Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Role Playing => Topic started by: Seryna on March 22, 2009, 10:51:20 PM
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Hello, thanks for reading. This may be a bit more indepth than the average RP, but no more hard. I hope you take a minute to read it and give a critique if you don't like it- or if you do, perhaps you'd like to join.
I've often thought of creating an Animorphs RP from 'before' Jake, Cassie, Tobias, Marco, Rachel and Ax. The reason that no one was told about this group was simple- they failed. They were the ones that couldn't hold it together, the ones who didn't save the world - the ones who the Ellimist used as a platform for who he *didn't* want to choose in the last effort to save humanity.
Yet who were these people? Did they fail because they couldn't adapt? Perhaps because they couldn't make sacrifices or because they made too many?
If you'd like to work together to craft a few original characters, we can determine how they stumbled and where their path veered off the beaten track. Ideally I'd like to write this as a fanfiction or we could RP/write the fanfiction together.
*updated with characters*
Bio for the characters:
Name:
Age:
Appearance: (Anything one can tell from walking up to your character- hair color, height and so on).
History/Information
Player: Fubar
Name: Alice Rex
Age: Several thousand years.
Appearance: Alice's hologram has shoulder-length straight light-brown/dark-blond hair, stands 5'5" tall, has hazel eyes, and dresses in a plain-jane style so-as to not draw too much attention to herself. She wears glasses, but they are not ugly. If given a serious style-makeover, Alice would look quite pretty, but as she is most boys don't pay her a second glance.
History/Information: Alice is a Chee with a slight malfunction in her programming that allowes her to do a limited number of things that Chee normally cannot do. She has been aware for some time now that a boy called Eddie keeps looking at her, and has her suspicions why that might be.
Player:BRAD the BRIT
Name: Brit Walsall
Age: 17
Appearance: Short with blond hair that always seems to stick up at odd angles. He is built stocky and has dark blue eyes, that makes him look board all the time.
History/Information: Born in England but Moved over to America when his dad got offered a job. He is currently training to be a nurse and already has numerous first aid qualifications. He hardly ever see his dad (who works at the local hospital as head surgeon) , and spends most of his time with friends or studying. He is immensely loyal to his friends and will do whatever necessary to protect them.
Player:Damien
Name: Damien Daziel
Age: 15
Appearance: He stands at 5'12" and on the skinny side. He has brown hair about 6" and is brushed to the right to keep it out of his blue eyes. Usually he wears dark colored clothes, usually with blues and blacks to help enforce his fake disguise.
History/Information: On the outside he appears uncaring, calm, collected, sarcastic, and almost bored. However that is just a mental disguise he uses to keep himself from becoming friends with anyone. Once you get past that outer shell he is friendly, caring, basically the opposite of what he wants people to think. He is smart and has a photographic memory, his IQ is rather high (around 160-170) but he keeps to himself most of the time so no-one knows he is highly intelligent, even his parents. He likes to study biology and the solar system, mainly stuff to do with DNA and and the possibility of alien races, he finds these subjects fascinating.
He had just recently moved from a different town. His parents have become busy with work and so on leaving him to do what he wants. Most of the time when his parents are home with his little sister (she is usually at daycare) he likes to play with her and when the rare occurrence of his parents being home before dinner occurences he is spending it with his sister. However without his sister he just wanders aorund town seeming to study the area. He had been enrolled in the school for a month, no-one talks to him except to tease him about his low grades.(since he doesn't bother to do his homework)
Player: Fubar
Name: Eddie Stobart
Age: 17
Appearance: Due to a motorbike accident, Eddie is wheelchair-bound. He has short black hair and is trying to grow a moustache. If he could stand, he'd be about 5'8" tall. He has blue eyes. His arms are overly-muscled, from operating his wheelchair. Conversely, his legs look withered from lack of use - He is paralized and can't move them.
History/Information: Eddie lives alone and hasn't seen his family for over a year. He makes a living programming and webmastering for several companies worldwide, though he still attends school. Academically, school isn't all that important to him any more, but he has his reasons for still going: Chief among them is that Alice Rex goes there. He fancies her and thinks he's in love with her, he just hasn't had the bottle to actually talk to her yet.
Player: Shalner(Jess)
Name: Kasey Romenesko (prounounced K.C.)
Age: 16
Appearance: 5'10", medium/athletic build, dark brown hair, green eyes, dresses in higher-end clothing (and not by choice)
History: Kasey has lived in (this town) her entire life. Her father has served six consecutive terms on the city council, and is currently running for mayor. Her mom works as the marketing director at The Gardens. She has an older brother who is currently away at college (Duke). She also had a younger sister who was killed in a hit and run accident last year (at the age of six). Because she's the only child left at home, Kasey's parents are incredibly over-protective, and she is often forced to make appearances at campaign events that her father hosts. Kasey herself is primarily in AP courses in school, and has already been slated to follow her brother's educational path (despite her own wishes.) She has an intense interest in hiking and backpacking, and is in the woods at every available opportunity (and from this has good knowledge of how the terrain is layed-out). Her own plans after high school include leaving (home town) the day she turns 18 to backpack through South America.
Player: Seryna
Torrence Woodward
Age: 17
Appearance: Torrence is 5'8'' with short, bobbed dark brown hair. Deep blue eyes stare out of a fair face with a light sprinkling of freckles. She is of average build and doesn't have a set 'style'- she tends to shop at Anchor Blue and likes to dress in layers.
History/Information
Torrence is in the college prep courses in school, AP Level, although she suspects that unless she can somehow keeps her grades up and land some scholarships,she'll likely be attending community college for computer programming.
She has a younger sister of whom she is protective (and yes, likely very annoying for her sister.) [If any one wants to play the sister, feel free]
Player: Breekan1
Name: Reece Steel
Age: 17
Description: African-american, with a round, friendly face and the steely build of a swimmer. He keeps his head shaved, and dresses sharply- buttoned shirts, crisp slacks, slick shoes, etc... He's tall, about six feet and two inches. His eyes are bright, vivid green.
Personality: A wise-ass, but charming enough that people don't notice. Is very friendly and fun to be around, and as a result gets away with a bit more than he should. Teachers are more lenient when grading him, and whenever he finds himself in a tough spot he excels at talking his way out of it. He's never gotten so much as a parking ticket, though he's not a very attentive driver.
Story: Captain of the men's swim-team and recently-crowned homecoming king. Can be seen volunteering with local kids, tutoring, coaching little league, etc... Isn't quite sure what he's going to study for college- plans to go to the state University. He's currently seeing a girl named Sandra, whom he has dated for one year. They plan to get married some day, the way kids their age always think they will.
Some time last year, Reece was involved in a hit-and-run accident. He didn't look back. He's spent most of his life since trying not to look back. Uncannily astute observers may have noticed a slight weariness around Reece's eyes in the following months- the sense that he was hiding from something, avoiding it. Unfortunately, Reece's loved ones are not uncannily astute observers. His parents (a very successful dentist (his mother) and a community center drama coach (his father)) are proud as peaches of their "star" son (and only child) while Reece's easy-going nature and pseudo-star status naturally keep him at a distance from his friends. Reece has done everything he's been able to to forget the incident- his greatest fear, other than himself, is that Sandra might somehow find out what happened and be subsequently horrified.
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I'm in. Is this a morph capable group, or a shooting group, or what?
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I might be interested. I haven't used a character other than Shalner in years though, so I may be rusty....creature of habit, ya know?
It's a good idea though, I'll be interested to see how it plays out one way or another.
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Morph Capable. I don't want to cheapen the beautiful meeting between the Animorphs and the dying Prince, so we'd have to craft a completely new way for them to gain the power.
I have the idea that they could have come and touched the Escafil *before* the scene at the construction site, or perhaps the Ellimist bent the rules to bring the Escafil to them.
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*waves" Hi Seryna! Nice surprise to see you popping up on this forum too ;)
As I said over IM, I'm quite interested tho time-constrained among the 8 RPs I'm already in right now. Just lemme in on discussions etc so I can contribute that way at least :)
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Hey, Fu. Good to see you, glad that I found such an Animorphs haven.
Definitely hoping this has the success of Missions of the Seer & Animorphs: Continuance.
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this sounds promising.
oh, and welcome to the forum!
pm me or any of the staff members for assistance with anything. :)
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Sounds interesting, so it is a alternative group of the animorphs, and they don't get it through elfangor at the construction site... am I right?
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if this gets started please count me in
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if this gets started please count me in
Ditto. (Especially since my favorite Brit is here. Hahahah.)
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Precisely, they do not get the Morphing Power from Elfangor at the construction site. After re -reading the info on where Elfangor hid it, I have a few ideas on the 'Origin story' for our story. If you have an idea you'd like to discuss, put it out here.
Idea One: Prior to Elfangor's crash and the short cut through the construction site, our group stumbles across it. It would be a more 'David' like experience, perhaps with a few surprises and shocks along the way. Someone in the know (I favor the Ellimist, although Fu had an idea as well) comes along to explain the invasion.
Idea Two: The Ellimist does his creepy butterfly wing trick and takes our characters out of school, showing the grim future of Earth if the Yeerks manage to take the planet. He offers the Escafil and allows our characters to make a choice.
Idea Three: Fu had an idea (based on his character, Alice, whom he's played before) that she breaks her silence in order to save her friends (presumptively our characters) from becoming Controllers.
Fu, feel free to jump in and explain it fully, I didn't want to steal your thunder.
Which idea would do you like best? Do you think any need tweaking?
The second thing to discuss is our characters- who do you want to play? As soon as we decide what we want to do, we can start our RP.
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As I've been invited to 'jump in', here I come:
Wheeeee-SPLASH!!
*ahem*
For those who don't know, and I'm guessing that's everyone whose screenie is not Seryna ( ;) ), Alice is a Chee.
She's actually a Chee with a slight malfunction in her programming that lets her do certain things the other Chee cannot, but these things are quite minor: She still can't kill or injure any living thing, but she could detonate a self-destruct that would be a large and messy explosion - Obviously this can only happen once, and she would die doing it. This is the primary reason the other Chee have not insisted she fix her programming, which she doesn't want to do but could.
I've no immediate intention to use her as a bomb, it's just out there as a "last-stand" scenario, perhaps to blow up the yeerk pool or one of their space-ships.
Anyway, Alice would know of the Yeerk invasion and all the players involved.
My idea was along the lines of Alice's best (human) friend is about to be taken as a controller and she decides to prevent that happening for some reason... Perhaps said friend already knows of the Chee? Or that Alice isn't human? Or just 'cos it's her friend, who knows. Anything believable, really.
So that's how at least one person would learn of the invasion etc, I didn't get around to thinking how Alice might end up with an Escafil... Elfangor never hid one, even when he was on earth the first time around with Loren... What he hid was the Time Matrix.
Perhaps in our AU, when he came to earth he found the chee and entrusted them with his ship and all devices on board when he decided to make the permanent shift to human form... Again, just an idea.
Well, I g2g do something IRL now, otherwise I'd prolly ramble on another few pages of ideas ;)
Have fun discussing in my absence!!
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Hm...I like the first and third. I think the third would be the best to be a stand-alone apart from what happened with the cannon characters.
In terms of characters...are we just playing what we want, or do we want to come up with characters as a group, and then decide who's playing what?
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i think we should decide are own characters. i already have an idear for mine...
i like senario 1 the best
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Okay, any more votes? I think the fairest way is for every one to decide what they'd like,origin story wise, majority rules.
Lets decide our own characters first and then decide if they know each other before the origin story- ie, friends, siblings and so on.
Bio for the characters:
Name:
Age:
Appearance: (Anything one can tell from walking up to your character- hair color, height and so on).
History/Information
My character:
Torrence Woodward
Age: 17
Appearance: Torrence is 5'8'' with short, bobbed dark brown hair. Deep blue eyes stare out of a fair face with a light sprinkling of freckles. She is of average build and doesn't have a set 'style'- she tends to shop at Anchor Blue and likes to dress in layers.
History/Information
Torrence is in the college prep courses in school, AP Level, although she suspects that unless she can somehow keeps her grades up and land some scholarships,she'll likely be attending community college for computer programming.
She has a younger sister of whom she is protective (and yes, likely very annoying for her sister.) [If any one wants to play the sister, feel free]
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((ok here's my character for when this gets started))
Name: Brit Walsall
Age: 17
Appearance: Short with blond hair that always seems to stick up at odd angles. He is built stocky and has dark blue eyes, that makes him look board all the time.
History/Information: Born in England but Moved over to America when his dad got offered a job. He is currently training to be a nurse and already has numerous first aid qualifications. He hardly ever see his dad (who works at the local hospital as head surgeon) , and spends most of his time with friends or studying. He is immensely loyal to his friends and will do whatever necessary to protect them.
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Name: Kasey Romenesko (prounounced K.C.)
Age: 16
Appearance: 5'10", medium/athletic build, dark brown hair, green eyes, dresses in higher-end clothing (and not by choice)
History: Kasey has lived in (this town) her entire life. Her father has served six consecutive terms on the city council, and is currently running for mayor. Her mom works as the marketing director at The Gardens. She has an older brother who is currently away at college (Duke). She also had a younger sister who was killed in a car accident last year (at the age of six). Because she's the only child left at home, Kasey's parents are incredibly over-protective, and she is often forced to make appearances at campaign events that her father hosts. Kasey herself is primarily in AP courses in school, and has already been slated to follow her brother's educational path (despite her own wishes.) She has an intense interest in hiking and backpacking, and is in the woods at every available opportunity (and from this has good knowledge of how the terrain is layed-out). Her own plans after high school include leaving (home town) the day she turns 18 to backpack through South America.
((Hope this is okay...she could probably pretty easily be friends with Torrence?))
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Hey Seryna; Is this RP going to be hosted here on RAF as well as on RPC?
Name: Alice Rex
Age: Several thousand years.
Appearance: Alice's hologram has shoulder-length straight light-brown/dark-blond hair, stands 5'5" tall, has hazel eyes, and dresses in a plain-jane style so-as to not draw too much attention to herself. She wears glasses, but they are not ugly. If given a serious style-makeover, Alice would look quite pretty, but as she is most boys don't pay her a second glance.
History/Information: Alice is a Chee with a slight malfunction in her programming that allowes her to do a limited number of things that Chee normally cannot do. She has been aware for some time now that a boy called Eddie keeps looking at her, and has her suspicions why that might be.
Name: Eddie Stobart
Age: 17
Appearance: Due to a motorbike accident, Eddie is wheelchair-bound. He has short black hair and is trying to grow a moustache. If he could stand, he'd be about 5'8" tall. He has blue eyes. His arms are overly-muscled, from operating his wheelchair. Conversely, his legs look withered from lack of use - He is paralized and can't move them.
History/Information: Eddie lives alone and hasn't seen his family for over a year. He makes a living programming and webmastering for several companies worldwide, though he still attends school. Academically, school isn't all that important to him any more, but he has his reasons for still going: Chief among them is that Alice Rex goes there. He fancies her and thinks he's in love with her, he just hasn't had the bottle to actually talk to her yet.
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Wow, nice spread of characters. This is going to be spectacular.
I think Kasey & Torrence would get along well, especially as they're likely in AP classes together. Let us make them friends. :)
I am intrigued that we have someone from another country and a handicapped person- perhaps this will make us a bit more versatile or above suspicion. Does any one else want to have their characters be friends with or related to other characters?
Hm, I don't know Fu, I thought I'd ask people what they'd want to do. What Fu is mentioning is another site [Roleplay Central, a link in Fu's sig] where we use a whole board for Animorphs RP. That way we have an ooc for questions and such. There are a few people on RPC who would like to write with us.
We certainly don't need to write there and I'm more than happy to write here.
What would you like to do?
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here cuz we are RAFians first and formost ;D
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If we could do it here I'd be more on top of it. Checking another forum might be a bit much for me right now, I'd probably lose track of what we're doing...things are hectic for me IRL.
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RPC is a Proboards forum, and keeping track of a topic is as easy as pie... Is pie easy, btw? Does the phrase mean eating pie or making pie or cooking pie? I was never sure...
RPC members can set topic-bookmarks, then set email-notification of these topic-bookmarks, so they never have to regularly load RPC just to check on a thread that may not have been updated yet. Set up in this way, like I have it myself, u get an email anytime there's something new in (one of) your topic(s) that you haven't yet read. The email has a direct-link to the thread in question, which will work directly if your browser is set up to remember your RPC login/password info, or you can login manually each time if you prefer (for some weird reason, no doubt).
As the Meerkat says: "Simples!"
But ya, I'm thinking we're likely to be hosting here on RAF, possibly also on RPC, tho that will be optional.
As for myself, I load RPC properly only once a fortnight, and that's because I do mod-duties in certain areas. Other than that, I only load threads when I get an email telling me they have been updated, and I do so from the link provided, so I rarely load the homepage. :p
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Hehe, thanks for the explain, Moddie Fu. I don't want to smack people over the head with RPC.
Okay, so we are starting here! I'll update the first post with our accepted characetrs (and tell the RPCers to head over here with their characters). All we need is a tie breaker vote on option #1 or option #3 on our Origin story, so if you haven't weighed in, go ahead and do so.
If you'd like to play, please get your character up as well- I'd like to start this tomorrow!
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(Sorry I"m so late)
Name: Damien Daziel
Age: 15
Appearance: He stands at 5'12" and on the skinny side. He has brown hair about 6" and is brushed to the right to keep it out of his blue eyes. Usually he wears dark colored clothes, usually with blues and blacks to help enforce his fake disguise.
History/Information: On the outside he appears uncaring, calm, collected, sarcastic, and almost bored. However that is just a mental disguise he uses to keep himself from becoming friends with anyone. Once you get past that outer shell he is friendly, caring, basically the opposite of what he wants people to think. He is smart and has a photographic memory, his IQ is rather high (around 160-170) but he keeps to himself most of the time so no-one knows he is highly intelligent, even his parents. He likes to study biology and the solar system, mainly stuff to do with DNA and and the possibility of alien races, he finds these subjects fascinating.
He had just recently moved from a different town. His parents have become busy with work and so on leaving him to do what he wants. Most of the time when his parents are home with his little sister (she is usually at daycare) he likes to play with her and when the rare occurrence of his parents being home before dinner occurences he is spending it with his sister. However without his sister he just wanders aorund town seeming to study the area. He had been enrolled in the school for a month, no-one talks to him except to tease him about his low grades.(since he doesn't bother to do his homework)
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(Sorry I"m so late)
Name: Damien Daziel
Age: 15
Appearance: He stands at 5'12" and on the skinny side. He has brown hair about 6" and is brushed to the right to keep it out of his blue eyes. Usually he wears dark colored clothes, usually with blues and blacks to help enforce his fake disguise.
History/Information: On the outside he appears uncaring, calm, collected, sarcastic, and almost bored. However that is just a mental disguise he uses to keep himself from becoming friends with anyone. Once you get past that outer shell he is friendly, caring, basically the opposite of what he wants people to think. He is smart and has a photographic memory, his IQ is rather high (around 160-170) but he keeps to himself most of the time so no-one knows he is highly intelligent, even his parents. He likes to study biology and the solar system, mainly stuff to do with DNA and and the possibility of alien races, he finds these subjects fascinating.
He had just recently moved from a different town. His parents have become busy with work and so on leaving him to do what he wants. Most of the time when his parents are home with his little sister (she is usually at daycare) he likes to play with her and when the rare occurrence of his parents being home before dinner occurences he is spending it with his sister. However without his sister he just wanders aorund town seeming to study the area. He had been enrolled in the school for a month, no-one talks to him except to tease him about his low grades.(since he doesn't bother to do his homework)
Awesome, added Damien to the cast list. Care to be our tie breaker choose which option you like best for how we become Animorphs.
Idea One: Prior to Elfangor's crash and the short cut through the construction site, our group stumbles across it. It would be a more 'David' like experience, perhaps with a few surprises and shocks along the way. Someone in the know (I favor the Ellimist, although Fu had an idea as well) comes along to explain the invasion.
Idea Three: Fu had an idea (based on his character, Alice, whom he's played before) that she breaks her silence in order to save her friends (presumptively our characters) from becoming Controllers.
Fu, feel free to jump in and explain it fully, I didn't want to steal your thunder.
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Yo Damien dude, just wanted to point out that being 5'12" tall is actually exactly the same as being 6' tall. You know, what with there being 12 inches in 1 foot and all. :) Don't worry, we can pretend you wrote it like that deliberately as a gimic if you like ;)
Has my vote already been counted, Seryna? As I don't recall actually voting...
There is my full Chee idea as described by me earlier in this thread, which I kinda like best, or similar to idea-one where the group or an individual stumble(s) on an Escafil device accidentally somehow and share knowledge of its existance with a few trusted friends (the group) being incredibly lucky avoiding controller-interest, then when Alice becomes aware of it (assuming prior chee/elfangor encounter where info about the tech is explained) she gives the shpiel about how it's used and its restrictions and the whole war thing etc. At the very least, the group can learn all about the war from the Chee as they already know all about it in Cannon. Whether Alice reveals herself as a Chee could be optional in the case of some of these ideas. As a Chee, she could pretend to be anyone after-all, even an Andalite.
I'm do not like the Ellimist being involved in any RP, really. I've seen too many of them using him and sometimes, because of that, things stray too far off-cannon for my liking. Or he gets used as a plot-monkey, popping in every-so-often with little regard for the Ellimist/Crayak 'game' rules. I'm not saying that would happen, especially not with you in charge Seryna ;) , but it's just been overdone for my liking.
Another way is to copy the Elfangor thing to some extent. Doesn't have to be him, and so long as that Andalite dies there wouldn't be any further plot-contamination from the event. All pertinent info is transferred like it was in Cannon... Or perhaps there isn't time to impart all necessary details, just the 2-hour rule, how to morph, who the enemy is... Just the essentials so they don't die or get stuck in morph accidentally too quickly. - Be a short RP else!
Mind if I request 'no Ellimist interference' in this RP? (Including 'no returning morph-powers to Nothlits'. This has also been over-done. - If you're going to allow Nothlits with returned morphing powers, I call shotgun (or 'dibs', depending on the local lingo) to have one of these myself. ;) )
Another idea: Some or all of the group investigate a crashed Andalite ship, only there are no survivors. They find an Escafil device inside with a written note attached:
"To whoever finds this device: Whatever you do, do NOT let the Yeerks get this device! - If they do, it will not only mean the end for your planet, but for mine too. And many others. I've attached details on how to use this device, and information you need to know about the war with the Yeerks. There are also details on how best to destroy this device, in case Yeerk posession can no-longer be avoided any other way.
Yeerks will already be on their way to destroy all evidence of this crash. By this point there have been so many of these cover-ups that they no-longer bother to check inside beforehand. I hope you are not a Yeerk... If you are, well: Congratulations on your promotion to Visser One, I guess..."
Or something along those lines.
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There is my full Chee idea as described by me earlier in this thread, which I kinda like best, or similar to idea-one where the group or an individual stumble(s) on an Escafil device accidentally somehow and share knowledge of its existance with a few trusted friends (the group) being incredibly lucky avoiding controller-interest, then when Alice becomes aware of it (assuming prior chee/elfangor encounter where info about the tech is explained) she gives the shpiel about how it's used and its restrictions and the whole war thing etc. At the very least, the group can learn all about the war from the Chee as they already know all about it in Cannon. Whether Alice reveals herself as a Chee could be optional in the case of some of these ideas. As a Chee, she could pretend to be anyone after-all, even an Andalite.
Or something along those lines.
I vote this one, actually. I like this idea... We'd have to figure out how all of the characters are going to be connected in order to have them all exposed to the Escafil device...
Right now, Kasey and Torrence are, Alice and Eddie are. We need Brit and Damien involved...maybe Damien and Kasey could be neighbors, or something? Hm...Brit and Eddie are cousins? (throwing out random ideas...)
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Brit could be just friends with one or to of the other characters. that way i avoid complicated family subplots
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Or how about they know about each other online? or some of them do...
Did hav an eBay related idea, but that would bring Yeerk heat down on them too quickly. They don't all need to find it together, if they trust each other.
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I agree, the Ellimist is not a piece of furniture to be dragged out when useful. Nothlits are nothlits. One thing is we don't have a Andalite handy for tracking time, but we do have Alice. Heck, maybe our group can craft a watch to a few light weight harnesses for various morphs.
You know, its not a bad idea to know each other online- maybe they play Left 4 dead online together or both are on a forum together *G*
There's our tie breaker for Alice setting us on our course. Is every one okay with that? Ready to begin?
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yes start us off ;D
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How is Brit friends with the others? We should know this before we start to make sure we have some thing to reference. Let us know.
I'll polish up our starting post.
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W00t.
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Yes, I guess Damien would just be a neighbor who got dragged into the animorphs since it wouldn't fit his personality to make 'friends'. And I just noticed my character is the youngest.
And by the way I do know that 5'12" is 6' I am currently counting how many people point that out, surprisingly you are the second (I have had that same description forever).
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This looks like it has a lot of potential! I love stories with a sense of doom.
If you all will have me, my character is as follows:
Name: Reece Steel
Age: 17
Description: African-american, with a round, friendly face and the steely build of a swimmer. He keeps his head shaved, and dresses sharply- buttoned shirts, crisp slacks, slick shoes, etc... He's tall, about six feet and two inches. His eyes are bright, vivid green.
Personality: A wise-ass, but charming enough that people don't notice. Is very friendly and fun to be around, and as a result gets away with a bit more than he should. Teachers are more lenient when grading him, and whenever he finds himself in a tough spot he excels at talking his way out of it. He's never gotten so much as a parking ticket, though he's not a very attentive driver.
Story: Captain of the men's swim-team and recently-crowned homecoming king. Can be seen volunteering with local kids, tutoring, coaching little league, etc... Isn't quite sure what he's going to study for college- plans to go to the state University. He's currently seeing a girl named Sandra, whom he has dated for one year. They plan to get married some day, the way kids their age always think they will.
Some time last year, Reece was involved in a hit-and-run accident. He didn't look back. He's spent most of his life since trying not to look back. Uncannily astute observers may have noticed a slight weariness around Reece's eyes in the following months- the sense that he was hiding from something, avoiding it. Unfortunately, Reece's loved ones are not uncannily astute observers. His parents (a very successful dentist (his mother) and a community center drama coach (his father)) are proud as peaches of their "star" son (and only child) while Reece's easy-going nature and pseudo-star status naturally keep him at a distance from his friends. Reece has done everything he's been able to to forget the incident- his greatest fear, other than himself, is that Sandra might somehow find out what happened and be subsequently horrified.
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Hey Brad- what do you think of our characters being friends, perhaps having met through our parents (since they are both medical professionals)?
Alternatively, anyone who may have been a "theatre kid" in middle school might know Reece through his father?
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Marvelous. Jess told me to expect you.
The RP has started... if you would like to join, feel free for the first few days. Raven and Archaeobabe, I hope you come. I would love to write with you again.
Scene One
At two fifteen PM on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday, the school bell rang out, freeing the hundreds of students within from their lessons. As the swell of students spilled out onto the concrete walk ways, a great many of them began to follow the walkway to a busy street in front of the school. There was a bus stop that could transport one home as well as several fast food joints for a quick bite to eat. There was another business slowly being brought online over the past few weeks- a stand alone lot where the old gym had once been. The tired building had been given a complete make over, right down to the lighted business board that read 'The Sharing: Lock - in Pool party tonight'.
An extremely tall young man at 6', Damien, hustled at the start of the mill of students, ignoring them for the most part. Beside Damien, Brit, was trying to recall if the registration for the Health class taught at the local collage (with a waiver, likely obtained by his father) was starting tomorrow after school or the following Wednesday.
An extremely short student suddenly shoved Damien aside, laughing as he cut in front of Damien to run up the sidewalk. In his wake, two more students jostled Damien and Brit aside as they chased after the other.
Just behind Damien and Brit, two young women were walking together, discussing the upcoming project for AP History. They had been given a brief write up of a 1500 word essay assignment that day in class:
The purpose of the AP World History course is to develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts, in interaction with different types of human societies. This understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. For the purpose of this assignment, use your knowledge of the past world wars outcomes (including action by such organizations as the UN) to propose a working outcome for the departure of foriegn forces from Iraq'.
The two young women, Kasey and Torrence, thought the assignment had seemed a bit daunting in class.
Just a few steps behind them a spectacular being also was walking- perhaps she intended to catch up to the girls to join in on the conversation.
Eddie, a wheelchair bound young man, was playing it cool a few feet behind Alice. Perhaps he was hoping to have a chance to finally speak to Alice and broach the topic that had been burning in his mind. Nearby was another young man named Reece, who was perhaps heading over to the Sharing to volunteer to set up for the Lock in.
Whatever was currently on their minds was briefly interrupted when a display of violence that unfurled with startling speed. the two larger boys that had shoved past Damien and Brit had caught the smaller teen and flung him to the black top of the Sharing parking lot. Laughing cruelly, they repeatedly knocked the smaller boy over as he tried to stand back up.
Humiliated, the boy repeatedly shouted. "Come on, Mike! Quit it!"
"Quit it!" The larger boy- easily a foot taller than the smaller boy's 5 ft- and much more muscular - mocked. The second boy crowed with laughter and then stomped his athletic shoe down on the smaller boy's hand. The boy gave a cry of pain, cupping his hand to his chest. he glared at the two with impotent rage as the two bullies closed in on him.
"Hey, now!"
A fourth voice- much deeper and older- cut across the parking lot, attached to the fit older man jogging across the parking lot. The man approached the smaller boy and helped him to his feet, glaring at the two bullies all the while.
"You two clear out!" He demanded curtly. "Don't even think of coming to the lock in tonight, Mike."
Reece and any one who kept up with volunteering immediately recognize this man as Greg Rady, a man who was the driving force behind many fund raisers.
"Aww Greg, come on-"
"No." The man cut across him. "I'm very disappointed in you. You get on out of here before I think to mention this to Julie."
Scowling, the two bullies mutter as they move away from the scene.
"I think we'll let this slip to Julie, any way."'Greg' said to the smaller boy, who grinned desprite his humiliation.
"She'll be at the Lock in."
The boy's face suddenly clouded. "That's tonight? I can't come."
"Why's that, Branden?"
"Uh... there's some stuff at home..."
The older man's face softened with understanding.
"Well, I hope you reconsider. I was just coming out to add that the lock in is free to whoever registers n the next hour."
"Oh, really?" Branden's face lit up.
"Really." Greg looked past Branden to those who were watching. "How about it? Free pool and Panda Inn is catering. We have a sheet of sponsors within - for every hour you stay up, its five dollars towards impoverished school students. Hey, Reece-" Greg stepped closer, grinning broadly. "I'm surprised that you and your friends haven't signed up already."
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Reece laughs. "Now, when we say free pool, are we talking splish-splash or billiards? Because I'm always keen for some splish-splash but if we're talking billiards I'll need to stick to the sidelines."
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Kasey stops on the sidewalk to listen to Greg's spiel. She turns to Torrence and asks, "Want to go? I've been craving Panda Inn for weeks." She pauses, then continues with a smirk, "Plus, I heard that guy Evan from AP Calc is going to be there."
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Greg gave a laugh.
"Both, but feel free to stay inside if you didn't bring your swim fins, Reece."
Torrence glanced over at the sign, silently reading about the Lock in. "You know, my cousin in Ohio mentioned this once. Said she stayed up all night playing racquetball and riding a sugar high- and Panda Inn's orange chicken can get us there pretty fast. You don't think that they take our cell phones, do you?"
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Earlier, during school-hours:
Eddie:
I am in my advanced-math class, which is my second-favourite after music, working through a quadratic equation and simplifying a complex boolean-algebraic logic-structure. I was much happier dealing with fixed answers than I was in more-creative lessons like English - Yuck.
Another reason I was happy, was that this girl I kinda liked was sat in a class across the small quadrangle from me, and I could see her quite clearly through the windows of both classrooms... Okay, so she was technically kinda young for me, but she was still beautiful and smart and I couldn't help how I felt about her. I kept getting distracted and watching the way her hair followed the movement of her head... so gracefully... hmm... Anyway, moving on: I had work to do.
Alice:
Eddie was looking at me again. My human hologram wasn't especially pretty, quite plain actually, yet I got such attention from the older boy in the wheelchair - When he thought I wasn't looking, anyway. If I'd really been human, I might never have noticed, but it's difficult to hide something from a Chee when we can seem to be looking one way but actually be looking another.
Perhaps I should start a conversation with him, instead of waiting for him to start one with me... Maybe next break, depending on circumstances...
--
Alice:
I stalled by my locker after class, waiting for Eddie to show up. I could tell he liked me, even without relying on my Chee sensors, and he inevitably turned up just around the corner to 'spy' on me as I left school for my home. Sometimes I was too fast for him, and a dissapointed Eddie would just slouch off home by himself, but today I wanted to actually get a conversation out of him for once, so as I said; I was stalling for time by my locker.
Eddie:
I snuck along in my wheelchair to the locker corridor used by Alice's year and, after turning around backward, slowly wheeled backwards and stuck my head around the corner to see if Alice was still by her locker... She was! A nervous excitement ran up my spine above the paralized point as I watched her, apparently unseen. This was the non-academical highlight of my day, just daydreaming while watching Alice. I guess to most people she looked kinda average, possibly dull even, but for some reason she drew my attention - I didn't much care why.
Alice:
An unseen smile crossed my holographic-face when he finally arrived, as I knew he would. I followed my usual routine and left the school, keeping tabs on Eddie with my sensors to make sure I didn't lose him. I started to walk toward the park - My usual route home - He wasn't far behind, but was still trying not to be noticed by me.
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Brit looked at the poster. The Sharing party looked fun. he grinned before comeing to this town a year ago he had never even heard of The Sharing. as far as he could see it would be harmless enough. And a free pool that couldent be bad. he saw Torrence and Kasey looking at the same sign.
"So are you girls going?" he asked stuffing both hands into his jacket pockets.
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Reece nods. "Sounds great, Greg. The guys had some shindig planned for tonight, but if I can get Sandra to tag along I'll be there." Reece removes his phone from his jacket pocket and begins to text Sandra.
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Damien stopped when the scene of violence erupted infront of him. A small part of him wanted to help, however the majority of his mind shut off the want to help and enforced the feeling of just wanting to get home. In fact he actually spaced out and snapped back to reality when the 'fight' ended.
Damien breathed deeply hearing the question. Well... he didn't have anything else to do, should he...? "I-,"he stopped and bit his lip,"I guess... I could, come?"his voice sounded awkward, even to him. "When is it?"
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"Excellent." Greg replied to Reece with a nod. "I'd love to meet Sandra."
He turned to the more hesitant young man who'd questioned him. "The doors don't lock until 6, but there's people already inside. If you want to get into the gym or play racquetball, you might want to hurry. I heard the sign up sheet is filling up fast. See you inside!"
After updating the sign, Greg turned and began walking towards the building. Branden glanced shyly from face to face, his expression hard to read.
Torrence studied the updated sign before responding to Damien. "I'd like to." She admitted. "I haven't played racquetball in like... years. You're up for it, right Kasey?"
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"Absolutely," Kasey responds, "But I can't promise I'll stay the whole time. I've been looking for opportunities to go backpacking now that my parents have me under lock and key. If the opportunity arises, I might take off tonight while my parents think I'm here." She grins, then asks Torrence, "You'll cover for me, right?"
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People could be so cruel to one another, and seeing that display of violence made anger course through her body like an electric wire, her first instinct was to help the boy, but it was all over in a matter of seconds. Running her fingers through her pink and dark colored hair. Avoiding all looks, Autumn carried on walking, trying to ignore what everyone was saying, yet it was hard. The female enjoyed playing racquetball, her brother used to play all the time before his death. "Well if I'm not too late, count me in." The girl replied, easily spotted in the small crowd of students. Hard to miss the shorts, fishnets, one pink and white striped stocking, heavy black boots and a corset top. Bands around her wrists covered scars, hands rested by her sides as she glanced at everyone, thinking this may have been an invite to trouble.
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Um Seryna? Can i have character who is working with these 'pre-animorphs, but lacks morphing ability. He uses firearms and such to fight the yeerks. Here is a brief profile.
Name: Conner Herons
Age: 16
History: His friend was infested by yeerks, but in a car crash, the yeerk was stuck too long and died. Anyway, he told Conner about the yeerks and the two went underground with a couple of others.
Possesions: A dracon beam, two pistols, an AK-47, a couple knives and a longsword
Appearance: Long brown wavy hair, green eyes, about 5'9
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Sandra is quick to arrive, having stayed after school with a few friends from the drama department. She has red frizzy hair and black glasses, and wears a tattered denim jacket. She and Reece hug as she arrives. "Dennis and Danni have a date tonight, and Skeebo's got a gig, but I'm here!"
"What makes you think I wanted to see you?" Reece asks, receiving a kick in the shin. He and Sandra make their way over to the lock-in sign up sheet, waving at Greg and Branden as they head inside.
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Without waiting for a response to her first question, Kasey elbows Torrence and sneers, "Who is that?" and gestures rather unsubtly towards Autmn.
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As Kasey directs her attentions towards Autumn, Torence turned to see what had caught Kasey's attentions.
"Sweet," She remarked as the other girl stated her interest. "Be kind of stupid to play against ourselves, right?" Torence turned to Kasey.
Realizing that 'Reece' as Greg had referred to him was joined by a friend and that both of them were heading inside, she offered.
"Maybe we should hurry."
She starts to walk towards the building, slowing to talk to Kasey in lowered tones. "Well, its called a lock in, Kass. I think that may mean that they lock us in, unless I got the definition of Lock in wrong."
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Kasey rolls her eyes, and begins to head towards the sign-up sheet for the lock-in. "I know that Torrence...but it doesn't mean I can't escape through a window...or that I can't get sick in the middle of the night." She grins.
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Alice:
As I passed out through the school gates, I noticed a big sign that told of the upcoming Sharing event. I stopped short in my tracks and re-read the sign: Two terms jumped out at me that sent alarm-bells ringing: "lock-in" and "pool", in conjunction with "the Sharing" could NOT be a good thing. I immediately started looking around to see who was heading into the establishment, and I cranked up my Chee sensors too. What I noticed straight-away was that they had a sign-up sheet, so I headed over to get a closer look at who had signed up. I tried to look as casual as I could, but a funny thing happens when your hologram becomes your long-term identity: Your true emotions start to show automatically on your hologram. I had to actually make effort to suppress my true emotions and force my holographic face to show false ones instead.
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Torrence flushed when she realized what Kasey meant, embarrassed to have missed the intention. "Oh. Sure, Kasey. I could do that for you. "
She turned her head as they approached the doors.
"Who else do you think is going to be here? "
GM
As Reece, Alice and the others moved to the sign in sheet, there was a long list of names, easily numbering around forty students. There were a few well known folks- the class clown, the athletic shoe in for student body president- but also a few unfamiliar names. Likely the quiet, reserved ones so easily missed in class.
Sitting beside the sign in sheet was a sign up sheet for reserving athletic activities, such as Racquetball courts. The courts were all reserved until about 6 PM.
When the last person had a chance to sign in, Greg hurried up, looking harried.
"Jessie!" He asked the woman at the desk. "Are Lucas and Jasmine here, yet?"
"No, Greg." The woman, a brunette with a furious fuchsia top, replied apologetically. "Lucas called to say they're running late- probably won't get here for at least half an hour."
"Damn." Greg said, deflated. "We really need those projectors moved- hey," He turns and looks the group over.
"Could you help? It would probably take two of you just a few minutes to get it set up."
As he spoke, Alice's sensors suddenly reported an anomaly- the specific Earth technology anomaly. Somewhere on Greg's body, he had secreted otherworldly technology.
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Alice:
As I'd expected, my short-range sensors picked up a Yeerk power-signature coming from somewhere in Greg's direction. It was likely he was carrying Yeerk technology, probably a Dracon-beam weapon, but not necessarily - Other Yeerk devices used the same power-pack. Yeerks don't do double-A batteries; Way too primitive.
I made a mental note that Greg was most-likely a 'full member' in the Sharing: A Human-controller.
I scanned the list of names on the sign-up sheets - Bad news: Some of my best friends were already on the list! Eddie's name wasn't there, obviously, but I knew if I signed it his signature would soon follow. - He didn't do social-gathering type stuff normally, but he did like to follow me places that might give him a chance to approach and maybe even speak to me... Even though he'd never got up the nerve to even say 'hello' yet. I thought it was pretty cute of him to be nervous of little-old-me.
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The tone of voice was hardly missed, Autumn just stared at the other girl. "Names Autumn, not that you need to know that." Autumn growled, hands curled into fists before striding forwards. This was one reason why she didn't hang around other people, even though people expected her too. Autumn didn't get along with people much, that was obvious. "Sure, nothing else to do, apart from get sneery at one another." She told Greg with a half glance to Kasey. There was dislike in her eyes at the other girls attitude, but that could easily change into hatred, or a friendship like, depending on the circumstances.
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Damien sighed standing at the far wall. He had already signed up, but he was wondering if it was a good idea or not. A lock in didn't sound to fun, to restricted, and he had the feeling that something bad was going on, just a feeling. Damien reached into his pocket and flipped open his phone, great he had a missed call.... when did that happen, he had his phone on vibrate all day. It was his mom, great, what was the problem... she never called him. Lazily he dialed in her number instead of hitting call back.
"Hello?" answered a profession sounding women.
"Hey mom, its me,"Damien replied,"whats the matter?"
"Oh Damien,"she sounded relieved,"I was just calling you to see if you signed up for the lock in at the sharing, I will be there with your dad and sister tonight, I was hoping for a family night out!"
Damien sighed, of course..."I already signed up,"he said,"I'm not sure if a lock in is the best idea for a-"
His mom cut him off,"Good, we'll see you in a little bit!" with that she hung up, a strange tone was in her voice... like she was suppressing a laugh. Nothing got by Damien with behavior, he studied it. Like he could tell if when someone was smiling if it was fake or not. And his mom's voice just sounded....false...
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Kasey turns her back and snickers at Autumn's reaction. She walks over to the sign-up sheet, and jots her name down. While she waits for Torrence to do the same, she pulls out her phone, typing a quick text message to her mom.To no one in particular she asks, "She can't argue with this, can she? I'm somewhere safe, not crawling around in the woods like a savage...well, at least, as far as she knows."
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Brit quietly listened to Autumn and Kasey as they exchanged a few sharp words. He always stayed neutral in this kind of situation, it was the best way. But he couldn’t help feeling a prang of sorrow for Autumn. During his nurse training he had seen Autumn on the ward and knew a little of her history. Not that he would ever tell anyone, he was bound by hospital confidentiality and his own sense of loyalty. He could also tell Autumn probably wouldn’t appreciate the sentiment.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair making it even messier. This sort of thing was complicated and best avoided. He pulled his fountain pen from his pocket and signed his name under Kasey’s. He walked off leaving the girls to chat and dug his phone out of his jean pocket. He stared at it for a second before putting it back. He didn’t need to call his father. The old man would probably not even notice he wasn’t at home.
Brit stuck his hands back into his jacket pockets and walked down the corridor. Thinking of the grassy hills of England and realising how much he missed the rain.
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Reece raises his eyebrows as Autumn and Kasey exchange heated words. He turns to Sandra. "So, wanna check out the pool?" Sandra narrows her eyes, lets go of Reece's arm and approaches Autumn.
"Hey," she says. "I'm Sandra. Need a hand with that thing?"
Reece scratches the back of his head and steps back a bit from where he was standing. He strikes a casual pose and scans the crowd.
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GM Post
"Excellent." Greg grinned broadly at Autumn and Sandra, choosing to gloss over the tension between Autumn and Kasey.
"Thanks for volunteering so quickly. It will probably just take a jiffy to move the projectors to the meeting hall- they're in storage in the back room. Follow me, ladies..."
The man turned and after checking to make sure Autumn and Sandra were following, led them down a hall with an 'Employees only' sign.
Torrence glances between Kasey and Autumn, but decides to spend an extraordinary amount of time signing the sign in sheet, even making a little smiley face in the 'o' of her name. Glancing at the paper beside the sheet, she notes there's a slot open for Racquetball and jots down her name- and after a minutes hesitation, Kasey and Autumn's names as well. She was sure a bit of friendly competition would iron out any problems the girls were having.
Stepping back from the sign in sheet & sign up for the courts, she glanced at the people who had come in from the street.
"Where'd that kid go, the one-"
She stops speaking suddenly, as the one who got his rear kicked wasn't a very nice thing to say. She wandered over towards Reece while every one else messed with their cell phones, all the while looking for the younger student.
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Damien flipped his phone closed and stuffed it in his pocket. "Jeez, is this really a good idea... a lock in sounds..."he trailed off. Something definitely wasn't right here, he never heard of a lock in before this. "Excuse me,"he said running up to the front counter, more specifically the lady behind the counter. His face showed a hint of worry for a split second before his face turned back into his usual bland, expressionless emotion,"What exactly is a lock in?"
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The Receptionist in the fuchsia colored shirt glanced at Damien in surprise.
"A Lock in is a sort of all night party, young man. You stay up all night- playing in the sports area," She nudges the sports sign up sheet at him. "- or playing in the Billiards pool area or the heated indoor pools. is something wrong?"
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Reece looks wistfully as Sandra wanders off, and grins broadly as Torrence approaches. "Hey there! Are you talking about... Branden, I think it was? Brendan, something like that." Reece considers the issue for a moment. "Do you think he knows many people? Maybe we should see if he wants to hang out."
There's a flush of air as Damien breezes by. Reece's eyes trail him as he runs off.
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"But why is it called a lock in,"Damien answered back,"You mean we can't leave?" he asked. He had to force his faint panic from entering his voice. He couldn't believe he didn't think about. "If so is it to late to leave, I hate being confined in one place for to long,"he tried to sound polite but it was difficult, he wasn't used it it.
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Torrence nodded to Reece.
"Yeah, that guy. I'm not sure- but Greg seemed to knowhim. Couldn't hurt, right?"
She followed Reece's gaze to Damien.
"Whats his problem?" She speculated, watching the scene unfold.
The Receptionist frowned.
"If you leave right now, you wouldn't have earned any money for the fund raiser. Are you sure you want to let every one down like that?"
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Reece nods. "Definitely couldn't but... you think we should help... Damien, I think his name is? He seems a bit stressed. Maybe he'd like to go swimming or something."
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Brit placed a hand on Damien's shoulder. He grinned at the frowning receptionist, "Sorry, sorry my friend here is just scared of the word lock". he wheeled the stupidly tall kid across the corridor.
"Seriously man are you paranoid or what? Its just a party. and we could both use a break..." He took his hand of the big guys shoulder. "Listen lets just see it as a place to have a good time and get away from our parents for a few hours."
He laughed "I mean come on, its not as if anything life changing is going to happen!!"
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Surprised but rather hoping not to show, Autumn smiled softly at the girl, Sandra, and helped push the projectors down the hall, following Greg. "Thanks." Autumn replied, trusting Greg to lead them where they were going, eyes glancing up at the employees only sign, which oddly, sent shivers along her spine. Not one to be big on speaking, the girl didn't know what exactly to say to make conversation, but tried her name instead. "If you didn't know, I'm Autumn." It sounded foolish playing it back in her head, mentally kicking herself for the stupid words, but unable to take them back now, Autumn concentrated on the task ahead. "No problem Greg, anytime."
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Damien seemed confused, he didn't know, yet he was talking to him like he knew him,"My parents are going to be here..."he replied,"and something in my mom's voice..."he trialed off,"You know what I can't explain it to you, I just have a really bad feeling about this place,"he said nervously looking aorund. This teen was right, he was parinoid... "Y-you're right, I should c-calm down,"Damien looked at his hands... they were actually shaking. Usually he was in control of his emotions when he felt them but now...
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Brit looked at the shaking kid. the guy defiantly needed a distraction. "Listen mate i think some people are going to set up some projectors. You want to come with me and help out. It will help take your mind off all this".
But Brit couldn't help thinking about something the tall kid had said about his mother. the same sort of thing had been going on with his dad. Ever since they had come to this town last year. He shoved it to the back of his mind, maybe it was just the paranoia rubbing off on him...
"now are you comeing or not" Brit turned and walked over to the meeting hall.
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Torrence followed Reece's gaze to Damien and now Brit.
"You know, maybe we should. He seems really stressed out."
Torrence walked up to the two boys who were conversing. "Hey, guys. I'm Torrence. We sort of met outside at the parking lot... So whats going on? "
Greg nodded. "Of course, of course, I just wish more young people were as willing to help as you were. Follow me, ladies..."
He pushed open the 'Employees Only' door, leading Sandra and Autumn down a long hallway.
"The projectors are down here a ways. So - I haven't seen you around here before." He glanced over his shoulder, keeping up his brisk pace down the hallway.
"Are you thinking about attending the Sharing meeting tonight?"
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Autumn had no other choice but to follow, still pushing the projectors without a pause in her step, "most kids these days don't exactly know their pleases and thank yous, and willing to help just doesn't seem to be cool." She shrugged, not really caring what peoples definitions were on things these days, the only opinion mattered was your own. Taking deep breathes as she walked down the rather long hallway, Autumn looked up at Greg. "I'm around, I just don't stay around people." She gulped, wondering where this was going, having never really heard of the Sharing before. "Probably will be on my agenda." Autumn eyed warily, figuring that she was putting something into nothing, she didn't trust many people anyway, just her own personal idea of not letting people get too close.
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Reece nods. "Sounds like a plan." He follows along with Torrence, his mind bothering him slightly. Was Sandra mad they hadn't helped that weird girl? Was that why he was so concerned about these damned nervous kids? Best not to worry. Play it cool, play it cool, he tells himself. His posture slouches slightly. He offers Damien his hand to shake. "Sup?" he asks.
***
Sandra smiles at Autumn. "Pleased to meet you! I think I've seen you around school a bit." As they follow Greg, she paid careful attention to Autumn, trying to figure out what it was that could have set that Kasey girl off. The nerve of people sometimes! She notes Autumn's apparent nervousness, which does little to assuage her own. She tries not to be suspicious. Greg was a nice guy, involved, friendly. They'd be fine, right? She hears Autumn talk to him about the Sharing.
"You should come, Autumn! Reece and I've been meaning to go. It'd be fun to have you around."
-
"And I'm going so what more do you need?" Brit said as he caught up with the two girls. "Remember me? The mildly attractive, British nursing trainee?"
He looked back to see if Damien had followed him and was disappointed to see he hadn't.
What was with that guy? He was acting stranger than my dad..
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Damien took Reece's hand, hesitantly,"Uh... hi,"he was obvious he was uncomfortable now. His shaking stopped and all evidence of fear was gone. He wasn't used to people paying attention to him, maybe he shouldn't let his emotions get the better of him, any emotion, happiness, fear, anger, sadness, led to trouble. He looked over at Brit and quickly adverted his eyes. He began walking to the far corner ignoring everyone else aorund him. Leaning against the wall he sat down, his head in his hands. "Something is wrong here..."he muttered.
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Kasey yawns, and shoves her phone back in her pocket. She approaches Damien and Reece. "Damien, right? You live next door to me."
-
GM
Greg looked less than enthused to see that Brit had caught up with them.
"Oh, wonderful." He recovered, but quickly turned and faced forward. "Have you considered coming to the meet tonight? I was hoping to have a demonstration and I admit, I'm a bit nervous on whether or not it will flop."
Greg slowed, looking at the door they had approached.
"You kids these days are hard to predict. Hate to make the whole presentation bomb because you think its 'so last year'. "
Torrence
Greatly concerned about Damien's state of mind, Torrence shot her friend a grateful look at her approach.
"So you guys are neighbors?" She chose a hopefully safe topic. "Awesome. Either of you like racquetball?" She glanced between the two young men. "Cause I signed us-" She gestured to Kasey.
"- up for it and chasing a ball all night is not so much fun. I mean, if your worried about this place, we should check it out, right? Call Fox news if somethings off."
-
Damien sighed, why won't people leave him alone, he never had this problem before. "I never played before..."he said and glanced at Kasey. "Yeah, I do..."he said and stared at the floor, his answers seemed to be in random order.
A woman had walked behind Damien and tapped him on the shoulder. Behind the woman was a man holding a four year old.
Damien turned around to see his mother, father, and sister. "Hello sweetie,"said the teen's mom. Damien merely nodded. "I wanted to show you something along with your dad and sister,"she then noticed the two girls,"Would you like to come too?"
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Kasey eyes up Damiens parents and frowns. She grabs his arm. "We were actually just about to play raquetball." She begins to pull him towards the raquetball courts.
-
Damien's dad smiled,"Alright we'll see you later tonight!"he called out waving to Damien. His mom on the other hand seemed shocked and confused.
"But-"she began to say.
"Oh come on honey, Damien never is hanging out with anyone, he seems to have made some friends,"he said brightly.
Damien didn't fight Kasey's grip on his arm, but he did protest once his parents were out of earshot,"What are oyu doing, let go,"he said still not fighting since that would have just caused a scene.
-
Kasey immediately drops his arm, and grumbles. "You're welcome. Forgive me for assuming you want to hang with your parents all night." She continues to grumble under her breath for a few more moments. "If this is they way this thing is going to go, I'm gonna be outta here sooner than I thought."
-
"Probably." Autumn grinned slightly, tension easing off her like water rolling off a ducks back. "Well, if you sure, then alright, count me in." Autumn glanced between Greg and Sandra before hearing another voice, jumping slightly since she wasn't expecting anyone else to be around, but it was quite the relief. "With you there, everything will be perfect!" Autumn joked, patting him on the back. "Seriously, it'll be good though." Hoping her joke didn't offend him, she offered her hand. "Autumn, if you didn't catch that before." This time she turned to Greg, frowning a little bit. "I'm sure it'll be fine, we kids are hard to predict, but generally, if we like what we hear, you will know within seconds. If you don't mind, gonna head back to Torrence." She had hoped, even wished that she got the girls name right, "we are meant to be playing racquetball." Grabbing for Brit's hand, she didn't exactly want to leave without him, there was something comforting about him. "Coming Sandra?" With that, she turned and started heading back to the others.
-
GM
"No problem." Greg smiled, although there seemed to be a genuine regret in his voice. "Was hoping you'd want a peek, but you'll see this later."
He opened the door and turned to shove the projectors into the room. As Autumn turned, she saw two people (Damien's parents) enter through the 'Employees Only' door. Upon seeing them, Greg straightened and glanced behind them expectantly.
Damien's mother offered only a shrug, although she eyed Autumn, Brit and Sandra with curiosity. Her hand hesitated on the door a moment, but she and Damien's father crossed the hall towards Greg.
Anyone trying the door would find it locked, essentially trapping Brit, Autumn, Sandra and the couple who just entered in the corridor with Greg.
-
Brit grinned widely as Autumn pulled him through the corridor towards the door. Passing two unfimiliuer adults on the way. “Racquetball?? What’s that we didn’t have it in England“. He paused for a few seconds as he thought about it. “Or if we did it was called something else“.
Brit tried not to notice how warm Autumn’s hand were, and hoped his weren’t sweaty or anything. “You know Autumn you don’t have to be so nervous around everyone“. He whispered, low enough so only she could hear. “We’re all friends here, even Kasey. I think you an her just got off on the wrong foot”. He paused for a second.
“Possibly the left one…”
((Edit..: changed playing field to door))
-
[GM:
Just a mention that the door marked 'Employees Only' is locked, meaning Brit, Autumn and Sandra can not open it to reach the others]
-
"Damien, you can't blame us for wanting to keep your folks from Twilight Zoning in on you," Reece jeers. "They seem nice enough, but I mean... c'mon, surely you didn't actually want to spend a Friday night with them?" He looks towards where Sandra left from, before shooting her a text message and heading off for the racquetball courts with the others, staying near the front of the mob.
"Maybe after the game we can go for a dip in the pool- think this place has suits you can rent?" he asks.
*************
Sandra tries to hide a smile as she observes Brad and Autumn holding hands. Her phone rings with the arrival of a new text, but as she flips it open the battery dies. "Aw, farts," she mutters. A chill goes up her spine as the Pod-Parents pass by. "Racquetball sounds ultra-sweet. Better than sticking around in this hallway, at least, right? Maybe we can catch up with the others." She grabs the door handle. It doesn't go. She jiggles again, harder. "Aw farts!" she repeats.
-
"It's-" Autumn was about to explain when the parents walked in, getting a creepy chill down her spine as she stood back, gripping onto Brit's hand tighter, hoping he wouldn't let go. It wasn't that she was scared, she just didn't want to be alone, by herself. "Yea, well, good reason to be." Autumn whispered back, staring at Brit. "Things happen you know, and yea, probably." A snicker came from her lips as she straightened up, hearing Sandra speak and the sound of the door jiggling, which meant one thing. "Locked in?" Her eyes arched, surprise littered her face. "Why is the door locked?" Autumn snarled, turning onto the adults. "I hate being trapped, I hate it." The girl was freaking out a bit more, being trapped, was worse than death. Little did she know that she would have a new thing that was worse than death. If it comes down to it, I'll fight. We have to get out of here, Autumn thought, eyes flashing.
-
Sandra puts a hand on Autumn's shoulder. "Hey kids, rest easy. I'm sure it's a mistake, we'll be out freezy as birds in no time, yeah?" She shoots a glance at the Pod Parents. "You guys know a way out of here, right?"
-
"It worked just fine when we came through." Damien's mother remarked, as she and damien's father had reached Greg.
"That door sticks sometimes." Greg said knowingly. "The lock in the handle pops out if you close it to hard. There's a pin we use to pop it open... let me see if I can find it."
He heads into the room that he'd pushed the projectors into.
"Shouldn't we wait with the kids?" Damien's father wondered as Damien's mother entered the room after Greg. She said something that the others couldn't quite catch. The father gave the kids a reassuring smile and followed his wife into the large room.
The door stood open. After a moment or two, the soothing sounds of a sauna could be heard.
-
"I-I guess..." Damien said following the two. "But... I haven't played before,"he was trying to find a polite way of getting out hanging aorund other kids. "I'll suck..."
-
Kasey shrugs, and lowers her voice in response to Damien. "You've never played, and I'm terrible at it. Maybe we should just skip this all together...I'm all for leaving. I'm sure there's a window around here somewhere."
-
Alice:
I looked around me and saw signs to all the various activities. The swimming-pool. Surely not... Then again, these are Yeerks: As if they're likely to pass up THAT opportunity... Lets see: Dozens of prime host bodies trapped in a Yeerk-controlled building with no way out, a convenient large body of water designed for them to swim in, and every person entered the building willingly. Of course they'd try to infest everyone.
But what about all my friends? I glanced around me to see how many people I'd actually spoken to before, and counted 4 just in this reception area, plus Eddie outside of course. What about in the other rooms? There was a distinct lack of windows to see beyond the reception area, and I had the feeling the Yeerks had something to do with that.
If only there was some way I could get them out of here... But then what about all the other innocent humans doomed to infestation this fateful night? I looked around again, doing a head-count...
-
In addition to the five of Kasey, Reece, Torrence, Damien and herself, Alice could see two other students talking a few feet away. There were also a handful playing pool over in the nearby Billiards room and she recalled seeing a handful of teenagers head towards the pool area since she'd entered the Reception area.
-
"Aw c'mon, Kasey. The more time we spend here, the more goes to charity. Besides, racquetball can't be that bad... uh, do either of you happen to know what it is?"
-
"Look, I just hate being trapped." Autumn looked back at the adults. "Yea, well, can we go out with the others now?" Autumn asked, hearing the sound distinctly, wondering what on earth a sauna was doing around, thats what it sounded like. "I'm all for playing racquetball." She gazed at Sandra. "We have to get out of here, I don't like it." Her voice was only a whisper, fear laced in the back of her mind.
-
Kasey glares at Reece. "It's none of your d*mn business what I do or don't do. Why don't you go play with your girlfriend, or has she run off with that vampire chick?" Kasey taunts.
-
"We have to get out of here, I don't like it." He heard Autumn whisper, and Brit had to agree. Their was something about this whole set-up that made a tiny chill run down his spine. He squeezed Autumns hand before crouching down to look at the lock. He wasn’t a locksmith but there was nothing obviously wrong with the door.
“Maybe you should have the door looked at Greg” he called into the other room. “Isn’t it a fire risk or something?” He habitually ran his fingers through his messy hair. “And why the hell is there a sauna all the way over here?”. He leaned against the door, maybe he was just being to suspicious. He lowered his voice and murmured to the two girls. “Do you just want to see if there’s another door?”
-
Sandra tries to hide her bemusement as Brad and Autumn panic at the door. "Seriously guys, it's just a technical glitch. The mis-clatching of some doohickey. I'll go see if I can help them find the pin they're looking for, and report back with what I find. I'll scream or something if they rape me." She smiles as she heads into the next room- partially out of amusement for her own joke, partially to keep their fears from getting to her. She'd be fine, right?
^^^^^^^^^^
Reece rolls his eyes. “Could you be a bit more shrill, please? I think there are dogs in the neighborhood that haven’t committed suicide yet.”
-
Brit grumbled at Sandra's comment. "I'm not scared just suspicious. i mean doors don't usually tend to lock themselves, do they?". He considered going after Sandra to help, wanting to meet up with the others as soon as possible. This racquetball thing looked fun, if alittle mysterious...
He turned to Autumn "You want to come and look for the pin or shall we stay and wait by the door?"
-
Kasey snorts, and responds to Reece "And you must be one of them."
-
Damien hesitated. How should he respond. He was literally at a lost, he never had been in a lot of conversations and he usually keeps to himself. This robbed him of his ability to communicate with other people... or how to respond in different situations.. "Uh..." Damien bit his lip,"But haven't you noticed the lack of windows... I only seen ones near the receptionist and none in any other area of the building..." wait... when did he notice that? Was his subconscious picking up on suspicious things? Or was he also this observant without realizing it. "And... I can read body language well... the body language of some of the people here seem... like they are acting... I don't know how to explain it but it is like... they are pretending to be joyful..."
-
Sandra tries to hide her bemusement as Brad and Autumn panic at the door. "Seriously guys, it's just a technical glitch. The mis-clatching of some doohickey. I'll go see if I can help them find the pin they're looking for, and report back with what I find. I'll scream or something if they rape me." She smiles as she heads into the next room- partially out of amusement for her own joke, partially to keep their fears from getting to her. She'd be fine, right?
As she entered the room, she had a clear view of Damien's father seated in the chair, an odd, vacant expression on his face. He slowly lifted his hand and stared at it, flexing his fingers as though it was the greatest thing he'd ever seen. As she was processing that oddity, someone stepped out from behind the door and nudged the door so that it blocked the view to the corridor.
"Glad you could join us." Damien's mother smiled.
"Please, have a seat." Greg was there, sliding a chair up next to the sauna. That was a bit odd in itself- but then she saw something odd attached to the arms of the chair. Almost like cloth restraints... perhaps that was the moment she realized this really was a bad idea.
Damien's mother stepped up behind her, covering her mouth as Greg tried to pull her towards the chair.
-
"Pft. I wish. I'd rather be snout-deep in dog anus than listening to you, toots." Reece winked at Kasey, but then turned to regard Damien. It was hard not to feel bad for the kid. Once, at The Gardens, Reece had seen a fledgling ostrich hatch from its shell. It was wet, naked, and completely aghast at the prospect of existence. It looked slightly more at-ease than Damien did right now.
"Well, I mean, we are surrounded by highschool kids," Reece reassures him. "Acting is half the battle at our age."
****
Sandra flops about. She's a smaller gal- physically fit, but short, and not accustomed to physical confrontation. She tries to scream, tears coming from her eyes.
-
Kasey steps, rather rudely, in front of Reece, and responds to Damien. "Has anyone ever told you you're a really weird kid? Dosen't matter though, I'm finding a way out so I can go hiking. You can join me, or I can drop you off at your place on my way."
-
Reece narrows his eyes at Kasey, before putting an arm around Damien's shoulders in a conspiratorial pose. "C'mon Damien, don't let frizzy here get to you. We'll try some Racquetball, it'll be a good time. I can introduce you to some people around here. Maybe a few girls, even." He offers him a big grin. "Eh? How's that sound?"
-
Kasey glares at Reece, "Don't let this idiot suck you in, or you'll end up just like the rest of those drones."
-
"Oh, and you're so goddamned Indy now? What is this? Damien, my friends aren't drones. Take Sandra, she'd never let anyone tell her what to do- believe me." Reece pauses, distracted. "Point is, you can get griped at and accused all evening, or you can hang out with me, and we'll all have a swell time. And if we don't, hell, I'll get you an ice cream or something to make up for it."
-
Damien bit his lip when Kasey called him weird... he knew it was true, that was why he kept to himself... but it still hurt... The other reason he didn't like to talk to people was because he just, didn't fit in with anyone, he was in his own separate cliche. "I-I uh... guess..."Damien said... maybe something new would get his mind off this paranoia.
-
Kasey continues to glare at Reece "I've never claimed be be Indy. I've never offered to be his friend. He obviously doesn't want to be here, so I offered him an out. I'm pretty sure ice cream isn't going to convince him to be your friend. That doesn't work past the age of five, Reece. Get off my back, and stop trying to force the kid to do something he doesn't want to do. You're such an a**hole."
-
Reece throws his hands up. "Whoa there, let's take a damn breather here. I'm just trying to help. And 'the kid' has a name. It's Darren!" Reece shouts indignantly. He pauses. "Oh, you know what I mean."
-
"Damien..."Damien injected before falling silent again... great a fight was starting because of him... he should have just kept his mouth shut...
-
"Right, I... ****, sorry man," Reece says. "Slip of the tongue, honest. And look, I understand if you don't want to play Racquetball, but I do think you'll have a better time if you do."
-
Kasey sighs, "Nice, Reece." She moves away from Damien and Reece, "I'm going to go watch racquetball. You're welcome to join me if you'd like, Damien."
-
"Pft. I wish. I'd rather be snout-deep in dog anus than listening to you, toots." Reece winked at Kasey, but then turned to regard Damien. It was hard not to feel bad for the kid. Once, at The Gardens, Reece had seen a fledgling ostrich hatch from its shell. It was wet, naked, and completely aghast at the prospect of existence. It looked slightly more at-ease than Damien did right now.
"Well, I mean, we are surrounded by highschool kids," Reece reassures him. "Acting is half the battle at our age."
****
Sandra flops about. She's a smaller gal- physically fit, but short, and not accustomed to physical confrontation. She tries to scream, tears coming from her eyes.
The two adults frog walk Sandra over to the chair, a hand tightly clasped over her mouth. Damien's father, John, begins to look around, his face blank and expressionless to Sandra's predictament.
Greg guides her down into the chair with surprising gentleness, placing Sandra's arms upon the arms of the chairs and strapping her down with the padded cloth restraints.
"Almost over, dear." Mary murmured into Sandra's ear, one hand remaining over her mouth. "Every thing is about to become a great deal better."
"Here." Greg stepped away from a nearby roll away storage unit, something grasped in his hand. Mary removed her hand for one brief moment of freedom before sliding a cloth gag over Sandra's mouth.
"Just one more minute..." Mary assured, spinning Sandra's chair and aligning it beside the sauna.
Sandra felt a jolt as Mary tilted the chair, lowering her head towards the sauna. Dark shapes seemed to writhe beneath the water, one coming towards Sandra...
Greg palmed a small object and stepped into the corridor. He smiled at Brit and Autumn as he showed the item in his hand- a small key.
"Look what I found!"
-
"It took you long enough" Brit laughed. He moved away from the door so Greg could get passed. "So where's Sandra" he asked, "In the sauna?". He laughed good natuerd at his own joke.
-
Sandra swishes her head about as much as she can in the pool, but strong adult arms keep her head in place. She closes her eyes, her screams completely muffled by hands and water.
-
Cut Scene
The two teenagers were reunited with Sandra who seemed fine despite her momentary disappearance. Greg unlocked the 'stuck' door, allowing them to reunite with the people waiting in reception- Kasey, Reece, Damien, Alice and Torrence.
Greg followed them out and announced that the Sharing Meeting was about to start- and would they like to come? If they followed Greg, they discovered that the Auditorium was already packed- and that they had to grab the crappy seats by the door in the back. The Meeting started off strong- mentioned that the caterers had set up for dinner, the games would be running all night until seven the next morning- and then they started talking about belonging.
Glancing around you, you can see several people affected by the charismatic speaker. They must be lonely or isolated or feeling unimportant. Soon, the speaker was asking if any one would like to come forward and become a full member- and you watched in surprise as droves of people stood and started walking up the aisle.
Perhaps this was a bit too much like Bible camp for you and you ducked out or you just really needed to use the bath room. Ducking out of the auditorium, you headed towards the bathrooms. You quickly notice that no ones about- and if you try the front door, you find the doors are locked. Having watched someone lock the doors, Eddie sighed dejectedly and slowly wheeled himself off to the carpark.
The group split up as they headed in or perhaps decided to check for a way out. As you finished your business and were about to head out- you stopped.
There was someone crying in the hall.
Opening the door, you see a girl hurrying up the hall. Her hair is wet and dishieveled and her tear stained cheeks suggest she's crying. Before you can act, you see someone else- a severe looking woman- catch up with her and grab her by the arm.
"How'd she escape the pool?" Another person, a young man - asked as he walked up the corridor. The three don't seem to see you.
"There hasn't been enough time to set up all the security measures, Sub Visser." The woman said anxiously.
"Get her back to the Pool." The man said coldly. "I designated this one for my allies and I intend-"
He stopped speaking.
You peek out of the bath room door.
Kasey- perhaps looking for a way out one of the windows by Reception- had been spotted.
"Take her," The young man ordered, indicating Kasey. "- to the Pool."
Alice was saddened to realize there was nothing she could do to save the girl with the wet hair - She had already been recaptured.
When she realized Kasey was about to meet the same fate, however, she thought there might just be a slim chance to help her escape without either of them being recognized.
At the most opportune time, Alice tried to gain Kasey's attention without the controllers noticing; "Psst! Over here! - Quickly!"
As Alice began whispering to Kasey, the Controllers who were much closer to Alice than Kasey was, turned and looked at her- and appeared very shocked to see her.
-
Kasey stares open-mouthed for a second at the controllers, then again at Alice. She begins to sweat almost instantly, then retorts unsurely, "Can't you see I've already been to the pool? Worry about how she got away." She gestures at the girl with the wet hair, then turns on her heel, and attempts to walk away.
-
"I'm glad to be out, but where is Sandra?" Autumn muttered to Brit, walking with him. Feeling a connection with him, not a love connection, but one of friendship. "Should we find her?" Autumn began walking, seeing the amount of people in the auditorium, her mouth slightly agape. "Anymore people and I'm gonna get claustrophobic." Muttering, Autumn didn't know if she should take a seat, or try and find Sandra, where ever she was. The other girl was going to miss what was going to happen.
-
Damien ducked back into the bathroom quickly his breathing panicked. What was going one... that women... the one who chased after the girl with wet hair... was his mother! He knew something was going on, he wasn't sure how but he knew. What was up with his mother... she would never do something like that! Now that he thought about it... where was his Dad and four year old little sister? He had to find out more, and help that girl... but what if he was caught? What if he didn't do anything? Who both paths end up the same... end up like how his mother was acting? The teen held his chest trying to calm down. Emotions messed with your judgement.. there must be a way to help her... He noticed Reece from before standing in the bathroom also.
"Don't make a sound," he mouthed and held his ear to the bathroom door trying to hear more.
-
Reece stood against the wall, scanning the room, unsure of what to do. He could have sworn he heard adult voices and what sounded like that goddamned Kasey girl just outside. She had been to the pool? What did that mean? Was she the one crying? Highschool power politics had accustomed the young AllStar for a certain level of groupthink authoritarian bull****- but something about the sheer mindlessness of all these drones was tinkering with his guts.
He looked at Damien, and held up a hand in reassurance. He slipped with careful stealthiness under one of the stalls and grabbed a paper towel role. He brought it out and began to wrap his face, concealing it.
-
GM
Raven and Brit flowed out to the main scene of the Reception Hall in their search of Sandra and didn't find Sandra. They did see the woman they'd met earlier, Mary, holding the arm of a crying girl.
A young man with an suspicious expression watched as Kasey began to walk towards Autumn and Brit.
"You say you've been already?" He said in a voice loud enough for those straining to hear to comprehend. "Then what's your name?"
-
"What does he mean, what is her name?"Damien asked under his breath. He turned back to Reece to see toilet paper wrapped around his head... he looked ridiculous... but that really didn't matter right now. He walked over to Reece, careful not to make a sound, and whispered in his ear,"You got a plan?"
-
Brit saw Kasey walking towards them. His hand where shoved in his pockets as he eyed the crying girl. He subconsciously checked her for injuries, before realising he was doing that weird First Aid thing again. He stopped and asked Kasey.
"Whats going on" he asked. "Anything i can help with?"
-
Reece handed Damien the rest of the toilet paper, and whispered into his ear. "Not really. I can run fast- maybe I can distract them." He places his ear back against the door, waiting for any sign that everything's about to go downhill.
-
Alice:
My whisper had been too loud! I'd been noticed! I quickly scanned the bathroom - Nobody else was in here, the window was frosted like almost all bathroom windows are, and I didn't detect any CCTV or yeerk surveilance system in operation. Good. I pushed the door closed and flicked my hologram to show a lady who bore no resemblance to my usual appearance, so I could not be identified as me when/if a controller came in.
When I heard out in the corridor a male voice, laced with suspicion, ask Kasey her name, I knew he meant her Yeerk name. And Kasey wouldn't have an appropriate answer for him.
Kasey's decision to pretend she'd already been to the pool was pretty quick-thinking of her, but I'd known her a while now and knew it was a bluff.
Unlike Kasey, I knew what a Yeerk name sounded like. I decided to try to help her...
I checked bluetooth-frequencies, looking for her cell. She usually accidentally left her Bluetooth switched on, and we'd paired our phones some time ago, so we didn't need security codes to send ringtones to each other etc.
There was a Yeerk dampening field preventing cellphone-calls etc, but my Pemalite tech could overcome that well enough for my purposes. I hacked into her phone via Bluetooth and set a calender-alarm with the following message to her:
"He's asking for a Yeerk designation, not a human name. Try "Illim 907". It should at least buy you some more time to get away. This note will self-erase, in case they try to read it. If they ask, tell them it's a reminder alarm for something. SMS and Calls don't work within this building."
I set the alarm for one-minute's time and set the cell's clock seconds to 50 so she'd hear it in 10 seconds time. As per the message, it would delete itself.
-
GM
"Whose that with you?" The young man began to walk towards Kasey, Brit and Autumn. "All of you, turn and tell me your names. This is no time to forget common protocol- and respect for your superiors."
As Alice sends the text message, her phone beeps and informs her of an error- it seems that it can't get a signal. As she fiddles with it, perhaps walking around- she sees that she still can't get a signal. Did her text message get through? Wait- hadn't she hacked the system? As she hurriedly attempted to gain access again, she discovered with alarm that she couldn't get around the dampening field now. It was almost as though she was being rebuffed...
At the same time, Kasey's phone gives its signal that it has receives a text message. If she checks it, she has a bare glimpse of Alice's text, just enough time to read it before it vanishes and is replaced by the 'no signal' error.
If any one checks their phones, they get the same no signal outcome, despite their various services.
-
"What the hell are you talking about". Brit's brow knotted in confusion as the young man started shouting at their small group. His hands slid from the comfortable position in their pockets and hung at his sides. His left foot slipped backwards a few centimeters. Always be prepared, the familiar advice whispered in the back of his mind.
-
"Looking like an idiot is better than being caught,"Damien whispered back referring to the toilet paper. Damien copied Reece with the toilet paper keeping his ears, mouth and eyes uncovered. "I feel stupid..."he muttered to himself walking up behind Reece. "I'll try to help in anyway I can..."Damien's attitude seemed to have changed, instead of being the quiet, awkward boy he was before he was actually talking without stumbling over his words, and he seemed, to be calculating possible courses of action.
-
Still attempting to walk away, Kasey hesitates for a moment too long before responding in a shaky voice "Insulin nine-hundred-seven?" She then stumbles, falling to the ground only feet away from the controller group.
-
Her mind was screaming at her to stay silent, eyes moved over to Kasey as she spoke before Kasey had stumbled and fallen to the ground Quickly, Autumn moved up, standing mere feet away. Questions entered her mind, but she would keep quiet, she wasn't going to let Kasey go with these freaks. There really was no other word for them. "Come on, get up." Autumn said softly, hoping Kasey wouldn't snap at her. Despite their earlier attitude to each other, Autumn wasn't going to let Kasey go, her instinct to fight welled up inside her.
