"My name is Barbara."

The voice from the darkness paused. "I'm sorry?"

"My name is Barbara," the young woman at the desk replied. "Barbara Millicent Roberts. Not Barbie."

There was another pause. "But you go by Barbie."

"Not since I was a child."

Still another pause. "No one calls you Barbie?"

"Well, my grandmother does, but I think to her I stopped aging after the age of six."

There was the sound of typing, accompanied by a "hmmmm" that sounded as though what Barbara had said was the most surprising thing the voice had heard all day.

"Who are you?" Barbara asked. "Why am I here?"

"We will answer your questions in a moment," answered the female-sounding voice, "but first we need to know a few things about you."

"I want a lawyer."

"We're not the police."

"Then who are you?"

"That is a good question with an interesting answer," the voice said with a chuckle, "and I will answer it, but first I need you to answer some questions. The best I can tell you for now is that we will not harm you, and we will let you go when we've learned what we need to know. Just so you know, I'm not going to ask you any questions that aren't a part of public record or that we couldn't get from your social media."

"Then why even bother asking me at all?"

"Because we are pressed for time and because there is value in hearing you answer them."

Barbara thought about this for a moment. She didn't know who she was dealing with or how to get out of it, so she decided to cooperate, for the time being. "All right, what do you want to know?"

"First question: How old are you?"

"Twenty-eight years old."

"How many members in your immediate family?"

"Just me and my parents."

"Do you still live with them?"

"Yes."

"And you don't have any siblings?"

"I had a sister, but she died."

There was a pause in the typing, which had been constant since the questioning had begun.. "What was her name?"

"Skipper."

There was another pause. "How did she die, if you don't mind me asking?"

"There was a fire."

Pause. "I'm very sorry to hear that." The voice sounded sincere.

"It's all right. It happened a long time ago."

The typing continued. "No other siblings?"

"Nope."

"Do the names Tutti, Todd, Anastasia, Kelly, or Chelsea mean anything to you?"

"Should they?"

"Do they?"

"No, they don't."

"Then they probably shouldn't. Are you married?"

"No."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Not currently, no."

"Do you know a man named Ken Carson?"

"Yeah, he's one of my best friends. Is he in trouble?"

The voice chuckled. "Heh. No, no he's not in trouble. Did you ever date him?"

"Who, Ken?"

"Yes, Ken."

"No, Ken's gay!"

The typing stopped. "Say that again?" the voice said slowly.

"What, that Ken's gay?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, he and Blaine have been married for like three years. They're very happy together."

"Blaine Gordon?"

"That's right. Why is that important? These questions are getting really weird."

"Sorry about that. Just one more question. What do you do?"

"Do?"

"As a career. Your profession. Are you a teacher, a businesswoman, or a scientist, perhaps?"

"Well no. I'm currently just working as a lifeguard part-time while I go to community college."

The typing stopped "Wait wait wait. Community college? Have you decided on a major?"

"I really don't know yet."

"And you're twenty-eight?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Do you have any life plans unrelated to what you're studying? Are you a painter? A singer? Are you an aspiring writer? Do you have some unpublished novels you've been working on?"

"No! Well, I've dabbled in all those things, but I never stuck with any of them long enough to get very good at them."

"So do you mean to tell me that you are twenty-eight years old and you have not settled on a career or made any significant accomplishments in your life?"

"Yes!" Barbara shouted," that is exactly what I'm telling you! I've spent ten years bouncing between community college and part-time jobs and haven't settled on anything. I don't have a husband or a boyfriend and I still live with my parents! Is that what you want me to admit to you? Why do you care so much about it? Why is that so important that you have to kidnap me in the middle of the night and ask me questions that everyone already knows the answers to?"

For the first time, the voice addressed someone other than Barbara. "Is she telling me the truth?"

Another voice, which sounded a lot like the first, answered. "All our scanners say she is."

"And we're sure this is Barbara Millicent Roberts?"

"Again, all the scanners say she is."

A third voice, also similar to the first two, asked, "Have you finished your assessment yet? What do you think?"

Barbara spoke up: "assessment? What's going on?"

"My assessment is that she's ready to learn the truth."

The third voice answered: "Then proceed."

The light shining in Barbara's face dimmed and the lights in the back of the room turned on. At the other end of the table were three women sitting in front of laptop computers. Barbara was shocked to see that all three of them, despite different clothes and hairstyles, had identical faces. She was even more shocked to realize that she recognized their faces, because they matched hers!

"Hello, Barbara," said the woman in the middle. "My name is also Barbara Millicent Roberts, but you can call me Psychoanalyst Barbie."