-
Alan tried not to flinch as the medic took a cloth and dabbed it at his cut. It didn’t sting, just felt weird at first before the cool energy came in contact with the wound. The odd feeling turned to a soothing one and little itchy. Itchy meant that it was healing.
“I never gotten a chance to heal a User before,” the medic said. “I’m not sure how this is reacting to your structure.”
“Reacting quite well,” Alan assured her. “I believe it is speeding up the healing process.”
“That’s great,” the medic said and poured more of the energy from her canteen into a glass. “This should also help.” She handed it to him.
“Thank you,” Alan said and took a sip from his drink. Once again he felt great, more than great he actually felt pumped.
“Stuff in a glass tastes great,” Kevin said. “Best is when it comes from a spring.”
“I have to agree with you,” Alan said and took another drink.
“Pardon?” The medic stared at him. “I didn’t say anything for you to agree with.”
“You can’t hear him?” Alan asked.
“She can’t,” Kevin said.
“I don’t hear anything.” She stared at Alan as if there was something wrong with him for a second before she smiled. “Must be a User thing.” She took a few steps away. “I hope you don’t mind, but I have to go and check my supplies, make certain there is enough energy.”
“Don’t need to apologize for doing your job,” Alan said. He turned to the direction where he heard Kevin’s voice. “What do you mean she couldn’t hear you?”
“It’s as I said. She couldn’t hear me.”
“Do you switch off and on who can hear you and who can’t?” Alan asked.
“Wished it could be that simple. Only Users can hear me.”
“Quorra can hear you,” Alan said. “Tron can certainly hear you as well.”
“Quorra is not like the other programs,” Kevin explained. “She was not created by a User. She rose out of the Sea of Simulation, just like the other ISO’s.”
“ISO,” Alan repeated. He had heard that term before. Tron had called Quorra that when they were about to escape on the Solar Sailer.
“Remember that night I came to your house?” Kevin asked. “It was a few days before I was trapped in my Grid.”
“I remember.” Alan was never going to forget that night.
-
Jet had a stomach flu and Lora was with him in the bedroom while Alan was preparing some medicine. The sound of fists drumming at the door caused him to stop.
“I’ve cracked it,” Flynn greeted him. “I have cracked it.”
“Flynn,” Alan had greeted his friend. “I have a bit of a family situation here.”
“I’m sorry but this is big,” Flynn said. He was excited about something. “Everything is going to change.”
“You can tell me this scientific break through another time.” He did not have time to deal with one of Flynn’s crazy ideas. “Jet is sick.”
“Oh.” Flynn’s smile faded. “I might be able to help with that.”
“How with another one of your absurd stories?” Alan asked in a clipped tone.
“No, something has changed. A miracle has happened. Everything is going to be changed. How we perceive science, religion, and medicine. I’ve even got the quantum teleportation thing down. I have cracked it man.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Isometric algorithms. Special programs that are free willed and think for themselves.”
“That is a great idea.” Alan had enough but he paused to think about it. “Actually that is a bad idea. Isn’t that what the MCP?”
“He was created by a User, humans. These just were created.”
“Not now.”
“You still have that pager? Keep it all the time, sleep with it if you have to.”
“We’ll talk about it more at work,” Alan said. “Go home to your son. I have to take care of mine.” He closed the door and returned to treating Jet.
-
“I was short with you,” Alan said. He remembered how the guilt tore into him after Kevin had disappeared.
“You had a sick little boy to worry about,” Kevin said. “And you can never be short with me. You stand a few inches taller than me.”
Alan had to smile at that. “You are saying that Quorra is one of these free willed programs?”
“Created by the Sea of Simulation,” Kevin continued. “So curious about everything and they enjoy learning. Now I have no idea if it’s just ISOs that have been outside to the Real World or ISOs in general.”
“Tron is not an ISO.”
“No he isn’t. He’s the best program you have designed.”
“Then how can he hear you?”
“When I died several pieces of me flew across my Grid. One of those pieces flew into Tron.”
“Part of you is part of him now.”
“Exactly and we have company.”
Alan turned around to see that Janelle was standing in front of them with a curious expression on her face. She had her disk in her hands.
“Is something wrong?” Alan asked.
“Could you look at the data on this?” Janelle asked.
“What’s wrong with your disk?” Kevin asked.
“Nothing, but there is something I need to know,” Janelle answered. “I think it will explain why I am no longer floating or going through objects, why I can feel, why all my senses are working. I just need to know.”
“Sure,” Alan took her disk from her. “Not sure what I’ll find.” He ran his finger over the disk until was able to see the readings and information on her. Janelle’s disk was different from Tron’s for obvious reasons. Alan was certain that every disk was different, each unique in their own way, like fingerprints.
“Interesting,” Kevin said. He was also looking. “Uh sorry. I know how you hate it when someone looks over your shoulder at the monitor.”
“Not for this,” Alan said. “I may need your help.” The Disk covered Janelle’s stats and her history of her time in the ENCOM cyberspace. There was also some thing else. Code that he wasn’t certain he was reading right. He saw lists of various elements and where they were combined.
