I looked with a smile at Tron and Beck. The sound of the engines filling my ears, the feeling of the wind on my face and the prospect of a challenge, that was what I had been programmed for.

"Tron!", I heard Beck shout, "When does the training begin?"

Tron jumped over both our heads, turning off his light trail, then back on.

"Now. So try and keep up."

We all sped up, Beck and me trying to dominate Tron, while all he did was avoid our efforts.

"Don't rely on your light wall. Learn to control me without it. Dominate with momentum. Anticipate."

I made an effort to incorporate what he was saying to my actions, constantly approaching Tron's bike and retreating right after. I was a quick learner, but my instincts told me it might not be enough with Tron. From what I had being able to pick up, with him it was either learn fast or die trying. I saw Beck's light cycle before me. He was obviously trying just as hard to put in practice what Tron was trying to teach us, but there was a definite lack of confidence in his actions.

"You mean like that?", he asked, almost condescendingly.

"Eyes forward."

We took three different routes, they on both sides of a stone wall, me over it. I jumped over them and landed right in front of the other two bikes.

"This isn't a game, Beck!", I heard from behind me, followed by the sound of two bikes colliding.

They sped up until they were next to me.

"Jump.", suddenly said Tron.

"Jump?"

I immediately saw what he meant. There was a huge ravine right in front of us. Beck slowed down, while Tron and I sped up.

"We can't make that!", shouted Beck.

Tron ignored him and jumped, using a huge curved rock as an impulse. I followed right after using the same technique and speeding up to the top of the bike's power. I made it to the other side, but the extra amount of kinetic energy sent me flying off my bike. The bike derezzed and I slowly stood up, watching as Beck tried to do the jump without the rock's impulse. He made it, but barely. He had to jump off the bike in the middle of the jump, leaving the light cycle to fall to the bottom of the ravine. I watched as he almost fell and Tron grabbed his hand, rotating the arm I had fallen on forwards and backwards.

"You know what you did wrong, Beck?"

"Yeah.", came Beck's annoyed reply. "I followed you."

"You hesitated." responded Tron, ignoring him. "I didn't. Neither did Ramee."

He pulled Beck up, then turned to face me.

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

"Hey, I jumped. Just like you asked us to."

"But you fell. You're too impulsive. You let your instincts take over your head, you don't fully reason before you do something. That will only lead you to the wrong end of a disk."

I folded my arms, frustrated with his reply. I was used to fight off instinct, after all it was in my programing, but his words touched a

very sensible spot. Lorna had known that, and she had made sure she hit it as many times as she could.

"Ramee!"

I turned around to face Lorna as she ran to me, her helmet sliding back. She was still wearing the Magik suit, her disk out, and didn't look not nearly tired after fighting all those programs.

"Yes?"

"Let's get out of here, the other guards can arrive any time now."

I nodded and followed her through the rooftops, jumping from time to time to pass on to the next one. Finally, after a long while of running and jumping, we reached the abandoned construction site we used as a safe house.

"Got what you were looking for?", I asked as we went down the stairs, Lorna changing back to her usual suit.

"Of course.", she answered, motioning for her disk.

I was about to leave, when a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned around, raising a quizzical brow.

"We really need to talk about how you fight."

I frowned.

"What's wrong with it?"

"You're too impulsive, too instinctive. If it hadn't been because you were holding back, those programs back there would be derezzed by now."

"I don't see the issue on me being instinctive, Lorna. After all, I was programmed to fight."

"Maybe that's the problem. You can't let your programming dictate everything you are, Ramee."

"How can I be the next Tron, if I can't even keep up with the real one? No one's gonna believe I'm you. To them, I'm just a renegade program."

"You need to have faith in yourself."

"Easy for you to say, you were programmed to protect the Grid. I was programmed to tune up engines."

I shook my head. That's the kind of thoughts that'll lead him to his death, I thought.

"You're more than just a mechanic, Beck. You surpassed your programming, you stood up for what you believed in, all on your own! The uprising needs a hero.

"What uprising? It's just you, me and Ramee out here."

Great, now we're starting to get depressive, aren't we, Beck?

"Aren't you the one that said others will follow? That the revolution will spread if we ignite the spark?"

"You're listening to me now? I almost plunged into the bottom of a canyon. I don't think I'm cut out to inspire anyone, sorry."

I watched as he started to walk away with exasperation. Even though defeatist attitude annoyed the hell out of me, a part of me could still relate. I was exactly the same, when Lorna had decided to drag me along her renegade project.

"Beck."

"What?"

"Your baton. You should probably get that."

That's Tron for you. Pointing the obvious when Beck doesn't see it.

"Great", he sighed.

"Great. Just perfect."

