Post by Admin on Aug 6, 2009 2:05:03 GMT -5
Suji:
Suji was reclining in one of the two lawn chairs behind the HQ. It was dirty in a dusty way, but she'd brushed off most of the dry leaves at least. The sky above was bright blue, and it wasn't cold out. She had her head tilted back, her hair falling back like a dark curtain. Her eyes were closed, and the sun was shining on her face--her legs were extended in front of her, crossed at the ankle.
She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and her underarmor morphing shirt. Her feet were bare. Luckily she'd found a few spare changes of clothes that fit her in the room that was now hers; there'd even been a pair of tennis shoes in there, but it was nice out, and she liked the feeling of the cool air on her feet.
It would be impossible to tell what she was thinking, if she was thinking at all. It didn't seem likely that she was sleeping though--the position couldn't have been comfortable enough for that.
David:
David had almost read his way through the HQ's small supply of novels, and he had planned on doing some more reading outside. Suji was already there, reclining in one of the lawn chairs. He cracked a grin. David knew there was more to Suji than this, but he'd always thought of her as being raised as a soldier. She had a poker face up a lot, so you could never tell what she was thinking. And whenever he felt her eyes on him, he had a strange vision of his soul being judged. All this aside, he found that Suji was easy to be around, and he especially loved catching her acting casual, like now.
The second lawn chair creaked as he sank into it and he flipped open his book. "Hey," he said.
Suji:
Suji heard the noise, but didn't react immediately. David. She didn't have to open her eyes to know: Kiera and Riley were the only other people she knew that would sit down beside her, walking up without pause. And they would probably even say something before sitting down. Riley might crack a joke about the seat being taken, Kiera would probably chirp a hello. She doubted anyone else would even bother to try to converse.
"Hey." She still didn't open her eyes, but she did smile. It wasn't a cold smile; even if inside she felt a bit tumultuous, Suji liked David. David was a nice guy, the kind that she didn't ever have to worry about stabbing her in the back. Kiera was much the same in that way. Eventually she did open her eyes, and without raising her head, tilted it to the side to look at him. She squinted a bit in the sunlight, and looked down at the book in his lap. "What book? Anything good?"
David:
"What, this?" He showed her the cover. "Pawn of Prophecy, by David Eddings. It's completely worthless. It's your average questing forever, kings, queens, swords, magic, fantasy story. I like it for the witty banter and the excesive sarcasm. Besides, Ive already read most everything else that we have here. Pretty soon, I'll have to go dumpster diving for new books." He grinned. "Enjoying yourself?"
No, she's not. That's why she's still out here, idiot. Oh well. He'd asked dumber questions before.
Suji:
"I used to read a lot." Suji's voice was even, and she smiled at David as she talked. "Mostly just literary fiction while I was in school, lots of long boring stuff. After the war there was a period where I lived in a library. I stocked up on how-to books then." She laughed under her breath, face still scrunched up as the sun was in her eyes. "If I have to read even one more page on how to fix plumbing I'm going to find the nearest cliff and jump off of it."
"Enjoying yourself?"
Suji's smile faded a little, and she sat up. Leisurely she scratched her head. "The sun's nice enough," she said under her breath, smirking over at him. She was bent forward, elbows on her knees. Her hands laced together, supporting her chin as she gave him a sidelong smile. She moved her feet along on the grass, feeling the soft touches on the sensitive skin of the bottom of each foot. But she didn't directly answer his question. There was a lot on her mind, but she didn't mind the company. David wouldn't be grating on her, and it wouldn't be bad to talk with him. Remembering the joke he told the first time they'd met, Suji realized that not only wouldn't she mind, but it might improve her mood.
"What about you?"
David:
"Well, I like coming out here to read," David replied. "Of course, come winter I might have to think of a new place to read. I'll probably just curl up in front of the heater. Assuming there's still something to read by then. Heck, how-to books sound better than no books at all." He settled back into the chair. "I just hope it won't come to that." Now what was the question I was trying to answer? Oh well. If it was important and I didn't answer it, she'll ask again. "Man, living in a library... that sounds like fun. I didn't think the yeerks left any libraries standing. I mean, they don't serve to much of a purpose to the yeerks."
One of the many reasons he hated the yeerks: they destroyed books. He'd seen them at it during his wandering, and it had made him sick with anger. Normally, he was slow to anger, but the sight of the yeerks destroying what was left of human culture... He shook his head. Happy thoughts, David. Happy thoughts.
Suji:
"They don't serve much purpose, no. I'm pretty sure some Yeerks actually find books interesting to read, but libraries are either abandoned or torn down all over the place. I was just in one of the abandoned ones." Suji looked forward to the HQ, chin still resting on her hands. "I don't know if 'fun' is the right word, but I'm sure it was better than a lot of the alternatives."
Suji remembered back to her little claimed library in one of the suburbs of New York state. "That's actually around when I met my first Animorph. It was months ago, though it doesn't really feel like it. A woman named Luce wandered for a place to sleep for a night. She was on a mission to collect some oatmeal-addicted Controller. I ended up tagging along." That was the much abridged version, but Suji wasn't sure David wanted to hear her life story, and she was less sure she wanted to tell it. "And I guess that's where I started out in all of this."
She leaned slightly to one side, looking back to David. "How long have you been playing guerrilla war-fighter?"
David:
David made a face. "I haven't really been keeping track of time. It all seems like a blur to me, ever since..." He took a deep breath. "My brother, Karl, lured me into the sharing. Well, the yeerk in his head did." Wait. Am I actually at the point where I can't tell the difference between yeerk and host anymore? Even for Karl? David swallowed. "And then, when Karl's yeerk was trying to force my head into the yeerk pool, Karl managed to get control of his body for a little bit, enough to let me go free. I must've spent at least a month or two wandering the streets of Chicago until Riley found me." His eyes were burning. He'd just lumped Karl and his yeerk into one entity. He'd made them the same in his mind. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself for that. He felt rotten.
Suji:
Suji watched him. It was a hard thing for him to remember--or at least that's what she could tell from her side of things. She straightened, reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't seem like the type of person that would bother, and she hoped she guess correctly; though if not, it would be a lesson learned.
"Seems like everyone has siblings caught up in the war. But your brother must have been strong to resist control long enough to do even that. I know you would have done the same for him." She rubbed his shoulder a little before pulling her arm back. She didn't want to talk about her sister, Lisa. Everyone else was heartbroken over having to save their siblings. She was dreading it--because attempting meant the chance of messing up. And failing to save someone seemed more horrible to Suji than waiting to try when your chances of success were greater. She doubted this was a popular sentiment.
And maybe she was just afraid to face her family after she ran from them at the beginning of all of this.
"Bright side though, right?" Suji smiled at him: a smile that was wry but warm, that sort of laughed at the situation without really suggesting that she thought the good outweighed the bad. "Now we're superheroes." Though she kept smiling, her eyes suddenly became a little distant--looking through him rather than at him. And then her attention snapped back. "Where was this? Your brother? Close to here--in Chicago even?"
Her family was back in New York somewhere--and she had no idea if that meant they were in the city or the suburbs. But if Karl might be close by... well that was a different story, wasn't it?
David:
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, we lived in Chicago... well, we lived in Oak Park, but the Sharing meeting was in Chicago." He put his book down on the grass and rubbed his eyes. If we're superheros, shouldn't be unable to do any wrong? And I just wronged Karl worse than I ever have in my entire life, including when I let us grow distant. "I don't know where he is now, but I would assume he's in Chicago or close to it."
And I will get him back. He is not a yeerk, the yeerk is not him. He's a lonely guy who looks like me, who once made a twin-english dictionary. The yeerk is the one that tried to shove one of its kind into my ear. He felt Suji's hand on his shoulder, and gave a weak huff of laughter. "I wish I could do the whole poker face you've got going."
Suji:
"I wish I could do the whole poker face you've got going," he said. Suji laughed under her breath. "Be careful what you wish for, right? Everything comes at a price, you can trust me on that." She gave him a wink, but there was a distinct lack of humor behind all of that. It was so true, wasn't it? The poker face, as he might call it. Reading people. Planning everything, being in control at all times. Everything at a price. And if Suji was willing to pay, where did that leave her? Awfully somber thoughts.
"So when are we rescuing him?" She didn't shy away from the question: it was direct, honest, as if she might have been asking what David had for breakfast. As if it was probably marked on all their calendars. That's what they did: rescue people. And maybe it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, but they were being trained for a reason. And if most Yeerks in Chicago visited the same huge pool, well, finding Karl might not be that difficult at all. The fact that he and David were twins would probably only work to their advantage.
David:
"Well, I figured that when I saw him on my patrol, I'd swoop down, knock him out, and drag him back to HQ to stay for three days," David replied. "And the best part is, I'm not sure if I'm joking or not." The straight-forward way she'd asked had cut through his growing depression, which was good, because these bouts came too often. And he really didn't know if he was joking or not. "I mean, I know it's not a smart idea, but this is my twin brother we're talking about. We used to be the same cell. We're... well, were, pretty close." He swallowed as another small wave of depression jostled him. My fault. My fault he was taken. If I'd paid more attention, if I hadn't ignored him all those years, would he be a controller now?
Suji:
Suji listened carefully to David, envisioning what he was telling her, taking him seriously (though registering that he might not realize himself how serious he was or wasn't). She noted the tiny blip towards the end, the reframing of his words. This time she didn't put a hand on his shoulder, but she did turn her body towards him. Her elbows rested on the armrest of the lawnchair. "No, it's not a smart idea."
The look she gave him wasn't open--it was still close to her poker face, as he'd put it. But it was resolved, steely, determined: the face of someone who believed wholly in what they were proposing. "Because that's not a plan at all. And since it sounds like there isn't a plan, we're going to make one." Inside she felt a twinge of anger: why wasn't there a plan? It wasn't David's fault that there wasn't; he didn't strike her as the planning type, and she'd have to be convinced of his planning abilities before she followed him anywhere. But it wasn't David's job to plan things, was it? Had no one put this on the agenda?
Was there even an agenda here?
Before letting her hackles raise, Suji continued, not showing her anger because she didn't want David to think she was mad at him. "I mean, hell, if he's your twin, it just makes the search that much easier. We know who we're looking for." She half-smiled. "If he was part of The Sharing that means his Yeerk is one of the more upstanding slugs in slug-society. He'll probably be nearby the pool, and the slug probably got a damn good promotion post-take over. Most of the ones who were in hosts found through The Sharing were promoted. They were 'recruiters'," the term came out with a certain tone of disdain, "during the war."
Of course she couldn't know any of this for sure. But it was definitely a solid start. And thinking about this was a damn sight better than pondering her predicament with the Toby-situation.
David:
David was immediately all ears when Suji said that they were going to start planning Karl's rescue. When she made her guess of where Karl was, he could have kissed her. Now he knew where to search, and then they could pull off this plan of hers and Karl would be free. "How do you know all that?" he asked. He'd never learned anything about any of that when he'd joined. But then, she'd been sworn in by Cassie, so she was bound to know more.
So, near the yeerk pool... "Someone would have to scout the place out beforehand," he said. "But I have a cockroach morph that'll work for that." Of course, if he could catch Karl alone when he was scouting, he wouldn't wait for backup. He'd seize his chance.
Suji:
David seemed to come to abrupt attention when she started talking, and Suji wouldn't lie: she certainly liked that feeling. Being listened to, especially when planning came into all of it, was a good feeling. And when someone listened to you directly, it meant you didn't have to resort to other means of getting your point across. Directness could be so much more efficient when it came to something like this.
