(They are all-powerful,) Ax said, in response to the Ellimist's assertion that he didn't understand what he was talking about. (They can cross a billion light-years in a single instant. They can make entire worlds disappear. They can stop time itself.)

"This one doesn't look all that powerful," Marco said, though Tommy had the feeling that he wasn't so much dismissing the Ellimist – however many there actually were of him – as trying to make himself feel better.

(Don't be a fool! That is not his body. He has no body. He is… everywhere at once. Inside your head. Inside this planet. Inside the fabric of time and space.)

Everyone had a lot of questions for the Ellimist, but what the Ellimist said in response brought them all up short.

"You must decide the fate of the human race," the Ellimist said, once the rest of the Animorphs had calmed down a bit.

"Oh, is that all?" Marco drawled, clearly trying to sound unimpressed, even in spite of everything they'd already seen. "Just the fate of the human race? Don't you have something more challenging for us?"

"We do not interfere in the private affairs of other beings," the Ellimist said, clearly not paying attention to anything that Marco was saying. "However, when they are in danger of becoming extinct, we step in to save a few members. We love life; all life, but especially sapient races like Homo Sapiens. This is a very beautiful planet; a priceless work of art."

"You've obviously never seen our school," Marco said, clearly still trying to defuse the steadily-growing tension.