"Behold! The son of our maker!"
Quorra opened her eyes slowly, taking in her surroundings. The only noise that was really there was the sound of the train near Sam's makeshift home, which she remembered was the first thing to absolutely terrify her when she tried to get comfortable in her new home. She had long since grown used to the noise at certain intervals during the night, but still hadn't quite figured out how to accurately turn her mind off to sufficiently recharge at the end of the day.
Memories played over and over for her; her life before The Purge, her friends and her mentor...Zuse. After The Purge, she vividly remembered Kevin Flynn rescuing her, and once Sam Flynn became a part of the equation, she remembered Zuse's face as he stared down at them in his club, laughing as Sam and Quorra were being cut down by Clu's men.
Every memory led back to him, and Quorra couldn't extinguish the feeling of definite confusion surrounding his actions. She would never forget looking up only to see him laughing at her...a cold and uncaring laugh, one that seemed so unlike the program she once knew. Shaking her head, she turned over to face a small window, Sam's bed suddenly uncomfortable. Sam was on the couch, having let her take the bed to be a gentleman, but Quorra silently wished he'd just opted to sleep in the same room as her.
Turning over didn't seem to help. Every time she closed her eyes something appeared there, like she was reliving every single moment of a lifetime she wanted to forget. Quorra was as inquisitive as they came, but when the sun fell in the sky and the moon replaced it, signifying the start of a new day-cycle, she was unable to care enough to be curious. She merely lost herself in her thoughts, and lost sleep while she was at it.
"That's not quite correct, Quorra, my dear." A quiet, subtle laugh, as Zuse approached the ISO and took the identity disk from her. Since being assigned by Flynn to teach this ISO just how to live in The Grid, Zuse had made up a list of what the girl needed to know, and disk fighting was important. It almost ranked at the top of the list, but she was far more curious than any other program or ISO Zuse had met in the past, and he often had trouble keeping her in one place for too long.
"What am I doing wrong?" Quorra asked, holding the disk in her hand carelessly, but relinquishing it to Zuse as he held out his hand.
"You're holding it incorrectly, carelessly. If you were to get into a fight, you would be derezzed!" He found this funny for some reason, and began to give her tips and pointers on just how to handle a disk. However, halfway through his eloquent speech on the subject, he noticed Quorra not paying one lick of attention. Out the window of his club, End of Line, she was watching other ISOs and programs walk by, she was examining the life below, and he couldn't deny her the answers she would undoubtedly want soon. Walking up behind her, he replaced her disk, and looked out the window, standing next to her.
"What shall we talk about today?"
"...Friendship."
The train was passing again. A loud whistle brought Quorra out of her thoughts, and she sat up rather quickly, clutching the blankets that covered her slender frame. Sighing, she gathered herself and leaned back into the pillows she slept with, feeling the inevitable frown tug at her lips. The noise from the train would occupy her for the time being, but once it was gone, she knew she would fall into another memory. It was like being unable to control when you played back movies, and she had a million of them lying in wait.
Quorra hadn't really discussed her past in detail with Sam. He knew she was the last ISO, he knew she had some kind of connection with Zuse-or Castor, as the program had referred to himself before his supposed derezzing-and Sam also knew that for a time, Quorra was his father's confidante apprentice. Maybe there was a reason she hadn't told Sam any of this yet, there was that fear that lingered in her system that no matter who she trusted, they would turn on her, just like Zuse did. She held up the front well, pretending to be able to remove herself from the equation when necessary, but just like a user, she was unable to remove herself for long.
"So, you can't have friendship without trust?"
"Exactly, darling. You see those programs walking in groups? It all started out that way, its very much similar to a User's way of making friends, I would imagine. Flynn explained that much to most of us." Zuse said, having started back over to his couch, sitting down with a drink. Quorra glanced back to him, then out the window again.
"Do you trust me?" She asked, as if she honestly weren't sure. Zuse stopped the glass he was raising at his lips, giving the girl an odd look and pondering on the question.
"Well, of course I do! Whatever would make you think I didn't?" He asked, laughing quietly and finally taking a sip of his bright blue drink, setting it on the table in front of him. Quorra laughed as well, a shorter one than his, but a laugh nonetheless.
