Gleet Biofilters

[DinosaurNothlit]

For some reason I was thinking about gleet biofilters lately, and I've been seeing a few possible problems with them.

Could they sense the Yeerk in someone's head?  If so, then how did they get uninfested people down into the Yeerk pool, and if not, then why didn't the Animorphs ever just try to go through a biofilter as humans?  I think I remember something about how they only allowed through humans and Yeerks, not necessarily looking for a combination thereof, but the fact that Cassie had to morph Yeerk in #29 seems to suggest that they only allow controllers through.

And if they only allow controllers through, then how do they get new hosts in, such as when they capture people to drag them down to the Yeerk pool?  If the system normally only allows controllers through, this would seem to suggest that the system can be deactivated to allow exceptions.  And if it can be deactivated, then you can be sure that Ax, or for that matter any Andalite, can deactivate it.  Not that they'd even have to.  They could just morph human, two of them holding onto someone who's pretending to struggle, and yell, "Hey!  New host, coming through!"

Next question.  How did Erek get through the biofilter?  Remember, that he did pose as a controller, and he technically even was one, since he had a Yeerk in his head.  So he probably had to go to the Yeerk pool once in a while just to keep up the illusion.  Wouldn't the biofilter have "seen" only a Yeerk, floating through the air with no host?  And if Erek has a way to hide the presence of the Yeerk, that still means that whenever he goes through the biofilter, he doesn't register as human, or for that matter any biological entity.  Wouldn't the Yeerks think that was a wee bit odd?

The other possibility is that he could trick the biofilter somehow.  But if that were the case, then why didn't he ever help the Animorphs infiltrate the Yeerk pool?  Being able to trick the biofilter would have been hugely helpful on a lot of their missions.  And before anyone mentions the Chee's programmed non-violence, there have been times (#29, #37), where they've gone to the Yeerk pool on rescue missions, with no intention to take lives while they were down there.

[Myitt]

Wow, excellent points DN   Maybe the Yeerks were simply able to disable the systems to allow new hosts though, or maybe the majority of new hosts were being shuffled through The Sharing, where no filters were apparently needed (according to Megamorphs: Back to Before).  It should've occurred to someone to try and disable the biofilter systems...and an interesting point about Erek, too.  It could be that he could just fool the system into thinking he was a Controller.  But yeah, that's assuming human-Controllers were all that could be let through a filter. 

Jeez, K.A., why couldn't we have obsessive levels of nerdy detail like some other notable sci-fi fandoms out there? XD

[anijen21]

The biofilters actually have some badass decay throughout the series.

The first time we see them in #17, it's not explicitly stated but to me it seemed like not only did they require "human" DNA and "Yeerk" DNA, but the specific DNA of the Yeerk and its host when it was time to go back into the Yeerk pool. So that either implies a really stringent, regimented feeding schedule or, you know, a log-in button and the Gleet Biofilter just provided a very compelling password.

Later, it seems like the biofilters just scan for "Hork-Bajir" DNA or "human" DNA, which allowed Cassie to sneak in through Mr. Tidwell. Much less effective security measures that are much easier to bypass, I really just attribute this to shoddy writing.

And then, later, the Biofilters KILL anything that sneaks in. ANYTHING. So like, bacterial fauna that is requisite for digestion, or eyebrow mites, or any other of the plethora of organisms on a human body that are necessary for survival. Gone, I guess, as well as gamete cells, since those are TECHNICALLY haploid and not really *human* DNA. So I guess all hosts are sterile. You could argue that they program the biofilters to account for all of this stuff, but it really never seemed that complex an operation to me. The image of a bunch of bugs and mites and parasites all falling dead off the hosts, leaving them sterilized, was an icky one but let's be real.

As far as letting uninfested hosts into the pool, it probably works the same way it does in a Target or Wal-Mart when they need to let some big-ticket item through the sensors that hasn't been deactivated yet. "Hey I've got to bring this TV through the sensors to Guest Services, just so you know" "Okay I'll press the button so the alarm shuts up."

[Fwahm]

I always got the impression that the Biofilters were simple automated devices that look for any DNA that isn't on the accepted list, and automatically zaps them.

This would mean that Cassie could indeed have walked in as a human, and merely didn't do so she didn't run the risk of being recognized as not being a controller, and perhaps as an easy way into the yeerk pool itself.

As for Erik, it would either mean that it just ignores him since it can't detect any DNA, or it detects him being an anomaly, and just doesn't have enough juice to damage him.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Later, it seems like the biofilters just scan for "Hork-Bajir" DNA or "human" DNA, which allowed Cassie to sneak in through Mr. Tidwell. Much less effective security measures that are much easier to bypass, I really just attribute this to shoddy writing.

Well, wasn't Tidwell already a controller before that?  And didn't Cassie morph Illim, his Yeerk?  So wouldn't they have been on the list of accepted human-controllers?

And then, later, the Biofilters KILL anything that sneaks in. ANYTHING. So like, bacterial fauna that is requisite for digestion, or eyebrow mites, or any other of the plethora of organisms on a human body that are necessary for survival. Gone, I guess, as well as gamete cells, since those are TECHNICALLY haploid and not really *human* DNA. So I guess all hosts are sterile. You could argue that they program the biofilters to account for all of this stuff, but it really never seemed that complex an operation to me. The image of a bunch of bugs and mites and parasites all falling dead off the hosts, leaving them sterilized, was an icky one but let's be real.