"I was in New York City for a while. Maybe longer than you've been here," she didn't know exactly how long David had been here, but she was willing to bet that she'd been an Animorph--at least in the sense that she'd been able to morph--for longer than he had. "New York is, I guess you could say--a lot faster paced. It's either you get used to it, or you get run over by it; maybe not much different from before the invasion. Thankfully I'm a fast learner, but I also had help." That was more or less the truth. Between Cassie and Luce, Suji probably did have more information than the average Animorph was given starting out, at least if David and Kiera were any indication. That, coupled with her ability to analyze and deconstruct, meant that she usually wasn't totally lost when it came to 'the next step' (at the same time, it meant that if she WAS lost, it was probably a really, really bad thing). "Mostly you just have to understand how Yeerk interactions work if you want to know who's probably calling the shots and who's mopping up around the pool. Yeerks that were put in Sharing hosts were already decently ranked--they got hosts at all to begin with. And they were seen as an instrumental part of the pre-war invasion."
Probably too much of a history lesson, but Suji believed that information was powerful: moreso than being able to turn into a fly or an elephant. Maybe it would help him one day; if not, it shouldn't hurt him.
"You couldn't do the scouting alone. When I meant 'nearby' the pool, I didn't mean he might be stationed directly on its perimeter--though maybe he works in a building nearby. I mean that he's likely close enough to the area to visit that main pool, rather than be sequestered off into a suburb with a smaller pool to its own. So scouting might turn into a three-day mission." That, and there was another problem with David trying to scout alone: she wasn't going to be the one responsible for sending him off to the certain death (or worse: enslavement) he would face if he got impulsive in a delicate situation. Hopefully planning would reassure him that they were all working together on it, and keep him from falling prey to knee-jerk decisions.
"And even if you did spot him, you couldn't act right then and there. There is no way you'd be able to get him out of the Yeerk pool area single-handedly, unless you've got some kind of amazing morph that can withstand lasers and charge through Hork Bajir." Not likely. "And if you tried, you wouldn't just be risking your own life. You'd be risking all of our lives, and forfeiting your brother's chance at escaping." She shifted her weight, rubbed the back of her neck a little. "Finding him at the pool would only be so that we could follow him to where he spends the rest of his time. Catching him alone--or as close to that as possible--would be the safest way to go. The only plan that has a moderate chance at success."
David:
David frowned. With each passing second, freeing Karl was becoming more complicated. And Suji was right, he didn't have the morphs he needed. But Raven and Riley had said that he would get better morphs later. Later wasn't good enough. He wasn't going to make Karl wait for later.
But Suji was right. He couldn't rush into this by himself. And, he had to admit, sitting here planning the next move was much better than hopelessly scanning the ground during his patrols. Because all that did was make him more desperate, though he tried very hard not to show it to the others. He didn't want them worrying about him.
"Is there a chance he lives alone?" asked David, hoping for the right answer.
Suji:
Suji noticed the frown, and took it as a good sign. It meant that he was taking this seriously, maybe seeing just how bad the consequences could become if things were executed poorly. At least, that was what she hoped the frown meant.
At his question, she licked her lips in contemplation. She didn't want to completely dash his hopes, but it was too hard to say. "He might. The thing about Yeerks is that they aren't all the same: they don't all like the same things, what have you. They're as different on an individuals basis as we are, though their species is more unified as a whole under their government. At least, as far as fear can unite an entire species." She paused, looking down as she thought aloud. "He might live alone, if the Yeerk itself considers privacy and solitude to be a sign of status. At the same time, they're essentially communal creatures--even the ones with hosts still tend to spend a good deal of their time sloshing around up against each other in a big puddle. It could go either way. But there is a better chance of him living alone if his Yeerk is of a decent rank, if only because lower ranks aren't taken care of all that well. At least, if he lives in a nearby apartment, he'll probably have his own room--even if it isn't a suite or something."
David:
David mulled through that in his head. "So it all comes down to needing to know more," he said finally. Great. I'm no closer to saving Karl than I was at the beginning of this planning session. "And then, there are a lot of entrances to the yeerk pool, aren't there? How can we find out which one he uses?" I'll scout them all out, if I have to. I'll take my chances and take a trip into the pool itself if need be.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. He wasn't any closer, but he was actually doing something besides repetitive patrol rounds which yielded nothing. Then a thought occurred to him.
"What about Kiera's twin? Kaelyn?"
Suji:
"It always comes down to knowing more," Suji replied with a wry smile. Unfortunately, it was the truth. When your forces were nothing but fragmented groups of kids against impossible odds, you couldn't afford to skip out on planning or information gathering. At least, that was how she figured everything. Flying by the seat of her pants was not Suji's style.
"As for Kaelyn, Kiera and I talked..." Her mouth drew into a somewhat thin line, displeased. "...last night, before our special guest arrived." She tried to remove the utter disdain from her voice: she didn't want to have to explain herself, but at the same time, maybe it would be better for David to suspect something about Toby. "From what she said, it sounds like Kaelyn was living in New York with their dad. Their parents divorced when they were young. So I think that if saving a twin is on the agenda, we should start close to home."
Suji reclined back into her chair, brow knitting as she thought. "What morphs do you have now? I've seen the albatross, and you've mentioned a cockroach. The roach will certainly be useful, but what are we working with in total?"
David:
"Well, when I first joined, I got the roach and a raccoon, then I got the albatross and a robin. I haven't really used the robin too much... I've never had a reason to," he said. "And it's probably useless for whatever plan we come up with." Or for anything else. Why did I pick that morph again? Oh yeah, because I like the robin's song. So now I can morph it and sing to myself. Real productive.
"But Riley's been saying that Ill be ready for a new morph soon," he added as an after thought. "I'm thinking of going for the fossa. My Uncle used to study those, since he lived in Madagascar, and I always thought they were pretty cool."
Suji:
Suji nodded. "Robin's aren't useless. Think about it: a bird flying by the Yeerk pool--what's going to look more out of place? A robin or a big albatross?" She'd been given a large bird morph earlier today as a job-well-done in getting to the Chicago faction. Which was pretty ironic, seeing as how she'd had to flap all the way here as a tiny owl in the first place.
"You've seen my owl and capuchin morphs, but I can also morph a roach and a vulture--the vulture as of today. I actually haven't even tried it yet, though I was thinking about it. Such a pretty day, and I haven't really been introduced to flying yet. At least not the soaring, leisurely kind."
Suji tried to picture the fossa. She'd spent a lot of time studying animals while she was in New York; it took precedence over her other reading by far. Know your weapons, right? "A fossa is a good choice. I'm not positive what I'd be acquiring next."
David:
"I'd like another bird... especially a bird of prey," David said. "Nah, I need to brush up on my ground morphs. But maybe after the fossa." A vulture, huh? David loved birds of prey. So majestic, powerful... soaring in lazy circles over his head, he'd always wanted to be one. And he was as close to that goal as he'd ever been. That was the first thing he'd do when he rescued Karl, he'd convince Riley to give them both bird-of-prey morphs and they'd go flying. That would be Karl's introduction to the other side of the war.
"Maybe we should start acquiring some fish too. Just in case."
Suji:
"Fish are tricky. If we were in a coastal faction, it might make more of a difference. But here, you'd definitely want something that could get out of the water if it needed to, if you were choosing a water morph. Snakes, alligators, even amphibians might be a better choice." It was something that Suji spent a lot of time thinking about. The trick was to have as few 'regular' morphs as possible that could be used in as many ways as possible. That way you had time to experiment with them a lot, really get used to the animals instincts, get the morphing down to a shortened time.
"We could take a flying trip to the pool today, if you wanted. Or to see the area around it. We can't get too close to it, but getting a basic visual of what we're working with wouldn't be such a bad idea. Have you seen it before?"
David:
"I've seen it from the ground," said David. "It was right around one of the entrances that Riley found me." He turned the idea over in his head. "Yeah. A bit of scouting couldn't hurt, could it? Do you mean right now?" David was more than ready to go. In fact, he was already envisioning the albatross, though no changes had started. It was almost as if he was waiting for Suji's "all clear" to go. Like she was the leader.
Hey, she could be. Not that I'd want to oust Raven or Riley, but she's good. He waited for her OK.
Suji:
Suji didn't think that it would be any offense to Riley if they went scouting. This was downtime for both of them, and she wasn't planning on any daring heroics. Besides, if anything, she didn't have visual of the pool--only knew it's basic location from the geography Cassie had told her (if only to keep Suji from accidentally wandering too near the pool on her flight to Chicago). "No time like the present," Suji intoned, but she wasn't totally gung-ho. "Would you want to bring anyone? Only people with bird morphs though--too tricky otherwise."
David already looked like his mind was made up--and while she appreciated that he was so eager, she was a little wary of it too. And sure it might be easier to handle just David if they both decided to go without anyone else, but at the same time, Suji was starting to wonder how much experience with scouting any of the other Animorphs here had. And it wouldn't be bad to start a lesson going. Two birds, one stone?
David:
He paused. The more people knew about the layout, the more people would be experienced when they planned out how to rescue Karl. On the other hand, he was going to have enough trouble getting around Suji if they saw Karl. David, you idiot, that's why she's planning this with you, so that you don't have to risk your life! Do you really think Karl will appreciate being free if you end up enslaved or dead because of it? He took a breath to calm himself.
"Yeah..." he said. "We should bring... Kiera and Ash. They have bird morphs. And, I'm not too sure about Toby." It wasn't so much a logical reason for not trusting Toby, because he didn't have one. It was gut instinct that he'd come to trust.
Toby:
Toby had just gotten up and decided a walk was in order. He wanted to know more about the place and the people he'd be with for a while. But exploring HQ would have to wait. He had heard voices outside and one of them he recognized.
He walked outside and saw a boy and a young woman there. "Hello. I think we've met but it was under stressful circumstances. How about we start again? My name is Toby."
David:
David choked. Had Toby heard what he'd just said? Apart from being really embarrassed, if David's gut feeling was correct, Toby might think him a threat to whatever he was doing. And David didn't know Toby well enough to know what Toby would do about that. David didn't trust him, which said plenty, since David was a very trusting person.
Don't let him see your face. Let Suji handle it. Meanwhile, GET THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE! He grinned. Like Suji. Never shows what she feels on her face. It was not a good joke, but it was enough that David was able to smile. He still didn't trust himself to say anything though, so he grabbed his book and buried his nose in it. Maybe Toby would think he was just shy. Which he was.
Suji:
Suji tensed a little when he mentioned Toby's name. She'd rather not bring him, but all the better if David was the one to say it. Better not to be the only one who had a problem with the kid. "So let's go see if Kiera and Ash are around." She knew that Ash had a bird more--a heron--but she'd never seen Kiera's. All the better that she did have one though.
She stood up off of the lawnchair, and stretched for a moment. Her toes dug into the slightly damp ground, and if felt good to reach her hands up over her head. After rolling her neck side to side a few times, she looked back down at David, one eyebrow raised, motioning for him to follow. "Are they usually at the HQ this time of day?" It might have made a little more sense to plan a scouting mission when everyone knew it was happening, but Suji knew it was important to be seen as a woman of her word. Besides, a little (highly controlled) spontaneity wasn't a bad thing.
But then Toby appeared, and that was the kind of spontaneity that she did not enjoy. Out of her peripherals she saw David sink back into the chair, pulling the book in front of his face. He didn't even answer the boy. Probably embarassed about what he'd just said. Which sparked a protective anger inside of Suji that fed on her already established strong dislike of the new guy. Not only did David maybe need to be protected from this kid, but David was hers. So was Kiera. It wasn't a pretty emotion, but it was there--if either of them were going to be won over, used like pawns, Suji was going to be the one doing it. This new kid could fuck off and die. At least she trusted herself to have everyone's safety at heart.
And all of these feelings are unfounded, she thought grimly. She could never express them aloud. How did you say: I know this guy is a manipulating scumbag, no really, takes one to know one, and boy is he ever.
"Suji," she responded. Her voice was even, but she turned enough that David couldn't see her face. On it was an icy expression. "This is David."
Toby:
Toby looked around at both of them. He hadn't heard what David had said, he'd just wandered out here. "Suji. I'll remember that. And David, yes?" He looked around. Suji's voice had been cold and unfriendly and David didn't seem to want to look at him. Added to that he wasn't on the best terms with Riley because he had lied to him. So great, no one here trusted him.
