"What do you mean? You said I would be okay." Henric replied, confused.

"Not you," said Wireless, before pointing to the older one. "The real one."

"You're a security bot, aren't you?" said Rick staying completely still. "Why are you surprised I'm alive?"

"You haven't been seen since they replaced you." Wireless glanced at Henric. Henric took a step back, but didn't speak.

"Who's here?" Rick asked the automaton. "Who's giving you orders?"

"In my exploration of the facility since power was restored, I have not encountered any human individuals besides the two of you. I am not receiving instructions from anyone."

Rick shook his head, furious. "You're fucking lying, I hate that. I hate you damn machines. That boy is a clone!" Rick pointed at Henric. "Even still, he is a minor. You cannot operate on a minor, clone or otherwise, without permission. WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION?!"

Instead of answering the eye indents on his face switched to orange and began to blink.

Rick snapped his fingers to get Henric's attention.

"This is the second floor, section C. I want you to go back down to F, but with my I.D., not dad's.

It doesn't have access to the same areas, so it'll send you to the museum. I want you to learn everything you can about this yourself and place, then go to Dad's office, the one in section D."

Wireless started walking towards Rick. He ran towards it head on, hoping to knock it over but it swung, smacking Rick into the wall. He got up holding his mouth, which was already dripping blood.

"Madison," he said breathlessly. "That's the password. Now RUN!"

Henric darted passed the automaton just as it turned to stop him. Rick tackled it from behind and Henric escaped the room.

"Don't think! Don't hesitate! Just Run!" Rick shouted just as began to take a beating from the robot. Henric could hear the heavy handed hits nearly all the way down the hallway as he rushed from the scene. He quickly got into the elevator and scanned Rick's I.D.

He tried to calm down, staring at the I.D. that had his name. But not his face. An I.D. that belonged to the 'real' Henric McCathey. It didn't make sense. He had a mother. He could remember almost all of his birthdays, the parties. He remembered Christmas and going out to parks. His Dad wasn't always around, but he was there for the important things.

Henric dropped the I.D. and slid down, remembering how long it took the last time. Rick...Henric... he fought the robot so I could escape. Why? He thinks I'm a clone. He thinks I shouldn't exist, but he stayed behind so I could escape. I don't understand.

Sitting alone with his thoughts, he realized he was so shocked he didn't even think about his leg. He didn't feel any pain or numbness at all anymore. It was like he'd never broken it. He managed to take off the cast right before the elevator stopped. When it opened up, it was nothing like the last time. Instead of a gigantic aquatic factory the ceiling was kind of low and the walls were covered with paintings and picture frames of various scientists. The floor was covered in dark blue carpet and the walls were mismatched black and white. The room the elevator led him into had a big check-in desk to the left, with signs pointing to different exhibits down the hallways. Henric hopped over the desk and looked for papers, keys, notes, anything that could help him find someone.

"Welcome. What exhibit would you like to see?"

Henric jumped up and raised his hands. "I'm not trying to steal anything I swear!"

"Welcome. What exhibit would you like to see?"

Henric looked and saw a woman standing at the desk. She wasn't facing him.

"Mam?"

She didn't answer him. He walked closer and tried to touch her shoulder, but his hand went right through it.

"Welcome. What exhibit would you like to see?"

Henric looked above him and noticed a little projector on the ceiling.

She's a hologram. Henric thought. A really good one too.

He hopped the counter and looked at it from the front. The hologram was really well done. Henric stared at it for a while, and he still couldn't tell it was fake. The model was a short woman, but she was still taller than Henric. He thought it might've been the heels but remembered it was a hologram, high heels didn't matter. The woman was brown-skinned with short curly hair and pretty dark eyes. She wore red lipstick and had a smile that made Henric happy, even though he didn't know her.

"May I speak to...uh, a curator?"

"No curator is available to speak to you at this time."

She continued to smile and stare right through him.

"Okay... May I speak to a representative, or an assistant?"

"No representative is available to speak to you at this time. No assistant is needed to explore the exhibits. Please, take a pamphlet and enjoy the experience."

She pointed at the desk where there was a set of pamphlets for each of the exhibits.

Mermaids, Humans, Automatons, and Machines.

A human exhibit? Henric wondered. He knew they wouldn't be showing basic anatomy there. He grabbed one of each and spoke aloud. "I'm going to all of the exhibits."

"Please proceed to the exhibit of your choice."

Henric opened the one about mermaids and walked towards the exhibit. The hallway was pitch black and there was a stand with a bunch of shades near the entrance with a sign that said take one. Putting on the shades, the entire hallway illuminated blue. Both walls were aquatic displays filled with water, rocks, and a few sparse plants. Why was it so empty looking?

Suddenly a blur swam past quickly and hid under a rock. It was a very long, dark creature, Henric could only see part of its tail. When he got close to the glass, the hologram lady's voice popped up on the intercom.

"Of all the mermaids in this exhibit, Hadal Mermaids are the only ones given to us solely by mother nature. Hailing from the Hadopelagic zone, these mermaids come from the deepest trenches of the ocean. They are a far cry from mermaids in the popular media. Their skin and scales resembles that of an anglerfish, and they do not need oxygen to breathe."

Henric was staring at the sign that said Hadal Mermaids when he saw something else dart past the glass. He tried to keep up with it, but it was way too fast. It swam into a little cave, preventing Henric from getting a closer look.

"Come on." he whispered, face pressed against the glass. "Come back out."

There was a button on the glass with a speaker grill next to it. Henric figured it was to ask a question about the mermaids, not to speak to them, but he pressed it anyway.

Surprise, surprise, nothing happened.

Henric waited as he saw a small green glimmer from within the cave. He tapped the glass once, twice, three times and finally a blackened demon creature swam out of the cave, lashing out at the glass.