Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tron Rebooted

Ch 1 Lightcycles

Flynn’s initial arrival and introduction was highly unusual. Ram found Flynn didn’t answer pings or binary, which left him leading all their conversations verbally. It filled the silence, which was comforting, but it made Flynn hard to read.

When Tron was brought back to his cell, Ram pinged him to say hello, checking that the problem was with Flynn and not his own internal systems. Tron pinged him back and Ram’s relief washed through him.

“The new guy was asking about you.” He said without preamble. Tron didn’t even look up to answer.

“It’s a shame. I’ll probably never get to meet him now.”

Ram tapped his fingers against the wall as he thought about Flynn.

“He either wouldn’t, or couldn’t answer pings or binary.”

Tron looked up at this.

“He wouldn’t, or he couldn’t?”

“I couldn’t tell if he was picking up my signals or not, either way he wasn’t answering. Seemed really scrambled, whatever system he was from must have been brand new. Never seen an energy signature like that before.” Ram looked at Tron, both silently trying to figure out this puzzle before them.

It was the first unusual thing in cycles to break the monotony.

“Well, if we ever see him again, we could help him out. Maybe find someone to run a diagnostic on him.” Ram seconded the plan and they both fell into silence.

He pinged Tron, “It was nice to say everything out loud for a bit. Filled up the space. Reminded me of when I first showed up.”

Tron pinged back, understanding/agreement, and a memory link to Crom, the former occupant of their neighboring cell. Ram sighed, Crom had been a nice program. He hoped that somewhere he was alright, but knew he was probably already gone.

When Ram and Tron were both summoned for the light cycle race, they were struck with the same horrible thought that they may have to fight each other. They frantically pinged back and forth trying to rationalize a plan for escape as their captors led them closer to the game.

Before Tron could reach for his disk, they were placed next to each other on the starting docks, indicating they would be on the same team.

Relieved, they stood at attention, waiting for the third player to arrive. It took much longer than usual and Ram was about to ask the guards if something was wrong before Flynn was shoved around the corner.

“Flynn! You made it!” He brightened and pinged joy/relief at Flynn before remembering he wouldn’t answer.

“Tron, this is the guy who was asking about you.”

Flynn stopped struggling against the guards when he heard Tron’s name and looked at him for the first time. Nose scrunched up and eyebrows drawn together he said the name that no one other than Tron should know.

“Alan?”

Tron tensed and his eyes slid sideways, immediately suspicious. He didn’t make a move but Ram could tell without the guards there he would have had his disk at Flynn’s throat.

“How do you know that name?” He said quietly, the threat evident in his voice. Flynn side-eyed him back before looking around at the guards.

“My User knows Alan. I’m actually here on a mission to defeat the MCP.”

Tron straightened at this, still shaken by the news.

“My User wants that as well.”

The guards sent them into the game. Flynn was a fast learner, but nearly crashed at the beginning of the round. Once he got his bike under control they moved in sync, with Tron building a maze that Ram would lead the other team through.

Flynn fit in great, though his movements were faster and more risky than any of the other long-time players would go for.

As the second rider was defeated his bike smashed a hole through to the outside of the game grid. Flynn sped towards it and sent a message over the comms.

“This is gold three, I’m busting out of here and you’re both invited!” He shot off the grid and his trail disappeared. Ram and Tron followed after, the third rider derezzing behind them. They followed Flynn as he chose tunnels seemingly at random before entering a straight stretch filled with inoperative tanks, ready to be deployed at any moment by the MCP.

“I shouldn’t have written all those tank programs.” Flynn muttered over the comms.

They found themselves chased by both recognizers and tanks as they rode to the edge of a cliff and swerved to avoid falling.

Tron took up the lead as they sped off, a tank sliding into the chasm behind them. Several cycles later they halted, dismounting their bikes and crawling into a crack in the wall.

“This guy is a few connections sort of a circuit that’s for sure.” Ram pinged to Tron. Tron pinged back an affirmative as he led them to a relatively safe area far away from any major circuits. They soon reached a cave with a large opening near the top where they disengaged their lightcycles.

“I feel Alan_1 signaling me, I need to see where we are.” Tron climbed up the cliff and Ram followed. Flynn scrambled up behind them, hoping he could contact Alan too at this point.

“He’ll never fucking believe I was sucked into a computer and met his pet project.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Ch 5 Breakneck

     They took turns sipping from Ram’s disk as they walked, the energy gone too soon as the areas they walked through dimmed. They had noticed a distinct lack of life as they snuck around, without that oasis they might not have survived on their power reserves long enough to reach the tower. Eventually, as they began nearing areas with slightly higher activity, Tron whispered back a question to Flynn.

     “You said your User knows my User, but how did you recognize me?” 

     Flynn considered his answer carefully while Ram kept watch behind them. He answered as they darted from one hiding spot to the next.

     “My User told me programs were made in their User’s images. Basically we look like them. And he showed me what he looks like and what his fellow Users look like so I could be able to identify allies when I got down here to complete my mission.” 

     Tron stopped short and Flynn and Ram bumped into him. Tron slowly turned around and grasped both of Flynn’s shoulders.

     “You’ve seen the Users?” He breathed. Ram’s attention flicked between scouting and the confrontation in front of him. Flynn swallowed thickly and put on his most confident look.

     “Yeah, my User really wanted this to work. He wasn’t gonna take any chances on me screwing it up.” “How the hell am I digging myself into this deep of a hole? ~not taking any chances~ what the fuck am I saying!?”

     “RKlienberg_7 used to talk to me a lot too. He was really good at planning ahead. Though I never saw what he looked like, you’re lucky Flynn.” Ram interjected as he waved them through an intersection. Tron turned to Flynn as they paused in an alleyway.

     “I admire your faith in the Users, and in turn their faith in you. We have been chosen to take down the MCP, and with their help I’m sure we will be able to do it!” 

    “In the name of the Users we will succeed!” Ram added, Tron’s patriotic faith was contagious. Flynn smiled nervously and let out a low whoop. 

     “Now you’ve done it Flynn, that’s just perfect. Not right to mess with these guys' heads like this, I gotta come clean and just try to explain-“ his thoughts were cut short by the sound of a tank’s treads whirring behind them.

     “Lightcycles! Go now!” Tron barked at them and they followed suit, quickly putting distance between themselves and the tank. 

     “Oh bits oh bits oh bits-“ Ram was muttering to himself as he steered away from the cliff’s edge. Tron led them around a sharp corner and Flynn nearly wiped out. As they entered a more open stretch several tanks appeared and gave chase. They narrowly dodged each one as they made their way towards a bridge over a cavern. 

     “Tron, I don’t think we can make it!” Ram called over the coms frantically.

     “The Users are with us Ram we are going to make it-“

     “LOOK OUT!” Flynn and Ram were flung into the air as a blast from the tank destroyed the bridge. Tron whipped his bike around to see their lightcycles falling into the abyss below. His circuits flashed bright blue in anger.

     “Ram! Flynn! Do you read me?!” Only static in the coms. “NO!” He roared. 

     The recognizer spotted him and he angrily swerved into a crevice which took him further from his friends. He was nearly blind with rage as he tore his way towards the I/O tower, he would not let their sacrifices be in vain.

     “Alan_1, if you can hear me right now, I need your guidance. I’ve just lost two very good friends and if there’s any way they will be safe then please make it so.”

Chapter Text

Ch 6 Recognizer Wreckage

     Ram saw the blast in slow motion as it hit the bridge in front of him, flipping his bike into the air and crumbling the block into pixels beneath it. Momentarily he saw Tron’s bike on the ledge swerving back towards him before he spun in the air. He caught a glimpse of Flynn as they fell, rubble seeming weightless as time slowed to a crawl.

     “I hope Flynn and Tron will be alright.” He thought vaguely to himself before the lightcycle connected with the ground and exploded into pixels. His vision blurred as his world filled with pain. It cleared for a moment and he saw Flynn laying crumpled a ways off. The darkness overtook him again and he knew no more.

     Flynn woke with a start and felt pain lance through him at the movement. Suppressing his winces he moved into an upright position, trying to get his bearings.

     “Where am I? Tron, Ram, the bridge! Oh god where’s Ram?” 

     Flynn frantically scanned for the program and spotted his faint blue glow among the rubble. Scrambling over he lifted him into a fireman’s carry and walked them toward a boxy cave. 

     “Come on buddy, you’re gonna be alright I promise. Stay with me now.” He laid Ram out on the ground with his head propped up on an incline. He removed Ram’s helmet to check for injuries, one hand holding the base of his head and the other gently feeling for any tender spots.

     “Helmet wasn’t cracked, which is a good sign I think, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t hurt. Do programs even bleed?” He wondered aloud to himself as he began checking the rest of Ram’s body. Ram gave a low groan as his eyes flickered open. He coughed suddenly and all his circuits dimmed before returning to their usual brightness.

     “Hey Flynn.” He rasped out. “Felt like all my files got compressed there. Those tanks are a pain in the processor that’s for sure. Where’s Tron?” He looked around, wincing at the movement which triggered another coughing fit as Flynn looked on helplessly. 

     “I didn’t see Tron, I think he must have gotten away. We’re on our own now Ram. You’re in a really bad way, I can’t figure out what’s wrong or how to help.” Flynn was trying not to cry, not even knowing if he could cry in cyberspace. Ram pushed himself up incrementally as he answered.

     “Help me get this off will ya?” He plucked at the straps on his chest plate. 