He'd never felt so alone and he wasn't sure what he needed to say or do to get some friends around here. "Sorry, was I interrupting a private conversation?" He looked slightly depressed, "I can go if you want."
David:
David immediately felt bad. Toby sounded genuine, and thus far, David's gut feeling was unfounded. It had been wrong before. Once. When he'd decided to trust Karl enough to be led to the yeerk pool. "Wait, it's fine, we were just talking about going flying somewhere," David said, his words falling over themselves in a rush to leave his mouth. "Wanna come?" He could explain what was going on on the way, but the more people knew their way around, the better when the time came to rescue Karl. Does he have a bird morph? IDIOT. "Do you, uh, have a, um bird morph?"
Toby:
Toby smiled, glad that someone was at least talking to him. Maybe he was wrong about everyone. Maybe it was just Suji who didn't like him. That was fine, he didn't much like her either. She had thrown a coat over his head and tied him up. Not his happiest memory.
"Yeah, I have a bird morph. A lark. I've only tried it out once though but it seemed fine and flying seemed really cool. Landing, not so much, I had trouble with that one, but flying," he got a dreamy look on his face that he didn't feel he needed to explain. Anyone who had morphed a bird and gone flying would understand. "I would love to go flying. Where are we going?"
Suji:
Suji was just about to tell Toby that it was a private conversation, when David invited him along. Her fingers clenched momentarily, but the hand was pressed to her side, hard to see. But maybe it wasn't a total loss. Suji could see how Toby acted in a group. And if he slipped up, she would remember it. And if he had to be a lark, she was sure as hell going as a vulture. That would probably be pretty good incentive not to do anything that endangered anyone.
"We were going to take a look at the Yeerk pool and the outlying area around it. Are you in?" Again, her voice was perfectly natural, even-keel. Nothing David would be able to pick up just from audio clues. Her expression, however, was piercing.
David:
She sounded fine... Had David been wrong about Toby? After all, all he had to go on was a gut feeling. Suji seemed to be fine with him. And David certainly trusted Suji's instincts a lot more than his own. That was why they were having this discussion, after all. Then he got a look at her face. She definitly didn't look happy. The calm voice was an extension of her poker face. Either she didn't want me to know that she didn't like this guy or she didn't want him to know. Or both.
He put the book down next to him. This would be interesting to watch.
Toby:
"Sure, I'm in!" Toby said, excited to be invited along, ignoring Suji's indifference. Toby had long ago learned that some people just wouldn't ever like you. You could suck up to them all you wanted but if they had some irrational grudge against you then nothing you did would matter.
Apparently Suji was just going to be one of those people and Toby wouldn't have cared that much except that he was afraid that she would bias everyone against him. But she seemed to be doing her best to keep her feelings to herself and David seemed ok and wanted him along so Toby wasn't going to sweat it much.
Suji:
She had hoped that he'd say no, or hesitate, or say that he had to get something first. That way they could ditch him. Of course, he probably realized that that would happen, and that this was his only (small) window of opportunity to go with them. "Right. Stay here then." Suji set off into the HQ. When she returned a few minutes later, she had removed the jeans, and was in her morphing outfit.
"Didn't see Kiera or Ash." She came back to the two boys, putting her hands momentarily on her hips. She addressed David mostly, tried to keep her irritation off of her face. "So I suppose it'll just be the three of us. Bird morph away, and so on." Suji watched them for a moment, and then started picturing the Egyptian vulture in her head.
David:
David no sooner heard the words "bird morphs" than he was already shrinking and sprouting wings. He was as anxious to be going somewhere as he'd ever been. This was the beginning of the plan to save Karl. He wanted this plan to move as quickly as possible.
The sooner, they did this, the sooner they could get to actually rescuing him. And that was the only thing on David's mind.
<Let's go already!> he said, flapping his way into the air.
Toby:
"Sorry." Toby concentrated on becoming the lark. He didn't like the morph much. There was something about becoming a small, weak, defenseless little thing that just didn't sit well with him. He was giving up power and it sucked. But at least he was getting wings and the power of flight. That was something.
Still he liked his snake morph better even though that was pretty small too.
He finished morphing right after David did and fluttered into the air and over to a tree. He assumed they were waiting for Suji to lead them (whatever) and turned to see if she had become whatever entry level bird morph they had given her only to be greeted by the sight of a flying monster. A bird with a wickedly sharp beak and an almost 2 meter wingspan.
<<A vulture! You're a freakin vulture! Talk about bad omens.>>
Suji:
The morph didn't come easily at first. Egyptian vultures, while she had seen a few pictures while in New York (studying animals of course, they were hardly native to the region), were not very similar to the average concept of a vulture. At least, not the way she'd usually thought of them.
First ivory and tan feathers sprouting from her arms. Her face snarled forward, lips forming a hard, wicked beak. The skin of her face looking like twisting, molten lava, before it turn on its bright orange coloration. Her eyes--already black--settled back, the whites also becoming inked over. Both of her bird morphs had totally blackened eyes, now, though this one had laser vision in daylight, unlike the owl. Her feet had already formed into hooked, shredding talons.
The mind of the vulture wasn't vicious or overly aggressive--not like she figured some birds of prey might be. It also wasn't as easily frightened as the small owl. As a scavenger it didn't have to hunt for a living, and was too bird to be regularly hunted itself. She shook her head, the ruff of white feathers puffing like a crown. Suji rested her mind, gathered herself, and allowed the bird's brain to do the work of getting her into the air. The first few flaps were heavy and a bit sloppy, but once she was high enough to catch a thermal, the warm air lifted her without any effort.
Suddenly, she could realize why people loved this so much.
But there was Toby's voice, bringing her back to reality. <<Not Egyptian vultures. They're meant to represent royalty, motherhood, and prosperity.>> She might have smirked if she had lips. It felt so good to fly, she almost forgot that she hated Toby. And being in this morph made her feel more comfortable with that situation: she dared him to try anything sneaky as that tiny little lark while she was in this morph. <<That is, of course, coming from a culture that also worships man-eating crocodiles.>> Her voice was humorous, but she figured it was warning enough if he chose to heed it.
Toby:
<<Motherhood? You know for some reason 'mother' just isn't a word that comes to mind when I think of Suji,>> Toby said sarcastically but for only David to hear. But he didn't make anymore snide remarks. David obviously was Suji's friend and Toby wouldn't win any points with him by insulting her.
He fell into the air, falling off the branch instead of flapping, and set off in the direction of the city. As he flew a shadow passed over him and sent a chill up both Toby's and the lark's spine. Suji could blather on all she wanted about prosperity but to the lark that bird meant one thing; Death. And Toby wasn't happy about having it above him. He hoped they would reach their destination soon.
David:
David wanted to roll his eyes. Man these two go together like water and oil. He was fine with that, though. You couldn't please everybody, and maybe they would grow to like, or at least tolerate, each other. On the other hand, if the plan to save Karl failed because of these two fighting, David would never forgive them. He pushed that morbid thought out of his head and focused on enjoying the thermals.
<Where is it, Suji?> He was more than ready to go. He had full confidence in Suji's speed in the air, but he was a little worried about Toby. Still, he knew Suji wouldn't wait for him, and David was loathe to lose any more time.
Suji:
Toby was already winging it towards the city, and therefore the direction of the pool. <<This way,>> Suji intoned, and changed her course with a few beats of her powerful wings. <<Looks like Toby knows the way well enough.>> She didn't add the accompanying snicker than immediately rose to mind. Sure he might just be drawing on the fact that the city would likely indicate the presence of a pool, but the average person might not make that connection--especially the average person who'd only just been inducted into their little society.
<<Make sure we maintain a good distance from each other. Stay within thoughtspeech range, but try to fly at the altitude your morph is most comfortable in. We don't want to group up at all.>> She kept an eye on the lark below her. She didn't try to outfly him--in other circumstances it might feel good to leave him behind, but she wouldn't be responsible for getting him lost too far away from the base. When they were close enough, that kind of thing was okay. Not in foreign territory. If he somehow fell behind or got caught, that would be on her head.
But that was all right. The vulture wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere. <<Remember, strict scouting. If we pass over the pool, it can only be momentary. Any sign of danger--like a dracon canon--we need to scatter, and regroup later. We should spend more time inspecting the layout of the city, it will be safer that way.>> And then, though she kept her voice neutral, she added for a certain redhead's express benefit: <<Absolutely no heroics.>>
David:
<Yeah yeah yeah,> David said, his eyes scanning the ground. Then an idea popped into his head, and he just couldn't resist mentioning it out loud. <You know, if we really wanted to look natural, you'd attack Toby and eat him or something.>
Suddenly, his heart leaped in his chest. There he was! It had to be- No. That wasn't Karl. In fact, the only similarity was the red hair. Other than that, the kid bore no resemblance to Karl at all. David sighed mentally and resumed his search.
Suji:
<<I'm sure both he and his morph appreciate the suggestion,>> Suji replied, laughing a little. Not meanly: she in no way wanted to imply that she'd attack another Animorph. And having control of the situation allowed her a certain amount of good humor. Unequivocal power over a person you didn't trust an inch might make a you more lenient on a whole. After a few minutes of flying, they were reaching the city.
Suji thought she saw David's albatross wings twitch, but she wasn't sure. It must have been miniscule, if it did happen--maybe her heightened vision had just caught him adjusting to the air current. Suji kept scanning below them, picking up a little more height as they came towards the taller buildings. <<I can't see inside the tinted windows on the business buildings,>> she broadcasted to them. <<Can you, David? Don't albatrosses hunt for food underwater?>>
There was nothing of extreme note yet: save for what they could start to see in the distance. A place where the buildings that might have stood there suddenly disappeared. A dip in the ground. The pool.
David:
<Oh, yeah,> said David, tearing his eyes away from the streets and staring at the tinted windows. He floated in lazy circles, trying to see everything. But there was no sign of Karl. <I can't see that well, it's a little different from water, but I can sort of see through the windows,> he said. <But I don't see Karl.> As an afterthought, he added, <I also don't see any secret entrances, technology, or yeerk pools. As far as I can see, there are no yeerks, just humans doing business. And yes, I realize that's not true.>
He glanced back at the ground, and his heart jumped again. It had to be him this time! No, wrong again. Not even a redhead, just wearing the same hat that Karl always used to wear.
Suji:
<<So this is a stupid idea, no offense David. This would be a stupid idea for me to do, for you two it is a downright suicidal idea and I didn't plan on dying today.>> Toby kept most of his scorn to himself but he really didn't appreciate the complete and utter lack of thought that had gone into this and the fact that it put his own life in danger.
<<Has it occurred to anyone that there are no birds around anymore. Has it occurred to you at all that the yeerks wiped all the animals out specifically to limit animorph spying and that having two birds, with wing spans 7 feet or more, just drifting over the yeerk pool might, just might set off some sort of alarm. It is bad enough that we are over the city. How do you think I knew there were animorphs in the area! I saw a raven flying around all the time and it was the only thing in the air besides for Bug Fighters.>> Toby was staying low to the ground and flitting from building to building, being as inconspicuous as the albatross and the vulture were not.
David:
David didn't hear Toby. This time, he was sure of it. There could be no mistaking it. Red hair, looked exactly like him, the same Cubs hat he always wore... It couldn't possibly be anyone else but Karl. David didn't even pause to think. He failed to notice that there was a crowd, and that he would have more than twenty controllers shoving him to the pavement the second he started demorphing.
All he could see was Karl. David tucked his wings to his sides and dove straight for Karl, only narrowly missing Toby as he flitted from building to building. David kept his eyes locked on Karl as he flew into an alley and started to demorph.
Toby:
<<Arg! Stupid! David get back here! What are you doing?>> Toby flew to the alley that David had landed in but didn't follow him in his foolishness. <<Why are you demorphing? What is going on?>> Neither David, nor Suji had told them what exactly they would be scouting for and what all of this was about so Toby had no idea what had set David off so.
