"…four blocks of central downtown remain closed as crews work round the clock to repair the EGS tower's top two floors. Reports in early morning hours from passing commuters of falling debris from over a week ago have been widely exaggerated, officials attributed the minor collapse to flaws in the building's initial structural design, and eye witness claims of the debris causing some injuries have been dismissed, stating that there have been no reported cases of falling debris injuries reported at any of the local hospitals. Authorities have assured everyone that the cordoned off area is just a preliminary precaution and that there is no danger of further collapse of the building, also immediate structural supports are being put in place to prevent any future collapses. In other news, meteorologists and other weather experts continue to remain baffled by the unexplained phenomenon that lead to the touching down of several small and very localized tornados around the greater metropolitan area..."
"That's enough of that." Linda said, turning the circular dial on the vehicle dashboard, causing the radio frequency to change to a music station.
"Mom." Tellion said, faking a pouting voice. "I was listening to the reports."
That wasn't a total lie. Tellion didn't care so much about the immediate reports about things happening around the city. She was just trying to monitor the human intelligence reports to see if there was anything that she could decipher concerning either herself or the local Yeerk invasion forces. The mention of the EGS tower did sound somewhat familiar to Tellion. But any information that she had processed about it was just what she gathered at a passing glance of data from some briefing that she would just as soon as forget, and nothing more. Still, she really felt like she should have known something about that building in relation to her current situation that she should have known about.
"You don't need to concern yourself with stuff like this hon." Linda countered. "It's going to make you worry about a bunch of nothing."
As they drove down the interstate, Tellion and Linda both could see the massive building that was the EGS tower in the not so far distance. "Still…" Linda said, gazing at the structure that stood taller than all others above the city. "I think something is up about the whole matter about that collapse."
"Do you think?" Tellion asked, again faking ignorance.
"Honey, I'm no engineer, but a building doesn't just have a piece of itself fall apart for no reason. And it doesn't make any sense that the authorities would cut off four entire blocks around the building. I'll bet somebody in a high position wants to keep something under wraps. And those crazy tornados popping up randomly everywhere right after that? I wouldn't be surprised if they were all linked together somehow."
"That's mom, the crazy conspiracy theorist!" Ellaine joined in from the back seat. "Always thinking that something else is going on that no one else could figure out."
"I'm not implying anything Ellaine." Linda countered, "I'm just saying that this collapse is not being treated the way normal one is. And I've never heard of any kind of weather that just randomly makes tornados pop down without any kind of storm system. There really should be a very serious investigation of all this."
"Missing Dddaaannn?" Ellaine said, stretching out the name as she leaned forward in her seat.
Tellion looked over her shoulder at Susan's younger sister. "Dan?"
Ellaine nodded. "Yeah, he was a kind of big time investigative reporter around town. Found all kinds of crazy stuff going on that no one knew about."
I doubt he found out about a secret invasion of this world by an enslaving empire of parasitic slugs. Tellion thought. Or if he did, then he…
"Well that doesn't matter now." Linda said. "He took a job with a big cable news network on the East Coast, so we won't have him around anymore."
"Yeah," Ellaine agreed with a strange smile. "no more eye candy for mom when she watches the news."
"Ellaine!" Linda gasped, her cheeks turning a shade of pink.
Ellaine only rolled her eyes in response. "Oh come on mom. You really expect me to believe that you didn't miss a single segment that had him in it because you really liked his 'investigative reporting'?"
"I'm happily married to your father!" she counted, focusing her eyes on the road ahead of them.
Tellion watched as Ellaine looked out the window towards the distant EGS tower. "Doesn't mean you can't look."
"Alright," Linda growled, clenching the steering wheel tightly. "any more out of you and we're heading back home! No mall. No movie. And you can do your homework tonight!"
"Not saying anything else." Ellaine said, shutting her lips and pulling her pinched fingers across them.
Tellion, while having master most of the human language of English, was still having a difficult time in understanding their non-verbal gestures as well as the use of words for other meanings that they referred to as 'slang'.
Linda grumbled under her breath and looked over at Tellion. "Just wait till you and Mark have kids. They'll drive you crazy every second of every day."
"Kids…" Tellion said, staring back at Linda.
Tellion didn't know of children. Yeerks didn't really have parents. They were all raised as part of a greater community. And the breeding programs to create new hosts…well all she knew was that there were specialized facilities that had been constructed on all of the Empire's subjugated worlds, facilitated with Yeerks specifically trained to tend to the needs of newborn infants of the various species they had conquered. The few scraps of information that had passed to her from the tiny number of out of system Yeerks she had communicated with said that the younglings were raised from birth with a steady flow of indoctrination teachings that created the belief that Yeerks were the benevolent masters of those subjugated species, and that it was both a right and a privilege for them to have a Yeerk to assume control over their bodies once they had reach suitable age to be of use to the Empire.
Tellion involuntarily sneered at the thought. Raised from birth to be made to believe that being a slave in your own body was a privilege…
Linda made a face, which broke Tellion's thoughts of disgust about the horrible things that her kind did to helpless world, and innocent children of various species.
"Oh…I'm sorry honey…I didn't mean to talk about that…" she said.
"What?" Tellion asked, not being able to disguise her cluelessness of what had been said to her. "What about kids?"
"Nothing!" Linda said, turning her attention back to the road. "Just some stupid thing that I was saying. Don't worry about it."
Tellion continued to look at Linda, but she didn't seem to want to speak any more about what she had just said. Tellion turned back to Elliane, but she too appeared to not try and make eye contact with her deliberately. Tellion noticed their subliminal attempts at evasion of her seemingly innocent question. She may not have been like the rest of her kind, but Tellion was still a Yeerk. And deception was something that she was very well aware when one was trying to do it to her. Yet, Tellion knew that both of their intentions were pure and innocent, so she opted to not press the matter any further.
They drove on without saying anything. Eventually they left the interstate and took many twists and turns on unnamed roads, until they had arrived at the vast community center known as 'the mall'. This was all part of what Linda and Elliane had called a 'girls night out'. Not that Tellion didn't like leaving Susan's home.
Once she had secured the rest of the Yeerk Pool liquid in her rapidly transforming underground layer, things had quickly changed for her betterment. A day after her private moment with Mark, he had told her that he had unfortunately needed to go back to 'work'. Back to being a doctor at a hospital. Thankfully, it wasn't the same hospital that she had escaped from, so Tellion at least hoped that the Yeerk forces hadn't infiltrated that place yet. So he was safe for now. Linda also had to go back to work as a school guidance counselor, whatever that was. And Ellaine had to go back to school too. Only Arthur had been able to stay with her on an extended period of time since he was 'retired'.
Tellion hadn't objected to the state of the situation, because she quickly learned that he took periods of recreation rest in the semi-evening hours of the day, granting her at least a few hours of uninterrupted time to soak Kandrona Rays. Tellion had observed him in those first few days, and established a pattern in Arthur's sleeping periods. During that time, Tellion had taken a few devices from around the dwelling and had constructed them into a makeshift alarm system within her personal Yeerk pool. Upon her settings, it would send powerful vibrations into the liquid of the Yeerk Pool, warning her that her safe time of Kandrona absorption was drawing to an end. She had made sure that her time in the pool was never more than two hours earth time. Any more, and she would risk exposer to Arthur or the others.