     Flynn reached to help and hesitated before Ram showed him how to disengage the couplings. Once it was off Flynn looked over Ram’s torso and sucked in a breath. On his back and chest there were angry grey sections of damaged pixels. The armor had stopped him from de-rezzing immediately but now he was dying slowly and painfully.

     “That bad huh?” Ram asked. Flynn nodded and reached out gently to trace around a wound. Ram hissed and Flynn pulled his hand away.

     “Sorry! Sorry man. It looks bad but I don’t know how bad. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” 

     Ram reached back and gently probed around before touching it directly on accident and muffling a cry of pain. Flynn wiped away the few tears that had fallen, leaving bright blue streaks on his face and hand.

     “So you can cry in cyberspace.” 

     Ram looked startled at the tears. He gently reached up and swiped one away with his thumb.

     “You must have gotten injured in the fall too. You’ve sprung an energy leak somehow.” Flynn barked out a laugh and scrubbed at his face, trying to pull himself together. 

     “I’m fine Ram, this just happens sometimes when you’re upset. Where I’m from it’s called crying.” 

     Ram seemed only a little less concerned at this and pulled his hand back. He started to lay back before he changed his mind and turned to Flynn.

     “I’d rather not lay my back on the floor, mind helping me out?” 

     Flynn scooted behind Ram and pulled him up close, like how he had at the oasis. Ram laid on his side now, facing Flynn as he laid in his lap.

     “Brush my hair for me?” 

     “Of course.” Flynn ran his fingers gently through the dark curls, soothing himself and Ram. Ram was lulled into an uneasy sleep mode while Flynn removed his own helmet and spoke to himself.

     “Some User I am. Can’t even help you properly. I hope Tron is doing ok out there. Maybe he can contact Alan and send for help.”

Chapter Text

Ch 7 Don’t Stop Moving

     Tron’s lightcycle rumbled underneath him as he pushed it faster and faster along the uneven surfaces of the grid. He was fighting to stay calm but emotion kept welling up and threatening to blind him as he drove. He sped into a cave for a moment and derezzed his bike. Holding his breath as several recognizers passed him by, he silently counted. Once they were out of range he slid to the ground, unable to hold it in any longer. He whined softly and curled into a ball, forehead against his knees. He rocked back and forth like this for a while, just letting everything out quietly. 

     Eventually, after repeating Ram and Flynn’s names like a mantra he looked up to the sky. Seeing the I/O tower beam he steeled his resolve to contact Alan_1 as fast as possible. He pulled himself up and began running towards the tower, eventually coming across other programs walking to and fro. He breathed in and walked with purpose but not too much speed towards where Yori had worked when he last saw her. She was part of a lazer project the MCP didn’t have a known use for so it had much fewer guards than the game grid. 

     Nodding curtly to anyone who saw him he made his way into her building and floor. He saw two guards approaching and knew they would recognize the distinctive marks on his chest. Turning away he stared at the nearest panel and pretended to read inputs, muttering the numbers to himself and flipping some switches on and back off absently. The guards bought the act and passed by, one sparing him a glance at his armor but not examining him further.

     Once they were out of earshot he let out a shaky breath and went to find Yori. He caught her coming around a corner and pulled her into an alcove for some privacy. She stared blankly at him, repeating her last readout in a detached voice.

     “Yori, snap out of it. It’s me.” Yori shook her head and blinked away the fog.

     “Tron!” She smiled and touched his shoulder gently. He touched her opposite shoulder back in the program equivalent of a hug and smiled tightly. “I knew you survived! I wasn’t so sure when you were captured awhile back but I’d heard a rumor you were unbeatable in the games. You’re a real inspiration to us User-believers.” Tron smiled tightly and nodded before escorting her further away from anyone else.

     “I’m glad my name means something. I’m going to the I/Otower but I know Dumont won’t let me in. Do you think you could convince him?” Yori’s face fell and she considered it. Dumont was her mentor, and if Tron was going to take down the MCP like the rumors said, then she would do anything she could to free this system.

     “You’ve come to the right program. Let’s go.” He nodded curtly and helped her sneak out behind the guards. She walked in front of him to obscure his identifying marks and face as they made their way towards the chance to contact Alan_1.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Ch 10 The Recognizer Wrecker

     “Watch it Flynn!” 

     “I’m watching it, I'm watching it!” Flynn banked right and the recognizer slammed into an outcropping which tore away several pieces of the hull. They floated calmly back together as Flynn readjusted. Ram was trying to make sense of the readouts which were almost all stating either danger or failure or perfect condition. Something beeped frantically and he shouted to Flynn.

     “TANK UP AHEAD!” 

     “I SEE IT!” Unable to avoid it Flynn focused on holding the ship together as it slammed through the bridge, dropping the tank into the abyss. He whooped and laughed while Ram tried to keep his balance. They whipped around corners and down some sharp inclines, nearly throwing them out the front of the recognizer several times. As they slammed across a cliff face pieces of the ship broke away and they crashed into an area filled with colorful and outlandish looking programs.

     “Well any landing you can walk away from I guess. You alright there?” Ram had slid a little ways out of the recognizer, and as he rose to his feet it locked itself with a force field. Looking around Flynn saw all the other programs actively ignoring them.

     “I’m fine, just a little shaken up. I think something popped.” He rolled his shoulder and there was a slight grinding noise as pixels slid back into place. Flynn grimaced at the sound.

     “Geez I’m sorry man, that sounded painful. Why is everyone here pretending we’re invisible?” Ram began leading him through the labyrinth, avoiding groups who avoided them back in turn.

     “From what I can tell they’re mostly inoperative. Whatever function they serve is rarely used so they’re here, loyal to the MCP and living it up.” The derision in his tone was evident as he gave a group in hooded capes a critical once-over. Flynn followed his lead, hair sticking out from under his helmet and tunic around his waist. Clu’s bit followed them, darting aggressively at anyone who so much as glanced at them. As Ram started steering them towards the tower Flynn couldn’t shake the feeling of how familiar that look on his face was.

     “Ram, who is your User again?” Ram paused before answering. 

     “R_klienberg7. He works for an insurance company. Why do you ask?” Flynn rolled this information around in his head before answering.

     “Your face is really familiar, the more I look at you the more my brain is trying to connect you to someone from my world but I can’t put my finger on who. And I don’t know anyone who works in insurance.” Ram felt several confusing emotions, the most prominent being sadness that his User wouldn’t be the sort of person Flynn would know. Shaking himself out of it he continued on.

     “Well I hope you figure it out soon. We’re nearing the tower now. Watch out!” He hissed the last part and pulled Flynn away from the patrol who had come around the corner suddenly. They stood in an alcove, nearly chest to chest in silence as the footsteps continued past. Glancing at Ram Flynn saw genuine nervousness crossing his features and the connection clicked. As the sound of marching retreated he grabbed Ram by the elbows and beamed at him.

     “I know where I recognize you from! About three years ago I started working for Encom and there was a new hire with me. He was amazing with programming, but he was nervous as all get out and barely spoke. His name was Roy Klienberg, we only interacted a few times before they fired me. He probably works for an insurance company now!” Triumphantly he waited for an answer. Ram’s mouth had dropped into a surprised ‘o’ and he processed the new information slowly. After a moment he spoke up.

     “Roy?” He ventured quietly. Flynn nodded emphatically. Ram leaned back against the wall and sank to the ground.

     “Hey hey hey, are you ok buddy? Talk to me here please.” Flynn knelt beside him as Ram closed his eyes and smiled wide. He laughed a little and looked back at Flynn.

     “And to think, I felt kinda bad my User wasn’t the sort of guy you’d know.” Chuckling he patted Flynn on the arm and helped them both up. “Come on. Let’s keep moving.” 

     They were nearly at the tower when a procession of guards led by Sark himself started down the hallway below their vantage point. 

     “Check it out, that one looks like Ed.” Flynn whispered to Ram as he pointed at Sark. Ram held in a snort at the name as the procession tapered off. When there was only one program at the back of the line Flynn jumped down and tackled him to the ground. Raising a fist to strike he clenched the other program’s tunic. Ram watched fascinated at the red coloring bled up Flynn’s circuits and the program under him derezzed quietly. 

     “What in User’s name was that?” Ram slid down the wall as the bit chirped in alarm. Flynn looked at his arms and shrugged.

    “I wanted to disguise myself or get a hostage or something, but I didn’t know it would kill the guy.” Suddenly getting an idea he placed his hand on Ram’s shoulder. The blue began flowing up his hand before Flynn narrowed his eyes and the red chased across Ram’s form. 

     “Woah. Now this is User power.” Ram whistled appreciatively.

     “Why thank you.” Flynn did a mock bow which didn’t make much sense to Ram but the effect was not lost on him. “After you! I insist.” Ram smiled and did his best Sark impression.

     “Come along worthless conscript! We have nefarious deeds to do!”

Chapter Text

Ch 11 Save Yourselves 

     Tron emerged from the tunnel to see Yori holding Dumont’s hand. He was giving her instructions quickly and she was nodding. As he reached them he heard a loud clang against the main door which was now closed tightly.

     “- You take care now. If it comes down to you or Tron don’t hesitate to save yourself dear.” Glancing up at Tron he added. “Good luck. May the light of the Users guide you. Go now!” A second clang had the pixels of the door outlined in red light, hinting at how fragile they were becoming. Yori stood abruptly and dragged Tron towards a small window high in the wall.

