Orik twitches.

Leaving to go turn it off would be suspicious.

       You anticipated that -

You have full access to all my anticipations and everything else, I am incapable of withholding information, I'm not trying non-cooperative behavior - well, I guess there's quietly crying, but I've been endeavoring to save that for when your concentration isn't important -

        Doesn't distract me.

Do you have extra attentional capacity on top of mine or is it more that you can stop paying attention to me -

        ...I can pay attention to you the way I pay attention to my toe? Notice if anything changes about it...

Timothy's thinking about how to use this. 

        Not trying non-cooperative behavior indeed -

I would prefer to avoid having thoughts like that, and I suspect I'll get out of the habit eventually. I am very much advantaged here by the fact you know exactly what I want and what I'll do under various arrangements of circumstances. It is admittedly difficult not to have adversarial thoughts about someone who enslaved my family, murdered my friends, used my body to betray people who trusted me -

        Our entire relationship is predicated on your absolute certainty you'd do worse to mine, given the chance.

I would, Timothy says, and means it. And you would probably have some adversarial thoughts about me while I did. People manage to achieve quite a lot together while scheming betrayal, even people who don't have such charmingly straightforward methods of verification. I've considered how to keep things from you or work around you or achieve things you don't want. I didn't come up with any. So I'm doing this. And if our agreement was a good bet for you in the first place, it's a better bet now, because they're closer to stopping you and you'll let some time slip in the daeva realms or whenever a hostage is unexpectedly killed -

        Stop talking. You can continue thinking just don't orient it at persuading me -

Can I talk if it's not oriented at persuading you, I'm so lonely -

         You'd have made an interesting Yeerk, Orik says after a moment.

...Timothy does not respond. Instead he thinks. He would have made an abjectly miserable Yeerk. There might be a Timothy Yeerk out there somewhere - not likely, since there's a Timothy blue centaur alien and worlds don't seem to ever have two alts, but not impossible, in the incomprehensible vastness of the multiverse. And he would be lonely, desperately lonely - the only ones of us that aren't lonely are the telepaths, and they're all fated to die alone - but the constant company of someone who hates him is its own special kind of torture - it'd be that, not morality, that'd stop me from taking a host, I couldn't bear it -

         We consider that weakness.

Oh, it is weakness. The strong thing to do would be take a host and be a perfect Yeerk and wait for an opening. I would not be strong enough to do that. You have achieved more good for your people than I ever could have done in your place, because I couldn't have been in your place. 

         If they find out, you know what they'll do to me?

If you make the wrong bet either way you get slowly tortured to death. It's terribly unfair. But even if they find out - someday I'll be free, no matter how far away that day is, and I don't leave my people behind and I will scour the multiverse for whatever it takes to get you back and give you a happy life. 

        And I'm supposed to believe that if it's in a million years you'll remember me -

I'll get a retroactive eidetic memory necklace from a soul Elf alt of my father, he was nearly finished with them when you had him murdered and there are other hims, somewhere, who probably got it done. Or I'll achieve the same goal some other way. Forever is a very long time.

Also this has been a very memorable experience.

"Are we sure we got all the circles? Maybe one of the people we're not infesting has one open - a redmage, Kib and Aydanci still holed up in their room - we're running a little short of personnel I'm confident of or I'd consider dragging them out -"

Conjure - "if so they're doing it in light or something else unconjurable but that doesn't mean much, that's how the Godspring projectors work -"

"Which the servantmakers in particular might do purely for convenience." Sigh. "Get Passan and Etret, go find out."

He heads upstairs with two Thermoses.

And Cam gets a message from his summoner authorizing him to make written material and immediately, he's already got it composed in his head, makes a letter - conjures quick to find the address label -

All hail Trelane, Prelate of the Pegasus Galaxy:

- Cam

And ninety-one seconds later there's a ripple in the air in front of Butterfly and do you prefer to have a parasite in your brain controlling your movements? 

NO

Now she's free and her Yeerk is floating in midair and everyone else is being asked the same question.

She collapses to her knees and doubles over, retching and sobbing.

"We had a deal," Timothy's Yeerk says. 

We do, Timothy confirms. He has permission to remain until a satisfactory alternative has been arranged - is everyone okay - 

I think no.

In the Singapore office where Theodore and Niari and Lilie are standing, a Vala materializes. We are convening and extend an invitation to an emergency hearing concerning the actions of alien brain parasites known as Yeerks.

Cam gets the same message.

I am currently unable to travel.

I am the travel arrangements.

I would be delighted to attend.

Poof now he's in a familiar circular auditorium on Taniquetil along with a lot of other people and a barely-sensate blue centaur alien and an even-less-sensate alt of his.

Is Timothy there -

Well, over here is Ambela snuggling Tireh in one arm and the new Bell in the other and singing to them, shakier than Elf voices usually get -

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry -"

Miranda is conspicuously missing.

Timothy's present but standing off to the side, doesn't look at Cam.

He can't speak aloud. He can wave?

Doesn't look his way. 

...there aren't any soul Elves around but there's Valar. Is Timothy okay -?

He declined to have his Yeerk removed.