DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANIMORPHS.
Controller
by Sinister Shadow
Chapter Three
Edriss 562
My name is Edriss Five-Six-Two.
I am a Yeerk, of course. I always have been, and probably always will be, a blind, silver slug, flopping around in a portable Kandrona generator, desperately waiting for a good host body.
A host body who hears, who speaks, who touches. And smells.
And most importantly, sees.
I have only had one other host body in my life. That one was capable of anything! But I used it to run. To run free for fifteen minutes.
A short time, isn't it? Yes, we were only on training. You must train in a host before getting a permanent one. Tehlit and I wished the session would last forever... Of course, nothing lasts forever. I know that now. I wish I knew that then.
Because at that moment, I was stuck in a blind host. I was a blind Yeerk stuck in a blind host, who was therefore unable to fend for herself in this hardcore world.
But, of course, you must want to know how it all started...
You must want to know... Everything.
And strangely, many powerful Yeerks grew up there as well. Including three generations of Visser Ones.
Every three days, even when I was very, very young, Visser One came to feed. And I watched him. Well, I didn't really watch him. Yes, him.
That made me angry for some reason. All Vissers, even Sub-Vissers, were males.
Many Yeerks told me I was different. I didn't know why, then. I didn't understand why my older sisters thought it was strange that I listened to the Sub-Vissers and the Vissers talking about military things, instead of helping the other females around the pool.
Pool chores. Yuck.
Military. Now that had me interested.
But still, I spent a lot of time alongside my older sister, Jatani Six- Seven-Two. And she enjoyed my company, even though I was quite annoying sometimes... But the other females kept trying to encourage me to do normal things. Girl things. And I was getting tired of it. So one day, when I was two Earth years old, I finally got the guts to tell my sister that I didn't want the life she had.
You know what I want to to when I'm older, Jatani? I asked.
What's that? Jatani replied.
I want to be a Visser!
That left Jatani completely speechless. I could tell she was awed.
But then she laughed.
Don't be silly, Edriss... she finally said, swiftly. You know as well as I do that females... Just aren't cut out to be in the military forces.
Then I'll be the first one, I insisted.
I don't think it works that way... said Jatani, sounding a bit sorry, They will never accept you. You're a girl, Edriss. Girls just don't become Vissers.
Well so much for that then, I thought.
But still, something inside me knew that Jatani was wrong.
I would become a Visser someday. I would make sure I did.
So I grew older. One more Yeerk year passed. I was four Earth years old now. And now, I was ready to take "training".
Hork-Bajir are quite easy to control. Their ear canals are wide, and vast. And as soon as I got into the tripartite brain and assumed control over the body, I was given fifteen minutes to experience having a host.
So I went running in the rain with my potential host, as I said I would, one day, when this happened. Tehlit would have ome with me, as he was my best friend for as long as I can remember, but he was very sick the day of the training.
We said we'd always stick together. Even through the long, excruciating days of being packed on a ship, awaiting Andalite hosts. He wanted to become a Visser as much as I did, so I thought that would be easy.
But now it wasn't the same. We lived in a different world, he and I. I lived in the darkness. He lived in the light of day.
Tehlit and I were not born in the same pool. He was born in the Ket Minar pool, a smaller pool way North-East of the homeworld. But then, his home pool got destroyed by Andalites, so he was forced to move into Sulp Niar, with my family. Tehlit was feeling down at the time. He'd lost most of his family, including Visser Twenty-Six, his older brother that he admired so much. I felt bad for him, because he was always in a corner of the pool all alone. So one day, I went over to talk to him, and we became friends. We discovered we actually had a lot in common.
But not anymore.
We did everything together, but we wouldn't now.
How could I? I couldn't see an atom in front of me!
I felt like crying. I wouldn't though. I would never cry in front of Sub- Visser Nine. No. He thought he had the best of me... Oh, he was wrong!
Though this Hork-Bajir couldn't see, it could hear amazingly well. I heard the hurried footsteps coming this way. I was sure it was Sub-Visser Nine.
He wouldn't cooperate with me? He humiliates me? Gives me a blind host? Well two can play at that game. I was planning to be on my absolute worst behavior until things changed around here.
I was done obeying Sub-Visser Nine. I would never fear him again. Never let him give me orders. Not even in this crippled host!
The footsteps were approaching fast. They were louder and louder. Definitely coming this way. Looking for me.
" Edriss!" yelled a voice, " Edriss, can you hear me? It's me, Tehlit! Orifix is with me. Please come back!"
" Tehlit?" I felt for the wall, and when I found it I sat down on the floor of the hallway I was in and waited.
Soon I felt something grab my arm. I felt it. It was a Hork-Bajir hand, attached to another Hork-Bajir arm. Either Tehlit or Orifix.
" Tehlit?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice from shaking.
" It's me." replied Tehlit. " Are you alright?"
" Yes, except for the fact that I can't see," I said.
" Yeah, I figured that." said Tehlit in a grim voice.
" Tehlit?" I asked. " What's wrong? You sound angry."