What he did know was that their were eyes everywhere in this city. Hell, a couple of days ago he had been a pair. No matter how much you thought you were unobserved there was always some thief, some low life, some scavenger hanging around watching you. And the animorphs had gotten arrogant and lazy, demorphing in the city one too many times thinking they were unobserved.
Suji:
<<Well well, you seem to know a lot of Yeerks and their movement for playing so weak and helpless, don't you?>> Suji replied, sneering through her thoughtspeech. <<Besides, you could have opted out. And you're free to turn around and go home. But in any case, has it occurred to you that we're too far up in the air for most people to see us, and that scavengers are probably the only species doing moderately well after the end of the world?>> David's morph was harder to justify, but it was still very high. That, and to be honest, what did the Yeerks have to fear? As far as Suji had heard--from Cassie and from what she'd gathered in her short time spent there--it wasn't like the Chicago faction ever really attacked anything anyway. Especially not the pool itself. And Suji knew that success on such a grand scale (all-out invasion and enslavement of an entire species, anyone?) bred laziness and complacency. Had the Chicago Animorphs ever given them cause to worry about the security of their control? She'd be surprised to learn that most Yeerks even realized there was a local faction hanging around at all.
That, and in the distance over the pool, she could see several birds circling. From this distance, even with her laser like eyes, she couldn't tell what they were--but they were riding the thermals that were wafting off of the heated water of the pool. Of course she would never be able to shamble up there and hang out with them as a vulture, but being the 'only thing in the sky' was a little ridiculous. Not even the Yeerks were pissy or persistent enough to kill every pigeon or seagull in the world.
She was about to make a point about this, or at least about to say something, but that escaped her mind entirely when she saw David diving. She began to dive herself, but realized that a large bird chasing another might actually get someone's attention. And she wasn't fast enough to catch him from this distance, this altitude. The vulture's body was too large. Had to think.
Had to think. Had to ignore the screaming inside her head that she'd been wrong that she'd judged David wrongly that she'd trusted him to be rational and now she was going to pay for it.
She glanced down into the alley where David was already demorphing. God damn it. <<David. Remorph. You are endangering both Toby and me. You are endangering your brother. THERE IS A CROWD AROUND HIM, IT IS BROAD DAYLIGHT. Think about this David. Please.>> Her voice switched from authoritative, to actually pleading. <<You have to THINK about this. If you try to get him now, you won't get within 10ft of him before they haul you off and make you a Controller. If you remorph, we can follow him and see where he lives, David. Then we'll get him for sure.>>
Suji looked from David to Karl. She was prepared to do several things if David did not cease and desist. None of them would be pretty.
<<Remorph into your robin. We will follow him. Do you think your brother is going to appreciate it if you get yourself killed or captured because you were too busy being an impulsive dumbass to come up with a real plan? You might be the only thing he has to keep on fighting for, David. You get captured, you take that away from him.>>
Toby:
<<David, look over there, see those things floating in the air. Those aren't birds they are hover drones!>> You idiot was the silent ending to that sentence. <<And if they spot you, which is what it is their job to do, they will shoot you. I saw them kill a girl once for taking an apple. You really think they won't shoot a fucking animorph!>>
Toby wasn't panicking. If things got bad enough he'd do just as Suji suggested and fly away. But he was starting to get a little annoyed with how this situation was spiraling out of control. Toby hated messiness, hated imperfection. So maybe he was getting a little angry.
<<I know about these things because I've survived so long. You don't stay alive in this city or Cleveland without knowing what to avoid. Like attention!>> The last was more directed at David since he could see some pedestrians walking their way. <<My sister and I are alive because we hid well and now she is captured because we didn't hide well enough. Get in the air David.>>
Suji:
Yes, Suji thought, snarling in her mind. Stayed alive so long by hiding. But hiding doesn't always keep you alive and well, does it? She wanted to push the thought out of her mind, but it was all she could do to keep it from boiling over into thoughtspeech, let alone suppress it entirely. And then when things started to go wrong, you cooked up some story and came knocking on -our- door.
She stabilized her altitude, still waiting to see what David would decide. But was there really a better way to get quick, safe recon work done, than flying? The other option was trying to slip in under the Controller's noses, and she barely trusted herself to make all the right moves in regards to that, let alone someone like David. Aerial was always the best way to go if you can to map out the lay of the land. There was no avoiding that. She hadn't planned to go directly over the pool, and she could have spotted that the bird weren't 'actually' birds long before she was close enough for them to be a threat.
But Toby played a different game, didn't he? Suji knew about weighing risks versus benefits. Toby was starting to sound like he thought being an Animorph was just another 'good place to hide' for a while. Maybe it wasn't about finding a way to fight back at all. She fought the overwhelming urge to reply that she'd lived long enough in the most dangerous city around.
And the story about shooting a girl that took an apple. What kind of bullshit was that? The Yeerks didn't waste good hosts--at least not ones that were young. And food wasn't exactly something denied to working hosts. She didn't know if she believed it, but now wasn't the time to argue. Had to focus. Had to watch David.
David:
Their arguments finally broke into David's head. His original suicidal plan of "run out and grab Karl" was gone, replaced by another plan of a different suicidal nature. David closed his eyes and brought the image of a cockroach into his head.
He began to shrink rapidly, and a pair of antennae popped out of his forehead. His eyesight winked out and was soon replaced with compound eyes. Suddenly, his bones disappeared, and he slumped over like a sack of jello, his internal organs sloshed around unpleasantly and he both felt and saw his mouth erupt into mandibles.
<Cover me,> he said. <I promise I won't do anything stupid.>
Two extra human legs popped out of his torso, and began to turn hard. His skin was suddenly the color of caramel, and could feel something growing out of the back of his head. Wings. Vestigial, since he couldn't use them for much. His arms and legs grew extra joints.
When he was done, he dashed forward. <Someone guide me to Karl. He'll go into his apartment and I can scout the place out.> After all, he wasn't a very big cockroach.
Suji:
<<David. I'm glad that you're coming to your senses, but listen to me. You don't know if he's even going to his apartment at all. He could be on his way to the pool itself. And then you won't have any way out. You could even be stuck as a cockroach. It's not a good plan David. Come back. Demorph, and then remorph as a robin. We're going home.>>
Suji couldn't perform damage control on this. David seemed to have reigned in his impulses a bit, which was good (she'd been prepared to dive and rake his eyes, which would force him to morph or suffer through the pain--or even to threaten to blind Karl himself; but she knew what happened to Controllers who suffered disabilities). But they weren't out of the woods. Not by far.
Though she'd never imagined she'd be forced to do it, Suji turned her private thoughtspeech upon Toby. <<I can't come down that low. Even if I did, I would be useless. If David doesn't turn around, you need to swoop down and get him.>> And then, though it burned her to admit weakness, the thought was already out of her head (though still directed at Toby). <<I miscalculated. I thought everyone was more->> More what? Like us? That didn't sound right. <<-well, less foolhardy than that. I never imagined.>>
Rather than concede anything else, Suji continued to circle in the sky, still too high to do anything. Now the powerful span of her wings didn't feel so invincible: she felt useless. So not only had David's actions rendered her inert up here in the air, but they were forcing her to rely on Toby to handle the situation. And Suji was not particularly one to forgive, let alone forget.
David:
The yeerk pool? Who cared about the yeerk pool? He'd face a thousand yeerk pools if that's what it took to sa- STUCK AS A COCKROACH?? Absolutely not. David demorphed as quickly as he could, shifting straight into his robin morph with barely a pause for breath.
Sorry, Karl, he thought, but I'm not ready to be a permanent cockroach for you. I'm sorry. He rose on robin's wings to the nearest power line. Sweeping the crowd with his eyes, he sighed. He couldn't see Karl anymore.
Suji:
Something Suji had said had gotten through. And she was glad; she didn't have to rely on Toby after all. But she'd never forget that David had pushed her to that point. He morphed into robin, and seemed relatively safe. Suji sighed--or at least wanted to. <<Both of you, head back to the HQ. I'll follow later on, so we're not all leaving at once. I might fly by myself for a bit too.>>
Crisis averted, and eager to distance herself from them, both physically and figuratively, Suji let the warm updraft of air carry her higher. Unlike David, who had not only morphed a bug but was not a robin, much closer to the ground than she was, Suji had not lost sight of Karl--all she had to do was look for another David down among the crowd, and she'd kept track of his movements, despite David's antics. Multitasking was one of her strong suits.
David:
David mutely took off from the wire. He didn't notice or care if Toby followed him. He flew in absolute silence back the HQ, through his open window, and onto his bed, where he demorphed and sat with his head in his hands. He'd failed Karl once again. He'd almost made things even worse. He spotted the book he'd been reading on his bed where he'd left it. He picked it up numbly, and, with a snarl, shredded it.
He noticed a bowl of soup from lunch on his nightstand. He'd been meaning to clean it up. He seized the bowl and flung it against a wall, where it shattered. "There, it's clean," he muttered. David began to morphed into the albatross and flapped out the window, heading for an empty piece of the woods. He landed and demorphed.
As soon as he was human, he started screaming. Rage, frustration, sadness, embarrassment, everything came pouring out in that cry. Still screaming, he picked up a rock and flung it against a tree. When that didn't satisfy him, he grabbed a large stick and began to viciously club the uncaring tree. When the stick was reduced to splinters, he used his fists.
When he'd screamed himself hoarse and his knuckles were bloody, he sat down on a log and started crying.
Toby:
Toby didn't follow David all the way back to HQ. He was quite disgusted with his new friend and he thought that if he stayed in his company he would surely find a reason to beret him sooner or later. Better to stay away from him altogether.
He did take off with him though so that Suji would see him leaving, but he fell behind and dropped down to the ground a couple of blocks from the edge of Chicago. The vulture's form had long ago disappeared from the air and he trusted that he was alone. Still, best to take precautions.
He flew around for a while until his two hour time limit was almost at hand and then dropped down into the yard of a seemingly abandoned house. He flew through one of the side windows and began to demorph. The person sitting in there had seen this already at least 3 times and wasn't surprised by the process if she was a little surprised by his arrival.
"How are things going?" She asked in a calm voice.
"Fine, just fine." Toby replied.
Suji:
The two smaller birds flitted away, and Suji stayed high in the air. The vultures clear, crisp vision made it almost misleading how far up she was; despite how small the people below had gotten, they still had a remarkable level of detail. Below, she watched as David--well, it was Karl, wasn't it, even though it looked like David--walked and chatted with a small group of other Controllers. Slowly the group broke off into pairs.
She followed them some more, watching the small gestures and movements that suggested that these two Controllers were friends--at least they made their hosts affect relaxed body postures, and she even watched them laugh with each other. It was unsettling, doubly so because it was David's body. Karl and the other Controller eventually stopped in front of a large building; the entrance suggested that it was an apartment building.
So David's plan might have worked. Still it had been foolish, of course. Getting unto Karl unnoticed would have been difficult enough, and there was no guarantee that Karl was even going to his apartment. Or that David would be able to find a place to demorph... and even if he did, that said nothing about what he could possibly do with Karl provided that he even managed to get in a room alone with him.
There was something metallic glinting in Karl's hand. The flash of light was rhythmic, circular somehow. Suji dropped lower in the sky, though she was still far above the building level. There! Aha! It was a key. Karl was swinging a single key, on a keyring, around his finger. And then, Suji realized something else: there was a number engraved into the key.
717. Had to be his apartment, right? Probably to this building. Even as she thought it, she watched Karl say bye to his friend, and then head inside. Her mind raced.
But now that Karl had headed inside, it was impossible to tell where he went. The glare on the windows was too strong during the daylight, and the vultures eyes were not adapted to see past glare. Night, Suji thought, slowly, as she pulled away from the scene, and actually started to head back. Dark outside, lights on inside. Might take a while, but I should be able to find 717 from the outside.
But if she planned anything, it would have to be with David.
