How I think David did it

[Dogman15]

(Remember that thread "How did Aftran do it?" This is similar.)

After thinking it over, and going by what Dr. Kaehler said, I have arrived at a semi-final conclusion as to how David successfully replaced Saddler.

Some [doctors and nurses] looked like they'd just had Leonardo DiCaprio tell them they were pretty. They looked transfigured. Others looked mad. Some looked scared.
Saddler's mother [Ellen] rushed to the head doctor. "Doctor Kaehler? What's happening? What's happening to my baby?"

Doctor Kaehler was one of the mad ones. "What's happening? Good question. Very good question. I have to tell you that we had a crisis here about an hour ago. Your son's heart stopped. We were rushing him to surgery, but in all honesty he was not going to make it."
"But --" she began.

The doctor ignored her. "I would have bet my entire career that Saddler would be gone within the hour. Then, as they were taking him up to the O.R., something happened  with the elevator. It jammed or... something. The nurse and doctor with him seem to have been knocked out. When they came to, the elevator was working again. They rushed your son to surgery where he... where he... opened his eyes!"
"What?"
"He opened his eyes. And he said, 'Hi.'"

David knew that Saddler was at the children's hospital. He scoped out Saddler's room as a Golden Eagle, looking in through the windows. When he found Saddler's room, he crawled in as a ****roach (why do these forums hide that all the time?!?) . David heard the doctors talking about how they would need to bring him to surgery soon, and he heard that it would be on another floor. David got into the hospital with Marco's body (wearing a morphing outfit - bike shorts and a T-shirt), found the elevator control room, and using his knowledge and skills he may have picked up from his father's work in the NSA, he got on top of the elevator car he knew Saddler would be in.

David morphed the security guard he acquired back at the Marriot resort hotel banquet room (badly stretching but not breaking the underwear, shorts, T-shirt, and socks he was wearing - he took off his shoes), for the extra strength, and waited. The nurse and doctor wheeled Saddler into the car, and when the doors closed, David disabled the elevator from the controls on top of the car. The nurse and doctor noticed this. David silently dropped down and gave each one a quick knock on the back of their head to put them out for a bit. David demorphed, acquired Saddler's DNA, stripped him of his hospital gown, and then... what? Did David dump Saddler (alive or dead at this point?) down the elevator shaft? That's what I think he did. It's not like he could go out into the hallway to stuff Saddler somewhere there.

David morphed into Saddler, ditched his own clothing and shoes... somewhere (help?), and put on Saddler's hospital outfit. He climbed up to the elevator's roof, restarted it, and closed the access door. He climbed back onto Saddler's gurney or whatever and waited for the nurse and doctor to wake up. He closed his eyes and pretended to be unconscious like Saddler was.

While David thinks at this point that he has killed Tobias, he has also by this point undoubtedly killed Saddler for sure.

So, can you guys help me? Are there any holes in my story? What exactly killed Saddler after David acquired him? Disease/injuries? Or impact from a fall? What did David do with his old clothes? Thanks in advance for any input you have!

[Darth Zakryn]

Wow, that's really thought out. Pretty ingenious theory. Maybe, though, he morphed lion to knock them out quicker. And I'm so glad my thread inspired you to do this.

[Chad32]

I figured he must have dumped Saddler's body down the shaft. I don't know if he actually killed Saddler, or if the guy died on his own, but I don't feel it's as bad to kill someone who's going to die in a few minutes than it is to kill someone who's not going to die soon otherwise.

It was an extreme and thought out plan if he did all that on his own, and no one was the wiser. I assume he's smart enough to know to move Saddler's body again before it starts stinking up the place.

Some actually see this act as a moral event horizon for David, but I don't. It was extreme, and questionable, but also could be practical.

[LisaCharly]

I find it an event horizon (actually, I find him trying to kill Tobias that too). It's not because he killed Saddler, though that's certainly not a good thing to do, but because he robbed Saddler's parents of a chance to say goodbye to their son and replaced him with an impostor. He was going to exploit the feelings of a family who was scared and grieving for their eldest child. That's why it's so repulsive.

[Chad32]

I'm just thinking of the best case scenario. Say he learns to act like Saddler, and outlives his parents. They'd never know, and would die happy raising their child.

Though it would be awkward if David's parents were ever freed.

Best case scenario is good, but worst case could be bad. That's why I say it's questionable.

