Evening meal

Author's note:In order to take into account the lack of success of the Animorphs series in France and the age of the series, my chapters will regularly start with reminders of what is happening in the canon at that time. These reminders are completely optional, but I think it's better to read them (but you can do as you prefer).

Cannon recallWhile Tom is infested by his new Yeerk, the Animorphs attack the hospital controlled by the Yeerks (the sick are treated for free but leave with a larva in their head). The purpose of the attack is, of course, to neutralize the hospital, but also to prevent the Yeerks from infesting the future president of the USA. The operation is a success and the hospital is destroyed.

But following a mistake, during the attack Jack is infested by a Yeerk. Fortunately, his friends realize it and decide to lock him in a cabin deep in the woods (the time needed for the Yeerk in his head to starve to death). So that no one notices his absence, Axe pretends to be him for 3 days. In the books, all we know is that Axe messed up so much that when Jack returned, his parents forced him to see a therapist. I will be obliged to write what happened. My version will surely be less good than the one you imagined, but I hope it will still make you laugh.

As a reminder, Axe is the nickname given by the Animorphs to an Andalite child who found himself trapped on Earth after the Yeerks destroyed the world ship he was traveling on. The AnimorphsYou are a professional translator. Directly translate this text into English, without adding anything.saved his life and helped him hide on Earth. Like all Andalites, he has the power to morph and has therefore joined the group of Animorphs in their fight against the Yeerks (in the process taking from Tobias the title of the most unusual member of the Animorphs group).

oOoOoOo

After two hours of exhausting walking and concentrating to read Tom's thoughts, I finally arrived in what I thought was the street where he lived. I was exhausted. How had Temrash114 managed to endure making this journey regularly?

(Is it this house?) I asked

(NO, NO, NO, NO) Tom replied, trying not to think about the answer.

For peace of mind, I checked deep in her thoughts that it was indeed there. Then I entered. A human immediately came to meet me.

Hello my darling. You wouldn't have come across your brother on the way back?

No. I replied.

Ah! I had told him that I wanted him to be back before nightfall. With all these disappearances that have occurred recently, I don't like knowing he's outside.

Don't worry ma'am, less than 0.01% of children are abducted in the USA.

What's gotten into you to call me madam?

Uh sorry, I am tired.

Okay, did you lock the garage door after parking the car?

The car!?

Oh yes, I probably should have warned you, Temrash114 went to the Yeerk pool using mom's car. It's a shame now she must have a big fine for not putting enough money in the parking meter. The car might even have been towed. Mom will never let you borrow her car again. You won't be able to feed yourself as easily or move around for Yeerk missions. You're right, there's no point in not answering your questions, Tom taunted me.

I focused again on his thoughts and despite his pitiful efforts to hide it from me, I saw that he had found a way for me to get out of this predicament. I responded to him mentally with a mix of anger and satisfaction:

Well done. Since tomorrow I have to go back to the pool to get that car, I'll take the opportunity to ask a Yeerk controlling a police officer to cancel the fine. Congratulations, you've earned two more hours in the cages. I'll make sure you're put with my former Hork-Bajir. If you manage to avoid his claws, you can get acquainted.

Then I declared aloud:

Yes, of course. Can I borrow it from you again tomorrow morning? I promise I'll bring it back to you before lunch.

Again! Are you going to spend all your time in that weird association?

It's just that I forgot something. I need to go quickly. And besides, she's not weird.

Alright, as you wish. But in that case, you'll stop at the car wash and run some errands for me.

That works.

There, with luck, she won't notice that her car is gone.

"You're doing well, slug," replied Tom with a defiant air that didn't match his emotions at all. It was just a facade hiding despair. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to dig deeper.

(Don't be a sore loser, Tom)

(You are not the one who will have to endure two more hours in hell)

How is it hell? Okay, it's true that the cages are a bit overcrowded, but that's less and less the case. We were just a bit overwhelmed by the success of the invasion.

"Are you serious?" he asked me.

I did not respond to him and refocused on playing my role. Tom's mother returned to the living room to watch TV with a man whom I assumed was Tom's father. He greeted me, which I returned, sat on the couch, and began pretending to watch TV. I say pretending because I couldn't help but admire everything within my reach. How could I settle for the flat images coming from that little box when the room was filled with colorful objects of all sorts? But what caught my eye the most were the changing light plays occurring in an aquarium on the side. It was so beautiful. I so wanted to get up and touch it. What exceptional eyes.

I realized after a while that Tom's parents were staring at me strangely. I forced myself with difficulty to refocus my gaze on the TV. A man with a forced smile was asking a question to four other people who were pressing buzzers. Tom's father shouted the answer just before the contestant.

Ah easy Elton John, he was my favorite singer when I was young. You look strange tonight. Are you okay, Tom? Tom's father asked me.