My turn to complain.

"Halt, programs. You're violating curfew."

I looked to my right as Beck sighed too.

"Just gets better and better."

He looked back at me and nodded. We both sped up, but coming right in front of us was a checkpoint.

"Identify."

Another exchange of looks and we derezzed our bikes and started to run towards a cargo zone.

"Hostile programs detected."

Moving between the large crates, we avoided the guards and the recognizer.

"Quick, get in here!", Beck motioned for me while opening one of the crates.

We slipped in the opening, which closed right behind us. I listened through the doors before allowing myself to relax. I turned around with Beck, only to find that our hiding place was full of other programs.

"Please tell me you're hiding too.", said Beck.

A strong shake was felt, then the crate started to move. A tall, dark skinned program suddenly stood up and walked towards us. I noticed the handcuffs on his wrists and mentally face palmed. Oh, yeah, like this day could get any better.

"Congratulations programs. You just made yourselves prisoners."

"This is wrong, I shouldn't be here, I didn't do anything. This is all because of those Renegades."

"The Renegades", said Beck in a low voice.

"Cool it, Rilo.", intervened Cutler (the dark skinned program).

"Have you forgotten where they're taking us? Each one of us is going to end up derezzed. Have you ever seen anyone derezzed? It's disgusting."

I felt a wave of guilt rise in me. I hadn't considered the fact I was facing now when I accepted Beck's idea. I didn't want anymore deaths on my hands.

"What's he talking about?", I heard Beck ask Cutler."Where are we going?"

"Isn't it obvious, Beck?", I asked in a low voice, "The freaking Games."

And yes, things actually could get worse. I watched in silence as they lined us up in a dark room, restrains appearing at our feet.

"Congratulations programs," I heard, "you have been selected for the Games."

"If I don't survive, those Renegades are to blame."

"Rilo. I told you." Again, Cutler tried to calm him down.

"It's not his fault? The reason we're here is because the Renegades remodeled Clu's statue. Next thing I know, they're picking me up for breaking curfew. I lost track of time, I shouldn't have to die for it."

My throat started to burn. He was right. He shouldn't have to die for it. And I was gonna make sure he didn't.

"We'll survive this. We're not going to die.", I said.

Four Syrens appeared in the corners of the room and started to walk towards us.

"For your safety, you are being equipped with battle armor. Do not attempt to remove your armor."

"Yeah, right. "Our safety"."

"Not the time for irony, Ramee."

"It's always time for irony, Beck."

The Syrens retreated slowly, while the female voice announced:

"Processing complete. Enjoy the Games."

The platform we were on started to ascend towards the arena and our restrains disappeared. I slightly shuddered at the sight of the huge arena, thousands of programs shouting in the bleachers and another platform full of Clu's programs approaching. The other programs started to make useless stunts and acrobatics, clearly designed more to intimidate than for actual battle.

"All combatants prepare for team battle. Difficulty level, extreme."

Rilo turned to me.

"So, still think we're gonna survive?"

I looked at Beck, who was looking towards the side of the arena.

"In the name of our great leader, Clu," my fists clenched at the sound of Tessler's voice, "let the Games begin!"

The other platform started to approach again.

"Here they come!" shouted Beck.

The other team jumped to the other platforms, while ours did the same.

"We're not gonna survive two rounds against them!"

I took out my disk.

"Stay close to me, Rilo."

I silently watched as the three programs in front of us took out their disks.

"Attack!"

Now this is what I'm talking about! I dodged another hit and let out a cold laugh.

"You actually call that fighting?"

The other program didn't answer. My lips stretched in an evil grin as I flipped backwards to avoid a flying disk. Before it could come back, I quickly ran to the program and punched his stomach, then, profiting the fact that he was bending over, I delivered a kick to his back, which made him fall to the ground.

"Hey, that was good!"

I smiled at Rilo.

"We're gonna make it."

Two more programs landed on our platform to replace the one I'd just beaten. We both got in fighting stances and ran to them. The first blow was delivered by the guard, which I easily dodged by ducking. With a quick move, I sweeped his legs, but he jumped over mine. "Economize your moves. Let your opponent tire himself out, then strike. Watch, listen, pay attention to your surroundings and move according to what you see." The voice of my instructor came back to me as I dodged the punches and kicks the other program was throwing at me. I closed my eyes a second, refocusing, remembering my training. Letting my programming dictate what I was in battle. A swishing sound warned me of an incoming disk. I opened my eyes and again flipped backwards, this time using the impulse to kick the guard in the face knocking him out. I heard derezzing sounds and turned around to see that Rilo had derezzed his opponent. The smile I gave him weakened as I saw a new program jumping behind him. My legs made a motion forward without me ordering them to, but it was too late. The guard had fallen over Rilo, derezzing him.

