Riley Joins the Sharing: Chapter 3

(C) 7/14/2016 John Elliott Davis
Credit also goes to Krazy8Horse for helping me

Inside Out/Animorphs Crossover: Riley Joins the Sharing

Rating: PG (for thematic elements and scary dialogue)

CHAPTER 3: RILEY'S MENTAL PRISON

Of all the places in the world, who would have thought Riley's school would be a true definition of a horror show? With an office that was locked from the outside, the whole interior might as well have been painted to look like a haunted house with fog machines, strobe lights and voodoo skulls all over the place. It was what she saw in a few of the nightmares the production studio threw together after searching her memories of the dentist's office and scary campfire stories she and her friends in Minnesota would share. Someone goes into a room and never comes out, or at least not until after they've been mutated or assimilated into something like a vampire or Frankenstein's monster.

She went into that office only feeling a little bit socially awkward, and came out even more despondent than ever before. Something no child should ever have to experience. It was also clear that everyone else in that entire Sharing group was infested by a Yeerk. Somewhere in Riley's mind, as she contemplated it, she thought to herself, not wanting to speak directly to the Yeerk in her head, <My goodness, I'll bet some of those people wanted to help me when I banged on the door but couldn't.> She realized that everyone there was already in the same predicament as her - having what was almost like the internal equivalent of handcuffs and a shock collar. Optiss then showed Riley an image to make her feel guilty. He made her realize that she attacked an innocent man by throwing the coffee cup full of pencils at the principal, who was just as weak and powerless as she was, being a controller himself. <Oh no... I can't believe I did that to him. I really want to tell him I'm sorry... But you and the rest of you little creeps should be the ones apologizing for using us like that! Do you not get that?!>

In all clarity, Optiss was secretly more compassionate than the rest of the Yeerks. He only tormented Riley because he was pressured by the empire to do so. That and he was just as eager for a host and their amenities as the rest of his kind. If anything, Optiss was more of an anti-hero still trying to figure himself out.

Deep within his mind, which was not an average brain as his flattened out slug-like body was shrink-wrapped around Riley's brain, there were five other Yeerks, each distinctively colored. They were five of the basic colors on the wheel, excluding orange. They were emotions as well, as difficult as that would be for a human being to believe. He had anger controlling him because it was so unfair to be born blind and deaf, only being able to rely on echo-location and ultrasonic squeaks for communication and finding an ear to crawl into. But he also had fear that the empire would punish him or even eradicate him if he didn't treat his host like a slave. But in his case, there was also an exception: Sadness sometimes took over and caused him to feel more apprehensive. It was about the only emotion that made him a less hateful Yeerk.

Meanwhile, back at home, her parents were still watching Twin Peaks, snuggling and relaxing on the couch together. Her dad was all over that show, although the mother wasn't quite as enthralled.

"Oh come on honey, you know how much you love when I do my impressions of Dale Cooper." He got up and pretended his wallet was an FBI badge. He then says with a deadpan yet eccentric tone, "I've got a joke for you: Two penguins were walking across an iceberg..."

The mother giggled. "Someone started his day off with a darn fine cup of coffee!"

He then kneels down on the couch next to her with one knee and says, "That's 'cause you made it, sweetheart. You know the only reason I leave you to do all the cooking is because I only accept the finest black coffee and cherry pie, right? And that comes only from you and your skills." he says before they both smile and kiss each other.

The mother continued to giggle and blushed even more brightly. "I remember when you met me, you tried to tell me a joke so much like that. It was adorable."

Her five emotions were on the inside, all agreeing. Her form of Joy said, "See? We don't need the Brazilian guy. He's such a sweetheart. Besides, we wouldn't have our adorable little Riley without this one."

Riley was at the front steps of her door after a long bus ride home, trying not to pick a fight with her own internal captor.

Optiss walked Riley into the door. Yeerks were always highly intelligent, but they certainly weren't all that good at human protocols - greetings, hugs, family lives, etc.

"Hey Riley!" her mom said with a warm and comforting smile. Her father followed that by greeting her as well.

