14 KiB
R!Animorphs: Interlude 4
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Author: u/PeridexisErrant put aside fear for courage, and death for life*
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URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11090259/22/r-Animorphs-The-Reckoning
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Score: 28
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Created: 2016-05-28T09:05:39
Post:
Comments:
u/Zephyr1011 [+9] Potentially Unfriendly Aspiring Divinity (an hour later)
Presumably the second interlude is from the Chee. But the implication that there are 139231 of them seems somewhat bizarre, since I thought there were very few of them. Canonically, are the Chee distributed amongst many planets, or just on earth? A bunch from the middle could all be dead, but it seems unlikely to manage to have the first 6 in that case.
The last interlude sounds like Jake. That can't be healthy...
u/ketura [+6] Organizer (8 hours later)
Maybe that is very few of them. We don't have any info of the size of the Pemalite civilization, after all.
u/philh [+9] (an hour later)
Okay, so. Part one is the Ellimist (or whichever god we saw last time). He's putting a lot of effort into getting exactly the outcome he wants. So does that mean he wanted Cassie to die? But Cassie is one of the ones who was meant to be there.
Part two is the Chee. Looks like the narrator is Erek, and he just doesn't use first person at all.
Jake, Marco and Garrett get names. Tobias isn't mentioned - presumably he got sent back to DC? "The female" is presumably Rachel, but whether it is or not, why doesn't she merit a name? Are they annoyed at her for tricking them? Seems uncharacteristic.
The four kids are essentially demorphing, but without having morph bodies to demorph from? Perhaps it was easier for the Ellimist to move only the tech, especially because they were all in morph when he stopped time (half-morphed, in Garrett's case). Less mass to deal with.
"The human" - the child Cassie tried to save? But he was in Cassie's snipe morph.
There are over 100,000 Chee. I guess not all live near the Animorphs.
Part three I guess is Jake morphing Cassie, because it's the only way he can be with her, because she's dead.
u/heiligeEzel [+10] (an hour later)
Part two is the Chee. Looks like the narrator is Erek, and he just doesn't use first person at all.
I think the narrator is all of them -- they're interconnected and thinking together. I would guess that Erek is 63481, as he got transported along with the animorphs. So Erek takes immediate action to prevent the controllers from hurting Ax, while the other Chee go on to play with the dogs for a while until they realise they have to flee.
u/philh [+3] (an hour later)
Oh, you're right. It seemed like the lines without brackets were Erek sending messages to the others, and the brackets were Erek receiving messages. But then there's a line where Erek does use me, that I missed.
u/ketura [+4] Organizer (8 hours later)
Perhaps the Chee have some sense of PC vs NPC? Creator vs Created? Influencer vs Influenced? All the Chee are numbered rather than named, and the closest human analogue is to call Rachel by her gender, as Eric is called by his serial number.
Though giving all the dogs names blows holes in that theory, unless it is some kind of homage to the ultimate creators the Pemalites as it was in canon.
u/Salivanth [+2] (15 hours later)
Also, some of the dog names were puns on human names, so they must be aware of humans having names on some level.
u/TK17Studios [+3] Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning (18 hours later)
It's worth mentioning the possibility that the Chee basically "received" all of the dogs' names ... the one time they are shown granting names, they use a fairly generic algorithm of "what's popular culture with two guys and two girls?"
u/redrach [+2] (a day later)
The four are the Ellimist's trump card, so this seems like an action by the Crayak to take out one of them. As for why he saved the rest, your guess is as good as mine.
u/PeridexisErrant [+2] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (a day later)
Okay, so. Part one is the Ellimist (or whichever god we saw last time). He's putting a lot of effort into getting exactly the outcome he wants. So does that mean he wanted Cassie to die? But Cassie is one of the ones who was meant to be there.
Evidence suggests that 'the player' is not benevolent. Honestly I'm hoping it's Crayak, because if this is Ellimist....
u/CouteauBleu [+9] We are the Empire. (3 hours later)
Yeah, an update! This almost-but-not-quite makes up for the last 23 reckoning-less days!
Booh, Ellimist/Crayak! Save-spamming is for the weak! Stop cheating and do a one-try playthrough now!
Also, being manipulated by godlike entities suck, especially if you have no way to know you're being manipulated. Though I'm hopeful Jake and Marco will be on guard next encounter, and less likely to get influenced.
Marco was right, by the way: they shouldn't have indulged E/C and entered the pool. Doing so put them on a unfavorable mental footing, both because they were surrounded by pain and destruction and because the crumpling building probably gave them a sense of urgency that led them to make impulsive decisions. Like Marco said, no matter how bad you think it is, you don't go in the car with the kidnapper.
The Chee have weird communication conventions. They call dogs by their human names, but saying "World War II" is too much for them? Also, wow, not only do they all expect to survive the asteroid blast, but they're taking the time to rescue loads of dogs at the same time? Man, Chees are unstoppable.
"I'm n and I didn't move. Did n+1 move?" Awesome moment of alien robotness here, though I'm not quite sure why didn't they just say "Did anyone else move?" and spare them the super-long sounding off.
By the way, Cassie's sacrifice really was in vain here. Erek could have gotten to safety easily by himself. She could have save the nameless kid, or another family member, and gotten to safety in the snipe morph without leaving the forest and getting shot. Man, this story is not kind to emotion-driven heroic sacrifices.
u/ketura [+14] Organizer (8 hours later)
• "I'm n and I didn't move. Did n+1 move?" Awesome moment of alien robotness here, though I'm not quite sure why didn't they just say "Did anyone else move?" and spare them the super-long sounding off.
