Entry 17

The alien on the table looked about without a slightly puzzled expression on its face. It then sat up, looked at the lecturer, and said something, much to the delight of everyone in the room. The aliens watching all began to talk excitedly to each other while their eyes stayed firmly on the scene at the front.

I felt sympathy for alien that was on display. He and the lecturer seemed to be of the same species, both sort of lizard-like. They had yellow scales that glistened in the light, though I could have sworn the scales were not just glistening but glowing. They were fairly humanoid in shape, standing upright with two legs and two arms. However, their faces were distinctly inhuman with a lizard-like snout and eyes that were set on the sides of their faces sort of like bird’s eyes. The lecturer dressed in a robe that seemed to also be made of scales, which did not surprise me. Humans wear leather, which is cow skin. Why wouldn’t lizards where other lizard’s skin? The alien on display, however, wore a white one piece, sort of like a hospital gown combined with a pilot’s jumpsuit.

The lecturer continued to lecture instead of responding to whatever his specimen was saying. I could not read the expression of the alien on display, but I could imagine he felt very perplexed. The specimen continued to speak and even hesitantly reached out, touching the lecturer on the shoulder to get his attention. The lecturer ignored him, while those watching took avid notes.

Finally the lecturer turned back to the perplexed alien. The lecturer said a terse command and suddenly the alien on display stopped. His hand, which had been reaching to tap the lecturer again, fell uselessly to his side. He stared straight ahead, his eyes glazed over, as if seeing nothing. It was chillingly similar to how John had reacted to the blue anthropologist’s command. It was as if the lecturer had just turned him off.

“That’s what your brother is, Carlee.” Ven’s deep voice came out of nowhere and nearly made me have a heart attack. I jumped in the duct, making a loud noise as I came back down. Luckily the din in the lecture hall covered up any sounds I could make.

I turned and stared at the man who had attempted to rescue me. He was sprawled on his stomach in the duct behind me, his hands holding up his chin as he regarded me with his dreamy eyes. From where he sat he would be able to watch me and see through the vent. He might have been there for ages, but I had been so absorbed in the lecture and had not noticed.

Ven had a bandage wrapped around his arm where I had bitten him, yet he was not regarding me with anger. If anything he was sympathetic and too patient. It was as if he viewed me as an unruly child that he sympathized with and therefore was going to great lengths to make me understand.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “I don’t want your help.”

“You may not want it, but you need it,” he answered. “You are completely lost up here, wandering around. You’re just going to get yourself in trouble.” He was right, but his words still annoyed me. I did not like being viewed as a helpless little girl.

“How did you find me?” I asked. I had taken several unpredictable turns. Unless he had been following me all along, which I doubted since his arm was bandage, I did not see how he could possibly have tracked me down.

“Technology does amazing things,” he answered. “Carlee, why are you running from me? I’m here to help you. It’s my job, my mission.”

“I didn’t ask to be your mission,” I responded.

“No, you didn’t,” he agreed. “But I am part of the organization that believes the Society of Anthropologists is made up of a bunch of kidnappers. I was chosen for this mission because I am human, like you, though I have helped rescue several non-human captives. I was given a directive to find you, free you, and take you to the Human Colony. That’s my job, and I’m going to do it no matter how much you protest. Now tell me. Why are you running from me?”

“I have to save my brother,” I said, nearly in tears. I hated that my eyes were tearing up. I did not want to cry in front of this ridiculously good looking young man, but the idea that he was going to relentlessly keep me from finding my brother was very disturbing. “I just can’t leave him here. I have to rescue him.”

“Carlee,” Ven said in a too patient tone. “Look back into that room. Tell me what you see?” I looked back down. I did not want to obey, but it gave me a chance to get my tears under control.

Once my eyes cleared up, I saw the alien on display, the one who had been strangely turned off, had all of the skin on his neck peeled back. The lecturer was scanning it with his device while talking rapidly to his audience. That alien was alive. Surely he should be writhing in pain because of what they had done to his arm.

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“That anthropologist is one of the foremost experts on android technology,” Ven explained. “He is demonstrating and explaining the new vocal capabilities he has invented. His own species has one of the hardest speech patterns to emulate, and he has been working for years to create an android that could speak it. He has succeeded; therefore, several hours of the symposium have been dedicated to him. That thing he is scanning at the front of the room is an android, just like the android you think is your brother.”