-
GM
As the Chee, Alice, hastily acted to save Kasey, Autumn and Brit from certain infestation, the two Controllers appeared conflicted at Kasey's reply.
"Insulin?" Damien's mother repeated. "That's the drug to treat diabetes in the human hosts. Somethings not right."
"Indeed." The young man declared darkly. "Get this one," He indicated the crying girl in Mary's grasp. " - to the Pool. You three-"
His gaze swung to Kasey, Autumn and Brit.
"Come with me."
"No!" The crying girl shrieked, her wet auburn hair whipping about as she struggled with Mary, scratching the older woman's arms. "No! I won't let it in my head!"
Despite her vigorous attempts at escape, the woman began dragging her down the corridor that the three had been in earlier.
"RUN!" She screams to Kasey, Autumn and Brit.
The man's head whips about towards the auburn haired girl at her screams.
You look about quickly- but you already know that the front door is locked and the windows by the reception area won't open. That leaves only the bathrooms and their two windows.
-
Without thinking, Kasey scrambles to her feet and grabs at Autumn and Brit, her fingers barely grazing their clothes as she bolts into the bathroom. She stumbles shrieks, but manages to stay on her feet when she sees the now unrecognizable Reece and Damien in the bathroom. She launches herself up onto a sink, and tears at the window latches, then throws the window open. She scrambles over the window and hits the ground below, hard. She panics, unsure of where to go, before bolting towards the woods.
-
Brits head did a whirlwind. the two conflicting messages in his mind battled against eachover. commonsense and his flight impulse told him to follow the girls advice and to run to the nearest available exit.
But something else, something strong and annoying told him to fight. Could he really stand by and let a girl be dragged off? Within a second he had made a decision that he would probably regret for the rest of his life.
He roared in anger and ran down the corridor passing Kasey as she ran to the bathroom. A meter before the surprised man he braked and squealed to a halt. His fist didn't stop and impacted on the guys jaw. A punch his boxing coach would have been proud of back in England. The man fell to the ground, even if he wasn't knocked out he wouldn't be getting up for a while. A punch like that to the jaw would have shaken the brain in his skull. All motor skills would be confused for at least a minute... at least technically.
He stepped over the young man on the floor and looked straight into Marys eyes, as the girl still struggled in her grasp."Let. The. Girl. Go" He warned.
-
Upon hearing "Run!" Reece bursts out of the bathroom, passing Kasey on his way out. He sees Brad send the man flying and threaten Mary. He runs towards Mary at full speed, unleashing a lunatic scream.
-
"Temrash 98!" Mary screamed as the young man clattered to the floor. As the other two turned her attention to her, she reached into her pocket and pulled out an odd device. As they watched she brought the end of the weapon like object underneath the girls chin.
"Freeze." She hissed. "Or I take the humans head off."
She pulled the girl backwards, towards the corridor. Soon, they'd reach the door.
-
Damien peeked back out of the bathroom, toilet paper still wrapped around, he felt like an idiot, that didn't change. He saw his mom holding what looked like some kind of weapon to the girl's head. A normal gun would kill her if shot there... however this weapon looked... more advanced. There was no doubt it would kill her. He had to do something... he was out of his mom's line of sight from the bathroom door...
Quickly the teen ran back inside the bathroom and grabbed one of the metal toilet paper holders from the stall Reece 'stole' the toilet paper. Would this do, it was metal and a tiny bit bigger than his hand. Damien ran back to the bathroom door and stepped out slightly, his mom still didn't notice him. "Here goes nothing..."Damien muttered, if he missed the girl would die and if he didn't throw it at all a possibly worse fate awaited her. He threw the metal with all his might aiming fro his mothers hand, the one holding the weapon. Hopefully the pain, if he hit, would make her drop the weapon.
-
The dispenser sails through the air. Watching with baited breath, the teenagers watched as it sailed closer towards Mary and the girl! At spotting the projectile, Mary kept one hand clamped over the girls mouth and the other extended, holding the weapon.
TSEEW!
The toilet paper dispenser was nowhere to be seen- but there was a scorch mark directly in front of the weapon. Mary whirled with the weapon, extending her arm in Damien's direction, preparing to fire.
Things just became dire!
-
Damien stood there, surprised... it was completely gone.... how could that be... nothing on Earth was that advanced... Damien ripped the toilet paper off his face, if he was going to die, which seemed very likely, he wasn't going to die looking like an idiot. "M-mom..."was all he could say. This wasn't like her, she wasn't a killer, far from it,"Mom what has gotten into you!?"he shouted clenching his fists, his shock and fear turned to anger. "What has happened to you!?" this didn't make any sense... was he still dreaming? Or was she hypnotized... no hypnotism can't make you do something strictly against your morals...
-
With the weapon aimed at Damien Brit didn't hesitate. He flew towards Mary and gabbed the woman's hand by the wrist.
TSEEW!!
The bolt of light an heat sailed centimeters from Brits face burning a hole through the ceiling taking a portion of Brits hair with it. With one of her assailants arms occupied the girl saw her chance, and bit into the flesh of the older woman's hand. Mary screamed, her grip loosening enough so that the damp-haired girl could run towards the bathroom.
Brit grabbed the other wrist and slammed the woman against the wall. "RUN!" he shouted at the other teens as he struggled against the older woman's seemingly inhuman strength.
TSEEW!!
The woman had managed to twist her gun around to point at Brit. He felt a sudden numbing pain flash up his arm. He glanced at his arm, part of his jacket just below the shoulder was smoking. He felt something warm flow down his arm and a sudden realisation took him. He had been shot!
He howled in rage and pain and slammed his head into Mary's. The woman's eyes rolled back and she slumped down the wall, into a unconscious sitting position. Brit grasped his wound tightly, trying too ease the pain shooting up his arm.
"Come on lets get out of here." He murmured, "someone will have heard that".
-
As Brit spoke, he suddenly felt another searing pain across his hand, accompanied by a TSEEW! As he shook his injured hand- which looked a lot like a burn wound and hurt considerably, the man who had been punched earlier regained his footing and backed up against the wall so that he could not be sneaked up on.
His hand holding the weapon swung between Damien and Britt and back again.
-
Brit stumbled with pain and fell against the bathroom door. he gave a small cry as his weight opened the door and he tumbled in. He lay on the floor his arm and hand throbbed as pain numbly flowed through floed through them. looking at his hand he saw it was smoking lightly. the actual wound was burned and partially cauterised so the bleeding was minimal..
Brit looked at the ceiling hoping he wouldn't go into shock. "Well at least i saved the girl" he whispered.
-
Reece arrives just as Mary is being clocked, and, slipping on a pool of blood from the brutal punching and laying about, ends up tangled up with her in a pile, dazed momentarily as he strikes his head on the linoleum. Subsequent gunfire brings him back into alertness, and he sees a man pointing a gun at that damned crazy Brit. Mary's laser or whatever the **** it is lies scattered a few inches from her hand. He waits until the man's gun is fixed on Damien at the other end of the hall, before grabbing Mary's and heaving her limp body onto him. He points the gun at the man, hoping he has the shooting end in the right direction.
-
As Kasey reaches the woods, she reaches to pull her cell phone out of her pocket. It's not there. "D**m it!" she shouts. She crumples to the ground panting, debating what she should do. She feels compelled to help those left inside, but knows that if she causes any further trouble her family will hear about it. After all, they're on the news nightly. She lets out a sob of frustration, then stands up. She knows that she has to go back, there's no way she can leave those people in there without finding them some kind of help.
She stands at the edge of the woods, observing the building for a moment. From the outside, everything looks completely normal. After a few moments deliberation, she begins to approach the building, heading towards the parking lot outside of the front doors. When she spots Eddie, she freezes on the spot, unsure if he is friend or foe.
-
The weapon fires- and startled by the recoil, it jumps from Reece's hand and clatters to the floor. As he looks up, he sees that he's fired the right end. The horrid stench of cooking meat fills the Reception as the man falls to the ground, screaming a wordless cry of pain and fury. You can see a nasty looking burn through the man's left shoulder. Your stomach turns just looking at it and the hot blood pumping out of his wound and pooling upon the floor. As you stare in horror, you realize the blood is not pumping at all- the beam seemed to have caused a deep burn, cauterizing the wound and amounting to that horrid smell.
You turn at a noise.
The auditorium doors have swung open and instead of sympathetic fellow teenagers, two granite faced adults run towards the fallen Mary and young man.
"Get them!" The man howls, clutching his ruined shoulder. "Take them!"
His hand indicates Damien, Brit, Reece and swings towards the bathroom. His finger tips drip with his own blood.
The two adults- one a tall, lean blond man and the other a stocky, dark skinned one- race towards you. You dodge their outstretched hands as they chase you into the girl's bath room, where the girl and a woman stare at you. You lock the door shut and put down the kick stand, but you can hear them throwing their full weight at it. The door is inching open.
What would happen if they thought to get that weapon? It would cut through this door like butter- and whoever was standing behind it.
Looking for a way out, all you can find is the window which slides up easily. They jostle for position underneath the window to boost the shorter members out first. The tallest of the group, Damien, has difficulty fitting through the window to join the others. He watches the group who has escaped stare back at him fearfully- the unknown girl, Reece, Torrence, Brit, Autumn... where was Kasey?
As he struggled to fit, the bathroom door clatters open. The angry adults shove the door open and head towards the lone woman (Alice) who remains in the building. Damien's shoulder suddenly squeezes through and he tumbles out of the window and out into the cool dusk with the others.
As Damien rights himself, Alice crashes down beside him. Arms reach out for you, but the adults have no better luck fitting through the window than Damien did initially.
They had a head start- but where should they go? What was going on? What were those weapons, the odd name that Alice had texted Kasey - and what was the Pool?
-
Everything happened so fast Autumn swore it was all just a dream, her body numb and mind ticking over, being being pulled with the others, into the bathroom and out the window, time seemed to be on fast forward, one thing she knew was that something was wrong. "What the hell is going on?" Autumn asked, fear in her voice as she looked back at the window they escaped from. Realizing they needed to go and quickly, Autumn looked around the group, "lets go, my place isn't too far from here and as long as we get away from them, its the main thing right?" Looking around, she touched Damien's shoulder. "We can get cleaned up and." Autumn paused. "No, we find K.C first." A moments hesitation, she couldn't let the other girl get hurt, they had just survived this weird place together, she wasn't going to just forget about her. "Whose with me?"
-
Reece drops the gun as it fires, horrified, having not meant to activate it. The smell of the man's burnt flesh and the sight of the wound flash every time his concentration drifts from the task of lurching out of the hands of the attacking adults. He runs with the others on autopilot, not saying anything, not even thinking to remove the stupid toilet paper he has wrapped around his head until they've run well to safety. Raven says something. He doesn't quite hear. He thinks about the last time he may have killed somebody.
"I didn't mean to," he says.
-
Damien felt himself shaking. "I don't think going home would be a good idea... they have our names down on the sign up sheets, it wouldn't be long until they figure out who we are... that and whatever is affecting my mom could be affecting your parents also... we don't know... two seemingly nice people went all... evil on us..."he looked up at Autumn. "But if K.C. is involved in this also we do have to find her... whatever we do we can't just stand her, you saw that weapon of theirs, it wouldn't take long for them to find and/or kill us,"He continued bluntly.
He glanced at Reece,"You never shot anyone before, I believe, you wouldn't know simple things as backfire and how to aim the gun... it wasn't your fault..."he seemed kind of awkward comforting somebody, it just wasn't him,"but she is right we can't just sit here, whatever we are going to do we have to move..."
-
Brit moaned and slipped off his jacket so he could inspect his wounds. The wound near his shoulder was only a scratch, the bullet or whatever it was had only hit by a few millimeters. It stung to high heaven but the bleeding would stop on its own in a few minutes. It was the wound to his hand that worried him. It was a strange mix of a gunshot wound and a burn. He pulled out his handkerchief and wrapped it around the site to help stop the bleeding. Only then did he look at Autumn and Damien.
"I agree" he said through gritted teeth. "We have to find K.C. We can't just run and hide with someone in danger." Brit stumbled over to where Reece was standing. "Here try getting Kasey on my cell" he passed an old out of date cellphone to Reece.
The last thing they needed was for Reece to go into shock. Making him do something productive would take his mind off it for at least alittle while. "Make the damn call and snap out of it". He whispered into Reece's ear, "we need everyone right now or else were all dead." He placed his good hand on the kids shoulder and squeezed just enough to hurt. "We need you, not a useless wreck!"
-
Alice:
I waited until everyone in the bathroom had made it out through the window before making my own exit the same way. My current hologram was that of a tall, slender woman in her early 20's. She had been one of my previous 'lives' many generations ago, so there would be no photographic record of her if someone tried to trace my current guise.
The window might have been a slight problem to a real human of this build, but we Chee are somewhat smaller than the average 13-year-old in our natural form, so it was just a case of making my exit look convincing rather than any actual physical difficulty for myself.
When I straightend up, I realized nobody outside would recognise me as Alice either. As the adult controllers attempted to force their way out the window to chase our little group of escapees, I had to think of a way to convince teenagers that could not recognise me as Alice, to trust me enough to help them escape...
"We need to get away from here so the Yeerks don't catch us. When we find a place to hide, I promise I'll explain what's going on as best I can. I realize you don't recognize me, but will you trust me to help us all escape them?" I asked in a rushed, hushed voice. I scanned around and spotted some woodland not too far off that might at least help disguise our escape even if it didn't provide a good hiding-place. I started walking backwards in that direction, keeping myself facing them so they could try to detect any hint of deception in my face or body-language. There was no deception to be found, of course, but would any of them trust me? - I could only hope so...
Eddie:
I'm in my car, listening to some music and relaxing a bit after today's school. I was just about to start the engine to drive myself home when I noticed a distressed-looking damsel heading my way from the direction of the woods. She looked somewhat familiar, somehow... Yes, that was it: I'd seen her with Alice a few times. Maybe they were friends? Hmm, I might be able to kill two birds with one stone here... If I help this girl, maybe she can put in a good word for me with Alice? Yeah, that would be good... Hang on: Wasn't she in that building with Alice just now? I could've sworn I'd seen her near Alice in that reception area before the doors were locked shut...
I pressed the window controls and reached to pause my music. The girl would be hit with a wall of sound during the brief half-second between my window starting to open and the music cutting short.
As the window continued to open, I called out to the distressed-girl: "Hey, aren't you one of Alice's friends? - Are you alright?" I asked in a concerned British accent. She certainly didn't look alright...
-
Reece nods curtly. He's not used to being bossed or babied, even in the direst of circumstances. He affects a smile. "I'm cool, thanks," he says. His eyes are red. He hands the phone back to the Brit. "But I don't reckon Kasey is going to have anything to do with me if I'm the one to dial- we're more likely to lose track of her than anything. Someone she doesn't loath should call." He looks around and, not seeing anyone from inside, begins to unravel the toilet paper from his face.
Some college girl approaches. "What on earth is a Yeerk? And... oh ****," he says. "God dammit, so ****ing..." he whips out his phone and tries to get hold of Sandra. How could he have forgotten?
-
Kasey hesitates for a moment, deciding he's friend, before lurching towards Eddie's van. The words coming out in a jumble, she begins to explain "They're kidnapping people in there! I dont' know what they're doing, but they're hurting them somehow! We need to get them out, but there's no way in!" She lets out a choked sob at this thought, terrified for her schoolmates. She then darts around to the drivers side of Eddie's car. Without giving him time to think, she throws open the drivers side door, and begins to physically push him towards the passengers side "MOVE! We're getting them out NOW!"
-
Eddie:
I was correct: The girl was definitely NOT alright. She made a bee-line for me, spouting some histerical gibberish about kidnappings amidst audible sobs - Something had seriously upset this girl, but before I had a chance to gather any thoughts for a reply, the girl wrenched open my door and tries to push me out of her way.
Quite apart from there being a centre-console in the way of achieving her goal, there was also the matter of my being paralized from the waist down. My legs flopped randomly as the girl pushed me, and I instinctivly gripped my steering-wheel hard with both hands not only to prevent me falling over, but also to resist the frightened girl's efforts to move me.
"I'm sorry, but nobody drives my baby but me! - Besides, have you ever driven a car with hand-controls for the disabled?" I retorted, perhaps harsher than was strictly necessary. Part of her ramblings suddenly clicked into place: Kidnappings... In the building Alice was in? Even the slightest possibility that Alice might be in some sort of danger and needed my help spurred my decision:
"Right. Stop shoving and get in the passenger-seat. If Alice is in trouble, I'm gonna help you get her out of it!" I told her, while still resisting her efforts to move me.
If she glanced into the back seats, she might notice my wheelchair propped behind the driver's seat. If she releases me, I'd shut my door and start the engine, wait for her to get in one of the passenger doors, and drive out of the car park and across the front of the building to see if I could see any sign of what she was telling me was happening.
My arms have gotten pretty strong from all the wheelchair-use I'd had since my accident, so if she continued trying to move me out of the driving-seat, she'd be fighting a losing-battle.
-
Kasey backs away from Eddie, then darts around to the passenger side of the car, and climbs in. "The doors are locked. They have Alice, Reece, Damien and the vampire girl. I don't know how to get in, I don't know how to help them." Kasey rubs her eyes, then hesitates for a moment before suggesting, "Ram the door."
-
"Yes, we should get away from here- " Torrence agrees, falling in step with Alice. "But what about Kasey and Sandra- should we call the police?"
Her pace slows. "What was that word you just said?"
She glances to the other person, Reece, who seemed surprised at the word. Affirming that she hadn't misheard, she glanced over to Reece as he started a phone call.
"Who are you calling?"
-
"I'm trying to get ahold of Sandra. If she doesn't pick up, I'm gonna call the police. Whatever the hell's going on in there, it's not getting my girlfriend."
-
"Okay, what the hell are Yeerks?" Autumn demanded, looking at the woman who had said it, "look, my place doesn't have my parents, I don't live with them. How about we go and get Kasey, find Sandra then hole up at my place? I doubt they'll find us there." She began to follow at a brisk pace, hoping this was all but a dream.
-
Torrence nodded to Reece.
"Your girlfriend... she was with the other two..." She turns and looks to Autumn.
"You were with Reece's girlfriend, right? Did she seem okay to you?" She falls in step with autumn, who seemed to have a good plan. "Unsupervised home, check. I'm with you on that."
GM: Reece's cell reported that Sandra's phone was out of range...
-
Reece looks at his phone and curses loudly. He looks around. "Where the hell did I put that toilet paper?"
-
Kasey waits silently a moment longer, becoming increasingly frustrated. She can't stand the thought at anyone being trapped in that building, never mind her friends. She presses her hands against her face in frustration. When she calms enough to realize Eddie probably isn't willing to trash his car, she lets out a sigh, and stares out the window, debating if she should make a run for it, or stick with a familiar face.
Suddenly, she spots Torrence and Autumn walking with an unfamiliar person. Kasey flings open the door and darts over to them, stumbling into Torrence. She flings her arms around the girl, and lets loose a torrent of questions "What is going on in there? Are you okay? Who got out? What happened? Why were they trying to hurt us? What are we going to do?"
-
Torrence hugged her friend tightly, overwhelmed at seeing she was okay.
"Oh my God, I'm so glad you got out! Is Sandra with you?" Realizing that Kasey had asked her own questions before she'd bombarded her with her own, she hastily offered.
"We don't know why those people attacked us- but all of us got out. Well, except Sandra." She gives Reece a guilty look before looking away.
"This lady is talking about 'Yeerks'. Hasn't told us what they are though." She points out Alice in her older woman halogram.
-
Eddie:
As I started to drive across the front of the building, I deliberatly ignored the girl's instruction to 'ram the door', but in such a way that it might seem I didn't even hear it rather than deliberately avoiding the subject. - I certainly didn't want to damage my car, unless it became necessary in order to save Alice's life.
The girl spotted people before I did, and jumped out the passenger door while the car was still moving! - Albeit at only about 10mph, but that could still twist an ankle etc. I, of course, immediately threw out the anchors and one of my back wheels locked and skidded as I came to a stop.
That. Girl. Was. Insane!
Apparently, the insane-girl had spotted some friends who were perhaps with her and Alice in the building... She seemed to be relieved to see them anyway. I quickly scanned the vicinity for Alice's familiar features... Hang on... Where was Alice? I couldn't see her anywhere! My hands gripped tighter onto the steering-wheel with worry.
"Have you seen Alice?? Is she with you?" I yelled my question urgently to the group of people insane-o-girl had leapt into, hoping one of them would know something.
-
Shalner tenses up when she hears Alice's name. She looks confused. "Alice?" She looks back at Eddie, then at Torrence, panic creeping into her voice, "Alice? Oh god! Is Alice still in there?"
-
Alice:
As I continued walking backwards, a boy in a makeshift TP-mask starts talking about my friend Kasey... At least I think he means her, there could be another Kasey I suppose... This bit of conversation isn't aimed at me, so I pretty-much ignore it. As he starts unravelling his TP-mask, he asks what 'on Earth' a Yeerk is. Before I have a chance to respond, he suddenly realizes he's forgotten something important... Or is it someONE important...
At any rate, a girl called Torrence decided to trust me. I recognized her from school, though we'd hardly spoken to each-other. She would probably have recognised me, had I been in my usual hologram. Anyway, she started to follow me, which was good. Hopefully her actions would encourage the same of some of the others... She too mentions Kasey, and some other girl called Sandra whom I didn't think I'd met, at least not to the extent that I could match a face to the name. More importantly, Torrence suggested calling the Police... Oh no, I hope they don't do that: It could only end badly.
She too asked about the word I'd used: Yeerks. I considered answering, but now was still not the time: Any explanation given 'on-the-run' might just confuse them further or make them distrust my knowledge.
The boy who'd asked first informed Torrence he was calling this Sandra person, and then the Police, explaining that Sandra is apparantly his girlfriend. Oh dear, there's that Police idea again...
Another girl I knew, called Autumn, then also asked about Yeerks. I couldn't go on ignoring this persistent question without giving at least a better reason for doing so... But she did recommend a place we could hole-up in for a while, which was useful information.
There was some more chatter about Kasey and "Reece's girlfriend"... Hmm, that must be the boy who asked first about the Yeerks, Reece...
A familiar Black car creeps into view, driving across the front of the building: It's Eddie. With relief, I also recognise the girl jumping out of the passenger seat - Kasey! She's ok! That's good news, anyway. I wanted to run and hug her, but caught myself before I could try: She would not recognize me, so that wouldn't be a good idea.
Kasey rushed us and flung herself around Torrence, deluging her with questions. Torrence was understandably relieved to see Kasey alive and well. She starts talking about me in my current guise and reiterates that I still haven't said any more about the Yeerks.
Suddenly I hear Eddie's voice from the driver's seat in his car asking after me. No, after Alice. He didn't recognize me either, of course. Oh darn, how was I going to explain my own absense here? There was genuine concern in his voice, too.
As if on cue, Kasey suddenly burst into lunatic-mode, worrying about 'me'. It tore me apart to not reveal myself then-and-there, but I couldn't do that until I'd explained a few things first. Well, here goes nothing:
"Ok, fine. Yeerks are the enemy. They've taken control of the people in that building, and many many others. Including quite a few Police officers, so it's not really a good idea to get them involved. I'll explain more when we get somewhere safe." I explained, "Eddie? Would you mind giving these people a lift to Autumn's place? That should be safe enough for a little while, at least. Oh, and Alice is fine, she's already out of the building and in a good hiding place. I'll fetch her over to Autumn's place on my scooter, don't worry. We'll be following your car, ok? I'll try to keep up with you."
I realised a hair too late that I'd used Eddie's and Autumn's names before my current persona could have learned them, but no matter: I'd be revealing that I'm really Alice when we got to Autumn's place.
-
Reece nodded, slowly. Either his girlfriend was becoming involved with some unnamed "enemy" or he was speaking to a crazy person. He remembered the cultish behavior, the strange weapons. He breathed deeply several times. He rubbed his face, causing the TP to rustle. He tore the mask up as it occurred to him any tears might soak through. One scream later, the TP lay tattered on the ground and his eyes were dry. No one could have noticed.
Sandra was a smart girl, he told himself. She wouldn't let herself get killed. Maybe brainwashed, maybe head shaven and a bomb strapped to her, ready to blow up a building... Reece rubbed his face. What the **** could they do? Inhale. Exhale. He composed himself. Smiled.
"So the police are out. My girlfriend is trapped inside. Who here has a gun?"
-
"Wow, calm down I-" Autumn spoke before falling silent, allowing everyone to talk, jabber and feel relieved that Kasey was back. "Okay, now your back which is good, lets just get away from here as far as possible." Realizing that her home would soon be invaded by these people she barely knew, Autumn was just glad that she had cleaned up her place in the morning before school. "As soon as we get to my place, we can all talk, and get something to eat and drink. We will come up with a plan to save Sandra okay?" Autumn touched Reece's shoulder gently. "We are in this together. Come on, my place." Autumn was ready to just got home and be in a familiar place.
-
Damien has been mostly quiet up until now. "So my mom is..."he trailed off, mainly talking to himself. Whatever was going on it appeared to be centred around these 'yeerks'. That means his Dad and sister could be.. taken at any time? He had to keep himself from shaking, no sense in adding more worry to the group.
-
Autumn says something and Reece forces himself to concentrate. There's nothing to keep anyone inside from coming back out. Sandra was a smart girl. She would be fine. He exhales sharply and nods. "Your house. Good idea. Figure things out there." Sandra was a smart girl.
-
Kasey puts a hand on Damien's shoulder, and gives it a gentle squeeze. She feels some sort of, obligation, towards the guy. "We'll figure it out, Damien. We'll, well, we'll work something out." She begins to follow Autumn, as thoughts begin to race through her head. For now Autumn's house might be alright, but where are they going to go after that? These, "yeerks", know who they are, they're going to find them. They know who I am, and as soon as they realize how influential my father's becoming, they'll be coming after him as well. What if my father already is one of these "yeerks"? What if my whole family are "Yeerks"? What if the people I'm with right now are "Yeerks"? On this thought, Kasey stops dead in her tracks.
"Wait a minute. How do we know we can trust them? How do we know they're telling us the truth about these, these Yeerks? How do we know they're not working with them? Do any of you even know these two anyway?" She gestures towards Autumn and Alice's current hologram. "I'm not going anywhere with these people."
-
"It is a bit convenient that we run away from those folks you call Yeerks and then you're here." Torrence nods after Kasey's declaration. "But I don't want to wait here only to be caught on the chance she *is* telling the truth."
She glances to the others. "What do you guys think, should we let Eddie drive us to Autumn's?"
-
Reece reasoned. Autumn had been with Sandra and Brit. Sandra was gone. Brit seemed okay. More importantly, Autumn seemed harmless, if a little off. Even more importantly, Kasey seemed uncomfortable with the idea.
"We should go to Autumn's. We can't afford to be divisive right now. If we can get our **** together there, we can figure out how to save Sandra. It's all about keeping our cool at this point." He throws up a homecoming king smile. "Right guys?"
-
Brit listend to Reece's reasoning. Getting away from this place and getting somewhere safe seemed like the smartest thing to do under the circumstances. he squeezed his injured left hand to minimise the small amount of bloodloss he was dealing with.
The whole time the others had been talking about these things called yeerks he had been compering them to his father. He now had no doubt that his father was a controller. Brit tryed not to let the realisation show on his face. This could be dealt with later once he and this little group where safe.
He sighed and habitually ran a bloody hand through his hair. The wet blood left a red streak through the blond. "Damnit....."
((OK guys I'm still on holiday but i managed to find a cafe so i decided to post... anyway just keep godmoding me until i get back on Friday. once again i hope you have fun. i really like where this RP is going. bye ;D))
-
Kasey glares at Reese, furious. "Do you even have a brain inside your head? These two," she gestures towards Autumn and Brit, "were with your girl when they did...whatever to her. And this one," she stabs a finger towards Alice's hologram, "seems to know so much about these, "yeerks". How does she know all of this, and how do we know she's not lying. For all we know, she is one of them, and I'm not going anywhere with these people until I know what's going on." She crosses her arms, and and stares at the group. She hopes for the best. She knows that if there's any resistance from she has no chance of surviging on her own. The Yeerks know who she is, and they know where she lives. She knows needs to be a part of this group to survive. And besides, if they really wanted to, they could probably knock her out and take her against her will. She bites her lip.
-
Reece rolls his eyes. "C'mon, are you serious? We don't need to be stupid about this. We know Autumn- kind of. And besides which, what alternatives have we got? Are you gonna rock your paranoia all over the next person to volunteer their place? Or hell, maybe we can shack up in some barn by the woods, or meet at the mall. No danger there, right?" Reece finishes sarcastically.
-
"Whoa, guys." Torrence broke in. "It's been a crappy night. Lets not make it worse by accusing every one of being a Yeerk. We don't even know what they are yet, but I'm all fortalking with this womanat Autumn's. After all, we out number her.
And Autumn is as freaked as we are."
-
(Oh the irony ;D )
"No,"Damien injected into the conversation,"None of your body language seem to show that you are hiding something, for some reason... I could almost... tell... if they were taken over or whatever, I study behavior... and..."he trailed off, he had to get them to stop fighting, however he could also lead their suspicions onto him if he wasn't careful. "Look all I know is whatever is taking these people over it has affected my mom... that women with the strange weapon, yeah her, and right now we need to get away form her or end up in the same situation, fighting won't help, even if one of us was taken over we still have to get away, there is no time to do a cross examination on each other we have to leave... and now"
-
Reece looks intently at Damien. "Did... when you saw Sandra, then, did she seem weird? Did she seem like she'd been brainwashed by these people?"
-
Kasey struggles internally for a moment, before pulling herself back together. She inhales sharply, then responds, "I'll compromise. I'll go into the woods, but I'm not going anywhere else with them until we have some sort of guarantee that they're on our side." She turns towards the woods, then glares at Reece. Sudenly, she mumbles, her voice sounding warn, "Please. I know we can't be fighting over this, we need to be together on this. Even I can see that, but if we go with them now, and they are those...those things. It's over. We have no chance." Her face softens, and she kicks at the ground.
-
"Okay." Torrence nods. "Lets jog over to the woods until we can't see that creepy center any more and we can talk in neutral territory. We feel endangered or if we hear those creeps coming after us, we can run away. I like the compromise."
She smiled at Kasey.
After several moments of jogging, those who cared to do so were far into the woods. The night had progressed, making it very dark. Cell phones made handy mini flash lights to pierce through the darkness.
"Okay." Torrence said to whoever had followed. "What do we want to know about these Yeerks- and please lady, who are you and what are they?"
-
Damien was able to keep up with the others easily. He was about to answer Torrence's question however tripped on an invisible root and slammed into the ground and hard. He was dazed and confused not knowing what was happening around him. He let out a cry of pain as he bit his tongue, not loud enough to be noticed by the others especially in the dark.
-
Feeling a huge surge of relief, Kasey shoots Torrence a grim smile, and follows behind the others as they go into the woods. When she sees Damien fall, she silently offers him a hand to get up, before moving on. She stops when Torrence begins to asks questions, standing next to the girl, glad to be with a friend..
-
Curiosity and confusion had prompted Eddie to accompany the others into the woodlands, though of course he had to leave his car behind as it would not fit through the trees. Besides, he didn't really wanna get scratches and dents in it.
Alice, knowing Eddie was paralized below the waist and that the healthy people probably wouldn't hang around waiting long for him, volunteered to help him catch up with the others.
She entered his car through the passenger door Kasey had left open, and Eddie drove back into the car-park, parking in a space in the corner nearest the woodlands the others were heading for. While Alice got Eddie's wheelchair set up for him, they saw the others approaching and passing their position, though obviously going nowhere near the car-park themselves. Eddie was soon out of his car and in his wheelchair. He wasn't sure why he was letting this strange woman assist him so much when he usually preferred to do everything by himself just to prove he could. Perhaps part of the reason lay in the fact that she seemed to already know his name well enough to drop it casually into conversation as if she'd known him for years, despite him not being able to recall ever seeing her before...
Alice pushed Eddie's wheelchair as if it weighed slightly less than a feather, and they caught up with the others just at the point where they decided to stop. Eddie figured he might get some answers about the strange woman's identity and apparent strength, even without actually asking a question himself.
Alice:
As I ceased pushing and Eddie's wheelchair came to a stop, he applied the handbrakes to the wheels so he wouldn't roll away anywhere.
I'd decided to stay silent and wait for the members of this 'group' to make their own decisions what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go by themselves, rather than try to dictate any further locations myself.
I was asked a few questions about Yeerks and my own identity while we were still too close to the enemy's building of course, but again I'd chosen to stay silent - I didn't want Yeerk ears to hear anything I had to say... Or indeed witness what I had to show, either.
Once we were a safe distance, and my scanners didn't pick up any sign we'd been followed, I was again asked my identity and what I knew of Yeerks.
I made a show of looking around carefully with my hologram's eyes before I spoke:
"Well ok, fine. It looks like we're the only ones around, so I'll tell you more. At least until anyone - Or anything - interrupts us.
With regards my identity, I pray you'll forgive me for leaving that question to last - I promise I will answer, and you will probably know of me when I do.
The Yeerks. Yes, I know of them. I know a lot about them, actually: Much more than I can convey to you in the short amount of time we can remain undiscovered here in these woods. Nevertheless, I shall try to summarise and start with what you most need to know about them:
Yeerks... Are Aliens. Yes, as in the ones from outer-space, not from places like Mexico. The weapons the people in that building were brandishing should have offered some proof of what I'm telling you, but I can at least prove the existence of extra-terrestrial aliens myself. Here..." With that, I withdrew from my holographic-pocket a hologram of an Andalite-designed hand-held hologram-generator.
By Pemalite standards, this technology was quite basic, but it was a good deal more efficient than the equivalent Yeerk device, and of course way-beyond anything Humans had ever come up with.
I made a show of pressing the holographic device's holographic control-buttons to activate it, then used my own hologram to make it seem this device was working as the Andalites had designed it to: Creating a holographic image about 12-14 inches above it, with strata-lines linking it to the emitter to make it even more believable.
This deception was necessary, I told myself, for the protection of the Chee race. Perhaps over time, I would reveal my true nature to whoever was left in this little group, but for now it was an unnecessary risk.
I caused the fake emitter to display a holographic 3D image of a Yeerk in its natural state. As I pointed to this image with my free hand, I introduced the group to their enemy:
"This... Is a Yeerk. At least, this is what they look like without a host-body. They are a race of sentient beings whose technology far-exceeds anything Humans have access to. They are intelligent enough to make use of this technology in the worst ways imaginable. They've set their eyes on many species before discovering Humans, and each time they have succeeded except for one species: Andalites. The Andalites fight them, but although they are technologically superior, they are outnumbered and cannot come to Humanity's rescue at this time.
I met an Andalite a while ago. He explained everything to me, as I am now explaining it to you. He gave me a gift with which to delay the Yeerks' conquest of Humanity." I sighed before concluding: "To answer your query about my identity, I shall demonstrate this gift to you right now."
With that said, and another cautious (though unnecessary) look around with my hologram's eyes, I de-activated the fake emitter and returned it to my holographic pocket, then I simulated 'Demorphing' to my usual 'Alice' hologram, as if using Andalite morphing technology myself.
"My name is Alice, as most of you already know."
-
Autumn was silent, following without making a sound. Everything was just too much to take in and she was beginning to get a headache from emotion overload. At the image of the Yeerk, she made a face, struggling to keep quiet for much longer. "How do we fight these Yeerks? I'm not wanting to wait around and be picked off." She caught herself as she saw who it was, only knowing her by face, they weren't exactly the best of friends. "Alice?"
-
Kasey stands perfectly still through Alice's explanation, and as she watches Alice "morph". A strange look croesses her face, as she's unsure of whether she's releived that her friend is okay, or if she's horrified at what her friend is.
She opens her mouth to say something, but thinks better of it. Her outspokenness had gotten her in trouble in the past, and she realized now was not the time. She takes a breath, and hesitantly responds, "Okay..." she rubs her face, then starts again. "Okay. The Andalites, the Yeerks. They're fighting. The Yeerks have in host bodies. They're trying to use humans as host bodies. How do they have host bodies, how do they control them? Why don't the hosts just fight back? " she asks, genuinely curious. She adds as an afterthought, "How can you tell who's a Yeerk, and who's not? Are you sure we're safe here?" She begins to chew on her lip again, waiting for a response.
-
Eddie:
I listened in rapt curiosity and wonder as the lady spoke. At first it was outright-disbelief, but when she produced some obviously-alien technology from her pocket and activated it to reveal it was an actual Holographic Emitter... Wow. Not even Humanity's finest minds or wealthiest tech-companies could come up with a 3D image this realistic... AND to be refined to such a level that the emitter could be palm-sized, with no external power source... My mind boggled over how it might work to such an extent that I barely registered much of what was said after it was activated.
I could not take my eyes away from it: The emitter, not the image; though I did take interest in the pale strata-lines between emitter and its projection, too...
It was only when the emitter was shut off and returned to the lady's pocket that the words she'd uttered after activating it sunk in: Aliens. We were being invaded by hostile Aliens, from outer-space. The concept was ludicrous, yet undeniable in the wake of the gadget she had shown us. There were other, 'good', Aliens fighting our protagonists, making these 'Andalites' our sort-of Allies. The lady made it seem these Andalites would help us fend off the Yeerks, even if only for their own benefit, but were prevented from doing so by sheer numbers. Okay, yup: I could understand that.
My eyes and attention returned to the lady herself, just in time to witness her transform into... "Alice?" I blushed furiously, cheeks going a distinctly rosy-red colour, as I realized I'd just spoken for the very first time to the girl I'd never been able to pluck-up the courage to even approach, let alone actually speak to.
My mind swam and reeled as it replayed the memories of all the interactions I'd had with the lady-who-turned-out-to-be-Alice: From stopping my car when Kasey leapt out, to the oddness of being addressed by name so easily when as-far-as-I-knew we'd never before met, to her being a passenger in my car and helping me with my wheelchair and pushing me so easily over the rough terrain of the woodlands... Hmm...
"Why does she know my name...?" I muttered softly to myself, not realizing I'd spoken aloud, albeit barely louder than a whisper.
-
Reece regards Alice for a moment. Something flickering in his eyes. He grins ecstatically. "This is perfect!" he shouts. "Can you turn into anyone? What if you snuck into wherever it is they're keeping Sandra? You could save her, right?"
-
Damien blinked. Aliens? One of his fascinations, one of his deepest wishes were to meet life from another planet, and his wish was twisted into this sick reality. He was impressed about the hologram... maybe if he could look at the blueprints for the device he could get a grasp on how it worked, it happened before with advanced technology form humans, which now seemed primitive, why not for alien devices. He then saw the women changed into a girl he saw aorund school every now and then... Alice was he name wasn't it.
"You're changing..."Damien began to say walking up to Alice,"It has to do with DNA, you somehow can change your shape with DNA somehow... am I right,"he asked making a logical guest. His previous shyness was gone, he was completely fascinated by this. "and oyu use this ability the andalites gave you... against the things that took over my mother, and many other people in that building... am I right?"
-
Torrence found the device in the woman's hand fascinating. She moved closer to get a good look at it, listening to the others comments and questions with equal parts fascination and a nagging feeling Ashton Kutcher was going to appear with a camera crew.
The teen gasped outright as the lady began to 'morph' - into someone she knew.
"Whoa!" She exclaimed. "How can we do that?"
-
As Brit watched the young woman ‘morph’ into Alice all doubts he had about alien invasions and these ‘Yeerks’ dissolved. It all clicked into place. The Shareing, the futuristic technology and the strange behaviour of his father. It now all made a crazy kind of sense. The blood around his wound had clotted so he was able to release the pressure with his other hand. He looked around the small group of frightened teens.
“This is all well and good,” he said looking Alice in the eye. “But what has this got to do with us. What can we do against these Yeerks. Don’t get me wrong I’m all up for a good fight if needed, but what can we do”. He lifted up his injured hand, covered in drying blood and a now dark red handkerchief. “If you haven’t noticed the last time I fought them I didn’t exactly come up on top.”
He sat down on a nearby log still looking at the girl who had ‘morphed’. “I’m not going to lie to you, I’m scared. But I also want to help. Even if there is nothing we can do about this.”
((ok guys I‘m back from holiday thanks for godmoding me…. Like how this is going btw.))
-
Alice:
As I started 'morphing' I began receiving some questions from Autumn and Torrence, along with Damien as he approached me, evidently fascinated. I didn't answer right away, I just made a mental-note of the questions so I could answer everyone in one go.
When my 'morph' was complete, Autumn and Eddie both exclaimed my name aloud at roughly the same time, obviously surprised. Shortly after that, Reece shouted an idea about me going in and rescuing his girlfriend. I gave him a glance full of pity. I knew it was already too late for her.
My good friend Kasey asked for more specific information about the Yeerks; Good old Kasey, wanting to know specifics on the new enemy. I almost smiled at her questions but caught myself in time. - This was not a good situation to smile in.
Just as the boy with a British accent starts to chime in, my auditory receptors pick up Eddie's muttered question to himself. I wanted to answer him immediately, but knew he couldn't be my priority right now. I listened to the British boy's views and questions as he went to sit on a log. He was very open about his feelings and I was already starting to trust him.
When everyone had asked their questions, one person drew my attention for her LACK of any questions... Heck, her lack of ANYTHING to say... Doubtless the shock of nearly being made a controller had dulled her intellect temporarily, and maybe she was just upset...
I addressed everyone in turn as I answered that person's question:
"How do we fight them, Autumn? Well we can't win out-right, if that's what you mean; They're simply far too strong. We can try to delay them and give the Andalites chance to fight them off our doorstep though.
Torrence, I still have the means to pass on the Andalite's gift, but I don't carry it with me. It is in a very secure hiding-place, guarded by some secret friends of mine. If you wish, I shall try to convince them to let you receive this gift yourselves. Unfortunately I can't guarantee they will allow it, but we should be able to convince them...
Yes, Damien, the Andalite Morphing technology does manipulate DNA. I don't want to go into too much detail about its workings out here where we might still be overheard - If the Yeerks somehow get wind of such details, it would affect more than their invasion on this planet, but also may tip the scales against the Andalites elsewhere too. And no, I do not fight the Yeerks with violence: They are too many and too strong for me to deal with alone. So-far I have dealt mainly in sabotage, but... Well, when I saw they were going after my best friend Kasey, I just HAD to do something...
Ah Reece, if only it were that simple... I probably could morph into someone they'd let into that building, and reach your dear Sandra, but I'm afraid it's already too late for her. She's one of them now; A Human-Controller. Even if we could capture her and starve the Yeerk out of her head, she would never again be safe in public - The Yeerks would take every member of her family and all her friends just to find her, then they'd re-take her. Regardless how careful you were to not be recognised in that building, if she goes missing they will track down her boyfriend along with everyone else, putting you in direct danger yourself.
Kasey, the Yeerks directly infest the Human brain. A Human with a Yeerk in them is known as a Human-Controller. This is because the Yeerk inside has complete control over their host body, including access to every memory that host ever had. Unfortunately this means it's incredibly difficult to tell them apart from other Humans; Indeed it's difficult to even tell them apart from how they were before they were infested. Only a particularly sloppy Yeerk might give themselves away, but there are ways to determine if a person is a Controller, if you have the time and patience to watch them long enough. You see, a Yeerk needs to leave its host at least every 3 days to absorb Kandrona Rays - A sort of 'alien-food', if you like, without which they would starve to death. If you watch someone for 3 days straight and they don't attempt to get Kandrona Rays, they're either NOT controllers, or they somehow managed to sneak some when you weren't looking.
And no: I don't think we'll be safe here much longer. They will probably be looking for us by now.
And... I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name yet. What does it have to do with you? As much or as little as you choose, really; You don't have to fight them if you don't want to, but you can now identify those of us who do wish to fight them, so whatever happens we can't let them infest you or anyone else here. - If they do, they'll know who we are and that will be the end for all of us and the resistance against Yeerk conquest of Humanity. As for what we can do against them; Well, those of us who choose the gift and become morph-capable can do a lot more sabotage than I can do alone. Maybe even enough to keep them from taking over before the Andalites get here.
There are certain... Perks... That come with Morphing technology too... But we really must relocate somewhere safer than this before I go into too many details, as I've already explained.
Um... Is she ok?" I asked, looking at the thusfar-silent girl with the wet hair we'd managed to rescue. I didn't know her name either, though I had seen her from a distance a few times at school.
--
If the girl turned out to be unwell, I would go to her and help her improve if I could. If she turned out ok, I would instead go over to stand next to Eddie's wheelchair, give his hand a little squeeze, and whisper to him one of the reasons I knew his name.
-
Reece rubs his eyes. Things in people's heads? Something in Sandra's head? Absurd. This wasn't sounding real anymore. What had he done with his evening? Ran frantically away from some youth group, wrapped toilet paper on his face, and then hallucinated vividly in the woods. He leaned against a tree. He had finally cracked, hadn't he?
"Look," he said, his voice strained. "Listen to what all we're saying. This isn't some alien invasion. This is like, a schizophrenic episode. Maybe someone dipped the sign-up pen in acid or something, but we're clearly locked up in the caboose of the bonkers train. We need to all calm down, maybe see a hospital until our heads are cleared up."
-
Brit turned his head towards Reece. "You know the medically the likelyhood that we are all having the same episode is less than 0.01%". There was no doubt in Brit's mind that this was real and happening. The pain in his hand was proof enough of that.
He thought about telling the group he suspected his father was a yeerk, but decided against it. he needed to know more about this stuff before he put his father on a hit list. The thought of a separate species that could join with a host on a cellular level was both horrifying. And exciting from a medical point of view. It was like something from a cheesy Si-Fi movie.
He looked at the girl called Alice. "I agree we need to get somewhere safe. preferably somewhere with a First Aid Kit". He reshuffled on his log and extended his hand. "I'm Brit by the way".
-
Damien straightened up hearing Alice's answer. For some reason that snapped him back to reality, his fascination was completely gone. His normal awkwardness and isolating himself came back. He took out his cellphone from his pocket. His mother was calling him... of course, if this was real she would be calling him, she saw his face. But wait... cellphones,"Everyone!"he shouted,"Everyone take off your cellphones and shut them off and/or destroy them, they could be tracking us with them, if they know who we are... and I know they know who I am,"he said turning off his phone,"do it now or they'll find us a lot faster."
-
"You know the likelihood that there are aliens that have secretly infected the brains of everyone we know and that some other aliens gave some girl we know the power to turn into some woman we don't know who can then help us turn into... people we don't know? to fight the first group of aliens? Who are living inside people's heads unless they get a fresh dose of some kender-ray?" Reece scoffs. "Besides which, there's any number of whacky shenanigans that could be at work here. We could have all been slipped acid, or maybe some other weird chemical that got into an air duct. I could be the only one hallucinating, and you could all be figments of my imagination. This could be a goddamned dream. We could be poisoned, making up these paranoid fever-dreams before we puke our intestines out and ebola all over the goddamned forest. So maybe we should consult some sorta doc, eh, Dexter?"
-
"Don't call me Dexter you bloody idiot!". Brit clenched his good hand into a fist, trying not to let his temper get the best of him. "Try walking in a straight line, and then tell me 5 colours". He looked at Reece " eather way this is no time for a argument, weather your high or otherwise".
-
Reece rolled his eyes at Brad's clenched fist. "Oh put that thing away, kid. Swimming is one of the most physically demanding sports there are- you wouldn't get past the ten-yard line." Reece offers up a friendly smile. "Okay? And if we're dead-set on following this Nightmare Hallucination to its conclusion, at the very least I refuse to leave Sandra behind."
-
Brit grinned swimming was all well and good, but he doubted the kid would last 10 seconds in boxing ring. "Listen I'm all up for saving Sandra i was there remember! If i had know i would have saved her then and there! But we need to put are own safety first! If we go now we will all be infected or killed!
He stood "we run now and save the others later. After we have a plan". He looked down at the floor almost ashamed at his own reasoning.
He sounded like a coward.....
-
Damien stepped between the two fighting people,"Bickering won't..."he hesitated,"help us at all in our current situation, make it worse actually," he looked down for a second,"if we are on drugs or something, and if we are all imagining this etc would you want to take the chance that this is real?"he asked Reece looking at him,"But I agree with Brit, we can't go back, they have better weapons and more people..."he seemed to want to say more but lost his moment of peacemaker, he began to walk away. "Please turn off your cellphones, if you have any, like a said before they can be tracked by GPS..."
-
Reece gives Brad a hard look. A plan was something they could formulate once their heads were clear- once they had a better idea as to what was going on. Clear heads could save Sandra. Maybe. Reece tried not to let his jaw clench too tightly.
"It sounds like we all agree that getting somewhere safe is a good idea. That'll give us time to come down from the high, or if we really are living in an Outer Limits episode, figure out what the **** we do next. And once we've got it figured out, then we can do something about Sandra." He affected an optimistic grin. He took out his phone. He nodded at Damien, and tried not to feel silly as he turned the stupid thing off. Get along, he told himself. Don't **** this up.
-
"I'm fine." The girl with wet hair said quietly. She was twisting her hair around her fingers, wringing out the water onto the woodlands floor.
"Thanks to you. You..." She looked to Alice and then those who had attacked the people who had been dragging her back to the pool.
"You saved me from what she said," She indicates Alice. She wipes her wet hands on her jeans, visibly shaking.
"-that... that was... I've never been so scared in my life. You're not on drugs. This is real. They forced my head back into a sauna, something touched my ear-"
The girl shuddered visibly, wrapping her arms around herself in a hug.
-
Kasey's breathing speeds up as she begins to truly process what she's hearing. A look of disgust crosses her face. "In your..head? They hide...in your head, and...control you?" She sits down on the ground, and and pulls her legs up to her chest, pressing her face into her knees. She sits like this silently for a few moments.
Suddenly, he head jerks up, and she stares straight at Alice, her eyes wide and terrified. "We all signed in on that sheet. They know who we are. They know who our families are. What does that mean? They're going to be coming after us tonight, and they're going to have our families before morning, aren't they? They're going to have us if we go home..." She scrambles back onto her feet, and swallows hard, her face turning slightly green.
-
Brit walked over to the girl with wet hair. He had connected the dots. “May I see your ear”, he asked softly. He saw the questioning faces around him. “Well you see there is no direct rout to the brain through the ear canal. So this Yeerk thing must bore into the skull through the flesh and bone. If I'm right there will be a small amount of blood on the inside of your ear“.
He moved to look inside the girls ear……
-
"What?" The girl wondered, moving away from Brit. "It just touched me, it never... you know, got in me. I freaked out and ran out and found you guys.
How come your making all these guesses? You're pretty young for a doctor."
-
"Nurse..... and I'm good at biology" Brit lifted both hands, "sorry I'm probably just being paranoid".
-
"You can't be a nurse, you're like sixteen." The girl scoffed.
"But any way, I don't know how it works. Its sort of weird that you think you do after like, 30 seconds. We're sure he's not a Yeerk?"
-
Damien stepped up to the girl,"He is making a logical guess,"he said quietly,"Alice, I think that is her name, said the yeerk gets inside your head and take control of your actions, access your memories, etc, to do that you need to be at the brain,"he continued,"looking at your ear posses no problem for you, if he was a yeerk he wouldn't be able to do anything, he couldn't transfer to your body without leaving his host, meaning that his host will then have control and blow his cover..."he finished and placed a hand on her shoulder,"Please, you need to calm down..."
-
"So you guys all know that Yeerks- what did you say?" She glances at Brad. "Tunnel in through the ear and that there'd be blood along my inner ear?"
She gave Alice a confused look. "When did you tell them that? I was standing right here and I didn't hear that."
-
"She didn't need to tell us that, that is the only way to your brain through your head... and didn't you say something touched your ear?"Damien asked,"We're doing what humans do best, think, make logical decisions.... reason,"Damien said, he backed away from the girl giving her space, she was seriously freaking out, and he didn't blame her,"Please calm down... if we wanted to harm you and if we were yeerks we could easily take you back or kill you, you saw those weapons they had..."
-
"I'm confused." The girl frowned at Damien. "Why do you think I'm upset? I mean I did almost get turned into one of those things... I guess I'd rather every one stay away from my ear right now.
I'm not upset with you guys. I did thank you for saving me."
-
Her question was answered along with others, Autumn felt sick, yet also, a strange sense of surreality washed over her. Hoping this wasn't real, but knowing it was, made Autumn wish her actual suicide attempts had worked, then she wouldn't be here. Swallowing quickly and wiping her hands on her jeans, Autumn took deep breathes to keep calm. "I don't know about any of you, but I want in. I want to be morph capable, I don't want to just sit around and wait to be taken." If there was a way to help or keep things from getting too bad, Autumn wanted in. She was not going to be a sitting duck.
-
Reece looks reluctantly at Kasey. "I hate to admit it, for several reasons, but you've got a good point. If this is real, we can't risk going to one of our houses. Alice, if you escaped looking like someone else, they wouldn't know to check your place, right? Can we trust your folks not to get all Cronenberg on our asses?"
-
As Reece questioned Alice, a peculiar event was happening. Any one who had cell phones- even if they had been turned off- noticed that their cell phones were ringing.
There was a very wondrous phone call coming in.
-
[Sorry my post is so short, I'm posting from my wii, I'll edit this OCC out when I get back onto my real computer tomarrow]
Damien had taken a few steps back away from the group again, seperating himself from the others. However, a few seconds later his phone began to ring from inside his pocket. Thats funny, he could have sworn he turned his cellphone off... ”Uhm.... hello?” he said into the phone cautiously,”...who is this?”
-
Kasey, still unsure of where her phone was, starts when she hears the others' go off. She stares at Damien, knowing he had turned his off before. She swallows, and asks him with a nervous edge to her voice, "Who...who is it?" She doesn't move from where she's standing, still waiting for Alice to answer her questions.
-
Damien's phone call
"Hello." A man's voice greets Damien. "This is Alice's father. I was wondering if you knew where she is?"
-
Eddie:
When the unknown girl assured everyone she was ok, Alice sidled up to my wheelchair and took one of my hands in hers;
"I know your name, Eddie, because I kind-of like you." She told me in a near-silent whisper.
I still hadn't recovered from the discovery that she had BEEN the older woman from earlier. In fact, it was only when my mobile phone began to ring, that I snapped out of my strange funk.
Alice:
As I whispered to Eddie, I heard a conversation strike up between Reece and Brit about whether all this was actually happening in their heads. I decided not to interrupt them. I did nod a polite response to Brit introducing himself to me though.
Damien started trying to get everyone to switch off their phones so the GPS chips couldn't be tracked by the Yeerks. - That was a good ides, but I let everyone make up their own minds if they wanted to do that or not. As for mine, well I'd disabled its GPS chip ages ago.
I'd already spoken on the issue of Sandra, so when Reece brought that back up I decided not to respond myself.
Damien tried to break up the argument between Reece and Brit with some good, logical reasoning. - Good for him.
I nod confirmation to Kasey as she talks about the Yeerks - She's grasped the concept well, but I was starting to worry about how she was coping with that...
When she mentions the sign-in sheet, I raise one of my eyebrows in thought: Yes, that piece of paper could prove troublesome... Perhaps I'd need to retrieve it before we could leave here... Of course, I hadn't signed it myself, so at least the Chee should be safe from being tracked down from that list.
Brit was interested in the girl's ear, which was perfectly understandable. As was her reaction to this, considering the ordeal she'd gone through.
As Damien talked through the stuff I'd been saying about Yeerks, I nodded at each relevant point to show him he'd understood correctly.
I shrugged in response to wet-hair girl's question of when I had said things I had not said, but again said nothing myself. They would work it out for themselves, I didn't want to overly-influence what they wanted to do. I would correct any wrong assumption I heard though.
I smiled gratefully at Autumn when she decided she wanted in on the whole morphing-technology thing. So that was one person in the group already convinced then; Two if Brit was included from what he'd said earlier. Now to see how many more would join in...
Reece asked me directly if my parents would let this ramshackle group invade our family-home. I nervously thought how the other Chee might react to this idea - It might constitute a security risk, after all... I had no immediate answer, but tried to make it look like I was thinking over my answer.
Just then, the cell-phones all started ringing. I knew exactly who was calling, of course, because the Chee had already tried to contact me directly over Chee-net and I hadn't responded yet because I was explaining everything to this group of people I hardly knew. I sighed as I lifted my cell and answered the call.
"Hi Jenny." I said, making up a name on the spot. Establishing a direct Chee-net connection simulataneously, I quickly related everything that had happened to us inside the building and after we'd broken out of it. I also tried to assure them our secret identity was still intact and that to do this I was pretending to have Andalite morphing ability. Hopefully they would play-along...
"Your call is pretty-good timing, actually... Me and my new friends were wondering if we could perhaps borrow the Blue-Box?? - I'll put you on speakerphone so you can talk directly with them if you like?" I offered via the phonecall. My simultaneous, private, Chee-net communication channel was still open so they could make any private comments or questions without being overheard by the Humans. Over this channel I added to my vocal request: {Someone please pretend to be a girl about my age with the name of Jenny? I made up the name to protect established Chee identities - She will represent the 'friend' who has been trusted with the secure whereabouts of the Escafil device, if you decide to play-along.}
All this being said; As I pressed the loudspeaker button on my cell, I called out to Damien:
"If that's my dad on the phone, tell him I'm safe and I'll be home for dinner. Oh and tell him to get off my computer? He knows he's not allowed near computers since.... Well, without going into too much detail, suffice to say he got into a bit of trouble for hacking, a while back..." I lied, easily. I figured that way if our new little group ever needed a computer-genius, my 'father' would be high on the list. "Oh, and before you hang up, see if he knows how to disable Cell-GPS chips remotely. If so, he can disable ours for us and we won't have to worry about keeping them switched off." I added as an afterthought.
-
Kasey shakes her head, turning her attention fully back to Alice. She approaches Allice, her jaw set in concentration. "We need to get that sheet. We need to get it now." She hesitates a moment, then asks, "How do we do it?"
-
Chee -net speak
"For the purposes of cover, I can pretend to be this Jenny. I'll get the other off of the phone to your companion- he was getting worried. He's stationed across the street from the Sharing and saw the goings on, but when you didn't report in...
Her superior was quiet a moment, letting Alice reflect on how she'd worried her superiors.
When she spoke again, it was over the speaker phone so that every one present could hear her words.
Good evening, I am Jenny. I understand that you wish to Borrow the Blue Box and acquire the Gift.
However, we have been protecting this Box and its very existence carefully. Are you certain you have the mental and moral strength to accept the consequences of the Box's Gift?"
-
Reece nods, then realizes that the phone cannot see him. "I'm a powerhouse of strength. I've got the heart of Muhammed Ali over here. Just let me help my girl and I'll have all the mental and moral whatsit you need. Seriously, yeah?"
-
Kasey reaches over, and leans against a tree to steady herself. Her voice wavers as she questions, "This is it, isn't it. This is how we get the list. This is how we help our families and keep ourselves safe, isn't it?" she intakes a sharp breath, then responds, in a steady, confident voice, standing up straighter, "I'm in. I'll do it. Whatever it takes. I'll take the gift, I'll do the morphing." She glances at Reece, grateful she's not the only one willing to do this, even if he might be the only other.
-
“When I came to this country I promised myself I would become a healer not a fighter. Back home their was an accident in the ring and well…”. Brit ran his hands through his hair. Realising now was probably not the best time to revile his whole life story.
“But this is bigger than all of us. and in my opinion our chances of success are minimal at best. But I’m in, until I’m killed or you can find somebody better”.
-
Eddie:
I completely ignored my ringing mobile-phone as I absorbed what Alice told me. A smile grew broad on my deeply-blushing face, and I placed my free hand on top of the one she'd touched me with, as she answered her own ringing phone with her free hand.
Our eyes met briefly and I could almost swear I saw her starting to blush back at me, before she went into 'business mode' while talking on the phone. I took this as a hint that she didn't want too much attention being drawn to me and her becoming anything other than friends, and so I attempted to follow her lead and get back to the major issue at hand.
I'd seen the trepidation flash across Alice's face at Reece's suggestion we all go over to her place, and I looked for an opportunity to suggest my own pad as an alternative...
I'd never heard of this 'Jenny' person Alice was talking to over the phone, but when she mentioned that we'd like to borrow something she referred to as the 'Blue-Box', I guessed this was describing the device by which we might receive these morphing powers ourselves, and I realized this person was probably the one who knew where it was hidden.
When she talked to Damien about her dad, I instantly started liking him - Another tech-head, eh? Well, at least I'd get on ok with her dad then, even if not her mum.
When Jenny introduced herself over speakerphone and basically asked us to prove to her that we were worthy of the Blue-Box's gift, I saw my chance to help disuade the group from wanting to go to Alice's house. I waited for a few other people to reply first, then it was my turn:
"Hi Jenny, I'm Eddie Stobart. Although I'm in a wheelchair, I have my own car and my own studio-sized appartment I'll happily make available for this group's activities - Provided they don't trash them, of course!" I added for a bit of humour to break up the sombre undertones of what this group was planning to do. "My closest family is my older-brother George, but he lives in Virginia with his french girlfriend Nicole Collard and we haven't seen each other for almost a year now. Furthermore, I never even went into the Jerk-controlled building, so there should be no way for them to trace me. I'm good with computers and anything mechanical, but I do suffer from Claustrophobia and Haemophobia slightly, so I don't know how well I'd do in a battle-situation. I hope you'll consider me worthy of this gift." I finished and lapsed into silence once more.
-
"Do we know if there were any security cameras in that parking lot?" Reece asks. "If so, they might have gotten the license plate of your car, or of Alice's scooter."
-
Damien took a moment to recover himself. He heard Alice's father asking where his daughter was. What he wanted to say was, how did you get my number, and how did you call it while it was off... however all he said was what Alice told him to say,"Uh... A-Alice said to tell you that she is safe and... be home for dinner... she also wants oyu to get off her computer... and wonders if you can disable GPS chips remotely,"he said stumbling over his words a few times... his first two question will have to wait until later... or one of them could be answered now,"Couldn't you just call her cell... how did you get mine?" he never gave his cell phone number to anyone but his parents... so.... He looked over towards Alice holding the phone. "If it is the only way we can fight these... yeerks... then We don't really have a choice in the matter..."
-
"Alright young man, thank you." Her father replied. "Oh, I had you looked up on 411. I'll get off the phone now and look up how to disable the GPS on your phones. You have a nice evening."
-
"Wait how did you know to look me u-"he was cut off by Alice's father hanging up the phone... Something wasn't right here... he believed that Alice and company were good, or something, but they were... strange, peculiar, being able to call a cellphone that is turned off, and knowing to call him because he was near Alice.... he never knew Alice personally until today... and wasn't her father at home on his computer, because she did tell him to tell her father to get off of it... none of this added up. However Damien kept his questions quiet... however his suspicion showed slightly on his face, like he knew something was wrong. "I'll ask later..."he muttered a bit louder than he intended. Now didn't seem the best time.
-
"You all sound like lovely people. Full of conviction. Young immigrant from another country, I do hope that you've found peace for the accident that occured.
I want you to understand that this isn't something to take lightly, children. The fight you are entering has the stake of humanity at its center. Not just your girl friend, not just your friends and family - but billions of peoples lives will depend upon you.
Please search your souls on the route here to decide if that is something you can live for - better yet, something you can fight for. The Gift will be waiting if you choose to accept it."
On Chee - net, Alice was contacted with the address of a 'safe house' that would function as her own, complete with Jenny and a set of parents. It was here that the Box would be waiting.
Alice begun to lead the group there and the trip would only take a few minutes drive by car.
-
Too lost in thought to even speak, Autumn stayed silent, which was a usual habit of hers, especially around a group of people she didn't know too well. "Jenny, my name is Autumn. I live alone, I left my parents after, I don't want to get into that now. I'm alone now, but I'm a fighter. I never give up. With friends, that loyalty and strength increases. We cannot let those Yeerks win. I won't let them. Oh and I'm good at making plans, and, I think thats it." Autumn relayed, feeling a little light headed, following Alice silently.
-
Brit watched Alice and Autumn as they walked away to the safe house. he was having something of a moral dilemma. He could help these people save the world or he could ignore them all and go home. Home now where was that again? England was a very long way from here, but did he really feel at home here eather? He sighed and shook his head. This is happening way to fast he thought. But these yeerk things... someone had to stop them. He made his decision.
"Hay wait up", he shouted running after them. "And its Brit, not Young immigrant from another country!!"
-
Reece followed, hanging uncharacteristicall y near the back of the group. He tried to make sense of the phrase "billions of people." The billions reminded him of his friends at school- a faceless mob of strangers, the kind you feel vaguely attached to, like an old jacket. It felt absurd to risk much of anything for an old jacket, let alone one's life. He thought about Sandra. He thought about the last person he drove away from, and wondered if he'd do it again. He hoped he'd wake up back in the old world in the morning.
-
Kasey walks next to Reece, silently following the group. She mulls over what Jenny said, unsure of whether or not she's strong enough to do this, but knowing that she needs to. Losing another family member to, well, to anything was unacceptable. When her sister had been killed last year, her family had begun to fall apart. Her mother became distant, working almost double the normal amount of hours. Her brother had decided to go to college on the other side of the country, and hadn't been home since his move. Her father had insisted on moving on with life, as if nothing had happened, forcing them all to keep up the "poster family" pretense during his mayoral campaign. Kasey had already lost the family she had known. She wasn't willing to let go of what little she had left of them.
Kasey knew couldn't do anything to help her sister, but this was the perfect opportunity to do something to help everyone else she knew. Regardless of what the others decided, Kasey knew she would fight for as long as it might take.
-
Alice:
As we started to move back toward the car park, I 'morphed' back into the 20-something lady to push Eddie's wheelchair. When I asked him if he had sat-nav, he quickly produced one from his pocket to show me. I quickly programmed it with the location of the house we were to meet Jenny, and handed it back to him. He didn't even ask how I knew how to program a sat-nav I'd never seen before, let alone using the GPS coordinates instead of street-address, for which I was thankful. - Any time I can avoid a direct lie is a good time, especially in the case of this boy who like plain-looking Alice so much.
Kasey had already asked about the list with our names on it. I did not answer straight-away because I didn't like the idea I'd come up with for getting it back. Instead I waited to see if anyone would come up with a better idea, including my fellow Chee.
In response to Reece's question about surveillance cameras in the car park, I answered:
"I didn't see any cameras when I looked earlier... But I'll double-check before we all go waltzing through it this time around."
Over Chee-net I added {Could someone hack the DMV and make sure Eddie's license plate can't be traced back to him or his address? It might also be a good idea to back-trace anyone who tries to track his plates... We don't want Yeerk-controlled police pulling us over.}
Nearly everyone had spoken to Jenny now, only one or two remained silent including wet-hair girl. I left my cell on speakerphone, just in case they'd only been waiting their turn to speak.
There was an idea about us returning to this building when we could all morph, and getting the list out then, but there was a quicker way:
"I suppose... I could try and sneak into the building myself, to retrieve that list..." I suggested. A single person would be less likely to be detected sneaking around than a whole group, especially if that group were in fighting-morphs. It was quite scary to think of going alone into an enemy building, knowing I might be captured, but it did make sense to try and get that list as soon as possible. Also, if I was alone, I wouldn't have to try so hard to pretend I could morph... Besides, if all went well a piece of paper was easier to remove from the building than a person.
To change the mood slightly, along with the subject, I followed my idea with the question: "So who wants to take the first trip with Eddie, and who wants to wait with me for the second trip?"
-
Damien had followed the others, trailing behind. However he caught up with the group in time to hear Alice's question, who now appeared to be a 20 year old women. "I'll wait,"he said quickly, maybe then he could ask the questions without interrupting to much. He knew something was up, these circumstances didn't make any sense, mainly his suspicion was around the phone call that he had received from Alice's father. He tried not to show his suspicion on his face but it was difficult, some of it slipped through his 'mask'.
-
"Alice, are you crazy? If you get caught you'll get your ass killed, and if you get your ass killed the rest of us are pretty much kaput," Reece argues.
-
"I agree with Reece for once", Brit nodded. "You going back into the building is too much of a risk at the moment. Besides the list had loads of names on it how can they tell who's is who's. Even if everyone in the building was err 'Yeerked'. I bet a few people didn't show". He ran a hand through his hair. "It will take ages to check to see if anyone who saw us, recognises the us amongst the people who where no-shows".
"But if your determand to stay and risk you life for the list let me go with you".
-
"Before we rush in all higglety pigglety, is there some way we could clear the building? What if we pulled a fire alarm?"
-
"Cool yer again, i agree with Reece. That could work!!". Brit then frowned. He had agreed with Reece twice within a minute. He checked his pulse, maybe he had lost more blood than he had thought....
-
Reece grinned. "The whole world is going crazy around us. Of course we're beginning to seem sane."
-
"I'll go, or I can wait. I don't really care when I go." Autumn offered. If she had to wait for the second trip, no biggie. "A fire alarm may work. Better than going in and being around them all right? I mean, even half clearing out the building is better than nothing." Autumn shrugged, not really having much else to offer at the moment, her mind spinning with thoughts.
-
"A pleasure to meet you, young lady." The pleasant female responded to Autumn. "As well as you, Brit."
The woman was quiet as the teens discussed their options.
After a minute, she offered:
"Whatever you decide, do so quickly. If you desire to save those being infested, there isn't much time.
Alice would be needed to drive any one here to the Blue Box to acquire the power. Shall you all attempt to get the list now- or some of you - or after you acquire the power?
This is no time to be indecisive."
-
Damien began muttering under his breath, seeming to talk to himself, almost as if it was his way of reasoning, with himself,"Maybe we should get the paper after we get the morphing power... or whatever, you said that the morphing power was a product of the andalites, so wouldn't they suspect only andalites ot have the power.... we sneak in, if anything happens we morph something small, I'm suspecting that the 'power' has some drawbacks, maybe they'll suspect the drawbacks to be affecting andalites, so if we could twist them..."he trailed off,"What are the restrictions of the morphing power? We can't make any decisions based on using the power if we don't know its advantages and disadvantages..."
-
Kasey stops in her tracks for a moment, her eyes widen, then she darts forward to be next to Alice. She touches her arm to get her attention, "Alice, even if we get the list, they still know who I am. My family is plastered all over the place, and they saw me. I was inches away from them...." She swallows hard, "What am I going to do? As soon as I get home, I'm going to be...infested." She begins to look slightly green again.
-
"I think the power first, then we go and get that list." Autumn was firm in her choice, having firepower behind her would help, if a fight broke out she would be much more able to fight and not get caught, or so her mind said. "Wait, Damiens right!" Autumn exclaimed, taking a deep breathe. "Then don't go home Kasey. I have enough room in my place if you ever need it. Unless someone has a better idea?" A shrug of her shoulders before she went silent again.
-
Kasey glances at Autumn, and hesitantly replies, "Thanks... I don't think my dad would let it rest, though. If I don't come home, he'll look for me, and he'll have everyone in the city looking for me. I just...I can't do that to my parents." She takes a deep breath, then asks again "Alice, what am I going to do?"
-
Reece runs his fingers across his scalp. Seriously? He asked himself. It was too late for his Sandra, but as for this god-damned Kasey girl... He straightened up and spoke, clearly if a bit distantly.
"If Kasey's dad hasn't been taken yet, there's still some chance we could save him. And if he's running for mayor, we need to keep him safe from these things." Reece rubbed his face and sighed. "Assuming we're not all tripping balls, that is."
-
"Good point, we need to keep up the appearances of being normal right? Like, act as if we don't know this is happening. That will help us survive longer. Right?" Autumn looked ahead at Alice, wondering if the other girl would answer.
-
Alice:
Damien was the first to answer my question; He wanted to stay and wait for the second trip. I got the impression he had further questions for me that he was too shy to voice in front of so many people...
Reece's concern for my safety was touching, despite him covering that up with concern for the group at large.
It was not so surprizing that Brit agreed with Reece on this point, though it seemed to surprize the both of them that they could agree on anything. His reasoning was sound, and I was glad to find that some of the group could think things through rather than just plunge head-long into action that might be dangerous. His idea to accompany me into the building had its merits too, though I was not sure how much help a normal human could be. Maybe if he already had morphing-power, his idea might work...
Reece's idea of pulling the fire-alarm to get the building evacuated was also a good one: If we could snag a controller for me to 'morph', it would be that much easier to sneak in and get that list.
Autumn seemed happy to go along with whatever. I tried not to think of her as a sheep just following the group around, it wouldn't be fair on her. Doubtless she'd have her moment to show us what she was made of eventually. If four people wanted to take the first trip, Autumn seemed happy enough to wait. If only three volunteered to go with Eddie this time, Autumn was just as happy to go with them.
I did a quick head-count: 9 of us. Eddie+4 passengers on the first trip, left Me+3 behind to make the 4 passengers of the second trip. Ah well, at least I wouldn't have to pretend to drive my scooter then. We had one of the 3 who could stay behind already - Damien. I supposed technically 4+Me could stay, in which case I'd be taking my fake scooter back to the safe-house... Better if it's only 3+Me staying really though. I wondered to myself which group would fill first: Stay-ers or Go-ers...
All of a sudden, Kasey ran up and touched my arm. Evidently she had something important to discuss. I listened to what she had to say... My face saddened at hearing she'd be a priority-infestation for the Yeerks - Not only because of today, but also because of her dad's political influence.
"I don't know what we can do about that yet..." I answered, "I may need a bit of time to come up with something useful... Jenny might have some ideas, if you take the first trip with Eddie you could discuss it with her in person?" I half-suggested. In reality I was thinking that the sooner my friend Kasey was safe with the other Chee, the better.
Autumn's idea of having Kasey stay over with her sounded like a good temporary solution, and I gave Autumn a nod of approval for offering.
When Kasey asked me again what she was going to do about the threat of imminent infestation of her family and herself, I still hadn't fully thought through a decent idea, not permanent anyway.
"I guess we could keep surveillance of your family in morph between us... At least then we'd know when- Sorry, I mean if any of them get infested. Perhaps stay over Autumn's tonight, we'll start surveillance tomorrow so you can go back to them and stop them worrying about your absence. If they try to sneak up on you, we can give you a heads-up." I suggested, coming to a stop and putting my hand on her shoulder for reassurance.
We were now only a few trees away from being able to see the car-park; And being able to be seen from it, if there were hostiles in the area. It was a good idea to stop here and split-up rather than all of us entering the car-park...
"Everyone, wait up a second: We shouldn't all enter the car-park together. Only those of you going with Eddie now should enter the car-park. I'll go in first and see if there is any CCTV to worry about: If it's clear, I'll give a signal, then circle around to meet back up with those who are staying here with me. Eddie and those going with him should then sneak to the car and drive off.
If I spot any surveillance, Eddie will have to drive off by himself and pick up whoever's going with him somewhere else.
Just so we're clear: Who is going and who is waiting with me and Damien for Eddie's return?"
I looked to Autumn to address her question: "Yes, we'll need to appear as normal as we can in front of potential Yeerks, and parents alike. We don't want them thinking any of us is acting suspiciously, or they'll just acquire that person by force to find out what's going on."
With that, I waited for their decision of stay vs go. Once the two groups were decided, I'd go scan for surveillance in the car-park.
-
"I'll stay behind," Reece offered. "If anyone comes after I'm fast enough I should be able to outrun them. But we still need to figure out what we're doing about this list, and Kasey's father. If we're able to get the list, we might at least have some hope of saving ourselves."
-
"Ill stay with Reece and Alice. Three pairs of hands are better than two. And they have already seen my face, so no-one else will be in danger". He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Why don't we pull the alarm once everyone else has gone. Then once the buildings empty we can sneak in to look for the list. If we're seen we can pretend Alice (or some other morph) has captured us".
Brit suddenly grinned. "Infact if we are seen you could ask to see the list to compare our names to the ones we had given you".
"See Reece i can have a good idea too". Brit said while grinning.
-
Reece nods. "Alice, do you think you could pass for one of these weirdos? We don't even know how these people act when they're not putting on a nice face for the neighbors. Well, unless they're capping our asses." Reece pulls the toilet paper out of his pocket. "If that doesn't work, there is always plan B."
-
"Wrap our heads in toilet paper?"... Brit pretended to contimplate this idear. "Nope i like my plan better. it saves me from looking like a pillock".
He stopped and smiled, "good we're back to our normal argueing streak. I was getting worryed for a second then".
-
Torrence stepped up beside Kasey. "I think we should go to Jenny's." She told Kasey. "You have enough to worry about right now with your family and every thing and Alice said you should talk to Jenny."
The girl with wet hair of whom no one had requested a name of quietly went and stood behind Kasey and Torrence.
