She shrugs. "Well, that's why I'm not going to do it anytime soon."

"May as well look into dropping out, anyway, I'm not sure we can do that before we're eighteen."

"There are different levels of 'can'."

"I feel like being hassled by or on the run from the police would be more of an impediment to our lives and projects than having to appear at school most days."

"Maybe," says Robin. "I'm not itching to try it, anyway."

Bella nods.

"Oh man," yawns Andi, "if I'm going to be this tired all the time I dunno how I'll do any drumming."

"There will probably be a fair amount of downtime, at least until and unless we have a reliable source of intel or blow our cover," says Bella, in what is probably intended to be a reassuring voice.

"At which point it'll get exciting?" says Robin.

"Or something."

"Well, what else?"

"I don't know, maybe we find intel good enough that we can start recruiting without worrying that anyone we talk to is a Yeerk? Maybe our cover is blown bad enough that we all die? Lots of possibilities."

"...I think both of those qualify as exciting," says Robin. "More exciting than sitting around practicing morphing underwear, anyway."

"Okay," shrugs Bella, "different definitions of 'exciting', I guess."

"How would we tell somebody's not a Yeerk without pinning them down somewhere and waiting three days?" she wonders.

"Stalk them unobtrusively for three days instead," says Bella. "Convincingly threaten to trap them for three days. Thoughtspeak 'Andalite!' or 'Report to the Visser immediately!' or something at them from a good hiding place, see if they jump and go for weapons or scurry off instead of looking bewildered. If we're desperate enough and ever get the chance? Morph Yeerks, check manually."

Robin shudders. "Ew."

"Yeah, I know, ew, the idea of anybody, friendly or not, literally getting inside my head, makes me want to throw myself off a cliff. But a friend would be better than an enemy. Well - Andi would, anyway, I'm honestly unsure if I could ever work with anyone else who did it to me ever again even if I understood the decision intellectually unless they actually found and forced out a real Yeerk in so doing."

"Which they wouldn't," says Robin, "because if there was no Yeerk, you'd never let them, and if there was a Yeerk, it'd never let them, it wouldn't be suspicious not to. Right?"

"If we ever get the chance to acquire a Yeerk? Such as, possibly, the one currently inhabiting Charlie? Then we have a conversation about advance consent, I think."

"...Meaning what?"

"If it's sufficiently likely that I am being inhabited by a Yeerk, and Andi's not available to check so it's someone else does it or you kill me or you risk my Yeerk blowing the whole operation? Might have to do it anyway, whether I - or the Yeerk - want to let you or not."

"But if you can't work with whoever does it, after... then what?"

"We work separately?" Bella says. "I suck it up and do it anyway? One of us retires?"

"I'll acquire the icky Yeerk, Bella," says Andi. "Ugh, I don't want to, but if you can maybe stand it from me and not anybody else I guess I have to, right?"