Yes, very well.

Question science now, nicknamed the Shepherd's Star, I am the brightest celestial object in the night sky after the moon, ...

I screamed:

The quasar 3C 273. As I had seen Tom's father do a little earlier.

Yes, Venus was the correct answer, Miss Rica. You therefore win a place in the final.

But at that moment the door opened and two 13-year-old children entered. One was white, brown-haired, tall, and athletic. In fact, except for his small size, he looked a lot like the rest of Tom's family. It must have been Jack: Tom's little brother, whose existence I had noted while reading Tom's file. The other was dark-skinned, with long brown hair. I would have liked to have more details about him, but Tom's only superficial thoughts about him were: 'the clown,' and I didn't want to push my research further into his mind.

Ah finally. Jack, I told you to let me know if you were going to be late. Scolded Tom's mother.

Excuse us, ma'am. Jack and I didn't see the time. One of the children replied.

Marco can explain himself, it seems to me. Objected Tom's mother.

Sorry, mamamman. Replied the other, seeming to play with his tongue as he spoke.

Well, let's not talk about it anymore. Help me set the table, we're going to eat. I hope you're hungry. I made a chicken. Marco, it's late. If you want to stay over, I'll inform your father.

No, that's kind, but I have to go home. We've planned something. He replied evasively.

Okay. Good evening.

Oh yes, I am very hungry fun fun. Jack replied.

I noticed that Marco elbowed Jack in the back to stop him from repeating that word over and over. Probably a game that human children played to learn to speak.

Oh finally, I might stay after all. Said Marco

No, you have to go go go must. Replied Jack, almost pushing his friend outside.

Tom's father turned off the TV and we settled around a table while Jack placed utensils whose use I did not know in front of each guest under the worried gaze of his parents. I didn't quite understand what worried them. He looked perfectly healthy. At least the advantage was that he was no longer interested in me. I took the opportunity to observe the objects Jack had placed in front of me for a long time. I would later learn that it was 5 forks and a bowl of soup. I really liked the smooth texture of the bowl. Touch was a much less impressive sense than sight, but very pleasant.

Hey, let him go my dear. Please sit down. Said Tom's mother to Jack.

Yes mom. I love you. Jack replied.

Tom's mother blushed but moved away with a perplexed look, while Tom's father completely changed the utensils placed in front of us to an arrangement that I found much less beautiful and which was the same for all the guests. And my wonderful bowl was replaced by a plain white ceramic plate of little interest. I glanced at Jack to see what he thought. When our eyes met, I thought I saw a deep look of hatred that disappeared quite quickly.

I must have seen wrong. According to the brief summary given to me by Temrash114, Tom and his brother got along very well. Or maybe not? Temrash114 seemed to hate this powerless host who had been recruited by mistake and whom he found unworthy of a Yeerk of his rank. He may have neglected his work to the point of angering Jack. And then he was ambitious, and you can never trust them. Before my assignment on Earth, how many times had I almost died in an assault because an ambitious officer wanting to get noticed decided to attempt an assault before our bombers had time to sufficiently destroy the enemy defenses or before our laser artillery had managed to get rid of the drone swarms? How many times had I seen young recruits eagerly accept the order, certain of covering themselves with glory? Finally, the context was different. Earth was not a battlefield... Not yet.

Meanwhile, Tom's mother brought a large dish containing a chicken with fries and then served a generous portion to each of the guests. Once everyone was served, she sat down, joined her hands, closed her eyes, and began a prayer. I awkwardly imitated her, but she suddenly stopped. I reopened my eyes and saw that Jack was greedily devouring the fries and chicken with his hands.Apparently, it was finally time to eat, and I imitated him much more slowly. I wasn't sure I had enough control over this body to eat at such a pace. I took one of the fries in my hands and placed it in my mouth. Immediately, there was an explosion of flavor, and I let out a cry of pleasure before stuffing food into my mouth at the same pace as Jack. How good it was! So this is what it feels like to eat as a human. It's nothing like what a Hork-Bajir feels when eating tree bark. Very quickly, my plate was empty, and I rushed to get more. But I was stopped by the sight of Jack who had climbed onto the table to eat directly from the dish under the astonished gaze of his parents.

ENOUGH NOW, WHAT'S GOT INTO YOU TONIGHT? GET DOWN FROM THAT TABLE IMMEDIATELY. We are not savages. AND APOLOGIZE TO YOUR MOTHER RIGHT AWAY. Ordered Tom's father firmly (but without shouting).

Jack got down from the table as requested, but took a chicken wing that he continued to eat while repeating over and over:

Excuse me, mom. Excuse me, mom. Excuse me, mom.

Before taking what was left of the poor chicken carcass and eating it whole. It wasn't fair. I wanted some more too.

