Escafil device

Escafil device
Plot element from the Animorphs series of prose fiction
Publisher	Scholastic
First appearance	The Invasion
Created by	K.A. Applegate
Genre	Science fiction
In-story information
Type	Alien device
Element of stories featuring	The Animorphs
Function	Bestows people with the ability to acquire DNA patterns from any animal and allows the user to morph into different animals
Specific traits & abilities	glowing blue 64 in.3 cube

The Escafil device is a fictional technological apparatus from K.A. Applegate's popular children's book series Animorphs. It is the proper name for the "Andalite morphing cube", a device that when operated gives the user the ability to 'acquire' a copy of DNA patterns from any animal that physical contact is made with, allowing the user to transform into that animal through morphing.

Escafil device

The Escafil device appears in Animorphs as a four-by-four-by-four inch, blue cube, according to Jake's description of it in The Invasion:

It was sky blue and square, maybe four inches on each side. It seemed kind of heavy for being so small.

To give the five children the morphing power, Prince Elfangor instructs them to each press one hand against one side of the cube; he then places his hand on the sixth side, and presumably operates the device, in an unknown manner.

Something like a shock, only pleasurable, seemed to run through me. A tingle that almost made me laugh.

The Escafil device's material composition is unknown, as is its internal structure or the manner in which it bestows the morphing ability upon the user. The device was named after one of the creators of the morphing technology, an Andalite of genius intellect by their own standards. In The Hork-Bajir Chronicles, the Andalite character Aldrea mentions that the mother of a friend was a developer of the technology; the book does not mention if this individual is Escafil. Indeed, it is unclear whether Escafil was a male or a female, though the latter is more likely; the books mention that scientific research is considered an appropriate field for Andalite women, while males tend to be warriors (although by the time of Elfangor, the Andalite military sought more well-rounded warriors, proficient in battle as well as the arts and science). Ax mentions that the Escafil device is known by other names, but none are ever given.

Morphing Technology

Andalite morphing technology is a fairly recent technological development, according to Prince Elfangor in The Andalite Chronicles. The technology is a closely guarded secret, and is normally only given to and used by members of the Andalite species; the only non-Andalites to morph are the five human Animorphs, Visser Three, David, the temporary sixth Animorph, the Auxiliary Animorphs, and various creatures which accidentally or deliberately operated the Escafil device. Near the end of the series, the Yeerks managed to obtain the Escafil device and gained morphing abilities.

Connection with Zero-Space

When one morphs a being smaller than themselves, the extra mass (excess skin, bones etc.) is extruded into Z-space. In the rare event that a ship would pass by, they would be drawn into it and likely vaporized or disentegrated by the ship's forcefield. According to a recently documented occurrence, the being's consciousness is pulled back to the mass in Z-space, rather than staying with the morphed body as usual. It used to be thought that the mass would be disorganized, random blobs, but it is now known, or at least conjectured, that the mass is in fact fully formed and proportioned. Should the mass survive somehow, it is subject to a 'snap-back' effect, causing the consciousness to return to the original body, with no time passing whatsoever.

There is the issue of the nothlit, one trapped in morph by staying in morph for longer than two hours, as previously mentioned. However, one can make the assumption that their matter, if in Z-space, would deteriorate or disconnect from the individual it originally belonged to, which may also be the reason that a morph cannot usually be sustained for more than two hours.

It was never revealed where morphers acquire the excess mass that they must use when morphing into something significantly larger than themselves, such as an elephant or a whale.

Limitations

An individual can gain a limitless numbers of samples of DNA. There is a 2-hour time-limit for staying in morphed form, and if a person stays morphed longer than that, they are forever trapped in that form. The Andalite term for one trapped in morph is a nothlit. The escafil device can only be used once by each being. Once a being becomes a nothlit, they cannot regain the ability to morph. (In the book series, the only "documented" cases of morphing ability being returned to a nothlit involved assistance from a very powerful being known as the Ellimist).

One of the greatest properties of morphing is rooted in the biological physics of DNA. Because DNA is isolated and encapsulated coding for the genetic make up of a specific living form, it is unaffected by any injury. Hence, any injury sustained while either in morph or in natural form will be instantly cured by morphing to another form (if morphing back to original form, the term used is "demorphing", though earlier on in the series, "unmorph" was used sparingly). The DNA of the animal whose form sustained the injury is, of course, unaffected, effectively replenishing that animal/form. For example, if injured while in morph, one can demorph and be healthy, and remorph back to the animal form without any injury; likewise you can acquire the DNA of an injured animal and turn into a healthy animal. The one case in which this failed to work was in Megamorphs #2: In the Time of Dinosaurs, when Tobias' attempts to fix his broken wing by morphing repeatedly failed, apparently due to the time travel; how exactly this would affect morphing is unknown.