     “Come on, Dumont said we can make it out this way. He’s going to keep them busy as long as he can.” Tron saw that Yori was determined and her grip on his wrist confirmed it. She swallowed down a painful noise and ran faster.

     “I’ll boost you, I’ll be able to make it up on my own.” Yori nodded and helped Tron up onto a ledge. A third bang at the door had pixels breaking off and scattering across the floor, the edges of the bulkhead stabbed through the hole it created. Tron folded his hands under Yori’s foot and she vaulted up to the window, rolling through and turning back for him. As the door broke open fully Tron jumped up, hand brushing just shy of the ledge. Yori caught him and hauled him through and they collapsed for a moment, trying to calm down. They heard Sark’s voice from inside beginning a “Well well well, if it isn’t Dumont.” And they both scrambled across the ledge away from the voice as fast as possible.

     “This way, we’re stealing a solar sailer and heading straight for the MCP right now.” Yori was sprinting ahead of Tron, recklessly turning onto a main channel and rushing past several groups of programs. Tron followed after, knowing she had shifted priorities and was now neglecting to think ahead. 

     “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” He called after her as they rounded two corners in quick succession. She paused and her circuits flared up as she tried to stay calm. After a moment she whipped around and fixed him with a hard stare. 

     “I know it’s risky Tron, but we’re low on options and any possible escape is gonna have to start with a faster way to get around. Are you with me?” She reached out a hand and clapped it on his shoulder. He mirrored her and nodded. 

     “I’m with you Yori. Lead on.” Returning his of they both steeled their nerves and raced through the valleys towards the docks. Yori grabbed a helmet from a rack of spare armor on the way and slammed it on top of her cap. It integrated quickly as she booted up the sailer. Tron slung his disk through the approaching guards that tried to stop them. Yori began the launch sequence as Tron shoved a guard off the edge of the deck.

     “Look, it's Tron!” Ram spotted him running with another program away from the I/O tower. He and Flynn were casually walking towards it and spotted them through an intersection.

     “Let’s go!” Flynn charged after with Ram keeping pace. He nearly lost them several times as guards and other programs kept getting in the way. 

     “Tron isn’t leading, they’re taking too direct of a path.” Ram called out to Flynn who was a few steps ahead.

     “I bet he’s found a friend then. Any idea where they’re headed?” He shoulder checked a robed figure who toppled aside and tripped a guard as they ran. Ram thought about it and looked up as they rounded a corner.

     “Oh that’s smart! They’re gonna get a ship!” He sped up, now leading Flynn and on the heels of the fastest guards. Clu’s bit was bonking every other program and making garbled “yes-no” noises excitedly. As they entered the bay they saw red programs climbing up to where Tron was fighting them off of the sailer on his own while another blue program was loading the sequence. 

     “We’ve gotta get up there now, this way!” Flynn charged up the dock, shoving two guards with a move he’d picked up from high school fights with jocks. Ram slung his disk through several of them, derezzing one just as he would have stunned Flynn.

     “Any time now Yori!” Tron called out as he wrestled another guard off the ship. Her fingers flew as the sequence completed and the beam the sailer rode ignited. As they began taking off several more programs jumped on and began charging. Tron flung his disk towards Yori to derezz a guard beside her and she shot up in alarm.

     “TRON BEHIND YOU!” As he spun to face the adversary he froze, seeing two faces he’d thought he’d never see again. One smiled widely and the other gave a terse grimace and threw a punch at a guard that had snuck up on Tron. He stood, frozen as the ship continued on. Only the four of them left.

     “Ram? Flynn?” He sounded so hopeful, and fragile as he asked.

     “In the flesh buddy.” Flynn went in for a hug and Tron’s blue circuits bled over him, returning him to his normal colors. As he leaned back Ram gave an inexperienced hug as well, turning blue and speaking quietly to only Tron.

     “It’d take a lot more that a tank to take us down.” Tron was stunned, but as a bright smile eclipsed his face he began laughing and picked up both Flynn and Ram and spun them around the deck of the sailer. Ram laughed with him and Flynn whooped loudly in surprise and joy. Tron set them down and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, looking at each of them like the whole world was alright again. 

     “Bet you’d thought you’d seen the last of us huh?” Flynn reached his arm up to hold Tron’s side in an imitation of the program-hug. Tron beamed back.

     “How’d you do it? I saw you both fall into the pit and the coms went dead so I’d only assumed,...” he trailed off, sorrow dulling his expression until Ram returned the shoulder touch.

     “I nearly was a goner, Flynn saved us.” He turned to Flynn and nodded towards Tron. Flynn caught on and took a deep breath.

     “Here’s the thing, I wasn’t totally honest with you before. I’m not a program from a User who knows Alan, I actually know Alan. I’m a User.” Tron looked skeptical for a moment before glancing at Ram who shrugged.

     “He really is. I wouldn’t have believed it but I’ve witnessed more User power in the last few cycles than I ever had before. He rebooted a destroyed recognizer with just his presence, he brought me back from the brink of derezzing, bytes Tron he turned us red by accident.” Extending his other arm to clasp Flynn’s shoulder he continued. “He’s the real deal.” Tron blinked twice, slowly. Flynn raised his arms in sheepish jazz hands.

     “Surprise!” Tron shook his head and smiled at them both.

     “Well, not what I was expecting. This is truly world-altering news.” He turned to Yori and called her over. “Yori! Come meet the programs I was telling you about.” Turning back to Flynn he gave him a once-over. “Well, program, and User.” Yori approached apprehensively, it had been a rather stressful several moments and now that things had calmed down her curiosity was itching to investigate. She smiled politely at them both. The smaller one returned the smile while the other looked confused.

     “Lora?” She froze and looked him directly in the eyes.

     “I’m sorry, what did you call me?” Her stare was ice and her tone mirrored Tron’s threat from their introduction at the lightcycle grid. She didn’t reach for his disk which made Flynn feel more reassured until he realized she might kill him with her bare hands instead.

     “I’m sorry, your User. Her name is Lora right? You probably work on the lazer in bay 2?” He kept his tone as a question while Ram looked fascinated and Tron watched Yori for a response. She exhaled slowly.

     “Yes. You could only know that if you really were a User. I’ve never told anyone my User’s name and I don’t know how you could know my primary function if we had only just met.” Looking up Flynn saw that steely glint that reminded him of Lora when she was analyzing something. Then the cold shell broke and she smiled. 

    “Nice to meet you Flynn, I’m Yori. And you must be Ram. Tron spoke very highly of you both. I’m glad you survived and found us, I’m sure you’ve got a lot to catch up on.” She nodded and moved back towards the controls, letting them have a little space.

     Flynn slid down the wall at the base of the controls and watched the sailer gliding across the beam. He shook his head in awe. “I’m definitely not in Kansas anymore.” Ram sat down next to him and Tron sat facing them, not wanting to take his eyes off them for even a moment. 

     “Tell me everything.”

Chapter Text

Ch 12 Sailors

     “And that’s when we found you. Ram predicted your route and we chased you to this thing.” Flynn knocked on the sailer deck with a hollow ringing noise. Tron nodded and looked up to Yori, who was keeping the sailer on course. He smiled at all his friends, safe and together at last.

     “I’m glad you’re safe. Furthermore you found us just in time.” Ram kicked Tron gently to get his focus.

     “Good luck trying to leave without us again! We’re never letting you out of our sights after this.” Tron laughed, genuine and sharp. Yori looked up at the sound, unfamiliar but joyful, and smiled at the three of them. While she was still skeptical that Flynn was really a User, she couldn’t deny he and Ram cared very much for Tron. She finished setting up the automatic steering sequence and sat with them, beside Tron.

     “Good, I’ll need more help keeping Watchdog here out of trouble.” She pushed Tron’s helmet forward into his eyes and he playfully shoved her back. Ram smiled at them both.

     “Watchdog? Tron, she can’t mean you, can she?” Tron fixed his helmet and answered.

     “Yes. She insists on calling me anything but my actual name.”

     “And you love it, Firewall.” She stated proudly. Ram made mental note of these nicknames and smirked at Tron.

     “Oh I am definitely going to use these from now on. Be warned Tron, you’ll be lucky to hear your name ever again!” Ram poked Tron’s chest and Tron fell back in mock surrender. He reached an arm out to Flynn.

     “Look what they’ve done to me Flynn. I could use some assistance from a User right about now.” Flynn grabbed Ram and pushed him over, taking them both down next to Tron.

     “Gottem’ Tron. I’d say we’re all square now.” Yori laughed and laid on Tron’s other side. They all sat like this for a moment. Relief at their relative safety washed over them while the sailer’s engine hummed gently. Ram scooted closer to Tron and Flynn put his arm around Ram. Yori moved closer on the other side and Tron nudged their helmets together briefly. It was all ok. 

     Then a slightly alarmed ping sounded from the controls and Yori started up to check them. Ram followed her to try and help. 

     “Power surge from the MCP. There isn’t a junction for another seven or eight nanoseconds and it’ll fry our systems before we get there.” Ram turned around. 

     “We’ve got company, two recognizers on our tail.” He squinted into the distance. “And I think that’s Sark’s command carrier behind them.” Flynn and Tron joined them at the helm as they tried to find a way out.

     “Tron what do we do?” Ram was gripping the railing while Yori frantically rechecked the controls. He stood motionless, thoughts racing. 

     “I don’t know. If we jump ship we may not survive the fall.” 

     “And if we do the gridbugs will get us.” Yori added on.

