Inside the Institute, Hank carried Dory in the coffeepot down an empty cinder block hallway. “Hank, I am so glad I found you,” Dory whispered. “It feels like ... destiny!”
“Shhh,” said Hank, annoyed. “For what must be the millionth time, it’s not destiny.”
“Have I said ‘destiny’ before?” asked Dory. “I’m sorry. I think I’m so nervous because I’m gonna meet my parents. I haven’t seen them in ... I don’t even know how long, because, well, you see, I suffer from —”
“Short-term memory loss!” said Hank, interrupting her. He was sick and tired of hearing Dory repeat herself. “Look, no more talking, okay? I don’t like talking. I don’t like chatter, and questions, and” — Hank put on a pretend voice — “‘How are you?’ ‘Oh, I’m fine. How are you?’ ‘Oh I’m fine, too.’ News flash: NOBODY’S FINE!”
A phone rang in the distance. They heard a voice answer the call. “Oh, I’m fine. How are you?”
Hank grimaced. He’d heard it a million times — and he didn’t believe it. He peered around the corner and saw the staffer on the phone at his desk.
Dory gazed out into the hallway. “Hank, look!” she said. A framed map of the Institute hung on the wall across from the staffer’s office. “There’s a map!”
“Shhh. The plan is you’re gonna read that and figure out where your parents live,” said Hank. “Then I’m on the truck to Cleveland. You got it?”
“Got it,” said Dory. “What was that first part again?”
“Just read the map,” said Hank curtly. He quietly moved toward it and lifted Dory to give her a closer look.
“Look at all the exhibits,” she said, impressed. “How can you do this park in one day? Seriously.”
“Pick one,” whispered Hank, furious.
While Dory scanned the map, the staffer rolled his chair into the doorway of his office and sighed. He was still on the phone and obviously annoyed.
“Really, Jerrie, I can’t believe I actually convinced Mom to hire you. How hard is it to find an octopus?” he said into the receiver. As he leaned back in the chair, the staffer looked directly at Hank and Dory! But Hank had instantly camouflaged, holding the coffeepot in such a way that it looked like Dory was part of the map’s design. The staffer had no idea that anything was out of place!
“Of course I haven’t seen him,” the staffer continued. “If I was looking, I’d find him ....” He then rolled his chair back toward his desk and out of view.
Hank let out a hefty sigh as he came out of his camouflage.
“Hank! There you are,” said Dory.
“Hurry up!” Hank whispered.
Dory read the map. “Maybe they live in the Kid Zone! That’s where I’d live.”
“No, no kids!” Hank exclaimed. “Kids grab things, and I’m not losing another tentacle for you!”
“You lost a tentacle?” Dory asked. “Well, then, you’re not an octopus. You’re a septopus. I may not remember, but I can count.”
“Hurry up!” Hank said again. He was running out of patience.
Dory went back to reading the map and stopped when she saw a picture of a purple shell. “Hey, look. Shells,” Dory said.
All of a sudden, another memory flashed in her mind!
Dory saw herself as a child, looking around in the sand with her parents.
“Hey, look. Shells!” said little Dory. “Daddy, here’s a shell for you!”
“That’s great, Dory!” said Charlie. “You found another one.”
“I did?”
“Yes, you did,” said Jenny. “You’re getting good at this.”
Little Dory watched her father place the shells in a line. The shells led to the door of their coral home.
“Hey, look. Shells,” Dory said again.
Jenny chuckled as little Dory followed the shell path toward her door. “Hey, I live here,” she said.
“Yes — yes indeed,” said Charlie.
“I like shells,” said Dory.
“That’s right, dear,” said Jenny with a giggle. “Do you think you could find me another shell? Purple ones are my favorite.”
Little Dory looked around the yard and noticed a purple shell just beyond the grass fence. “Mommy, look! Purple shells!” she said, heading toward the fence.
Then everything in the memory seemed to shake and quiver. And just like that, Dory was back in the present moment.
“Purple shells! Purple sh —” Dory paused, trying to catch her breath. “Hank, my home had a purple shell!” she said excitedly.
“So what? Half the exhibits here have purple shells in them.”
“No, no — you don’t understand! I remember her now! Purple shells were her favorite! And she had this adorable giggle. And my dad was really friendly,” Dory said.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps clicking along the hallway. Someone was coming!
“And now your wacky memory’s gonna get us caught,” said Hank.
