Animorphs - The Entire Series

WrightOfWay

Feb 12, 2021 22:40

freebooter posted:

I guess she's just hoping the biofilters are only on the entrances? Though I wouldn't have assumed the entrances/exits were one-way.

Also the idea of just standing there in the sludge with Yeerk bodies bumping against you is gross gross gross.

I think in one of the earlier books Tobias mentioned that he had seen Chapman and some other known Yeerks entering the pool through The Gap's dressing room but leaving through the movie theater, so I'm guessing one-way entrances and exits are standard.

Epicurius

Feb 13, 2021 21:55

Animorphs-Book 17:The Underground-Chapter 23

quote:

I was alive. I had escaped from the Yeerk pool itself!

But I couldn't be elated. I didn't know what had happened to my friends. For all I knew, they had not made it.

I was riding safe and secure, clutching to twisted cotton threads the size of bridge cables.

<Cheap shirt,> I muttered to no one. I could feel the roughness of the fabric.

Eventually, I was going to have to jump. Hopefully, the person I was on would go into one of the buildings. Hopefully, he was not going to head straight back out of the Yeerk pool to the outside world.

I didn't want to leave the place. Not yet. I had to find out what had happened to the others.

I felt a breeze blowing across me. I felt the fabric ripple. We were walking. How fast, how far?

No way to know.

Had the quality of the light changed? Impossible to say. I had to take a shot in the dark. Had to guess.

I raced out from under the collar and headed uphill. I climbed up onto what I assumed was a shoulder.

Could I do this? Could ants jump? Only one way to find out. I ran out to the end of the shoulder. I carefully released the grip of each of my six legs. One by one. Then I crouched and pushed off.

I guess the movement of the person who'd been carrying me was enough to make it work. I didn't so much jump as I rolled off the edge.

I fell! Forever. I swear it took me ten seconds to hit the ground, and in that time I tumbled, totally out of control, mostly blind. I had no way of knowing when I would hit. And even though I knew an animal as small as an ant wouldn't be hurt by the fall, it was frightening.

POOMPF!

I hit. I rolled onto my legs. Where was I? I felt around with my antennae. A smooth surface.

Okay. Fine. I was on a floor. Where I could easily be stepped on.
\
Great. Now to find someplace dark where I could demorph without being seen.

I raced across the floor, totally unaware of where I might be. Then, darkness. But what did it mean? Was it a different room? Or had I just crawled under a cupboard or something?

I ran on for a while, making sure that the space I was in was large enough. Then I began to demorph.

It's a long, long way up from the ground going from ant to human. But my eyes didn't return till I was halfway demorphed. I looked around. Dark, but not the dark of the cave. There was dim, gray light here. It outlined sharp edges and right angles.

A storeroom. There were boxes piled all around me. They seemed to be made of blue plastic. I leaned against one as I finished returning to my own body.

Human again! I looked around. My eyes had had plenty of time to adjust to the gloom. There was writing on some of the boxes. But not any alphabet I'd ever seen.

There was a square pad outlined in red, just an inch on each side.

"Well, why not?" I muttered. I pressed the pad. Instantly the top of the box came loose with a sound like a vacuum seal breaking. It sounded like when someone opens a can of coffee.

I looked inside. Then I smiled. I reached in and lifted out a hand-size Dracon beam.

"Cool."

The grip was weird. Designed for Hork-Bajir hands. But that was okay. Right by my thumb there was a slide. It went up and down. "Power settings," I decided. I had to use my middle finger to reach the trigger.

Sudden light!

A door opened. A Hork-Bajir warrior was framed there. He blinked once in the darkness.

I raised my hand and squeezed the trigger.

TSEEEWWW!

The Hork-Bajir dropped like a sack of dirty laundry.

I stepped over to him. He was still breathing. I was breathing, too, in ragged gasps.

"So, that was the low-power setting," I said.

Then, "What's keeping you?"

A human voice! Female. I ducked back into the darkness.

She stopped when she saw the Hork-Bajir stretched out on the floor. She was just about to yell when ...

TSEEEWWWW!

Down she went, sprawling right across the Hork-Bajir. She groaned once, then passed out.

I looked at the Dracon beam in my hand. "Cool. Phasers on stun, Captain."

I took the woman's shoes. As always, you can't morph shoes or bulky clothing. I took her blazer, too. It wasn't a bad blazer. I checked the label. "DKNY.
Excellent. A little big for me, but okay."

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. The blazer was large, the shoes were half a size too small, and the glasses I took from her face made the world seem a little distorted around the edges. But all in all, it wasn't a bad look. And I wanted to look good for my first trip around the Yeerk pool as a
human.

I stepped out of the storeroom into the office outside. No one there. A second office outside that one. A man sat there. He was wearing a cotton shirt with a collar. He'd been my ride. Before he could turn around, I fired.

TSEEEEWWWW!

He crumpled in his chair and looked like he was asleep. Which, of course, he was.

I slid the Dracon beam into the pocket of the blazer. And then I stepped out into the world of the Yeerk pool.

Good she got the setting right, I guess.

Chapter 24

quote:

I was slightly tense.

I was walking around the Yeerk pool complex, wearing someone else's coat and shoes and glasses. I was carrying a Dracon beam. The smart thing to do would be to head for the nearest exit.

But I had to see if the others were okay. Which meant searching the entire complex.

The Yeerk pool itself is a sort of pond. But all around it is a base, with warehouses, armories, administration buildings, a motor pool, and a cafeteria for each of the major species of Controllers.

It was always being enlarged. Around the edges were human construction equipment: Caterpillar earthmovers and backhoes and dump trucks.

But the evil heart of the complex was the Yeerk pool itself, and the cages where hosts - human and Hork-Bajir - were kept. Some of them shouted threats and obscenities. Others just sat wearily on the ground. They were the creatures whose Yeerks were in the pool at the moment.

There was a nicer area, almost like a beach club, where "voluntary" hosts hung out. Some humans. A lot of Taxxons. Both areas were larger and busier than when I'd last been there. There had to be fifty or even a hundred hosts in those cages.

This raises the question if Taxxons play volleyball. I don't know why, but I really want to know that now. We know Hork-Bajr don't. "Serving!" <Pop> "Darn spikes".

quote:

Wait a minute, I thought. There are a lot more than a hundred Yeerks in the pool.

Of course. Obviously, a lot of them were Yeerks awaiting fresh hosts.

