A/N: As thanks to teh Michy for updating almost every day (read: MUCH faster than me), this chapter is going to be a wee bit different. ;) This is truly the best way to write this chapter, so I hope you guys don't mind.
Dedicated to teh Michy. Thanks for providing us with a brilliant, inspirational story to read while we write our stuff. It's really helped with this chapter, that's for sure!
Also to Josh, The Horned Water, Ian and everyone over at Project AM. It's a great thing you guys are doing, and I hope the movie really takes off with a BAM. :D Much success to all of you. (And thanks Ian for allowing me to use "Ohmigosh. THIS IS MY LUNCH." :P)
This chapter is brought to you in part by YouTube. The reason I started writing this chapter the other day is because YouTube was malfunctioning, and I wasn't able to watch some "new" Animorphs episodes! So, thanks, I guess, YouTube!
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Visser Three's Journal
Chapter 11
Yeerk Pool Hospital
10:00 p.m.
Dear Journal,
All I remember for the longest time is swimming. I was swimming, in my quite probably infected sea snake morph, following the sub. All I could think of the entire time was that stupid human Beetle (what the hell sort of classification is that?) song "Yellow Submarine". Except this submarine was transparent. Definitely not yellow.
I felt a bit VERY UNCOMFORTABLE in the midst of all this salt water. I had to concentrate on something else the whole time – thank the lords for that infernal song – in order to not panic. See, salt water is really bad for us Yeerks. It burns our slime coat upon contact, and can infect our skin if it gets far enough, sometimes causing death.
There was definitely some salt water on me already, since this creature's wide ear canal had opened underwater while I was unconscious. I could tell since my vision was a bit hazy, and in general I felt drowsy as hell. But I would not stop swimming! … Is that the shore I see far away? APPARENTLY, unless a gargantuan dirt clod simply materialized in the middle of the ocean…
Suddenly, the sub disappeared below me. It just vanished. Most probably, they cloaked it, since we were nearing a civilized area. Still, from where I was now, I could see exactly where they were going – the underwater entrance to the Yeerk pool, which wasn't so far away from where we were. All I had to do was swim there, and all the swimming would be over… I could relax, get checked up for injuries, then go back to the home world. Simple as that.
Or at least, "simple as that" was what I thought as I psyched myself, then dove bravely under the salty surface. I swam for what seemed like hours under the cold water… it surrounded me, making me feel very claustrophobic. Hell, I was even breathing it (not my fault the morph has gills, and not my fault Visser One doesn't).
I can't wait to get out of here, I thought to myself bitterly.
Then, finally, after what seemed like a fricking decade, I saw the entrance in the distance. It widened to a very large size to let something – most probably the cloaked sub – pass through, and I rushed forward, I nto the entrance along with it. I was so close I practically got clobbered by the propellers, but what the hell! I was inside!
Before I knew it, I was back on solid ground again. I quickly demorphed to my Andalite form and, to my great surprise, still felt woozy. How the frig had that happened? Not that I cared – I had WAY too much on my mind without that. First things first – the PUBLIC TELECOMS!
I ran as quickly as a dazed Andalite could to the public telecom stand. Luckily enough for me, there was no waiting line. I picked up the telecom and dialed quickly.
3-6-9-3-9…
- Brrrt… brrrt… brrrt… (what kind of a gay ring is that anyway?)
" Whadda ya want?" the Taxxon snapped from aboard the Blade ship. " You know back in my day we didn't have people calling at --"
( SHUT UP ALREADY! ) I yelled. ( THIS IS NOT "YOUR DAY"! ) calmed down a little, I continued. ( Fly the Blade ship to the underground pool complex. NOW. )
Without waiting for a reply, I hung up.
Next on the list…
4-4-5-6-2… (Why was Visser One's number there? I must ask him about that when I get back…)
- Brrrt… Brr --
" Hello, you've reached the Council of Thirteen of the Yeerk Empire," said a monotone, almost bored voice. " Please remember that you must reserve an appointment to speak to us, that we do not accept solicitation – even the oatmeal kind, nor death threats, and that our vacation days are Mondays and Wednesdays. For any further information on applying conditions, please visit our website at councilnews-dot-uni. Councilor Four speaking, how may I help you?"
I stayed silent for what appeared to be a LONG time.
( … MUST you say that every single time you answer the phone? ) I exclaimed.
" Actually, yes," Councilor Four said a bit sheepishly. " Or else the Emperor will have my head."
I laughed, pitying the poor fool. ( Anyway listen, we're at the hospital, and -- )
" The HOSPITAL? Good lords, Visser Three, what happened!"
( Well, Visser One got the place blown up and almost got herself DROWNED in the process… and I feel woozy. )
" Are you alright?"
