Chapter 19: A Network Between Worlds
Disney Castle
The next morning, a loud rapping on the door woke Sora from his sleep. Sora stretched and yawned and then got up from his four-poster bed in a pretty fancy room. He was wearing white pajamas that had been provided for him.
He and his friends had definitely been given the royal treatment throughout their stay. After training, they were treated to a great feast and then shown to marvelous rooms to sleep. Every servant was at their beck and call although he found it weird that most of them were living brooms.
But as good as staying in Disney Castle was, Sora knew it couldn't last. He and his friends had a job to do. First of all, he had to see who was knocking on his door.
Sora walked over to the door and opened it. To his surprise, he saw no one threre. Then he looked downward and saw Louie.
"Morning Sora! Did I wake you?" asked the small duck. "Well you sort of did. But I guess an early start wouldn't hurt. What's up, Louie?" asked the sleepy Keybearer.
"King Mickey wants everyone to meet at the computer room. Huey and Dewey have already gotten Kairi and Riku up," said Louie. "Okay, I'll be there as soon as I get dressed," said Sora as he began to go back in the room.
"Uh, Sora? Do you know where the computer room is?" asked Louie. Sora stopped as he realized he really didn't know where it was.
"Heh. Guess I sort of don't," said Sora rubbing the back of his head with a grin of embarassment on his face. "Don't worry. I'll wait for you and then we'll go together," said Louie.
Sora gave a nod and then went back into his room. He immediately began to get dressed into his battle clothes.
Much later, a fully dressed Sora followed Louie through the castle until they reached a pair of doors. Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Tinker Bell were already there as was Huey and Dewey.
"Well, here it is, Sora. Now my brothers and I have to get back to our ice cream shop. But we'll come by to see you off when its time for you to go," said Louie as he and his brothers left. Everyone waved bye to the triplets.
"Well look who finally decided to show up. You really are a lazy bum, you know that Sora?" asked Riku. "Hey! Only Kairi can get away with calling me that!" exclaimed Sora.
"Oh is it her pet name for you?" asked Riku. "Watch it, Riku," said Sora who began to show hints of blushing.
"Gawrsh, Riku sure knows how to push Sora's buttons," said Goofy. "Yeah. But it's so entertaining," said Kairi who was all smiles.
Putting aside his annoyance at Riku, Sora turned to Mickey. "So Mickey, why did you want us here?" asked Sora.
"I thought, before we left for the Gummi hanger and left on our journey, that we would give a call to Squall and the gang from Radiant Garden. I'm sure they'll be glad to hear from you guys," said Mickey.
"Squall? That name sounds familiar. I think Yuffie called Leon that once," said Sora.
"It's his real name, Sora. His full name is Squall Leonheart. But when Radiant Garden fell to the Heartless in the past, he changed his name to Leon. He did it to distance himself from the man who let his world fall to darkness without a fight. But now that Radiant Garden is fully restored, he's resumed his old name," said Mickey.
"Well good for him. But how are we going to call them?" asked Kairi. "The answer is through these doors," said Donald as he pushed the doors open and allowed everyone to step inside.
The room was covered wall-to-wall with various machines and gadgets. The main attraction was a large computer screen up against the wall.
Typing on a keyboard was an elderly duck though not as old as Scrooge. He was wearing a white lab coat with a red vest underneath and he had glasses on his bill. Turning around, his bill broke into a smile.
"Hello there! You must be the Keybearers! I am very pleased to meet you," he said as he walked up to Sora, Riku and Kairi and shook their hands one by one. "Uh it's a pleasure to meet you Mr.…" said Sora.
"Professor. Professor Ludwig Von Drake at your service. And unless I am mistaken, which I highly doubt, you are Sora and these are your friends Riku and Kairi, am I correct?" asked Ludwig. "You are," said Riku.
"Ha ha! Of course I am right. Anyway, welcome to the Disney Castle computer room. All this machinery and fancy gizmos here are all part of one of my greatest creations: the Interworld Network. With it, we can communicate with any world through a computer," said Ludwig.
