Here's the final part of The Resistance. With that, the season première is out of the way. This one is a bit shorter than the two previous chapters, but not by much.
Accessing archived data...
Paige learns a horrifying truth...
..."No," Paige whispered, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "No, it can't be true. It can't be..."
The video continued to play, and despite Paige's desperate pleading, she knew it was true... Paige deactivated Tesler's identity disc, burying her face in her hands as sobs wracked her body...
...And makes a life-changing decision.
"...Tesler wasn't the man I thought he was," Paige spat bitterly.
The Renegade deactivated Tesler's disc, and attached it to his hip. "You'll be branded a traitor for helping me," he said.
"I know," said Paige. "Which is why I'm going with you..."
Dyson's hunt for Tron begins...
"...I want recognizers dispatched to the following coordinates," said Dyson. He then listed the coordinates of the tracker. "Find out what happened there, and begin sweeping the area for any signs of life..."
...And Beck leaves to meet with an old friend of Tron's.
...The female program collapsed her helmet, revealing long blond hair, and as she did so, her black suit with minimal circuit lines began to shift into a white suit. White lines lit up, and a dark blue triangle appeared on her chest, with a semi-circle of the same colour spreading from the base of the triangle to her shoulders.
"Are you really Tron?" Yori whispered, almost daring to hope...
Beck, wearing the white suit that marked him as the Renegade, derezzed his light-cycle. He was currently in the slums of Bismuth City, waiting to meet with someone from the local resistance.
"You don't see many programs in white these days," a voice said from behind him.
Beck spun around, reaching for his disc. A helmeted female program was standing a few metres away, her arms folded across her chest.
"Those that do wear white are either Sirens... or Renegades," said the female.
"You're my contact with the Bismuth rebels?" Beck asked.
The female nodded, and Beck relaxed slightly. "So, where are we going?" he asked.
The female turned and began walking away. "Follow me," she said.
She led Beck through the slums, and stopped in front of an old, dilapidated warehouse.
"Nice place," Beck muttered.
"It's not ideal, but the guards don't patrol the slums very often," said the female. "It serves its purpose well enough."
She opened the door, and led Beck inside. Beck spotted several programs, both males and females. They were all wearing their helmets.
"I see you guys like your privacy," said Beck.
Beck's guide didn't answer his question. She just stood there watching him, and Beck began to wonder if something had gone wrong.
"When do I get to see who's in charge?"
One of the assembled programs snorted with laughter at Beck's question.
The female program who'd led him to the warehouse walked over to a side room and opened the door.
"In here," she said.
"Okay," said Beck slowly. Beck walked through the door. Apart from the desk, the room was empty. As the door clicked shut behind him, Beck began to turn around. That was when the female program slammed him into the desk and held her disc to his throat.
"Who are you, and what have you done to Tron?!" she snarled.
TRON: Uprising
The Resistance, Part III
"Wh-what are you talking about?" Beck asked, struggling against his attacker.
"Don't play dumb with me!" she snarled. "You might look the part, but your voice sounds nothing like Tron's, and your helmet is the wrong shape."
"You expect me to believe that you can identify Tron through his voice and helmet shape?" Beck asked.
"Yes," said the female. "That's the other part of the reason I know you're not Tron."
The female program collapsed her helmet, revealing her blond hair. Her suit rippled as it shifted from black to white, and a dark blue triangle lit up in the centre of her chest, and a semi-circle spread from the base of the triangle up to her shoulders.
"Tron would've recognized me," she said, pressing her disc harder against Beck's throat.
"You're from the Old System," Beck whispered in shock.
"That's right," said the female. "Now tell me who you are!"
"Alright, alright!" Beck collapsed his helmet. "My name's Beck. I used to be a mechanic in Argon."
"Where did you get that suit?!" his attacker asked.
"Tron gave it to me," said Beck. "When I became the Renegade."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Let me go, and I'll show you," Beck said.
The female was silent for a few seconds. She then pulled her disc away from his throat, and allowed Beck to stand up.
"Try anything funny, and you won't live long enough to regret it," she said.
"I'll keep that in mind," said Beck as he reached behind his back and pulled out his disc. Beck activated his disc, and began to play a recent memory file. The female took the disc from his hands, and watched the video warily.