Hey, who wants dessert? Tom's mother finally said.

oOoOoOo

After this delicious meal where, by fighting, I managed to recover half a pie, 12 slices of ham, 6 yogurts, and one of the cans that Jack had found under the kitchen sink, Tom's father ordered us to go to our rooms and stay there until further notice. I tried to sleep, tired from this day and aware that I would have to wake up early tomorrow to fix the trick Tom had played on me. But something tormented me. At first, I thought it was Tom who had decided to choose this moment to bother me, but very quickly, I realized that it came from my stomach. A horrible pain was slowly spreading throughout my body.

The only other time I had been in so much pain was when a plasma shot had pierced through all three of my Hork-Bajir's kidneys during the siege of antimatter production station No. 3 in the Altarie Nebula. Fortunately, it still had a fourth one. Suddenly, I was no longer in this typical American teenager's room, but in the narrow corridors of that factory, dragging myself agonizingly on the floor to hide under the corpses of my victims.

But a violent urge to vomit brought me back to reality.

It's horrible. I think I'm going to die. I said aloud.

(But no, you're not going to die. And go vomit in the toilet). Tom ordered me.

It's the world turned upside down, a host giving orders to its Yeerk, I thought. But aware that I needed all the help available, I simply asked him:

What are toilets?

This is the water fountain where you tried to drink earlier. There is an adjoining one to my room.

Are you out of your mind? I'm not going to vomit in drinking water. It's far too precious a resource.

(Much less valuable than my Batman comics collection)

Ah, what's the point since I'm going to die?

He thought very hard about times when he was sick. His memories overwhelmed me and I saw that he had experienced much more severe pain but had survived. This reassured me. Then made me want to vomit again. But this time I made the effort to drag myself to the bathroom.

Thank you Tom

(Do not think for a moment that it is kindness on my part. I have something to ask of you in return)

What is happening to me?

(This is a taste of what you will endure every night as long as you are in my body)

Stop messing with me. If it were true, our classes would have mentioned it. The other Yeerks would have told me about it. Please, don't make me search your mind, I'm really not in the mood for that.

(Okay, that's just what happens when you drink an entire bottle of motor oil. In fact, even without the motor oil, you would probably have been sick considering everything you ate.)

I strained my ears toward the door leading to her brother's room (this bathroom opened onto both our rooms).

How come your brother doesn't have anything?

(This is exactly the service I want you to do for me. I want to know what's happening to him). He explained, emitting fear hormones that did nothing to improve my nausea.

(What do you mean? What's wrong with your brother?)

He mentally sighed while I was vomiting.

Okay, look into my memories. It's the only way for you to understand what's wrong. But just this once. Anyway, at the pace it was going, I would have had to give in so you wouldn't kill us.

Are you sure? I had thought about doing it in your sleep. That way, you won't notice anything.

(Saying that I was beginning to believe you didn't want to take advantage of me)

(It is the case. It is a perfect solution. It prevents you from having to relive unpleasant memories, while allowing me to access the information I need.)

That's not the problem. Well, yes, but not only that.

So what is it? Explain it to me. If you don't want me to mistreat you, I need to understand what is causing you pain.

(Well, it's ... It's not easy to explain. Just listen, please, if you have to explore my mind, do it when I am conscious)

Thank you Tom. I don't understand why, but I feel that it is really not easy for you.

(It is not for you that I am doing it)

(I know. You do it for your brother. You are afraid he is infected and you want me to make sure that is not the case)

You could ask my opinion before reading my mind.

I can't. It's just automatic. It's like asking you to stop your heart from beating. If I'm distracted by something else, it will be background noise that I won't pay attention to. If you hide thoughts from me, I'll need a slight conscious effort to access them. And not necessarily, because when you think about hiding something from me, you think about it.necessarily at certain moments. But whether I want it or not, I hear everything you think and feel everything you feel

Great. Really great.

Oh no, not great at all. It's torture to constantly hear the thoughts of your host. Especially when they are unpleasant. Hearing insults day and night and receiving hatred constantly. It's so horrible that I can't help but cry when I find a corner to isolate myself in the pool.

(It was sarcasm. But glad to hear that it serves a purpose to resist you)

(Thank you, Tom) I said emotionally.

(What? Why?)

(This is the first time one of my guests has shown compassion.)

No, but you're sick. I hate you and your vile race.

Yes, that too. It's common for hosts to feel conflicting emotions. And that doesn't make you a traitor. Listen, regarding your brother, if it had been planned to infect him, Temrash114 would probably have been aware and he gave me a whole spiel about how if I managed to infect that arrogant little Smurf, he would use his new influence to get me a promotion.

(What, that bastard. You're not seriously going to ...)

