While I am positive I have seen many an incarnation of this story almost none of it has fit the rules of Tron to my liking. My opinion of course, so please feel free to leave opinion on this one. For me Tron is a gamer's dream come true, but also the harsh reality we do not really consider from our side of the screen. Legacy brought that idea into more direct conflict when users and programs face the fundamental fact that growth is not in our machines without us rewriting them. This is simply my take on why Sam took the Grid from its home and part of why he wanted Bradley in charge.
I of course do not own any of this, Disney hoards all control with its fortress of solitude dressed up as a fairy tale castle.
Restoration
His father is gone. Sam had worked tirelessly to repair the Grid from the aftermath of Clu and Flynn's final confrontation. It was still there for the most part. The Grid itself was saved by the distance of the portal, no sign of any ships or black guards remained. Sam moved the laser equipment to a newly created lab that only Quorra, Bradley, and himself had access to.
After 6 months it is ready, but Quorra reminds Sam of one of the people they left behind he could not track down. Just like any other program, the Grid was all he could see. The wasteland the and Sea of Simulation were there but the if any of the programs he knew still lived he could not find them at all.
Sam had also decided to finally answer some of Bradley's questions regarding his change of heart and the woman who seemed so close to him that had appeared out of nowhere.
The server was completely cut off from the Encom network. That in and of itself was unusual to Alan. His snow white hair practically shone under the dim light in the lab. The greater surprise by far was seeing the revised design of Laura's old laser project. A project Kevin had hotly argued with both he and Laura over taking control of.
Laura had thought Flynn was paying her back for leaving him, but then he went and gave her a plum assignment in a similar field. His only condition was that she let the Digitization Project be his. Alan smiled wide as he remembered his now wife's hard stare of frustration at Flynn. It was almost 2 years before she forgave him.
The clean room held a third surprise, as instead of a modern LCD or LED screen it held one of the most up to date interfaces created for touch screen technology. The midnight black surface reminded him of Dillinger's old desk, but that had been glass reacting to the heat of fingers, not true touch screen. His wide rimmed glasses reflected the odd setup that so vibrantly recalled that long ago day in 1982.
"You have fun with the board today Alan?" Sam's wide smile and sparkling amusement at the already known answer did not rile Bradley. The older man's dark suit had not changed at all, save perhaps now he wore his tie more loosely. Fully expecting Sam to sink the company, the board had been pleasantly surprised as he had started multiple projects that seemed innovative beyond belief.
Half of it was years from practical application, but before Sam it had been decades. Only Alan, Sam, and this mysterious woman who even now stood at Sam's side knew the full scope of some of these projects. The parallel to so much of what Flynn had promised in 1989 had frustrated Alan with a plaguing question, why had Flynn himself not done these things and what had happened to him?
"Alan, relax, I promised answers and I am finally ready. But first an official introduction is in order," Sam smiled even wider, his own attire was more professional most of the time, but for today he had gone full civilian. The dark tee shirt with leather jacket and jeans put Alan far more at ease as he saw the woman smile at him in her usual friendly manner.
With most people Quorra was uncertain how to act. Her life with Flynn and Sam had only really exposed her to their particular habits and ways of interacting with people. Where Flynn had been more of a thinker, even in action. His son had proven to leap far more often into the moment than think it through. Since their return from the Grid Sam had admitted to being more relaxed about his life, yet not nearly as reckless.
"Hello Alan Bradley, my name is Quorra, I am from the Grid," her dark hair had grown more even away from the Grid, but her dark eyes still held that innocence combined with deep wisdom Flynn had seen so long ago. The name meant nothing to Alan, but he shook her hand gladly, these days parents came up with the oddest names. Her origin however seemed to take awhile to sink in.
"Excuse me, did you say you are from the Grid?" Alan was sure he must have misheard her. His ears were getting worse as the years wore on but he did not think he needed a hearing aide yet. She giggled in a way that reminded him of a child. Yet all she did was turn him around to look above the interface he had so recently been admiring.
There in a more standard display an LED screen built into the wall showed a map of some kind of virtual city plan. It was like nothing Alan had ever hear of, but beneath it was a legend that made the hairs stand on his neck.
The Grid as built and designed by Flynn, Clu, and Tron.
It was a computer rendering, but that hand writing was unmistakable. Kevin had written it and the last name seemed ridiculous until a conversation floated in his memory. Alan, I see you are going to be replacing Tron in the Encom system. Do you mind if I use if for a personal project of mine? It had been easy to agree, the upgrades and changes to the system had required either an updated program of Tron or replacement. By then Kevin had promoted him to Senior VP and had no problem with Tron still being of use.
