-
Tron stared at the Recognizer as it made it’s decent. His first instinct was to go for his disks but they still had time. There was the possibility they could still run and get away. They were in a glitch patch that would provide good coverage for them.
“Run,” he shouted to his friends. “We need to separate.”
“Great idea,” Dean said and ran several feet and stopped. “Why the hell are we rising?”
“User burn it.” Tron noticed that they were getting higher. The Recognizer was using it’s ability to alter the terrain so they would come to them. “Looks like we fight then.” His disks instantly found their way to his hands. He stared at the aircraft. This one had two levels.
Dean removed his own disk from his back and glanced at Gabriel. “What are you doing? Get your slingshot and disk ready.”
“Number one I don’t have a disk,” Gabriel said. He hadn’t moved since the Recognizer had located them. Tron had thought the angel was crippled with fear at first. “And number two I’m waiting.”
“Waiting? What could you possibly be waiting for?”
The glow of the Recognizer’s circuitry dimmed to a near blackness before it flickered back with a bright blue glow then flickered back to orange-red.
“That,” Gabriel said as he smiled and pointed at the aircraft. “We are here.” He waved his hands at them. “Knew they would find us.”
Dean slapped him against the back of the head “Backstabbing little son of a bitch.” He didn’t wait for Gabriel to finish toppling over. He grabbed him by the back of his neck. “I should have known better to trust you.”
“Relax, Winchester,” Gabriel said as he struggled to get out of Dean’s hands. “It’s not what you think.”
“What do you mean?” Tron asked. He had no idea if he could trust Gabriel when they first met. He was an angel like Castiel but Dean had reservations about following him and now it seemed that Gabriel had betrayed them.
The platform of the Recognizer had lowered to the level of the raised land, but instead of sentries that served Luduserus the group of programs did not wear any helmets. Some of the programs had black and some wore pale gray but all of their circuitry was glowing blue. Most of the crew were male, but there were two females. One had dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail and smiled at Dean’s direction and the other…
Tron felt his disks slip out of his hands before he lost all feeling in his fingers. His circuitry blazed brighter as he swallowed. Was he seeing what he believed he was seeing? Was it her? Please Alan-one, let her be real.
“Tron?” Her voice came out in a whisper as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing either.
“Yori.” He felt his hand’s shake as he said her name. He forced his feet to move towards her direction.
“Tron, it is you.” She met him half way and threw her arms around him.
“Yori, it’s been long, too long,” he embraced her back.
“I knew this cycle would come,” Yori said. She had changed since the last time he saw her but the would recognize her beautiful eyes, lovely and graceful figure and radiant smile anywhere.
“I never stopped believing we would be together again, even with-“ He stopped himself. He wasn’t ready to tell her about the events in Flynn’s Grid that turned him into Rinzler. “Even with everything that went on.”
“You can tell us on the way to the web port,” Yori explained. She stared into his eyes for a split nano and pulled his head down to hers.
Tron closed his eyes when their lips met and felt energy, positive and pure energy radiate through out his whole body from her kiss. He accessed his memory files of the first time their lips had met and the last time.
“I’ll never get tired of that.” He said as he ran his fingers through her golden blond hair that now hung freely. The Users had upgraded the system since he been here and Yori also received such upgrades, indicating the change in her appearance. Her suit was now dark gray and her glowing blue circuitry was thicker and there was less of it than before, but there was still that one triangle on her chest.
“No,” Dean’s firm dismissal brought Tron’s focus back to his friend. “I am not getting on that.”
“Please, Dean,” the other female program said. She had stepped off the platform and was trying to convince Dean to get on. “We have to get out of here.”
“Not on that.” The User shook his head.
“Don’t have much choice there, bucko,” Gabriel said.
“Don’t you guys have anything else?” Dean asked. “Like a light van, or a light bus?”
“You are not going to make this easy.” Gabriel covered his eyes with his hand. “Okay, you leave me with no choice.” He planted the end of his tail on the ground and pushed himself up until he could see eye to eye with Dean. He placed two finger’s on Dean’s forehead.
Dean closed his eyes and collapsed on the ground.
“Dean,” Tron gasped and ran towards his friend.
“What did you do to him, sprite?” the other female program said as she crouched down next to Dean.
“I put him under for a little bit,” Gabriel explained. “He won’t come aboard willingly due to his phobia.”
“Phobia?” The female asked.
“Intense fear,” Gabriel explained as he tried to lift Dean up. “He hates to fly.”
“Let me help.” Tron wrapped his arms around Dean’s mid section and hefted him up the female program grabbed his legs.
“Don’t forget your disks,” Gabriel reminded him.
“I have them,” Yori said as she held up Tron’s dual disks.