In the video, Beck, wearing his normal black grid-suit, was using a multitool to make repairs to a light-jet.
"Everything still in one piece?" a voice from off-screen asked, and the female gasped in shock.
The video-Beck turned around to greet the new arrival. "Yeah, I was just making a few repairs. I took some hits during that last escape. Nothing too bad, but it could get worse if I didn't fix it."
"Right," said Tron. "So how are you planning on getting to Bismuth?"
"I was gonna go by light-cycle," said Beck. "It'll take longer, but it'll attract less attention than flying there."
Tron nodded.
"Um... how's Paige?" Beck asked.
"Well, her leg's finished healing, and she's out of the tank. She's still unconscious though, so we moved her to one of the new rooms. Mara's keeping an eye on her."
"Okay," said Beck.
Tron reached behind his back and pulled out his disc. He twisted the bottom half off and passed it to Beck. "Here, you'll need this," Tron said.
The female program paused the video, and sank to her knees as tears began to form in her eyes.
"He's alive," she whispered, clutching Beck's disc to her chest. "Oh, thank Lora-3, he's alive."
Beck felt rather awkward standing there watching, and cleared his throat nervously. The female program got back to her feet, wiping her eyes as she passed Beck his disc back.
"I, uh... I guess you and Tron were fairly close, huh?" said Beck.
The female program nodded. "Yes, I guess you could say that," she said. "My name is Yori, by the way."
"I assume you're the leader of this group?" Beck asked.
Yori nodded. "We've got a lot to talk about."
The first thing Paige became aware of was that she was lying down. She was on a bed, a rather uncomfortable one, at that. Still, it was an improvement over the snow of the Outlands, which was the last thing she remembered. Still keeping her eyes closed, Paige moved her right foot experimentally. Thankfully, her leg had finished regenerating, so she was rewarded with the feeling of her heel moving against fabric. Beck had mentioned that Tron had a hideout in the Outlands. Hopefully, he had taken her there.
Paige opened her eyes and sat up slowly. A quick glance at her legs confirmed that her right leg had healed completely. She then began to study the room. The room was fairly small, and the only thing in it was the bed she had slept on.
"Hey, you're awake," said a voice from the doorway.
Paige turned her head, and saw a female program with blue hair walking in, carrying a glass full of liquid energy.
"Here," said the program, passing Paige the glass. "You look like you could use a drink."
"Thanks," said Paige, accepting the glass. She forced herself to drink the life-giving liquid slowly, which also gave her a chance to get a better look at the female program. She was a familiar face; Paige remembered seeing her at Able's Garage several times.
Paige swallowed one last mouthful, and passed the empty glass back. "Mara, right?"
"Yeah, that's my name," said Mara, taking the glass back. Mara stood up, and began to walk out the door with the glass.
"I'm sorry about Able," said Paige.
Mara stopped in the doorway. "You mean that," she whispered, sounding almost confused.
Paige nodded. "Not every program in the Occupation was a heartless monster," she said. "Only the important ones were," she added quietly.
Mara was silent for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Well, now that you're awake, Tron wants to speak with you," she said. "He should be down here soon."
"I'll wait for him, then," said Paige.
"You won't have to wait for long, then," said a voice from around the corner. Mara backed into the room, and allowed a male program to walk in.
"Tron," Paige whispered in awe.
The program in question nodded. "Thanks for keeping an eye on Paige for me," he said, glancing at Mara. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a private chat with our guest."
Mara nodded, and left the room. The door shut behind her, and Tron leaned against the wall opposite Paige.
"So, why'd you do it?" Tron asked. "What made you want to change sides?"
Paige swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. "I found out the truth," she said. "The truth about the Gallium Massacre."
Tron simply nodded, and waited for her to continue.
"I used to be a medic," Paige said. "I worked at the Gallium City General Hospital. One day, two programs arrived that needed medical treatment. After I treated them, I found out that they were ISOs."
"What were their names?" Tron asked. "The ISOs."
"One of them was named Ada," said Paige. "She was the one who was injured. The uninjured ISO was named Quorra."
"Quorra?" Tron asked. "She's not the kind to commit mass murder."
"You knew Quorra?" Paige said.