"What? Sam, what is this?" He half smiled expecting Sam to be winding him up, but instead of the brash attitude or sarcasm he had been used to, he instead saw with remarkable clarity Kevin Flynn staring out of his son's eyes. Quorra was looking at him oddly, as if he was something greater than a man. Sam only smiled and nodded to Quorra, he trusted no one else with this experiment.
Alan had only time to see they were in front of the laser before it fired. Knowing full well what it would do, his old body betrayed him by not answering in time to duck. Instead the world became nothing but light he expected to become oblivion.
"Geez Alan, you can open your eyes, it was not that bad," Sam smiled wide as he saw that not only had the Portal worked, his modifications had worked as well. Rather than be stripped down again, Sam had made it so that their clothes would actually convert into the Grid world. Alan still wore a coat, much like Flynn had, but where his clothes had been a simple robe, Alan's were lined like a gaming warrior.
Sam noted with some amusement that his attire remained the same as he remembered with one modification, his chest piece had a light cycle on it. Quorra's amusement from her own additions now made for more sense. Alan's own chest piece seemed to form 'A' on it.
Alan for his part was amazed at the darkened room they were in. It was a basement, and not the lab as he had expected and a desk in a style he recognized very well having only just thought about it a few minutes ago. He turned to Sam and felt his jaw drop at two realizations. Sam was in some kind of clothing a mix of light and rubber, had to be, and he had no glasses but could see perfectly!
"Sam what just happened, that laser should have killed us, and where are we?" Sam grinned as Alan could not see himself but at that moment he looked much like the all powerful user the programs had thought Flynn once to be. Nodding to the door they made their way to a very different street than Sam remembered.
Alan stared in awe at the city he had seen rendered on the screen. It was amazing, and somehow a copy of Flynn's arcade was what they had been in. As he looked at the buildings ablaze with light he saw the disappointment in Sam. Confused he looked over the cityscape and saw what he missed in the moment before, devastation. At least one skyscraper had been shattered by something and it was far too quiet for a city. There should have been someone around.
"I had hoped I was wrong Alan, that Clu had not rectified or derezzed all the remaining programs..." Sam's voice sounded forlorn, but his words refocused Alan. He finally realized what he was looking at and the concept shattered his reality. The Grid, its a program and we are inside it! No sky had ever looked like that and no city could be built like this. The street itself was assembled with hexagons interlinked, but the lines were there to see.
The real shocker was when Sam approached a building and summoned an interface as if it had only been awaiting his call. It looking nothing like any computer screen Alan had ever seen but then he saw the street part at the intersection and some kind of car emerged. It was lined all in white like the buildings but to looked like a cross between an old dune buggy and a light cycle.
"Nice, Dad's old codes still work. Come on Alan, I know where we can find some better transport, and I think you are ready to hear a story," Sam hopped into the driver's seat and Alan gingerly climbed into the passenger's. As they drove through the city, Alan learned how his Tron program had so long ago not only stopped the MCP, but actually met Kevin Flynn and possibly saved mankind from something it had not been ready for in 1982.
Alan wanted to deny it all, chock it up to a psychotic break, but no amount of pinching or anything brought him out of it. The feeling of wind on his face and the deeper feeling the city was empty left him with a sad feeling of what might have been. Sam's story changed, to the story of the Grid.
Alan was amazed to hear it. To learn that not only had Tron defended this system he had somehow overcome this Clu's control to reassert himself. The thought that Kevin had been so close yet so far brought tears to Alan's eyes. He looked out at the city of light, a dead city as it became more apparent that Clu had left no one behind. As a programmer he was curious as to the nature of the wasteland, yet it was pushed back as the Lightrunner pulled up to what had obviously been a base of operations for Clu.
It was a mix of nostalgia mixed with horror for Alan. Before him lay row, upon row of tanks and Recognizers. Things that were meant to be only games were now solid before him, and he now knew to be used against a form of life no one suspected existed. He knew Flynn loved his games, but surely after seeing what the MCP had done he would not have purposely had them here. Oh yes he would, but he would not have used them the way Clu did.
The lines on these vehicles were all dark. The first darkened things they had found, even the broken buildings still held the light of the Grid bright and strong. Sam confidently walked up to a Recognizer and touched it. The result was surprising. The lines lit up, not in the red that Sam had described, but white. I wonder if Flynn ever figured out how he could do that? Knowing they were going home from this dead city, Alan swore to go over whatever research survived if Sam would let him.
