Searching for Andre (the sequel to "To Be Or Not To Be")

When Lucy returned to the stage, she wanted to tell Andre how much she'd enjoyed seeing him in the role of Romeo, then she'd speak to Dominick. But she didn't see Andre.

Maybe he was in the dressing room downstairs? No. She was just there; she would've seen him.

Maybe he'd left the Underground Theater and was waiting for her, outside the front entrance? She went to look. He wasn't there, either.

This just didn't make any sense. When in doubt, ask Dominick.

She walked over to where Dominick was, talking with the actor who played Friar Lawrence.

“I thought that that went rather well,” the actor told Dominick. “Even without Frank.”

“Andre did a far better job, Ken,” the latter said, not looking too happy at the mention of Frank. “In fact, I was thinking of keeping him on for the rest of the season.”

“Speaking of Andre,” Lucy interrupted, “has anyone seen him?”

Ken nodded. “I saw him talking after the play with a silver-haired woman who'd been in the audience. They seemed to know each other, so I didn't think twice about it. They left the theater a few minutes ago.”

Dominick stared at him. “He left with her and you didn't think to tell me until just now?”

Ken looked unhappy. “How was I supposed to know I had to tell you about it? I'm an actor, not a spy.”

Dominick sighed and fumed.

“Do you know which direction they were headed in?” Lucy asked Ken.

The latter nodded. “They headed for the front entrance.”

“I already looked there,” she said. “I didn't see anyone.”

“Maybe they're already gone to wherever they're going,” Ken suggested.

“Where would that be?” Dominick asked.

Ken shrugged.

“Wonderful, just wonderful,” Dominick said. “Now I need someone to take Andre's place tomorrow night.”

Andre, where are you and where are you going? Lucy thought. Why did you leave with that lady? Who is she? Someone from where you originally came from?

“Is the theater office still open?” she asked Dominick.

The latter nodded.

“Good,” Lucy said and hurried away.

----------

No one was in the theater office when Lucy arrived there.

There were several desks with computers, monitors, and keyboards on them. She picked one at random and sat down at it.

“I hope I don't need a password to access the Internet,” Lucy whispered as she clicked on the browser icon. The browser window popped open. “Thank goodness.”

If you're an android, you would need to be built somewhere. But where? And would it be something you'd find on a public map, or a location kept secret from the public?

She went to her favorite search engine's website and entered: android design and manufacturing.

Hopefully, the results wouldn't just be from science fiction sources. Maybe there would be something from real life.

The results showed up soon after and she skimmed through them. They were unfortunately all from science fiction sources. Of course. Who would want to make designing and building androids public knowledge?

She leaned back in the chair and tried to think. As she did so, Ken arrived.

“I was about to head home,” he said. “Are you doing some research about Shakespeare's plays?”

Lucy shook her head. “Actually, I'm much more interested in androids. Know anything about them?”

“Only that they're mostly fictional,” Ken replied.

She looked at him. “Mostly?”

He nodded. “The government probably would hide the fact that they're interested in androids. Like they tried to hide Area 51 from us for so many years. Rather like a dog trying to cover up a mess it made on the floor. It just makes what's hidden even more obvious to anyone with eyes and a functioning brain.” He gave her a puzzled look. “Why the interest in androids?”

Lucy wanted to tell him the truth but wasn't sure if it was safe to. Maybe a half-truth would do instead. “My grandfather used to work in a factory. Today, though, they'd probably use robots instead to do his job. But why would someone want to design and build something as complicated and probably very expensive as an android?”

Ken looked thoughtful. “The government is always planning ahead. Sometimes at least two or three decades ahead. An android might have advantages we're not entirely aware of. If they've designed and built at least one of them, maybe they're testing them. Seeing what they can do or can't do.”

“Such as interact with humans like us?” she asked.

“I'm not sure that they'd want to take a risk like that,” he replied. “It's like when they first designed, built, and tested robot-driven vehicles. Some worked fine, but most had problems that needed all sorts of fixing. Mostly in computer code. An android would be far more complicated than a robot-driven vehicle. Depending on how far technology has progressed, an android would be able to walk and talk much as we do. They might even look just like a human. But they'd never let one of them out into any public areas.”

“Why not?” Lucy asked, interested.

“Too unpredictable,” Ken replied. “We learn how to react to all sorts of things. Imagine a poor android encountering things for the first time and having to learn to adapt. It would make all sorts of mistakes and that might make its thinking even more unpredictable. It might decide to attack someone for what seemed like no good reason.”

“How do you know so much about this?” she asked.