"I knew her well enough," said Tron. "But we're not talking about me. We're talking about you."
Paige nodded, and resumed her tale. "As the ISOs were leaving, Occupation forces began to arrive. Quorra knocked me out. When I woke up, Tesler found me, and he told me that the ISOs had murdered everyone."
"I think I know where this is going," said Tron. "The Occupation troops murdered all those programs, and then blamed it on the ISOs to make the rumours seem true."
"I found out the truth when I accessed Tesler's identity disc," said Paige. "I found his memories of the massacre, and I saw... I saw..." Paige's mouth went dry, and she tried to swallow.
Tron walked up to her, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to say anything else," said Tron.
Paige nodded, and took several deep breaths to calm herself down. She brushed a hand against her eyes, wiping away the tears that had formed.
"I can understand why you wanted to leave the Occupation," Tron said. "But what made you want to join the resistance?"
"It was a decision I made on the spot, really," said Paige. "By giving Beck the disc and letting him go, I'd be branded a traitor and be thrown in the Games... or worse. Going with him seemed like the best option at the time."
"So it was a matter of convenience?" said Tron.
Paige shook her head. "I think that, even if I had just escaped from the flagship, I would probably have ended up in the resistance at some point. Meeting the Renegade just accelerated the process, I guess."
Tron nodded. "One more question. Did you know anything about the tracking device on Tesler's disc?"
"No," said Paige. "I didn't. Dyson took the disc from my quarters while I was resting, so he could examine Tesler's memories for anything he deemed important."
"I see," said Tron. "Unfortunately, Tesler's disc hasn't been as helpful as we'd hoped. It seems that his permissions have been removed from the Occupation's network."
Paige reached behind her back and took out her disc. "Would you like to try my permissions?" she asked.
Tron shook his head. "Knowing Dyson, he's probably removed your permissions from the network as well. He never was one to take chances with security."
"Dyson said you two used to work together," said Paige.
"That's right," said Tron. "And before you ask, I don't want to talk about what happened between us. Not yet."
"I understand," said Paige.
Tron nodded, and crossed his arms. "Well, everything you've said makes sense," he said. "But I'm still not sure if I should trust you or not. Beck thinks you're trustworthy, and I'm inclined to believe him, however, you have been a member of the Occupation for some time."
Tron sighed. "I'll be keeping an eye on you. Hopefully, you won't give me any reason to try and derez you." Tron opened the door to leave.
"Where's Beck?" Paige asked.
"He's off on a mission," said Tron. "Before he left, he left a box under your bed; said it had things you brought with you when you left Tesler's flagship. I didn't find anything dangerous in there, so I'm letting you have it."
"Thank you," said Paige.
Tron nodded, and exited the room. Once the door closed behind him, she reached under the bed and grabbed the box. Placing it on the bed beside her, she pulled out two items. The first was a picture of Paige and her friends. She slid the picture back into the box, and turned her attention to the second item. It was a musical instrument called a monome. She'd picked it up a long time ago, and had taught herself how to play. Paige began tapping the buttons on the monome, and a tune began to play, one she'd composed when she was a medic...
"Sir?"
Dyson glanced up at the Black Guard that had entered his chambers. "What is it?"
"I have the final report from the survey team in the Outlands," said the Guard.
Dyson nodded, and leaned back. "Let's hear it."
"A thorough examination of the crashed light-copter revealed that the vehicle was badly damaged when one of the pursuing light-jets rammed it. The light-copter then crashed tail-first, before bouncing into the air and rolling onto it's side."
"Did the pilot of the light-jet try a suicide attack, or was he flying out of control?" asked Dyson.
"An analysis of the identity discs of the derezzed Guards would indicate the latter," said the Black Guard. "As far as can be determined, the last member of the pursuit force was attacked from below by a light-jet that was created by a second program that had jumped out of the light-copter. The attack derezzed the Guard, and he crashed into the light-copter."
"I see," said Dyson. "I assume the Renegade was the one flying the enemy light-jet."
"That is correct," said the Black Guard. "Voxels were found in the wreckage of the light-copter. Judging by the location and amount of voxels, we believe that a program suffered a non-fatal leg amputation."