[LisaCharly]

I don't know, I find it inherently repugnant to have Saddler's parents living a lie. I get that then they wouldn't mourn and would die happy, but it's an inherently unfair situation to them. It just really creeps me out.

[TobiasMasonPark]

     I actually never thought about how he got rid of the body. Maybe he didnt throw Saddler's body down the shaft. Maybe he acquire Saddler--leading to Saddler's death-- and then acquired and morphed one of the doctors after knocking them out. He was then able to move about the hospital with the gurney, where he would remove Saddler's body without anyone being suspicious. He probably came back for it afterwards. David may have returned to the elevator with the empty gurney, demorphed, remorphed Saddler, ditched and put on the clothes he needed and waited for the doctors to wake up. He probably just pressed the emergency button to stall the elevator.

      As for the moral event horizon...I don't know. It was unfair to Saddler's family. But I don't think David saw it as being immoral. He probably thought he was putting Saddler out of his misery. And he was giving a family their son back...despite the fact that he pretty much replaced the kid.

[Darth Zakryn]

LisaCharly: I'm one of those people who subscribe to the theory that knowledge is evil and ignorance is bliss. I'd prefer to die knowing that a fake me is living with my family, hopefully one that can act the part, so they won't mourn. Or vice versa. I'd rather love a memory even if that person is dead but still looks alive. I can't let go of things, so why should PEOPLE be any different?

TobiasMasonPark: Um... would David have had enough time to morph a doctor, put Saddler on the gurney, take him to another part of the hospital, rush back with the gurney, demorph, remorph into Saddler, get into the gown, and then get on the gurney, ALL THE WHILE THE DOCTORS REMAIN UNCONSCIOUS? That might take hours. No offense. I'm just wondering aloud.

[paul1991]

You can't forget:

David refused to kill humans. He was fine killing humans in morph, but he did not kill humans.

[sublime88stang]

LisaCharly: I'm one of those people who subscribe to the theory that knowledge is evil and ignorance is bliss. I'd prefer to die knowing that a fake me is living with my family, hopefully one that can act the part, so they won't mourn. Or vice versa. I'd rather love a memory even if that person is dead but still looks alive. I can't let go of things, so why should PEOPLE be any different?

TobiasMasonPark: Um... would David have had enough time to morph a doctor, put Saddler on the gurney, take him to another part of the hospital, rush back with the gurney, demorph, remorph into Saddler, get into the gown, and then get on the gurney, ALL THE WHILE THE DOCTORS REMAIN UNCONSCIOUS? That might take hours. No offense. I'm just wondering aloud.

And i'll make a bet that someone would have noticed when he didn't reach surgery in about X(however long it would usually take) amount of minutes from when he was scheduled.

What I don't quite get is how he knocked both of them out at the same time without either remembering the couple of seconds before they got knocked out.... Like the nurse would have seen the doctor get knocked out by something/someone before getting knocked out.

oh and David was a Creep/peice of crap, i highly doubt that he wouldn't have killed a human. 

 

[Chad32]

Does anyone know exactly why he didn't kill Humans, but was perfectly willing to kill someone in morph? Was he just that ignorant about how morphing works, or did he just not want to leave a Human body lying around?

[Serraph105]

I don't know. Despite the whole thing about David not killing humans I always got the sense he morphed lion and ate him.

[Chad32]

I really don't think he'd have time to do it, much less clean up the mess afterwards. It's not like he could just swallow Saddler whole or something.

[DinosaurNothlit]

You know, I've never really thought much about this.  Yeah, you'd think that the doctors would remember something if he just knocked them out, right?  Maybe not, though, if he was sneaky enough about it, I dunno.

As for what he did with the body, dropping it down the elevator shaft sounds the most plausible.  There would be no reason for anybody to look for a body there, and David could have gone back and cleaned it up before it started stinking.

Does anyone know exactly why he didn't kill Humans, but was perfectly willing to kill someone in morph? Was he just that ignorant about how morphing works, or did he just not want to leave a Human body lying around?

I always thought of that as something he only told himself to help him feel better.  So that he could claim in his own mind to not be a murderer, so that he could sleep at night.

It's kind of funny, but the Animorphs themselves seem to use the exact same rationale later in the series.  Very few human controllers are ever killed in the series . . . right up until the Yeerks gain the power to morph.  All of a sudden, morphed human controllers are being killed left and right.

[Dogman15]

I don't think that anyone has yet addressed what David did with the morphing clothes he was wearing. That was the other question I asked at the end of my original post.

But you guys are making an awesome discussion so far! Thanks!