Loopholes

The time-limit for staying "in morph", which was long thought in the series to be final and deadly, has at least one minor loophole. The natural metamorphosis of any animal morphed, such as the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly, essentially resets the biological clock, giving the being in morph a space of approximately two hours to demorph.

In the third book The Encounter, the Animorphs seem to have outdone the two-hour limit. The four of them (Tobias being trapped in morph and Ax not having been introduced at this point), were in wolf morph and were 10 minutes past the two hour time limit when they started to demorph. It was only with sheer will power and concentration on human form that they managed to turn back, though the time on the truck (which Tobias gleened the time from) could have been off. Similarly in another book, Marco was part-way through demorphing when the clock ran out. He only managed to complete the process because he believed that if he hadn't, he would have lived out his life as a human-sized flea freak of nature.

In the 16th book, The Warning, Rachel and Ax both passed the two hour time limit. However, Fenestre had captured the two in a suspended time state known as 'biostasis'. This apparently prevented the two from passing the two hour time limit, as their bodies were effectively frozen in time.

Another possibility is that the time limit is not exact. Two hours seems to be the point at which demorphing becomes incredibly difficult, and requires massive will power to overcome, but is not actually impossible.

Other than these cases, the only way to avoid the morphing clock is through the intervention of a being like the Ellimist or Crayak.

Morphing

Acquiring Process

When an animal is 'acquired', it becomes docile, similar to being tranquilized. This effect lasts for mere seconds after the acquiring is completed, so for it to be advantageous, it would have to be used quite carefully. Rarely, the acquiring process has no effect whatsoever, and the animal is not affected. This is very uncommon, however, and not usually an issue. There is no known limit as to how many morphs one can possess, though one would assume by means of its storage that the number would be quite high. The DNA is stored inside the body within a small, molecular sphere, supercooled to subzero temperatures, lying dormant until called upon for a morph. Therefore, the body would be capable of holding much more than would ever be conceivably necessary to a morpher. As a final note, a particularly useful aspect of morphing is the Frolis Maneuver, in which one combines the DNA of several samples from the same species, to create a new being for a morph. This could be used, for example, to avoid having an exact duplicate of a human when in morph, should one be morphing a human. This refers to Ax's human morph, in which he acquired DNA from the first four members of the Animorphs to create an "unattractive girl or a very pretty boy", as Marco once said. Evidently, Yeerks controlling morph-capable individuals morph with their hosts and fuse with the new body. This is shown in The Capture, when Jake, as a controller, morphs into an ant. An ant is far smaller than a Yeerk, so otherwise Jake would have been killed by destruction of his head.

Morphing Experience

To begin the process of morphing, one with the morphing abilities must meditatively visualize an animal whose DNA they have previously acquired. Morphing is a visually disturbing but ultimately painless process that takes about two minutes to complete, but can be sped up through practice and experience. It also produces fatigue in the morpher, but this, too, can be lessened with practice. The process of morphing is very erratic; there is no definitive order of transformation, meaning any part of the body could be the first to transform and any combination of the remaining body parts could follow. Only certain beings are blessed with the innate ability to control the process. Such a being is known in the Andalite world as an estreen.

Estreens

Some beings with the ability to morph are able to control the morphing process in a way that makes it look beautiful rather than disgusting, and are better able to endure the strain of repeated morphing over a short amount of time (as demonstrated by Cassie in Megamorphs #1: The Andalite's Gift.) There appears to be no biological explanation for this, merely an inherent talent that is evident predominantly in females and seems linked to the psychological makeup of an individual. One of the main human characters from Animorphs was an estreen (see Cassie). It is thought possible, however, that under extreme stress and with great motivation, that one who is not an estreen may be able to control the morphing process in some way. Andalite estreens can make a living based on their talent, for example Estrid-Corill-Darrath's mother, a "morph dancer". While the talent is considered mostly aesthetic, it can apparently be useful.

Morphed Condition

After morphing, the being is able to communicate in thought-speak, like an Andalite. He or she still has their own mind, but also has the animal's instincts. When morphing to animals with particularly strong instincts, one may struggle to reassert their consciousness. Examples of animals with particularly strong instincts that were featured in the series include seagulls, dogs, ants, flies, the Tyrannosaurus and the fictional Taxxons. More intelligent animals, such as great apes, have little to no raw animal instinct to overcome.

Because most animal brains are not powerful enough to accommodate human thought, the morpher's "consciousness" along with their bodymass (see below) is pushed into Zero-space but retains a mental link with their new body.

