Inside the Institute, Hank carried Dory in the coffeepot down an empty cinder¹ 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 chatter², 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 grimaced³. 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 curtly⁴. 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 doorway⁵ 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 octopus⁶?" he said into the receiver. As he leaned back in the chair, the staffer looked directly at Hank and Dory! But Hank had instantly camouflaged⁷, 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 camouflage⁸.

"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 tentacle⁹ 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 chuckled¹⁰ 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 giggle¹¹. "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 tentacles¹² 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 sardonically¹³.

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 spotted¹⁴ the slime trail. "Ugh," she groaned¹⁵. "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 gasped¹⁶ 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 nervously¹⁷.

"Seriously. It says ‘Destiny,' and it is."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Hank protested.

"We've gotta get in that bucket," Dory said defiantly¹⁸.

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 bellies¹⁹ 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 timing²⁰ was off! He missed the bucket and smacked²¹ 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 poked²² 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 plunged²³ into a giant pool.

 

在研究所里，汉克托着装在咖啡壶里的多莉，正沿着一条空旷的炉渣砖走廊爬着。“汉克，碰见你可真开心，”多莉轻声道，“就好像是……命中注定。”

“嘘，”汉克不悦道，“说了几百万遍了，这不是命中注定。”

“我刚才说了‘命中注定’吗？”多莉问。“对不起。我想我可能太紧张了，因为我马上就要见到我的父母了。我已经有……我甚至都不知道有多久没见过他们了，因为，唔，要知道，我有——”

“短时记忆丧失症！”汉克打断她道。他已经听厌了多莉这样不停地重复啰唆。“喂，别再说了，好不好？我不喜欢说话。我也不喜欢闲聊，问东问西，还有——”汉克装腔作势道，“‘你好吗？‘啊，我很好。你好吗？’‘啊，我也很好。’事实上呢：谁也不好！”

远处传来一阵电话铃响，他们听到一个声音应道：“啊，我很好。你好吗？”

汉克扮了个鬼脸。这对话他已经听到了无数次——可他根本不相信。他在拐角窥视了一下，看见有个员工正在桌旁打电话。

多莉朝外望向走廊里面。“汉克，看啊！”她说。一张镶框的研究所地图正挂在员工办公室对面的墙上。“那里有张地图！”

“嘘。计划就是，你去看地图，找到你父母的所在位置，”汉克说，“然后我乘货车去克利夫兰市。明白了吗？”

“明白，”多莉说，“第一步是什么来着？”

“就是看地图，”汉克敷衍地说。他悄悄地朝地图爬去，举起多莉，好让她看得更清楚些。

“瞧瞧这所有的展厅，”她深有感触道，“这园区真能一天走完吗？开玩笑。”

“快选一个。”汉克低声道，怒不可遏。

多莉扫视着地图，这时，那位员工坐着椅子转向了办公室大门，并叹了口气。他还在打电话，显然有些生气了。

“说真的，杰莉，我真不敢相信我竟然说服了妈妈雇用了你。一只章鱼到底有多难找？”他冲着听筒说道。这名员工往椅背上一靠，正好直视汉克和多莉！不过汉克立刻伪装起来，他举着咖啡壶，摆弄得多莉好似地图里的某个图案。他丝毫不知道有些东西不在原来的地方！

“当然了，我可没瞧见他，”这名员工继续说道，“要是让我找，我肯定能找到他……”然后他转动椅子，背朝桌子，转换了视野。

汉克解除了伪装，重重地叹了口气。

“汉克！你在这里啊。”多莉说。

“快点！”汉克低声说道。

多莉看着地图。“也许他们住在儿童体验区！那里是我居住的地方。”

“不，不想碰到儿童！”汉克叫道，“小孩子都乱抓东西，我可不想为了你再弄丢一只触角！”

“你少了只触角？”多莉问道。“啊，那么，你就不是八爪鱼了，是七爪鱼。虽然我可能会忘事，但我会数数。”

“快点！”汉克再次说道。他渐渐没了耐心。

多莉接着查看地图，当她看到一张紫色贝壳的图片时停了下来。“嘿，看啊，贝壳。”多莉说。

突然间，另一段记忆闪入了她的脑海之中！

多莉看见小时候的自己正和父母在沙地里四处张望。

“嘿，看啊，贝壳！”小多莉说。“爸爸，给你一个贝壳！”