Arthur, much to her thanks, remained clueless of everything that transpired around him. Oblivious to the truth of everything, he had tried to help Tellion around the house, showing her some small and trivial things to pass the time, mostly about how various machines worked and how to perform maintenance on them. Maintenance was something that she was very well aware of as an engineer and could appreciate the knowledge that he imparted upon her. And Arthur seemed to be happy to share his knowledge of working on machines with her. Again, he didn't seem to know much about what to say or do around her, but at least he tried. And Tellion was grateful for his effort.
But her thoughts on the recent past were diminished as Linda pulled them into a predesignated space to for human vehicles. Once the vehicle had been parked, the three of them proceeded into the mall.
Tellion had to admit, she admired the careless and almost innocent aspect of human culture in this sector of the world. So much time and effort was put into purely recreational tasks that it made her so envious of not being able to experience these things as part of the Empire. The three of them went into various shops, looking at garments designed solely to appeal to the female portion of the human species. They all tried on various outfits, although Tellion felt herself rightfully out of place in these matters. She didn't know what human males, or more specifically Mark, would find appealing in what she chose to wear. Since she didn't know anything, Tellion chose to let Linda and Ellaine's opinions guide her choices. As she was trying on one of the many different outfits, Tellion heard two very familiar voices not far away from her.
"Come on Cassie, stop trying to hide in that little room and let me see you."
Tellion recognized that voice. It pulled her attention to a young native girl that was on the other side of the shop that she was in. Tellion only needed a momentary glance at her unique curves, her shiny hair, and the way she held herself to see that it was that young girl named Rachel that she had seen many days ago when she had rescued the dog Homer. As Tellion watched on in silence, another young female exited an adjacent room.
Cassie.
She didn't appear at all distraught like she had the day Tellion had first met her. But she also didn't appear completely happy either. Tellion didn't know why that was. Perhaps it was from the outfit she was wearing. It seemed to fit her body well, while also complimenting her skin coloration. At least, that's what Tellion thought.
But what would she know about human beauty?
Rachel seemed to approve, and that was good enough for Tellion.
"Now that's a knock out look there!" she exclaimed.
Cassie nervously looked at herself in the mirror across from her. "I don't know Rachel. This dress…it just isn't me. I mean, do you think Jake…"
Rachel put her hand affectionately on Cassie's shoulder. "Cassie girl, he thinks you look good in old thrift store clothes and overalls covered in animal poop. I guarantee you that if Jake saw you in this now, his eyes would pop out of his skull."
Rachel's words definitely had an effect on her, because Cassie immediately hid her face behind her hands. That only seemed to make Rachel even happier.
"You deserve to treat yourself girl. You've more than earned it with what you did a few days ago."
"I just…did some quick thinking. It was nothing special." Cassie replied.
"Susan."
Hearing her name called pulled Tellion's attention away from the two girls whose paths she had strangely managed to cross once again, even if they weren't aware of her presence. Tellion looked to see Ellaine in a different outfit that she was trying on. She turned around several times, giving Tellion a full display of her body and the clothes she was wearing. It was a strange design to Tellion. The outfit consisted of two pieces, one a cloth called a 'skirt' and the other a small band of material of the same type that only covered a small portion of Ellaine's chest. A good bit of her torso was exposed. It didn't seem to make any sense to Tellion. The point of clothing was to cover up one's bare body, so garments that were lacking in that area seemed like a very serious design flaw to her.
"Whatcha think?" Ellaine asked, her eyes full of hope.
Tellion was tempted to tell her the truth. That the outfit seemed very lacking in its purpose and that too much of her body wasn't protected from the various unknown elements that she could face when venturing out into the world. But the way she looked at her, it made Tellion decide that a lie was preferable.
"Looks like a knock out look." Tellion said, mimicking the statement Rachel had just said to Cassie.
"You think?" Ellaine asked before giving her a strange look. "Where did you hear that?"
"I heard it around." Tellion answered. "I think it is good on you."
"Well I don't!" Linda said as she walked into view. "You can go put that back and forget about wearing anything like that ever again!"
"But mom…" Ellaine protested.
"No buts about it. No daughter of mine is going to go around looking like that!" Linda exclaimed, looking harshly at Tellion. "And you shouldn't be encouraging her to wear stuff like that."
"Sorry mom." Tellion said, lowering her eyes.
Ellaine made a grumbling noise before going back into the changing room. When she did, Tellion looked back to where Rachel and Cassie had been, but they were both were nowhere to be seen. When Ellaine returned from the changing room in her original outfit they left the store and continued shopping. They spent a good amount of time moving from one end of the mall to the other, stopping in various outfit locations to try on many different types of garments. Eventually, they had several bags of clothing and went to the place that Tellion had been most looking forward too. The food consumption area. As much as she was enjoying all the recreational acts they were doing, Tellion had decided that the experience of tasting the various human foods was one of her more favorite parts of being human.
Not that she didn't enjoy the food that Arthur, Mark, and primarily Linda, had made for her. She just wanted to experience as much of delicious tastes that humanity had concocted for mere consumption of necessary proteins and minerals as she could. As they were entering the vast open food consumption area, a younger female, appearing somewhere in age between Susan and Ellaine's age, waved at them.
"Hello there!" she said in a very happy voice. "Would you like to try some of our free samples?"
Tellion looked at the tray of unknown food products, then back at her family. She had never seen food constructed this way. A very small bit of what seemed to be processed vegetation that Linda had called 'bread', topped with some kind of white substance that she had never before laid eyes on. She stared at Linda with what she hoped was a look of gaining her mother's approval before proceeding.
"Well," Linda said, taking one of the small items. "a sample can't hurt. Won't spoil our appetite."
She sternly looked at Tellion.
"Just one. Ok?"
"Just one." Tellion repeated.
She grasped one of the tiny food items. It barely fit into the palm of her hand, but it was warm against her skin. Tellion hesitantly took an exploratory bite out of the food. Her eyes instantly shot open and a rumble of approving noise came from the back of her mouth as the explosion of deliciousness overcame her sense of taste.
It was good! So good!
Not as enjoyable as strawberry ice cream, but it was very close in comparison. Tellion rammed the rest of it into her mouth and madly chomped down on the food item.
"Geesse, Suszie." Ellaine said with a roll of her eyes.
"I'd say she likes it." the younger girl stated. "Would you like to buy a full sized one?"
"They're bigger than this?" Tellion exclaimed, spitting out a bit of the food still sitting in her mouth as she began to reach for another one.
Linda began pushing Tellion along, keeping her from grasping another one of the delicious food items. "That's ok, we'll eat first. If we still have some room, we'll think about it."
"Oh, ok." the girl said to them before trying to draw attention to a few more humans that were passing by.
They went and sat down at a nearby table. Linda told the two of them to wait while she went and ordered something called pizza. When she was far enough away, Ellaine poked Tellion in the side.
"I told you if you keep eating stuff like that, it's going straight to your stomach."
"But it does go to my stomach." Tellion answered, not really understanding what Ellaine meant. "Food goes down the esophagus and ends up in the stomach to be digested and converted into necessary proteins and minerals for the body."
"Ok Ms. Professor." Ellaine said. "When did you become a scientist anyway?"
Silly thing to say to her. Tellion wasn't a scientist. She was an engineer. A specific type of engineer and a very good one at that.
