Why didn't Tobias try using the Escafil Device again?

[Venom]

this is probably a really stupid question, but once Tobias became a Nothlit, why didn't he try using the blue box again? i mean that would be the first thing i would try. sure he couldn't be himself again, but it might have given him back the morphing power

[RYTX]

well they didn't have the box till book 20. Plus I'd bet that Ax probably mentioned somewhere that even with the box you can't use it effectively on a Nothlit.
If so they could have taken Arbon back a let him morphs something else in TAC.

I don't think it was stated directly, but somewhere it was at least implied that that wouldn't work

[ANna]

Ha, I've always wondered that too. I think it was mentioned in one of the books or something why it wouldn't work though. And they didn't even get the box until later on.

[Terenia]

In #8 it implies that it's impossible to regain morphing power.

But yeah, by the time they had the blue box Tobias already had his morphing powers back.

[morfowt]

it was also mentioned in #53 that the morphing cube would be useless to a nothlit. arbon said he would always be a taxxon.

[Venom]

bah, i forgot that they didn't have the cube. but why would it be useless to a nothlit? they still have DNA. oh well

[Terenia]

It's one of the problems with morphing, same as the time limit itself. Whatever the Escafil Device does to allow you the power to morph, it's a one-time deal. I'm not sure how the technology keeps track of it, though.

[RYTX]

Well it probably has to do with the store of DNA in your form and a morph, and thus a nothlit form.

In one of Ax's mind numbing lectures he talks about how morph DNA is stored at super cool temperatures and yada yada yada, blah, blah, blah.

I think the whole thing is that once you pass the two hour mark containment and control of the stored DNA becomes altered so that other DNA's are inaccessible, and no new ones can be activated.
It's more about the containment of DNA then the possession.
Again, just a theory, and not a well thought out one at that, at least no well enough to explain worth a dam.
I fell like Ax
hmm

[morfowt]

I think someone came up with an explanation at the previous RAF forum...

[Terenia]

I'm not sure about getting the morphing power back, but my theory about nothlitism is as follows:

The "matter" that makes up who you are is in a relatively congealed form in Z-space for approximately two hours. Wherever your consciousness is in Z-space everything else that makes up your physical self is nearby enough that when you demorph you can "collect" your bits and pieces and turn back into yourself. However, as time goes on, your matter drifts and it becomes harder and harder to recollect those bits of you to your consciousness. Eventually it becomes impossible and you wind up with a nothlit.

[Mongoose]

There's an additional complication as well. I can't remember exactly when they said it, but you can't acquire someone when they're in morph. I haven't given too much thought to the reasoning, but I'm sure that's part of the reason you can't regain the morphing power after becoming a nothlit.

[mrlarry]

It's probably also related to the fact that you can't go straight from one morph to another

[wolfev]

My theory of nothlitism is as follows. Since excess matter and the brain are extruded into Z space, which is zero space or anti-space, that means that it is really impossible for matter to move anywhere in zero space.  By this definition any matter in Z space giving off radiation can't go anywhere but back onto itself. The photons can't go anywhere but back onto the object it came from since they really can't move anywhere in Z space. This means that any object in Z space is continuously heating up. So now we have a brain floating in Z space. Its getting hotter and hotter and if it over heats the individual dies. The andalites with all their knowledge probably built a fail safe into the system so that the consciousness would be dumped into the creature that had been morphed while the rest of the excess mass would simply be allowed to burn up in Z space.
    Now if we assume that Andalites uses nanotechnology to morph then the nanobots in the individual would still assume that person was in morph mode. Now if the person tries to morph back they'll be unable to because the morph back command is probably designed to only accept it from a mind in Z space. Furthermore acquiring is out of the question because in morph mode it can't happen. If however one had morphed an animal they were allergic to and become trapped in the morph they could actually morph out since the allergic reaction seems to be a back door or glitch in the system.

Or K.A. Applegate just wants Nothlits to be permanently caught in morph and impossible to get out because she says so and it makes the story more interesting.

[zaprowsdower]

Or K.A. Applegate just wants Nothlits to be permanently caught in morph and impossible to get out because she says so and it makes the story more interesting.

At the end of the day, that's almost definately the answer .

[RYTX]

well hell, after reading what wolfev posted I just got a bunch more questions.
First of all, the body emits photons? News to me.
But anyway: Marco underwent a lot of allergy type reactions from emotional stress. If it reacts in such similar ways, would the "glitch" apply to someone after the 2 hour mark? (I personally would doubt it as what's more stressful than being trapped in another's body?)
Plus I can't imagine the mass in Z-space is without protection. In fact if we're assuming parts could die, body mass would have to be preserved in some way so that it could undergo cellular processes, or it die from a lack of oxygen, at the least.
We also make a connection of the consciousness being separable from the physical form, which is questionable, but either way since if the body is allowed to "burn up", where is the original DNA being kept?
As confusing as all of it is, I think there must be some direct link to the mass in z space as to the morph body.
Sorry I just got back from an insane amount of studying. I'm in a questiony mood.