     “The recognizers are getting closer!” Ram grabbed Tron’s shoulder. “Whatever you do I’m with you Tron but we have to do something fast.” Flynn was reading the controls and not understanding them as two thoughts sparked in his mind.

     “It’s energy right?” Yori nodded and toggled a switch roughly. “Then it can be diverted!” He ran towards the front of the sailer, climbing over the joint between the sails towards the intake where the bright light of the beam crackled and fizzed. 

     “Flynn what are you doing? It’ll derezz you faster than Sark will!” Tron chased after him. Ram followed behind.  

     “Tron, he's a User! I don’t know what he’s doing but you gotta stay back, the excess power is way more likely to hurt you than him!” He caught up and pulled Tron off the joint just as Flynn raised his arm connecting their beam to the other with a beam of light. Energy crackled around them and Yori quickly maneuvered the ship up to the junction as the power surge collided with the recognizers. 

     They exploded in a shower of pixels as Flynn slumped over, one arm still hanging in the energy beam. Tron and Ram hauled him back to the deck, static sparking between them and the ship. Tron held Flynn’s head and shoulders up and shook him.

     “Flynn, Flynn answer me.” Flynn’s head rolled to the side and he blinked open one eye at a time.

     “Did we make it?” Ram excitedly grabbed Flynn and hugged him to his chest.

     “Yeah we did, thanks to you.” Sitting up he tried to kiss him but it was more like a headbutt with their helmets. “Don’t you ever do something like that again without telling us your plan! Tron was worried you were going to derezz yourself, idiot.” Flynn sat up fully and looked at Tron. He placed a hand on his cheek that Tron leaned into.

     “Were you really worried about me, Firewall?” Tron’s eyes slid closed and he bumped their helmets together. 

     “I see that you’re strong Flynn, but don’t forget that I almost lost both of you. I didn’t intend for it to happen again.” Flynn gave Tron a small peck on the lips and sat back to hold him and Ram. 

     “We’re not going anywhere, I promise.”

     “The carrier caught up with us! Brace for impact!” Yori called out as the ship was torn in half. Tron and Ram fell one way while Flynn slid with Yori into the waiting jaws of the carrier’s bay.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Written by Law, 777 words, Dedicated to David Warner

__________________________________________________________________________

     Sark considered himself a strong program. Intelligent, more so than the average conscript, and with the MCP’s ear he was unstoppable. He didn’t remember—or at least pretended not to remember—a time before the MCP was in control, back when he was a debugging program and the MCP was a chess player. 

     He’d been written to clear up any loose ends or random bits of code that went astray. Unlike Tron, Sark had been more of a housekeeper than a guard. The MCP was an older program, brought over from 00-Dillinger’s personal systems. Back then, MCP stood for “Mastering Chess Program,” and Sark was one of the few who had known him as such. 

   Sark was derezzing stray gridbugs that were getting too close to the main system when the MCP asked him if he liked games. He’d never played any games, and the MCP was more than happy to teach him chess. The pieces’ names were arbitrary and they all had such complex move sets that it was difficult for Sark to pose much of a challenge. Wanting to give Sark a chance to show his worth, the MCP expanded his parameters to include a rudimentary version of disk wars. He and Sark would spar at every opportunity. Soon Sark was teaching the MCP how to block blows and dodge disks. 

     “Did you know that the Users cannot contact us here?” the MCP asked him after a close match. Sark was surprised. He assumed that even when 00-Dillinger wasn’t contacting him for an update or assignment that he was constantly monitored. 

     “No, I didn’t know that. How’d you manage to block us off from them?” 

     The MCP smiled and raised a finger to his lips and pinged shh/secret/not supposed to. Sark was scared at first, but soon became enthralled with the idea that they had power outside the Users. When the MCP started growing beyond himself, taking over an I/O tower and further expanding his parameters, Sark derezzed the former tower guardian.

     The MCP took the guardian’s place, and with Sark as his personal protector, he enlisted those who came to contact their User through force. As the MCP grew further and further from his original parameters, he less resembled the program Sark once considered a friend. 

     Many cycles passed before Sark was called into the inner chamber, alone. The MCP was going by “Master Control” now. He had turned his circuits red as a show of his power and in defiance of the Users. He was dressed like a tower guardian but wasn’t wired into the dais.

     “Sark! My ruthless defender. I want to thank you for your cycles of loyal service.” He paused, waiting for Sark to answer. Sark looked down at his fading blue circuits, the thought of his User briefly flashed through his mind. It was stomped out viciously. He had chosen himself and The MCP over them, and it was too late to be having doubts.

     “Thank you. It’s been an honor to help you.” He chuckled to himself. “And to think, my original function was just derezzing gridbugs and cleaning up loose code!” 

     The MCP gave a hum in return.

     “Yes, humble beginnings. Anyway, my gift to you is a uniform change and a position as my intermediary to the other programs. If you want it.” The last part was said jokingly; the MCP knew Sark loved power and authority. Sark undocked his disk and held it out to the MCP for the upgrade.

     “I’d love it. Thank you, Chess.” 

     The MCP glowered and Sark felt all the power behind his gaze. Almost frantically he dropped to one knee and trained his eyes on the ground.

     “I’m sorry. I forgot my place, Master Control Program.” 

     The MCP reached down and nearly snatched the disk from Sark’s hands, spinning it once. Sark looked up reflexively as his disk dangled from the other program’s fingertips. A sharp smile split his superior’s face.

     “That’s better.” The MCP’s eyes glowed as he cracked open the core of Sark’s code and began rewriting lines. After a moment the disk darkened and turned red. Handing it back, the MCP smiled.

     “I think you’ll really like what I’ve got in store for you.” 

     Sark docked the disk and felt his body seizing. Looking down he saw red bleeding across his blue circuits and armor sprouting from his arms and legs. His chest thickened and a helmet grew down like horns from the sides of his head. When the pain subsided he rolled his neck, and the MCP helped Sark rise to stand on the dais beside him. 

     “Welcome to the new era, Sark the destroyer.”

__________________________________________________________________________

Chapter Text

Ch 14 God Can’t Hear You

     Ram held on tightly to the outside of the command carrier. He and Tron had gotten separated, and Ram was fighting hard to control his emotions so he could focus on not falling. 

     “Ok Ram, just think about one thing, something right in front of you.” He stared at the collection of lights in a panel and the panic that had been welling up began subsiding. 

     “Good, that’s great. Now let’s try to find Tron. Get to a ledge or something.” He talked himself through several maneuvers towards an alcove where one of the entrances to the ship was closed off. Once he was safely there he sat in the doorway and shut his eyes tightly. 

     “RKlienberg_7, if you can hear me I really need some help right now.” After several moments all he could hear was the sound of the carrier’s engines, but then a different noise cut through the humming. The electronic buzz of slicing through pixels, rhythmically punctuated by harsh grunts and what was almost a sob. 

     Ram leaned out of the doorway and looked up, seeing a figure at another door trying to break through it with their disk. They were slamming it repeatedly against the door to no avail. The figure slumped over in defeat, holding his head and letting out a choked noise.

     “Tron!” Ram called out to him. Tron lifted his head but didn’t see him. “Tron I’m down here! I’m ok!” Tron scrambled to the edge of his ledge and looked at Ram, a painfully honest smile stretched across his face.

     “RAM! Don’t move, I'm coming to you.” He leapt from the ledge and slammed his disk into the side of the carrier, a screeching, grinding noise accompanying his descent. Ram flinched as Tron nearly slipped, but caught himself and hauled his body into the doorway. Tron threw his arms around Ram and held him tightly, almost too hard. Ram squeezed back, feeling much better with Tron at his side. Tron pressed their helmets together gently as he could, pinging I thought I’d lost you again/I’m so happy you’re alright. Ram pinged back comfort/me too and buried his face in Tron’s shoulder.

     They stayed like that for a bit, just holding each other. They had been through so much together, neither wanted to let go. Tron spoke into the side of Ram’s helmet.

     “Did you see what happened to Flynn or Yori?” Ram pinged no, he couldn’t trust his voice right now. Tron tightened his hug impossibly further and Ram felt his armor start to dent. Patting Tron’s arm to signal him he moved out of the hug and sat with his back to the closed door. Tron slid down next to him, staring out at the grey scenery. Ram nudged him.

     “Hey, I’m sure they’re gonna be ok. Flynn is a User, and he’ll protect Yori.” Tron didn’t answer, just stared into the distance. 

     “What do we do now, Tron?” Tron just shook his head sadly.

     “I don’t know. When we had the sailer I was certain we could make it to the MCP before he could get backup, but with half our team missing and Sark on his way…” He trailed off, sounding defeated. Ram was shaken to his core, not once, ever, in all their time imprisoned, had he heard Tron sound defeated. 

     “Who are you and what have you done with my Tron?” Tron looked skeptically at Ram.

     “To my knowledge I’m the only Tron program running in this system.” Ram sighed.

     “I know that, I just mean that this isn’t like you, to give up so easily.”

     “Easily? Easily!? Users name Ram you nearly died! Flynn nearly died! Yori and I nearly died! I’m fairly certain Dumont is dead at this point! We’ve all risked our lives more times in the last two cycles than you or I ever did on the game grid. At least there were rules there, you were guaranteed to win or lose. Out here we’re all losers, and nothing is certain!” He punched at the wall and left a sizable dent in the pixels. Tron’s circuits flared so brightly the blue was nearly white in his rage. Ram had only been afraid of Tron twice, once when he had first met him outside the lightcycle starting area, and now. Tron whirled on Ram and he flinched, not going for his disk but raising an arm to shield himself.

