“How long to install the girls?” Finn said.
“Around twenty minutes. Once they’re installed here, they should self-propagate and install onto the other servers. They’re all linked by fiber optics. They share resources, which makes the refresh faster, and keeps the feed hot if one of the servers fails. I’ll use those twenty minutes to try to change the landing default to Epcot.”
“And you’re going to show me how to read the Epcot maintenance stuff?” Finn reminded.
“Piece of cake. I can get that started the minute the download begins.”
Philby hoped that Epcot maintenance reports might reveal something of the Epcot infrastructure, might show or suggest to the boys where to find the various utility rooms, places where Wayne could be locked up. Philby had once been led by Wayne into a powerful graphic representation of the Magic Kingdom’s schematics. If such a thing still existed—and there was no reason to think it didn’t—it would likely be accessible from the Utilidor’s computer room.
Finn didn’t trust Philby’s optimism. When it came to computers, Philby seemed to think all things were possible, whereas his own experience had often proved much different. Half the time Finn couldn’t get his printer’s scanner to work, much less crack the code of Disney’s maintenance server.
“Let’s go!” he said, the golf cart having passed and disappeared.
They ran for the boardwalk that fronted the ice cream shop, turned left, and found the sign that read CAST MEMBERS ONLY. They hesitated, alert for the sound of anyone coming.
Finn used hand signals to motion for Philby to follow him. They slipped through the short turn in the fence that led them backstage, where they saw permanent office trailers and employee parking, empty at this hour. To their right was a small set of stairs leading to an elevator. The door beside the elevator led to a set of descending stairs where a sign was posted high on the wall: WELCOME TO THE UTILIDOR—WATCH FOR VEHICLES, AND HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!
Finn felt Philby place his hand on Finn’s right shoulder. If they failed at this, in the morning their parents would find their sons lying in their beds, impossible to awaken. It would scare their families to death.
No matter what, they could not allow that to happen.
16
FROM THE MOMENT FINN’S DHI entered the Utilidor tunnels he had a bad feeling. It didn’t come from anything obvious. There were still a few Cast Members milling around. Most of them were the women whose costumes required wigs, makeup, and extra attention. The wigs had to come off and be put away in the wig shop, the makeup removed, the costumes hung up and put away. But there were also other workers driving the golf carts laden with bottled water, soda, sweatshirts, boxes of 3D glasses, popcorn, costumes, books, pins, lanyards, cotton candy, DVDs, and all the hundreds of items for sale in the park’s various gift shops. It all moved through the Utilidor—some of it well past the hour of the gates’ closing.
Finn and Philby, shimmering slightly under the fluorescent lights, were greeted with nods and smiles. The DHIs were genuinely well liked by Cast Members, and though it should have occurred to some of them that they never saw the DHIs in the Utilidor, instead the two were met with a joyful surprise and they actually felt compelled to wave to several of those who were most eager to greet them.
Philby, who managed to keep far too many facts in his head, led Finn to the right at the first intersection, and to the left at the next. He then waved Finn across the hall and they busied themselves at a bulletin board, standing with their backs to an unmarked door. Finn recognized the door from an earlier visit to the computer room.
“Our problem now,” Philby said, “is that the door will be locked.”
“Which is why I came along,” Finn said. “You tell me when, and I’ll do it.”
“And if there’re people inside? How are you going to explain that?”
“If there are still people inside, which I doubt since there’s no light coming out from under the door, and they see me, it won’t be me doing the explaining. Right? They’re the ones controlling the computers, including the DHI server. It isn’t shut down, or we wouldn’t be here right now, but we don’t know what the software does, how it deals with us once the park is closed. We probably aren’t supposed to be here. Not at this hour. So I imagine my showing up will surprise them just a little bit,” he said sarcastically. “All we can do is try it, and see what they do. If they head for a keyboard, I’ll know we’re in trouble.”
“If they shut down the server,” Philby said in a cautionary voice, “the Return button won’t work. It won’t just be you and me—all of us will be trapped in the Syndrome. All of us will be lying in our beds at home like we’re half dead.”