But how could she ever trust him after what he'd pulled?
Suji was reclining in one of the two lawn chairs behind the HQ. It was dirty in a dusty way, but she'd brushed off most of the dry leaves at least. The sky above was bright blue, and it wasn't cold out. She had her head tilted back, her hair falling back like a dark curtain. Her eyes were closed, and the sun was shining on her face--her legs were extended in front of her, crossed at the ankle.
She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and her underarmor morphing shirt. Her feet were bare. Luckily she'd found a few spare changes of clothes that fit her in the room that was now hers; there'd even been a pair of tennis shoes in there, but it was nice out, and she liked the feeling of the cool air on her feet.
It would be impossible to tell what she was thinking, if she was thinking at all. It didn't seem likely that she was sleeping though--the position couldn't have been comfortable enough for that.
David:
David had almost read his way through the HQ's small supply of novels, and he had planned on doing some more reading outside. Suji was already there, reclining in one of the lawn chairs. He cracked a grin. David knew there was more to Suji than this, but he'd always thought of her as being raised as a soldier. She had a poker face up a lot, so you could never tell what she was thinking. And whenever he felt her eyes on him, he had a strange vision of his soul being judged. All this aside, he found that Suji was easy to be around, and he especially loved catching her acting casual, like now.
The second lawn chair creaked as he sank into it and he flipped open his book. "Hey," he said.
Suji:
Suji heard the noise, but didn't react immediately. David. She didn't have to open her eyes to know: Kiera and Riley were the only other people she knew that would sit down beside her, walking up without pause. And they would probably even say something before sitting down. Riley might crack a joke about the seat being taken, Kiera would probably chirp a hello. She doubted anyone else would even bother to try to converse.
"Hey." She still didn't open her eyes, but she did smile. It wasn't a cold smile; even if inside she felt a bit tumultuous, Suji liked David. David was a nice guy, the kind that she didn't ever have to worry about stabbing her in the back. Kiera was much the same in that way. Eventually she did open her eyes, and without raising her head, tilted it to the side to look at him. She squinted a bit in the sunlight, and looked down at the book in his lap. "What book? Anything good?"
David:
"What, this?" He showed her the cover. "Pawn of Prophecy, by David Eddings. It's completely worthless. It's your average questing forever, kings, queens, swords, magic, fantasy story. I like it for the witty banter and the excesive sarcasm. Besides, Ive already read most everything else that we have here. Pretty soon, I'll have to go dumpster diving for new books." He grinned. "Enjoying yourself?"
No, she's not. That's why she's still out here, idiot. Oh well. He'd asked dumber questions before.
Suji:
"I used to read a lot." Suji's voice was even, and she smiled at David as she talked. "Mostly just literary fiction while I was in school, lots of long boring stuff. After the war there was a period where I lived in a library. I stocked up on how-to books then." She laughed under her breath, face still scrunched up as the sun was in her eyes. "If I have to read even one more page on how to fix plumbing I'm going to find the nearest cliff and jump off of it."
"Enjoying yourself?"
Suji's smile faded a little, and she sat up. Leisurely she scratched her head. "The sun's nice enough," she said under her breath, smirking over at him. She was bent forward, elbows on her knees. Her hands laced together, supporting her chin as she gave him a sidelong smile. She moved her feet along on the grass, feeling the soft touches on the sensitive skin of the bottom of each foot. But she didn't directly answer his question. There was a lot on her mind, but she didn't mind the company. David wouldn't be grating on her, and it wouldn't be bad to talk with him. Remembering the joke he told the first time they'd met, Suji realized that not only wouldn't she mind, but it might improve her mood.
"What about you?"
David:
"Well, I like coming out here to read," David replied. "Of course, come winter I might have to think of a new place to read. I'll probably just curl up in front of the heater. Assuming there's still something to read by then. Heck, how-to books sound better than no books at all." He settled back into the chair. "I just hope it won't come to that." Now what was the question I was trying to answer? Oh well. If it was important and I didn't answer it, she'll ask again. "Man, living in a library... that sounds like fun. I didn't think the yeerks left any libraries standing. I mean, they don't serve to much of a purpose to the yeerks."
One of the many reasons he hated the yeerks: they destroyed books. He'd seen them at it during his wandering, and it had made him sick with anger. Normally, he was slow to anger, but the sight of the yeerks destroying what was left of human culture... He shook his head. Happy thoughts, David. Happy thoughts.
Suji:
"They don't serve much purpose, no. I'm pretty sure some Yeerks actually find books interesting to read, but libraries are either abandoned or torn down all over the place. I was just in one of the abandoned ones." Suji looked forward to the HQ, chin still resting on her hands. "I don't know if 'fun' is the right word, but I'm sure it was better than a lot of the alternatives."
Suji remembered back to her little claimed library in one of the suburbs of New York state. "That's actually around when I met my first Animorph. It was months ago, though it doesn't really feel like it. A woman named Luce wandered for a place to sleep for a night. She was on a mission to collect some oatmeal-addicted Controller. I ended up tagging along." That was the much abridged version, but Suji wasn't sure David wanted to hear her life story, and she was less sure she wanted to tell it. "And I guess that's where I started out in all of this."
She leaned slightly to one side, looking back to David. "How long have you been playing guerrilla war-fighter?"
David:
David made a face. "I haven't really been keeping track of time. It all seems like a blur to me, ever since..." He took a deep breath. "My brother, Karl, lured me into the sharing. Well, the yeerk in his head did." Wait. Am I actually at the point where I can't tell the difference between yeerk and host anymore? Even for Karl? David swallowed. "And then, when Karl's yeerk was trying to force my head into the yeerk pool, Karl managed to get control of his body for a little bit, enough to let me go free. I must've spent at least a month or two wandering the streets of Chicago until Riley found me." His eyes were burning. He'd just lumped Karl and his yeerk into one entity. He'd made them the same in his mind. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself for that. He felt rotten.
Suji:
Suji watched him. It was a hard thing for him to remember--or at least that's what she could tell from her side of things. She straightened, reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn't seem like the type of person that would bother, and she hoped she guess correctly; though if not, it would be a lesson learned.
"Seems like everyone has siblings caught up in the war. But your brother must have been strong to resist control long enough to do even that. I know you would have done the same for him." She rubbed his shoulder a little before pulling her arm back. She didn't want to talk about her sister, Lisa. Everyone else was heartbroken over having to save their siblings. She was dreading it--because attempting meant the chance of messing up. And failing to save someone seemed more horrible to Suji than waiting to try when your chances of success were greater. She doubted this was a popular sentiment.
And maybe she was just afraid to face her family after she ran from them at the beginning of all of this.
"Bright side though, right?" Suji smiled at him: a smile that was wry but warm, that sort of laughed at the situation without really suggesting that she thought the good outweighed the bad. "Now we're superheroes." Though she kept smiling, her eyes suddenly became a little distant--looking through him rather than at him. And then her attention snapped back. "Where was this? Your brother? Close to here--in Chicago even?"
Her family was back in New York somewhere--and she had no idea if that meant they were in the city or the suburbs. But if Karl might be close by... well that was a different story, wasn't it?
David:
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, we lived in Chicago... well, we lived in Oak Park, but the Sharing meeting was in Chicago." He put his book down on the grass and rubbed his eyes. If we're superheros, shouldn't be unable to do any wrong? And I just wronged Karl worse than I ever have in my entire life, including when I let us grow distant. "I don't know where he is now, but I would assume he's in Chicago or close to it."
And I will get him back. He is not a yeerk, the yeerk is not him. He's a lonely guy who looks like me, who once made a twin-english dictionary. The yeerk is the one that tried to shove one of its kind into my ear. He felt Suji's hand on his shoulder, and gave a weak huff of laughter. "I wish I could do the whole poker face you've got going."
Suji:
"I wish I could do the whole poker face you've got going," he said. Suji laughed under her breath. "Be careful what you wish for, right? Everything comes at a price, you can trust me on that." She gave him a wink, but there was a distinct lack of humor behind all of that. It was so true, wasn't it? The poker face, as he might call it. Reading people. Planning everything, being in control at all times. Everything at a price. And if Suji was willing to pay, where did that leave her? Awfully somber thoughts.
"So when are we rescuing him?" She didn't shy away from the question: it was direct, honest, as if she might have been asking what David had for breakfast. As if it was probably marked on all their calendars. That's what they did: rescue people. And maybe it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, but they were being trained for a reason. And if most Yeerks in Chicago visited the same huge pool, well, finding Karl might not be that difficult at all. The fact that he and David were twins would probably only work to their advantage.
David:
"Well, I figured that when I saw him on my patrol, I'd swoop down, knock him out, and drag him back to HQ to stay for three days," David replied. "And the best part is, I'm not sure if I'm joking or not." The straight-forward way she'd asked had cut through his growing depression, which was good, because these bouts came too often. And he really didn't know if he was joking or not. "I mean, I know it's not a smart idea, but this is my twin brother we're talking about. We used to be the same cell. We're... well, were, pretty close." He swallowed as another small wave of depression jostled him. My fault. My fault he was taken. If I'd paid more attention, if I hadn't ignored him all those years, would he be a controller now?
Suji:
Suji listened carefully to David, envisioning what he was telling her, taking him seriously (though registering that he might not realize himself how serious he was or wasn't). She noted the tiny blip towards the end, the reframing of his words. This time she didn't put a hand on his shoulder, but she did turn her body towards him. Her elbows rested on the armrest of the lawnchair. "No, it's not a smart idea."
The look she gave him wasn't open--it was still close to her poker face, as he'd put it. But it was resolved, steely, determined: the face of someone who believed wholly in what they were proposing. "Because that's not a plan at all. And since it sounds like there isn't a plan, we're going to make one." Inside she felt a twinge of anger: why wasn't there a plan? It wasn't David's fault that there wasn't; he didn't strike her as the planning type, and she'd have to be convinced of his planning abilities before she followed him anywhere. But it wasn't David's job to plan things, was it? Had no one put this on the agenda?
Was there even an agenda here?
Before letting her hackles raise, Suji continued, not showing her anger because she didn't want David to think she was mad at him. "I mean, hell, if he's your twin, it just makes the search that much easier. We know who we're looking for." She half-smiled. "If he was part of The Sharing that means his Yeerk is one of the more upstanding slugs in slug-society. He'll probably be nearby the pool, and the slug probably got a damn good promotion post-take over. Most of the ones who were in hosts found through The Sharing were promoted. They were 'recruiters'," the term came out with a certain tone of disdain, "during the war."
Of course she couldn't know any of this for sure. But it was definitely a solid start. And thinking about this was a damn sight better than pondering her predicament with the Toby-situation.
David:
David was immediately all ears when Suji said that they were going to start planning Karl's rescue. When she made her guess of where Karl was, he could have kissed her. Now he knew where to search, and then they could pull off this plan of hers and Karl would be free. "How do you know all that?" he asked. He'd never learned anything about any of that when he'd joined. But then, she'd been sworn in by Cassie, so she was bound to know more.
So, near the yeerk pool... "Someone would have to scout the place out beforehand," he said. "But I have a cockroach morph that'll work for that." Of course, if he could catch Karl alone when he was scouting, he wouldn't wait for backup. He'd seize his chance.
Suji:
David seemed to come to abrupt attention when she started talking, and Suji wouldn't lie: she certainly liked that feeling. Being listened to, especially when planning came into all of it, was a good feeling. And when someone listened to you directly, it meant you didn't have to resort to other means of getting your point across. Directness could be so much more efficient when it came to something like this.
