Risie was pacing inside the competitor's area of the Gaming Grid. She had registered as an unknown for the Disc Wars, the only competition opened at this time. Her helmet was up and she noticed that she was one of the few, if possible the only, female program that was to compete. All of the programs she saw were easily larger than she was. She was afraid and nervous. Tron saw her and waived her over as he entered.
"You look like you're going to have a system crash," he said, "this won't hurt you."
"What is it?" she asked.
"Disc Wars are, well, Disc Wars," he said, "in the old system it's what the system did with captured programs. Flynn has removed that part. You fight another program with your light disc and whoever is left standing wins."
"You said this wouldn't hurt," she said.
"No one dies here," he had said, "It's all just fun. Don't worry about what you are doing next or what they will think of you."
As they walked to her starting point, Risie started to relax slightly. Tron put a hand on her shoulder.
"Live in the moment and let it all go," he said, "Good luck."
The sound of the crowd filled Risie with a drive she didn't realize she could have. She walked out onto the arena floor. Her first challenge stood before her. The green-lit program did a back flip and smiled at her. He drew his Identity Disk and took up an attack stance. She pulled her own disk off her back and matched his stance. They circled each other, waiting for the match to begin.
"Let it all go." Tron's words echoed in her ears.
The buzzer to start the Games went off and he struck first. Without thinking, she blocked his disk and made a running leap at him. This caught him by surprise and she landed on his chest, knocking the challenger flat on his back. He has underestimated her and paid for it with his pride. She held her disc above her head and his eyes went wide. She stood up and offered him her hand. He took it and stood next to her.
"You're new to the Games," he said, "Watch your back, not everyone always plays fair."
He left the arena. Risie looked at the platform across from her where Tron was waiving at the crowd while another program, his challenger, left to nurse his injured pride.
The next challenger was green-lit as well, though of a heavier build than the first. As soon as the buzzer when off, he struck not at her, but at the floor behind her. Risie fell, her disc dropping in front of her as she caught the edge just in time. She vaulted upright just as he took out another floor panel. He did this over and over, Risie cartwheeling around the floor until she reached her fallen disc. She stood and gave him a salute, then hit the floor panel in front of him. She had cartwheeled in a circle. By hitting the last panel the entire floor in front of her shattered. He fell into the safety below. She leaned over and waived at him and he shook his fist at her.
The third challenger was blue-lit and much smaller than her first two challengers. This program was still bigger than Risie however, and much more agile that she gave him credit for. As the buzzer started the match, she attacked, only to realize that he wasn't where she landed. They circled each other, landing blows on either side for a while, until she shattered the wall behind him and he fell off. He was a good sport however, and waived at her as he got up from the safeties below.
Risie looked up at the score-board and, to her amazement, she had made the finals. She stretched her arms and looked at her final challenger. Sure enough, Tron stood in front of her. He held his disk loosely in his hand. Risie dropped hers.
-Primary Function conflict. Assist Tron program. Current program directive: compete in Game Grid Disc Wars.-
"You're not going to conflict with your Primary Functions," he said, guessing what had caused her to pause "Win or lose, it's just a game."
-Current program directive: compete in Game Grid Disc Wars, authorization Tron override. Proceed-
She shook her head and picked up her disk. She took up a defensive stance. Tron followed suit and when the buzzer to begin the round sounded, they launched themselves at each other. Tron went to attack her mid-section, only to find that it wasn't there. She had leapt above him, her legs curled up and arms spread wide. He jumped back as she landed where he had been with enough force to shake the floor.
He had told her to let her feelings go and play the game. Now she was playing to win with all her skills. Most of those skills, though never used, had come from his own program. Tron knew he had to step up a notch if he wanted to win this match.
He rolled to the side as she launched herself at him, standing up and slamming his arm into her back. She landed on her stomach, sliding into the wall. She stood and without so much as a pause, charged again. This time she stayed low and went into a slide, trying to take Tron's legs out from under him. She succeeded, but he took her down with him. They rolled away from each other and launched one more attack. This time Tron hit her square in the chest. She yelled and crumpled next to him. The crowd went wild and Tron's helmet folded back. He was breathing hard.
"First big challenge I've had this cycle," he said, "that really hurt."
He could hear Risie under him, growling in frustration and breathing just as hard as Tron himself.
"You said it wouldn't hurt," she whispered, holding her chest.
"I'm impressed," he said, "most people use disc combat as a ranged attack and try to avoid hand to hand,"
"I assessed the situation," she said, "you are an expert in disc combat and thus you are used to people throwing discs at you."
"Flynn was right, you really can adapt to anything," he said, "I look forward to working together. Are you feeling better?"
"Much," she said, "I like these Games."
"You can come here and compete whenever you want," he said.
They left the Game Grid together. Tron decided to have them walk to the command complex so that Rise had time to recover from her experience. She was quiet for a while, then turned and spoke quietly to him.
"Who is Yori?" she asked.
Pain flickered on Tron's face. He let out a long sigh and stopped at a nearby railing, overlooking the Outlands. He leaned against it, looking out at the storm. Rain started to fall as he started to speak.
"Flynn didn't write me," Tron said, "My user's name is Alan1. I was on an older system. Yori was my companion there. We felt as if we were a part of each other, but when Flynn made the Grid, she didn't want to come. She didn't want to leave her User. I wasn't too thrilled about coming and leaving my User either, but my User said Flynn would take care of me, and that I would be a big help to Flynn, so I came. Flynn tried for cycles to get Yori to come, but she never did. That's why I was so shocked when I first saw your face," he said, "if you were blonde, you would look exactly like her."
"Are you sure I won't be a trouble for you?" she asked.
"No," Tron said, "you already act very different from her. And that was a long time ago. I know she's happy and I am happy here."
Both fell silent again, letting the rain fall on their faces. Tron looked over at Risie, who had her eyes closed and her face towards the sky. She was smiling.
"You like the rain?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, "I know I just came online, but it feel familiar."
He watched as the lines on her jumpsuit turned white. He chuckled a bit.
"I can see why," he said, "you are programed to absorb the energy directly. Be careful not to overload."
"I will," she said.
They resumed their walk back to the command complex. Tron started talking about what Risie's training would be. She wouldn't need much, since Flynn had programmed her with everything she needed, but Tron decided she could use some practice. Risie did not complain.
Author Notes:
Wow, has it been over a year since I updated? I guess it has. Sorry about the long wait. After business at work calmed down last year, I proceeded to get pregnant. Very exciting and very exhausting. She's four months old now and sleeping most of the night, so maybe I can get some updates in this summer before she figures out how to crawl. I plan to do a massive update and I'm going to try and finish this by the end of the year, if not sooner. Wish me luck!
Dani
