"Not very much," he says, and, "Why?" 

He's fairly sure he knows why. 

"I... was thinking about asking you to anchor for me." 

"You don't have to decide right now, obviously," he says hurriedly. "I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about it. 

I'll let you read." 

He goes. 

...well. That sure did happen. 

He finds a book (it isn't the first Animorphs book but it's an Animorphs book) and reads, and thinks about that. 

Chris is eating lunch by himself staring at some papers.

Sasha pauses, then sits down at his table. 

"Afternoon."

"Afternoon." 

"I suspect you may have questions about anchoring."

"I do. 

Marlo hasn't actually asked me yet, he just said he was thinking about it." 

"I'd approve it."

"I'm glad," he says, completely sincere. "— I don't actually know enough to know what questions I should be asking." 

"The anchor is sort of like Mission Control. You can see into the dream world even though you can't interact with it, and you talk with the pilot. Your mind shapes the dreamscape as much as the pilot's does. And your feelings for the pilot produces the chassis for the anima that will keep him safe."

That's at least enough that he can ask coherent questions. "Can you unpack 'your mind shapes the dreamscape as much as the pilot's does'?" 

"The dream world has some fixed traits. Places in the dream world correspond to locations in our world, and they're usually dream-logic-y-- space is warped, there are people but they just say the same six sentences in response to your questions, sometimes the Round Table Pizza is a castle. But the pilot and anchor both affect the dream world. Mine was full of people having kinky sex. Asher had these beautiful fantasy and science fiction landscapes. I've known someone who had appropriate theme music playing at all times, someone who turned everything into glaciers, someone who gave the walls eyes that are constantly looking at you, and someone whose world was a frantic and unwinnable video game you have no idea how to play but you have to win. Your boyfriend's is full of versions of his parents telling you that you're useless and worthless. Marlo's is so bright it hurts and everything is very sharp and there's a sense that even if you're in a wide-open field you're trapped."

...he is very sure that that is not how Marlo described his dream world to Sasha. 

"Is there some way to guess in advance what your dream world will look like?" 

"If you are more well-adjusted, your dream world will be more pleasant. Most people find that their dream worlds make sense, given who they are as people."

He nods. "Thank you.

...I'm fairly sure I'm going to say yes, but — you said pilots inevitably die, bliss, or go permanently insane. What happens to anchors?" 

"Anchors are not in danger in the dream world the way that pilots are. Some of the things that make pilots bliss don't make anchors bliss-- I can anchor even though I'm 24, but no one over 18 can pilot, and it doesn't seem to be dangerous to break up with an anchor the way it is to break up with a pilot. Anchors certainly seem less likely to bliss than pilots, but they bliss more often than most people in Eros and about as often as people outside Eros do. We can't rule out effects that take longer than two years to manifest." 

Sasha nods again. 

"Thank you." He's pretty sure the answer's yes — he should probably talk to Lev about it, he should at least wait for Marlo to actually ask. "I'm — going to hold off on saying yes until he actually asks, but thank you." 

"Since the anima is made out of your relationship to him, when the anima is damaged, your relationship is damaged. It manifests differently for different people-- you start being annoyed by quirks you used to find charming, you get insecure, you remember the bad things that happened and forget the good things, you don't trust them. The primary job of the anchor is rebuilding their relationship with their pilot in between missions."

"Yes. Lev mentioned. — he also mentioned that stronger animas cause pilots to bliss faster?" 

"Yes. One of your other jobs will be attempting to persuade Marlo that being Asher is not a good decision."

"...is that a thing he's doing." Why is that a thing he's doing.