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WHERE THE TRUTH LIES
An Animorphs AU one-act stage play
Cast (in order of appearance)
Jordan Burrell: 17, male, mysteriously barefoot
Agent Michaels: 40s, male, Man In Black
Kat Hendricks: 14, female, also barefoot
Dr. Ballard: 50s, female, military doctor
The Voice: Unseen young male
Major Blake: 50s, female, Executive Officer at Zone-91
All of the above is a lie.
~with a special guest appearance by Colonel Torelli~
Scene 1
Interrogation room. A one-way mirror and a wall clock adjacent the door. Harsh light. A hard-edged, metal table and folding chair, plus a softer chair in front of the table.
Jordan is seated at the table, alone.
Enter Agent Michaels. He closes the door behind him. As he does:
AGENT MICHAELS
Good evening. My name is Special Agent Michaels.
He turns.
AGENT MICHAELS
Before we start, are you comfortable? Are you thirsty?
Hungry? Would you like some food?
JORDAN
Let's just get going.
AGENT MICHAELS
Why? Do you have a time limit?
Michaels now reveals that the box is a pack of raisins, which he consumes while maintaining an otherwise unflappable demeanor.
JORDAN
That was a long van ride. They tried to block the windows
but I think I saw some desert. We're at Zone-91, aren't we?
Michaels stares silently.
JORDAN
And don't insult my intelligence with that
"undisclosed location" crap!
AGENT MICHAELS
You may find that your so-called "intelligence" insults
you. But I will indulge you once. The term "Zone-91"
entered the public vocabulary due to a lay-person
misreading a now out-dated government map. "Zone-91"
referred to a boundary comprising some 600 square miles.
You are at the primary Air Force facility located within
the former zone.
JORDAN
So yes?
MICHAELS
Yes.
Michaels reaches into his jacket again, this time revealing a small 90's-era tape recorder. He ever-so-briefly stares resentfully at it before pressing 'record' and placing it on the table. He then reaches for the second chair, but reconsiders, and continues to stand.
AGENT MICHAELS
Now, I'll be asking the rest of the questions. You will
answer. I must tell you I am specially trained in spotting
deception. If you lie to me, I will know. Your friend may
be a juvenile and entitled to leniency, but you seem to be
of age. I already have evidence to keep you confined
fourteen years, or more. Your guilt or innocence is not a
matter of question. What is, however, is your motivation.
If I understand what you were doing, or trying to do, I
just might be able to help you. So, Mr...?
JORDAN
(beat)
Jordan. My name is Jordan Burrell.
MICHAELS
Jordan, tell me what you and your friend were doing in that
construction yard?
JORDAN
Looking for aliens.
MICHAELS
(with a patronizing grin)
You'll find no aliens there, Jordan.
JORDAN
You have to say that.
MICHAELS
Things have changed. All of humanity saw the remnants of
that brain slug mothership fall from the sky.
JORDAN
You shot it down!
Michaels grins.
MICHAELS
We wish we did. But no. We don't know if it was a freak
accident, or perhaps a saboteur. All the same, one of their
smaller craft crashed into the mothership, destabilizing
its orbit. And suddenly, ten thousand brain slugs--
JORDAN
They're called Yeerks.
MICHAELS
You know that word? Are you a former?
JORDAN
No.
MICHAELS
Current?
Jordan POUNDS the table.
JORDAN
NO!
(quieter)
I knew some who were. You'd know if I was one, you made
them register.
MICHAELS
Regrettable, in hindsight.
(looks behind him for no reason)
Decisions had to be made quickly, before a full
understanding could be realized. To learn this planet had
been infiltrated by not one, but two dangerous alien
species, both able to hide in plain site? Extraordinary
measures were needed. The situation changed when
the starvation began. The--
(with a patronizing gesture)
--Yeerks came forward offering cooperation, anything
to preserve their lives. But no solution was found in time.
JORDAN
I don't believe you.
MICHAELS
They all died. If you want to see aliens, Jordan, I would
refer you to the local science museum.
JORDAN
There are still some Yeerks left. And we...
I need to find them.
MICHAELS
Why are you looking for the Yeerks, Jordan?
SCENE 2
A another interrogation room, a mirror image of the first one.