"You guys are sure taking a lot of time. If we're getting the list, lets go. If you're getting to Jenny's, follow - Eddie, right?"
She looked to Eddie for confirmation.
"Ten people could have been infested in the time it takes for you guys to make a decision. I'm heading towards the center. Anyone ready to rock, lets go."
The so far nameless girl with wet, white blond hair began to sneak towards the Center.
-
Alice's slip-up doesn't go unnoticed. Kasey barely nods at her suggestion to go first, and stands close to Eddy. She listens to the others talk, than interjects hesitantly. "Reece...even if we can get the list, they're going to know that you were there as well. They...well, Sandra knows you were there, and we don't know what they might find out from her. I think you should come to talk to Jenny too, just in case..." She trails off, and stands silently behind Eddie.
-
Reece paused. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but he had been hoping he could have nabbed Sandra while they were in there. But now that Kasey brought the situation to his attention, he knew it was ridiculous. He forced a tight smile. "Yeah, whew, good thinkin' there, Kasey. Lost my head I guess- stress and all." He clears his throat. "So, I'll go along with Kasey and the rest to Jenny's?"
-
Alice:
I checked everyone off mentally as they made their choice: Reece wanted to stay with me and Damien, Brit wanted to stay too. That made 4 of us. One more, and I'd be on my fake-scooter instead of in Eddie's car for the second trip. Brit's suggestion of feigning capture was quite good, and Reece asked if I could realistically fake being a controller. I thought about that - I probably could pass as a Yeerk, providing no violence was needed on my part, and providing they didn't check on the false name I'd be giving... I didn't want to disrupt anyone's decision, so I continued to wait in silence for everyone to have chance to speak.
Torrence suggested both she and Kasey go with Eddie on the first trip, leaving 2 more spaces in the car. Wet-Hair-Girl pointed out we were on a clock here and urged the others to make their decision quickly. When she used Eddie's name, asking him to confirm she'd gotten it right, he gave a curt nod of ascention. She herself was apparently staying behind to raid the building for that list. In fact, she preempted that by starting to sneak off toward the building without further delay.
Kasey agreed to go with Eddie, and even convinced Reece he should go with them too.
"So, with Eddie is Kasey, Torrence, Reece and Autumn, leaving me with Damien, Brit, and... Say, what IS your name, anyway?" I called after the Wet-Haired-Girl, partly amused and partly astounded that nobody had even asked her this yet, including myself. I grinned sheepishly, hoping she wouldn't take offence at us not asking her name up 'til now.
When she answered, I smiled back at her, then went my own direction: The car-park.
When I got there, I scanned with my eyes and my Chee sensors but found no evidence of any CCTV or other surveillance watching over the cars. I signalled the all-clear, and tiptoed off in a random direction so if anyone WAS watching, I couldn't lead their eyes back to the group.
Eddie:
I nodded when the thusfar-unknown girl asked for confirmation of my name, then readied my wheelchair for a dash across the car-park: I got my keys out ready, too.
When I saw Alice's "all-clear" signal, I pressed the fob to activate my central-locking and unlock my car then motored my wheelchair over the bumpy, uneven terrain leading to this edge of the car-park, carelessly bumping down a kerb so hard I nearly bounced out of my seat when I reached tarmac. My central-locking was silent and invisible because I hadn't set my alarm to full-alert when Alice and I had left it, so-as not to draw any attention. As I set off, I told everyone I'd unlocked the central-locking, and I assumed they were hot on my wheels keeping up behind me.
When everyone was strapped safely into my car, and I'd managed to stow my wheelchair and get behind the wheel myself, I started the engine and we were off. I'd had to remind someone my car was British right-hand-drive, as they'd attempted to get in the driver's door themselves, but there were no other problems. As I set off, I reminded myself it was a much better idea to drive slower and not bring much attention rather than setting of at a tyre-screeching rate of knots and bringing definite Alien attention to my car. As we pulled out of he car-park, I glanced around at my passengers to see who had sat where, mostly out of curiosity but also to check they had their seatbelts on...
-
Reece took shotgun, going around the car after almost climbing into the driver's seat. He buckles in and sinks into his seat, watching suburbia roll by through half-closed eyes.
-
Kasey crawls in the back seat behind Reece and buckles in. She leans forward, her head between her knees, her arms wrapped around her head, her face shielded. Her breathing is steady, but tears are streaming down her face. She wonders what kind of cruel nightmare this must. Not only are her family and friends in danger, the only person out of their small band of renegades who was even close to being in her situation was Reece. She sits in this position the entire car ride, unspeaking.
-
Torrence wedged herself down beside Kasey, a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. She worriedly peeked out of the window as the car began to move, drawing her hands protectively in towards her chest, worrying that their escape would be discovered and that they'd be captured.
Christina replied to Alice over her shoulder. "Christina. Nice of you to ask. Oh, where are you going?" She remarked as Alice began wandering in a random direction. Christina shrugged and gestured for the others to keep up with her. She began to sneak up on a side door.
GM
Within the Center, the Program had apparently ended. Teens wandered freely along the halls and moved through the lobby en route to various games and activities. Peeking in through the window, one could see a group of girls standing near the front desk engaged in an animated discussion.
The receptionist in Fuchsia was nowhere in sight, although the list sat on the front desk.
-
Reece looks into the backseat. "Hey, where's Autumn?" he asks.
-
Torrence
"Didn't she come with us?" Torrence replied to Reece, twisting to look into the back seat as well.
The observation came too late to contemplate going back if she hadn't gotten into the car, as the GPS dutifully beeped that they had arrived at the address Alice had given them.
It was an average neighborhood- mostly three bedrooms with a small patch of lawn diving the cookie cutter houses that all resembled one another. As the car came to a stop, a blond woman exited the house and walked down to the car.
"You must be Alice's friends." She greeted them. "I am her friend Jenny."
Jenny had blond hair with expertly applied highlights, light blue eyes and a faint sunburn making the skin of her face appear light pink and rosy. Jenny stood at about 5'6'' and was an average weight, although the long Grey sweater made her appear very slim.
"Please, come in."
Jenny led them into the living room, gesturing for them to sit. Several magazines dotted the coffee table such as People and Parade.
"Alice told me that you've discovered the... unfortunate plot and desire to acquire the morphing ability. I have the Andalite's Gift here for you- but is there anything you'd like to discuss first? No doubt this all seems very surreal to you right now."
As Christina crept up to the front door, she observed. "The assembly must be over. Every one's walking around now."
Trying the door still revealed it to be locked.
"We could try and sneak in through the window."She wondered. "But that's probably being watched. It's the only bathroom through, so they can't exactly close it off and wait for us."
Peering back in the door, she suddeny gestured.
"Look, there's some girls from school. Maybe we can get them to let us in."
-
Kasey enters the house, standing as near to the front door as possible. Her posture is stiff, her hands clenched into fists. She responds quickly to Jenny, "They saw me at the lock in, one of them grabbed me. My family is all over the news due to my dad's campaign. I can't go home, or they're going to...infest me." She swallows hard, her eyes blearing, "I can't keep helping this...but if they don't already, they're going to have my family. If I go home, I get infested. If I don't go home, my father goes after every person at the lock in, including these guys." She gestures towards Reece, Torrence (and Autumn?). She steps away from the wall, and swipes at her eyes. "Can you help me? You and your family obviously have resources to things and ideas we can't can't even conceive..."
-
"We do." Jenny said calmly, not in a superior or condescending manner, but in the calm statement of fact. She produced a box of Kleenex from some where and moved closer to Kasey, offering the box to her.
"Don't trouble yourself with concerns for your family regarding your identities. While its impossible for us to guarantee their safety from infestation - and I am truly sorry for that, but that shall be up to you and your friends. There's a way that we can 'trick' the Yeerks into believing that you are not a threat.
Some of our group pose as spies within the organization and have developed a way to capture a Yeerk and behave as a Controller, fooling all current Controllers. With a bit of deception on our part, we could have a few of our operatives pose as you in order to convince the Controllers that you are not a threat."
-
Eddie:
After dropping off my passengers at the address the GPS lead us to, I immediately started heading back to pick up the others. I could wait a little longer to get this power-thing, but who knew how long the others would be safe near that Yeerk building? No, it was best to get them to safety first.
Alice:
When I reached the boundary of the car park and the woodlands, I wove through a few trees and made my way back to the group. The first of them I came across was Damien, who seemed to have hung back behind the others. The rest were ahead of him, following Christina to the building from which we'd escaped.
It entered my mind that he might take this opportunity to try and ask me some of the questions he hadn't wanted to speak in front of other people... I was a little wary he might ask something that would be difficult for me to answer without lying...
-
Damien had stayed behind while the others went ahead. A glazed look in his eyes, they weren't focused on anything in particular, otherwise known as spacing out. His mind seemed to enter his body again when he noticed he was alone. Intending to follow the others he stopped noticing Alice. Glancing aorund quickly we walked up to her, now was his chance. "Hey... uhm... Alice?"he asked uncertainty seeming hesitant. "I need to ask you something..." He shifted from foot to foot. "As you know your dad called my cell earlier, it doesn't make any sense...."he stopped for a second. "One, and this is the biggie, my phone was shut off, how could he possibly have called it? Two, why did he call me, he said he looked up my number on 411, but how did he know to look for me I didn't know you until today and he probably didn't know I existed. Three, I understand he could have possibly have used a GPS system or something but my phone was turned off, besides couldn't he just call you? You did have your cell phone, I saw you take it out..."
He stopped scratching his arm,"It just doesn't add up, at all, no matter how I run it through my head it doesn't make sense..."
-
Kasey pushes the box of tissues away. She leans back against the wall, her body visibly sagging. "What exactly are you intending to do? How are your people able to do this? I mean...can't the yeerks tell who's infested, and who's not? And if your people are posing as me...what happens to me?" She clenches and unclenches her jaw a few times, rubbing her eyes again.
-
Reece nods slowly as Kasey speaks. "For that matter, how the hell do you guys intend to pose as us? My girlfriend got..." he coughed to keep himself from gagging. "N-nabbed. She got nabbed. Yoinked. You know the drill." He smiled weakly. "Point is, if there's really a thing or whatever taking her over, if it knows what she knows at all it should be able to tell me from you pretending to be me, unless you've got some damn good pretenders back there."
-
Kasey hesitates for a moment, then moves towards Reece. She sits next to him, shooting him an apologetic glance.
-
"Perhaps I was unclear as you seem to think this is my decision. What I should have said is that if you would like, my operatives will pose as you from a highly advanced set of prosthetics, science and of course, a great deal of information provided by you.
We have a way of acting like a Yeerk that has attempted to infest us by way of suspending its ability to attach to our brain. Its all very complicated and I can't get into it in too much detail presently. If you decide to do this, all those decisions you mentioned - such as what you decide to do in the time our operative poses as you-" She nods to Kasey, "- to working with your operative to know every detail of your life. I assure you that if you work with them, the Operative will not be detected. They've fooled the most paranoid of Controllers.
I can see that you are very upset however, and perhaps need time to think this over.
Are you prepared to acquire the Andalite's Gift?"
-
Kasey closes her eyes, and pushes back against the couch. She mutters, "An operative? What is this, a war, now? Are we a bunch of spies? Can I still go home when I want to? I don't think I can be away from my family, and from my friends for...for, however long this takes." Kasey rubs her eyes again, then opens them. "But the gift." Her voice cracks, and she clears her throat. "Yes. The gift. I'm ready." She looks from Reece to Torrence.
-
Brit caught up with Damien and Alice. He had stopped to watch Eddie and the others disappear in the car. He couldn't hep wondering weather or not he had made a bad decision by staying. He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. It couldn't be helped now...
He looked over to Alice. "So paranoia aside whats the plan?", he asked. "I mean we carnt just go up to the front entrance and say. Hi we're the kids who escaped infestation, any chance we could see the bloody list with our names on?". He grinned at his own joke. "But then again you where in morph and Dame over here had loo-roll wrapped around his face. They probably dont know who you are..."
-
Reece offers Kasey a small smile, but otherwise offers no expression. He listens to Jenny intently, and slowly nods. "Yeah, I'm in. Certainly I'd rather skip to the Bahamas or something but, well, options are limited." He grins. "Besides, who doesn't like presents?"
-
"It has always been a war." Jenny frowned. "Alice told us that she explained that to you... I do hope that you realize that the Gift is to be used for the war against the Yeerks. It is why we have kept it, hoping that the Andalites shall return and aid us..."
The woman was quiet for a moment, digesting Kasey and Reece's comments.
"As I said, that is your decision, young lady. We aren't dictating any thing to you. If you choose to work with our Operatives, you and your friends will need to decide how and when you will need to use them. They will go to meetings and to the Yeerk Pool for you, but beyond that- you need to come up with a plan. When you are ready, I can introduce you to some volunteers.
"But I digress. You two are ready, please excuse me."
Jenny left the room and returned a few moments later holding a small glowing blue box.
"This is the Andalite's Gift." She stated, setting it on the coffee table. "It will allow you to acquire animals and then assume their shape for short bits at a time. The maximum duration seems to be two hours- any longer and one is trapped forever in the morph of the animal.
To acquire the Gift, place your hand upon it."
-
Reece bites his lip, before bursting into laughter. He cackles loud and strong, water running down the creases of his face as he shakes for breath. After a few moments he begins to calm down. "I'm-" he chuckles. "I'm sorry. Just, when you say it like that, so..." he snickers "so straight-up, like it's just some thing it sounds so..." he sighs loudly, and manages to sit still for a moment. "Oh, oh I needed that." He smiles. "Sorry, it's just... hot damn, this ****'s just so goofy. Animals? Really? Really? Who does that?"
-
"You're friend Alice, for one." Jenny replied, not smiling. "She's still out by the Yeerk front organization, isn't she? With your other friends who don't have the ability to morph, right?"
An expression of concern passes over her face as she turns to check out the clock on the wall, guessing how long Alice and the others had been attempting to get the list.
-
Reece squints, unsure whether or not he's being lectured to. He lets out a tiny, calculated chuckle as he places his hand on the glowing blue box. He keeps his eyes on Jenny.
-
Kasey nods at Jenny's comments, and stares silently at Reece's outburst. She quickly reaches out and places her hand on the cube. She stares at her and Reece's hands in silence.
-
Torrence let out a deep breath as the box was brought out. This was no longer some abstract idea or future decision-- it was right here, in front of them. In the here and now.
"Definitely didn't think I'd go Bambi when I woke up this morning." She admitted quietly, reaching her hand and placing it on the top above Reece and and Kasey's hands.
"Oookay. Is this gonna hurt?"
Autumn moved over to the other three, placing her hand upon the box as well, beside Kasey and Reece's hands.
"It won't hurt." Jenny promised. "Just close your eyes."
As soon as every one closed their eyes, Jenny placed her own 'hand' on an empty side. Through what the Chee had unlocked about this device, a morph capable individual could 'activate' the cube this way, giving all others the Power. Instead, Jenny the Chee tapped into her internal power source and applied the bit of technology they'd unlocked about the Andalite's Gift. To anyone who peeked, they'd assumed her hand upon it was activating the power, when instead she was conducting the activating power into the Cube.
Something like a shock, only pleasurable, seemed to run through the newly formed Animorphs
"There," Jenny said approvingly. "You have acquired the Gift."
She removed her hand and sat back on the couch.
"Whoa." Torrence breathed, retracting her hand from the cube. "Did you guys feel that? That was intense."
"Now what would you like to do?" Jenny asked. "I can have an Operative drive you back to the Center so you won't have to wait for your friend to return."
"Hey!" Christina hissed, tapping on the front door. The girls stopped talking and looked over. One of them wandered near enough to be heard through the glass.
"How'd you get outside? The Lock in already started."
"Yeah, but we stepped out side for a smoke. Got locked out." Christina made a face. "I don't want these guys calling our parents and reporting us, though. Can you bring us that clip board?"
-
Reece gazes at his hand. Power felt staticky. "If we head back, it might arouse suspicion. Everyone that's supposed to be there already is, right? We might be better off testing this stuff out while we have the chance."
-
Brit looked at Christina as she casually asked to see the clipboard/ list.
"OK or we could just do that..." Brit said grudgingly. "Damnit i wanted something more spectacular. Like a James Bond kinda thing, wit explosion's and secret infiltration and stuff".
He walked up to her and looked through the window a the group of girls. "Yer if my dad finds out i smoke he'll kill me". Brit put on his accent alittle thicker than normal. "Please ladies, i would really appreciate it".
-
Christina gave Brit a knowing side glance as he laid it on for the girls. Whatever works. She told herself. These people had risked every thing for her, so she wasn't about to let them be found out. She hadn't quite figured out what she'd do about herself yet...
"This one?" A blonde teenage girl walked over to the Receptionist's desk and lifted the clip board.
She carried it back over to the door, holding it up.
"Do you like, want me to scratch over your names, or something?"
-
Brit looked up at the attractive young blond.
"No that's OK just pass the whole thing through. Its gonna be pretty obvious we bunked off if our names are crossed off".
He grinned "Don't worry about the list, i saw Greg make a copy and put it in his files. If theres a fire or anything they can use that". Brit hated lieing but needs must. He hoped she wouldn't get into trouble as he reached out his hand for the list.
"So? Please may we have it?"
-
"I don't know if I should..." The girl wavered for a moment, looking between Christina and Brit. As Brit mentioned a copy, however, her face lost its conflicted expression.
"Well, if you saw him make a copy of it, I guess it's okay."
The girl opened the door and offered the list to Brad. "You better hurry out, though. All the adults went to a staff meeting a few minutes ago, so they'll probably get back out here pretty soon."
-
Brit took the list
"Thanks alot your a lifesaver". He flashed her a grin as he walked backed over to Christina. "If i see you around remind me i owe you a coffee or something".
Leaveing the blond behind he flashed the list at Christina. "Just call Walsall, Brit Walsall. Now lets get the hell out of here and back to Alice's place".
-
The blonde gave a smile in response to Brit's attentions, until her friends began to whisper. Her skin flushed with embarrassment as she let the door swing shut, moving back to stand with her friends and adopt the visage of indifference.
"Okay, got it?" Christina checked that Brit had kept ahold of the clipboard.
"Okay, come on! That girl said there were no cameras, but lets not wait to find out. My truck's over here."
The girl with the frizzy, damp but slowly drying hair led the group to the parking lot. She pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and stopped at a red F10 Ford truck, unlocking the passenger door for Brit.
"Three of us can fit in front." She stated, launching her short frame up into the lifted truck and sliding over to the driver's side.
"Get in. Where'd that girl wander off to?" She peered out of the window, looking around for Alice. "Can you call your friends for directions or something?"
-
"Yer ok ill call Torrence" Brit pulled out his phone and prayed he had charged it. The thing was a relic from the age of colourless screens and no camras. He selected Torrence's number and hit the dial button.
He coved the speaker as he asked Christina. "So are we just gonna assume that Dame and Alice will get there with Eddie?". He waited for a few seconds for her reply before he heard a voice on his phone.
"Hello Torrence its Brit. Me and Christina got the list but were stuck in the carpark, sorry parking lot. Any chance you can give us directions to Alice's place?"
-
Christina gave the center a furtive glance. It remained the bustling facade of a student center, with no one the wiser that the list had been taken, presumptively.
"Can you keep an eye out to see if any one from there tries to head us off?" Christina suggested. "I'll make a circle around the parking lot, they should see us and head on over."
The teenager began to do just that as she put the truck into drive, circling towards where they last saw Damien and Alice.
Torrence answered her phone with an apologetic wince to the others. "Sorry, forgot I left this on."
She listened to the other end, before announcing:
"It's Brit! He says he and some girl named Christina have the list, but need directions to here."
Jenny motioned for the phone and Torrence handed it over.
-
Alice:
Damien called my name to get my attention. I stopped and turned to face him so he'd know I was listening. When he had finished asking his question, I took a few seconds to come up with a good answer:
"My Dad... Likes to show off. He's a world-class hacker and I don't want him getting in trouble for hacking military stuff again. He was probably watching from some satellite or other, it's not outside his capabilities. As for your cell being switched off, well it still had a functional battery inside it and there's always a way to switch them on remotely, even if there isn't 'supposed' to be. He's gonna be in so much trouble when I see him! - If he got caught, we'd all be in serious ****. Try not to think too hard about how he does what he does? - It'll only make your head hurt."
Over-all I was quite proud of my answer: Most of what I said was true, though I had to construct the sentences carefully to make them so they indicated something slightly different to the truth. It was true that I didn't want my 'dad' getting in trouble. I lied about using a satellite, of course, but as a Chee he is more than capable of hacking a human-military satellite if he wanted to. Even a Yeerk satellite would be no problem. I spoke the truth about switching his cell on remotely - Human paranoia and their MOD keep a back-door or two around to do things they're not supposed to be able to. And of course if he did get caught, by human or Yeerk, we'd most definitely be in the ****. It was just a lot less likely than I'd made out.
Brit caught up to us and asked me what my plan was for getting the list:
"Plan? Well, my original plan was to sneak back in and steal it, but as nobody seems in the mood to let me do stuff alone, I guess we'll go with Christina's plan. - From the way she's storming over there, it looks like she has some sort of plan, anyway..."
I smiled politely at Brit's reaction to Christina's direct approach, and chuckled at his mention of James Bond and how he would have done things. It wasn't a 'mean' chuckle, I was just complimenting his humour. He didn't seem to notice either way, as he was soon catching up to Christina and helping with her plan. It worked, too! We now had the list! - It was a shame he'd given the girl in the buiilding his name though, that might backfire...
Eddie:
Nearly there now, just one more corner... As the building loomed up ahead, I cut my headlights (assming it's dark, ignore if there's still daylight) so my approach would be less noticable. I stopped around the side of the trees, away from the car-park so as to put off any suspicians about my car.
Squinting through the trees, I spotted two figures apparently talking. One seemed about Alice's size and shape, so I called her mobile-phone. The silhouette answered at the same time Alice did, so I knew they were the same person. I told her where to find me and hoped they wouldn't take too long - I remembered they were going to try and get something from the building. I assumed whatever it was was important? Well, if they'd finished messing around, their lift was waiting. As in, me.
My cell rang. I answered it, impressed that Eddie had my number, considering I'd never given it to him... He must have gotten it from the school's records or something. I smiled at his resourcefulness. I listened to what he had to say then put my cell away. Turning back to Damien, I said:
"Eddie's back. He's stopped his car over there..." I pointed in Eddie's direction. Even without hearing Eddie describe where he was, I'd spotted him on my Chee sensors as he'd approached. "Seems Brit and Christina have their own means of getting there." I mused, indicating the truck they'd just entered and started. "Shall we go?" With that, I started off in Eddie's direction.
-
Kasey nods her head in agreement, "I agree with Reece. We should stay here for now. I think that we should get to work on our...learnig how...using our new, powers, tonight. Those of us who need protection," she glances at Reece, "Can work it out to stay here tomorrow night so that we can do our, uh, breifings. Let's get started with the...morphing. ....so, uh. How do we do this?" Kasey's face shows no hint of excitement, and her voice sounds uncharacteristicall y cold. She slumps down onto the end of the couch opposite Jenny, and stares at her.
-
"I have already told you about the two hour limitation. To acquire an animal, you must touch it, which usually results with said animal entering a trance."
Jenny stares right back at Kasey. For a long moment, she says nothing, then breaks in.
"Oh, you expect me to teach you or tell you what to do? I'm sorry, child, but as I said, I'm not dictating anything to you. You have the Gift's Power and you are the Earth's defenders. What you choose to do next is up to you."
GM Cut Scene
Back at the Center parking lot, Alice and Damien had time to choose to enter Eddie's car or Christina's truck. The vehicles took off, Brad dictating Jenny's directions to Christina and Eddie following Alice's directions.
The five arrived at the Chee house where Autumn, Torrence, Reece and Kasey were. Brad, Christina, Damien and Eddie were also given the Andalite's Power by touching the Escafil.
End Cut Scene
Torrence glanced at the paper in Brad's hand. "Wow, you guys got the list. Was it hard?"
Brad passed it off as being some sort of 'James Bond maneuver', which caused Christina to snort derisively.
"Point is, we got the list- so all of you who weren't actually seen are peachy with a side of keen. I on the other hand, are in the same rocky boat as you -" She jerked her head at Kasey. "- and that guy who was screaming about his mom."
Jenny stood. "Kasey, Reece, Autumn and Torrence can tell you of a possible way to give you some semblance of a normal life. You can come here whenever you want to start working with your operative."
"Operative?" Christina said skeptically.
"But the young man and Kasey wish to start learning the Andalite's Gift. Perhaps the Gardens would be a good place to start. I however, must secure the Gift."
Jenny picked up the cube and made her way from the room, leaving the Animorphs and Alice alone.
-
Reece pondered. He couldn't afford to waste too much time getting his life back to normal, but he had at least as long as he was scheduled to be at the Sharing meeting before his parents would be suspicious, and they wouldn't care where he'd be the rest of the day, leaving plenty of time to patrol The Gardens. He looked to the others. "You guys think we can get into The Gardens at this time of night? I've never actually been."
-
Alice:
"Jenny's not always that... Err... Direct. She can be positively friendly sometimes, it's just she gets nervous and worried removing the Escafil device from its secure hiding place, you know? Hopefully next time you see her you'll get a better 'feel' for her character. Anyway, I wanted to make sure everyone knows the ins and outs of Morphing, now we're in a location where we cannot be eaves-dropped on." I started, addressing whoever in the group cared to listen.
"The MOST crucial thing you have to remember is the 2hr rule: NEVER exceed 2hrs in a morph, just like Jenny explained. If you do, there's no reversing the damage - you will forever remain whichever form you are trapped in until your dying day." I re-iterated. "Beyond that rule, some basics I think you'll benefit from knowing before you morph for the first time: 1- Clothing. You saw me morph clothing, but it takes a good deal of practise, and a LOT of ruined outfits, before even managing skin-tight clothes. You may wish to bear this in mind for the sheer 'embarrassment-factor' of demorphing naked with other people around, if nothing else." I gave a demure smile and mimed attempting to cover my 'bits' with my hands, just to reinforce this point.
"2- Animal-Instinct. When you morph a creature for the first time, their instinct will usually take control of your actions for a while. Overcoming such instincts is usually possible, and when you've done a morph once, you'll be better-prepared to overcome those same instincts the next time you morph that creature. Practise is ALWAYS a good idea before relying on a new morph beyond enemy lines. Be especially aware of the instincts of Prey-animals - They are the strongest around, and are especially difficult to overcome." I couldn't think how best to convey the sheer fright a prey-animal feels via body-language, so I instead settled for a serious expression just to show I was not joking.
"3- Communication. This part is actually good-news! The Andalites included in their technology the ability to communicate mind-to-mind directly, while in a morph. They call this thought-speak, and it is pretty-much telepathy. Another bonus to this form of communication is that it is not language-dependent - If you thought-spoke in English to a Chinese person, they would 'hear' you in Chinese, essentially. Unfortunately if they replied aloud in Chinese, you would still only hear Chinese, but it is still useful in some instances." This time I mimed having Antennae while saying "We come in peace; Take me to your leader." Just to be cliche.
"4- Injuries. Any physical injuries you sustain in a morph that leave you conscious enough to demorph successfully will heal. Morphing was first developed for medical purposes: Using DNA to fix problems that couldn't be fixed another way, like re-growing lost limbs etc. Over considerable time, the technology developed to what we have today. Also, injuries you sustain to your normal human bodies can be undone by morphing and demorphing, if you concentrate on a mental-image of yourself healed when you demorph." I noticed Eddie stir in his wheelchair at my mention of healing injuries. I smiled at him and nodded - His paralysis had been caused by a physical injury, so it was entirely possible he could regain feeling in his legs. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. I swear I nearly saw a tear before he recovered his composure...
"I think that just-about covers the basics. Anything else you want to know, just ask and I'll answer as best I can." I perched on the arm of the couch and waited to see what would happen next.
-
Kasey nods her head, then stands up. "Let's go, now. I want to get this done with so we can..So we can do something. We can walk to the gardens from here, it's not that far. We'll probably need to split up though so we don't attract too much attention." She takes a deep breath and asks, "Are you ready?"
-
"I'd have to leave my truck here," Christina frowned." -but I could come back." She suddenly brightened. "Or I could fly back."
"Gardens it is," Torrence agreed. "It's really late. Maybe we could sneak in and not pay the entrance fee."
She indicated Kasey.
"I'm with you if we split up, 'kay?"
-
Kasey nods at Christina and Torrence, "Sounds good. Why don't we split up guys and girls? That'll look less suspicious, perhaps? We can split up and meet near the aviary, maybe? I don't think we'll have a lot of trouble sneaking in, The Gardens close at nine on Friday nights, and there are usually only a handful of guards on duty. If no one has any objections..."
Kasey stands up and moves toward the door; she opens it and steps outside. She's unsure of where this surge of fortitude is coming from, but decides better to embrace it rather than to question it. She stands on the front stoop of Jenny's house, waiting for her new-found allies to join her.
-
Reece stands and turns to Damien, Eddie and Brad. "Well boys, I say we get this show on the road, yeah? The early bird gets the worm. And the early changeling gets the bird. Or something like that."
-
GM Cut Scene
As the teens headed out to walk to the Gardens, the time was ten to nine. By the time that they had made the seven block walk, the park was closed. Cars were still pulling out of the parking lot as patrons and employees headed home for the night. Scanning the parking lot revealed a handful of cars still present- guards or just people delayed heading home?
Walking towards the entrance, you can see that the metal tights are tightly closed, baring you from entering that way. As your eyes search for a way in, you note that there is ivy growing along the brick entrance way into the park- along wooden latticework. One could climb the latticework and somehow lower themselves to the ground on the other side.
Should they try that or find another way in? Could the lattice work support their weight?
Glancing around, you see no sign of the guards.
-
Kasey glances at Torrence, Christina and Autumn. "So...what do you think? Should we climb the latticework, maybe? I don't see any other way to get in..." She begins to move quietly and quickly towards it, without waiting for a response.
-
Reece peeks around as he walks with the others. "You know, it strikes me that it'd be a piece of cake to get in here if we got our hands on a squirrel or a ****roach or something like that. And it might be better to experiment with that getting on than with rhinoceroses and anything that can eat a man's head."
-
Damien hung back slightly behind the others while they made their way to the Gardens, he didn't talk much, infact not at all since Alice had answered his questions. Something still didn't seem right, he didn't know what, but... He shook his head clearing the thoughts away and concentrated on the present. For some odd reason his arm this tingled from the morphing cube. Most likely his paranoia. He looked up at Reece as he asked his very logical question. "Hang on,"he said quickly, speaking for the first time in hours. He walked over to a tree, a large pile of old rotten leaves lay around its base. It looked as if the leaves have been there for a while. Slowly he crouched down and began shifting through the leaves, many small insects scrambled form their disturbed homes. Suddenly it looked as if Damien found what he was looking for. The teen stood up and walked over to the others, his hands were cupped aorund something. He opened them slightly to revel a small red salamander,"Would this do for for morphing practice?" The lizard laid calm in his hands for a few seconds to show that Damien had already acquired the creature. He held it out and wrapped his fingers aorund it so it wouldn't escaped, it began wriggling around trying to escape. "Anyone?"
-
Brit held out his hand and Damien gently placed the wiggling red lizard on his hand. "America is so cool" Brit said, watching the lizard in his uninjured hand go still. "We don't have any lizards in Britain".
The lizard started moving again the effect of being acquired worn off. "well at least in a few minutes we're gonna find out if this morphing thing can heal injures". He unwrapped the blood soaked hankerchief from his left hand with his teeth.
"Anyone else want this bloody lizard". He asked offering it in his closed fist.
-
Reece nods. "Give 'er here," he says. He takes the tiny reptile in his hand and strokes it gently with his finger as he acquires it. The scrambling creature's breathing slows, and its eyes glaze over. "Poor little guy," Reece murmurs. He finishes acquiring its DNA.
-
Eddie:
"Me next!" I said, wheeling myself over to Reece and holding out my hand for the creature. When I had it, I concentrated on it and felt a slight tingle as its DNA was absorbed into me. It kinda made me smile a bit, using Alien technology for the first time.
"Who else?" I asked, holding the Salamander out for the next person.
-
"Make sure you put the salamander back under those leaves before its body dries out," Damien said. stuffing his hands in his pockets,"Who wants to go first?" he asked while the lizard was being passed aorund,"I'll go if no-one else wants to." He glanced at the others, Eddie seemed particularly eager, that was understandable since morphing offered a possible cure for his paralyzation.
-
"I'm going for it, you with me Ed?". Brit grinned and focused on the image of the little lizard he had just been holding.
The first thing he noticed was his skin. It had turned red, the skin started to sag as it stretched out around his arms and neck. "Well thisss ishent sho baad". Brit tried to say as his mouth curled around his head and pushed out. Fusing with his nose to make a lizards snout. Then something ripped his spine had lenghtned into a thin red tail. He turned his long lizard neck to see the back of his jeans ripped to shred's.
<Bollocks> he thought. He now resembled a man sized lizard with human legs and tuft's of blonde hair sticking out of his scaly head. And then he shrank. He seemed to be falling at a million miles an hour. Huge sails or tents zoomed up in front of him. It took him a few seconds to realise they where his clothes. < Humm maybe we dident think this through>.
And then the lizard brain kicked in.
Fear! Mammals! Predators!!! Run! Run! Rruunrunrun!!! Lizard-Brit ran towards the tree and scarpered up its trunk.
<Bollocks!!!!>
-
Damien made a face as Brit morphed,"God I'm not looking forward to that..." and soon he lost sight of his figure for a few seconds before a red lizard darted from under the pile of clothes and ran towards the trunk. Looks like the instincts kicked in. Without Thinking Damien chased after Brit and finally managed to grab onto him. Pulling him away form the tree trunk he cupped his hands aorund him, hopefully the dark would calm down his salamander brain,"Get a hold of yourself,"Damien whispered into his cupped hands.
-
Damien's whisper sounded like a shout. < OK i think i got it under control, good job i dident start practiceing on a lion.> Brit wiggled his tail and padded up Damien's arm and made himself comfortable on the tall boys shoulder. < You know this isent half bad. Apart from an unusaul urge to sit in a pond and eat insects. And my hand dosent hurt anymore. Eddie give it a go mate!>
-
Eddie:
After I passed the Salamander on to the next person and watched Brit morph, I decided to have a go myself.
The first change was what looked like sunburn spreading all over my body. I can only presume as my sight shifted slightly that the yellow iris colour had replaced my natural green. Black spots erupted all over me, starting at the backs of my hands and moving steadily along my body to finish at my feet, which started to itch. Itch?
"Hey guys! I can feel my feet itching! Yay!!" I shared.
As I started shrinking I realized a new problem:
"Um... Guys? If I still can't walk when I demorph, how am I gonna get around and acquire other animals without my wheelchair?"
-
<You see i told you we rushed into this! I mean when we de-morph on the other side we're all gonna be naked. And i vote that as being poorly planned out>. Brit wiggled his tail again on Damien's sholder. < on the bright side at least haveing a tail is fun>.
-
Reece tries not to grimace as he watches the two boys transform. Morphing was entirely gross, though admittedly kind of fascinating to watch. It felt like it'd be just about the perfect entertainment had he still been in third grade. "It shouldn't be too much trouble to just toss our clothes over the edge before we morph, and if we do end up nudey, well, the place will be closed and we can always morph into something to spare our dignity." Reece grinned. "Not that all of us have anything to hide. Also, you are talking in my brain, and that is strange."
-
Torrence had set the lizard aside and watched the boy - lizards with curiosity.
"You want me to toss your clothes over the side?" She asked the boys, turning to Reece. "We could pick them up and set them on the wall so they can scurry to the other side."
-
"Or we could just sneak in as humans with our clothes on..." Damien added, it was hard to tell if he was serious or not. Hes quickly ran over to the morphing Eddie intending to capture him if he freaked out like Brit did. He also was sure to not knock Brit off of his shoulder. "A few of us could help you around if your still disabled when you demorph, and even if you can walk I'm sure you'll still need help since you wouldn't be used to walking," Damien answering Eddie's question as he morphed.
-
Kasey watches the others morph, her face expressionless. She bends over and scoops up a small insect from the leaf pile where the lizard had come from. She examines it carefully, watching its legs try to propel it off her hand, and it's feelers twitching in the air, before setting it back down; she decides against acquiring it. She then quickly scoops up the salamander before it can skitter away, staring silently at it while it grows sill. She sets it back down in the leaf pile, and turns to Eddie.
"Eddie, your legs should heal...I don't think that's going to be a problem...the clothes, on the other hand." Kasey's face lights up, and she laughs.
-
Alice:
I watched with interest as the boys experimented with morphing a Salamander. These would be the good times they'd remember fondly when they got used to waking up from dreams of night-terrors and close-calls.
"Your injuries should all heal up nice and healthy when you demorph, Eddie, but the atropy in your leg muscles is not an injury in-and-of-itself. You may be able to move your legs, but I doubt they'd support your own weight even if you could stand. Perhaps you could enrol in physiotherapy?" I mused in response to the discussion of Eddie moving about under his own steam once inside The Gardens.
"In the meantime, I could probably get your wheelchair over the wall without damaging it, if I had a little help..." I offered with a little smile, hoping someone might offer to assist with that.
I could pretend to morph an Orangutan, scale the lattice, and pass the chair over the wall, but the wall was too high to be able to reach the chair from atop it. I'd need someone either side the wall to pass it to me and take it from me so it didn't get damaged from the drop.
-
"How attached to you to your chair?" Torrence wondered. "I mean if security finds us, we'll have to make a fast run. We'd never leave you if we have to run for it, but trying to push your chair over this humongus wall would be a delay. " She paused before adding. "That's just a thought. Also- woot for walking!"
Torrence walked over to the latticework and took hold, stepping up from the ground. She hung there in mid air a moment, testing the latticework. She stepped back down, frowning.
"I think it would hold us if we go one at a time, but its definitely not inspiring a feeling of confidence."
Those in lizard morphs would soon be able to control the instincts, if they haven't already. As they are learning to interpret human speech to words, they discover something startling. There's another noise approaching from the west. Looking that way shows the large hedges groomed to ook like animals that gives excellent cover for whomever is approaching.
-
Eddie:
"Well... I'm quite attached to this chair, but mainly due to how long I've had it... I guess if I'm gonna be able to walk again it won't be necessary to keep it other than for nostalgia... Hang on though: Don't places like this provide buggies and things for disabled visitors?? I mean, if we haaereeerer..." the rest of my intended speech was garbled as my mouth suddenly changed shape and normal speech became impossible. I tried 'thinking' what I had intended to say, getting the impression that I was actually transmitting my words telepathically, like Brit had done. It was intriguing... <If we have to peg-it out of there, a generic chair or buggy provided by The Gardens themselves won't seem too out-of-place, comparatively-speaking... What d'ya reckon?>
While I 'spoke', I watched my hands as webbing started to form between my fingers... I gradually became aware that I'd been semi-consciously controlling what parts of me were morphing and at what rate... Curioser and curiouser...
-
Damien nodded at Eddie,"He is right, they always have those buggies.... we could use than in a quick getaway if we have to..." He looked at Jess,"Now that leaves the clothes.. anyone not planning on morphing will climb over carrying some clothes with them..." the way he said it it sounded like ti bordered on a question/suggestion and order. "I'll climb over first if that is alright with everyone.
The teen walked over and grabbed Brit's clothes, he would have grabbed Eddie's but he was still in the process of morphing. "Hang on,"Damien said to Brit as he grabbed onto the wall. It was then when he shivered slightly, Brit would have felt it like a minor earthquake,"Did anyone else just get a shiver down their spine?"he asked no-one in specific and began climbing,"See you on the other side," he said as he progressed.
-
<Guys! Less talking more action!>. Brits said loudly into everyones minds. <There's someone comeing from the headges!>.
The small red lizard scrabbled across Damien's shoulders and launched himself onto the latticework.
Brit scaled the wooden lattice and perched himself on the top. He could see a dark shape moving through the hedge. But his eyes where too weak in this morph to be able to see who it was.
<Morph. Hide. Climb, decide and lets go!>
-
Kasey starts at Brit's message. She quickly gathers Eddie's clothes and scales the latticework as Damien reaches the top. She scrambles over the top and drops down on the other side, landing in some greenery. She holds her breath, crouching silently in the bushes and waiting for her friends.
-
Reese sees the others scramble over the edge, and whispers to whomever is left, "I'm gonna go forward to stall these guys for a bit. Get over while you can." He jogs forward past the hedges, trying to keep calm.
-
Torrence hurries after Kasey, pausing at the top to look back down at Reese.
"He's sort of got a saving people thing, huh?"
She wondered aloud as she slid over to the other edge of the wall. She frowns down at the ground a good nine feet down.
"I really hate heights!"
She complained before lowering herself over the edge and hanging down, cutting the height she'd free fall down to four feet. Wincing, she let go and fell down to the ground.
Christina gave a jerk and jumped up after Torrence and began to climb hurriedly. When she was two feet off of the ground, she gave a scream as something skittered over her hand. She released the lattice work, shaking off the spider that had been traversing the latticework. As her foot left the latticework, it caught on something unseen. Christina was hung up as her upper body hit the ground, her leg suspended two feet above her at a painful angle.
"Hey!" A flash light wielding man came around the corner. A portable radio was attached to his belt, which completed the black Dickies he wore and the black jacket with a security patch on it. The guard shined his light into Reece's face, blinding him.
"What are you kids doing here? Park's closed. You could be arrested for trespassing."
-
Reece throws his arms up in front of his face. Flashlights, talk of arrest. Being a shape-shifting freedom fighter was hard. He yanks something out of his head. "Help!" he yelps. "My sister! My kid sister, I lost her!"
-
"Your sister?" The light lowers. "How old is she?"He turns, swinging his light about. It narrowly misses the struggling Christina.
"Here, come back to the office with me so that i can radio the others to search the park."
-
Search the park? "Oh farts," he thinks to himself. He stammers. "Erm, no, no no. We lost her in the parking lot, but none of us has a phone so we were breaking in to call the cops. We don't know if she wandered off or what." Reece tried to cope with the sensation that this situation was headed downhill at a steady clip. It was one of the few times in his life where he'd have been better off as a naked salamander.
-
Brit the naked salamander fell from the top of the latticework and landed on the top of Christina's foot. < You dont half get yourself into some bad situations. Nearly getting yeerked... getting stuck on latticework... You eather clumsy or you have a thing for being saved >. Brit mentally chuckled < im jokeing. I think...>.
As he mentally talked he scuttled over the soul her shoe and tryed to find how she was stuck. <OK if you can grab hold of something you could probably leaver youself off... But it would be easyer to morph while the guard is destracted. Have you got anything?>
-
Damien had instantly began morphing when he heard the guard. He was just swinging his leg over the top of the wall and nearly jumped down on the other side, so he was half hanging on the wall half laying down. The changes had began taking place, the very first thing to happen was his body was shrinking rapidly making him lose grip on the wall and plummet to the ground, and he continued morphing in mid air. When he was halfway towards the ground he was now a human an inch bigger than a salamander. The rest of the morph was invisible to others eyes since he was falling inside a bundle of his clothes and Brit's. However he hit the ground safely in a cushion of clothes. It was then that the salamander instinct flicked on. It was dark inside the bundle of cloth shielding him from the sun's rays, normally the perfect hiding place for the salamander, only there was one problem. Body heat, he was wrapped in a mass of clothes still warm with body heat. Damien instantly began flailing aorund inside the clothes trying to find a way out, but couldn't, they were too heavy and it was dark all over. Practically a maze of cloth. To the salamander brain that was the equivalent of being inside a predator. <Ahhh!> Damien began screaming out in thought speak. amazingly somehow he managed to limit the thought speak to Brit, Reece, Alice, Christina, Eddie, and the others subconsciously leaving the security guard unaware of his panic. However the others wouldn't know that and would think the guard heard the screaming too.
-
"Parking lot?" The guard turned his flash light. "Come on kid, lets go find your sister. It's getting chilly."
Indeed, the temperature was beginning to drop. The guard waited for Reece in the parking lot of r a moment before turning and starting to head out. He unlatched the radio from his belt, bringing it to his lips in preparation to speak.
"It's stuck." Christina hissed, jerking her foot. Her foot slid out of her show a bit as the girl braced herself on the ground, pulling her leg. There was a crunch as her foot came shooting out of her shoe and she flew backwards onto the ground.
Brit realized with a start that the latticework was tearing- the cross piece below him was falling with Christina's shoe. The one that he was one shifted and lurched, beginning to fall as well.
-
Brits tiny stomach gave a lurch as he suddenly found himself in midair again. He landed with hardly any sound. He had landed on something soft, but his salamander eyes couldn’t make out exactly what.
<Errr Christina is that you...> He asked sheepishly before something hard and shoe shaped landed on him pinning him down.
This is the last time I try to help people out. Brit thought trying to lift the shoe huge of his small body.
-
Reece sees the guard pick up the radio and recalls the sedated salamander. He places a hand gently on the guard's arm, and begins to acquire his DNA. He holds his breath.
-
Kasey starts to laugh at Torrence's comment, but quickly scrambles out of the way as the laticework falls. "They're coming for sure now, MORPH!" she hisses at the others. By the time she finishes speaking, her skin has turned a shade of dark red, and webbing has begun to grow between her fingers, she's already begun the process herself. Her body quickly begins to shrink as her legs and arms grow shorter, and her hair disappears; she resembles a three-foot-long tail-less lizard. As the morph completes and her tail shoots out of her backside, the lizard instincts kick in, and she propels herself under a bush and into a pile of leaves. PANIC! LIGHTS! HIDE! She remains there motionless for a moment before managing to gain some control.
<<What a...rush? Wow...Wow. Who's in the gardens, who's still out?>>
-
The guard looked down at Reece's hands, opening his mouth in surprise. In a split second however, his mouth hung open as his eyes glazed over. His mouth slowly closed as he gave Reece a blank look.
"Brit?" Christina bent over and gently lifted her shoe. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
She placed her hand on the ground beside him. "Do you want me to put you back on the wall? I don't want to touch you if you're getting dried out..."
Christina turned and studied the latticework. She swore loudly as she saw the pule of broken wood.
"The latticework is down. Reece and I need to find another way in- Brit, you can probably crawl in right?"
-
Damien had finally got his salamander brain in check, however even with his panic gone he was still trapped,<Hey guys... uhm... I don't know where I am but I know I can't get out, I'm wrapped up in something... a little help?>
-
<<Torrence? Have you morphed yet? Can you find Damien? Where is he? Who else is over? We should get out of here ASAP and start acquiring new morphs...the others can catch up with us as soon as they get away from that gaurd.>> She hesitates for a moment <<Can the others even hear us?>>
-
Torrence
"I haven't morphed and I can hear you in my head," Torrence replied to Kasey. "-and yeah, it's creepy, like Reece said. Okay... trapped... trapped..." She paused as she came across Damien's clothes.
"Found you, don't freak, man. I'm not going to eat you." She gently started lifted clothes until she found the Damien - salamander. She began gathering all of the clothes that had been thrown over the brick entrance way.
"Okay, I'm hiding our clothes over here under the elephant statue." Torrence decided, tucking the folded clothes under the vast statue. "- as salamanders can't carry 'em. Do you guys want to hop on me and we can get to the first animal we want? I mean, it will take us forever to motor as salamanders right?"
-
Eddie:
As Kasey grabbed my clothes I found myself glad that I'd morphed far enough that none of my anatomy looked human any more but yet the Salamander-mind had not announced its presence yet. - If it had, I'm sure it would not have liked such sudden movements around it.
The last few details morphed into place, and here came the mind: Panic! Warmth! Dryness! RUN!! I scampered over the seat of my wheelchair, exploring the corners and deciding to hide in one of the back corners in the leather-clad gap between the seat-cushion and the arm-rest.
It was lucky the salamander decided to hide so soon really, as it gave me the chance to overcome its mind while it wasn't as panicky.
I exerted my own control and tried to lower the miniscule heartrate, breath and relax a bit, but that was not an easy task with this skittish prey-animal. I didn't like it. I REALLY didn't like it.
Once I calmed down, I commanded my tiny body to move to the middle of the wheelchair-seat before I started speaking.
<Okay, I've decided I don't particularly like this morph. Hmm... If I've understood Alice correctly, even if I break some salamander-bones they will heal when I next morph, right?> I just about caught a glimpse of someone nodding. I assumed it was Alice, as that was about the place she'd been stood when I'd started morphing.
<In that case: Somebody throw me over the wall? I don't really want to stay in this body any longer than I have to, and even if I do get injured when I land, I'll be able to demorph out of the injuries. I think.>
Somebody picked me up - Again I think it was Alice - and turned toward the wall. <Please don't do any practise-throws? I'd rather not bounce back off the wall...> Then I was in mid-air, sailing high over the wall.
<YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH HH!!!>... Flump. - I'd landed on grass and gotten winded, but I seemed to be otherwise-intact. - so far as I could feel, anyway.
<... I think that worked out quite well. If anyone else fancies SalamandAirways, all I'll say is it definitely wasn't fun, and it's best to land on grass or something softer. I think I got bruised pretty good, too; I'm finding movement causes some minor pain, but nothing I couldn't live with. I'd appreciate a ride to the nearest complimentary cripple-cart so I can get out of this unpleasant morph, please.>
-
< That works, Torrence. I'm going to try to make my way out from under this bush. Let's make sure we find everyone before we go. Who are we missing? It sounds like Damien, Brit, you, and me are all on this side. Where are Christina, Alice and Reece?> Kasey begins to crawl out from under the bush, fighting the signals she's receiving from the salamander brain to stay put. The surface of the ground changes from large pieces of wood, to grass twice her size. She eventually reaches a smooth, cool surface. <Torrence, I think I'm on a sidewalk or something. Do you see me?>
-
Reece removes his hand from the guard and then waves it in front of the eyes, trying his best to look concerned. "Hey man!" he says. "You alright? I was just passing by but stopped because you seemed a little zoned out. Do you want me to call you a doctor?"
-
The guard blinked but gave no notion of responding to Reece. For all intensive purposes, he seemed to be out of it completely. He stood there holding the walkie to his mouth, but made no attempt to use it.
Torrence "Yeah, I see you." Torrence moved to gently pick up Kasey and place her on her shoulder.
"Any one else want a ride?" Torrence crouched down, hand extended to any salamanders she could see. "All aboard the salamander express."
For several moments Torrence scouted for any interested salamanders and gently transported them to her shoulders and arms.
"Okay," Torrence decided. "Lets go find Eddie a transport and then I'll get us to some animals."
It took Torrence a few moments to locate the wheel chair rental area. She helped herself to a wheelchair and began pushing it along the curved path.
"I found a wheelchair, Eddie, I'll push it along until you demorph."
Torrence continued for another few minutes until she paused at the two signs. One said 'Bear canyon' and another 'Cat canyon'. The teenager checked her wrist watch, noting that five minutes had passed since they first morphed, and she relayed this to the salamanders. Torrence headed into the Cat Canyon and stopped walking pretty quickly, securing the wheel chair's brakes.
"Okay, we're in cat Canyon. We' just passed some meerkats, goats and pigs," She checked out the exhibits next to them "- and I've stopped at the fisher cat and the leopards. There's some bigger cats up ahead. I'm going to try and acquire the leopard."
-
Deciding not to hesitate, Reece bolts for a side of the gate beyond where the guard can see. He scrambles to scale up the side, breathing heavily.
-
<Im ok> Brit answered Christina by giving a wiggle of his tail. He shot up her leg and settled down on her shoulder. <Seeing as how your shoe nearly crushed me i nominate you to be my human taxi>. If he had been human he would have grinned. <Besides if i went through on my own i would get lost! Hell, i dont even know if we're on the right side now! And lets face it my James Bond moves arent going to work in this morph>
-
"Okay," Christina states to Brad, turning to watch Reece move quickly. "Oh, Reece found a way over!"
She trots after Reece and studies his way over dubiously as Reece scrambled up the gate.
"You okay?" She stepped forward to assist Reece, perhaps make a leer with her hand so that Reece could boost himself over.
Reece managed to find his way over the gate and fell to the other side, unharmed.
"Hang on, Lizard man." Christina said as she hopped up to grip the fence and began to scramble over herself. There was a scary moment as she teetered at the top, but she managed to get her legs under her and jump down to the ground.
"Okay. That was okay," Christina stated, glancing to Reece. "- I have Brit." She indicated the salamander.
"Where should we head to now?"
-
<Is it safe to, uh, un-morph, Torrence? I want to acquire the leopard too.> Kasey asks.
-
Reece grins as he lands. "Easy as pie. Never a moment to panic. Also, we all now have rufinol for fingers." He stands up and brushes the bush debris off of his ass and out of his hair. It was nice having a reasonably durable and capable human body, even if one was just going to turn it into a rhinoceros. Speaking of, Reece heads over to the zoo map and scratches his chin. "Where do you guys reckon the rhinos are kept?" he asks.
-
"Oh, yeah." Torrence blurted, feeling guilty for not mentioning that fact.
"No one around but us. Here, I'll put all of you on the ground. Which one of you is Eddie? Eddie? "
She gently places several salamanders on the ground, except the one she ascertains is Eddie. She places his salamander body on the seat of the wheelchair and double checks that the brakes are applied.
"You're in the chair, Eddie."
Torrence turned and moved closer to the leopard.
"I'll give you guys some privacy while I get to know our girl here."
She crept up the hillside that the large exhibit had been built into. Her foot caught on something that caused her to stumble against the cage- and she looked up to see the leopard watching her casually from its perch six feet away. Even in its casual lounging position, it seemed certain she wasn't a threat. The teenager climbed further up the hill until she found the cage door. Trying the handle, she found it locked.
She studied the cage around the door handle- the gaps were in inch or two square at the most, likely to prevent the hands of idiots to fit through. Stepping back, she thrummed the salamander morph she'd acquired with the others. Her skin immediately began to change, rippling over her hands, arms and face. She began to shrink, but not before her limbs began to shrink. Just a little more...
The things that had once been her hands had now shrunk considerably. Unfortunately, so had her legs. She stopped the morph, finding herself eye level with the door. Shifting her oddly not helpful legs, she hefted herself up onto a rock. She inserted her hand through the gap around the door knob, small enough to slip in and press the locking mechanism. She did an odd jiggling motion for several moments trying to get her hands over to the mechanism. Apparently salamanders elbows didn't function right- or did they not have elbows? It took much too long than she first imagined, but she managed to depress the mechanism with a click.
"Dooosh," She tried to signal the others, only to realize her mouth and tongue had shrunk as well. Only thing for it was to morph back to human, which she began to do.
"That's African right?" Christina hedged, walking over to look at the map as well. "African Savannah." Her finger darted to the map, indicating a large area to their left.
"Isn't that the one where its all open ground with lots of animals and you ride the tram through it?"
-
Reece nods. "Sounds about right. That should make it fairly easy to get to the rhinos. Or to get killed by them. Um... hm."
-
<Well i dont know about Rihnos. There probably to big to be useful at close quaters.> He thought about it for a few minutes. <Im going to get a bear morph. Big, powerful, claws, teeth and there cool.>
Brit looked around but all he could she were dark blurry shapes. < Hey Christina is there a gift shop or stall around here? i want to morph back but i want to steal some clothes so im not running around starkers..>
-
Reece remains pointed towards the sign so that his friends can demorph with dignity. "I don't know about that- would you want to be trapped in a closet with an angry rhinoceros? Even if they can't charge, they can probably press you to death. Or shishkebob your intestines."
-
Or to get killed by them. Um... hm
The blonde made a face at that. "Well... they go into a trance, right? Maybe we could tag team so we don't get a horn up the bet while we're petting one."
"To each their own," Christina tried to keep the peace. "Oh yeah, here's a gift shop. I'll drop you off by the door."
Christina did just that, setting him on the mat in front of the door. Testing the door, she found it locked.
"Hm. How bad would it be if I broke the window a little and set you inside?"
-
Alice:
I nimbly followed Reece and Christina over into The Gardens while in the 'morph' of my mid-twenties alter-ego. I was beginning to realize I'd probably be re-using this form a lot around my new friends. As such, I decided to make it quite clear that this body had certain 'desirable properties' so far as 'morphs' are concerned...
If asked, I would say that the original woman I 'acquired' this form from had died long ago and had expressed her wish that I keep her form alive, after her death, in any cause that freed people from tyranny of any kind. I would say this woman had a background in monastic martial-art forms to explain her acrobatic abilities, her impressive physical strength, and her wish that in return for her blessing to use her form, I had promised her to never use it to kill nor cause long-term harm to any living creature.
In actuality, I had been this woman a few millenia ago in Egypt where my role had been that of a lower-priestess; All of whom had indeed been trained in martial-arts though it was forbidden to use the skills on an opponent outside of mutually-consentual sparring for training or display purposes. To do so held the death penalty, even if it was for a good reason. This penalty would be carried out as a ritual-suicide: Choosing not to commit suicide in such a situation was indoctrinated to result in that Priestess' spirit being barred from entering the afterlife.
It was because of the strict traditional rules that went along with the training that my fellow Chee allowed me to assume this role - I would never be called on to commit violence with these skills, so my Pemalite programming did not prevent me playing this role either.
I stayed with this half of the group, though I was tempted to go after the group Eddie was with. I, of course, would not need to 'acquire' any 'new morphs' today... Although I might pretend to if I saw a good reason...
Eddie
I'd boarded Torrence when her hand was extended toward me and stayed pretty-much silent after that while I concentrated on keeping the Salamander's instincts and pain in check.
When I was placed on the seat of a complimentary-wheelchair, I immediately started to demorph:
My size doubled, trippled, quadrupled. My skin faded from Red and Black gradually back to my usual human skin-tone. As my human limbs started to develop, I adjusted my position on the chair so I'd be sat correctly when I was done.
While I demorphed, I watched the other salamanders to see if any of them displayed a similar control over the morphing process as I apparantly had...
As the last of the changes progressed to their conclusion, a slight breeze brought something to my attention; Something both wonderous and at the same time rather embarassing...
Due to the blush I now had in my cheeks, along with wide eyes as various realizations dawned on me, not a word could I utter to forewarn my friends of the impending embarassment that awaited them when they demorphed, yet at the same time I could not tear my eyes away from them either.
-
Reece nods as Christina speaks. "Might work. Maybe we could work our way up- morph something docile, like an elephant, knock the rhinos unconscious and then get ahold of them. But, I think rhinos are endangered? It might be bad to break one..." He follows her over to the gift shop. "Think maybe they could squeeze under the door frame, salamander style? Though I guess then it'd be difficult to get the clothes out." Reece grins. "I've got boxers on under my jeans if you'd like them, Brit. Unless, of course, life as a salamander has convinced you to embrace the natural order."
-
"I don't know if I'm down with beating an animal unconscious." Christina stated. "Lets just see how it works out."
She found a rock and smashed a side window a little bit.
"I'm going to be donating my allowance here for a month to pay for this..." she worried as she lifted Brit and placed him through the window to the other side.
"You go ahead and demorph. I'm going to check out the Savannah."
She started to walk off, gesturing impatiently to Reece.
"Are you coming?"
Christina walked over to the Savannah, which was relatively close. The sign depicted some large horned animals, some lions, a white Rhino (endangered), Rhinos that weren't endangered, Giraffes, Zebras and small gazelles that could jump and run incredibly fast to get away from Cheetahs, their primary predator. Off to the side, there were Cheetahs.
Christina wandered around the path that led around the Savannah, noticing the hidden fences. She turned and headed for the Cheetah exhibit.
-
Reece jogged after Christina. "We should probably use the buddy system when we're in the animal exhibits, what with the high likelihood of being gored, eaten, or dissolved." He stifled a yawn. Had it really only been a few hours ago that they even signed up for that damned party?
-
"Thanks." Christina grinned to Reece. "Makes me feel better that theres a big strong man to protect me. Okay, lets do this."
She walked over to the hidden door and crouched, checking out the exhibit. There were two cheetahs laying five feet from the door, apparently sleeping.
"I'll get the one on the right..." She stated. "The small one. Probably the girl. Are they dimorphic? Anywas, lets get it on."
Before I lose my nerve.
Christina carefully pulled the door open. The cheetahs didn't move. She shot Reece an excited/terrified expression and stepped into the exhibit, arm outstretched.
-
Alice:
I tagged along with the members of our little grouplet, wondering what I could be doing other than keeping watch for security cameras/patrols etc with my scanners.
When Brit was dropped-off in the souvenir shop's window, I stayed nearby. He'd mentioned something about wanting a Bear morph, and they could be quite unpredictable when approached.
"Hey Brit; I'll help you catch yourself a Bear if you like? - I don't need any more morphs myself here tonight, so I may as well make myself useful and help where I can." I offered through the broken window, then I politely turned my face outward so he could demorph without an audience.
-
Kasey, still standing near the leopard exhibit begins to de-morph. Her tail is the first to go, followed by the lizard's red skin being replaced with her own tanned skin. Her hair begins to grow at the same time her torso and arms begin to extend. As she reaches her full human form, she realizes how...exposed she is. Her face flushes a deep crimson as she realizes, much to her chagrin, she's not the only one. She crosses her arms, and averts her eyes away from Eddie, but not before staring a moment too long. She mumbles under her breath, "...just couldn't be bothered to carry the clothes."
She takes a deep breath and turns toward Torrence, and announces in a rather constrained, "Let's get this over with. I say we both go at it at the same time. First one there acquires it, then the other acquires while the first beats it out of the cage. What do you say?" She begins to move towards the cage where Torrence is standing, overly-aware of what she's not wearing.
-
Reece chortled. "It's nice to know that my personal buffness still holds relevance in a world where we can all transform into gorillas and elm trees.... Er-" Reece was about to wonder whether or not he had the power to turn into a tree when the cage door swung open and he thought better of his volume. He mounts his hands on his hips, somewhere between trying to seem big and threatening if the Cheetahs wake up, and he follows Christina into the room. He keeps his eyes locked on the male cheetah.
-
Brit scuttled off Christina's hand and dropped into the room beyond he broken window. <Cheers, I’ll see you to later>. Now how do I turn back…
Five minutes later Brit stood up and looked around the gift shop. Now his not-quite-so-dasterdly-but-still-quite-smart plan. He walked up to the counter and looked at the shirt stall. "Now do i want a red ' I ;D the Garden's t-shirt or should i go for blue".
Once he had changed into a blue t-shirt and a pair of shorts he shoved a another couple of shirts and shorts into a bag. Now the group could morph without walking around naked. Brit nearly jumped out of his skin as Alice shouted into the shop.
“Thanks Alice but this is something I want to do alone." Brit climbed through the broken window, being carefull of the shards of glass. "Or maybe I need to do it alone I don't know it feels weird.” Brit took the bag of clothes off his back and threw it to her. “If you want to help give these to the others for me“.
He turned and followed the sign for the Bear Cave's
-
Torrence
"You know in hindsight, I probably could have put them on the wheel chair..." The other girl winced. "Sorry, Kas. Here." She removed her hoodie and handed it to the other girl.
"It's sort of long enough to cover the er... well, Eddie, you're a gentleman, right? Nice and safe and .. secure.. in your chair?"
Torrence winced, waves of guilt emitting from her.
"Are you ready to get the leopard?"
The brunette headed into the cage, very aware that the leopard was watching them.
"Good...girl?" Torrence attempted to say in a hopefully soothing voice. "Goood girl. They don't eat their handlers... we should have grabbed some Gardens jumpsuits. Good cat..."
With shaking hands and feeling the sweat forming drops along her brow, Torrence reached out and touched the leopard's flank. The cat tensed and the girl flinched.
Suddenly, the cat relaxed again as Torrence 'acquired her'.
"You know now that you mention it, a chimpanzee is stronger than us. Its how they can lock their elbows... do you want to get a chimpanzee after this?"
Christina said in a tense voice. She suddenly picked up that Reece had fallen silent- and she probably should,too. The cheetahs ears flicked in their direction...
The girl crept forward slowly, crouching down to touch the smaller cheetah.
-
Eddie:
The 'something wonderous' that had been brought to my attention by the breeze was that I was receiving sensory input from below that point in my back where my spinal cord had been broken; for the very first time since the accident a good few years ago. I mean, I'd felt nothing below my waist for so long... Especially 'there', if you know what I mean. I figured at the time that I'd never feel that *ahem* 'pleasure' ever again, so what was 'happening' now should come as no surprise.
I probably could have suppressed or hidden the inevitable except for the fact that from out of a Salamander, a mere 3 feet in front of me, grew a fairly pretty girl around my age-group. And she was NAKED!!
My jaw dropped so far open I could have swallowed a Boeng 747. I saw Kasey blush when she realized she'd 'looked' at me naked a little too long before turning to avert her gaze. I knew the feeling - My face could give a tomato a run for its money - But it didn't bother me that she'd seen me naked, even in my 'current state', because it had been completely mutual in that we were both naked and looking at the other, which is nowhere near as bad as it only being one naked and one fully dressed.
In that respect, I was more miffed for the fully-clothed Torrence to see me naked than the naked Kasey seeing.
As Kasey turned away from me to talk to Torrence (allowing me to see her from the back too, though I doubt this was an intention on her part), I managed to regain some of myself; Enough to move my hands to cover my *ahem* 'growing embarrassment' anyway.
I failed miserably in my attempts to tear my gaze away from Kasey, but managed to find my voice:
"Um... I'd like to acquire that cat too... But my wheelchair won't fit through the door... Even if it did fit, I don't fancy my chances outrunning big-kitty there..." I tried my withered leg-muscles to see if they would do anything - There was movement, but only a little. I could tell it was going to take me a while to regain full use of my legs, and a lot of exercise too. But...
"Hmm... I suppose if two strong girls were holding me up, my legs might be strong enough to let me limp... But I guess I could always re-visit The Gardens when my legs work again, if you don't wanna risk that."
It was at this point I realized Torrence had asked me a question;
"Oh, um, I'm all fine-and-dandy here. Not the most comfortable wheelchair I've been in, and my skin will soon be stuck to the leather padding, but it's better than the alternative. Lucky about them doing complimentary chairs, really. Thanks for getting me one." When she mentioned my being a 'gentleman' I'd gotten an uncomfortable feeling again - Had I not been 'deprived' for such a long time, I would have been more of a 'gentleman' about this situation than I was currently capable of. I once-again tried to tear my eyes away from Kasey, but my gaze kept darting back to her even though I knew I shouldn't. - I just couldn't help it.
Deciding to wheel closer to the open gate to the Leopard enclosure, I first tucked 'myself' between my legs in such a way that my thighs hid it from view. - This was a very uncomfortable position, as it meant I had to lean forward slightly or be in pain from it. Nevertheless, at least it meant I could now use my hands to push my chair around without embarrassing the girls any further. I wheeled right up to the entrance, as far as the chair would let me go.
-
Kasey notices Eddie staring, and mutters mockingly under her breath "...take a picture, it'll last longer", before quickly pulling the sweater over her head and as far down as it can go; it covers almost enough. She sighs and glances back at Eddie, irritated that he had seen her naked, and that he was still looking, yet feeling a equal mixture of amusement and flattery by his...reaction.
She follows Torrence silently into the cage, her body tense. She watches as the other girl begins to acquire the leopard, and stands ready for her own turn, while listening to Eddie. She mutters softly, "We'll have to get Eddie in here as soon as I'm done acquiring her. Hopefully the..." she struggles to find an appropriate word, "uh, the trance, won't wear off in the time it takes us to get him over to her."
As an afterthought, she hisses softly enough that Eddie can't hear, "...and you really should have brought my clothes! You managed to get him all... Yeah. Torrence, you so owe me. Big time."
-
"I know!' Torrence lamented. "I really should have. But that woman said we could morph clothes and I just thought... ugh. What a mess."
She lowered her voice as she looked over towards Eddie. "I really should apologize to him too, but I really don't think its appropriate while he's all... naked..."
"Oh." Torrence looked down at herself. "About the only thing I can lose here are my pants. I could see if they might fit him.. I mean, they're not skinny jeans..."
She winced at imagining walking around in her underwear, but it was certainly better than being naked like Eddie and Kasey.
"Hey Eddie," She called over, keeping her eye on the leopard. "- what size pants do you wear?"
-
Reece nods, eyes not wavering from the sleeping male Cheetah. It flicks a tail in its sleep. "Yeah, chimps," he whispers. "I heard about the one that got loose and like, ate a lady. Might be a little on the nasty side."
-
Reece nods, eyes not wavering from the sleeping male Cheetah. It flicks a tail in its sleep. "Yeah, chimps," he whispers. "I heard about the one that got loose and like, ate a lady. Might be a little on the nasty side."
"Yeah, I did too." Christina winced. "We'll have to be sure to control that instinct. How horrible..."
She reached out tentatively, noticing with a start that her hand was shaking. She carefully placed her hand on the cheetah's side and began to 'acquire it'.
"Whoa." She breathed, surprised.
-
"Right! Instincts," Reece breathes. He relaxes against the door frame as he sees Christina calm the Cheetah down. "Instincts, time limits, public nudity... What the hell are we signed up for?"
-
Christina took a moment to reply until she was done acquiring the Cheetah. She stepped back to stand next to Reece.
"I don't know. I think I'm still in a state of shock, you know?" She glanced over to Reece. "Awhile ago I was almost Yeerk Slave and now I'm in a cheetah cage with a guy I just met. Does it feel surreal to you too?"
Kasey lets out a tense giggle at Torrence's comment, then asks, "Are you done? You can bring him the pants while I acquire it. I'll help you get him over here as quickly as I can after I'm done."
Eddie: "A picture, Kasey? Oh believe me, I would if I could." I replied to her muttered retort, winking at her to let her know I meant what I'd said in a playful way rather than a depraved way. She seemed to have a secret smile about her, possibly her own reaction to seeing me naked? - Maybe.
"You know... What, Torrence? I didn't hear what Kasey asked you..." I started on hearing Torrence answer Kasey. When I heard her ask about what size trousers I wear, I was momentarily confused:
"What size pants? Why do you... OH!!" I suddenly realized her apparent intentions, and couldn't help a grin sliding onto my glowing face. "Yeah, I think they'd fit me... My leg muscles are really skinny from atrophy right now, so they shouldn't be too tight on me I don't think."
Kasey snorts at Eddie, then returns her attention to Torrence, "My feet are fine. I spend all of my free time in the woods. Besides, there's no way those will fit me. Your feet are tiny." She leaves the shoes where they are, and hesitantly places her hand against the leopard, gently stroking it's coat. She closes her eyes, her breathing heavy, but even.
"Okay, I'll grab them when I come back." Torence says over her shoulder, continuing out of the exhibit.
"One of the benefits of paralysis, eh?"
Torrence replied, trying to keep herself upbeat. She really wasn't into exhibitionism. One of the minor costs of morphing animals, she told herself. Morphing animals and oh yeah, saving the world.
"Wipe that smile off your face," She warned as she reached Eddie, moving to stand behind his wheelchair as she slipped her jeans off, with her back to him.
"-here." She handed the jeans over her shoulder, they likely hung down over his shoulder.
"Get started. Uh, let me know when you need help."
Like with boosting your butt up to get the seat on.. Torrence thought, shaking her head to herself. I'm not a prude, but this is definitely going to be a weird time.
Eddie:
I chuckled at Torrence's joke about 'benefits' of my condition... Ex-condition... Suddenly those type of jokes had become funny again, now I was on the mend...
"Smile??" I asked, feigning innocence. Ah well, at least it seemed there might be SOME payback from Torrence for her seeing me in the buff. When the jeans landed on me, I took them with a "Thank you" aimed over my shoulder at her.
With practiced hands, I made short work of getting her jeans on up to my knees, ruffling the material so my feet poked out the bottom of the legs. That done, I lifted the footrests clear and positioned my feet onto the ground, ready for the next bit.
"Okay, if you just wanna lift me from under my arms I can probably pull them up the rest of the way." I called back to Torrence.
"Okay, here we go." Torrence turned around, keeping her eyes careful focused on Eddie's shoulders. Nowhere else. No sir - ee.
The teen reached out and lifted Eddie up out of the chair.
Eddie: As I was lifted by the strong girl I wondered if she'd be tempted to peak while I pulled the jeans up... I didn't see whether she did or not for real though. The moment my arse left the leather, with that sound of unsticking leather-stuck skin, mini-me popped free of its hiding-place and was temporarily on display while I shimmied and wiggled the jeans up my thighs and over my hips - The jeans were a little tight over my hips, but they fitted well enough. "Okay, you can set me down again now. I just gotta do the button and the fly...
Torrence noticed Eddie shifted as she lifted him up and promptly closed her eyes. She had no desire to make this any more embarrassing than necessary.
"Yeah, that's all on you." Torrence laughed as she stepped back, glancing over to see how Kasey was doing.
"Let me know when you're cool. We've left Kasey alone with a leopard."
-
Reece shrugs. "You know how it is- pop over to the community center for an afternoon with the girlfriend, find out there's a slug in her brain, and then a while later wind up hanging out with some strange chick who's got Cheetah DNA floating inside her bloodstream. You don't do this every Friday?" He forces a smile. "The main thing, though, is not letting it get to you. That's how you keep a clear head." He glances down at the snoozing cheetahs. "But, this might not be the best place for a heart-to-heart..."
-
Brit arrived a few minutes later at the Bear Caves cursing his lack of foot wear. “Why the hell did they make it a gravel path” he moaned, leaning against a wall rubbing his soles. He looked around. He was standing on a wooden viewing platform that overlooked the whole enclosure. The enclosure itself was large with ‘mock caves’ dotted around to provide shelter for the animals. Trees and other forest plants were planted in the enclosure to simulate the bears natural habitat.
Brit judged how to go about acquiring a bear morph. He could probably climb the fence that surrounded the viewing platform. But the drop from the platform to the enclosure would almost certainly break at least one of his legs. He looked around, there was a staff entrance to a building nearby. That must be where they keep the bears when there not in the enclosure, Brit reasoned walking over to it.
The door was locked, not that Brit expected it to be open. He looked up, the roof of the building was flat, maybe there was a skylight. He couldn’t climb up the smooth side of the building, but maybe Britamander could. He removed his brand new t-shirt and shorts and threw then onto the roof. He crouched in the shadows naked in public for the second time in as many minutes. Note to self he thought focusing on the salamander, next time you see Alice learn how to morph clothes. She had never had this trouble when she had morphed.
Britamander climbed up the wall a few minutes later still feeling queasy from watching himself morph. The strange thing was this time he’d had no trouble with the things instincts. He had just pushed them aside and completely burying them with his own consciousness. He shrugged and didn’t think anything of it deciding that was just how morphing worked. Once he was on the roof he morphed back and shrugged his clothes back on.
The skylight was open and Brit dropped through landing on a table. OK I’m in. Now where do they keep the keys…
-
The Brit - mander could not find any exhibit keys. This must not be staff room. No, from moving about, this appeared to be a treatment room. Locked drawers were marked with long names that were likely medicines, even the refrigerators had locks.
Moving about, he did locate the staff room next door, marked 'Staff room, staff only'- without any sky lights to speak of.
He also heard a rattling sound from inside the building. Turning, he spotted an area for snakes- a heat lamp was hooked up to a digital thermometer that extended into three cages. Glancing into them, he spotted a black snake, a brown and gold banded snake- and a camouflaged with the dessert rattle snake.
There were no signs here, he supposed the zookeepers knew the species.
-
"Hey, I'm thinking I'd like to go nab that rhino around now," Reece says to Christina as he makes his way out of the Cheetah exhibit. "Hopefully the big lug will be asleep." He blinks in the evening lights around the park as he tries to read the signs in the darkness.
-
"Okay." Christina replied, falling in step behind Reece. "I'll come with you. If one's not supposed to swim without a buddy, walking into the heart of Africa should be on a buddy system too."
The Heart of Africa exhibit was right beside the Cheetah exhibit, largely open. Most of the fences were slanted so the animals couldn't jump out.
-
Reece hops on top of the Fence and looks down. The fall looks survivable, but the barbed wire will take a bit of leaping. He finds himself suddenly grateful for each scissor-kick his coach ever made him do. A large rhino sleeps several meters out, with elephants and the like not far off. An oxpecker quietly feeds on the sleeping Rhino. Reece leaps over and lands on his feet, semi-gracefully. A startled mosquito buzzes up and away as he lands.
As slowly and carefully as possible, he makes his way towards the rhino and the oxpecker. He hunches down low, sure to take the oxpecker from behind so he can sedate it before it squawks and wakes up the beast. He breathes deep, almost meditatively as the thing's DNA leaks into him. As Reece lets go of the bird, the Rhino snorts and its eye lifts open slowly. It snorts again, this time more angrily, and begins to stand. Reece scampers and puts a hand on the thing's massive side, and its eyes glaze over and it slips back to the ground.
