[Closed]

[livestoannoy]

Marco was on a mission.

He was going to find that cinnamon stash of Ax's, dammit. He was sick of gloop. So, after surreptitiously checking to make sure that Ax was out in the barn and not the house, he'd started checking the inside the couch. No, not under the cushions. He was checking inside the cloth itself, around the springs.

Hey, he hadn't checked there yet - you never know! It could be there!

But, Marco's search wasn't going to last very long, this time.

Comments

[colorfulworld]

Aftran had to ask somebody for their help with this, but she wasn't interested in revealing herself to the rest of the crew, so there were only a few people she could go to. She didn't like asking for help, but it was for the best. Once this was done, Karen would be free. They would both be free.

After having received directions to the Animorphs' home in the City, Aftran stopped at their door, raised her hand, and knocked.

[livestoannoy]

Marco had been in the middle of a delicate operation to pry open more of the couch's stitching, when he heard the knock on the door. He looked up, and hastily covered the tears in the couch over with a pillow.

When he opened the door, he blinked. "Aftran?" he said, disbelief written all over his face. What the hell was she doing here? He'd have thought she'd have stayed as far away from them as possible, without Cassie here.

[colorfulworld]

"There's a matter I wanted to discuss, and I don't know how secure the omnicomms are," she replied simply. "Can I come in?"

[livestoannoy]

"Yeah, sure," Marco said shrugging and stepping back to give Aftran room to come inside - though he still watched her closely.

[colorfulworld]

Aftran walked in, and looked around for a moment before proceeding.

"The science department is working on methods to help us with our problem," she said. "To give Iniss, Schmuz, and myself bodies of our own. One of the solutions they've come up with is a blue box based on Andalite technology."

[livestoannoy]

See this? This is Marco looking at you like you are completely insane.

"Excuse me? Blue box? As in the one that gives you the morphing ability? The blue box? They just sat around and pulled one of those out of their backsides, did they?!"

[colorfulworld]

"Of course not," she replied a bit curtly. "If they had, it wouldn't have taken them this long."

[livestoannoy]

"Don't tell me it actually worked," Marco said, staring at Aftran in disbelief. No way. No way could they actually get something right in all of this mess.

[colorfulworld]

"It did," she replied, "though they said it might not work as well as the real thing. So... that's why I'm here." She sighed. "I... I need someone's DNA to acquire, and I need help learning the technique Aximili used to combine the Animorphs' DNA."

[livestoannoy]

Marco narrowed his eyes slightly - if they'd really done this, why hadn't Kang swanned in here to declare that he'd actually managed to do something useful for one? Why wasn't anyone telling them that Tom could be free now?"

"What about Iniss and Schmutz?" he asked, suspicious.

[colorfulworld]

"They've tried it, but had complications that made the process not work for them," she replied. "Like I said, the technology's not as good as the Andalites would have made." Nope, still not a fan of Andalites.

She sighed. "I'm not making this up, Marco. You know what I promised Cassie. The only reason I'm still in Karen's head right now is that there is no pool here."

[livestoannoy]

Marco snorted, rolling his eyes. "Figures. Trust them to still screw this up." Trust us, they keep saying. Marco still saw no reason to.

He looked at Aftran, evaluating for a moment. "Fine, I'll go get Ax. You stay here and...I don't know, do whatever you Yeerks do for fun," he said, heading out the door to go fetch Ax from the barn.

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

Ax had retreated to the barn to mull over his newly-returned memories of Elfangor. He'd have preferred to do it at the Garibah tree, but didn't want to deal with the inevitable questions from other crew members. So, Cassie's barn.

After Marco's summary of the situation thus far though, Ax lagged behind so that he had the opportunity to steel himself for the discussion. While Aftran was an ally, she was also still a Yeerk; and whether or not Seerow's Kindness ought to be applied to all other species, it was still based on the Andalite people's interaction with Yeerks. Giving a Yeerk information they didn't already know about morphing made his skin creep.

But it would be for the best. Probably.

He followed Marco into Cassie's house and nodded to Aftran in greeting.

[colorfulworld]

She nodded back to the Andalite, a little curt. They were technically on the same side, but he still made her uncomfortable.

"Did Marco tell you what I told him?" She tried to keep her tone neutral. The situation was a little overwhelming. She knew they didn't like her, and she had spent most of her time on the ship without the memory of meeting Cassie and everything that happened after that. Besides, she knew how Andalites felt about sharing technology with the Yeerks, thanks to "the one good Andalite".

[livestoannoy]

"Yeah, I told him," Marco said, flopping down onto the couch (and conveniently over the spot where he'd been trying to search through it earlier). He looked up a Ax. "I have to admit, I'd like to know how this whole frolis whatever thing works too."

You never know - one day, Marco might need it.

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

< It's only slightly more complex than morphing anything else, > Ax said, scanning the room with his stalk-eyes to soothe his nerves. He kept his main eyes on Aftran. < How many humans to you intend to acquire DNA from? >

[colorfulworld]

"At least three or four," she replied. She kept her eyes on the space between Marco and Ax, more toward Marco's direction. "Enough that I wouldn't appear to actually be related to anyone on-board. Tom, Iniss's host, has volunteered his. And Karen has, too."

[livestoannoy]

"And you want ours as well," Marco surmised.

[colorfulworld]

"If it isn't a problem for you," she said. "The thing is, I'd rather keep my... situation hidden from as many people as I can. If the Council and the ship's command have to know about me, that's one thing, but as I understand it the general population isn't fond of Yeerks."

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

At least Ax's DNA wouldn't be helpful to her.

< Have you already acquired Karen and Tom's DNA, or do you still need to do that? > he asked, not saying one thing or the other about discussing her "situation".

[livestoannoy]

Marco had already given his DNA to an alien before (well, and David had gotten it too, but that was only through the use of a baseball bat). If it got that little girl her own body back quicker? Yeah, he'd gladly give his DNA again.

"Sure, that's what you say," Marco grinned, a mischievous glint in his eye. "We all know that you're really here because you just want some of my incredibly good looking DNA."

[pretty_lethal]

Rachel was just returning to the house (she'd been staying out a lot lately) in time for this-- and particularly, in time for Marco's comment. "Nothing about you is good looking," Rachel drawled, rolling her eyes as she stepped in. "Let alone your..."

She trailed off, though, as her eyes landed directly on Aftran. She stopped, and her eyes narrowed. "And what the hell are you doing here?"

[colorfulworld]

"Ah--" She turned when she heard Rachel's words, inadvertently flinching a little. If she knew anything about Rachel, and she did, she knew she wouldn't be pleased to hear this...

"I need to acquire some human DNA," she explained cautiously, "so I can leave Karen's body."

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

< Engineering has managed to produce a facsimile of the Escafil device, > Ax explained. < It didn't work for Iniss or Schmuz, but it did on Aftran. She has come to let us know her plans and as for assistance performing the Frolis maneuver with the human DNA acquired with the permission of the donors. > He made sure to maintain main-eye contact with Rachel, trying to read her expression. < Karen will be freed as a result, and Aftran will still be able to assist the crew in defeating the Ohm. >

It was rather strange, he mused, to be part of a discussion about Yeerks with morphing capabilities and, as an Andalite, not being the one that it was most probable would freak out.

[livestoannoy]

"Going to donate yours, or is your DNA just too good for anyone else?" Marco said, a harsh undercurrent running underneath his mocking tones.

Marco and Rachel might be tolerating each other at the moment, but things between them still weren't exactly going smoothly.

[pretty_lethal]

Aftran was right to be cautious, and Ax was right to watch her closely-- because as she got the explanations from the two of them, her glare did itensify somewhat, and her hands balled into fists. She was angry at the passing implication that Tom wasn't free yet, and especially at the much less subtle statement that they should be helping Aftran. "Why should we?" she snapped. "I don't see why the hell she deserves it. Karen can be freed and she can live outside the body." She knew there was the 'blind' argument, but she didn't really care much about the Yeerks feelings. But she knew what Cassie would say...

Shaking that off, she turned her glare to Marco. "Oh, and you'll be giving yours?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Well, I know we wouldn't want to be giving her quality material."

[colorfulworld]

"There isn't a Yeerk Pool on this ship," Aftran replied. She'd guessed Rachel might react this way. "And even if there were, I wouldn't be able to do anything from there to help restore our world. I'll leave you all alone once I'm out of Karen's head. You'll never have to see me again."

[mynameisax.livejournal.com]

Ax rolled his eyes at Marco and Rachel's sniping at each other.

< Aftran independent and mobile can be useful to us, > he said privately to Rachel. < At the very least in keeping an eye on Iniss. I'm certainly not going to tell you that you need to donate your DNA, however. >

< Did you have any other options for gathering DNA? > he asked Aftran in public thought-speak, if only to avoid any mysterious silences.

[livestoannoy]

"She's not going to have many options, apart from us," Marco pointed out. He eyed Aftran. "Not unless you feel like walking up to someone else and telling them that you're a Yeerk."

[pretty_lethal]

Rachel was silent for a long moment-- between what Ax said to her privately (which was a good point, she guessed) and weighing their options... well, they were kind of short on options, weren't they?

"Fine," Rachel snapped. She may be conceding, but she was going to make it perfectly clear that she was not happy with this. "The sooner you get out of our faces the better." Even if she, at least, would be keeping an eye out for the yeerk.