I considered. What would happen if I aimed the Dracon beam right at the pool and fired at maximum power?

You'd never get the others back, that's what would happen.

A pair of Hork-Bajir marched by me. I stiffened, but they had no interest in me. I was just another human-Controller as far as they were concerned.

Then another pair of Hork-Bajir came by at a run. I followed them with my eyes. There were other Hork-Bajir, all rushing toward the edge of the Yeerk pool nearest the steel pier where they unloaded the Yeerks.
\

I drifted after them. I had to look cool, calm. No matter what. I couldn't look out of place.

But what I saw, there in the center of a circle of Hork-Bajir, made me want to cry out.

Ax!

He was demorphed. Fully Andalite. And there were no less than thirty Hork-Bajir warriors around him, all with Dracon beams leveled.

An Andalite can almost always beat one Hork-Bajir. Usually two. But not thirty. Ax was trapped.
He seemed calm. Or maybe just resigned.

I looked around for the others. I didn't see them. I reminded myself they could be in any number of bodies. Probably they were okay. Probably.

I hoped he would notice me. It might encourage him. But Ax was facing a sea of angry, triumphant faces. He had a lot to look at.

Two big Hork-Bajir stepped forward and very carefully slapped a metallic rope around his legs and arms. Then, even more carefully, they slid a sort of sheath over Ax's deadly tail blade.

Once Ax was helpless, they shoved him rudely onto his side and dragged him off through the dirt.
"An Andalite! Here!" someone said.

I glanced toward the voice. A distinguished-looking older woman. "Yeah," I said. "I wonder if he was alone."

She snorted. "Andalite scum. Always skulking about, passing as some sort of animal or bug with their morphing technology. They caught two others. Or at least they think they did. A pair of bats." She grinned. "They could just be bats, I suppose. But we'll find out soon. The Visser is coming." She laughed an evil, somewhat frightened laugh. "He'll find them out."

I tried to mimic her laugh. "Oh yes, the Visser will take care of the Andalite scum."

"I wish I could stay and watch," she said. "But I have to get back. My host is a judge and there's an important case I must prepare for."

She walked away. I made a mental note of her face and occupation. I also made a note of the fact that she was lying. She didn't want to be anywhere near Visser Three. Which just proved she was smart. The Visser had a temper. And when the Visser got mad, heads always rolled. Literally.

I'd find someplace else to be too.

quote:

So. Two bats and Ax. That left two of us not accounted for. Where would they be keeping the bats?

Duh, Rachel. The same place they were dragging Ax.

I began to follow the drag marks. They led toward a low windowless building. There was a sign above the door. It was in lettering I didn't recognize. But there was a feeling about the place. A bad feeling.

Should I rush in and try to save Ax and the other two? No, there was no rush yet. Nothing would happen till Visser Three arrived.

<Okay. How about Rachel? Rachel? Are you listening?>

It was Marco! I glanced around. But of course I couldn't see anything. Marco could be in any kind of morph.

<Rachel, it's me, Marco. If you can hear me, Jake, Tobias, and Ax have all been taken. I'm trying to contact you and Cassie. Are you there? Can you answer?>

I could have cried from frustration. In my own human body, I couldn't use thought-speak. It was a relief to know Marco was still free.

<No? Well, I hope you're okay. I'll try again later.>

I had reached the door of the sinister building. Now what?

Suddenly, a commotion. A small knot of humans and one Hork-Bajir were coming toward me. Or at least toward the door.

"I don't know how it got there!" a human voice wailed. "I'm telling you it's a mistake!" She was young. No more than eighteen. She was scared but helpless in the grip of the Hork-Bajir.

An older, male human-Controller shook his head. "You can tell it to the Visser. He'll be here soon."

"No!" the young woman gasped. "It's a huge mistake!"

"It's a mistake, all right," the man said. He reached into the backpack the girl was carrying. He lifted out a small Rubbermaid container. He shoved it in the girl's face. "What do you call this?"

"It's ... it's just cereal. It's something the humans call raisin bran. Human bodies need fiber in order to function properly, so -"

The man cut her off. He opened the Rubbermaid and sniffed it. He held it out for her to see. "No raisins. Don't lecture me about humans. I've been in this host body for two years. And I know the smell of maple and ginger. Fool. You're as stupid as the humans with their drugs. Never thought I'd see self-respecting Yeerks lower themselves to behaving like humans." He jerked his head. "Take her away."

She clearly doen't know that users are losers.

quote:

The Hork-Bajir dragged the girl into the building. The older man handed the Rubbermaid to another human-Controller. "Too many of our people going host-happy. These human hosts can be insidious. Check this in with the contraband locker."

"They're running out of room over there. They've taken in over two hundred human pounds of this stuff."

Two hundred pounds?

"Well, hello opportunity," I whispered.

Bet Marco is going to feel dumb spending his dad's money on all that oatmeal now.

Grammarchist

Feb 13, 2021 23:36

Well this book's not shy about stakes.

GodFish

Feb 14, 2021 01:46

Epicurius posted:

Bet Marco is going to feel dumb spending his dad's money on all that oatmeal now.

Maybe he'll like it.

Mazerunner

Feb 14, 2021 03:23

GodFish posted:

Maybe he'll like it.

pre-emptive defense against yeerk infestation, announce you're just stuffed to the brim with the stuff so don't even try

QuickbreathFinisher

Feb 14, 2021 10:24

Does maple ginger oatmeal sound kind of good to anyone else.... Asking genuinely, not because I'm an insane yeerk who no longer needs kandrona.

Terror Sweat

Feb 14, 2021 15:33

Apple cinnamon is where it's at

GodFish

Feb 14, 2021 16:29

Maple ginger oatmeal sounds like a genuinely disgusting combination honestly.

HisMajestyBOB

Feb 14, 2021 17:09

Sounds bad. Maple and brown sugar? Good. Ginger with something else? Maybe. Ginger and maple? No thanks.

Terror Sweat

Feb 14, 2021 18:07

HisMajestyBOB posted:

Sounds bad. Maple and brown sugar? Good. Ginger with something else? Maybe. Ginger and maple? No thanks.

It could just taste like gingerbread cookies with maple syrup

Epicurius

Feb 14, 2021 22:47

Sorry for all the excuses, but unfortunately posting is going to have to be delayed until tomorrow. I don't mean to keep doing this, but I'm in bed and exhausted and can't really do this from my phone.