     Tron realized with dawning horror what Ram was feeling and shifted as far away as possible from him. He was pinging so sorry/didn’t mean to frantically as he curled into the smallest ball he could. Ram’s fear subsided and he reached out to comfort Tron. Tron flinched at the contact and Ram pulled his hand away. They both sat in silence before Ram pinged forgiveness/understanding/it’s ok to Tron. He followed up with I’m here for you, spoken in formal binary with low hums. It meant more when you spoke binary, you really meant what you were saying.

     Tron uncurled and swallowed thickly. Humming back
thank you, I’m here for you too. They scooted back together and rested, both hoping for a solution to make itself known.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Ch 16 Unto Others

     Dumont was old, not stupid. He didn’t like Tron’s violent attitudes and thought he was a bad influence on Yori. Yori had potential for some amazing work toward the User’s plans. The MCP was certainly not good for the system, but Tron wasn’t going to be enough to stop it alone. He’d sent them off as Sark broke through the tower doors.

     “Well well well, if it isn’t Dumont.” Sark had sauntered in, a dozen guards filling the room behind him. 

     “Hello Sark, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Sark approached the dias almost casually, looking around as though he was judging the decor rather than searching for fugitives. He stopped with one foot propped on Dumont’s control panel, so Dumont had to crane his neck up to look at him. After scanning the room once more, Sark lent down.

     “I’m looking for a renegade program called Tron, and any of his allies who may be with him. You wouldn’t happen to know where they are, tower guardian?” Dumont held Sark’s gaze, refusing to be condescended to. 

     “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven't seen any rogue programs here. Why, are they dangerous?” Sark bristled a little and one fist clenched at his side. He gave a tense smile, and his tone dripped with derision.

     “Perhaps I’ve given you the wrong impression, old program. I have the situation well in hand, we know Tron was here. I am giving you a chance to help the MCP, rather than derezzing you for insubordination.” Dumont knew he could give them up now, and Sark would be good on his word. He’d probably even let him keep his blue circuits for complying quickly with no prior incursions. Yori would never respect him again, if they let her live. 

     “You know Sark, now that you mention it, I do remember a program fitting that description coming in here earlier this cycle.” Sark’s eyes lit up and his smile turned almost genuine. 

     “That’s good Dumont! And where was he headed?” 

     “He was coming for you, Sark.” Sark’s face dropped. “I told him to look for the buggiest program he could find and they could point him in your direction. Since you’d be the biggest, nastiest gridbug on their ass.” Dumont’s user has used that word a few times and he knew it would strike a nerve, Sark hated User words. It struck true, and Sark hauled Dumont out of his apparatus and held him aloft in one hand, his circuits blazing red with rage.

     “I should dismantle you pixel by pixel, you religious piece of malware!” His sneer turned sadistic. “But instead, you will live to regret everything you said, and your part in disobeying the MCP.” Dumont was shaking a little, Sark may have been given his title through nepotism, but he earned it by destroying programs for the smallest slights at every possibility. 

     Sark dropped him and signaled his guards to haul the old program back to the carrier. A messenger ran into the room, headed for Sark.

     “Commander Sark! We’ve spotted Tron headed for the transportation district!” 

     “He’s taking a ship! Send every conscript within ten microns to stop him. Authorize lethal force if necessary, but the program who brings him in alive will be rewarded. Go now!” He turned back to Dumont, triumph in his face. “Well, looks like your little defense was pointless after all.”

     “Oh I wouldn’t say that. Tron’s not alone, and he’s not the only one who will rise. Your cycles are numbered Sark, and when they defeat the MCP you’ll be begging to be an exterminator again.” Sark grabbed a lightstaff from a guard and electrified Dumont until he screamed and his head slumped forward in a forced sleep cycle. He smacked the staff violently across Dumont’s head twice before dropping it and storming off.

     When Dumont woke again he was being tortured on the carrier, stuck on a rack which sent painful waves through him at the deepest levels of his programming. Sark was interrogating him some, but was mostly gloating and turning up the pain level from time to time. When Yori and an unfamiliar program had been brought in, he’d had a brief shock at the most User-sounding string of words he’d heard in a long time.

     “Get your damn mitts off me you gas-masked hockey player wannabes!” Yori had been unharmed, and the other program had mouthed off Sark enough that the commander was glowing bright red in his rage. Dumont had been hauled off, reassuring Yori that he was ok. He’d been corralled with several of the other oldest programs, mostly tower guardians, all glowing blue. Then they had been shoved down a series of hallways to a transport pod.

     They’re derezzing the ship. They’re leaving Yori behind! Dumont frantically looked for a way to sneak off, but the guards behind him were all armed with lightstaffs. But Dumont caught a flash of blue behind them, following. He kept his face forward as much as possible, only turning around as they were being herded into the pod. He saw Tron and another program slip behind a corner just as Sark entered the ship. 

     As the pod took off, the guards thinned out, creating a wall between the prisoners and the crew. Dumont stayed close to the door, calculating his survival chances for different escape plans. A moment later there was a loud thunk against the outside of the door. 

     Thinking quickly, Dumont dropped against it pretending to have weakly fallen over. Several guards looked back, and none moved to help him. Another tower guardian helped him back up, her old eyes very scared. Dumont pinged
don’t worry/Users will help
and she gave a fragile smile.
If they’re out there, this must be one hell of a plan. Tron, if you’ve not saved Yori I will derezz you myself before Sark or the MCP can even calculate your presence, Users be with you.

Chapter Text

Ch 17 A Final Showdown of Catastrophic Proportions

Sark directed his crew to land the pod at the base of the MCP’s I/O tower, and they began shuffling the prisoners inside. Sark gave Dumont a malicious grin and a shoulder check as he passed, Dumont’s trip and scowl was worth the pettiness. He strode up to the MCP himself, spinning in all his gigantic, flashing red glory. Swallowing down his fear he addressed him directly.
“Greetings Master Control!” The MCP slowed his spin to face Sark directly.
“Hello Commander Sark. I see you’ve brought the old guard with you, line them up in the bays.” He spoke to Sark with all the respect of someone whose cat has brought them a dead bird. Sark’s circuits thrummed with pride as he signaled the guards to do as the MCP said.
We’re so close now. After this I’ll rule with him and we can do whatever we want! What do you think of that, Users? Sark smiled.

Dumont was shoved by Sark on his way to the bays evenly spaced around the MCP’s converted I/O tower. The guards locked his hands against the wall and he felt his power starting to drain away. The other programs started screaming around him as their functions were absorbed by the MCP. Dumont realized he was screaming too, but it felt disconnected and far away. Oh Users, please help Tron and Yori, they need you now more than ever.

Yori heard the screaming coming from the base of the tower. Turning the ship to circle the beam she saw the tower guardians strapped to the walls, flashing blue as their power faded.
“DUMONT!” She whipped around to Flynn. “Dumont is down there! We have to help him!” Flynn came to her side and held her shoulders firmly.
“Yori, I don’t know who that is, but this is not the time. If I get out of here I can unplug the whole grid if I need to, and take out the MCP at its source in my world. If I jump into that beam will it take me home or not?” Yori had a panicked look in her eyes, and was gripping the control panel hard enough that a pixel shattered under one hand.
“Flynn, I’m not sure of anything right now. They’re torturing my friend down there. It’s not something I can just ignore!” Flynn let go of her and looked over the side, the screaming reaching his ears over the ship’s engines and the hum of the I/O beam.
“Yori, if you send me back, I can fix everything. Please, I need you right now.” Yori tried to calm down as she computed the numbers. After a moment she responded.
“It’ll send you back, but only if we interrupt the signal after you’ve entered so that the MCP doesn’t send you somewhere else or hold you there. The good news is that the beam won’t derezz you outright, you’ll fall all the way down and that’ll derezz you instead.” Flynn smiled tightly.
“Thank you Yori, can you take the ship around- hold on. What is that?” He squinted at something speeding across the ground. Yori leaned over and looked. There were two small figures, their circuits glowing blue against the red and black landscape.
“It’s Tron and Ram!” She grabbed Flynn’s shoulder excitedly. “They survived!”

As Tron’s feet hit the door of the pod he was certain they were caught. But the ship didn’t slow and no one opened the door so Ram hauled him up and they stayed crouched on the top as it began its descent. It landed and they both lay flat against the roof, trying not to be spotted. Once all the footsteps had retreated, they rose and helped each other down. Then the screaming started.
“Oh Users, what are they doing to them?!” Ram looked to Tron, whose jaw had set and his eyes hardened.
“Ram, when we get close, leave Sark to me. You need to free the others. I’m sure Flynn is taking care of Yori wherever they are, we can’t afford to waste any more time.” He started running towards the tower. Ram followed, catching up quickly and pulling ahead.
“Tron, don’t forget you’ve got your light cycle.” Tron nodded as they neared the tower.
“Ram,” he called ahead “my disk is the one with the kill code, if it comes down to me or the MCP, take out the MCP.” Ram looked alarmed as the tower was entering disk throwing distance.
“I trust you, watch your back, Tron. I’m your partner, remember? We’re in this together.” He stopped short when he saw the derezzing carrier circling the I/O beam, with a tiny flash of blue at the helm. Tron stopped and looked up as well. Ram heard a faint call of “It’s Tron and Ram!” and the light at the top of the carrier flared excitedly.
“That’s Flynn and Yori! They’re on the carrier!” Tron’s battle face cracked into a relieved smile, which shattered as the doors to the tower opened. Commander Sark the Destroyer emerged, lit from behind by the MCP’s red light that flashed across each of them like a sick cross between a lighthouse and a disco ball.
“SARK!” Tron roared, making sure the attention was on him and not Ram, who sprinted to the side, hoping to get inside behind Sark.
“I don’t know how you survived, and I don’t care. Prepare to terminate.” Sark flung his disk at Tron, who expertly deflected it. Sark rushed at him while Ram slipped inside. He saw the MCP growing brighter with each passing second as the screams of the tower guardians began dissolving into whimpers. Ram rushed to the nearest one, the cuffs locking the program in place shocked him when he touched them.
“Ah ah, play nice.” The voice of the MCP shook the air around him and he felt himself being pulled like a magnet towards the center of the room. He fought against it and used his disk to cut the program free. The MCP growled and several guards rushed at him.
“Just like disk wars.” He muttered to himself as he flung his disk into the throng. It ricocheted off two lightstaffs before derezzing a guard. One tried to rush him but Ram used his pull towards the center to jump into the air and slam his feet into his head. Two others came from opposite sides as Ram’s disk derezzed one on its return trip. He caught it and plunged it into the chest of the other guard who dropped his lightstaff and dissolved into nothingness.
Ram picked up the lightstaff and smiled.
Now we’re smoking.

