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The Number: 02
Narrator: Rachel
We open with what will become the standard Animorphs introduction, with Rachel telling you her name, why they can't reveal any other information about themselves, and a short bit about the story so far.
Rachel and the others are flying one afternoon when someone starts shooting at them. They steal some redneck's rifle and drop it a few miles distant before returning to their human forms. Rachel angsts about how Tobias is a bird for a bit before they talk about some nightmares and exposit for a little bit.
They determine that since the secret entry to the Yeerk pool in their school has been bricked up, they need to find another way to get in or destroy the Kandrona feeding the yeerks so that all the yeerks will starve in three days. The best plan they come up with is getting close to Chapman through his daughter, Melissa because the yeerk in his head would most likely know where it is. You see, Rachel used to be very good friends with Melissa, until she changed suddenly and doesn't seem to want to be around her anymore.
At their mutual gymnastics class, Rachel attempts to lure Melissa back into her friendship web with temptations of shopping, but she ain't buying it. Rachel fakes it until she can leave and bolts, wondering whether her friend is playing host to an alien brainslug.
On the way back from school a college kid tries to abduct Rachel, so she morphs halfway into an elephant and scares him off.
Almost immediately afterwards Chapman pulls up, Melissa in tow, and insists on giving her a ride. Rachel spends the ride wondering whether Chapman caught sight of her, but he drops her off with no problem (except for Melissa pointing out her burst shoes). We catch a glimpse of Rachel's family before her mother leaves: lawyer mother who orders out more often than she cooks, and her two younger sisters Jordan and Sara, whom she cares about very much.
The other animorphs come over and Rachel is promptly chastised for potentially blowing the entire operation in the second book. Marco makes an excellent point that, while a normal person would disregard stories of girls turning into elephants, Controllers who heard could potentially connect the dots. They determine that Melissa isn't a useful link, as she is potentially a Controller as well.
They need a plan.
Rachel catches sight of a picture of her and Melissa at an old birthday party.
Her gift?
A cat.
Seriously, morphing is so overpowered.
The kids scope out Chapman's house and Rachel acquires Fluffer's DNA after baiting the cat by turning into a shrew. Rachel's experience with the shrew gives her nightmares that night about wanting to eat maggots, and she ends up throwing up from it. Rachel angsts a little about her little sisters potentially being Controllers, and doesn't have a very good night overall.
The next day at school Melissa is acting strangely again, and when Rachel runs into Chapman he says some cryptic, vaguely threatening stuff. The animorphs decide to infiltrate his house a few days later due to real life complications, and Marco reminds Rachel that she's finding a way to hurt the yeerks, not save Melissa.
Rachel morphs into the cat and deals with the intense confidence that comes from being a cat. It feels like it's accurate enough. While Tobias runs interference on the real Fluffers Rachel goes into the house and sees that everything seems normal. She follows Chapman down into the basement and through a secret door with a keypad. Inside is a desk and a hologram projector displaying the image of Visser Three.
The Visser greets Chapman by his Yeerk name, Iniss two two six of the Sulp Niaar pool and they chat about andalite bandit business. The hologram projector manages to capture the Visser's hamminess perfectly, and Chapman is the image of the sniveling, scared underling. As the two are talking Chapman catches sight of Rachel, as does Visser Three. The good Visser asks what it is, and Chapman explains before Visser Three tells him to kill it.
Yeah, probably a good call, actually.
He points out, (almost) correctly, that any animal could be an andalite, but Chapman/Iniss is understandably reluctant to kill his/host's daughter's pet cat. Visser pretends to attack Rachel with his tail, and she just bats at the hologram. This amuses Visser Three, and the cats have found themselves yet another unwitting Catroller.
Wait, I got cats confused with yeerks. Easy mistake.
Chapman weasels his way out of it by claiming discretion, and Visser says they'll figure out what to do about it after they figure out what to do about the girl. Chapman mentions some deal they had concerning the daughter, but Visser Three morphs into a Vanarx (a big, purple, tubelike alien with the apparent ability to suck yeerks from their hosts) and does his whole Visser Three intimidation thing.
Upstairs Rachel overhears Chapman and his wife, both Controllers, talk about how Visser Three is mean and still wants them to capture the andalite bandits. Melissa comes downstairs and Rachel sees that the yeerks inside their heads aren't very good at portraying parental emotions, which is the reason Melissa has been so weird. She hugs Rachel (who she thinks is Fluffers) and Rachel finds her reason to fight.
The animorphs meet at an abandoned clocktower to discuss their plans, and Rachel leaves out her interaction with Visser Three. They decide she'll have to go back in because they still don't know where the Kandrona is. They go back to Chapman's house, repeat the cat morph, and Rachel follows him down into his secret room without being noticed. While Chapman is talking Jake reveals that he's a flea on her back, because they didn't want to send her in alone.
Chapman tells Visser Three he got him a handful of new hosts and the head honcho isn't pleased that none of them are andalites. The yeerks are increasing guards around the Kandrona, wherever it is. Rachel isn't paying attention and gets kicked by Chapman, revealing her presence to the Visser. He taunts her a bit and tells Chapman to get her, which he does after she scratches him up pretty bad.
