Animorphs: A New Beginning

[Chad32]

((Cody still thinks Kelran is leaving soon, which would make him hesitant to try to patch things up. Why patch things up with someone who plans to leave? I don't have any ideas on how they can become closer just yet. Cody is still in the "I'm going to avoid my problems and move onward" stage, what with going on a new mission instead of finding Nichole, or talking to Kelran.))

[Kelran-Isthinar]

((Well, its no rush... its going to take time to even reach that point... meanwhile...))

Kelran grunted, "Well if you want to borrow my sword......"
he left it at that.

"And meanwhile.. we might as well try and find out where you are in relation to your world."
Kelran yawned. "Tomorrow that is."

[Cloak]

Hu's Smilodite pride caused him to refuse Kelran's offer to use his sword.  As Kelran left, Hu remained, pondering over many things.  Could these Yeerks somehow taint his planet with their evil?  Bened would have no qualms about assisting them.  Bened only cared for himself.

Hu didn't say anything to Kelran that they may not be able to find his world.  He didn't because Kelran's words gave him comfort, and he desired that comfort.

[Kelran-Isthinar]

Kelran hadnt expected Hu to accept the offer of his sword. Among cultures and hearts like theirs, what mattered was that the offer had been made, the refusal was both necessary and irrelevant to the main point.

Meanwhile, Kelran figured he might as well begin his next project. He needed a human computer.
He had given the problem some thought during the construction of his original bi-to-trinary translator...

Since he could learn the human alphanumerics with relative ease, if he could aquire a computer, perhaps he could put the translator in as an intermediary between the central processor and the rest of the device, then convert the processor to trinary. It would speed the whole device up considerably without necessitating a conversion of all its software...

[traycon3]

When she got home, Nichole pulled her laptop to her bed, and then grabbed her cell phone. She was frustrated and angry as hell, and she needed to talk to someone. Her parents had said she could call them at any time, and she planned on taking full advantage of this. However, she was surprised when her father answered the phone and didn't sound sleepy at all. In fact, he sounded wide awake. "Hi, dad. It's me."
"Hi." She smiled, as her dad's deep baritone voice greeted her. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," she replied. "I'm sorry for calling so late, I just needed to talk to someone."
"That's fine. We're up, anyway. Well, we were. Your mother went to bed about an hour ago."
"Shocking," she said, her voice full of sarcasm. She glanced at the clock and did the math. Her father usually wasn't up that late, let alone her mother. "Why were you guys up so late?"
"Oh, your mother and I recently joined a group called The Sharing a few weeks ago."
Cole felt her mouth go dry, and stammered into the phone, "Like joined, joined? Or are you just going to get a feel for it."
"Actually, we became full members yesterday. It's a wonderful group. I hear they even have a big group where you are. Have you considered joining?"
"No, dad," she replied, barely able to speak. "It-It's just not my thing. You know that."
"True. But you should give it a try. Put yourself out there, you know?"
"I'll think about it." She paused. "Dad, I gotta go. I've got an early class, you know? I just needed to hear your voice, is all."
"Ok. Talk to you later."
"You to," she replied hanging up and dropping the phone on the floor. It clattered loudly and the back fell off, but she didn't care. She placed her laptop back on the desk and cried into her pillow.
She fell asleep, wondering what she could do. Who she could talk to. And where the hell had she put her calculator...

((Hey, Kelran do you care if she left her calculator at your cave? I can let you play with her laptop if she did. ))

[Chad32]

Emily's POV:

The next morning, Emily decided to go to Nichole's college and see her. She felt like something should be done, and was worried about Cody's insensitivity. She knoscked on Nichole's door, and she answered.

"Hi Nichole. I'd like to talk to you about last night, if you have a few minutes."

((Probably should have put this in my last post, but I didn't think about it until later.))

[traycon3]

Nichole stared blankly at Emily for a second, rubbing her eyes. She had just gotten up a few minutes ago and her head was pounding. She knew she shouldn't have gone to bed crying, but she couldn't help it. She grabbed a Diet Coke out of her mini-fridge and took some tylenol. "Yeah, sure. Come on in. Lynn's already at class, and mine was canceled. Oh, you want one?" She held up a Diet Coke. "What do you want to talk about?"

[Cloak]

Hu scrolled through his Encarta's articles on all the Smilodite-known species, including Hu's own additions.  Hu decided to continue to add articles to it, knowing that Bened would be unable to access them, Hu having destroyed Bened's own Encarta.