"Hmm," Dyson muttered. "If a program had suffered an amputation, they would be leaking cubes as they travelled, until they eventually derezzed... unless they had on-site treatment."
"Agreed, sir," said the Black Guard. "Forensic analysis of the voxels indicates that a female program's right leg was amputated just above the knee, and that a small amount of the thigh had begun to deresolve by the time the injury was treated."
"And that knowledge requires being programmed as a medic," said Dyson. "I think we can safely assume that Paige has turned traitor."
"A warrant has been prepared, sir," said the Black Guard, handing Dyson his disc. "Once you have approved it, we can issue it at your command."
Dyson accepted the disc, and briefly studied the warrant. "Everything seems to be in order," he said. "Go ahead and issue it."
"Yes, sir," said the Black Guard.
"Anything else?" asked Dyson.
"The survey team found a single light-cycle track leaving the wreckage," said the Black Guard. "The trail led across the Outlands in a wild bit chase, with several twists and turns. After following the trail for some time, fresh snow had obscured the trail."
"Unsurprising," said Dyson. "The Renegade presumably knows the terrain well." Dyson paused. "Were there any survivors from the pursuit team?"
"Just one, sir," said the Black Guard. "He has been reassigned to the Games, and will participate for fifty millicycles, or until his deresolution."
"Very good," said Dyson. "Dismissed."
"Yes, sir."
Once the Black Guard had left, Dyson grimaced. He was beginning to understand why Tesler had so much trouble with the Renegade.
A soft beep and a flashing light on Dyson's desk caught his attention. He pressed a button and activated the intercom.
"Yes?"
"Sir, you are being contacted by your spy in the Bismuth Rebels," said the Guard on the other end.
"Patch him through," said Dyson.
A hologram depicting a helmeted male program appeared above Dyson's desk.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Dyson snarled. "Are you trying to blow your cover?!"
"My cover's not gonna last much longer anyways," said the spy. "The Renegade is here, and he's discussing an alliance with our leader."
"Any luck determining the identity of the leader?" Dyson asked.
"No sir," said the spy. "She keeps her helmet on almost all the time. The only program who has seen her face is Ada, her second in command."
"I see," said Dyson. "Where are you?"
"Sending you the coordinates," said the spy. "Stand by."
Dyson activated the screen on his desk, and a series of numbers appeared.
"Coordinates received," said Dyson. "Now get out before you're-"
"Hey!" said a female voice from off-screen. "Who are... you're a spy!"
The spy turned around, drawing his disc. However, he was too slow. The female program's disc sliced through his chest, and the spy derezzed, and the hologram dissolved into a shower of static.
Dyson growled, and activated the intercom again.
"Contact the leader of the garrison in Bismuth," he said. "Tell him that the Bismuth Rebels and the Renegade are at the coordinates provided at the end of the message. I want those programs alive if possible. If that isn't possible, derez them."
"How are we supposed to get to Tron's hideout?" asked Yori.
"The easiest way would be to leave Bismuth by light-cycle," said Beck. "Stick to the roads until we near Argon, then we head into the Outlands and head to Tron's hideout."
"And how do you propose we move a large group of programs without attracting attention?" asked Yori.
"We could leave in small groups," said Beck. "We rendezvous outsite Bismuth, and-"
The door was slammed open, and Beck and Yori rezzed their helmets instinctively as a female program entered.
"We've got a problem," said the female. "A spy just contacted the Occupation and sent them our coordinates."
"I assume the spy is derezzed?" asked Yori.
The female program nodded. "Here's his disc." She held up the spy's identity disc.
"Who did he contact?" asked Beck.
The female activated the disc and played the most recent memory file. Beck recognised the face of the Occupation program immediately.
"Dyson," Beck muttered.
"Who's Dyson?" asked Yori.
"Bad news," said Beck. "We have to get out of here, now!"
Yori nodded. "Ada, tell everyone to scatter and go into hiding. Once they're clear, tell them to head to Argon. We'll find them once they arrive."
The helmeted female, Ada, nodded and left the room.
Beck turned to Yori. "We'll find them?" he asked.
Yori nodded. "I'm going with you," she said. "I need to see Tron."
"I understand," said Beck. The two programs ran out of the room, and almost ran into Ada.