"That's amazing. So we can talk to anybody in the universe from this room, right?" asked Sora. "Well, as long as they have computers. I understand that some of the worlds out there are a little behind in the times. But for the more advanced worlds, it's no problem whatsoever," said Ludwig.
"Professor, we'd like to call Radiant Garden please," said Mickey. "Well, no sooner said than done, Your Majesty," said Ludwig as he walked back to the keyboard.
As Ludwig typed, he said into a nearby microphone, "Tron! We've got a call to set up!"
Sora's face gave a look of complete surprise. "Tron's here?" he asked. "Well of course he's here. I wouldn't say he was here if he wasn't," said Ludwig.
"Sorry. But I thought he was running Radiant Garden's computer system," said Sora.
"He is. But their system is now linked to ours through the Network. In fact, Tron is actually the program running the Network. I needed a reliable one to work it and Cid recommended Tron. Now if he would only show up," said Ludwig.
Ludwig then proceeded to pound on the keyboard. "Tron! We need you right now so get here right now!" he yelled.
After a few moments, an image appeared on the screen. It was of a man with light blue skin. He was wearing a gray helmet along with gray armor that had blue glowing lines covering it.
"It's about time! Where were you?" asked Ludwig. "I'm sorry for the delay, Professor. I was filing some new data the chipmunks transmitted to me," he said apologetically.
"Tron!" exclaimed Sora. The man then looked in Sora's direction. His face broke into a smile.
"Sora! It's so good to see you again. Am I correct in assuming that the Users with you are the Riku and Kairi that I've heard about?" asked Tron.
"You're right. Guys, this is Tron. He's a computer program with a mind of its own," said Sora. "The proper term is artificial intelligence," said Tron.
"It's very nice to meet you, Tron," said Kairi. "Sora, you definitely have made some weird friends over your travels. But I think this one takes the cake," said Riku.
"How have things been in your computer world, Tron? " asked Sora. "In a word, Sora: busy. Since I took over the MCP's duties in running the Radiant Garden system, it hasn't been easy. It's also hard running this Interworld Network as well. Fortunately, Users like Cid and Professor Von Drake have supplied me with various new functions that make the job a little easier. Although, they aren't the most patient Users to work with at times," said Tron.
"You mentioned receiving something from the chipmunks. What was it?" asked Sora.
"It was data on some of the worlds they've been scouting. They've been travelling the universe and researching the worlds out there. It's our goal to create a database of the known worlds out there. Your friend Jiminy Cricket's journal was a big help in starting it," said Tron.
"So that's what they're doing instead of being the Gummi Ship engineers," said Sora. "Yep. I thought they would be the perfect candidates to scout out the worlds since they would be the least conspicuous," said Mickey.
"But what about the pathways between worlds? Zeus said they were packed with enemy ships," said Kairi.
"Don't worry. Their ship is a prototype of what we're going to use so it can slip unnoticed by enemies. They'll be fine," said Mickey.
"A database of the universe, huh? That could come in handy," said Riku. "Wish we could bring that along on our adventure," said Kairi.
"You will. My assistant is currently working on a portable version you can take with you. Now that that's settled, let's put in that call to Radiant Garden. Tron, establish a link to Cid's computer in Radiant Garden," said Ludwig.
"Accessing now," said Tron as a plethora of virtual controls and buttons appeared on the screen in front of him. He began to press several of them in various sequences.
"It's going to take a bit of time. He is, after all, dialing long distance," said Ludwig.
"That is correct. I can travel between computers in no time at all. But to create a communication link does take some time. But it shouldn't be too long," said Tron as he worked.
As Tron continued to work, anticipation brewed within Sora. He hadn't seen his friends from Radiant Garden since after the incidents with the MCP and Sephiroth. They were the first friends he made on his first adventure and they had told him so much about what was going on.
After awhile, Tron said, "Connection established." Everyone immediately gathered around the computer screen as an image slowly came into view.
Author's Note: We'll hear from the Radiant Garden gang and add the last party member next chapter. Then it's one chapter in the Gummi hanger, one chapter enroute and then it's the first Disney world. And it's one that has not been used at all in Kingdom Hearts. Keep reading.