Discussion after revelation

Do you realize what you have done? Thousands of innocent yeerks that you have killed. They had friends and family. TheYou are a professional translator. Directly translate this text into English, without adding anything :vI despised.

After our escape from the Yeerk HQ, I drove straight without stopping until I passed the city limits. Once I reached the edge of a desert plain, I finally parked and dropped off those disgusting cockroaches that were in my pocket. Immediately, they transformed into a vision of horror that almost made me want to vomit before taking the appearance of 4 humans and a young Andalite. Since then, we've been arguing violently. You would have thought they would at least have had the decency to show gratitude for what I had done.

They were not innocents, but invaders, torturers, and murderers. Do you realize what they were doing to humans? What they would have done to them if we hadn't stopped them? Or do you think the lives of the Yeerks are worth more than those of humans? Marco replied.

By reflex, I wanted to respond that of course the life of the Yeerk was worth more than that of humans. But I reconsidered. I could no longer think that way from now on. It was all the more unpleasant because even though he said nothing, I felt Tom's approval. I felt cornered.

You haven't saved anything at all. You have only postponed the inevitable or worse, condemned your entire species to destruction, the Andalites (…)

We know your speech about the Andalites. But I would rather the Andalites exterminate us than we become slaves to the Yeerks for eternity. For now, we deal with the Yeerk invasion and pray that the Andalites are not the monsters of cynicism you describe. We will deal with the Andalites the day their world ships are in Earth's orbit. Anyway, the more we slow down the invasion, the less reason the Andalites will have to want to exterminate us. Marco replied.

For now, the Andalites we've met are nothing like the monsters of cynicism you describe, added Jack.

Maybe you should accept that you don't know much about Andalites, Aximili spat.

Believe me, I know more than you. I replied.

What can you know about the Andalites that I don't? Aximili replied sarcastically.

I (...) can't talk about it. Maybe you should accept that there are many things you don't know about the Yeerks.

An awkward silence followed this statement.

All that is fine, but the real question is what do we do with him, stated Rachel.

I opened my jacket and showed the two Draco rifles I had kept after our little escapade.

Just try it and see. And if you keep getting closer to the horse, I'll tell you how your brother got some of his scars.

You see, you can't trust a Yeerk reasoned Aximili's voice in the heads of everyone present

STOP! There have been enough fights for today. Aximili, step back, and Thévenin, lay down your weapons. Declared Jack in a strong and authoritative voice.

We exclaimed at the same time:

You don't have to give me orders, Smurf.

I cannot obey this order, Prince Jack.

I turned my gaze towards Aximili:

Would you be afraid Andalite? Or is your so-called code of honor ultimately flexible?

The cowardice of the Yeerks, on the other hand, is a constant of the universe. You will never abandon your weapons.

Coward? Me! At least your brother didn't accuse his opponents of his own flaws. I bet I leave them behind before you back down.

I am waiting to see

So watch closely

And what if instead of moving away, you got closer. Like in a hotel room. Exclaimed Marco.

It doesn't make sense, there is no hotel room here.

It was humor, Aximili. Atrocious humor, but still humor. I explained.

I vote for us to tear each other apart. I cannot forgive such a lack of taste, commented Marco.

Anyone who finds Marco's humor atrocious has a good heart. Even if in some cases it is well hidden. Bounce back, Rachel.

Hey, that was mean! Marco pretended to be outraged.

I didn't say it, but I had to acknowledge that their intervention had lowered the tension. Jack resumed without animosity in his voice:

I don't want to hurt you.

(And if you left it at that) exclaimed Tom in my head.

(How do you expect me to stop here? I can't let them keep massacring my people)

You let them do it until now.

I thought they were just providing minor assistance to the Andalites. That he was helping them blend in among humans, providing them with DNA samples, or playing nanny for Aximili while the adults went to fight. In short, small missions that weren't too dangerous and not too impactful. I never would have thought they were the Andalites. By the way!

How is it that you are using Andalite biotechnology? The Andalites never share their technology with other races. And even less with such a primitive species.

It is (...) began Jack

This is confidential information. It must not be given to a Yeerk, Aximili interrupted.

It's not confidential. I didn't knowElfangor as well as you, but I think he wouldn't have wanted you to be punished in his place, declared another voice in my head that I associated with that of the eagle.

Definitely, Elfangor will have annoyed me until the end. If I understand correctly, it was you humans who witnessed the crash of his ship?

Yes. I suppose you were one of the Yeerks who chased us that day. Vilify Rachel.

No. I was a lifeguard at the pool, not a member of the visser's personal guard. But if I had been present, I would have had no qualms about chasing you down and capturing you. I replied honestly. How did he die?

"He died fighting until the end," replied Tobias.

Well.

