Prologue: Origins

[Damien]

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.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

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..

[FuBar]

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."

[Raven]

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?"

[Kit Cloudkicker]

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.

[FuBar]

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.

[Breekan1]

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]

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?"

[Seryna]

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?"

[Brad the Brit]

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.))

[FuBar]

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.

[Breekan1]

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."

[Brad the Brit]

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]

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."

[Breekan1]

"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?"