“Cell structure,” Janelle said as she looked at some of the data. “Protein chains.”
“DNA,” Kevin added. “Blood, tissue everything biological.”
“Didn’t see any of this in Tron’s when I looked at it,” Alan said. “But that is because he isn’t a User.”
“A living User,” Kevin added.
“Can’t be,” Janelle said and shook her head. “Tron said that I might have a new body, but that’s impossible.” She was breathing so hard. Alan was afraid she was going to hyperventilate.
“She’s breathing.”
“Hyperventilate,” Alan said out loud. “Janelle relax your breathing.”
“I’m breathing,” Janelle said as she took another breath, this time slower and deeper than before. She sat down, propped her elbows onto her knees and placed her head on her palms as she took in more slow deep breaths.
“This is, this is…”Alan couldn’t form the words. He could barely think them. He reached out to Janelle’s hand and placed a finger on her wrist and pressed. There was no mistaking that soft vibration that he felt.
“Is it?” She looked up at him.
“A pulse? Yes it is.”
“She’s alive,” Kevin said in equally astonished tone.
“I’m alive,” Janelle gasped as she stared at her hands. “How.”
“I don’t know,” Alan said and turned to where he thought Kevin was. “How is this possible?”
“I don’t know, man.”
“You have to know something.”
“The only thing I can think of is Tron. He fell into the sea. It restored him and some of it was still with him. But the sea was poisoned by Clu, unless it’s the combination of the sea and my data. Something happened when Janelle’s spirit became digitized. The system grabbed her tried to turn her into digital data like it does with living Users, but it could only solidify her half way.”
“Tron gave me that disk,” Janelle said. “When I came into contact with it I felt several shocks. He said something jumped from his hand to the disk. I guess that fully solidified me.”
“Not just the disk,” Kevin said. “That transference of Energy. Tron might have done in on purpose, or it might have just happened naturally, but it happened.”
“This is a miracle,” Alan said.
“Cyberspace is full of them.”
“I’m alive,” Janelle said. “I’m alive again.” She hugged herself.
“Welcome back,” Alan said before he felt himself pulled down into a embrace. He hugged back.
“I have to hug everyone,” Janelle said. “Going to be hard to hug you, Mr. Flynn.”
“It’s all right,” Kevin said. “Just stop with the Mister. Call me Kevin, or just Flynn.”
“All right then, Flynn.”
“Flynn is here?” the program named Ram asked and ran up to him. “Where is he? I was told he was derezzed.”
“His body has,” Janelle said. “Not his spirit.”
“You can give Ram a hug for me,” Kevin said.
“He wants me to hug you,” Janelle said to Ram.
“He does,” Alan said. “We can hear him.”
“Ah sure.” Ram held out his arms and accepted the hug from Janelle. “Not that I mind, but why are we hugging?”
“I’m alive.”
“Yes you are,” Ram said and looked at Alan in a look that was asking if Janelle was right in the head.
“I wasn’t. It’s a long story.”
“I would love to hear it,” Ram said. “Got plenty of time.”
“Why aren’t you with Tron and Yori?” Alan asked.
“They wanted to be alone,” his voice grew slightly lower. “Together.”
“The two lovers have been reunited,” Janelle gasped. She had a dreamy look on her face.
“They used to be together,” Ram said in a dejected tone. “Many cycles ago.”
“According to the stories they were. It’s like a fairytale come true again.”
Alan noticed the way Ram was frowning. Was the other program jealous?
“Fairy tales are just that,” Alan said. “Fictional stories, nothing is set in stone, or silicon.”
“But their love is eternal,” Janelle said. “It just has to be.” She ran off. “I’ll tell Tron the good news later. I’ll tell Sam and Quorra first.”
“I wonder if she will give them hugs,” Ram said as he watched her.
“Probably.” Alan turned to the Program. “Is there something you’d like to talk about.”
“No,” Ram shook his head. “I’ll be fine.” He walked off.
Alan had no idea what that was about, but he didn’t let his mind linger on that. He was still reeling with the news that Janelle was alive again.
-
Tron enjoyed spending time with his old friends. He listened to how Yori functioned in the ENCOM server and how Ram made his way back, or this version of Ram. He was not the same, not exactly. There only a few things that were different, such as the look Ram had cast Tron when Yori dragged him off.
“Where are we going?” Tron asked as they approached an area made up of several cones.
“My quarters are in the corrupted area,” Yori explained as she led him to one of the cones. “I had to set up a small tent for some down time.”
“Ah that would make sense.” He studied the appearance of the cone. It was dark silver instead of black and had rings of soft blue-white light surrounding it. “It does look nice.”
“It looks just like the others on the outside.” She took one step inside. “Come on.”
He cast one look around before he stepped inside.
The tent was illuminated by soft glow from floating spheres. The floor was soft lavender and the walls were blue-silver. There was a black sofa near the back of the cone, from him with a small round table in front of it. In the middle of the floor was a small flat bed. There were what appeared to be two Media Players, but only one of the rectangles was illuminated.
“You have some form of entertainment here,” Tron said as he pointed to them.
“One is for music,” Yori explained as she pointed at the non-lit up one. “The other is for holographic projections.”