Comrade Blyatlov

Feb 14, 2021 23:03

Someone Uber eats this human some oatmeal!

Time Trial

Feb 15, 2021 10:09

Ginger doesn't belong in oatmeal, no wonder it fucks them up

Comrade Blyatlov

Feb 15, 2021 11:52

It's probably crystallized ginger you goons

rollick

Feb 15, 2021 13:23

I thought the Yeerks would be stoked about the positive side effects of the MGO (GMO??). Maybe it's meant to parallel the war on drugs here in the real world, and Animorphs was actually agitprop for hemp the whole time.

Epicurius

Feb 15, 2021 13:36

rollick posted:

I thought the Yeerks would be stoked about the positive side effects of the MGO (GMO??). Maybe it's meant to parallel the war on drugs here in the real world, and Animorphs was actually agitprop for hemp the whole time.

I mean, I think the positive side effects are countered by insanity.

MrNemo

Feb 15, 2021 13:40

I imagine it's using stem ginger, which is typically preserved in syrup and is fucking delicious in desserts. Particularly superb in apple pies.

Example recipe for it here: https://www.talesfromthekitchenshed.com/2016/10/homemade-stem-ginger/

Acebuckeye13

Feb 15, 2021 13:47

It's wild to me that Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series of extremely dumb alt-history came out around the same time and both series have now featured invading aliens getting fucked up by ginger.

rollick

Feb 15, 2021 14:01

Epicurius posted:

I mean, I think the positive side effects are countered by insanity.

I just think they should at least experiment with microdosing. Seems like leaving money on the table otherwise.

Epicurius

Feb 15, 2021 20:32

Animorphs-Book 17:The Underground-Chapter 25

quote:

They kept the oatmeal in more of a shack than a building. It was like one of those tin sheds that people put in their backyards to store rakes and hoses and the lawn mower.

However, it was guarded by four very alert, very serious-looking Hork-Bajir.

The shed was perhaps fifty feet from the edge of the Yeerk pool itself, and just behind the "human" cafeteria.

I took a deep breath. Okay. Marco was free, but I didn't know where. Jake, Tobias, and Ax were all prisoners, probably back in the security building.

Cassie was somewhere, and I had no idea where or if she was okay. I had to stifle an urge to cry at the thought of Cassie hurt.

Okay, now stick to business, I told myself sharply. You're the only one who can save them.

In addition to everything else, I knew Visser Three was on his way, Jake and Tobias were running short of morphing time, and there were two hundred pounds of maple and ginger oatmeal sitting in a shed within fifty feet of the pool.

There had to be some way to make all this work. I just had to step back and see the big picture. Somehow. But the truth is, I'm not good at that kind of thing. Jake sees "big pictures." So does Cassie, in a different way. Me, I see what's right in front of me. I'm good at taking action.

Okay. First of all, whatever you're going to do, do it before Visser Three gets here.

First priority was rescuing my friends. I just needed time to -

ScrrrEEEET! ScrrrEEEET! ScrrrEEEET!

An alarm! Flashing lights! Hork-Bajir running. Running toward the store room where I'd Draconed those people.

Oh.

Okay, that was stupid. I should have realized they'd be found. Now the Yeerks would know they hadn't gotten all of us.

<One more time. It's me, Marco. Calling Rachel. Come on, Rachel. You're starting to worry us all now. Where are you?>

THUMP! BUMP! People rushing all around me. Hurrying. A huge Taxxon slithered past, needlelegs flashing, its big red, round mouth gasping at the air.

What had Marco said? You're starting to worry us all now? Us all? Did that mean he'd contacted all the others?

Someone grabbed me. "What's the matter with you? Get to your action station! There are more Andalite scum among us!"

The man released me and ran about three feet. Then he stopped. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He turned back to me, his face alive with suspicion.

I stepped right up to him so no one would see the flash. I lifted the Dracon beam and squeezed the trigger.

TSEEEWWW!

"Ahhh!" The Dracon blast was too close. Some of the energy bounced back off the man and stunned me. It was like grabbing a bare electrical wire and jabbing it in my stomach. I clutched my stomach and backed away.

Heads turned. Eyes narrowed.

"He's one of them!" I yelled, pointing at the prostrate man. "He tried to shoot me with this!" I held up the Dracon beam as evidence.

A crowd rushed forward, Hork-Bajir among them. They encircled the man as I backed away and tried to become invisible.

ScrrrEEEET! ScrrrEEEET! ScrrrEEEET!

<Oh, Ra-chel,> Marco sang in my head. <Where are you?>

"Where's the girl who was just here?" I heard a voice yell from the midst of the crowd.

I turned and walked away. Walk, don't run, I told myself.

"Well, find her!"

"Rachel!" a voice hissed.

I swear I almost wet myself. I reached for the Dracon beam.

"It's just me."

Cassie! She was suddenly right there in front of me.

"Oh, man, am I glad to see you! How did you get here?"

"How did you get here?"

"Never mind," I said. "I'm in trouble."

"I am so not surprised," she said.

"Come on, we have to get away from here." We walked away and I filled her in on what I knew. Which wasn't much.

"So, what do we do?" she asked.

"I was hoping you'd have some ideas."

"Well, we'd better get Jake, Tobias, and Ax first."

"Yeah, but how? They're surrounded by Hork-Bajir on a high state of alert. Visser Three's on his way."

I saw her glance at the Yeerk pool. "They're almost helpless in their natural state, aren't they?"

Suddenly a loudspeaker crackled to life. A blastingly loud message in some language neither of us spoke. And then, to my amazement, the top of the dome began to open up. It was just a circle, and from the filtered quality of the light that came down I could tell it was the bottom of a tunnel. It must have cut straight through some portion of the bat cave.

Floating down on jets of brilliant blue gasses came a Bug fighter.

"Three guesses who that is," Cassie muttered.

Here we go. Stuff just got a lot more complicated

Chpter 26

quote:

The Bug fighter bearing Visser Three floated down to a gentle landing not a hundred feet away.

I caught a glimpse of him as he stepped out. He looked like an older Ax. But even though Visser Three had infested an Andalite body, there was no mistaking him for a real Andalite. Not once you knew him. There was a darkness you couldn't see, but could definitely feel. A darkness spreading outward from him that caused people to lower their voices, speak in whispers, and try to shrink inside their own skin.