"I was in New York City for a while. Maybe longer than you've been here," she didn't know exactly how long David had been here, but she was willing to bet that she'd been an Animorph--at least in the sense that she'd been able to morph--for longer than he had. "New York is, I guess you could say--a lot faster paced. It's either you get used to it, or you get run over by it; maybe not much different from before the invasion. Thankfully I'm a fast learner, but I also had help." That was more or less the truth. Between Cassie and Luce, Suji probably did have more information than the average Animorph was given starting out, at least if David and Kiera were any indication. That, coupled with her ability to analyze and deconstruct, meant that she usually wasn't totally lost when it came to 'the next step' (at the same time, it meant that if she WAS lost, it was probably a really, really bad thing). "Mostly you just have to understand how Yeerk interactions work if you want to know who's probably calling the shots and who's mopping up around the pool. Yeerks that were put in Sharing hosts were already decently ranked--they got hosts at all to begin with. And they were seen as an instrumental part of the pre-war invasion."
Probably too much of a history lesson, but Suji believed that information was powerful: moreso than being able to turn into a fly or an elephant. Maybe it would help him one day; if not, it shouldn't hurt him.
"You couldn't do the scouting alone. When I meant 'nearby' the pool, I didn't mean he might be stationed directly on its perimeter--though maybe he works in a building nearby. I mean that he's likely close enough to the area to visit that main pool, rather than be sequestered off into a suburb with a smaller pool to its own. So scouting might turn into a three-day mission." That, and there was another problem with David trying to scout alone: she wasn't going to be the one responsible for sending him off to the certain death (or worse: enslavement) he would face if he got impulsive in a delicate situation. Hopefully planning would reassure him that they were all working together on it, and keep him from falling prey to knee-jerk decisions.
"And even if you did spot him, you couldn't act right then and there. There is no way you'd be able to get him out of the Yeerk pool area single-handedly, unless you've got some kind of amazing morph that can withstand lasers and charge through Hork Bajir." Not likely. "And if you tried, you wouldn't just be risking your own life. You'd be risking all of our lives, and forfeiting your brother's chance at escaping." She shifted her weight, rubbed the back of her neck a little. "Finding him at the pool would only be so that we could follow him to where he spends the rest of his time. Catching him alone--or as close to that as possible--would be the safest way to go. The only plan that has a moderate chance at success."
David:
David frowned. With each passing second, freeing Karl was becoming more complicated. And Suji was right, he didn't have the morphs he needed. But Raven and Riley had said that he would get better morphs later. Later wasn't good enough. He wasn't going to make Karl wait for later.
But Suji was right. He couldn't rush into this by himself. And, he had to admit, sitting here planning the next move was much better than hopelessly scanning the ground during his patrols. Because all that did was make him more desperate, though he tried very hard not to show it to the others. He didn't want them worrying about him.
"Is there a chance he lives alone?" asked David, hoping for the right answer.
Suji:
Suji noticed the frown, and took it as a good sign. It meant that he was taking this seriously, maybe seeing just how bad the consequences could become if things were executed poorly. At least, that was what she hoped the frown meant.
At his question, she licked her lips in contemplation. She didn't want to completely dash his hopes, but it was too hard to say. "He might. The thing about Yeerks is that they aren't all the same: they don't all like the same things, what have you. They're as different on an individuals basis as we are, though their species is more unified as a whole under their government. At least, as far as fear can unite an entire species." She paused, looking down as she thought aloud. "He might live alone, if the Yeerk itself considers privacy and solitude to be a sign of status. At the same time, they're essentially communal creatures--even the ones with hosts still tend to spend a good deal of their time sloshing around up against each other in a big puddle. It could go either way. But there is a better chance of him living alone if his Yeerk is of a decent rank, if only because lower ranks aren't taken care of all that well. At least, if he lives in a nearby apartment, he'll probably have his own room--even if it isn't a suite or something."
David:
David mulled through that in his head. "So it all comes down to needing to know more," he said finally. Great. I'm no closer to saving Karl than I was at the beginning of this planning session. "And then, there are a lot of entrances to the yeerk pool, aren't there? How can we find out which one he uses?" I'll scout them all out, if I have to. I'll take my chances and take a trip into the pool itself if need be.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. He wasn't any closer, but he was actually doing something besides repetitive patrol rounds which yielded nothing. Then a thought occurred to him.
"What about Kiera's twin? Kaelyn?"
Suji:
"It always comes down to knowing more," Suji replied with a wry smile. Unfortunately, it was the truth. When your forces were nothing but fragmented groups of kids against impossible odds, you couldn't afford to skip out on planning or information gathering. At least, that was how she figured everything. Flying by the seat of her pants was not Suji's style.
"As for Kaelyn, Kiera and I talked..." Her mouth drew into a somewhat thin line, displeased. "...last night, before our special guest arrived." She tried to remove the utter disdain from her voice: she didn't want to have to explain herself, but at the same time, maybe it would be better for David to suspect something about Toby. "From what she said, it sounds like Kaelyn was living in New York with their dad. Their parents divorced when they were young. So I think that if saving a twin is on the agenda, we should start close to home."
Suji reclined back into her chair, brow knitting as she thought. "What morphs do you have now? I've seen the albatross, and you've mentioned a cockroach. The roach will certainly be useful, but what are we working with in total?"
David:
"Well, when I first joined, I got the roach and a raccoon, then I got the albatross and a robin. I haven't really used the robin too much... I've never had a reason to," he said. "And it's probably useless for whatever plan we come up with." Or for anything else. Why did I pick that morph again? Oh yeah, because I like the robin's song. So now I can morph it and sing to myself. Real productive.
"But Riley's been saying that Ill be ready for a new morph soon," he added as an after thought. "I'm thinking of going for the fossa. My Uncle used to study those, since he lived in Madagascar, and I always thought they were pretty cool."
Suji:
Suji nodded. "Robin's aren't useless. Think about it: a bird flying by the Yeerk pool--what's going to look more out of place? A robin or a big albatross?" She'd been given a large bird morph earlier today as a job-well-done in getting to the Chicago faction. Which was pretty ironic, seeing as how she'd had to flap all the way here as a tiny owl in the first place.
"You've seen my owl and capuchin morphs, but I can also morph a roach and a vulture--the vulture as of today. I actually haven't even tried it yet, though I was thinking about it. Such a pretty day, and I haven't really been introduced to flying yet. At least not the soaring, leisurely kind."
Suji tried to picture the fossa. She'd spent a lot of time studying animals while she was in New York; it took precedence over her other reading by far. Know your weapons, right? "A fossa is a good choice. I'm not positive what I'd be acquiring next."
David:
"I'd like another bird... especially a bird of prey," David said. "Nah, I need to brush up on my ground morphs. But maybe after the fossa." A vulture, huh? David loved birds of prey. So majestic, powerful... soaring in lazy circles over his head, he'd always wanted to be one. And he was as close to that goal as he'd ever been. That was the first thing he'd do when he rescued Karl, he'd convince Riley to give them both bird-of-prey morphs and they'd go flying. That would be Karl's introduction to the other side of the war.
"Maybe we should start acquiring some fish too. Just in case."
Suji:
"Fish are tricky. If we were in a coastal faction, it might make more of a difference. But here, you'd definitely want something that could get out of the water if it needed to, if you were choosing a water morph. Snakes, alligators, even amphibians might be a better choice." It was something that Suji spent a lot of time thinking about. The trick was to have as few 'regular' morphs as possible that could be used in as many ways as possible. That way you had time to experiment with them a lot, really get used to the animals instincts, get the morphing down to a shortened time.
"We could take a flying trip to the pool today, if you wanted. Or to see the area around it. We can't get too close to it, but getting a basic visual of what we're working with wouldn't be such a bad idea. Have you seen it before?"
David:
"I've seen it from the ground," said David. "It was right around one of the entrances that Riley found me." He turned the idea over in his head. "Yeah. A bit of scouting couldn't hurt, could it? Do you mean right now?" David was more than ready to go. In fact, he was already envisioning the albatross, though no changes had started. It was almost as if he was waiting for Suji's "all clear" to go. Like she was the leader.
Hey, she could be. Not that I'd want to oust Raven or Riley, but she's good. He waited for her OK.
Suji:
Suji didn't think that it would be any offense to Riley if they went scouting. This was downtime for both of them, and she wasn't planning on any daring heroics. Besides, if anything, she didn't have visual of the pool--only knew it's basic location from the geography Cassie had told her (if only to keep Suji from accidentally wandering too near the pool on her flight to Chicago). "No time like the present," Suji intoned, but she wasn't totally gung-ho. "Would you want to bring anyone? Only people with bird morphs though--too tricky otherwise."
David already looked like his mind was made up--and while she appreciated that he was so eager, she was a little wary of it too. And sure it might be easier to handle just David if they both decided to go without anyone else, but at the same time, Suji was starting to wonder how much experience with scouting any of the other Animorphs here had. And it wouldn't be bad to start a lesson going. Two birds, one stone?
David:
He paused. The more people knew about the layout, the more people would be experienced when they planned out how to rescue Karl. On the other hand, he was going to have enough trouble getting around Suji if they saw Karl. David, you idiot, that's why she's planning this with you, so that you don't have to risk your life! Do you really think Karl will appreciate being free if you end up enslaved or dead because of it? He took a breath to calm himself.
"Yeah..." he said. "We should bring... Kiera and Ash. They have bird morphs. And, I'm not too sure about Toby." It wasn't so much a logical reason for not trusting Toby, because he didn't have one. It was gut instinct that he'd come to trust.
Toby:
Toby had just gotten up and decided a walk was in order. He wanted to know more about the place and the people he'd be with for a while. But exploring HQ would have to wait. He had heard voices outside and one of them he recognized.
He walked outside and saw a boy and a young woman there. "Hello. I think we've met but it was under stressful circumstances. How about we start again? My name is Toby."
David:
David choked. Had Toby heard what he'd just said? Apart from being really embarrassed, if David's gut feeling was correct, Toby might think him a threat to whatever he was doing. And David didn't know Toby well enough to know what Toby would do about that. David didn't trust him, which said plenty, since David was a very trusting person.
Don't let him see your face. Let Suji handle it. Meanwhile, GET THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE! He grinned. Like Suji. Never shows what she feels on her face. It was not a good joke, but it was enough that David was able to smile. He still didn't trust himself to say anything though, so he grabbed his book and buried his nose in it. Maybe Toby would think he was just shy. Which he was.
Suji:
Suji tensed a little when he mentioned Toby's name. She'd rather not bring him, but all the better if David was the one to say it. Better not to be the only one who had a problem with the kid. "So let's go see if Kiera and Ash are around." She knew that Ash had a bird more--a heron--but she'd never seen Kiera's. All the better that she did have one though.
She stood up off of the lawnchair, and stretched for a moment. Her toes dug into the slightly damp ground, and if felt good to reach her hands up over her head. After rolling her neck side to side a few times, she looked back down at David, one eyebrow raised, motioning for him to follow. "Are they usually at the HQ this time of day?" It might have made a little more sense to plan a scouting mission when everyone knew it was happening, but Suji knew it was important to be seen as a woman of her word. Besides, a little (highly controlled) spontaneity wasn't a bad thing.
But then Toby appeared, and that was the kind of spontaneity that she did not enjoy. Out of her peripherals she saw David sink back into the chair, pulling the book in front of his face. He didn't even answer the boy. Probably embarassed about what he'd just said. Which sparked a protective anger inside of Suji that fed on her already established strong dislike of the new guy. Not only did David maybe need to be protected from this kid, but David was hers. So was Kiera. It wasn't a pretty emotion, but it was there--if either of them were going to be won over, used like pawns, Suji was going to be the one doing it. This new kid could fuck off and die. At least she trusted herself to have everyone's safety at heart.
And all of these feelings are unfounded, she thought grimly. She could never express them aloud. How did you say: I know this guy is a manipulating scumbag, no really, takes one to know one, and boy is he ever.
"Suji," she responded. Her voice was even, but she turned enough that David couldn't see her face. On it was an icy expression. "This is David."
Toby:
Toby looked around at both of them. He hadn't heard what David had said, he'd just wandered out here. "Suji. I'll remember that. And David, yes?" He looked around. Suji's voice had been cold and unfriendly and David didn't seem to want to look at him. Added to that he wasn't on the best terms with Riley because he had lied to him. So great, no one here trusted him.
