DIGITAL RAIN
When Sam entered the Grid it was raining. Raining in a digital system. He could never quite make sense of that. He was there to see an old friend. Gem had sent him a message through one of the I/0 towers. And she wanted to see him.
District 12 was deep in the heart of Tron City, a district known for the shade, darkness and the glow of broken neon. Sam felt a chill just being down there. Something wasn't right about the place.
He started walking towards his destination, Xocalo, a bar in the heart of the district. As Sam walked he passed a program on a street corner. The program wore a dark hood and slouched down as if he didn't want to be seen.
"In the mood for some digital magic?" There was no shame in his voice. Business as usual. He held out a packet of white powder. Sam recognized it as Digital Dust, a drug used by many programs in the Grid. It supposedly heightened the intake of energy, a brain rush for any program that took it. He simply continued walking not looking the program in the eye as he passed.
A male program and a siren walked past him in the other direction. Sam watched as the male program grabbed the siren's ass and pinched it. She tried to smile, but it was forced, as though she was only with him to stroke his ego. They walked by Sam and the siren turned, met his eyes for a moment and then they walked on. She seemed sad. Sam looked behind him one last time and saw the man lean in for a kiss. The siren let his lips slide across her cheek. Then they were gone.
When he arrived at the bar where they were supposed to meet, he walked by a streetlight. The rain blurred the neon glow of the city lights, and the lamp seemed to flicker off and on. Resting on the lamppost was a white umbrella. He reached out, looking down to get a closer look. It was Gem's umbrella. From the night at End of LIne. He was almost sure of it.
He heard footsteps behind him and wondered if they were Gem's. It sounded like the click clack of her tall heels. But when he turned he only saw the trail of someone walking around a corner. It must have been her. He ran to follow her, to catch up. The rain made it hard to see. The steps traced a path into an alley where a little girl was sitting with her mother. She was dressed in white, with grey light tracks. Sam thought she could have been the younger version of Gem. He stood at the entrance to the alleyway and watched the two of them talk. He felt like he was intruding, so he stayed back waiting for them to leave.
"Mom, why are you crying?"
"It's just the rain honey. Here take this umbrella." The woman handed the girl a red umbrella. It stood out in the dark, against the white rain and the girl's white skin. It was too small for both of them to stand under.
"But mom, you'll get wet."
"I don't mind. As long as you're ok, then I am too." She smiled and gave the girl a hug. Tears dripped from her eyes onto her daughter's shoulder.
Then the two of them faded into the rain and disappeared.
Sam walked into the alley, feeling like he had just seen a ghost.
The alley led to a door with a railing. A white umbrella was perched against it. Sam opened the door. There was a hallway. He could hear the sounds of programs in hidden rooms doing hidden things. A man moaned. Sam felt dirty for being there and walked a little faster.
He came out of the hallway in a digital nightclub. It was a seedy place. There were only a few lights, not really enough to see by. In the back of the room there was a bar where a program sat nursing an energy drink.
A tall program with oversized muscles came up to Sam and asked what he was doing there. He stood a little too close for Sam's liking, though he had seen bouncers in the real world before and wasn't afraid of them.
"I'm looking for someone. A program. She's a siren named Gem."
"We ain't got no one like that here. Those girls ain't come round here much." Sam looked around the bar. A girl danced on the stage, showing her body, gyrating. There were a few programs sitting at booths watching the girl dance.
A waitress walked by and whispered, "You're looking for Gem?" He turned and saw one of the sirens who had given him his disc when he first arrived in the grid. She was black with gorgeous brown eyes. The bouncer had moved on, so Sam said, "You're one of the sirens I met when I was in the games."
"Shhh," she said. She looked around and noticed that the bouncer was staring at the two of them. "Spank me."
Sam looked confused. "Or kiss me. We have to make it look like you're taking me into the back room." He tapped her on the ass and she laughed. Giving him a kiss on the cheek. She led him to the back and opened a door. There was a room with a couch and a broken mirror. She led Sam inside and shut the door, giving a wink to the bouncer as she did so.
She sat on the couch and motioned for Sam to take a seat next to her. She turned to look at him.
