"It's the food!" Edelman said, now eager to share whatever information it was that he had. "The food! During the famine... after you Andalites destroyed the Kandrona, we found out... they found out that a certain food could help them get by. For awhile. But, there were problems with it-" Edelman's screaming cut him off for a few seconds, but there was nothing particularly coherent that came after it. "Yeft, hiyi yarg felorka! Gafrash fit Visser!"
Edelman jerked and thrashed and slavered, looking like the mental patient that his family had thought that he was. She didn't know if anyone would be coming, if one of the doctors or attendants would come in response to the commotion that Edelman was causing. But, after a few, long moments during which nothing happened, Rachel decided that she could afford to relax a bit.
She wished that she could help the man before her; she'd spent enough time around Controllers of various types to make at least a few guesses about what Mr. Edelman was saying. Some of it sounded like the words she'd heard the various Hork-Bajir – free or otherwise – say during those times she'd interacted with them. Of course, some of it was words she didn't understand, but that just might mean that it was the Yeerk language or what Taxxons spoke when they were trying to communicate; at least those few times that they did try to communicate.
After a few more moments, during which Rachel still wondered whether they were going to be interrupted or not, Edelman regained control of himself. He sighed, looking down at the floor in sorrow. "Sorry. The Yeerk manages to break through, sometimes. What you hear are the ravings of a crazy Yeerk."
"It's okay," she said, trying to be reassuring. "What's this food? The food that allows Yeerks to survive without the Kandrona?"
"They discovered it by accident," Edelman said, sounding like he was trying to calm himself down slightly so he didn't just go blurting out all of the information that he had been carrying for who-knew-how-long. "No one guessed what it could do; no one realized that it would prove addictive. But it did. Terribly addictive. And, over time, the continued ingestion of it somehow began to eliminate the Yeerks' need for Kandrona rays. At the same time, however, it drove them irreversibly insane. No one knows quite how it works, but there's a theory that it alters the body-chemistry of the Yeerk that comes into contact with it through the trace amounts in the host's bloodstream."
Nodding, Rachel tried to make herself seem as detached and nonchalant as an Andalite would have under the same circumstances; it wasn't easy. They had a weapon now; something that could cripple the Yeerks, even when they were hiding behind their hosts! "What is the food, Mr. Edelman?"
"Oatmeal," Edelman said, with an expression that might have been a smile under better circumstances. "But, only the instant kind. And then, only the maple and ginger flavor." Edelman shook his head, looking confused and a bit sad. "Yeerks cannot resist the addiction, once exposed. And they slowly but surely drive themselves mad. There are dozens of men and women just like me; like this. On the streets, or worse."
"Thank you for telling me this," she said, then, looking at the expression on Edelman's face, she spoke again. "Um... Listen, is there anything I could do for you?"
Edelman shook his head, obviously resigned to his situation, though he still seemed a bit sad about it. "The Yeerks will leave me alone. After all, who's going to believe a madman? I... I'm sorry I tried to kill myself, that time when we met. It all just got to be too much for me. This... this alien lunatic in my head; my family wanting to keep me locked up here... everything."
"Isn't there some way to get the Yeerk out of your head?"
"No," Edelman shook his head, looking almost as sad as Shara had when she had been talking about herself dying; Rachel had hoped never to see an expression like that again. "No. He will live as long as I do."
She looked away, not wanting to look at that expression, even on someone she didn't know very well.
"I just wish..." she heard Edelman say, his tone resigned again. "The times when I am myself, when I'm in control, I wish I didn't have to spend them in here."
Looking back at Edelman, Rachel found that he was staring out the window, dirty and embedded with heavy wire mesh. She didn't really blame him; no one would ever want to stay in a place like this. Not even if they were told that they had to.
She didn't want to give him any false hopes, though, so she didn't say anything. Not about that, anyway. "Look, I've got to go now, but thank you for giving me this information. It will be a great help to... to the resistance."
Edelman chuckled softly. "I'm just glad to hear that there is still a resistance. I wish you and your fellow Andalites the best of luck."
Edelman turned away without her having to ask him to do so, so she didn't have to make up any excuses for him. Which was good, because she didn't really have any in mind at the moment.
Concentrating on the cockroach morph that she had left behind, Rachel hurried it along when she could, and she was soon ready to move out again.
(You guys won't believe what I've found out here,) Rachel said, as she found her way back to where Shara and Jake were waiting.
(What was it, Rachel?) Jake asked.
(I think we should wait, at least until we all get back to the barn. I'm sure Rachel wouldn't like telling the same story twice,) Shara said.
Rachel would have smiled, if she'd been capable of any expressions at the moment. (I think that's the best idea. I don't think you guys would enjoy hearing the same old story twice any more than I'd enjoy telling it.)
(All right then, let's get going,) Jake said, as the three of them began moving again.
Thinking back on what she had seen while she had been speaking to Mr. Edelman, Rachel decided to talk to Shara; she'd gained a bit more understanding about what the two of them – well, three of them including Cassie, really – had talked about the day before yesterday. (Hey, Shara?)
(What is it, Rachel?)
(While I was talking with Mr. Edelman, he mentioned how everything was getting to be too much for him,) she said, then paused, considering whether or not to reveal just what Mr. Edelman had thought was too much. In the end, though, she figured that it wasn't that important; Shara could probably guess at it, anyway. (I guess, I understand what you were talking about, now. That doesn't mean I agree with it, of course; but I guess there's only so much that some people can deal with at once.)
(It's nice to see that you have a new perspective on things,) the other girl said, as the three of them continued on their way out of the walls. (Not everything is as simple as we might like, sometimes.)
That seemed to be the end of their conversation, at least as far as Shara was concerned. That suited Rachel, too, and as the three of them continued to move through the walls, she found herself grateful that they hadn't run into any more cockroaches. All other considerations aside, she just didn't like the look of those things at this scale.
The fact that she was one of them, and hence why she was down at that scale, only registered for a few moments before she brushed it off.