Our hands shook slightly as we hung up the phone.
"Rob?" Aoroa called, tentative.
"What, Yeerk?"
"I have a name, Rob." Pause. Aoroa sighed. "Amanda just called. She wants me to come over. I'll be back in an hour or so."
Smart move, not mentioning that Amanda's one of us, I complimented.
Thanks. Now, let's get going.
How do we explain the fact that he's not coming with us? I questioned.
I'm a visser; she's not, Aoroa reminded me. I'll say that I want to know what's going on, first.
We found my bike that I had parked near the mailbox less than an hour ago. We got on it and started the ride. Aoroa knew, from my mind, that I had remembered where Amanda's house was. It only took fifteen minutes to get there.
Are you ready? Aoroa asked me.
Not exactly.
Yeah, I could use some more time, too.
I knocked on the door.
Nothing.
I rang the doorbell. Twice.
A lady came to the door. She was about my mom's age- sort of old. Gray hair, or at least highlights. Hers was shoulder length, though. The rest of it was light brown. A few wrinkles.
"Wipe your shoes on the mat. I just finished cleaning the house."
We did as we were told.
"Amanda! Your girlfriend's here," she called. Then turned to me. "Second door on the right, straight on upstairs."
As soon as we got there, Amanda put her fingers over her lips.
"We're going outside for a little, Mom."
"It's awfully dreary weather for a walk."
Amanda rolled her eyes. "We'll take raincoats."
She grabbed a couple from her room, and we head to her back yard.
"Okay. What's up?"
"The visser wants your host's brother," she told me quickly, staring at me straight in the eyes with difficulty. "He wants to give his body to a relatively high Yeerk. Apparently he has some special genetic ability that will let us win the war. So, you know what to do."
Aoroa shook my head. "He won't go willingly."
"Are you sure?"
"Quite. He's still not entirely convinced that I'm not evil incarnate. And we don't have a lot of time, I'm guessing?"
"He wants the infestation to occur next Saturday. We have until before then."
"Well, the Animorphs ended up joining us, after all…"
They went willingly? But…but some of them would never agree to that!
Rachel was one of them. She killed herself rather than be infested. It took the others awhile as well. Cassie, of course, was the first to agree. But Marco and Jake were much harder, what with what happened to their families and all…Ax also murdered himself when we explained it to them, you know how Andalites are with their stupid pride, but Tobias eventually agreed. They're quite happy with their decisions.
Their families?
Peace Movement members. Also content.
How…?
Their luck was over. The visser had caught them. But he handed them to who he thought was a 'trusted' visser of his- Visser Five, whose Yeerk name is Tarash Five-One-Four. A member of our movement. He entrusted them to her to infest, and she of course gave them all members of the movement. She gave whoever would rather be dead than this fate a dracon beam to kill themselves with. Ax used his tail. Things went well since then. The visser still doesn't know that the Animorphs were infested with members of the YPF and of course we know not to tell him. Our movement has grown a lot, and many who joined were sub-vissers and vissers. It has made things much simpler for us as well. The visser knows that the Animorphs are human, but that hasn't changed much…well, except for him looking even more stupid than before.
"He's not an Animorph," Aoroa reminded.
"I'm aware of that." She took a deep breath. "Amanda wants to speak with your host."
Her face became a little less pink with fury as Amanda gained control. "Hi."
I smiled back at her.
"So. What are we going to do about my brother from hell?" I asked.
She shrugged. "The only thing we can do. Infest him. Not my first choice, naturally. But if we don't, the Visser will."
"Not the best option, you know. And this wasn't what I was counting on when I agreed to become a host."
"Me neither…But we need to remember. . .most of the Yeerks are either members of the YPF, or are decent towards their hosts. We just need to make sure Visser Five gets to him before Visser One does."
I nodded. There wasn't a whole lot that I could say.
We were silent for awhile. I hated the idea of taking Rob against his will, but it seemed like there was no way to avoid his infestation. It was actually me becoming a Controller that would make it more bearable for him.
At least, that's what I told myself.
Aoroa and Amanda's Yeerk talked for awhile about some strategic stuff, and then we left.
The next day, Aoroa and I went to the mall so that she could regenerate. Rob would be taken on Thursday. Just three days away.
