12: Ampriss.
Do you think Forsil's going to play ball, Ampriss? Angelica asked.
I hope so, Angelica. We need allies, and we need them bad.
It seems quite dangerous. Isn't Forsil really mean? I mean, he did kill that kidnapper guy in cold blood, right?
Yes, SHE did. But I believed her host when he says Forsil's at a crossroads. I hope this idea works.
Alisha, Naafin 661, and Erek walked in.
Well, technically, Alisha is Naafin's host. Naafin is a member of the movement, and Alisha supports or ideals. Alisha, Naafin, Angelica and I get along very well here. I'm glad to have them around.
Erek, on the other hand, was the wild card here. Although he's been connected to the peace movement since its inception, he's always been a little secretive, even by Yeerk standards. There seems to be something not quite right about him.
Anyway, no time to worry about that now.
"Hello, Forsil. Hello, Ampriss."
Forsil looked a little puzzled. Make that very puzzled.
"A junior high school kid? Ampriss, what's this?"
I was about to answer, but I didn't need to. Erek spoke for me.
"I may not look like much, but trust me, there's a lot more to me than you think."
"What's your name and designation?"
"Don't worry about that."
Forsil seemed to get defensive. I guess I would too in that position.
"Okay, "Erek". Explain to me who you know that can...as Ampriss says: 'channel my agression.'"
"Let me ask you a question, Forsil. How do you interpret this saying: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend?'"
"Truthfully, I believe in it, but I have been unable to practice it. The Yeerk military's enemies don't have any other "enemies" for me to befriend. I guess if an opportunity arose, Id work with the others to accomplish what I need to."
"Very well then, Forsil..."
Here it comes. This is where the war proves that it is completely senseless. Erek's next line shook up Forsil, and with good reason:
"Forsil, how do you feel about working with the Andalite bandits?"
Anyway, I realized that I have a duty to my fans...all...
(counts his reviewers)
...FIVE of them. And dammit, I am NOT leaving you guys hanging!
I ended up doing what I did when I couldn't think of a good way to end my English paper last semester. I went to Blockbuster Video. Inspiration at about $4 a week. After renting two of my favorite movies, I'm ready to get back on track again. Here we go.
Chapter 11: Forsil
The meeting was where I'd expected it to be: Angelica's office. It was in a crowded downtown area near the courthouse. I guess it was chosen for its proximity, not its accessibility. It was very difficult to locate the building in the first place, and then even more excruciating when we tried to locate a place to park Jay's vehicle.
Instead of arriving an hour early as we planned, we were fifteen minutes late.
Jay, I don't know how the Yeerk invasion will end, but when it does, you humans MUST do something about traffic congestion. This is ludicrous.
Amen to that. I'll make sure to drop that in the President's suggestion box.
Jay's sarcasm usually irritates me, but I've grown accustomed to it as of late. It's very unusual for a Yeerk and its host to keep this kind of rapport with each other, even more so when both claim to hate each other.
All right, Forsil. This is your intervention. That means you get to drive. Take control and take me in, so you can talk to Angie.
Angie? Who's that?
Short for "Angelica," genius.
I began to take control. I fitted within Jay's brain crevices, and attached myself to his neural structure.
In Jay's words, I'm driving now.
* * *
After a little trouble convincing the receptionist that we were not clients, we were here to visit Angelica, (Jay looks like a thug, kind of a byproduct of his profession: "income redistribution") we found Angelica's office. She was in there, surrounded by quite a large load of paperwork. Apparently, she had quite a caseload.
Did I recognize that secretary form somewhere? I've seen her before...oh well...doesn't really matter.
"Mr. Mitchell...come in."
I closed the door behind me and took a seat.
"Let's remember who we are, Ampriss. My name is Forsil, not Jay Mitchell."
"If my memory serves me right, Forsil does not want to be here. This is a request from Jay. So, I thought he'd be in control."
Hmmm. Made sense. She seemed to remember the details from the phone conversation she had with Jay.
"Well, I'm in control at his request. And I'll be honest with you, I believe that this will be a waste of time."
"No, letting yourself die and have Jay get either terminated or "reassigned" to another Yeerk would be a waste. I see this as an efficiency session."
"I see. All right then, Ampriss Seven-Six-Five. Since you seem to be such an expert in efficiency, tell me what you think I should do."
"I've been thinking about our conversation, Forsil. I've come to a conclusion."
"What's that?"
"You have a dark soul. You're a killer. And no matter what, a killer is what you'll always be."
That remark hurt. It's as if I just had my innards cut open and removed. And I know what that feels like. Once, when my Hork-Bajir host continued to resist me, I slit my host's stomach with his own wrist blades; then I showed it what its stomach looked like. After feeling most of its pain, I left that host before it died. With a reputation like mine, one can get away with mindlessly destroying hosts.
It took a few moments to formulate a response to that.
"Well, Ampriss...what do you believe I should do about that then? Last time I checked, your movement was opposed to killing. So explain to me how you expect to have me and not be total hypocrites?"
"No need. I'm not going to have you. I'm going to give you a way to...let's say: "channel" your aggression."
She was treating me like a savage animal. But, wasn't I exactly that?
"Forsil, the Empire is a cancer upon the galaxy, and you know it. It will not stop until everything has been either destroyed of infested. Once, you may have loved the war, but after your visit to my home two nights ago, I believe otherwise. Now, you want this to end, so you may be at peace. Am I right?"
"I guess you are."
"You can fight the Empire. You can destroy it from within. And, I've contacted someone. He won't be able to help you fight, but he knows a few who can."
Ampriss reached over to the intercom to call her secretary.
"Alisha, bring Erek in."
Chapter 12: Ampriss.
Do you think Forsil's going to play ball, Ampriss? Angelica asked.
I hope so, Angelica. We need allies, and we need them bad.
It seems quite dangerous. Isn't Forsil really mean? I mean, he did kill that kidnapper guy in cold blood, right?
Yes, SHE did. But I believed her host when he says Forsil's at a crossroads. I hope this idea works.
Alisha, Naafin 661, and Erek walked in.
Well, technically, Alisha is Naafin's host. Naafin is a member of the movement, and Alisha supports or ideals. Alisha, Naafin, Angelica and I get along very well here. I'm glad to have them around.
Erek, on the other hand, was the wild card here. Although he's been connected to the peace movement since its inception, he's always been a little secretive, even by Yeerk standards. There seems to be something not quite right about him.
Anyway, no time to worry about that now.
"Hello, Forsil. Hello, Ampriss."
Forsil looked a little puzzled. Make that very puzzled.
"A junior high school kid? Ampriss, what's this?"
I was about to answer, but I didn't need to. Erek spoke for me.
"I may not look like much, but trust me, there's a lot more to me than you think."
"What's your name and designation?"
"Don't worry about that."
Forsil seemed to get defensive. I guess I would too in that position.
"Okay, "Erek". Explain to me who you know that can...as Ampriss says: 'channel my agression.'"
"Let me ask you a question, Forsil. How do you interpret this saying: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend?'"
"Truthfully, I believe in it, but I have been unable to practice it. The Yeerk military's enemies don't have any other "enemies" for me to befriend. I guess if an opportunity arose, Id work with the others to accomplish what I need to."
"Very well then, Forsil..."
Here it comes. This is where the war proves that it is completely senseless. Erek's next line shook up Forsil, and with good reason:
"Forsil, how do you feel about working with the Andalite bandits?"
