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.