-
Kasey takes her hand off of the leopard when she finishes acquiring it, and picks up Torrence's shoes. She quickly moves out of the exhibit, wedging one of the shoes in between the door and the frame as she moves out, to stop it from locking again. She moves next to Eddie, and looks at Torrence, "Let's do this. In and out, right?"
-
"How the hell did i go from bears to snakes!! Brit sighed looking at the snakes in there glass boxes. He climbed back up onto the table and jumped up to the skylight. His fingers closed around the edge of it and with a grunt he managed to pull himself back up. He jumped off the roof landing ungracefully in a headge. Now how the hell am i going to get at those bears.. Brit thought to himself spitting leaves
-
Christina was a bit more hesitant than Reece. She watched his jump with apprehension and watched as he acquired the rhino and the other. She finally turned and paced off a few feet, then ran to follow after Reece. she landed in a tumble on her rump, but was grateful nothing immediately tried to eat her.
"Let's get out of here before he wakes up again," Reece murmurs to Christina as he quickly but silently scampers away from the dazed giant. He scales the gate with some difficulty, scratching his arm on the barbed wire. He winces, and looks at it as he heads towards the others. It doesn't appear to be gushing blood, but it smarts something wretched.
Alice: I shrugged my shoulders at Brit's insistence of doing everything alone and wandered off to see who else was nearby.
Hearing Reece's voice, I follow it to the Rhino enclosure in time to see him trying to scale the gate. I offer my hand to help him down, while in my mid-twenties alter-ego form.
"I just got here." Christina protested. Not particularly eager to remain behind, she hurried after him. She snagged the sleeves of her sweater, ripping them - and the skin underneath. Hissing in pain, she hurried after Reece. She muttered angrily. "We can just jump in, but kill ourselves getting out. Where to now?"
Reece winces. "Sorry, sorry- didn't mean to rush. I was getting worried about the others. You know they'd be lost without us." As they continue walking, he sees someone on the horizon. "Who do you reckon that is?" he asks.
Alice: "Hmm... A guard, maybe?" I mused in answer to Reece's question. I squinted to see if I could make out the person's features.
"That or it's one of the others. Can you tell whether or not they're wearing pants?" Reece asks.
-
Torrence slipped her arm under Eddie's armpit, hefting him up a bit.
"Yeah. In and out. Quick as we can. You guys ready?"
She looked over to Kasey and Eddie.
"We can do this."
I shrugged my shoulders to indicate I could not tell from this distance. "Probably best to stay hidden and not let whoever-it-is notice US until we're sure it's not a guard..." I added, for good measure.
"We're on a dirt road." Christina pointed out. "Surrounded by fences leading to dangerous animals. Where can we hide?"
Reece: "Here, I'll morph the guard I got hold of earlier in case we get caught," Reece suggested. He began to picture the guard's face- middle aged, Grey, slightly portly. He shrunk down a few inches and his gut sagged outward. His skin paled from deep brown to pasty white, and he felt his shoes grow slightly too large and his shorts slightly too tight.
Alice: "See if you can find one of those staff-only service entrances nearby... They usually hide them quite well, but they give access for the staff to feed the animals." I suggested.
Reece closes his now-Grey eyes for a few moments, and then opens them, looking unamused. "I guess park directions don't count as 'instincts,'" he grumbles in his now-reedy voice. He makes a displeased face. "I sound so weird..."
"You also look weird." Christina offered helpfully. "But, we'll act suitably in awe of your authority." For her part, she stepped behind the guard.
Guard-Reece smirked. "Thanks," he says, before rolling his eyes. He stands up straight, trying to make athletic clothes look as adult as possible. He puts a stern look on his face and begins to make his way towards the figure up ahead.
Alice: I winked at Reece and Christina as I 'morphed' into one of the female guards, keeping the same clothes I was already wearing. This was by no means my first visit to The Gardens, so I'd met most of the staff already.
GM: The other person quickly revealed himself to be another guard, carrying a flash light. He approached Reece with confidence, indicating Christina and Alice with his flash light.
"What's going on there, Miller?"
Reece grabs Christina by the arm. "Found this one monkeying around near the Africa exhibit after hours. She nearly woke a rhino. By the time I got her out of there, she was so nervous she threw up on me." Reece makes a disgusted face. "Had to pull some old clothes from my locker."
GM: The guard frowned, lifting the flash light to shine at Alice's face. "I could have sworn that you..."
He trailed off, frowning.
"Threw up on you?" The guard redirected, frowning at Christina.
"Goddamn kids, can't keep hold of their lunches these days," Reece said, shaking his head. "Kid'll go rampage all about a bunch of elephants like it's nothing, but the moment she sees an authority figure it's spew city."
Alice: I wondered what the guard had intended to say about my doppleganger I was pretending to be... I smiled politely at him and shrugged, saying nothing yet.
Christina scowled and shot a glare at the guard, but made a show of wiping her face with her billowing sleeves, much of them were raggedly torn.
GM: "Alright. Well, I better get back to the rounds, you know what a bastard Marder is these days." The guard snorted. "I mean really, only stupid kids want to get into see the animals. Which is dangerous, young lady-" He shined the light at Christina, who shielded her face.
The guard blustered on with inflated importance, lecturing about the dangers she narrowly avoided, thanks to Miller. The guard wound down after a minute and started to walk off, signaling to 'Miller'.
'Miller' signals back, and waits for the guard to get well out of earshot before bursting out in a tiny fit of chuckles.
Alice: I waved after the guy as he left in a gesture of farewell.
"Spew city?" Christina repeats with a snort that could be laughter or derision, looking after the guard.
"Sister-city to vomit-town, population: you," Reece grins as he begins to demorph. He flexes his arms as the guard's flab solidifies back into swimmer's muscle. He lets out a contented sigh. "And hey!" he says, "it looks like my arm's healed!"
Alice: I smile at the banter between Reece and Christina. "Well, that seemed to go ok, eh?"
Christina scowled at her own torn sleeves and scraped arms, but darkly decides "Morphing a cheetah to heal these scratches probably isn't a good idea. Hey, whats that?"
She indicated the bag Alice was carrying.
Alice: "Hmm? Oh, this thing?" I glanced over my shoulder at the backpack I had on, shrugging. "Survival-bag. I rarely go anywhere without it: It contains everything a girl needs to stay alive and un-yeerked. Please don't ask me to show you everything in it though, it'd take too much time that'd be better-spent acquiring morphs." I answered, semi-evasively. Some of the stuff I'd pull from the backpack only existed as a hologram, after-all.
"Hey! Clever!" Reece says. "Speaking of supplies, when we're wrapped up here, I'd rather if we could discuss the matter of morphing clothes. When Sandra's de-yeerked and the day is saved, I don't want to have to explain to her all the time I spent running around in the nude with strange women."
Christina snorted with laughter. "On top of all of the odd things you'll have to explain, she'll be jealous of the other girls of our.. uh... our thing here. Which has yet to be named.
Speaking of time better spent getting morphs.." Christina glanced back towards the zoo.
"I agree- what else are we after?" Reece asks. "Do you still want to nab some Chimp DNA?"
Alice: While we were chatting, I quietly 'demorphed' and 'morphed' my 20-something alterego again.
"Oh yeah," Christina nodded. "- big time. And no, before you ask- not just so I can swing through the trees reenacting Tarzan. Come on."
She started heading back into the zoo proper.
Reece follows. "If you're not going to reenact Tarzan, I don't much see the point."
Alice: I let loose a polite-sounding giggle at Reece's humor.
"Well, there may be some screeching." Christina relented, smiling as she continued. She slowed as they neared the bear and primate area.
"Here we go. Chimpanzee. Please don't bite my finger off."
Christina murmered, moving in closer to the Chimpanzee exhibit.
-
Eddie:
"I'm ready when you are." I glanced at the two girls. "On 3? 3. 2. 1. Now!" I tried to kick some life into my atrophied legs as I hefted myself out of the borrowed wheelchair with my hands, trusting most of my weight to the two girls helping me.
-
Alice: "You know, even if it DOES bite your finger off: You'll regrow it after a morph/demorph cycle, so yeah there is the pain thing, but at least you don't have to worry about permanent injuries too." I explained.
Reece follows. "For realz?" he asks in amazement as Alice speaks. "God damn, we can do all sorts of stuff now..." he ponders. "Do you reckon that works for stuff like smoking? Not that I like the idea of smelling like car exhaust all day, but it'd be something if you could get the immediate effect without the long-term damage."
"That's... somewhat comforting." Christina said slowly, giving Alice a worried look. She rubbed her hand against her pants nervously before resuming her approach of the chimpanzee exhibit.
"Pains just temporary. But the memories last a life time, right?"
She extended her hand out towards the chimpanzee. It approached and made a wild vocalization before moving back. Too far to touch.
"Damn." Christina stepped back, considering the problem.
"I guess. But do you really want to perpetuate smoking? I mean what if some kid sees us smoking for three years and says 'hey, they don't even cough?"
Inspired, the the teen removed her silver bracelet, making it catch the availiable light. The chimpanzee was intrigued and moved closer. Christina held it out- and as the chimpanzee reached through, she touched its arm and acquired him.
Alice: I gave him a disapproving look; "Sadly no. The Tar built up in your lungs would remain part of your original form. Same thing with heavy-metal poisoning, like lead."
Reece nods. "Probably for the best," he concludes. "That's some remarkable thinking there, Christina," he remarks as she attracts the Chimpanzee over. He looks around the exhibit. "Fingers might not be a bad idea, either. Mind if I try him when you're done?"
"Sure," Christina says, stepping back. She continues to dangle the bracelet for the chimpanzee, whose eyes now stare rather blankly. "Aw, I made him all dull and sleepy." She glanced over towards Alice. "You're really a lot more knowledgeable than us on this. How long you've been in the - the war?"
Reece strokes the Chimpanzee hand as Christina wraps up. "Thanks a mill," he says. He makes faces at the Chimp as he acquires it. "This thing's out like a light."
Alice: "Interestingly, if you acquired and morphed someone who smoked heavily, you would not morph the tar in their lungs..." I continued from my previous answer. Turning to Christina I addressed her question: "Well, quite simply, ever since it started. Of course back then I hadn't met any Andalites, so I couldn't do much."
"How'd you get sucked into a thing like this without any morphing?" Reece asks as he finishes acquiring the Chimp. He makes his way back from the cage. "Might be wise to stay out of arm's reach of Tarzan here in case he wakes up."
Alice: I sighed. Unbeknown to Reece, his questions had started going in a direction that could get awkward pretty quickly. "That's the thing about this war, it only takes an observant mind to realize what's going on, and a few good braincells to steer clear of 'trouble'. It's only if you want to make a difference in the outcome of a war that life becomes... Difficult."
"Difficult?" Christina repeated, an emphatic look covering over her face as she stepped back to stand besides Reece, mindful of the Chimpanzee.
Alice: I gave Christina a slightly mournful glance. "I did not wish to alarm any of you, but there have been... Losses. Like my poor Andalite friend, for example..." I gave a little sob and turned my face away for a few seconds. When I slowly returned my gaze back to them, my usual countenance had returned albeit without the smile I'd gained from Reece's recent joke.
Reece frowned. "Aw, ****... Alice, that sucks." He pats her on the shoulder. "But hey, there's way more than just the two of us, and we've got your experience behind us. You're done losing friends to this."
Alice: I offered a reassured smile to Reece, but it didn't quite reach my eyes. - If only I could know that for certain...
"Yeah." Christina agreed with Reece, her eyes heavy with imagining Alice's loss. "Thanks to the Andalite's Gift, we can really make a difference here. We'll be able to repel the Yeerks... but you've seen things, right Alice? What other morphs might be helpful?"
Alice: I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly through my mouth, but did not speak. I wanted them to realize that some of my past experiences were painful for me to re-live, but in such a way that I was not asking them to avoid the subject altogether.
-
Kasey grips Eddie under the arm and lifts him with Torrence. She moves quickly towards the enclosure, keeping a tight grip on Eddie's upper arm. She keeps pace with Torrence, wedging the door open with her foot once they reach the enclosure. She concentrates on maintainig her focus so she doesn't trip. She slows as they begin to approach the leopard. Her heart is beating quickly, and her breathing heavy when they approach.
-
Brit hung by his fingertips four meters above the enclosure. You see! Brit thought to himself. I told you the viewing platform was too high to fall. "Shut up" he growled to himself, before his fingers lost there strength and he fell.
He landed with a bump on the grass and for a few seconds the world around him swirled. His head hurt. He lifted his hand to his head, it was sore but he was ok. He sat up, he had been lucky another meter higher and he probably wouldn’t be getting up.
He stood to gather his bearings (( LOL 'bear'ings)). He was directly under the viewing platform tight at the edge of the enclosure. The animals would probably be thurther in. Brit started to walk grumbling to himself.
“You just haad to get a goddamn bear didn’t you Brit. Really smart of you! And on your own as well brilliant, just brilliant. Well when you get mauled you only have yourself to blame!”. Brit cut his rambling short. A large shaggy shape was lumbering out of a cave. Bollocks.
-
Christina
Alice's prolonged silence made it clear to her that it wasn't something she wanted to discus. They would have to decide what would be good for the fight on their own. Giving Alice an apologetic look, she signaled to a sign up the ways.
"Condor Ridge." She stated. "The birds that were so close to extinction, they were down to 9 in the 90's. They've been releasing more of them into the wild now, they've gone up one notch from above extinction. Pretty powerful bird..."
Torrence hefted her half of Eddie's weight without complaint as they entered the exhibit. A thrill ran through her- fear, apprehension, a great deal of doubt over what they were doing. But hey- she and Kasey had just acquired a leopard. Tonight was a night of impossibilities.
Wordlessly, she nods at Kasey o signal lowering Eddie a bit so that he could reach the leopard...
The bear blinked at Brit. It had spent the heat of the day slumbering and had no come out to gobble the treats the keepers put out for it. Its nose raised as it sniffed the air, determining that this new person in its territory hadn't eaten it's fruit.
It rose up on its hind legs and bellowed once- signaling to this smaller creature that this food was its own, and the small pink thing should leave. The bear dropped down to all fours and began lumbering around its enclosure.
The keepers hid the food about so he'd forage like a bear in the wild...
-
"Sounds wicked," Reece says, following Christina to Condor Ridge. "You seem to know a lot about animals- Chimpanzee elbows, Condor extinctions. You a girl scout?"
-
"I come here a lot." Christina replies to Reece. "My brother, cousins and I come here at least once a month. Our grandparents bought us a membership and we don't like the same movies, so its something."
She slows up near the Condor exhibit. It was large, with a covering to prevent the birds escape.
"They use to be hunters, but supposedly nearly going extinct makes them scavengers now. They have a huge wingspan. Are you going to acquire one too?"
-
"No good reason not to, is there?" Reece asked. "I mean, you never know when something's going to be useful." Reece crouches down and peers at the exhibit's covering. "Any idea how we get in this one?"
-
Eddie:
With the girls' help I managed to make my awkward, stumbling, painful way over to the Leopard. It seemed to still be entranced and was just outside my reach until the girls lowered me within reach of the magnificent spotted kitty. I reached out a hand to its flank, breathing a sigh of relief when it didn't try to kill me, and as I helped it slip back into the aquiring-trance once more.
"Okay, I got the kitty's DNA, now let's skedaddle before it decides we're lunch, or its friends arrive." I whispered urgently to the girls. "Next stop: Puma. Or Mountain-Lion, if you prefer to call it that. You should see how well they can jump!" I winked over my shoulder, showing I was thinking of abilities that would prove useful. "After him, I'd really like to acquire a Clouded-Leopard; They're not-only extremely beautiful, but also very fast and agile. And you should SEE the teeth on them! - Wow." I was really getting into this acquiring-thing now...
Reece feels around for a bit before eventually coming across the latch to the Condor cage. He motions to Christina, and looks inside. Light filters in. He eyes one of the creatures not too far away.
Alice: I follow Christina and Reece to the condor exhibit, watching as Reece unlatches the cage door and Christina boldly steps inside. I quickly enter the enclosure behind her, hoping Reece gets the hint to get inside and shut the door so the birds don't fly out of it.
(('Wonderful' JP, eh? *grr* ))
Eddie's cut-forward: ((This includes some auto-ing of Torrence and Kasey. As such, if their players would like any changes to their chars' actions, I invite them to repost the cut-forward with those changes in place.))
The renewed trance left the Leopard unwilling to chase and eat us, giving enough time for the girls to get me out of the habitat and back into the complimentary wheelchair. When I was safely seated, Torrence rushed to secure the door so the Leopard couldn't escape and chase us around the whole park. She was soon back behind me again, giving me the distinct impression of trying to limit how much time her panties spent in my field of vision. I thought back to Kasey and started feeling bad that Torrence and I had all our 'bits' covered while she was still so exposed 'down-below'. This feeling was intensified when I remembered how much I'd been staring at her exposure... Recalling what Torrence was still wearing, I felt a twinge of annoyance. - Was I annoyed at her for not giving up another piece of outer-clothing to cover Kasey's exposed privates? Well, no, not really; Torrence had leant us both her own clothes that we may regain some dignity, when she could just as easily have chosen not to offer anything at all. But I was annoyed that Kasey should have to stay so exposed when there was an alternative.
"Torrence? I was wondering..." How should I word this? Hmm... "Are you wearing anything under that top of yours? Like a bra or something? If you are, would you mind letting Kasey use that top as a skirt, so she's not so exposed?? - I mean, if you've nothing on under the top, I can understand you not wanting to get your boobs out. I don't mind offering her these jeans you leant me if you're unwilling or unable to give her that top without being exposed yourself. - Being naked myself doesn't bother me if the alternative is this poor girl having to walk around so exposed in the company of some bloke who can't stop staring at her because he's had no feeling 'down there' since the accident that severed his spine a few years ago and has suddenly regained said feeling only to witness her naked beauty. I mean, can you imagine the overload of sensation I've been trying to suppress here?" My last two sentences had been spoken faster and faster until the words kinda blurred into each other as my cheeks flushed red again. Yeah, I'd spoken of myself in the third-person, but somehow that had made it easier to convey what had been happening and why. I panted to regain my breath. Not only had my speech gotten faster, but I'd also forgotten to breath while I spoke.
When I'd regained my breath, I spoke again: "I accepted your offer of these jeans not only to lessen my own embarrassment, but also to lessen yours and Kasey's at having to see me like that." I turned my face from Torrence to Kasey, "Kasey, I offer you these jeans Torrence leant me. I'm truly sorry for staring at you so much, I simply couldn't help myself: You are a pretty girl, after all. Perhaps you can consider these jeans as a token of my apology?"
Kasey brushed my apology aside, but before she could answer, Torrence took off her top to give to her ((Player approved this via IM)) so my offer became a moot point. I found out on our way to the Puma enclosure that she indeed had a bra on under that top, but as the top hadn't had shoulder-straps, neither did the bra. Torrence was also a rather pretty girl, so seeing her in her current level of attire made me very glad of the jeans she'd leant me. I knew I shouldn't be looking really, but as I'd already explained the reason behind my staring at Kasey so much, and also because the 'condition' was still in effect, I simply couldn't help myself from burning another image to my memory. I merely hoped she'd understand and maybe even forgive me for this behaviour.
The Puma was asleep, leaning against the bars to its enclosure, so it was pretty easy to acquire without the need to even open that door. It merely took a silent approach and a brave hand.
The Clouded-Leopard, on the other hand, was more of a challenge: It had also been near enough to the bars to allow us to reach through, but when I'd reached toward it it suddenly got startled and chomped its massive kanine's right through my wrist! - The pain was immense, but while it was trying to pull my arm off I had the presence-of-mind to put it in the acquiring trance. It didn't let go, exactly, but it did slacken its grip enough that I could pull the remains of my ruined wrist out of harm's way. It sloped off out of reach as it swallowed the flesh it had managed to tear from my arm, which was now bleeding profusely and quite painfully.
Thankfully I remembered that the healing of wounds was part of the magic of morphing, so I decided to give my latest aquisition a try: I concentrated on the Clouded-Leopard's front paws as hard as I could through the pain, and to my relief that pain started to decrease immediately. My healthy arm grew fur as it got a little more toned, but the ruined muscles of my bad arm repaired themselves as they changed. Soon I had shaggy fur over most of my exposed upper torso and head, my ears had started migrating and enlarging, and huge kanines had started to fill my mouth. But when I noticed that my arm had healed, I stopped the morph.
I seriously considered completing the morph to try it out: After all, there weren't many people in The Gardens right now. But then I grew afraid of what was likely to happen to Kasey and/or Torrence if the cat's mind and instincts took over as fully as those of the Salamander had, so instead I reversed the morph and flexed my newly-repaired wrist and hand, turning to smile at my companions as I did so and almost forgetting what they weren't wearing in the process. As I smiled a big-toothed grin, the last of the changes receded along with my oversized fangs and I regained my human smile. They were staring back at me, arms folded across their chests, Torrence hiding hers behind her folded arms. I blushed when I realized I'd started staring at her again and forcefully tore my gaze away from them with a quick "Sorry!" of apology.
I felt guilty for Torrence's current state of undress, given that all these clothes had been hers after-all, so I suggested for our next move it might be a good idea to recover our own clothes.
On our way back to the Elephant statue I mostly wheeled myself along, but the girls helped push the wheelchair when we were going uphill, so I guessed they'd at least partially forgiven my behaviour toward them.
Kasey retrieved our clothes from under the statue so that Torrence wouldn't have to bend down and give me another sight to remember. When she'd pulled on her panties she returned Torrence's top to her, evidently not as bothered with my seeing her panties when I'd already seen what was hidden by them. She soon had her trousers on though. She threw my clothes at me before pulling her arms inside the zipped-up hoodie to maintain privacy while she put her own bra on. While she worked on that, I quickly donned my patterned button-up short-sleeved shirt then wiggled out of Torrence's jeans. When I turned to return them to her, I saw she had already got her top back on and seemed to be waiting almost impatiently for her Jeans. I apologized that they couldn't be washed before she she wore them again, which drew a dirty look from her. Suddenly realizing how it might have sounded, I quickly corrected that assumption, but she double-checked visually before putting them on anyway. I had considered offering her my own trousers, but there was no point now I'd taken hers off.
I turned away from her while she pulled on her Jeans to give her a little privacy, but it just so happened at that moment Kasey was taking off the hoodie, having successfully donned her bra but not her own top yet. Again I could only assume the same as I had before, but I turned away anyway, not having intended to look her direction in the first place. - I'd merely been turning away from Torrence, not toward Kasey specifically.
Torrence once-again assisted me getting into my briefs and trousers, the same way she had done last time, and that was me done. Most of us had had the foresight to leave our wallets/handbags etc behind at Alice's safe-house so we wouldn't be so easily identified if any of us were caught or any of our stuff was found. - Alice had let everyone assume the house we'd gone to to meet her friend was her own, but I knew better: I knew where she really lived from following her home once, a few months ago. But I hadn't said anything to anyone. If she wanted to keep her real home a secret for now, that was understandable. I'd ask her about it in a few days if she hadn't come clean by then.
Once we were all fully-dressed, we headed out together again to find some more morphs...
-
As the teenagers navigated the Gardens acquiring to their hearts content, they became aware of a pressing weariness. To those who had morphed that evening, the weariness quickly grew into exhaustion. The nights events coupled with the tax the morphing took on their bodies forced them to concede to call it a night. The Gardens wasn't going anywhere.
After visiting the elephant to dress in their own clothes again, the managed to climb over the high brick wall to the parking lot. As they walked back to Alice's house, the lightening sky told them they'd been out most of the night. Thank goodness tomorrow was a Saturday.
Entering Alice's home, she asked if they'd like to stay the night. The operatives who could ensure that the exposed teens wouldn't be involuntarily infested would be by in the morning and could be briefed before make up. That was of course, if they desired to allow 'doubles' to act as though they'd been infested in order to avoid any further danger.
Yet another thing to think about before sleep overcame them, whether or not they chose to accept the offer to stay over or were driven back to their own homes.
As morning broke over the horizon, those who stayed at Alice's were made aware of urgent, panicked whispering. Opening their eyes, they'd see Jenny- and two unknown men of middling age- in a deep conversation.
They looked very worried.
"All of the precautions were taken," Jenny was insisting. "- it kept the Andalite's Gift safe for so long, how could we have guessed this would happen?"
"Regardless of past success, the fact remains that the Andalite's Gift is missing," One of the men replied with a deep, somber voice. "- the peril this poses to the world can not be understated."
-
Kasey stirs at the sound of voices, but remains on the floor pretending to be asleep for a few minutes. Once she hears the gift is missing, she decides to try to find out more. She struggles to sit up, leaning against the couch from her position on the floor. She rubs her bleary eyes then stares at Jenny and the men silently, before asking in a low voice, "What happened?"
-
Jenny looked surprised to see that Kasey was awake. She looked pained for a moment, yet the other two looked disapprovingly at her.
"There's been a terrible blow to our group," Jenny said slowly, as though searching for the right words. "- after you returned, we secured the Andalite's Gift and took our rest. Yet... the secure Chamber has been broken into-"
"That's enough." One of the men broke in. "This is not the concern of the children."
Jenny gave him a conflicted look, glancing back at Kasey searchingly.
-
Reece lies flopped on the couch, his face buried in a pillow and his arms and legs dangling at odd angles. He squints as the concerned whispers rouse him, and he responds to the older man's words.
"I think we signed up for some sort of military service, didn't we?" he pries his head up- there's an impression of his face left on the pillow. "You're old enough to have been there for 'Nam. We fight, so we get to vote and sit at the grown-up table and all that jazz. Besides," he sits up and wraps his blanket around himself, "we can turn into rhinos and salamanders and all that. Unless you've got some bird DNA inside of you, you could use our help. That's like, the whole point, yeah?"
-
"It is. " Jenny agreed. "At approximately 0500 this morning, there was a commotion-"
"Jenny," The older man warned, glaring at Reece before fixing the look on Jenny.
"- and the security system had a glitch." She pauses, obviously very disturbed by this fact.
"That's enough," The older man decided. "- Jenny, get to Headquarters. You're no longer the Liaison for the children."
"Reece has a point." Jenny insisted. "We need their help for the war."
"The war and this instance are separate incidents. You know that we can't take the risk of having them investigate." He said sternly, fixing Reece with a penetrating stare.
"There are things they can not understand."
Jenny lowered her head and turned to walk out of the room. She hesitated just long enough t drp something small- like a flash drive- and continued out of sight.
The two men didn't seem to notice that she'd dropped anything.
-
Kasey bites her lip, and her eyes narrow as she hears the older man refer to them as 'children'. She watches Jenny drop the item, then Kasey stands up, and stretches. She mutters, "Excuse me, restroom." She begins to walk towards the area where the device was dropped. She bends over to fiddle with the hem of her pants, and palms the item. She exits to use the restroom, then returns to the living room.
Kasey picks up her blanket, and wraps herself in it. She sits on the couch, practically on Reece's lap. "That was...interesting." she remarks softly, as she slips her hand under his blanket, feeling for something. When she finds his hand, she presses the device into it, then pulls her hand back out. She leans in close, and hugs him, quickly. She whispers, barely audibly, "I have no pockets." She sits back once again, hugs her knees to her chest, and pulls the blanket tightly around her.
She sighs, "Rough night...what do we do now?"
-
"Noted," Reece replies very quietly, before scooting to the side of the couch huffily, hands firmly entrenched in his pockets. "Now, let's not all get too chummy, here!" he chides. "I'm a taken man, after all." He sticks his tongue out, and pulls his blanket back up to his chin. "It feels way too early to- now wait a second," he interrupts himself. "0500 hours. How close is that to when we got back here? Could one of the others nabbed the uh... thingy?"
-
Kasey shrugs, then asks quietly, "You didn't, did you?" before leaning back against the arm of the couch opposite Reece. She yanwns, and stares at him, waiting for a response.
-
Reece shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure I didn't. Unless one of those yeerks got in my head and made me do it and then left. Can they do that?" He begins to pick at his ear, a look of concern on his face.
-
"I don't think so." She responds to Reece. "I'm guessing that none of the people who live here would have taken it...you don't think someone in our group did, do you?"
-
Reece looks up with furrowed eyebrows. "I mean, I was just throwing it out there. I don't think we're going to get very far if we just go accusing people all willy nilly, but..." He draws his legs closer to his chest. "It can't help to at least keep an open mind. We all need to watch our backs in a situation like this."
-
[JP]
The two men had been quietly conversing, moving to stand a good five feet away in the hall. You can not hear what they are saying, but they don't seem to be paying attention to you.
Kasey nods at Reece's response, and does her best to ignore the men. "I agree...and who else could it have been? They said whoever it was was able to get through their security...so it must have been either someone who's technologically advanced, or someone who could morph. They probably would have had to know where the device was hidden, as well. It wasn't either of us. I know Torrence and Alice well, there's no way it was either of them. I don't know anyone else well, tough. I guess it could have been any of them." She sighs, and bites her lip, feeling unsure of how to react to this situation. She stares silently at Torrrence who is still sleeping on the floor.
Reece strokes his chin. "Well, judging by the heavy breathing, I don't think Eddie would do anything to piss Alice off. Which leaves Damien, Brit and Autumn, but none of them seem like they'd do it..." Reece lowers his voice. "Are we certain it couldn't have been one of the people here? They certainly don't seem to be on the same page. And they're more capable than anyone..."
"Unacceptable." One of the men could be heard saying. "There's no feasible way for someone to get through the field."
"Not even the morph capable children," The man who had disagreed with Jenny agreed. "- there's no way they could disable the technology."
They glance your way and move farther up the hall, conversing more quietly.
Kasey sighs and shrugs, then turns her attention to the men. She stands up, and addresses them in a low, calm, voice, "Well. We need to come to some sort of agreement here, gentlemen. You obviously need our help, and we obviously need yours. You can't leave us in the dark on what is happening, and you can't leave us entirely out of the decision making process. We're grateful to you for your hospitality and your assistance, but none of us will allow you to have control over our lives without allowing us any input." She glances back at Reece, hoping for some backing from her new-found ally.
Reece nods. "Mos def. You can't have the right hand acting without knowing what the brain told the left hand to do, especially if the right hand is a coyote." Reece coughs. "Or, er, something. But Kasey makes an excellent point. We need each other, here."
The two men frown and glance to one another. The look seems to be one of conferring, but it lasts nearly thirty seconds.
When the silence is becoming uncomfortable, the one whose been doing all of the speaking addresses Kasey and Reece.
"We are in agreement that we need your assistance in identifying and confronting the Yeerks. Yet, this is a very sensitive matter. We do not permit outsiders into our head quarters. To do so would put our group at risk."
The man who had not spoken yet put in.
"How can we be certain that you won't tell of what you see?"
Well, you guys are basically our only hope in this mess," Reece points out. "We can't really depend on our folks or anyone, for that matter, if these Yeerks can really be inside anyone. Even if we weren't trustworthy, we don't really have any other choice."
Kasey takes a deep breath, then responds. "Besides, if we betray you, we betray ourselves. If you were to become infested, they would know who we are, and what we are."
Reece nods. "Very symbiotic."
She shoots Reece a grateful glance, "Face it. We're not exactly 'outsiders' anymore. You could perhaps, just tell those of us who are here, as we're the ones most directly impacted by all of this. We can't go home. Then later, once you see that we're trustworthy, we can tell the others."
"Like forces have often turned on one another. The Civil War, for instance."
"Popular opinion turned on the vetereans returning from the 'Nam war."
"And yet..." The second man said, evaluating you. he seems to be considering your words carefully.
"This is very unusual." The dour man who had confronted Jenny tell the second man.
"This is an unusual situation."
"This choice is very similiar to the one that Jenny is putting forth. You are still in agreement that idea is illogical?"
"We shall revisit that later," The man decides, looking between Kasey and Reece.
"- if we agree to show you where the Gift was stored, you will travel through our headquarters. You must agree not to speak of it or divulge its location. Can you do that?"
-
Kasey nods solemnly, not saying anything, for fear of causing more tension.
"If it would help," Reece begins, giving Kasey a careful glance, "we might submit to being blindfolded? So we wouldn't see more than you needed?"
Kasey nods, then adds hesitantly, "We would agree to this, but only if Jenny or Alice is with us."
"Only if they are with you?" He repeated, giving Kasey a long look. "That won't be necessary, but you can rouse Alice if you wish. "The first man decided. "Give us a moment to clear non essential personnel. We'll return momentarily."
"Thank you." Kasey breathes. "Where's Jenny? No need to wake Alice."
"We'll bring her back up." The first man ells you. "Hang tight. We'll be right back." The two turn and walk out of sight down the hall.
Reece looks towards Kasey. "Damn slick negotiating," he whispers. "Did you take any debate classes?"
"No need. My dad's a politician." Kasey grins. "You're not so bad yourself. We make a good team, surprisingly." she pauses a moment, then asks in a hushed voice, "So, who do you think these people are?"
Reece frowns. "My best guess? Pod people. They seem too low-rent to be with some government organization." He waves his hand in front of his eyes. "I'm mostly sure I'm over my whole hallucination-theory. Maybe they're other Yeerks? Like, uppity ones?"
Kasey frowns back, "You really think they're Yeerks? That's interesting. We could be caught between two factions."
Reece shrugs. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm in brain-storm mode right now. Fact is, all we need to remember is that we don't know much except that these guys seem to be not trying to enslave us or our loved ones, and those other guys are. And we can turn into animals now. We might need to remember quite a bit, come to think of it."
-
Kasey chuckles. Then leans against the wall, and crosses her arms, waiting for
the men to get back with Jenny.
After a few minutes, you hear someone walking down the hall. The first man has
returned without his partner.
"Follow me." The first man says to you. He leads you down a long hallway and
opens the door at the end. He enters first and as you follow, it looks like a
spare bedroom. Jenny is standing within the room and comes forward at seeing
you.
She gives the man a peculiar look, but he doesn't meet her gaze. She gives you
a nod.
Just as you're beginning to wonder why they didn't offer to let you sleep
here, you have an odd sensation in your stomach.
The sensation of the room dropping like an elevator.
"It's okay," Jenny assured you, smiling in a confiding way. "- you'll
understand in a moment."
Glancing around, you see the man and Jenny are perfectly calm with the room
lowering like an elevator. You start to count it off - three floors down,
four, five...
Kasey frowns, staring hard at Jenny. She feels that something isn't quite
right, but can't put her finger on it.
"This uh..." Reece looks slightly ill. "This goes awfully deep, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it does." Jenny replied conversationally. "But it won't be long now."
Then, with a slight lurch, the lowering stopped.
"Are you alright?" Jenny asked you, glancing at you with concern.
"This next part may worry you, but trust me, you are completely safe."
The far wall that held an oil pointing of a lake suddenly dissapeared. Where
the wall had been was now a hallway lit with a golden light.
"Past there is where we stored the Andalite's Gift, Jenny tells you. "- as you
can see, the average thief would not have been able to find it."
Kasey's eyes widen, and she steps into the hallway. She questions, "How many
people know about this place?"
"Alice."
Jenny tells you quietly. "She is the only one besides yourselves, now. Are
you ready to continue?"
"I'm ready- but surely someone else must know?" Reece suggests. "Why would
Alice have even helped us out if she was going to steal from you guys?"
Kasey stops, and stares at Jenny. She swallows hard. Her face is unreadable as
she wonders if perhaps she doesn't know her friend as well as she thought. She
gives a slight nod, before trailing behind the small group.
"Alice would not have stolen from us." Jenny states with absolute confidence.
"She brought you to us because she sensed something in you. Judging from your
reactions, I'm agreeing with her decision."
"Come with us." The man states abruptly, starting down the hallway. Jenny
gives you a long suffering look and falls in step behind him.
What was beyond the hallway was a vast, vast chamber, lit in glowing gold
light, soft and buttery warm.
Beyond the hall, the floor gave way to springy grass. And over my head, maybe
a hundred feet up, there was a glowing orb, like a sun. That's where the
yellow light came from.
Stretched out before us, for more than the length of a football field, was a
sort of park.
Trees, grass, streams, flowers, butterflies flying around jerkily, bees
buzzing from flower to flower, squirrels racing up and down the trees.
Yet was more suprising was how many dogs were present- all sort so dogs, all
sorts of breeds of various sizes. Several toys lay discarded on the ground,
as though several people had abandoned play suddenly.
Reece sits down and looks around, rubbing his temples as his eyebrows rise
higher and higher on his face. "What the hell is going on, here?"
Kasey snorts in disbelief, and asks "Dogs? Dogs?!"
"Dogs would never steal," Reece says in a breathy voice. "They are friendly
animals. They couldn't have done it."
"As you may have guessed, there's more to our group than meets the eye." Jenny
begins, but the man clears his throat. "We can't tell you everything right
now..." She said, giving the man a long look. "But later, perhaps this will
make more sense- and also, about why dogs are so important to us."
Kasey debates whether to push the issue, but decides against it. "So, you, uh, kept the gift here, out in the open?"
"Over here."
Jenny walks into the park, to a large tree. You can see that the aged tree has grown so that there's a gap in the trunk. Jenny indicates the gap with one hand.
"Normally, there's dozens of people in this park. No one should have been able to reach it."
-
Reece squints. "How well do you recognize the dogs? Would you be as likely to notice two of the same beagle running around as you would two of the same person?"
"It was never an issue..." Jenny states slowly. "You are the first we've shared the Gift with."
Reece picks at a piece of grass as he thinks out loud. "Sure, sure... But this gift came from somewhere, right? These Andalites? How well can you trust them not to take their gift back?"
"Well..." Jenny looks startled, as does the man. "We'd think they'd simply ask for it and it would be freely given."
"How can you be sure of that?" Kasey questions, as she holds her hand out to pet a nearby dog.
The dog, a golden retriever, trotted over happily. Jenny and the man don't reply, giving each other long looks.
"And, if they gave the gift to you, who all else might have it?" Reece asks. He shivers, remembering his impersonation of Miller the guard. "This power is subtle. It's good for trickery..." He looks up at them. "Really, it's kind of dangerous."
"We were quite certain that it wasn't given away frivoulously. This was impressed upon us... Lets go back up," Jenny said. "I've been told that you're friends are awakening."
Kasey stares at Jenny and the man, "Can you quit doing that? It's creepy." She scratches the dog behind the ears one last time before turning to head back toward the entrance.
"Yeah, sure thing." Reece stands and follows. He takes one last look over his shoulder to the pseudo-sun and shivers beneath its yellow light
Jenny and the man lead Kasey and Reece back to the room - elevator and do not speak on the way up. As the room stops moving, you can hear Torrence demanding to know where Kasey and Reece went off to.
Looking out into the living room, you can see Torrence and Christina are awake and staring dubiously at a breakfast platter full of pancakes, scrambled eggs, toast and bacon.
-
Eddie:
Certain memories replayed themselves in my mind as I lay on my own bed that night. I knew I'd never get to sleep until I did something about them... About 10 minutes later I fell asleep with a contented smile on my face.
I had chosen to return to my own home, rather than stay overnight at Alice's safe-house, for a couple of pretty good reasons: For one thing, I needed to reacquiant myself with my 'normal' life; Another reason was that here I could practise morphing with nobody else around to accidentally maul, nor indeed to witness me naked. Speaking of which brings me to my third and fourth reasons for wanting some alone-time: Kasey and Torrence. After what I'd witnessed, I knew what would probably happen while I was sleeping and would still be present when I finally awoke, with god-knows-who possibly witnessing...
When I finally awoke, I realized right away that my premonition had come true, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I'd woken up alone. - Well, not entirely alone; There was Pentium of course. He was curled up beside me on my bed, snuggling into my side, evidently enjoying my body-heat keeping him warm and cosy.
I reached my hand out and stroked him; He greeted me by starting to purr as he cracked one of his electric-green eyes open just enough to recognize his master. The eye soon closed again as I concentrated. - Yes, that's right, I'd decided to acquire Pentium.
Long had I dreamed of strutting around as a cat, jumping insane distances easily, running vertically up a tree-trunk without even slowing down, sleeping where and when I liked... Now, thanks to the gift Alice had given me, this could be much more than just a dream.
As the acquiring trance wore off, Pentium looked up at me quizzically with that same eye. I think he realized something odd was going on, making him space-out like that... I playfully nuzzled my cheek against him as he returned the gesture. - He'd learned to tolerate, then to accept and return this gesture I imparted on him every time he shared my bed. I'd had him forever, or so it seemed. I could still remember him as a little kitten, full of energy, swinging from the curtains and chasing anything small and fast.
A minute or so later, when I felt normal enough to actually get out of bed, I got up and had some breakfast. You know how sometimes you don't realize how hungry you actually are until you start to eat something? That's exactly how I felt when I started eating my cereal - As if I hadn't eaten for a whole week, or something! I soon polished off the first bowl, then I retrieved the BIG bowl and poured myself an extra-large second helping, which just about did the trick.
I brushed my teeth and had a shower, but instead of dressing afterward I had other plans. - Concentrating on my latest acquisition, the changes began:
I felt my spine extending as a tail grew into place. It had no fur on it yet, so it kinda resembled a skin-coloured snake or extra-large worm at first, then the fur started to grow. Jet-black furr rippled up my new tail, down my atrophied legs, up my torso, along my arms, up my neck and finally reached my ears, which slowly migrated toward the top of my head, elongated, grew soft and thin cartilege that I realized I could actually move with my will. It was at this point I began to shrink. Pentium was quite awake now. He was staring at me and hissing in alarm, his heckles raised, yet he neither ran nor attacked. Bravery? Or maybe he sensed this morphing mass carried his master's scent? Either way, I was glad he stayed put.
I felt my vision subtly change as my round human pupils became vertical feline slits. I became aware of how much more brightly my apartment was lit when viewed from a cat's perspective. Well, they do have excellent night-vision after all, so I guess it was to be expected.
Suddenly an explosion of scent assaulted my nazel-passages and awoke the feline mind within! A feeling of limitless energy bubbled up within me; Energy I could dump into my muscles and achieve amazing feats of acrobatics, speed, and strength. Sound joined my sense of smell and suddenly it was as if I could hear absolutely everything around me: The hum of all the flourescent lights out in the hall, the high-pitched whine of a CRT television my neighbours were watching, audio from half a dozen other TV sets in the rooms around me, above and below me too, throught the wooden floor-work.
For a moment I had a hard time understanding how Pentium could deal with such noize all the time, then I realized that I could sorta concentrate on the sounds around me and muffle each one I didn't want to hear down to a managable level, while bringing some subtler sounds to the foreground that I may concentrate on them instead.
As the last of the physical changes completed, I suddenly spotted something moving. Movement! That was the whole point for a cat - Movement meant prey, meant predator, meant kill or be killed!! In an instant, pure liquid energy poured into every muscle in my new feline body; My heckles rose, my tail swished left, then right, my whiskers bent forward to detect subtle changes in air-current that would tell me more about what was around me. I inhaled a deep, slow breath through my sensitive nose - Two major scents were in the appartment: One human, and one feline. I relaxed a bit as I recognised my own feline scent. The human scent meant nothing - Humans weren't prey, and I certainly didn't feel threatened by them.
The other scent though, the feline one, something wasn't quite right about it... It seemed to be coming from more than one source... I turned my formidable feline senses on various parts of the room until I spotted the second source - Another me, up on the bed. I padded over and sprang easily up onto the matress, keeping my senses trained on this other me. I could not feel threatened by my own scent, even if it didn't come from myself... Oddly, this calmed my kitty brain out of the fight-or-flee state it had been in, to be replaced with an insatiable curiosity; A curiosity I couldn't quite ignore. The other me approached, and I let him. We circled each other, sniffing with the same curiosity, and then turned away, curiosity satisfied, both at the same time. The other me curled back up in the little divot he'd made earlier in the duvet. He didn't close his eyes, but he was not interested any more unless I tried to attack him. I knew this because it was how I felt myself at this moment in time.
Drama over, the feline mind passified, I could finally assert my own will. <Wow.> I said, then realized I'd actually spoke in thought-speak without meaning to. I padded along the duvet, ignoring the real Pentium like he ignored me. The spongy material felt so soft to the sensitive pads on my paws... I bent my head and rubbed my cheek against it - Yup, it was soft and cosy. I stretched as only a cat can stretch, then I lay on my side and rolled over, enjoying the soft sensation against my fur, wiggling my spine into it.
I suddenly spotted a fly and decided to chase it - Whee! This was fun! BOING! I sprang from the edge of the bed several feet into the air, swiped at the fly, and missed. <Cool!> I exhaulted as my body automatically twisted and righted itself in mid-air, allowing me to land on my feet... Paws... Whatever. Killing to eat may be the end-goal of a hunt, but the thrill of chasing something is just as important. A hungry cat will hunt just to eat, but a well-fed cat still enjoys the hunt, sometimes not even bothering to kill the prey when it finally catches it, the hunt itself being the reward. Sometimes, of course, the act of catching the prey accidentally sends claws too deep into the target for it to live, and it dies of exsanguination shortly after anyway.
I continued to chase the fly for a few minutes, my paws made contact a few times but only succeeded in batting it a few feet further away. It didn't matter, the hunt was the goal for me, I certainly didn't care whether the fly lived or died. Eventually I got bored, and even the cat's seemingly unlimited energy was beginning to fade - Cats are more like sprinters, after all, they can't keep up the same level of speed and agility indefinitely and are lacking in any true endurance.
When I'd had my fun, and fully explored the appartment from a cat's perspective, I demorphed on my wheelchair. Pentium was up and about by now, so I fed him and let him out of the appartment so he could check out the rest of his territory and do his 'business' etc.
When he was gone, and I'd eaten some fruit, I began a second morph - Clouded-Leopard...
Alice:
I was expertly pretending to still be asleep, yet I'd heard everything of course, and had conversed with my fellow Chee over Chee-net. I wanted to see how my new human friends interacted and dealt with new situations when I "wasn't around", so to speak. On the whole, I was quite proud of their words and actions...
As Torrence and Christina's voices got louder and louder I realized it would be a good idea to 'wake up' pretty soon or else have them wonder how I could sleep through such noise. When I sensed Kasey and Reece returning to the room, I put on my 'groggy-waking-up' act and slowly stirred from my 'slumber', with a bleary, yawning, "What's going on?" Aimed at nobody in particular. I rubbed my eyes for effect and sat up.
When we'd returned last night, I'd told the others I'd be sleeping in the same room as them because my room was otherwise-occupied, that Jenny would be using it.
-
Kasey glances at the man who was acting as their escort, then shrugs in response to Alice. She sits down next to Alice, leaning against her friend, and mutters, "We'll talk later." She glances at the food on the table, not particularly interested or hungry.
She asks to no one in particular, "So, what's on our agenda for today? I know that I for one need to show up at home pretty soon, otherwise my father will have the entire police force out looking for me. I also have to go to a dinner tonight for his campaign..." she trails off.
-
Reece sits down at the table with the others. He grabs three strips of bacon, and wraps them in a piece of toast wrapped in a pancake, which he then drizzles with syrup. He crams this half-way into his mouth, and does something that takes far too little time to be called "chewing." He lets out a soft moan, and as Kasey speaks he perks up to attention.
"Yeah, about that," he begins. "How do we go about getting some of those duplicates you guys mentioned?"
-
"We have operatives who with prosthetics, make up and some of the highly advanced technology you've seen, will appear to 'be' you. However, it will only be flawless when you have a few hours to speak with your double about aspects of your life, so you will appear flawless to your family and friends.
If you wish, you could meet with your doubles now. It will likely take several hours to prepare them for the subtefuge.
Also, have you decided if you want them to act as you for trips to the Yeerk Pool and sharing only, or for a more active basis?"
-
Kasey nods, indicating that she's ready to meet her double. She's unsure of how to handle any of this. "Well...do you think-- I mean, will they uh, take my family?" she coughs, and swallows hard, "I don't know if I can go back. I don't know if I can live in a house with them, if they do...do that." She stares silently at the Chee, waiting for a response.
-
"We can not determine that." Jenny says gently. "If its any consolation, we have not seen any of your family near the Pool in the last two days.
However, this is your decision. I tried to tell you that before and it still holds true. If you wish, you could stay elsewhere and let your double handle your life instead of simply handling your Yeerk's responsibilities."
-
Kasey sighs, "It would be easier for my double, wouldn't it? If I were to more or less allow them to take over. That way we wouldn't need to worry about making sure our stories are the same...I suppose I'd be more useful as well, if I were to be available for more of the day." Her voice slows during the last sentence, and her face screws up.
She clenches her jaw, and looks from Jenny, to Alice, to the other Chee. "I need to speak to one of you, or all of you privately. Now." She stands up, and strides out of the room, looking for the first open door.
-
"No, not really..." Jenny said. "After all, there are other things they could be doing as well. And the double can utilize high tech tracking to instill the two of you are never in the same place. It is of course, you're choice. Simply inform us of your decision."
Jenny looked startled at Kasey's proclamation, frowning some what. The men informed her that they had to get to their duties and departed.
Jenny followed after Kasey, looking slightly put off.
-
Kasey waits until Jenny enters the room then she slams the door shut; turning on her heel, she looks Jenny in the eye. "What the hell is going on here?" she very nearly snarls. "Something's not right. You people have all of this crazy technology. You have the ability to have people act as our clones, to step in and live our lives for us. You gave us the ability to change into freaking animals, yet it seems like none of you are able to do it yourselves, with the exception of Alice. You have a 'top secret' headquarters, where you hoard dogs? This isn't normal. I refuse to believe that you're just some average group of citizens, working as, as, counter-terrorists, or whatever, trying to stop an alien invasion. I want to know what is going on, and I want to know the truth, now, or I will leave, and I will find whoever it is that your group is fighting against, and I will tell everything." She places her hand on the doorknob and glares at Jenny, her face turning an angry shade of red, waiting for a response.
-
"I'm sorry. You seem to have misunderstood something." Jenny said patiently, not put off by Kasey's anger.
"I am your Liaison purely because of my association and success with Alice. Surely you have witnessed that I am not in charge here. Due to your friends reactions and the loss of the Andalite's Gift, my position as your Liaison is in jeopardy.
Flying into rages and behaving as adolescents will impress no one. It is very likely that if you continue on this tack, you will alienate my superiors moreso than you already have. I encourage you to reconsider.
You do have the fate of your race in your hands, and it was given because Alice vouched that you were mature enough to handle what we told you."
Jenny looked at Kasey saddened.
"Perhaps it was a mistake to entrust you with so much, so soon. Please ask Alice to attend me. We have much to discuss.
You and your friends may leave, if you wish it, as has been the case since your arrival."
Jenny's shoulders slumped somewhat as she turned away from Kasey.
On Cheenet, Alice received a message from the Chee with the guise of Jenny.
'Alice, there has been a development. The human Kasey seems to be upset. She has said 'I want to know what is going on, and I want to know the truth, now, or I will leave, and I will find whoever it is that your group is fighting against, and I will tell everything.' Please attend me, we have much to discuss.'
-
Kasey stares at Jenny, she responds sarcastically "Why in the world would you think I'm angry? You people have turned my world upside down in 12 hours. You're obviously lying to us, and I want to know why, or I leave. No more of this secrecy bull****. You're soon going to know every last aspect of my life, yet you're not telling us who, or what, the hell you people even are. I'm not letting you control my life without knowing why I'm letting you do it." Her voice lowers towards the end, her face beginning to return to it's normal shade as she gets her temper in check.
She continues, softly, "Jenny, I have nothing against you. I obviously trust you, and I obviously need you. I'm not angry with you. I just want to know what is going on. How is your group any better than the Yeerks, if you drag us into your fight, yet don't trust us enough to even tell us who you are." Kasey slumps to the floor, leaning against the wall, and hugs her knees to her chest. She stares silently up at Jenny.
-
"I have done nothing to you, Kasey. The Yeerk invasion has. I do apologize for your hardships, but I am unable to do any more than I have already offered.
You have not even made the decision on your doubles, continually trying to put the decision off on me. I apologize, but I am uncomfortable making that decision for you. You must decide for yourself, as must your other friends.
If you wish to use the doubles, they will arrive in this room momentarily. I apologize, but I must speak with Alice. If you refuse to do your duty alongside her, than we are fa worse than I thought. Excuse me."
Jenny exited the room and walked to one of the side rooms, contacting Alice to meet her immediately in that room, RIGHT NOW.
-
When Jenny enters Reece begins to stand, forehead wrinkled in concern. He sits right back down as soon as she enters into the other room. He glances through the door to Kasey. "Is everything alright?" he asks.
-
Kasey remains slumped against the wall, her knees pulled up to her chest. She shakes her head slowly, and looks up at Reece. "They're not telling us the truth." she responds in dull voice, "They're keeping something from us. None of this makes sense. I'm not letting them have this much control over my life without getting some answers first."
-
Alice:
Upon receiving "Jenny's" request to have a private word, I cause my holographic cell-phone to ring, then excuse myself to a side-room to take the 'call' in private. My intention was to 'talk' with 'Jenny' over Chee-net without anyone distracting me or noticing that I wasn't paying much attention to the room's occupants, but the side-room I chose just happened to be the same one 'Jenny' entered shortly thereafter. She would find me already inside, leaning casually on the windowsill with holographic cell-phone held to my ear in case one of the humans was looking.
I didn't notice any surprise in her expression upon seeing me already in the room, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she wasn't surprised, it's just that her body-language had other things to say that were more important than whether or not she was surprised to see me apparently waiting for her.
Inside a safe-house like this, most Chee dial-down their extra-human sensors to help conserve power. After all, the security system built into the house itself would warn of any impending incursion by a known hostile.
When the door closed and we were definitely alone, I let the holographic cell-phone disappear and straightened my posture as I faced her.
"So... Kasey's about to pop, eh?" I said in friendly greeting, hoping to retain a neutral atmosphere.
-
Reece strolls closer to Kasey. "We're definitely getting kind of jerked around here, but... Well, what real alternative do we have, you know? It's either them or the Yeerks." Reece pauses. "I suppose we could go it alone, but..."
-
Jenny communicates entirely by chee - net, giving no notice that she cared that Alice was the first in the room. Jenny drops her hologram, moving to stand her massive bulk in front of the door to eliminate any one trying to enter.
I grow concerned, Alice. You said that these humans were mature enough to handle what we told them. Yet instead of processing what they have been told, I think they want the entire truth from us. I am not allowed to tell it,
Jenny's muzzle moved downward, signaling that Jenny wasn't pleased with that order.
- however, its possible that the humans have... found... and item that will tell them what they need to know. I suspect that their allegiance may turn against you if they feel you side with our superiors decision to mask the truth from them.
I strongly suggest that you assist them to read the disk they've 'found' on one of your sensors. It'd be best if... the other Chee ... don't know about this. Its likely that they're all but decided to remove me as Liaison and put me to use where I'll no longer be able to see you or the humans as freely as I would like.
If they wish to utilize the doubles, I've chosen two who are en route to the humans now. If not, its no concern of ours. That's all I wished to say, you're free to go if you don't have any questions.
With Reece and Kasey, two young adults- a male and female- walked out. "We're not sure if you want us or not," The young woman said hesitantly.
"- but I'm Jayden and this is Kevin. We volunteered to act as you when we heard you might be targetted for infestation."
-
Kasey bites her lip, then responds to Reece, "We could, Reece." She nods her head slowly. "Maybe we need to be away from these loons. Maybe we need time to sort it out for ourse--" she pauses mid-word when Jayden and Kevin enter the room. She stares at them, and shrugs. "I don't know, right now."
She sighs, and rubs her eyes. "Reece?"
-
"--It can't hurt, right?" he drops his voice to a low whisper. "Maybe a show of confidence will get them to trust us more. Flies, honey, etc..." Reece lights back up and smiles at Kevin and Jayden. He shakes their hands. "Name's Reece, pleased to meet you."
-
"Hey Reece," Kevin moved closer, sitting informally on the couch. He reached out and snagged some bacon off the breakfast tray, observing "-you guys aren't going to eat all this, right."
Jayden rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor beside the couch.
"Jenny probably did a crappy job explaining- the old battle axes are on her butt today. Basically, we need to talk to you awhile, learning what you like and what you don't like. We'll be acting as you when you are 'infested' and will resume that when its time for your Yeerk to go to the Pool for Kandrona.
Jenny hasn't said anything to us about what you decided."
-
I raised a holographic-eyebrow when Jenny dropped her hologram; She didn't normally do that unless she was either upset or she wanted to encrypt something private over Chee-net that the other Chee would not automatically be able to access. Such private conversations were rare but not thought abnormal, and the others would respect this privacy unless they had a good reason to decrypt it, which would be an easy task of course.
On this occasion, it seemed both reasons were present.
Following her example, I also dropped my hologram. My real cellphone was visible, clipped in a holder at my side in a position that matched that of my holographic pocket, but other than that I was all-Chee.
She explained her concerns and her orders regarding them to me, then hinted at something that surprised me: She'd found a way to circumvent her orders without directly disobeying them, but apparently needed my assistance for her idea to work. I was curious what might be on this 'disk' and hoped it wouldn't give out details that would betray my pretense at being a morph-capable human like themselves...
[What information have you put on this disk, exactly? Anything that might blow my own cover?] I asked back over the same encrypted Chee-net channel she had used.
-
Jenny
[It's best if you aren't told the exact parameters, Alice.] Jenny said slowly.[As it stands, they others would only be concerned you followed my order. If you knew what it was and continued, they may become more cross with you.
The nature of the disk is very general- it will answer Kasey's questions without blowing your cover. It's more subtle than overt.] Jenny glanced away, downwards towards the main Chee rooms.
[Good luck, Alice. I fear that I may be retasked by the time you return to us. Take care.]
-
[Aww, I do hope they let you stay on as Liason... I mean, providing everything goes well, they should have no reason to reassign you from this, especially if it's something you like doing.] I reasoned, hoping to allay her fears a bit. [You take care too, ok?] I asked rhetorically, switching my hologram back on.
It seemed she believed the data on the disk would not threaten my cover, and I had no reason to distrust her opinion on this, so I would play the disk's message to the Humans.
-
[Thank you, Alice, but my ideas on how to interact with the humans is meeting opposition. Hopefully my fears are unfounded. Good luck.]
Jenny switched her Hologram back on and departed the room. She paused to give Kasey, Reece and the others a wave before heading down to Chee Central to meet her uncertain fate.
-
Kasey stares after Jenny for a moment, watching her walk down the hall for the second time today. This suddenly triggers a memory of earlier this morning, when Jenny had dropped the device. She straightens up, still leaning against the ball, but finally nods at Jayden and Kevin.
"Yes. Yes. I think we're decided. We'll work with you....so, what do we need to do?" She asks in a rather reluctant voice.
-
"It might be easier on you if we do this separately." Kevin suggested. "We have to get into detail on a lot of little things you probably don't feel like sharing. From the names you call your kid brother to what you're scarfing at the dinner table, we really need to know just about every thing that might come up in the next day or so- where you were last night, what your family plans to do tonight.
Maybe you guys are best friends, but we don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"Yeah, Torrence suggested. "The rest of us can go outside and call the people who went home, see if they want to meet up later. About how long do you need to talk?"
"About two hours."
-
"Okay." Kasey stands up, "Jayden, I can bring you over to my house if you'd like. I don't think my parents will be home... Reece, if we meet later can you bring that thing I let you borrow? I think it would be cool if we could show that to everyone else; they might get a kick out of it."
-
Reece nods. "Grand Theft Auto works best as a party game, and it'll be fun to see if it makes Damien vomit!" He observes his surroundings. "It might be safer if we do as much as we can here; Sandra's over at my place often enough," his eye twitches only slightly, "my parents wouldn't even care if she were there without me." He clears his throat. "Which, yeah, could be dangerous."
-
"Okay," Jayden agreed. "I'll go with you to your house, Kasey. You can show me around."
"As much as we can here, no problem, man." Kevin replies, making an improvisational pancake bacon sandwich as he spoke. "Have a seat, load up on carbs and proteins- is this protein or just fat?"
He wondered as he eyed a bacon for a minute before eating it anyway.
As the others moved out, Kevin began to talk to Reece about his life. When Kasey and Jayden reached TKasey's house, they found that her parents were gone and they had the run of the house. The other 'operative' also expressed interest in every aspect of Kasey's life.
At first it was comfortable and conversational - for Reece, talking about Sandra, his parents, friends at school; for Kasey discussing her father's career, how she and her parents got along as well as her friends. Soon the conversation seemed to veer off from discussing where one liked to shop to how they did at school. The conversation quickly became tiresome after that with how detailed the operatives were about past experiences- likely because someone in their life might reference it.
When Jayden and Kevin seemed satisfied, they excused themselves. Kasey and Reece realized they'd been conversing with their operatives for 2 hours! When the two came back, they'd made themselves up as Kasey and Reece. Jayden even had a wig cut and colored just so- the likeness was very good.
"Now, we can handle the infestation process, send you the information and get out of your hair," They were told. "- unless you want us to come over on a recurring basis."
-
Kasey sinks into the couch, and pushes the heels of her hands into her eyes. She groans, "I don't know. I really don't. What kinds of things am I going to hve to do if I'm pretending to be infested? Are there things I have to do other than going to the pool to get fed?"
-
"The only thing that there might be is Sharing meetings." Jayden stated. "I'll send you a text with whats said to me from Yeerks when I'm 'you' so you don't have to worry that they'd figure you out. You don't have to decide right now- no doubt it's all piling up right now, huh? I'll handle tonight so you can deal with whats going on with your friends, if you want."
-
Kasey bites her lip, then nods. "That would be for the best. There's a banquet tonight that you'll have to go to. There's an outfit hanging up in my closet for it...you'll have to stay the entire time. Smile and nod...you know the routine." she takes a deep breath, and adds, "I think that's when they're probably going to make some sort of move. At one of my dad's events. A lot of people, lots of noise...easy enough to nab someone for a few minutes there."
She stares down at her hands, and begins to pick at one of her finger nails. Without looking up, she asks, "Torrence, did you get a chance to contact the others? We should probably meet soon. I'd like to meet at my place, if that's okay. My parents will be gone until after the banquet."
-
Reece looks down at his hands for a little bit, before speaking. "Yeah, Kev, see if you can handle tonight, and the Yeerk stuff. If I need you for more than that, I'll let you know..." He sits back in his chair and wonders if he'll have the wherewithal to keep up the act as Sandra's boyfriend, even knowing what's in her skull.
-
"Alright." Jayden replied. "Well, I'll be off. I'll call you later to tell you how it goes. I'll also call you when we leave the banquet, so you guys know to get out of here."
The Operative gave Kasey and her friends a smile before leaving to get dressed in the outfit Kasey had chosen for herself and departed.
Torrence, who had been waiting outside while Kasey and Jayden talked, peeked her head in after she thought she'd heard her name. After Kasey repeated her question, Torrence replied she hadn't.
Torrence sent out texts to Autumn, Alice, Brit, Christina, Damien, Eddie and Reece, asking 'K. wants to meet at her place, you up for it?
"For sure." Kevin replied, checking the time with his cellphone. "Well, no use putting this off. I'll hit you up later, tell you what went on. Later."
Kevin said his goodbyes and headed out, destined for a hell of an uncomfortable night.
Elsewhere, just within the forested area of Lakeside; located 2 miles from Kasey's house
I had absolute faith that you would be able to get the Escafil.
The alien said softly in your head as you settle around the lean to. The sun is just setting in the distance, bathing the forest in an amber light.
As I told you before, it will allow me to heal from my grievous injuries.
The extent of her injuries has never been explained to her three companions, for the blue horse - deer alien was laying down, a large blanket covering her posterior. A long, large blanket that made one wonder what injury she was hiding under there.
You have been very quiet since I explained my reason for being here. Yet... you risked your lives to assist me with selflessness. I am genuine in how I'd like to be able to thank you.
The main eyes move to look at the three of you in turn, although her stalk eyes are glancing somewhere behind your heads, at the Forrest beyond.
-
Reece sees Kevin off and then not long afterwards checks his cellphone. Reece texts back "sure, i'll be right over." He heads over to where Christina was hanging out. "You want to head out?"
-
Christina
"Yeah, okay." The girl replied, closing her phone. A gleam came into her. "You wanna fly there?"
-
_____
Two miles from Kasey's house, in the forest of Lakeside.
_____
Samantha Wagner gets up from her kneeling position near the injured Andalite, brushing dirt off her torn blue jeans. The black scanner device the alien had given her bulged from one pocket, jammed in with her car keys. Her leg still ached from slamming it against the elevator device they'd used to retrieve the blue box, in their haste to escape.
What an endless day this had been.
"Listen, Jethsa," she says quietly, tucking a tuft of dirty blonde hair behind her normally jovial, freckled face. "We've been through hell and back getting this thing to you. But I think I can speak for all of us..." She glances back at her human comrades, her friend Jas and Alec, the quiet young man she didn't know before today. "...when I say that we're just glad this box, this...what'd you call it? Escarfil device? Will heal you." She swallows, amazed at the tears threatening to spring to her eyes. Damnit, an alien didn't just crash land on Earth and lose everyone she's fought with only to die out here in the woods, surrounded by strangers. "You said the device will let you turn into any animal, heal your injuries. You're sure it will work?" She bites her lip, a nervous habit. "And what about these Yeerks? The alien parasites. It sounds like we have no way of telling who is one and who isn't." She looks over at her friends, searching them for any sign that they might not be who she thinks they are. Of course, there is nothing.
It's a lot to take in. She shivers, rubbing her arm.
-
"I like the way you think!" Reece replies. He looks around. "Er, where should we do this? We probably shouldn't go on the street- the neighbors will freak. And I don't know if eagles can open doors. The back yard?"
-
Jethsa, Lakeside forrest with Alec, Sam and Jas
You're sure it will work?"
<You're a very kind person,> Jethsa expressed, her main eyes turning towards Sam. < -and I am grateful for your concern, but I can assure you that its' not necessary. I've been giving highly advanced scientific training and have been versed on the Escafil for this mission. I know that it will heal me.
I also know that it will confer to you the ability to acquire the morphing technology, if you desire. It does have certain limitations, and if you choose to do so I do hope that you understand these abilities should be used to fight the Yeerk Invasion of your planet.
You're quite right, Sam. It's nearly impossible to detect a Yeerk. I am, however, encouraged that you all have returned with the Escafil. It would have been far too great of a treasure for the Yeerks to deliver to me.>
Christina; Chee compound with Reece
"Good thinking," Christina glanced about at their surroundings. "- it would be hilarity in action to try and handle door knobs with our beaks. Yeah, lets hit the back yard. We don't have to worry about these spy guys at least. That's some what of a relief."
Christina headed towards the back yard and studied the surrounding area. A high wooden fence marked off a quarter of a yard, a sizable yard for this area. The two houses flanking the yard were devoid of people or activity.
"Looks good to me," Christina hedged, glancing over at Reece. "- you ready to do this?"
-
Lakeside forrest with Alec, Sam and Jas
Jas Kirogi took a deep breath as his friend Sam spoke, voicing many of his own concerns. He absent-mindedly fingered the butt of the Desert Eagle holstered under his arm. He was glad he hadn't had to use it, but it seemed like the right thing to be carrying on this mission or whatever it had been. He stuffed a hand in his pocket and pulled out a piece of Trident, unwrapping it and sticking the dry gum in his mouth. "Look, this is weirder than anything I've ever seen, and I'm pretty sure I'm sober right now. I mean...first off we don't have any way of knowing what you really want with this do we? We don't even know if you're really hurt! Second, we don't have any proof that Earth is being invaded...there's a lot of uncertainties here. What if we touch that thing and become Yurks or whatever? Maybe you're the invading aliens...I mean, seriously. I don't think you are, but this is way out there."
Jas chewed nervously, the gum releasing a soothing spearmint flavor as he walked closer to Sam, hovering a bit protectively, his white, wavy hair blowing a bit in the scant breeze forcing it's way through the lean-to. "Okay, so say I'm completely sober and conscious right now. Say we believe you and take this power. Say we try to fight this invasion that you say is happening...what does it even mean? Where do we start? What are we supposed to do? I mean, if we're being invaded, we should inform the government, contact authorities, talk to people who can actually DO something. I mean, without any information, turning into a c0ck-roach isn't gonna help much."
Jas looked concernedly at Sam and then looked over at Alec whom he'd just met that night. Jas didn't trust the other guy, or this alien, or anyone really. He only trusted Sam, she was the only one who ever did what she said. She was the only one who was absolutely honest with him. And she never asked him for money either, which was a plus. It meant she really cared about him as a true friend, something he'd had to get used to, but didn't want to lose. His right hand returned to fingering the butt of his .50 cal, his left jammed back in his jeans pocket playing with the half-empty pack of gum.
-
"Jas," says Sam faintly, "I don't know why, but I feel like I...trust her. Goddamnit, you know me well enough to know that I never trust people this quickly." She looks at Alec, then back at Jethsa. "You're saying that we can actually have this...technology, this power to turn into animals?" She feels suddenly ill with the weight of this reality. "I don't think I can do this, Jethsa, I'm not some kind of superhero. Jas does have a point, we need to tell the cops or the X-Files or someone who will believe this. There must be some way to tell who is a Yeerk and who isn't." Sam shifts her weight, glancing anxiously around the darkening woods. "Look, Jethsa, after tonight--all the super advanced technology we've encountered--the fact that you're even here. I really want to believe you. But how can you prove Earth is really being invaded, that you are what you say you are, and about this power to...to morph. What do we need to know?"
-
Reece nods. "Let's do it." He concentrates on the Eagle in his mind, just as he had with Miller the Gardens cop. Diamond patterns draw themselves all over his skin before flaking up into brown skin-colored feathers. His lips chap and harden before jutting forward into a wicked beak, and he realizes this will be very different from his human morph. His feathers shift in tone, his head turning a brilliant white, as his bones twist and his organs realign themselves. His eyes stretch and golden, completing the morph.
He scrambles to tangle his now-bird body from his shorts and T-shirt, squawking absurdly. His eagle brain is panicked- trapped in some square bit of grass with wooden walls on the side, a strange pink monkey-thing nearby, and brightly colored cotton restraining his limbs. Reece manages to soothe the eagle brain- they are not panicky creatures- and work his way out of his clothes, which he gathers up in his talons.
<So how do you do this thing where you talk in my brain?> he asks. After a pause, <oh, just like that!>
-
Jas nods. "Exactly." He kneels next to Sam and places a hand on her shoulder, still looking at Jethsa. "I mean, if we can't see who's an alien and who isn't, how are we supposed to fight them? And even if there's a way to tell, are we supposed to attack them out on the street? I mean, the cops in this city might be dumb pigs, but they don't like brawls, especially if someone ends up dead after one. I mean, how is this supposed to work? If everything is true, I mean we're just a bunch of normal people. Turning into animals would be neat, but how exactly is it supposed to help us if we don't know what or who to attack? I think Sam's right, we can't do this. Not without some more information or some proof at least." Jas continues to regard Jethsa intently, his dark brown eyes shining in the scant light in the lean-to.
-
Christina; Chee Compound en route to Kasey's
Christina grins in response, although her expression quickly pales as she watches Reece start to morph. "Oh! Yuck! Nasty."
She quickly turns her back to Reece, although she closes her eyes and begins to morph herself.
"That is decisively disturbing. I wonnnnk-"
Her mouth suddenly split and transformed, jutting out into a beak. Her skin began to itch as feathers protruded, sweeping her pale skin with color. She started to shrink at the exact time her legs shrivelled and reduced in size, causing her to topple over onto the grass.
She frantically kicked out of her clothing as her limbs began to change, bending and molding until she looked like a real Condor.
The Condor Christina surveyed the yard and fluffed its feathers at seeing Reece's smaller bird, starting to dart forward. The bid suddenly slowed before impact, giving an almost shake of its head.
<The whole 'became scavengers' aspect isn't in this bird's DNA.> Christina said shakily. <It's O.K., I have the bird brain under control. So um, lets fly.>
It took Christina several attempts to manage to learn how a bird with her wingspan actually got into the air. After a few attempts, the Condo rose over the fence, flying towards Kasey's house.
<Man, try not to be a control freak, the bird knows how to fly better than you do. Or at least better than I do.>
Jethsa
Two miles from Kasey's house, in the forest of Lakeside.
<I fear that the authorities you speak of have already been infiltrated by Yeeerks. The people in positions of authority are likely already infested and the media has strategically placed Yeerks and informants to act on any attempt to reveal the invasion. My people had hoped to arrive before the Yeerks had a stable foothold, but we were delayed by battles around your planet. I fear your plan to reveal the Invasion that might have been possible only a few months ago now holds too many uncertainties. If you manage to find one lucky human who is not infested, your actions would most certainly seal thier fate.
I am unfamiliar with the term 'cops' and how they are related to the swine of this planet, but I assure you that your efforts would not jeapordize your civilian identities as long as you are careful to not let your human identity be seen during battle. We fight with honor and shall be striking at the Yeerk Pools, where every one within are our enemies the Yeerks and their innocent captives.>
Jethsa paused, shifting uncomfortably from her position on the Forrest floor. Her eyes seem to wince as she glances over to the blanket- which now, you can see, is beginning to darken as blood seeps from whatever wound she's hiding.
<I assure you that I will not force this on you. If you choose to join me and acquire the Morphing Power, then I welcome you as my allies. If you choose to deliberate further, I do not hold it against you.
I can not prove that the Yeerks are invading right at this moment, when my judgement is impaired by blood loss. After I acquire the technology, I will share with you what you need to know.>
The alien reached out to the box, placing one blue hand upon it.
<I can not wait any longer to acquire the ability, or I will lose consciousness and die not long after that. I can not die until I have avenged my brother and our comrades.>
The alien closed her eyes, suddenly appearing much older than her youthful appearance and zeal suggest.
Torrence, with Kasey
'"Sure, I'll be right over." Torrence relays to Kasey. "Reece is coming over. What's first on the agenda?"
-
((Is someone supposed to be playing Alec?))
___
In the forest of Lakeside.
___
Sam barks a laugh at Jethsa's swine remark. When she closes her eyes, Sam looks over at Jas and Alec, worriedly. "This is way too much," she murmurs. "We can't wait any longer, guys. At least she might be alright if we go through with this. Can't you feel that? This weird sort of...I don't know. This calm feeling. I just think she's telling the truth." She sucks in a breath. "I still want more proof, but...I'm in. I just hope this thing doesn't cause cancer." She touches her hand to the glowing blue cube.
-
<As long as you leave that brain in control for flying and not for turning me into the most patriotic dinner in American history, I think we're good. But keep in mind, man- I'm endangered.> Reece tries to grin, which does not work well with the Eagle's stiff mouth. <This is so weird. Why didn't we try this sooner? And where did all these mice come from?> As he gazes down at the fecund lawns below, he hits his first wide stretch of concrete and soars upwards on top of a thermal. <Whoa! Hot air! Hot air!> he exclaims.
Reece resists his eagle urge to feast on a bunny he sees hopping along below, and (more difficultly) his human urge to fly, swoop and soar until his wings fall off, instead making good time towards Kasey's back yard.
-
"Well, I have something I want to show you guys. Well, Reece does. Hopefully he took the hint and remembered to bring it with him. I also think we need to talk about these people who Alice hooked us up with. I think they're lying about something, and I think we deserve to know the truth." She yawns, and flops down on the couch in her living room.
-
Jas makes a face like he just swallowed something that tasted particularly nasty, but what choice did he have? Sam was doing it, and if she was gonna put herself in danger, he wouldn't let her do it alone. He took a deep breath and shook his head as he placed his free hand on an empty face of the blue cube they'd worked so hard to acquire. His other hand remained on Sam's shoulder as they knelt next to the dying alien. He didn't know where this was going but Sam...Sam was doing it, so he had to too. He gave his friend a quick nervous grin before closing his eyes. "I go where you do, Sammy."
-
[Alec is an NPC that I play. Feel free to interact with him.]
Lakeside
Alec shifts a minute, watching Sam and Jas quietly. He watches Sam place her hand to the cube, but keeps his hands on his knees.
Jethsa
<Cancer? No, I can assure you that we've long since developed alloys that do not cause cancerous cells. Please, brace yourselves.>
The alien girl closed her eyes, telepathically accessing her crashed ship to initialize the program developed to utilize the Escafil. Jethsa, Jas and Sam soon felt a tingling sensation travel through their bodies.The sensation was not painful and soon passed.
<Thank you for your assistance. I can understand that you do not wish to participate, Jas. Suscipion at the face of the unknown is natural, in this situation it would indeed be an asset. >
Jethsa shifted her upper body, reaching her delicate hand down to pluck up a crawling insect.