Something I never thought about until now, but it's kind of odd that Visser Three radiates this level of palpable evil. Other Yeerks don't. Even Visser One doesn't. She was able to live with Marco and his dad for a year without anyone noticing she was a Yeerk, and even when Marco describes interacting with her in that previous book, she's dropped the facade, and he can see she's a lot more callous and cruel, but even she doesn't radiate that sense of darkness.

quote:

"Some butt is going to get kicked," I predicted.

The Visser's thought-speak roar filled every brain in the Yeerk pool. <Seal every exit! No one move! Not a single twitch, do you hear me? I have secure troops coming down. Until they check you, no one moves. If any of you see any movement, destroy! Destroy it! Do you understand me? I will not tolerate failure!>

Two more Bug fighters were descending now. Visser Three was being careful. He knew we could be anyone. He knew we could even theoretically be in Hork-Bajir morph or Taxxon morph.

He'd brought fresh Hork-Bajir down from his Blade ship to begin checking us, one by one.

"We're toast," Cassie said, barely moving her lips.

We were alongside the building used to feed human-Controllers. We were partly blocked from view, and almost everyone in the place was staring straight ahead at Visser Three.

Still, there were two human-Controllers and a Taxxon behind us, where they would see us if we moved.

"Into the cafeteria here," I whispered. "Combat mode. Get ready."

"Get ready for ... where did you get that?"

Cassie had seen my Dracon beam as I drew it. I spun to face the Taxxon. "He moved! It's an ANDALITE!" I screamed.

I squeezed the trigger.

TSEEEWWW! Down went the Taxxon like a sack of pudding.

TSEEEWWW! Down went the first human-Controller!

TSEEEWWW! Down went the second.

We were clear. For about three seconds. I ducked into the cafeteria and was already starting to morph. The building was empty. Everyone was outside, gaping in fear at their leader.

<Who's firing over there?> the Visser bellowed. <I said, freeze!>

Cassie and I banged through folding chairs and slammed around tables loaded with interrupted meals.

"Back there!" I yelled, pointing to a door. I yanked it open. A food pantry. And there, sitting calmly atop a crate of canned minestrone and enjoying a banana, sat a gorilla.

"Marco?"

<No, some other gorilla,> he said. <I've been trying to contact you two for ->

"Some other time!" I yelled. "Hold this! I'm morphing!" I tossed him the Dracon beam.

<Cool!>

"Visser Three is here. Jake, Tobias, and Ax are surrounded by Hork-Bajir, and there are two hundred pounds of oatmeal in a shed!"

The gorilla blinked. <You have some brilliant yet probably suicidal idea, Xena?>

"No."

<What are you morphing?>

"Grizzly bear. It's butt-kicking time!"

"No, wait!" Cassie said. "The stupid oatmeal! That's the key. If that was in the pool, they'd all go nuts. At least it would be a huge distraction."

"We have to get out the front door of this place, around the building, back to the shed where they store it. A long way."

Marco nodded, like a wise gorilla. <Doesn't that mean it's right back here?> He pointed through the wall.

I smiled. "Come to think of it, it would be a lot shorter trip if we went through the wall."

"Through the wall. Then through the two Hork-Bajir guarding the oatmeal. Then what?" Cassie asked.

"Then ..." I began. I sighed. "I don't know."

<Good plan,> Marco said.

"Let's-" I began.

Marco held up one massive, leathery paw. <No, no. My turn,> he said. <All right, let's do it!>

So now we have a Marco plan.

Comrade Blyatlov

Feb 15, 2021 21:36

Say what you will about Visser Three, bringing known good troops to start checking people is a smart play.

freebooter

Feb 16, 2021 01:15

quote:

Okay, now stick to business, I told myself sharply. You're the only one who can save them.

Rampant Marco erasure :colbert:

Fuschia tude

Feb 16, 2021 01:51

Epicurius posted:

Something I never thought about until now, but it's kind of odd that Visser Three radiates this level of palpable evil. Other Yeerks don't. Even Visser One doesn't. She was able to live with Marco and his dad for a year without anyone noticing she was a Yeerk, and even when Marco describes interacting with her in that previous book, she's dropped the facade, and he can see she's a lot more callous and cruel, but even she doesn't radiate that sense of darkness.

Yeah, I thought that some books ago. For a series that tends to treat its subject realistically, given its high fantasy setting, it's kind of odd to just give him an always-on absolute evil aura. He seemed to have that even before he took Alloran in The Andalite Chronicles, didn't he?

I thought there was no way I'd read this book, but I actually own it. Still, I don't remember a thing from it. Ginger oatmeal? :nallears:

Mazerunner

Feb 16, 2021 02:32

quote:

"Back there!" I yelled, pointing to a door. I yanked it open. A food pantry. And there, sitting calmly atop a crate of canned minestrone and enjoying a banana, sat a gorilla.

"Marco?"

<No, some other gorilla,> he said.

Marco owns

I remember someone in the thread posited that Visser 3 is basically constantly telepathically blaring his hate and anger but I'm not sure if that's consistent with his pre-Alloran portrayal.

Ravenfood

Feb 16, 2021 06:20

Fuschia tude posted:

Yeah, I thought that some books ago. For a series that tends to treat its subject realistically, given its high fantasy setting, it's kind of odd to just give him an always-on absolute evil aura. He seemed to have that even before he took Alloran in The Andalite Chronicles, didn't he?

I thought there was no way I'd read this book, but I actually own it. Still, I don't remember a thing from it. Ginger oatmeal?

I thought it was because he was a telepathic species and even when he morphs is still capable of thoughtspeak and so is just kind of thoughtscreaming his evilness at all times.

QuickbreathFinisher

Feb 16, 2021 11:57

Yeah I assume it's a combination of his being the only Andalite controller, and something like his Yeerk using the combination of his own outsized evil-and-loving-it personality with Alloran's telepathy to radiate an aura and create the boss from hell. Maybe it's an ability that Andalites have but rarely use due to their military code or something. Could be a feature of telepathic species, although we haven't seen the Leerans display this ability yet, and their telepathy seems to work quite differently from Andalite telepathy, especially from what we get in the next book.

Maybe Alloran's just got gravitas as hell

feetnotes

Feb 16, 2021 15:20

Elfangor's first meeting with Sub-Visser Seven posted:

Then, although the image was fractured, I saw Hork-Bajir coming toward me. Six or seven of them, moving in swiftly. Surrounding me!

