Timmy

(Tom, stop acting like an idiot). I got annoyed.

(Insult me as much as you want, it's out of the question) Tom replied to me insolently, but without the slightest fear for once.

(But why? I'm not even asking you to become a volunteer host. Just to pretend.)

(What's the difference?) replied Tom in a tone I now identified as sarcasm.

You don't have to support the invasion, just ...

(Just to behave as if it were the case all the time) he interrupted me.

(Not permanently. Just when I feed at the pool. The rest of the time, I will keep control)

Your lordship is too kind. I have the right to disagree in my mind as long as I obey like a well-trained puppy.

(So what? What's the point of playing the rebel in front of the guards anyway? I was a guard and I can assure you that your resistance doesn't faze us at all. The only difference is that you come back covered in bruises and scars every time. One day, someone is going to notice them)

I'm letting you know that this is the goal. If we're doing all this, it's so that someone notices the traces and asks questions.

(I thought it was so that your Yeerk would suffer by reclaiming your damaged body.)

(Yes, there is that too.)

In short, it doesn't make sense. Do you really want to make me suffer? Do you really want us to be noticed and for me to no longer be your owner?

(I am not your property) replied Tom, but I clearly saw in his mind that the answer to his two questions was: no.

"Look how happy the guests are here," I added, gesturing towards the volunteer area that I had decided to show Tom after once again retrieving his body in a pitiful state. To my great surprise, I felt that the better he got, the more he strongly resisted the guards. Humans really have no gratitude.

Unlike his traitors, I am not a dog that can be bought with a bit of comfort.

(They are not traitors. Just reasonable humans)

They help the Yeerks enslave humanity. They sell their neighbors and family to the Yeerks. Then they walk past their cage without giving them a glance. They are no better than the Yeerks.

You speak without knowing. The truth is that humans...

But I was interrupted by a seven-year-old boy, dressed in a three-piece suit and a large gold bracelet, who timidly asked me:

Is that you Thévenin789? I was told you changed hosts.

(There, there's a good example of a willing host.) I exclaimed to Tom.

(This is above all a good example that you are vile beings who attack children)

Interesting. Shall we talk about it later?

Hello, Timmy. Yes, it's really me. I replied to the child.

Can I ask you something?

Yes! I replied, exasperated by his timidity every time he spoke to me.

Could you swap your meal turn with my yeerk? Now, it's jera456. It will only delay your meal by 4 hours.

Why? And besides, why are you asking me and not your Yeerk? I asked, not very enthusiastic about the idea.

Oops. There was a mistake in the schedule. His meal time coincides with that of my parents. I mean my parents' yeerks. He corrected himself at the last moment.

A mistake. Really?

The boy fidgeted awkwardly, lowering his eyes to the ground. I let out a sigh.

You know that Jera456 will punish you when he realizes that you have once again prevented him from synchronizing his meal times with his triple.

He continued even more intensely, except that tears began to well up in his eyes.

Stop your theatrics. This kind of manipulation might work with weaker yeerks, but not with me. However, I agree on the condition that you do something for me.

Anything you want. He replied enthusiastically.

Take off your clothes.

(What?) exclaimed Tom.

That dampened the kid's enthusiasm.

Why do you want me to do that?

My host is an involuntary one and I want to give him a lesson on the inferiority of humans.

I don't know what you want to prove, but you don't need to humiliate the kid for that.

Yes. Humans are more visual than intellectual. You need to see to understand. This is not surprising given how developed your sense of sight is.

Meanwhile, the boy nodded and then reluctantly took off his shirt, turning to reveal a back marked by countless scars from what seemed to be belt lashes and burns.

How can you be so monstrous? Doing that to a kid, just to make him agree to obey without resistance. What was the point? To show me that not all volunteers are bastards and that some have good reasons to cooperate. That there is no shame in surrendering after a certain point?

Idiot

(About what?)

Tom, I see in your mind that deep down, you already understand, so stop deceiving yourself.

I scrolled through our shared consciousness the memory I had of Timmy's first visit to the pool.

At the time, he was accompanied by his two parents who had been infected very shortly before him. As soon as his parents were freed from their Yeerk, I had to restrain them to prevent them from attacking their son. In the process, I accidentally damaged the $500,000 watch the father was wearing. But that didn't stop them from insulting their son the whole time. Once the kid was freed from his Yeerk as well, he remained in tears on the unloading dock, and I had to take him by the hand to lead him to the volunteer area. His parents had insulted him as a traitor because after discovering the existence of the Yeerk, he had agreed to be infested instead of trying to find help.

Once in the volunteer area, I was infected by the maternal instincts of my host. And then, it would have disturbed the other hosts and it's me.that the substitute teacher had scolded him. So I spent the next two hours comforting and taking care of him. He was 5 years old. He told me with his child's words:

A month earlier, my parents were replaced by nice people. So 3 days ago, I asked if one day my real parents would come back. I didn't want that to happen. I really liked the new ones. So the fake ones brought me here. It's very big and very scary and it's filled with monsters like you. But they told me not to trust appearances and that monsters are nice. That there's no need to be afraid. I'm not afraid. Except for the blue horse, it's very scary. They took me to the magic lake and since then I have a yéyé in my head. At first, I didn't like it and I wanted it to leave. Besides, it was scary and looked mean. But actually, it's very nice. Except when I'm a bad slave. What does slave mean? But since I have a yéyé in my head, my parents love me, so I don't want it to leave.

I interrupted the memory.

After that day, his Yeerk arranged to shift his feeding days so they no longer coincided with those of his parents' Yeerk. But he kept the bad habit of disturbing me during my work.

It's okay, you can get dressed again. I indicated to Timmy.

He complied eagerly while reciting:

We are happy to serve the empire.

