Chapter Nineteen

A Talk and a Letter

When Ralph had left Vanellope to slink off into the corner, it had been with no small measure of reluctance. He knew his friend well enough to recognize when her mind was filled with anxiety, and that she didn't want to speak worried him.

The upset was too great he thought. She might not want to admit it, but she's going to need help getting through this.

And so he had asked Calhoun to try to get through to Vanellope. The sergeant had been more than willing to try, and had gone off to do so at once. But now, as he saw the look on Calhoun's face, Ralph concluded she had failed.

"No luck?"

He didn't feel the need to speak; the words seemed written in Calhoun's expression. Still, the remark was spontaneous, instinctual.

"Not of the kind you'd think," said Calhoun, arriving beside Gene, Ralph, and Felix, who had all taken seats on the floor in a semi-circle.

"What do you mean?"

Calhoun sat down beside them, completing the misshapen circle. "I mean…."

"Yes dear?" Felix said.

Calhoun opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

"Let's face it," said Gene. "We're all rattled. None of us were expecting this."

"That's true," said Ralph.

"And…I've been thinking."

Ralph winked. "You were thinking?" he joked. "About what? A martini?"

"I'm being perfectly serious, Ralph," Gene said, his voice stern. "This is no laughing matter.'

'Come on," Gene continued, when he received no response. "You've all been feeling it, haven't you? I see it in your looks, in your responses."

"What feeling?" Ralph asked.

"That something's just…off about this whole thing. That maybe…maybe we did the wrong thing."

"What do you mean?" Calhoun asked. "We left a crook in the hands of justice…" Her voice trailed off.

"Yes?" said Gene. "Dr. Despair? We're all thinking of him, aren't we? I wasn't even there, and I still took the same lesson from his end."

"Anyone can change," said Ralph. A chill ran up his spine as he realized what he was saying.

"Gale's very words," said Gene.

"But, did Dr. Despair ever realize the truth?" Calhoun interjected. "Did he ever realize he never had any business being the arcade's special guardian?"

"Give the guy some credit," said Ralph. "I think he regretted what he did in the end."

"You're probably right," said Calhoun. "At least, I hope you are."

"And in the end, he's not who we have before us," said Gene. "Gale is."

"We don't know if he was really sorry," said Calhoun. "He's a master propagandist and deceiver."

"We know he was those things," said Gene. "But he did lead us to Felix here."

"If he was helping you," said Felix, "couldn't that mean he was sorry?"

"It might," said Gene. "We didn't bother to find out. We just walked out on him."

"On the other hand," said Ralph, "if he told SANG to hire Mr. Ainsworth-"

"And Dr. Despair tortured Vanellope personally," Gene interjected. "Yet you seem to have bought into his repentance. If you can forgive him…can't you forgive Gale?"

"Can you forgive him?"

Gene blinked. "I- I don't know. It's really hard. I was pretty mad when I left that website. But even if it's the hardest thing I've done since..."

"Since you apologized to me?" Ralph asked.

"Yes, since then," said Gene. "If it's the hardest thing I've ever done since then…I still can't help but feel it's the right thing to do."

"I think Vanellope would agree with you," said Calhoun. "She told me Gale asked her forgiveness after we left the room, and that she refused. From the sound of it, she's mad at herself for running out on him."

Ralph digested this news quietly for a few moments.

Vanellope didn't forgive someone? That's strange. Then again, what this guy did…

He shook his head.

Gene's right. If I can forgive Dr. Despair, maybe I can forgive this guy. That doesn't change what he did, but maybe-

He was jerked out of his thoughts by a sudden comment from Felix:

"Where's Vanellope?"

All eyes turned towards the corner. Vanellope was gone.

At once, they all leaped to their feet and hurried towards the corner. Gene was the first to arrive. As he came to a halt, Ralph saw the mayor stop and pick up a sheet of paper which he read silently.

"Oh dear," said Gene. "You were right, sergeant. She is mad at herself."

"What's it say?" Ralph demanded.

Gene read the words on the paper out loud:

Guys, I know you all mean well, but you were wrong. I was wrong. We shouldn't have left Gale like that. I'm going to go give him my forgiveness and I'll be right back. Don't worry, I know the way.

Vanellope von Schweetz

"There are times when I hate being right," said Calhoun. "We've got to get her back right now."

"If it's not too late," said Gene. "We can only hope she hasn't run into some-"

"No, don't say it!" Ralph cried. "I don't want to hear it."

"Neither do I," said Felix. He turned towards the door of the website. "Let's go."

"Just one thing," said Calhoun, laying a hand on Felix's shoulder. "This Mr. Morton- he was against SANG, but I think it's clear we don't want to cross him. If we meet him again, be careful what you say or do." She withdrew her hand and turned to the others.

"That goes for the rest of us also."

"We still don't know why he would have a mind-control bug," said Gene.

Ralph started. "Now that I think about it that is weird. If he didn't want to use on Felix, why did he have it?"

"You were asking me that too, I remember," Felix said to Calhoun.

Calhoun slapped her forehead. "Blast it, you're right!" she exclaimed.

All four characters looked at each other.

"This guy doesn't want to fight us," said Ralph. "So who does he want to fight? Gale? He already has Gale."

"He could have planned on using it against SANG," said Gene. "Felix did say he wasn't going to use it. Maybe that's why- because SANG's gone."

"I said that was as far as I knew-"

Felix stopped short. "Oh my land."

"We don't know what he's about, other than tracking down whatever's left of SANG," said Calhoun. "We can't puzzle about it here, either. We've got to find Vanellope. And there's not a moment to lose."