Kat sits on the table while Dr. Ballard stands behind and examines her head.
DR. BALLARD
I wish we could do this in a real exam room, but the brass
won't make exceptions, even for me. They act like their
"secrets" still mean anything.
Kat gasps and grabs her head.
DR. BALLARD
Sorry! Did they do this when they arrested you?
KAT
They didn't arrest us, exactly. No, I'm just a klutz.
DR. BALLARD
What happened to your shoes?
KAT
I-- they had bad grip and I kept slipping. I figured it
would be easier barefoot.
DR. BALLARD
I see. And were your jeans slippery too?
KAT
I--
DR. BALLARD
It's OK. I saw your friend. I was a teenager too, once.
Kat latches on to this train of thought. As she talks, Dr. Ballard examines Kat's eyes and ears with a light. She spends a little extra time looking into the ear.
KAT
Oh! Well, it's embarrassing. My dad's really strict. But
we didn't really do anything anyway. And I didn't think we
were trespassing or anything, like, nobody owns it, right?
It's abandoned. But you don't have to tell him, do you? My
Dad I mean?
DR. BALLARD
That's not really up to me. You said your name was Kat?
KAT
Y-yeah.
DR. BALLARD
Short for Katherine?
KAT
Sure.
Kat winces and shakes her head, and tries to pass it off as disorientation.
KAT
Yes. Katherine.
DR. BALLARD
Good Catholic name. Strict father. Acting guilty about
stuff that's not that serious. I think we had the same
childhood. Well, Kat, I think you're going to be just fine.
Have a seat for a sec.
Kat gets off the table and sits down. Dr. Ballard takes the other seat.
DR. BALLARD
Except, none of what you said is true. Like I said, I was
like you once. You are not into that boy, not like that.
You're working together on something, though. Now, c'mon.
You're barefoot, dressed like someone out of my daughter's
dance troupe, digging through mud in some gross basement.
What were you doing?
Silence.
DR. BALLARD
I haven't been living in a cave, you know. That place is
famous. That site is where...
KAT
It's where they landed.
DR. BALLARD
It's where the Shape Shifters landed. Alien spies on a
suicide mission. They landed, destroyed their ships, and
started a ground war. A lot of people died.
KAT
But they were all Yeerks!
DR. BALLARD
They still officially want us to call them 'brain slugs'.
That's so dumb, right? But no, they weren't just Yeerks.
They were Controllers. Hosts. Still human beings.
KAT
That doesn't matter if they're infested.
DR. BALLARD
I did some of those autopsies you know. The Shape Shifters
killed 3 people at the EGS tower. Young men. Two of them
were fathers. They executed a teacher who was a Controller;
he died in front of his students, in the principal's arms.
Whole families died when they unleashed that... tornado
thing. And then the Matcom building. Oh my God, Kat! Thirty
people. They have energy weapons, you know. Star Trek
stuff, basically. They didn't use them. Instead they sneaked
in as bugs or something, shifted back to their natural form
and used their tails. Those people were in pieces!
Kat hides her eyes.
KAT
It's not true. That's not what happened. They didn't--
I mean, I don't think they wanted to kill anybody.
They had no choice.
DR. BALLARD
Listen Kat, I've seen this before. It's hard to accept that
your home was ground zero of a terrible war. The Yeerks
were bad. They would have destroyed all of us if they had
the chance. But in the end, it was the Shape Shifters who
killed people.
(beat)
Who did you lose?
Kat sits up straighter and gets more guarded.
KAT
A friend.
DR. BALLARD
I'm so sorry. How about Stretch Armstrong in there?
KAT
You'll have to ask him.
DR. BALLARD
Look, it's natural. A lot of people who lost someone try to
find a way to revere the Shape Shifters as misunderstood
heroes. So they become mythologized as the Good Guys
of the Galaxy. That's what you two bonded over. When we
let you go in a few hours--and we will--I think you should
talk with your Dad. See a councilor. And until you've had
time to process properly, you should probably stay away
from... what's your friend's name?
SCENE 3
Back to the first interrogation room.
MICHAELS
So it was just the two of you?