Even though Optiss had access to every single terrain of Riley's mind, the Yeerk wasn't used to his new role involving what Riley did most of the time.

<You're supposed to say hi back to them you idiot!!!> Riley snapped. <You control my body. Now give them a hug before you raise anymore suspicion.> The shock still flashed through Riley's mind. She thought to herself, not wanting Optiss to hear, <I still can't believe this is happening... Somebody wake me up!!!> Riley would physically gawk if she could. While her body was up and about, her soul was cornered and helpless. <You're gonna burn for this, you scum!>

"Hi mom. Hi dad." Optiss said with Riley's voice in a sort of expressionless monotone before walking to her bedroom.

<There. Happy now, Riley?>

Both of her loving parents come up to her. "Don't you want a hug?" her mom said.

<Stop being a moron and hug her already! If you're gonna control me, do it right!> Riley shouted mentally. If this were a more appropriate moment, Optiss would have tormented her with another blue or purple memory for angering him. It was the only time Anger could reach for the panel without having to worry that Riley would get caught in the crossfires.

"Seriously? Who died and put this gross pile of cultist slime in charge of Riley? Her mind is OUR turf, NOT his!!!" shouted Anger. "I always knew communists were slugs metaphorically, but never literally!"

Optiss then wrapped his host arms around Riley's mom and her dad came in for a big group hug. The Yeerk accepted the kisses he received as he continued wearing Riley's identity. Her parents only saw their daughter as only a little forgetful about her daily life and getting accustomed to puberty, not realizing the truth of their forlorn child hidden in a mask of normality.

While Optiss and Riley were walking up the steps, the father seemed a little suspicious. "Is she alright? I mean, know she's still getting used to living here and she misses Minnesota, especially while hitting this major point in her life where physical and emotional things change abruptly, but something seems odd. That boy Jordan better not be breaking her heart."

The mother calmly responded. "Oh don't worry. You know he's a good kid. I remember being that age. I was rather emotional. I think I had a natural affinity for the feeling of sadness, even if nothing was really going wrong at all. Something about being melancholy felt inexplicably comforting."

The Sadness in the mother's command center said, "Ah, those were the days. Joy and I spent most of our time together like two peas in a pod."

The father pulled her closer. "I remember awhile after I met you, I always wondered what went on inside your heart and your mind at the end of each day, always asking myself, "Does that pretty girl ever cry herself to sleep on some nights?". I'm glad I finally got to know." he said as he kissed her on her forehead.

The father's variant of Joy just said in a smug manner to the rest of the emotions, "Man it feels so great to be in charge. But hey, Sadness, I couldn't have done it without you, buddy. You and I both motivated him to feel for this beautiful girl."

His Anger said, "Don't forget about me, pal. We all saw her swooning over that Brazilian stud-muffin and I wasn't gonna put up with it for one split second."

His Joy got out a yellow core memory of their marriage proposal and raised it in the air. "Here's to over twelve years of you guys helping me, through all the ups and downs, mostly ups. You all learned to back down at some points when he had to talk and sort things out with this wonderful woman of his. She and Riley are entirely worth it."

These were the memories that accumulated from Riley's unnerving experience of this day:
Purple: Nervousness that occurred before stepping through that door, followed by the terror of realizing what she had gotten herself into, still persisting as she awaits an even darker future, thus adding to the count.
Green: A slimy alien slug that can crawl in and out of someone's ear; that and the vibes of weirdos and culture shock beforehand.
Red: The fact that she was taken away without her parents knowing it, and being treated like a lab rat and a human marionette at the same time as the salt on her wounds.
Blue: Knowing that she made the wrong decision by signing up for a full membership, which she couldn't take back at this point.
Yellow: Zero, zip, nada....

And this was all barely 24 hours in. At least within the next 72, she would get to experience 3 hours of the only free movement she would ever have.

The only positive of this situation which still felt like a nightmare she had yet to wake up from was the answer to one of her mysteries: Why everyone stopped acting goofy at school and started studying harder with science and geography. Human biology was all the better for maintaining a host body; geography was all the better to colonize and recruit more hosts, willing or not.

