:Do you expect to find it harder than talking to Matirin?: 

<Probably.>

:Is there anything we could talk through now that might make it easier?: 

<I imagine him trying to decide - whether he thinks Visser Three is a good person. And wanting to convince him that Visser Three was a bad person. Which he is. But if I am trying to prove it then I run out of words and cannot remember why I believe things and get scared and stuck. - which only happens to me now because Visser Three enslaved me for twenty years, which you would think would settle the 'good person' question.>

:You'd think so, wouldn't you: Her mindvoice is flat. (Wants to throw him into the suuuuuuuun–)

Melody lets out her breath. :I - don't think Leareth is trying to decide that, though. It's not how he thinks, and if it was, he'd judge himself to be a bad person too. Having been in his head, I'm sure you know more than I do of the reasons why. I think he's trying to assess some questions that are related, like 'how likely is it that, having surrendered, he'll break his word and betray them', and then also a lot of questions that aren't about Mhalir's goodness as a person at all, but just - skills he has or lacks, what kinds of tactical decisions he tends to make mistakes on, that kind of thing. Does that feel any different to approach?: 

< - that seems less stressful. Still worse than talking to Matirin because he's not an Andalite.>

:Hmm. Why is that worse - is talking to me more stressful than Matirin too?: 

<I am trying to let you do whatever you think you should because you shouldn't argue with doctors about your treatment plan. I am not trying to - make sure you have strategic information, not centrally.>

:- Okay, for one, you should absolutely argue with me about your treatment plan if you think something I'm proposing sounds awful, for one because it's your brain, and two because I'm used to humans and I might sometimes be wrong about what helps Andalites. Er, anyway - is your worry there that it's harder to communicate things across a cultural gap?: 

<Something like that.>

:Mmm. That makes sense. I expect you can manage fine anyway, if I tell him to come tomorrow or the day after when you're rested, but if there are any questions I can answer about humans that might help, I'm happy to: 

<I can't think of any. You could tell him that it will be helpful if he has specific questions.>

:Of course. Also, Leareth is uncomfortable coming to Haven for, um, I think god-related reasons, and would like to meet you north of the border - someone can Gate you over and back for it. Is that all right with you?: 

<Yes.>

:Anything else you want to talk about before I head out today?: 

<I don't think so.> 

:I'll see you tomorrow then. Say hi to the foals for me: And she heads out. 

There are a lot of signups on his website for voluntary Controllers who want to have a Yeerk because they have a sexual fetish about it and now Matirin needs to learn a lot of new things about humans and he is very tired. There is some fascinating material on the screen he's reading from.

:Alloran agreed to talk to Leareth: Melody informs him as soon as she's across the Gate. Interworld Gates are a little disorienting and it's not, objectively, that big a deal, but she's getting so tired of it. :Think we should scheduled it for tomorrow or the day after though. Have you seen Leareth?: 

<I think he's in one of the conference rooms.> He gestures with his tail and flicks through cartoon drawings of people having sex with Yeerks in various ways that are all horrifying.

- Melody did not mean to look, whoops. :–I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask what you're looking at, but now I'm not going to stop wondering unless I do: 

<People submitted them with explanations of why they want a Yeerk! That's not where you put the Yeerk!> He sounds very unhappy.

Melody peers over his shoulder. :Goodness: she says mildly, raising an eyebrow. :Has that - been explained? Maybe someone needs to clarify: 

<We definitely explained!! I am trying to figure out whether 'I have a sexual fetish for it' is an acceptable reason to be a Yeerk host or not and I feel like I do not have enough context on humans. Do you happen to know if, when they do stupid things because they have a sexual fetish for them, they tend to regret it later?>

:Ummm. It depends on whether it's dangerous in itself? I think someone with a sexual fetish for being stabbed with knives would generally end up regretting their choices later - er, I haven't seen that specific one but a surprising number of people like blood involved in their sex, do not ask me why, humans are strange. Aside from that, I'm not sure tendency to regret, er, decisions made in the heat of passion doesn't correlate much with whether they're a fetish or not. I've met people with very healthy marriages of a decade who like their partner to tie them up and whip them, and I've met people who just had regular sex and regretted it immensely. If I were you I'd want to screen for, hmm, general maturity? People who make regrettable sex choices are likely to be the same people who make regrettable choices about gambling away all their money money or drinking or getting into fights, what have you. Don't give those people Yeerks, probably. ...Although, honestly, a temporary Yeerk might be a really effective treatment for addiction, humans struggle with that a lot and Mindhealing isn't that good for it: