taxonomites | [01] Arrival

Rachel's memorial service has come and gone. Tobias has disappeared into the woods with her ashes. Jake is depressed and speaks to no one, not even his best friend Marco. Aximili's only remaining ties to Earth are Marco, Cassie, and his fondness for his adoptive home. It is not enough to keep him. He hasn't seen his parents or his homeworld in three and a half Earth years. The war is over, and he will return a hero. It's time to go home.

He's made his farewells to Marco, Cassie, and Jake. He even saw Tobias overhead on his way to the ludicrously makeshift spaceport. He boards the Dome ship that will take him home, and -

Confinement. A small room. Not the Dome ship at all.

<Commander Galuit?> Aximili reaches out with his thought-speak. <Captain-Prince Asculan?> Then, after a pause: <Jake? Marco? Cassie? Tobias?>

Those watching on the tablet will see something they've never seen before. Aximili is visibly alien: he stands on four dainty hooved legs, like a deer, except with blue fur. Instead of the delicate neck and head of a deer, however, he has a narrow, blue-furred torso, frail many-fingered arms, and a flat face. He has two pointed, swiveling ears, three slits instead of a nose, two large green eyes, and no mouth. Which explains the telepathy. But that's not all. On top of his head, he has two eyes mounted on stalks, which are now pivoting in all directions, taking in the room where he's found himself. Then, of course, there's the tail.

Take one look at that tail, and you know it's a weapon. It's long and coiled with muscle, ending in a blade the size of a steak knife.

Aximili is thinking fast. It appears that he is now isolated from the Andalite fleet and his human friends. Much as he hates to admit it, teleportation is beyond the reach of Andalite technology. In fact, it's beyond the reach of any species he knows, except -

<The Ellimist? Is this another one of your games?> No response. Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't the Ellimist. He has the infuriating tendency not to appear when directly summoned. In that case, he has no choice but to play along. Aximili first directs his attention to what appears to be a teleportation device over his head. He points his stalk eyes up at it, while his main eyes keep scanning the room. To his annoyance, he cannot even begin to guess at the mechanism behind it. His best guess is that it makes use of Zero-space, but how could it overcome Z-space's inherent temporal anomalies for instantaneous transportation? This avenue of escape is a dead-end.

Aximili steps toward the pedestal with the tablet, his hooves clacking against the metal floor. He inspects it with his main eyes, keeping the stalk eyes scanning. Then, when he reaches for the tablet, he notices the bracelet on his slender wrist, made out of an alloy he doesn't recognize. He reaches for the bracelet with his other hand and pulls. No effect. It appears to have been embedded in his flesh. To Aximili it seems like a vile Yeerk invention, but if he really were captured by the Yeerks, surely he'd have been infested by now. Besides, they didn't have anywhere near this level of technology, let alone enough remaining military strength. In any case, Aximili has a strategy for getting rid of this bracelet and for getting out of this room.

<Surely you do not believe that you can keep your crude tracking device on me for long,> he announces to whoever has abducted him, though it's mostly bravado, since he still suspects that he's in the Ellimist's power, and there is nothing he can say to intimidate the Ellimist. <Disable it now and show yourself, or I will simply rid myself of it.>

No response. Anyone watching now is about to watch a truly weird spectacle, because now Aximili is focusing on an image of something small, brown, and disgusting: a cockroach.

Tough, chitinous armor crawls its way up Aximili's legs as he begins to morph.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Careful there, Spade. You're giving this guy an excuse to geek out.

Aximili's thought-voice warms as he turns to one of his favorite subjects. «That is an interesting question. In fact, the first prototypes for the morphing technology only allowed one to morph into organisms smaller than oneself, because no one could yet determine a source of mass for larger morphs. Later, when a scientific exploratory craft took readings in Zero-space, it was determined that mass funneled into Zero-space is not necessarily individualized, which to say that one organic molecule is as good as any other. Upon demorphing, the mass restored from Zero-space may not be the same mass directed there in the first place. A good way to envision this is a "bank" of mass floating in Zero-space, from which anyone may make a withdrawal or a deposit. When I morph a cockroach, I make a deposit to this bank of mass. When I morph an elephant, I make a withdrawal. Of course, none of the aforementioned applies to the brain. The brain must remain individualized in Zero-space in order to maintain a connection between one's original mind and that of the creature one has morphed.»

Kudos to Spade if he understood that.

[There is a long pause, then he says,] You're saying you actually can turn into an elephant, then.

[Yes, maybe the earlier question was someone of a smart-ass thing to ask. Perhaps.]

«Yes,» says Aximili simply, as if this is patently obvious. He continues searching along the wall for cracks. «I hope there will not be a need to use it here. Is there danger here, beyond the imprisonment?»

I suppose that depends on your definition. But generally, the things you need to be worried about can't be stomped on, here.

«It is just as well. My preferred approach to problem solving isn't stomping.» Here Aximili falls silent, as he remembers his fallen comrade whose preferred approach to problem solving was, indeed, stomping around in elephant morph. He misses her keenly, even though her approach would not be particularly useful in this situation. Still no luck finding any means of escape from this room. He wonders, distantly, how he had been getting any oxygen when he had been in Andalite form.

[There's a moment of pause, then he finally says,] You want to get out, you're going to have to turn into something with hands. Door opens when you pick up the tablet.

Aximili is already starting to demorph, and the process is just about as bizarre and unpredictable as it had been during the morph. «Interesting. The escape route serves as a clear incentive to take the communication device. I think we can safely assume that our captors are monitoring our communications. Part of their purpose is to gather intelligence on the captives.» As soon as his stalk eyes grow back, he points them at the tablet.

He's not sure whether he's currently at the mercy of the Ellimist, Crayak, or some other monstrously powerful player in the celestial game that he cannot yet conceive of, but that doesn't mean he can't try to understand his role in their game.

Yeah, we had managed that much. Next you'll be telling me the jewelry's to track out movements.

«Yes, I had surmised as much.» Aximili's gotten better at detecting human sarcasm, but it passes right over his head this time. «I believe it is relevant that the bracelet is highly visible. With the level of technology these captors have, the tracking device could easily have been a microchip embedded in some part of our anatomy where we would likely never find it. By placing it prominently on the forearm while we are incapacitated, they are sending us a message.»

Aximili's not yet entirely demorphed - he still has a roach's exoskeleton on most of his body, making him look like an armored centaur - but it's enough so that he can reach the tablet with his newly-formed hands. He lifts it from the pedestal, and instantly an exit appears. Sunlight trickles in from the open doorway. Relief floods him. Enclosed spaces are disconcerting for any Andalite.

Yeah. [Spade's voice sounds more subdued.] Got an unsettling sense of humor, our hosts.

[01] Arrival | Holo

[holo]

[voice]

[holo]

[voice]

[holo]

[voice]

[holo]

[voice]

[holo]

[voice]