"So you're looking for Gem?"
"Has she been here recently."
"Yeah she told me she was looking for a job. But we don't have any openings. These days a lot of girls are looking for work." Sam thought about the other girls in the bar. It didn't seem like a very good life.
"So, she wasn't here tonight?"
"No, I'm sorry. Why do you ask?" Sam wasn't sure he should say. He felt like he had been seeing things.
"I thought I saw her. We were supposed to meet tonight." The siren leaned in then, as if that was an invitation.
"You know, you could do other things tonight." She was leaning so close that she was almost on top of him. Sam pushed her off. He stood up.
"I'm sorry, it's not like that." The siren realized her mistake.
"Sorry, I guess I just get so used to it. A girl has to make a bit somehow."
"I'm sorry," said Sam. "I have to go now, but I promise I'll come back and make it up to you." The siren smiled sadly as he left. She knew that people often made promises to girls like her. So far nobody had ever kept one.
Before Sam left he turned back, "You know, I never got your name."
"My name. My name is Remi," she said and smiled again, but this time with a little more hope. It had been a long time since anyone had asked her her name.
Sam looked around the bar again and saw her. Gem. She was there this time. She stood on the other side of the room, close to the door leading away from the bar. When she saw him looking at her, she quickly walked away. The area in front of the door was blocked by a drunk program picking a fight with the bouncer.
"You can't stay here if you're gonna act like that."
"I can ack howeverr I wan." The drunk wavered back and forth. Sam tried to push his way through, but he was careful. He didn't want any trouble.
"Wait!" he yelled. When he was able to push his way out in the street, he looked around for Gem, but she wasn't there. 'What the..." Sam thought he heard the clicking of heels again and he turned towards the sound. He couldn't see where the steps were coming from. He walked across the street and saw a program lying huddled in a doorway. The program was sleeping under a discarded digital box. He looked dead.
Sam tried to ignore the program and continued walking. The rain was pouring down now, but he was able to see, leaning up against another streetlight, a white umbrella.
And finally, there she was. "I almost thought you wouldn't make it," she said picking up the umbrella.
"I'm here aren't I?" Sam made a move, but Gem held back.
"You saw it didn't you?"
"I saw a lot on my way here," said Sam.
"You saw what it's like? What this place is like?"
Sam stood there. Gem opened the umbrella and put it over his head.
"I wanted you to see this part of the grid. Users never came here. Flynn didn't even know this place existed. But I wanted you to know."
"Gem, I'm sorry."
"I don't want your pity. I want you to fix this place." Sam nodded his head. He could only promise that he would try.
She smiled that sly smile, and said, "Then I'm all yours, Sam Flynn."
She took him by the hand and walked with him into the alley. As she came close to embrace him she dropped the umbrella and it clattered away. She had always wondered what it would be like to be with a user. The other programs she had been with were always cold to touch, but Sam's breath felt warm as he kissed her neck. She leaned in and pulled him closer running his hands down the lines of energy on his back and smiled as he moaned deeper into the kiss. She let her lips linger on his and closed her eyes.
Sam's hands explored her body. He cradled her neck as he kissed her mouth. She gasped softly as he gently pushed past her lips with his tongue. As he kissed her more deeply, he moved his hands down her back, the sides of her body, to her hips and then to the curve of her ass. His touch was light, a slight pressure that heightened the electricity in her body. Then she found his hands had moved up again, pulling into her hair and leaving strands of it ragged in the rain.
And she found her hands roaming across his body, his chest, tense shoulders as he leaned in and kissed the side of her neck. She hadn't realized how much she wanted him. Wanted to be with him. The rain blurred the energy lines on his suit as she traced the contours of his muscles. She pulled him closer to her feeling the back of his neck, feeling the softness of his hair as she ran her fingers through.
"We could go back to my place," she whispered. "I'm staying with Zuse until I can find a place of my own." Sam remembered the night the three of them had spent together. Even the memory of Zuse's touch sent a shiver through him.
"Will he be there?" He had to ask.
"He's away on business. I'm sorry." She knew how that night had affected him. She knew that she would never be able to do what Zuse had done, though she also had her way of pleasing others. She clearly looked disappointed.
