"Whoa, you can do that?"

<Interesting.>

"It's not very common," says Aspret. "For obvious reasons. But it's not difficult."

<Can you communicate with Trouble while doing that?> asks Bella. <If so, and if he confirms after you go out briefly to let us check, this sounds like the safest option secrecy-wise.>

She nods hesitantly.

<He'll be able to maintain cover if something unexpected happens, take immediate advantage of access to ducks, etcetera. But,> Bella says, <I don't think you should stay longer than it takes to make the disappearance look good. And Trouble, for hiding out, you'll probably want a morph that can get into and out of private places for demorphing, remorphing, and sleeping, with or without someone's help. Does anyone else have input before Aspret goes out again to let Trouble confirm everything she's said and I go fetch the box?>

Ethan shrugs. "Not me."

Robin shakes her head.

"So - Aspret leaves, Trouble tells us if she was making stuff up, you bring the box, Aspret touches it, we trust her not to - I don't know, acquire Trouble and make off in his likeness? - for the next few days and in that time he finds her a duck and she flies away and Trouble hides?"

Aspret nods.

"And somewhere in there she tells us stuff about Yeerks? To help get Dad's one out?"

"I've already shared a lot of things with Trouble," she murmurs.

"Yeah, I don't have input," shrugs Andi.

<All right. Out you get.>

Bella demorphs. "I'll be back in about fifteen minutes," she says, and she goes up the stairs.

"Why are you petting it? Her?" Andi asks Trouble.

"She's... had a really shitty week," he says. "And being a Yeerk alone in a bowl is uncomfortable."

"Oh. Well, soon she'll be a duck, I guess."

"If this were anyone else I'd be muttering about Stockholm," says Ethan, "but you, no, I genuinely believe you've made friends with your brain parasite. Congratulations."

"Stockholm? Isn't that a city?"

"Stockholm Syndrome. No?"

"Sounds vaguely familiar but I don't know what it is."

"It's when kidnapped people and hostages and so forth become unnaturally sympathetic with their captors."