"I am no scientist." Tellion told her. "I just want to learn everything I can."
"And yet you still can't control yourself when eating." Ellaine pointed back to the place where she had ravenously attacked the small morsel of food.
"But it was so good!" Tellion exclaimed. "Not as good as ice cream, but still so delicious."
"Well, this is one thing about the new you I like." Ellaine said. "All you ever used to eat was lettuce and drink coconut water. It was so dull and boring."
"Well I like eating now." Tellion said. She pointed back at the place where they had gotten the 'samples'. "What was that good food?"
Ellaine looked first at the place she was pointing to, then back at her. "Those were cinnamon buns."
"I like cinnamon buns!" Tellion exclaimed.
"Then you'll like this." Linda said, placing three plates down on the table, each with a very large triangular piece of food. "Pizza! Pepperoni and cheese, Brooklyn style."
Tellion didn't hesitate. She tried it, and found pizza was another one of the human foods that she now enjoyed. She was finished before Ellaine and Linda had finished even half of theirs. For some reason, her rapid finishing of the meal caused the two of them to chuckle slightly. Tellion didn't understand why. But there was still a great deal about being human that she didn't understand. She said nothing else as they each finished up their meals.
When they were done, Linda stood up. "Ok, I think we should use the restrooms before going to the movie."
"I am fine." Tellion said.
"Are you sure hon?" Linda asked. "I don't want you to have to leave in the middle of the movie."
"I am fine." Tellion repeated.
With that said. Linda and Ellaine went to the restrooms while she waited for them at the table. After they were out of sight, Tellion overheard two younger human girls talking at a nearby table.
"You're not going to just leave that there are you?" one said, pointing at a discarded cinnamon bun. "You only took one bite of it."
"No way." the other one said as she got out of her chair. "That stuff will go straight to my hips!"
Tellion didn't really pay attention to anything else they said as they both got up and went away, leaving the cinnamon bun just sitting there. Tellion watched them go, making sure that they wouldn't come back before turning her attention to the cinnamon bun. That delicious, so sweet, so enticing cinnamon bun.
Tellion contemplated what she should do as she continued to stare at it. The food article didn't belong to her, but it had been discarded by the younger girl. Surely it wouldn't hurt anyone if she were to go and claim it for herself. Besides, if no one claimed it, then the bun would likely be thrown away. And if Tellion had been trained to do at least one thing consistently in her life as a soldier in the Yeerk Empire, which was to not waste anything. Even food. So in a way, she was still holding true to her original principles for not wasting anything.
Tellion rose from her chair and moved towards the empty table, licking her lips as she went. The small cinnamon bun had been so very good. The big ones must be equally delicious, if not even more so. Her eyes became fixated on that oh so very enticing morsel of human design. Tellion didn't know if Linda would approve of her eating someone else's discarded treats, but that was the very last thing on Tellion's mind. All she could think of was sinking her teeth into that wondrous and oh so delicious cinnamon bun. As she reached the table, all of her attention was focused on that gooey topped treasure. She was so oblivious to all else that she didn't realize another person was on the other side of the table. Until the tiny hand grasped the edge of the cinnamon bun at the exact same time that Tellion grabbed it.
Her head instantly lifted to see who this interloper was.
He was young. Maybe around Ellaine's age. He had an interesting appearance. Not really seeming to belong to any of the subgroups that encompassed the human species. Maybe a genetic combination of either two or more of those subgroups. Still, it didn't hurt his appearance at all. Tellion guessed that he was what humans would consider 'attractive'. But she was still far too new to being human, and he was far too young to in any way be considered desirable to a human of Tellion's age.
He stared at her with equal confusion of someone else attempting to take the seemingly discarded cinnamon bun. Without thinking of her actions, Tellion gently pulled the cinnamon bun towards her. The unknown boy instantly responded in kind, pulling his end towards him. That one simple action changed everything between them.
A tension of impossible explanation formed up between the two of them. Tellion and this unknown boy narrowed their eyes at each other, like formidable predators staring each other down over a fresh kill. A low growl formed from behind the boy's teeth. Tellion responded with an equally ferocious growl.
She was not going to let this child just take away HER cinnamon bun. Not when she had first laid eyes on it and claimed it for her own. The tension instantly exploded in a microcosm of ferocity that only the two of them were capable of emanating for such an item.
"Mine!" they yelled in unison, each pulling with all their might.
The poor cinnamon bun was torn into two ragged halves from their respective ferocity. Neither Tellion nor the unknown boy seemed to care as they both crammed their hard won ends into their mouths. Even as she chewed down on the delicious sweets of the cinnamon bun, Tellion glared enviously at the boy as he consumed his claimed half. And strangely, he glared at her with equal envy. Each enjoyed their claimed prize, while also glaring with envy at the other half they had failed to claim as their own.
As Tellion watched him cautiously, another young male came rushing to them.
"Dammit Ax…xxxeeelll!" he proclaimed, firmly grasping the young boy. "We had a talk about this!"
Tellion took a moment to observe this new young male. Darker skinned than the boy she had just engaged in combat over for the cinnamon bun. Not so much as Cassie, but enough to distinguish him from other human subgroups. The new boy glanced over at Tellion, and for some strange reason his eyes scanned over her body. She still didn't know what that meant. There was still so much she had to learn about humans.
The other boy forced a smile at her. "I'm…really sorry about this Ms. This is my cousin Axel. He's…special. Sorry about your food."
"All ok." Tellion muttered with a mouth full of food.
He gave her a strange look, as if he found her speaking with a full mouth of food bizarre. Tellion had to remind herself that talking with food in one's mouth was not an acceptable custom among humans. The boy then took Axel by the hand and began leading him away.
"Axel," he growled. "you can't just walk over and take other people's food. It's rude."
"But it was not hers Marco!" Axel proclaimed, pointing back at the empty table. "It belonged to two others and they discarded it. The cinnamon bun belonged to no one! She tried to steal it from me!"
"Forget it Axel." Marco hissed. "You're causing a scene!"
"Why are you calling me Axel?" Axel questioned in a very loud voice. "You said my name was Philip!"
As Marco led Axel, or was it Philip, away Tellion suspiciously watched them head over to the far side of the food consumption area where there appeared three others were waiting for them. But they were so far away that Tellion couldn't make out their specific features to identify them. All Tellion could think of was that it was such a strange experience running into those two. Almost as if she should have recognized them somehow. Especially Axel/Philip. He acted almost like her, as if he had hardly ever eaten anything in his life and had been sheltered from the experience of the experience of taste.
Tellion began to notice many surrounding humans paying attention to her, and decided to return to her table. She had drawn enough attention to herself. And discretion was her primary defense at the moment.
By some act of almost divine mercy, Tellion was allowed to return to her seat before Linda and Ellaine returned to her. When they did, she faked that nothing had happened and she had just been sitting in the chair waiting for them.
"Everything ok honey?" Linda asked.
"Everything ok." Tellion replied. "Just waiting for you two."
"Well," Linda motioned for her to rise. "let's get going. We don't want to be late for the movie."
"I don't know of movie. What is movie?" Tellion asked.
Ellaine and Linda looked between them, as if trying to figure out the best way to answer her.
"Like a T.V. show." Ellaine answered. "Just a lot longer, and bigger."