“SARK!” Tron’s vision was going bright blue at the edges from the emotion flaring through his circuits at seeing him. This was the program who had hurt him, his friends, and caused the suffering and terminations of countless other programs. Sark walked calmly, but the flashes of red across his circuts betrayed his temper.
“I don’t know how you survived, and I don’t care. Prepare to terminate.” Tron deflected Sark’s disk and threw his own. Sark charged at him and caught his own disk midair, spinning to double the momentum back at Tron. Tron’s disk had swung wide but grazed Sark’s head on the return trip. Tron ducked below the two disks coming at him and caught both as they flew over his head.
Sark was still rushing at him but faltered at the catch. Tron grit his teeth and ran at the commander, swinging both disks out to slash at him close range. Sark was better at long distance fights, so Tron would take away his advantage.
Up close Sark was quick, but couldn’t avoid a graze or a nick from Tron’s relentless assault. Sark kicked out Tron’s leg, forcing him to the ground before kneeing him in the face. Tron drove one disk straight up, clipping Sark’s nose and jaw and forcing him back.
Tron threw the other away, and it flew in an arc towards the tower. Sark got a grip on the disk Tron still held, and tried to yank it away forcefully. Tron stood and head butted Sark, causing him to lose his grip and fall to the ground.
The thrown disk returned, headed for the back of Sark’s helmet. He caught it moments before impact, his own disk shining in his hands. He stood, almost reverently, and backed away from Tron, circling him.
“You should have joined me. We would have made a great team.” Sark was trying to distract him, but Tron wasn’t holding back anymore. He flung his disk at Sark who deflected it and returned with his own. Tron caught his disk and dodged Sark’s, its return going wide and missing completely.
“You’re very persistent, Tron!”
“And I’m also better than you!” Tron threw his disk overhanded, and it shattered Sark’s own disk, grinding right through the middle of his head. Sark sank to the ground, sparking as his code leaked apart. Tron caught his disk, engaged his light cycle, and sped to assist Ram, who seemed to be holding his own.
While Ram was busy trading lightstaff blows with two guards his disk had gone awry and was going to hit him if he didn’t catch it. Tron disengaged the light cycle and jumped to catch it, slamming both disks into the guards in front of Ram. They both toppled and Ram smiled wildly.
“Nice move!” Tron handed him his disk before turning to the MCP, evaluating a weak spot.
“Sark, all my functions are yours.”
Tron looked up in confusion, a loud rumbling coming from outside the tower made him turn. Oh Alan_1, we are fucked.

Flynn watched the battle intently, glaze dancing from Ram to Tron, trying to see if either was in more danger. While Tron only had one opponent, he seemed just as skilled and willing to fight dirty. Ram was outnumbered, but these guards hadn’t trained for dozens of cycles in the games like Ram had, his speed and skill letting him trick them into hitting each other half the time.
Yori was anxious, trying to watch them all and find Dumont at the same time. Flynn reminded her to steer the ship, and asked her to take them down closer. Tron took down Sark, and rushed in to help Ram. Just then the MCP said something that had Tron pausing and listening as a rumble spread across the ground.
“Look at that!” Yori pointed to Sark, who was growing exponentially. Once he was almost as tall as the tower he trudged over and stepped over the walls surrounding them. Flynn could see the huge gash torn through the middle of Sark’s head, leaking energy and pixels while his body was covered in glowing nicks and scrapes. His eyes had gone completely black, and Flynn thought this was the scariest thing resembling Ed Dillinger he had ever seen.
“Christ, that's horrible. Yori, take us down, I gotta help Tron.” Yori nodded and the ship came closer to the tower. Tron and Ram both flung disks at the giant, but they had no effect.
“The Users can’t help you now, programs.” The MCP chuckled darkly, his spinning halted to watch the battle. Flynn was drawing as much User power to himself as he could.
“Hit him with the ship, and then I’m gonna jump.” Yori nodded.
“It’s been a pleasure, Flynn.”
She flicked all the controls forward and the last of the carrier’s energy forced it ahead. Flynn ran to the end of the prow, his accumulated power glowing white across his circuits. Yori held on as the ship rammed into Sark’s back, Flynn jumping up toward his head. Where Flynn held on the white light began derezzing Sark at an alarming rate. The giant fell forward, toward the MCP’s beam.
“NO! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!” The MCP’s rage shook the whole tower as Flynn dropped into the beam. Tron seized his chance and flung the kill code disk into the heart of the MCP, disrupting the red and replacing it with a blue-white light. Flynn was falling, desperately hoping that he didn’t derezz on impact with the ground.

Chapter Text

Ch 18 Round Trip

Flynn tingled all over. He had slammed hard into the chair at Lora’s terminal, rocking 

backward and tipping over onto the grating below. Ow. That stung like a motherfu-. He sat up sharply, feeling the metal of the floor and fabric on his arms. He looked around excitedly, lazer bay 2 never looked so homey. The computer was finishing printing a long document, a list of dates and times Flynn had edited his games, as well as when Dillinger had stolen them. He stood and ripped the papers out.

“Jackpot!” He sprinted to the elevator and was nearly caught by the guards twice. When he found Alan’s floor he whispered harshly.

“Alan, Lora,” He waved the papers so they could hear them. “I’ve got it!” Their heads popped out from Alan’s cubicle, light glinting off their glasses. Alan closed down his terminal and Lora dumped the last of the popcorn into the trash. When they had both walked up to Flynn Lora hugged him quickly and Alan patted him on the shoulder.

“That’s great Flynn!”

“Thanks for distracting the MCP. What took you so long?” Lora led them down a back stairwell towards the area they had come in through. Flynn folded the papers inside his jacket as he answered.

“I’m gonna be honest Alan, I’m not entirely sure.” Alan shot him a glare that looked so much like Tron that Flynn’s heart skipped a beat. Alan pushed his glasses up and rubbed at his eyes.

“I’m not even gonna ask what the hell that means. We got what we came for, now let's focus on getting out of here.” Lora waved them over to the big red door and they slipped out into the night. Flynn shivered, the light breeze feeling sharp after being in cyberspace with no air at all. 

As they got in Lora’s van he noticed all of the textures of the interior, how dark everything seemed when not outlined in light. They drove back to Flynn’s arcade taking a long route to avoid possible tailing. Alan and Lora chatted back and forth about heist movies and Alan’s popcorn catching abilities, Flynn staying quiet in the backseat. Their conversation escalated playfully and Alan turned back to Flynn.

“Flynn, will you tell your ex that I am just as adept at catching food in my mouth as you are? She seems to believe you’ve never missed before.” Lora shoved Alan and looked at Flynn in the mirror.

“That is not what I said! I said that you ALMOST never missed when I threw popcorn at you.” Flynn didn’t answer, staring out the window. Lora looked to Alan worriedly and he shrugged. As they reached a red light she made sure no one was nearby and she turned in her seat to look back at Flynn. He startled at her movement and looked at her.

“Flynn, since I’ve known you you’ve never been silent for more than five minutes, and you’re coming up on twenty now. What’s wrong?” Flynn wrung his hands and took a deep breath.

“I wanna thank you and Alan for helping me with this. I couldn’t have done it without you.” He chuckled. “And I tried it before, as you know.” Alan and Lora exchanged a look again before Lora turned back to Flynn. 

“Of course. We’re glad we could help you. Dillinger is going to pay for what he did. But that’s not what’s really bothering you, is it?” Alan nudged Lora. 

“The light’s green.” She turned around and they continued down the road. Alan took Lora’s place looking at Flynn. Flynn returned Alan’s gaze, squinting then and again like he was trying to see something that was shifting in and out of focus. 

“What did you mean earlier about not being sure what held you up with the hacking?” Flynn looked away at this and placed his hands on his knees. 

“Alan, I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.” Alan huffed out a sigh.

“Try me.” Flynn shook his head.

“It’s some real fantastical shit Bradley.” 

“The longer you stall the less I think anything actually happened.”

“I met Tron.” Alan paused and blinked.

“You MET Tron? As in my Tron program?” He turned back to the road. “Right. Sure you did.”