“What do you use them for?” Tron asked and remembered how she had her old living quarters set up. “Do you use them to decorate the place?”
“Sometimes,” Yori explained as she pressed the buttons on the one that was lit up. “And on me and of course you.” A soft white glow formed around her.
Tron looked at his arms as the same kind of glow formed around him. He continued to watch until the glow diminished. His armor had turned white and covered with several thin blue glowing circuitry.
“Remember?” Yori asked. She was also dressed in the same white and blue armory with leggings.
“This was how we used to look like.” His armor changed when he crossed over into Flynn’s grid. “Flynn was the reason why my look changed. How did yours and the others change?”
“Several system upgrades changed they system. The Users changed their machines on the outside that enabled to us the run things faster and more powerful and hence our appearance changed.” She smiled as she approached him. “Do you like the new me or the old me better?”
“I like both.”
Her smile faded. “I have something to tell you. I am certain you are not going to like hearing this.”
Tron braced himself for the worse. “I also have a lot to tell you.”
“So do I.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “You have been gone so long, so many megacycles. I started to lose hope in ever seeing you again.”
“I have a long story.” He had to tell her everything, from being defeated and repurposed by Clu, to when he became himself again and his recent adventure, how he found the ghostly User. He couldn’t stop thinking about when they first met to when he thought he lost her, to when they were on the Sailer and when they danced. Wait, what was he thinking?
“I know you can explain it all,” Yori continued. “But right now I have to tell you that everyone had thought you had been derezzed. Even I eventually excepted that idea to be the truth.”
“What are you saying?”
“Whoa,” Sam’s voice was heard outside the cone. He was looking in the tent with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“I told you not to peek on them,” Janelle was with him.
“I don’t think they were doing anything,” Sam told her.
“Then why the whoa?” Janelle asked and looked in. “Ah. That’s what my doll looked like.”
“Yeah,” Sam said.
“Your father wore similar suit and armor when he first arrived in our world,” Yori explained.
“Ah.” Sam smacked his lips as he looked them up and down. “No offense but I prefer this black ensemble.”
“Same,” Janelle said. “I’m sorry if we were interrupting anything. I told Sam to let you have your alone time.”
“This is amazing.” Sam said as he held up hands. “Janelle is alive.”
“Really?” Tron gasped as he stared at her. He turned back to Yori. “She was derezzed in the Real World for a while.”
“I drowned,” Janelle further explained.
“Her spirit was digitized and somehow she is back alive again.” He turned around to face the Users again. “How is this possible?”
“Flynn thinks it’s something to do with both the laser and how you had a little magic sea water in you that transferred over to me when you gave me my disk.”
“I’m pretty sure Alan can explain it better,” Sam said as he leaned with his back against the side of the entrance. “How did you do all of this?”
“Like this,” Yori said as she pressed a few buttons. Her body and Tron’s were illuminated again. When the glow was gone she was no longer wearing her armor but a bright red dress and her hair was down and flowing.
“You look lovely,” Tron said and looked down at himself. He was dressed in black, well mostly. There was a large white section on his chest and a band of red around his waist. His collar lights were replaced with a red cloth hour glass lying on it’s side. “I look ridiculous.”
“No you don’t,” Yori said.
“Programs clean up nice,” Janelle said as she looked Tron up and down with a pleased look on her face.
“It’s Tron, James Tron,” Sam said and walked over to Yori. “How does this work?”
“Like this,” Yori said and pressed a few buttons until Sam was dressed in a similar outfit that Tron was wearing.
“You have to wear that for Quorra,” Janelle said.
“And for you, Janelle.” Yori said as she pushed more buttons.
Janelle’s outfit was replaced with a white gown and white shoes. She was gorgeous in that outfit. She seemed otherworldly and not just because she was a User that was once a ghost.
“Not sure if I like the all white,” Sam said and fiddled around with the box until a red jacket appeared on Janelle. “Wait a minute.” He smiled and pressed a few more buttons. A white hat appeared on Janelle’s head and her hair was styled in pigtails. “This is kind of fun.”
“Oh,” Janelle looked at herself. “I look like that Nurse from that Silent Hill game.”
“Sounds like a calm and relaxing game,” Yori commented.
“It’s anything but,” Sam said. “Imagine everything that can and would frighten you concentrated in video game form.” He rubbed his head. “I hope somebody doesn’t upload a pyramid head type of program in here.”
“What about those things from Resident Evil?” Janelle asked.
“Or the zombies from Left 4 Dead,” Sam continued. “Oh, wait that came out after your death.”
“I heard about it. Several employees at ENCOM play the game and they talk about it. Good thing there are no witches or smokers here.”
“Yeah this place is a pretty bit of a mess right now,” Sam said as a mischievous grin appeared on his face. “This place has about ninety nine problems-“
“But a witch aint one of them.” Janelle finished along with him.
Tron looked at Yori who seemed to be just as confused. “I think that’s a User thing.”
“Ah,” Yori said and nodded. “We still have to talk.”
“Everyone, everyone, everyone,” someone on the outside of the tent shouted. “We are in big trouble.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
“Security has been breached.”
-