"Oh." Tellion said. "What kind?"
"Well," Linda said, taking her hands. "we thought we would take you to something that you used to like. Of course we don't expect you to remember anything. But we felt some familiarity might be good for you."
"Familiarity?" Tellion asked, not really knowing the word.
Ellaine lightly hit her arm. "Yeah, one of those stupid space movies you used to like."
"Ok." Tellion said. "I guess I can like space movies."
They didn't say anything else as they left the food consumption area and returned to the vehicle they had traveled there in. Once there, they placed all the garments they had purchased and headed over to the place Linda and Ellaine referred to as the 'movie theatre'. Tellion didn't care very much for the place. Standing in the lines outside the building just to enter it reminded her very much of the infestation and demarcation piers back at the Yeerk Pool. Tellion couldn't help herself from nervously fidgeting as she stood in line. Whether they were oblivious to her actions, or simply chose to not say anything, Linda and Ellaine made no attempt to question Tellion's actions. Once the necessary payment for the privilege of viewing the movie had been done, the three of them entered the theatre.
There, Tellion was again treated to a staple of the unique human culture, buttered popcorn. It wasn't the same as the kind of morsels she had tried a few days ago back at home. These were more covered in liquid, and far more delicious. She had eaten almost half of the container that Linda had purchased before they had even taken their seats in the large viewing complex. Tellion sat quietly in her seat as the massive dark screen illuminated and began playing the movie. She watched in silence as events played out across the gigantic viewing screen. In the truth of everything, she had no idea what it was that she was watching. Nothing made any sense to her, and the story was clearly some sort of concoction devised by human minds of what space travel and futuristic technology would be like for their kind. Oh they were so clueless about what lay beyond their own solar system. The only thing that she witness that had even a vague sense of familiarity to her was one of the creatures she was watching looked oddly a bit like a female Ongachic. Other than that, she didn't understand much of what she was viewing.
Until there came a portion of the entertainment section that depicted a horrific battle in the merciless void of space. Tellion never could understand why, but watching those fictitious ships engaging in combat with each other and being blasted apart in front of her eyes…it caused her memories to be drawn back to when she had witnessed the battle for this world between the Empire and the Andalite forces that had come to stop their designs. Tellion thought of all those terrified Andalite, Hork-Bajir, and Taxxon piolets. All fighting against each other, all being burned to away in almost instantaneous death from both Dracon and Shredder beams, or having the hulls of their ships blasted open and being sucked out into the horrific void of endless space to have their frail bodies implode from the crushing vacuum all around them…
So much pain. So much suffering. So much death.
It made Tellion feel her stomach twist with an unsteadiness. "Bathroom…" she muttered, standing from her seat and rushing to leave the theatre. She rushed into the nearest area designated for female relief and pushed her way into one of the empty stalls. Inside, she hung over one of the waste disposal seats, feeling as if she would regurgitate all of the contents that she had consumed recently. Only through heavy breathing, and total focus concentration, was she able to keep her body's urges at bay. Losing all of the strength in her legs, Tellion collapsed around the toilet and remained there as she continued to fight to hold her unsteady stomach at bay.
She remained in the stall for a while, until a light knocking from the outside drew her attention. "Susan. Honey, are you ok?"
Tellion wiped the small bits of residual spit from the edge of her mouth and exited the stall to face Linda. "I'm ok mom. Just something I ate. I am better now."
She gave Tellion a worried look. "You sure? We can go home."
"No." Tellion said weakly. "We…came to have fun. I don't want to spoil it. I just need a drink."
Linda didn't seem to like her answer, but she reluctantly accepted.
"Alright fine. We'll get you a soda, but I'm taking your temperature if I don't see you improving by the time we get home. You look deathly pale."
Tellion had been around Susan's mother enough now to know when she was not being treated as an adult.
"I am no child mother." she said. "I do not need to be treated like one."
Linda affectionately took a tissue and wiped away some of the perspiration that had accumulated on her face. "You'll always be my child, Susan. No matter how old you get."
They left the bathroom and went to the small area where snacks were available. They were only in line for a few moments before Tellion saw erratic behavior in a nearby line. It was those two young boys she had seen before. The ones from the food court. Marco appeared to be trying to keep control over his cousin Axel/Philip as he kept trying to grab small discarded food morsels scattered across the floor around them.
"Will you stop that Philip!" he hissed. "I told you I was going to buy you a jumbo popcorn. Can't you wait just a minute?"
"Why do you need to 'buy' me food?" Philip questioned, pointing to the floor. "There's more than enough here without having to use you primitive concept of 'currency'."
Tellion and Linda watched them from their line. "Strange boy." Linda remarked. "Handsome for his age though. I'm glad Ellaine isn't out here. She might get a crush on him."
"Crush?" Tellion asked. "Wouldn't that hurt her to be physically smashed?"
"Oh no, honey. That's not what I mean. A crush is…well it has other meanings. It's kind of a complicated thing to explain right now."
"You can explain later." Tellion said, offering Linda an excuse to not keep engaging in a conversation she clearly didn't want to be a part of.
"Thank you honey. Maybe later."
Tellion smiled at her, feeling what she felt a connection should exist between a mother and daughter.
"RRRAAAHHH!"
The scream caught not only her and Linda, but also everyone else in the crowded area by complete surprise. At the front of the counter, a man who had just purchased a small box of popcorn threw the contents into the air and grasped his head.
"Get out!" he cried, nails clawing at his skull. "Get the hell out of my head!"
"Sir…" the girl behind the counter asked with a voice full of fear. "are you alright?"
His answer was to violently smash the front of his skull into the surface of the counter before her several times. One of his hands suddenly spammed with equal ferocity and grasped his face, pushing him back from the counter.
"You fool…" he hissed. "you're going to get us killed! Stop…"
Tellion jumped back when he punched himself full force in the face with his other hand.
"I don't give a damn! Get off my brain! Get the hell out of my skull you damn slug!"
He didn't speak anymore as the hand that had first pushed him away grasped his throat and he began choking himself. Everyone around gasped. Some screamed as he fell to the floor, struggling between trying to strangle himself and punching his face with opposing arms. Others began to push through the crowd to get away from him, adding to the confusion. Only Tellion, and out of the corner of her eye one other individual, didn't jump at what they were witnessing.
She knew. She instantly knew what she was seeing.
The Fugue. A Yeerk was dying. In public, in full view of hundreds of natives. What the hell was going on?
How could a Yeerk, no matter how young or foolish, ever let themselves become cut off from Kandrona Rays to get to this point? She instinctively shuddered at the thought of those final horrific hours of almost never ending pain she herself had endured. It was a suffering she would never wish on even one that she could consider an enemy.
As the controller and his host thrashed about on the floor, drawing even more curious eyes, an individual quickly pushed their way through the gathering crowd. Tellion only was able to glance at them through the mass of bobbing heads, but she was able to identify him as a local enforcement soldier. He rushed in and tackled the writhing controller, forcing the poor being onto his back and placing some kind of metallic restraints on his jerking hands. With a heavy grunt, the enforcement soldier pulled the controller weakly to his feet.
"Got you! You nut job!" he shouted, pulling the controller into a subduing hold. He then looked at all the surrounding curious faces. "Show's over folks. Sorry about the disturbance, everything's under control here."