She held up the caterpillar and closed her eyes, causing the insect to still. After a moment, the alien opened her eyes and set the bug down near Sam, as though to offer it.
<This is how one acquires an animal to morph. The morph can only last up to two hours. If one surpasses this time, one can become permanently trapped in morph.
Please do not become alarmed while I become this small insect.>
Jethsa closed her eyes- all of them- and the eyes soon were on the move! The stalk eyes swooped in on her skull, which was rapidly shrinking. Her color darkened from blue to black as she began to shrink at an alarming rate, her arms shriveling even as legs burst out of her chest. The blanket suddenly fell to the side. For one horrible instant, a scorpion like curved tail was visible- but the tail was obviously badly burned, sickening to look at. The alien girl shuddered as the tail was retracted into her main body. The other changes were hard tosee as Jethsa shrank, plopping down onto the blanket.
"Oh!" Alec exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He had become increasingly uncomfortable during the morph, but now he seemed very alarmed. The twenty something year old swore several times in quick suscession, watching the bug.
Kasey's House
"Is that what went on when you stormed out of the house? She admitted that she was lying to us?" Torrence frowned, taking a seat on the bed.
"Well, that sucks. It's not like they couldn't have called the Yeerks while we were sleeping. What do you think is going on with them?"
<Hey, I was, too.> Christina laughs back. <This is so cool, flying. Oh crap, I'm still on a level of endanger, though, maybe I should have grabbed something less conspicous. Well, you have the most patriotic bird ever, I guess that I come in second on the 'Holy S*** list'.>
The birds make good time over to Kasey's, her house soon comes into view.
<Air Christina, on descent...> The Condor swooped out, take cover underneath a shady tree. She hopped over to conceal herself behind the trunk, wondering.
<You see any one around, Reece? These eyes seem movement based, I totally can't tell if someone's standing out there texting.>
-
"Oh, my God," Sam whispers, backing away from Jethsa as she mutates into a bizarre caterpillar-Andalite hybrid. She holds up a finger. "Excuse me." She staggers off into the trees and loses her lunch. A few minutes later she comes back, shakily wiping her mouth and staring down at the caterpillar writhing on the blanket. "Sorry," she murmurs. "I...don't know what I was expecting." Sam looks down at her hand, where the cube had transferred its power to her. It's still shaking. "I guess we can do that too, now, huh?" She searches Jas' and Alec's expressions for some kind of an answer, some kind of rationality. "Jethsa, can you hear us? Are you alright?" Now it was even weirder, talking to a bug that was really an alien.
-
Reece perches atop the tree and peers about. He doesn't see anyone outside, but it's difficult to judge whether or not someone might walk past a window in a seemingly empty house and happen to look outside. <I don't see anyone, but make sure you're out of view of any windows,> Reece advises. <You should be good behind the tree, but we should change back one at a time, if nothing else to save the embarrassment of nudity in close quarters.>
-
Lakeside;Jethsa
<I can hear you. I apologize for the discomfort... Alec, are you certain you do not wish to acquire the technology?>
Lakeside; Alec
"Aw, man." Alec replies "That could have just been CGI with a recording of your voice... mind.. thing. How many fingers am I holding up?"
Three fingers went up and Jethsa promptly replied three.
"Um... you guys don't feel like you have cancer, do you?" He asked Sam and Jas.
Christina; Kasey's house
<Great. Nudity. I forgot that part. You better be looking away, eagle boy.>
Christina grumbled, hunkering down behind the tree.
The demorphing was just as bad as the morphing- perhaps more so due to the giant Condor head that grew to human head size before beginning to morph back to a human head. As her body returned to normal, she shrieked in surprise.
"Ha! Look, I have my swimsuit bottoms!" After a minute, Christina hastily corrected. "But not my top, don't look!"
Covering herself, Christina hurried to the front door and gave a few good poundings to the wood before covering up again.
-
<Here, you're gonna get us arrested.> Reece chides, tossing his T-shirt down from the branches. <Honestly, God gives you talons, you oughtta make use of them.> After giving Christina time to grab the (for her) oversized garment, he hops down to the ground. <Now, don't look at my junk. I know you nudists are all perverts.>
After returning to his ape form, Reece pulls his trousers back on. His steps are uneasy as he makes his way to the door. "It's weird getting my land legs back."
-
"That's alright, Jethsa," says Sam, blushing even though it's chilly out here in the forest. She looks at Alec and Jas, then down at her hands, curiously. "I don't feel any different. Jethsa, how does this work? You said you'd explain more. We're going to need to know what to do with ourselves, now."
-
Reece whips around rather suddenly to address Christina, a look of horror on his face. "Crap! Speaking of nudity! That guy! The one from the Compound who is borrowing my face! You don't think he and Sandra might...?" The boy looks down at the ground, caught in one of the moral quandries natural to teenage hyjinks when aliens are involved.
-
Kasey jumps up, and darts to answer the front door. She opens it, and users Reece and Christina in. She flops back onto the couch, and responds to Torrence, "Well, she didn't exactly admit to anything...it's just." she shrugs before continuing, "I don't trust them, Tor. Something there isn't quite right."
-
Alice:
I received an SMS inviting me to Kasey's house. Instead of replying to it, I simply made my way over on foot and rang her front doorbell. I'd seen an eagle and a condor landing in her back yard and assumed they'd knock on the BACK door rather than try to come around to the front of the house.
I couldn't help but feel nervous about what Jenny had recorded on the storage device... But I trusted her enough to play the recording aloud without screening it privately myself first. I came up with a suitable design for a machine that could access the storage device, so I could make a realistic hologram.
-
Christina;Kasey's House
"Thanks!" Christina pulled on Reece's shirt, grateful for its loan. "I thought it'd look weird, an animal carrying clothes. Maybe we should stash some clothes at each others' homes."
At Reece's mention of looking at his 'junk', Christina rolled her eyes and knocked on Kasey's door again.
At Reece's question, the teenager replied with a straight face. "Yes. His first mission as you is to get with your girl. Forget the alien invasion thing, that's all a smoke screen so he can get with your girl."
The blond shook her head ruefully, a grin splitting her face and revealing she was busting Reece's chops.
"In all seriousness, I think he's trying to remember your favorite foods and your & Sandra's anniversary. After all, he might have all of you bio in his head, but he's not you. I'm sure he'll postpone any fun stuff til' you slide back behind the wheel."
As Kasey answered the back door, she headed inside and headed into kasey's room with the other girls.
"So what are we talking about, the elevator - room people? Kasey, do you have a shirt that I can borrow?" The blond indicated Reece's over sized shirt.
"I managed to get bottoms, but no top."
Torrence; Kasey's house
"You think so?" Torrence frowned. "That's not good. So Reece is bringing this thing- you haven't really elaborated on what that is."
She checked her cell phone, stating: "Brit, Damien and Eddie haven't replied in with if they're coming at all."
As Alice joined the group, she greeted the other girl enthusiastically.
"So, Kasey thinks your friends are pod people. What gives with them?"
Lakeside Forrest; Jethsa
<Yes, I did say that I would explain further. Essentially, you are utilizing an Andalite technology that allows you to become any animal that you touch. This term is called 'acquiring' and there's no limit to how many animals that you may acquire. This technology allows you to access the morph as needed from your own DNA and you can immediately begin the morph whenever you need to.
As I mentioned before, there is a two hour limit for how long you can remain in the morph.
Ideally, we can use this technology to acquire animals adept to stealth to infiltrate the Yeerk Pool, identify the weaknesses of the pool and disable the Kandrona Ray.
Yeerks must leave their host and return to a Pool upon which a Kandrona ay, mimicking the sun of their home planet, every three days. The involuntary hosts are restrained until his or her Yeerk is ready to re enter the host.>
"So they're like slaves?" Alec shifted uncomfortably. "Are we going to rescue them?"
<We could.> Jethsa replied shortly, elaborating after a minute.
<The Yeerks have just arrived. I am informed that the cover group, the Sharing, hasn't even gotten off the ground yet. It's likely that there are few involuntary hosts- the Yeerks would first try and sway voluntary hosts from those in power.
I do know that they are functioning out of a building near a local high school.>
"Taking kids isn't right..." Alec muttered. "I'm not sure about this war- I'm not really fond of eco terrorists, even- but fighting those who want to enslave the human race is something I can get behind."
Alec was instructed to touch the Escafil and soon acquired the morphing power as well.
-
Alice:
I was about to blush, but covered it with a giggle.
"Pod-people? Wow, what films have YOU lot been watching?! Seriously though, they're not THAT bad. They're just... Highly paranoid. Yeah, that's it. Paranoid." I realized I wasn't being particularly convincing. I looked around with my sensors to locate any Chee in the house, making sure they weren't in 'earshot' before continuing, in a conspiratorial whisper; "Jenny told me about the data-cartridge. I've brought with me a means to access it, unless you want to wait for any more of us to turn up first?"
As I spoke the last sentence, I produced from my backpack the holographic fake-player with an appropriate slot to fit the data-cartridge. The force-field on it would only work properly while I maintained physical contact with it, though the hologram itself had no such requirement of course.
-
Kasey shoots Alice an apologetic look, before turning to her closet to get some clothes for Christina. She pulls out a pair of jeans, and a black hoodie. She hands them to the other girl.
She takes a deep breath, and sits down on the floor, leaning against the bed below Torrence, before beginning, "I gave the device to Reece, so we'll have to see if he still has it...and we'll have to see what exactly it is, and what we can use it for. Alice, I love you, and you're one of my best friends, but I don't know how much we can trust those people. There's too much going on there that doesn't fit your, or their explanations. They have too much money, too much manpower, and way too much technology."
-
Alice, Kasey's House:
I turned an apologetic expression on my best human friend. "I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to reveal, but I assure you I know all there is to know about them and I trust them with not-only my life, but with anyone's lives. I'd suggest we play the data-cartridge and see what Jenny has to say. Judging by how you acquired it, it probably contains information about them that her superiors would rather you didn't find out about yet." I hoped this would pique their curiosity about the data-cartridge and transfer it away from myself. "Evidently, you have all earned at least Jenny's trust... To a greater extent than her superiors, anyway."
-
Reece nods, vaguely comforted by Christina's teasing. "Still, if Sandra initiates anything... Or I guess, if Sandra's Yeerk initiates anything..." He makes a face and shakes his head. "Let's forget about all that," he mutters.
As talk turns to the data cartridge he was supposed to have, he does an impeccable job of hiding his surprise and very casually reaches into his pocket. When he discovers the device still nestled by some miracle in the contours of his slacks, he betrays nothing. He pulls it out. "You guys mean this old thing?" he asks. He hands it to Alice.
"And I'm sure they're very nice, Alice. But we want to know whether they're Zordon-nice or CIA-Superior-Officer-nice."
-
Jas watched as Jethsa's body changed, rearranged, distorted in odd ways. He twisted his face up again but watched the whole morph without comment. A hand went instinctually to the .50 cal again, but dropped back to his side without Jas really even noticing. He'd hallucinated stuff almost that bad when he was drunk, really roaring drunk, so it perhaps didn't disturb as much as it would have otherwise. "God I need a drink." The young human took a deep breath and listened.
"You said...you said animals meant for stealth. But what about other people? I mean they're animals. You are too for that matter...so can we..."acquire"...you and then "morph" into what you are? Or "acquire" a Yeerk and infest someone to get inside?" Jas looked at the caterpillar questioningly. Maybe he was drunk and passed out and this was some freaked-up weird dream, but Jas was having little trouble accepting the fact that a blue alien had just turned into a caterpillar in front of his eyes and the caterpillar was still her. He'd have to remember what he'd been drinking when he woke up, whatever it was, it must've been some d*mn good booze.
-
In the forest of Lakeside.
"You and me, both, Jas," Sam murmurs. She listens to Jethsa's explanation of the morphing power, the time limit, the Yeerks and Kandrona rays, and becomes incensed by the fact that these creatures are taking humans over against their will. More than a little creeped out, too. "This is way too Invasion of the Body Snatchers," she gripes, but as Jethsa mentions The Sharing her blood freezes. She doesn't even really hear what Jas said.
"Wait, wait, The Sharing? Like, the community non-profit clean-up-the-park Sharing? That's a Yeerk cover organization?" She laughs, incredulous. "Really, I..." Then she stops. It's hard to read the expression of an Andalite-turned-caterpilar. "You're kidding, right? The Sharing is a little weird, I'll give you that, but so are a lot of community togetherness bull kind of groups. I've...damnit, I've volunteered for The Sharing. They still want to know if I want to become some kind of senior member. The middle school principal teacher's in it, for crying out loud. It can't...I just..." She shakes her head, shuddering.
-
Christina
Reece nods, vaguely comforted by Christina's teasing. "Still, if Sandra initiates anything... Or I guess, if Sandra's Yeerk initiates anything..." He makes a face and shakes his head. "Let's forget about all that," he mutters.
"If its bothering you so much, maybe you should talk to the guy playing you." The blond suggested. "This is supposed to be for your benefit, so giving you an apoplexy isn't very helpful."
Torrence
"So that's the device?" Torrence clarified as Reece handed it to Alice. "Fire 'er up, lets see what's on it."
Lakeside; Jethsa
"You said...you said animals meant for stealth. But what about other people? I mean they're animals. You are too for that matter...so can we..."acquire"...you and then "morph" into what you are?
<You are correct, Jas, it is possible to morph sentinent beings. My older collegues mentioned some hesitation on this aspect, however. I am unsure if it is simply a moral quandary.
Would you object to morphing a sentient being?>
"Wait, wait, The Sharing? Like, the community non-profit clean-up-the-park Sharing? That's a Yeerk cover organization?" She laughs, incredulous. "Really, I..." Then she stops. It's hard to read the expression of an Andalite-turned-caterpilar. "You're kidding, right? The Sharing is a little weird, I'll give you that, but so are a lot of community togetherness bull kind of groups. I've...damnit, I've volunteered for The Sharing. They still want to know if I want to become some kind of senior member. The middle school principal teacher's in it, for crying out loud. It can't...I just..." She shakes her head, shuddering.
<The Yeerks have not had enough time to establish the Sharing as they wish. There has not had enough time - or enough Yeerk arrivals- to have many involuntay hosts, yet. Most Sharing branches are not fully formed. They are composed of normal humans directed and guided by a single host, most likely voluntary. This 'recruitment' you mention is when you are approached to become a voluntary host. The Yeerks do not have enough Yeerks at the moment to have many involuntary hosts.
This means that the Sharing should be our primary focus- we should make sure that they can not amass enough numbers to begin involuntary infestations.>
-
"You're serious. The Sharing." Sam exhales. "Oh, man...so now what are we going to do, turn into caterpillars and worm our way in there, ask them to please shut down, we know they're really alien...alien slugs? Even if we could become something more powerful, how are we supposed to stop them? I'm no fighter, I can barely bench press ten pounds..." She looks at Jas, then back at the Andalite girl-slash-caterpillar. "What were you saying...morph a sentient being? Like, turn into another human? Oh, no way, that's just too weird for me. You mean we could become someone famous and get into all the good parties, for only two hours? Become a guy? I have friends who are transexual but this is ridiculous." Sam seems to realize she's ranting, and stops for breath, pacing a little in the cool grass. "What do you guys think about all of this, what are we supposed to do? I can't make any decisions right now."
-
Jethsa; Lakeside
<We need to decide how best to proceed. The question on whether or not you want to acquire a human or human Controller - someone who is infested by a Yeerk- is a personal choice that you will need to decide for yourselves. I certainly am not advocating that we do so, it is something that your companion bought up first.>
A dark shadow suddenly came over the horizon, which was quickly being overcome with darkness. The shadow soon revealed itself to resemble a black, oval-shaped beetle, with two eye-like windows and two serrated spears jutting out from its front end.
At seeing this, Jethsa suddenly spoke, her thought speak showing fear.
<A bug fighter! This is a transport of the Yeerk empire! Quickly, you must hide; do not be seen by that!
Kasey's House
Alice:
I took the data-cartridge Reece offered me and pretended to insert it in the pretend-device I'd conjured with my hologram. What I actually did with it was connect directly to it myself, of course. I placed my holographic hologram-projector on the floor in the middle of the room and activated the recording. I didn't know whether Jenny had coded simple audio, a 2D image, or a full-hologram message, but the fake device would play it properly anyway.
The chip:
For a long moment, there was a realistic loading screen after Alice utilized the program to access the disk.
The screen soon loading a blue screen with the words 'To our morphing friends'. The next screen rolled over and Jenny's voice began to speak as a picture of the house where they had spent the night loaded.
'I wanted to apologize for the terse way I shall behave to you today, my friends. My superiors are under the impression that we should hide our true identity and intentions from you. I, however, feel that deceit only hampers our relationship and certainly doesn't help us fight together against the Yeerk Invasion.
However, it is very important that you understand this is a secret that has been maintained for eons. No one amongst my people will be happy that I am sharing this with you. It's very important that you respect their stance in this manner.
A long time ago, there was a race called the Pemalites."
The screen changed to an image of space.
"We weren't from around here. It's safe to say that we were from a neighboring place, but not Earth. That's not important right now."
The image changed to a robot, albeit a highly friendly sort, definitely created by humans.
"A long time ago, the Pemalites were attacked by a horrible species called Howlers. The Permalites were a peaceful race that were defenseless.
Soon, they realized that they were dying. Soon, the race would be extinct."
Jenny's voice sounded very saddened.
The next image to load was one of earth. A 'next' button appeared, indicating an interaction was needed to continue.
-
Reece sits down. "It bothers me that I am willing to accept 'robots from outer space' as an explanation at this point," he sighs. "Like, I look at this message, and I think 'Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense,' and that in and of itself is too damn weird. It's like, meta-weird. Weird because it is not weird." He scrutinizes the image. "Except, if the Pemalites went extinct, then who or... what exactly are we negotiating with?"
"Yeah." Torrence frowned, staring at the image. "All we have here is a big image of Earth. So did they like, crash here and were buried here? It's sad that they were destroyed by these Howlers. Really. But... I'm confused too."
Alice:
I was mildly surprised that Jenny had given so much away, that she'd told so much truth already, what else was she going to reveal?
"There is more to come. I'll press 'next', shall I?" I asked, rhetorically, reaching out to 'touch' the on-screen command.
"I wonder... some alien race crashes here and dies in ancient times. Could they have left anything behind we'd know about? Fossils, or cities or something?" He pauses. "We should definitely see what's next."
The chip:
Jenny continued as Alice pressed 'next'.
"The Pemalites had already created someone to be their friends and companions, someone just as peaceful as they were. These friends took the Permalites to Earth and agonized as their dear friends, the peaceful ones, died one by one.
These friends decided to try and keep a bit of their friend with them. They bound their friends with a breed of animals found on Earth, wolves."
The image became a wolf, which slowly changed into a dog.
"This is why the wolves decedents are so important to the Permalite's friends, as a reminder of their peaceful creators.
These friends of the Permalites are called the Chee. They have all of the technology that the Permalites left behind..."
Jenny trailed off.
Suddenly, the image blipped. Then it blipped again. It looked as though something had been written over the end of Jenny's message.
A new image- of a young woman in her twenties and two young men in thier twenties. The woman is pale white with freckles and dirty blond hair. One man with slightly slanted eyes that belies that he has some Asian heritage and his hair is very light, almost white. The other man dark and with black hair- came into view. The scene was the compound they'd visited.
They watched as the woman held up some sort of scanner and negotiated her way to the tree Jenny had showed them- and picked up the blue box that had given them thier powers.
The disk stopped, finished.
Reece stands up and pops his back, looking off into the distance before turning his gaze towards Alice. "Jenny said this message would reveal the true identity of her people. I'm guessing she doesn't mean the whole dogs-are-secretly-aliens thing, as weird as that is..." He looks to the floor, thinking. "The Pemalites are dead, and so all that leaves is the Chee. The... robots, I guess?" He looks back to Alice, eyes narrowed with curiosity rather than suspicion. "Alice, you're close to these people. Are you...?"
Alice:
"The Chee are my friends." I answered Reece, bluntly. "I'm quite surprised Jenny revealed so much, given how little time she's had to get to know everyone... But what is most troubling is what was on the end of the recording: That bit with the two men and one woman, taking the Escafil Device - The Blue Box, or Morphing Cube, it has many names in many languages, but that's not important right now. What is important is that we now have a big clue who took it!" I frowned a second, then added: "I wonder what Jenny was going to say at the end of the recording; The bit that was over-written, I mean."
Christina:
"Yeah, the spy people- the Chee? Is that right?- asked us to find the cube. Maybe if we find it, they'll stop treating us like we're ten!"
Reece's eyes linger on Alice a moment, and then he nods. "Right. And how did they manage to record over whatever hi-tech gadgetry it is the Chee wrote this with? Unless Jenny chose to cut herself off, or another Chee put that footage there. There've got to be some very capable people involved with this." He frowns. "Christina's right, too. It the Chee can't handle this, we've got a good opportunity to prove our worth to them."
Torrence:
"It's almost as if someone realized that something was wrong and overwrote what Jenny meant to say. But yeah, we do know what the people look like now, the thieves that took the morphing cube."
"So you've known about the fact that they're Chee all along?" Torrence asked, giving Alice a long look.
She doesn't say anything for a long minute, staring at Alice.
"Quite... loyal of you."
Loyalty to the Chee was admirable- although she hadn't said anything, even when Kasey said she knew something was wrong. Torrence glanced away from Alice, giving Reece a questioning look.
Reece raises his eyebrows at Torrence briefly, acknowledging her concern but trying not to seem too hostile. He paces. "Trouble is, even if we know what these folk look like, finding them is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack if we can't figure out where they might have gone." He turns back to Alice. "Clearly, you guys have had some troubles with information security. Any idea who might have found out you had this thing, let alone known how to get in?"
-
((That's exactly how I pictured Bug fighters, by the way :) ))
Sam turns, standing up straight and gazing at the horizon. Her eyes widen. Yes, a spaceship was flying toward them. A definite UFO. "Oh, crap, guys, hide...it's alright, Jethsa, they can't notice you as a caterpillar. I hope...come on, let's go." She kneels and gently picks up Jethsa, steps behind the lean to and into the trees, crouching down in the semi-darkness. "The blanket!" she hisses. "Damnit...if they land..."
-
Jethsa
<Hide!> Jethsa encourages. <In all likelihood, if you had never lifted me up, I never would have been discovered. I advise against running, the movement may attract attention.>
The Andalite falls silent.
Above the Bug fighter approaches, it is now hovering over the tree tops a mere forty feet to the north.
Alec seizes the bloody blanket and wraps it into a long roll, throwing it to the ground and began to cover its bright blue color by kicking dirt and pine needles over it. After it was suitably hidden, he crouched wordlessly beside Sam.
His dark skin was pale, drops of sweat visible.
Kasey's House
Alice:
I fold my arms across my chest in an automatic gesture. "I'm not sure what, or who, happened to change that recording. It'd take SOME doing, believe me. I suppose it is a remote possibility that it was overwritten accidentally, recording the images of the Escafil-thieves... I'm pretty sure the thieves wouldn't have deliberately recorded themselves like this... It's still impressive that they managed to intrude so far into the compound. Impressive, and worrysome. - Pemalite technology surpasses that of the Yeerks, indeed even Andalite technology pales in comparison, except in the field of weapons, of course..." I trailed off, thinking hard.
Torrence
"The thing in the woman's hand..." Torrence frowned, pointing at the woman in the image. "Doesn't it look like it's important to them?"
GM: At second look, Alice recognizes Andalite technology, if a bit more advanced than she expected. Perhaps there had been improvements recently.
Reece nods. "It definitely seems to indicate that we're not dealing with a couple of **** teenagers. And if we are, they've got remarkable props." He paces back and forth. "Could it be the Yeerks? Far as I know, the only techno-wizards we've got actually on this planet are the slugs and the Chee. Maybe it's an inside job? We already know of one of you who prefers to stray from the rest."
Alice: My musings had caused me to momentarily overlook Torrence's question. I blinked when I realized I hadn't answered her. "Yes, I've known about the Chee and the Pemalites for a long time. They have earned my loyalty, as I have earned theirs. I protect their secrets, their true identity, and I'm putting my faith in all of you to do the same. - If the Yeerks ever learned about the Chee, they would decimate every last one and gain Pemalite technology by reverse-engineering. If that happened, it would not just be the end for the Chee, but for every sentient species in the galaxy."
I played back the part of the recording that had interrupted Jenny, freezing the image and enhancing the object, freezing the image and enhancing the object in the woman's hands. "That looks like... But it can't be!... Andalite tech?? They must have made a breakthrough and found a way to trace the morph-energy the Escafil device releases... I wonder if they reverse-engineered some Helmacron technology... Certainly explain some things..." Half my musings were aloud, still more remained silently internal, worrying what the Andalites would do with the Chee if we became generally-known to them. I hoped it was just one, or a small group, that had found us out, and that they hadn't reported our existence to their military at large...
"So there are the Yeerks- the slugs- the bad guys. They want our brains." Reece says. He motions his hands from left to right as he works through the groups involved. "Then there are the Chee, our friends or whatever, who want us to fight the Yeerks. They're good enough for now." He tries to remember. "The Andalites you'd said were the ones who invented the blue thing, right? And now they're trying to get it back from the Chee. And you're saying they can track us?"
Alice:
"No-no, we don't emit anywhere near as much morph-energy as the Escafil-device does, not even WHILE morphing. I guess if it was properly tuned, it could get a beat on someone in the process of morphing/demorphing... The signal would only last until the morph/demorph was complete though, then the signal would disappear." I said, in answer to Reece's question. "Yes, the Escafil device is indeed Andalite tech. It's one of their most advanced pieces of technology, in fact. Andalites fight the Yeerks, so they can be considered friends... Or at least Allies. I do not know why the Andalite responsible didn't simply ask the Chee for the Blue-Box... It is their technology, after all, and would have been freely returned to them."
"Well, that assumes they know who you are," Reece points out.
"Could be these Andalites never heard of the Chee, or that the Andalite tech was stolen, too. Though I don't know why they wouldn't bother stealing whatever gadgetry you've got on your base..."
-
"Oh, God, it's going to land," Sam whispers, cupping her hands gently around the caterpillar.
-
Kasey, who has been sitting on the floor in silence, listening to the others speak, suddenly leaps to her feet. She darts out of the room, and returns a few moments later, dropping a pile of old yearbooks on the floor. "Those people look to be about my brother's age. Do you think we might be able to find out who they are if we look through his yearbooks?" She opens one, and begins thumbing through it.
-
Jas listened with some interest, the abilities and possibilities might well be endless...if this all wasn't some product of a drunk stupor. The urgency with which the andalite spoke again as he heard the whine of what must be repulsor engines outside the lean-to got his attention though. "D*mn!" Jas watched as Alec wadded up the blanket. "What about that d*mn thing?!" Jas pointed at the Escafil for a moment before bending over and scooping it up. He went to where the others were hiding. "We might be able to make the trees...d*mn it if only we didn't have to hide this! If we could find a good place to hide this....All of us moving might catch attention...but one of us might be able to sneak off...here..." Jas handed the cube to Alec. True he didn't trust the guy, but this obviously wasn't the time to get hung up on stuff. "Wrap the blanket around it, that'll at least hide the glow."
Jas continued to crouch as he watched the strange craft glide across the landscape...one thing was for sure, the craft was not unobvious...anyone looking in this direction might well spot it...strange the would be so careless. "If they land, and they spot us, we scatter. Sam..." Jas took off his leather shoulder-holster and handed it with his Desert Eagle in it to her. "You better keep this d*mn thing safe, I want it back. But if you have to cap someone...well, I could hand-fight, you need that more right now." Jas looked around himself and saw some movement out of the corner of his eye...a bull snake...he snatched it with as little movement as possible. "Well...here goes."
The snake had been writhing in the human youth's hand, but it seemed to calm as Jas...well he didn't know what he was doing but he just concentrated on sucking the DNA out and apparently it worked. He looked back and forth from Sam to Alec and then crossed his fingers as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the bull snake...willing his body to adopt the new DNA, and pure strangeness ensued. His bones shifted, cracked, some even melted away all together as his face pointed and his tongue forked in his mouth. He went to hands and knees and lowered to the ground as they shrank and shriveled to be absorbed into his body, his skin changing colors and serating as the scales took shape. He continued to shrink and suddenly he was seeing everything from the floor of the edge of the forest. He flicked his tongue out unconsciously and tasted the air...he tasted a rodent nearby. He flicked the tongue again and started slithering, he slithered completely from his clothes, underwear and all, before stopping himself and getting his mind about him. <Wow...this is weird...I guess it worked.> Jas thought the words and didn't know if his companions had heard him, but that's what Jethsa seemed to do and it seemed to work just fine. <But I can't carry anything like this...if only we didn't have to hide that d*mn cube.>
-
"Oh, man, the cube..." Sam shakes her head, still crouched, as Jas recovers the alien technology. "Unbelievable. We cannot let that thing find it, can you imagine what they'd do with something like this? If this really is some kind of war?"
As Jas hands her his gun she looks down at it in surprise, keeping one hand free to hold Jethsa. "Jeez, Jas, I can't even fire this thing," she hisses, holding the gun awkwardly. "What are you gonna do, fight a UFO single-handed?" Sam bites her lip, thankful for the relative darkness of the forest when Jas starts mutating into a snake. Hideously. Possibly painfully, but when Jas' voice pipes up in the weird, just-in-your-head way that Jethsa has of speaking, she feels a bit more at ease. Her stomach, not so much. "Jas?" she says weakly. "You're a snake. A snake. Are you alright?"
Distracted by the obvious blue glow of the cube in Alec's hands, she turns to look at him. "Alec, make sure that cube is safe, we need someone here who can either carry the cube out of here or...or maybe..." She spots an owl a few feet away up in a tree. "No. This is...I still can't believe this is happening. Look, the ship is coming closer...we need to bury that thing and get...small. Quickly." She looks down at Jas. "Jethsa, can we morph into things that are already someone else's morph? I don't know where the real snake went!"
-
Do you think we might be able to find out who they are if we look through his yearbooks?" She opens one, and begins thumbing through it.
It took nearly thirty minutes to examine all of the photos in the year books over the years, but a likeness was finally found.
Under the smiling girl's face was the name 'Samantha Wagner'. There was no comments near her, suggesting that Kasey's brother didn't know this person well.
There was no mention of the other two people who were seen in the recording.
Lakeside, Alec & Jethsa
"I just buried the blanket." Alec pointed out, but he wrecked his previous work to wrap the cube. Now he was carrying cube and blanket, because he didn't dare bury it in case the strange ship did land.
"You have a gun?" He said, surprised. "Okay Sam, you and me can walk off real slow behind this tree line. You have Jethsa? Okay, good."
He frowned as Jas became a snake, but kept his hold on the cube and began to inch his way away from the Bug Fighter.
"I'm not burying this thing. They'll find it."
Jethsa said
<No, you need to acquire an animal. You do not have much time for discussion- and if you acquire something, would it look odd carrying the crude weapon Jas handed you?
There's not much time for discussion. Act.>
The Bug fighter had remained still during this conversation but now began to lower itself down to the ground, similiar to a helicopter. It would land forty feet away.
Jethsa said <There's no time to morph. Move. There could be up to three aliens in that ship.>
-
Kasey sits back, staring at the picture. "So...what do we do now? I think we should tail her." She stops, and bursts out laughing, falling back on the floor and covering her face. She continues, from that position. "You know, just turn into birds and follow her or something. Then we can turn into mice and spy on her from in her house to figure out if she's a slug or an Andalite." She errupts into another fit of giggles, unable to get over the absurdity of the situation.
-
Reece laughs. "Look, if we're going to get serious about this infiltration business, I want to find out how the hell it is that Alice manages to morph a set of clothing. You guys are great and all, but the nudity bit is a drag."
-
Alice, Kasey's House:
I smiled at Kasey's comment, then started to giggle along with her at the seeming-absurdity that their lives had become.
At Reece's question, I took a few seconds to simmer-down from the laughter while I thought up a good reply.
"I have not morphed my clothing, other than my underwear. So far you have only seen me morph other women; I simply kept the same outer clothing on. I had to morph my underwear for..." I clear my throat with a quiet 'ahem', bringing my hands up to indicate my chest; "...Size, reasons." With that, I cause a slight blush in my cheeks and lower my hands again.
I thought for a moment how Eddie might have reacted to my hand-gesture: Would he have looked? Pretended not to look? Forced himself to maintain eye-contact and actually not look? - These fleeting thoughts caused me to smile slightly.
"Luckily the general-purpose outer clothing I wear is suitable for most purposes, both in size and in function. I don't merely wear clothes like this for fashion-reasons, you know." I paused, deactivating the recording that still glowed in the middle of the room and returning the fake holographic projector device to my backpack.
"Who wants to look after this?" I asked, breaking the subject of clothes temporarily as I held up the data-cartridge we'd just been watching.
While they decided the answer to this, I went back to the subject of morphing clothes: "Unfortunately it would take a truly talented Estreen to pull off the morphing of any complex or loose clothing, such as jackets or skirts etc, but with a LOT of practise and keen concentration on the clothing you intend to morph, it IS possible for untalented morphers to retain skin-tight simple clothing as part of your natural form; Leotards, bike-shorts, lycra, skin-tight underwear such as briefs or sports-bras, but not the type with underwires girls - Metal doesn't morph, and plastic takes a lot of effort, so jewelery and watches etc are also out of the question." I paused again, then hastily added: "Oh yeah, and if you intend to morph another human, be aware that acquiring their DNA cannot acquire their underwear. You would be able to choose whether you retain your morph-clothing as part of your original form: In which case it would disappear; Or continue wearing it/them into your nominated morph-form: In which case their size becomes an issue - Morphing someone bigger than you in this instance would make the morph-clothing a lot tighter, possibly cutting off circulation or causing the garment to rip in some cases. Similarly, morphing someone smaller than you this way would cause the garments to become loose, possibly falling down/off which could be just as embarassing as not bothering. Morphed garments do NOT repair themselves like injuries do, so bear this in mind too." I paused for 'breath' and to let this information sink in a bit.
"There is a third option for clothing a human-morph, and this is the one I use: If you have time to practise the morph before it's actually needed, you can dress that morph in its own set of morphable-garments that fit them and then retain those garments as part of that morph thereafter.
Non-living parts of morphs are kept in a kinda z-space pocket when not in use. Things like hair, dead skin, nails, claws, morph-clothing etc. These things are not altered and not repaired. If you have a hair-cut, then morph and demorph, the haircut is not undone. If you break a nail, girls, remorphing yourself won't repair it. If it's broken bad enough that it bleeds, the bleed would heal of course because that's a living part. I suggest you all absorb what I've said about morphing clothing BEFORE broaching the subject of Z-space, as that is pretty complicated stuff and I don't want your heads to explode with information-overload if I can help it."
With that, I lapsed into welcome silence and awaited any question I may have overlooked.
-
<Yeah...it's weird...I mean I can....it's weird Sam, it's just weird...> Jas tried to slither but just sort of writhed on the ground for a moment before he finally tapped into the genetic memory he'd gotten with the DNA to undulate in successive repetition to produce locomotion. He started for the treeline before remembering his clothes. <D*mn it, Sam before you run off...can you grab that stuff and wad it up or something and carry it...if they see a pile of clothes on the ground...well it's gonna be obvious to anyone with half a brain that someone was here.....and if those *sses know what they're looking for, they'll know the rest too and they'll tail you guys until they catch you. I don't even wanna think about what they'd do...shove one of those things in your ear or something? Slip the holster on over your shoulder and you could carry stuff easier...d*mn I shouldn't have changed into a snake...I just made things harder on everyone else.>
Jas wriggled to the side of the lean-to and poked his head around for a moment. <Just grab the stuff and run...that space ship or whatever isn't open yet. Once you guys are clear I'll let you know and I'll join up with you and change back so I can carry my stuff. Jeeze, where is the alcohol when I REALLY need it?> Jas continued to watch the ship, waiting for his companions to run.
-
"No way, Jas, we can't leave you here!" Sam looks up as Jethsa warns about hurrying, seeing the creepy black buglike ship slowly hover toward the ground. "Sh*t, sh*t," she repeats, grabbing Jas' holster belt from his pile of clothes and single handedly throwing it around her shoulder, lopsided and all wrong. She gently places the gun in the holster and grabs his clothes in a big pile, cramming them under her arm. She continues to hold Jethsa in her left hand, glancing back at Jas. "That's it." She crouches down close to the lean to, just out of sight behind it. "Climb on top of your clothes, Jas," she says, offering a dangling shirt sleeve from the pile she has under her arm. "We're all getting out of here." She impatiently waits for him to slither closer.
-
Reece frowns. "I guess I'll be switching to briefs," he concludes. He tries to remember if he'd ever seen Alice morph between actual outfits. He can't be sure. He takes a deep breath, as if bracing himself. "So, what's this about Zee-space?"
-
Kasey listens to the conversation, responding when Alice asks who will keep the device. "I can, if that's okay with everyone. I'll hide it in my closet...speaking of which, I've got a few outfits that I can give to Torrence and Christina, no need to buy new stuff. And if any of the guys need bike shorts or something like that, I can root through my brother's closet before he gets back from school for you guys." She holds out her hand, waiting for the device and nodding when Reece asks his question. "And more importantly than his question. What are we going to do to find this girl?"
-
"Bike shorts would be awesome if you've got them," Reece agrees. "If this girl's still in town, she might be in the phonebook. We could try infiltrating her house to see if there are more clues there."
-
Kasey nods, and gets up. She leaves her room and goes into her brother's room, rummaging through his dresser looking for bike shorts. She also stops in the hallway, grabbing a phone book from the small table that houses a telephone. She returns to her room carrying two pairs of shorts and a phone book.. She tosses one set of shorts and the phonebook to Reece, and then sets the other pair on her desk.
She enters her closet, and can be heard rummaging around. She emerges, with three sets of clothes. "I think we're all about the same size, ladies. Pick what you'd like." She holds out three black tank tops, two pairs of black bike shorts, and a pair of purple bike shorts. She waits for the girls to grab what the want before sitting down.
-
Jas sighed, or at least he sighed to himself...he was pretty freaked out at the thought of being there alone and Jas wasn't really a hero-type. Of course if they knew what they were looking for, they could trap and hold any animals in the area. <Fine, Sam...but after this, you...me....bar. Non-negotiable.> Jas slithered closer after giving one last look to the ship that was touching down. He slithered onto his clothing and coiled up, biting down on the nub of his belt sticking out of the top of the pile to keep himself in place.
<Go, keep low....this could turn out bad, let's make it turn out good. I hear they don't have beer in heaven...assuming that's where I'm headed.>
-
"Best hostess ever?" Reece asks. "Distinctly possible. At the very least, you're not ass-deep in freaky-advanced technology." Reece excuses himself to the restroom to put the shorts on underneath his clothes. When he returns, he picks the phonebook back up and begins to search it for information.
-
"Right," Sam whispers, nodding at Alec, holding Jethsa in one hand and Jas' clothes with snake-Jas under the other arm. "Let's get the hell out of here." She makes her way through the forest, stepping quickly but wincing at every crackling leaf under her sneakers. Luckily she knew this part of the forest wasn't too thick, and moving along this way would eventually bring them back around to a quiet suburban street close to Sam's bus line.
But behind them, terribly close by, the alien spaceship had already landed. Sam was no distance runner, especially in the dark forest, with her hands full and Jas' gun clanking against her stomach. She'd never fired a gun before, and just having one constantly hitting her was unnerving.
-
Torrence:
"Thanks." Torrence replied, making no move to get them now. After all, she was wearing clothing.
"So we're going to find this Sam girl, shouldn't we get on it? Where's the phone book?"
Christina:
Hurriedly grabbing the clothes and excusing herself, she dressed in the bathroom. With a start, she realized that the window had been open while she changed. Self conscious, she drifted oer to the window to close the drapes.
GM:
In the wooded area some distance away, Christina saw something large moving among the trees. A plane? No, smaller. Quieter, too. She lost it in a clump of tree tops, but remained at the window, awaiting its reappearance. Suddenly it arose from the trees- in its awful bug like shape. She'd never seen anything like it...
Chistina:
"Guys!" She shouted. "Come look at this. There's a weird ****roach ship."
She started. "It's heading this way!"
GM:
The Bug fighter that Jethsa described hovered above the ground as the four hurried away. Slowly, it began to descend- let never made contact with the ground. Instead it rose again in the air, moving in the same direction as Jas, Jethsa, Alec and Sam. It soon was a mere twenty feet behind them, thirty feet in the air.
Jethsa:
The alien writhed in Sam's hands, the caterpillar leaping to freedom and falling to the ground.
<I believe I have determined why they are here- the residual readings from my ship. I must return to it and conceal its presence.You three must hurry away, hopefully I can distract them. Go now!>
Alec:
The black haired man tightened his grip on the blanket concealing the Escafil as he stepped underneath a tree, hoping its branches concealed him from the ship drawing closer.
"Don't do anything stupid, girl." He states, before complying and hurrying away while clutching the blanket and its precious contents to his chest.
Jethsa suddenly began to grow larger- resuming her blue form. However, she never had had such a magnificent bladed tail before- unless that what had been under the blanket!
<Sam, get the scanner I gave you.> Jethsa reached over and pressed a series of buttons. <This will cancel out the alien technology readings for a bit. There's some residual readings from... I don't understand, but there's two readings to the north. Hurry there before it fades!
If I can't meet up with you tonight, I'll be at the Pier at 10 tomorrow morning.>
The blue alien suddenly broke into a run, darting between the trees. The Bug Fighter quickly veered off in pursuit.
-
Sam yelps as Jethsa writhes out of her hand and begins to morph back into her natural Andalite form. She quickly covers her mouth with her free hand, glancing back. The alien ship hadn't landed...it was rising again! "Hang on, Jethsa, I'll get the scanner," she says, fumbling for the black device in her pocket and nearly losing her car keys in the process. She glares at Alec in the semidarkness, not sure if he was addressing her or Jethsa. She lets Jethsa, now fully Andalite, manipulate the device.
"I'll make my way toward my apartment, if you can find me. Jas will be there. If not, we'll see you at the Pier. Be careful, Jethsa, please," says Sam, hurrying off after Alec with Jas and Jas' clothes still under her arm. She peers down at the blinking scanner device, hoping it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. Buying them some time.
The forest stretches on endlessly as she makes her way through the root branches and hanging leaves.
-
The Scanner beeps, informing Sam that she's heading the wrong way. It wants her to tun left, towards a small housing complex in the distance.
-
"North," Sam whispers, following the scanner's readings toward the edge of the woods. In a few minutes she finally reaches the beginning of suburbia, spotting a small housing complex. The scanner flashes more frequently, and Sam nods. "This has got to be it. Hang on tight, Jas." She blows a strand of blonde hair out of her sweaty face, not even daring to look back and see if the spaceship is still following them. Sam walks along the pavement until the sidewalk begins, only stopping to tuck the gun holster under her shirt--it was a little obvious swinging a weapon around her shoulder in the middle of a quiet neighborhood street at night.
-
Kasey drops the clothes on a heap in the floor, and darts into the bathroom. She stares out the window, standing next to Chrisina. Her face blanches as her eyes lock onto the ship. "Holy sh**, what is that?"
-
"A ship? A space-ship?" Reece asks as he makes his way to the window. He sees the thing stretch through the sky. "Holy farts," he exhales. He ducks down behind the curtain. He takes several deep breaths before snapping his gaze up to the girls.
"I'm going to go Oxpecker and follow it. That should be non-exotic enough not to draw too much attention. If it goes farther than I can fly in that form, I'll take it as a sign to head back." His features begin to twist and reshape.
-
Christina
"Not alone, you're not. " Christina insists, studying the space? ship. "I'll come with you. I'll go as a fox, it's common enough. It is called the common gray fox. You scope out the sky, I'll watch you from the ground."
Her skin erupted with gray fur as she began to shrink, kicking off her shoes. Her mouth and nose suddenly melted together, only to erupt outwards in a muzzle. The blonde hair began to darken even as it schooolped back into her scalp, which was becoming definitely more fox like.
Torrence
"Oh geeez," Torrence breathed, watching the ship. "Be careful, you guys."
She turned to Kasey, confused. " What's it doing out here?"
The scanner in Sam's hand suddenly chirped, revealing two much stronger signals in the same direction as she was walking. The beeping rose in frequency, a near constant hum.
As she walked, she was close enough now to see the details of the first few houses, such as lawns and windows.
As the four watched the ship, they became aware of a young woman heading their direction from the same Forrest that the ship was. At this distance, they couldn't tell much besides the fact that she was white with dark hair, and seemed to be carrying a few things.
The ship suddenly put on speed and darted away, heading south.
-
Sam headed in the direction of the stronger signals, hoping that the chirping alien device in her hands was leading her to help, not to an enemy.
-
<Right! Buddy system! Good thinking Christina!> Reece finishes his morph and hops up onto the toilet. <Could someone with hands get the window? We've got a flight to catch.>
-
Jas bounced around on top of his clothes with Sam's movements. He wasn't going to say anything until he realized he didn't need to open his mouth to speak...that belt was his lifeline right now. <I can hear that noise, what does it mean? Some sort of alien technology it's supposed to register or something?> Jas writhed back into a central position on top of his clothes as Sam slowed to a walk. The image was blurry to his reptile eyes but he could pick out the shapes of buildings in the near distance...they had exited to forest now. Jas' snake DNA told him to flick his tongue but he didn't dare let go of the belt. <Where the hell are we going Sam?>
-
Kasey stares helplessly at Torrence. "I..I have no idea." As Reece and Christina morph, Kasey flings open the window, giving them room for exit. As she does this, she notices the girl, and squints at her. "Tor, is that the girl we were just looking at? I think it is! We need to follow her!"
As she begins to run through the list of morphs that she has acquired, and quickly realizes none of the morphs she has would be suitable for this task. She frowns and turns away from the window, slightly panicked, before a dog toy out in the hallway catches her eye.
Kasey sprints out of the bathroom shouting, "Reggie! REGGIE! C'mere boy! Treats!" She stumbles down the stairs, falling down the second half. She lands at the base with a crash, and lets out a loud shriek. "Son of a! I think I broke my damn ankle." She sits at the bottom of the stairs clutching it helplessly as tears streak down her cheeks.
Upon hearing the commotion Reggie approaches her, tail wagging. He nuzzles Kasey's face waiting for his treat. She glares at him before she realizes that he's her solution. She carefully lets go of the already swollen and bruised ankle, and reaches out to stroke Reggies head. She breathes deeply, trying to focus on the animal's DNA; Reggies tail stops moving soon after. Kasey scratches him one last time behind the ears before pulling her jeans and kicking off her shoes. She mutters to herself, "Should have put those shorts on. Hopefully I can at least morph my underwear this time."
She closes her eyes, focusing on the animals DNA. The first thing she feels is her fingernails hardening, and lengthening, as her hands and feet begin to shrink, and fur sprouting, covering her body. Reggie lets out a whine, and trots out of the room, hiding under the dining room table. She opens her eyes again when she hears Reggie, just in time to see her face pushing out to form a snout. She lets out a yelp as a tail pushes out from her behind and her torso shrinks. She attempts to call to Torrence as the morph completes, <Torrence, open the-> but at tha tmoment, the animal's instincts kick in.
What is that smell?! A dog!! Where?! Not in my house! She begins to run through the house, attempting to sniff out Reggie. She finds him cowering under the table, and almost immediately loses interest. Oh fooey. He won't play. OH PEOPLE! WHERE ARE THEY!? Maybe they'll play! Kasey darts up the stairs, and runs straight for Torrence. She leaps up, her front paws on the girl, and her tail wagging, a big doggie grin on her face. She tries to lick Torrence's face, leaning heavily on the girl.
-
Torrence
"Kasey, are you okay-" The brunette stopped as the lab jumped up at her. "Ah! Kasey you didn't say you had a dog. Wait."
Torrence peered at the dog, holding its paws.
"Kasey? Kasey, you morphed to meet the girl, didn't you? Did you forget?"
Christina:
<Yeah, I'm awesome.> The fox - Christina replied, hopping up onto the window sill.
<Come on!>
She hopped out of the window onto the eaves, scurrying down to the gutters. The morphed teenager followed it to the pipe and hurtled down towards the ground.
<AAhhhh!> Christina screamed as the fox hands nimbly handled the pipe- until she seized up in fear. With her heart in her mouth, Christina tumbled head over heels, cashing down the last five feet to the ground.
-
Kasey continues to grin up at Torrence, for a moment before gaining control of the morph. She drops back down to all four paws on the ground, and wags her tail, staring up at Christina. <Uh...sorry about that. Yeah, sorry.> The dog shakes it's head. <I morphed. Reggie. My dog. We need to follow that chick. Do you have something you can morph? You could morph Reggie too. I don't think we'd look too strange. Otherwise...you could walk me. We have a spare collar and a leash for him.>
She sniffs at the air, and then catches scent of something on the floor. She begins to follow a trail, straight to the toilet. Before she can gain control over the compulsion, she's drinking from the toilet.
-
Torrence
"Ew, Kasey! You're going to be brushing your teeth for a week."
Torrence shooed Kasey - Reggie away and flipped the toilet seat down.
"No offense, but I think I'll stay human and stick to you. Don't want you agaonizing about eating somethings droppings."
She teased lightly.
"Where's the dog walking stuff?"
-
<EW OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELEIVE I DID THAT!!> Kasey all but shrieks in thought-speak. She makes a whining noise before leaving the bathroom. <Follow me. The gear is in the back entryway.>
She goes back downstairs and trots past Reggie, barely able to keep her instincts in check. She stops at the back doorway to the kitchen, and waits patiently for Torrence to affix the spare collar and find the leash. <Torrence, are you wearing a hood? That would be a good idea, that way the girl won't be able to see you. There are a few hoodies up in my room if you need one.>
-
"I hope this thing is leading us toward someone friendly," says Sam tersely. "It's reading the signals for alien technology. So far one alien has helped us and another crew of them has followed us in a big black floating bug ship apparently with the intent of killing us, if they could find us. Just hang tight." She glances around. "Where'd Alec go? He had Jethsa's cube, I still don't know if I trust the guy..."
-
Reece hops out the window after Christina, and takes for the air. The Oxpecker instincts were fairly easy to control, as there were no gigantic herbivores to pick parasites off of. Seeing that the spaceship had already gone on a ways, he shot a private thoughtspeech message back to the others. <You guys'll want to hurry up, or we're gonna lose this thing.> He wrenched his wings forward as hard as he could- the Oxpecker's flight was fast and direct.
-
Hoping that he's not already out of range, Kasey responds to Reece, <We're going to follow the girl. See what we can find out about her. We'll find you guys later.>
-
I gave Kasey the data-cartridge and was about to answer the questions I'd been asked when Christina shouted from the bathroom about seeing a large roach-chaped object in the sky outside.
I immediately felt a sense of forboding - I knew what it probably was, and it wasn't good. I ramped-up my scanners to double-check, and sure enough I'd guessed right: A Bug-Fighter. "Yeerks..." I barely muttered, with dark undertones.
If anyone had heard me, they gave no indication. Indeed they seemed far too busy/interested in gawking out the bathroom window at the funny-looking UFO. I took the opportunity while they were otherwise engaged to 'morph' Cseirouna again (my 20-something Egyptian low-priestess form. That was my name, back then. It's pronounced Chy-ear-oh-ooh-naah, if you're curious.). That done, I checked my scanners to see if I could detect any other non-human technology in range, such as Dracon-beam weapons or Z-Space transponder signals, that might indicate controllers on the ground as well as in the ship...
I saw a few people morphing, attempting to deliberately carry newly-acquired skin-tight clothing into their morphs for the first time and predictably only getting partial success in the effort, as evidenced by the various shreds of fabric left in their wakes. Still, I had warned them it took PRACTISE as well as concentration to get the trick to work properly, or at least adequately. Considering they'd managed at least a partial transfer of fabric into the morphing process, I predicted they'd get the hang of it in a couple more morphs, transferring more fabric each time until they managed whole garments.
I follow Lab-Kasey and Torrence to the back entryway and move to pet Kasey's canine head while Torrence fetches the collar and leash. - It seemed absolutely natural for me to pet the dog; I was a Chee after all; Though on reflection it may seem weird to essentially be petting my best-human-friend-in-a-dog-morph... Meh, whatever. Let's see how Kasey responds; I can always stop if she wants me to.
-
Kasey happily wags her tail, waiting for Torrence to get ready to go.
-
GM states that the writer themselves or I determine how well one morphs clothes, not another player.
The device in Sam's hand beeped consistently for a few seconds- then two signatures faded. Two more quickly began to beep. After walking a few steps, glancing up would reveal that the scanner was indicating a row of four houses in front of Sam. The scanner wasn't precise enough to determine which house it was coming from or even relayed what it was tracking. The two beeps also faded and the scanner became silent.
Alec was nowhere in sight. You recall that he was behind you when the scanner started to beep and you first began to follow it.
GM note: All characters present are now in sight of each other, with exception of those not standing in the window.
"That seems too emo," Torrence decided. "- wouldn't you be creeped out talking to someone when you couldn't see their face? Here, give me a minute."
The brunette walked over to the sink and picked up a shiny pot. Using the reflection, she began to morph. After a few seconds, her eyes had elongated and her nose had flattened. It was a bit disturbing to look at, as though she was scheduled for corrective surgery.
"Not very pretty," Torrence said, setting down the pot. "- but serviceable."
She leashed up Kasey and opened the door, walking indirectly towards the mysterious woman.
Christina righted herself from her humiliating tumble. She shook her head and clumps of dirt showered off of her.
<Foxes bounce!> She determined. <Good luck with the girl! See ya!>
She began to tot after the bid in the sky- peculiar for the foxes mind. Her head swiveled as she passed the woman.
<She has a snake!> She reported, something her fox brain was very curious about. So curious...
Prying herself away, she began to hurry into the woods, trying to keep the bird in sight.
-
Jas could make out the houses better now...and he sensed a tremor in the air against the wind. He looked and saw a fox trot by. His instincts made him freeze....half of him wanted to slither away heavy with fear, the other half worried that the movement would give him away. He despearately wanted to flick his tongue to scent the air, but didn't dare. He couldn't remember why...why couldn't he flick his tongue? He finally clamped down on the snake instincts and remembered. The thought occured to him and he voiced it.
<Sam, there's a fox...in the middle of the suburbs...must be really hungry to come this close to humans.> As Jas was not terribly familiar with thought-speech, the thought was not personally broadcast to Sam, so anyone within twenty feet could've heard him, though he knew none of this.
-
Sam glances at the fox as it scurries past. "Yeah, that is really weird," she murmurs, still feeling like she's talking to herself. "Jas, I don't know where Alec went, it's bothering me. He still has that cube thing." She looks down at the scanner device. It's stopped beeping. Looking back up at the row of four houses in front of her, she catches a glimpse of movement. People? No, a bird flickering away from one of the windows. "The signal's coming from one of these houses," she says, feeling suddenly very exposed. She steps to the side of one of the houses, pressing her back against it. Great, what am I, a secret agent? she thought. She looks down at the device again, but it makes no further sounds.
-
<Girl? What's going on?> Reece broadcast to the others. The Oxpecker's brain was making it difficult for him to divert his focus- it was focused on migrating towards the strange black thing that seemed just out of reach. He distantly heard Christina yell and slowed a bit- frazzled to attention, but as she continued to speak he calmed down. He heard someone below say <Sam-> in thought speech before he passed out of range. He looked down at the Fox below. <Did you say something Christina?> he asked.
-
Christina
<The girl with the snake.> Christina pointed out, reaching the edge of the forrest. <And no, I didn't say anything. Kasey morphed a dog, Kasey, did you say something?>
The ship that Reece and Christina were attempting to follow was now a good fifty feet away and still making good time. In order to catch up, they'd have to hurry a great deal!
The scanner that Jethsa had given still remained silent, not a beep to be heard.
-
Kasey bounds outside, the moment the door is opened, tugging on the leash. She happily wags her doggy tail, and sniffs around, then freezes. She begins to sniff, frantically moving towards the side of the house. <Guys, I smell someone new. I don't think it's one of you....I think they're over here> She responds to Torrence and Alice, attempting to pull them around the side of the house.
-
Sam looks up, hearing what sounds like people and the frantic snuffling of a dog, somewhere nearby. Behind the house! She steps from the side of the house to the front of it, hurrying away onto the sidewalk, trying to look nonchalant. Damn it, where's the nearest bus stop?
"Hold tight, Jas, I think someone's coming," she says through gritted teeth, trying not to move her lips. She continues to walk along the sidewalk, almost to the end of the next house over from Kasey's.
-
Jas tried to burrow deeper into his clothes...this would've been a lot easier to pull of if he hadn't changed...a twenty-something girl carrying a pile of clothes and wearing a badly-disguised gun down the sidewalk in the middle of the night? <Maybe you could say you were walking to do your laundry...?> Then Jas thought about the gun again. <...and were worried you'd get mugged?> Jas wriggled under his clothes, still biting down on the soft leather nib of his belt...his jaw muscles were starting to get sore and the d*mn snake instincts kept willing him to flick his tongue, it was driving him insane! <I don't know...d*mn I shouldn't have changed into a snake...what the h*ll was I thinking?!> Jas' thoughts were less conversational this time and without meaning to he was really just whispering unconsciously, knowing there were others to hear. It didn't really occur to him that he was thinking and not actually speaking.
-
A sudden thought occurred to Sam. "Jas, how much longer do you have in that body, didn't Jethsa say there was a two hour limit? Maybe I should find somewhere to hide so you can demorph." She still walks evenly and patiently, trying not to look even more suspicious by running. Whoever was over at that house was probably just some couple out taking their dog for a walk. Completely normal and not alien at all.
She hoped...
-
Reece lets out a squawk of frustration- going full-speed he still can't seem to keep up with the accelerating spaceship, even going at full speed. He tosses a thought down to Christina. <I don't know if we're a match for this thing, speed-wise,> he tells her. He peers off into the distance. <If we could only keep it in sight long enough to figure out where it touched down... How do you hide a thing like that?>
-
Jas thought for a moment, fear suddenly tightening him into a coil...how long had it been? But then he remembered Jethsa saying something about an internal trigger for when the time got close...and he figured it couldn't have been much over an hour since the bug fighter landed. <Uhm...I think I'm safe for another fifteen minutes at least, maybe half an hour...I don't know where you could hide with a pile of clothes and a Desert Eagle.> Jas' tone of thought was rueful. <And I don't think an alley will do, what if those people and the dog you're talking about round a corner to see you and a misshapen amorphous blob growing in size? That would be just great...they could even be one of those aliens...jeeze Sam, let's just play it cool for right now....a few more minutes. Jethsa said something about a cue that would tell us when the change was close to becoming permanent right? I don't know what it is but I think I'll know it when I feel it...> Jas wriggled under his clothing and loosened his coils a bit...this was getting out of hand, as if things weren't already weirder than weird. "Alcohol," Jas thought to himself..."that'll fix everything. God I need to get plastered."
-
Torrence 'walked' Kasey, letting the dog lead towards the person she mentioned. As they turned the corner, she spotted a girl that looked quite a lot like the girl from Jenny's disk. Actually... now that they were walking closer, it looked a lot like her.
"Hey," Torrence greeted the older woman. "- hows it going?"
She was a bit self conscious about how she'd morphed her face to look different than her- but she did look like a candidate for corrective surgery. Eh?
Damn, too bad she couldn't talk to Kasey without the people hearing.
Christina
<Maybe we should follow it in a line, we'll see if it cleared the ground.> Christina suggested. After a few moments, they noticed some displaced grass by a copse of trees. It wasn't a touch down per se- but there was a collapsed lean to and several pieces of debris, likely stirred up by the space ship.
<What should we do?> Christina wondered.
-
<Careful Torrence....we don't know who she is. But she's gotta be dangerous if she was able to get into the compound. Just follow her like you're taking me on a walk or something. If she starts moving fast, maybe you can pretend I'm running away from you, and just drop the leash. Nod if that sounds good.> Kasey continues to trot after the girl, wagging her tail.
-
Alice:
(With Kasey and Torrence)
I followed closely behind Lab-Kasey and Torrence as they left the house and went round the side alley to follow the stranger.
I allowed myself more freedom of movement in this form than as my usual Alice form; The kinds of movement a human is theoretically capable of but that most humans are unable to achieve due to their lifestyle. Alice's human body had not had such training as Cseirouna had been taught, of course, so if I made her so it would draw attention and curiosity.
The Chee could not afford to draw attention to any of our 'current' human lives, especially now there were Yeerks on this planet, but Cseirouna was a different story: No matter how hard anyone looked, there would be no record of her existence; She could not be traced, save for any CCTV or glimpses of her in the last 24hrs that I may not have spotted. Doubtless the controllers in the lock-in would probably try to trace her with a photo-fit or something, and I grinned to myself when I thought of their impending frustration when they found she did not officially exist in any database they had access to.
When we got closer to the stranger, Torrence called out a friendly greeting to her but Kasey quieted her, not wanting to draw attention to us yet.
I thought I had detected some thought-speak coming from the direction of the stranger, but it could have just been a sensor-ghost so I didn't say anything about it yet. I tuned my sensors carefully onto the lady ahead of us, 'listening' for any further thought-speak that would give her away as something other than a mere human. If I heard any more thought-speak from her direction, I would let Torrence and Kasey know that it seemed to come from her.
-
Sam was about to answer Jas when someone called out behind her. She freezes for a second, turning her head to look back at the girl walking her dog. "Oh, um," she says falteringly. "Good, thanks. Nice night, isn't it?" She smiles and keeps walking.
-
Reece blinks his eyes to clear his head of the bird's tenacity, and begins to circle downwards. <We'll kill ourselves going after it- we should check this thing out.> He looks through the trees as he lands to make sure the woods are empty, and he demorphs as he touches down. He's relieved to see that the shorts are mostly in-tact. He scratches his head as he investigates the lean-to. "It looks like they were camping out here or something," he reasons. "But why didn't they just stay in their ship if that's the case?"
-
(-growls- thought my post had gone through already -kicks firefox)
Autumn had freaked, understatement of the century. After the morphing power, after everything that had happened, Autumn had bolted towards home, knowing that at least that was safe, familiar and she would be alone. Running through the dark streets, reaching her small place that always seemed to give her some semblance of comfort, Autumn breathed deeply, head resting against the door. "Just a dream, please let it be." Autumn muttered, kicking the door open and shutting it with a snap. Heading into her room and sitting upon the bed, Autumn stayed for a while, drifting in and out of sleep when her phone went off. Reaching over for it, she spotted the message. "I'm not going." Autumn didn't fit in with any of them, she was alone. Always alone. Texting back, she said she would be around, not wanting to depend on others, knowing she would always be disappointed. Grabbing a jacket, Autumn walked out of her house and down the street, not sure on what to do.
-
Jas bit down harder on the nib...he could feel the vibrations in the air and hear the noise as a stranger approached...he couldn't think what to do...Sam must be quite a sight...this wasn't looking good. <Just play it cool Sam, we'll think of something.> Jas' thoughts rushed as he tried to come up with some sort of plan of action to get them somewhere else more private. They had no information on what they were chasing, this was madness...they should get the h*ll out of there and go home and just forget about the rest. 'Come on d*mn it, think Jas! There has to be some way out of this...'
-
Kasey attempts to pull forward on her leash; trying to follow the girl.
-
Sam walks a little bit faster. Damnit, where was the nearest bus stop?
"Hold on, Jas, if I can't shake these people I'll have to run for it, you'll need to turn back soon," she whispers, out of breath, hoping Jas can still hear her.
-
Torrence
By Kasey's House
"Yeah, it is." Torrence agreed with the girl. She took Kasey's advice and didn't seem too eager, even glancing as though appraising the current weather conditions.
Turning her head, she noted Alice- in her other form.
"Hey Cherise," Torrence made up a fake name for the stranger's benefit. "- look at Kit go!"
She indicates Kasey pulling after the girl.
"Sorry," She smiles at the girl, giving Kasey her head to follow after her. " - did you just eat or something? She likes the smell of you."
Christina
Woods
<You think whoever stayed there belongs to that ship?> Christina scurried up a nearby log, keeping watch as Reece finished demorphing.
<That's a weird way to transport, you'd think it'd have a cloaking like the Klingons or something.>
Near Reece and Christina, there was a rustling in the bushes.
A dark skinned young man rushes at Reece. He is sweaty from exertion, his clothes are muddy and torn and his hands are muddy as though he's been digging in the ground.
"They shot Jeth-!"
The man suddenly stops speaking, eying Reece wide eyed. "You're not the other guy. What are you doing here?" Alec steps back from Reece, looking flighty.
-
Reece holds up his hands, partially out of surprise, partially to show he's unarmed. "Whoa whoa there, cowboy. You know first impressions? They're everything." Reece parts his lips into a cheesy but warm smile and extends his hand to be shaken. "Name's uh, Russ. My friend here-" he motions to Christina and tries not to wince "-I consider myself a friend of all woodland creatures, see. We were just poking around here, you know, exploring some forestry. In bike shorts." Reece looks the boy up and down. "Now, what's got you so jumpy? And soiled?"
-
Alec frowned at 'Russ's' hand, wiping his hand on his pants before reaching over to shake his hand.
Alec appeared in his late twenties, was dark skilled and wore his hair close cropped. His ethnicity was possibly African American or perhaps mixed. He wore Dickies pants and a black button up shirt.
"Uh, sorry. I thought you were someone else. Someone who was here before. We split up." He looks uneasily at the sky.
"I was being chased. I fell."
Christina
<Friend of all woodland creatures?> Christina laughed mentally. <You're a fruit loop. But hey, check out his pants. There's an old paint stain on the left leg.> She pointed out. Sure enough, there was a gray colored paint stain on the black Dickies the man wore.
<Guy in the vid had the same pants.>
-
Sam glances back at Torrence, blinking. "Oh, um, yeah, she probably just smells my cats." She smiles sheepishly. "Have a good night." She quickens her step.
-
"Chased?" Reece asks, concerned. He looks over Alec's shoulder into the deep woods, and then back to Alec. "What for? You don't need help slugging some thugs, do you? Making fisticuffs with some, uh, burly dudes?"
-
"Chased?" Reece asks, concerned. He looks over Alec's shoulder into the deep woods, and then back to Alec. "What for? You don't need help slugging some thugs, do you? Making fisticuffs with some, uh, burly dudes?"
"No!" The man exclaimed hurriedly. "I don't want to involve you, man. I uh, think they stopped chasin' me."
He says this unconvincingly, glancing over his shoulder.
"Any way, I should find my friends. You see a white girl with blonde hair and a guy with long hair, Sorta light colored?"
Reece and Christina recognize these descriptions as fitting the two from the video... The other two- this guy is quite similiar to the third guy, actually.
-
"Yeah! Actually, I think I did," Reece offers. "This is such a crazy coincidence- my mom actually suckered them into joining us inside for a, uh, Tupperware party." Reece laughs. "Small world, huh? Want me to show you the way?"
-
<Torrence...I think you should follow her for a bit, but lag behind. Maybe I can break loose once she's far enough away, and I can trail her. She seems like she's up to something. Do you think she has the device?> Kasey questions as she continues to sniff at the ground, and wag her tail.
-
While I was directing my sensors at the lady, I compared her with the woman in the video - She was definitely the same person, even wearing the same clothing. As my sensors locked on, the parabolic microphones in my 'ears', that worked like directional dog-ears, picked up part of what she was whispering:
"Ho____Ja__ if I can't ____________ I'll have to run for it, you'll need to turn back____..."
I glanced at Kasey-Lab: She was bound to have heard part of the whisper too, but maybe not the same part as I heard...
At that moment, Torrence addressed me by a fake name, then said something I could twist my response to so that I could get a message to them about what I'd heard the Samatha lady whisper;
"Hehe, yeah! I can tell she wants to run, and soon!" I responded with matched enthusiasm. Reggie was, of course, a MALE Labrador: Samantha probably hadn't looked closely at the dog, leastways not close enough to tell male from female, but hopefully Torrence and Kasey would pick up that by 'she' I secretly meant the woman.
An idea came to me:
"Hi Sam!" I called in a convincing 'I recognize you' tone of voice, "Long-time no-see, girl! ... You do recognize me, don't you? From high school? I sure as heck remember you, Samantha Wagner!"
I put on a friendly, nostalgic expression of recognizing an old friend from a long time ago, for the sole benefit of Samantha if/when she turned to try and recognize me.
Ah acting... Where would we Chee be without the ability to pretend to be something/someone we are not? And we'd had SO much practise at it over the millenia...
-
Jas coiled tighter...the dog probably smelled him inside the clothes...he was just waiting for them to ask about the big pile of clothes in Sam's arms... 'why won't they leave us alone...or do they know something?' This was getting out of hand. Jas' mind raced hard...how could anyone recognize Sam? They knew her name...could it be someone from the Sharing? <Hey, Sam...that chick calling your name...she's not from the Sharing is she?> Worry spread through his thought like fire, causing the last part about the Sharing to be a bit louder than a whisper, of course that didn't matter with this thought-stuff did it?
Back at a whisper, Jas continued with Sam. <Look..uhm...I don't know Sam, I don't know! God I need a drink. Hey, wait, maybe you should find the nearest bar or something, maybe they won't come in after you?> It was a weak ploy, but maybe it would buy them some more time...
-
Sam shook her head slightly--she couldn't reply to Jas right now, her attention was focused on the girl who apparently was an old classmate. Fantastic, wasn't high school reunion a year or more away? She did not have time for this now.
"Hey! Uh," Sam begins, narrowing her eyes. The girl almost did look familiar. What was her name? Alison? Amy? "How are you, hun? Tell the family I said hi! Say, do you know where the nearest bus stop is?" She hefted the clothes and, reluctantly, stopped walking to get some answers.
-
<The closest stop is about a mile from here. She's carrying something alive. I can smell it. It's hidden in those clothes. > Kasey responds, realizing that Torrence and Alice probably have no idea where the nearest stop is.
-
"Oh, I'm sorry but I only just moved back into the neighbourhood, and I generally ride my scooter anyway. Tammy might know though! - She's been here forever and I think she still rides good ol' public-transport." I said, with a wink in Torrence's direction. "Would you like to pet Kit? - Very friendly; Doesn't bite." For further reassurance of the dog's friendly nature, I leant down and petted Kasey-Lab on the head and scratched behind an ear. Dogs love that, and I wanted my best friend Kasey to experiience what it means to them when someone does it.
Perhaps if Samantha took up the offer, Kasey would pick up more info about her... On the other hand, closer proximity between the two might lead her to notice a certain clue that the dog is no ****. Either way, the invitation should hopefully delay her a little longer, maybe make her less likely to make a break for it.
Kasey thought-spoke privately to us, informing us that Sam carried something alive. Maybe, with a bit of luck, she might get a chance to identify this passenger she carried...
-
Jas froze as he sensed Sam coming to a halt. He knew she couldn't afford to talk to him without sounding crazy or letting them know someone else was there. He feared to even think at her now...it just didn't seem like he could get away with it without everyone else hearing. His tail vibrated a bit against the clothes, an instinct-driven response to nervousness. He clamped down again on his snake-mind but the vibrating only lessened, it did not stop. It seemed there was limited control in certain circumstances. Troubling as that was, it seemed less troubling than the people talking to Sam. It didn't add up, something wasn't right, but he dared not speak to Sam again. He shouldn't have morphed...he should've just stayed in human form. This was insane, what could he do, pretend to be her pet snake that she happened to be carrying around in her pile of guy's clothing? He hoped Sam thought of something soon...
-
Sam looks from Alice to 'Tammy' and reluctantly pets Kasey's furry head, scratching Kasey's ears. "Good puppy," she says, smiling, almost forgetting that she's just had the craziest night of her entire life, and is not only carrying a gun, but her best friend who is now a snake. Figures.
She draws the pile of clothing toward her belt as she pats Kasey, covering up the bulge of the gun under her shirt and the quivering snake inside the clothes...she hopes.
In a moment she draws back. "Look, I'm really sorry, I feel terrible, um, what's your name again? Jeez. It feels like high school was forever ago." She looks at 'Tammy'. "And if you know where the nearest stop is, I'd really appreciate it. I'm lost around here." She searches their faces. No way they could be aliens. I'd write all of this all off as a crazy dream, if Jas wasn't a frigging snake right now, she thinks bitterly.
-
"Yeah! Actually, I think I did," Reece offers. "This is such a crazy coincidence- my mom actually suckered them into joining us inside for a, uh, Tupperware party." Reece laughs. "Small world, huh? Want me to show you the way?"
Alec
"Tupperware?" The man frowned. "For sure? Uh, sure. yeah. lead the way."
He gave another glance behind him and walked closer towards Reece.
GM Of the odd space ship, there was no sign. The forest noises returned, chattering birds and scurrying mammals alike. The gray fox crouched on a nearby fallen tree limb, nibbling on some small bit of some thing.
Christina <I'll hang back,> Christina suggested to Reece. < - no matter how you claim to be one with nature, no need to act more freaky than needed.>
Torrence mentally adopted the fake name that was assigned her as she continued to smile at Sam as Alice negotiated her to pet Kasey - Kit. Kasey's suggestions were largely ignored, because she couldn't think of a way to reply without sounding like a freak. More so than she looked, anyway. The older girl wasn't exactly running away, either...
"You sound like you're in a hurry," She smiled at Sam. "- forget to turn off the stove?"
Carefully she slid closer to the woman, with the premise of bending to make sure 'Kit' played nice.
Unable to keep her curiosity to herself, she moved her face closer to Sam, checking out the bundle of clothes that she was shifting. Something alive? Why was she carrying something alive?
"Oh careful, you're dropping your clothes there-" Blatantly lying, Torrence reached out to 'catch' the clothes, with the intent to feel the bundle and guess what was in there.
-
Sam instantly drew back. "Whoa, no, I've got 'em," she says, pressing the clothes closer to her side. Under Jas' white shirt on top of the pile it was clear if you squeezed that something was indeed squirming inside the clothing...but only if you got a really good handhold. "Yeah, I have an appointment I'm late for," Sam continues lamely, turning and stepping away from the girls and their dog. "Sorry! Gotta run." She just keeps walking. Jas was running out of time, and she was suddenly suspicious of them. Maybe...maybe they really were those alien things? Yeerks or whatever.
-
"Sweet, right this way!" Reece replies cheerfully, walking by Alec's side. He does his best to make idle chit-chat as they walk; partially to distract Alec from what's going on around him, partially so that he has an excuse to keep his eyes on the boy at all times. He tries to steer them towards Kasey's house.
-
Kasey gets one last sniff in, then begins waggokg her tail frantically and barking. <****! She's got a snake! Be careful!> She yells in private thoight speak to Alice and Torrence. <Why is she carrying a snake inside those clothes...unless ...Alice, could they be those blue guys? The lite things?> Kasey wonders out loud to her friends.
-
Jas felt squeezed as the clothes shifted, Sam responding to the girl trying to touch the clothing. <Ow, ow, OW!> Jas didn't clamp down on the response to the pressure-pain that came quickly enough and remembers that he could broadcast thoughts now. He winced internally, hopefully that hadn't broadcast too loudly. He coiled and slithered into a more comfortable position within the clothing, his jaw still locked on a death-grip on the nib of his belt, but as he slithered, he felt some of the clothing giving way beneath him and he was suddenly frightened. Sam had shifted the pile of clothing and he wasn't securely on top of things anymore, he felt his body slipping and coiled up tightly around the belt, but the muscles of his jaw were getting weaker. He was supporting a good deal more of his weight with that bite than before and he didn't know how much longer his bite would hold. This was bad...if he fell...what would they do then?! <Sam...Sam...I'm starting to fall out!>
-
Sam walked quickly, feeling the clothing start to slip, the weight of Jas-the-snake with it. "Ah!" she cries, picking up a pant leg as it swings loose and nearly stumbling. The girls behind her were sure to see her discomfort, if not the bloody snake inside her laundry. I can write it off as my pet snake, she thinks, sweating. Jas didn't have much time. She needed to find somewhere for him to demorph. She makes a bee-line off the sidewalk, running through someone's yard and into a wooded area behind someone's shed. There was no one around yet, so she hastily set the clothing down, crouching in the tall grass next to an old paint can and a lawnmower. "Jas. Demorph. I have your clothes, you can't stay like this. I don't even care right now, I won't leave you stuck as some reptile, alright?" She could only hope the girls wouldn't follow her.
-
<TORRENCE! Let go!> Kasey shouts in thought-speak, pulling against the leash in an attempt to bolt after Sam.
