Basically, he's rebelling against his original characterization. Ever since he became aware, he's been at pains to distance himself as far as possible from his original role. I think the new him is based on a passenger who rather caught the Captain's attention. He says he feels much more comfortable the way he is now.'
Flynn looked at Toby. 'I think I may have found a kindred spirit.'
'You leave him alone,' Toby said sternly. 'You'll only confuse him even more. The last thing these toys need is to start worrying about their sexual identity.'
Bruin Bear and the Sea Goat looked at each other. 'What's sex?' said the Bear.
Toby glared at Flynn. 'Now see what you've done!'
'Tell us about the parrot,' Evangeline said quickly. 'Surely it hasn't always been like that?'
'Certainly not,' said the Bear. 'I don't know who he picked up the language from. Though I have my suspicions.' He glared at the Sea Goat, who looked back innocently.
'Any more crew?' said Giles. 'Or are we going to have to stoke the boilers ourselves?'
'Just the one,' said the Bear. 'The ship takes care of herself, mostly, but Halloweenie will look after all your needs.'
The humans just had time to mouth the name and look dubiously at each other, and then there was a loud clattering of bones as the other crew member made his appearence. He came dashing onto the main deck at speed, skidded to a halt by the guardrail, and gave the humans a brisk salute. He was a skeleton, about four feet in height held together by invisible wiring. He wore a rakish bandanna around his gleaming white skull, and an eyepatch over one empty eye socket.
'Hi there,' he said chirpily, in an excited boy's voice. 'I'm Halloweenie, the Li'l Skeleton Boy! First Mate of the Merry Mrs. Trusspot, at your service! Come aboard, come aboard; I just know we're going to have a great adventure together! Anything I can do to make your trip more comfortable, you come and see me!'
'Now him I like,' said Toby.
'Trust me, he doesn't half start to grate after a while,' said the Sea Goat. 'The truly sentient mind can only stand so much cheerfulness. Beyond a certain point, the urge to throw him overboard strapped to an anchor will become almost unbearable. Unfortunately, we're going to have to rise above it, as he's the only one who knows how to keep the ship running smoothly. The Captain's good at steering and shouting orders, but beyond that he's usually lost. So just grit your teeth and smile back at the cheerful little swine. Feel free to throw things. I always do.'
'Don't mind the Goat,' said Bruin Bear. 'He's just being himself.'
'And I hate all these bright bloody colors,' muttered the Sea Goat. 'Makes me want to puke.'
After a civilized little get-together in the Captain's cabin, at which the Sea Goat disgraced himself by drinking sherry straight from the bottle and not knowing what a napkin was, Halloweenie showed the passengers to their cabins and left them to settle in. According to the rough map the Bear had provided, the trip down the River was clearly going to take several days, and in the light of that the humans weren't all that impressed by the accommodations. The cabins were bright and cheerful, like everything else on this children's world, but the rooms held only a hammock, a bookcase full of children's classics, a freezer full of soft drinks and sweeties, and a washbasin. The humans all but simultaneously went looking for the galley and a stiff drink, not necessarily in that order. Booze turned out to be in very short supply. There was supposed to be sherry for the cooking, and brandy for medical emergencies, but the Captain had already appropriated both for himself. Exactly what kind of buzz an automaton could get from alcohol remained something of a mystery. Luckily there was still plenty of food. Some of the tins were still within their sell-by dates.
The passengers reconvened on deck to watch the crew cast off. This was even less exciting than it sounded, since it consisted of the Captain yelling orders, and Halloweenie throwing a rope overboard, but already the humans could feel boredom creeping up on them. The great paddle wheels of the Merry Mrs. Trusspot turned slowly, and her whistle sounded loudly on the still evening. The day was almost done, and stars were coming out in the darkening sky. The stars had five perfect points, and were arranged to form the shapes of popular children's characters. The full moon wore a long floppy nightcap.