As a programmer, this process has at least two purposes: indicating who moved, and indicating who has been incapacitated. If suddenly the sound-off ends at 56, whelp, it looks like 57 is in a bigger bind than just having moved to an unexpected place.
Also, a loop like that would take like 2 milliseconds on current hardware assuming a wired LAN. I'd bet it was actually on a scale of microseconds or less.
u/TK17Studios [+13] Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning (8 hours later)
Erek could have gotten to safety easily by himself.
... if and only if he knew to start running, which he wouldn't have without some kind of heads-up.
the last 23 reckoning-less days
aaaaaaaa sorry working on it but my arm isn't falling off anymore so there's that. =)
u/CouteauBleu [+3] We are the Empire. (a day later)
... if and only if he knew to start running, which he wouldn't have without some kind of heads-up.
Oh, right. Didn't think about this. I take back half the mean things I said about Cassie then.
aaaaaaaa sorry working on it but my arm isn't falling off anymore so there's that. =)
You're like a crack dealer now. You're not allowed to take vacations anymore :p
u/callmebrotherg [+3] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae (a day later)
I think that only applies if he charges us high prices for each hit.
And last time I checked, crack dealers didn't base their business model on Patreon (there's your next story idea, /u/TK17Studios)
u/heiligeEzel [+3] (9 hours later)
... if and only if he knew to start running, which he wouldn't have without some kind of heads-up.
But Erek was not the one who gave the "We must leave!" signal... so what made them learn?
u/ketura [+3] Organizer (a day later)
Something weird like one of your number suddenly teleporting, maybe you start doing a deep search for other anamolies.
u/TK17Studios [+2] Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning (3 days later)
u/CouteauBleu [+4] We are the Empire. (5 days later)
While you're giving these out...
Let's say the Ellimist and Crayak made a bet, as part of their eternal battle. They are deciding of the fate of a strange symbiotic species, and for whatever reason neither of them wants to wait for their subtle manipulations to take effect, so they both agree the fate of this species will be determined in a gladiator match, with both teams being made of the finest warriors either god can summon from anywhere in the universe.
Now, if the Animorph sponsor is sufficiently devious and subtle, he might use as his gladiators a group that is in bad need of immediate teleportation. These circumstances would allow him to extract them without cost, after all. Especially since these warriors have the exact power needed to exploit the weakness of the warriors they will undoubtedly face. Now, all they need to exploit this weakness is to be told about it by one of their acquaintances, a robot that already knows the creature they will face.
Also, you totally mentioned at some point that you were considering having the Ellimist send the Animorphs on sidequests, so...
u/TK17Studios [+2] Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning (5 days later)
u/CouteauBleu [+2] We are the Empire. (6 days later)
Awww, but if fits perfectly!
u/TK17Studios [+2] Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning (6 days later)
It does. But if and only if you want to make the Iskoort happen. I kind of don't want the Iskoort to happen. It's borderline, but for me it tips over into Atlantis/starfish/Helmacron/ants morphing territory.
Seriously, though, I was startled by how well-thought-out your setup was. Kiiiiind of made me disappointed in myself for not going there.
u/heiligeEzel [+3] (3 days later)
A COOKIE made them learn... throws out current theories and starts re-analysing
u/TK17Studios [+2] Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning (3 days later)
u/DCarrier [+6] (10 hours later)
If Cassie's sacrifice was in vain, then the Ellimist wouldn't have gone to so much work to arrange it. She didn't do what she was trying to do, but I'm sure it was important.
On the other hand, we don't know how well the Ellimist's values match humanity's.
u/philh [+4] (3 hours later)
Marco was right, by the way: they shouldn't have indulged E/C and entered the pool.
They didn't. Cassie intended to, but then E/C teleported them all in. I guess he might not have had that option if not for Cassie?
but saying "World War II" is too much for them?
"The great war" might have been something before Earth, like the one that killed the Pemalites. The meteor won't kill as many people as WWII in total, but more than any particular violent act of WWII, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
u/CouteauBleu [+3] We are the Empire. (3 hours later)
Oh, right. Just re-read the scene. I thought Marco was saying "God damnit" because Cassie had gone in anyway and he'd ended up following along, but apparently they were teleported. E/C is a dick.
u/CouteauBleu [+4] We are the Empire. (8 hours later)
That line about how the Chee learned to "care for humans" is completely creepy and terrifying. Now, I might be overreacting, but I've got a strong sense of "non-lethal Lady Boyle in Dishonored" there.
u/callmebrotherg [+3] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae (a day later)
Would you mind elaborating, for those of us who are unfamiliar with the series? Thanks a bunch.
u/CouteauBleu [+5] We are the Empire. (a day later)
In Dishonored, one of the missions consists in taking out Lady Boyle, the Regents girlfriend/financer. The non-lethal way to do so is to kidnap her and giver her unconscious body to a nameless guy who says he will sequestrate her for the rest of her life. But hey, she'll probably learn to love him at some point, right?
u/MultipartiteMind [+2] (3 days later)
The dawning of the Chee realisation (from utter confusion) was beautiful.
Curious about what the intended aim is, regarding what's going to happen to Cassie.
People morphing their lost loved ones: Even without the mind backup, an interesting concept that wasn't touched on in the original. Here, there's also always the interesting temptation to not demorph.
I liked the Ellimist Chronicles -like state of it as a 'player'. I might argue that, if they were fine with using (and terminating) that sort of simulation while planning their war, that they might as well just use a special copy as the main board without involving the massive resources to manipulate the real universe (unless that's actually exactly what they're doing, Animorphs unaware...).
(Edit: --Ah, I didn't realise that 63481 had one fewer digit than 139321 until I wrote them numerically. Now the order makes sense.)