-
Jas slithered out from the clothes, flicking his tongue and working his serpent jaw. He looked up at Sam. <What do you suggest Sam? I mean, I don't think it's been much over an hour...it's gonna be a little odd if they follow you back here to see you suddenly with a guy. Honestly...I mean, I guess you could say you know these people in these houses, but I think THEY're actually from here, so that would be a bit hard to pull off...I don't know Sam, I don't know...maybe you should go back out there...say you were sick to your stomach or something and had the throw up...stomach flu's going around. Just grab the clothes and go back out there, you won't have me to worry about anymore. I can find my way out of here somewhere down the road and meet up with you or something...>
-
Torrence released Kasey's leash at her insistence, curious what the girl was up to. Playful puppy pursuit, likely much more easy to pull off than a girl.
"Oh no," She remarked to 'Cherise'. "Kit got away."
Acting concerned, but not overly over her 'friendly dog's' antics, she followed Kasey at a slower pace.
So the other girl was carrying a snake. Yet why was she concealing a snake in clothes?
GM Within a few minutes Reece, with Alec following him, had exited the woods in time to see Torrence drop the leash of what looked to be Kasey's dog.
[Just a reminder of what I posted to the OOC a bit ago, only about 20 minutes have elapsed, nowhere near the 2 hour mark. ]
-
((OOC: Okay, sorry about that, I was thinking earlier that Jas had said there were only 15 minutes left. Sam's confused, it's stressful :P))
Sam cursed, picking up the clothes again and gently grabbing Jas, concealing him once more. "I'm sorry, man, it feels like it's been much longer." She exhales. "Still, I don't trust them. And I'm not leaving you here, you idiot." She walks back out onto the sidewalk, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry!" she calls to the girls without really looking. "I thought this was my friend's house. I think I might've had a little too much to drink. I'll be fine, though, just gotta find the bus stop. Have a nice night!"
She hurries along the sidewalk again, suddenly noticing the dog bounding toward her. "Oh, no...good dog!" she says a little too loudly, and just keeps hurrying.
-
I woke up to the sound of scratching. I smiled; I knew who it was. Sure enough, when I cracked an eye open, I found a pair of vertical pupils staring back at me. Pentium sure was cute when he wanted something...
When he noticed I was awake, he started purring and hopped up on the bed beside me, to nuzzle his head into mine. Apparently he was quite hungry, so I got into my chair and wheeled over to the cupboard I kept his food in. Pentium rode on my lap until I stopped, then hopped down and mewled expectantly as I prepared his food and set the dish down for him, whereupon he purred loudly as he tucked-in.
I yawned and stretched, then wheeled over to my bedside cabinet and retrieved my mobile-phone; Hmm, '1 new message'...
'K. wants to meet at her place, you up for it?'
I looked at the timestamp - "Damn!" I exclaimed, realizing how long ago it had been sent. I hastily tapped out a reply:
'I just woke up & saw the msg u sent ages ago; Did I miss the meeting? If not, shall I come by car or by air?'
As I hit 'Send' I remembered why I'd fallen asleep: I'd exhausted myself practising the morphs I'd acquired at The Gardens. As my eyes scanned the appartment, I saw various hints of the morphs that REALLY didn't like being cooped up in this enclosed space. Despite the damage, it made me glad I'd practised alone where I couldn't hurt anyone. My eyes also zeroed-in on tattered pieces of fabric that had once been underwear and swimming-trunks. I looked down and was pleased that the underwear I had on right now had made it through my last few morphs intact.
I got myself washed and dressed while I waited for Torrence's SMS-reply...
I smiled when Samantha petted Kasey-Lab's head. As she pulled back again, she asked my name. "It's Cherise, Cherise Ayre." I supplied, keeping the faux-name Torrence had given me and adding a surname of my own imagination.
Torrence's attempt to 'accidentally' get a feel of what might be in the clothes seemed to spook Samantha, as she made her excuse and tried walking away from us again.
Kasey suddenly informed us via private thought-speak that Samantha's passenger was a snake of some kind. Then she asked me if I thought these two could be Andalites. Well, she didn't actually say 'Andalites' but I knew that's what she meant.
I knew Samantha was no Andalite, of course: I could tell that much just by our conversation. But what of the snake? Yes, it could be a morph... That would usually mean Andalite, but then again they had taken the Escafil, so it could just as easily be a Human in morph. I scrutinized the clothing further - Menswear. Something an Andalite wouldn't necessarily pick to cloth a human morph... I wished I could thought-speak so I could answer Kasey privately, but although I had started working on it my thoughtspeech-upgrade wasn't ready for testing yet.
As Samantha pressed the clothes to her side, my sensors picked up a faint thought-speak signal from her general direction - The snake? - Samantha picked up speed, veering off to one side through someone's yard into some trees where I temporarily lost sight of her.
Kasey told Torrence to let go of her leash, which she did, then she went tearing off after Samantha like it was some kind of game. As Torrence let go, she disguised the move with an exclamation to 'Cherise' about it. I picked up my pace to remain halfway between Kasey and Torrence.
Out of the blue, I heard Torrence's Cell beep, probably to tell her she'd received an SMS. This gave me an idea how I could talk to Kasey: I made my Cell ring with a fake incoming-call, took it out and answered it, talking loudly:
"Hello? Oh, hi Kasey! I'm glad you called - You know that thing you asked me? I think you might be right, or half-right anyway. Why don't you try talking to it? I know you're scared of talking to answering-machines, but maybe they'll answer when they hear your voice?" I waited, as if listening to the person on the end of the phone, while I actually was waiting to see if Kasey responded via thought-speak. I hoped my code hadn't been too cryptic for her... 'answering machine' was code for the snake. I figured if it was someone in morph, they'd be more likely to answer if they heard thoughtspeak. On the other hand, if Samantha was a Controller, we didn't want to give ourselves away to her.
While I waited, I saw Samantha reappear, making a transparent excuse for why she'd dissapeared on us without a proper 'goodbye', then promptly supplying that proper farewell.
-
Reece waves at Torrence as she unleashes Kasey, and laughs. "Now what's she after?" he asks. He indicates Alec with his thumb. "I found this guy looking for some friends of his- said I could help him out.
-
Jas slithered around uncomfortably in Sam's grip as she placed him back in the clothing. <Look, the dog can smell me Sam...this isn't going well...I'd be fine out in the woods...> Jas sighed to himself as he was carried back out to the pavement inside his clothing, Sam mentioning something about being a friend's house and being drunk. Well, maybe the drunk excuse would work. He flicked his tongue inside the clothing, his perch now secure thanks to the rearranging that Sam had done by the woods. A strange thought occurred to him, Jethsa had said to follow the scanner to something...Sam had followed the scanner. They didn't really have any strong animal morphs yet...so it couldn't have been a target...what had she been trying to lead them to? He kept his thoughts to himself as Sam continued to carry him.
((OOC: Sorry, Jas' sense of time is distorted also, but he thought about it and figured it wasn't much over an hour, even though it's only been 20 minutes.))
-
((Of course, its stressful. Taking the new interactions into account, we're at 30 minutes. We can probably say 5 interactions (posts) = 10 minutes or I can just state when an hour and a half has passed if Jas doesn't choose to demorph)).
Torrence frowned after Kasey, walking slowly after her. Kasey might be able to find something out more easily without her grabbing for the leash.
Hearing her phone beep from a text message, she flips it open. Reading from Eddie, she nods and begins to thumb in a reply.
'Yeah, we're still meeting. Left Kasey's house, a few houses over now. Look for Kasey's dog. Call me when you get here if you can't find us. '
Hitting 'send', she waited for a break in 'Cherise's ' 'conversation. "That was our missing friend, " She relayed. "-he's coming over."
Seeing Reece- and the stranger- she returned his wave. As they get closer, she speaks to the man in his early twenties- dark skinned, torn clothing and his hands were muddy.
"Hey! So, you're her friend? We only met one woman."
She's mindful of how Reece said 'friends'...
Alec
"Yeah, you did." Alec replied to Reece. "Something about a tupperware party? Didn't really thik they'd be down with that, with... a party going on later."
-
Kasey follows after Sam and Jas, catching most of what Alice is saying. She hesitates, worried that there's as much chance that the snake could be a bad guy, as there is that he could be a good guy. Finally, she decides to take Alice's advice. <Hey uh...snakey snakey. What's shakin'?> She asks in private thought speak directed toward the snake.
-
"No, you wouldn't be fine out there, Jas," Sam murmurs through gritted teeth as she keeps walking away from the girls and their dog. The dog at least hasn't started jumping all over her yet, maybe it would decide to turn back. Sam doesn't look back to see Alec and Reece emerge from the woods that border the suburban development.
She considers the scanner, now jammed into her pocket with her keys once more. Still not a sound. Sam makes a mental note that those houses would bear investigation--alien signals were coming from them, from the one 'Cherise' and 'Tammy' had emerged from, and how was she to know those overly friendly girls and their dog weren't the sources? She was tired. Too exhausted to think about it, and too scared. Besides, she thinks, what am I supposed to do, go up to them and ask them if they're aliens? See if it's okay to search their house? That'd go over well.
-
"Yeah, most people never expect that they'd wind up buying Tupperware but my mom, she's a heck of a sales lady," Reece laughs. "Though with everyone running around outside like this, I guess things must've dispersed. Torrence, where'd the lady you ran into go? Maybe we can track her down and see if she's someone Alec knows." Reece scans the skylines for other spaceships or his fellow animal morphers. He makes a mental note to come up with a less awkward term than "animal morphers" at some point in the near future.
-
Jas froze, a foreign voice entering his head. <Hey, uh snakey snakey...what's shakin?> Where the hell had that come from? And worse...the thought had to be addressed to him, what other snake would be around? What the heck...unless...was that the dog? Could regular animals speak to him when he was an animal?! That seemed really outrageous...was he Dr. Doolittle or something now? He slithered a bit in the clothing pile, making his coils a little more comfortable. Should he talk back? He didn't remember Jethsa saying anything about animals talking....
<Uhmm....good doggy....you should go back to your master....uhm....sh e's probably worried about you...I'm not good at playing...> Jas didn't know what else to do, if the dog WAS talking, maybe that would make him go away, if he wasn't, well no one else would hear it he thought. Except maybe Sam.
-
Frozen in shock, Kasey hesitates before responding. <Snakey snakey, you got a name? I'm, uh. I'm Kit.> She steps closer to the pile, and the snake. Doing her best to look like a curious, happy dog, she wags her tail and sniffs at the snake.
-
Christina, in gray fox form, saddled up alongside a near by house where she could watch the goings on.
<What's going on?> She said to Alice, Reece, Kasey and Torrence. <The space ship totally booked it.>
Torrence made a point of not looking for Cristina- heading after Kasey - Kit.
"Here girl," She said. "Stop bothering the neighbors." Turning the corner, she crouched next to Kasey - dog. "Hey girl," She scratched Kasey behind the ears as she looked up at the older woman.
"Do you live around here?" She edged, guessing not from her confusion regarding where a bus stop was. "There's a guy who says he's looking for his friends."
Alec nodded distractedly. "I'm sure your mom is a helluva sales person, but my heart just isn't into food storage right now. There's been an, uh, accident... and I need to get with some people so we can go to the, uh, hospital."
-
"The hospital?" Reece asks, alarmed. "What kind of accident? Here, let's catch up with the others tracking the dog, maybe we all can help." Reece begins to lead Alec towards Torrence, Alice, Dog-Kasey and Sam.
-
Jas would've sighed if he'd have been able to as a snake. What the crap was this?! This dog...no, something else was going on here...the girl said the dog was a she, but the scent in the air definitely marked it as a male. Then the difference in names...what the h*ll was all this?!! Jas froze again, suddenly sorry he'd thought at the dog. This was not good in any way, shape, or form. <Sam we have to get OUT of here!> The thought was a mere whisper... <The dog is thinking at me and I'm way creeped out....it's a male by the way and they keep calling it female...something's up. Jesus what the h*ll do we do? D*mn d*mn d*mn!>
-
Kasey continues to direct her thought speak privately toward the snake, <You think you're creeped out. Why the he** is a snake, being carried by a woman inside a pile of mens' clothing talking to me. Are you a, a, Anylite?> Kasey takes a stab at the name, hoping she got it right.
-
"Hey! Doggie! Go away," says Sam, as Kasey-the-dog snuffles at her clothes. She continues walking away, pausing only when Torrence addresses her again. "No, I don't live around here," she says snippily, and keeps on walking. She adds offhandedly, "I'm just looking for the nearest bus stop."
She tenses up when Jas says the dog's thinking at him, and really a male. Why would they lie? Besides, dogs do not think at anyone. Andalites think at things. Or maybe the bad guys did, too. The Yeerks. Jethsa wasn't too clear on that point. "Sorry," she says loudly to Torrence. "I really have to go and find a main road with a bus stop. Thanks, see ya, bye!"
-
Anylite? So the dog definitely wasn't an animal, wasn't an andalite, and wasn't a Yeerk. He had to have meant "Andalite." A dog wouldn't have known anything about andalites even if they could talk, an andalite would've known whether or not there were others on the planet most-likely, and the Yeerks would not mispronounce the name he thought, plus they didn't have the ability to change. Everything pointed to something else going on here...the human with the leash had to know the dog was a changeling...so the dog was probably a human, a human with the same powers that he and Sam and Alec had gotten that night.
Then Jas figured it out, he was surprised there wasn't a bright flash over his head, the scanner...maybe it could detect other morphers. They had found that blue cube, that Escafil on Earth...there had to have been an andalite before Jethsa, and perhaps that Andalite had had the same idea as Jethsa, giving morphing powers to other humans to fight the Yeerks. It was a long shot, but it was the only thing that made sense. <Sam, the dog...I think he's a changed human. And the other ones probably know about it too. Think, that blue box was already here...there must've been another andalite, maybe that andalite gave the morphing powers to these kids too...had the same idea. The scanner...it might've been detecting these guys, detecting other changelings. Look, I talked back to the dog...so they know about me...I should change back. I think we should talk to them...there's no going back. Are you with me Sammy?>
-
Out of normal human earshot from the other girls temporarily, Sam hisses, "Yeah, but Jas, what if they're the evil aliens? We don't know if they have this power, too. You saw that facility we took the cube from, it could have been a Yeerk hideout just as easily as an Andalite one. It took a while for you to change into that snake, I don't know if I'm ready to hold them off with this stupid gun. I'm scared, alright? I just want to go home. Screw the aliens, screw the morphing, screw all of this."
-
After hearing Sam's spiel, Kaaey responds in open thought speak so that both her friends and Jas and Sam can hear her, <They? Who's they? If you're talking about my friends, they don't know I can do this. I was given the ability to morph into animals by an...a mighty Andalite. And then today I saw a freaky ship flying outside by my house and it looked like you were running from it lady. So I asked my friends to walk my dog while I ran to the store, morphed the dog and chased afer you. And now I find out that you're a morpher like me... What the hell s going on here? I think we need to talk about this away from listening ears.> Kasey pointedly looks in the direction of her friends with his last comment. She prays that they got the mesaage to play dumb" and that these new people believe her hastily made up story.
-
Jas would've raised his eyebrows if he'd had any. <Okay, so he's making up stories too. Actually I think it's a girl from the tone of her thought, who morphed a male dog. She ran to the store and changed, yet she was being walked on a leash by her friend. That lie's a slap in the face. I think Jethsa would've told us if the Yeerks had the cube, so I don't think that's it. Look Sam, much as I'd like to go home and drink until my liver fails and I die in a happy stupor, we have a responsibility now. I hate responsibility...bu t I'll be d*mned if I'm gonna go home and give up. Grandpa would turn tornados in his grave. They already know your face, and Alec's too, I'm not gonna let you guys go it alone, especially you. They might as well know mine too.>
Jas slithered out from the clothing and down as far as he could before dropping to the ground in front of Sam. He slithered a bit away from her and the dog, flicking his tongue one last time before thinking about himself. Hopefully no one was standing at their windows to see the grotesque display as Jas' snake body elongated and started to puff up like some sort of huge sausage being filled. Arms and legs sprouted from his body and grew until they were full-sized and Jas looked like some sort of mutated crocodile with human limbs. Then his scales changed to skin and formed his slim frame, the last thing was his hair, sprouting from his head to achieve it's regular length.
Jas stood up on the sidewalk in the middle of a streetlamp's light and looked at the kids standing around before realizing...he was absolutely and completely nude! He raised his eyebrows in surprise but made no move to cover himself, just scratching the back of his head and shifting from foot to foot trying not to look embarassed. "Uhm...hi." Jas chuckled a bit before remembering his clothes were close at hand. "Uh, Sam...can I have my underwear back?" Jas wasn't exactly a modest person, but neither did he regularly go running around naked in public...except that one time...but that was after four beers and ten shots of Jack. He didn't want to turn his back on the kids for several reasons...one being he still didn't trust them. Of course that meant a full frontal view and that DID embarass him though he tried to hide it by faking relaxation. "Sam...?"
-
Reece tried not to give too much away as he saw the girl from the video kneeling and whispering, or when Kasey broadcast her thoughtspeech for all to hear. But when he saw the naked man emerging from what had moments prior been a snake, he figured the jig was up. A morph-capable Yeerk could have turned into a polar bear and just eaten the seemingly-normal teenagers, and no one who knew what they were doing would have transformed in the middle of the street like that. He reckoned he couldn't trust the thieves, but they didn't seem too threatening. He took a deep breath and stepped forward to shake Sam and Jas's hands.
"My name is Reece," he began. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Just Reece, for now." He pulls at his bike shorts and grins. "We can teach you how to take your briefs with you next time, but you're going to have to cooperate first."
-
I was going to comply with Kasey's thought-speak hint to pretend I didn't know anything about morphing, but I was quick to realize the snake-person had already seen through that falasy.
As the snake demorphed to become a naked man, I kept my eyes politely on his face and that of his comrade. - Although I usually turn away from nudity, like any good girl should, I did not want them thinking they could 'pull a fast one'.
I put my cellphone away before approaching Samantha and her naked friend, keeping my hands visible but retaining non-threatening posture.
I stopped about 2 metres away, hoping they would not think me a threat.
"We know you took the Escafil device - The Blue-Box - From the underground complex; We saw you on the recording. Please, PLEASE tell me the box isn't on that space-ship that just left??" I didn't give much time for a reply to that urgent matter before continuing: "Where is your Andalite? I know you have one, because only someone who already has the morphing-power can activate the cube and give that power to others. By the way, stealing the cube was completely unnecessary: If an Andalite had asked for it, it would have freely been given. Well, except for the Abomination, of course, but HE can't really be called 'Andalite'..." The last sentence was a bit of rambling, but hopefully it would also take the interrogative edge off my pointed questions.
I looked at them for a moment, wondering if they'd answer or if I'd gone too fast...
"We're the good-guys, by the way," I sighed, trying to reassure them, "We are allies with the Andalites in the fight against the Yeerks. I met an Andalite a while ago with my non-human friends. He entrusted them with looking after his technology and keeping it out of Yeerk hands, before he..." I let out a sob at this point, not wanting to finish that sentence. "Anyway, I'd be really grateful if we could have the Escafil device back, so we may keep our word to that Andalite to keep his technology secret and safe from the Yeerks." I glanced at Alec's dirty hands. "Simply burying it will not be sufficient to keep it out of Yeerk hands, I'm afraid." I guessed at the burial thing, it seemed like a reasonable assumption.
-
Torrence walked closer, leash in hand.
"So the subtle approach is done with?" She gave Sam an apologetic look. "Sorry for chasing you all over, but we couldn't really leave ya be. I don't think. Ka- uh," Torrence winced. "Kit can we go back to your place?"
-
<That's fine,> Kasey responds in thought-speak to the group. She turns, and trots back toward her house, the leash dragging behind her.
Upon re-turning to the house, she paws open the door, and enters the house. She trots up to her bedroom, demorphs, and changes back into normal clothing, pulling her morphing outfit underneath.
She returns downstairs, draws the shades in the living room, then walks back out into the backyard, hoping that the others will follow.
-
The clean fresh air that blew on his face as he ran through the trees and jumped over small branches and roots felt good considering the run had started to make him feel hot. He'd only moved to town two three weeks ago, but he had a clear picture of the terrain in his mind. One of the benefits of having eidetic memory. Vincent loved to run it always made him feel so alive and free.
Hearing something from his right Vincent stopped to listen. It sounded like it was coming from the neighbor hood near the woods. He thought about going to see what was happening but decided against it as he might be seen and explaining why he was spying on what was going on would be too awkward for him.
Starting to run again he sucked in air noisily as he was starting to get tired. Stopping to get his breath a few minutes latter he was about to turn around and start back when something caught his eye.
-
Reece walks backwards towards Kasey's yard so that he can address Alec and keep an eye on the thieves. "Sorry I had to lie to bring you here, Al," he confesses. "I thought we kind of had to to get you to join us." He shrugs. "Fact is, whether you guys know it or not, that thing you stole is part of something very huge, and very important." He chuckles lightly to himself. "I know it's going to sound insane, but, well, we're dealing with real, actual save-the-world type stuff here. And if we're not all working together, we're going to have a huge disaster."
-
GM
As Vincent turned, he became aware of movement to his left. As he fully turned around, an amazing sight greeted him. A blue deer - with an awesome scorpion tail- galloped past him.
<Stay still!> A voice - a female voice- suddenly spoke inside his head. <Do not be afraid. It will not see you.>
Without any further explaination, a low flying plane- no, it similiar to a ****roach plane, if anything like that existed- came onto their position. It hovered for a moment, before continuing straight over the tree tops. In a few moments, it was gone from sight.
The blue deer with the tail paused beside a copse of trees, leaning heavily against the nearest one. A nasty burn mark covered her entire right flank. The burn extended to the lower portion of the tail, which was held aloof painfully.
Alec frowned over at Alice, rubbing his muddy hands against his pants.
"I didn't realize we had this little meeting I could bring it to. What, do you guys have some place better to hide it? Anyways," He spoke to Sam and Jas, giving Reece a long look.
"Jethsa is hurt. The ship started chasing me, so she ran by and it started chasing her- but it shot at her. I lost track of her in the woods."
Christina
<I totally lost the ship,> Christina relayed. <It looks like it took off.>
-
"Jethsa?" I blurted, "That's an Andalite name! - A female Andalite name, at that! What's a female Andalite doing here on Earth? - Last I heard, there were NO females in their military..." I turned to address Alec, though glanced at his two companions as I spoke, to include them. "I'd very much like to meet this Jethsa... Would it be ok if we help you rescue her?"
I tried for a puppy-dog-eyes look, though admittedly Kasey could have done a better job in the morph she'd just been in.
-
Kasey sits on the cement of the back patio, and stares up at the sky. She feels something crawling across her leg, and glances down at it. She picks up the potato beetle and examines it closely. She closes her eyes, and acquires the small bug. She reaches over, and drops it in the grass when she's done.
She yawns, and stretches out her legs, waiting for her friends to arrive.
-
Sam hastily hands Jas his clothes.
"Listen," she says, "we don't know where our Andalite friend went, and I for one am really worried about her. He's the one who has the cube." She nods at Alec. "Where is it, anyway? You just disappeared on us. We just hope we can trust you. This is some seriously weird sh*t."
-
What in the world!? What was that!? I've never seen ANYTHING like it! Of course... Vincent thought as he stood there dumb founded looking up at the sky that had just held the most odd looking ship he had ever seen. His face held the look of a deer in headlights with the exception of a wide open mouth that worked soundlessly trying to find words to express how he felt. His eyes stayed wide and continued to hold a shocked expression as he turned to look at the alien creature that stood before him. His mouth had closed as he still couldn't find his voice or the words he needed.
The alien that stood in front of him was just as incredible and otherworldly as the plane or ship that had flown over Vincent. She, if she was in fact a she, was almost like a mutated centaur. Her body and torso looked exactly like a blue centaur. The differences were on the extremities. Her head had no mouth and little hair, instead there were three large vertical slits on the face were the mouth would have been and two large antenna... no that wasn't the right word, they were stalks, on top of which were an extra set of eyes.
Her hands were also different as they had extra fingers. Two extra fingers to be exact. but most shocking was the tail. Much like a scorpions it was still different as it was a large sharp blade instead of being a piercing stinger. All in all she was a beautiful and deadly looking creature. There was no other way to describe her.
Yet despite how deadly she looked Vincent didn't feel afraid. It was like looking at a bald eagle seeing the majesty, beauty and deadly aspects just made it that much more beautiful. Then Vincents eyes alighted on the gruesome burn. He was unsure how she could stand the pain had to be excruciating. Without thinking Vincent dashed forward to try and give her more support.
Before he even reached her he stammered out a question "A-a-are you o-okay? Jeez that looks horrible! W-w-what was that? For that matter what a-are you?"
-
"Uh...hello. I'm Jas, and I suppose I'll leave it at that for now also." Jas raised an eyebrow at the skin-tight bike-shorts that Reece was wearing...maybe the close-contour fit helped or something. "Yeah, usually I don't take my pants off until after I know someone's name, kinda weird putting them back on instead..." Jas grabbed his clothes and sorted out his underwear, dropping the rest on the ground. He donned his tight blue briefs with as much grace and dignity as he could muster, pulling up his jeans next and redoing his belt to buckle just below his waist. He slipped his t-shirt on again and held his arm out to Sam. "Could I have the piece back, gal?" Jas grinned a bit at his good friend.
While he waited for Sam to untangle the harness from her shoulder, he looked back at the kids, he now decently-clothed at least. "Either you're Yeerks that are really good at acting, or you're who you say you are. If it's the first option, well there's not much hope for us anymore, so let's go with the second one." Jas spared a glance at the Chee girl, of course he didn't know what or who she was at this point. "If you're willing to help us help Jethsa, then please do. But that blue cube should be our first priority, yes?" Jas looked over at Alec... "I hope you can lead us back to where you buried it..."
-
"I'm Sam," says Sam, handing Jas his weapon slowly and deliberately. "I guess we have a lot to talk about. We're going to have to trust each other, and I think we should start by getting out of plain view and finding out more about each other. If you are...you know...bad guys, then we do have ways of defending ourselves." She glances at Jas and his gun.
-
Reece gives Alec a startled look as he mentions the ship. "We saw that thing- the big flying ****roach? That's how we found you." He frowns. "And one of our, uh... field operatives? tells me we've lost track of it." Something weird happens in Reece's spine as he suddenly feels as if he's a character in some special-ops rightwing propoganda. He's not sure if it's excitement or anxiety. He bites his knuckle. "It sounds like the Yeerks are in hot pursuit of the Andalite. If we don't go after her soon, she might get killed."
Reece regards the gun cautiously. "Yeah, well, I like to think I'm a pretty nice guy. Some days I even think I'm nice enough that I don't deserve to get capped," he offers with a strained smile. "The main point is, I'm sure we're all plenty capable of making things messy for each other. You've got a gun, I can turn into an adult male rhino at will. A big one. And if things do get, er, messy, none of us is going to be all too happy. So we're all better off playing nice, you know?"
-
"You all have the power too?" Sam asks, swallowing. Her mouth was dry. "Then the dog...look, if that's your house, I think we should meet in there. If...if that's okay." She feels awkward inviting herself to someone's house, in spite of the fact that they all have the power to turn into animals and are suddenly facing the prospect of working together to fight aliens.
Sam keeps her voice low. "We just need to get on the same page with all of this. If you know where Jethsa is, or that alien ship, and Alec has the cube--I think we can help each other. We're better off together than alone."
-
Jethsa
Woods
Before he even reached her he stammered out a question "A-a-are you o-okay? Jeez that looks horrible! W-w-what was that? For that matter what a-are you?"
<No, I am not.> The strange deer spoke in his head, lurching unevenly away from the trees. She faltered for a moment as she walked, slowly and very unsteadily.
<Yes, I believe that something has happened to the nerve endings- suffice to say, I do not believe that I am quite well. I need to recover... however, I am most uneasy that the Bug Fighter shall return. My name is Jethsa and I am->
The stalk eyes turned upwards, scanning the sky. After a minute, she stated:
<- I have masked the area around my ship- it should last->
The alien lurched and then her front legs buckled, quickly followed by the back legs.
<I suggest that you enter the ship-> The last statement, rather calm and detached considering her condition- was the last thing she 'spoke', before toppling to the ground.
As she hit the ground, a ship that Vincent was quite sure had not been there before suddenly materialized, parked on the ground. It was a spectacular ship, one certainly not manufactured on Earth.
It had a single dome shape where a confusing array of controls could be seen. Beside the dome, a small hatch lowered to form a sort of ramp that led into the small gleaming ship.
Alec gave Sam a hard look. "Yeah, I 'dissapeared on you' when that thing in your hand started going off. The blanket around the box slipped, so I paused to tie it up. When I looked up, you and snake boy were gone.
The ship came back though," He said dryly. "- it chased me around the woods until I ran into Jethsa.
I buried the box, but I made some signs to get back to it."
He said the last part to Jas. "I built some rock piles leading back to it."
He gave Reece a startled look.
"Rhino? For real?" He blinked hard. "Tupperware my... so, we're going to that dog girl's house?"
Torrence gave every one a long look before turning and walking after Kasey. After a minute, Alec followed her into the house. At Kasey's house, Torrence searched Kasey out.
"Kasey?"
Christina scampered into Kasey's bathroom, where she began to demorph.
Sam's alien device beeped, signaling the signal that she and Jas had followed here in the first place.
-
Sam sighs in exasperation. "Come on, Jas, let's see what these guys are all about." She follows the strangers into their house, dodging a grey fox as it jumps in ahead of her. Nothing should surprise her, by now...
She stands in the kitchen, looking down at the device, which has started to beep. "What is this thing signaling, anyway? Is it that ship, or something else? No...it was coming from your house, before."
-
Reece nods to Sam. "We do. And you're right- we need to get our heads together at Kasey's so we can figure things out a bit." He heads to Kasey's, holding the door open for everyone who comes after him. He peers in as Sam's doohickey bleeps. "We were in here earlier when we saw the ship- maybe it let off some sort of, I dunno, space-radiation or something?"
-
Kasey stares at the small grouph of morphers standing in her kitchen and glances nervously at the door. Wothout intrpducong herself she informs the others "We'll talk in my room. It'll give us an easy escape if my parents come home and a good view of the woods to watch for the ship and the Andalite." She turns and leaves the kitchen, leading the way to her room. She sits on the floor and looks at the three newcomers. "How did you get the morphing power?" she asks, confused.
-
Sam follows Kasey into her room. "We acquired the morphing power, oh, less than an hour ago, thanks to an Andalite named Jethsa," she says, still just a little bit incredulous. "She was hurt, and the power healed her, but if that ship is after her she could be hurt again. Hey, you seem familiar somehow...have we met before? I'm Sam."
-
"We know who you are." Torrence told Sam. "We looked you up in the year book. I guess were all trusting each other, so-"
Torrence began to demorph the half - morph she'd done to mask her facial features. The slight shortening of her arms and legs reversed, transforming her back into her normal self.
"Hey, I'm Torrence. Sam-" She nods to Sam. "- and Jas and Alec." She nods to the others.
"There are some others, too- Eddie, Damien, Brit, Autumn and a girl we rescued from becoming a Controller."
"Hey," Christina walked in, wearing the skin tight outfit that Kasey had lent her. "Fox girl reporting in. What are we going to do?"
-
Sam takes a step back as Torrence changes ever-so-slightly. "Oh, my God, I still can't get used to this," she says breathlessly. She nods at everyone. "Hi, I'm...I'm Sam. Nice to meet all of you." She watches Christina walk in. "You're the fox? Alright, that's it, nothing can surprise me anymore. For real." She shakes her head. "I still haven't even tried this morphing thing. I haven't touched any animals and...and thought about them, or whatever it is. I'm still confused about the whole thing." She eyes Jas, jerking a thumb at him. "He's old hat at it, I guess." She smiles a little, elbowing her friend.
"Wait, how did you look me up in the yearbook, if you just met me?" she adds suspiciously.
-
Kasey sizes Sam up for a moment before respondong,"You probably dated my brother Matt. You were in the same grade as him. So you left a wounded Andalite out in the woods by itself?" Kasey asks incredulously, raising an eyebrow, and intentionally avoiding Sam's question.
-
"Matt? Doesn't ring a bell," Sam says flatly. "And no, we didn't leave her in the woods, she was healed by the morphing power and then that ship appeared. We ran for our lives, Jas had just enough time to find a snake and morph into it, to try and hide. I wouldn't let him hide in the woods as a slimy reptile. Alec was there, too, he hid the cube somewhere, and Jethsa...I don't know where she is. So here we are."
-
Vincent's heart jumped into his throat as the alien- Jethas fell to the ground. He ran over to see if she was even alive, but stopped half way as he realized he couldn't be sure no matter what as he had no idea what the normal heart beat or breathing rythme of what Jethas was. It was only as he thought of this, that the true insanity of this situation dawned on him.
God this is insane! Hre I am in the middle of the woods standing over an alien trying to think of how I can be sure she is alive. Not to mention that this alien is a blue seven fingered stalk eyed scorpion tailed telepathic centaur. Then there is the strange ship that's flying around looking for her and I'm guessing caused a large burn on her side. I have GOT to be dreaming. If not I'm INSANE! Vincent thought as he looked down on Jethas' body. But even so I can't just leave her like this. Even if I'm dreaming. Even if, God forbid, she is actually dead.
The last few thoughts made him decide his next actions. He would take a quick look in the space ship, if that was infact what it was, to get his bearings then he would drag Jethas inside.
Vincent then turned towards the beautiful ship and walked towards the ramp and open door.
-
Jethsa was quite heavy to drag but still felt warm to the touch. That was reassuring- it meant that she was alive, didn't it?
As Vincent dragged the heavy alien on board, the ramp slowly closed after him with a pressurized sound. Jethsa - whoever she was- remained immobile and unconscious.
Glancing around the ship, he found that it was much smaller than it appeared from the outside. There was an area to stand by the controls where he'd deposited Jethsa and a chair, both areas faced out of the dome **** pit. The chair, he realized, did not look like it was supposed to be here. No, in fact it looked weathered, as though someone had lifted it off of a porch somewhere.
As he studied the chair, he became aware that there was a walkway leading to another area of the ship. An odd smell was coming from back there.
-
I followed everyone else into Kasey's room, but didn't 'demorph' yet. - I wasn't sure how these 3 20-something strangers would react if they thought they were dealing with just a bunch of teenagers, even if there were a lot of us.
"Would you like to see the yearbook we found you in, Sam?" I asked, adopting the name she'd addressed herself by rather than 'Samantha' in full as I had previously been doing.
"If Jethsa was being chased by that Bug-Fighter, she may have sustained a serious injury by now, or maybe worse... Rescuing Jethsa is obviously fairly urgent; If the Blue-Box is well-hidden we may be able to save her before we retrieve it, or we could split up? Go for both simultaneously?... I know, I'll call Jenny! She'll be relieved that the Escafil device has been located and she can come collect it and return it to it's home in the underground complex, where Yeerk scanners will never find it. - Incidentally, how did you manage to not only find its hiding place, but get in and take it too? Perhaps we can find a way to secure it against a repeat performance by somebody more... Unsavoury, shall we say?"
As I finished talking, I realised I'd given the 'weird space-ship' a name they'd be unfamiliar with;
"Yes, I recognised that space-ship. It's of Yeerk design, and the Andalites call them Bug-Fighters, for understandable reasons given their shape."
As it started to beep, I turned my attention (and my sensors) to the Andalite technology Sam had in her hands, trying to determine what it was designed to detect...
I secretly contacted 'Jenny' via Chee-Net and brought her up-to-speed on meeting the 3 strangers and them having buried the Blue-Box somewhere nearby. I also mentioned that there appeared to be a female Andalite here on Earth that was somewhere nearby, probably injured by the Bug-Fighter chasing her. Hopefully she'd make good use of this information.
If my idea to 'call' Jenny was accepted, I'd fake the call. If not, at least she'd still know.
-
Reece crosses his arms. "If the ship was chasing her while we were tailing it, then it didn't have her yet. Which means we've got to track down a startled alien that can change into anything it wants, rather than having to fight a spaceship." He looks at the kitchen clock. "Unless she's been captured in the past few minutes..."
He closed his eyes, tried to clear his head. He was beginning to feel tired again. "So she can morph like us, meaning that it's gonna be about twelve pains trying to find her, since she could be a squirrel for all we know. But if we do anything to call her attention to us, we're bound to end up with a back yard full of angry Yeerks..." He shook his head, thinking about the lost ship- wondering if he'd have seen her if he'd just looked down while going after that damn ship.
His eyes snapped open. He turned his head to Sam. "Ship! Did she have a ship that you guys saw?"
-
The odd smell made Vincent feel uneasy He couldn't figure out what it was and from the way it had "sounded" when Jethsa spoke there shouldn't have been any one on the ship. Then again the smell could merely be something that was from the ship or a pet and was supposed to be there.
But why was a chair in here it wasn't like Jethsa could use it? And if she could have and wanted to why not just have it installed in the first place? All this ran through his head quickly as he looked between the chair the hallway and Jethsa's unconscious body.
Taking a deep breath he started down the walkway towards the smell.
-
GM
As Alice evaluated the device, she could pick up nothing besides it was clearly transmitting and receiving some sort of signal. Exactly what the signal was she could not comprehend.
I secretly contacted 'Jenny' via Chee-Net and brought her up-to-speed on meeting the 3 strangers and them having buried the Blue-Box somewhere nearby. I also mentioned that there appeared to be a female Andalite here on Earth that was somewhere nearby, probably injured by the Bug-Fighter chasing her. Hopefully she'd make good use of this information.
'Alice', we need you here immediately. A terse reply came back immediately. Extricate yourself from the others and return here alone at once.
Andalite Ship
As Vincent walked around the short hallway that he approximated was about five feet long, he immediately came to a stop. A small barricade of sorts had been constructed from ripped fabric, barring him from walking into the second open space on the ship.
Glancing in he could see two more stations similiar to the ones at the front of the ship, minus the odd chair. There was also a long table covered with flashing indicator lights and various alien script.
His eyes were drawn lower where he noted three long, black sheets stretched across the floor. Underneath the farthest two, he received a shock in that two bodies lay immobile beneath the sheet. From his position, he could see that the sheets had been arranged to mask all aspects of the deceased bodies, from their legs to the long scorpion tail, for there could be no doubt that he was staring at dead aliens.
The third sheet lay rumpled upon the ground.
-
Jas accepted the leather harness and slung it over his shoulders, careful of the gun as he tucked it under his left shoulder. He picked up his over-shirt and slipped that on too. He unconsciously stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a piece of gum, sticking it in his mouth. After biting down on that belt he noted that his jaw was still sore. Strange.
He followed the others to the house and then to the girl's bedroom, c0cking his head and raising an eyebrow. "This is all very strange..." He looked over at the girl whose house this was. "Don't suppose you guys have any vodka? Wine? Ugh I need to get drunk." He smiled a bit to show it was a joke, but it was only half-hearted. There was nothing more he wanted to do right now than go straight home, get smashed, and watch some Gravitation. Hell, he'd even sit still for Paranoia Agent or Furi Kuri if that's all there was. He thought those particular animes would seem normal now that all this had happened to him.
"I'm not old anything Sam...I just thought about it and it worked...it's still really weird, not to mention being completely naked when you turn back. God why did all this happen to me? Why couldn't I just be joyfully ignorant of the situation like the rest of the humans on this planet? Ugh." Jas shook his head. "Jethsa needs help. Much as I don't trust new people..." Jas favors the entire room with a glance, excepting Sam quite obviously from it, "We saw the ship land, we went to investigate...that's when we met her. And when she asked us to get that cube for her. We might be able to find the ship again, but there's no guarantee that the other ship hasn't already. I suppose it's the best place to start though. All I can do is turn into a bloody bull-snake...I'd sure like to know how you managed to touch an adult rhino...where you even found one to touch in the first place..."
-
On the naked comment, Kasey dutifully leaves the room, and returns with another pair of her brothers bike shorts. She tosses them to Jas. "You should be able to morph those."
She sits back down, and leans against the bed. She rubs her eyes.
"We need to go find this Andalite. However, you two are not use to us unless you're going to be able to morph. I say someone takes them to get morphs, and the rest of us search for the alien." She looks up at her friends, a blank expression on her face. "We can search for the cube later, or maybe Jenny can find it."
-
Reece shakes his head. "If Alec remembers where the box was, and the Yeerks are busy searching for the Andalite, they should be able to retrieve the cube without morphs, at least as long as they have someone with them who can either kick or haul ass if things go south. And if we wait too long, we risk something happening to the box, and that could be the difference between getting it easily and not being able to get it period, I think."
-
"I believe you that I'm in the yearbook, what I'm having a hard time with is that this stupid device just happens to lead us right to the doorstep of other morphing people. People who seem to know a little bit about us, people I don't recognize."
Sam sighs. "We found the box in a weird *ss facility that Jethsa helped us break into, using her technology. Just getting the damn thing nearly killed us, but I guess that's the sort of crazy funk you're in when an alien asks you for help. Yeah, man, I'd say that that blue box thing is pretty important. The Yeerks probably want something like that in their possession." Sam glances briefly at Alec. "So you should tell us how to find it. I don't know how to get in touch with you guys, besides your address, so what if we get split up? I think I'm going to need some time to figure out all of this morphing stuff, but what's more important to me is finding Jethsa, and that damn box, before that bug-eyed TIE fighter or whatever it is comes back. So I want to go find the box."
She crosses her arms and looks at Reece. "Yes, she hid her ship about a mile from the lean-to we helped her build in the woods. I could probably bring you there. There were...three other creatures in that ship. All dead, except for Jethsa. At least, that's what she told us. We stumbled across her ship, she wouldn't let us see anything, or do anything but find the box." She pauses, shifting her weight. "It's been a long day."
-
Reece nods. "If the Yeerks get the box, they've got the one trick we have up our sleeve, and then we're toast-zilla." He looks back to the kitchen clock, tingling with anxiousness. "We wanna act fast. I'm pleased as peaches to be a body guard for you guys if you haven't got morphs to defend yourselves."
-
"So the Yeerks don't have the morphing power, then." Sam nods faintly. "Right, we're going to need backup, we don't have a lot of time. Unless..." She shakes her head. "This morphing thing, do you just...touch an animal, and think about it? Jethsa said we just had to focus, concentrate on the animal, and it will become sort of dormant." She scratches an arm nervously. "Maybe I could try it. At least touch something to be able to morph into it, in case I need to." Part of her was still in disbelief, even after seeing it happen to Jas and these kids. "I don't exactly have a zoo of wild animals at my disposal, though."
-
Kasey shrugs. "Fine, Reece. If their faces are seen, then we're all screwed. I'm not sure Alice's people would be willing to help them considering they stole the box from them, so if they're seen, the Yeerks will find them. It makes more sense to me to have them go acquire something useful so they can have morphs ready if we do end up encountering the Yeerks, while the rest of us search for the missing Andalite." Kasey leans back against the wall, closes her eyes and rubs her temple.
-
Reece holds his hands up, palm out, exhales pointedly. "Whoa! Noted. But we can't deny that time is of the essence here. Jas has got a snake, and I've got Miller so any such legless woodland animals can hitch a ride with me, and human things can be done without the threat of retalliation. Er, except for towards Miller, maybe." Reece shifts uncomfortably. "Still- we've got a dog here, right? And Alec knows where the box is? Let's say Miller takes your dog for a walk through the forest, happens to recover a piece of alien super-technology, perhaps the kind that is blue and cubular and instrumental to keeping Earth from going all Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the two make off back here, all perky as polkadots, and no one yells at anyone." Reece pauses for breath and a smirk that betrays only the slightest hint of cruelty.
-
Kasey opens her eyes, and stares at Reece for a moment, a look of disgust crossing her face. "Wow. So, it's okay to lead them to Miller, then? I get the 'better them than us' mentality, but I can't believe you're so willing to just give up a fellow human being when there are some incredibly easy ways around having to do so. And besides, we don't know that the Yeerks aren't out there just waiting to snatch someone. I say those of us who can fly, fly in. And these two go acquire some useful morphs."
-
"Right, Miller's obviously a bad plan- a bit of thinking out loud here, thanks. Brainstorming, if you've heard of it. But hey, if you'd like to have a- ahem." Reece considers a nasty comment, clears his throat, rubs his eyes, and breathes out slowly. When he opens his eyes, he addresses the group as a whole, but doesn't look directly at Kasey. "Bird morphs are a good idea if Alec can tell us how to get to the box without coming with. Otherwise, he should morph the dog or something, because we'll need him. If the Yeerks or whatever show up, those of us with strong morphs can distract them while Alec runs back here. Assuming Alec thinks he's up to it." Reece looks towards the newcomer, pleadingly.
-
"And the other two? They're not staying here if we leave." Kasey responds in an even voice, attempting to compromise with Reece. "They'll need something to do, and they're not useful to us if they're not able to morph. I still say that one of us takes them to go acquire some useful morphs. We could acquire a trainer or something at the gardens, morph the trainer, the other two can morph bugs, we can carry them in, they can de-morph and acquire, and then we can carry them back out in bug morph. It's really up to them, though. We can't exactly tell them what to do, or make them tell us where the cube is."
-
Torrence watched the exchange between Reece and Kasey as though watching a tennis match.
"Wow." She stated blandly. "So we have like, three options? Run for Jethsa, run for the cube or hit the Gardens? But its like, the middle of the afternoon. Won't be as easy for them as it was for us."
She nodded to Reece. "But Reece's Miller escort might help."
The ship suddenly beeped, calling Vincent's attention to a video feed. Glancing over, he noted that two creatures were moving through the woods. The creatures were definitely odd- sort of like walking blade monsters. The pair moved together, fanning around the area around the ship.
-
"Uhm...hi...we're still here. Do we get a say in our own fates or is it just up to you? Tch...kids." Jas rubbed his forehead, the bike shorts laying at his feet. He picked them up gingerly. "I'm sincerely hoping these have been washed...much as I like putting on another guy's skin-tight clothes I'm usually not too interested in having someone else's bodily fluids near my body unless I at least know their name first." He shrugged and twisted up the bike shorts, tucking them in behind his belt. Even though almost all of these people were now intimate with his bodily architecture in full, he wasn't about to strip of his own volition in front of them. Not right now at least.
"First off, you're talking about sneaking into the zoo aren't you? Pretty sure there's gonna be a few people weirded out if they see some guy in bike-shorts form out of some strange, hideous blob inside the tiger-cage. You're right, if we're going to be effective, we need versatile animals. Predators, fliers, runners, insects, aquatic....but it's something that would probably best be done at night and after hours. Alec at least should go along to show someone to the cube, and I should go along to guide you to the ship." After a short pause he looked over at Sam and saw the look she was giving him. "And Sam too," he added somewhat sheepishly. "But you need to find something to acquire Sam...they're right about showing your face. And Alec too. When we get things straightened out with the cube and Jethsa, we can hit the zoo tonight if you don't mind."
Jas went to lean against an empty wall of the small room, chewing his gum quietly. What the hell was he talking about?! Was this all just a matter of course now? He absent-mindedly fingered the switch-blade in his pocket as he thought. 'I need some alcohol to take the edge off...fast.'
-
My phone beeped. I picked it up to read the new SMS:
'Yeah, we're still meeting. Left Kasey's house, a few houses over now. Look for Kasey's dog. Call me when you get here if you can't find us.'
Hmm, ok, so I hadn't missed much then. She didn't answer my question of car vs air, so I guessed it didn't matter which I picked. Then again, even if my Harpy Eagle morph could carry my wheelchair easily, it wouldn't exactly be subtle. Without my wheelchair, I couldn't get around very well after demorphing, so I decided car would be best.
I grabbed my keys from where I usually kept them: My only competition-trophy from my old trials-riding days. I smiled as it caught my eye and reminded me of the day I'd won it. Well, 3rd-place wasn't exactly winning but it had gotten me a trophy for my efforts.
This in-turn reminded me of my fateful accident, and the machine I'd been riding at the time. The mangled wreck had almost been scrapped, but for some weird reason I'd kept it as a reminder. It was in a lock-up I owned several blocks away from my appartment and I hadn't been there to look at it for several months now.
My nostalgic smile turned into a grin as I realized that when I got my legs working again there'd be no reason I couldn't hop back on a bike. Granted not that bike, at least not in its current state. I'd been told the engine was still intact and that theoretically the bike could be rebuilt, but I hadn't really been listening at the time, considering I'd been told I'd never regain the use of my legs. - Little did those doctors know that I'd eventually be gifted with alien morphing technology that fixed my spine for me!
The only things in my lock-up were the twisted wreck that had once been my pride-and-joy, and various mechanical tools which I still used once in a while to fix something on my car. Still, it had been a while since my last visit and I could only hope nobody had broken in and stolen anything...
I shook my head to clear the nostalgic fog and get back to the present. Keys in hand, I opened my window so Pentium could come and go as he pleased - I was on the fifth floor and there were suicide-bars outside the window to prevent any burglar gaining entry that way anyway. Of course, that had never stopped Pentium; He easily fitted between the bars, where he could prowl the narrow ledge as far as the outside fire-escape that he used to get to the ground. It still amazed me that he showed no fear negotiating that narrow ledge - Apparently its 3-4 inch width may as well be a mile, so far as cats are concerned.
I petted him goodbye and he gave me an annoyed look that reminded me, in no uncertain terms, that he still did not like being petted while he ate. He didn't hiss though, as he would have done if anyone but me had tried that.
About 6 minutes later, the lift came to a halt with a BING and the disembodied voice announced that I'd reached the parking-level. I wheeled over to the first space - A disabled-bay that had essentially become my own private parking space, considering I was the only wheelchair-bound resident using this carpark.
After I folded myself and my chair into the black Triumph Acclaim, I picked up my mobile phone and sent a message to all my new morphing-buddies:
'I'm on my way 2 K's now. NE1 need lift? Let me kno by rply.'
I smiled at the message I'd tapped out, hoping nobody minded 'txt-spk' shortening of certain words. That sent, i started the engine and drove out of the parking structure on my way to Kasey's neighbourhood.
Hmm... Andalite technology, of course, but still pretty advanced for them... An active sensor, eh? Well, if the Chee hadn't picked up its outgoing signal while the complex was robbed, then it was unlikely the Yeerks would be able to pick up on it. Still, it was curious that this device had apparently led them to this exact address... What was it designed to detect?? I guessed I'd have to ask this 'Jethsa' about it when, or indeed if she got rescued and was conscious enough to answer.
I got a reply back from the Chee, summoning me to the complex ASAP. I did NOT like the tone of their request, it didn't bode for anything good.
[Shall I collect the box on my way and bring it back with me?] I replied, standing up from where I'd sat and making my way to Kasey's bedroom-door.
Everyone's cellphones beeped (except for the three newbies) as I started walking; It was a text-message from Eddie. I read the SMS then caused my cellphone to ring, pretending I was getting a phone-call from 'Jenny', and 'answered' it.
"Hi Jenny, what's up?... I'm needed back there?... Oh sure, just a second." I covered the microphone with one hand as I addressed the room en-mass:
"I've got to go help Jenny with something. She hasn't told me what it is, but she requested me alone so I suppose it's to do with one of her 'friends' you're not 'supposed' to know about yet. I'll try to hurry back, but don't wait-up: Jethsa needs you. Oh, and Eddie's on the way in his car - He could probably drive people to The Gardens if that's what you decide. Still, having them acquire Reggie anyway is a good idea - He may not look like a fighter, but all dogs can fight when needed; They were predators once, after all. It'll also help protect their human identities, should you encounter Yeerks." I removed my hand from the microphone and spoke into my cell again:
"I'm on my way now." I didn't bother sending this message to the Chee for real though, I'd wait for their answer about the box first. I ended the fake-call and put my cell away as I reached Kasey's bedroom door and started through it.
-
Reece nods at Kasey. "That's not a bad idea. Miller works the night shift, so he and I shouldn't run into each other. I know sometimes Zoos will let blind kids in to pet the animals- or at least, once at boy scouts, someone told us they let Helen Keller pet a lion. If that's a universal thing, or if we can pretend it is, we might have the beginning of a plan." He begins to pace. "I'd need to sneak into wherever the security guards keep their stuff and see if I can snag a uniform..." He pauses, listens to Jas's response.
"The age thing's not getting us anywhere, man. But obviously you don't have to go get new morphs if you don't want to. And sending a team after her ship isn't a bad idea." He frowns. "Trouble is, I feel like we've got-" Reece was cut off by some obnoxious, screeching noise coming from his pile of clothes across the room. He strides over and picks up his pants, which the noise seems to be coming from, and rolls his eyes. He begins to pull on his slacks and mutters, "Some nimrod just tried to text my beeper."
-
"You have a beeper?" Sam wonders aloud. "Man, I don't even have a cellular phone." She shakes her head and takes a breath, ambition overtaking her prior fear. "Anyway, here's what we've gotta do. We need to take you to the cube--" She jerks a thumb at Alec. "--and the ship, so how about for now I just morph somebody's dog or cat or whatever? I guess it'd be nice if someone had a bird. Quicker, at least. If not, screw it, I'll pull a hooded sweatshirt over my head. Jas and I can take you to the ship, maybe that's where Jethsa ended up. But we need to leave, like, right now." She was mildly surprised at how familiar all of this was becoming. Morphing and aliens and blue cubes, oh my.
-
Reece nods. "Agreed. Do we split up, or go as one big happy family? We can cover more ground and look less suspicious if we split, but we're screwed if anything too big comes after us."
-
Great just what I need. More aliens possibly different from the ones in the other ship and maybe on a third side but whatever the case probably after Jethsa as well. And of course she is the one who could defend against them and she is the one who is unconscious. *sigh* Well I guess I should try to find somesort of weapon or maybe some way to reactivate the cloak or whatever it is that Jethsa had up to make it invisible. Vincent thought when he saw the screen showing the new aliens. Of course these looked just as threatening being walking arsenals with blades on their heads, tails, elbows, and knees. Not to mention what looked like nasty claws on their raptor like feet and on their hands.
Turning to the rest of the room he looked for anything on one of the tables or consoles that looked like weapons. It seemed unlikely these aliens would travel into dangerous places without something like a hand held blaster or phaser. Now if I were a group of telepathic deers with scythes on my tails where would I keep my laser beam weapons?
-
[spoiler]
Now if I were a group of telepathic deers with scythes on my tails where would I keep my laser beam weapons?
I almost died reading that! :D[/spoiler]
Kasey shrugs. She looks at Sam and Alex. "You can acquire my dog. REGGIE! C'mere, boy!" Reggie bounds into the room, jumping into Kasey's lap. She grins, and hugs the dog, burying her face in his neck. "Good boy." she mutters, before looking back up at the newcomers. "Put your hand on him, and think about him. That should be all it takes." She squeezes the dog again, and kisses his wet nose.
-
Torrence
"Okay, sounds good." Torrence nodded. "I'll go bird and go with the folks looking for Jethsa. Dogs should be able to sniff out where Alec has been."
Alec
"Okay cool. Hey Reggie." Alec moved closer to Kasey and Reggie, reaching out to touch the dog. He acquired the dog, who went still.
"I think I'll step into the hall to.. change... three new dogs might get weird."
He stepped outside, unbuttoning his muddy shirt as he began to morph the dog, shrinking rapidly.
Christina
"Want a buddy?" She asked Reece cheerily.
GM
The aliens moved about the ship, revealed to Vincent on the sensors. They didn't seem to see the ship. In fact, one had paused right beside the ramp Vincent had used to drag Jethsa and himself onboard and didn't seem to see it.
Moving around the ship, he couldn't see any sort of weapons. Not on Jethsa's unconscious form.
Did he go near the bodies to search them?
-
"Alright," says Sam hesitantly, patting Reggie's thick fur after Alec has left the room. "Good dog." She focuses on the dog, and he remains still. "That's it? I guess there's only one way to find out of it worked. Is this your bathroom?" She glances at Jas. "Wish me luck." Sam steps into the closest bathroom and leaves the door open just a bit, taking a deep breath and refocusing on the dog. She tries to remember what Jethsa had said; picture the dog in your mind, imagine becoming the dog. All very hippie chant-your-mantra kind of stuff. What's to stop her from becoming a dog every time she watched Old Yeller?
But this was different. At first nothing happened, but she cleared her mind and began to really think about turning into a dog. She looked down at her furry arms and screamed. "Yaahhh! Whoa! Whoa. I'm okay," she calls, and just keeps going, shrinking and shifting. She falls onto the floor and whimpers as her limbs reorganize into canine form, flesh and bone melting and reappearing in bizarre orders. Sam doesn't dare to look at first, then she becomes almost interested, but by then her vision is a bit dimmer. Her sense of smell, though--my god, who was baking cookies? Surely not in this house. Her nose was incredibly powerful and she wasn't even finished morphing!
It took a few minutes of shifting, and she was up on her padded canine feet before her tail finally sprooted out of her backbone, covered in the same thick fur. Finally she felt the whole process was complete, and she pushed the door open. Her tail wagged unconsciously. <People?> she thinks aloud, hopping into the room with the ragtag crew of kids, body wriggling. <Hey, wow! People! Hi guys! Whoa, play with me! I would love you forever if you'd play with me, seriously.>
-
Reece grins at Christina. "Any time, Chris! Without a doubt. So let's say that makes you, me, and Alec so far for the cube, and Torrence and one of the dogs for Jestha. Is that right?" Reece jumps up a bit as Reggie, or Alec, or Sam, bounds into the room. He looks down. "I'd pet you, but I feel like that would also be creepy."
-
"I'll go to look for Jestha." Kasey responds, a scowl on her face.
Reggie notices the new Sam-dog enter the room, he stares at her, and ****s his head. He lets out a bar, and wags his tail, sniffing her.
-
<Hey, back off, pal!> the human part of Sam cries, scooting away from Reggie. The dog part of her is more interested in sniffing the floor. <Oh, man, someone left breadcrumbs on the floor...> Before she can stop herself she's licking the bedroom carpet. <Augh!> She stops and looks up, ****ing her head, ears tilted. <Right. Um. Wow, this dog...it's like the dog is in here, in my head! Almost. Its instincts. So weird. Um. What's the plan? I'm going with whoever's trying to find Jethsa's ship. Man! I could smell that thing from here, I bet.>
-
Reggie tilts his head, and whines when he hears Sam's tought-speak. He darts out of the room, and downstairs.
-
A wave of relief came over him as he watched the new aliens walking around the ship as if they didn't even see it. But why? Wasn't the ship visible now? And if not then why could he see it?
Hmmm... maybe it has to do with the psychic abilities that Jethsa and her people have. Maybe the ship is able to tell the difference between people like Thor's hammer, Mjöllnir, supposedly could. Of course Mjöllnir was just a myth but up until a few minutes ago telepathy and psychic powers were just science fiction. Man I'm SO going insane.... but back to business for the moment. Vincent thought as he looked from the monitors to the dead aliens. He bit his lip nowing that it would almost be grave robbing, something he abhord, if he took anything off the aliens bodies. Not only would he be disgusted with himself who knew how Jethsa would react if she woke up and found him touching the bodies of her comrades.
But his first priority was to make sure they were safe, though he was more concerned about himself then Jethsa as she might die dispite anything he tried to do for her. Taking a deep breath he slowly walked towards the bodies and kneeled down. He lifted the edge of the cloth from one of the aliens.
-
Torrence headed out into the hall, where she morphed to her bird morph.
<Alright, I'm ready.> She told the others. <Are we ready to go? What are we waiting for?>
Christina moved near Reece. "We doing birds and dogs?" She wondered.
As he inspected the first body, he could see that the alien didn't have anything on it. As he glanced over, he did notice something sitting on the corner of the display. It looked like some sort of gun.
Glancing upwards at the display, he saw the aliens head away from the ship. They paused a few feet away from the ship. They split up and began to move through the woods, making tracking them difficult.
<Human?> Jethsa sifted, raising her head. Not seeing the human near her, she stiffened. <What are you doing?>
-
"Birds and dogs sounds fine by me- but we might want someone accompanying our dogs so people don't think they're stray..." He remembers Torrence's partially morphed face from earlier, scratches his chin, and concentrates. His brown skin lightens, not quite Caucasian, but definitely closer to it than usual. He puts on a few pounds, his skin wrinkles and his hair thins, and he halts the morph. He looks in the mirror, and MillerReece stares back. He shrugs, and pulls on his shirt. "I think this'll do." He begins to head for the door. "So, me, you, and Alec are on team Awesome searching for the box. Torrence, Kasey, and Sam are searching out the ship. Who're Jas and Alice with?"
-
<Jas can come with us, if he wants, he knows where the ship is, too,> says Sam.
<Besides,> Sam adds to Jas, trying out this private thought speech stuff, just thinking at him alone, <I'd rather not be alone with these kids. Especially Alec. Who knows. I can trust you in a tight spot, though, Jas.> Publicly she says, <Jas, are you going to stay human or go snake or what? It's really safer if no one sees your face. Maybe you can find a different morph?>
-
I'd received no response to my Chee-net question, so I took that to mean I should come without the box.
As I was leaving Kasey's house, I recognised the sound of Eddie's Brittish car approaching. Sure enough, moments later, it appeared from around the corner and pulled into Kasey's driveway. The window nearest me wound down electrically to reveal his frown as he attempted to identify me, then his expression softened. Apparantly it had just clicked that it was me 'in morph': I was still projecting my Cseirouna persona.
"Hi Eddie! You're just in time - Everyone's inside right now, but we're all just on our way out. I have to go help Jenny with something back at you-know-where, but the others are splitting into two groups; One to recover the Escafil device, the other to hopefully rescue a possibly-injured female Andalite who was the mastermind behind the theft, and the person responsible for giving another 3 humans the 'gift'. They're also inside, but proper introductions may have to wait for a bit. I'll try to get back ASAP too; I need to ask the Andalite what that scanner is designed to detect..." I added the last bit in a kind of undertone, as if to myself.
"Hello Alice. That's a pretty morph you got there, where did you get it from?" I asked, with a wink. "More importantly: Is it ok for me to park here in Kasey's driveway, or should I find somewhere less conspicuous? Also, should I bother getting my wheelchair, or just morph in my car to go help them? - Rescue sounds more fun than retrieval, so that's the team I'd like to join."
I projected a polite blush to his compliment, then answered "I think you should probably park elsewhere, in case her parents come back. As for the wheelchair thing, well they are in somewhat of a hurry... Actually, so am I! I better go, ok?"
"Oh right, sorry I forgot." I explained. "Remorphing is quicker than dealing with my wheelchair, so I'll leave that in the car. Can I offer you a lift to..." I stopped mid-sentence as Alice interrupted me:
"No that's ok, I've got my scooter. Thanks for offering though. Goodbye Eddie." I said in a friendly tone, giving a little wave then turning away and jogging down the street a bit. Taking care that I wasn't being observed, I materialized a Scooter-hologram between two parked cars that would block it from Eddie's line-of-sight. Expertly faking mounting this holographic Scooter, I flawlessly mimicked the sounds of starting a Scooter-engine and matched engine note as I 'pulled away' and sped up the road and out of sight. I didn't bother 'demorphing' as I 'rode', but I did add a holographic helmet to help disguise Cseirouna's features a bit.
"Ok, bye then." I waved back and watched her figure shrink into the distance. I heard a Scooter start up and pull away, and she was gone.
Sighing at having such a short conversation, I backed out of the driveway and parked a few doors away on the road where my car wouldn't look suspicious.
I electrically wound one of the back windows down half-way, then I took my keys out of the ignition. I separated the alarm-fob from the rest of my keys and secured the keys in the glovebox, from which I retrieved a large elastic band to attach to the lone alarm-fob. That done, I stretched the elastic over my head to rest around my neck. It wasn't tight enough to cut circulation, but it would get looser when I morphed anyway.
Hunkering down in my seat, hidden by the dark tint of my windows and the opacity of the metal panelling, I started the morph: This time, the first thing to happen was the shrinking part, almost as if by design. As I shrank, black fur sprouted all over my body. I was shrinking inside my clothes, but of course my underwear now shrank with me as I'd practised keeping it as a 'morphing-suit'. Retractible claws replaced my nails as my fingers shrank into my palms, which were becoming paw-pads. Sharp incisors grew in my mouth as my jaw changed shape, and suddenly the world was a much lighter place as the pupils of my eyes changed into vertical slits. The last change to arrive was my tail. After my ears relocated, it sprouted slowly looking like a furry sausage or... Well, think up your own comparisons.
Once the changes were complete, I felt Pentium's instincts fold themselves into my mind. Because I'd practised morphing him, I was ready for them and could retain control. I used my front claws to pull and manoeuver my clothing into the driver's footwell where it wouldn't be seen, then I nimbly hopped into the back and out the half-open window.
I was pretty pleased with my planning until I realized the flaw - How was I going to press the 'lock' button on my alarm fob when it was hanging around my neck and I had no opposable thumbs?? I stared at the car for a few seconds, thinking, then tried to pull on the fob with a front-claw. On my fourth attempt, I managed to snag the keyring. I pulled it down so it was flat on the ground, then steppe on the button with my other front-paw.
BOP-BWIEKK!!!
I musta jumped 15 feet in the air at the sound of my alarm arming! - As a human, the sound wasn't all that loud, but with a cat's hearing? Yowch!!
I reigned in the fight-or-flight response in time to see the back window close itself. - It was a feature of the alarm that all electric windows closed themselves when it was armed. Now that my car was secure, I bounded over to Kasey's house.
Alice hadn't shut the door properly, so I nosed my way inside. I soon came face-to-face with a Forest Falcon. My heckles rose automatically as my feline instincts recognised a potential threat and I shrank back a bit before I regained control and reasoned it was probably someone in morph.
<Torrence?> I asked, hopeful my guess was correct. My thoughtspeak was fully open, not directed only at the bird I'd encountered.
-
Jas looked up from his own thoughts as if coming out of a daze at Sam's thought. "Well, I guess I'll go with the people looking for Jethsa. Kasey? Was that your name? You're right, I don't have any really effective morphs, hopefully we'll remedy that tonight eh? I guess the best I can do is recon once we get close to the ship. Not many people notice a snake in the grass." Jas grinned to himself at the addage made literal.
"Where do you want me to put my clothes? Your parents might be a little more than put off if they found a loaded Desert Eagle in your room..." While waiting for an answer, Jas began to strip, taking off his overshirt and folding it neatly. He took off the harness and gun and laid them on the floor next to the clothes, then stripped off his shoes, jeans, and undershirt, standing again in his underwear. He picked up the bike shorts off of the clothing pile and looked around, finding the door to the hallway. He moved outside the door a ways and stripped off his underwear, again naked in a stranger's house...well inside was better than out in the middle of the street. He quickly pulled the bike-shorts up to his waist, adjusting 'himself' until he was comfortable and came back in the room, setting his underwear on top of the pile of clothes, all neatly folded. He looked at Kasey questioningly.
-
<Oh, man, my clothes, they're still in your bathroom,> says Sam worriedly. <I guess if I need to demorph then I need to demorph, but let's try and make this less than two hours, okay? Torrence, Kasey, are we ready to go?>
-
Christina excused herself and morphed in the hallway, already wearing her borrowed morphing outfit. The second time around the Condor instincts were less surprising, although she still felt the odd urge to go down to the kitchen and root around.
<I'm ready!> She announced. <Is there a window open somewhere? >
Scurrying along on her big feet, she found the bath room window open.
<Pay dirt in the bath room!> she announced. <Any big birds, here we go.>
After an awkward hop onto the toilet and then the sill, she flung herself out of the window. More prepared to surrender control to the bird brain, she flew out of the window, towards the Forrest.
<I'll wait for you guys in the Forrest.>
Torrence
Forrest Falcon
<Torrence?> I asked, hopeful my guess was correct. My thoughtspeak was fully open, not directed only at the bird I'd encountered.
<Yeah, its me.> Torrence replied, before realizing she didn't know if her 'voice' was the same. <Ah, yeah, its Torrence. Sorry if I scared ya, there. Are you ready for some fun? We're going to go searching!>
To Sam's question, she replied privately to Sam, Eddie and Kasey.
<Yeah, I'm ready. I found Eddie. He could come with us, if he wants. How about it, Eddie?>
Chee Compound
Alice, The same stern voice that had answered Alice's Chee net inquiry before greeted her as she entered the compound.
We became concerned when you spent several hours away from the compound. I've shared your report about encountering different morph capable humans. Do you believe that the Andalite gave them the power, and if so, that there is truly an Andalite on Earth?
Jethsa
Andalite Ship/ Vincent
<Human?> The Andalite called again in Vincent's head. She feebly tried to stand, but found herself unable.
<My ship is signaling me that there are beings in our proximity. Can you see what they are doing?>
-
Kasey stands up, and walks into the bathroom, collecting Sam's clothes. She also grabs Jas's pile, and brings both into her closet. She puts the two piles of clothes down on the floor, and picks up the gun, staring at it for a moment, before shoving it behind a shoebox on the top shelf.
She re-enters the room, flings open her bedroom window, and strips her outer clothing, revealing her morphing clothes. She begins to concentrate, quickly taking the shape of a red-tailed hawk. She responds to Sam and Torrence, <Ready. Where's Eddie?> She stretches her wings, and flutters up to the window sill.
<Lock the door behind you, guys.> She says to the remaining morphers.
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<Awesome. Okay. Let's do this,> says Sam, trotting around Kasey's house to the front door. She scratches at it lightly, whimpering. The real Reggie is sitting nearby. He tilts his head, as if confused.
-
As I entered our compound, I switched my hologram back to my usual Alice form. As soon as my usual hologram appeared, I was once-again contacted by the same Chee-Net 'voice'.
[Yes, I do believe there is an Andalite here on Earth. A female one, judging by the name I was told she answered to - Jethsa. And the 3 Humans we encountered definitely have the ability to morph: Every Chee knows what that implies; They would have to have directly encountered an Escafil device and a morph-capable being or Chee to activate it. We know no Chee was involved, which leaves just two possiblities: Visser 3, or a free Andalite. If the Visser had a cube, the war would already be lost, which leads me to conclude that there HAS to be an Andalite involved, AND one who blatently disregards the law of Seerow's Kindness.] I answered, [Our morphers are currently setting out to retrieve the Escafil and, with any luck, rescue this Jethsa person too. I would have joined them, but received your summons to come here instead.]
I made no effort to disguise the fact that I would have preferred to help our morphers rescue the Andalite than come to the compound, yet I had come anyway because I was still a loyal Chee.
The bird replied in thoughtspeak that she indeed was Torrence and that I'd guessed correctly.
<Hi everyone.> I thoughspoke openly, <Alice gave me the 4-1-1, but it seems I've missed some exciting stuff. I've been told there's two teams going after different goals, the Escafil team and the Andalite-rescue team. I don't know which team is after which goal, but I REALLY wanna meet an Andalite, so I'd like to join the rescue-group, if that's ok?> I asked Torrence, though I still wasn't using private thought-speak, so anyone could answer really.
I caught the scent of Dog in the house and my heckles rose once more. <Um, Kasey? Do you, by any chance, own a dog?> I asked her, nervously, <I'm in Domestic-Cat morph right now, so I hope if there's a dog in the house that he's not gonna start chasing me...> I trailed off. It was easy to tell from the scent that the dog was male, not female.
I glanced around with my keen feline eyesight, and my eyes alighted on a clock. I automatically focussed in to read what time it was, as I sat my rear end on the carpet.
-
Hearing the voice in his head the first time Vincent nearly jumped out of his skin. But before he answered he wanted to get the object that looked like a gun just to be safe, for himself at least. He hesitated for a moment before laying the sheet back over the dead andalite as close to as it was before. He then walked over to the table with the energy gun or what he now assumed to be one and again hesitated before taking a hold of it.
Holding it in his open hand he didn't think it looked that deadly but then again neither did a gun. It was the knowledge of what it could do that scared people. Dropping the gun into the pocket of the sweat pants he wore he walked out of the room back down the walkway to where Jethsa lay. As he came into the door he replied "Yeah the two lizard men with razors all over their body are just looking around the ship at the moment. They don't seem to see us. Don't know how your ship does that but it's really cool."
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<Yeah. A black lab, and there are a few people in the house in dog morph. I'd de-morph, if I were you. We're taking to the air to go search for the Andalite. Meet us around back of my house.> Kasey responds to Eddie from her perch on the windowsill.
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Sam scratches at the door again. <Come on guys, it's so frustrating not having opposable thumbs!>
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Reece opens the door, letting Sam out. "Hey, shoot me a line in thought-speech as you guys make your way out; I don't want to let Reggie run away."
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<Thanks Reece,> says Sam, padding out the door and instantly sniffing around the front lawn. <Oh, wow this nose is amazing. Um. Torrence? Kasey? Jas...let's go. We're going to head toward the woods, you can follow us to the ship. I bet I can smell that thing right now, if I try.> She pauses, stock still, letting the night breeze fill her complex turbinate nasal cavities. <Incredible!> she says. <I can smell what all of these houses are cooking for dinner. Ew, who still eats those Kid Cuisines?> She leads Jas toward the woods they had emerged from earlier, casting about for the elusive scent of alien metal, and using her own memory to guide her.
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Torrence squirmed out of the door after Sam.
<I'm out,> She replied openly. <- come on guys, lets go! Times a wastin'!>
Soaring above the ground, she moved ahead of Sam behind and slightly to the left. Swinging around, she scanned for sights that could lead them to their other worldly quarry.
The dogs searching out the ship soon picked up a scent- it was clearly Sam and Jas, but as they had come from the ship, it was a safe bet to follow it. As they moved into the woods, they quickly picked up something new. A prickly scent that the dog brain associated with anger- an angry dog? But there was no dog scent... The human brain soon realized this could be an alien scent!
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<Do you smell that?> Sam murmurs, snuffling through the woods. <What is that? It's messing up our own scent...I'm having a hard time following our trail, but...maybe it's coming from Jethsa's ship! Follow me, guys.> Sam barks and bounds through the woods, following the strange alien scent.
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Kasey takes off following the dogs from the sky, keeping a watchful eye out for the ship.
-
Jas followed Sam-dog down and out of the house, crossing back into the woods. He wondered what someone would think if they saw a young, white-haired guy picking his way through the woods in nothing but someone else's skin-tight bike-shorts apparently following a dog that didn't need a leash. "Sam, damn it how the hell am I supposed to follow you as a damn snake?" Jas shook his head knowing he couldn't move as fast as the dog in snake-form, but honestly he couldn't really keep up with Sam now...He continued to pick his way through the underbrush, twigs and rocks scratching his feet all to hell.
"Screw it!" Jas thinks about the snake and starts to change in the woods trying to keep the bike-shorts with him. They seemed to snug around his body and stay there, though he couldn't honestly tell if they had or not. His body seems to melt again, this time the scales covered him immediately and his head changed first, making him some sort of scaly human snake crossbreed thing. In fact Jas was more or less a snake before his size started to shrink down at all. Due to not lying down first, and the extra mass of the huge snake body, his impact on the forest floor was more than painful, but he noted that the pain went away quickly as he finished the morph. He set off after dog-Sam flicking his tongue in the air to catch her scent. He had to work hard to follow her, the snake instincts almost screaming no in his brain.
-
Nobody had answered my question over which team was going after which goal. Perhaps they were in too much of a hurry?
I took a 50:50 chance and followed Torrence-bird out the door, hoping she was part of the Andalite-rescue team. I realized quickly that as cats couldn't fly, I'd probably lose her when she took off, but I came up with a plan around that - Scent. I memorized Kasey's dog's scent and followed it in the direction Torrence was heading.
Soon woodlands grew denser around me. I saw a clump of bushes that were large enough and dense enough to hide my human form and decided now would be a good time to change morphs. Making sure I had a bead on which direction the others were travelling, I nosed my way into the heart of the bushes I'd found and started demorphing.
The elastic band around my neck got tighter again as I got larger, but I knew it wouldn't get tight enough to stop me breathing because I'd put it on while I was human, after all. As I demorphed I contemplated which new morph to choose; Bird? - No, they already had birds, and besides that I didn't like to distance myself from any action. This left one of my Big-Cat morphs, but which one? If it was going to get darker, my Black-Panther/Leopard morph would be ideally camoflaged; If I went for straight-power, I'd be going Puma; But no, the smart compromise for this situation was Clouded-Leopard: It was smaller and less conspicuous than the other two, yet just as deadly if it got the element of surprise. I wished I'd had time to get a Jaguar morph; They OWNED the jungle, and a little woodland like this? Would've been the ideal morph for both stealth AND power...
