Entry 14

A zoo. Suddenly everything made sense. John was an android. We had been beamed into a holodeck, the music camp, when the alien had come. John and the alien had had a heated argument about me presumably. The alien had then knocked me out. I could have been unconscious for days while they had finished the journey to the headquarters. Then, since they were anthropologists and fascinated by other cultures, they had put me in a holodeck to simulate my native planet. They could observe me in my own culture.

I certainly did not want to be a specimen in a zoo.

“I believe you,” I said back to the man, “but we can’t leave without John. Don’t we have time to wait for him to get here or are you planning to come back for him?”

“John is just a hologram,” the man responded. “Your android is not here.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. I was not going to escape without John, but it made sense that the John in the hologram was not the real John. After all, he had said he was not an android. The real John, the android John, had said he could not lie to me. He would not have been able to pretend to be a human.

“Yes,” the man answered. “Now crawl.”

I crawled into the duct and heard the man clatter in after me. I was not sure where I was going, but anytime we came to a split in the ductwork, he would direct me which way to turn.

“We need to get out of the ductwork soon,” his deep, action hero-like voice rumbled. “At the fork coming up, I need you to move into the right fork so I can get ahead of you in the left fork. Then I need you to follow me. Do you understand?” He acted like I was five instead of fifteen.

“Yes, I understand,” I answered, unable to keep all of the acid out of my voice. I then did as asked and let the man pass me.

“What did you say your name was again?” I asked as I followed behind him.

“Ven Barker,” the man answered. “You may call me Ven.”

“You can call me, Carlee,” I said. “So are they keeping John in another zoo area? Are we going to get him now?”

“The Society of Anthropologists does not study androids,” Ven responded. “They do not need to put him in a zoo. An android has no native environment.” Before I could ask where John was being kept, Ven came to a halt in the ductwork. I barely had time to stop before colliding with his long legs.

I heard a sound as if Ven was loosening another panel. I figured this must be where we drop out of the ductwork into a hall or popped into a room through a wall like in every other episode of Star Trek.

“Do not be frightened, Carlee,” Ven instructed me as he pulled a panel off of the side of the ductwork. When the panel was free, I heard a sound like rushing water. I had been to Niagra Falls once. The sound was very similar.

“We are going to exit onto a platform on the side of the complex,” Ven continued. “There is plenty of room, do not be frightened but do not be stupid either. Stay close to the wall and do not wander away from me.” I nodded and then realized he could not see me nod. I stated that I understood and did not admit that at his warning I was suddenly feeling nervous.

Ven crawled through the opening, disappearing from my sight. I crawled up to the opening and glanced through.

I found myself staring directly into a massive waterfall, the water falling violently not even six feet away.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered as I stared at the sheets of water falling. I crawled closer to the opening and looked through. To my relief, connected to the wall was a platform that was three feet in width, more than enough room to stand.

I mustered my bravery and crawled through the opening.