Hearing his commanding voice of assurance, almost everyone that had been watching readily accepted his order and began to leave. Tellion stood in stunned silence, not daring to believe what she had just witness.
How can you all just walk away? She thought to herself as she watched the crowd slowly going back to what they were doing. Don't you realize what just happened? Don't you understand what you just saw?
Apparently they didn't. Because the incident seemed to be forgotten almost as fast as it began. It was as if the dying Yeerk in front of them had never happened. As Tellion thought about this, she realized something strange.
The enforcement soldier was struggling to drag the weakened controller towards a deserted hallway of the building. Tellion thought that was strange. She looked at the glass doors to the front of the main building. His vehicle was parked out front. So why was he dragging the controller towards the back of the building, away from the vehicle that he should be bringing him to so that he coud take him away?
Drawn by her curiosity, Tellion slipped away from Linda into the moving masses surrounding them. Using her unsavory instincts as a Yeerk for subversive actions, she followed the two at a carful distance, making sure to stay in the shadows and out of clear sight.
Despite the space between them, Tellion could hear their words clearly.
"You idiot!" the soldier hissed, roughly shaking the dying controller. "What the hell were you thinking? Coming to a crowded place like this."
"They said…" he weakly cried. "There was a small pool here. I need Kandrona!"
"You fool." the soldier said. "I told you that was just a rumor. All of our small Yeerk pools are at strategic locations for essential personnel. There's no hidden pools anywhere."
"They said I would go on the next shuttle!" he wailed. "My commander promised me a spot on the next transport to the Pool Ship, but he pushed me back another cycle."
"We're all suffering right now with the loss of the main Kandrona generator." the soldier told him. "You just have to hold on a little longer."
"I can't! You don't know what this is like!" he screamed. "The next shuttle won't come for another eight hours! The pain…it hurts! It hurts so much! I'm dying! I can't control my host anymore. I need Kandrona! I…"
Tellion shuddered at his words. She knew. Perhaps better than any Yeerk on this planet, how much suffering that Yeerk was enduring at the lack of Kandrona sustenance. Some part of her wished that she had brought the Fugue baton with her, but what could she really do? She didn't know if she could ever hope to sneak up on and overtake the obvious enforcement controller with her complete lack of combat training, or if the dying Yeerk would even understand or appreciate why she would try to help him. Nor did Tellion really believe that she could even get him back to her makeshift Yeerk pool in time if she did manage to rescue him.
Knowing his pain, yet feeling so helpless to do anything, all Tellion could really do was watch them from the shadows. The enforcement controller led him towards a secluded area of the movie theatre, where no one was able to see what was about to unfold, except her. Tellion watched with fear as the controller soldier pushed the dying Yeerk towards the exit.
"Come on damn you, move. We need to get you out of here."
"Please…" he pleaded, "I can't do…"
The controller suddenly shook violently, like he had done a short time ago and the food counter.
"Shut the hell up, you filthy worm!" he screamed as the enforcement controller lifted a hand to cover his mouth while the Yeerk's host struggled to free himself. "Just crawl out of my head and die!"
He looked over his shoulder at the other controller and spat liquid from his mouth across his face. "Get off of me you mother…"
The enforcer controller rammed the edge of his elbow into the semi freed host's face, following the blow instantly with another strike to his exposed midsection. Tellion felt her throat tighten as she watched the enforcer controller put the struggling host into a holding maneuver that clearly cut off his ability to breath.
"Get a control over your host!" he growled. "He's your slave, an engine that you control. You are his master! Now show it!"
The host struggled for a few more moments before his actions ceased. Even as he stopped fighting, he also began to cry.
"It hurts so much…" he wheeled. "Just putting my control tendrils back out…they're burning! I can't…Kandrona…please…Kandrona…"
"You know I can't do that." the enforcer controller to him, reaching for the back of his utility belt.
Why was he dying of Kandrona starvation? Tellion thought. With the Yeerk pool right under the city and the main planet based Kandrona generator…
Her face twisted into shock as the realization crossed her mind. The enforcer controller had said the planet based Kandrona generator had been lost. But how and when? Then as if she had been struck by an invisible blow, everything finally became clear to Tellion. The EGS tower, the damage to its top most floor, the entire section of the city closed off to prying curious eyes. The tower had been located in the central part of the city, right above where the underground Yeerk pool was located. Then that meant…the Andalite survivors had found its location and destroyed it.
No. Tellion cried in her mind. Oh no, what have you Andalites done…
What they had to do, Tellion realized with harsh bitterness. This was a war, and they needed to strike in any way that they could to hurt her people's forces and slow the invasion down. But the cost…
Tellion realized that even as she was standing there in that frightful little pocket of darkness, thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of her kind were slowly and painfully withering away from lack of Kandrona sustenance. A suffering she herself was all too familiar of. And knowing this made Tellion feel immensely ill in her midsection.
Even as she thought of this, the dying Yeerk weakly grasped the hand of the enforcer controller that loomed over him.
"Help me. Please…"
"Of course." he answered, his voice void of any emotion.
"No." she whispered with the fear of her suspicion of what was about to happen. "Don't listen to him."
But he couldn't hear her. Nor could he understand her sympathy for him. She understood. Tellion knew what was about to happen to the dying controller and his helpless slave, but she couldn't do anything to save them. She just remained hidden. And watched.
"I know it hurts." the enforcement controller told him as he pushed the dying controller towards the exit. "But I'm going help you."
"You'll…you'll get me to the next shuttle to the Pool Ship?"
As Tellion watched on with horror, the enforcer controller pulled a hidden device from the back of his utility belt.
"Of course." he answered, pulling out the device.
Tellion felt a spike of fear surge through her. It was a Dracon weapon.
No. She thought to herself. He's going to kill you. Both of you. Run! Save yourselves.
Before she could say or do anything else, the enforcer controller pointed the Dracon Beam at the dying Yeerk, as well as his helpless host, and fired the weapon. For just one single moment of terror, Tellion was illuminated by the red glow of the instrument of death. The dying controller's whole body was encased in the red glow of oblivion as he was consumed by the haze of the Dracon Beam and slowly vaporized. And then…they were gone. Both the controller, and his human slave.
Tellion pressed her hands over her mouth to stifle the anguished scream that was rolling up from her throat. She felt the heart of her trembling body skip its beat from what she had just watched. She was overcome with a sensation that made her stomach feel as if it was being twisted over itself many times. But above all else, she felt a sense of helplessness, because as much as she told herself she was powerless in that situation, Tellion couldn't help but feel that there was something that she could have, or should have done to save both of them. Yet, the moment passed, and all that remained in that little area of the hallway was the enforcer controller and a faint residue of miniscule bits of ash as the final monument of two lives that had just been extinguished.
Tellion wanted to scream at him. She wanted to hurl whatever was nearby at him in rage. But she didn't move. She didn't even dare to breath, least she give herself away to him. Once again, she did nothing except cower in the darkness. The enforcer controller was oblivious of her presence as he replaced his Dracon beam into the specialized holster to hide it. He lifted some kind of device wrapped around his left wrist and spoke into it.
"Patrol unit 44 here. Renegade found and neutralized. No risk of exposure by local populace. " He paused for a moment. "Understood, proceeding back to my designated post."
