Again, we had to eat in shifts. I was waiting my turn when I heard Ax's voice in thoughtspeak. >Rachel? Could you please interrupt Cassie's mother?>

I listened. She was having a one-sided conversation with Ax. "…are equally viable to interpret…"

>I'm not sure how to do so politely.>

"…rather than the stated figure of one hundred fort…"

"Hey, um, would either of you like some lunch?" I helped Ax out.

"Thank you, yes, I think I'll have some. Have you eaten?"

"Not yet. I'm still full from breakfast."

She narrowed her eyes shrewdly, as Ax scurried off of the scene. "Are you sure?"

I laughed. "Yeah. Pretty darn sure."

Now she seemed concerned. "I still think you should eat."

"I will."

She headed off into the kitchen, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. Cassie emerged from it shortly after, her hair tangled in a knot that made Rubik's Cube look easy.

"Let me fix that," I interjected.

She was baffled. "Fix what?"

"Your hair."

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"Something-good grief." I knelt down behind her and began sorting through the labyrinth. It felt so good to be able to do something with her again that did not involve Yeerks. To have even a semblance of a normal life. There were only two problems. The first was the state. "Cassie?"

"Mm-mm?"

"Have you washed this in the last…year?"

She pretended to count on her fingers (I hope, I hope). "Yeah, um…yup. I have."

I took a deep breath and was about to reply when her mom showed up. "Hello, Rachel?"

"Hey there! How's it going?"

"Why haven't you eaten yet?"

I looked at the clock. Seeing how much time had passed took on even more meaning since I learned the consequences of the morph limit. "I lost track of time."

"There's plenty of food."

"Okay, great." Now that she brought it up, I realized how hungry I felt! There were a few slices of French toast left, which I attacked with the precision and fury I'd used in my grizzly morph so many times. Then I returned to my project. "Errgh! Are there any fine combs in here?"

"What do you think?" asked Tom. "Not to offend, but many of us don't care."

I couldn't respond, and Cassie took advantage of my pause to escape. Jordan then suggested that she do my hair, which I accepted. Unfortunately, this wound up with me being tied to the couch. I was in an even more precarious position when I realized who was all available to extricate me. There was nobody I'd consider competent, or at my level. So I stayed where I was.

It actually wasn't that bad-nobody was doing anything more engaging. Cassie offered to untie me but I politely declined. She then tried to find an excuse to avoid another interminable Parcheesi game, but the only available option was playing Disturbingly Disturbing Abyss, Part II, against Jake. Marco wanted to do the "color commentary" for that, but gave up when he realized it spoiled Disturbingly Disturbing Abyss (presumably the original, not yet entitled Part I), which he hadn't beaten yet. So Sara decided tocommentate instead.