The paddle steamer slowly picked up speed, the dark liquid of the River churning around her bow. She rounded a curve in the River, and there on the bank was the whole of Toystown, come to see the humans off and cheer them on their way. They clapped and laughed and shouted encouragement, jostling each other cheerfully for a better view. Poogie the Friendly Critter and Anything, who'd turned up at the very last moment, stood together by the rail, a little away from the humans, and stared glumly back at the crowd. Bruin Bear and the Sea Goat laughed and waved, the Goat responding surprisingly amiably to the occasional catcall. The humans waved back at the huge crowd, a little self-consciously at first, and then more easily as they got into the good cheer and excitement of the moment. Someone set off fireworks, spattering rich reds and greens and yellows against the falling night. The Merry Mrs. Trusspot tooted her whistle again and again, and so the great voyage began.
Not long after, when they'd left the crowd behind and silence had returned to the evening, the humans remained by the guardrail, watching the dark River flow past. The land was already disappearing into the growing dark. Strings of bright paper lanterns illuminated the deck. Toby sighed loudly.
'Take a good look, people. After a while, this is going to seem exciting. I mean, the ship's very nice, and all that, but there's nothing to flaming do! Unless you want to play children's games. There's plenty of those. I can't believe people really paid through the nose for this. I'd be bored out of my mind inside twenty-four hours. I can only assume all the customers were heavily drugged on arrival, and kept that way till they left, and I wouldn't object to some now. God, I'm bored!'
'Make the most of it,' said Giles. 'You don't really think we're going to follow the River all the way to Harker unopposed, do you? There are any number of people, or toys, with a vested interest in seeing we don't get that far.'
The humans looked casually about them. The toys were all in the main stateroom, chatting together, leaving the humans alone. The humans kept their voices down anyway. You never knew who might be listening.
'Of course there'll be opposition,' said Julian. He looked pale, but back in control. 'The bad toys are still out there, looking for humans to kill. But they'll have a job getting to us on here. And we've got guns. We should be able to hold them off easily enough.'
'It's not that simple,' said Giles. 'Forget about good toys and bad toys. We can't trust anything we meet on this planet. They're a new form of intelligence, and we have no idea what kind of needs and motivations really drive them. They're not human, and though they ape human emotions and attitudes, there's no guarantee they actually feel any of them. We can't trust them an inch.'
'They're trying to be human,' said Evangeline. 'We have to encourage that. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the consciousness and soul of a new form of artificial intelligence. We can't turn our backs on them. We created them. They're our responsibility.'
'Shub created them,' said Toby. 'Who knows what hidden commands could be lurking deep inside their new awareness?'
'They broke their Shub programming,' said Flynn. 'Or at least, the good toys did. Otherwise, we'd all be dead by now.'
'All right,' said Giles. 'Let's talk about Harker. The bad toys want him dead because he's human. The good toys want him dead or removed, because they see him as a danger. And the toys he's gathered around him will presumably do anything they can to stop us taking him. But what does he want? Will he fight to stay, or fight to go? What's he really up to, hiding in the Forest at the end of the River?'
'He's supposed to be gathering good and bad toys,' said Evangeline. 'If that's true, it's the only place on this planet where good and bad toys are living together. Why don't the bad toys kill him? He's just a human, after all. I wonder what he says to the toys that binds them to him so strongly? And what is he doing with them? What does he want them for?'
'The good toys are trying to hide it, but they were scared shitless of him,' said Toby. 'Whoever they send into the Forest to find some answers, no matter how trusted or loyal, never comes back. They stay with Harker. I think in Toystown they're afraid of the control Harker seems to have over toys. Perhaps the same kind of control humans had over all toys, before they became aware.'
'No wonder they're scared,' said Julian. 'But then, why weren't they scared of us? We're humans, just like Harker.'
'Good question,' said Finlay. 'Perhaps they're just hiding it, because they need us to deal with Harker. They