“I read science magazines,” he replied. “There's usually at least one article on robots and androids in each issue. It's amazing how far technology has come with robots. Imagine what could be done with an android, if they could be designed and built to act like us.”

Lucy thought about meeting Andre at the Underground Theater's front entrance. About his interaction with Dominick. About having dinner with him before the play. About seeing him playing Romeo on the stage. He had seemed far more human than android to her.

“Anyway,” he said, “I have to head home. My wife isn't feeling well and the caretaker will be heading to their home in about half an hour.”

“One more question,” she said.

“Make it short and quick,” Ken said.

“Where would you hide a building that had a factory inside it?” Lucy asked.

“Anywhere, really,” he said. “Not necessarily on the ground. It could be underground, for instance. Gotta run. See you tomorrow, Luce.”

“Seeya, Ken,” she said and waved. But he was already outside the theater, one of the front doors closing behind him.

How carefully would the government hide such a building? You probably couldn't see it on a publicly available online map. But what if people had seen something unusual and reported it? What if they even took photos of it and posted them online?

Lucy went to the Reddit website and looked up: secret government building locations. It'll probably come up empty or have a warning, telling me to back off. I shouldn't even bother. After all, Andre's just a machine. Machines don't have feelings.

The results came back. Mostly conspiracy theories. But she spotted one that looked promising. It was way way way down the list of results. She clicked on it, and a new window popped up. Someone had already left a message:

The government is yet again trying to hide what it's doing from the public. First, it was Area 51 and everything that's taken place there. Now it's androids. Who do they think they're fooling? Of course, some of us are going to get curious and want to learn about it, no matter what the risks might be. It's like trying to hide Mount Everest behind an anthill: utterly pointless.

There was a reply:

I'd be careful. Very careful. You don't know if they're watching everything you say and do. Of course, there are secret installations. Some eventually become public despite decades of attempts to hide them from view. But there are others that are still hidden.

And another reply:

If you're so smart, smartypants, where would you hide a place like that, huh? A building isn't an anthill. Even if it's underground, it needs some connection to the world outside it. Electricity, running water, natural gas, phone lines, and internet connection. Not including regular shipments of food and drink, and someone to do their laundry for them.

And still another reply:

Ever been to the national forest in the mountains about an hour outside of Dandridge? The national forest named after her? It's completely walled off with fences that have barbed wire across the tops of them. Guard towers. Jeeps that appear without warning. Helicopters doing detailed aerial surveillance. If you don't have clearance and permission to go there, forget it. They're liable to have itchy trigger fingers and shoot first and ask questions later. I've probably said too much here. Have to go before someone sees me here. Be careful, okay?

There wasn't another reply from whoever was leaving the messages.

That … was interesting, Lucy thought.

Maybe Andre had somehow escaped from such an installation and tried to hide here in Dandridge. But they tracked him here, anyway. That lady might even be his boss there.

I need an off-road vehicle. A pickup truck. An SUV. Something that can handle where there aren't any roads. Can't afford to rent one and my parents probably wouldn't let me borrow theirs.

She picked up the phone on the desk and dialed a number.

----------

Ken met her at her house a few hours later when it was dark. She saw that he was wearing dark clothing. He suggested that she dress similarly. She did so, wondering if he was just being overly cautious, or if she hadn't been cautious enough.

“I shouldn't even be letting you do this,” he said softly. “I could get into a lot of trouble.”

“All you have to do is drive me there, drop me off, and then head back home,” Lucy said. “If I get caught, I'll tell them that I wanted to hike in the woods. That I didn't know that they were off-limits to the public.”

Ken didn't look convinced.

“Look,” she said. “What if I promise to just look from your vehicle and not go any closer to the woods than that? Do you have a pair of binoculars?”

He nodded.

“Could I use them?” Lucy asked.

Ken hesitated, then nodded again. “This isn't some game, you know. These people are dead serious about their jobs. I don't want to end up dead. I don't want you to end up dead, either.”

“Understood,” she said. “But I have to know what happened to Andre. This seems to be the most likely place for that lady to take him to. Maybe that's where he came from.”

“But Andre isn't an android,” he said. “He's human like us.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Lucy said, “but he told me himself that he's an android. If I believe him, why can't you believe him, too?”

Ken sighed. “We'd better get going.” He looked up at the night sky. “Good thing there's a new moon. I would never have agreed to help you if there'd been any moonlight at all.”

----------

They took the main highway out of Dandridge, then took the third exit and headed away from the highway. A secondary road took them through crossroads so lightly populated that if they blinked, they would've missed them. Ken turned off his SUV's headlights before driving away from the secondary road.