Hank quickly rushed down the hall, using all seven tentacles to move rapidly across the floor. Thinking fast, he slinked behind a door to hide. Then the staffer, who was carrying a bucket, appeared and walked straight toward them!
“Still think this is destiny?” Hank whispered sardonically.
Before Dory could answer, the staffer came through the door! Screaming, Hank slithered out of the way. When the staffer got to the bottom of the stairs, she spotted the slime trail. “Ugh,” she groaned. “That octopus is out again? All right, where are you?” She put down her bucket and started looking around.
Hank camouflaged again, disappearing as he wound himself around the stairway railing. “See what you did?” he whispered harshly to Dory. “This could not be worse!”
The staffer’s bucket caught Dory’s eye and she gasped as she read the word printed on it: destiny! While the staffer continued to search for Hank, Dory was struck with an idea. “Hank! I got a feeling. I think we should get in the bucket.”
“No, stop,” whispered Hank nervously.
“Seriously. It says ‘Destiny,’ and it is.”
“No, no, no, no, no!” Hank protested.
“We’ve gotta get in that bucket,” Dory said defiantly.
Hank refused, but Dory insisted.
“Don’t you jump in that bucket!” Hank warned.
Dory geared up to jump. Hank tried to stop her, but she ignored him and tipped the coffeepot over, slipping and landing safely inside her destination. Destiny.
Dory swam among dozens of floating silver fish. “Hey, guys?” Dory said. “I’m looking for my family.” The fish turned their bellies up, lifeless. “Oh, good idea,” said Dory. “Play dead.”
The staffer, unable to find Hank, finally gave up. She sighed, picked up her bucket, and started off.
Dory swayed from side to side, moving with the water as the staffer carried her along. “Oh, you guys are good. I gotta blink,” Dory said to the silver fish. “How do you hold your eyes open that long?”
Hank panicked, watching the staffer walk away, and immediately took off after them. But the staffer walked so fast that he couldn’t keep up. He quickly scanned the room to survey his options. He curled his tentacles around one of the ceiling pipes and thrust himself through the air — swinging from pipe to pipe — and made up for lost time. When the staffer reached the door, he tried to jump into the chum bucket. But his timing was off! He missed the bucket and smacked into the door, which the staffer had closed behind her.
Inside the bucket, Dory was still whispering to the fish floating around her. “Hey, guys?”
But the fish just bobbed up and down lifelessly. She poked one of them, then realized something was very wrong. “Wait a second —” But before she could finish her thought, the staffer’s hand dipped into the bucket and grabbed Dory, along with a handful of the floating fish — and tossed them into the air! Dory screamed as she plunged into a giant pool.
在研究所里,漢克托著裝在咖啡壺里的多莉,正沿著一條空曠的爐渣磚走廊爬著。“漢克,碰見(jiàn)你可真開(kāi)心,”多莉輕聲道,“就好像是……命中注定。”
“噓,”漢克不悅道,“說(shuō)了幾百萬(wàn)遍了,這不是命中注定。”
“我剛才說(shuō)了‘命中注定’嗎?”多莉問(wèn)。“對(duì)不起。我想我可能太緊張了,因?yàn)槲荫R上就要見(jiàn)到我的父母了。我已經(jīng)有……我甚至都不知道有多久沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)他們了,因?yàn)?,唔,要知道,我?mdash;—”
“短時(shí)記憶喪失癥!”漢克打斷她道。他已經(jīng)聽(tīng)厭了多莉這樣不停地重復(fù)啰唆。“喂,別再說(shuō)了,好不好?我不喜歡說(shuō)話。我也不喜歡閑聊,問(wèn)東問(wèn)西,還有——”漢克裝腔作勢(shì)道,“‘你好嗎?‘啊,我很好。你好嗎?’‘啊,我也很好。’事實(shí)上呢:誰(shuí)也不好!”
遠(yuǎn)處傳來(lái)一陣電話鈴響,他們聽(tīng)到一個(gè)聲音應(yīng)道:“啊,我很好。你好嗎?”
漢克扮了個(gè)鬼臉。這對(duì)話他已經(jīng)聽(tīng)到了無(wú)數(shù)次——可他根本不相信。他在拐角窺視了一下,看見(jiàn)有個(gè)員工正在桌旁打電話。
多莉朝外望向走廊里面。“漢克,看??!”她說(shuō)。一張鑲框的研究所地圖正掛在員工辦公室對(duì)面的墻上。“那里有張地圖!”
