Entry 27

“We are freeing John,” I said firmly. “I will not leave him. Why won’t you understand? I won’t leave John.” I stared angrily at Ven, who met my gaze evenly.

“We do not need any further assistance, Cognizant,” Ven said. “Thank you for directing us to the android.” Ven then grabbed my elbow and dragged me off the platform. The Cognizant winked out of existence.

“Let go of me!” I shouted, pulling away from the man. Some nearby anthropologists looked at us but raised voices seemed to be a common occurrence in the atrium. Several aliens nearby seemed to be yelling at each other.

“Carlee, calm down,” Ven said in his insufferably superior tone, as if twenty was so much older than sixteen.

“I will not calm down, Ven,” I answered. “Please lead me to my brother. Once we find him, you can leave me and escape on your ship. John will get me out of here.” Ven grabbed me firmly by the shoulders and made me look at him. I glared angrily at him, thinking I might just bite his other arm.

“I cannot leave you,” Ven responded. “I could get fired for something like that. Taking your android is way too dangerous, Carlee. Do you not realize it? Did you not listen to the Cognizant? The SecCog will get us if we try to take him.” I refused to be confused by his use of terms I did not understand.

“I don’t care,” I answered. “I don’t care about any SecCogs or Cognizants. I only care about John. Do you understand? He is all that matters to me. I will not leave without him. Ever. Nothing could ever make me abandon him. Nothing.”

“We shall not discuss this until after you have seen your android,” Ven said. “Come on.” He let go of me and took off walking. I followed. I needed him to lead me to John. Once I was with John, everything would be alright.

Being so close to finding John added a skip to my step. I wanted to race ahead of Ven and find him, but I did not know where I was going.

We left the atrium through a pair of double doors. The doors were larger than any doors I had ever seen: easily twenty feet high and ten feet wide each. They seemed like they would be too heavy for us to push open. However, Ven barely pushed against the door and it opened.

Less aliens filled this hall, and the aliens who did walk through it were quieter, talking in whispers. I felt like I was in a hospital ward.

I tried to pay attention to the twists and turns of the route we took. I wanted to be able to make my own getaway, without Ven. However, as I’ve mentioned before directions are far from my strength. We took so many twists and turns that I was quickly lost.

“We’re getting close to where your android is, Carlee,” Ven said in a hushed tone. “The room will undoubtedly have others in it. We can look, we can even touch, but you cannot attempt to rescue your android. No, Carlee, don’t say anything.” Ven stopped abruptly and turned to look at me.

“I need you to understand this,” Ven said. “We cannot free your android. The moment you try to do something not allowed, the Security Cognizant will know. The Society wants me very badly for freeing several of their specimens, like you. Should the SecCog identify me, I will be arrested, you will be put back in the zoo, and none of us, including your android, will be free. Do you understand? We cannot free your android.”