"The evacuation has begun," said Ada. "But we might be too late. Occupation forces are already arriving."
"We'll have to fight our way out," said Yori. "Ada, you're coming with Beck and myself. We're heading to Tron's hideout in Argon."
"Wait, why's Ada coming?" asked Beck.
"I don't think we should..." Yori began, but trailed off when Ada held up a hand. Ada rolled down the top of her right sleeve, revealing a hexagonal mark with a small T shape under it.
Beck gasped. "An ISO? I thought they were all derezzed."
"We might as well be," said Ada bitterly. "I don't know if any other ISOs have survived this long."
"We can talk about this later," said Yori as the low thrum of a recognizer's jets filled the air. "We have to go!"
"Right," said Beck. The three programs ran outside, and saw the Occupation forces arriving. Heavily armored Guards charged with their staffs at the ready, and lightly armored Sentries moved towards them. One of the Bismuth Rebels threw his disc at a Sentry, and the Sentry collapsed into a pile of cubes. Three more Rebels joined the first, attacking the Guards.
"Go!" yelled one of the Rebels. "Get out of-augh!" The Rebel screamed as she was derezzed, and the Guards and Sentries surrounded the three surviving Rebels.
"Come on!" yelled Beck, rezzing his light-cycle. Yori and Ada rezzed their cycles as well, and followed after him.
Three Black Guards leapt off of the recognizer and activated their wing-chutes. As they got close to the ground, they derezzed their chutes and rezzed their light-cycles, giving chase to Beck, Yori and Ada.
Beck activated his light-wall, and swung in front of one of the Black Guards. Beck's opponent matched the move and activated his own light-wall. Beck drew his disc and braked. He tried to slam his disc into his opponent's cycle, but the Black Guardsman anticipated the move, and blocked the attack with his own disc. The Guard then kicked the back of Beck's cycle, and Beck slowed down as he tried to keep his balance. The Black Guard accelerated and swung around in front of Beck. Beck derezzed his cycle and rolled as he hit the ground. He jumped over the light-wall and rezzed his light-cycle again. Beck then threw his disc at the back wheel of his opponent's cycle. The disc tore a chunk out of the light-cycle, and it began to degrade into red cubes that splashed across the Bismuth streets.
Ada looped around and drove at her pursuer. The Black Guard drew his disc, and prepared to slice her as she drove past. At the last second, she pulled of a sharp turn, her light-wall blocking the Guardsman's path. He screamed as his cycle slammed into the wall, sending voxels flying in all directions as he was derezzed.
Yori braked as her opponent drove past her, his dark orange light-wall blocking her path. She turned and went in the opposite direction to the Black Guard. She looked over her shoulder, and saw that the Black Guard had turned around, and was now following her. The sound of a second light-cycle's engine caught her attention. Beck pulled up beside her and drew his disc.
"When I say so, throw your disc at the pipe up ahead," said Beck. "I'll cut through the right side, you take the left."
Yori drew her own disc and nodded. The two programs continued towards the pipe, and the Black Guardsman began to catch up.
"Now!" Beck yelled.
Beck and Yori threw their discs, and the cutting edges cleaved through the pipe. Energy began to spew out of the severed ends of the pipes, and shards sparkled in the air as they fell. Beck and Yori made it past the pipe before it hit the ground, but Yori was grazed by a piece of shrapnel. The Guardsman wasn't so lucky. The pipe came down on the front of his light-cycle, flipping him over the pipe as his cycle disintegrated into cubes.
Beck and Yori were soon joined by Ada, and the three programs pulled into a nearby alleyway, where they derezzed their cycles.
"Only three Black Guards?" asked Beck. "I was expecting more than that."
"The garrison here is small," said Ada. "The last time we checked, there were only about a hundred Sentries and Guards, with only a single recognizer and those three Black Guards."
"Why is the Occupation presence here so small?" asked Beck.
"Two reasons," said Yori. "Most of the local garrison forces were dispatched to Argon City some time ago, to deal with you and Tron. The other reason is that we stuck to covert actions that couldn't be pinned down as acts of organised rebellion, such as theft and sabotage that seemed more like mechanical failures."
"Yori, you're hurt," said Ada.