They carried Dean aboard and set him down as the platform rose. The brunette female sat down next to the User.
“Will he be all right?” She asked.
“He’s just napping,” Gabriel explained and turned to one of the other programs. “Hey Jolt, hear anything about Slash?”
“We came across him a couple of microcyles ago,” Jolt answered. “He and the three Users that were with him left through the web port already.”
“That’s a relief,” Tron said as he kept looking at Dean. He was worried about the other three Users. He felt Yori grabbed his hand and he turned to her.
“Who is your friend?” Yori asked.
“This is Dean,” Tron said. “He and his brother and Castiel helped me in the User world.”
“You were in the User world?” Yori gasped.
“It’s amazing,” Tron told her. “Their sun is warm and breezes are cool and refreshing. I got to wear their clothes, sleep in a User bed and I’ve tried their food.” He closed his eyes. “You would not believe how delicious it is. They have so many kinds of food with different tastes and flavors and pie.” He held up his hand and imagined he was holding a slice of pie. “It’s got this shell that’s flaky but also tender, but not too tender and it’s filled with slices of fruit that is warm and sweet. I wish I had a slice right now to give to you.”
“Oh yeah, you have been hanging out with Dean,” Gabriel said as he placed his hands behind his head. “Maybe a little too long. A lot of what’s in the User world look and feels and smells like what’s in those glitch patches.”
“But they don’t have stars,” Tron said as he remembered looking up at the beautiful sparkling flecks of light in the sky. “They are beautiful and look tiny but that is because of the great distance between them and where we stood. They shimmer like the flecks of light that form on us when we are close. It is hard to compare their beauty to anything except you, Yori, except you are far more beautiful than them.”
“Tron,” she whispered his name and ran her fingers under his jaw.
“The distance between me and the stars was like the distance between us.” He grabbed her hand. “You are my star. My shining light of hope.”
“My big strong security program.” She smiled at him before she pulled him close for another kiss.
“Look at them,” the other female program said. “This is the best rescue by far.”
“Rescue?” Dean moaned out. “We got rescued?”
“Dean?” Tron kneeled down next to his friend. “How do you feel?”
“Well rested,” Dean said as he sat up. “Where are we?” He looked at all the programs that were with them. “We’re in that damn Recognizer.”
“I’m sorry,” the other female said. “I’ll try and help make this the most comfortable for you.”
“Thanks, Lia.” Dean smiled at her. “I knew you weren’t with Kruz, Nyrii and the rest.”
“They think I’m just some minor utility program assisting the players prepare for the games,” Lia said. “As long as they think that, I still can function as a spy.”
“Gotta love our inside girl,” Gabriel said.
“Gabe,” Dean growled his name. “I’d invest in a steel plated cup if I were you.” He looked up at Tron and Lia. “Were are we going?”
“We are going to have to rest for a few microcycles, “Lia said. “The Recognizer needs to recharge.”
“I think I’ll wait onboard while that happens,” Dean said. “Cause if I get off I won’t get back on.”
-
Sam had only half acknowledged Alan Bradley’s remark. His eyes were on the floor numbers as their elevator car went down. He ignored the small flat screen displaying CNN. His fingers grew tighter around his rifle
“Sam,” Bradley spoke.
“Yes?” Both Sam’s answered.
“Sam Flynn,” Bradley said as he nodded the young CEO. “Best if we just address you by your last names for now.”
“Good idea,” Flynn said.
“Are you sure the laser lab is empty?” Bradley asked.
“Positive,” Flynn said.
“Perfect. Now I want to know what the hell is going on and I want to know from the beginning, including everything you have already told me.”
Flynn closed his eyes and inhaled. “It started before I was born. This was when you and my father defeated the MCP and found evidence that Dillinger Sr. stole from him.”
“I remember that night,” Bradley said. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that night.”
“While my father was in the lab the Master Control Program activated the digitizing laser and digitized my father.”
“Voroziel,” Cas said.
“What?” Flynn looked at him.
“I shouldn’t have interrupted,” the angel said. “Continue.”
“The laser kind of acted as a portal,” Sam Flynn continued. “In digitizing himself he brought him inside the computer. He was able to move along the circuits and he interacted with the programs, including Tron.”
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Sam saw the slick white and very clean floor and several metal cabinets, computers and other equipment.
“This is the lab,” Bradley said and motioned for them to get out. “Sa—Flynn please continue.”
“He talked with and befriended some the programs,” Flynn said as the five of them left the elevator. “He, Tron, and Lora’s program, Yori were able to destroy MCP. My father jumped into its core. It was enough to distract it so Tron could get the new code you gave him and put it into the program.”