There was nothing I could do. I couldn't run. A ten-foot-long worm does not outrun a Hork-Bajir.

One Hork-Bajir-Controller swaggered up before me. At a signal from him, the others all leveled Dracon beams straight at me. Not that they needed Dracon beams. A Hork-Bajir can slice a Taxxon to ribbons in seconds.

And I had seen what happened to any Taxxon careless enough to be injured.

"Welcome to the Taxxon home world," the Hork-Bajir said. "I am Sub-Visser Seven. You interest me. Yes, indeed. I am very interested in any Taxxon who will not eat fresh meat."

Elfangor's sizing Sub-Visser Seven up shortly thereafter posted:

I watched him as well as I could with my Taxxon eyes. A sub-visser is a high rank. I remembered that from the basic training classes where they taught us about the Yeerk foe. At the top of the Yeerk Empire is the Council of Thirteen. One of those thirteen is emperor, but no one knows which one. It's a closely guarded secret. The Yeerks fear assassination.

Just below the Council of Thirteen are the vissers. They are the generals of the Yeerk military. They are numbered according to their power and importance. Visser One would be the most powerful, on down through Visser Forty or so.

A sub-visser is like a colonel. Very powerful, especially if he has a low number like seven. But not a visser yet.

Nothing about his demeanor when Elfangor first meets him seems to suggest he has this inherent evil aura. However...

quote:

The sub-visser leaned close to me. He actually whispered. "There is one other possibility. This Hork-Bajir body I use is fine, but there are millions of Hork-Bajir-Controllers now. And what are my other choices? To go back to being a Gedd? Or to take a Taxxon body? No thanks. I won't live with that Taxxon hunger."

The train plunged into the Taxxon hive. Darkness descended. In the darkness, my Taxxon eyes actually worked better.

The sub-visser's Hork-Bajir face was a shattered sparkling of tiny images to my Taxxon eyes. I could hear his heart beating faster.

"There is one other possibility, Andalite. There has never been an Andalite-Controller. None of us has ever succeeded in capturing an Andalite alive. Your warriors use that nasty Andalite tail blade on themselves rather than be taken alive." He grinned. "Such a waste. Really. See, I want to be the first to have an Andalite body. With that body, with the Andalite morphing power, I wouldn't remain a sub-visser for long. I could be a full visser."

An Andalite-Controller? This Yeerk scum wanted to take over an Andalite body?

I felt a wave of revulsion. A wave of revulsion that seemed to grow out of some deep insight, as if I had caught a glimpse of the future. I wasn't a mystic. I was in the military. But still, I felt a weird, unsettling sensation.

I looked at the sub-visser. I looked into his greedy, murderous eyes. And it was as if I could see him clearly. As if the veil of time was lifted.

And I knew then I would not die. Not yet, at least. I knew it deep in my heart. Because I knew that in looking at this creature, this Yeerk, I was looking at my true, personal enemy.

It feels like this (cool) moment sets up that sense of dread and hatred. Elfangor mentions Andalite mystics and suggests they have some deeper insight and foresight -- maybe they can perceive these kind of "ties of fate" in the same way they know a little about the Ellimist. It's interesting, though, that the same feeling Elfangor describes seems to pass down to the Animorphs as his successors.

The feeling does seem connected to Andalites in some way, but also hints at something larger or more mystical. Elfangor, an Andalite, first senses this feeling at the thought of an Andalite-controller. The Visser himself then projects the aura after taking Alloran's body. The Animorphs do have Andalites among them - Ax and kinda Tobias. And even the humans, having taken on the Andalite morphing power, can use thought-speak and thus share some physical traits with Andalites. I like the kinda-physiological and kinda-mystical feel of it. That's the space opera side of the series showing itself right there.

feetnotes

Feb 16, 2021 15:20

Also

Mazerunner posted:

Marco owns

Jazerus

Feb 16, 2021 21:11

HisMajestyBOB posted:

It's been interesting going through these books now after reading them as a kid. I read the first 13 or so repeatedly so I remember them very well. However, while I remember the plot outlines of this book and the books through about number 28, I don't remember many of the details. I was probably aging out of them at this point in the series and while I still read them, I was starting to read adult fiction by this point.

Fake edit: Yeah, I just looked up the publication order and I had started 6th grade (middle school) when book 11 was published. My language arts teacher pushed me to read more mature books at that point.

so...did you actually manage to find more mature books than these at that age? i feel like everything else targeted at your grade level would have been less mature, although i'm sure your teacher couldn't see past the cover like every other adult at the time

anyway folks i have been catching up on this thread and while i don't have a whole lot to say about 1-14 or the andalite chronicles that hasn't already been said, 15 has so many little things i feel the need to tackle. this is probably one of the most complex books in the whole series and while i remembered most of it before rereading here, the nuance of these characters is something else. marco as a narrator is incredible in a way i hadn't remembered at all. sorry for tons of quotes, but there's a lot to talk about here.

quote:

Erek laughed with his chrome dog's muzzle. Then he was instantly serious again. "I need to talk to you privately, Marco."

"Well, I don't have any secrets from Jake," I said. "I think that's the basis of a good marriage: openness, honesty."

gaaaaay

this is the kind of line that really hints at marco's bisexuality while also being perfectly in line with his 90s smartass act and i appreciate it a lot. "spout some shit i heard from dr. phil" is extremely marco but he's also being sincere.

quote:

See, I've always believed that to some extent you get to decide for yourself what your life will be like. You can either look at the world and say, "Oh, isn't it all so tragic, so grim, so awful." Or you can look at the world and decide that it's mostly funny.

If you step back far enough from the details, everything gets funny. You say war is tragic. I say, isn't it crazy the way people will fight over nothing? People fight wars to control crappy little patches of empty desert, for crying out loud. It's like fighting over an empty soda can. It's not so much tragic as it is ridiculous. Asinine! Stupid!

this is cspam as hell and really resonates in 2021 in a way that it never could have at the time of publication

quote:

Reggae. Some good old classic reggae. Bob Marley. I'd bought the CD at a point when I was considering growing dreadlocks. Never mind why. Okay, it had to do with this girl at school.

