I can't understand her, Reven fumed.
We swam over to the nearest three outlets. Rykker felt around the edges tentatively.
Don't feel so badly about it, Reven, I said. Perhaps she will change her mind once we finish training. In the meantime if she wants to be antisocial that's her choice.
I think she's just been shaken up by this whole move, said Rykker. She is not herself.
How can she say such things? said Reven. We are Yeerks, not monsters.
I don't know, said Rykker. What she said makes me nervous. Infest Andalites? Why would any decent Yeerk want to infest anything but a Gedd? It isn't natural.
Well, I said hesitantly.
What? Reven snapped irritably.
Nastram and the others…they have never said that Gedds are the only creatures a Yeerk may infest, I continued. In the past, ancient Yeerks would infest different creatures, long since extinct. Any creature with ear canals and the brain capacity to accommodate our bodies should be able to be infested.
Yes, but Myitt, you cannot be saying this would be right? said Reven.
Rykker had turned from us, tentatively exploring the computer interface.
I don't know, Reven. Larin should not have been so angry about it, but she is telling the truth.
So, you think that I'm some Andalite-lover as well, then? Reven said quietly.
Of course not, I sighed, feeling oxygen rush through my skin. Reven, I don't know what to think anymore, but you are my brother, and you are a good person. You are loyal. Don't let what Larin said bother you.
Rykker suddenly jolted away from the wall, emitting a terrified cry.
What? Rykker! What is it? I cried. I fired sonar and analyzed it impatiently, worriedly.
It is…I do not understand, said Rykker, sounding desperately confused.
Rykker, I said tersely. You must have inserted your palps into the computer. Did it hurt you? Rykker, answer me!
It…no…it…I, said Rykker. There were things in my mind.
His last sentence did not register.
What, Rykker, that does not make sense, said Reven, turning to feel along the wall. I turned to the metal surface and found two small grooves, like tunnels. I cautiously inserted my palps into them, first one, then the other.
At first nothing happened.
And after a few seconds, a whirring noise.
A cold sensation came over me. Rykker had not exaggerated. Things…flickers of something like the richest sonar I could imagine flashed through my mind. I did not understand. It was overwhelming! Something was scrolling steadily through my mind like a wave. I felt disoriented.
Slowly, slowly I realized that I recognized what my mind was receiving. It was the Yeerkish script! I recognized the letters the Andalites had given us. It was a list of information, nothing more, but unlike the fragmentary mind-to-mind images sent to us by our teachers it was so clear, so detailed. It was the first time I had ever experienced a computer monitor, and although it was not yet as detailed as sight itself, it was the closest I had ever come to it. I tried to focus on the message that was scrolling, repeatedly, through my mind. It commanded the user to direct its thoughts into the interface, giving name, designation and home pool. I did so, awaited confirmation that it had received my information, and withdrew my palps from the computer. Blackness, nothing in my brain but my own thoughts.
I felt strange. Empty.
Are you alright now, Rykker? I asked, concerned.
Yes, he whispered. I had no idea. No one ever told me…what incredible technology we have taken along with us!
Maybe you would have had some idea if you had come to lesson more often, Reven snickered, coming around to join us again, but even he sounded dazed.
All we have to do now is wait for our summons, I said, hoping I sounded more confident about it than I felt.
A long stretch of time passed. None of us were called, and Larin had still not returned. Myself and my two brothers were forced away from the edge of the wall by a small group of people from Hett Simplat who needed to report to the computers, so we swam out into the open again. It was still incredible how many Yeerks surrounded us, nearly darting into us at every moment.
We swam, telling jokes that were met with nervous laughter. It was clear that all of our minds were thinking ahead.
Then, Reven was called to an "infestation area".
Wish me luck, he said anxiously as he swam off toward the designated area.
You'll be fine, Reven, I said, watching him depart in etches of sonar.
Good luck, Reven, said Rykker. He turned to me. Can't be long now, I suppose.
I was about to answer when someone bumped into me, hard.
Hey, mark where you swim, brainless, I cried. My side ached.
Oh, excuse me, I was meaning to run into someone I didn't know, the stranger remarked slyly. He smelled like…
Corliss! I said. I was wondering where you were!
Ahahah, well, Myitt…I've been around, said Corliss 382, a sibling of whom I was also very fond. Mostly spending time rifling through some of the computer files. I didn't mean to spend that much time in there, honest! Rykker, that is you isn't it? Surely you two have noticed the shipboard computers, aren't they incredible?
Indeed, said Rykker, still sounding a little uneasy about them.
Amazing times, you two, amazing times are ahead. I wish I could stay and talk, but I've been summoned for training infestation. You haven't been, yet, have you?
No, we chorused.
Well. Best of luck to you both, he said. I'd better go, or I'll be last in line!
Fare well, Corliss, I said. He swam off in a hurry, and I turned back to Rykker.
I was beginning to think he had been left behind, I said. It's good that he's here with us.
Yes, I'm glad too, said Rykker. Myitt, he said suddenly, do you think it's true, what they've warned us about in lesson? That taking a host can drive people mad, from sheer sensory overload?
I was surprised Rykker had been to enough lessons to retain this, but I replied, I think it can happen, but it is very rare. At his stricken silence I laughed and reassured him. Don't worry, Rykker, we'll both be fine. Think of it as an adventure. And the benefits! Nastram has said that taking a host changes one's entire life, endowing incredible power and sensory ability. It is something we should not be so frightened about. We should be thrilled! I felt like I was saying this to comfort myself as much as him.
