Kingdom Keepers II(54)
Though winded, Maybeck kept up. “What’s going on, Whitman?”
“You, of all people, should know,” Finn said.
“Me? Why?”
“Space Mountain.”
Maybeck said, “What about it?”
Finn stopped and pulled Maybeck to the side of the path, out of earshot of the other guests who passed in a steady stream. He spoke in a hush. “When they trapped you in perma-sleep, they put your DHI in—?”
“A maintenance cage!” Maybeck answered. “It wasn’t Willa and Philby Charlene saw. It was their DHIs.”
“Exactly,” Finn agreed. “Even someone as warped as Maleficent wouldn’t put a kid in a cage that small. But a DHI is another story.”
“But if the DHIs are in those cages,” Maybeck said, “then why don’t they just walk out?”
“Why didn’t you just walk out of the maintenance cage in Space Mountain?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “It was like I was half asleep or something. Until you showed up, it hadn’t occurred to me.”
“Because we had crossed over, and you had not. With your body in perma-sleep I have a feeling your DHI is kind of in this suspended state. It doesn’t know what’s up. Remember, Wayne programmed the server that controlled our DHIs. Maleficent is running the second server. Who knows how their DHIs are programmed?”
“So we need to cross them back over,” Maybeck said. “That’s the only way to get them out of the control of the second server.”
“Exactly!”
“But why would the Overtakers do this?” Maybeck wondered aloud. “Why trap them in perma-sleep in the first place?”
“There’s only one guy I know who can answer that. And he’s also the guy who holds the button. The remote control that can cross them back over.”
“Wayne!”
“If I can get that remote from him, and we can get close to those cages, we can release the sleeping Willa and Philby—wherever they are. And I happen to think I know where they are.”
Maybeck didn’t dignify that with a question, but he also couldn’t wipe the curiosity off his face.
“Animal Kingdom Lodge,” Finn answered. “Those are the closest beds to the Park. You can reach the lodge from the savannah, and we know the Overtakers are on the savannah.”
“I’ve got to admit: it does make sense,” Maybeck said. “When exactly did you figure all this out?”
“Back there,” Finn said. “When Charlene described the cages, it all fit.”
“And now we’re headed to find Wayne.”
“Yeah. There’s the terminal in Camp Minnie-Mickey. I can access VMK there,” Finn said.
“I thought Philby never came back from that terminal.”
“Which is why we’re doing this together,” Finn said. “Charlene will stay and keep an eye on the enclosure. I’ll use the terminal to try to get to Wayne, and you’ll stand guard. We’ll use the DSs. You see anything weird, you can text me.”
They started walking again.
“But what if we’re wrong about the cages?” Maybeck asked.
“We’re not,” answered Finn.
* * *
Finn’s avatar stood by the bench in the VMK’s central plaza, while Finn himself occupied the small booth near the Lion King pavilion in Camp Minnie-Mickey. The air was burning hot, and he picked up the smell of popcorn, which made him realize how hungry he was. He knew that soon his parents would start to worry. They would expect him home from the water park. But he had things to do.
Knowing it would not print, he typed WAYNE into his dialogue box. Sure enough, it turned red in the text frame and wouldn’t print.
Players’ avatars entered the plaza, pausing below the billboards or circulating while waiting to meet each other. Finn’s patience was wearing thin when a white-haired avatar finally appeared from his right. Wayne’s avatar never stopped moving as Follow me appeared in the dialogue box.
He led Finn to the same room where he had taken Philby. Wayne locked the door with a special code.
[ ]: we’re safe here.
Finn: philby and willa have gone missing, we think their DHIs are being kept in cages behind the bat enclosure, i need the button.
[ ]: I spoke to philby not long ago. right here.
Finn: he never showed up. i think Maleficent is holding them to protect the second server, we can’t crash the server with willa and philby stuck in Sleeping Beauty Syndrome.
[ ]: this is most disturbing.
Finn: can you get me the button—the remote control?
[ ]: yes. of course, though i’ll have to use a messenger…. may i suggest the talking recycling bin. a few minutes from now, near the ticket gates, the remote will be taped inside the recycling bin. reach in and feel along the top.