Wow, I never even thought about that, but you're right.  There are a lot of organisms living inside us that we need to survive, and there's no way the Yeerks could have entered in every bacterium living in our guts into the biofilter.

On the other hand . . . in #28, it's made clear that the biofilter doesn't actually kill organisms living INSIDE other organisms.  I mean, they all morphed flies and went up Tobias and Ax's nose, and they were fine, right?  Which makes sense.  It would be hard to design something so targeted that it could kill something living inside another organism without killing the other organism too.  Humans have been trying to do that ever since we discovered bacteria.

or it detects him being an anomaly, and just doesn't have enough juice to damage him.

That's pretty unlikely, given that he has to pass through it once every three days.  Eventually, even minor damage caused by the biofilter would accumulate, until it damaged his holograms or something.

[anijen21]

Well, wasn't Tidwell already a controller before that?  And didn't Cassie morph Illim, his Yeerk?  So wouldn't they have been on the list of accepted human-controllers?

I could have sworn she morphed Aftran, but...no that doesn't make any sense, you're right.

On the other hand . . . in #28, it's made clear that the biofilter doesn't actually kill organisms living INSIDE other organisms.  I mean, they all morphed flies and went up Tobias and Ax's nose, and they were fine, right?  Which makes sense.  It would be hard to design something so targeted that it could kill something living inside another organism without killing the other organism too.  Humans have been trying to do that ever since we discovered bacteria.

If that's the case, then it's the stupidest defense system ever. Visser Three knows the bandits can morph and can do something just like that. I mean, once Cassie sneaks in through Tidwell in #29, as long as Tidwell is willing to give his DNA to one of the Animorphs, with those resources they can sneak into the Yeerk Pool whenever they want. Just the premise is stupid--a DNA-based security system to ward off people with the power to acquire and morph into any DNA they can touch.

idk I really hated the Gleet Biofilters on this reread. Heck, they could have captured Tom at any point, starved his Yeerk, and acquired it really quick before it dissolved or whatever. Of course whether or not you can acquire DNA from dead tissue is also a discrepancy in the series, so I guess that depends on which detail you're taking as canon.

[MoppingBear]

Yeah i always figured they had some sort of registration process, they turn it on, and someone walks through, and all that DNA is added in as accepted (microorganisms and all) and then in regular mode, they zap anything that isnt registered.

[Chad32]

I'm not sure how bio filters are supposed to really help anyway. The Yeerks don't know about the "No morphing sentient creatures" rule. Any morph capable person could morph something with acceptable DNA and it's done.

Seeing how some anis got through a filter as flies squeezed way deep inside a cow's nostril in 28, I don't think the filter can detect a Yeerk inside someone's head.

Of course it was originally designed by the Andalites, so it makes more sensed when used FOR morphers, instead of AGAINST them.

[goom]

good points there, dino and jen.

i'm guessing that KA really didn't think that much into them.
they served their purpose in whatever situation she came up with.

as for letting non-infested humans in, wouldn't it be possible to make it a one-way entrance?
humans could enter just fine, but then trying to leave without a yeerk would kill them.
also, they could have an escort controller waiting RIGHT inside the entrance. any 'andalite-bandits' in disguise as humans wouldn't have a chance to morph/demorph and attack.

that system might also work for other allowed host-species, but i don't think they'd want to risk a hork-bajir-morphed-andalite breaking in.

what do you all think?

[KitsuneMarie]

Ok, this probably wouldn't work at all, and I know absolutely nothing about biology, but humor me

Could having a Yeerk in one's head cause certain biomarkers of stress to be different from usual? I mean, it can't be good for one's body to possess two minds at war with each other, right? Is it possible that an involuntary Controller's blood pressure goes up, or some kind of chemical or hormone be secreted more than usual, upon entering the Yeerk pool? I know the books don't say anything about this, but it's another imagining of how Gleet Biofilters could have worked.

[Phoenix004]

When we first encountered them, I assumed that it only let through Humans (or Hork-Bajir/Taxxons) with Yeerks inside them. Obviously they can alter the programming to allow certain life forms (such as letting cattle into the slaughterhouse in #28) but they don't seem to be as specific as only letting Human Controllers through; they just detect a Human and a Yeerk, both of which are able to pass through.

One thing did just occur to me though; how did they detect the Yeerks? In #28 the Animorphs managed to sneak past a filter as Flies by hiding up a cattle's nose! Being inside a person's skull seems to be a much more effective hiding place.

[Chad32]

I mentioned that in an earlier post. Judging from book 28, I'd say the filter can't detect Yeerks. Either that or it's a plot hole or something similar.

[RYTX]

I never envisioned the Biofilters as controller specific or individual specific; to imput the DNA of every single controller and monitor that, doable yes, but a hassle that  I don't see happening, plus the aforementioned new host prob.
I think it's just human or whatever host species, or not, and even then it's not great.
The fact that the lady in 17 was annoyed at being stopped for flies implies that most people normally get through fine, so the filters obviously don't detect mites and other micro organisms on the external of the body.
The whole point of them seems to be that your enemy is not going to come in to your fortess by hiding in the open, even in disguise. Obviously no Andalites just gonna waltz in, an even going in in a human "morph" risk you getting recognized or i.d., or just gets you suspicious as to why there where six unknown folks a walking around the same day six andalites appeared and tore up the place.
You come in undected, but still functional (i.e. flies, not mites), and the filters are just supposed to detect and get rid of those types of covers.
I say. Just had to get that out