Cassie

The more things changed, the more things stayed the same. We were in a different part of the country, but, as per usual, my house was the meeting place for whenever we had to plan something. Both of my parents were out, so we had the place to ourselves.

With the help of Erek, we've been scouting the Yeerks for a while, wondering what they had planned so we could act accordingly. During that time, we just acted normal. And… a part of me enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong – I knew we were still at war. But it felt good to go weeks without going into battle and barely escaping with our lives.

And yet, those weeks didn't feel long enough.

So, we were all there – every Animorph, Erek, and Antoine, who was sitting next to Marco. Both of them had icepacks on their bodies, with Marco have packs on his knees while Antoine held one to his shoulder.

"I glimpsed you guys on TV the other day," Erek said, talking to Marco and Antoine. "I gotta say, you looked good in HD."

"Yeah, it was a great thing to see," Antoine deadpanned. He groaned slightly as he adjusted the icepack on his shoulder.

"It was always my dream to be on the sideline while my team gets their shit pushed in," Marco chimed in.

"It's still early in the season," Jake pointed out. "And you haven't started conference play yet. You got time to turn it around. But let's get down to business, shall we?" He looked over at Erek, who had his usual hologram up. "What do you have for us?"

"Well, I'm glad we're sitting down, because this is a doozy," he stated. "Apparently, for a while now, the Yeerks have been running a research and development project. Basically, this project allows them to make hosts out of beings who wouldn't be able to be made hosts out of."

"What do you mean?" Marco asked.

"For Yeerks, the healthier the host, the better. So, they tend to avoid those who suffer from significant injuries, especially those of a neurological nature – brain damage, dementia, brain conditions, so on and so forth. While a Yeerk can take over a host, they also can take on the host's physical and neurological capabilities and limitations."

"So, if somebody got something like, say, Parkinson's, a Yeerk taking them over wouldn't make their motor function issues go away," Antoine said. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Exactly," Erek confirmed. "And this is especially true about those who are in a coma and are braindead. This is where the project begins. Apparently, by using technology derived from technology of another race they conquered, they're able to create a device that can clone the brains of those who are braindead. They can then replace the old brain with the newly cloned brain. The caveat is that the brain would only be functional while a Yeerk is taking over the host who has it."

"So, basically, turning braindead folks into walking meat suits," Rachel commented.

"So now we have The Sharing as a front, with their 'doctors' being behind this 'miracle neurological treatment'."

"That… is disturbing," I finally said, speaking up. I started to think about those who thought they got their families back, not realizing that they've become a soldier for the conquest of this planet. "That is… that is just not right."

"Believe it or not, there are some Yeerks who agree with that," Erek responded with a tilt of his head.

"…I'm sorry, what?" Rachel spoke up.

"I'm not sure I can believe that," Ax said grimly. I knew he felt some type of way about what Erek just said since he do that he usually does in his human morph where he repeats his last word and play with the syllables and sound.

"I'm as surprised and disbelieving as you guys. But, word amongst them is that this project wasn't even supposed to be another tool for conquest. It was supposed to be an alternative – a way for Yeerks to live amongst humans and other races and covertly coexist with them, rather than enslave them. Apparently, there are quite a few Yeerks who don't really care for galactic conquests."

"Okay, let's pretend that I believe that," Rachel said. "What changed the aim of the project? And why aren't these Yeerks rising up?"

"The answer to both of those questions is one name – Visser Three," Erek replied.

Rachel was silent for a moment. She then tilted her briefly. "…Well, that I can believe."

We've seen how Visser Three treated the people under him. The wrong word uttered would be enough for him to decapitate a person – or worse. Telling a people to rise up was always easy when it's not your life on the line. Still, there was a bit of hope in me that there were more Yeerks out there who weren't complete monsters and had at least some sense of empathy.

"We are going to shut this down, right?" Antoine asked, looking around at everyone else.

"That's what we're here for," Tobias reassured. "So what's the plan?"

"It'll probably be the usual plan," Jake spoke up. "We sneak in, we morph, and then we raise havoc."

Antoine leaned forward and looked at Jake. "That's the usual plan?"

"It's mostly the foundation of what we do," Rachel replied. "There is other stuff we do, such as hack their computers or do simple sabotage. But, we're basically a group of guerillas going up against a force whose technology makes this planet's most advanced tech look like the first Gameboy. So, for the most part, our best is to show up, make a mess, and then escape – or, if we're lucky, make them pull out."

"…I… I…" Antoine scoffed. "How, are you suckas, still alive?!"

"…Luck, Antoine," I said. "Along with some skill and a lot of willpower."

"Okay…" Antoine swallowed. "So what's my part in all of this? I can't morph like y'all."

