Third meal was another opportunity to try out some new Aploshion foods. For dinner we had obolpoches and gheratees. The obolpoches were crispy and tasted like a mix between steak and bacon. I could tell they must have been some type of meat (hopefully not human!). The gheratees were pretty much the same thing as bread except kind of orange. We also had some good old darenties with our meal.

It was a few minutes into our meal when Kiah spoke up "Okay Bobby, you're right. I owe you an explanation about how Saint Dane was formed. Well about a hundred or some years ago there was a great scientist named Dr. Dane. He was an extraordinary scientist although some people thought he was a dangerous man because his experiments were very dangerous and could cause great damage. But he was a genius. He invented such creations as the robot, spaceships, a lot of stuff that if hadn't been invented we'd probably all be dead today.

"But as Dr. Dane's reputation grew, his experiments grew more dangerous. But the Aploshion Council gave him tons of secluded space to set up a laboratory away from civilization. He pretty much kept to himself although he did have an assistant named Jevis.

"Well, I guess Dr. Dane eventually thought of a creation that was far unbelievable. He thought that with the robotic technology he already had along with some human DNA he could create a superhuman clone. Imagine it Bobby. Incredibly strong and helpful although never disobeying an order.

"Well Dr. Dane decided that it wouldn't be smart to test this on just any average person. Dr. Dane decided to test his machine on himself. To do this, he would need to cut off a whole finger. Yes it sounds crazy but he was willing to take that risk in the name of science. He also figured that once he got the process figured out better the DNA to create a clone could be as simple as a fingernail.

"So Dr. Dane cut off one of his fingers and put it into the machine. I don't know what the machine looked like but I guess he would need to wait half a day until his creation was complete. So after half a day Dr. Dane and Jevis gathered around the machine. The machine did have a box, as big as a shower that the clone was forming into. Then the box was smashed apart and out came Dr. Dane's clone. Dr. Dane had already picked out a name for his superhuman clone, Saint Dane.

"I hate to say though that Dr. Dane's time with Saint Dane was short. Saint Dane immediately picked up Dr. Dane and threw him across the room and into the wall. Jevis was horrified at seeing the death of his boss and quickly ran away. Jevis found a robot and recorded a brief message about what had happened. Saint Dane soon found Jevis and killed him too. The robot however escaped and with great speed returned the message to the nearest city the next week.

"Now as you could probably tell Saint Dane hadn't gained his intelligence yet. However Saint Dane's IQ points grew rapidly over the next few days until he had great intelligence too, more than Dr. Dane. Fifty years later though researchers found out what made Saint Dane so evil. I guess Dr. Dane had a bit of madness and unluckily, those were the brain cells that formed in Saint Dane. Madness can always turn into evil.

"Anyways not much is known after that. Some Aploshion Crime Patrol Scouts came back to the laboratory to find Saint Dane running away. He ran down into a bunch of short mountains that weren't too far away. I guess they followed him into a cave. But when they got there all they saw was Saint Dane shouting out the word 'Halla!' and disappearing into the darkness."

"A flume!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, a flume. Anyways wherever Saint Dane went that is where he learned most of what he does today. Nobody knows how he found the flume in the first place, what he saw at "Halla" that made him want to start his quest to destroy the territories or how he has the amazing ability to transform."

I was shaken. I never really thought that the story would truly be that simple and explanatory at the same time. Hey, I was expecting some story about magic and demons but I guess Kiah's story made a lot more sense. Sure, there were a lot of questions that neither me nor Kiah knew but at least I knew where he came from! I also felt kind of exclusive because I'm pretty sure even Uncle Press didn't know this story.

Uncle Press. You know, every time I think about him I can still get pretty weepy. I mean not to the point where I'm bawling out tears, but you know, pretty sad. It's just the thing that bothers me the most about Uncle Press is that he promised me that we would meet again. But I mean, I've visited a lot of territories and still no Press. I wonder if that's just something Press said to cheer me up before he died. But still, I know he wouldn't lie to me. I guess it's just gonna be another one of those unanswered questions, at least for the time being.

Anyways, sorry to break away from the story. After Kiah finished her story we were pretty much done with our third meal. I turned in to my cozy Aploshion bed about ten minutes later. It was still strange how there was no day and night here, just space. You pretty much need a few handy clocks around and since I had none that I could read I had to pretty much rely on what other people told me. I can't imagine how those NASA guys do it.

I had a vivid dream that night. I dreamt I was in Dr. Shewin's laboratory watching Shewin with one of his experiments when all of a sudden I saw Saint Dane appear out of one of the chemistry vials. Saint Dane then picked up Shewin and flung him across the room. I was horrified at the sight. Then Saint Dane saw me and started muttering "Halla, Halla, Halla, Halla…"

I then woke up shaking. I remember thinking that at first I thought I was in my comfy old bed on Second Earth. That feeling lasted about two seconds. I hate to say it and it makes me worried that I think my memories of my old life are starting to slip away. I mean a few days ago it took me a few moments just to remember my dog Marley's name. It's a scary thought because those are the memories I want to hold onto the most.

Anyways I tried to get back to sleep for a few minutes but those words kept itching back into my mind. "Halla, Halla, Halla…"

Of course I knew what Halla was. It was and is every time, place, thing, and event that ever existed or ever will exist. Of course that is just what I was told by my Uncle. But now that I have started to learn truths that I know Uncle Press could never have told me I was beginning to wonder if maybe, Halla could be something else as well.

There was one way to figure it out. I got up out of bed and stretched. Then I crept silently through Kiah's apartment to the entrance door that led to the hallway. I then pushed the button and when the door slid open, I crept through.

I was standing in the now dimly lit hallway. I hoped there wasn't any patrol robots around or else I would get busted really fast. I mean assuming that curfews existed on Aploshion.

If you guys haven't guessed it yet, I was on my way back to the flume. The flume I had entered only yesterday when I first came to Aploshion. I hoped I could still remember the way without getting lost.

I tiptoed through the eerily silent halls of the Aploshion Space Station. I entered the giant room with the fountain and purple plants. There were many halls to choose from so I walked around trying to find the angle at which we entered the room. I soon picked a hall that looked about right so I started to explore down it.

I gained more confidence when I saw that the turns were the same as the ones leading from the correct hallway. Sure enough I eventually got to a door which I finally got the chance to read. It read KIAH MOTENIA STORAGE ROOM.

I knew this had to be it. I pushed the button and a little laser shot out of it. It shot the red light directly in my eyes. I blinked and heard a computer from the door say "Identification: Bobby Pendragon. Access Granted." I smiled victoriously knowing that Kiah must have set this up in case I ever needed to leave Aploshion immediately and she wasn't there.

I stepped in and shut the door. I then saw the lonely flume and walked up to it. I took a deep breath and shouted out "Halla!" I waited a few seconds and realized that nothing was going to happen. No music, no lights, nothing. I guessed I was wrong and Halla really wasn't a territory. I was just about to leave when I saw something happen with the flume. It wasn't going to take me away but for a few seconds the flume shined a magnificent gold. Then after a few seconds it died and the flume returned to normal. I now knew something that made this whole little midnight adventure worthwhile. Maybe Halla wasn't a territory but there was definitely more to it than Press could have ever told me.