“Your father told me this,” Bradley said as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. “He kept on insisting that the programs looked like us, talked like us and even were able to act like us.” He paused to catch his breath. “I believed him at the time. A part of me had wanted to believe him.”
“They look like humans,” Flynn continued. “My dad said Tron looked like you.”
“And sounds like you,” Sam added. “He also favored cinnamon donuts.”
Alan grinned for a few seconds. “You were saying he was out here, and he ate our food?”
“I eat the User food,” Quorra said. She took a step back when she realized that Sam and probably everyone else in the room was looking at her.
“You’re a program?” Sam asked.
“I was.” She glanced over at Flynn. “Now I’m human.”
“They can become human?” Sam blinked and turned to Cas who just stared at them back.
“Not long after Dad became CEO he created his own little computer world,” Flynn explained as they walked across a series of metal catwalks and more technical equipment an up a few flights of stairs. “He brought in Tron and tried to make it as close to the world inside the ENCOM system as possible, as well as our world. It even had a sea of simulation.” He pointed at Quorra. “Then special programs were born in that sea. Isometric Algorithms or just ISOs for short. The other programs were either brought over or written by dad but the sea created the ISOs.”
“The creations creation have now created,” Cas said.
“You can say that,” Flynn said.
“Your father told me about that as did you a week ago.” Alan said. “One program that did look like him took over this Grid of his.”
Flynn closed his eyes and inhaled. “Clu’s pursuit of my father caused the portal to close and he was trapped there. This rouge program was a ruthless dictator. He killed all of the ISOs except for one.” He glanced at Quorra.
“What happened to Tron?” Alan asked. “He wouldn’t have let this happen.”
Quorra and Flynn shared a glance before the young CEO turned to them. “Clu captured him and repurposed him into his own personal enforcer.”
“But he’s no longer that enforcer,” Sam said as the walked up to a small terminal. “He’s been helping us and we’ve been showing him the world.”
“How does he like it?” Alan asked.
“I think he enjoys it,” Sam said. “Or what he got to see of it. He liked all of the food he tried and he was pleased with the clothes we bought him. He enjoyed watching the sunset. He got to see an armadillo.”
“I love armadillos,” Quorra said. “They are so neat.”
“That they are,” Alan said as he tried to make room for everyone. “We are in front of the infamous laser.”
Sam turned around and could see a large plastic object, shaped like a small canon. The end that faced them was a plastic cross with a round glass center.
“This is the same one?” He asked as he pointed at it.
“The very same,” Alan said. “We brought it over when we finished building this lab for the new tower.”
“That’s the one,” Flynn said and chuckled. “Dad had a similar one built for his system.”
“What happened to your father?” Alan asked. “Sam Flynn, what happened to your father?” He inhaled deeply when Flynn sighed and looked down. “I know he’s dead and if it’s too painful for you tell how he died, then you don’t have to.”
Sam gave Flynn a sympathetic glance. He knew how he felt.
“Someone needs to activate the laser,” Cas said.
“Wait,” Alan held up his hands. “I’m not going to let you digitize yourselves. I lost my friend in one of these systems.”
“Please Mr. Bradley,” Sam said to him. “My brother is in there.”
“And all those people who disappeared,” Quorra added. “We have to help them.”
“Alan, I need you to stay here and work the laser,” Flynn said.
“You are not going back in there,” the older man told him.
“I have to. Winchester has never been there before and he needs someone who knows what it’s like inside.” He smiled and pointed at Cas. “We’ll have an angel to watch over us.”
“I-“ Cas paused and looked at Sam. “I’ll watch over them and keep them safe.”
Alan removed his glasses and rubbed his forehead. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.”
“I assure you we’ll be fine,” Flynn promised.
“You better,” Alan said in a half joking manner as he put his glasses back on. “Or I’ll kick your ass.” Even Sam had to smile at that.
“So what do we do, exactly?” Sam asked as Alan ran down a few steps.
“We have to get close together,” Flynn said. “Right in front of the laser.”
Sam stepped closer to Flynn and the former program. “Is this going to hurt?”
“You don’t feel anything,” Cas said as he scrunched closer to the three of them. “At least the one in the basement of the arcade didn’t.”
“Wait you were zapped?” Sam asked.
“You broke into my father’s arcade?” Flynn asked. “And his office?”
“I didn’t break in,” Cas said.
“He teleported,” Quorra guessed and smiled when Cas nodded.
“Why didn’t you teleport into the computer?” Sam asked.
“Doesn’t work that way, not with my vessel.”
“Vessel?” Flynn repeated.
“How did you even figure that out?” Sam asked. “ How could you even figure it out?”
“It’s powering up,” Quorra said.
Sam turned back to the laser. He saw the glass fill with a green-blue colored light. It was the last thing he saw before everything went dark.