“噓。計(jì)劃就是,你去看地圖,找到你父母的所在位置,”漢克說(shuō),“然后我乘貨車(chē)去克利夫蘭市。明白了嗎?”
“明白,”多莉說(shuō),“第一步是什么來(lái)著?”
“就是看地圖,”漢克敷衍地說(shuō)。他悄悄地朝地圖爬去,舉起多莉,好讓她看得更清楚些。
“瞧瞧這所有的展廳,”她深有感觸道,“這園區(qū)真能一天走完嗎?開(kāi)玩笑。”
“快選一個(gè)。”漢克低聲道,怒不可遏。
多莉掃視著地圖,這時(shí),那位員工坐著椅子轉(zhuǎn)向了辦公室大門(mén),并嘆了口氣。他還在打電話,顯然有些生氣了。
“說(shuō)真的,杰莉,我真不敢相信我竟然說(shuō)服了媽媽雇用了你。一只章魚(yú)到底有多難找?”他沖著聽(tīng)筒說(shuō)道。這名員工往椅背上一靠,正好直視漢克和多莉!不過(guò)漢克立刻偽裝起來(lái),他舉著咖啡壺,擺弄得多莉好似地圖里的某個(gè)圖案。他絲毫不知道有些東西不在原來(lái)的地方!
“當(dāng)然了,我可沒(méi)瞧見(jiàn)他,”這名員工繼續(xù)說(shuō)道,“要是讓我找,我肯定能找到他……”然后他轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)椅子,背朝桌子,轉(zhuǎn)換了視野。
漢克解除了偽裝,重重地嘆了口氣。
“漢克!你在這里啊。”多莉說(shuō)。
“快點(diǎn)!”漢克低聲說(shuō)道。
多莉看著地圖。“也許他們住在兒童體驗(yàn)區(qū)!那里是我居住的地方。”
“不,不想碰到兒童!”漢克叫道,“小孩子都亂抓東西,我可不想為了你再弄丟一只觸角!”
“你少了只觸角?”多莉問(wèn)道。“啊,那么,你就不是八爪魚(yú)了,是七爪魚(yú)。雖然我可能會(huì)忘事,但我會(huì)數(shù)數(shù)。”
“快點(diǎn)!”漢克再次說(shuō)道。他漸漸沒(méi)了耐心。
多莉接著查看地圖,當(dāng)她看到一張紫色貝殼的圖片時(shí)停了下來(lái)。“嘿,看啊,貝殼。”多莉說(shuō)。
突然間,另一段記憶閃入了她的腦海之中!
多莉看見(jiàn)小時(shí)候的自己正和父母在沙地里四處張望。
“嘿,看啊,貝殼!”小多莉說(shuō)。“爸爸,給你一個(gè)貝殼!”
“真棒,多莉!”查理說(shuō)。“你又找到了一個(gè)。”
“我又找到了?”
“是的,你又找到了,”珍妮說(shuō),“你越來(lái)越擅長(zhǎng)這個(gè)了。”
小多莉望著父親將貝殼一線鋪開(kāi),一直延伸到了他們的珊瑚屋門(mén)口。
“嘿,看啊,貝殼。”多莉又說(shuō)道。
小多莉沿著貝殼小路游向家門(mén)口時(shí),珍妮咯咯地笑了起來(lái)。“嘿,我就住在這里。”她說(shuō)。
“是的——確實(shí)是的。”查理說(shuō)。
“我喜歡貝殼。”多莉說(shuō)。
“沒(méi)錯(cuò),親愛(ài)的,”珍妮吃吃地笑著說(shuō)道,“你覺(jué)得你能再為我找一個(gè)貝殼嗎?我最喜歡紫色的。”
小多莉在院子里四處張望,發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)紫色的貝殼就在草地的柵欄邊上。“媽咪,看??!紫色的貝殼!”說(shuō)著她游向了柵欄。
接著記憶里的影像顫動(dòng)模糊起來(lái)。就這樣,多莉回過(guò)了神。
“紫色貝殼!紫色貝——”多莉停頓一會(huì)兒,上氣不接下氣。“漢克,我家有紫色的貝殼!”她激動(dòng)地說(shuō)道。
“那又怎樣?這里半數(shù)的展廳都有紫色貝殼。”
“不,不——你不明白!我現(xiàn)在想起她了!紫色貝殼是她的最愛(ài)!還有她迷人的咯咯笑聲。我的爸爸也非常和藹可親。”多莉說(shuō)。
突然,他們聽(tīng)見(jiàn)走廊里傳來(lái)了嗒嗒的腳步聲。有人來(lái)了!