Why am I still afraid? he said tremulously, after a few moments.
A string of summons rang out electronically. Rykker was called.
Oh, no, he said miserably, swimming off.
My name was called!
I swam after him. We'll be fine, I insisted, coming up beside him.
Yes. Fine, he said flatly.
I swam towards the infestation area, queuing near Rykker in the same line. I was third in line, he was second. Before we began, one of our teachers—not Nastram, but an elder Yeerk named Janath 429, briefed us on how long we would have.
Line up, one at a time, line up! Now. You have fifteen minutes to enter the Gedd host, take it, and return to the pool. Failure to do so in the allotted time will result in disciplinary action. You may begin.
Janath swam out of the way to observe through sonar.
A long fifteen minutes passed. There was a splash as the first in line fell back into the pool.
You'll be fine, Rykker, I said.
Rykker groaned. He swam up to the Gedd and I watched him enter. The Gedd's head lifted out of the pool surface. These fifteen minutes were even more intolerable than the last. I waited impatiently for Rykker to return, and for my turn.
At last I felt the concussion of waves and I knew that Rykker had reentered the pool. There was no time to speak with him, however, but surely if anything had gone wrong…
No time. I rushed forward, firing sonar at the side of the creature's head, shoved back under the surface of the pool. I easily found the ear opening. I remembered what I had been taught and began squeezing into the ear canal, but I found that an overwhelming, unspoken instinct drove me forward at the same time. I slithered further into the warm darkness, secreting my numbing chemicals to dilate the canal and prevent this Gedd from feeling any pain from my entrance. I pushed onward, pushing aside membranous tissue and feeling my tail leave the Kandrona-laden safety of the pool. I was entirely inside the host's skull when I felt contact with the brain. It was alive! A living surface of electricity. It was shocking to feel, yet at the same time it was completely, inexplicably natural. I flattened myself as thin as I could manage and sank myself down, in between the cranial membranes and the living brain itself. I felt a new sensation—I could hear again! But they were strange sounds, alien. I connected to the synapses, feeling neurons fire into my own nerve cells. Eerie pictures flashed through my mind, images like what I had seen in the computer—but they were pictures! I reeled, digging through the host's memory, its language hitting me wildly from three different parts that I could touch. Slowly I understood that the images were scenes from the Gedd's life. Much of its life had been spent under Yeerk control, but it retained crystal clear pictures nonetheless, of course. It was beyond comprehension, the amount of information that was flooding my brain.
I immediately became aware of a nagging, urgent sensation. I realized the host was suffocating, its head still partially submerged. I drew the creature's head up out of the water and took a few coughing breaths. Even breathing was strange in this body! The front of my new face felt uncomfortable, and I clamped down on the simple frontal lobe. I realized that the host's eyes were blurred with water, stinging. I blinked and staggered back, barely realizing I was caught by stronger Gedd hands. I was staring out through the Gedd's eyes. It was…it was indescribably beautiful. I was staring at the shining metal tile floor. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever experienced. I stared at it, wondering, using the Gedd's mind to help me understand what I was receiving, help me accept it. I lifted my head and gazed to the side, saw Gedds standing, watching something I could not understand. Computer screen, yes, it was not the same as the floor. Something about it made my eyes pang with pain and pleasure. What? I gaped, taking in the beauty of what I was seeing, hardly daring to believe it. Color. So much of it! So varied, so shocking. Shapes and movement of other creatures, of technology. So much!
I was pushed back towards the pool and leaned heavily against it, gripping the rim with my three-fingered hands. Oh, what structures, these hands! I was staring straight down at the grey, viscous liquid, at the circular metal structure that had seemed so vast to me. The bored Gedd behind me gestured to the pool, clicking in the simple Gedd language. Yes, I must return now. I stared down at the pool, taking in the smell of it with a strange sense of smell, hearing it slosh, but staring at it. Watching the light shine on its waves from the ship's ceiling.
I knew I would have to give up this world of beauty, this world that had me awestruck, and every fiber of my mind protested.
A voice moaned. What? I listened for the sound, I sniffed. Had I made a sound with the Gedd mouth?
No, it was in my head. It was the host!
Did you speak, Gedd? I said in Yeerkish, mind-to-mind.
It did not answer, but I could see its emotions rise up, bubbling around me. Such a strange experience!
The host was exhausted. It was resigned. It felt as though it wanted to die.
Why?
My time was up. I had to return without a clear answer. But I thought I knew.
As I leaned over the pool and began to disengage, savoring the last view of the far wall, relishing the beauty of the blank white metal, I pondered this upwelling of emotion curiously. I was blind again, and I fell into the warm pool almost gratefully. I swam, still unsure of what I had just experienced, away from the progressing lines of young Yeerks.
I had completed training.
It had been…marvelous, a miracle.
Why was I not overjoyed?
A/N: Thanks for reviewing, everyone, I really appreciate it :) Please keep it up!
Quillian: I hope it isn't too close to what we've seen already with Esplin...but, well...let me just say these Yeerks are much different than Esplin, in the end!
Anifan1: Thanks :) Yeah...Larin is certainly the note of discord in the group.
AllOrNone: Thanks for reviewing!
Genesis Dragon: The only firsthand clues we have areofcoursefrom the Hork-Bajir Chronicles...little bits from other books, too, but I always wished more had been said. Especially from Yeerks' POV. Thanks for the review!
AwakenedOddity: Thanks for reading!