The controller took one last, almost questioning, glance down the hallway towards where Tellion was hiding. Tellion didn't move even a micro fraction, she didn't even breathe in that moment, not daring to make even the faintest sound lest she give herself away and perish as well. With that one last look, the controller exited the building, leaving Tellion to her pitiful and no action self. Too terrified to move, too terrified to do anything, Tellion waited in the darkness until she was sure that the controller wouldn't return. As she was about to leave her hiding spot, a small figure stepped out of the shadows from further down the hallway. The movement caused Tellion to remain hidden where she was. Even in the dimness and at the distance he was to her, Tellion could see that the figure was that strange child she had run across earlier. Axel, or maybe Philip?
How long had he been there? What did he see? Had he witnessed everything?
He must have.
Tellion felt herself stunned to see that his youthful face was not just as full of shock or even terror as hers likely was after what he had just witnessed. No, instead his small, yet handsome face was set and hardened, as if he had seen violent death like this before. But that didn't make any sense to her. How could this child, with so few years of existence in this world, have seen enough horrific death to not be traumatized by it? Especially something as bizarre as the execution that had just occurred.
Before she could think any more about it, Philip quietly turned from her and left the hallway, fading back into the masses of surrounding people. When he was gone, it was only then that Tellion dared to leave her hiding spot. She too quietly exited the hallway and returned to the mingling masses, her mind so full of many different thoughts and emotions that she was almost oblivious to everything around her.
"Susan!"
Tellion turned to the sound of Linda's voice. Susan's mother rushed over to her, stopping just in front of her.
"Where did you go? I couldn't find you anywhere after that crazy man…"
"I am sorry mom. I just got lost in the crowd and went down the wrong hall." Tellion said to her in a half lie.
Linda grasped her hand tightly, pulling her back to the theatre that they had come out of. "Well please don't go wandering off like that again honey. You don't know your way around and I don't want you to get lost."
"I won't mom." she said.
As they went back inside, Tellion spotted Philip standing on the other side of the large lobby. He was with four other children his age. She only had to look a little closer to realize that he was with Cassie, Rachel, his supposed cousin Marco, and…
Tellion lost her stride for a moment when she recognized him as that boy from several nights ago in the communication booth. Maybe…he was the Jake that Rachel and Cassie had been talking about.
They were all busy speaking to themselves, mostly all of them addressing Philip about something that she couldn't hear amid all of the commotion of all the people speaking around them. Tellion was pulled back into the theatre by Linda before she could think of anything about that strange group of youths.
How? How did she keep crossing paths with these children? Was it just coincidence of almost cosmic occurrences, or something else? And to what end could those immature humans be to anything, especially anything concerning Tellion and her own current fate?
Tellion took her seat next to Ellaine, who was still consuming popcorn and acting like she hadn't noticed they even left.
"You missed some good parts. What took you so long?"
"There was a crazy person in the lobby making a scene." Linda whispered to her. "The police had to come take him away before he really hurt himself, or someone else."
"Really?" Ellaine asked, sitting up in her seat. "He was hitting himself or what?"
"He hurt himself." Tellion answered, staring ahead at the screen. "A lot."
"No way."
"He was screaming about voices in his head, telling it to get out." Linda said.
"Damn." Ellaine almost pouted. "I wish I had been there to see that."
"No, you don't." Tellion said, still looking ahead. "It was not pleasant."
"Well, the point is, the police have him and they'll make sure he gets the help he needs." Linda whispered. "I just hope that he'll be ok."
He isn't. Tellion thought, guilt racking all through her frail Yeerk body. He's dead, and so is his Yeerk oppressor. They're both gone.
And she was still here. Living a life that she didn't deserve to be in. Perpetuating a lie to keep herself living. And what else? Tellion thought with sadness.
The war was still going on. All around her. The Andalite survivors were still battling to hold back the invasion, but not even they could hope to prevail indefinitely against the forces arrayed against them. But the fallout from their battles was still happening. People were dying all around her, even if she could almost never see it happening. Yeerk and their slaves alike. And maybe even some of the Andalite resistance. And what was she doing? Lying, hiding, maybe just hoping that somehow she could remain hidden from it all. It was a glorified way of saying that she was doing nothing. That she was being a coward. But…what could she do? She was just a single, insignificant tech that had only managed to survive because some greater power had willed it. She hadn't done any of it on her own, excluding creating her personal Yeerk Pool.
But could she really stay hidden from this war indefinitely? Tellion realized with a great weight of sadness upon her, she doubted it. Sooner or later, this war was going to come and sweep her up, whether she wanted it to or not.
And…which side would she find herself on eventually? For, or against, her own people? Despite what they were doing, the horrific things that they were perpetuating upon helpless worlds and countless millions of innocent creatures, they were still her people. She could hold no judgement upon them for their actions, because she was equally guilty of their sins. How could she ever dare to think of fighting against her own kind?
Did that…make her actions wrong? Wanting to survive. Wanting just to live a quiet, happy, and peaceful life.
So many questions about the surrounding universe, and herself. And next to no true answers for her were to be found anywhere.
The movie eventually ended and they left. Tellion didn't spot any of the children she seemed to keep crossing paths with. Perhaps that was a good thing, Tellion thought. They had all seemed so peaceful and happy. They deserved to keep that innocence for as long as was possible. Except maybe that Philip. Marco had been right. His cousin was indeed a 'special' human being. She just hoped that he wasn't too traumatized by what he had seen.
Tellion stopped instantly as she exited into the slightly chilled night air and Linda left to go get their vehicle. What he had seen. Tellion's body shivered, but not from the cool air across her body. He had seen…that controller execute the dying Yeerk. And the full realization of that hadn't crossed her mind until just this moment.
Oh Tellion you fool. She thought. Why didn't you go speak to him? He needs to know the danger he just put himself, and his friends in.
If he were to speak to anyone about what he had witnessed, it wouldn't take too long before imperial spies discovered that he was aware of them. Then that would be the end of either his freedom, or his life. Maybe even for the others.
I have to go back. She thought, turning around as her heart pounded in her chest. I have to warn him to forget what he just saw. Before it's too late.
But the door had already closed on her. And she couldn't make it open, no matter how hard she struggled to make it. There was some kind of lock on its interior. Tellion grunted as she pulled with all her might to pry it open. But the door refused to budge.
"Suzie, what are you doing?"
Tellion looked over her shoulder at a curious Ellaine. She forced a fake smile at Susan's little sister. "I wanted more buttered popcorn before we leave."
"Well, you can't get back in now. Besides, mom has all the money. You couldn't get any even if you got back inside. Unless maybe you flirted with the casher."
"I don't understand, what is flirt?" Tellion asked innocently.
Ellaine just smiled at her. "Yeah, probably just as good that you don't do that. Mark might get jealous."
"What is jealous?"
"It's when…" Ellaine shook her head. "You know what, just forget I said anything."
"But I can't forget. You just said it." Tellion answered.
Ellaine just chuckled and wrapped her arm around Tellion's. "I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of this new you." she said, leading her away from the theatre.
Tellion glanced regretfully over her shoulder at the building, and the young boy that she had failed to warn.
Oh please, Philip, or Axel, whatever your name truly is. Tellion wished for the strange boy she had only just met. Don't speak of what you saw to anyone. Please just forget that it ever happened. I don't even know you, but I don't want you to suffer what my people would do to you.
