Fragmentation II
Title: Fragmentation II
Genre: Family/Adventure
Summary: AU, Subroutine 'verse. Progress demands that the sacrifice of others is necessary; the victims, of course, have no say in the matter. Unless you're a user, that is.
Author: Sakura123 (weber_dubois22)
Rating: T
Characters: Ma3a, Yori, Jet Bradley, Sam Flynn, Quorra, Mercury, Eva Popoff, Lora Bradley, Kevin Flynn, Alan Bradley, etc.
Chapters: 10
Written: 3/8/2012
Completed: 3/16/2012
Updated: 8/17/2018
Disclaimer: Tron/Tron 2.0/Tron: Legacy and all things related are property of Steven Lisberger, Bonnie MacBird and Walt Disney Studios (and some other guys I'm probably forgetting but don't care to remember).
Title: Sacrifices
Prompt 1/10: Sepia
There was a time where she might've been afraid of the power, afraid of the sterility that it presented. There was no choice, no pain, no conflict. Scripting prompted her to follow the system directive and maintain order. Her greatest priority was to maintain balance within an imbalanced system. The uprising of the second Codified Likeness Utility created a fracture within the system that needed mending. However, the destruction of those who could repair it resulted in its immediate worsening. The responsibility, the consequence of playing a hand in the destruction of a naturally occurring code within the system in response to the bigoted envy of one program, rested solely on her shoulders.
She could've have said no, chosen to die alongside her own creation. The day she chose not to leave with the creator was the day she resigned herself to the fate of choosing life or death. He didn't give her the choice at first. She was simply allowed to watch as they were rounded up, herded into boxes and separated from their loved ones. Week after week plowed through time, the population of ISOs slowly dwindled. Some tried to escape, which only moved to escalate the violence against them. On the day of the Purge, he gave her a "choice". Give up the readme files that allowed him access to the ISO cities, or watch them crumble under his heel.
She chose not to give him the files and she was forced to stand next to the self-proclaimed master of the system as a thousand pillars of light were swallowed into the sepia cloud of oblivion. A thousand tiny needles raised her code, eating into her directive. Stripped down to the barest level of permissions, she was confined to the central core of the Administrative Office. She slaved away at patching up the raw and bleeding holes left behind by the rebellion and the infection of her creation. Hunched over on her thrown, she was a hag feeding off the lives of others.
She was the system.
The capture of the creator's companions, Tron and Yori, stirred the expected the response from him too little too late. Ma3a remembered it so vividly, the fear in her counterpart's round and chubby face as she dragged from her prison and down into the central core. Her innate curiosity scrutinized the intricate system of wiring wrapped thrice times around the mainframe sphere hanging above her head and down onto the elevated platform where her throne resided, elicited a pang of guilt within her. The ICP shoved her down onto her knees, Ma3a glided over to architect and keeled. So frightened, so disconnected from any sort of sense of safety and order. Ma3a placed a gentle hand on her face, fingers curling around her jaw. "Ma3a... please, you don't have to do this, you can fight him," She whispered, lips trembling. "Please fight him." Ma3a's smile softened as her circuitry began to slow in sync with Yori's. She placed her other hand on her cheek and pressed her forehead against her own. Ma3a felt the young woman shudder in fear as she looked into her wide eyes. "I am the system, there is nothing left to fight."
Watching Yori crumble like ashes was like watching herself being erased from the system itself. She resisted, admirably so, however, she slowly allowed herself to become absorbed within her functions. The smallest spark of guilt nibbled at her core when her hallowed out shell crumbled to the ground, a mosaic of colors. Swallowing against the haze of emotions and thoughts Ma3a processed the data accordingly, separating and filing it in their proper sub-files. The repurposing YORIEXE was complete.