Through all that thinking, I almost surprised myself that my demorph was complete. I looked down at my nearly-useless legs splayed out behind me, unable to support my weight. I started pushing myself up with my arms, but the bushes attacked me as I did so, so I stopped pushing. Before I started another morph, I took the elastic-band off my neck and buried my alarm-fob in a couple inches of dirt right there at the heart of these bushes with my bare hands and a bit of stick. I left the end of the elastic band poking out slightly so I could find it again later, but no human in their right mind would crawl into this bush and get all scratched up.
As I concentrated on my favourite morph thusfar, its large beautiful patterns faded onto my skin and fur started pushing them out. Enormous incisors grew in, then outside my mouth as their length became too much to keep enclosed. Thankfully the rest of my jaw followed suit and I soon became a person who was almost entirely human but with a CL's head and markings. That thought would have made me smile, except my smiling-muscles had already been replaced by their CL equivalents which were designed to bare its impressive teeth. My legs grew in strength and I brought my rear up just in time for the large tail to SPROOT from it. With a blink, it was as if someone had just switched a load of lights on - The bushes lit up around me and I could see every single branch whereas my human eyesight had blurred them together in the low-light.
As the morph completed, and the CL's mind surfaced, I marked this bush as my territory almost without thinking about it: Meh, at least it'll be easy to find my keyfob again, I thought to myself as I nosed my way back out of the bush and stretched, digging my powerful claws into the nearest tree-trunk. Rememberring the scent I'd memorized, I took a breath in through my nose: Wow, so many interesting smells! - But I reigned in the animal's curiosity and concentrated, zeroing in on the fresh scent of Kasey's dog.
I followed the dogs easily, but didn't completely catch up with them - I didn't wanna frighten them, after all. Every now and then I'd spot them through the trees as we moved.
<I hope you're the rescue team for the Andalite, else I'm in completely the wrong morph.> I called ahead to them, <I had to remorph, so I'm a little way behind you guys. Don't wait up though, I can track you easily and it might be a good idea for me to keep the element of surprise if you're ambushed or something. - Not that you will be, but just in case. You know?>
I 'hear' an unfamiliar female thoughtspeak 'voice' talking about scents, then mentioning "Jethsa's ship". Well, it looks like that answers THAT question then, I muse. I hear a bark echo off tree trunks and one of the dogs suddenly bounds forward, accelerating after a new scent. Following suit, I increase my own velocity to keep them all in visual range, and figuring if I can see them they can probably hear my thoughtspeak. Soon enough, I pick up on a strange scent that makes the CL mind hesitate - Was it a threat? Hmm, maybe... But perhaps this was what that dog was following.
I felt a light breeze coming from ahead; At least we were downwind of the enemy, if that was what this scent came from, or indeed our prey... Ahh! Yes, CL-brain: Prey! - Follow the strange scent to your meal... - Don't eat the doggies though! I thought at my instinctual side, wary that I was also following friends.
It was good that we were downwind, as it meant if there were any enemies ahead of us with a good sense of smell they were still at a disadvantage. It also made tracking the dogs a piece-of-cake.
To make conversation while tracking, I asked:
<So who are these new people, anyway?>
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"Alec, which way to we go to get to the cube?" Reece asks, somewhat impatiently. He looks around at the others as they disappear into the forest, ready to get going.
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Blue Box team
Alec as Reggie - morph replied in open thought speech.
<Pretty much the same way they're going for a bit.>
Alec replied, wiggling up to Reece. <Then we veer left. I made three piles of rocks- once where we turn left and two more in a straight line to the Blue Box. Saw that on a survival show. Are we ready? Ready? Great, lets go!>
He bounded forward, into the woods, all crashing underbrush.
Christina in Condor morph had been soaring over the tree tops just within the forrest in wait for the others. At seeing the racing dog, she looped around to fly along side whoever it was.
<Hey down there,> She called out openly. <Sky Christina here. No wierd space ships around!>
As she flew ahead, she spotted a stack of three rocks.
<Found the first rock pile,> She called down. <- lets swing left!>
The Condor did so, careful to keep the dog and its followers in sight.
Jethsa Rescue Team
Torrence
<These people are Sam and Jas.> Torrence responded openly to Eddie's question from her soaring place near Kasey. <Sam is in a dog morph of Kasey's dog. Jas is a snake. They met this alien that we're going after- whoa!>
She'd let herself wind in a circle to check on every one's progress- and spotted Eddie's new morph.
<Are you a clouded leopard, Eddie?>
Completing the circle, something else caught her attention down below.
GM Post
The morphed group searching for the alien noticed several odd slash marks on trees- in places, they had cleared paths through the Forrest. They looked as though they had been cut with machetes.
As Kasey and Torrence noticed this, they saw something else- a bladed being down on the ground. It was clearly an alien of some sort, all sharp angles with bladed arms, it was seven feet tall- looking at it, it made one realize that it could have sliced through the Forrest. The single alien stood twenty feet in front of the racing Sam - as Reggie- and forty feet in front of the Jas - as - a - snake and Eddie - as - a - clouded - leopard.
Yeah the two lizard men with razors all over their body are just looking around the ship at the moment. They don't seem to see us. Don't know how your ship does that but it's really cool."
Jethsa
<Those are aliens called Hork Bajir.> Jethsa replied to Vincent. <They are very dangerous. Yes, I managed to re route some power to appear invisible to their sensors... however, they do appear to know that alien technology is in the area, hence their patrolling in this area.>
GM post
The ship quickly beeped, bringing up a new visual- of a bounding Black lab dog was nearing the ship. A separate display showed the dog's progress in regards to the bladed alien who was standing about eight feet away from the ship.
The second alien was not in view, presumptively having continued the search elsewhere.
Jethsa struggled to stand, but her back legs and tail refused to cooperate.
<Human,> The alien said quickly. <- come look at these display screens. The proximity sensor is saying something is nearing, but I can not determine what it is. What is heading towards us?>
[Yes, I do believe there is an Andalite here on Earth. A female one, judging by the name I was told she answered to - Jethsa. And the 3 Humans we encountered definitely have the ability to morph: Every Chee knows what that implies; They would have to have directly encountered an Escafil device and a morph-capable being or Chee to activate it. We know no Chee was involved, which leaves just two possiblities: Visser 3, or a free Andalite. If the Visser had a cube, the war would already be lost, which leads me to conclude that there HAS to be an Andalite involved, AND one who blatently disregards the law of Seerow's Kindness.] I answered, [Our morphers are currently setting out to retrieve the Escafil and, with any luck, rescue this Jethsa person too. I would have joined them, but received your summons to come here instead.]
Chee Compound
Yes, there is no need to state the obvious, Alice. Came the reply.
You were called back to remind you that you are Chee, not a member of the group as we asked you to pretend to be. Remember your allegiance.
We need you to act as a monitor and if need, insert yourself to ensure that the Escafil Device is returned to its rightful owner. If this Andalite is indeed fit, than it obviously shall go to her.
However if she is unfit for whatever reason, than we need you to bring the Escafil back under our secure area, which is undergoing security upgrades after the last breach.
We have determined that the Andalite crew must have had an engineer to read the security we had in place and disrupt the feeds. Quite advanced for Earth standards, but we have ensured that the device shall not work again.
Therefore, it may be beneficial for you to observe the others without making your presence known to see what they're priorities are. Did they ever state what they intend to do with the Escafil after they discover it?>
-
Reece runs after Alec, leaves crunching underneath. He tries to send a thought-speech message back to Christina, partially to see if he can, and partially to avoid looking Christina, but the results are garbled by the half-morph, almost statticky. <I.... pile... going!> he manages to say. He heads towards the rock pile.
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<Guys, it looks like pretty easy g--OH **** OH **** OH ****!> Kasey shouts in open thought-speak. <Guys, stop and HIDE! There's a big creepy looking boogey man right ahead of you!> Kasey continues to circle overhead in morph, wondering what the boogey man was, and what it was doing. She quickly realizes that this encounter may lead to fighting, and begins to drop down the the ground, landing about 20 yards from the ship in some shrubbery. <Torrence, they might need our help!> Kasey manages to shout in thought-speak, before she begins to de-morph.
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Jas-snake wriggled through the underbrush as quickly as he could...he had clearly underestimated the speed of his morph. He let the snake do the wriggling and he was actually really fast, he managed to keep right on Sam's trail, only maybe fifteen feet back. He could easily see the paw-prints she left in the undergrowth.
He froze for a moment at Sam's warning and then continued forward, circling around another way...no one would notice a snake...suddenly he was glad that he had acquired the creature. He could probably even make it to the ship without being spotted, but better to be safe anyway. He slithered up to within about ten feet of where Sam had seen the creature and watched, camouflaged perfectly in the forest undergrowth. The thing looked and smelled strange to him...another alien, he realized he'd decided that without even being surprised. What the hell was happening to his sense of reality?
He circled around the alien, moving silently through the brush and leaves on the forest floor...what he would do when he arrived at the ship he had no idea...maybe he could contact Jethsa? If she was even in the ship...nevertheless he circled around, moving towards where he remembered the ship to be.
-
<Sam and Jas, eh?> I repeated in open-thoughtspeak, then I switched to private-thoughtspeak directed soully at Sam and Jas:
<<Greetings, fellow morphers! I'm Eddie, and I'll be your backup today. Any trouble you can't handle, I'll do my best to protect you from it.>> I thoughtspoke in a tourguide-esque sort of way, friendly and trying not to undermine their own abilities to defend themselves.
Switching back to open-thoughtspeak, I s****ed at Torrence's reaction to noticing what I'd morphed into - But not in a mean way.
<Heh heh heh heh. Yep, that's me alright. Stalkie-stalkie, catchy-Andalitey. Isn't he just beautiful? He's gotta be my favourite morph so far. - I wondered when I'd get chance to become him; This seemed the ideal opportunity.>
Kasey's yelling stopped me in my tracks. Briefly.
<Hide? Hmm, not such a bad idea... Let's ambush it!> I suggested, the hint of a potential battle exciting me a bit. <Err, I mean: I'll get in an ambush-position, then somebody thoughtspeak at it and find out if it's friend-or-foe. If it's foe, it'll soon be DEAD-foe.> My CL morph grinned as only a big-cat can grin: Prey was close; Large, dangerous prey maybe, but prey all the same.
I trotted closer to the dog ahead of me, keeping my supreme eyesight ahead to try and catch a glimpse of this so-called boogeyman. At about 10 feet behind the dog - Sam, I'd been told, - I went vertical and shot up a large oak tree, settling into the branches in such a way that I could drop or leap down onto anything within about an 8-foot radius of Sam's current position.
I saw a Red-Tailed Hawk drop from the sky, coming in for a landing. I guessed it was probably Kasey, as I knew she'd acquired one. The bird disappeared into some shrubbery, reminding me of the bushes I'd remorphed in, so she was probably thinking along similar lines. Thoughtspeak emanates from the vicinity of that bush, reinforcing my assumption that it'd been Kasey in morph. She calls on Torrence for assistance.
<Take your time, girls. - I got this covered for now. While I was practising back at my appartment, I discovered that morphing/demorphing in a hurry SERIOUSLY takes it out of you - You'd do better letting the morph progress at its usual pace, so you can remain alert in your new forms.> I advised in open-thoughtspeak, though excluding the 'boogeyman', of course.
I spotted a snake disappearing into the undergrowth, but didn't bother to try and track it - I had bigger prey in mind. It was probably that Jas guy... Torrence had said he'd gone snake, after all... It had impressive camoflage and had soon vanished from even my impressive feline eyesight, yet I still preferred my CL's coat to the snake's pattern.
<I'm in position to attack anything that comes near Sam where she currently is. I suggest waiting until Kasey's finished morphing before we lure the 'boogeyman' here. - Are you going into Black-Leopard morph, Kasey?> I asked, trying not to remember what she wasn't wearing when we'd all acquired it. - This was easier to achieve while I was in morph, of course, so my attention was soon focussed back onto the boogeyman ahead of us, hidden by some trees I'd guessed. I had no idea how dangerous this guy would look when I finally caught sight of him/her/it/whatever.
The other Chee seemed to think it had been their idea for me to pretend to belong to the group of morphers. This annoyed me, as it had been my idea in the first instance - They'd just agreed with it and taken it as their own idea. I didn't correct the Chee conversing with me though; It would only lead to unnecessary and time-consuming conflict, possibly ending in some sort of punishment I didn't want to contemplate.
[I am to spy on the group and gauge their trustworthiness by what they do with the Escafil device? Very well then, that is what I shall do. In my opinion, spying is unnecessary - They believe me one of them, not one of the Chee after all. Nevertheless, I shall spy undetected unless they have real need of my assistance to prevent one of them dying, for example. Fair enough?] I asked, confirming the first part of my 'mission' for them.
[As for the Escafil device, I shall leave its fate up to the Andalite, provided she has enough wits to decide. I heard the humans' plans, and was part of them. They intend to return it to us for safe-keeping and I'm prepared to take it on-trust that that is indeed their true intention. WHEN they return it to Kasey's house, I shall arrive there to take delivery for us. It will then be up to the Andalite what is done with it, if she can answer. I am glad you have sorted the security issue; Now I won't have to lie when I assure them it will be safe in Chee possession.] I hinted almost imperceptibly at their prior failure, paying them back for their mistrust of my morphing friends and taking my ideas as their own, yet in such a subtle way as it wouldn't create more trouble for me.
[Is there anything else, before I depart?] I asked, wondering when they wanted me to leave.
-
<Jas, are you still behind me? Oh, ****...> Sam hisses, her dog throat emitting a surprised yelp. Only a few yards in front of them stood a big, bladed, definitely alien reptile with a big beak and a nasty glare. Sam hopped to the side, into the woods, and crouched down. Her dog instincts were wary of both the tall alien creature, and the cloud leopard it knew was nearby.
<Eddie, I'm Sam, and I'm pretty sure I'm dead right now,> Sam tremulously called out to the leopard. <What the hell is that thing? Jas, stay back...>
-
Torrence didn't have a chance to respond to Eddie's reply. At Kasey's advice, Torrence had swooped down to the Forrest floor to demorph along Kasey. Reviewing what she'd seen of the creature- and Eddie's advice to Kasey to go for a large cat and recalling that he'd chosen a clouded leopard- she decided to go for a different morph. A being with stamina, stout hooves excellent for kicking and strong teeth for biting - the kiang.
<Hang on,> She encouraged Sam and Jas. <- we're morphing. I'm going Kiang- its a type of ass. What have you decided, Kasey?>
As the ass morph caused me to shoot upwards and for my feathers to become itchy as they melted away into fur, I posed another question to the group.
<Are you sure you want us to attack that? It looks like walking pain. It hasn't moved on us, maybe we should go around.>
GM: Hork Bajir #1 had a narrow snake like head that whipped towards Sam and then swung around at the trees where Eddie was lurking. It moved its head about searchingly as though it hadn't seen Eddie, but perhaps had heard him.
It quickly rounded back on Sam. It lunged forward, swishing its blade like arms to cut impeding small branches out of its path. With its speed, it'd clear the distance to Sam in thirty seconds.
Jethsa tilted her head, as though listening. After a moment, a small 'device that resembled an 'antennae' rose up from the ship. Still invisible to all save Vincent, the ship based Dracon beam fired upon the alien.
TSEEEW!
Scorched earth appeared in front of the alien, who lurched to the side into a copse of trees, momentarily out of sight.
<Humans in morph,> Jethsa addressed the group around the ship. <- come forward. When you can see the alien, please signal me and I will fire upon its location. Vincent, could you advise me of its location? I don't want to hit the humans.>
<Here.> Christina called out, spotting another pile of rocks.
<Got it!> Alec responded chirpily. <Come on, you're so slow! After this, can we play a game of catch?>
After several minutes, Reece found Alec digging into the ground. Rich earth- the same color that had stained Alec's clothing- was being overturned.
<Here! Here!>
The Chee responded [No, you shall not leave its fate up to the Andalite. We have already informed you that if she is unfit, you are to bring it back immediately. Under no circumstances shall you allow the humans to control its fate.
Also be sure to ascertain who has the morphing power and appraise us of the people in detail when you return. You may go observe the Escafil now.]
-
Her bristly dog hair standing on end, Sam stares at the alien loping toward her. <Aaaahhh!> she cries, whimpering and jumping out of the way. A great blast of heat and furrows of dirt rocked over her, as some kind of laser beam tore up the earth near the alien. Sam couldn't tell if it had been hit, she was too busy running through the brush. She stopped after a few seconds, daring to turn and look. <Jas! Are you okay? Eddie? Torrence, Kasey...anyone?> she yells frantically, hoping only they could hear her.
-
Reece trudges over. He's not nearly as speedy with half of Miller's age and bulk weighing him down. It's much more frustrating morphing humans than animals, he decides. He begins to help Alec unearth the device.
"Good boy!" he blurts without thinking. He hates the sound of this voice. "We can play all the catch you want once this thing is safely with its mama."
-
<Hello Eddie, nice to meet you.> Jas managed to keep the distrust from his voice. He continued to slither around, freezing in horror as the alien charges at Sam... <SAM!> He slithered back towards the alien, not really knowing exactly what he planned to do when the ground erupted at the shredder fire. <What the...a laser?!> Then he heard Jethsa speaking...
<You're alive! Uhm...if you can tell where I am, he's about 15 meters to the right in relation to the ship...uhm...wait I don't know what to say...you probably don't know what a meter is...uhhh...> Jas hesitated, his mind not clear in any way, it was clouded in fear for Sam.
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Kasey ignores Eddie's advice, and pushes herself through the demorphing process, she pauses only momentarily, pleased that she was able to morph her clothing. She almost immediatey begins to morph. She decides to go with the leopard morph, realizing that there woudn't be much room to maneuver in the dense woods as a hippo. She hears Torrence's question and feels the Earth shake from the impact of the laser mid-morph. She's unable to respond in thought speak so she lets loose garbled snarl. <What the hell was that?!> She demands in thought speak.<Who said that!?> she asks when she hears the alien voice in her head.
-
<Naw, you're not dead yet, Sam. I'm still here to protect you, ok?> I replied to Sam when she introduced herself. Movement caught my eye: A walking-lawnmower-lizardman Alien was just ahead of us! - I went into the CL's super-stealth mode, its secret weapon: Utter silence in any movement made as he stalks his prey. I tried to size-up the creature and determine how best to take it down without getting sliced into a dozen pieces, I saw there were no blades protecting the back of its neck - The perfect target for the longest incisors in the feline family: Those belonging to a Clouded-Leopard.
Still, it wasn't quite close enough yet to make any guarantees, and if I didn't strike perfectly first-time I was in for a world of hurt, so for right-now my best chance lay with patience and the up-coming teamwork with Kasey and Torrence, whom I saw landing and beginning her own demorph. Yes, if bait wasn't enough (in the form of a Labrador called Sam), Kasey and Torrence should be able to Koralle the creature within range of my strike.
I bit back a laugh at Torrence's mention of the word 'Ass' - This was no time for the distraction of that form of humour, even though my childish side found it hilarious.
<Hell-yes I'm sure! - But only if it makes the first move, though. I have a plan that might work: If someone can get it in range, I'll chomp its neck and take it down - Assuming their necks are as important to their survival as ours are, of course...> I said instead.
As the creature lunged toward Sam, I prepared to make my move. Timing was key - A little closer, little closer, little clo... <What the F@£$ was that!!> I thought-yelled as dirt exploded skyward from the bright blue flash. The bladed Alien leaped into cover behind a copse of trees, stopping where I could see it but only on the very edge of my striking-range. So far as the CL was concerned, it wanted the prey closer before tangling with those blades, so I didn't strike yet.
I heard a new thought-speak voice I didn't recognize. It didn't 'sound' male, and I'd already conversed with Sam, so that left me with one conclusion:
<Jethsa, I presume?> I answered the thought-voice, <Oh sure, the Slash-Monster is in my eye-line just behind this copse of trees here. If I strike from this distance, I'd say my chances were 50:50 I'd be able to kill it in one bite. I don't particularly like those odds, but if I fail I could probably still lead it out in the open so you can take it out with your Lazer-thing. That electric-blue is a really neat colour, by the way. Would you like me to strike now, or wait?> Ok, so I'd rambled a bit; What can I say? This situation was exciting!
<I'm A-OK, Sam, thanks for asking. I'd ask about you, but it's pretty clear to me you're petrified but physically fine.> I answered Sam's plea with friendly nonchalance. I'd heard Jas introduce himself to me, but hadn't had chance to answer due to all the action. He too appeared to ramble-on when he thoughtspoke to Jethsa. - At least I wasn't the only one doing it, I supposed.
I thought about whether or not to reply to what had been said... I could just leave without saying anything more, and it wouldn't lead to trouble, but...
[I merely meant that the Andalite may wish it destroyed or dismantled rather than entrusting it solely to us Chee to protect from the Yeerks, not allowing the humans to look after it.] I qualified as I headed out of the door, once-again in Cseirouna form, riding a holographic fake scooter back to Kasey's neighbourhood.
-
Kasey tenses, watching the walking razor blade from a crouch in the underbrush. <Eddie, ready to do some ass kicking?> She asks, mentally preparing herself to go into her first battle. Her mind is racing a mile a minute, wondering how the hell she went from being a normal teenager less than 24 hours ago dying to go backpacking in the woods, to a black leopard in the middle of the woods attempting to kill a 7 foot tall walking razor blade.
-
"What the f-" Vincent started as the ship shot some sort of laser beam at the aliens outside the ship... Hork-bijar or what ever Jethsa had called them. "Uh... um.... The ceature you refered to is a dog, black lab I think... and what humans? There isn't any one out there or at least that I can see. Are there more of you somewhere? I could have sworn I just heard about two or three different yells in my head in different 'voices'. Did one of the uh... others in the back room get better? The Horkbadger... I mean Harkbajir.... the alien is.. uh... about fifteen feet from the ship... at about 10 o'cloc- er... to our front and left... more or less that direction." Vincent replied nervously stumbling over his words and explainations as he pointed in the direction of the hork-bijar from the front of the ship.
He wasn't sure who or what to look at and what was going on but he wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with it after all. *Sigh* I'm probably one of the first people to meet these aliens and instead of being famous or something I get stuck in what seems to be a private war here. Why me?
-
Damien gasped sitting at the base of a rather large tree, in the middle of a forest no less. A hole was in his shoulder. Not that he couldn't morph out of the injury but he didn't have time now. He had to contact the others and quickly. When he broke off from the others to get their morphs he couldn't find them, he took a little longer than he should have. A little while after a security guard came and he had to run. For some reason unknown to him he went home to fetch his laptop and his mother was waiting there. Why couldn't he predict that!? It was obvious she would be there waiting for him. He managed to snatch his laptop and run. He had escaped into the forest and been running form the yeerks after him since and he never had a chance to morph and escape. He was hit by a dracon beam an hour ago. He needed help. He couldn't run from these controllers forever. He needed to call someone, but he didn't know any-one's phone number that would help him out. Wait... or did he?
Struggling against the pain in his shoulder Damien pulled out his cell phone and flicked it on. Didn't Mr. King call him? Alice's father! Maybe he could help. He should be the last number on the caller I.D. Biting his lip he found the number and hit call back, holding it to his ear and heard the rings taking place. Each one seemed to drag out into ten minutes.
-
Jethsa Rescue team
Torrence
<Jas! Are you okay? Eddie? Torrence, Kasey...anyone?> she yells frantically, hoping only they could hear her.
<I'm okay!> Torrence responded, trampling underbrush as she surged out of her hiding place.
<What laser?> Having been busy completing her morphing, she had not seen the Dracon beam- but she could feel the dissipating heat and see the scorched earth.
<Whoa! That's the laser! Where'd that thing go?!>
Jethsa shifted on the floor, but was unable to rise.
<That was a technology that my people possess.> Jethsa explained to Vincent and all of the humans in morph. <It would have ended the Hork Bajir, as this ship does not have the capacity to provide for the creature if we freed it.>
Are there more of you somewhere? I could have sworn I just heard about two or three different yells in my head in different 'voices'. Did one of the uh... others in the back room get better?
<I was unaware that you had discovered my deceased comrades.> Jethsa replied to Vincent, with a sharp edge in her 'mental voice'. The edge faded as she continued.
<There are some of your species outside- they are the Black lab and other animals, possible due to another technology of my people that is currently located here. It was our task to locate it...>
A touch of sadness touched her thought speak, but she did not elaborate as to why. She introduced herself to Kaseys' second question.
<I am Jethsa - Samarane - Castant. I have previously met Alec, Sam and Jas. Where is Alec at?
Jas, I can evaluate the literature I received on your planet and- ah yes, a measure of distance acceptable to this task. Every one who remains outside the ship, please move towards Jas for your safety.
Vincent, thank you for your assistance. You may wish to sit down.>
GM
On the heels of Jethsa's advice, those outside became aware that they wern't out of danger yet. With a lurch out of the trees, the Hork Bajir reappeared. It resumed its race towards Sam, a truly terrible sight to behold as it bore down on the dog.
Unseen except to Vincent, Jetha's stalk eyes closed momentarily as the invisible ship once again fired. The beam struck true this time, causing the Hork Bajir to vanish, although it did so very close to Sam.
The ship suddenly appeared to the morph capable humans outside. A ramp began to lower, leading within the ship.
On board the ship, Jethsa suddenly collapsed. While she had previously been holding her torso and head upright, she now sprawled across the ship floor.
Blue Box
Alec stopped digging to wag his tail happily, causing his whole lower body to wiggle with it.
<Oh good, I'd like that!> He resumed digging, soon scrapping cloth with his nails. The cloth that the Blue Box had been wrapped in before being buried- they had found what they came for!
<I did good, didn't I?> Alec asked with the boundless happiness of a canine.
Christina
<Those dog morphs really make a play for curing depression, don't they?> She laughed in Alec and Reece's head.
<Woot, you got it! Now what?>
"King residence." The pleasant male voice replied to Damien. Mr. King had actually been conversing with his fellow Chee regarding the Chee posed as his 'daughter' in this time.
After several moments, he triangulated the call's location, curious to discover that the call was being made from a cell phone in the middle of the woods.
-
"Mr. King,"Damien said quickly through the phone. "I-It's Damien... I got separated from the others when we went to the zoo for morphs. You where-"he paused biting his lip to keep from screaming in pain, however it was obvious he was in pain from his voice. "That I had the number to that could help me since you're Alice's father. I don't have any time to morph, I-"he was cut off. "Argh!"he cried out in pain as he was disconnected. He soon discovered it was because his phone was vaporized, a hole in the tree behind him, and the palm of his hand was singed. He looked up to see a human controller standing over him.
"Who where you just calling there?"asked the female controller with a smirk,"No-one can help you now."
Without thinking or hesitation Damien scrambled to his feet and rammed into the controller with his uninjured shoulder catching her off guard and knocking her to the ground. He reached down and snatched the dracon beam away form her knocking her int he head with it so she was unconscious, not hard enough to kill her. Grunting in pain he turned around and began running, as fast as he could in his current state. He couldn't afford to stop and morph...
-
Kasey begins to slink toward the ship, her predatory senses alert to the changes around her in the forest. She makes her way up the ramp, pausing at te top to cal out to her fiends in thought speak. <You coming?>
-
<Oh no, no,> Sam cries as the Hork-Bajir bounds toward her. She leaps backward, branches scratching through her black coat.
TSEEEEEEEEEEW!
Sam's doggie hair stands on end and she whimpers as the bladed alien simply vanishes. Gone, in a flash of burning light. She hears Kasey's call and tries to move, but she can't--she's frozen by fear. <I...I...oh my God, that thing just...Jas? Where are you?> she whispers.
-
The Blade-Monster lunged again. My CL's instinct was to pounce, but I made it pause long enough for the blue lazer-thing to disintegrate it before I left the tree. My CL was very annoyed that its prey had been stolen and it growled discontentedly with a sneer.
Taking control once more, I leapt daintily from the tall tree and landed as easily as though walking down someone's porch step. I held my gaze staring at the spaceship that had appeared before us in awe. The CL brought me to my senses; It found non-living objects rather boring, especially when they stopped moving. After the ramp decended, I trotted toward and up into the ship, showing no fear - The CL feared nothing, which rubbed off on my own attitude and allowed me to stride confidently.
The CL brain was interested at the appearance of the Black-Leopard, but I assured it there was no threat and no prey, so it lost interest and I could walk with Kasey with no further interruption from it.
<Way ahead of you, Kasey.> I said in reply to her query. I hoped she had a hold on her BL-brain to stop it thinking of me as threat or prey...
At the top of the ramp, I looked into the interior and saw what could only be the alien we were after rescuing: The Andalite called Jethsa. My CL-brain stirred, wondering what to make of her... The tail-blade looked troublesome, though it was quite obvious she was in no condition to be able to use it. - Before the CL could deem her as potential prey, I stepped in and assured it taking a bite would be a bad idea. Instead I approached cautiously, taking in her scent for any information it could provide me.
<Miss Jethsa? Are you hurt so badly that you cannot morph out of your injuries?> I asked, concernedly. A memory came back to me of Alice and the question she wanted to ask the Andalite, but I just couldn't bring myself to ask anything so vulgar of someone in her current condition.
-
The controller slumped to the ground, unmoving, as Damien moved away from her. However, she had not pursued Damien alone.
The Collaborator that was Damien's mother found her fellow Collaborator unconscious and bent down, reviving her roughly and giving her a tongue lashing for allowing a child to escape her.
"We have orders to capture him, but he's proven violent and difficult to subdue. The Forrest provides ample places for him to ambush us." The blonde Collaborator stated, frowning into the Forrest.
"Leave him for now." The other decided. " Come with me, we'll ensure he won't be able to leave the Forrest."
The two women moved purposefully towards the tree line and civilaztion.
Jethsa Rescue Team
Jethsa remained unconscious and unresponsive, unable to hear or reply to any queries made of her.
Torrence paused near the ramp, unsure if she'd be able to fit inside the alien ship.
<What's going on in there?> She wondered. <Can Jethsa demorph? Why isn't she answering us?>
Alice was contacted via Chee - net by the Chee posing as her father to human Society.
[There has been a complication. I was just contacted by one of the humans with the ability to morph, Damien. He was expressing that he'd been separated from the others when the call was lost. I am unable to
raise the cell phone he called me from.
I'd like you to look about for him, ensure his safety. Here are the coordinates that the cell phone call came from.]
GPS coordinates were sent directly to Alice, she recognized it as being in the same Forrest as the others were at presently.
-
Peering into the ship, Kasey looks from the wounded Andalite lying on the ground, to the human standing near her. Jumping to a conclusion, she lets loose a snarl, and darts forward toward the boy, teeth bared.
-
The laser had fired and hit the alien before he even got time to realize what Jethsa had said. Wait what did she mean that there are humans that are animals out there? How does that even make sense? Vincent wondered as he turned to look at Jethsa.
"What do you mean th-" Vincent started to ask before he realized that the large burn on her side had once more taken Jethsa from consciousness. Sighing he walked over to her and wondered what he could do to help her. It was too bad he hadn't brought a water bottle with him today so that he could try to gently wash her burn to make sure it didn't get more infected then need be. As it was he started to brush as much dirt and as many leaves from her fur from around the wound as he could.
Looking up momentarily at a clicking sound he saw something out of the corner of his eye on the ramp. Turning his head that way he nearly had a heart attack at what he saw. A large cat that looked like it was either a cheetah or a leopard stood there looking back at what looked like a donkey or maybe a mule. "Wh- wh- wh-wh-what the F***!? HOLY S**T!" Vincent cried as he fell backward and tried to scoot back on his butt using his hands. His eyes were wide and his face had paled at the sight of the feline and they stayed that way as he stared with fear in his eyes his mouth working soundlessly.
-
The shouting breaks Sam out of her terrified spell, and she bounds through the woods, approaching Jethsa's ship. Her dog body is still trembling, but she recognizes the ship as Jethsa's. <Jethsa?> she calls, padding up the ramp. <What's going on?> She freezes when she sees the big cat, her friend Kasey. And Jethsa! But who was the boy?
She doesn't register the growl emitting from her throat.
-
<Hold on, Kasey! - From the look on his face, the boy looks harmless. Also, do you really think HE could have done this to Jethsa? If you looked closely you'd see he's been trying to tend to her wound; Not the actions of an enemy.> I warned my friend, padding around between her and the boy and staring her down.
Her BL morph had my CL on sheer size and power, but we were both equally deadly feline predators and neither's instincts would be to get into a fight with the other, if at all possible to avoid it. I kept an hear trained on the boy anyway, just in case.
<Hmm, I wonder what the chances are of being able to fly this thing...> I mused aloud in the heads of those nearest me.
I acknowledged the new Chee-Net request as a superceedence to my previous orders. If it was possible to carry out both requests, I'd still try of course.
Examining the coordinates I'd been sent, I saw they were leading me to a much closer section of woodland than the section near Kasey's neighbourhood, so I'd be able to arrive there much quicker.
I rode my fake scooter into the edge of the woodland where Damien had made the call to my 'father', but once I was confident of not being observed by anyone or anything I dissapeared the scooter hologram and associated helmet etc, continuing on foot and in Cseirouna-form so I wouldn't have to restrict my abilities as much as I did in Alice-form.
When I reached the coordinates of Damien's last phone call, I stopped and sniffed around. My optic sensors picked up evidence of Dracon fire and various human-looking footprints. Though I couldn't immediately tell which were Damiens, it appeared after a while that two sets went one direction while the third set went off by itself. Judging that Damien was probably alone, being chased by two persuers, I followed the single set of footprints and distinguished his scent from them, making him easier to track...
-
Damien held his shoulder as he ran. He was slowing down the longer he kept going. He was losing to much blood... he had to morph or he was going to die, or worse. However the thought of the yeerks right on his tail kept him from morphing knowing if this was true the controllers would catch him mid-morph and completely defenseless. The problem was he didn't know if the controllers were really following him or not, but he knew he couldn't take that chance. He was jarred out of his thoughts by his foot becoming caught in a root. With his lower body stopped but the momentum of his upper body still going he suffered the effect of 'tripping' and fell onto his stomach, his laptop flew form his hands. Pain exploded through him and he screamed out. His head swam, he couldn't think straight, his vision began to fade. He struggled desperately to stay awake. He could vaguely hear footsteps coming up behind him. He had no choice. He had to morph or he would lose consciousness, and wake up a controller or not at all. He closed his eyes tightly and began focusing on one of the animals he had acquired from the zoo. This one would be able to travel quickly through the forest so he could get away... he hoped. A guenon monkey. He felt the changes begin to take place. He felt himself shrinking...
-
Jas shied back from the heat of the blast as the new alien vaporized in mid-step towards Sam. <I'm right here Sam...> Jas looked around himself and realized he didn't know where "here" was. He watched all the others walk into the ship and slithered towards the opening. He slithered up the ramp and looked around, he saw Jethsa lying on the floor with a massive burn on her side. He scented the air and death hung heavy in the air....something had died in here, and recently. He looks around and wonders about the boy in the relatively spacious ****pit.
<Hey, man, who're you?>
-
Reece scoops the box up out of the ground and cradles it in his arms. "Alright, we should go find the others at the space-ship and see if they need our help, yeah?" He smiles at Alec. "You've done way good, bro. Totally rad. Now you just need to take us to where the ship was- can you do that?"
-
Torrence
<Yes, what's going on?> Torrence seconded Sam's query. <Kasey, what are you doing? Why is Eddie saying someone looks harmless?
Is he right? How 'come he picked up something that Kasey didn't?
Sam, Jas, can you guys see what's going on in there?>
Torrence craned her neck, glancing into the ship. She couldn't see much past Sam.
As Damien took the time to morph, Alice managed to close a great deal of the distance to him. As she glanced about, she spotted the rapidly sinking creature- just as it spotted her. Did Damien recognize her?
<Awesome!> Alec enthused. <Yeah, I think I know. Somewhere over here. Come on!>
The Black Lab began to bound off into the woods. Careless, he made a great deal of noise and quickly left Reece in his dust.
-
<Jethsa's here, and she's badly injured,> says Sam, padding closer, snuffling. <There's a boy, and Kasey, Jas is here too. Jethsa? Torrence, she won't answer, I don't know what to do. She's in pretty bad shape.> She looks up at the boy. <What happened here? Oh...oh, Jas you're right, there is the scent of death in here, I don't like it.> Sam whimpers, stepping back and forward, agitated.
-
Reece and Alec find the others at Jethsa's ship, although it was greatly complicated by Alec's refusal to slow down and wait for Reece. Reece was forced to run the whole way and arrives at the ship some what fatigued.
A wise member realizes that the two hours is approaching for many of the people who morphed first, making demorphing necessary for most of the group.
Every one has a few very tension filled moments to meet the young man who had been inside Jethsa's ship when they arrived. Vincent's presence may cause some concern for the others- will they hide their true identities from him or do their best to inspire friendship? Vincent, however, is aware that the one being who was straight with him from the beginning, Jethsa, remains unconscious.
All are aware of the smell and grave fact that some thing dead is about. Vincent knows in grisly detail just what is in the back of the ship.
Alice locates Damien as he completes his morph to a guenon monkey. The two can converse if they choose to. Damien's had several stressful and physically draining hours fleeing Controllers, while Alice has been given orders to find the Escafil, determine its proper place and give a full report on the humans who can morph to the other Chee. Do these circumstances affect Damien and Alice's reunion?
Elsewhere, a Hork Bajir meets up with the Collaborator Sub Visser Fifty Two, Jariss 987, who is controlling Mary, Damien's mother. It is the one who never reappeared at Jethsa's ship and who, presumptively, never saw it appear.
The second Collaborator, whose host's name was Janice, was made to stand out of ear shot for the debriefing. This annoyed Janice's Yeerk, Carnath 7901, greatly. There were few Yeerks in this area of California, making it all the more important for key institutions to be infiltrated, allowing the Yeerk presence to grow. Carnath 7901 had several ideas that she thought would benefit the endeavor- and exalt her over her superior, Sub Visser Fifty Two.
Finally, the Sub Visser approached Carnath and informed her to call her hosts coworkers. Janice was a member of a local disease prevention team, chosen due to the host's well placed friends. Janice left the Sub Visser at the woods edge and drove to a pay phone where she announced that a possible disease had broken out in the woods. She'd witnessed a sick deer- so diseased it was barely recognizable- and feared that it could spread. Satisfied that other humans would arrive to seal off the woods and test anyone within it, she expected that Sub Visser's hosts' son would be found quickly. She departed the gas station to drive back to the woods...
-
Reece stalls behind a few trees to demorph. As Miller's features melt away, he pauses for a breath. He'd rather not waste any more energy morphing again than he'd have to, so instead he enters the ship cautiously, hands in front of his face. He is greeted by the sight of his friends, the unknown human, and the unconscious Andalite.
-
Damien freezes seeing Alice. Even his long tail stays completely still. The guenon monkey instincts fights with his human minds, and wins. Alice... an intruder, he must protect his home! The monkey's instincts where supported by his human mind's panic. With both of these factors Damien was unable to reconize Alice. He screeched and lept at Alice with enough force to knock her over. If she was human...
-
Still in CL-form, I scented Reece's arrival before I saw him, though I didn't recognize the scent right away of course. I looked over at the ramp-entrance to see him climbing up into the ship with us.
<<Ah, Reece!>> I called in private thoughtspeak greeting to him, then continued in open thoughtspeak: <Just the man! If I remember correctly; You've got a Gorilla morph, right?> I indicated Jethsa with a tilt of my head, <We may require Big Jim's services to carry her back to either Kasey's place or to... ahem... Our 'mechanical' friends? They met an Andalite before, so they may know how to treat her injuries...> I suggested. It was a guess, but Alice had mentioned meeting an Andalite before, and they'd gotten the blue box from somewhere, right?
A few others had gone to demorph by now, but I figured I'd been in this particular morph maybe 5-10 minutes less than they had theirs. I thought again about whether we could possibly fly Jethsa's ship... I mean, I had no clue how it worked, and it probably wasn't designed with humans in mind... An idea just flashed like a light-bulb over Edison's head:
<I've been thinking about how we might be able to fly this thing... I'm pretty good with gadgets, after all... I know it's probably not designed to have a Human interface, but there is a creature in here that it probably IS designed to have an interface for...> I nodded at Jethsa, <If she were consious enough, I'd ask her directly, but... Do you think she'd mind me morphing her in order to try and fly this ship and get her to some proper medical attention?> I asked openly of those of us who were in the ship.
Coming across a partly-morphed Guenon monkey, I realized immediately who it must be: Damien. - I remembered him acquiring one on our trip to the Gardens. It became evident very quickly that he hadn't tried this morph before now, as before I could even try to greet him the now-completed monkey-morph leaped at me with a screech.
Had I been in 'Alice-mode' I would have had to pretend to flinch and be knocked down by this monkey, but I was not in that 'mode' right now: Cseirouna was a much less restricted human-mode, where I could relax the restrictions on my Chee speed, strength and agility somewhat, but not completely of course - I still had to make her abilities seem within human possibility, after all.
Still, this monkey was easy enough for 'Cseirouna-mode' to deal with: I side-stepped its leap and grabbed one of its arms in midair, holding it at arms' length so it couldn't reach my face or body to attack.
"Hello Damien." I greeted him plainly, "Would you please calm down and stop attacking me? - Do you perhaps not recognize my current form? I'll give you a clue - I'm the person who gave you the morphing power in the first place." I said the last sentence in a whisper, not wanting to be overheard.
I intended to put the monkey back down on the ground if/when it calmed down and Damien recognised me as a friend.
I now had an extra complication in my previous mission: How to get Damien to safety yet stay hidden from the others myself... I decided that when he'd calmed down enough I'd tell him I could take him to our friends but that the Chee had given me a task to do before I could rejoin them myself. I'd give him the choice of rejoining our friends, or accompanying me on my task. Hopefully my show of faith in him would garner a better bond of friendship and trust between us...
-
"A gorilla with an Andalite in its arms lacks the stealth to make its way through suburbia," Reece points out. "And I don't know that it'd have the speed to pull it off, either. If you think you can fly this thing without being seen, saving her life is gonna balance out any morph squickiness."
-
Jas flicked his tongue one last time before beginning to demorph, growing off of the floor of the ship, his arms and legs sprouting from his body as his tail shriveled up. He grew in size, and his scales turned peach and melted into tanned flesh. He stood up and was pleased to see the bike-shorts still clothing him, though he didn't feel they left much to the imagination. Truth was they were a bit too tight, even for bike-shorts, and he didn't want to be rude by grabbing himself in front of all these people, so he shifted from foot to foot a couple of times to try and adjust himself unobviously. When he failed he just stood and looked around again.
"I talked to Jethsa about morphing other people and she said it was really a question of morality. By the way, we still don't know who he is. At least I know most of you guys' names...how did he get in here, did we think about that? He might be a Yeerk." Jas looked at vincent with his piercing brown eyes. "How did you get in this ship?"
-
Torrence, smaller now that she had demorphed, stepped up the ramp behind the others. It was now very crowded in the ship with so many of them inside of it, they were forced to stand close together in the compact ship.
"Well, he's pretty calm for a Yeerk. I mean, if they found an Andalite and a group of kids who could become animals, would he still stick around? I assumed he'd race off to the Mothership."
Alec frowned down at Jehsa, crouching beside her to look at her extensive burns.
"Why do you want to morph her again?" He asked Eddie. His jovial nature had vanished with the dog morph. "Have you ever morphed a person?"
-
"Unless he was caught by surprise. He looks like he's all alone. If I were a Yeerk and I saw us, I'd definitely keep my cards close to my chest until I was able to arrange an ambush." Reece peers into the boy's eyes. "Is there any way to tell with these dudes? Looking in his ears seems too... easy."
-
<Guys, uh, I just realized...I can't demorph. I just can't. I'll be all...nekkid,> says Sam hesitantly. <I don't suppose these Andalite guys wear any clothing. And, um, well...Jethsa never said how we could tell who was a Yeerk and who wasn't, she just said it was damn near impossible to do.> She squints her dim doggie eyes at Vincent, a strange expression for a dog.
-
<Hmm, well I guess your Miller morph could probably carry her too... But would that look any less weird? I think that'd just draw Yeerk attention to Miller: They might infest him, then we'd have a bigger problem if we wanna get more morphs from The Gardens. I certainly don't have any morphs able to carry her myself, I merely remembered that you did.> I replied to Reece, not bothering to make my thoughtspeak private. <And yeah, if we can figure out how to fly this thing, moving her at all may become unnecessary. As for being seen - This thing apparantly has some sorta Romulan Cloaking Device or whatever that made it invisible to us when we were only a few feet outside of it earlier, so my guess is this thing can fly invisible too... If only we can work out how...>
I looked around for consoles and/or control panels, anything with buttons really. I'd seen that Jethsa had humanoid hands and fingers, albeit too many but where there are fingers there can usually be found some button to push. Made sense to me, anyway.
Reece's reassurance that the Andalite would probably forgive my morphing her without her permission if doing so lead to saving her life was a great relief and helped bolster my resolve to the prospect of morphing an alien without knowing ahead of time how it would react...
Plus: It would be REALLY cool to try out such an awesome-looking body... NO! I mustn't let such ambition cloud my objectivity over how necessary this might be for her survival... And possibly our own, of course.
When Jas spoke, after demorphing, I thought about the words he said he'd heard Jethsa use. <So she didn't say how Andalites felt about morphing sentient beings? Just that it was a 'question of morality' and nothing more? Hmm, well do you think it's morally right to morph her in the hopes that doing so may save her life?> Again, I didn't bother thoughtspeaking privately.
As Jas addressed the mystery-boy, I glanced at him briefly - It was difficult to consider him a threat while in my current morph, but I was also distracted thinking how we might control this ship and if it would even be safe to do so...
Torrence appeared on the ramp into the ship, and space was getting tight. My CL didn't like being crowded like this, and its magnificently long and thick tail swished anxiously. Torrence was saying something about the boy, so I lost interest pretty quickly: There were plenty of us in here to deal with him, whether friend or foe, they didn't need any further input from me on that topic.
Alec, however, asked a question more pertinent to my train of thought; <I'm thinking of morphing Jethsa, because this ship is probably designed with an Andalite pilot in mind, not a Human one.> I answered openly, <And no, I haven't morphed a person before, but Reece has, and he seems to think this would be ok...> It was a strong answer, but there was a hint in my thought-voice of the hesitation and nervousness I had at the prospect and possible consequences of such an action.
Reece spoke again, but as soon as I realized he was talking about the boy I tuned him out to concentrate on thinking how this ship might work.
Despite tuning Reece out easily, I was far more distracted when Sam explained her own 'tricky' situation; It took some effort to stop thinking about having a full-grown naked woman in the same room as me and get back to thinking about flying the ship. While I was distracted, I noticed an opening leading to another part of the ship... <Hey Sam, if you want some privacy while you remorph, it looks like there's a walkway over there - Might lead to another room?> I suggested, again openly, <Just to forewarn you though: The scent of death is stronger in that direction...> I added.
Little did I know that there were bodies down there with some sorta sheet as a shroud, but my exquisite sense of smell had picked up spoiled meat easily, prey too far gone to eat safely. Well, that's what the CL thought anyway, and having that thought made me a little queasy.
-
"Smell of death?" Reece asks, visibly disturbed behind his hands. He looks over to the room. "Sam, if you're worried about nudity, you might be better off outside." He tries to keep the tally of potential problems in his head: one severely injured Andalite, someone who may or may not be a Controller, and the smell of something dead in the next room. His stomach hurts.
-
"Sam, you have to demorph...you're not enough of a...well you know where I'm going with this. Anyway you can't be stuck as a dog." Jas was concerned, but heard Eddie speak. "Well, I don't think it's a common practice from the way she talked about it. I was the one who asked the question. Having dealt a bit with this morphing now though, animal brains are pretty strong...what would it be like to try and control another brain capable of sentience? I guess that's what Yeerks do...but...what would happen?"
Jas looked around in thought for a moment before looking down the blocked corridor. "Jethsa didn't say anything...but it looks like this ship, seeing it from the inside, was built for more than one...could there be others?"
-
Kasey snarls at the pinned "controller" and looks around at the others. <My time's almost up. Can one of you take over while I go to demorph?>
"Eddie, if you're going to try and morph Jestha to fly this thing, you'll want to act fast," Reece says, worried. "I can't even tell how injured she is- how human is her body?"
-
Christina "If by 'take over' you mean I have to sit on him, uh, no." Christina, very much human in Kasey's borrowed morph outfit, replied.
"He looks like he could pick me up and walk off just fine. Besides, theres tons of us, so let's just stand in his way so he doesn't run out."
"No offense, guy," She says to the stranger. "But we don't even know who you are. Or your name. Which might be a step to not being sat upon."
-
Kasey hesitates for a moment before nodding in a distinctly unleaopardly manner. She retreats through the back momentarily to demorph before morphing again. She returns moments later, a little drained from the morphing though not showing it in her demeanor.
-
From what Jas was saying, it seemed Andalites didn't have a particular problem with morphing sentients, they simply chose not to when something non-sentient could do a task just as well. Perhaps they also took 'permission' into account... I'd certainly ask Jethsa about it directly when (I tried not to think 'if') she regained consiousness.
At Jas' question over what would happen, morphing a sentient, I replied quite simply: <Dude, just ask Reece! He's already been there, done that, and got the morphable T-shirt to prove it! - Seriously, just ask him about Miller. Here, I'll save you the effort:> I swung my CL head round to Reece; <Jas would like to know what it's like to morph a sentient. Would you mind filling him in?> There was a double-meaning to the last part of the request, but though I meant the innocent meaning, I didn't bother to qualify it further.
At Reece's comment on the condition of Jethsa's body and not knowing how human she might be, it was as though the lightbulb that represented my idea for morphing her became twice as bright.
<Reece, we're genious's. - What you need is a comparator: A healthy Andalite of similar build to Jethsa that you may compare things like heartrate and temperature etc. - It's another very good reason for someone to morph her, and that's good enough for me. I'm going for it.>
I padded over to the unwell female Andalite, looking intently at the slits on her face that were probably her nose to see if her breathing had started to get laboured yet.
Kasey and Christina were still discussing the unknown boy. I figured I'd add my own 2-penneth-worth.
<Hey newbie-dude, Quick trust-exercise for you: Turn your head away, close your eyes, and don't open them again until I'm done remorphing. I should be two-minutes, tops. You do that, and I'll vouch for you. If not, I guess I could just let Kasey keep sitting on you... Choice is yours.> There was no threat in my tone, but there was the ring of honesty. Also, I had defended him from Kasey earlier, so maybe he'd take the offer?
As Kasey padded off for the 'death chamber' to remorph, I let my gaze follow her path away from the stranger, then continue past the hatch to Jethsa's prone form.
My fur melting away was accompanied by the loss of the CL's predatory confidence, but I'd made up my mind to do something and when I say I'm gonna do something, I mean to do it.
A thought struck me and I temporarily paused the demorph while I was still capable of thoughtspeak: <Miss Jethsa,> I addressed her unconsious mind in a calm, clear, respectful tone; <I'm truly sorry I can't get your permission before doing this, but I'm going to morph you in hopes of saving your life. If this is something you're not comfortable with, I hope you can forgive me later.>
Not expecting an answer from her, I resumed the demorph.
When that wonderful tail shrank back into my spine with a SHLOOP, completing my demorph-stage and leaving me prone on the floor with my albeit-useless legs laying like so many lengths of spaghetti, I reached a human hand out and touched Jethsa gently on her cheekbone, starting the acquisition stage and feeling her DNA become a part of me.
-
((OOC: Kasey didn't run off to the "deathroom" she went outside the ship, as in back into the forest briefly.))
Reece shakes his head. "Morphing Miller was easy-peasy, but I've spent literally my entire life learning to deal with my human instincts. For all we know, Andalites are working with a completely different rig of mental blueprints. We need to be careful- especially of that tail." He sighs as Eddie proceeds, hoping for the best, and peers at the new guy.
"So how the heck did you end up here, buddy?"
Kasey sends a private thought message to the rest of the group. <<Guys! Names! So far we've come across that pointy boogeyman, an injured Andalite->> she sniffs the air and snarls. <<-the scent of dead things and this guy. If there's been a time to hide our identities, it's with this jerk.>>
Then, only to Reece, she says <<"Buddy?">>
Reece glances at the leopard and shrugs.
-
Sam became concerned with nudity on if she chose to demorph, although her friend Jas enouraged her to do so any way.
<Guys, uh, I just realized...I can't demorph. I just can't. I'll be all...nekkid,>
"Sam, you have to demorph...you're not enough of a...well you know where I'm going with this. Anyway you can't be stuck as a dog."
Eddie decided to acquire Jethsa without her permission, after making inquiries of the others on what they thought of this plan. He also expresses interest in flying the alien ship.
<I've been thinking about how we might be able to fly this thing... I'm pretty good with gadgets, after all... I know it's probably not designed to have a Human interface, but there is a creature in here that it probably IS designed to have an interface for...> I nodded at Jethsa, <If she were consious enough, I'd ask her directly, but... Do you think she'd mind me morphing her in order to try and fly this ship and get her to some proper medical attention?>
He offered Reece up as 'sentient' morpher, with his use of the human Miller.
<I'm thinking of morphing Jethsa, because this ship is probably designed with an Andalite pilot in mind, not a Human one.> I answered openly, <And no, I haven't morphed a person before, but Reece has, and he seems to think this would be ok...>
Vincent was being unusually quiet, not helping his case at all. Kasey has declared that he is untrustworthy, going so far as to demorph out of sight and immediately morph back to her leopard form before rejoining the others.
Someone noted with concern that Jethsa had still not awakened. No amount of prodding seemed to have much effect upon her.
Alice and Damien had for some reason not joined the others. Was Alice's absence not missed?
The afternoon was stretching into evening, the activities of finding Jethsa, finding the Escafil and dealing with aliens and alien technology was tiring, not including all of the morphing some had chosen to do.
The ship suddenly beeped, a proximity alert, it soon became apparent. On of the screens showed three humans - two women and one man- wearing face masks, gloves and wearing shirts with 'CDC' patches sewed upon them. The man was holding a tranquilizer dart gun used for animals.
They were speaking amongst themselves and appeared to be searching for something, but the ship display did not carry over the sound for several moments. When it did come in, they heard:
" - sure? We haven't seen any infected deer out here." It was the shorter woman who was speaking.
"No, but we haven't seen much animal life at all. It's like something scared them off."
The other woman replied, raising her binoculars and looking about the woods. The binoculars were lowered, suggesting she was looking for some sort of land based animal.
The three were progressing near the ship and nearer to the scorch marks burned into the ground by Jethsa's ship.
"Hey," A third woman walks out of the woods towards the other three. Had Damien been with the group, he'd identify the Collaborator that had chased and wounded him.
"- have any progress to report?"
"No, we haven't found any thing like you described."
"Well, it was in this general area," The woman replied. "- we should be careful that no civilians exit the woods until they can be checked, too. All we need is an outbreak."
"Come on, Janice." The man replied, put upon. "That would take hours to establish a parameter and-"
"A parameter is already established and I'll handle the screening myself."
This seemed to satisfy her three companions, who began to fan out. They walked in straight lines around the ship. The third woman glanced around carefully, before pulling out a cell phone and walking off from the others to make a call.
-
Jas watched the viewscreen and was suddenly nervous. Those people were looking for something with a purpose. He looked down at Jethsa for a moment, deciding on a whim. If this Eddie guy was going to acquire her, he would too. He figured he knew Jethsa better, and he'd wanted to acquire her from the start, so he reached a hand down and thought of Jethsa's DNA flowing into him. He felt a little bad about doing it but he didn't know what would come in handy in the future. Also, the ship DID look like it was made for more than one...it might take more than one to pilot it. But he would wait to see what Eddie found out. He also found himself wondering what a male andalite would look like, he'd probably never know.
"Sorry Jethsa...but I think you will forgive us given the situation...everyth ing that could help us fight those things...." He felt the DNA flow into him. It was still a strange feeling. Then he had another thought. "Just for future reference, if we find any of those walking weed-whackers alive, we should try to acquire them...might help us sneak into those pools or whatever. And those people are looking for something...oh jeeze, Sam...Sam, get back in here, there's someone coming!"
-
Reece gazes at the screen. "How long do you think it'll take you guys to get us out of here?"
<That woman's going to make a phone call. For back up?> Kasey asks. She bares her teeth. <<These people show up not long after we find this guy,>> she swings her head to indicate the newcomer. <<Smells fishy.>> She sniffs the air. <The Andalite doesn't seem to be breathing right. I don't care what it is, there's something wrong.>
"There's no way we can bust her out of here with those people around- not without some way to hide her." He furrows his brow. Could they try distracting them? Maybe with his rhino morph? It seems too risky- if someone glances up at the exact wrong moment, they're double screwed. Still, if they had no other option... He looks Eddie and Jas in the eyes.
"Be straight with me, guys. Do you really think you can fly this thing?"
-
Vincent's mind had gone into shock at the sudden appearance of, not one but two leopards?... cougars?.... cheetahs?... whatever the heck they were. Then things just went... well bonkers, not only did people start walking in but then a snake started to twist and reshape as if someone where sculpting something out of flesh, bone and muscle. And then there was the sickening sounds it made as it became... well crazy as it sounded a human. Thats when Vincent just zoned out and went onto autopilot.
Even in this state he recognized that they were talking about something called 'morphing' and 'becoming Jethsa' as well as for some reason thinking he was... a spy or something. He just couldn't seem to bring himself back as one of the... big cats... had jumped on him and things just seemed to keep getting weirder as one of the 'animals' said something about becoming naked, even though he had just watched one of them, the snake boy, change back with clothes. By instinct or just by general compliance from his mind, he turned his head away when directed to by one of the 'big cats'. The other had by this time gotten off of him, run out of the ship for maybe a minute then returned.
It was the oddest thing that brought him back to his senses. It was the feeling he got from the snake-boy and a guy, that he had come to realize by references some of the animals made in his mind, who went by the name of Reece where letting off when they talked about a scene that had appeared on one of the monitors of the ships.
His mind came back thinking OK these guys seem to be scared... well maybe not scared but at least concerned, about what is happening out there. If, who ever these guys are that can change into animals, and dangerous ones at that, are... worried about this I should probably be as well, and more so. OK calm down, obviously Jethsa trusts these people for some reason so I guess I should. Of course, they don't seem to trust me, which is just bloody well great. So now what do I do? Hell these people seem to know about twenty times more then I do. How can I convince them I'm not their enemy? Well perhaps you should tell them your name stupid! Like they've asked for from the beginning?! *sigh* Well I guess thats a start anyway...
With that he got to his feet, took a deep breath, gave a thankful look to Reece, scrounged up all the courage he could, and said emphatically "Look I don't know who or what you people are but I'm not your enemy, especially if your... er... friends of Jethsa. I.... uh... I don't think you want to go back in that room though not a pretty sight and besides Jethsa didn't seem to be happy that I had gone back there before she went unconscious.. again. As for how I got here... long, well OK medium story short, I ran across Jethsa in the woods, a large bug like alien ship flew over head, this ship appeared, I dragged her in, other aliens came looking for her, you guys showed up, and now here we are. As for flying the ship... not sure we can but hey go ahead and try. I think some of it's functions and stuff use the telepathy or whatever that Jethsa and well I guess you guys seem to be able to use. She... uncloaked?... this ship without touching a remote or anything before I got in."
Taking a deep breath a gain he did feel calmer especially after saying all that. Though he still had the feeling that they didn't trust him which made him feel slightly anxious.
-
The acquisition-stage was complete. I felt the mixed emotions of happiness for acquiring such a magnificient Alien 'creature', and the sadness and worry over an imagined 'bad reaction' Jethsa might have later when she regained consciousness and found out I'd morphed her without her permission.... Correction; We. - I'd just noticed Jas reach out and start acquiring Jethsa himself right about the time I'd finished acquiring. I couldn't help thinking him a hypocrite, after what he'd been saying, yet on the other hand it could be quite useful to have more than one Andalite...
I nearly spoke, but I didn't want my human voice heard by the newbie if he was following the 'rules' of my trust-exercise, so instead I immediately began morphing Jethsa:
The first thing I felt were my stalk-eyes, growing out of my head like two hyperactive worms. I heard the eyeballs form at the ends. Paamp! Poomp!
Eyes that could see anywhere, everywhere, all the time. 360 degrees of vision flooded my consciousness like a jolt, because I could see everything that could possibly see me; I had control over my environment.
With one eye shifted to the back, I witnessed my rear elongate backward, splitting a second set of legs from the back of my usual ones, which gained mobility and strength enough to support me. I pushed myself upright and had to step backward with my rear legs to keep up with the growing distance between them and the front legs.
As my feet changed to hooves to match those of my new back legs, I felt an easy strength course through all my legs. Taking a step was a movement that took almost nothing out of me.
My tail! Different to what I'd thusfar experienced, yet an extension so natural I'd almost failed to notice how I carried it; Erect and steadied at about shoulder-level. The small blade that it ended in looked very sharp. I flexed the massive muscle that was my tail tentatively, trying it out - Fast and very agile, as expected. Seemed pretty accurate, too. I was equipped for this world. For any world really. A natural weapon. Best not to get careless with it though, or someone might lose something vital...
As I distracted myself with tail-practise, I recognized the Andalite mind bubbling up within my own. It was subtle, yet distinct in its nature - I could tell where my mind ended and the Andalite mind began, but it was addictive to expand my thoughts into that brain's capabilities - Like someone used to an old slow computer whose just been given a top-of-the-range model to play with. I wanted to test its capabilities, I wanted to... Ah, what's this? It was all the things I'd expected to find in the mind of an advanced Alien race; Confident, alert and poised for combat; But something else about it had caught me almost entirely by surprise - Something bubbling happily away beneath the rationality... Nothing as playful as a housecat when it's chasing flies or string... Something less simple: Optimism. Yup. An intense optimism.
Could I fly this ship? - Yes, of course! answered the Andalite mind, It's easy! Everything's easy. But I realized quickly that it didn't know how. - This was just instinct; I hadn't gained any of Jethsa's memories, probably not much of her personality either, as that has a lot more to do with Nurture than Nature. I had not grown up Andalite, I did not know their ways or technology, but this was the type of mind that had come up with their technology in the first place... Maybe that would help??
<Wow!! This is AMAZING! Man, am I ever jealous of Jethsa...> I stated with more enthusiasm than I was acustomed to - Probably an Andalite thing. <Hmm... Pi is: 3.14159265358979323 84626433832795 Woah, I could do this all day; 0288419716939937510 ...> I suddenly started to feel dizzy and stopped reciting Pi's digits. <Um... Remind me not to do that again: My human mind couldn't keep up with the calculations this brain is capable of... Perhaps I couldn't do that all day, after all...> I ended up musing.
The morph now complete, my mind pulled itself together and I regained a sense of myself and my current situation. I went over the objectives I'd set forth as my reasons for morphing Jethsa:- 1- Provide Reece with a healthy Andalite comparator to help him determine how ill Jethsa was by comparing her vitals with my own.
- 2- Find a way to control her spaceship and, if possible,
- 3- Try to fly us all to safety, hopefully while maintaining the ship's invisibility function.
I turned a stalk-eye to Reece: <Here is your comparator. Can you help Jethsa now?> I said this somewhere between a question and a request. Well, that's 1 out of 3 then, at least.
I turned my attention to the consoles and array of panels around us, trying to figure out what they might do and how I might control them.
In a flash, I remembered how I'd used a Star Trek reference to describe the ship's invisibility 'cloak' thing, and this gave my newly augmented brain an idea: What if this computer worked similar to the one on Star Trek? They used voice-commands on the show... Perhaps this computer would respond to an Andalite 'thought-voice'?
<Computer. Status report.> I attempted to command, concentrating my thought-voice at the most densely-packed mass of controls I could find. I crossed two of my 7 fingers, hoping for the best.
-
Reece nods slowly. The kid seemed freaked- really freaked. And he was trying to help them. More importantly, Eddie had already used his name, and the kid was already aware of what they were capable of.
<The pulse is strange,> Kasey notes as Eddie morphs. The leopard's brain fixates easily on Eddie's throat, seeing the movement of his blood vessels quite naturally. <It's like, irregular but patterned.> She squints. <I think they must have more than one heart.>
Reece nods. "Right. Can you tell if Jestha's is any different?"
<Way ahead of you,> she says, already peering at Jestha's throat.
Vince had learned everything he was going to passively- they'd have to try to feed him more information. Reece revealed his face and shook Vince's hand, smiling, affecting relaxation far too easily. "Name's Reece. I can turn into a rhino. We'll have to wait until later to fill you in on the details later, when we're not in a crisis."
<<Are you insane?!>> Kasey asks him in private thought speak.
Pretending not to hear, Reece flashes Vince a concerned look. "Now, what's in the back room that we have to worry about?"
-
<Computer. Status report.> I attempted to command, concentrating my thought-voice at the most densely-packed mass of controls I could find. I crossed two of my 7 fingers, hoping for the best.
After a pause, Eddie could 'feel' the ship processing his request. There had been a delay, perhaps he had stated an incorrect address? Nonetheless, information was tallied and flowed into his mind to be compartmentalized.
- The ship had a constant low thrum proximity alert about the four humans outside.
- The ship had some sort of 'memory'- Eddie could sense that it was displaying another image of a recent encounter. After figuring out his stalk eyes, he realized that the ship was displaying the backside of one of the Blade beasts- oh yes, there had been two. The image was paused, displaying a time of about twenty minutes ago.
- There was an alert about 'XCUHGKH' (Eddie couldn't immediately process what that word sploot was) levels. It also was listing a reminder that the mission was in danger without the other crew members.
-
<Can you see if the ship has some sort of medbay?> Kasey asks.
-
The newbie-boy seemed to get a grasp of the situation pretty quickly, I'd give him that, but he'd still left out one vital piece of information:
<Hey Newbie, could you at least tell us your name? - Oh by the way, I'm done remorphing now so the trust-exercise is over. You were right about the telepathy controls thing; The ship just transmitted a status report to my brain. I only understood about half of it, but at least I've got a working interface now.> I said openly. <<Hey guys, did Newbie pass my trust-exercise without looking?>> I finished, excluding the newbie himself from that transmission.
At Kasey's comment about the possibility of more than one heart, I placed a weak-looking-yet-highly-dextrous hand on my chest where I expected a heart to be located. Sure enough, there was a heartbeat there, but... There was also another pulse! I moved the hand, trying to find this mysterious second heart and found it in the flank-section of my Andalite body, about where you might find a Deer's heart.
<You are right, I've found two hearts. Seems like two separate torsos joined together, each with a heart where you'd expect it to be, yet the torsos are joined seemlessly.> I pointed to the two locations I'd found a heart at. <The tail is all muscle. Should find a strong pulse there, especially near its base. How's her temperature? Similar to mine?> My questions/observations were directed mainly at Reece and Kasey, as they seemed to be double-teaming the whole 'heal Jethsa' mission thing, though I didn't bother to exclude anyone from my thoughtspeech.
Multitasking, I shifted my conversation back to the topic of the ships computer interface.
<Ship's computer has an active proximity-alert - That's what the beeping was - There are people outside, shown on that monitor over there.> I pointed. <I don't think they've seen the ship yet, but I dunno if that's because of the cloaking device or sheer dumb-luck that the trees happen to be blocking their line-of-sight to the ramp. - Ooh, ramp!> Turning to the same bank of controls I'd addressed before, I issued another command: <Computer. Close outer hatch. Cloak status?> I added the last bit hoping I'd used correct syntax for the ship's invisibility function. I wanted to know if we'd be invisible to the people outside.
<Oh, and more bad news: Apparantly there were at least two of those Blade-Monsters lurking around. Jethsa disposed of the one we met, so there's at least one left... Somewhere...> I continued, digesting another part of the ship's status report. <Something about a level being low... Energy? Fuel? Weapons' charge? I dunno. Might be all three or something completely different for all I know.> I shrugged my Andalite shoulders, noting that it was quite a human gesture and wondering if Andalites ever shrugged their shoulders on their own world...
<Jethsa definitely wasn't alone in here. Computer mentions something about an incomplete mission and missing crew-members. - I wonder if they're responsible for the death-scent coming from the interior hatch...> Kasey's request broke into my chain of thought: <Yeah, sure. I'll see what I can do. Hmm...> I thought how I'd word the command... <Computer. Display your schematics on this screen.> Hopefully that would answer the layout and purpose of the room(s) in this ship, and maybe also help me decipher what that 'levels' warning was on about...>
-
Coming across a partly-morphed Guenon monkey, I realized immediately who it must be: Damien. - I remembered him acquiring one on our trip to the Gardens. It became evident very quickly that he hadn't tried this morph before now, as before I could even try to greet him the now-completed monkey-morph leaped at me with a screech.
Had I been in 'Alice-mode' I would have had to pretend to flinch and be knocked down by this monkey, but I was not in that 'mode' right now: Cseirouna was a much less restricted human-mode, where I could relax the restrictions on my Chee speed, strength and agility somewhat, but not completely of course - I still had to make her abilities seem within human possibility, after all.
Still, this monkey was easy enough for 'Cseirouna-mode' to deal with: I side-stepped its leap and grabbed one of its arms in midair, holding it at arms' length so it couldn't reach my face or body to attack.
"Hello Damien." I greeted him plainly, "Would you please calm down and stop attacking me? - Do you perhaps not recognize my current form? I'll give you a clue - I'm the person who gave you the morphing power in the first place." I said the last sentence in a whisper, not wanting to be overheard.
I intended to put the monkey back down on the ground if/when it calmed down and Damien recognised me as a friend.
I now had an extra complication in my previous mission: How to get Damien to safety yet stay hidden from the others myself... I decided that when he'd calmed down enough I'd tell him I could take him to our friends but that the Chee had given me a task to do before I could rejoin them myself. I'd give him the choice of rejoining our friends, or accompanying me on my task. Hopefully my show of faith in him would garner a better bond of friendship and trust between us...
Damien's monkey eyes flashed reconization. <Huh?> he mummbled in thoguht speak. He shook his head. <I-I'm sorry, I guess I lost contorl of the morph,> he stuttered as he was set down. <So my call got throuhh?>he asked. Howeve rhe didn't wait for the obvious answer. He made his way over to the labtop and picked it up despite his changed body, hugging it close to his body as the chee explained her situation and then asked a quesiton. <Let me come with you, I could be of some help and it is the least I could do after I attacked you,> Damien said with more confidence than he had.
-
He wanted to join me on my mission. Ok, this may complicate things a bit, but it was still workable with the right wording...
"Ok, this way then." I said, starting to walk in the direction I knew we'd find everyone else. It would take a while to get there, especially at walking-pace...
"My mission, or our mission now, if you choose to accept it," I began, reminding myself of the line they use in 'Mission Impossible', "is to watch the others and see what they choose to do with the Escafil device, without being seen by them. - I've worked with the Chee for a long time and they've learned to trust me, but they've only just met you and the others so that bond of trust isn't fully there yet. Plus, there are now 3 new morphers that the Chee did NOT authorize - They're the ones who stole the box and an Andalite used it to give them the power... I'll fill you in with more details as we travel. By the time we get there, you should be up-to-speed. I hope this mission doesn't make you uncomfortable..." I finished, showing a slightly worried look through my hologram.
I saw him pick up a laptop computer and clutch it close to his chest; Apparantly it was important to him.
"As a monkey, you'd travel faster through the trees than on the ground. That laptop will make it harder to swing through the branches though... Perhaps you'd let me keep it safe for you as we travel? My backpack has sufficient padding to keep it from getting damaged." I assured him, but I didn't hold my hands out for it. - I didn't want to seem to eager to take it from him.
Cseirouna would also be quicker travelling through the tree branches than running on the ground, but half of these trees didn't look strong enough to support her weight on their branches. Also, I couldn't make it look like a human, even one as extraordinary as Cseirouna, was just as good at swinging through branches as a monkey like his morph... I determined that I would travel half on foot and half through tree branches where there were enough that looked strong enough; That way, it wouldn't seem that I had boundless energy in my legs as I'd be sharing the load with my arms. The laptop would, of course, remain safe and secure in my ever-present backpack.
If he accepted the mission, and my offer to look after his computer, we'd soon be well on our way to our destination, with me catching him up on all the recent events he'd missed about Andalites, space-ships, boxes, and the three new morphers we'd met.
-
Blushing slightly as he realized he had meant to say his name but hadn't letting it slip his mind. That sssooo makes me look bad. And what do I tell them about the bodies of the Jethsa's team and well friends in the back room? I suppose the truth is best, just hope Jethsa won't be angry. Vincent thought as he started to turn around to look for the first time at this guy, or girl in the face.
He was surprised to find another andilite in the ship. Where had she come from? Wait she? Looking down at Jethsa he realized that the two looked exactly alike and that it must have something to do with how these people could be animals... "Ah... yeah sorry bout that meant to mention my name but well.... you know how it is when you think your going crazy and you might be mauled or simply killed by animals that are really people... things slip your mind. Anyways the name is Vicent Ke- ah Vincent. Just Vincent."
That was close he might trust these people at the moment but he wouldn't be sure he wanted to know his name so they could track down his family after they got out of this mess. If he got out of this mess.
"Oh and yeah there were two of them put the other one veered off without being close enough to see the ship. Or at least I'm pretty sure he wasn't close enough. Either way he shouldn't have been able to see it anyway, right? And well yeah most of her companions are back there, but I don't think you'll be finding them able to receive company anytime soon." Vincent continued telling them what he knew.
-
<Hey Newbie, could you at least tell us your name?
"No need to get rude," Torrence replied to Eddie. "- far as we know, he's been trapped in here with an unconscious alien for awhile."
"Ah... yeah sorry bout that meant to mention my name but well.... you know how it is when you think your going crazy and you might be mauled or simply killed by animals that are really people... things slip your mind. Anyways the name is Vicent Ke- ah Vincent. Just Vincent."
"Yeah, she did like to sit on you." She said, glancing over to Kasey with curiousity.
She walked over towards the ramp, wondering if it was going to close.
"Are you really going to fly this thing with all of us in it? I mean, we have zero room and no hand holds, forget seat belts. Those people are still out there, though right? Didn't they saw that they were looking for sick deer, like you two are - or are going to become?"
She glanced to Eddie and Jas,
"What are we going to do?"
GM
There was a delay after Eddie's request. After a moment, the ramp began to slide to a closed. However outside, the woman who had excused herself to speak privately suddenly came into view.
She gave a start and moved forward, reaching into her pocket and pulled out some strange device- those at the Lock In would recognize the device that had burned some of them back in. The woman aimed the weapon at the closing ramp, which thankfully closed.
The woman did seem to be able to see the ship as she moved forward, the weapon up.
I would like every one to check the OOC please.
-
Jas looked around wildly as the strange woman pointed something at them before the ramp closed. "So there are others. Eddie, I acquired Jethsa for two reasons and I'm as uncomfortable with it as I was when I was talking to you earlier, but one of the reasons was because I thought this craft looked like it was built for more than one. If we're really going to try flying it, we might need more than one person to handle it. Is there anything in the drive-memory that suggests that?"
-
Reece frowns as the woman points her weapon at the ramp. "Let's not bank on that thing being set to 'stun,'" he grumbles. "If it's too small for all of us to fly, we'll have to get as many of us out of here as we can..." His face lights up. "Or! As small as possible! Do most of you guys have smallish morphs? We might be able to ride through this on these two," he finishes, pointing at Jas and Eddie. He frowns. "That'd leave just the three Andalites, Vince and a bunch of small animals."
-
The computer hadn't yet responded to my requests for cloak-status nor schematics-display. I tried to think how else I could make those requests, thinking it was probably a syntax-thing...
<Computer; Shield status?> I commanded, reasoning perhaps the cloak and shield functions were linked into one.
I was pleased that the outer hatch had closed though. Just in time, too, considering the phaser-fire aimed up the ramp. Ok, so phasers are a Star Trek thing, but without knowing the real name for the weapon or its discharge, Phasers just seemed to fit. I doubted the computer would understand the term, though.
As we were fired upon, I tried to think what else I could call the ship's phasers, so that the computer would understand: <Computer; Weapons to stun, return fire.> I hoped it would understand the term 'stun'...
Thinking up commands that 'might' work was pretty distracting. If only there was a way to know the commands that would work... Ooh! Idea:
<Computer. List acceptable commands.> I hoped it wouldn't simply display the list, as I doubted I'd be able to read whatever alien language they'd be written in...
I was too distracted to respond to everything everyone was saying, but I did catch a few things I wanted to respond to:
<Greetings, Vincent! - We come in peace.> I held my right hand up, splitting the fingers in a Vulcan 'live long and prosper' gesture, chuckling lightheartedly at the fact I was an alien greeting a human that way, and of course the irony that I'd said we came in peace when I'd just ordered the ship to fire on the woman outside, albeit a stun-ray, but still...
