What are the causes of the war of 1775? I asked.

Invaders from far away tried to enslave us. It ended very badly for them. Jack replied.

According to this book, the correct answer is a tax increase to finance the Seven Years' War. Curious. To oppose the high cost of a war, your ancestors started another one. Humans are really strange.

It was sarcasm. Honestly, Thevenin, let me out. What do we care about this war?

No idea. But your parents said you'll be in serious trouble if you get another D. And I don't want the police sticking their nose in our business. It's full of controllers.

Not that kind of triple idiot boredom.

Yet Tom says that it's important for you to work at school. And where do you want-YouGo anyway?

I don't know. Where I want.

But still? I hope you're not doing anything that could put us in danger.

I told Cassie that I would go to her place to help her clean her father's barn. There you go, happy now. Nothing that could harm you.

You spend a lot of time at that Cassie's place these days.

And then said Jack, stretching himself.

So Tom finds it curious and would like to have details?

(Not even true. I respect people's privacy. And I don't spend my time watching silly telenovelas.)

(It’s not stupid, these are documentaries about human behavior. Since you don’t let me access your memories freely, I have to find another way to understand how humans work)

We're not dating. She's just a friend. And anyway, she doesn't pay attention to me.

Oh! Do you need me to buy you condoms and lubricant?

A silence passed and Jack blushed up to his ears.

Jack, are you okay? Are you sick? Your forehead is very warm, said Thévenin, placing his hand on Jack's forehead.

It's you who are sick, said Jack, pushing his hand away. Let me go before you drive me crazy.

I don't know if it's a good idea. If that girl affects you so much, maybe I should take care of it. I remind you that if we attract too much attention, you and your whole family will be reduced to slavery.

Thévenin, let him go. If he has poor results, it's not because he sees too many girls, but because he doesn't sleep enough. And then you don't have to meddle in my brother's love life. You already meddle in mine.

(I already said I was sorry. How could I have known that she was one of your exes and that you still have feelings for her)

I have no feelings for (…). Okay, you're in my head so if you say I still love them, it must be true, but I don't love them anymore. Well, yes, I do. Oh! You're annoying me.

(But I didn't say anything. To get back to Jack, why do you say he's sleeping badly? We haven't heard him have nightmares anymore, so he must be doing well.)

Have you seen their dark circles? Just because we don't hear them anymore doesn't mean everything is fine. And don't you see all the signs of stress?

(It can't be my fault. I do everything to make him comfortable.)

Tom mentally hits his head against a wall.

oOoOoOo

No Thévenin, there's no way I'm sleeping in your bed.

Be reasonable. We need to address your sleep problems. From what I saw in Tom's memories, it was very effective before.

First, I would have even more trouble sleeping knowing you were next to me. And secondly, I was six years old and I had played Resident Evil in secret from my parents.

And so

And so now, I am 13 years old.

I don't see the connection. Tom is 17 and not a week goes by without him waking up in tears wanting to call his mother for help.

Thevenin, I am going to kill you.

oOoOoOo

Cannon recoil:

This mini-chapter takes place between volume 07 and 07.5. As a reminder, in volume 07 the Animorphs destroy the Earth's main Kandrona generator to starve the Yeerks. In volume 7.5 the Yeerks attempt to use a Veleek to kill the Animorphs.

oOoOoOo

Tom, get up or you won't be able to eat before going to school. Shouted Tom's mother's voice through the house.

I shouted through the door:

I don't feel well, mom. I don't think I'll be able to go to school.

I heard Tom's mother coming up the stairs and a few seconds later, she was in my room. She placed her hand on my forehead.

No fever, but it's true that you don't seem to be doing well. Do you want me to call the doctor?

No, it will be fine. I'll just rest.

Okay. Rest well my darling.

Mom, I'm 17 years old. I pretended to complain.

I have bad news for you. Even when you are 60, you will still be my bunny. She said, placing a kiss on my forehead.

Then she left. My whole body let out a huge sigh of relief. I could finally stop pretending to be Tom and start moaning in pain again. I knew it was pointless, but it was all I could do. My only consolation was that I could spend this last day of waiting in peace. At least, that's what I thought. After a time that I had difficulty defining, my door was violently smashed open and the light blinded me. On the threshold stood Jack, visibly angry, who shouted:

What are you up to?

