Discovery

"One More Time"

By BlackMarketTrombones

Warnings: OCs. Pretty much the entire story is OCs. The two main characters are only very technically not OCs. Also spoilers. Most of the plot takes place during the events of Tron: Legacy, and I'm trying very hard to be canon-compliant.

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The city was in a tumult. Crowds thronging the streets, the explosions of fireworks, unrestrained celebration because it had been so long and they were finally safe again.

And in the remotest corner of one packed club, a program hunched over his drink and wished the pounding music was enough to block out the screams from the Iso towers.

"Mind if I join you?"

He looked up to see a MIDI program he'd collaborated with on several projects. "If you want," he muttered, downing his drink in one gulp.

For a moment neither of them spoke. Finally:

"Well, Sync, we are witnesses to the dawn of a new era."

"Yeah..." Sync winced as his sensitive hearing picked up a particularly pained wail from outside. "Glory to Clu," he said hollowly.

Another long stretch of silence, punctuated by bad music and celebration and screams.

"Syntax," Sync said slowly, "how would you feel about working on another project together?"

Syntax looked up. "Got anything in mind?"

Their intermittent partnership had always been successful. Syntax was a crowd-pleaser and could entrance an audience within nanocycles, but removed from his dynamic personality, his music was fairly standard. Sync, on the other hand, composed some of the most intricate and interesting pieces of music on the Grid, but he was shy, not the performer the public wanted. They worked well together, balancing out each others' flaws and highlighting the strengths.

And beyond that, they got along together. Both were fully aware of where the strengths and weaknesses in the collaboration lay and weren't too proud to admit it.

"Sync's the processor of this outfit," Syntax would say when asked, and Sync would smile behind his mask and nod. Which would inevitably lead to a round of light banter between the two.

Part of it was programming. They were MIDIs, and fragging good ones, and there was a lot they could relate to with each other. But more than that, despite their wildly contrasting personalities, there were certain opinions they shared. About right and wrong and what was going too far.

"Not in particular," Sync admitted. "I just feel like—" A wrenching sob and a burst of laughter. "Like now's a good time to get out of the solo business."

Understanding Sync's unspoken reasons implicitly, Syntax nodded. "Let's see what we can get up to."

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A/N: Yeah, Daft Punk! One of my main concerns after watching the new movie was, "Did they make it out okay?" I plan to answer that. :D

A note on format: The plot of this story is based on Daft Punk's Discovery. Mainly, the song titles as a series of prompts, so you might not want to use the album as a soundtrack. I'll make a note in the chapters where listening to the titular song won't detract from the story (in advance, "Crescendolls" will likely be entirely inspired by the song).

And in other news, I have chapter 2 completed and awaiting minor revision. (Yay!) Problem: I need the exact quote Zuse says to Clu as he's walking into the End of Line. I cannot post without it. (Boo!) And I'm not going back to the theaters a fourth time. I—and the probably half-dozen people reading this—would be in the debt of anyone who could supply the dialogue in a PM or review (hint, hint :D).