Are the Helmacrons and the Andalites somehow related?

[NateSean]

Consider the following.

The Helmacron's shrink ray was adapted from the energy given off by the morphing cube: An Andalite device that runs on a powersource that may or may not be Andalite in origin.

Whatever powers the Escafil device, assuming it's an ore, gas, or some kind of perpetual fission, doesn't have to have originated on the Andalite homeworld. It may full well have been something that was discovered on another world that the Andalites discovered.

Could the Andalites have interacted with the Helmacrons at somepoint in the past? They're obviously of no use to the Yeerks. But maybe around the time before Seerow's Kindness took hold, some other Andalite took pity on the microscopic species and gave Helmacrons a taste of space travel.

Discuss.

[RYTX]

Short answer: IMO No

Long answer:
Ax wasn't familiar with them at first meeting, and I just get the feeling that they probably kept their history records in decent shape (ex: Venber, The Five)

I take it that they are after an energy, more than a substance-which is why they could track the Animorphs as well as the box, but the energy the box puts off is more/usable for other things.
And while I can't imgine planetary restrictions to a form of energy, I see no reason to assume it was taken of another world.

Alternative wording: I figure most planets that could sustain live would have the raw materials, and creatures of proper could run the processes able to make that particular type of energy. Just like how Andalites and humans can both use fire, among other things for heat, they can do that independently of the others planetary resources

[DinosaurNothlit]

Well, while Andalite interaction with the Helmacrons would explain how Visser Three knew of them, I think that it's just as likely that the Helmacrons came up with their morphing-energy-detection-system on their own.  Consider the Veleek, from MM#1 (which was stated to be from Saturn, and thus cannot possibly have encountered the Andalites).  It fed on some type of energy which was apparently similar enough to morphing energy that it could be easily altered to target morphing energy instead.  The Yeerks are clearly no experts in bioengineering (otherwise they would have been able to create those aquatic Hork-Bajir in book #36), so whatever energy the Veleek was feeding on could not have been too dissimilar from morphing energy at all.  Thus, it seems that the morphing energy is fairly similar to more common types of energy, and it isn't so illogical to think that the Helmacrons could also have been harnessing some form of energy on their home planet that was similarly similar to morphing energy.  Thus they were able to make use of morphing energy as easily as the Veleek was.