"No!", I heard myself shout.

The program threw his disk at me.

"Get down!", I heard, right before someone nailed me to the ground, the disk passing right over us.

I looked up and saw Cutler, and behind him, Beck. He offered me a hand, which I took a bit shakily.

"I couldn't save Rilo. He's gone."

"But we're not!", answered Cutler while ducking to dodge another throw of the disk. "And neither are they."

"Then let's level the playing field."

The fight was going well. Cutler, Beck and I each took out a guard displaying our abilities with our disks. I was ready to fight some more, but suddenly, the bell rang.

"Due to technical difficulties, this round will end early."

"Technical difficulties?" Beck asked as he saved his disk.

"Yeah, us.", I answered.

The three of us shared a laugh, as we waited for the guards to come and take us away.

I looked over my shoulder to the now occupied adjacent cell.

"We have new teammates to break in.", said Cutler.

"You mean more programs to get derezzed.", I answered gloomily.

"Don't tell me you've given up. We could use you out there, you're not a bad fighter."

"Yeah, tell that to Rilo. I know I can't save everyone, but... someone would be good. For a change."

"So it's like this, huh? No hope? I felt like that once. After we lost the ISO war."

"You fought in the ISO war?", asked Beck.

"That's right. Most of my friends fell fighting Clu's forces. Started to despair, until the Renegades showed up."

"The Renegades? Isn't all this their fault?", I asked. At the moment, that's how I felt.

"I don't think so. If they're ready to risk their lives to fight back, then I want to be right there fighting besides them. That's why I came to Argon. To join them."

I looked at him, feeling amazed.

"But there's more. I know who the Renegades really are."

"Who?", asked Beck.

"One of them, we all know. He's the one program who can save us all, whose name alone inspires hope.", he made a "T" with his fist and three fingers. "He's Tron"

"Tron."

"You said you knew who they both were." I intervened. "Who's the other? That girl."

"She may not be as known as Tron, but she's a symbol for many people as well.", he drew another symbol in the air, this time a pentagram in a circle. "Her name is Magik."

Yeah, but that was Lorna. Not me.

"Magik?", asked Beck.

"Yes. She started in the central parts of the Grid, fighting guards, releasing imprisoned programs, sabotaging Clu, not unlike what they're doing now. However, she disappeared many cycles ago, and it wasn't few people who thought she was dead. Now we know what happened. She traveled the Grid, searching for Tron. And she found him."

More like we found each other, I thought.

We were walking through a construction site. I saw Beck looking around, at the piles of tubes going up and down, and I realized he had an idea. Indeed, a few seconds later, he whispered to Cutler, who was just in front of him.

"Tell the program in front of you: "Tron lives"."

"What?"

"Just do it."

The message passed on until it reached the first of the line, who spoke out loud.

"Tron lives? Who told you that?"

The guards immediately reacted.

"What was that? You said Tron lives? Talk like that is sedition. Who said it?"

The guard that was behind us hurried forwards. We took the chance and ran away. We hid behind a pillar and Beck used Bodhi's tool to activate one of the cranes.

"Let's go."

We jumped on the rising tubes and waited until the roof to jump out. Travelling through the construction, we finally got to the other side and started to go down. We started to run away, but suddenly, soldiers descended out of the sky. I ran back to the construction. but before Beck and Cutler could follow me, they were surrounded. I froze, hesitating.

"Just go!" shouted Beck, "We'll be fine, just go!"

I looked at Cutler and he simply nodded. I nodded back, then jumped from bar to bar, leaving the soldiers that had started to follow me far behind.

I finished my story, feeling annoyed by the turn of events. Tron simply looked at me with no expression on his face.

"What?"

"He did the right thing."

"The right thing? He could get derezzed! That's the right thing? Hurgh, I should be out there, helping them!"

I paced in front of Tron, unable to calm down, while all he did was look at me with that neutral face.

"Would you please say something? You're starting to get on my nerves."

"Most people would be relieved they're not the ones about to be derezzed. Do you have a problem with saving your own life?"

"Yes! If it means someone else is going to die, then yes! If I'm unable to save someone, definitely yes! Damn, you just don't get it!"

"Then explain."

I stopped my pacing and looked at him for a couple of seconds.

"You know, don't you?"

"That you're not a simple mechanic, as you pretend? Yes. You have more secrets than I do, Ramee. Some of them, I can deduce. Others... well, you get it."

I turned my back on him and looked out the window. Argon looked beautiful. As usual.

"I... I'll explain some things. But you have to promise you won't tell Beck. This stays between us."

"You have my word."