( Do I SOUND dead? )
" Okay, you're fine," Councilor Four said with a laugh. " And what about Visser One?"
( No idea. I'm going to check up on her in a second. ) I sighed. ( Maybe, if I'm lucky, she'll be in terrible pain, or paraplegic, and not be able to move all the way to the pool in three days… )
" You're so cruel," Councilor Four said.
( She's my worst enemy, she should be glad that I actually bothered to COME here. Am I crazy? )
Councilor Four laughed again. " I wouldn't doubt that, Esplin."
( Anyway… so I'll be back on the home world late tomorrow. Hopefully. )
" Alright," Councilor Four sighed. " Good luck not killing anyone…"
( Who said I wasn't going to kill anyone? ) I exclaimed.
" Bye, Visser Three," Councilor Four laughed.
( Bye. )
I hung up. Then I smirked and dialed again.
5-6-2-9-3…
- Brrrt… brrrt… brrrt… brrrt…
A monotone voice picked up just before the fifth ring.
" Hello, you've reached Visser One. Obviously I am not able to answer any incoming messages at the moment, but if it is urgent and relevant, please leave a message."
- BEEP!
( Visser One, ) I sneered. ( If you're listening to this message, it means you survived. And it also means I will be contacting the Council about your obvious treason. Do with that what you will, but by the time you hear this, it will already be too late. )
I hung up, barely resisting the urge to insert some evil laughter in there for needed dramatic effect.
Then, I walked over to where I saw Visser One being wheeled through the pool complex on a stretcher. She wasn't hooked up to life support or anything – come on, it's not THAT bad. But she was ghost white and obviously unconscious.
I clopped up to the two medics who were handling her. They practically jumped ten feet at the sight of me.
" V-Visser Three!" one of them, the wimpy one exclaimed.
( What's happened to her? ) I asked sternly.
This time, the second doctor responded, in a more professional way. " A Leeran aboard the submarine explained the situation… we think she may have gotten partially detached from the host's brain during the water onslaught. This could have caused some salt water to afflict her skin through the ear canal. We'll be lucky if the water doesn't leave permanent scars on her skin."
LUCKY! I thought cynically. More like IRRITATED.
" If you were present during the destruction of the facility, it may be a good idea to have you examined as well," Mr. Professional said.
" Y-Yes Visser, it certainly would," added Wimpy.
( Fine, ) I spat. ( But make it quick. )
They led me to a room where they examined me – and discovered that my wooziness was indeed caused by salt water which had infected me while I was in my unconscious morph. I was given an antidote and told to rest. So that's how I ended up here, in a tiny room, resting for what is now near SIX HOURS. I should be allowed to leave tomorrow, they said – which was good, for that's what I had told Councilor Four.
So, since I obviously don't have you with me, Journal, I am writing these words on some looseleaf I found in the drawer. Don't worry, however… I'll be sure to stick these notes inside you when I am again aboard my Blade ship.
Sigh… I'm starting to get tired. I've been writing for what seems like forever. I'll be taking a quick nap, and will hopefully be back later for some more "reciting".
Until my return,
Esplin 9466
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May 29th
1:11 a.m.
Dear Journal,
I walked through the hallway to Visser One's hospital room. I wasn't supposed to be up at this time, but hell with that! Nobody told me what to do. Especially not some tired looking grandmother man with a large bald spot, and big round glasses just SCREAMING "Lock me up in Dorkville!".
In the hallway, I noticed that there were photographs honoring some of our best doctors and scientists. Visser Fourteen's picture was huge and had his name gold-plated underneath. In a smaller, less important photograph I recognized Mr. Professional. But nowhere did Wimpy's picture appear… for obvious reasons.
I got to Visser One's room – isn't it ironic that the only place we AREN'T next door neighbors is at the HOSPITAL? – and just stood outside for what seemed like hours. Why did I have to come see her anyway? I berated myself for coming this late. It was after midnight. But I had been bored. After I woke up from my snooze, at eleven thirty, a half hour had seemed to last a thousand eternities.
I slowly opened the door. There Visser One lay, sprawled on a hospital bed with a huge monitor over her head and warm blankets over her body. From what I could tell, she was still in her Earth host, Eva. Why wouldn't she be? Even though the host was injured, it would take too long to have Isabel shipped over here.
I couldn't see her eyes thanks to the size of the monitor. She couldn't see me either, which I guess was a good thing. Monitors, in case you're wondering, are used a lot when the Yeerk itself is injured. It lets the doctors see the Yeerk's vitals and monitor their progress. I guess it would be useful, but I had the feeling Visser One's monitor was more of an in-case procedure than anything else. I mean, no matter how small the injury, you don't take any chances with Visser One's health. She's the Council's baby – according to them, they haven't seen such a capable, valuable Visser in a very long time. If anything was to happen to her, the Council would take a fit. Which gets hard for people like me, who constantly feel like MURDERING her sorry ass!