"I'm not sure. I trust you. You are my friend." She said, turning to look at him with a smile. Zuse's eyes had widened for a moment, unable to recall the last time someone told him he was their friend. It was an endearing feeling, and he couldn't help but smile back at the girl.
"You are my friend as well, Quorra."
The ISO felt sick to her stomach. Making a face, she scrunched down in the bed and glanced to the cracked door, hearing the soft snores of Sam sleeping from the living room. That was slightly comforting to her, it reminded her that she wasn't alone, but also made her wonder; what if Sam did the same thing Zuse ended up doing to her? Flynn's son would never harm her, right? She wanted to believe that, but her gut instinct told her that everyone shared at least one trait; selfishness. Everyone was selfish at one point or another, even she had done selfish things in the past. When it really came down to it, if Sam had to choose between Quorra and something important in his life...she wondered what he would choose.
"Go, Quorra! Run!" Zuse yelled to her, looking to the programs in their orange light suits, executing the ISOs on the street. They had been out for the evening, on the way to the club when it began. Clu had taken over; this world was his now, or so he thought. ISOs fought as best they could, and Quorra had started to, before her mentor shoved her away and told her to run. She locked eyes with him one last time, but the pleading expression on his face told her she needed to go, and she needed to go now. Seeing the programs grab him and figuratively arrest him gave her the last push she needed, and Quorra ran as fast as she could through the streets of the city.
Panic was becoming the only thing she was feeling as her breathing increased, taking sharp turn after sharp turn down dark alleyways and hoping for the best, but eventually, she ran straight into a dead end. Hearing footsteps at the end of the alleyway, she looked up to see a few of the guards brandishing their disks and light-swords.
"You're a fast one," One commented with a laugh, and Quorra took out her disk, ready to defend herself. Throwing it, one of the programs caught the disk and tsked to her. "Your turn, darling."
Eyes wide, Quorra stared at them as they approached her, seeming to take their time, as if they enjoyed this holocaust of sorts. Finally, she closed her eyes, feeling the heat of one of their disks at her neck. This was the end, that was it...
But, then, a miracle...
Throwing the blankets off her legs, Quorra quietly stood from the bed, having already wiped the few tears from her face that had kept her awake. She needed to talk to Sam, or at least needed to be in the same room with him. Seeing him asleep on the couch, Marv curled up behind his legs, she sat on the floor in front of him, wiping another tear away before placing a hand on his arm gently.
"Sam?" She whispered. He made a quiet noise of slight acknowledgment, but didn't open his eyes. "Sam, please.." Her voice was strained, and as soon as Sam realized that, he opened his eyes to meet Quorra's.
"Hey, you.." He murmured, coughing quietly and looking around the room. "What's...what's up? Are you okay?" He asked, reaching over to place a hand on her shoulder. Quorra raised one of her hands to place over his, and she shook her head, pulling his hand off her shoulder but keeping a hold on it, tugging him slightly.
"Come with me, please." She said, and Sam sat up almost immediately. He was concerned now, he hadn't seen Quorra act like this. Normally, she was in great spirits, wanting to get up early to do things and explore, and now what time was it? He squinted, looking at the digital clock across the room.
3:53am.
Standing, he followed her as she led him back to his room. What was she doing? Did she not want to be alone?
"Quorra...what-"
She sat down on the bed and nodded to the other side of it, and obediently Sam sat down next to her. With no words or indication of what she was doing, Quorra laid down and rested her head against Sam's chest, curling up to him.
The son of Flynn raised a brow at the ISOs actions, but sensing she needed comfort, draped an arm around her protectively. "Tell me what's going on." He said softly, moving to be in a more comfortable position on the bed. Quorra didn't speak just yet, but sighed and opened her eyes.
"I don't want to sleep by myself. I think when I'm by myself. This is your bed anyway, and we are friends, right? So...I trust you." She said, closing her eyes again and waiting on his reply, as she focused on his breathing to perhaps calm her as well.
"Yeah, we're friends," Sam said, using his other hand to stroke her hair for a moment, but after thinking about it, stopped.
"You won't leave me, right? You won't...sell me out?"
"Quorra, where are you getting all this from? No, I won't leave you, I won't sell you out...I wish you'd tell me what's going on...seriously. Are you alright?"
"I am now."