<You are not going to make me believe that you understand those things,> Aximili called out to me.

No. I never understood why dying in a battle lost in advance was more honorable than dying while trying to flee. But I know it was important to him, and he was one of the few Andalites for whom I had a modicum of respect. He didn't like war and respected his opponents. He was never unnecessarily cruel and always made the choice that protected the lives of his men, even if it meant sparing the lives of his adversaries. And that was even when our superiors ordered us to employ the most vicious strategies against him. Besides, I wonder if it was kindness or intelligence. Because of his scruples, he often lost the first battles, but he rarely lost the war. To have the honor of being the first to defeat the legendary Elfangor, the Visser sacrificed their men and showed no mercy. As a result, morale, Yeerk, and equipment quickly dwindled, while Elfangor lost a lot of ground but few soldiers. A perfect cocktail for spectacular counterattacks. That was the secret of his legendary victories. That and some lies from his government. Isn't that right, Aximili? I doubt your supposedly honest princes want the great propaganda hero Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul to be known for breaking the most sacred Andalite laws. Who have they decided to blame this time? Who is the innocent one who will have to rot in prison for Elfangor's crimes?

"It's me," replied Aximili in the most neutral voice possible.

Oh! I am sorry. I didn't suspect. To be honest, I thought he had accused one of the other passengers of your world ship. After all, it's easier to accuse the dead. Is that why you call Jack: prince? Because they banished you?

It's none of your business.

Well, all this is fine and dandy, but I'm starting to get cold standing in the middle of the fields in my underwear. Couldn't we go back to the city and decide to talk about this at another time? In a quiet place and preferably without weapons. Cassie suggested.

We can't let him go like that. He knows too much. He could betray us. Objected Tobias

If he did, he would be the first to get killed. And so far, he has proven to be trustworthy. Replied Marco, who did not try to hide that he was shivering in his doublet.

Had I not been a bit too resentful in choosing a place without any protection against the icy wind of early November?

You forget that he shot at us. Rachel reminded.

That's one of the things he'll have to explain, but in the end, he helped us. Cassie defended me.

No, we have to settle this now. We can't let him go until we've decided which side he was on. Said Jack with visible regret.

Thevenin. I understand that it's not easy, but do you ...

You're kidding. I'm not a traitor.

(At least now you understand why I never agreed to become a voluntary host.)

(It has nothing to do with it.)

(In what?)

(In any case. I never asked you to help us exterminate the human species.)

(Just to enslave her)

(It wouldn't have changed anything. Your influence on the course of the war or even the invasion of Earth is minimal.) I replied to him.

(And you think that the seven of you are going to change the course of history?) Tom retorted to me.

(It pains me to say it, but yes. Despite all the clues pointing in that direction, I never suspected them because they proved to be remarkably effective. I know few Andalite or Yeerk soldiers who could have led such an effective resistance.)

Uh Thévenin, how are you? asked Jack

I am talking to Tom. Give us 5 minutes.

Take your time, especially. I could stay here for hours watching you imitate a statue. Said Marco, starting to hop in place because of the cold.

I took pity and decided to throw him the car keys.

Get in the car and turn on the heater. And don't mess around, especially. I just cleaned it.

No, that's not our style. We will be as good as gold. Marco replied while grabbing the keys.

Thévenin, aren't you frankly tired of obeying orders you disapprove of? Of having to look away all the time? I never dared to bring it up, but even if you tried to hide it, I can see that even now, that I no longer have nightmares, you still can't sleep.

(It has nothing to do with it) I defended myself.

(I am sure that if)

How could you know? What do you know about yeerks?

Not much. But I'm starting to know Thévenin.

Hmm! Even if it were true, what difference would it make? You can't ask me to help them massacre my own. Now that I think about it.

I addressed Tobias, who had undoubtedly stayed outside to keep an eye on me.

What did you come to do at the HQ?

I'm not sure it's a good idea for me to answer this question.

You didn't express yourself earlier. What do you think about the situation?

It's sad, but life is kill or be killed. Whether I like it or not, I have to kill mice to survive and the Yeerks have to enslave other species. There is no possible collaboration between us.

(He is mistaken) Tom intervened.

(On the fact that hawks are forced to kill to survive?)

(On the fact that Yeerks and humans cannot cooperate. You are living proof that Yeerks are not obliged to behave like parasites.)

(me, I am an abnormality.)

You are not abnormal. I thought you had stopped believing that it was you who had a problem.

Frankly, the more time passes, the more I do things that can only be explained by madness. And if our relationship proves one thing, it's that no collaboration is possible. Honestly, if you had the choice, would you agree to be my host?

He took time to respond, but even before he formulated his answer, what I perceived from his thoughts and emotions deeply unsettled me.