Yori glanced at her side. A very thin glowing line cut across her midsection, just below her ribcage.
"It's not bad," said Yori. "Hopefully I can get it healed when we reach Argon."
"Yeah, we can heal it," said Beck. "There's a healing chamber in Tron's hideout, and a former medic recently joined us."
"We'd better get moving, then," said Yori. "Lead the way, Beck."
Pavel pressed a button on the console he was standing at. A hologram of Dyson shimmered into existence in front of him.
"We're approaching Bismuth City now, sir," said Pavel. "I've ordered my forces to split up and set up checkpoints at each of Bismuth's exit points. There are also recognizers sweeping the borders of the city. The Renegade and the Bismuth Rebels will not evade us."
"Make sure they don't," said Dyson. "And take extra care apprehending the Renegade. He may not be Tron, but he's just as dangerous. Overwhelm him with sheer numbers."
"Yes sir," said Pavel. "I've also received a preliminary report from the garrison commander. He has retrieved the spy's disc, and has determined that, apart from the spy and the Renegade, there were twelve members of the Bismuth Rebels, all of whom were present when the attack was launched."
"I see," said Dyson. "What's the status of the members of the Rebels?"
"Three members have been captured, and three have escaped," said Pavel. "Six Rebels were derezzed during the attack. The Renegade has also escaped."
"Unsurprising," said Dyson. "The Renegade is very good at evading us. Apart from him, have you identified any of the rebels?"
"Not yet," said Pavel. "The station commander has not checked the discs of the derezzed or captured Rebels. However, we are fairly certain that the leader of the Rebels and her second in command are two of the three Rebels that have evaded us."
"Find them, Pavel," said Dyson. "If they escape they could rally more programs to their cause."
"Understood, sir," said Pavel.
"Still, it's not all bad," said Dyson. "Half of the group is dead, and a quarter are in our custody. The current rebellion is in tatters, and once word gets out, other programs will think twice before defying the Occupation."
"That's true," said Pavel. "And what would you like done with the captives?"
"Judging by my spy's reports, the Bismuth Rebels kept their identities secret from each other," said Dyson. "I doubt we can find any useful information from them." Dyson paused briefly, then continued. "Have the captives brought to Argon. I want them in the Games in six millicycles."
Beck braked, and Yori and Ada pulled up alongside him.
"What's wrong?" asked Yori.
"Reinforcements," said Beck. "Dyson must have sent them when that spy reported."
"How'd they get here so fast?" asked Ada.
"A recognizer's top speed is much faster than a light-cycle, although the high speeds make them less maneuverable," said Yori. "They also aren't restricted to the roads. It is possible they could reach Bismuth from Argon in this amount of time."
"Are you sure about that?" Beck asked.
Yori laughed, sounding slightly bitter. "Of course I'm sure. I helped design them."
Stunned, Beck turned to face Yori. "You mean... you worked with Flynn?"
Yori nodded. "I helped him design quite a few things during the early days of the Grid," she said. "Mostly by modifying code copied over from the ENCOM servers into improved models."
Yori cleared her throat. "We should focus on getting out of here, though."
"Right, right," said Beck, turning back to face the recognizers. "It looks like they're setting up checkpoints at all the exit points, and they've got patrols around the borders. If we're fast enough, we should be able to make it between sweeps."
Beck revved his cycle's engine, and drove towards the recognizers. Yori and Ada were close behind him.
"Wait for it, wait for it," said Beck. He watched the recognizers flying in their patrol pattern, and waited until one was almost level with them.
"Now!" he yelled, and gunned the cycle. He shot under the recognizer, and Yori and Ada followed soon after. Beck glanced over his shoulder. The recognizer continued on its sweep, seemingly oblivious to the three programs that had just snuck past it. He then glanced back at the two programs following him. Yori was beginning to slow down, and Ada was slowing her own pace to stay with Yori. Beck slowed down, and allowed Ada and Yori to catch up.
"What's wrong?" Beck asked.
"Yori's injury is getting worse," said Ada.
"I'll make it to Argon," said Yori. "We can't stop now."
"What if we do this?" said Zed, modifying the plan he was observing.
"That wouldn't work," said Mara. "It'll weaken the structural support of that wall, and could cause the whole room to collapse."