Is it Jera456 who taught you to say that? I asked surprised.

Yes. Shouldn't we?

No. It's very good? You are a very good host.

(You make me want to vomit) commented Tom.

Stop seeing humiliations everywhere, it's just an old form of politeness. We haven't asked the employee's hosts for at least 50 years, but Jera456 has the right to be old-fashioned.

While I was conversing internally, Timmy began to babble very quickly:

Really? Jera456 says that if I keep going like this when I grow up, I could work in the southern ship factory. Jera456 had a mission up there. He needed a small body like mine to make a repair. He didn't like it. He said it was unworthy of a Yeerk of his rank and that Visser-3 was trying to humiliate him because of his ties with Visser-One. I loved it. The ships are huge with lots of lights in every corner. Do you think one day I could take a ship like that?

Yes, of course. But I don't wish that for you. They are warships. The places they go are really ugly and the guest quarters are very spartan. In fact, I even believe that in the latest models, there are no more quarters for voluntary guests, just cages. Well, I have to go now. Goodbye, Timmy.

Not already. Are you playing with me?

No.

Go on. Please.

No. Go see gallac852 instead. He is the one replacing me as a guard. I replied as I began to move toward the exit.

But me, it's with you that I want to play. You don't love me anymore, is that it? Timmy asked me with tears in his eyes.

But why on earth had I decided to come to the volunteers' neighborhood.

(I make one comment and I swear you'll regret it) I addressed Tom

With great shame, I took the child in my arms and began to sing him a song in Galard, while rocking him. Once he was calm, I knelt before him and said:

But no. I still love you. It's just that now, I'm no longer a guard.

So what?

And then, I talked to you about it last time. Now, I have to respect my host's schedule. I no longer have the time to take care of you like before.

(We have all the time, Papa Thévenin) commented Tom.

I mentally gave him a stern look.

(What? Technically, it wasn't a comment) Tom defended himself.

Okay, but just 5 minutes. What do you want to play?

Three hours later, I was finally able to leave the HQ when gallac852 came to inform Timmy that his yeerk had finished feeding and that he had to get to the dock as soon as possible.

Watching him hop away, Tom commented:

(Poor kid. After enduring his parents, he has to endure the yeerks)

(Do you think he looks unhappy?) I replied, hurt by Tom's remark.

If you don't see how the situation is unhealthy, I can't do anything for you. Besides, you didn't need to humiliate him earlier.

(How did I humiliate him?)

Tom, surprised by my question, did not know what to answer, and I had to read the answer in his mind.

Oh! I don't think it bothers him to be exposed or for me to remind him that humans are inferior to the Yeerk. He is aware of his status as a slave and is used to being treated like that. However, I never thought he might be ashamed of his scars. That would explain why he wears loose clothing even in summer. How could I have guessed? He never told me anything, and I always thought humans were proud of their scars.

(And do you think it's good that he's used to that?)

Would you have preferred that he stay with his abusive parents?

(I would have preferred that the police put those bastards in jail and that he be adopted by a loving family)

(And me, I would like peace in the galaxy, a personal Kandrona generator, and to be able to mate without dying)

"Do you die when you kiss? That explains your character," exclaimed Tom.

Again, I gave him a mental glare but Tom continued:

(But I don't see how what I'm proposing is unrealistic? It's just what would have happened if you hadn't intervened)

Well, come on. Half of the voluntary hosts are former abused or raped children. Apart from the Yeerks, no one ever came to help them when they were children. And even less so when they were adults. Most of the time, it's not the voluntary hosts who betrayed their species, but their own species that betrayed them.

Tom did not know what to answer and we remained silent. After a while, he remarked:

If I calculate correctly, it's been more than two years since Timmy's parents have been hosts.

(Yes, and so?)

(Then they should have been zombified. How do they manage to last so long?) he asked, rehashing his fear of becoming one of the carcasses piled up by the pool while their Yeerk fed.

This is what inevitably happened to involuntary hosts. As they were no longer solicited, the host's neural patterns disappeared. As they no longer controlled their bodies, they became incapable of the slightest movement without their yeerk. This was the first stage of zombification. Then, deprived of hope and social interaction, they became unable to speak, even mentally. When this happened, with a lot of work, it was still possible to halt the process. But one had to act quickly, as the third stage would soon begin. As they were no longer stimulated, the host's brain lost most of its reasoning abilities. In a way, they became senile. From that moment on, the process would only stop when they could no longer emit the slightest coherent thought. Ideal hosts. At least, if one could manage to ignore the constant background noise of their disjointed thought fragments.

Tom, it won't happen to you, I promise. And to answer your question, of course they have become zombies. In any case, they're not far from it. But according to his former Yeerk, he is even more terrified than before at having to be around them without their Yeerk. At the time, I found it hard to believe, but it seems he feels guilty for what happened to his parents. He too feels guilty for things he's not responsible for. It must be a trait of your species.

oOoOoOoOo

Author's note: I think you will find the addition of the character Timmy curious.

Indeed, in the original books, all the human characters who joinVoluntarilyThe Yeerks are presented either as bastards motivated by money or as psychopaths in the style of the Joker whojust want to watch the world burn.

I understand this choice, becauseheallows the heroes to wound themYou are a professional translator. Directly translate this text into English, without adding anything.(see killing them) without shocking the young reader too much.

However, I find it would be more logical and narratively interesting for the voluntary hosts to be normal people but rejected by our society. And when I later needed an OC character to represent the voluntary hosts, this character of an abused child naturally came to me.

Already, because its theme resonates with Tom's. Indeed, Tom is a child abused by the Yeerks while Timmy is by humans, one accepts the Yeerks, the other rejects them... In short, they are mirror characters of each other in many ways.

But also because after writing Harry Potter fanfictions, I am used to writing characters of abused children.