Both men entered the lift and entered the pilot area. Sam took the controls as and lifted them into the sky. The Grid looked even more beautiful from the air, but it became even more obvious how empty it was. Other tanks and Recognizers were littered over the streets, left for dead or simply abandoned for this Command Ship Sam had spoken of. The reality of what Clu would have done on the other side of the screen chilled Alan, but he also saw that whatever had gone wrong was a minority, not the majority of programs.
Sam was once again working an interface as he flew out over the Sea of Simulation towards the light of the Portal. It had been far more difficult to rebuild that interface Kevin Flynn had designed than he thought. They were not done yet, at least one program might still live. The Recognizer, even in flight began to change shape at its center area. A beam shot out into the sea, disturbing the digital surface as Alan watched.
Floating pieces of 'land' were coming into view, some looked far different than the Grid they had just left, yet others seemed as if they had been damaged. Suddenly Alan felt something, a pull. It was faint, he even thought he was letting all of this over whelm him, then he felt Sam go the wrong way and could not deny it any longer.
"Sam stop, turn around and go slightly to the right," Sam arched an eyebrow but did as he was told. Sure enough he quickly found a program, deep in the sea. He could not detect anything else but he had found something he had only hoped and feared to find. He looked as Alan seemed to be hearing something.
It was the oddest feeling Alan had ever known. It was as if he was back at his desk in 1982, only now instead of sending requests for Tron, Tron was requesting him. Alan 1, request update and status. Alan 1, request update and status. Alan saw the strange interface Sam had been using and suddenly it did not seem so odd. It seemed limited. As if it was the best Sam could do. Alan smiled as he saw that Sam, for all his far more superior skills in the modern age, did not understand this amazing place all that well.
Alan reached for his identity disc and brought up the hologram of himself, it was quite amazing to see something not even dreamed of at the time the Grid was created right in the palm of his hand. He filtered through what he saw as information on himself, looking for what he knew would be there eventually. Finally he found it, the feeling he had was accurate, his identity was being requested by the Grid itself.
Smiling he inputted his old ID and waited. Sam looked at him with impatience and then surprise as a very familiar interface appeared right in front of Alan. Even more stunning was the message that went with it.
Alan, if you are reading this then you have finally come to the Grid. It was my dream to bring you and Sam here when it was ready for others. Man, you will never believe what I have discovered, it is amazing. I hope we can make this the Digital Frontier we both dreamed about. Oh, don't worry about Tron, he is something amazing in and of himself. See you around program.
Both men smiled sadly at a message obviously composed before the rebellion of Clu. Alan found he could follow the interface and actually create things from the raw data Flynn had made for the Grid. He smiled as he saw a program deep in the sea, currently beyond the reach of the Recognizer, but he was a user. His hands flew over the code and what had been only a scanner for the city now became a retrieval beam.
Pure white slammed into the sea, parting it in a perfect cylinder all the way down to the body lined in white. The darkened helmet was still there, but Sam breathed with relief at the color. Rinzler was gone, Tron had somehow restored part of his program. The beam gently pulled the program aboard and both men stood on either side of the limp form.
"Sam, that's...Tron?" The story of Rinzler being the corrupted version of his program became all too easy to see. The oddity of the dual identity discs aside, the small 'T' in his chest piece left no doubt to Alan. Unlike Quorra, Tron was a true program, written by himself and modified by Flynn. Taking the only working disc he brought up a nightmare of code.
Rectification had already been implemented by Clu, but in Tron it had been refined. The original power of Tron remained, but subsumed by complete obedience and ruthlessness unlike anything Alan had ever intended. Underneath that was the miracle that had saved Sam and Quorra with Flynn. The original Tron program code was untouched. Only the modifications by Flynn had been corrupted, meaning Tron had been repressed by this 'Rinzler.'
It seemed like the most important thing in his life, but Alan carefully and surely rewrote his old program. The corruption was difficult to separate from the new, but knowing Flynn, Alan not only restored the original form of Tron, but the Grid upgrade as well. Both men watched in silence as the disc synced to the still form on the deck.
Both were blinded completely as light blazed from it. Sam thought he heard his father's laughter for a moment but then it was gone. Blinking Sam stared in shock as a blue lit video warrior stood before them. He looked like a much younger version of Alan, yet the eyes seemed exactly like him.
"Tron program Restored, my function is to protect the system and defend the programs inside it." The stiff form was not like the other programs Sam had met, nor like the stories his father had told him, then Tron looked at him and it was like a switch flipped. "I fight for the users." Animation spread over his face as the final restoration completed. Alan looked stunned it had worked at all, not least because no one had told him Tron looked like him!