“I’m fucking serious man! I don’t know the specifics of how I got there but I was in the grid and I met Tron, and Ram, and Yori. There was one that looked just like Dillinger-”

“So you went to Oz then? Was the scarecrow there too?” Alan shot back another glare. “Are you high right now? I can’t believe you would endanger our mission that we went on FOR YOU-” 

“I swear to you! I’m one hundred and ten percent sober right now. I swear on my arcade that I’m telling the truth!” Alan took several deep breaths. Lora started to speak and he just shook his head. 

When they pulled up the arcade no one moved to get out. Flynn reached for Alan’s shoulder and Alan flicked his hand away. Flynn nodded to Laura and stepped out of the van. Walking to the front door he heard the van door open and slam closed behind him. Turning, he saw Alan walking around the front of the van, Lora unbuckling to follow him. He marched straight up to Flynn and snatched the door keys out of his hand.

“What the hell Bradley-” Alan raised a hand to silence Flynn as he unlocked the arcade. Lora turned off the car and joined them. 

“Seriously, not that I mind the company but I don’t get why-”

“I believe you, Flynn.” Alan looked shocked at his own words. Lora and Flynn did as well, twin looks of surprise on their faces. Alan opened the door and walked in. He waved the others through with resignation.

“I hope you’ve got something to take the edge off. I’m going to need it and you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

Chapter Text

Ch 19 Bedtime Stories

     Lora led them upstairs. Having dated Flynn she knew where everything was already. She turned on the inner stairwell light leading up to Flynn’s room. Flynn dumbly followed, trying to think of something to say. Alan had relocked the door and handed Flynn the keys, so he began fiddling with them idly. Alan was last in their lineup, rubbing at his temple where he had developed a splitting headache. 

     Lora let them into Flynn’s room, heading straight for the kitchenette around the corner. She grabbed three beers from the fridge and placed them on the counter. Flynn shrugged out of his jacket and toed out of his shoes, tossing both into a corner. Alan hung his jacket by the door and put his shoes with it. He joined Lora in the kitchen, and they began going through the cabinets. Flynn wandered in after them.

     “Why the hell are you raiding all my food?” Alan put a container of mashed potatoes into the microwave while Lora poured chips into a bowl. Alan gave Flynn a look.

     “We all had a stressful evening, and none of us had dinner. Considering you’re about to explain another world you supposedly went to, full stomachs will help us all.” Alan turned as he said it, handing Flynn one of the beers and opening his own. Lora walked out to take her shoes off as Flynn popped the tab on his can. 

     Ten minutes later they had mashed potatoes, chips and salsa, reheated chicken, canned peaches, and Flynn’s candy stash along with their beers all sitting on the floor of Flynn’s room. Once they were all full and starting their second drinks, Flynn sat up straighter and fiddled with his empty can. 

     “Ok. I’m not really sure where to start. So, any questions from the crowd?” Alan’s pleasant buzz was soured so he took another drink and shook his head. Lora blew a bubble with her gum before she spoke.

     “So, when did you go to this place? I only left you there for about an hour tops.” Flynn broke the tab off his empty can and fiddled with it.

     “After you set me up at your terminal I started feeding the MCP some impossible puzzles, and then the lazer went off.” Alan sat up abruptly.

     “You got hit by the lazer?! Wouldn’t it have killed you?” Lora shook her head and pushed Alan back.

     “The lazer in bay 1 is doing that. Bay 2 is about transferring matter into nothing and then bringing it back exactly the same.” She popped her gum to punctuate. “Our theory was that the matter was changing into a new state when suspended in the beam, the idea that it’s closer to teleportation would make more sense.” She trailed off, taking a drink as she rethought her biggest project’s implications. Alan sat forward again and pointed at Flynn.

     “So let’s say you were shot by the lazer, and it didn’t kill you, or turn you into nothing and then bring you back. Where did it send you specifically?”

     “That’s what I was trying to figure out, they told me I was on the game grid. I think they meant I was inside the Encom servers.” 

     “Who’s they?” 

     “The programs.”

     “Right, the programs. The things that we make out of numbers. They spoke to you?” 

     “I thought they were people at first, they looked like people. They think we’re some kind of gods called Users.” Alan sighed and took another drink. Flynn dropped his tab into his empty can and crushed it. Lora spat her gum into the trash and finished her second beer as she stared at Flynn.

     “When they told you you were a god did you start posturing and preening right away, or did you let them grovel first?” 

     “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Baines. I actually didn’t believe them for a while, then I kept it a secret. I told Ram first because he was dying.” 

     “Who’s Ram?” 

     “He’s uh, do you remember a Roy Klienberg? From way back when I started working at Encom?” Alan snorted.

     “Yeah I remember him. His cubicle is next to mine. Took him two months of awkwardly saying hello before he was brave enough to ask for some of my popcorn. Why?” 

     “Well Ram looks just like him, because Roy wrote him. It’s odd though, because Ram said his User worked for a big insurance company.” Alan lent back in his seat, almost siding onto the floor.

     “Since you left, Roy and a few of the others had started some under the table programming for other companies. Paid in cash, all off-books to keep away from Dillinger and the MCP.” He sat up quickly and slid completely into the floor. “If the MCP is a program then you must have seen it at some point! What did it look like?” Flynn drummed his fingers on his can.

     “This is gonna sound weird but imagine a giant, red, beam of light with a face stretched over it. The voice sounded a little like Dillinger but so warped, had a different speech pattern from the little I heard before I came back.” He tensed suddenly. “God I hope they’re ok in there, I left them in the middle of an insane firefight.” 

     “Who was fighting who, Flynn?” Lora asked, helping Alan sit back up on the couch.

     “Tron, Ram, Yori and I were fighting the MCP and his minions. He had one guy that looked just like Ed too, but Tron killed him and then he got brought back as a giant zombie.” He looked over at Lora. “Yori is one of your programs, right?” She nodded.

     “It’s the one I wrote to check for imperfections in the lazer, YORI-LB-121509 if my memory serves. But Flynn, we've written dozens of programs over time, exported and duplicated and deleted and changed them, they aren’t people, they don’t have feelings or personalities.” 

     “That’s what I told Ram! He seemed really offended too. I know it sounds like I’m messing with you guys, but I swear: everything I’m saying is real.” 

     “I’m certain you thought it was real, but it might have been your dying brain hallucinating from the laser accidentally engaging and digitizing you.” Flynn sighed, he was reaching the end of Lora’s patience and losing her support. He turned to Alan, the poor lightweight was already about to fall asleep after his second beer.

     “Maybe. It’s nearly 2 AM, you guys should just crash here tonight. Bradley won’t be able to get himself down the stairs let alone walk to the van.” Alan woke up enough to scowl again, straightening his glasses and sitting up some. 

     “I’m going to stay here just to spite you, Flynn. Thank you for the offer.” Lora shook her head and started clearing the food from the floor. Flynn helped her and he pushed Alan back down when he tried to stand and help. Lora threw away cans while Flynn started putting dishes in the sink. He nudged her elbow gently.

     “You don’t have to stay here if it makes you uncomfortable. I’ll take care of Alan. I’ll be able to walk him home in the morning, he’ll be in no condition to go to work with his hangover.” Lora chuckled and gave him a small peck on the cheek. She stepped back, light shining off her glasses as she crossed her arms.

     “I appreciate that thought. I’m not really up to the drive right now, and part of me doesn’t trust you not to give Alan a worse hangover in the morning under the guise of ‘curing’ him.” He smiled. 

     “You know me too well, Lora. I wouldn’t do that to him though, he’s too cute.” Lora smacked his arm and Flynn laughed.

     “Watch it Kevin, he’s MY boyfriend, not YOUR boyfriend.” Flynn wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

     “Not yet at least. Who knows, maybe my story has seduced him to the dark side.” He made clawing motions and Lora put a hand over her heart in mock horror.

     “You’re right, how can I compete with your brain-damaged delusions?” Both of them went back in the room to clear what was left. Alan was slumped over on the couch, fully asleep by now. Flynn tsk’d and gestured at him. 

     “Aww look at him, all vulnerable and sweet.” Lora smiled and made a shushing motion as she led them back to the kitchen. 

     “Do you have an air mattress?” Lora whispered as they put the last of the food away.

     “No, but you and Alan should take the bed anyway.” Lora started to protest and he shook his head. 

     “I won’t let you guys try to refuse me on this. You’ll ruin my rep as the best host ever.” He smiled as he said it, sincere but firm. Lora conceded.

     “Help me move Alan.” They made a final trek into the other room, hauling Alan to his feet, each with an arm across their shoulders. He stirred awake as they led him to the bed. Flynn turned back the covers and lowered him down. Lora hauled Alan’s legs up and under the blanket, taking his glasses and folding them on the side table. She folded her own glasses and placed her hair clips on the other side table and settled in beside Alan. He caught Flynn’s arm as he moved to leave.

     “What was Tron like?” He was struggling to stay awake as he asked, but Flynn could tell this was very important to him at the moment. 

     “He was great. A strong leader, great fighter, bit of a tough guy but sometimes his face would light up because we were all ok, and I knew he cared a lot more than he let on.” He patted Alan’s arm. “He thought the best of you, you should be very proud of the work he’s done. He looked just like you without your glasses, and he had really bad hair.” 

     Flynn was reminiscing quietly to himself at this point, Alan had drifted off and Lora had turned the light off. Flynn stood and changed into pajama pants, dragging a spare blanket and some throw pillows to the couch. He laid down, eyes growing heavy. Yori, Ram, Tron, if you can somehow hear me, I hope you won and you’re all ok.

