stepped up to Finn, raised his fists and said, “Whatcha got, pal?” He took a swipe, his bunched knuckles coming straight for Finn’s chin.
Finn leaned back, the blow just missing.
The boy staggered, off-balance.
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to do,” Jess said, moving between them.
The boy’s brow furrowed and he stopped, stone still, utterly taken aback.
“Who are you?” the boy asked. He stepped toward Jess. She stepped back, still blocking Finn.
The boy took a step toward her. She stood her ground.
“This DHI is our guide,” she said. “You’ll have to get your own.”
“Jimmy?” called an adult from down the street.
The boy’s mother , Finn guessed.
“I’ll just borrow him for a minute,” the boy said in a mean voice.
Finn stepped back. But the boy was athletic. He’d anticipated Finn’s move and actually moved closer to him. He swatted out, grabbing for him. He’d expected Finn to be nothing but light. His face twisted into surprise as he caught Finn’s basketball shorts.
“What the…?” he mumbled.
Finn broke the contact and pushed the boy to the asphalt.
The boy just sat there, dumbfounded. “You’re no DHI,” he said.
“Go!” Finn told the girls. They obeyed, heading away.
“Jimmy?” his mother called out, concern now filling her voice.
Finn, worried the boy might tell on him, said, “I’m a generation-three DHI, Jimmy.” He reached out his hand. “More human than ever.”
Finn helped the boy up. Jimmy stood slowly, awestruck at touching Finn.
“But how…” the boy said meekly. “I thought…” He couldn’t finish a sentence. “This is… way cool! ” He reached out while wearing a mask of incredulity, once again trying to touch Finn.
But Finn moved away from the effort.
“James Francis McConnor!” the boy’s mother shouted. “You come here this minute!”
“I must catch up to my guests,” Finn said. He turned and hurried off.
Reaching Soundstage B out of breath, Finn glanced around trying to make sure no one was watching. There were too many people milling about for him to know. At last it came down to a decision.
He turned the doorknob and opened the door.
Inside, he found everyone waiting.
14
P HILBY RAN THE CONTROLS . Jess and Amanda changed into skintight green leotards and tights that included booties, gloves, and full hoods that covered their heads and faces like ski masks. Patches of green plastic mesh had been sewn into the hoods to provide a way to see out, and to breathe.
Charlene attached the thirty-five wired sensors to each of the girls. The sensors would measure every kind of joint and muscle movement. Then the girls took turns on the green stage in front of the green background as Philby directed them to squat, stand, walk, lie down, run, crawl, dance, and jump. He thought up dozens of combinations of movements as Finn and Willa ran video cameras that captured and recorded, from multiple angles, every move the girls made. The girls made some mistakes and had to repeat their movements, many of them several times.
Philby worked a pair of computers, one recording the video, the other recording the digital output from each of the thirty-five sensors. The computers measured and recorded the similarities and differences between the way each of the girls moved compared to a database of how dozens of other people moved, including all the Kingdom Keepers, each of whom had been part of the database nearly from its inception.
Philby completed the recording with just fifteen minutes to go until Jess and Amanda absolutely had to be headed back to the Nash House. He had a good deal of work yet to accomplish, work that had to be done in Soundstage B, with its phenomenally powerful computers.
“No way I can get this done in time. And we still have all the voice work to do,” he said from his seat in the control room.
“Red alert!” came the voice of Wanda Alcott, issuing a warning that meant someone—Security?—was heading
Finn leaned back, the blow just missing.
The boy staggered, off-balance.
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to do,” Jess said, moving between them.
The boy’s brow furrowed and he stopped, stone still, utterly taken aback.
“Who are you?” the boy asked. He stepped toward Jess. She stepped back, still blocking Finn.
The boy took a step toward her. She stood her ground.
“This DHI is our guide,” she said. “You’ll have to get your own.”
“Jimmy?” called an adult from down the street.
The boy’s mother , Finn guessed.
“I’ll just borrow him for a minute,” the boy said in a mean voice.
Finn stepped back. But the boy was athletic. He’d anticipated Finn’s move and actually moved closer to him. He swatted out, grabbing for him. He’d expected Finn to be nothing but light. His face twisted into surprise as he caught Finn’s basketball shorts.
“What the…?” he mumbled.
Finn broke the contact and pushed the boy to the asphalt.
The boy just sat there, dumbfounded. “You’re no DHI,” he said.
“Go!” Finn told the girls. They obeyed, heading away.
“Jimmy?” his mother called out, concern now filling her voice.
Finn, worried the boy might tell on him, said, “I’m a generation-three DHI, Jimmy.” He reached out his hand. “More human than ever.”
Finn helped the boy up. Jimmy stood slowly, awestruck at touching Finn.
“But how…” the boy said meekly. “I thought…” He couldn’t finish a sentence. “This is… way cool! ” He reached out while wearing a mask of incredulity, once again trying to touch Finn.
But Finn moved away from the effort.
“James Francis McConnor!” the boy’s mother shouted. “You come here this minute!”
“I must catch up to my guests,” Finn said. He turned and hurried off.
Reaching Soundstage B out of breath, Finn glanced around trying to make sure no one was watching. There were too many people milling about for him to know. At last it came down to a decision.
He turned the doorknob and opened the door.
Inside, he found everyone waiting.
14
P HILBY RAN THE CONTROLS . Jess and Amanda changed into skintight green leotards and tights that included booties, gloves, and full hoods that covered their heads and faces like ski masks. Patches of green plastic mesh had been sewn into the hoods to provide a way to see out, and to breathe.
Charlene attached the thirty-five wired sensors to each of the girls. The sensors would measure every kind of joint and muscle movement. Then the girls took turns on the green stage in front of the green background as Philby directed them to squat, stand, walk, lie down, run, crawl, dance, and jump. He thought up dozens of combinations of movements as Finn and Willa ran video cameras that captured and recorded, from multiple angles, every move the girls made. The girls made some mistakes and had to repeat their movements, many of them several times.
Philby worked a pair of computers, one recording the video, the other recording the digital output from each of the thirty-five sensors. The computers measured and recorded the similarities and differences between the way each of the girls moved compared to a database of how dozens of other people moved, including all the Kingdom Keepers, each of whom had been part of the database nearly from its inception.
Philby completed the recording with just fifteen minutes to go until Jess and Amanda absolutely had to be headed back to the Nash House. He had a good deal of work yet to accomplish, work that had to be done in Soundstage B, with its phenomenally powerful computers.
“No way I can get this done in time. And we still have all the voice work to do,” he said from his seat in the control room.
“Red alert!” came the voice of Wanda Alcott, issuing a warning that meant someone—Security?—was heading
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