Effects of Morphing and Demorphing

Any damage or injury sustained while in the morph will be healed, as the body is based purely on the DNA. In the morpher's own body, as in Megamorphs: In th Time of the Dinosaurs, injuries do not heal.Therefore, similar to injuries, things such as surgeries and implants would not affect the morph as well. Foreign objects inside the body do not necessarily remove themselves. While in most cases bullets and other debris have been known to dislodge during morphing, some do not, although usually are too small to be harmful. There was an instance, however, when the Animorphs found themselves unable to morph into small forms due to chips in their brains too large to fit into a fly head. Some have found success in integrating very small amounts of skintight clothing into morphs. Usually this would consist of things such as leotards or similarly tight items, and no shoes. With practice this ability can be improved as evidenced in much later adventures where the Animorphs eventually learn to morph thicker clothes.

There have been recorded cases of a variety of fatal and painful gene-sickness that leads Andalites to use their morphing abilities to permanently transform into another Andalite and become a nothlit, albeit a healthy one, in turn. This, however, is seen as a sign of ultimate disgrace by other Andalites.

Morphing Sickness

'Morphing-sickness' is a rarely documented case when a morpher is allergic to DNA they have acquired. They become nauseous, and are prone to involuntary bouts of morphing when under stress. After a certain amount of time, between a few days and a week, one 'burps' the DNA so to speak, forcing out the creature in its entirety. Through the cascading cellular regeneration, an entirely new animal is created, and expelled from the morpher's system. They are then faced with the problem of having the animal there in the first place, should this animal prove to be dangerous. This process of expelling the DNA is called hereth illint. In the books, this happens to Rachel once with a crocodile morph.

The Escafil Device in Animorphs

As Elfangor lay dying, he decided to give the morphing power to the five kids surrounding him. Jake went and got the box, and five kids and Elfangor pressed their hands to the box. After giving them a quick set of instructions, including the two-hour warning, Elfangor confronts Visser Three and is eaten alive. In the ensuring battle and destruction of the evidence (the newspapers report it as "some kids playing with fireworks"), the Animorphs assume that the box was destroyed.

However, in The Discovery (#20), Marco is surprised to see a kid named David carrying the box. David says that he found it in the abandoned construction site. He also says that he has received an offer for the box. Marco, sensing trouble, calls the other Animorphs, and rushes over to David's house. The person making an offer turns out to be Visser Three. In the ensuring battle, the Animorphs manage to save David and the box, but the Yeerks take David's parents. The Animorphs decide to make David an Animorph, as his parents have become Controllers and he knows everything. However, David soon becomes disillusioned and begins insisting that he wants to leave the group. He also wants the Escafil device because he was the one who found it. The Animorphs feign an agreement and send Rachel with David to the old construction site where they "hid" the device. After trapping him in rat morph, they reveal that the blue box piece was just a Lego. The Escafil device secured, Cassie hides the blue box in a water pump outside of her barn.

The Escafil device comes into play against the Helmacrons, who see it as a power source. In #24, the Helmacrons' two ships try to seize the box; their ship can sense where the box is located and who holds that power. They succeed in taking the box and use its power to shrink other beings to their small size. The frustration leads to a very minor alliance between the Yeerks and the Animorphs. In the end, however, the Animorphs manage to get the box back and unshrink everybody.

The Yeerks later find a damaged Helmacron ship and fix it in their attempt to find the Escafil device. The sensoring technology is placed in a helicopter, where the Yeerks hone in on the signal. The Animorphs break up the cube into six pieces and try to elude the Yeerks, morphing at various times to distract the ship. They finally plan to bring down the helicopter by having Cassie morph into a humpback whale and fall onto the helicopter. However, as she is tired from so much morphing, she messes up the plan. Fortunately, a seagull flying by at the time is sucked into the engine, destroying the helicopter.

When the small skirmishes turn into a full-fledged war, the Animorphs feel outnumbered and trapped. They decide to recruit other Animorphs, calling them the Auxiliary Animorphs, who would take their place in case the original five were killed. They bring along the box three separate times to a disabled kids' home and give the morphing power to 17 other kids. When they go to a school of the blind, however, they discover that it is under surveillance by Controllers led by Tom, who seizes the box. A select circle of Yeerks receive the power to morph, complicating the Animorphs' fight.

In the final battle, Tom still has the Escafil device, and presumably takes it up on the Blade Ship. Jake secretly sends Rachel to the ship with Tom. When Tom hails the Pool Ship, he is shocked to see that Jake is still alive. Jake sends the order for Rachel to kill Tom. She succeeds, but the Blade Ship manages to escape, and the original Escafil device remains in the hands of Tom's closest associates.

In the negotiations following the Animorphs surrender of the Yeerk Pool ship to the Andalites, Ax receives four Escafil devices for his personal use. Like the Animorphs promise, they have the remaining Yeerks acquire an animal to become a nothlit. The Taxxons also become nothlits, morphing into giant anacondas and "other way-too-big snakes", as Marco puts it.