After the war, if it were possible, I would like to be your host a few days a week. Not every day, of course. But if you were never there again, I would miss you. In fact, I don't even know if I would be able to sleep without your presence. However, there's no question of continuing to fill my room with electric garlands and nightlights and then spending hours looking at them.

I didn't reply and headed towards the car. I opened the door and sat in the driver's seat.

What did you come to do at the HQ? I asked again.

Well then. Frankly, it wasn't a good idea. We gave up anyway. Jack stammered.

What did you come to do at the HQ? I insisted.

Since I'm telling you that we won't do it anymore. There's no point in talking about it.

How do you expect us to cooperate if you don't trust me even a little? I exasperatedly asked.

How do you expect us to trust a Yeerk? Rachel intervened.

We wanted to dump large quantities of oatmeal into the Yeerk pool. We learned it was poison for you, replied Cassie.

Humpf! Listen, I agree to support you, but under three conditions. The first is that I no longer want blind slaughter of Yeerks. You must target only the leaders, the infrastructure, the equipment, or other similar things. Anyway, if you think that Visser-12 or the council will give up the invasion because thousands of grunts were killed in a terrorist attack, you're deluding yourself.

Jack looked at the others awkwardly. I noticed that Cassie had a particularly pained expression. Then Marco replied angrily:

Sorry to tell you frankly, but your super-evolved Alien superiority complex, you can shove it. We're not barbarians who kill blindly and we've never cared about Yeerk public opinion. We're not here to politely ask the yeerks if they would kindly not enslave us, but to disrupt the invasion enough for the Andalites to win the war and come liberate Earth. If we kill yeerks, it's only because it's the only way we have to slow them down. Do you really think we're in a position to directly attack Yeerk military installations? And without causing any injuries on top of that? And I imagine you haven't even...Noted, but our attacks have also caused deaths among human or Hork-Bajir hosts.

I had indeed never really thought about the non-Yeerk dead during the invasion of Earth. Nor in any Yeerk operation. But that, I was not going to admit.

More reasons to stop. If you want to be considered equals, start by not behaving like violent animals.

Are you serious!??? We're not the invaders, I remind you.

Yes well visser-one sometimes kills hosts. Often. I corrected. But it's an exception. If you changed your attitude, you could negotiate better treatment for humans and we could live in harmony. Like with the taxons. You know, you are an important resource for the empire….

But I couldn't finish my sentence, because Tom screamed in my head:

(Thévenin reads my thoughts)

(What!?)

You have won, I allow you to read my thoughts inside and out.

But no! That wouldn't be right. I don't want to hurt you.

And you think I want to? It's the only way for you to understand what the Yeerks are doing to us. Go ahead. I know you've been dreaming about it from the start.

I did not understand this request, but I complied when I felt his mind filled with unwavering determination. After several very humiliating minutes for Tom and very worrying for the animorphs who wondered why Tom's body remained motionless with his mouth open, I regained my senses completely shaken forThe umpteenth time of the day.

I had of course already thoroughly searched the minds of my former hosts, but I had never lingered on what it felt like to be reduced to slavery. Unless I had, in fact. I had never wondered how I would react in their place. I knew of course that it was not pleasant, but I had never really understood.

I'm sorry, Tom.

"That does me a fat lot of good," he replied aggressively. He too was struggling to recover from the experience he had just gone through.

Then he softened and said:

—It's not your fault. Well, a little, but I forgave you a long time ago. And I meant it when I said I would like to remain your host. I just wish I had the choice. And that you weren't there when I go to the bathroom.

Then I return to reality and say embarrassedly:

Do what you want. Or what you can. However, I will be uncompromising on my other two conditions. First, I want you to keep me informed about your missions.

That's out of the question, replied Marco.

And the third condition? Jack asked, signaling Marco to be quiet.

You agree to let the Yeerks live on Earth on the condition that they only take voluntary hosts or stay in their pool.

Me, I would agree, but we can't commit to that. We're just kids, not heads of state or anything. Jack replied.

That is not what I am asking you. What I am asking you is your promise that if I fight alongside you against the Yeerks to protect your freedom, you will fight alongside me against the humans who will want to take revenge or drive us out of here. And against the Andalites. I added, pointing at Aximili.

<I would never promise that. I would never rebel against my own. Honor forbids it> Aximili exclaimed immediately.

I thought the Aristh were supposed to obey their prince? I couldn't help but mock.

Anyway, I can't promise that either. We are not going to fight humans to protect Yeerks. It's our planet, not theirs. They just have to go elsewhere. Rachel replied with Marco's approval. Jack did not object.

And where do you want us to go? Do you think we enjoy living on a planet where the oceans are too acidic for us to survive? A planet where solar radiation is not absorbable by our bodies. Do you think we like living in overcrowded pools with nothing else to do but eat that artificial Kandrona crap?