JORDAN
My friend's dad is a cop. Well, sort of. He told me, in an
interrogation, you're not supposed to ask anything you
don't already know the answer to. You know how many of
us there were, you surrounded the place with, like, 30 guys!
MICHAELS
So... just the two of you?
JORDAN
Yes.
Michaels tosses his now empty raisin box on the floor.
MICHAELS
Now, when I go speak to your friend momentarily, and when I
ask her what you were doing on property under Government
quarantine, what will she tell me?
JORDAN
Same thing I told you.
MICHAELS
Tell me this, Mr. Burrell. What will she say is her name?
Pause. Then, Jordan's eyes go wide and he shifts in his chair:
JORDAN
AHH!
Michaels is startled, and jerks his head violently from side to side. He gains composure, and turns his back to Jordan--but watches him through the reflection in the one-way mirror.
Jordan slaps the table, waits a beat, then slaps it again.
MICHAELS
What was that?
JORDAN
I-- thought I saw a bug. You're gonna get ants, doing
things like that.
Jordan gestures to the raisin box.
KAT
(Screams in background)
Both Jordan & Michaels glance in the direction of the sound, equally caught off guard.
MICHAELS
I see. You planned to signal each other if you got
desperate. Very common strategy among conspirators.
A little impressive from someone so young--
JORDAN
If you're gonna call anyone a conspirator, you should
take another look in that fake mirror, Fox Mulder.
MICHAELS
--insolent, but young. Be assured, it will make no difference.
With a look of disgust, Michaels picks up the empty box. He opens the door and exits. Sound of the door locking is heard.
Once alone, Jordan reaches for the tape recorder. He reconsiders, and withdraws his hand. Keeping his eyes locked on the recorder:
JORDAN
Yes... I can't... OK.
Jordan relaxes a (very) little bit.
SCENE 4
A hallway between the interrogation rooms.
Agent Michaels and Dr. Ballard approach each other.
MICHAELS
What was that about?
DR. BALLARD
She was startled by something but won't tell me what.
MICHAELS
So was he.
DR. BALLARD
She's lying.
MICHAELS
That much is obvious.
DR. BALLARD
And understandable! I hate to take this any further,
Michaels. Most likely they're just victims.
MICHAELS
Likely, yes. We should be certain.
DR. BALLARD
Has he said anything that couldn't be cobbled together from
everyday sources? Between the media, and 50 years of UFO lore--
MICHAELS
He seems strangely preoccupied with the idea that there are
still Yeerks on the planet. If we had one, that would sure
make this next part easier.
DR. BALLARD
That's obscene!
MICHAELS
Nevertheless...
Michael tries to move past Dr. Ballard. She holds out an arm and stops him.
DR. BALLARD
Michaels! If they're not former hosts, then the only way
they could know anything is--
MICHAELS
--is if the Andalites revealed themselves at some point.
And if they went that far, there's a chance some may have
survived. Either way, we need to know. Agreed?
DR. BALLARD
You have something in your teeth, by the way.
Michaels picks his teeth with a finger.
MICHAELS
If they know anything more, it'll come out now.
There's no other way.
Both depart, each heading to the other interrogation room.
SCENE 5
Dr. Ballard arrives at Jordan's room first; Michaels continues past the door to Kat's room and arrives at a vending machine. At a leisurely pace, he secures two chocolate bars while...
Dr. Ballard enters Jordan's room.
JORDAN
Where's the other guy?
DR. BALLARD
There's no time. I'm the on-call doctor. Your friend was
showing signs of distress and now she's fallen unconscious.
JORDAN
Oh! So that scream... oh no! This is all my fault.
He holds his head in his hands, way over-selling it.
Dr. Ballard takes a seat opposite Jordan. As she speaks--
Michaels lets himself into Kat's room. Michaels & Kat appear to be speaking adversarially, but no sound is heard. Michaels is eating one chocolate bar; he sets the other on the table in front of Kat.
DR. BALLARD
Hey! You can panic later. That site you were playing around
at is quarantined for a reason—-toxic materials were
improperly discarded there. It's critical that I contact
her family as soon as possible: they'll be able to help me
get her medical history! Please, what is her name?
Jordan looks up.
JORDAN
Her name is Katherine Hendricks.
DR. BALLARD
What about her address? Her parents' names?
