Aoroa hit the break on the bike so abruptly that I was amazed she didn't kill us.

"Stop your bike. Get off. We need to talk," Aoroa commanded and she removed my body from the bike and moved it against a tree.

Rob obeyed.

Oh, that's real smooth, I reprimanded her. Doesn't give him anything to be skeptical of, now!

Point taken, was the brisk response.

Now, what?

We tell him the truth. He won't be able to do anything about it. It might even help things in the long run.

You're crazy. You can't…

You're forgetting, Amy, that I am in charge. I most certainly can and there's nothing you can do to stop me, she snapped.

I felt cold all over. No. This couldn't be happening. Aoroa couldn't have meant that. She was kind. She was a member of the Peace Movement.

She was also a Visser, though, and vissers generally don't get into high ranks without performing some cruel acts. They probably weren't the kindest to their hosts, either.

What had I gotten myself into?

Aoroa…

She took a mental breath. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to come out like that. What I mean is, this seems the most sensible plan. It can't hurt him to reaffirm what he knows, and he may end up cooperating.

He dressed up as an Andalite that Halloween. I don't see how you can think that he'll be, in any sense of the word, voluntary.

We'll see what happens, she soothed. At any rate, we have to solve this problem in front of us right now.

Okay. I hope you're right about this.

"Dad's problem is that he's oblivious. I don't think a Yeerk would be so obvious."

You didn't say anything about me, I pointed out.

Hold on, Amy. I'm getting to that. Just trust me.

"If he's not a Controller, why does he want to make me join Fun for Family?"

"Haven't you been listening to him at all? He thinks it will improve your grades and your detention standing."

"Why can't I just get involved at school or something like that?"

"Because I'm in Fun for Family, and he probably wants us to be involved in something together. It's probably more about family bonding than anything else, Rob."

"So, you quit and join something else."

"I can't. I don't want to."

"Then Mike was right. If you can't quit, you're a Controller."

It wasn't a question. He sounded hurt, but hopeful. Maybe he thought I had been taken against my will. Maybe he was considering tying me up for three days to starve Aoroa out of me.

Let me tell him, I requested.

If you think it will help…

Aoroa withdrew control. It was weird, sort of like slowly going from one dimensional to two dimensional to three dimensional. Even after two days, controlling my own body felt strange.

"I-it's Amy now. Not Aoroa."

"Knew it. And let me guess. Voluntary."

He had a way with words that made me feel ashamed of myself, even though I knew that he was younger than me and had no right to put me in this kind of a position.

"Yes. I'm a voluntary Controller."

"How long?"

"Couple of days." I shrugged.

"Why?" He was disgusted. His eyes narrowed with contempt toward me.

"Because I didn't trust the series. I thought the Yeerks were much kinder than the Animorphs gave them credit for."

His eyes hardened. "How do I know it's really Amy talking about not the Yeerk?"

"It doesn't really matter. The opinion is mutual."

"I don't know that for sure."

"Fine."

Aoroa? You know what to do.

She sighed and grumbled. I'll be blind…helpless…

You know I won't let anything happen, I promised.

She sighed again. Well, don't leave me like that for too long.Just then, I saw a note on the door of the refrigerator. Hi guys. Dad and I went to the furniture auction. We'll be back around 8:00, after we eat out. There's money next to this note in case you want to order pizza. Call the number on the back of this paper if there's an emergency. Hugs and kisses, Mom.

We needed way more than money.

Aoroa disengaged from my ear. I held her in my hands, carefully. Protectively.

"Happy?"

He stared at me. "You're voluntary?" he yelped. "For real?"

I sighed. "Would you relax for a second? Look, you've read the books. I've read the books. You know how obsessed I am with Animorphs. Well, I realized that we're not being told the whole story about the Yeerks. Most of them aren't evil."

"Amy. They INFEST and ENSLAVE people AGAINST THEIR WILL!"

"Is it so hard to understand? Yeerks just want to see, hear, communicate, and enjoy life. Really, if you were a slug, would you want to live your life blind? They're parasites, not evil incarnate. Ok, maybe Visser One is, but. . .The point is, a lot of them. . . most of them really. . . don't even know what they're doing. They aren't exactly told, 'Go and destroy the will of sentient creatures.' They really don't even understand that we are intelligent.

"I realized how biased the books were against them. I mean, we rarely hear their side, and when it's told it's pretty biased. Who have we heard from? Vissers. The evil ones. Not Aftran, Illim, or anyone else of the YPF. Not even your average Yeerk. Just the more evil of them.

"I became a Controller because I want the Yeerks to see that not everyone is going to judge them without hearing their opinion. The vast majority are NOT evil. Aoroa is one of them. She doesn't even want to infest you against your will, and that's saying something. And guess who KAA is?"

"Who?" He seemed interested. Or at least willing to hear me out.

"The escaped Controller from book #1. So how can you expect her to tell the real story? She wrote the books to get humans to resist the Yeerks. But the Yeerks aren't all bad! Look at the Andalites. The Andalites are so proud, so conceited, that they might kill us just so that the Yeerks don't get us. And you know that Estrid was planning on doing that.

"'Free or dead.' That's what the free Hork-Bajir say remember? But free to what? The truth, or just what's convenient at a particular time? Rob, you know that some Yeerks aren't evil. So you know that it can't be an instinct they have, or if it is, it can be fought. Aftran turned good. So did Illim. There's others. Aoroa included, though she didn't tell me the details. Yet."

I paused. Rob seemed, if not in agreement with me, at least willing to listen.

He hadn't run away yet, on any account.

"People can't even understand the benefits to becoming a Controller. No homework. No more studying. No more writing papers about symbolism. Social life is secure. And you made a friend. When you look at it that way, does it sound so terrible?"

"I still don't want to be one."

I told you, none of us want you to be forced to become one." Yet. "We'll see what happens. Maybe we can fake it. Who knows? But if you do become one, it probably won't be the worst thing in the world. Aoroa…my Yeerk…says that she'll find a member of the Peace Movement. So you'll get control, and privacy."

"I still want to avoid it."

"Figures. Now, I'm going to put Aoroa back."

Rob turned away, looking totally grossed out.

I took Aoroa out and put her to my ear.

Did it work? Aoroa asked me once she was connected. Very nervously.

More or less. You can see in it in my memories later.

All right. I need to speak to Rob, now.

Go ahead.

"Rob? It's me, Aoroa. Listen, for reasons we don't know, we're pretty sure that the visser wants to infest you with one of his men. I'm not sure why. No one is. But now that you know, we can't have you running around Yeerkless."

"I won't. You can't make me!"

"I have very little choice in the matter."

"You can't! I won't let you!"

"Look, Rob, you're either going to be infested voluntarily with a member of our movement, or involuntary and probably with a member from the Visser's squad. If you come quietly, then we can work things out."

"The Visser's in on it?" He sounded incredulous.

"Yes. We're not sure why he wants you as a host, but he does. So, we have to put up the appearance of infestation, and kill whichever Yeerk he has planned for you."

"If you hadn't joined…"

"Then you would have been taken against your will and we'd have little to no chance of saving you. Don't you get it? It's not about me, or about Dad. What Visser Three wants, he'll get. The rest is just details."

We retrieved out bikes and rode the rest of the way in silence.

Amanda called later.

"Hello?" Aoroa asked.

"Hey. It's Amanda. Is this Amy?"

"Yes."

"Come over to my house, and quick. I'll be waiting outside for you."

"Why?"

"Be there in ten minutes." Pause. "Page one hundred and six, problems seven to twenty-five. Got it, Amy. Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Click.