"Tron, you fought well. You saved my life." Sam saw a question in those eyes. Far too full of life and memory, Alan had somehow kept the memories he could see it. "Dad beat Clu, he saved us all." Tron seemed to withdraw for a moment and Sam finally saw the friend his dad had spoken of. The program looked at Alan and awe came into his features. Both looked at each other as if surprised to see they existed.
"Alan 1?" Tron spoke the name softly, reverently. Flynn had told him users were not the Gods he believed, but seeing the very user that had written him was very different from meeting Flynn. The user nodded at him and seemed just as affected at Tron.
"Well, I can see you two will just talk my ear off so I must insist we get out of here for now until we are ready to try again," The identical stares of confusion nearly made Sam laugh at loud as he took the Recognizer to the Portal. The column of light blazed into the platform, nearly identical to the one his father had originally created.
Alan walked towards the pillar quickly, not sure what he would be doing next but sure he was glad to have come. Sam waited by Tron as the program stared after his user. He could almost see the thoughts the program was thinking as Alan stopped by the edge of the way out.
"I am not allowed here son of Flynn. Flynn told me part of my function was to make sure no program snuck away here. I must protect the Grid." Even knowing there were no programs did not change his purpose. He had been given a function and he must do it. Sam grasped his shoulder and made Tron look at him.
"Tron, the Grid is dead. The city exists, but what my father wanted to protect is not there anymore. It is out there, with us. Alan, Quorra, me...and you Tron. Dad had it in his journal that you should never be forgotten. I will have a new system for you to protect, after a few upgrades." Sam smiled as he saw the forlorn look replaced with hope. Tron had been turned against his function but Sam offered a new purpose.
The only nagging worry Sam had was his father had never been really sure if the programs could escape the Grid. Quorra was a wholly entire life form in her own right and thus far she seemed fine. Whatever she was made of was organic, but nothing like a human if closely examined. Tron would be the first true program brought out, but Sam had a back up plan if it did not work. Tron had earned that right and Alan had given him back his life.
The three entered the Portal, Sam raised his disc and the connection slammed into them. They were embraced in light.
Quorra ran into Sam's arms as soon as the world solidified around him. The laser wound down, with the server still quietly humming next to it. Glancing at the clock he was amused to see he had been gone only 2 minutes. That time inversion was a wonderful thing. Glancing to his left he saw Alan looking with chagrin at his glasses and clothes restored. Then the older man looked passed Sam and his eyes widened.
Sam whirled and stopped in shock himself. Tron had indeed come through to the real world. Only like in Sam's transfer 6 months ago, he was still a program completely. His body was lined in light and an identity disc was on his back. He was looking in wonder around the room, oblivious to the shocked reaction the humans were having to him.
"Well nice costume pal. Aside from a great plastic surgeon I need to take that suit you are wearing for analysis," All four whirled to the door to see Ed Dillinger smiling widely as soldiers trained weapons on them. Sam felt sickened as he saw the hungry look lock onto Quorra. Somehow Ed had found out the source of his ideas. "The military are very interested to get their hands on her Flynn, and anything else you might have to hand." He laughed at the powerless looks of the upstart and the relic. All that mattered to him was the 'woman.'
The soldiers felt most of this was overkill but some looked at the weirdo in the tights with lights as he brought some kind of strange frisbee off his back. The men saw a hard look on his face that had nothing to do with programmers or non-human creatures. The disc suddenly hummed and the man flew faster than should have been possible.
Tron knew these men were not evil. They were not programs, but he would not allow the son of Flynn and the last Iso to fall into Dillinger's hands. That face looked familiar to him, and he remembered Flynn saying the user of the MCP had a son as well. Alan could only look in awe as Tron deftly sliced through the guns and knocked out the two soldiers.
Dillinger looked shocked, he knew no human could move that fast. Staring up close he could also see that the 'suit' was actually part of this person. He looked at that face and then stared at Bradley. This was not done by a surgeon or anything he knew of.
"Who are you?" the question escaped his lips as the man smiled grimly at him.
"I am the one who stopped the Master Control Program with Flynn and Yori by my side. I am the one that helped Flynn escape the rogue program Clu. I am the one that was Restored by Alan 1. I am Tron." The gaping mouth of Dillinger was quite satisfying for Sam to see. "I fight for the users."
It made a kind of sense to me that Quorra and Sam would go back for Tron with Alan. It also made sense that the legacy of Flynn needed the perfect protector, Tron. Like I said this was just my opinion. I am sure Disney will come up with something else, and many people may disagree with me. Bring it on. The little tirade at the end seemed appropriate, that Dillinger meet the downfall of his father before and now. Symmetry can be fun!