" I am angry." Tehlit assured me. " At Sub-Visser Nine. We talked to him and he said there simply weren't enough host bodies to give you a new one. There are hundreds of Hork-Bajir in stock!"
Tehlit grumbled something I won't repeat as he let go of my arm and walked off. The only thing I heard very clearly in his mumbling was the word "Dapsen", which is a Yeerk swear word that means something else I won't repeat. I heard pounding against the wall. I felt around for something to hold on to, and then I bumped into something soft and rough.
" Wha... What is that?" I asked. " Tehlit! What is that?"
" That is me," said another voice.
" Orifix?"
" Yes."
His voice was soft. I hoped I didn't hurt him with one of my blades.
Suddenly, Orifix was gone. But where could he have gone so fast? These people were playing tricks on me! I cautiously walked forward.
... And then I tripped.
" Whoa!" I exclaimed, falling.
Something strong absorbed my fall. I felt around and touched a Hork-Bajir arm.
" Orifix? Is that you?" I asked.
" Yes."
" Where did you go?"
" I sat down, on the floor!" laughed Orifix.
" Oh."
Orifix set me gently on the ground beside him. I sat down. Here, I was safe, at least. Safe, but not at peace, thanks to the wailing and screaming of my host.
" How am I supposed to get back to the base?" I asked. " I haven't been there in so long, I wouldn't know where it was even with my vision! I mean, that's where we're staying, am I correct?"
" I... I don't know." said Orifix, uneasy. " I've never been in a base."
He paused for a moment.
" I'll ask Tehlit," he finally said. " Tehlit! Edriss asked how we get back to the base!"
" I'm not sure if I remember the way!" said Tehlit, " But we should be able to find it once we get on the road."
I couldn't wait to get back to Mitar base, my home base I had only seen once, through the corner of my eye, while I was running in my previous host body. That is where Yeerks who have hosts, mostly children, stay until they're old enough to get a job. It is like a home, except all the children live in the same house. You go to school from the base, you take Sub-Visser and Visser training from the base. Once you become a Visser you move into the Empire Building. That is where you can take training to become a member of the Council of Thirteen. That particular training is quite difficult. They say only one Yeerk out of seven thousand passes it.
So most of us don't even try.
" Okay, if we get on the road right now, we should be able to get to Mitar base without being seen by Sub-Visser Nine." said Tehlit. " I don't... really feel like running into him again."
" Besides," added Orifix. " He thinks Edriss is in some sort of destructive state! He could try to lock her up."
" But how do we get out, by the window?" I asked.
" Of course," replied Tehlit. " That's the best way I can think of."
There was a long silence after that. We were all thinking, just not out loud. Finally, Orifix broke the silence with a question:
" But what about Edriss?" he asked Tehlit, " She can't see. So how is she supposed to get back to the base."
" You carry her on you back," Tehlit replied, " She has a small Hork-Bajir, and you're bigger than I am. So she shouldn't be very heavy for you."
" Eum... okay then." replied Orifix.
Tehlit (at least I think it was Tehlit) came up to me and took my hand. We started walking. I trusted Tehlit enough not to feel for obstacles. When we finally stopped, I put my hands in front of me and immediately found a cold surface. It was very smooth.
Glass. The window.
" I'll open it," I said, pushing the button I had found on the side to slide open the window. Once it was open, Tehlit spoke up again:
" Orifix will go first," he told me. " Then I'll go, and then you climb up on the window and we'll lower you down."
" Got it," I said. I waited. Waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. All I could hear were the voices. They reassured me.
" God, Tehlit!" exclaimed a struggling Orifix. " There is mud down here! Ick!"
" Euf... You have been stuck on the Andalite Homeworld for a bit too long, my friend."
" This is no joke, Tehlit!"
" Oh, stop whining and get down there!"
" Okay..."
- PLAK!
" Owwwww..."
" ORIFIX!"
" I'm down here already!"
" Okay, I'm coming down..." said Tehlit. " Oh... It is quite dark out... Whoooaaaa!!"
- PAK! BOUM!
" Tehlit! That's my leg!" yelled Orifix.
" Sorry." said Tehlit. " Eu... Okay, Edriss, climb on the window."
" Okay..." I said.
I felt the ledge before me and easily pulled myself upon it. I was sitting on the windowsill, the soft, cool, but a bit stale breeze flowing in the night, gently spilling against my Hork-Bajir face and arms.
" Okay, ready?" I asked.
" Yes, already," rushed Tehlit, " We have to get out of here before Sub- Visser Nine--"
He didn't even have time to finish his sentence before a loud horn pierced the air. A few seconds passed before the horn sounded again. And again.
" ... Sounds the alarms." Tehlit finished grimly.
" Now what?!" exclaimed Orifix.
" Now," I said, " We run."
What a cliffhanger, eh? Hee hee! Well, if you like this story so far, please review and I'll keep posting the chapters!
'Till next time!
Sinister Shadow
P.S.: Did you ask questions in your reviews that you want answered about one of my Animorphs stories? Go to my BIO and you may just find your answer...