"Disney Double-Cross"
Chapter 3
After the arcade closed, everyone gathered in Tapper's again to discuss the scripts they'd been given. Everyone had questions that they needed answered. Turbo had taken a trip to Sugar Rush and brought Vanellope back with him. "Your game plays the largest part in the story and has the most potential to be irreversibly damaged", he said. She looked the script over and said "Glitch? What the heck is a 'glitch'? I hope that it's not a permanent thing."
Gene sought to reassure her..."The Disney folks make movies all of the time without problems. I trust them, but that's just me. Our game doesn't change much except at the end." He turned to Ralph and Felix and asked "Why didn't you two ever think about building a place for the homeless?" Ralph chuckled and said "My job is to wreck the building." Turning to Felix, he repeated Gene, saying "Yeah, Felix, why didn't you ever think about building a place for the homeless?" Felix looked at Tamora, then at the floor, and said "To tell you the truth, I never gave it much thought. Ralph, mind if I use some bricks from your pile?" "Help yourself", Ralph replied.
They turned as the avatars of the Disney agents entered Tapper's. Dixie said "Oh, good, you brought Princess Vanellope along. She wasn't here last night and I realized that we needed to talk with her. Good evening, Princess. Have you had a chance to review the script and storyboards yet?"
"Just call me Vanellope when we're away from my game...on second thought, just call me Vanellope there too."
"Ok, Vanellope. Do you have any questions?"
"Yeah. How are you going to prevent the Cy-Bugs from destroying my game and escaping into the arcade?"
Dixie looked at her two companions, then said "They, like all of you, are unique lines of computer code. In Tamora's game, they are attracted to a 'beacon' when the game ends and are 'destroyed'. The truth is that they are not 'destroyed', their code is simply returned into the game's memory and accessed when needed. My companions here are far more proficient at the complexities of computer codes than I, but they tell me that they can isolate the Cy-Bug's code and create a 'beacon' that will, in your game, destroy them without damage. Since their codes actually reside in 'Hero's Duty', they will regenerate there when needed but not in 'Sugar Rush'. The 'don't die outside of your game' rule will apply here.
Turbo was next..."I get the 'King Candy' part, but how are you going to merge me with a Cy-Bug?"
She held a small control that resembled a TV remote...back in the trailer technicians prepared a little bit of Disney magic for Turbo.
"When I press this button, you'll change into King Candy. It's merely a rewrite of your code that's easily reversible. You did read the scene completely, right? The Cy-Bug won't actually be there when you exit the tunnel behind Vanellope, but you'll need to look terrified when you exit the tunnel. Nothing is going to 'eat' anyone. She pressed the button, and Turbo transformed into King Candy. He looked at himself in the barroom mirror, and exclaimed "Wow! That was neat. Can you make me taller, too." Everyone laughed as Dixie pressed another button and Turbo returned to normal. "Awww!" he said dejectedly. "King for a minute."
As everyone marveled at the Disney magic, Dixie went on. "If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask them. If everyone is ready we'll begin filming tonight with the scenes here in Tapper's bar."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Tamora, can you ask one of your soldiers to come to Tapper's? Ralph, can you go with the sound techs to record your introduction?"
By the end of the night, several scenes were "in the can", and everyone's jitters had melted away.
(end of chapter)