"…Hopefully, you won't have to play a part," Jake said. "I was hoping that you'd be our getaway driver. I know it'll be tricky, but we'll likely do this late at night and…"

"I'll have my phone ready," Antoine interjected. "Just don't do anything stupid, a'ight?" He looked around at all of us. "You guys are the only ones I'm sure I can trust 100 percent nowadays. So… I may or may not have grown attached to you guys"

I couldn't help but smile. This was definitely a lot better than the last time, when we had David on our team. How we handled David was an objective failure. So, no matter how much harm David had done to us – and he did a lot – I could never quite hold what he did to us against him. Maybe it was because of how we treated Antoine since the beginning. Maybe it was because Antoine was a bit more mentally stable and in a better place than David when we met. But whatever the reason was, it was refreshing to have an ally that we could trust.

"We won't," Jake said reassuringly. "We still have to do a few things to prepare. We need to figure out the layout of the hospital and figure out the best morph to infiltrate the place with. That'll most likely be houseflies."

"Not bad… but y'all ain't got anything smaller?" Antoine asked.

"We do, but… let's say, the last time we used that morph, we've had a very, VERY bad experience," I explained.

"We tend to avoid social insects – ants, termites, bees, and the like," Rachel added. "Whenever we do, things tend go left."

Antoine looked down towards the ground. "Oh…"

After that, while Erek, Ax, and Tobias went home, the rest of us went back to campus and ate at the school cafeteria. As we ate, we talked about different things. At one point, Marco pulled out his phone and checked it. He then chuckled before he typed on his phone. I normally wasn't one to tease. But, I had to.

"Was that Jada?" I asked slyly. Marco tried to glare at me, but the smile on his face said it all.

"It was," he admitted sheepishly. "…She asked me if I was down to study tomorrow after practice. So I told her I'd like that." He paused for a moment. "Hey, Cassie… can I talk to you in private after we eat?"

"What, you don't trust us to talk about you and your boo thang?" Antoine asked with mock hurt in his voice.

"Don't take this the wrong way, man. It's just that, when it comes to that kind of stuff, Cassie is the number one person I'd talk to. If it makes you feel any better, you might be just ahead of Rachel on my list."

"Wow," Rachel said with a wry smile as Antoine snickered. "Wow. I'm the only person at this table in an official relationship since Jake and Cassie keeps beating around the bush, but I'm behind the new guy."

"No offense, Rachel, but last time I tried to have a serious talk with you about a girl, you spent half of the time teasing and roasting and I really don't need that right now."

"…Okay… fair," Rachel conceded. "Fine, keep your secrets."

Once we were done eating, Marco and I went to the second floor of the University Center. We sat down on one of the sofas. "So, I'm assuming this is about your interest in Jada," I began.

Marco didn't say anything at first. He looked down at his hands for a moment. "Um… honestly, I think we can call it a full blown crush," he replied. He took in a breath, then looked up at me. "I… was hoping you'd tell me what to do?"

"Well, I'd say take things slow and – "

"That's… that's not what I meant." Marco paused for a moment. "…Cassie, I'm asking you… to tell me… that going after her is a bad idea."

It took me a moment to realize what he was saying. I sighed. "Marco…"

"I'm sorry but…" He clasped his hands together. "Look… going after her would be extremely risky. There's a chance that she or someone else close to her is a controller. And that would put our lives at risk. That's something I don't want. On the flipside, if she's not a controller or close to one, her life could be at risk just by knowing me. And I don't want to do that either. I… I need you to tell me it's a bad idea. I need you to tell me that I'm being selfish and foolish before I go all in on this. Because I love you guys too much and I don't want to be the reasons you guys end up dead – or worse."

I shook my head. He wasn't going to like what he was going to hear.

"I can't," I said.

"Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't be fair for me to say that." Marco scoffed before he stood up and started to walk away. "Marco!" he stopped in his tracks. I didn't say anything else at first. I stood up and walked up behind him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and placed my chin on his right shoulder. "Marco, you have to understand something. We've been fighting for so long. And somehow, by some kind of miracle, we not only managed to remain alive, we somehow managed to keep this planet from getting taken over. But to this day, I've had Jake to turn to, and vice versa. And Tobias and Rachel have had each other. And you're left out in the cold, so to speak. Are you right to be careful? Definitely. And I'm happy you care about us. But… I think maybe you can afford to be a bit selfish. So, if you're sure, go get your girl."

"…" I felt Marco's cheek brush against my own as his jaw tightened briefly. He then bowed his head. "Cassie… I don't know how you do it, but always manage to find a way for me to hate you and love you more at the same time with the stuff you say."

I chuckled before I placed a kiss on his temple. I let go of him. "It's a gift. Now come one. Let's get going before our rides leave us." He nodded. He then turned and looked back at me.

"I promise I'll keep you in the loop in everything," Marco said. "Just, do me a favor. When I do, and something seems suspicious to you, please tell me. Okay?"

"I will," I said. "Now come on."

After that, we made our way down to the first floor before we went out the front door.