"Bob Marley, mon," I said. "Help me out, mon."

so this is something i really appreciate about marco. marco is a fan of the classics, and while this is partially so michael grant can write about things he knows, it contributes to your perception of marco as older. i feel like marco books are maybe intentionally written a grade level or two higher than everyone else - not that anyone else is stupid, but their books are accessible, while a marco book is almost like a challenge to precocious kids. are you smart enough to "get" marco? and yet it still works even if you aren't.

quote:

I had homework to do when I got home. Tons of it. I was supposed to do a book report, among other things, and I had to have it in by Monday. Five pages. And my English teacher doesn't respond well to five pages of babble and baloney.

callbacks like this really help the series hold together, because it was only a few books ago that marco tried his luck with five pages of babble and baloney. apparently his paper, "the use of rhetoric to obscure lack of content", didn't go over so well.

quote:

It was a nice offer. My dad's a nice man. I'd like to grow up to be as good a man as my father. But you know what? Right then, dark suspicion was seeping into my mind. Why was he interested?

What did he suspect? Was my father one of them, too?

this is the kind of passage i mean when i say a marco book is written at a higher grade level. "i'd like to grow up to be as good a man as my father". "dark suspicion was seeping into my mind." i feel like jake, rachel, or cassie would be more like "my dad's a great guy, but this felt kind of suspicious."

quote:

Animals go limp when you acquire them, I told myself. Except when they don't. Like Tobias's dolphin.

so this is a tiny thing, but it's really good writing. the kids rely on acquisition as an animal-taming tool a lot - like, a lot, to the point that there was starting to be very little tension in their encounters with animals. oh, look, rachel fell into a zoo exhibit again - guess she'll just acquire a thing and be fine. but now, as readers, we can never rely on this again. KA and michael might bust out "this animal doesn't trance, good luck" at any time, so now it's tense when they reach out for an animal, every time.

quote:

"We are doing this," I said forcefully. "But I'll tell you right now, this whole thing is insane. Insane! Morphing sharks to infiltrate some underwater Yeerk complex? What has happened to our lives?"

As Jake and I walked back to the others I muttered, "Happy now?"

[...]

See, I was doing my job. Playing my part within the group. Teasing. Joking. Exaggerating. That was my role. Like Jake had pointed out: A Marco not making jokes just worries people.

the depth of these kids. they're so fully realized it hurts. see, i feel like none of the other humans in the group would appreciate the way jake approaches marco here. "play your role" would upset them all. but marco gets it, even as he hates it. this reveals a lot!!

this is how jake is now. he knows exactly what button to push to make you the biggest asset to the team that you can be, even if you hate it, and he will do it. marco gets it. he approves of it. he still resents it.

quote:

I nodded. "Yes, Visser."

"You must learn to control your host more completely. My own host is in here creating an awful racket," she said, tapping her head. "But I do not let her weeping and wailing disturb me."

"No, Visser," I said in a whisper. "I will try harder to control my host."

marco is so hardcore. he's having a breakdown and he's still able to bust out his best "chapman groveling before visser three" impression.

quote:

Then, through the massive round porthole, I saw something large and sinuous. Like a snake. But a snake that was fifty feet long and thicker than a Taxxon.

It was the yellow of poison. With a mouth that looked able to swallow a small boat.

It was coming straight for the facility. And on either side of it, like an honor guard, were a dozen Hork-Bajir in bizarre red diving suits, propelled by small water jets attached to each ankle.

[...]

"Look, it's him, okay? I saw it through the porthole. A huge yellow sea snake with Hork-Bajir alongside. Who do you figure that would be?"

<He cannot have had time to hear about a battle down here,> Ax pointed out. <It's too quick to be a rescue mission.>

"I don't think it is a rescue mission. I think it's a coincidence. I think he happened to be on his way here."

can we stop and appreciate for a second that visser three transforms into a sea dragon just to visit a lab? with a ridiculous honor guard of hork-bajir in diving suits with jets strapped to their feet?

quote:

I couldn't believe I was standing there so calmly while Jake, Rachel, and Cassie were probably fighting for their lives. But I guess I'd had a good look at the ruthlessness of the Yeerks.

i think this is the first time that any of the animorphs have stood around and accomplished a slow mission objective while knowing that the other half of the group really needs back-up. it speaks to their increasing sophistication as a military force, but also the creeping emotional numbness that is starting to hit these kids hard.

quote:

<Hah hah hah hah,> Visser Three laughed. <Water rushing in, and you're stuck in that weak human body, Visser One. Is that my promotion I see coming?>

Visser One was red with rage. But she turned and ran toward the office building.

<Yes, you'd better hurry and turn off your computer!> Visser Three crowed. <If you are able! These Andalites are devils with computers, you know. Hah hah hah!>

visser three. what a lad.

but, you know, i feel like visser three's showmanship is an interesting trait. comically dramatic evil is, i think, one of the main things people remember about the yeerks in general, but that's not really accurate. most yeerks are pretty serious and no-nonsense. for all that visser three mocks visser one for being "half-human"...doesn't it feel like visser three is half-andalite? we know that alloran as a cadet liked to show off and joke around. even as a jaded war-prince, he likes flashy ships and dramatic standoffs. most yeerks hate the andalites, sure, but visser three is the only one that really exudes that certainty in superiority, a perfect mirror of andalite xenophobia.

Epicurius

Feb 16, 2021 21:51

Jazerus posted:

but, you know, i feel like visser three's showmanship is an interesting trait. comically dramatic evil is, i think, one of the main things people remember about the yeerks in general, but that's not really accurate. most yeerks are pretty serious and no-nonsense. for all that visser three mocks visser one for being "half-human"...doesn't it feel like visser three is half-andalite? we know that alloran as a cadet liked to show off and joke around. even as a jaded war-prince, he likes flashy ships and dramatic standoffs. most yeerks hate the andalites, sure, but visser three is the only one that really exudes that certainty in superiority, a perfect mirror of andalite xenophobia.

I think, to an extent, Yeerks are influenced by their hosts. I mean, how can they not? When they infest a host, they absorb all its knowledge and beliefs and attitudes, and then at first, at least, its in a war for control, so the Yeerk needs to be able to understand all that to break the will of its host. And I think you're right. Of all the Yeerks we see, from high officials to just grunts, Visser Three is the only one who has that sort of mustache twirling villain thing going on, to the extent that other Yeerks find him strange and offputting. It's why I make all my Visser Three is a bad boss jokes, because he is. A lot of that is, I think, because the reason he's a Visser is because he has an Andalite host, not because he's otherwise qualified. And we'll probably get into this in a future book, but I think one of the problems the Yeerks have is that they don't have an army. They have warlords.

Anyway, today's post coming up next.