Now their path was very bumpy, to say the least. Lucy was grateful for the extra safety belts, but she wished that the seat she was sitting on had better padding.

They drove across a few streams, getting closer and closer to the national forest and the mountains beyond them. The trees seemed to grow taller the closer they approached. Almost like a fence that was at least a hundred feet high, with branches covering the top half of it.

This was about as far as Lucy had ever gone from Dandridge, even when camping with her parents while she was still growing up.

“You've been here before,” she said quietly.

Ken nodded. “Not recently. I almost got grounded when I came out with some friends back when I was in high school. The government sent people to the school, warning the school to keep its students away from the national forest. They never explained why except to say that it was very dangerous and that they didn't want any of the students to get hurt. Not even accidentally.” He hit the brake pedal and his SUV came to a stop. “This is about as close as we can get without getting anyone's undivided attention.” He pointed ahead of them and then off to the right. “There's a gate up there. Luce, I really don't think you're going to find out anything if they're determined to keep it from you. You'd need a pass just to get through the first gate. I'm not sure how strict they get after that.”

“We have to get closer,” Lucy said. “Can we come at this national forest from another angle? Or is it like this on all sides?”

“The latter,” he said. “You did say you promised you wouldn't leave my SUV.”

“I did indeed,” she said. “And I aim to keep that promise.”

“No matter what?” Ken asked.

“That depends on what we're able to see or if we can't see anything,” Lucy replied.

He sighed. “Luce – you're still treating this like a game. It isn't one. I told you that already. Let's go back to town.”

She grabbed his binoculars and got out of the SUV. “I won't be more than a minute. If I get caught, I came here alone. That's my story. And you get back home as soon as you can.”

----------

Keeping as low as possible, Lucy made her way up to where Ken had pointed to the right. Through the trees, she could just barely see the gates. They were definitely guarded. Not just by soldiers on the ground but also by guard towers.

What would they need to defend that they went to such lengths to defend it? she wondered. Andre, what in the world did you escape from, and why did they try so hard to take you back there?

Lucy laid on the ground and put the covers back on the binocular's lenses. Nothing to reflect if someone shined a searchlight or headlights this way.

She looked back, and Ken's SUV was still there.

I'd rather get arrested and possibly shot at than be left not knowing what happened to Andre, Lucy thought. Ken could just drive away, and they'd probably leave him alone. If they want either of us, they probably want me more than him.

A truck drove up to the gates. Its rear bed was covered with what looked like an overarching tent. There didn't seem to be anyone inside it except the driver and their passenger. The truck stayed put. Some sort of delay at the gates.

The best chance I've got, she thought.

Lucy got up but stayed as low as she could. She hurried toward the back end of the truck and climbed up its tailgate as quietly as possible. There was quite a bit of equipment stored in the covered rear bed. She made herself some room between two piles and tried to stay out of sight.

Moments later, the gates opened, the truck drove through, and the gates closed behind it.

At least I'm inside now, she thought. Or mostly inside. What happens when they need to unload their truck, though?

The truck drove along a rough road for several hundred feet, turned – she couldn't tell which direction – drove further, and eventually stopped.

I need to get out of here, Lucy thought. Now, if not sooner.

She climbed out of the covered rear bed and headed for a nearby barracks. She found a hiding place behind a bush near the barracks' front doorway and watched as the truck was unloaded. In the darkness, it was difficult to see what the items were.

“If they weren't so worried about spy satellites, we'd be able to do this in daylight,” the truck's driver or passenger complained.

“They're security conscious to a fault,” the other person agreed. “But if it keeps this place secret, then they must be doing something right. Where do they want us to take this stuff?”

“Into that barracks for now,” the first person said.

They passed within just a few feet of Lucy's hiding place, but lucky for her they didn't see her.

When the two people came back out, one looked like they were leaning back a little and rubbing their lower back.

“Damn, but that stuff is heavy,” the first person said. “You'd think they'd let us borrow the use of their precious android. After all, he's much stronger than any of us.”

“He won't be around much longer,” the other person said. “I heard that they're going to dismantle him and melt down the pieces in the furnace.”

“Another failed design, I guess,” the first person said. “Come on. Let's go. We've got another load to pick up and transport here. Have to get it all done by midnight so that they can use it first thing tomorrow.”

The two people re-entered the truck's cab. The truck backed up and headed back toward the gates.

Melt you down? Lucy thought, horrified. But you're a person, Andre! A real person! They can't do that to you … or can they?