Post by Xerxes on Mar 31, 2013 14:37:37 GMT -5
The gecko paused halfway up its ascent of the chair leg. It heard something. Its scaled head cocked and twisted towards the soundwaves. They sounded like the sounds made by life, sounds a creature made in order to communicate with another. Odd. It hadn’t noticed predator or prey out there, but maybe they’d just been still. These noises didn’t sound like the call of a predator or anything, though. They felt calming, or at least non-threatening. Kinda like...
Words. The gecko licked its eyeballs. Those are words. Someone’s talking. A person. Javier! Xerxes’ own consciousness welled up, clinging to that strand of thought like a lifeline in the ocean. Wake up. Focus. You’re a human. You are experiencing the mind of a gecko that you turned into. Javier warned you about this. Pay attention. Take control. You can do this. assert yourself. Don’t let this lizard overwhelm you.
Feeding himself such encouragement, Xerxes stepped into the dominating psychic space, pushing the lizard’s mind to the back seat. It felt strange, though. Nothing like a Yeerk. And neither had the lizard when it had been directing its actions. It felt natural, almost. The gecko had merely stepped up to plate and took off, choosing to live as its instincts suggested. It was doing what it had wanted to do, but it hadn’t attempted to break Xerxes.
It had been the opposite. He’d been the one attempting to control the gecko. And it hadn’t stood a chance. But neither did dogs when you domesticate and house-train them. When it came to animals, humans were always the master. Slavery did not apply to animals.
Xerxes continued climbing the chair leg. He paused once more to finish listening to Javier’s words. Hmm, he seemed to be doing just that: getting accustomed. Really, the gecko hadn’t been too difficult to master. It mostly just wanted to stay out of the light of day, stay away from anything that could be threatening, and either go to sleep or hunt for prey. It was surprisingly complacent. Xerxes already like it more than most of the people he’d ever met.
He moved to the underside of the chair, experiencing no small thrill at his defiance of gravity. <<I...I believe I am in control now,>> Xerxes thought, deciding to experiment with thought-speech. Hardly any Controller on Earth during the previous invasion had managed to survive without hearing Esplin’s stolen voice echoing in their heads. And all Yeerks knew that thought-speech was the language of the Andalites. And of course, JAvier had demonstrated it himself.
It was mostly the latter that made Xerxes believe thought-speech was transmitted through morphing. After all, he’d only ever heard of Andalites and Animorphs using it, never any non-morphing person. From that, Xerxes concluded that he was capable of thought-speech. But since he’d never heard every single thought that had run through the mind of any morphing person before, the teen could assume that it was a voluntary ability, much like morphing was. Morphing was gained by focusing on a blue box. Acquiring a morph was gained by focusing on the animal, and morphing followed the same process. So why couldn’t his thoughts be broadcast by focusing on Javier?
<<This is certainly not what I expected,>> the gecko observed. It was nothing at all like being infested.
But really, being an Animorph was much the same. It was freedom. It was the power to fight those who would oppress him. It was the power to fly, the power to breathe underwater, the power to defy the very laws of gravity and cling to the underside of a chair. It would enable Xerxes to control his own life and his own destiny. If he'd been a human, he would've smiled.
<<I believe I am going to enjoy this.>>
Words. The gecko licked its eyeballs. Those are words. Someone’s talking. A person. Javier! Xerxes’ own consciousness welled up, clinging to that strand of thought like a lifeline in the ocean. Wake up. Focus. You’re a human. You are experiencing the mind of a gecko that you turned into. Javier warned you about this. Pay attention. Take control. You can do this. assert yourself. Don’t let this lizard overwhelm you.
Feeding himself such encouragement, Xerxes stepped into the dominating psychic space, pushing the lizard’s mind to the back seat. It felt strange, though. Nothing like a Yeerk. And neither had the lizard when it had been directing its actions. It felt natural, almost. The gecko had merely stepped up to plate and took off, choosing to live as its instincts suggested. It was doing what it had wanted to do, but it hadn’t attempted to break Xerxes.
It had been the opposite. He’d been the one attempting to control the gecko. And it hadn’t stood a chance. But neither did dogs when you domesticate and house-train them. When it came to animals, humans were always the master. Slavery did not apply to animals.
Xerxes continued climbing the chair leg. He paused once more to finish listening to Javier’s words. Hmm, he seemed to be doing just that: getting accustomed. Really, the gecko hadn’t been too difficult to master. It mostly just wanted to stay out of the light of day, stay away from anything that could be threatening, and either go to sleep or hunt for prey. It was surprisingly complacent. Xerxes already like it more than most of the people he’d ever met.
He moved to the underside of the chair, experiencing no small thrill at his defiance of gravity. <<I...I believe I am in control now,>> Xerxes thought, deciding to experiment with thought-speech. Hardly any Controller on Earth during the previous invasion had managed to survive without hearing Esplin’s stolen voice echoing in their heads. And all Yeerks knew that thought-speech was the language of the Andalites. And of course, JAvier had demonstrated it himself.
It was mostly the latter that made Xerxes believe thought-speech was transmitted through morphing. After all, he’d only ever heard of Andalites and Animorphs using it, never any non-morphing person. From that, Xerxes concluded that he was capable of thought-speech. But since he’d never heard every single thought that had run through the mind of any morphing person before, the teen could assume that it was a voluntary ability, much like morphing was. Morphing was gained by focusing on a blue box. Acquiring a morph was gained by focusing on the animal, and morphing followed the same process. So why couldn’t his thoughts be broadcast by focusing on Javier?
<<This is certainly not what I expected,>> the gecko observed. It was nothing at all like being infested.
But really, being an Animorph was much the same. It was freedom. It was the power to fight those who would oppress him. It was the power to fly, the power to breathe underwater, the power to defy the very laws of gravity and cling to the underside of a chair. It would enable Xerxes to control his own life and his own destiny. If he'd been a human, he would've smiled.
<<I believe I am going to enjoy this.>>