“真棒，多莉！”查理说。“你又找到了一个。”

“我又找到了？”

“是的，你又找到了，”珍妮说，“你越来越擅长这个了。”

小多莉望着父亲将贝壳一线铺开，一直延伸到了他们的珊瑚屋门口。

“嘿，看啊，贝壳。”多莉又说道。

小多莉沿着贝壳小路游向家门口时，珍妮咯咯地笑了起来。“嘿，我就住在这里。”她说。

“是的——确实是的。”查理说。

“我喜欢贝壳。”多莉说。

“没错，亲爱的，”珍妮吃吃地笑着说道，“你觉得你能再为我找一个贝壳吗？我最喜欢紫色的。”

小多莉在院子里四处张望，发现一个紫色的贝壳就在草地的栅栏边上。“妈咪，看啊！紫色的贝壳！”说着她游向了栅栏。

接着记忆里的影像颤动模糊起来。就这样，多莉回过了神。

“紫色贝壳！紫色贝——”多莉停顿一会儿，上气不接下气。“汉克，我家有紫色的贝壳！”她激动地说道。

“那又怎样？这里半数的展厅都有紫色贝壳。”

“不，不——你不明白！我现在想起她了！紫色贝壳是她的最爱！还有她迷人的咯咯笑声。我的爸爸也非常和蔼可亲。”多莉说。

突然，他们听见走廊里传来了嗒嗒的脚步声。有人来了！

“现在你那离奇古怪的记忆要害得我们被逮住了，”汉 克说。

汉克七爪齐用，快速爬过地板，匆匆地向走廊奔去。他灵机一动，藏在了一扇门后。接着一位拿着水桶的员工出现，径直朝他们走来！

“还觉得这是命中注定吗？”哈克低声挖苦道。

多莉还没来得及回答，那名员工就穿过了这扇门！汉克尖叫着滑了出去。那名员工走到楼梯底下，发现了黏液的痕迹。“呃，”她叹道，“那只章鱼又跑出来了？好吧，你在哪里呢？”她放下水桶，四处张望起来。

汉克又施展起伪装术，缠在楼梯扶手上隐遁起来。“瞧你干的好事？”他轻声斥责多莉，“真是再糟糕不过了！”

多莉被那名员工的水桶给吸引住了目光，她屏气凝神，看着上面印的文字：运儿！那名员工还在搜寻汉克时，多莉想出了一个点子。“汉克！我有一种感觉。我觉得我们应该到那个水桶里面去。”

“不行，别动，”汉克紧张地低语道。

“不是开玩笑。上面写着‘运儿’，确实是的。”

“不，不，不，不，不！”汉克抗议道。

“我们得到那个水桶里面去。”多莉反驳道。

汉克断然回绝，可多莉却执意坚持。

“你不可以跳进那个水桶里！”汉克警告道。

多莉做好起跳准备。汉克试图阻止她，可她不理睬他，弄翻咖啡壶滑了下去，安全地落进了她的目的地。“运儿”。

多莉游在了几十条漂浮着的银鱼之中。“嗨，各位？”多莉说。“我正在寻找我的家人。”这些鱼腹部朝上，死气沉沉。“啊，好主意，”多莉说，“玩装死游戏。”

那名员工没能找到汉克，最终放弃了。她叹了口气，拎起水桶，动身走了。

多莉随着员工走动的步伐在水里荡来荡去。“嗨，你们可真厉害。我得眨眼睛了，”多莉对银鱼说道，“你们怎么能那么长时间都不眨眼啊？”

汉克惶恐万分，望着那名员工走开，他立刻起身赶上。可是那名员工走得太快，他还是没能跟上。他快速地打量了一下周边，看看有没有别的途径。他卷起触角缠住天花板上的一根管子，然后在空中猛地一推——从一根管子荡向另一根管子——弥补失去的时间。那名员工走到门口之时，他起身朝着那鱼饵桶一跳。然而，他错过了时机，一头撞在了员工随手关住的门上。

水桶里面，多莉还在不停地跟漂浮在周围的鱼儿们说话。“嗨，各位？”

可那些鱼儿却只是死气沉沉地上下浮动。她戳了戳其中一条，然后意识到事情不妙。“等等——”可没等她想明白，那名员工的手便伸进水桶，连着多莉抓起了大把漂浮的鱼——然后将他们抛向了空中！多莉尖叫着落进了一个巨大的水池之中。

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