“現(xiàn)在你那離奇古怪的記憶要害得我們被逮住了,”漢 克說(shuō)。
漢克七爪齊用,快速爬過(guò)地板,匆匆地向走廊奔去。他靈機(jī)一動(dòng),藏在了一扇門(mén)后。接著一位拿著水桶的員工出現(xiàn),徑直朝他們走來(lái)!
“還覺(jué)得這是命中注定嗎?”哈克低聲挖苦道。
多莉還沒(méi)來(lái)得及回答,那名員工就穿過(guò)了這扇門(mén)!漢克尖叫著滑了出去。那名員工走到樓梯底下,發(fā)現(xiàn)了黏液的痕跡。“呃,”她嘆道,“那只章魚(yú)又跑出來(lái)了?好吧,你在哪里呢?”她放下水桶,四處張望起來(lái)。
漢克又施展起偽裝術(shù),纏在樓梯扶手上隱遁起來(lái)。“瞧你干的好事?”他輕聲斥責(zé)多莉,“真是再糟糕不過(guò)了!”
多莉被那名員工的水桶給吸引住了目光,她屏氣凝神,看著上面印的文字:運(yùn)兒!那名員工還在搜尋漢克時(shí),多莉想出了一個(gè)點(diǎn)子。“漢克!我有一種感覺(jué)。我覺(jué)得我們應(yīng)該到那個(gè)水桶里面去。”
“不行,別動(dòng),”漢克緊張地低語(yǔ)道。
“不是開(kāi)玩笑。上面寫(xiě)著‘運(yùn)兒’,確實(shí)是的。”
“不,不,不,不,不!”漢克抗議道。
“我們得到那個(gè)水桶里面去。”多莉反駁道。
漢克斷然回絕,可多莉卻執(zhí)意堅(jiān)持。
“你不可以跳進(jìn)那個(gè)水桶里!”漢克警告道。
多莉做好起跳準(zhǔn)備。漢克試圖阻止她,可她不理睬他,弄翻咖啡壺滑了下去,安全地落進(jìn)了她的目的地。“運(yùn)兒”。
多莉游在了幾十條漂浮著的銀魚(yú)之中。“嗨,各位?”多莉說(shuō)。“我正在尋找我的家人。”這些魚(yú)腹部朝上,死氣沉沉。“啊,好主意,”多莉說(shuō),“玩裝死游戲。”
那名員工沒(méi)能找到漢克,最終放棄了。她嘆了口氣,拎起水桶,動(dòng)身走了。
多莉隨著員工走動(dòng)的步伐在水里蕩來(lái)蕩去。“嗨,你們可真厲害。我得眨眼睛了,”多莉?qū)︺y魚(yú)說(shuō)道,“你們?cè)趺茨苣敲撮L(zhǎng)時(shí)間都不眨眼???”
漢克惶恐萬(wàn)分,望著那名員工走開(kāi),他立刻起身趕上??墒悄敲麊T工走得太快,他還是沒(méi)能跟上。他快速地打量了一下周邊,看看有沒(méi)有別的途徑。他卷起觸角纏住天花板上的一根管子,然后在空中猛地一推——從一根管子蕩向另一根管子——彌補(bǔ)失去的時(shí)間。那名員工走到門(mén)口之時(shí),他起身朝著那魚(yú)餌桶一跳。然而,他錯(cuò)過(guò)了時(shí)機(jī),一頭撞在了員工隨手關(guān)住的門(mén)上。
水桶里面,多莉還在不停地跟漂浮在周?chē)聂~(yú)兒們說(shuō)話。“嗨,各位?”
可那些魚(yú)兒卻只是死氣沉沉地上下浮動(dòng)。她戳了戳其中一條,然后意識(shí)到事情不妙。“等等——”可沒(méi)等她想明白,那名員工的手便伸進(jìn)水桶,連著多莉抓起了大把漂浮的魚(yú)——然后將他們拋向了空中!多莉尖叫著落進(jìn)了一個(gè)巨大的水池之中。