JORDAN
I've never met her parents. Never been to her house.
She lives somewhere in the same subdivision as me,
by where the landing site is.
Now Michaels & Kat "join" the conversation.
KAT
His name is Jordan Burrell. I met him at, well, it's like
a support group.
MICHAELS
What were you hoping to find at that construction
yard?
KAT
Well, it's kind of embarrassing.
MICHAELS
Embarrassment should be the least of your worries,
young lady! Your partner is willing to cooperate and
has already agreed to be a witness against you. He
indicates that you are an unregistered former host.
KAT
What? That's not true!
DR. BALLARD
Please, anything you know! She could be dying!
KAT
OK, we were looking for, you know, evidence.
Footprints, shrapnel, fur.
MICHAELS
Fur? The brain slugs do not have fur.
KAT
Not them. The Shape Shifters!
JORDAN
I don't know anything else about her, OK? We're not
even really friends. Just a couple of, I dunno,
"believers" is what you'd call us?
MICHAELS
You believe the Shape Shifters left relics behind at
that site?
KAT
You know, the way they can change into animals,
or people? Well, we started thinking--
JORDAN
Some of the people I've talked to who survived the
Yeer- the "brain slugs" talked about how the Shape
Shifters had, like, regenerative powers.
KAT
--maybe if we could touch something that was
part of them, or their technology, we might
get some of that too.
JORDAN
They'd get shot and stuff and always seem totally OK
the next time they were seen. And they're telepathic.
It's like they're on, a higher plane or something.
MICHAELS
I can assure you, despite rumor to the contrary,
the Shape Shifters were never present at that
site. The brain slug hosts, perhaps, as part of
the many businesses they infiltrated.
DR. BALLARD
Their technology seems like magic. But they're
mortal. You understand that? They were gunned down
in the woods, trying to kidnap two Dentropods. The
brain slugs used the Dentropods as their main
fighting force, and no Shape Shifters ever seemed
to be able to take that form. They died trying.
MICHAELS
Have you ever seen a Shape Shifter
in person, Katherine?
KAT
Well, no. I mean... not that I've know,
but that's kind of the point, right?
DR. BALLARD
So no one in this group claims to have spoken to one,
or seen one, since the failed invasions became known?
JORDAN
No.
MICHAELS
Your friend Jordan used the word 'Yeerk' several
times. You only would have heard that term if you'd
been in contact with real ex-hosts. Did they ever
tell you about their feeding cycle? Any mention of
Andalite rays?
KAT
No.
DR. BALLARD
Jordan, a lot of these people are harmless. But some
aren't. They're not just looking for any piece of
Shape Shifter technology, they're trying to get their
hands on weapons. Has anyone in your group talked
about that Jordan? People looking for Kandrona guns?
JORDAN
Kan-what? No, I've never heard of that.
DR. BALLARD
Oh. That's good.
MICHAELS
Very good. Just one more thing.
DR. BALLARD
Listen, I gotta ask.
MICHAELS
Why no shoes?
DR. BALLARD
Why the hell are you dressed like that?
Silence for a moment.
KAT
Well--
JORDAN
No one knows how the Shape Shifters got here, right?
KAT
We know the Yeerks used some kind of ships.
JORDAN
But no one's ever seen a Shape Shifter craft!
KAT
Some of us think, maybe they're not
actually aliens.
JORDAN
They're an evolved form of terrestrial life.
KAT
A version of us.
JORDAN
From the future.
Awkward silence on both ends.
DR. BALLARD
I beg your pardon?
KAT
They just appeared at that construction site.
No one actually saw a landing.
JORDAN
They just appeared from the light!
So we... we were looking for their time machine.
KAT
...their time machine. And everyone knows you can't
take shoes and stuff through with you.
JORDAN
You know, like The Terminator?
After a beat of dumbfounded silence, Michaels & Ballard both break and start laughing.
Kat slowly reaches for the second chocolate bar. Michaels snaps out of it and slaps her wrist away.
MICHAELS
Get your own!
Michaels leaves the room.
Dr. Ballard stands, grabs the tape recorder, shuts it off, and turns to leave.
JORDAN
Wait, what about Kat? You said she was be dying!
DR. BALLARD
Calm down, Jordan. She's fine.
