Prologue: Origins

[Brad the Brit]

"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?" 
 

[Seryna]

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.

[FuBar]

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.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

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.

[Seryna]

"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.

[Breekan1]

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."

[FuBar]

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.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

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?"

[Seryna]

"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?"

[Kit Cloudkicker]

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.

[Breekan1]

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."

[Seryna]

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.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

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.

[Breekan1]

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]

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?"