Comrade Blyatlov

Feb 16, 2021 21:53

Compare and contrast the Visser Three we meet before and after Alloran. Ambitious? Sure. Bloodthirsty? Maybe not.

Epicurius

Feb 16, 2021 21:58

Animorphs-Book 17:The Underground-Chapter 27

quote:

began to morph the grizzly bear. But then I stopped. We needed raw power. Truck-style power.

"You guys may get a little cramped," I warned. "I'm gonna get big."

I began to morph the elephant.

It's funny with morphing. It's like choosing your weapons in an old-time duel. In the old days two guys would insult each other, then they would arrange through their friends to "settle" the matter. The person who was challenged would get his choice of weapons. They'd go off early one morning, very civilized, with all the proper ceremony, and sword fight or shoot each other.

Pretty much like some people do today, only nowadays the duelists always seem to slaughter some innocent bystanders.

But that's a little of what it's like. I was going into battle. Which weapon should I use? I liked the bear because it was so utterly powerful and destructive. But in this case, the elephant morph was the proper weapon. And just like with one of those old-time, early-morning duels, I had plenty of time to think about being scared.

I began to change. I began to get large. My legs thickened to become telephone poles. My arms thickened even more and the weight of them made me fall forward.

My fingers and toes disappeared, leaving behind only thick, bony nails. I realized I could see something flapping around my head. Flapping like someone shaking a sheet out of the dryer. It was my ears, growing thin and huge.

My face bulged outward. It was as if someone were blowing my head up like a balloon. My eyes moved apart, spreading farther and farther, blurring my vision. My nose melted with my upper lip and began to grow like some nightmare Pinocchio. It grew till it wasn't a nose anymore, but a rope, a cable, a massive octopus tentacle so strong I could rip trees out of the ground.

I was monstrous, towering huge above Marco, and Cassie in her wolf morph. My back pressed against the roof. My sides shoved crates and boxes aside.

<Marco, look out!> I yelled and Marco dropped the Dracon beam trying to get out of the way.

Because at that moment, my teeth ground and cracked and suddenly sprouted. Out, out, out from my mouth they grew, forming two long, curved tusks.

If Marco had stayed where he was, he'd have been impaled.

<Marco, get the Dracon beam. You dropped it. Your fingers are the only ones that can work it.>

<Dropped it where? Under you? Great.> He crawled awkwardly beneath my bulging gray stomach and emerged with the Dracon beam in his fist.

<Okay,> I said. <Right for the oatmeal shed, no stopping. Ready?>

<Ready,> Cassie said.

<You know, Jake was right. You just never hear about oatmeal being involved in any of the great battles of history,> Marco observed.

<Yeah, whatever,> I said tersely. <Come on.>

I didn't have to do much to go through the back wall of the pantry we were in. I just leaned forward and pushed my head against the wall. My head alone weighed more than half a ton. It was a serious battering ram.

Crrrrr-UNCH! Crunch! Scree-UNCH!

Down came the wall. Down came half the roof on my back. Out we barreled, an elephant, a wolf, and a lumbering gorilla.

The shed was thirty feet away. No more. Not even two body lengths for me. One, two, three steps and I was there!

The two Hork-Bajir yelled and almost ran, but then held their ground. I had to admire that. Go to the zoo some time. Take a good, long look at an African elephant, and imagine that thing charging for you. See how long you'd want to stand there.

SLASH!

A lightning-quick swipe with an arm blade, and I had a bright red line in my trunk. It was just a shallow cut, but it hurt.

"HhhhrrroooooREEEE-Unh!" I screamed.

I kept my speed, and plowed straight into the Hork-Bajir. Ten thousand pounds of fast-moving elephant.

The brave Hork-Bajir-Controller was out of the fight.

No time to stop. I saw Marco and Cassie take down the other Hork-Bajir.

<Two more Hork-Bajir coming!> Cassie yelled.

I backed up a few feet and slammed forward. I hit the shed with my head.

WHAM!

The four walls of the shed literally blew outward.

Like someone had set off a bomb inside it. The walls burst outward from the impact. The roof fell and then slid aside.

A blue barrel, like a beer keg, rolled away. A piece of debris stopped it. There were five other barrels, all standing there in a group.

<The oatmeal!> I said.

<The instant maple and ginger oatmeal!> Marco corrected gleefully.

<Get them!> a huge, thought-speak voice roared. The voice of Visser Three. I turned my head to look. An entire army of Hork-Bajir, Taxxons, and human-Controllers was rushing for us. There was no way out. No way at all.

And there, in the midst of the onrushing army, was Visser Three.

I wrapped my trunk around one of the barrels of confiscated oatmeal. I lifted it up like a feather.

I saw the closest Hork-Bajir hesitate.

I threw the barrel in a high arc. It landed with a big, soggy splash, right in the middle of the Yeerk pool.

<It's not sinking!> Cassie cried.

<Marco. Point the Dracon beam at the barrel. Now.>

The big gorilla raised his mighty arm and aimed the Dracon beam at the barrel.

<Your move, Visser,> I said.

So, it's a standoff. Visser Three, if he attacks, will be able to kill them, but the oatmeal will burst and get all the Yeerks in the pool.

Chapter 28

quote:

<Stop!> that awful voice roared.

And every living thing stopped. They barely breathed. Hork-Bajir stood poised as if they'd been frozen. When the Visser said "stop," you stopped. Period.

He came forward, pushing human and Hork-Bajir and Taxxon aside. He came forward till nothing separated him from us except a shield of three straining, awkwardly frozen Hork-Bajir and a twitching Taxxon.

His Andalite stalk eyes swept from side to side, sizing up the situation. His main eyes looked right at me.

<There's nothing in that barrel but garbage.>

<Then you won't mind if my friend fires and blows it up.>

It was always deadly dangerous talking to Visser Three. In addition to an Andalite's body, he had an Andalite mind under his evil control. He might figure out that I was not an Andalite in morph, but a human.

He laughed. Not a nice laugh. <There are perhaps a thousand Yeerks in that pool. The ... the product in that barrel might affect half of them before we could get it cleared up. Five hundred Yeerks.>

He paused to consider. <And against that, I suppose you want your fellow terrorists released and a chance to escape.>

<Exactly,> I said.

Marco still held the Dracon beam aimed at the wallowing barrel.

<Then I'd better give you my answer,> Visser Three said with silky menace. Before he could say it, I knew. I'd seen it in his eyes. In his body language.