Nothing, I'm sick. Can't you see it? I replied.

Do you really think I'm going to believe that? It might work with my mother, but not with me.

What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?

Yes, but I skipped it. He admitted, as if it didn't matter in the slightest.

You shouldn't skip school. I reproached him.

You are not my mother and even less my brother. And don't change the subject. Tell me what's going on.

For all response, I let out a small cry of pain. A glimmer of understanding lit up in his brain.

You are starving. He stated.

How did you guess? No matter. Now that you know I'm not scheming anything, go back to school. If you hurry, you can still be excused.

Why are you still pretending? Jack asked.

Pretending what? When we do not nourish ourselves, our cells cannot regenerate and our organs gradually dissolve. It's like being slowly flayed alive. I am not pretending to suffer to gain your sympathy.

Pretending to be my brother. Pretending to care about how I'm doing or if I need help with my homework. It's useless, don't you think? If your goal is for me to become a Yeerk's slave. He explained, his voice charged with emotion.

It was indeed a good question. And I didn't have a damn clue. In fact, he was right. What interest would it have seen that, anyway, he would inevitably be a host before reaching the legal drinking age? But I wasn't in the mood to think about it, let alone admit it in front of him.

If your behavior changes in any way, it will be suspicious to the other Yeerks and some ambitious person might report me for sympathy in order to take my place.

I see. Thank you for being honest. I prefer that to having to endure the pretense of good feelings.

Now that you're reassured that I hate you, can you let me agonize in peace?

He asked with a sadistic smile:

Why don't you just go feed yourself? Is something stopping you?

If I had questioned the strange tone with which this sentence was spoken, fate would have radically changed. But even when I was in top form, I had trouble grasping the subtleties of human behavior.

Those Andalite commando bastards destroyed the main Kandrona generator. As a result, our access to the remaining Kandrona has been strictly rationed until a new one is brought in. And since I'm low in the hierarchy, I'm among the most rationed. Fortunately, near the highway exit, we have a base with enough shuttles for all the Yeerks to make frequent trips to the mother ship's pool.

Oh my poor thing. Isn't it too hard? You know what, I'm going to get some popcorn and stay to make sure I don't miss any of the show.

Popcorn won't help me, but it's nice. Ahhh. It really hurts, but fortunately Tom isn't trying to fight against me. That helps me a lot. Some Yeerks are so weakened that they lose control of their unwilling hosts.

But that's great. It means that people are freed from the Yeerks. Those Andalites are heroes. Jack rejoices.

Of course not. As soon as that happens, the host and the Yeerk are eliminated. We cannot afford to have unwilling hosts wandering around and revealing our invasion to everyone. You should not admire the Andalites. They must have known that destroying the Kandrona would lead to the death ofThousands of humans infected. But they don't care. For them, these are acceptable losses.

I had the impression that my answer had upset him. But I must have been dreaming. On the other hand, he replied angrily:

While you, do you care about it? It is you who kill the hosts, not the Andalites. They are just trying to free us.

You are too naive. The Andalites will kill you all if necessary to ensure that my species is exterminated. In any case, in a few days, the Veleek will have gotten rid of us.

What is a Veleek?

I shouldn't have said that. If I weren't so weakened by hunger, I would never have made such confidences. But talking to him made me feel better and what difference could it make anyway.

It is a creature composed of a colony of tiny insects that feed on zero energy and assemble to form immense tornadoes capable of destroying entire buildings. Visser-3 brought it to Earth and trained it to detect zero energy emitted when Andalites use their morphing technology. As soon as they morph, the creature will detect them, then go to the location and kill them.

They might defeat him.

That would surprise me. The Veleek is invincible. Even a Yeerk ship is no match for this creature.

She must have a weakness.

You are right. But only one: it fears water. That's even how we repel it when it tries to eat the ship of the visser. But the Andalites will be dead before they figure it out.

Okay. Rest well. I have to go to school.

I thought you wanted to stay? I asked weakly, but too late. He was already running towards the exit. What had gotten into him? I returned to my agony with the certainty that I would no longer be disturbed.