“They’re building toward a major offensive,” Wayne said. “It’s standard field warfare. They make incursions to test our readiness, our defenses. They test our strategy. Then, determining our weaknesses, they strike with everything they have.”
“Way to cheer me up. It’s not like we can defeat what we can’t see. But if we just wait…that can’t be good either.” He wondered what had happened to Wayne the optimist.
“No,” Wayne said. “We need to be proactive—to take the offensive. Especially in light of the upcoming cruise. Once you’re gone…” He didn’t need to finish that. If the Keepers abandoned the battle for the Base it would fall to the Overtakers. If the Base fell, the entire Kingdom—all the parks—might fall with it.
“Fantasia,” Finn reminded him yet again.
“The film has an interesting history that goes way back. It was the only film that Chernabog appeared in. Walt Disney referred to Chernabog as Satan himself. He’s been described as part Minotaur, part Mayan bat god. He can summon fire and control ghosts and harpies. He’s a creature of confusion and chaos. He is considered the most powerful villain Walt Disney ever created.”
“Then why haven’t we seen any of that?” Finn wondered aloud. When Maleficent had animated the Yeti, he’d transfigured into Chernabog. And why do you sound so scared? Finn thought to himself.
“That falls under ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ Do you know what torpor is?”
“No.”
“A hummingbird’s resting state. Typically adopted during overnight hibernation.”
Philby would have known that, Finn thought.
“Our assumption is that Chernabog has been, and is still, in torpor. We’ve expected more trouble from him than we’ve had. So where’s he been? In point of fact, the only times we can confirm Chernabog’s involvement is when Maleficent moves him. Maybe his transfiguration into and back from the Yeti rendered him powerless. Maybe they don’t want us to know. Or maybe the missing journal has something in it that will help him regain his power.”
“Now you’re freaking me out.”
“The Minotaur part of him is itself a combination of man and bull. It has no natural source of sustenance. In mythology, the Minotaur devoured humans. He lived in a labyrinth, a maze only he understood.
“Camazotz,” Wayne continued, “is a Mayan bat god—the other half of Chernabog. Camazotz was also nourished by human sacrifice. At one time he bit the head off a young boy and offered it as a ball for a game.”
“And you’re saying Chernabog is a combination of the two?”
“Yes. Walt’s darkest creation ever.”
“And the journal is like an owner’s manual?”
“Could be. We won’t know until you get it back.”
“We…?”
“If you don’t like Maleficent, think of Chernabog as ten times worse. Maleficent plots and schemes. She teases her prey. Chernabog bites your head off and makes a game out of it. He’s fearsome.”
“So we don’t want them giving him a reboot.”
“If that’s what they’re trying to do, then no. Definitely not.”
“Does the battle at the Base have anything to do with the contents of the journal?” Finn asked.
“We won’t know until—”
“We get it back for you.”
“Now you’re catching on.”
Finn’s throat tasted strange. Even more upsetting was that he couldn’t recall having the sensation of taste before as a DHI. Version 2.0 was dealing him all sorts of surprises. Next, his chest tightened, like a clamp on his heart. He began shaking. He was going into seizure.
His body buckled as he fell first to his knees and then to the tile. He began twitching uncontrollably.
“A bug,” he choked out. A failure of 2.0—it was all he could come up with. Wayne reached to help, but his hands passed through Finn’s hologram.
“Finn?”
Finn fought as his eyes rolled back in his head. “Re…turn,” he gasped. “Phil…by…” His body was out of control, like he was being electrocuted. “Call…Phil—” His throat gurgled, like he was gargling.
“No need!” Wayne pulled a small black fob from his pocket, smaller and more compact than the v1.6 Return.
“Godspeed!” Wayne said. He hit the button.
* * *
Finn opened his eyes.
His bedroom was dark. A shape loomed to his right—someone holding him down. A paramedic? His parents?
Another person moved to his left. In the steady glare of his computer screen Finn caught sight of Greg Luowski, the resident bully of Finn’s middle school and now his high school freshman class. A round-faced, wet-lipped, mean-spirited boy, Luowski took pleasure in dishing out pain.