1. Doing it Right
It was perfection in its blank slate. Just a bare-bones OS, the laser software, and him.
And on the first day, there was light. On the second day, the land was separated from the sea.
With a deep breath, Flynn breathed in the darkness and potential, seeing the code in his head before it compiled. It was almost dancing creation into existence, a sweeping gesture created an island, separating it from the blue silver of the Sea (junk code and organic matter from the arcade trash). Wave his hand in a long smooth gesture and a wide plain formed. A quick sweep upward and a mountain rose in jagged pixels.
The new deity of the system laughed in joy.
2. Phoenix
Rinzler hears the crowd, but they are just atmosphere, irrelevant data and noise. He has become perfected in forcing out the noise. It's merely a drumbeat to follow...one...two...three...block, fire, dodge.
The impossible by human physics somersault he performs off the pixel-glass changed the beat of the crowd's cheering momentarily, but he wanted that. Never skip a beat – never a wasted move. One...pull back left hand with disc, throw on two, watch first enemy shatter to nothing on three.
Four, pivot on heel and five, block. Back to one as the second opponent's disc shatters. He doesn't bother glancing at their distraught face, keeping up the deadly dance as he spins and launches his disc.
The dance is over.
3. The Game of Love
If he wants to be honest with himself, he still feels he didn't earn his good fortune. He is anything but flashy, flamboyant, and charismatic. In his darker moments, he wonders if she didn't just pick him because he was just the "safe and sane" man who was more interested in fidelity and starting a family. The long separations don't help his doubts, but he loves her too much to hold her back, and she would never think of ripping him from his duties, either. They both owed Gibbs and Flynn that much.
For the third time that evening, he listens to her voice mail, glass of scotch in hand. It's past midnight on the East Coast. She's in for another round of treatments. She wants to stop, to give up. He can't give up on her. It's selfish and painful, and triggered the nastiest argument they've ever had (thank God they never argued like that when their son was small).
"Alan, I'm sorry. It was the pain talking. I'll go back to the doctors again..."
A envelope of folded, yellowed pages from Gibbs's personal notes is stuffed into the back of Digital Frontier; laser data, equations, correction algorithms.
It's their last chance.
4. Beyond
There is a celebration when Ma3a is returned to her dock. The citadel is lit up in bright colors, the damaged ziggaurats are patched, and bright geometric fireworks explode in the air. Programs toast with glasses of clean energy, and there is once again laughter and celebration.
The Encom system was badly damaged, but it will rebuild, it will be stronger than before. And they have many to thank for it – some who did not live to see this cycle. Thorne broke many things, but not her people's spark, and more importantly, not their trust or their faith.
As the dock closes around her, she cannot help but feel a pang of sorrow. Her freedom is gone, but her vision is restored.
She can see across the many lines, across the many systems, see the thin and fragile bonds connecting this world with the User one. It is beautiful to behold, indescribable with words or strings.
But she focuses on a dim light far away, a dark system her vision cannot pierce.
5. Television Rules the Nation
Before him are hordes – a willing army of rainbow circuitry. He stands on a dais at the front, hands sweating, heart racing, and wanting to be anywhere but there. He never thought he would actually wish for a Z-Lot invasion or an incoming raid of DataWraiths.
And he isn't alone – he's just to the right of Uncle Kevin who is all big smiles and wide eyes and grand dreams. Just as youthful as the day he went away (abandoned them?), wearing a big thick cloak like Thorne and gold circuits like Ma3a.
The crowd below is chanting in worship, and Jet can just make out the word.
"Users! Users!"
Kevin slaps an arm around his shoulders. "Isn't this great? Isn't this perfect?"
Jet wakes up from the dream retching.
6. Face to Face
The four of them are probably unstoppable if they work together, at least by Sam's estimation. Quorra, he trusts, though he hasn't known her long (but running and fighting for your life with someone tends to speed things up). Jet's...changed, but still got the crazy loyalty. Must be a Bradley thing. Mercury is the closest to a wild card (she's a Program, after all, and they do not think the same way as humans), but so far so good.
So, when faced with yet another lightcycle arena in yet another cesspit of the system, he's feeling pretty good about his odds. The opposition is a bunch of Resource Hogs – lots of bluster and brute force, but the brains of a rock.
His cycle speeds in tandem with his team, and when Jet and Quorra speed off opposite directions to corral the Hogs, Mercury flashes him a big grin.
"Try and keep up," she teases before gunning the engine.
7. Solar Sailer (Ki:Theory Lay Our Bodies Down Remix)
It's End of Line.
Grimly they ride to the battlefield, cycles in tandem. How often as kids did they pretend they were doing exactly this, ten speed bikes becoming lightcycles in their minds?
Reality is a bitch.
There are scores of desperate, angry, corrupted Programs and who knows how many DataWraiths waiting for them. Leading it all is Master Control 2.0 himself. At stake is the fate of two worlds; interconnected, interdependent, and yet one is too much of a secret from the other.
But their enemies can no longer count on their sorrow and division.
They are Users, and united. And Master Control will pay.
8. Revolution 909
It's a flagrant violation of curfew by the citizens of Argon, probably triggered by the Jolly Tricksters gang and that damned Renegade. The epicenter of it is on Center Street, packed wall to wall with lightcycles and transports. Bands play music as people dance in the street under the headless statue of Clu. (no one bothered to recompile it, and Tessler actually likes that monstrosity headless, though he'll never admit to it).
His jets are in a flyby pattern, tanks at the ready. He could crush this with a single word and he knows it. But as the Renegade's popularity is proving, an iron grip will only cause the city to continue slipping through his fingers.
"Shall we destroy them, General?" Pavel's sneer manages to transmit through audio. It's impressive, actually.
Tessler sighs. My administrator, right or wrong conflicts with guard the citizens yet again.
"Not for now," Tessler says. "We wait."
9. Something About Us
They were bundled not by chance, but by decree of their Users. It means they didn't know each other at all before they were made into a unit. At the time, it seemed arbitrary and illogical. And even after their forced bonding, they were thrust into battles and resistance.
Being bundled to a system monitor can't be easy for her. She went from a peaceful life compiling simulations to sneaking in alleys, eavesdropping on important conversations, sabotage and illegal power reroutes. Yori insists she's fine with it, but Tron sees her exhaustion. As she crashes to sleep mode in exhaustion, he is still awake and too alert.
He praises the Users for compiling her and for her presence in his life.
He questions the Users for why they chose to put that burden on her.
10. Harder Better Faster Stronger
Fighting through a ship full of rectified Programs? Been there, did that
Fighting through a ship full of DataWraiths? That was Jet's department, not his.
Fighting through a ship crammed with both? Yeah, that was going to be a problem.
The girls had a higher kill count so far. He knew why Quorra had to be so quick and lethal. Mercury actually laughed as she was fighting, lashing out with quick strikes of her shock rods, sweeping the legs out from an ICP, doing a backflip off one of the walls (Was she taking lessons from Rinzler or something?!) before stabbing a shocked Wraith in the back and taunting the rest to charge her.
Jet's strikes were slow, and he was working some kind of mojo on Mercury and Quorra to mitigate wounds while Sam channeled whatever User power he had into making his strikes harder and faster.
Tank, DPS, and a healer. Well, shit. This really was a bad video game.