This entertains Visser Three. He tells Chapman to bring the cat and Melissa because having an uppity human daughter could draw unwanted attention their way.
Chapman holds Rachel at Dracon beam point while Mrs. Chapman gets a cat carrier. At that point, Chapman and his wife begin to rebel against their hosts, making it seem like the two are going crazy, as Ms. Chapman (the real Ms. Chapman) attempts to choke herself to death to kill the yeerk in her head. Not too long after the yeerks manage to get them under control, and continue, although Chapman decides not to take Melissa, rationalizing it by saying the Visser will understand, considering the circumstances.
As Chapman is removing her, Melissa comes out and wonders what he's doing, but Tobias manages to drive the real Fluffer back in time to avoid Chapman having to explain to his daughter why he's going to murder her cat. Rachel decides that she's going to stay as a cat forever so they can't Controller her.
Rachel and Jake are taken to the construction site where Visser Three shows up with a bunch of hork-bajir and taxxons. Visser Three performs his "ANDALITE FOOLS" shtick for a while before asking why Melissa wasn't there. Chapman lets the actual Chapman control the body for a while, and he reveals that his wife wanted to join, so he bargained his own body for that of his daughter. Visser tells Chapman to toe the line and takes Rachel's cat carrier into the blade ship.
Suddenly, a bunch of earth-movers start advancing towards the blade ship, so Jake decides to hop off and turn into a tiger. Rachel unmorphs enough to get fingers, unlocks the cage, then runs out as a cat. Jake messes up Visser Three as a tiger, but ends up running. Visser Three morphs into a rock monster and wrecks the place, but Tobias saves Rachel and tells her everyone made it out.
At school the next day Rachel leaves Melissa an anonymous note telling her her dad loves her, and it seems to lift her spirits. The novel ends with everyone saying they'll have to keep it up until the andalites arrive.
Some thoughts:
- We start to see some more information concerning how yeerks work. The host rebellion from Chapman and his wife is pretty intense, with Mrs. Chapman trying to choke herself out. We also see what happens when a host is given full control after such a long time of being a Controller; Chapman falls to the ground and stammers because he's been locked up for so long. No thanks.
- Visser Three being such a fan of cats is a bit of comedy in what's otherwise a pretty tense book.
- At first I thought it would suck to be a high-ranking yeerk controlling a fairly low-ranking human, but Iniss 2-2-6 has inherited a fairly insidious position. As the assistant principle of what is presumably a large, urban school (they don't reveal the specific setting yet, but it becomes pretty clear where everything takes place later on) he regularly oversees hundreds of human adolescents, interacts with their parents, and other city officials.
- Iniss 2-2-6's plan right now seems to be straight-up slow growth. This is the second book, the Yeerks have been in place for months now, and they're still getting their operation started. Elfangor gave the yeerks a year to two to take over the planet, but the daily handful of Controllers seems to indicate they are still low enough in number to be worried about being discovered.
- We're starting to see the nightmares show up. These will be the animorphs constant companions throughout the series.
- Something I forgot to mention in the first book, but the series is almost immediately dated to the early 90s by constant references to Sega arcade machines, Baywatch and Letterman references, and VHS tapes still being used. One of the things the canceled rerelease did was to change all of the dated elements into more generic phrases. I get why they made those changes, but I don't think it matters that much.
Character Sheets:
-Jake: The leader, likes flying as a falcon. Can be reckless when it comes to helping his friends, but he's good in a fight. Plans tend to be well thought out but quickly go to hell for one reason or another. Acquires peregrine falcon and flea morphs. Kills one hork-bajir.
-Rachel: The fighter, she's pretty but doesn't let it define her. Cares about her younger sisters and her mother. Seems to revel in how morphing makes her feel powerful. Acquires bald eagle, shrew, and cat morphs. Doesn't kill anyone in this one, but she shreds Chapman up pretty bad.
-Tobias: Stuck as a red-tailed hawk, Tobias seems to be adjusting rather well, considering the circumstances. Coaches the animorphs in how to fly, and often acts as the scout, flying above the missions and relaying information to the others. Rarely kills, but regularly gouges out eyes, so his killcount will mostly be indirect.
-Cassie: The animal lover and morph source. Coaches people through morphing and how to overcome animal instincts when first morphing. Doesn't acquire anything and doesn't kill anything. Coaches Rachel through the morphing into a shrew, but doesn't do much in this novel.
Marco: The obstinate one. Teases everyone regularly, and is almost always the last one to join in. Keeps saying things like "just this time," and "this last time," but it's always in a resigned tone. He's still in denial at this point, but he seems to take the premise more seriously than the rest of them. He's the only one who seems to react appropriately to Rachel morphing in public.
Visser Three: Important figure in the Yeerk Empire, and the only andalite Controller. Morphs into a tiny-headed, tree-limbed monster and wrecks stuff, as he does. Cat enthusiast. Ruthlessly practical. Kills at least two taxxons, at least two hork-bajir, but it's implied that he kills every subordinate he brings with him. Visser Three's kill counts are going to be
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