JORDAN
You lied?!
DR. BALLARD
So did you! You both are still in big trouble.
We'll be making arrangements for your transport.
Ballard leaves. She & Michaels catch eyes in the hallway. As soon as they do:
MICHAELS & BALLARD
Time machine!
They start laughing all over again. They exit together.
THE VOICE
<Hey! Both of you! It's now or never!>
JORDAN
You sure there's no cameras?
THE VOICE
<Positive.>
KAT
How do we get out?
THE VOICE
<Same way I got in -- the drop ceiling. This base is like,
fifty years old and it's seriously falling apart.>
Both Jordan & Kat leave their seats, and crouch under the one-way mirrors in their respective rooms, so as not to be seen. Both look up.
BLACKNESS. Crunching and sloshing sounds are heard, followed by the sound of a fly BUZZING from Kat’s side, and a lizard’s claws SKITTERING from Jordan’s side.
SCENE 6
Zone-91 hallway, outside the men's & women's bathrooms.
Michaels & Ballard enter, walking slowly.
MICHAELS
It's clear, at least, they don't know anything
meaningful about the true nature of the Andalites.
DR. BALLARD
Which very likely means none survived.
MICHAELS
Doesn't prove it.
DR. BALLARD
You can rarely prove a negative.
Michaels comes to a stop in front of the men’s room.
MICHAELS
You go on ahead, I need a minute.
DR. BALLARD
Wash the chocolate off your face while you're at it.
Since when do you have such a sweet tooth anyway?
Michaels enters the men's room and goes into a stall.
Dr. Ballard enters the women's room; Major Blake is waiting for her.
As BALLARD & BLAKE speak, crunching & sloshing sounds are heard from Michaels' stall. Two blue stalk eyes pop up just into view over the top of the stall. Then, a hint of a scythe blade. Then, the process reverses. Michaels exits the stall, wiping chocolate from his face and sucking it from his finger.
DR. BALLARD
Unavoidable delay... I had to cross-examine
a couple idiot kids.
MAJ. BLAKE
We’re running out of time. At the rate these
so-called "scientists" work, we'll all starve.
DR. BALLARD
They're getting suspicious. They've noticed the radiation.
MAJ. BLAKE
Of course there's radiation! It's pure Kandrona!
DR. BALLARD
I'm trying to convince them it's harmless. Which, it is,
to them. With all the things they've done to this planet,
we hand them infinite cheap energy that just happens to
put off Kandrona as a byproduct, and NOW they're cautious.
MAJ. BLAKE
The rations are only going to get tougher. There
were so-few portable Kandronas to begin with.
Blake holds up a thermos and unscrews the lid.
MAJ. BLAKE
Sorry we have to do it this way. They’ve installed salvaged
Gleet bio-filters at every entrance. We'll have you
regenerated and back on base soon enough.
DR. BALLARD
Watch how she falls this time. I like this host.
MAJ. BLAKE
Oh, I couldn't harm your host if I wanted to.
Ballard puts her ear to the thermos opening while Blake holds out something like a wand. Ballard goes limp and slumps to the floor; gently, with Blake’s help. Blake then calmly caps the thermos. She then presses into her ear.
MAJ. BLAKE
Lourdes? Arrange a pickup. I've got another one.
SCENE 7
A rural street at night; large outcropping of boulders.
David, the owner of "the voice", waits impatiently near the rocks. He taps his bare feet on the pavement. The same tell-tale crunch/slosh is heard.
DAVID
Can’t you go any faster?
MELISSA
(voice-over)
<David, you really scared the crap out of me when
you started thought-speaking out of nowhere.>
Melissa, aka "Kat", stumbles out from behind the rocks.
A golden retriever trots behind the rocks; the relevant sounds are heard once more.
TOM
<Same. We figured you had to de-morph and lost us.>
Tom, aka "Jordan", appears.
DAVID
I almost did. I cut it real close.
MELISSA
Be careful! You don't want to get stuck!
DAVID
Me? Never happen! Besides, security at that base is so slow
I was able to land, re-morph and get back in the air and
the van was still at the first gate! Idiots! My dad always
used to say, the Air Force can't do anything right.
TOM
They were good enough to catch us.