Optiss almost couldn't handle Riley's drama. For that reason, he went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and looked for some sleep-aid tablets. He made Riley ingest two of them with some soda out of the fridge.

"I've always wanted to try one of these anyway," Sadness said, trying to make the best of the situation.

"You and me both," Anger replied. "School assignments and watching the news always make me feel like taking a whole pile of these."

<Seriously? Drugging me like this? You're sick!> Riley snapped. Optiss knew now was not the time to terrorize her by manipulating her memories and thoughts. <I'm not supposed to take stuff like this at my age.>

<Better this than nothing. Now stop griping already!> Optiss snapped. <I don't take much pleasure in this either.>

<Then why are you doing this to me? Explain that!> Riley shouted, still wanting to believe this was only a dream.

<Because... (he groans) Because I have to...> Opiss was at a loss for words. He was very conflicted. <Look, just calm down already. We will get along better with each other.>

At this point in the day, Riley had to change clothes and go to bed. Optiss knew Riley found this idea rather embarrassing, which is why he chose to skip taking a shower, In spite of how much she had been sweating from panic. He kept her eyes closed while changing from her usual daytime clothes and into her comfortable pajamas and clean socks. He couldn't afford to let her have control of herself, at the risk that she might scream and let the truth about him controlling her slip, but he still respected her privacy.

Disgust said to the other emotions, "Good! That creep better not be spying like I thought he would. The idea grosses me out enough to demand a shower, but then I couldn't enjoy it, knowing someone's watching me."

<It's okay. Remember, this is a lot like what you humans could call a Siamese twin. They never get any privacy. It's not like they're deliberately spying on each other when they have to change.> His words had hardly any impact.

<I... I hate you.... I seriously hate you with every inch of my heart...> Riley said as she felt drowsy. The command center started getting foggy from the sleeping pills that worked their way into her system.

Fear started to take a break. "Thank goodness these are only sleeping pills and not alcohol. I get the feeling that if Riley ignored what her teacher and her parents taught her about drugs, this command center would be flooded and the five of us would be blindly fighting over the panel."

Optiss layed Riley down in her bed as she started to nod off. Riley still felt restless though, as this time, Sadness took control and left a few tears on the command table. "I hope Riley makes it through this. I feel like I'm the only real friend she's got now."

Riley said as she sobbed on the inside. <I just want to be with my parents. I love them more than anything. But as much as I wish to be with them in the Yeerk pool, please don't have them infested.> What Riley said was an honorable move on her part, declaring her loyalty to the two people who brought her more comfort than anything.

<... I'll see what I can do...> Optiss said, not wanting to give in to guilt. He was about the only Yeerk that had any sense of accountability and morals. <Just... try to appreciate not having anything to do right now. All you have to do is lie down and relax. We're skipping homework tonight anyway.>

The Anger in Optiss's mind finally let go of the controls. "At least this little brat's finally falling asleep."

The Joy in his mind said, "Finally, all five senses. No more feeling defenseless and no more being blind and deaf. Don't worry, guys. This has only been the first day. Something tells me this might become a new triumph for all of us."

Fear in his mind replied, "Seriously though, we can't even do anything without it being at this very emotional host's expense. Every time Optiss tries to enjoy having these five senses, he's getting nagged because he's listening to this girls stirring thoughts and feelings. I don't blame this hysterical, young host for feeling the way she does. I wish I could cancel this mission and leave the empire, but I'm afraid to die."

Optiss's variant of Joy replied, "Calm down, okay? You keep on losing your composure like this and you're just gonna blow the whole thing. It seems she's got five just like us in her head and we could possibly negotiate with them."

It was time for Riley's emotional command center to darken as her eyes shut. There was nothing left for the five emotions to do except sit and watch another one of Riley's dreams play, with Joy still out cold as Sadness went to check on her again. Something told the only lucid four of them that this dream was gonna be something completely different. If it was at all too distressing, they might have to phone the production studios to make a complaint, not knowing how difficult things were on their end. But little did they and Riley realize, this might be an opportunity for Optiss to learn a little more sympathy as he would be watching this new motion picture that had yet to play.