A week later, Basi and I met again, this time in her house. The Yeerks would try to reinfest her, and we needed to stop them. Duh.

"How about I morph snake and strangle them?" I suggested.

Basi rolled her eyes. "That wouldn't work because A, you don't have a snake morph, B, you couldn't stop ten human-controllers at once, and C, they have guns. Welcome to the world of reality!"

I groaned. "I know, I know. But what better idea is there?"

"One that doesn't get us killed, I hope!"

Then the doorbell rang.

We looked at each other.

"You get it," Basi said instantly.

I got up and walked over to the window. Peering through, I saw nothing. Confused, I peeked again.

This time, a boy stood there.

He had brown hair, just a little over his ears. He was maybe five feet tall, but managed to look taller. A completely typical guy, just the type that the Yeerks might send. And he was staring directly at me.

No choice but to open the door. No choice but to give up both Basi and me to a life of being enslaved by the Yeerks. There was no way out of it. I opened the door.

The guy smiled, revealed perfect white teeth.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Erek King."

"Dera Solofel."

"Can I come in? It's kind of cold out here."

"Odd to be cold in the middle of May." I was amazed at myself. Here he was, the enemy, and I was standing there with him, discussing the weather!

Erek followed me to the living room, looking around, interested, as we walked.

Basi jumped when she saw him.

"Is he…?" She asked tersely.

"I'm not a Controller," Erek said pleasantly. "My name is Erek King, and I'm here to help you."

"H-how did you find us in my house?"

"Mostly because the Yeerks think that I'm one of them. I am in the Sharing with your sister, Dera, and she told me that you had Prince Elfangor's Hirac Delest."

"The Sharing?"

"A sort of boy scout thing, which is a front for a recruitment organization for the Yeerks."

I turned pale. "You mean that Dalla is a…"

"No," Erek reassured me. "Your sister is as of now, uninfested. But soon, the Yeerks will take her, when she becomes a full member of the Sharing, like me. She only told me about the Hirac Delest, and no other Yeerks. Otherwise, she'd already be a Controller."

"You said other Yeerks," Basi accused. "You're a Controller."

Erek smiled. "I am not Yeerk-infested. It would be impossible to do so. You see, I am a member of the android race of the Chee. Years ago, we came to Earth with our masters, the Pemalites. Even then, their race was dying out. They transferred their essence to wolves and made dogs, even as the last Pemalites died. We've been stuck here ever since. "

I took this all in stride. Reading a billion Star Wars books had prepared me for droids, and I had tuned out of what should and shouldn't be real when I had first morphed.

"So you're kind of like Guri," I stated.

"Guri?"

"An assassin droid from Star Wars designed to look totally human."

Basi groaned. "Oh, no. We have a sci-fi nut in our midst."

"Actually," Erek corrected me, "I'm programmed not to kill, and this isn't my natural body. I use a hologram."

"You mean your body is fake?"

Erek's reply was to drop his holograms and reveal a canine metal structure. Then he turned his hologram back on so that it looked like a Grizzly Bear.

I backed up despite myself. Then Basi hit Erek with a torrent of questions.

"How did Dalla find the Hirac Delest? How did you know to look here? How did you convince the Yeerks that you weren't infested?"

"Slow down, slow down," Erek said, holding up a hand. "I can't answer everything at once. My programming isn't that superior."

"Dalla was just trying to borrow a brush from you, and saw the Hirac Delest. The Sharing has her address, and I hacked into the database. When I came to your house, your mom told me where you were. I have a Yeerk inside my head, locked up."

He showed us the Yeerk. I was repulsed, but didn't say anything.

"Now," Basi said, "we'd better save Dalla."

"Erek," I asked curiously, "are you with us?"

Erek regretfully shook his head. "As I said earlier, I am programmed against violence. I will be of no use. Basi, you'll have to come hide with us Chee- you're hunted. But I can refer you, Dera, to some of my non-Chee friends who fight the Yeerks."

Basi's eyes narrowed. "Who are they?"

Erek smiled an odd smile. "They are humans who can morph. They call themselves…" He paused for dramatic effect. "The Animorphs."

A/N: Was that so bad? I don't think that it deserves my friend's opinion. But she hates Animorphs, so I can't really say that this had an unbiased review. I wouldn't mind some biased reviews favoring Animorphs, though. Feel free to review!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Animorphs. If I did, I would have stretched it out at least ten more books. (Oh, and murdered Jake and let Aldrea take over Cassie's body completely, forever.) It belongs to K. A. Applegate (duh).