He was writing off five hundred of his own people. Condemning them to madness. He didn't care. It would be a setback, but that was all. Beyond that, he didn't care.

Worst boss.

quote:

Visser Three cared for nothing.

Oh, wait. Visser Three did care about one thing.

No time to think. No time to plan. I surged forward suddenly, just as Visser Three was saying,

<Destroy them ->

I surged my five tons forward, trunk outstretched.

Visser Three leaped back. Right into a Taxxon who was following orders by freezing.

I plowed through the Hork-Bajir and reached for the Visser. My trunk went around his upper body.

FWAPP! His Andalite tail slashed! Miss!

I squeezed my trunk, flexed the muscles in my neck and shoulders, and up went the Visser. I yanked him up off the ground.

FWAPP! He slashed again, and this time I bellowed in pain. The blade had hit the side of my face. It nearly cut right through one eye. The agony was unbearable.

But I couldn't hesitate.

I lifted the Visser high in the air. I heaved him, just as he slashed again.

Through the air he flew.

PAH-LOOOSH!

Visser Three hit the Yeerk pool.

I was reeling in pain. Pain like nothing I'd ever imagined.

<Oh, no, Rachel!> Cassie cried.

I ignored her. No time for pain. No time. I had to play this out. Fortunately, I know just a little about Andalite physiology. See, they eat and drink through their hooves. Right now the Visser was absorbing the water of the Yeerk pool.

I glared with my one remaining eye at the Visser, floundering in the pool.

<Now do you care if we blow up that barrel?> I asked him. <Now do you care?>

So, honestly, how do you think his subordinates must feel about him? He was willing to let 500 Yeerks go incurably insane. He really is just terrible, and this is even by the standards of a race of imperialistic parasites.

HisMajestyBOB

Feb 16, 2021 21:59

Jazerus posted:

so...did you actually manage to find more mature books than these at that age? i feel like everything else targeted at your grade level would have been less mature, although i'm sure your teacher couldn't see past the cover like every other adult at the time

William Sleater's sci-fi books were a bit more advanced than Animorphs and also had similarly mature themes. Also John Christopher's When the Tripods Came series. Aside from those, I mostly read adult fiction: Michael Crichton, Arthur C. Clarke, etc.

Epicurius

Feb 16, 2021 22:07

HisMajestyBOB posted:

William Sleater's sci-fi books were a bit more advanced than Animorphs and also had similarly mature themes. Also John Christopher's When the Tripods Came series. Aside from those, I mostly read adult fiction: Michael Crichton, Arthur C. Clarke, etc.

Sleator's stuff was good. I remember really liking Interstellar Pig as a kid.

nine-gear crow

Feb 16, 2021 23:14

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

Compare and contrast the Visser Three we meet before and after Alloran. Ambitious? Sure. Bloodthirsty? Maybe not.

The ultimate beautiful irony of the situation in their coming together is that Esplin shamed and chastened Alloran into a much more repentant and redemptive figure that he otherwise would have been without him, meanwhile Alloran absolutely fucked Esplin up right to his core.

Fuschia tude

Feb 17, 2021 00:09

Jazerus posted:

gaaaaay

this is the kind of line that really hints at marco's bisexuality while also being perfectly in line with his 90s smartass act and i appreciate it a lot. "spout some shit i heard from dr. phil" is extremely marco but he's also being sincere.

Dr. Phil didn't appear on Oprah until after he'd helped her win her libel case in 1998, at least a month in the future :eng101:

Jazerus

Feb 17, 2021 00:37

nine-gear crow posted:

The ultimate beautiful irony of the situation in their coming together is that Esplin shamed and chastened Alloran into a much more repentant and redemptive figure that he otherwise would have been without him, meanwhile Alloran absolutely fucked Esplin up right to his core.

every time one of the visser's underlings screws up, alloran's brain whispers "kill the yeerk" and esplin says "why not?"

freebooter

Feb 17, 2021 01:18

Epicurius posted:

I think, to an extent, Yeerks are influenced by their hosts. I mean, how can they not? When they infest a host, they absorb all its knowledge and beliefs and attitudes, and then at first, at least, its in a war for control, so the Yeerk needs to be able to understand all that to break the will of its host.

Hmm - does the Yeerk resistance movement exist elsewhere in the empire, or does it develop on Earth? Maybe that was in part caused by freedom-loving, individualistic humans influencing their hosts more than the communalistic Hork-Bajir, hive-mind Taxxons or simplistic Geds.

HisMajestyBOB posted:

William Sleater's sci-fi books were a bit more advanced than Animorphs and also had similarly mature themes. Also John Christopher's When the Tripods Came series. Aside from those, I mostly read adult fiction: Michael Crichton, Arthur C. Clarke, etc.

The Tripods trilogy rocked. A lot of Christopher's adult books are really good scifi potboilers too. I started reading John Wyndham around the same age as well.

I feel like kids who are actually really engaged with reading, who don't have to be encouraged into "age-appropriate" books by school libraries or Scholastic book fairs, generally start reading much more broadly around 12 and are mostly reading adult-level genre books a few years later. By the time I was 14 or so I was reading Matthew Reilly, Stephen King, Michael Crichton - not high-brow literature but not kids' stuff either. But I was still mixing that with YA stuff like Philip Pullman and Philip Reeve. Good fiction is good fiction.

And I guess it helped that in both my local library and my school library, unlike a bookstore, there was no demarcation between YA and "adult" literature so you just picked and chose as you pleased. (Now that I think of it the fact that we don't have middle school in Australia, so a high school library has to serve 12-year-olds through to 18-year-olds, probably helped.)

Cythereal

Feb 17, 2021 05:32

freebooter posted:

The Tripods trilogy rocked. A lot of Christopher's adult books are really good scifi potboilers too. I started reading John Wyndham around the same age as well.

I remember reading the Tripods books as a kid. And the day it clicked that this wasn't a fantasy setting, this was Earth after an alien invasion.

Preteen me's mind was blown.

Epicurius

Feb 17, 2021 20:47

freebooter posted:

Hmm - does the Yeerk resistance movement exist elsewhere in the empire, or does it develop on Earth? Maybe that was in part caused by freedom-loving, individualistic humans influencing their hosts more than the communalistic Hork-Bajir, hive-mind Taxxons or simplistic Geds.

Only on Earth. Its origins will show up a few books from now.