Then Hu stopped on the entry of Yeerks that he, himself, wrote.  Then he wondered, as he powered down his Encarta, if he was infested with a Yeerk by now.  Or was that impossible?  Smilodites are unable to procure the "morphing", as it was called.  Perhaps we are immune to Yeerk infestation as well, Hu thought, but I won't test out this hypothesis. . . .

[Chad32]

Emily sat down in a chair. "Cody's had a rough life, and that's left him somewhat insensitive. I know it's hard on you, and you've likely led a peaceful life. I don't want you to do anything too rash, like leave the group without thinking about it. We're all dealing with personal problems, as well as the Yeerks, but we have to stay together. If we don't do something, everyone will be controllers. I know what that's like, and it's a horrible experience. Being a slave inside your own body, and watching as the Yeerk in your head plots the infestation of everyone around you."

"Cody saved me from that, and I want to help him. I just need him to realize that he's doing things wrong, and needs to have different priorities. If you ever need to talk to someone, I'd like you to know that you can come to me."

[Kelran-Isthinar]

((Oooh! he would have lots of fun with windows  ))

Kelran idly watched Hu manipulate his Encarta, then glanced at his own pitiful computer. Suddenly he noticed that Nichole had left her small mathematical processor. She would be wanting that back...

[traycon3]

"I want to go home." The words just fell out of her mouth, but she knew, in her heart of hearts, that this was the root of most of her problems. "I want to go home so badly, especially now. Especially when--" she stopped, feeling her voice catch in her chest. She was going to lose it again, and she knew it. She knew that crying wasn't the answer, but it was just so hard for her to express herself that she usually ended up in a fit. She sniffed, trying to blink back tears. "Now that they took my parents." She sat on her bed, which was next to the chair, and wrapped her arms around a pillow. "Oh, God, Emily, I just don't know what to do!" Now the tears were coming full force. "My parents are just like them. The Controllers. States away, Emily!" She made a motion with her hand. "And I've just blown off the only people who can help me even begin to get them back. I mean, what am I going to do, huh? Steal the blue box and go form my own troop of Animorphs? I mean, there's no way I can even begin to try and fly there. First off, how far can a seagul really travel in an hour and a half, huh? And don't even get me started about heights. I mean, it really takes a lot for me just to morph bird! And I hide it from y'all because I apparently can't show any weakness at all. Selectively dependent, that's me. God, I'm so f***ing stupid!" She fell sideways onto the bed and screamed into the pillow.
"Oh, God Emily. What am I suppose to do?" she asked, her face still in the pillow. "Short of smacking Cody right across the face." She snorted at this consept.

((Lol. It's Vista, too. Maybe he can figure out its major malfunction.))

[Chad32]

"What to do? That's the million dollar question. You don't have to keep your feelings bottled up, or become a ruthless killing machine in order to save the world. But you do need to fight. I won't look down on you for letting your feelings out, and if Cody keeps it up I'll slap him myself. That sound good?"

[traycon3]

She pulled her head from the pillow and grinned. "I guess that'd work. And thanks. For listening. I needed that release. Of emotions. Emotions. Don't go putting your head in the gutter, now, ya hear?" She sighed, glancing around the room. "You wouldn't happen to see a calculator around here, would you? I need it for tomorrow. And I've got class soon, so either you can stick around and watch me change, or I'm gonna have to kick you out for the day. I'm not saying I'm going to immedietly join back up with Cody. I might be back to my good old self, but that doesn't mean I'm not pissed as hell at Cody anymore. I think I need a few days to decide what I'm doing. Or at least I need him to think I do." She waited for Emily to either decide to leave now or to leave after she was done changing.

[Chad32]

"Well, I know you had it at Kelran's cave. You did remember to grab it from there, right? I'll go ahead and leave. Probably go see what the others are up to. It's the weekend, so I don't have classes." Emily said as she was leaving.

[traycon3]

Cole opened her mouth and closed it again. "It's the weekend? Jeeze, no wonder Lynn's not here. God, I'm with it. At least I know I can sleep in on Monday then. Well, I'll go see if Kelran has it. But first, breakfast. I'll see you later, Emily." With that she changed, grabbed her laptop, went to breakfast, and then caught the bus up near Kelran's.
She trudged up towards Kelran's, thanking her lucky stars that she had had the foresight to bring her rolling backpack. When she reached the cave, she sort of knocked. "Kelran?"