I stepped up to the side of her bed. ( Hi, Edriss. )
She lifted her hand to give me a not-deserved dapsen sign.
( Thanks a lot, ) I snapped. ( For once, I was TRYING to be nice. )
She didn't answer, didn't do a thing.
( You'll pull through, ) I said, not quite sure I wanted it to be true. ( You'll survive… as you always do, just to spite me. )
She didn't respond, though I thought I saw the hint of a faint smile on her face. As "in-case" as the monitor was, she'd still been wracked up pretty badly… As I've already said, the doctors were really hoping, for one, that the salt water hadn't done permanent damage to her skin and slime coat.
Speaking of slime coat, I overheard the doctors talking a while ago, and they were saying something very peculiar… they said that while examining Visser One, they had found that she didn't have much of a slime coat, even on the parts which weren't affected by the salt water. They thought that the salt water could have spread, but that it was unlikely. It is very strange for a Yeerk to lack in slime on their coat… I wondered vaguely if Visser One could be sick.
Naw, not Visser One. I would never be that lucky. Knowing Visser One, her body probably just stopped producing slime out of the shock brought upon by the salt water.
As for me, I HOPED the salt water would permanently affect her skin! Maybe that would lower her self-obsession down a notch! Okay, it's enough that everybody ELSE (except for me) is downright obsessed with Visser One, but she also had to be downright obsessed with herself. Maybe this little accident could fix that for us all…
( Well, good night. ) I said. ( Hope you die sometime. Visser One. )
I saw her smile as I left the room.
Until my return,
Esplin 9466
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May 29th
11:54 a.m.
Dear Journal,
As I write this on my looseleaf, Journal, I'm in my hospital room packing the few things I had on the submarine in order to return to the home world later this afternoon. I'm kind of… resisting, as you can tell. For who can find the time to write while packing? But writing is so amusing, much more amusing than I ever would have thought it would be when I received my first diary long, long ago.
And much more amusing than packing. Which I must, unfortunately, return to now… Stupid lunch being at TWELVE O'CLOCK…
Until my return,
Esplin 9466
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May 29th3:30 p.m.
Dear Journal,
Lunch was a breeze. I got into the cafeteria at twelve-oh-one, since these punctuality freaks would have my head if I just so happened to be five minutes late… did they not realize I could just, you know… lop their heads off? Guess not!
I ordered a bowl of blue Andalite grass, and once I received it from the chef, I slammed it onto the seat facing Visser One.
( Ohmigosh. ) I announced dramatically. ( THIS IS MY LUNCH. )
" Congratulations, you bumbling idiot," Visser One snarled. For god's sake, she sounded like that irritating Taxxon. She herself was eating a bowl of CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP. I mean, how BLAND is that in comparison to MY lunch? Pretty bland.
Visser One had gotten her monitor removed this morning. She was now free to go, with some restrictions for a week. As was I, but with less restrictions. Heh, burn Visser One. We were going to take the Blade ship back to Earth – as Visser One's custom Bug fighter had been absolutely destroyed (She'd parked it IN the facility. Need I say more?).
The Blade ship was ready by the time we finished lunch. Yeerks bade us goodbye as we boarded, and unfortunately, the Taxxon was STILL my pilot…
" Welcome aboard, Visser One," he said respectfully, bowing his head, though I knew what he REALLY thought about our resident Council-seducer.
" Yes, well, where's my room?" asked Visser Dapsen, motioning to me. " Must I ask?"
( As usual, ) I said, smirking. ( The cold, dark one in the corner. )
Visser One rolled her eyes and walked off.
Little did either of us know what kind of trip we were in for… But that, Journal, is another story. Because Visser One WILL NOT leave me alone. For good reason… But YOU KNOW how I feel about MY PRIVACY.
… For another time, Journal. For another time.
Until my return,
Esplin 9466
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Hope you like those "Snippet"ish entries, teh Michy! I decided, hey what the heck:P Since V3 was in a hospital, he wouldn't have had that much time to write long entries anyway. It was perfect.
Cliffie! Can anyone guess what next chapter will be about now? ;) Hehe… You guys have NO CLUE what you're in for.
While you're waiting, please check out www. Project-AM. com (take out the spaces). It's a non-profit Animorphs Flash film in the making. They need all the help they can get, and even telling other people about it will help them. So please, have a look. It's great!
Till next time!