<Point taken, Torrence. We know his name now anyway so I'll be using that instead from now on.> I responded to her comment about my calling him 'Newbie'. <Too right I'm - I mean "We're" gonna try and fly it - Better that than face the bad-guys outside with those phaser-weapon things. Besides, if we get injured in here, most of us could just morph the injuries away, right? - Well, all but Vincent. And Jethsa, unless she regains consciousness...> I rambled, indicating Jas while saying "We're".
Speaking of Jas, I addressed his questions next: <I've already asked a lot of the computer, I'd prefer to let it process those commands before giving any more, but what you say makes sense. Heck, when you've morphed, you could ask it yourself if you like.> I smiled at him with my eyes - It seemed a perfectly natural thing to do, yet it wasn't something I did when I was human... An Andalite gesture, maybe?
<Good idea, Reece! - If we're gonna fly this thing, it'd be prudent to go small-and-tough... Who has a ****roach morph? - Those things are indestructible as well as lightweight, the perfect choice. Well, in as far as ****roaches can be such, anyway...>
After getting responses to my current commands, I'd ask "Flight status" and "Mission status" to try and get more info on them. After all, we seemed immune to phaser-fire while the ship's hull protected us...
-
"Return fire?!" Reece spits out. "That is the opposite of inconspicuous. That is possibly insane. That's a freaking laser beam!" He runs his hands through his hair. "We haven't got time for messing around, and we've definitely not got time for a fight- figure out how to get out of here!"
-
GM:
As Reece reasons correctly that the ship was too cramped to fly with Christina, Eddie, Kasey, Jas, Torrence, Reece, Samantha and Vincent, not to mention an unconscious Jethsa, this did become abuntly clear. Jethsa was out cold and Vincent was unable to morph, although the others were free to start morphing smaller morphs and perhaps Jas would morph to Andalite.
Christina instantly began to shrink, her pale colored skin brightening to green. It soon began to pepper with scales, which raced along her changing skin and along her scalp, with her white blonde hair shlooping back into her skull. Within minutes, she was a Coast Garter snake (http://california-wildlife.inkart.net/reptiles/coast_garter_snake.php), wrapped around Jethsa's hoof for stability.
Torrence chose to morph to Salamander, one of the morphs that most of them possessed. She immediately shrank in size, her human limbs hanging grotesquely large until they transformed into salamander limbs. A tail shot out, much too large and likely striking people before it adjusted to her smaller salamander stature.
<Can you see if the ship has some sort of medbay?>
GM:
If Eddie of Jas in Andalite morph inquired, they found the sentient mind of the Andalite different than the smaller morphs they had practices. While one would before relax and knowledge would bubble forth at the applicable time, now they were actively searching through numerous memories and education. The closest thing to a med bay would be where Vincent had said Jethsa's fallen comrades are currently.
The ship supplied with a mental diagnostic, three counters with small devices similiar to a laboratory and a small device similiar to the one that had been given to Sam from Jethsa. There were no more Dracon beams, unbeknown to the others, Vincent had taken the only one.
<Computer; Shield status?>
It was disabled earlier. The ship relayed, likely referring to when Jethsa lowered it so that Vincent could board, before she lost consciousness.
<Computer; Weapons to stun, return fire.>
There was silence from the computer for a long moment, then suddenly TSEEW TSEEW! rang out as the ship fired twice on the woman's position. A scream was heard and a glance at the video monitors revealed that there had been no stun setting, the computer had fired to either side of the woman. Large scorch marks and burned grass surrounded the woman, who trembled, the weapon lowered. Had the ship assumed Eddie's intent?
<Computer. List acceptable commands.>
Immediately several dozen commands were telepathically relayed to the Andalites, from observation to navigational. Eddie chose not to ask Jas's question.
Outside
"Oh my God!" A man in a CDC uniform ran up to the woman, who hid the weapons he'd fired with. "What was that? Susie, get out here! "
He enveloped the woman protectively, staring down at the burn marks on the ground.
Within the ship
The Andalites felt the ship request shields to rise and if no one countermanded the ship, shields were raised. The ship also propmted for flight.
The non Andalites felt the rise similiar to an elevator and not a plane, with no sharp incline. The ship rose up from the ground smoothly and silently.
For the Andalites, there was no silence. The ship was requesting a series of telepathic requests while relaying information.
Requests: Desired altitude?
Course?
Information:
Three humans below, in range.
One with alien technology
XXXXX levels rising, need immediate action
-
As the ship rises into the air, Reece concentrates on the image of the ladybug. His skin hardens, and his face becomes a hideous insect-thing, which is horrifying only until he suddenly schloops down to the size of a tiny insect. As everything erupts into hugeness around him he commands the ladybug's primitive brain to perch safely on Eddie's head, behind his ear.
<Don't scratch,> he intones. <I figure I'm well cushioned in all directions up here.>
-
Jas looks around as others begin to morph and silently begs Jethsa for forgiveness as he thinks about her form. His skin sprouts blue fur and stalk eyes erupt from the top of his head and a tail erupts from his spine. For a second he looks like a blue-furred, antennae-wearing, tail-wielding human before his rump explodes outward, his legs splitting from two to four and his musculature developing. His pinky and ring-fingers split so that he has seven fingers on each hand. His stalk-eyes suddenly become active and his vision is split strangely in a way that seemed both weird and natural. His brain began to assimilate the extra data and thought-commands started streaming through his head. His tail grows a wicked scythe and his muscles fill out in that area as well as his upper body becomes more slender and less-muscled. He takes on a feminine body-type and the strange hormones assault his brain as well, though his new impulses were automatically limited and controlled by his new brain.
Knowledge became something unique, as unfathomable things seemed to come to him. These strange sensations, the new thoughts and senses...incredible . He looks around and realizes his morph is complete, three identical andalites now occupying the same room. <Well, this is different. Incredible really.> He directs a thought at the computer,taking Eddie's lead. <Computer, list standard emergency flight procedure.> He hoped his choice of words was correct. Perhaps this would work...perhaps not. How could they input trajectories if they didn't even know what units this thing ran on?
-
I watched as a few team-members (for that is how I now saw them) started morphing small. It wouldn't have held my attention long, except a massive oversize Salamander tail exploded out of Torrence in my direction. I bounced nimbly out of the way, marvelling at how little effort it took in this morph.
Andalite form was fast-becoming a serious competitor for the position of my favourite morph so far, battling head-to-head with Clouded Leopard. - The two both had their pro's and con's of course, but this Andalite form couldn't come close to the sheer liquid power of the CL, and I doubted it could do anything with trees other than chop them down branch by branch with the scalpel-like tail-blade. - This was no predator, the tail appeared to have evolved mainly for defensive purposes... Though I expect Andalite society has influenced its development to some degree too. The CL on the other hand had mastery over any terrain I could currently think of.
But of course, if Jethsa forbade us using her as a morph after she woke up, this distraction would become a moot point.
<According to the readouts I'm receiving, the death-scent is coming from the sick-bay. - Makes sense, really, when you think about it: If someone's dying, where else would you take them? You try to heal them, of course. Anyway, it's over there through that hatch.> I informed Kasey, pointing the way.
<Ahh, cool! - Wait, too fast! Hmm, well I think I can remember enough to get by, anyway... Command list just came through.> I explained, trying to digest the datastream.
I felt the ship lift off the ground, and the computer automatically raise shields - Nice: This seemed to be an intelligent interface... It bombarded me (and Jas too, I assumed, as soon as he was Andalite enough anyway) with requests to do with flying:
<Altitude: 4000 Earth-Metres.> I answered, figuring it'd work it out if it was intelligent enough.
<Course: Hmm...> I concentrated on telepathically sending an image of the house where we'd gained our morphing powers from Jenny, and its surrounding neighbourhood, and a rough direction to start looking in, based on our journey between there and here. I also estimated a distance based on my driving knowledge, so that was in 'Earth-Miles' rather than Metres. Again, I hoped the computer had enough intelligence to work those out.
<Computer; Flight-status? Can we safely fly that distance and hover when we get there?> I asked it.
It gave some more information about the aggressors outside, and some weird levels thing that required attention.
<Computer, query: XXXXX levels; Recommended action?> I asked, winging it.
My stalk-eyes were joined by a small, flying Reece. When he landed it tickled and itched annoyingly. <Reece, would you mind relocating to some of the courser hair? You're very itchy in your current position.> I warned him in friendly tones.
<Ahh, we finally have a Jas-dalite! Welcome to da pardy, pal!> I clapped him-her-whatever on the shoulder with a feebly weak hand in a friendly human gesture as I gave my Bruce-Willis impression. I thought-chuckled as I figured out, given my play on Jas' name, that I in turn would be an Ed-Dalite or Eddilite if named along a similar vein.
-
<Jasalite? If I could roll these eyes...> Reece grumbles as he opts to cling to a corner of the ship instead.
-
Jas raises a feminine eyebrow as he waits for anything the computer is releasing to him. <Unfortunately so...I'm not comfortable with this at all. I mean, this just seems so wrong snagging someone else's identity.> Jas catches the humor in Eddie's thought and shakes his head. <So if Reece acquired Jethsa and mixed her with that guy's DNA that he acquired, would that make him a Miller 'Lite?> Jas manages to chuckle to himself, somehow his eyes betraying the mirth. Mostly it was nerves, but he thought his joke was at least a little funny. He might even be able to choke down a beer right now though it wouldn't be his first choice in alcohol. It might calm his nerves, this was all way out there.
<How do you even know if this craft can compute meters?> Jas tuned in to the computer and realized it WAS relaying information in thought form.
-
GM
<Computer; Flight-status? Can we safely fly that distance and hover when we get there?>
Yes. The computer replied simply.
<Computer, query: XXXXX levels; Recommended action?>
The levels are rising faster than expected, likely due to additional life forms on board. Recommend immediate venting. The levels will become fatal in 05.00.
The ship began to move, adjusting to the mental projections sent by Eddie. As the ship veered away from the scorched Earth, one woman looked up to the sky with an expression of pure hatred.
<What's happening?> Jethsa's voice 'felt' disorinted. <How is the ship flying?>
Her upper body righted itself too quickly for Jas, Eddie, or any one else to explain.
Her stalk eyes swiveled towards the flight controls and upon spotting the Andalites there, her stalk eyes straightened- then appeared to droop.
The ship suddenly shuddered, drawing Jethsa's attention. She staggered to her feet and moved beside Jas, lifting her eyes to the screens that now, under her command, began to fill with staggering images. They seemed to be a canister filling- of course, the XX levels.
<Computer, open vents.> She barked authoritatively. <Lower and upper. Display readings of gaseous exchange valve.>
Gaseous exchange valve is malfunctioning.
<Diagnose.>
Gaseous exchange valve has become damaged and unresponsive. It is only exchanging to 10% capability.
<That's not good,> Jethsa said, but her words were already filtering down- more specifically, to the smaller life forms on board. breathing was suddenly more difficult. Within moments, every one was struggling to draw a breath.
-
Reece struggles to keep his spot against the rushing vents. <Jestha, er, ma'am!> he exclaims. <What's going on? We were trying to fly you to our friends to heal your injuries.> He struggles to buzz briefly into her line of sight to get her attention, before snapping back to the security of his perch. <What the hell is going on in here?>
-
I thought-laughed at Jas' joke: <Miller'Lite, good one Jas!> Perhaps we'd get on after all...
As soon as Reece left my eye-stalk, I immediately reached up and scratched away the itch from where he'd landed - Turns out eye-stalks are even more sensitive than I'd guessed: An optic-nerve is a delicate instrument tied directly into the brain, after all. When I touched the stalk I immediately got sensation-feedback that hinted at how easily they could generate a lot of pain, and I surmised that the opposite must also hold true... Perhaps I'd get chance to experiment later, but right now there were more pressing matters to attend to;
It was with great relief that I received the computer's affirmative response to the distance we had to fly, but that feeling didn't last long: As the computer started recommending venting of some kind, Jethsa woke up.
I immediately started feeling abashed about her catching me using her own form - If I'd had the means, I'm sure my face would've gone red, but it was currently covered in very fine fur so even if Andalites had red blood I doubted their faces changed colour with embarrassment like ours do. I turned my head and main-eyes in Jethsa's direction and tried to convey through gestures my apologies for using her form without her prior permission. Through my sheepishness, I let Jethsa take the reigns in her experienced hands without resistance.
After receiving computer-feedback about XX-levels and gaseous exchange stuff, I started to notice a change in the air: It was getting a little harder to breath! The vents or something weren't functioning very well, from what I could gather, but there was another 'vent' Jethsa hadn't tried. If it didn't solve the XX-level crisis, so be it, but we had to have breathable air and there was plenty of that outside - Well, maybe not at 4000 metres, that'd be a bit high...
<Computer; New altitude - 1000 metres. Ensure velocity does not exceed 50 Earth-miles per hour, then open outer hatch.> I commanded, hoping Jethsa wouldn't mind. <Everyone hold-tight; With a bit of luck it's gonna get very windy in here soon. - And I'm not referring to flatulence!> It did occur to me that perhaps now wasn't the best time for such humour, but then again lightening the mood might just do us some good...
<Greetings, Miss Jethsa; My name is Eddie. We are glad you have awakened, we were all worried for your health. Please forgive this lowly vecol for borrowing your form; It was deemed necessary in order to save all our lives, and your own of course. - Yeerks were trying to breach the hull with some sort of lazer weapon. Your body is very impressive, by the way: I really like being you and can merely hope for your permission to repeat the experience when a future need arises...> I lowered myself in a sign of respect and honour for Jethsa. It was a move suggested by part of my memory - Or was it part of her memory perhaps? I suddenly realized I'd 'spoken' a strange word - Vecol - My human mind did not know this word, yet it seemed to fit in context somehow... Analyzing it, I concluded it referred to my disability, though of course once the atrophy had time to wear off this title would no longer apply to me...
Another thing I realized too late was that my complimenting her body may be taken the wrong way... But I hoped that would not be the case. It was getting difficult to breath now, and I hoped the computer could translate and carry out my commands before anyone lost consciousness...
Damien and I made our way through the forest branches and pathways for several minutes as I caught him up on everything he'd missed*.
Soon enough we were finally approaching the place where the others were due to find Jethsa's ship. I did not know if it was still functional nor indeed whether Jethsa would still be alive if they found her. I heard Dracon fire ahead, followed by a couple of much more powerful Dracon blasts that could only have come from a ground-based Dracon-cannon or Shipboard weaponry. Knowing Jethsa was an Andalite, and assuming the same of her ship, my first guess was perhaps a Bug-fighter firing upon Jethsa's ship? After all, Andalite ships were equipped with Shredders, not Dracons: They were much more energy-efficient and did not cause so much pain when they disintegrated someone.
Closer analysis of the sounds told me the Dracon-cannon fire had hit dirt, not metal - A miss, perhaps? - Then shortly afterward I felt an electromagnetic wave that indicated a spaceship of Yeerk or Andalite design had just taken to the sky.
I shot up a large tree and perched myself in the branches out of sight from the ground. Ahead of us I saw a few people talking and one of them, a female, was trying to conceal the fact she carried a handheld Dracon-beam weapon.
"Yeerks." I whispered in Damien's direction, putting simulated hatred into my voice. Chee cannot hate, but we can dislike.
OOC: *Alice does not yet know about Vincent, so that'd be the one thing she couldn't tell Damien anything about.
-
<Whoa!> Reece exclaims as the hatch opens up. The winds tugging at him increase in velocity, and more of the air seems to leave the room. He finds himself suddenly thankful for how much less air he requires in ladybug form. <What the heck is wrong with you, Eddie?!>
-
The vents had not caused a very drastic change in the interior, there were not gusts of air. In fact, air was growing short, making one's lungs feel strained as they struggled to breathe.
<Pay attention,> Jethsa 'snapped'. <I already opened the vents - Eddie, was it? Perhaps you ought to leave the piloting to those trained for it. Please refrain from directing the ship.>
Jethsa turned her stalk eyes upwards and issued rapid thought speech commands, mostly related to the gaseous exchange issues.
<There's a problem with what you call carbon dioxide.> She shared. <It's rising faster than it is being exchanged. That's why we are becoming short of breath- we are using the residual oxygen. You- Eddie- stay where you are, stay alert for proximity alerts. I'll be right back.>
She moved to the back where she pressed a wall, which retracted. She reached inside and withdrew a small device which she began to point to various brightly colored electronics within the 'wall'. After a few moments, she tucked away the device and returned to the front.
<That should fix it for a short time,> She stated, mentally bringing up a schematic of gas levels within the ship. The previous stagnant air soon felt a drop in temperature as air soon began to flow.
-
Reece settles down a bit, frazzled to realize how badly he'd been fluttering about in his panic. <Maybe it is best we explained ourselves,> he states dimly. <My name is Reece. I don't know if we've really been introduced. Eddie, the uh, one of the ones that looks er, ah, well, he and a few of the others on here and myself got the morphing power from the Pemalites, but maybe you guessed that?> He flies up a bit higher so he's closer to Jestha's eye-level. <We were trying to take you to them for help- you looked hurt, and letting Eddie acquire you was the only thing we could think of.> He pauses. <We really did have your best interests at heart this whole time.>
-
Jas immediately becomes abashed as Jethsa wakes up. <I'm sorry as well Jethsa...it's me, Jas. I was afraid the ship might take more than one to direct it's flight...the computer was talking about the rest of the crew and...well...I'm sorry.>
Jas immediately morphs back to his human form dressed in those rediculous bike shorts. He thought the smaller human body would consume less viable O2. He felt diminished somehow and experienced a guilty pang as he considered morphing Jethsa again in the privacy of his apartment.
-
<I understand.> The alien replied. <I am surprised you risked so much to save me. Crashing in a ship like this would be unpleasant- regardless, I am pleased to have met you. Please hold on. We are approaching the coordinates you gave the ship.>
The ship began to slow as Jethsa gave commands in open thought speak, reducing altitude and landing in a park across the street from the Chee center. The ship eventually settled on the ground and Jethsa immediately had the ramp lowered.
<We may wish to exit. The gas levels are still quite dangerous and may adversely effect us.>
-
Reece demorphs, his ladybug features dissolving away. He quickly made his way out, scanning the park for witnesses. "I hope we're not going to er, draw too much attention in that thing."
-
<The ship is shielded,> Jethsa assured, stepping out onto the ramp as she looked about outside. <- although I am curious why you chose to come to this place.>
-
I nodded almost imperceptibly at Jethsa's suggestion that I refrain from attempting to pilot the ship, and again when she asked me to stay alert for proximity warnings etc. Somehow part of my brain managed to identify the correct instruments and displays that related to that task automatically...
I got the feeling that a thought-speak reply was unnecessary where a simple nod would suffice to indicate my compliance with her wishes.
<Chee. The ones we got the morphing power from are the Chee, Reece. The Pemalites may have created them, but I doubt they count as the same species.> I corrected him, <While it is true they can probably help you with your injuries, Miss Jethsa, what they can most help with is hiding this ship from the Yeerks. They may even fix it up for you, if you ask them the right way. Anyway, if you aim a Z-space communication at that house> I pointed on a screen to the house where we'd met Jenny and got our powers, <they may send a response, welcoming you... Or, I suppose, some humans could go ring the doorbell... But where's the fun in that?> I eye-smiled, something that came naturally yet wasn't something my human mind had come up with.
I thought about all this weird new terminology I'd started using automatically - The words came fluidly from my mind, or more accurately from Jethsa's memories that I was somehow managing to access, yet as soon as I'd spoken them I knew what they referred to. It's a very strange feeling.
While I was thinking about that, I witnessed Jas babble his way through his own apology for taking Jethsa's DNA while she was unconscious, and saw him demorph.
The ship landed, and the outer hatch opened into a ramp again as Jethsa advised us to leave the ship and get some fresh air. I saw Reece immediately depart down the ramp on his human legs, which reminded me of something:
I decided not to demorph yet, and consequently figured it'd be best to stay in the ship unless Jethsa also left, in which case I'd stick close to her.
<<Miss Jethsa, I'd like to show you how grateful I am that you continue to let me use your morph: I offer you my service, that while I am in Andalite form both now and in future, I am yours to command. This offer does not extend to my other morphs, though I am of course happy to consider you a friend no matter what other form I take. Will you accept my offer?>> I said privately to her, trying to show respect in my tone. For some subconscious reason, I also allowed Jas to 'overhear' my offer to Jethsa... Perhaps because he too had her DNA? Possibly, though I wasn't sure that was the whole reason or not...
Andalite memory suggested a title I might use for Jethsa if she accepted my offer of service: 'Prince'. Yet the human part of my brain argued that since she was Female, wouldn't 'Princess' be more appropriate? Andalite memory had no answer to that, so I didn't use either. I used 'Miss' instead.
I think I'll probably ask her which title she'd prefer I use when addressing her, unless she declines my offer, of course.
-
Jas raised an eyebrow as he listened to Eddie's profession of gratitude. Quite an elaborate way to garner permission to use Jethsa's DNA. Jas admired Eddie a bit for it, but also was annoyed a by it. Eddie apparently spoke his mind and did not bother about not acting superior to others around him. But in the same vein, Jas though Eddie was an adult, or at least more of an adult than the kids around him, he certainly acted like it, and that might well lead the man to act superior, Jas could understand that certainly, after all he had just been doing the same thing back at Kasey's house. He was glad to have another older person besides Sam along for this freak-ride, or at least one who knew how to act older...Jas was terrible at telling age.
Jas shot Eddie a quick glance, somehow he knew that the speech had been private for both himself and Jethsa. He couldn't do the thought-speech thing in human-form, so he just nodded slightly at Eddie. Getting permission was a good idea, though he would never pledge himself to follow another person's orders like some military grunt. Oh Jas respected the military and everything they did, it just wasn't his bag.
All in all Jas was starting to trust Eddie, at least a little, and that was a big thing for Jas...Jas didn't trust anybody except Sam. Somehow he thought he might get along with Eddie the way things were going, and if he was really going to fight this war Jethsa had spoken about, he'd need to learn to trust more quickly.
-
Disoriented and light headed Vincent heard the conversations going on around him but was too short of breath and light headed to answer properly. As the hatch/ramp to the ship open and Vincent 'heard' Jethsa's thoughts he started towards the door stumbling twice before getting there. Sucking in three large lungfulls of clean air he coughed several times. When he finally had the voice and thoughts in his head in order, he asked in a wondering voice "Uh..... OK where are we and who or what are the Penalite or the Chee? And uh.. you guys should probably get out of there. Carbon dioxide poisoning isn't fun from what I remember from science class."
As he waited for an answer to his question Vincent took a look around him. He thought he might know the park. He had to pass it from his own house to get to the library. Oh man, I wonder what kind of talking to my aunt and uncle will give me this time. The library will probably have called them to see where I'm at and they don't have a clue. And great I just thought of another thing to worry about. What are they going to decide to do to me now? That one panther... leopard... whatever didn't seem happy with me. She.... is it a she?.... doesn't seem to trust me at all. And I can't be sure of any one else. Not even Reece, though he is pretty friendly.... Vincent thought to himself sighing at the predicament he found himself in. His Hand unconsciously wrapped around the Dracon Beam in his pocket, his his thumb running over it's surface gently.
-
Reece sees Vincent stumble and he goes to help him walk. He leads him towards the grass outside the ship. "Here man, get some freshness in you." He smiles. "The Chee are robots that are helping us fight the Yeerks." He pauses. "Er, have we told you about the Yeerks yet?"
-
<You seem to think that you are correct in many things.> Jethsa stated regarding Eddie. <You met the new creatures at the same time as he, yet educate him. Is he your leader?> She indicated Eddie to Reece.
<I am curious how humans determine leadership amongst yourselves. I also would like to hear in more detail how you attained the ability to acquire morphs. I only gave three beings the ability, yet there are so many of you. Tell me how many of you are there as well as what you believe you are dealing with.>
<You are mine to command?> Jethsa repeated Eddies proclamation, silent for several moments. <I understand now that you and Jas meant no insult in taking my form. I see now that you did so to reach safety and to escape the Collaborator in pursuit.
However, I am uncertain if I agree with the two of you taking my form again. It strikes me as invasive. I will reflect on it and will inform you of my decision later. I also think you should reflect on your pledge. I appreciate it but would not be offended if you rescind it.>
Stepping over towards where Vince and Reece stood, Jethsa continued to speak.
<Unfortunately when I came upon Vincent, I was in poor shape. I had to prioritize mortal danger with the Yeerk Invasion and I regret that Vincent did not benefit from the explaination I was able to give to the other three whom I met.
Vincent did however selflessly tend to me, as I remember losing consciousness in the woods before reaching the safety of the ship. He also did not benefit from the Escafil.>
<Which....> Jethsa turned towards the other three. <- have you located it? It should be secured immediately. Now that I am well, I can safe guard it.>
-
Jas stepped towards Jethsa a bit, not interrupting, but staying near her. When Jethsa was silent for a moment, he spoke. "Jethsa, I do apologize for acquiring you, we really thought it was necessary. As for using your morph again, well I won't swear not to use it. I stand by my word and if I think your DNA can save my life or help my accomplish a particularly difficult objective, I will use it. What I WILL promise you is that I will not use your DNA erroneously and will only use it when it is a last option."
Jas shifted another glance back at Eddie, and then looked at Reece and...Vincent...was it? Reece said something about robots and some other aliens and he raised an eyebrow. With one last glance over both Jethsa and Eddie, he walks over to Vincent. "Hey buddy, I'm about as freaked out as you, just so happens I've had a couple days to deal with it. As for these Shee or whatever, I'm as clueless as you." He reaches his hand out to shake. "Name's Jas."
-
"He is not my leader," Reece says bluntly. He pauses, considering. "He does think that he's "correct in many things," though! We've been getting by mostly democratically so far; we've had a few big things to deal with so far, but we usually argue until we reach a consensus." He turns his head around to look at the small army they've amassed so far; it's impressive, for what it is.
"As far as the origins of our group, a lot of us were normal kids," he pauses. "Normal young adults until we went to a Sharing meeting last night- a sort of Yeerk 'recruitment' drive. We escaped thanks to a combination of brute force, subterfuge and cunningly applied toilet paper. Once we got out, we met up with a girl who worked with the Chee- the robots I mentioned earlier." He looks up into his brain as he talks, trying to recall each event in order. "She explained the Yeerks to us, gave us the power with the Escafil device. Then we went, got a few morphs down at the Gardens, got back to the Chee compound and found out that the device had been stolen." He gestures at Jas, Sam and Alic. "By those guys." He exhales deeply. "Any more questions?"
-
<I can not expect more from you.> Jethsa replied to Jas, although she looked at him for a long moment. <I do hope that such a situation never arises. I do appreciate the risk you took to secure the Escafil for me.>
<Those humans you refer to were not stealing the Escafil. I asked them to bring it to me- and since its Andalite technology and I am an Andalite, they returned it to its rightful owner. Although I grow concerned where the device is now. Do you know? If not, shall we make plans to find it immediately?>
-
Turning to Jas Vincent grasps his hand and says "Yeah sorry I know this isn't likely easy for any of us but..... Well anyways nice to meet you Jas. If you didn't hear before my names Vincent. Don't really care about nicknames so any will be fine for me."
Returning his attention to Reece Vincent replies "Aaahhh..... that would be a definite no. I'm clueless as to what's happening.... I mean it was only what 2 hours or so ago that I didn't even know aliens existed. Only names I know of are........... well Horkbajiri or something close to that. So what are these Yoerks and why are you...... fighting them?" He had been about to say afraid before changing his mind and saying fighting. He didn't want Reece one of the only people here besides Jas who had even decided to trust him a little.
-
<Hork Bajir> Jethsa corrected Vincent. <The other alien race are called Yeerks. The are parasitic creatures that occupy a creature's brain and control it's actions. For example, the Hork Bajir that we met are Controllers, forced to act as slaves to the Yeerks.
The Yeerks have recently come to Earth to survey it. We suspect they are investigating whether your people would make good hosts. My comrades and I arrived not far after the first arrivals, so we expect that they have not had much time to infest many of your people.>
-
Reece's eyes light up. "The box! I guess I set it down on the ship when I morphed into a ladybug." He bolts back on board, admonishing himself under his breath; how could he have just put the box down and forgotten it? He uncovers it easily, nestled in the same corner he was. He glances back out to the cluster, pausing for a moment. Technically, he'd promised the Chee he'd get the box back to them. On the one hand, they had a history of hiding things from the group so far. On the other hand, they were still their greatest allies.
The young man makes his way back to the others more slowly than his journey back onto the ship. His arms wrap around the box. He stops slightly off from the center of the gathering, a part of conversation but still separated. He clears his throat. "This thing, uh, that is to say- we promised the Chee we'd help them retrieve the box, Ms. Jestha." He corrects his posture, breathing deeply and looking Jestha more fully in the eye. "We should really talk over what we're gonna do with this with the Chee around, don't you think?"
-
<I do not understand why discussing this with the Chee is necessary.> Jethsa declared. <The Chee are merely caretakers of the Escafil. Once it is reunited with myself, I am the obvious choice as its sole caretaker.>
As Jethsa spoke, her stalk eyes turned away from the group towards the house across the street. Two men - whom those who had visited the house before would recognize as the men who had argued with Jenny- exited the house and crossed over to the field where the others were standing.
"Perhaps we should speak inside." The taller man said, his tone not one of suggestion.
<My ship is cloaked.> Jethsa said to him with a chilly tone. <So I see fit to join you and see what agreement you pressured out of these children regarding the device of my people.>
"Let us discuss this inside."
The man insisted and did not speak another word as he led the way back to the house. Once within, he led them to the living room. There was no sign of Jenny.
<Now that we are inside,> Jethsa began. <- I fail to see why you think you have claim to the device of my people.>
"My apologies if we seem presumptuous, Miss-"
<My name is Jethsa - Samarane - Castant. I am the sole being responsible for a very important mission on Earth now, one that requires the Escafil.>
"- yet we did not know of your presence when we asked the children to recover the device. It had been stolen-"
<I asked some people to return it to its rightful owner.> Jethsa said haughtily. <Myself. Reece, you agree with me, don't you?>
-
Reece throws his hands up. "Well hey now, look: I think we're all on the same team here, right? We're all trying to stop whatever it is the Yeerks are up to. So like, we've got to stop looking at this as an us-vs-us situation and start looking at it as a, uh, us-vs.-them situation. With them being the Yeerks." He switches the box from one arm to the other. "Jestha, if you'd actually tell us what your mission is, it'd be easier to give you this thing. Especially if you let us help."
-
I returned Jas' glance with a stalk-eye, wanting to use them while I was being allowed to by Jethsa. I hoped she'd consider my offer...
With my other stalk-eye I watched as Vincent left the ship. His point was taken, and I fully intended to follow his example, but a stronger part of my mind wanted to stay with Jethsa and only leave if following her out of the ship. Vincent had his hand in one of his pockets; a pocket with an odd-shaped bulge that betrayed some bulky object within, keeping his hand company... I wondered what it might be, but didn't want to pry.
Reece helped Vincent down the ramp, starting to explain stuff to him from what little I could hear of their conversation from here.
Jethsa addressed me, but did not start by answering my offer - At least she was taking time to consider it... It threw me slightly when she asked Reece if I was some kind of leader; I nearly burst out laughing, well I probably would have if I'd been in human form, but with an Andalite brain I had a little more self-control, I guessed.
Hmm... Leader?? I considered the possibility, despite myself, for a few seconds: With a group this size, having a leader would doubtless be beneficial, but still... Me? No way! - Who'd follow a leader like me, anyway? I turned an eyestalk toward Reece to see his reaction to this question: Understandably, his answer was bluntly negative and to the point.
Jethsa finally addressed my offer: I nodded as she talked through our reasons for having acquired her in the first place. She told me she'd reflect on the idea of people morphing her, and invited me to reflect on the pledge I'd just made - An unnecessary step: I mean what I say, unless I have a good reason not to. I humoured her and followed her instruction (as had been my pledge after all), contemplating the decision I'd made in offering her my service.
I followed her at a respectful distance as she went over to where Vincent and Reece were conversing. I eye-smiled when she confirmed Vincent's attitude to being confronted with such a situation. - I'd gotten a good vibe from him following my trust-exercise, and now that vibe had just been reinforced.
As talk turned to the subject of the Blue-Box, I became somewhat wary of her eagerness to regain it for herself, considering how good a job the Chee had done in protecting it from the Yeerks for so long, yet I reasoned that she simply did not know the Chee well enough to trust them yet. Hopefully she'd get along with them when they finally met face-to-face.
Just then, Jas stepped forward and brought the subject back to morphing into Andalite form: His words made sense and I understood his perspective in how it differed from my own. Jethsa seemed to see that too, and appeared to allow his promise to stand - He'd only use her form in an emergency, if no other form was good enough for the task. He'd been more hesitant than me in the first place, and I could see that he wasn't too comfortable going Andalite in the first place... Perhaps Jethsa had also noticed this.
I caught Jas' glance again; It seemed he wasn't overly keen on the idea of me being in Jethsa's service, and that he also wanted to distinguish his objective with regards to using her form from my own. I nodded slightly at him, showing my understanding of his perspective on the situation.
I eye-smiled at Reece's comments about me and his humour regarding democratic leadership within our little group and the events that lead us to this point. I felt no impulse to interrupt. Conversation soon returned to the subject of the Morphing-Cube and I figuratively bit my tongue, not wanting to adversely influence Jethsa's decision regarding my offer. I say 'figuratively' because in my current form I had neither teeth nor a tongue, of course.
I disguised a sigh as Vincent told Reece his story and got the few names he'd heard wrong. - Reece was right: I did like to be correct wherever possible. I resisted the urge to butt-in though. I listened as Jethsa explained things to him, alert for any information we didn't already know. I couldn't help wondering what she'd meant by 'recent'... Hadn't Alice said she'd worked with the Chee for 'a long time', after all? Well, perhaps the Chee knew more about Yeerk presence on Earth than the recently-arrived Andalite did... Yeah, that made sense.
Reece retrieved the Escafil box from the ship and brought it back to our little grouping, but he didn't hand it to Jethsa straight-away - Apparently he had similar misgivings about Jethsa's attitude toward it and the Chee as I did. As the two conversed, we were approached by two familiar faces - Chee faces. Well, the holographic ones they projected anyway. I watched them approach with my main eyes, keeping a stalk-eye on the conversation between Reece and Jethsa. As the Chee joined the conversation, Jethsa seemed to show a level of contempt toward them. Apparently she recognized them, possibly from the compound where they'd safeguarded the Blue Box. At their insistence, we followed them into Jenny's house. I tended to stay in Jethsa's wake and mimic her movements.
As soon as we all reached the living-room it was clear from the tone of the conversation that Jethsa and these Chee were on the point of mutual dislike and distrust. If someone didn't calm them down soon, all hell might break loose... I was glad Reece took the opportunity to stick his oar into the conversation; He'd seen where this was heading, too.
<I agree that the Andalites are the rightful owners of the Escafil device.> I started. <Though to me the Chee compound seems to have been a very safe place to secure it from Yeerk detection until now, it should be up to Jethsa to decide if her slightly-malfunctioning ship is a safer place to keep it. Perhaps there can be a compromise here? For example, could the Chee repair Jethsa's ship and ensure the Yeerks won't find the Escafil device even if they somehow get on board?> I asked openly, hoping not to offend anyone.
I turned a stalk-eye to Jethsa as I thought-spoke privately to her, again allowing Jas to overhear: <<I have given my offer more thought, as you asked me to do, and have come up with some terms to my service that I can live with if you'll accept them: Whenever I am in this form, I am yours to command. When I am not in this form, you may offer me the opportunity to become you, in payment for my following an instruction that I may otherwise be hesitant to follow. If I should have good reason to disobey any of your orders while in this form, I shall inform you such and take the next opportunity to demorph; Understanding that I won't be allowed to use this form again unless and until you wish to give me an order I can follow. I promise to not deceive you with regard to any order given me - I shall inform you truthfully if I cannot follow any given order, and will answer honestly if you ask whether I can carry out a specified order. If these terms are acceptable to you, shall I call you my Prince or my Princess? My memory of that term did not specify if it was gender-specific or not...>>
As I 'spoke' privately, I kept my main eyes on the conversation with the Chee, so none but Jas and Jethsa would realize I'd said anything other than what I'd said openly.
-
"That's solid thinking, Ed," Reece remarks. "You Chee have the resources, and I'm sure Jestha has the know-how when it comes to fixing that thing." He waves an arm at the assembled group. "I'm captain of our swim team back at school; we've got a guy with a killer backstroke, a guy who's great at 100 meters, etc. It's kind of the same thing. Like, stuff on a sandwich. The Chee are the bread, because they have stuff and provide a foundation for us, Jestha's the mayo because she's got that Andalite brilliance, and us guys are the cheese and tomatoes and stuff, because we're canny enough, plentiful enough and stupid enough to go out and turn into ladybugs or hippos or whatever and fight slug-people." He takes a breath. "You know?"
-
Jas followed the group into the "compound" and was a little wary about it all. He didn't know these people and Jethsa appeared to dislike them a bit. He takes up a spot standing next to the mantle, leaning against the wall and kicking a foot up against it so the sole of his foot rested against the wall behind him.
His eyes widened as he listened to Eddie's set of terms and conditions, but he quickly schooled his features to a semblance of detached unconcern. The guy apparently liked to make things as complicated as possible, or maybe that was the Andalite DNA talking, he didn't know for sure. All he knew was that he was glad Jethsa had accepted his own much simpler agreement. No one responded to Eddie's thought-speech and so again he thought it must've been private between Eddie, Jethsa, and Jas. Well, at least one person seemed to trust him in this strange band of people. Aside from Sam that is. Sam had been terribly silent and he was worried...maybe it would just be better if she forgot about it and went back to her life...Jas was worried about her.
Jas almost started laughing as Reece made a rediculous analogy to a sandwich or something...he hoped Reece had meant it as a joke, some slightly nervous attempt to lighten the mood. A worthwhile tactic if true. "Look, aren't you debating semantics? I'm sorry, but I don't know you people." Jas looked over at the Chee to indicate whom he meant, then looked at Reece and the other companions, "and I hardly know you people. In fact I think the one I know the best here, aside from Sam, is Jethsa strangely enough." He turned his eyes to Jethsa. "You're going to be fighting alongside us yes? You said yourself that this resistance among the humans is vitally important." He turned his gaze back on the rest of the room. "Who cares who keeps the blue box? Seriously, if the technology belongs to the Andalites, then Jethsa should take care of it...but if we're all fighting the same fight together, doesn't that just mean that we're all guarding the damn thing together? If things are as bad as anyone says, we need all the damn teamwork we can muster. We shouldn't be arguing over stupid little things, we should be strategizing, planning, preparing for an attack or something! Am I the only one who thinks we're wasting time here?!"
-
The Andalite female remained very quiet for quite some time, the Chee remained quiet as well. It seemed only the humans had reached quick conclusions.
<I will consider your offer, as I said before, human. Yet right now, I am consumed with thinking of the Escafil's best interest. We will converse on this later.> She relayed privately to Eddie.
<If the Chee fix the ship, it will do much to prove their dedication to the fight.> She said finally. <But my mission is secret. There are some things that I can not tell you. If my ship is repaired, I can relay the situation to my superiors and receive orders on what is permissible.>
"This is acceptable to us." The Chee agreed shortly. "We'll begin the repairs immediately. "
<I shall transfer the Escafil to you if you will show me where it shall be stored."
The Chee and Andalite moved off by themselves, leaving the humans by themselves.
"If you are free now," Jenny approached them. "- perhaps it would be good if you return to the site of the ... incident with the Controller. The woods have been quarantined because of a sick animal- and we believe Alice and another one of your friends is trapped in the woods."
-
"Trapped?" Reece asks. "Well farts," he exhales, frustrated. He looks to his fellow Animal Transformers. Aniformers? Transimals? Now was not the time to be thinking of names. "From what I've seen the bird morphs have pretty radtastic eyesight, which means they'd be good for finding Alice and assessing the sitch in the woods. Have any of us not got bird-power?"
-
Jas looked around the room and sighed audibly, frustrated with everyone. Obviously his advice had fallen on deaf ears all the way around. He had hoped Jethsa at least would've backed up his position, but everyone just acted like he hadn't said a word. He crossed the room in front of Reece and walked out the door, a sullen look on his face. The guy was talking about birds or some such, obviously he didn't have any sort of bird DNA, but then no one seemed to remember him or notice him anyway aside from Eddie, so he just kept silent as he walked outside and started down the street. He just needed to get to his apartment, drink a fifth, and pass out. Then this would all just seem like some horribly twisted dream and he could go back to his regular life. As he walked down the street, Jas sparred with an imaginary opponent to blow off some steam. He flowed quickly between different Asian fighting-styles including many forms of Kung-Fu, Judo, and even Muay Thai, kicking, punching, and throwing his imaginary opponent as he moved. The rush of endorhines soon began, making him feel much better as he moved slowly down the block.
-
Reece's positive reaction to my idea caused me to involuntarily eye-smile at him in thanks for backing me up. I tried not to laugh at his comparing our little group to sandwich-ingredients, primarily because I didn't wanna vex a guy that just backed me up on something.
I'd watched Jas' eyes widen briefly as he overheard my ToS conditions I was offering Jethsa in return for being allowed to morph her. I was silently pleased that he soon schooled his features and appeared intent on keeping my private offer confidential, at least for the time being anyway.
Shortly after that, his face seemed to show traces of worry or concern for something... Or was it for someone? This worry disappeared when it seemed Jas was stifling his own laughter at Reece's absurd comparison. I eye-smiled again, starting to like Jas a little more than before. I listened to his little rant with only slight interest - I was more intent on Jethsa's thoughts than Jas' thoughts at the present.
Finally Jethsa responded to my offer: She had not yet dismissed my proposed deal, and wanted to discuss it with me later after she'd had more time to consider. This, to me, was a positive step toward the possibility of her accepting my offer. Another good point to note was that she still hadn't asked me to demorph yet. I silently took this to mean she didn't intend to stop me morphing her until she had made her final decision. As she moved off with the two Chee to make reparations etc, I couldn't help adding something else to my private offer:
<<To sweeten our deal, I would also let you morph me. If you should so wish. My body is currently somewhat of a vecol right now, due to atrophy of my leg-muscles which is not exactly an injury per-se, so re-morphing doesn't fix it at all. With some hard work and exercise, I'll get my legs working properly again soon though, so as long as you acquire me after that the morph will be perfectly healthy. I'll let this subject drop for a little while now to give you a proper chance to think it over.>> With that, I turned my attention back to the others. I'd let Jas overhear my private thoughtspeech to Jethsa once again, though didn't expect nor invite any direct response by him to it.
Jenny joined our little conversation in place of the other two Chee - I was pleased to see her again, and it didn't seem like she'd taken any sort of punishment, which I took as a good sign. Although, with their holographic projector technology, would anyone be able to tell if she was really injured or not?
As Jenny told us of the woods getting quarantined with Alice and - I looked around, doing a quick mental headcount - Damien inside the perimeter with only Controllers for company, the human half of my brain froze: Alice? In danger? With only that Damien kid for backup against who-knew-how-many Controllers and at least one more of those Blade-monsters, or Hork-Bajir as Jethsa had called them?!
My reaction, when it finally came, was similar to that of Reece; <Oh no!... Alice!!> I exclaimed in an open thought-whisper, <We have to rescue her! - I mean 'them'. Yeah, that's what I meant.> I don't think anyone was buying it. I felt a blush coming on, though couldn't help wondering to myself what colour a blush would be on an Andalite, and would it even show through the fur? Hmm... Distraction! - Must get back on topic. I mentally shook off the distraction. <But the woods are awfully big, a long way from here, And our two friends are probably conceiling themselves so-as not to be found by the enemy... How will we find them? ... Ooh! I bet at least one of them has their cellphone on them! - Didn't Alice's dad track down our cellphone signals a few hours ago? I don't suppose you Chee have something hand-held we could use to track their cellphone signals with, do you? Something we could carry in our talons?> I looked to the remaining Chee with my main eyes, hoping they had such a device available to us.
Out of the corner of one of my stalk-eyes, I suddenly noticed a landline phone for the first time. It hadn't just appeared, it had been there the whole time really, I just hadn't had reason to notice it until now.
Instantly I was at the phone, picking up the handset, and dialing Alice's number. - When we'd all exchanged cellphone numbers, I'd simply stored them in my own cellphone. I didn't memorize any number other than Alice's; What if disaster struck my phone or it was stolen? I didn't wanna risk losing THAT number, even if I DID lose everyone else's.
As I waited for the connection to establish, and for it to start ringing on the other end, I noticed something else in the room around me. Or, more precisely, something that WASN'T in the room around me anymore: <Where's Jas?> I asked the room at large, hoping he hadn't gone on ahead of us to rescue our friends by himself... Oh wait, he didn't really even know them, so that couldn't be it... I frowned an Andalite frown. <Did anyone see where he went? We may need his help, too...>
RING-RING... RING-RING... RING-RI-CLICK!
"Hello?" Alice's soft voice came through the phone's earpiece clearly, and she didn't seem in any distress - yet. I sighed with relief.
<Alice! Thank the gods, are you and Damien alri...> I started, but was interrupted:
"Hello? Is someone there?" She asked, apparently not having heard me.
<Alice? Alice, can't you hear me??> I asked frantically.
"Whoever this is, either you aren't talking, or I simply can't hear you. Goodbye!" - CLICK!
<Gods-damn-it!!> I yelled in open thought-speak, cursing at the phone with many joined swearwords, some of which I could not immediately recognize or understand, but on reflection those were probably of Andalite origin. Hold on, - <Andalite! That's it! The stupid thought-speech thingy!!! - I guess normal phone-lines aren't designed with the capability of modulating thought-speak. ****, how come I never thought of that before??> I cursed myself, face-palming painfully while reciting <Stupid, stupid, stupid...> over and over.
Well, there was nothing for it: I'd have to demorph from this wonderful Andalite body, quite possibly from the only time I'd be allowed to use it, just in order to speak to Alice on the phone. Oh wait! - Maybe I didn't need to fully demorph!? I only needed a working mouth and larynx, after all!...
I started concentrating on the picture I'd formed in my head. - Having studied human anatomy in school, I could accurately picture what a larynx, trachea, and other human mouth parts looked like from the inside. As I felt those things forming within my thin Andalite neck, the vision of my stalk-eyes gradually dimmed and went dark and I felt them recede, regretfully, back into my skull. My Andalite ears itched slightly as they changed shape, the points rounding as they gradually became human ears. The eyesight in my main eyes, now my only eyes, changed subtly back to human eyesight. I looked down at my hands - Still fully Andalite. Twisting to look over my shoulder, I saw that magnificent Andalite tail still swishing gracefully over my purple rump. I smiled, realizing my little plan was working pretty well so far. Hold on, 'smiled'? - I raised the hand that wasn't still grasping the phone handset and touched my face: Lips had indeed formed in the receding purple Andalite facial-fur as my whole head became more and more human, leaving the other Andalite bodyparts essentially unchanged.
As my jawbone and jaw muscles formed, the back of my mouth joined with my windpipe and inflated with air as it finished forming a normal mouth cavern. My cheeks hollowed and became flexible human cheeks, and it became possible to move my jaw separately from my skull. Teeth formed next, itching their way out of my gums as my lips parted and finally allowed me to open and close my mouth. I breathed through the new opening and coughed as I felt flecks of human saliva enter my Andalite lungs, something they weren't designed to handle. I sighed as I realized I'd have to have an oesophagus and epiglottis to get rid of unwanted saliva without inhaling it or spitting. I figured for short-term use I wouldn't need a stomach connected to the bottom of my oesophagus and wondered how the morphing process would handle this end of the tube...
Looking down, I could see the top of my skintight T-shirt begin to form as my upper torso became more human. I tested my ability to speak: "Testing." I croaked. I continued morphing and tested again: "Testing; one, two." I spoke in an excessively high-pitched voice that caused me to laugh, then giggle even more at the stupidly high-pitched laughter, which in turn grew steadily deeper in pitch until it sounded more like my own usual laugh. I stopped the morph and hit redial with one of my still-Andalite fingers.
-
<I asked you for some time to discuss this later,> Jethsa replied in a short mental voice. <- not to utilize more of my time. Please converse with the others. Reese seems to have wandered off, if that's a concern of yours. I'll contact you later.>
"Great, you can talk." Torrence said dryly. "I think we've been dismissed. Or at least Reece thinks he has."
She headed out of the door, glancing over to the field across the street. The ship that they knew was there was oddly invisible to them, an unusual situation.
-
RING-RING...
I extracted my real cell from my backpack.
RING-RING...
The antequated melody of a ringing-bell style landline phone got slightly louder, as per the handset's settings. I quickly looked at Caller-ID on the screen to see the landline number of the safe-house where we'd met up with 'Jenny' to use the Blue-Box. I frowned, wondering why on Earth my fellow Chee might ring my cell number from the landline rather than use direct Chee-Net comms. I figured I'd better answer it:
RING-RI-CLICK!
"Hello?" I greeted, in a friendly inquisitive tone. There was no response the other end.
"Hello? Is someone there?" I asked again, then an idea popped into my head: Perhaps whoever was on the other end was talking in thought-speak and didn't realize that can't be transmitted by normal telephones.
"Whoever this is, either you aren't talking, or I simply can't hear you. Goodbye!" - CLICK!
I'd hit the Red-Phone button to end the call. I immediately put my cell into Silent mode but didn't return it to my backpack; I had a feeling whoever called me would call back if it was important, hopefully when they had a real mouth to make real speech with. Silent mode was a necessity if I didn't want to draw Yeerk attention to us up in these trees.
While I waited for my cell to ring again, I continued watching the controllers that were still ahead of us and thus far staying on the ground.
Sure enough, moments later, my cell began ringing again. I answered immediately, barely giving it enough time to ring in my haste.
"Hello?" I called quietly into the cell's microphone, using the same tone as before.
"ALICE!!" Yelled an overexcited, and worry-filled, voice I recognized.
"Eddie?!..." I replied with relief as certain realizations dawned on me. "You're back at Jenny's place? - Is everyone there with you? Are you all okay?" I asked, rapidly.
"Alice, thank the gods you can hear me this time! - Okay, slow down; Everyone, apart from you and Damien, are safely back at Jenny's place with me... Wait, how did you know I'm at Jenny's place?" He asked after assuring me of everyone's safety.
"Caller ID." I answered simply.
"Oh. Right. Heh, I feel daft for asking now... Oh yeah, important stuff first: Yeerks are quarantining the woods where we took off. - Get yourselves out of there, sharpish!" He warned me.
"Yeah, I know they are. We were only hanging around to try and rescue any of you that might've still been here. Now we know you're all safe, we'll try to make our escape without being noticed. I'm guessing you found the Andalite and her ship, and she flew you all away?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
"Oh yeah, we found Jethsa alright! But she was unconscious when we got there, so I morphed her and got the ship to take off. She woke up shortly after takeoff and flew us here safely. Cool, huh?" He answered, enthusiastically.
"You... Morphed the Andalite?!?" I exclaimed with incredulity. "I bet she didn't like that!"
"Well... Yeah, you're right: She didn't like that Jas and I morphed her - Especially without asking her permission first - But when she found out why we did, she sort-of forgave us. Jas promised her he wouldn't morph her again unless at the utmost end of need, but I'm trying to work out a deal with her so she'll let me continue morphing her. - This Andalite body is SO freakin' AWESOME I just HAD to try! - Anyway, the only downside to her body that I've found out thus far is that it can't use the stupid telephone! - I've had to partially-demorph to get my real voice back, just to make this call. I kept the awesome tail though! Right now, I kinda resemble a centaur with a cool tail that..." I cut off his excited rambling immediately:
"You're still mid-morph between Andalite and Human?!? - Eddie, that's highly dangerous!! Human blood and Andalite blood do not mix well: If you continue to let Andalite blood course through your human parts too long, you'll die of blood-poisoning! First, your human parts will start feeling numb, then that pins'n'needles feeling, then gradually more painful as the cells die. The same is true the other way around, of course, but that's slightly less important to your overall survival because Human is your natural form and Andalite is merely a morph to you. The best way to avoid permanent damage, is to morph back to full-Andalite then completely demorph, so you don't retain any of the damage currently being done by the Andalite blood in your human veins. Promise me you'll pass the phone to someone else and go back to being fully Andalite before you demorph? They can relay your thoughtspeak to me if you have anything important to say. Please?!" I uttered, quickly and desperately. While awaiting his response, I motioned a direction-of-travel to Damien. - We shouldn't stay still too long with Yeerks around. Eddie's happy mood vanished into seriousness as he listened to my interruption. Moments later I got his reply:
"Okay Alice, I promise I'll follow your instructions." He spoke solemnly, regretfully, and sincerely. I heard his handset moving as he called out to his companions: "Reece? Do you mind talking to Alice while I sort out my morph? According to her, it's dangerous for me to stay like this..." I waited, wondering if the next voice I heard would be Reece's. Hopefully he could fill me in on what I'd missed.
-
Reece notices Jas bolt out of the door just in time to hear Eddie ask him a question. "Just a sec, dude," he manages to blurt out distractedly before chasing after Jas into the street. His legs are strong from swimming but tired from morphing, chasing, worrying and space-ship flying.
"Dude!" he calls after Jas. "What the hell!?"
-
Torrence frowned from beside Eddie as he conversed. Her attention pulled by Jas and Reece as they started away from the group.
"Where are they going?" She wondered to Eddie, walking away from him to the door way of the house.
"Maybe to the woods." Christina suggested, headed down the stairs after the two. "Hey!" She called. "Where are you guys going? We haven't talked at all..."
-
As Jas moves down the street through a series of knee-jab Muay Thai moves, he's surprised to hear a voice call out from behind him. He had been certain no one would notice he'd left, after all they didn't seem to be paying attention to him really...Jethsa was obsessing about her ship, Eddie was obsessing about being an andalite, the Chiss or whatever were obsessing over the blue box, and Captain America was thinking about lunch. It really didn't seem like anyone in that room gave a damn about what was apparently happening.
Jas does a 180 roundhouse kick to face Reece as the kid approaches him. "What the hell huh? I could say the same damn thing to every person, animal, robot, and alien in that damn house! What the f*ck more like. Everyone's so concerned with stupid little matters and no one seems to give a damn about the big picture!"
Jas' eyes flash dangerously as he walks up to Reece. "The alien only cares about her damn ship, the Chiss only care about the damn blue box, Eddie only cares about being an andalite...who's rallying for the human race in there huh?! Who?! Apparently we're being systematically infested and enslaved by disgusting little parasite worms bent on Galactic domination and all anyone can talk about is who's going to take care of that damn little blue box!! What the hell does it matter anyway?! Apparently we're NOT all on the same side because if we WERE, there wouldn't be any need to squabble over something so trivial! Jethsa doesn't care about humanity and neither do those Chiss people, they only care about the damn war with the OTHER aliens! What the hell indeed! Am I the only one who fell down the f*cking rabbit hole?! Jesus Christ!"
The white-haired youth finishes his tirade and takes a deep breath, turns back around to face away from Reece, and brings both hands to his face, speaking softly. "Am I the only one who cares about us? Jesus." Jas sighs again, "I need a damn drink, Jack and Coke, Vodka shots, Margaritas...I just need some damn alcohol. I can go to a bar, drink myself under the table, and when I wake up I can stumble home and forget about it all, just a bad dream...f*ck it, if no one else cares why should I?" He lets his hands drop and starts walking down the block again.
-
Reece balks, shocked at Jas's reaction. His lips curl outwards and his eyes squint as his reaction turns from surprise to disgust. "You know what's going to save humanity? And when I say that, I don't just mean like, the weirdoes you see every day at the burger joint, or people in like, business meetings and stuff. When I say we're saving humanity, we're saving everyone you have ever liked ever. Your kindergarten teacher, your neighbor, I dunno, your girlfriend or something..." He pauses. Partially for breath, mostly because he realizes that already he'd practically forgotten Sandra in the day since the Yeerks took her. He rubs his eyes. When he speaks again, his voice is lower.
"What I'm saying is, you take those people- all those people you've ever liked ever- and you're telling me you think I don't care about them, and that you're just going to drink yourself into a coma and let them get infested just because you can't give us fifteen goddamn minutes to figure this out like adults, because maybe this is a complicated situation and we're all new at this and we need to figure things out before we can get started- you're telling me all that, and I have to say, I take that as an insult."
He points back at the house. "Now I know ****'s dragging on in there, but we've got folk in this war that might be in danger right now. That's what we were figuring out when you left. And we've got important people who can win this for us, and they were finally deciding to actually do the right thing, and that's something else we were figuring out when you left. This is important. Please come back with me."
-
"Whoa." Christina remarked under her breath after hearing the heavy talk spewing from the boys direction. Well, boy and Jas seemed older, now that she had a chance to look at him. His talk of alcohol fueled that new assumption.
"Well yeah, maybe we're not all on the same page." She subtly changed 'side', because she didn't want pissed off aliens to deal with. "Yeah.." She started talking a bit faster, becoming a bit more animated.
"I don't really like being go - fers, either. Go get that, go find that, go sit there while the adults talk. I mean, we're not their kids." She looks from Jas to Reece.
"I saw, screw the aliens and their pissing contest. We have Alice and Damien to go help, and then we can decide how to save humanity."
-
He listened to what these people were saying. It didn't seep in quickly it took a while for him to understand what they were talking about and to file it with every thing else that was happening. As he watched them he thought to himself Some hope for humanity. Bickering like children though they did figure it out in the end. Still I suppose I haven't done much better just standing here unsure how to approach the problem. Well problems considering the extra problem of what they plan to do with me is another one.
As he came out of his thoughts he noticed that many of the member of the group were heading outside he decided that he should see what was going on. It was only thanks to the extra volume that Jas and Reese were putting into their voices that Vincent heard any of the conversation.
Stepping up to the group he said "Look I know how you guys feel I've been thrown for a loop here myself. But maybe we should keep this conversation a bit more private. Like in the house and not on the street? If what has been said in front of me anyone can be one of these.... things right? so perhaps back in the house were we know they aren't listening in?"
-
Jas looked from Reece to Christina to Vincent, shaking his head. "First of all...Reece...I didn't include you in that little bit did I? Frankly I don't really give a crap about anyone except Sam, and she's not my girlfriend. I do give a crap about the human race as a whole and I can tell those people don't care about us except as a weapon or a distraction for their enemies. And those of us who can change into animals? We're just exceptional cannon-fodder."
Jas chuckles a bit at the mention of a girlfriend. "I don't have a significant other, guess I can count myself lucky. So, you have friends to save and they require the use of flying birds...well I don't want to burst your bubble, but I'm useless to you. I can turn into an alien and a snake. And excuse me, I just had my mind blown recently, and I'm not used to not having a voice. The people in control of this situation don't give a crap about us and they won't listen to us, at least they won't listen to me. You know, it wouldn't have killed anyone to have at least acknowledged that I had spoken, whether they listened to me or not. I'm big on honor and respect...look this is all beside the point, the fact is they don't give a crap about us as living, breathing beings. If you guys want to do something, to move, to act, to save your friends then fine, I'll help if I can, but I'm not gonna sit in there whilst being ignored waiting for some weird aliens to finish a petty little argument over a senseless issue while others are getting slimy worms shoved in their heads."
-
Reece takes a deep breath and nods. He lowers his voice at Vince's advice and begins to head off the road as he speaks. "That's solid; I can respect that. But those folks have stuff we haven't got, and they know about a billion times more than we do. If we're going to do this right, we have to play by their rules for a while; at least for now, yeah?"
He looks over his shoulder. "At the very least, I heard Eddie on the phone in there with Alice- we should go back and check up on whether he's learned anything about how we can help them."
-
Jas breathes heavily, his hair hanging lank and damp due to a combination of his recent workout and the whole business of arguing with Reece. He looks around and then sits down on the curb. "Fine, you go back in there and do what you need to do. I've had enough of that pointless squabling, I'll just end up getting pissed off again if I go back in there unless I have a couple shots first."
He looks around again as he remembers he's wearing bike-shorts and nothing else...he must look rediculous...but at least he looked like he'd just finished a workout. He hoped that chick's brother didn't want the shorts back, 'cause they were pretty damp, unless he liked that sort of thing. Jas grinned ruefully and chuckled to himself. "I'm not going anywhere in this getup anyway...doesn't seem to be any traffic around here. I'll just wait out here if you don't mind."
-
As Jas finished talking, Christina strolled closer to him. "I'll stay with you." She suggested. "No offense, Reece. If all of us go back in there, we might get sucked back in again."
She glanced over to Jas, continuing his thought as he evaluated his get up. The blonde had the same thing going on herself with Kasey's borrowed clothing.
"We could morph," She suggested. "- although maybe we could use the 'squabbling' time to get you a bird morph. I might be able to bring one down, if you want."
The blonde glanced at Vincent quizzically.
"But didn't Jethsa say that you couldn't morph? We can snatch the Cube for a minute if you want to get the power. Sort of hard to be in the war without it, I think."
GM
As she finished her proposition, two more people approached the house. Christina reacted with surprise at their approach. Jas would recognize Kasey, the one who had lent him the clothes. Jas and Vincent would not recognize Autumn, a girl dressed in dark clothes, who looked less than happy to be there.
Inside the Chee compound
Torrence headed back inside to take the phone from Eddie, signaling the area around them with a wave of her hand. "Reece isn't here. Didn't you hear him and Jas? They went outside."
She placed the phone to her ear, turning to make sure the Chee and Jethsa hadn't returned.
"Hey Alice, its Torrence. Eddie wanted me to take the phone. How'd you get split up from us?"
In the Woods
<Sorry,> Damien said suddenly, moving closer to Alice as she 'phoned home'. < - I think that the morph took me away a bit. I feel better now though, more like me.>
The former blond smiled, his monkey morph flashing teeth.
<You hear that too, don't you?> The boy - monkey inquired, turning his head toward the tree line. <While I was freaking out, I heard some people over there. When I came to, I heard them establishing a parameter. Maybe we should morph birds and GTFO, huh?>
-
Reece hesitates for a moment, but relaxes and smiles as Christina speaks. "Good thinking," he says. As he turns to see what Eddie wanted, he sees Kasey and Autumn approaching. He waves, grinning. "Hey! Thought we'd lost you two."
-
Shrugging at what Jas decided to do Vincent had to admit that he understood somewhat but Jas didn't have it as bad as he could have. He could have no powers like Vincent. Not that Jas had likely thought of that.
Deciding to answer what the girl who was with them had said instead Vincent replied "Ah, no, no powers here. Just plain old human. One reason I haven't been taking part in the decision making, I figured that you guys know at least a little more then me, especially about whatever these powers are so it would be better if you decided amongst yourselves. As for gaining the powers, sure I"m willing to help other people stop being you know enslaved. Of course that will depend if you guys can decide whether or not to trust me. Heck I only know two... er, maybe three names out of the lot of you, including yourself. So besides Jas and Reece here I don't even know whether I'm liked let alone trusted with the one thing you guys have that these aliens, the yeerks right?, don't have. I mean I even think it was you that said I could be one of them for all you know."
Noticing the look of surprise on Christina's face Vincent looked over his shoulder as he was finishing what he was saying to see two more girls walking towards them. He didn't recognize either of them by name but he thought he recognized one of their faces from working at the library. Didn't help much without a name to go with it though. But at least Reece seemed to recognize them.
-
I was just starting to notice a numbness creeping slowly through my human parts when someone finally took the phone handset from me to speak to Alice. I nodded thanks, immediately reversing my partial-morph back to full-Andalite as per Alice's suggestion.
It hadn't actually been Reece who'd taken the phone from me, but that wasn't really a necessity. I regained thought-speak ability as my morph re-completed and I felt the now-familiar presence of Andalite intellect and instinct join my own human mind.
<Thanks, Torrence.> I said, indicating the phone in her hand. Looking around with my newly-reborn stalk-eyes I noticed we were now a few people short and I reasoned that they'd probably all gone after Jas. <Yeah... I guess without the stalk-eyes it was a little more tricky for me to notice that.> I replied, looking at the doorway just as two familiar-looking fillies entered my field of vision through that aperture.
<Looks like the reinforcements have arrived!> I beamed, to no-one in particular. <Hiya Kasey! Hi Autumn!> I called out in semiprivate thought-speak to them, allowing those outside and Torrence stood next to me to overhear. I accompanied my greeting with an enthusiastic waving of my hand and swishing of tail. - Thankfully I managed not to slice any furniture with its blade.
The next voice I'd heard over the phone hadn't been Reece, but I wasn't disappointed to hear Torrence's sensible tones.
"Heh, well it's a bit of a tall tale, so if you don't mind, I'll save the recital 'til we're all safe? - How's Eddie, still in mid-morph?" I asked back, hoping for good news on that front while avoiding her question. Anyway, there wasn't time to go into details about something trivial when Damien's survival was at stake.
Speaking of Damien, he was just regaining a bit of himself from the monkey-brain that had apparently taken over while we swung through the trees.
"Not a bad idea, Damo, but..." I shuddered slightly, as if trying to hide it. "The Yeerks will likely fire upon anything attempting to fly out of the perimeter. Also, I... Kinda... Got this thing about heights..." I finished rapidly, almost under my breath. I gave him a brief, sheepish grin to complete the deception more convincingly. "Morph bird if you like, it might enable you to move faster and perhaps give you an opportunity to 'GTFO' later." I winked, repeating his little acronym back to him. "Besides, if I went bird, how would I carry this computer of yours? A bird carrying a computer, or even my backpack, kinda looks slightly out of place in a 'getting blown into a cloud of singed feathers by a red beam of energy' kinda way. Don't worry about me though, I can look after myself - It's easier for me if I'm only trying to get myself to safety rather than worrying about both of us. If you see an opportunity, take it. I'll be fine. I'll even cover your escape if I can with a distraction or whatever."
I turned my attention back to my cellphone:
"Torrence, I have a locator-beacon courtesy of my Chee friends. If you wish to attempt a rescue, ask them for a beacon-scanner set to my frequency. The Yeerks shouldn't be able to trace Chee transmissions, but just in case: I'm gonna wait a while before activating my beacon. Damien and I are near the takeoff site right now and heading back toward Kasey's neighbourhood. That should give any rescue-team a good idea where to head for, even without my beacon to guide them. Okay?" I listened for her reply while creeping silently through the treetops with Damien away from the Controllers we'd found.
-
Outside
"See ya." Christina replied to Reece. "Hey chicas." She greeted the other two.
"Kasey, Autumn, this is Jas and Vincent. New members of the wierd with a beard club."
"You don't know this, but I met these guys when the Yeerks were three seconds away from making me Christina - Borg. "
Christina spoke, looking at Jas and Vincent.
"I don't think any of us really knew each other, but no one ratted us out, so, plus. You want to go inside and get the Cube?"
In the Woods
<Well, damn.> Damien replied, scurrying up a nearby tree. He hung there suspended as he looked back the way he had come, presumingly looking for those maintaining the parameter.
<Are you sure about that?> He questioned. <I can fly a bit back to the opposite treeline, maybe they haven't gotten there yet... but I feel funny about leaving you alone.>
As Alice began to move, he kept up above in the trees. He resisted the urge to vocalize, barely.
Inside
Torrence nodded but then realized that Alice couldn't see that. "Okay, I'll ask them. They sort of went off on thier own with our new 'friend', but... I can probably find them. You guys take care okay? Call if you get in trouble."
She kept the phone on in case Alice had any parting words, but she began walking into the house as far as the cord would stretch. Spotting a closed door, the teenager turned and looked at the door to the outside to see if any of the others had come back inside.
"Hey Reece," She greeted the other teen gratefully. "- Alice says the Chee gave her something so we can track her. That cool with every one?"
-
He glances around and replies in a low voice. "That's good; I think the new folk especially'll be glad to see the Chee cooperating. We'll have to tell them the news when they get back inside." He yawns and sits down, burying his face in his arms. "It's brrn a lrrng day," he mumbled.
-
Jas welcomed the company. Despite his generally antisocial nature, Jas was a quick, loyal friend once someone started earning his trust. "Sure, I don't mind the company. I suppose it would be useful to be able to fly. Strange how that doesn't sound odd to me anymore...maybe my brain's just numb from shock." He smiles a bit at Christina.
"They didn't zap you yet Vince? I guess I didn't think about it, there hasn't really been a chance I guess. Well I'm sure that'll change shortly. Then you too can be an animal. You know how much furs would pay to get their hands on this stuff?" Jas chuckles.
He looks at the two approaching girls and smiles sideways a bit at them as he's introduced. "Kasey wasn't it? I was just thinking that your brother might not get his bike-shorts back...unless we hit it off or something." Jas laughs again and looks over at the other girl he hasn't seen. "Nice to meet you..."
-
Inside
"Awesome," Torrence replied to Reece, still holding the phone receiver to her ear. "We're going to take care of some things to reach you," The brunette spoke to Alice, loud enough for Reece to hear. "Take care, Alice."
Ending the call, the teen moved closer to Reece. She eyed his casual pose sympathetically.
"Yeah, all the chasing, flying and morphing are slaying me, here. Track wasn't this hard."
Stifling her own yawn, she looked over to the closed door. "Should we wait for the others or barge into the United Alien Nations?"
"Yeah, it's wicked." The blonde grinned, an earnest one borne of remembering the pure freedom in the air. "Wait till you hit a thermal. It's almost like catching a wave, but a bit more... ah, just more. " She replies, lacking the vocabulary to describe the wonderful expansive way she had enjoyed flying earlier.
She looked over at Vincent, the last visages of her smile still softening her face.
The dark haired girl frowned a bit at Jas's address, sifting uncomfortably. Not a terrible social one- ah who was she kidding, she was the very embodiment of loner- Autumn managed a shade of a smile for Jas's greeting.
"It's been a great few hours," Kasey said sarcastically, glancing not too subtlety at Autumn. Autumn gave Kasey a blank look before glancing away, worrying the sleeves of her long sleeve shirt.
"- but what are we up to now?"
-
"I'm not sure if they're coming; Jas seems pretty dead-set on staying out of as much alien business as possible, and the others are keeping him company." He scratches his chin. "Still, it might be different if they know the Chee are trying to help us out..." He grunts and yanks himself back up to a standing position. He opens the door and begins to head outside. "I'll at least give them the 411, and we'll see what they feel like from there."
He yawns and jogs back towards the others.
-
Torrence frowned at Reece's answer.
"Really? Oh, okay, I guess just us could do it. " She didn't sound very enthusiastic about that prospect. As Reece headed outside, she strode over to the closed door. Mustering up her courage, she knocked upon it.
There was no answer. Feeling a bit indignant about the events of the day- and being ignored, now- she pounded on the door with her fist, raising her voice.
"Hey! The the ones fighting for the human race want a word with you!"
Outside, Christina heard Torrence's bellowing. "Oh this sounds good," she states as she headed towards the door. "- might get you the power yet, Vincent."
The door opened and the blank faced Chee men and Jethsa stepped out of the room.
"What is the commotion?" The men asked.
"We need to talk to you," Torrence replied, her indignation fueling her boldness. "Don't we?"
She looked to the others for confirmation.
"About what?" The man who was speaking shifted, as though he was annoyed by this whole situation.
-
I stretched my Andalite arms and swished my tail, practising by seeing just how close I could swing the blade to various objects without cutting anything. I arched my back, too, enjoying the flexibility of Jethsa's upper spine and the easy power in the lower spine. I ran Andalite fingers through my Andalite fur to test its softness: The course fur on the lower body resembled the fur of a shaggy dog, but the much finer fur on the upper body and far half of the tail was more like a cat's fur, gradually getting finer and finer in places like the face and hands like a rabbit or kitten's fur, and finest still on the eye-stalks, so far as I could tell by getting one stalk-eye to look at the other. I didn't dare reach up and touch them while in the company of others, as I already knew they were VERY sensitive to pain and could guess that extended to *ahem* 'other' sensations. Still, by sight it seemed like the fur on them would probably feel like mouse or hamster fur.
While I contempleted imaginary texture, with each stalk-eye looking at the opposite stalk, I was snapped alert by the return of the lady-Andalite herself and the Chee 'goons' when Torrence summoned them. I snapped to attention immediately, to the best of my know-how (and possibly assistance from Andalite memory, though I couldn't be sure which was which), but Jethsa may have noticed my crossed stalk-eyes right as I was un-crossing them...
I figured I'd better say something to her before she had chance to reflect on what I 'might' have been thinking about:
<<Mistress Jethsa,>> I started privately, not yet having an answer from her as to whether it should be 'Prince' or 'Princess', <<Before you get upset at my impertinence remaining in this form, I feel I should justify myself to some degree: In human form, my legs do not work. I could have switched morph, but that'd waste energy and I wouldn't be any better off. Especially if I'd need to switch morph again to go on the rescue-mission... Unless,...>> I switched to open-thoughtspeak;
<Do you Chee-guys happen to have a spare wheelchair hanging around?> I asked them, completely unaware of what the others had been discussing and possibly interrupting someone else speaking to them.
After a few seconds I stepped back and bowed my head in apology.
<Forgive me, I did not mean to interrupt.>
After I spoke, I stayed still. Waiting for a cue that might not come: A response to anything I'd said. If I got such a cue, I could then raise my head back up and stand at attention again to await orders from my Prince... Or to demorph, if a wheelchair materialized.
However long it took to get such a cue, I would be stood still and silent in that position.
-
Reece jerks his thumb back to the house as he closes in on the group meeting outside. "They've got something for us, Torrence says. I reckon if we want to be heard, now might be a good chance."
-
Jas listens to Christina speak of flying and thought maybe it might be a bit like a roller-coaster...exhileration and excitement. "Sounds interesting...maybe even better than getting smashed." Jas flashes his teeth good-naturedly to show he was joking.
He looks to Kasey as she speaks, his eyes flickering over to the other girl for a moment before returning to Kasey. "Well, you guys apparently have some friends stuck out in the forest behind some sort of Yeerk quarantine and I think the consensus is that rescue is in order..."
Jas looks up as Reece returns. "Well, I'll be damned...the big, powerful aliens want to speak with the peons. Maybe I should find an ant and morph it to suit their attitudes." Jas stands up, looking back toward the house. "I guess I'll come back then, but so help me if they start bickering about some sort of inconsequential crap again I'm gone. I'll run to a bar if I have to."
-
Reece grins. "Sounds good." He begins to head back to the Chee compound.
-
Jas looks around at Vince and the girls. "So are we all going in then?"
-
Vincent nodded to the two newcomers saying "It is nice to meet you. I'm really new to this so forgive me if I forget your names at first. Well at least get them a bit wrong... I'm normally close at least."
Turning to Christina Vincent said "Yeah I'll try and since Reece just said the aliens want to speak to us I guess it can't hurt to try. So lets go see what they want then kick some butt to save your friends. Sound good?"
-
"I'm down with that." Christina agreed. She fell in with the boys as they proceeded inside.
"I don't really like your tone." Torrence was informing the Chee man. "We're not just hanging out here for fun, we have things to do first. But first, Vincent needs to have the Power."
She gave a confirming glance to Vincent, hoping for some back up.
<Yes, Vincent was instrumental to me when I was injured.> Jethsa replied. <I certainly believe he is worthy.> The alien stepped forward with the box, walking towards Vincent.
The Chee men gave each other dour looks. In the back ground, Jenny glanced at the teenagers and Jas and frowned for a split second, before her face returned to its placid expression.
-
Vincent stepped towards Jethsa seeming more at ease then he actually felt. There were butterflies the size of St. Bernards flapping around in his stomach. OH GOD! Am I really getting myself into this? Am I really signing up for a war? I mean yeah it is the human race I'm going to be saving but.... Jesus! Why did I think I could do this? What insane notion made this cross my mind? If I ever realize or remember which I am sssooo going to make sure I never think it again. O-o-ok, settle down Vincent. It doesn't seem as if they have lost anyone in this war so maybe they are actually better at this then they seem. Or maybe they are just lucky as hell! Whoa ok concentrate on what you are doing now...
He just stood there wondering what he needed to do for several seconds before asking awkwardly "O-ok so, uh, what do I do? I mean how does this work?"
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Jas watches passively, taking up his spot leaning against the wall next to the door. Vincent was approaching the device nervously. Well, he'd been just a little freaked out when he found an alien crash-landed in the green-belt who gave him super-powers to get that device in the first place, so he figured Vince had reason. He didn't say anything as he figured no one would listen and Jethsa could certainly explain the process bettr in any case.