Hey all! I decided to try something a little bit different, inspired months ago by seeing 'Tron: Legacy' for the very first time. I grew up on the original 'Tron,' and I found myself wondering what might have happened if Alan Bradley had tried to access his program between the events of 'Tron' and 'Tron: Legacy.' What came up was worthy of a story, and I decided to give it a go. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Tron' or 'Tron: Legacy.'

Tron: Echo Rising

Alan Bradley squinted at the computer screen, trying to see through the glare from his office windows. He hated the office that the ENCOM board had stuck him with: no matter what time of day it was, he always got stuck with some window glare. A small price to pay for a promotion, he thought with a sigh. Still wish I was back in my cubicle sometimes, though. He supposed it wasn't so bad, since the hours helped him keep an eye on Sam.

Scowling at the computer, Alan turned his chair so he was looking out the large plate-glass window. Where the hell are you, Flynn? It had been about ten years since his friend and boss had disappeared, leaving his son and a struggling company behind. Rumors flew around like the wind about where he'd gone, anything and everything from a hidden tropical paradise to being murdered by a rival company. Personally, Alan knew he wouldn't have abandoned Sam, any idiot could see that Flynn loved his son. He'd told the press as much when Flynn had vanished, told them he was exploring a 'digital frontier.' And I would know, he thought ruefully, recalling his own experiences with what Flynn had termed "The Grid." While he had yet to experience the digital world as personally as Flynn had, he had witnessed the after-effects, starting with his friend's rise to CEO and the disappearance of that damned Master Control Program.

If it wasn't for Tron, I doubt any of this would've happened. Tron, hmmm…what happened to him? Ever since he provided the program with the means to shut down the MCP, Alan had had no contact with his security program. Theoretically, Tron was running around in the system performing his assigned functions, but surely it wouldn't hurt to check….Alan turned back to his computer and began typing.

STATUS QUERY: PROGRAM TRON-JA307020

ERROR: PROGRAM NOT FOUND IN SYSTEM

What the hell? That can't be right! Alan leaned forward, typing furiously.

LOCATE PROGRAM TRON-JA307020. LAST KNOWN LOCATION ENCOM COMPUTER SYSTEM.

ERROR: PROGRAM NOT FOUND IN SYSTEM.

Alan scowled at the message, but no matter how many times he tried the search he still came up empty. Tron hadn't been deleted, that he was sure of—he would've heard otherwise. So if he was still in the system, and assuming Flynn hadn't been exaggerating his experiences on the Grid, there were two possibilities. Either Tron had been destroyed or corrupted, or his program was in trouble.

"Where are you, Tron?" he wondered aloud. No answer came back to him from his office walls, and Alan stared at his screen once again. If Tron was in trouble, then that meant ENCOM's system needed additional protection, right? And I doubt ENCOM will complain about the additional security, they're much to busy trying to turn a profit these days.

Thinking back to when Tron had been created, Alan began laying down the code for a new program, one just as sophisticated as Tron had been. He also added new upgrades and protocols, consistent with the evolution of technology: this new program would be able to learn and grow, necessary skills considering how quickly things were changing both on and offline. The new program had two primary directives: Priority One, identical to Tron's, was to protect and monitor the ENCOM system, and neutralize any threats or unauthorized programs. Priority Two was to find and assist Tron-JA307020, by any means necessary. Alan included all the information on Tron that he had, and added a failsafe code to shut him down if necessary: he couldn't afford to take the chance of Tron being a threat to the system.

Finally, he added a designation: Echo-JA418131. Though it might be more accurate to use Tron 2.0, I don't think having two programs named Tron would be a smart move, not if each program has its own personality. Alan smiled as he looked over his work, a satisfied smile on his face, and hit the "Execute" command.

"Go get 'em, Echo," he murmured to the empty room, a faint smile on his face.