She didn't see him, or any of the others, exit the building before Linda came back with the vehicle and they left. The drive back home was silent and without further event. But the whole time back, all of Tellion's mind was plagued with regret, and guilt. Thoughts of that dying Yeerk, his nearly freed slave, the callus destruction of them both by her own kind…no regard for any life. Not even for their own. The knowledge that the Andalites had destroyed the planet side Kandrona generator, which even now was causing countless of her kind to suffer and die from the agonizing fate that she herself had only just barely escaped. And that boy, who knew what dangers his life had just had placed upon it through no true fault of his own. And his cousin and their friends.
Tellion hated all of this. Suck amid a growing conflict, helpless to do anything for anyone. She couldn't save them, and how could she? She had no idea where they lived or how to even initiate any kind of contact with any of those children. And, much to Tellion's sadness, Callisum had been right about her. She was no warrior, she couldn't really save anyone. She could barely even save herself. Those truths did nothing to ease the heavy weight upon her conscious.
Tellion was so deep in her own personal thoughts that she didn't realize that they had made it home until the vehicle stopped.
"We're here." Linda exclaimed, sounding happier than she really should.
Tellion didn't know what supposed to mean, but she decided to not try and figure out why.
When they went into the house, Tellion found both Mark and Arthur huddled over the dining room table, talking to each other over an assortment of various paper items strewn out across the table's surface. As they entered the house, the two of them looked up in surprise.
"Oh." Mark said, with genuine surprise on his face. "We didn't think you would be back so soon."
"Well," Linda said with a smile. "We didn't want to be out too late."
"You kind of caught us off guard here honey." Arthur said to Linda. "You spoiled the surprise."
"Surprise?" Tellion said, looking first at Mark and Arthur, then at Linda. "What surprise?"
Linda exchanged a glance with Mark and Arthur. She then stepped in between them and looked directly at her. "Honey, your father and Mark thought that being cooped up in this house all the time wasn't good for your health. We're planning on doing a camping trip in the woods this next weekend coming up. We figured that being out in nature and the fresh air will be good for you."
Tellion remembered to shift her head to the side, the way a human would when displaying a non-verbal signal of questioning what was said to them instead of dipping it forward the way a Nahara would. "I don't understand."
Linda just smiled warmly at Tellion and led her over to the table.
"We were going to wait till the morning to show you this, but we might as well just show you now."
Tellion looked at the various paper items displayed out before her. It only took one quick scan of all that was before her to realize that what she was seeing was a primitive topographical positioning charts. So extremely primitive when compared to Global Positioning Satellite systems…but again Tellion had to feign ignorance of such things. She observed the paper positions in relation to where the city that she was residing in was located, and felt her stomach tighten with concern. The distance that they were speaking of seemed quite a bit, even by her estimates. And it would be a very, very long way from her much needed mini-Yeerk pool.
"Uh…" Tellion shifted nervously where she was standing. "how…long will we be gone?"
Mark looked at her curiously. "Just for two days, one overnight in the woods. We don't want to push you too much right now."
Two full days. That would be a very tight space of time for her. Even if she were able to take her essential Kandrona soaking just before this 'trip', it would still leave Tellion with barely over twenty-four hours before…
Tellion did her best to disguise the tremor of fear that rolled through her host body from the family. The pain of the Fugue was still very apparent to her recent memories. And one of the horrific experiences she had endured in her short life. Tellion never, ever wanted to feel that suffering again. It also made her think of the thousands of her kind that were going through that agony at that very moment.
Her thoughts rapidly worked over the situation, trying to create a suitable scenario that was ideal for herself while hiding her true concerns. But she couldn't come up with a single plausible reason to reject this plan made by the family. Not unless she wanted to hurt their feelings and raise their suspicions. Against all of her fears, she was going to have to take this gamble in order to keep the truth hidden from them.
Tellion looked at all of them and forced her lips to curve slightly into a phony smile.
"It is…a nice idea. Change can be good."
Mark walked over to her and gently held her hands in his. "Of course it is. Change is always a good thing. And I think this trip will really help you figure some things out about yourself, and all of us too."
He leaned close and spoke so softly that only she could really hear his words.
"And I think…this trip is going to help you figure out who you really are."
The way he looked at her. The way he spoke. It all made Tellion feel, strange. In both a pleasant, and concerned way. It was almost unnoticeable, but Tellion detected something in the way Mark spoke to her. It was indeed his feelings that were pouring forth from his mouth, but she had an uneasy suspicion that those words hadn't truly come from his thoughts. He spoke to her the way he had in the hospital, when he had told her to never give up when she felt the weight of despair pressing down on her.
The moment passed, and Mark became himself again. Whatever it was that had caused him to speak to her the way he did, he just casually brushed it aside and kissed her forehead. Tellion shuddered from that experience, wishing more now than ever that it had been her lips he had done that to.
But Susan…
Tellion forced her smile to grow wider at him even as she backed away from Mark. She needed to continue keeping her distance from him as much as possible without making him feel as if she were rejecting his affections. As much as she felt herself drawn to Mark, her guilt of not wanting to steal something that rightfully belonged to Susan was stronger, and it kept Tellion from bringing herself closer to him.
Their interaction was quickly overcome by the interactions of the rest of the family, and they both went back to doing normal things for the rest of the night. They ate, watched TV, made plans for Arthur to come back tomorrow just to keep her company while they went to work and school. It was the normal routine for all of them. Until the rest of the family finally left, leaving Tellion alone in the home with Mark. The silence after they were gone was very noticeable to anyone with half an observant mind, especially a Yeerk.
Mark set about cleaning a few things up and making arrangements for going to his job tomorrow. Tellion silently helped him with those tasks. Neither said anything for quite a while, mostly on Tellion's part because she just didn't know what to say to him. After what she felt like the stillness around them was becoming noticeably unpleasant, Mark finally spoke.
"Are you ok?"
"About what?" she answered his question with her own question.
Mark organized a stack of papers before placing them on a nearby side table. "You just…didn't seem as excited as I thought you would about going away for a while."
"I…" Tellion tried to find the right words to say what she was feeling, but also to keep her secret hidden from him. "It is just…this home. The city. It is all I really know. The woods, away from here, it is a big change from everything. I think I am a little…a little…"
"Scared?" he said.
"Yes." Tellion answered in a half truth. "Everything is still so new to me. It is wonderful, but frightening too."
"I know…" Mark hung his head low, as if he were ashamed of something. But Tellion could never imagine what it was. "Sometimes, I just forget that it's not the same. I feel like I treat you like a child sometimes."
"I am not a child." Tellion said to him. "But I am not…"
Shut up! Tellion screamed mentally to herself.
She forced herself to stop talking. Because in that moment, Tellion knew that she had almost blurted out to Mark that she wasn't Susan.
Dammit! She screamed internally in her innermost thoughts.
Why did he do this to her? How did he keep making her thoughts stumble and lose focus all the time whenever she thought too much about him? She didn't have time to dwell on those concerns, because Mark's arms around her smaller body made Tellion lose all momentary thought processes.
"I'm trying honey. I really am." he whispered to her. "I don't want to make you feel like you're a child. But I can't keep holding your hand forever. I have to push you, sometimes even if it's hard. Because I want you to get better. I just want us to be…something like we were before."