He'd never felt so alone and he wasn't sure what he needed to say or do to get some friends around here. "Sorry, was I interrupting a private conversation?" He looked slightly depressed, "I can go if you want."
David:
David immediately felt bad. Toby sounded genuine, and thus far, David's gut feeling was unfounded. It had been wrong before. Once. When he'd decided to trust Karl enough to be led to the yeerk pool. "Wait, it's fine, we were just talking about going flying somewhere," David said, his words falling over themselves in a rush to leave his mouth. "Wanna come?" He could explain what was going on on the way, but the more people knew their way around, the better when the time came to rescue Karl. Does he have a bird morph? IDIOT. "Do you, uh, have a, um bird morph?"
Toby:
Toby smiled, glad that someone was at least talking to him. Maybe he was wrong about everyone. Maybe it was just Suji who didn't like him. That was fine, he didn't much like her either. She had thrown a coat over his head and tied him up. Not his happiest memory.
"Yeah, I have a bird morph. A lark. I've only tried it out once though but it seemed fine and flying seemed really cool. Landing, not so much, I had trouble with that one, but flying," he got a dreamy look on his face that he didn't feel he needed to explain. Anyone who had morphed a bird and gone flying would understand. "I would love to go flying. Where are we going?"
Suji:
Suji was just about to tell Toby that it was a private conversation, when David invited him along. Her fingers clenched momentarily, but the hand was pressed to her side, hard to see. But maybe it wasn't a total loss. Suji could see how Toby acted in a group. And if he slipped up, she would remember it. And if he had to be a lark, she was sure as hell going as a vulture. That would probably be pretty good incentive not to do anything that endangered anyone.
"We were going to take a look at the Yeerk pool and the outlying area around it. Are you in?" Again, her voice was perfectly natural, even-keel. Nothing David would be able to pick up just from audio clues. Her expression, however, was piercing.
David:
She sounded fine... Had David been wrong about Toby? After all, all he had to go on was a gut feeling. Suji seemed to be fine with him. And David certainly trusted Suji's instincts a lot more than his own. That was why they were having this discussion, after all. Then he got a look at her face. She definitly didn't look happy. The calm voice was an extension of her poker face. Either she didn't want me to know that she didn't like this guy or she didn't want him to know. Or both.
He put the book down next to him. This would be interesting to watch.
Toby:
"Sure, I'm in!" Toby said, excited to be invited along, ignoring Suji's indifference. Toby had long ago learned that some people just wouldn't ever like you. You could suck up to them all you wanted but if they had some irrational grudge against you then nothing you did would matter.
Apparently Suji was just going to be one of those people and Toby wouldn't have cared that much except that he was afraid that she would bias everyone against him. But she seemed to be doing her best to keep her feelings to herself and David seemed ok and wanted him along so Toby wasn't going to sweat it much.
Suji:
She had hoped that he'd say no, or hesitate, or say that he had to get something first. That way they could ditch him. Of course, he probably realized that that would happen, and that this was his only (small) window of opportunity to go with them. "Right. Stay here then." Suji set off into the HQ. When she returned a few minutes later, she had removed the jeans, and was in her morphing outfit.
"Didn't see Kiera or Ash." She came back to the two boys, putting her hands momentarily on her hips. She addressed David mostly, tried to keep her irritation off of her face. "So I suppose it'll just be the three of us. Bird morph away, and so on." Suji watched them for a moment, and then started picturing the Egyptian vulture in her head.
David:
David no sooner heard the words "bird morphs" than he was already shrinking and sprouting wings. He was as anxious to be going somewhere as he'd ever been. This was the beginning of the plan to save Karl. He wanted this plan to move as quickly as possible.
The sooner, they did this, the sooner they could get to actually rescuing him. And that was the only thing on David's mind.
<Let's go already!> he said, flapping his way into the air.
Toby:
"Sorry." Toby concentrated on becoming the lark. He didn't like the morph much. There was something about becoming a small, weak, defenseless little thing that just didn't sit well with him. He was giving up power and it sucked. But at least he was getting wings and the power of flight. That was something.
Still he liked his snake morph better even though that was pretty small too.
He finished morphing right after David did and fluttered into the air and over to a tree. He assumed they were waiting for Suji to lead them (whatever) and turned to see if she had become whatever entry level bird morph they had given her only to be greeted by the sight of a flying monster. A bird with a wickedly sharp beak and an almost 2 meter wingspan.
<<A vulture! You're a freakin vulture! Talk about bad omens.>>
Suji:
The morph didn't come easily at first. Egyptian vultures, while she had seen a few pictures while in New York (studying animals of course, they were hardly native to the region), were not very similar to the average concept of a vulture. At least, not the way she'd usually thought of them.
First ivory and tan feathers sprouting from her arms. Her face snarled forward, lips forming a hard, wicked beak. The skin of her face looking like twisting, molten lava, before it turn on its bright orange coloration. Her eyes--already black--settled back, the whites also becoming inked over. Both of her bird morphs had totally blackened eyes, now, though this one had laser vision in daylight, unlike the owl. Her feet had already formed into hooked, shredding talons.
The mind of the vulture wasn't vicious or overly aggressive--not like she figured some birds of prey might be. It also wasn't as easily frightened as the small owl. As a scavenger it didn't have to hunt for a living, and was too bird to be regularly hunted itself. She shook her head, the ruff of white feathers puffing like a crown. Suji rested her mind, gathered herself, and allowed the bird's brain to do the work of getting her into the air. The first few flaps were heavy and a bit sloppy, but once she was high enough to catch a thermal, the warm air lifted her without any effort.
Suddenly, she could realize why people loved this so much.
But there was Toby's voice, bringing her back to reality. <<Not Egyptian vultures. They're meant to represent royalty, motherhood, and prosperity.>> She might have smirked if she had lips. It felt so good to fly, she almost forgot that she hated Toby. And being in this morph made her feel more comfortable with that situation: she dared him to try anything sneaky as that tiny little lark while she was in this morph. <<That is, of course, coming from a culture that also worships man-eating crocodiles.>> Her voice was humorous, but she figured it was warning enough if he chose to heed it.
Toby:
<<Motherhood? You know for some reason 'mother' just isn't a word that comes to mind when I think of Suji,>> Toby said sarcastically but for only David to hear. But he didn't make anymore snide remarks. David obviously was Suji's friend and Toby wouldn't win any points with him by insulting her.
He fell into the air, falling off the branch instead of flapping, and set off in the direction of the city. As he flew a shadow passed over him and sent a chill up both Toby's and the lark's spine. Suji could blather on all she wanted about prosperity but to the lark that bird meant one thing; Death. And Toby wasn't happy about having it above him. He hoped they would reach their destination soon.
David:
David wanted to roll his eyes. Man these two go together like water and oil. He was fine with that, though. You couldn't please everybody, and maybe they would grow to like, or at least tolerate, each other. On the other hand, if the plan to save Karl failed because of these two fighting, David would never forgive them. He pushed that morbid thought out of his head and focused on enjoying the thermals.
<Where is it, Suji?> He was more than ready to go. He had full confidence in Suji's speed in the air, but he was a little worried about Toby. Still, he knew Suji wouldn't wait for him, and David was loathe to lose any more time.
Suji:
Toby was already winging it towards the city, and therefore the direction of the pool. <<This way,>> Suji intoned, and changed her course with a few beats of her powerful wings. <<Looks like Toby knows the way well enough.>> She didn't add the accompanying snicker than immediately rose to mind. Sure he might just be drawing on the fact that the city would likely indicate the presence of a pool, but the average person might not make that connection--especially the average person who'd only just been inducted into their little society.
<<Make sure we maintain a good distance from each other. Stay within thoughtspeech range, but try to fly at the altitude your morph is most comfortable in. We don't want to group up at all.>> She kept an eye on the lark below her. She didn't try to outfly him--in other circumstances it might feel good to leave him behind, but she wouldn't be responsible for getting him lost too far away from the base. When they were close enough, that kind of thing was okay. Not in foreign territory. If he somehow fell behind or got caught, that would be on her head.
But that was all right. The vulture wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere. <<Remember, strict scouting. If we pass over the pool, it can only be momentary. Any sign of danger--like a dracon canon--we need to scatter, and regroup later. We should spend more time inspecting the layout of the city, it will be safer that way.>> And then, though she kept her voice neutral, she added for a certain redhead's express benefit: <<Absolutely no heroics.>>
David:
<Yeah yeah yeah,> David said, his eyes scanning the ground. Then an idea popped into his head, and he just couldn't resist mentioning it out loud. <You know, if we really wanted to look natural, you'd attack Toby and eat him or something.>
Suddenly, his heart leaped in his chest. There he was! It had to be- No. That wasn't Karl. In fact, the only similarity was the red hair. Other than that, the kid bore no resemblance to Karl at all. David sighed mentally and resumed his search.
Suji:
<<I'm sure both he and his morph appreciate the suggestion,>> Suji replied, laughing a little. Not meanly: she in no way wanted to imply that she'd attack another Animorph. And having control of the situation allowed her a certain amount of good humor. Unequivocal power over a person you didn't trust an inch might make a you more lenient on a whole. After a few minutes of flying, they were reaching the city.
Suji thought she saw David's albatross wings twitch, but she wasn't sure. It must have been miniscule, if it did happen--maybe her heightened vision had just caught him adjusting to the air current. Suji kept scanning below them, picking up a little more height as they came towards the taller buildings. <<I can't see inside the tinted windows on the business buildings,>> she broadcasted to them. <<Can you, David? Don't albatrosses hunt for food underwater?>>
There was nothing of extreme note yet: save for what they could start to see in the distance. A place where the buildings that might have stood there suddenly disappeared. A dip in the ground. The pool.
David:
<Oh, yeah,> said David, tearing his eyes away from the streets and staring at the tinted windows. He floated in lazy circles, trying to see everything. But there was no sign of Karl. <I can't see that well, it's a little different from water, but I can sort of see through the windows,> he said. <But I don't see Karl.> As an afterthought, he added, <I also don't see any secret entrances, technology, or yeerk pools. As far as I can see, there are no yeerks, just humans doing business. And yes, I realize that's not true.>
He glanced back at the ground, and his heart jumped again. It had to be him this time! No, wrong again. Not even a redhead, just wearing the same hat that Karl always used to wear.
Suji:
<<So this is a stupid idea, no offense David. This would be a stupid idea for me to do, for you two it is a downright suicidal idea and I didn't plan on dying today.>> Toby kept most of his scorn to himself but he really didn't appreciate the complete and utter lack of thought that had gone into this and the fact that it put his own life in danger.
<<Has it occurred to anyone that there are no birds around anymore. Has it occurred to you at all that the yeerks wiped all the animals out specifically to limit animorph spying and that having two birds, with wing spans 7 feet or more, just drifting over the yeerk pool might, just might set off some sort of alarm. It is bad enough that we are over the city. How do you think I knew there were animorphs in the area! I saw a raven flying around all the time and it was the only thing in the air besides for Bug Fighters.>> Toby was staying low to the ground and flitting from building to building, being as inconspicuous as the albatross and the vulture were not.
David:
David didn't hear Toby. This time, he was sure of it. There could be no mistaking it. Red hair, looked exactly like him, the same Cubs hat he always wore... It couldn't possibly be anyone else but Karl. David didn't even pause to think. He failed to notice that there was a crowd, and that he would have more than twenty controllers shoving him to the pavement the second he started demorphing.
All he could see was Karl. David tucked his wings to his sides and dove straight for Karl, only narrowly missing Toby as he flitted from building to building. David kept his eyes locked on Karl as he flew into an alley and started to demorph.
Toby:
<<Arg! Stupid! David get back here! What are you doing?>> Toby flew to the alley that David had landed in but didn't follow him in his foolishness. <<Why are you demorphing? What is going on?>> Neither David, nor Suji had told them what exactly they would be scouting for and what all of this was about so Toby had no idea what had set David off so.