"How about we move the door over to this point?" said Link slowly, pointing to another point. "That should keep all the walls stable, right?"
The mechanics observed the plans carefully.
"I'm no architect, but I think Link's right," said Dash. "Do you think Tron will allow us to test it with the training room?"
"Test what, exactly?" asked Tron as he walked up to them.
"We're designing a proper workshop," said Zed. "So that we can work on all our vehicles at once, instead of one at a time in Beck's little makeshift one."
Tron nodded. "You still haven't told me what you want to test."
"We want to make sure that the room won't collapse when we build it," said Copper. "Can we test it with the training room?"
"I don't see why not," said Tron. "It might take a bit of fiddling around to code it properly, but we should be able to do it. Mind if I have a look?"
"Sure," said Mara. "Maybe we should test both ideas, then see which is better."
Dash nodded. "And with a simulated version, we could figure out any other problems and fix them before we make the real thing, couldn't we?"
"You could," said Tron. "The real trick will be programming the training room properly. I'll get to work on it now."
Tron made his way to the main room, followed by the other programs. He activated the holographic display, and began coding the parametres for the new simulation. Mara glanced out the window, and gazed out at the Argon skyline. She then looked down, and saw three glowing lights approaching slowly.
"Hey, I think Beck's back!" she said. "And it looks like he brought some friends."
Zed looked out the window. "They're travelling rather slowly," he said. "And that lead bike is wobbling pretty crazily. Think it might be damaged?"
"If it was damaged, Beck could've repaired it," said Tron. "I think the driver may be injured. I'm going down to meet them. Mara, can you get Paige and bring her to the entrance?"
"Why do you want Paige?" Mara asked.
"Paige was programmed as a medic," Tron said. "She can help us out."
"I thought you didn't trust her," said Mara.
"First of all, you shouldn't have eavesdropped," said Tron. "And secondly, I said I wasn't sure if I should trust her or not. If she's willing to help us, that'll go a long way to proving her loyalty."
"Alright," said Mara. "I'll meet you down there."
Tron entered the small hangar as the three light-cycles pulled in. Beck was the last to enter and was the first to dismount his cycle, not even bothering to shut the engine off as he raced towards the program who was on the lead cycle. Beck gently tried to pull the program off her cycle, and as he did so, Tron saw a very familiar design on her chest, and a cold spike of fear ran through him.
"Yori!" Tron screamed as he ran forward.
The female collapsed her helmet, and Yori raised her head. Her face was pale from energy loss, and she was breathing heavily.
"Tr... Tron?" she whispered.
Tron helped Beck lift Yori off the light-cycle, and Tron saw the glowing blue energy that had soaked the cycle. Yori weakly lifted up a hand to caress Tron's face, and Tron tried to ignore the fact that her hand was covered in energy.
"I thought you were dead, but you're alive," Yori whispered. "They... they haven't built a... a circuit that could hold you..."
"What's she talking about?" Beck asked.
"She's delirious," said Paige as she entered, followed closely by Mara. "It's a sign of severe energy loss. If she doesn't receive an energy transfer now, she will derez in ten to twelve microcycles."
"Got it," said Tron. He cupped his hands around Yori's cheeks, and Yori's face became noticeably less pale. Paige took Yori's disc and accessed it. Her fingers moved expertly as she examined and repaired the sections of damaged code.
"Okay," Paige said as she returned Yori's disc to its proper place. "She'll need to reboot for the regeneration process to start. If we put her in the healing chamber, she should heal in about two hundred microcycles."
A short time later, Beck and Tron gently pushed Yori into the healing chamber. Tron slid Yori's arms through the straps to keep her in place while she was unconscious.
"You and Yori are close, aren't you?" Beck quietly asked Tron.
"'Close' is something of an understatement," said Tron. "I love her."
Paige was standing over by the plasma monitor nearby. She adjusted a few things, then nodded in satisfaction.
"She should make a complete recovery," said Paige. "If you'd gotten here even two microcycles later, she might have died."
Tron sighed in relief. "You have my thanks, Paige," he said. "If Yori had died, I... I don't know what I would've done." Tron then noticed that the other program that had been with Beck was also in the room.
"I take it you're a friend of Yori's?" