The next year was definitely the most interesting one of my life. I guess you could argue that the past eighteen months were the most interesting, because that was when I became a Controller.
Interesting has a bunch of different meanings associated with it. My friend, Rob, who moved here two years ago from some town in Minnesota, once told me that people there say something's "interesting" if they're attempting to be polite about something that isn't really good. I found that a little weird, at the time, so of course, I told him that was interesting, and he laughed like I'd made a really funny joke.
Before the Yeerks decided to invade our planet, I always figured that I wanted to have a good life, and an exciting one, but also a normal one. Like, I didn't want to be some superhero you see in movies, someone who's always going from one crazy story to the next, always saving someone's life. I didn't want a boring life, naturally, but I didn't want things to be insane all the time.
If someone asked me what I wanted to do after high school, I would have said play basketball in college and go pro. Find a girlfriend and then get married, which shouldn't be hard, because I've always been good looking and decent to other people. Jake, back when we used to be friends, would look up to me-at least in part-because I wasn't a bully to him, the way a lot of other older brothers were. Even now, I worried about him. Maybe, especially now. Anyway. I wanted to have a normal life, but also a good life. At least as good as the one I had growing up.
Eighteen years in as a Controller, I wasn't sure if my life would ever be normal again.
Terlin was cool. We were used to each other, and he kept his word about not trying to recruit Jake or my parents to The Sharing. If all of the other full members had at least one family member who was also a Controller, it might have raised red flags, but either it was really difficult for most people to swallow the full member propaganda, or more Yeerks were like Terlin than I thought.
It wasn't that I never saw families all feeding together at once at the Yeerk Pool, or siblings, or even a parent and their kid. It was just that, when we went to the full members only Sharing meetings, I usually would only be count on one hand people who had managed to infest at least one other member of their family.
Had Terlin been a less than decent Yeerk, he might have pointed out that this meant that most humans were selfish and couldn't be bothered to spend their own time helping others.
Not that other Yeerks didn't repeat this sentiment.
Being Terlin's host, and the fact that he hadn't been promoted in the eighteen months we'd been living in my body together, meant that he heard a lot about what Visser Three was trying to do to speed up the invasion and capture the Andalite Bandits, but we saw very little of it.
I was, after all, a regular high school student. I spent more time playing basketball than going to Sharing meetings.
A cruel Yeerk, or a more ambitious Yeerk, might have made me quit. High school basketball takes up a lot of time, and when you add homework and feedings to the mix, there isn't a lot of time to spend on the Yeerk invasion.
That being said, Terlin knew how much I loved being on the team, and how good I was. So, if he wasn't as active in The Sharing (the Yeerk invasion) as he could have been, he could attribute this to maintaining my cover.
Plus, if I did end up going pro and the Yeerk invasion progressed at the rate it was going, it would look a lot better for The Sharing to have a basketball star on their side than just some regular, relatively attractive twenty-something male.
I guess I was about as happy as I could be, given how everything was going. Like I said, my life became a lot more interesting in the past eighteen months.
Then, everything changed.
It wasn't that Terlin got promoted or anything like that. Everything started out normal enough. He'd just said goodbye to me before refueling in the Yeerk Pool, and I was trying my best to ignore the screams of the involuntary humans and Hork-Bajir in the cages. If I paid too much attention to that, I'd just go crazy.
I entered the voluntary area with a few other hurried voluntary humans who probably shared my "let's get out of here FAST" expression, and we all kind of breathed a sigh of relief when the screams (mostly) died down.
I was about to take a seat in front of the TV. It was a Friday, so even though I had a mountain of homework waiting for me, even voluntary hosts aren't exactly allowed to bring stuff with them when their Yeerk feeds. A stuffed backpack could be a dangerous weapon in the hands of an involuntary human. Anyway, I knew that Terlin would help me get my work done way faster than I could have done it by myself.
I did a quick scan of the room to see if there was anyone else I recognized. In the past year and a half, there were some regulars, but almost no humans went to the Pool at the same rotation cycle. It just didn't work. Your Yeerk fed when he or she or they could, and as long as they weren't going every day or every other day too often, the higher ups mostly looked the other way. The Yeerk Pool wasn't exactly a buffet, where there were limited supplies. Your Yeerk feeding an extra time or two every month wasn't going to prevent another Yeerk from feeding. If that was the case, well, maybe things would be different.
The only face I recognized was my history teacher, Mr. Tidwell.
He was sitting by himself at one of the tables, a book open in his hand. He was in the middle of looking up, probably turning a page or something, when he caught my eye.
Huh. He must be new. I'd never seen him at the Pool before.
Actually, now that I thought back, he'd been at the regular meetings several months back. Not every single one, but enough. Terlin had thought that he would become a full member...and, come to think of it, I had seen him at a full members meeting about a month ago.
Like I said. Basketball practice and games took up a lot of time.
I wasn't sure if I should go over and say hi. You know the weird feeling you get when you're a kid, and you see your teacher at the grocery store or something? Until then, you genuinely thought that they lived at the school. Or, at least, that they didn't do normal stuff like shop for food.
I was well past that, and besides, I'd seen him at Sharing meetings before. Still. It felt...weird.
Before I could decide whether to go over to him or just ignore the fact that one of my teachers was a fellow voluntary Controller, he gave me a little wave.
Not a "hey, Tom, I need to talk to you about your latest history paper" wave. You know the kind that teachers give.
More of a "oh, hi, you're here, too!" kind of wave.
I returned the wave, plastered a smile to my face, and then turned to head to the TV area.
If he really wanted to talk to me, he could come over.
He didn't, but every time I felt someone stand up near me, I sort of jumped in my seat.
Looking back, I probably made the right decision.
It didn't exactly change how everything worked out in the immediate future-or long term future, either.
(Hey, bodysnatcher,) I greeted, once Terlin had connected to my brain and (for the next few minutes) taken control of my body.
He gave me an indulgent mental eye roll in response.
(Do anything interesting, besides swim around and feed?) I asked, as he raised my body to a standing position.
While voluntary hosts, like me, aren't exactly forced down into the water, the guards remained insistent on hold our heads still so that our Yeerks can get inside.
Of course, they also wait until they're sure we've taken a deep breath, and a nice guard might even let you put just half of your face in the Pool instead of pushing your entire head down.
After all, the infestation process can take up to a minute, and going that long without air-especially if you're voluntary-can be a real pain in the butt for your Yeerk.
(Rumor has it that Visser One's body was found, but it's severely damaged,) Terlin offered.
(You know that "it" has a gender and a name,) I pointed out.
My kid brother's best friend's mom. Turned out, she hadn't drowned nearly four years ago, but her Yeerk had thought it would be easier to perform the duties of Visser One without a husband and kid to deal with.
Why she hadn't just infested them was beyond me, but I wasn't complaining. Had Marco been a Controller, Jake probably would be, by now.
In fact, he might have been the one to get me to join The Sharing.
Terlin had the decency to look abashed. (Sorry, Tom.)
(So, what's gonna happen next? Is Visser One going to grab herself a new host and kill Marco's mom?) I wondered.
(She probably would have a year ago,) Terlin admitted, (but she's lost a lot of her power. I imagine that she'll be required to keep her host body and have it...her...repaired.)
We were out of the Yeerk Pool now, and Terlin wordlessly gave me back control.
(I'm surprised that she didn't demand Visser Three's host body when she became Visser One,) I noted. (She's his superior, isn't she?)
(She's ranked higher than he is, but only the Council can give that type of command,) Terlin explained, his voice patient. (Although, why the head of the Yeerk invasion is allowed to have an Andalite host instead of a human is beyond me.)
I shrugged, mentally. (Bet you're glad you're just a lowly Yeerk,) I teased. (You're stuck with me.)
He chuckled. (It's not all bad, Tom. I'd rather have a voluntary host than a broken or screaming one, even if I have to share control of your body.)
(What do you expect?) I half grumbled. (It is my body, even if you're living in it.)
(I know,) Terlin acknowledged. (And it's not all bad, sitting back and not controlling it.)
He'd told me this before. The Yeerk instincts to control a host are strong ones, but after you resist them long enough, I guess they kind of fade into the background. Then, with the host in control, the Yeerk can kind of sit back and enjoy the view.
(So, you want to view my memories from this afternoon?) I pressed.
It still wasn't something I enjoyed, but I understood why Terlin had to do it. If I experienced or did something and he didn't know about it, and it turned out to be important later...well, there could be trouble.
Terlin, knowing how I felt, gave a mental nod and a gentle mental hug. (I'll be quick,) he promised.
A few minutes later, Terlin frowned. (I was certain that Illim 462's host was involuntary. Very involuntary,) he mused. (And I would have heard if he'd been reassigned.)
(People can change their minds, right?) I asked. (I did.)
(Yes,) Terlin acknowledged, (but Illim had been infesting your teacher for over six months at this point. If a host becomes voluntary at that point, it's rare. More often than not, due to a change in Yeerk, and even that is very uncommon.)
(Because the cruel Yeerks are given to involuntary hosts?) I recalled.
(Yes.)
(Well, he's voluntary, now,) I pointed out.
Terlin gave me a mental eye roll. (Apparently so.)
Author's note:
You could say that this chapter is somewhat of a transitional one. Even though this fic is technically AU, everything that happens to the Animorphs, up to this point, remains the same. Or, at least, the major ones. This is important because it means that Tidwell was initially involuntary, but some time after Illim started learning about the Peace Movement, they established an agreement/alliance. Which, we know, takes place before 29.
However, I can't have Tom and Tidwell interact too much before 29, because it would complicate the storyline. At this point, a type of "first contact" has been reached. Tidwell, no longer involuntary, sees Tom, who is also voluntary. Even though Tidwell knows all about Jake and Cassie and the others, Tom and Terlin are completely oblivious.
Since Tom is already voluntary, and Illim and Tidwell know that he would be a powerful ally, they have to tread cautiously.
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