What he did know was that their were eyes everywhere in this city. Hell, a couple of days ago he had been a pair. No matter how much you thought you were unobserved there was always some thief, some low life, some scavenger hanging around watching you. And the animorphs had gotten arrogant and lazy, demorphing in the city one too many times thinking they were unobserved.
Suji:
<<Well well, you seem to know a lot of Yeerks and their movement for playing so weak and helpless, don't you?>> Suji replied, sneering through her thoughtspeech. <<Besides, you could have opted out. And you're free to turn around and go home. But in any case, has it occurred to you that we're too far up in the air for most people to see us, and that scavengers are probably the only species doing moderately well after the end of the world?>> David's morph was harder to justify, but it was still very high. That, and to be honest, what did the Yeerks have to fear? As far as Suji had heard--from Cassie and from what she'd gathered in her short time spent there--it wasn't like the Chicago faction ever really attacked anything anyway. Especially not the pool itself. And Suji knew that success on such a grand scale (all-out invasion and enslavement of an entire species, anyone?) bred laziness and complacency. Had the Chicago Animorphs ever given them cause to worry about the security of their control? She'd be surprised to learn that most Yeerks even realized there was a local faction hanging around at all.
That, and in the distance over the pool, she could see several birds circling. From this distance, even with her laser like eyes, she couldn't tell what they were--but they were riding the thermals that were wafting off of the heated water of the pool. Of course she would never be able to shamble up there and hang out with them as a vulture, but being the 'only thing in the sky' was a little ridiculous. Not even the Yeerks were pissy or persistent enough to kill every pigeon or seagull in the world.
She was about to make a point about this, or at least about to say something, but that escaped her mind entirely when she saw David diving. She began to dive herself, but realized that a large bird chasing another might actually get someone's attention. And she wasn't fast enough to catch him from this distance, this altitude. The vulture's body was too large. Had to think.
Had to think. Had to ignore the screaming inside her head that she'd been wrong that she'd judged David wrongly that she'd trusted him to be rational and now she was going to pay for it.
She glanced down into the alley where David was already demorphing. God damn it. <<David. Remorph. You are endangering both Toby and me. You are endangering your brother. THERE IS A CROWD AROUND HIM, IT IS BROAD DAYLIGHT. Think about this David. Please.>> Her voice switched from authoritative, to actually pleading. <<You have to THINK about this. If you try to get him now, you won't get within 10ft of him before they haul you off and make you a Controller. If you remorph, we can follow him and see where he lives, David. Then we'll get him for sure.>>
Suji looked from David to Karl. She was prepared to do several things if David did not cease and desist. None of them would be pretty.
<<Remorph into your robin. We will follow him. Do you think your brother is going to appreciate it if you get yourself killed or captured because you were too busy being an impulsive dumbass to come up with a real plan? You might be the only thing he has to keep on fighting for, David. You get captured, you take that away from him.>>
Toby:
<<David, look over there, see those things floating in the air. Those aren't birds they are hover drones!>> You idiot was the silent ending to that sentence. <<And if they spot you, which is what it is their job to do, they will shoot you. I saw them kill a girl once for taking an apple. You really think they won't shoot a fucking animorph!>>
Toby wasn't panicking. If things got bad enough he'd do just as Suji suggested and fly away. But he was starting to get a little annoyed with how this situation was spiraling out of control. Toby hated messiness, hated imperfection. So maybe he was getting a little angry.
<<I know about these things because I've survived so long. You don't stay alive in this city or Cleveland without knowing what to avoid. Like attention!>> The last was more directed at David since he could see some pedestrians walking their way. <<My sister and I are alive because we hid well and now she is captured because we didn't hide well enough. Get in the air David.>>
Suji:
Yes, Suji thought, snarling in her mind. Stayed alive so long by hiding. But hiding doesn't always keep you alive and well, does it? She wanted to push the thought out of her mind, but it was all she could do to keep it from boiling over into thoughtspeech, let alone suppress it entirely. And then when things started to go wrong, you cooked up some story and came knocking on -our- door.
She stabilized her altitude, still waiting to see what David would decide. But was there really a better way to get quick, safe recon work done, than flying? The other option was trying to slip in under the Controller's noses, and she barely trusted herself to make all the right moves in regards to that, let alone someone like David. Aerial was always the best way to go if you can to map out the lay of the land. There was no avoiding that. She hadn't planned to go directly over the pool, and she could have spotted that the bird weren't 'actually' birds long before she was close enough for them to be a threat.
But Toby played a different game, didn't he? Suji knew about weighing risks versus benefits. Toby was starting to sound like he thought being an Animorph was just another 'good place to hide' for a while. Maybe it wasn't about finding a way to fight back at all. She fought the overwhelming urge to reply that she'd lived long enough in the most dangerous city around.
And the story about shooting a girl that took an apple. What kind of bullshit was that? The Yeerks didn't waste good hosts--at least not ones that were young. And food wasn't exactly something denied to working hosts. She didn't know if she believed it, but now wasn't the time to argue. Had to focus. Had to watch David.
David:
Their arguments finally broke into David's head. His original suicidal plan of "run out and grab Karl" was gone, replaced by another plan of a different suicidal nature. David closed his eyes and brought the image of a cockroach into his head.
He began to shrink rapidly, and a pair of antennae popped out of his forehead. His eyesight winked out and was soon replaced with compound eyes. Suddenly, his bones disappeared, and he slumped over like a sack of jello, his internal organs sloshed around unpleasantly and he both felt and saw his mouth erupt into mandibles.
<Cover me,> he said. <I promise I won't do anything stupid.>
Two extra human legs popped out of his torso, and began to turn hard. His skin was suddenly the color of caramel, and could feel something growing out of the back of his head. Wings. Vestigial, since he couldn't use them for much. His arms and legs grew extra joints.
When he was done, he dashed forward. <Someone guide me to Karl. He'll go into his apartment and I can scout the place out.> After all, he wasn't a very big cockroach.
Suji:
<<David. I'm glad that you're coming to your senses, but listen to me. You don't know if he's even going to his apartment at all. He could be on his way to the pool itself. And then you won't have any way out. You could even be stuck as a cockroach. It's not a good plan David. Come back. Demorph, and then remorph as a robin. We're going home.>>
Suji couldn't perform damage control on this. David seemed to have reigned in his impulses a bit, which was good (she'd been prepared to dive and rake his eyes, which would force him to morph or suffer through the pain--or even to threaten to blind Karl himself; but she knew what happened to Controllers who suffered disabilities). But they weren't out of the woods. Not by far.
Though she'd never imagined she'd be forced to do it, Suji turned her private thoughtspeech upon Toby. <<I can't come down that low. Even if I did, I would be useless. If David doesn't turn around, you need to swoop down and get him.>> And then, though it burned her to admit weakness, the thought was already out of her head (though still directed at Toby). <<I miscalculated. I thought everyone was more->> More what? Like us? That didn't sound right. <<-well, less foolhardy than that. I never imagined.>>
Rather than concede anything else, Suji continued to circle in the sky, still too high to do anything. Now the powerful span of her wings didn't feel so invincible: she felt useless. So not only had David's actions rendered her inert up here in the air, but they were forcing her to rely on Toby to handle the situation. And Suji was not particularly one to forgive, let alone forget.
David:
The yeerk pool? Who cared about the yeerk pool? He'd face a thousand yeerk pools if that's what it took to sa- STUCK AS A COCKROACH?? Absolutely not. David demorphed as quickly as he could, shifting straight into his robin morph with barely a pause for breath.
Sorry, Karl, he thought, but I'm not ready to be a permanent cockroach for you. I'm sorry. He rose on robin's wings to the nearest power line. Sweeping the crowd with his eyes, he sighed. He couldn't see Karl anymore.
Suji:
Something Suji had said had gotten through. And she was glad; she didn't have to rely on Toby after all. But she'd never forget that David had pushed her to that point. He morphed into robin, and seemed relatively safe. Suji sighed--or at least wanted to. <<Both of you, head back to the HQ. I'll follow later on, so we're not all leaving at once. I might fly by myself for a bit too.>>
Crisis averted, and eager to distance herself from them, both physically and figuratively, Suji let the warm updraft of air carry her higher. Unlike David, who had not only morphed a bug but was not a robin, much closer to the ground than she was, Suji had not lost sight of Karl--all she had to do was look for another David down among the crowd, and she'd kept track of his movements, despite David's antics. Multitasking was one of her strong suits.
David:
David mutely took off from the wire. He didn't notice or care if Toby followed him. He flew in absolute silence back the HQ, through his open window, and onto his bed, where he demorphed and sat with his head in his hands. He'd failed Karl once again. He'd almost made things even worse. He spotted the book he'd been reading on his bed where he'd left it. He picked it up numbly, and, with a snarl, shredded it.
He noticed a bowl of soup from lunch on his nightstand. He'd been meaning to clean it up. He seized the bowl and flung it against a wall, where it shattered. "There, it's clean," he muttered. David began to morphed into the albatross and flapped out the window, heading for an empty piece of the woods. He landed and demorphed.
As soon as he was human, he started screaming. Rage, frustration, sadness, embarrassment, everything came pouring out in that cry. Still screaming, he picked up a rock and flung it against a tree. When that didn't satisfy him, he grabbed a large stick and began to viciously club the uncaring tree. When the stick was reduced to splinters, he used his fists.
When he'd screamed himself hoarse and his knuckles were bloody, he sat down on a log and started crying.
Toby:
Toby didn't follow David all the way back to HQ. He was quite disgusted with his new friend and he thought that if he stayed in his company he would surely find a reason to beret him sooner or later. Better to stay away from him altogether.
He did take off with him though so that Suji would see him leaving, but he fell behind and dropped down to the ground a couple of blocks from the edge of Chicago. The vulture's form had long ago disappeared from the air and he trusted that he was alone. Still, best to take precautions.
He flew around for a while until his two hour time limit was almost at hand and then dropped down into the yard of a seemingly abandoned house. He flew through one of the side windows and began to demorph. The person sitting in there had seen this already at least 3 times and wasn't surprised by the process if she was a little surprised by his arrival.
"How are things going?" She asked in a calm voice.
"Fine, just fine." Toby replied.
Suji:
The two smaller birds flitted away, and Suji stayed high in the air. The vultures clear, crisp vision made it almost misleading how far up she was; despite how small the people below had gotten, they still had a remarkable level of detail. Below, she watched as David--well, it was Karl, wasn't it, even though it looked like David--walked and chatted with a small group of other Controllers. Slowly the group broke off into pairs.
She followed them some more, watching the small gestures and movements that suggested that these two Controllers were friends--at least they made their hosts affect relaxed body postures, and she even watched them laugh with each other. It was unsettling, doubly so because it was David's body. Karl and the other Controller eventually stopped in front of a large building; the entrance suggested that it was an apartment building.
So David's plan might have worked. Still it had been foolish, of course. Getting unto Karl unnoticed would have been difficult enough, and there was no guarantee that Karl was even going to his apartment. Or that David would be able to find a place to demorph... and even if he did, that said nothing about what he could possibly do with Karl provided that he even managed to get in a room alone with him.
There was something metallic glinting in Karl's hand. The flash of light was rhythmic, circular somehow. Suji dropped lower in the sky, though she was still far above the building level. There! Aha! It was a key. Karl was swinging a single key, on a keyring, around his finger. And then, Suji realized something else: there was a number engraved into the key.
717. Had to be his apartment, right? Probably to this building. Even as she thought it, she watched Karl say bye to his friend, and then head inside. Her mind raced.
But now that Karl had headed inside, it was impossible to tell where he went. The glare on the windows was too strong during the daylight, and the vultures eyes were not adapted to see past glare. Night, Suji thought, slowly, as she pulled away from the scene, and actually started to head back. Dark outside, lights on inside. Might take a while, but I should be able to find 717 from the outside.
But if she planned anything, it would have to be with David.
But how could she ever trust him after what he'd pulled?