How many would be willing to give up their host if they are not willing? How many would really be ready to respect peace? Cassie asked, more calmly.

Mentally, I thanked her. She was the only one who didn't seem completely hostile. But unfortunately, the answer was unlikely to convince them.

The mere mention of the idea is punishable by death among the Yeerks. So I have no idea. But the mere fact that there is a law against it proves that it is not so rare.

That means that if we accepted, then Thévenin would probably not be the only Yeerk wanting to join us. Even if they are few, imagine what we could do if some Yeerks joined us. Even if it's a minority, it could change everything. We wouldn't be alone anymore. They could even help us expose the invasion to the public, argued Cassie.

Do you realize what the Yeerks do to their human host? Or to their family. You could fight for him to get away with it because they promised not to do it again. Jack, you know better than anyone what the Yeerks do to their hosts. Marco replied.

(What is he talking about?) Tom asked alarmed.

I will hand over control to Tom.

I was stunned. It always took me a few seconds to get used to the sensation of having a body again. I marveled each time at the feeling of having fingers. It was one of the few advantages of being a host. We marveled at the little details.

Is that you, Tom? Asked Jack.

Yes. What do you mean by Jack knows it better than anyone? I asked Marco.

They looked at each other. Finally, Jack said:

I was the guest of Temrash114 for 3 days.

Immediately, I rushed towards him to give him a hug. I didn't care if he was embarrassed in front of his friends. The mere thought that that bastard had touched Jack made my stomach turn.

How did it happen?

When the hospital was attacked, I fell into the pool where the yeerks waiting to be injected into the patients were. Fortunately, Aximili noticed. He warned the others, and they locked me in a cabin until Temrach114 starved to death. Meanwhile, Aximili took on my appearance so that no one would notice my absence. In fact, at the time, it was mainly you we wanted to deceive. Well, Thévenin. We didn't want the yeerk to infiltrate.In my family, questions arise about my absence. It was horrible. For fun, he showed me what he was putting you through. The worst was losing all hope. He talked like me, behaved like me. Without Aximili, no one would have noticed that I was a prisoner. I thought I was going to remain his slave for eternity.

As his story went on, tears began to well up. But he held back from crying.

Is that why you sent me this message?

Yes. You can't know how horrible it was to know what you were going through and not be able to do anything. To have to pretend that everything was fine. I wanted to at least do that to make sure you held on. To let you know that you weren't alone.

You're going to hate me for asking this. But what tells us that it's really Tom? It could just be Thévenin pretending. Remarked Marco.

Well, I began, but I felt Thevenin forcibly take control. I hated when he did that. Not so much because of the loss of control itself, but because of the feeling of helplessness I experienced at those times. All of a sudden, I was forced to remember that he had all power over me and that I no longer controlled anything.

It's me, Thévenin. I'm going to come out of Tom. That way, you'll be sure.

(really?) exclaimed Tom.

(This is the only way for him to trust me even a little. If I were in their place, I would demand no less. And I trust you to put me back inside you. Whether you admit it or not, you are a willing host.)

I took a water bottle out of the glove compartment and pressed it against Tom's ear. Then I took a deep breath. I was scared to death. Even though I trusted Tom, it was the most terrifying thing I had ever done. And I had done some terrifying things. Then I disconnected from Tom's brain. Then it was complete darkness for several hours.

After what seemed like an eternity, I felt the gourd move. By echolocation, I located an ear. Relieved, I rushed there and regained control of Tom, who winced in pain. Out of habit, I had forgotten to take the time to completely anesthetize the area before piercing his eardrum.

We agree with your requirements. Except for Axe. Once the war is over, he will have to rejoin his own. He will try to convince them to leave Earth in peace, but he cannot promise to disobey his captains. And we will give you very brief summaries of what we plan to do, but we will not give you the details. Moreover, we will continue to act alone. Some (his gaze turned to Rachel at that moment) do not trust you enough to accept having you with us on a mission. Does that suit you? Jack summarized before I even had time to fully connect to Tom's brain.

We'll have to. I replied, starting the car.

While I was driving to take them home for a well-deserved rest, Tom asked me:

Do you think I have Stockholm syndrome?

I don't smell the hormones released by your immune system when it detects a threat, but if you feel something is wrong during my next meal, I will ask the guards to take you for a check-up.

Drop it

You are sure. Our medical technology is much more advanced than yours. It's very fast and completely painless.

He refused again and I did not insist. I had to focus on driving.

oOoOoOo

Author's note: I rewrote this chapter after watching this video:Violence / Politique / Jeu vidéo

Initially, in this passage, the animorphs accept Thévenin's first condition. This video made me realize how much that was a completely off-the-mark reaction. And above all, I find the dialogues much more interesting and enjoyable like this.