Dizgaia ~ The Dreamfinder's Daughter

Chapter 26 ~ Beneath the Glow of the Fairy Tree

The lab of Kevin Flynn, Imagineer, was oddly silent this morning. The sounds of '80s synthpop music had been replaced with the softer sounds of drizzling coffee percolators and rapid-fire keyboard tapping. Flynn was on his third cup of black coffee. He hated it black, but it was a necessary evil so as not to dilute the wakefulness effect of the bitter caffeine.

"Okay, CLU. I need you to process this data and see if you can find any definitive patterns."

"Yes, sir," came the stiff, robotic voice.

"This is a rush job, CLU."

"Yes, sir. I understand, sir."

The door to Flynn's lab slid open and Professor Mercurial entered, looking unusually worn and haggard. Flynn glanced up at him.

"You look awful," he said.

"Thanks," Blair muttered, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Any luck on the old dirigible?"

Blair gave a sardonic snort. "Old  dirigible is right. It's been so long since I last used the thing. I hadn't realized it had fallen into such disrepair. Progress has been slower than I would like."

"Can't you just, you know, imagine  it fixed and ready to go?"

"If only it were that easy. It's one thing to use my imagination to change Figment's size, but a large piece of machinery like that, with all its intricate parts and processes, is entirely different. I'd have to keep all of those little processes in my mind at all times, imagine every bolt, every screw, every piston and the way it moves—"

"All right, all right," said Flynn, waving him off. "I get it. Talk about brain overload, man."

"Besides," Blair sighed, taking a seat in the swivel chair and rolling it up beside Flynn, "Even a functioning Dream Machine is no good to me if I don't know where I'm going."

"I'm working on that. So far, I've come across the last 10 documented sightings of Neverland logged by sailing ships. I'm having CLU analyze the coordinates and see if he can deduce a pattern and formulate an algorithm to predict its next location. The only problem is, the sightings happened over a 12-year period, so there are gaps where it might not have been sighted. It may not be enough for him to work off of."

"At least you're trying," said Blair with a weak smile. "That's all any of us can do. I thank you, Flynn."

"Hey, don't mention it, man. Anything for Mia."

Blair cocked an eyebrow.

Flynn quickly returned his gaze to the computer screen, taking sip of coffee.

"Sir," came CLU's voice from the computer monitor. "I have finished analyzing the data as requested."

"And?"

"No distinct pattern was found."

Flynn pounded his fist against the desk. "Damn!"

"Blast!" said Blair.

Flynn sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Don't worry, Prof. I'll keep researching. We'll figure this out somehow."

Blair placed a hand on Flynn's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze, not trusting himself to speak at the moment. He felt despair rising in his throat like a lump, threatening to choke him.

"At the very least, Cindy's sent out a fleet of ships to look for Mia, and Vandsgaard and Rosebriar have also commissioned their navies for the job," said Flynn, trying to be positive. "That's gotta count for something."