I don't care about advancement and have no desire for one of his lackeys to be constantly present to spy on me and report any mistake I make. In short, it's unlikely, but since his future host is expected to become the next president of the United States, he has been positively noticed by Visser-3 and many ambitious Yeerks are trying to please him. It's possible that one of them decided to violate protocols at the risk of the invasion being discovered to infest Jack. But I repeat, it's very, very unlikely. Breaking the rules, even if it yields good results, is the best way to incur the wrath of Visser-3. And I doubt anyone other than me is aware that your brother angered Temrash114. Being affected by the behavior of an inferior being is not the kind of thing an ambitious Yeerk boasts about. Especially in front of their groupies.

(A lower being? Forget it, I don't want any comments. In that case, what's wrong with him?) asked Tom.

I sat along the wall not far from the toilet bowl. I was starting to feel better.

If I understand correctly, he has abnormal behavior and notably a very strong appetite.

(In short, that's it, yes!)

(This reminds me of a course on human psychology that I was forced to take before your infestation. Wait while I remember)

I recalled the memory and imposed it on our shared consciousness.

« In this culture, shortly after the onset of puberty, many male humans take psychotropic substances such as cannabis or methamphetamine. It is a rite of passage into adulthood with little health risk. However, repeated use is a sign of a deeper problem and a vulnerability that predisposes the young human to various physical and mental illnesses. Infestation as quickly as possible, in addition to healing the human, allows in 90% of cases to obtain a high-quality voluntary host. The longer we wait, the more the physical and mental condition of the human deteriorates under the effect of thesubstances and the underlying problem. It is therefore important to identify the symptoms as early as possible and to subject the human to the infestation. The symptoms are a strong appetite and a significant change in attitude.

In other cultures and at different ages of life, it is not uncommon for these substances to be taken regularly for social and sexual emulsion purposes. The humans in question generally become very unwilling hosts and should only be approached if their social position would bring significant benefit to the invasion. »

I know you had a bad experience with Temrash114, but maybe you should consider that an infestation would be a good thing for your brother. It's not in my interest, but if it can...

(IT IS OUT OF THE QUESTION THAT YOU PUT YOUR DIRTY DROOLING PAWS ON HIM)

(Okay. No need to shout.) I tried to calm him.

(And he does not do drugs.)

How do you know?

I know it, that's all. He is not like me. He has always been ultra responsible and everything. He would never do drugs.

I cautiously added, suspecting that it was a sensitive subject:

You haven't spoken to him in a long time. Finally, I doubt that Temrash114 allowed you to maintain strong ties with him.

He doesn't do drugs. He said more weakly. Anyway, cannabis doesn't have that kind of effect. After taking it, you're almost drowsy, whereas there, he was all excited. And you don't get the munchies that much. Besides, around here to get drugs, you have to go through Bruno and he would never have sold meth to 13-year-old kids.

I went back to bed, taking care to set the alarm to ring early.

(Tomorrow, I will take advantage of my visit to the pool to check the register. This will allow us to rule out the possibility of an infestation.)

I suppose that now we're in for a brain-picking session.

He tried to appear detached and say it with humor, but he was terrified by the idea. In addition to terror, I felt a deep disgust for himself.

No. I'll manage otherwise.

I slightly detached myself from my host's brain, enjoying for the first time in years the ability to fall asleep in silence without having to keep full control over my host's body. Honestly, what a relief. At least until Tom broke the silence.

You said your former host was a Hork-Bajir?

(Yes)

(Were you a lifeguard before?)

(Of course. What else would you expect a Hork-Bajir controller to do on Earth? We don't exactly blend in, in case you hadn't noticed.)

How could you do this work?

I don't understand the question? Why wouldn't I have succeeded?

I don't know, you're all nice and cute and you're telling me that less than 24 hours ago, you were a concentration camp guard.

(What is a concentration camp?)

(No matter, that's not the question)

(Yes, but to answer you, I need to understand your question. And I admit I'm a bit tired of making efforts to read your thoughts in detail. I've done it enough during the two-hour walk you subjected me to out of sheer pettiness.)

(Pure pettiness!? Forget it, I have my answer.)

On his enigmatic words, he also tried to fall asleep and after making sure he was asleep, I finally relaxed. This animal was difficult, but at least with him, I could have peaceful nights. And that's when he started having nightmares. Despite my promise, I found myself overwhelmed by the emotions and memories he probably didn't want me to see (and that I didn't want to see either).

I had to tighten my control to the maximum to prevent him from screaming. I spent the night singing Yeerk lullabies to him and giving him mental hugs (an endorphin secretion and the looping of pleasant memories that simulate the feeling of receiving a hug).

So much for peaceful nights. But at least now, I understood his question. On the other hand, I no longer knew how to answer it.