You'll be taken to the voluntary area, Aoroa reminded me. Amanda will also be there, as her Yeerk's feeding schedule is the same as mine. You two can talk, if you so desire.
Okay.
The Hork-Bajir will be told by me that you're voluntary. They'll tell you where to go. When it's time to get reinfested, you'll hear your name being called and you'll go. The whole thing should take a few hours.
Okay.
Aoroa laughed. If you forget anything, just ask. Remember, you're voluntary. They're only…less than kind…to the ones that resist.
Okay.
Is that all you can say?
Okay.
Aoroa sighed.
We got in line. It was a long one. Most of the hosts there were humans, but there were a few Hork-Bajir. Pretty much every human was willing. Even those that weren't in the voluntary area didn't exactly put up a fight. I knew that it wasn't because they had given up.
Soon, it was our turn.
"Aoroa Two-Eight-Three, ranked Visser Twenty-Four is reporting," Aoroa identified herself. She then added; "I control the human host Amy, code seven-A. Voluntary."
The Hork-Bajir nodded and grunted.
"Yes, Visser," said one.
And with that she lowered us above the water and dropped into the pool. I stood up. I turned to the Hork-Bajir. They willingly pointed me in the right direction. Towards voluntary hosts, the Hork-Bajir guards actually seemed quite polite.
I head towards a small area isolated from the rest of the pool. Even though I could hear some screams from the infestation pier, they were inaudible by the time I reached the voluntary area.
It was a pretty nice place. There was a TV in the corner that a few people were watching. It wasn't exactly a wide screen one, but, then again, it also wasn't some piece of junk from the 60's where you had to adjust the color on the knob.
I could see a few vending machines, one that sold stuff like potato chips, one that sold candy and gum, and the last one that had soda. The prices were pretty decent for once. I guess Yeerks don't believe in overcharging each other.
What was nice was that there was some furniture for us to lounge on. Two couches were in a far corner of the voluntary area, and I could tell that they were the kind that you could easily take a nap on. There were a few scattered chairs, especially near the TV, and some tables. More than a few of the Controllers were using some of these tables as work areas.
I guess that voluntary hosts were allowed to carry things like book bags, despite the fact that they could be considered dangerous. I know from experience with Rob, you do not want a twenty plus pound bag to be thrown at you.
I grabbed a seat one of the surprisingly empty couches. I hadn't thought to bring work, so I just stared off into space for a little.
"New here?"
I jumped. While I had been daydreaming, another girl had taken a seat across from me. She looked about eighteen or so, but I had never been good at guessing ages.
"It's my first time, so yeah," I replied.
"My name's Jamie. Her name is Astran five-seven-six. You?"
"Amy. Aoroa something. Don't have her numbers memorized. She's a Visser, though."
"Ohh. Her. She's decent. That girl over there" she pointed to a small child reading a picture book "had her before you. They got along."
I raised my eyebrows. "Seems kind of young."
"She's eight."
"She must have been scared."
Jamie rolled her eyes. "Everyone is, at first, but you get used to it. It helps if your Yeerk is decent, but even if they aren't, you survive. There aren't a whole lot of torturers around that aren't high ranking."
"Been a host for awhile?"
"Only two years. Three Yeerks. I'm still sane. So are they."
I smiled. "No mental torture? Replaying of bad memories?"
Jamie frowned. "I think it's just the high up Yeerks who do that. Mostly, Yeerks just want the host to either befriend them or cooperate with them."
"I can see why."
Amanda entered the room and flopped down on a couch. "Hi, Amy. Jamie."
"Hi," we replied.
"What are you talking about?"
"The usual. Amanda how did you join Fun For Family?" Jamie questioned.
"Same as you. Read the books and knew that KAA was a liar."
Jamie rolled her eyes. "This insignificant, manipulative pieces of trash…"
Amanda laughed. "Her contract ends at book #54. It's required to read them, you know, to look for patterns and stuff. We haven't had much luck with it."
"I think that's my brother's job. Rob."
"Rob? Yeah. Visser One wants to use him so that they can manipulate the patterns and declare universal victory. The Peace Movement wants him so that he can read the patterns and apply them to the movement."