"Why are you always so kind to me? So patient with, everything I do, and don't do?" Tellion asked, her question just as much directed to herself as it was to him.
"I have to. I'm your husband."
And I am not your wife. Tellion thought with a sting of bitterness. But I have tried so very hard to find her, to bring her back to you. When I finally do…I hope you both can believe me that my intentions were always good.
"I want to go to bed." she said without looking at him. "I was a very long night, and I am tired."
That was also a half truth. Physically, she was fine. Mentally, emotionally…Tellion was just drained.
"Do you want me to…" Mark started to ask.
"No. I want to be alone tonight." she said. "Please, understand."
She pulled away from him, almost completely out of fear that she didn't know what she would do if she remained in his arms the way she was. As she took a step back, Mark gave her a questioning look.
"Is everything alright Susan?" he asked, his voice full of his blissful ignorant innocence of what was really happing in the world around him. "I thought you would be happier about going out with the girls and this surprise trip.
No. Everything is not alright. Tellion said to herself, her voice growing more frustrated with each passing moment. I watched two people die tonight. One was one of my kind, the other was one of yours. And I couldn't save them. I didn't even try! I just hid in the shadows like the coward I really am and watched them be murdered. And a young man, a child, saw it all. And I let him walk away because I was too scared to do anything. And now he'll likely die when the Yeerk forces realize he discovered them, maybe even his friends and cousin too. And it is my fault, because I didn't do anything. I never do anything! I just coward and hide and hope everything just passes me by without noticing me. I am useless to everyone!
"I am happy." Tellion lied. "There was just…a sick man at the theatre. He made a big mess and scared me."
Mark nodded his head. "I know. You're mom told me. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Sometimes life just throws stuff at you, even when you're not expecting it."
"It was…not pleasant. I am very tired now Mark. I just want to sleep. Alone."
She expected him to say or do something in response to show displeasure at her not wanting him near her when she would be able to bring herself to sleep, but again Mark offered nothing but a gentle squeeze of her before releasing her from his grip.
"Well, guest bed it is for me then." he gave her a warm smile. "Just as good too, you move so much in your sleep that I think you're subconsciously trying to beat me up."
Tellion took a step back from him. "I don't move when I sleep."
Mark chuckled. "Really, then I guess next time I'll record you and show you how much you do. It's like you're trying to be a karate master in your sleep."
The idea of him watching her while she slept…I made Tellion feel both worried and happy. Again, such a confusing situation to contemplate.
"Good night." she said quickly before briskly walking up the stairs to the bedroom. She hated to just leave him like that, but the more she interacted with him, the more it made her host body feel so strange. Tellion wished that she knew what all these sensations meant, but above it all, she really didn't want to feel this way towards him out of her sense of betrayal to Susan. And yet, she couldn't help herself either. It was as if Tellion was slowly feeling herself becoming as much of Susan as she was her natural self. She liked it…and hated it equally. She wished that she had some right answer to what she should do about all of it, but unanswerable questions were quickly becoming a normal thing in Tellion's new life.
But more than anything, Tellion just wished that she could find Susan and return her back to her wonderful life. And her precious Mark.
After she shut the door to the bedroom, all thoughts of Mark faded away. She could never fully explain it, but walking through that doorway felt as if she had walked through a barrier of sorts. Tellion instantly felt a deep fatigue overcome her, one that she hadn't been expecting to occur so strongly. She knew that she should have allocated her free time to making plans to ensure Kandrona ray absorption as close to the time they would leave for the trip to the woods as was possible, but her mind was suddenly barely able to make even her feet walk effectively. The weariness was so strangely like the kind she had experienced on her first night of being in this home, and having her very first dream.
Tellion stumbled over to the bed, almost falling down as she made it to the edge. She didn't bother taking her clothes off. She was just too tired for that. Tellion put no more thoughts into anything else as she rested her head gently on the pillow and closed her weary eyes.
It felt like nothing more than a simple blink, but when she opened her eyes again, Tellion's entire body froze.
She wasn't laying on the bed. She wasn't in the house. Or even in the city anymore. She was laying on a patch of damp grass, surrounded by an endless forest encompassing massive trees. Tellion sat abruptly upright. How had she gotten herself into such a place? They weren't supposed to take the trip for almost another week.
"Mark?" she said nervously, weakly climbing to her feet.
Silence was her answer. Tellion looked at the surrounding foliage, and felt her stomach tighten. None of this…felt natural. None of it seemed…native. The trees were so massive, each as wide as the buildings that the humans had created in the heart of the city, all of them stretching up up up almost endlessly into the sky.
"Ellaine. Linda…mom." Tellion called their names out, hoping for just a felting moment that she would hear them respond. "Arthur…dad."
What was this place? How had she gotten here? What…was going on?
As the fear and panic began to set in, Tellion heard Mark's voice echoing through the forest.
"And I think…"
"Mark!" Tellion exclaimed, searching about desperately for him. But he was nowhere to be seen. Yet his voice continued to echo out to her from in the depths of the surrounding foliage.
"…this trip will help you figure out who you really are."
"What are you talking about?!" Tellion screamed. "Where are you Mark? Please, just tell me where you are!"
But he didn't say anything else to her. No, Mark's voice faded away into a place of nothingness that surrounded her. In place of his voice came others. But they were not coming from a location anywhere physically around her. No. These voices were coming from…somewhere else.
"…he's gravely injuried!" Barked the sharp, harsh voice of what Tellion felt sounded like a Hork-Bajir. "You have to do something!"
Another voice rippled out from the empty space around Tellion.
"…it is too late." Whispered the voice of a Gedd speaking in the natural voice of her people. This one sounded old, much older than the voice of the very old Gedd she had first inhabited. It felt almost ancient. "The wound is too grievous. Nothing can be done for him now…"
Then she heard it. A voice she had only spoken to once before, yet one that Tellion could never, ever forget.
"…does it really end with me? Am I truly…the last?"
It was that voice, Tellion realized with a dreadful shudder that ran through her whole body. The one that had spoken to her during her very first dream. The one that mocked her. That proclaimed she was a complete waste of herself. And which said that she and it were connected somehow. Only the voice wasn't speaking directly to her this time. It was as if it's words were directed at someone, or something else and she was hearing the faint echo of this question rippling across…well she just didn't know from where.
Before she had a chance to even try and speak out to that voice that eerily sounded so much like hers, more echoes came from both everywhere around Tellion and nowhere at the same instant.
"…you're too late!" Chirped the seemingly ancient voiced Gedd to no one that Tellion could see. "There will be another!"
"It is an archaic fable…" growled the harsh, merciless voice of a Hork-Bajir Tellion had never known before, nor did she desire to ever hear it again. "That dies with you!"
The sound of a Dracon beam firing. The agonizing scream of that ancient Gedd dying.
Then Tellion awoke in her bed in a heavy sweat. She tried to cry out, but her voice refused to leave her trembling mouth. Her body shook all over with fright, and she could do little other than rock herself feebly back and forth. Her mind was a confused mess by what had just happened. She didn't know if any of it had been real, or if her mind was finally collapsing from the weight of all the stress she had been placed under. But two things continued to repeat over and over in her consciousness as she rocked herself rapidly in a vain effort to calm down.
…you are different from other Yeerks. In ways you couldn't begin to imagine…
…maybe this trip will help you figure out who you really are…