DAVID
Yeah, you. Not me.
MELISSA
You were our lookout!
DAVID
And I saw them coming and I told you! Not
my fault you couldn't get out fast enough.
Tom glares at David aggressively enough to make him pivot to flattery:
DAVID
You guys did a good job playing dumb when they
tried to test you with the wrong words.
TOM
We've got to work on Melissa lying under pressure.
MELISSA
Hey, I didn't do that bad!
DAVID
Melissa, you said your name was "Cat". At least you
came up with a decent last name; I didn't know you
were a Jimi Hendrix fan.
Tom laughs.
DAVID
What's so funny?
TOM
It’s her dad's name; "Hendrick".
David groans.
MELISSA
You couldn’t just let me have that one?
DAVID
See, you've got to be more like Tom. Going
with some deep cuts from the Bulls lineup.
TOM
That agent or whatever accidentally helped me.
His name was "Michaels", so I thought "Jordan".
Then I almost got stuck on the last name; no way
he'd believe I was "Jordan Pippen."
DAVID
Man, both of you are hopeless.
MELISSA
At least we learned they don't know
about the Time Matrix.
TOM
Agreed. They think we’re insane.
DAVID
Are you sure it even exists?
TOM
Positive. Mostly.
DAVID
What does that mean?
TOM
When we were hiding in the woods, after the mass starvation
started, Berryman talked about it. Before they took him.
DAVID
So you're trusting the ramblings of a starving Yeerk?
TOM
It's an Andalite legend. My Yeerk had heard of it, but
didn't think it was real. But Berryman... I mean, he was
Visser Freaking Four! He was convinced it was on Earth,
and that Elfangor had something to do with it. I figured
the construction site was a good place to start.
DAVID
Whatever, I found the Cube there and you're just stealing
my ideas--
TOM
Yeah, just like Megadeth stole Metallica's.
DAVID
OK, that's it!
They start play-fighting. Melissa rolls her eyes.
MELISSA
Knock it off! Don't attract any attention.
They stop.
MELISSA
They also think it was Andalites fighting the Yeerks
the whole time. They don’t know--
She stops and threatens to break down. Tom approaches her.
TOM
I know. I know, Melissa. When we--the Yeerks--found out the
"bandits" were human, they kept it top secret. Visser 3
insisted. Most of the Yeerks who came forward were low-
ranked, they never knew. I didn't start to realize it was
Jake until he didn't come home. Then Rachel's mom called
the house and said she was missing. The Yeerk and I figured
it out at the same time. It was so... so awful. We're gonna
find the Time Matrix, Melissa. It's real, I know it is.
We're gonna get 'em back. Jake, Rachel, your mom, David's
parents, all of them. No matter how long it takes.
Melissa cheers up a bit.
DAVID
I wish I'd never found that thing.
MELISSA
You didn't even know what you had until Tom saw you
outside the school! You were showing it off to me like it
was gonna make me go out with you or something, "Oh,
look at this pretty cube."
DAVID
Shut up! So let's say we do it. We find the Time Crystal--
TOM
--Matrix.
DAVID
Whatever. If we do it--change the past somehow, will we
even know?
MELISSA
We'd have to, right?
TOM
I don't care. We'd have to be better off than we are now.
SCENE 8
Zone-91 interrogation room; no table, but three chairs in a row.
The real Michaels, Ballard, and Blake all sit, looking quite confused.
Colonel Torelli stands before them. He speaks into his tape recorder.
COL. TORELLI
The time is nineteen hundred hours. Colonel Sherman
Torelli, USAF, conducting debrief of Special Agent
Michaels, Dr. Ballard, and Major Blake. Michaels here was
found among the horses in the desert in nothing but his
drawers; Ballard, drunk asleep in the ladies’ room; and
my soon-to-be-former Executive Officer, locked in a
broom closet. While they were AWOL, two teenage
trespassers escaped protective custody, completely
unchallenged. You three explain yourselves!
All three start talking frantically.
COL. TORELLI
One at a time, you idiots!
MICHAELS
Colonel, I've been working with alien tech for ten years,
and I've never experienced anything like this! I feel like
Fox Mulder right now!
COL. TORELLI
Who the hell is that?
END.