"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be just fine the two of us." And he smiled. His blue eyes were shining in the rain. He pulled her in for another kiss, this time just a slight brush of his lips on her temple then an even softer kiss at her neck. Then he took her arm this time.
"Lead the way," he said.
When they arrived back at Zuse's apartment, they went to the bedroom. Gem moved quickly, using her hands to derezz Sam's suit, and then removed her own. He didn't want to take his hands off of her as she pushed him onto the bed, kissing his bare chest, moving her hands down to his briefs to touch him there. She moved back to his chest, placing a trail of light kisses on his clavicle kissing up the side of his neck. She licked his earlobe and he moaned as she bit it softly. He was so turned on by every touch, electrified by every kiss. He felt the curves of her body, her back, her neck. Her skin was soft and slightly cool to the touch.
He moved so he was the one on top and began kissing her. Her skin was pale, almost translucent. He kept looking at her, trying to gauge her pleasure. She looked at him lustfully and he could tell she was enjoying it as much as he was. He felt himself grow hard against his shorts. He knew that he had wanted this, ever since that first night at End of Line. So much had happened since then, but his feelings hadn't changed.
He pulled her arms above her head and pinned them to the bed. He started moving more forcefully, reaching up for her neck as she arched into his strong grip. She gasped as he kissed the soft flesh of her breast, licking it slightly with his tongue. He teased at the nipple and she moaned. He let go of her hands and moved down to kiss her. She was completely exposed to him. He continued kissing until he was between her legs. He looked up at her to see if she wanted him to go on. She did. And he did.
She called out his name and arched back feeling electric, and for the first time, she felt warm. She sat up and moved over to his cock pushing him up so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. She removed his shorts and threw them on the floor. Then she looked up at him again with that sly grin.
He smiled back. She began kissing the shaft, teasing him as he moaned in pleasure. Then she took him in her mouth and his breath caught in his throat as she began to move her head up and down. He didn't want it to stop but he felt the pleasure rising in him. He moved her away and brought her up to give her another passionate kiss.
"Let's make this last," he said, and wondered for a moment if it would ever happen again.
They continued long into the night. Gem found herself nearly crying with pleasure. The need for control, the need for power slipped away and all she could feel was Sam. Sam, a user, the most powerful person on the grid. And he belonged to her. But there was something else there too. She felt protective of him. After showing him what he had needed to see, there was some part of her that also wanted to protect him from it. Users knew very little about the grid, what really went on, so in a way it was her love for him that had taken him there. To show him something that was difficult, but something he needed to see. He was the one who would change the grid. She both desired and loved him for it.
Gem got up and straddled Sam on the bed. She leaned into him and kissed him. And then he was inside her. She felt strange, a warmth that must have come from him being a user. She let herself go, feeling everything as deeply as she possibly could. She could tell Sam was close and she leaned over and kissed him deeply. He moved inside her, and she felt him reaching the deepest parts of her. Then Sam felt the rush and release of his orgasm and they both collapsed onto the bed, feeling the lingering warmth and pleasure.
They lay there side by side like spoons. Sam held Gem in his arms and put his head down on the pillow to sleep. "Thank you," he said.
"For what?" Gem asked. She assumed he meant the sex, but he continued.
"For showing me. I never would have known that that side of the grid existed if you hadn't shown me."
Gem was genuinely surprised by his comment. She turned around to face him and looked in his eyes. She could see he was being honest. She turned her head and smiled. "Thank you, Sam Flynn." And she kissed him goodnight.
The next day Sam woke up and rolled out of bed. Gem was still sleeping and he took a moment to look at her. She was like a porcelain doll. Her chest moved up and down slightly with her breath. After he rerezzed his suit and left the apartment, he went back to the pillar and left the grid. Arriving back at his terminal at the arcade, he went to work and accessed the hidden area of the grid that Gem had shown him the night before. District 12 was a mess of broken code, hidden traps and some low grade viruses. He never would have known it was there if she hadn't shown him. He drew up the code and began making repairs. It wouldn't be easy, but he had made a promise. She was brave and powerful, and he owed her one.