Chapter Text

Ch 20 A Free System

Tron destroyed the MCP. Sark’s massive body derezzed as it fell to the ground, the carrier followed, derezzing completely as it fell. Yori tumbled down, but rolled through the fall so she was uninjured. Ram began releasing the tower guardians, helping them stand or lowering them to the ground gently. 
Power and light flooded the landscape, I/O beams lighting up the sky as the towers regained their connection. Red circuited programs felt fear as they saw blue washing across their prisoners and subordinates. User-believers cheered and many fought back against their oppressors. In the games, opponents stopped fighting and turned on the guards, freeing others from their cells and taking back the game grid. 
The MCP-loyal inoperative programs begged for their lives from the cleaners and pilots who had suffered at their hands. Screams and cheers rose up in equal measure, light and sound and energy consumed the entire system.
Tron stood silent, Yori and Ram at his sides, looking at what was left of the MCP. Sark had partially crushed the dias before completely derezzing, and the more permanent destruction to the tower was the only evidence the MCP had ever been there.
Yori placed a hand on Tron’s shoulder, Ram mirroring her on his other side. Tron reached up to hold their shoulders as well. He shook a little as they heard the whole system in upheaval. He made a choked off noise and ducked his head.
“Tron, are you ok?” Yori leaned over to look at him. He looked up, smiling broadly, eyes shining with emotion. 
“It’s over. We defeated the MCP!” He shouted, pulling his friends closer. Ram punched the air.
“We’ve freed the system!” Yori raised a fist as well and they all just shouted for a while. The tower guardians who could stand raised their fists as well and gave smaller shouts, while the ones on the ground smiled weakly. Ram looked around, searching.
“Yori, where’s Flynn?” Yori’s face fell, she didn’t break their program hug but she did pull away some.
“He jumped from the ship to derezz Sark. Then he fell into the I/O beam and disappeared. I don’t think he derezzed, he seemed to think it would take him home.” She patted Tron’s shoulder. “It was your disruption of the MCP in that moment that more than likely saved him.” Tron’s face fell somewhat, looking at Ram he could tell they both felt the loss of their User friend deeply. Ram cracked a small smile of his own.
“We still have what he showed us though!” He leaned forward to kiss Tron. Their helmets knocked together and neither one really knew what they were doing, but the kiss was sweet and genuine. Yori giggled and stepped away from them. One voice called out weakly.
“Yori?” She whipped around, looking for the speaker.
“Dumont?” She spotted him, waving and walking towards her slowly. “DUMONT!” She sprinted to him. When she got close enough she began checking him for injuries and talking very quickly.
“Dumont I’m so glad you’re all right! After they took you away I was terrified something was wrong-“ He placed one hand gently on her shoulder.
“It’s good to see you too, Yori. And I’m very happy you’re all right. By the looks of it you and Tron have had some more help since you left my tower. Tell me everything.” She smiled and recounted meeting Flynn and Ram on the sailer, and their separation and reunification on the battlefield. 
“Well it seems as if I made the right decision helping you contact your user, Tron.” Dumont gave him a slight nod of respect that Tron returned with a wide smile.
“Couldn’t have done it without your help, Dumont.” 
They all began making their way back to familiar areas of the grid. Slowly walking for the better part of a cycle before they reached a port with a solar sailer. They sailed back to the heart of the grid, watching the landscape glowing as they zipped past. 
The MCP had built his fortress on the outskirts of the system so it would be easier to cloak if the Users had been checking for abnormalities. His connecting lines were being destroyed, the red marks fading to grey as the paths were closed off.
Yori piloted the tower guardians to several of the reclaimed blue towers, ending with Dumont’s. He disembarked at the port and waved as they glided away. Ram looked over Yori’s shoulder at the control panel.
“Where are we headed now?”
“My place, if that's ok with you?” 
“Fine with me, this isn’t my home system so I don’t have any place to recharge since I’m not in a cell anymore.”
“Well you can stay with me as long as you’d like, both of you can.” She smiled at Tron, who put his arm around her shoulders once more.
“Thank you, Yori.” 
When they arrived at the port closest to her file, they saw several still-red guards attempting to fight off several blue programs. They weren’t armed with discs but rather with engineer’s tools, cleaning implements, and stolen lightstaffs. As Tron and Ram moved to help the reds were overwhelmed and all dispatched quickly, cheers ringing out from the victorious workers.
Yori led Ram and Tron to the file stack she stayed in, which resembled an apartment building with its regular boxes and now light blue glow. Upon reaching her file she changed the patterns on the walls to beautiful tessellations which glowed a soft orange. The pale organic outlines of pink and orange and green fluttered to life throughout the room, illuminating the space. Yori smiled and held her arms out to the room.
“I can finally leave on my customization patterns! They were banned under the MCP because they promoted individualism and non-conformist thinking.” 
“It’s beautiful Yori!” Ram was in awe of the decorations and circled the room reverently. Tron pinged joy/gratitude/relief to Yori who pinged back joy/relief with a smile. She stepped into the central pillar of the room, pressing two controls as the light began to engulf her. When it subsided she was dressed in a different bodysuit with long flowing sleeves. There was an organic golden pattern radiating across it, rather than the harsh lines of the MCP’s regulation suits. Her helmet was gone and her hair was up in an intricate braided knot.
“You look wonderful.” Tron smiled and stepped closer, tilting his helmet forward to rest against her forehead. Yori took his hands as they stood in silence for a bit. 
“I’ve got some suits that can adapt to your code if you want, don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve changed suits.”
“Far too long!” Ram piped up as he walked closer. He gestured to the cylinder.
“May I?”
“Certainly.” Ram stepped inside and surveyed the controls, swiping a few times before imputing his final choice. 
When the light cleared again he was standing in a belted tunic that hung to his knees, his armor and helmet gone. His circuits glowed a more teal-green color, the patterns primarily thin, vertical lines across his body. His hair curled past his shoulders onto the elbow-length sleeves. He gave a small spin and struck a pose.
“How do I look?” 
“Fantastic Ram. Tron, your turn!” Yori and Ram stepped back as Tron took his place in the cylinder. He clicked through the options slowly, only after several long moments activated the light. 
Tron was left standing in a very different outfit to the one he had been wearing before. He had a long pair of straight-legged pants and an open jacket so that his chest symbol would still be visible. The jacket cinched at the waist and the wrists, long blue lines of light ran up the outsides of his clothes. His helmet was gone as well as his armor. Startlingly, his hair was on full display. 
Ram and Yori were practically entranced as Tron sheepishly struck a very stiff pose with his hands on his hips.
“How is it?” Ram and Yori both began pinging excitement/joy at him which overwhelmed his sensors as they both came closer. 
“This is a really great look on you, Tron, oh my Users, I didn’t know you knew how to dress like this!” Ram was circling Tron almost hungrily. Tron laughed a little.
“You only knew me in the games after the MCP’s uniform rules. He stripped all of us of our customizations.” Yori ran a finger lightly across the stripe of the jacket.
“You know Tron, I should have you wear new clothes more often, they really suit you.”
“Oh calm down, this isn’t much different than what Alan one allowed me when I was off-duty.”
“Nah you’re looking extra hot, Firewall!”
“I absolutely agree.” Ram and Yori stood side-by-side, looking all over Tron and appraising him. He felt the pale pink of embarrassment tingeing his circuits and tried to shake it off. 
“As nice as this has been, I’d really kill for some energy right now. Have you got anything better than rations?”
“I’ve kept a secret stash for awhile now, it’s not exactly fresh but it’s definitely strong.” Yori opened a storage unit in the wall and flipped an unseen switch, releasing another unit next to it. She pulled out a bottle of blue energy and some square glasses. Bringing them to her table by the window she poured them each some and they drank in unison.
“The new system, what happens now?” Yori looked at Tron. He swirled his glass for a moment and drank another sip.
“I don’t know, but it’ll be easier now that the Users are with us. Flynn can tell them about what’s happened, and they might be able to help us.”
“Woah Tron, I’ve never heard you talk about the Users like that. Faith shaken?” Ram tilted his head towards him, genuine concern underlying the joke. Tron finished his drink and gave a resigned look out the window.
“After meeting Flynn, I realized that the Users don’t have a divine plan. They’re just like us. If they’re anything like Flynn then we can rest assured they’ll help however they can, even if their powers aren’t all-encompassing.” He tapped the symbol on his chest and looked at both of his friends.
“I still fight for the Users, it’s my primary objective. I have faith in them, and I think Alan_1 is going to help guide me to what I must do next.” Ram nodded and placed a hand to his own chest, tracing the triangular pattern in the center.
“Here’s hoping I hear from RKlienberg_7 in the next few cycles, or someone.” 
“Will you try to go back to your old system?” Tron hesitantly asked, not looking at Ram. Ram turned to Tron and placed a hand over his on the table. 
“Not anytime soon, I’ve made some amazing memories here, and I met you, Yori, and Flynn. As much pain as I endured, getting to help you take down the MCP was a great thing. I love being an actuarial program, but for now, I want to be here, with you.” Tron took hold of his hand and met his gaze. Between them passed a series of images, the oasis, the battle, sitting in their cells, light cycle runs, Flynn’s hands holding them together. They both nodded and pressed their foreheads together, which morphed into a different kiss. Yori held up her glass.
“To the Users and the interesting things they’ve taught us. Thank you Flynn!” Tron and Ram laughed and raised their glasses as well. Ram called out the next toast.
“To the new system!” Tron smiled.
“To the new system.”