Kingdom Keepers IV(44)

If she were going to Return, she needed the all-important fob. But the fob was currently hidden in Epcot, and she’d been sent into the Studios. Between the two Parks was a sea of DHI shadow—an area that lacked DHI projectors. This would be to her advantage: DHI shadow meant she’d be invisible for most of the path that connected Epcot to the Studios. As long as she could get out of the Studios without being spotted, this was doable. She’d get over to Epcot, find the fob, and Return. The nightmare would be over.

“I can do this,” Willa told herself. She’d leave the Studios at sunset when the light was soft and her DHI qualities more difficult to spot. The occasional sparkle. The blue outline.

Home. Her bed. Her mom. Almost too good to be true. She couldn’t wait.

The Parks experienced a big turnover around dinnertime: kids got tired; adults got hungry. Epcot was an evening favorite—terrific food and a spectacular fireworks display. Entering Epcot would not be easy: she had no pass or ticket, no money, and worse, she was a hologram wearing pajamas.

“I’m leaving,” she told Ariel. “I’m going to try to get out of the gates without being seen.”

“I can help you.”

“You’ve done so much for me already. I’ll be fine.”

“I can pose for photographs and autographs, provide a distraction. A diversion, I think Eric calls it.”

It was the first time she’d mentioned Eric.

“So he’s…real? I mean, as far as characters go.”

“Eric?” Ariel blushed. “Oh, he’s very real. As real as real can be. But they keep him in the Magic Kingdom.

He’s part of the stage show there. In front of the castle. We rarely see each other.”

Willa wondered if there was another Ariel in the Magic Kingdom, or if that one was only a Cast Member. Wondered if Eric had all the mermaid company he wanted, while she sat here pining for him.

“A diversion might help.”

“Consider it done.”

“Don’t you need a handler to make an appearance? Someone who takes care of you?” Willa asked.

“The handlers come and go, dear girl. Who’s the one who’s been doing this all these years? I think I can manage.”

“But won’t you get in trouble?”

“That’s the idea, isn’t it? The more trouble, the better the diversion.”

“I can’t let you do that for me.”

“Actually, you can’t stop me,” said Ariel. She was beaming. “I haven’t had this kind of fun in…well…probably longer than you’ve been alive.”

Willa looked at her—Ariel was maybe sixteen or seventeen. “You never get any older.” She hadn’t thought of what it was like to be a character, not a Cast Member. The characters didn’t change, while the Imagineers, handlers, and staff came and went. Year after year, it was the same shows, the same posing for photos and signing autographs. It had to drive the characters half-crazy. No wonder the Overtakers were rebelling.

Ariel hung her head, clearly saddened by the reminder.

“No,” Ariel said. As she looked up, a coy grin played across her face. “Not older, but I do get wiser.”

* * *

Ariel’s appearance at the front gate did the trick. Excited guests encircled her, winning the attention of Security guards. Willa joined the mass of departing Park visitors and left the Park unnoticed.

Soon she was walking in the direction of Epcot. Most everyone else rode the monorail or the buses. Only she and a few others walked. When Willa noticed her hand and arm sparkling, she stopped to let others pass. She had reached the edge of the DHI projection coverage. A few more yards and pieces of her image would decay, leaving holes in her, or missing limbs. She would be human Swiss cheese, and would likely have guests either lining up for autographs, or calling 911.

So she moved up into the flowers and shrubs that hid a cyclone fence. Remaining amid the plants, she continued on, paralleling the sidewalk. Her elbow and part of her shoulder disappeared. Her left leg, from the knee down, vanished. For a moment, she was a set of headless pajamas. Finally, she vanished completely.

DHI shadow was a weird state: she could hear, though not touch. She could see, though narrowly, as if though a camera lens. Whatever this state was technically, it wasn’t perfect. Once while in DHI shadow she and the others had been able to pick up sand from the floor of a tepee. There seemed to be exceptions to the physical laws of nature. Philby explained these as having to do with the survival instinct, comparing them to a mother picking up and moving a car that pinned her child, or a father heaving a slab of concrete aside as if it were Styrofoam.