Ridley Pearson - Power Play

Finn: “A green-eyes. One of the spies saw Jess show Willa.”

In light of Hugo and Luowski, this seemed like the best explanation.

Charlene: “So we’re not safe at school and we’re not safe crossed over. Anyone feel like a vacation?”

She won some laughter-but not much.

Charlene: “Seriously, any ideas? I’ve got to get downstairs. The bus’ll be here any minute.”

Philby: “Stay here a second longer.”

He waited for everyone’s attention on-screen, especially Charlene’s.

Philby: “What if we missed a major clue? Finn saw Cruella on the telephone at Downtown Disney.”

Maybeck: “We all agreed that was bizarre.”

Philby: “But what if she and the Queen were DHIs at the time?”

Silence.

Philby: “What if the phone call was to request a manual Return? It’s possible DisneyQuest serves as Downtown’s centerpiece. We don’t know.”

Maybeck cursed.

Finn: “Using the phone as the signal to send them back.”

Philby: “Exactly.”

Willa: “That’s why they want the fob so badly. To make it easier for them to Return.”

Philby: “I think so, yes.”

Maybeck shouted, and Finn cupped his ear.

Maybeck: “Hold on! Wait a second.”

Philby: “We know they took control of the server. It was them who locked me out, not the Imagineers. I was never buying that. We got all hung up on it being about us, about controlling us. Locking us in the Syndrome. And sure, that’s probably part of it, but it also may be what they want us to think.”

Finn: “It explains them stealing the fob. But how could they have done it? How could they have turned themselves into DHIs?”

Philby: “The same way we turned Amanda and Jess into DHIs.”

Another long silence.

Willa: “But think about it. If they need the Return, if they can cross over as DHIs, then when that’s happening they’re asleep, right?”

For a moment it seemed as if the connection had failed-no one moved in their respective video windows. Charlene was no longer concerned with catching her bus.

Philby: “Makes sense.”

Finn: “I’ll tell you one thing; the Queen wasn’t any DHI last night. She was throwing spells all over the place.”

Charlene: “So last night she was real. But if they stole the fob for themselves, then they must be planning to cross over into one of the Parks, and a manual Return is just too hard for them to pull off.”

Willa: “They’re afraid of Jess knowing something about this. They’ve always tried to control her, from clear back at the start. If we can see the future, then maybe we can stop them. That’s got to be what they’re worried about.”

Charlene: “And you’re right, Willa; if they’re DHIs, then they’re asleep somewhere. We know that much.”

Maybeck: “I see where this is going and I’m liking it.”

Philby: “If we trap their DHIs, they’ll be stuck in SBS. They won’t be able to wake up and we’ll have defeated them. But before you freak, remember we don’t have their powers. We can’t throw up laser jails and probably can’t put fear into them the way they can with us. It’s not the same.”

Maybeck: “Back up, Philbo. Forget trapping their DHIs. What we want to do is distract their DHIs. We want to find where they’re sleeping. Long as they’re sleeping, they are totally vulnerable. Totally. We can slap on the cuffs, blindfold and gag them so they can’t throw spells or do anything to anyone. We turn them over to Wanda or the Imagineers, and that’s two more behind bars.”

Philby considered the words “behind bars” and thought of Wanda and his first contact from Wayne. His thoughts moved past Wanda to Maleficent and Chernabog and their being locked up somewhere. As so often happened with him, it just struck him like a lightning bolt. The answers to math equations came this same way; science assignments, too. A spark of understanding in his brain.

Philby: “Prison! The reason they need to be DHIs has to do with Maleficent and Chernabog-”

Finn: “So they can break them out.”

Philby: “I think so, yes. It’s their end game. It’s everything they’re about.”

Charlene: “How could that possibly work?”

Philby: “Who knows? But that’s their plan. It adds up.”

The mention of Wanda had Finn wondering about her. They’d gotten her out of jail, but she hadn’t been back in contact with them. Did she fear police surveillance? Or someone worse? She had a hearing scheduled for Monday morning.

Willa: “If they’re asleep, it’s somewhere in the Parks.”

Maybeck: “Out of the way. Someplace no one’s going to bother them.”

Finn: “Or find them.”

Charlene: “Hello? The Parks are ginormous.”

Maybeck: “There can’t be that many places. Cast Members are all over the place all the time. We can figure this out.”

Maybeck didn’t often play cheerleader. None of the others knew quite what to say.

Philby: “Don’t forget, we surprised them last night by having access to the server. They thought they’d locked us out. But if they go DHI, I should be able to detect it. I won’t know exactly where they are, but the ISP, submask, and router data will help narrow it down. That would allow us to have two teams: one, like Maybeck said, to challenge their DHIs and keep them busy, while the second team tries to find where they’re sleeping.”

Maybeck: “Thing is, they’ve got the fob. The minute they figure any of this out, they Return, and then we’re in the deep woods.”

Finn: “We can’t rely on sending signals anymore. That was close last night. I think we should hide one of our cell phones in each of the Parks. We’d all know where to find them. If we need out, we call Philby and he takes us out manually.”

Philby: “Makes total sense.”

Charlene: “You expect me to give up my cell phone? Seriously?”

Willa: “Finn, we need to check with Jess about that drawing.”

Finn: “No problem. And I want to talk to Wanda. We can’t ask her to risk anything since she was arrested. But who knows how she might help us?”

Philby: “If we’re dividing up teams, I vote for Maybeck, Finn, and Charlene to go after the sleepers. Amanda, Willa, and Jess can play cat-and-mouse with the Evil Queen and Cruella. DHI against DHI.”

Willa: “I don’t mean to be a buzzkill, but I am so grounded. It’s like my mother’s got me on suicide watch or something-she wakes me up every couple hours. I mean, I want so badly to be part of whatever we’re doing, but…I just don’t know.”

All the Keepers spoke at once. No one expected anything from Willa. She’d been through enough. She apologized profusely; it was clear she wanted to be included if they crossed over, but if caught by her mother it could threaten them all.

Finn: “Well, the rest of us should dress for action each night. Philby will cross us over when he knows the Overtakers have crossed. The first thing we do when we enter a Park is to find the hidden cell phone in whatever Park we’re in. Got that? That’s our way out of the Park: we call Philby for a Return.”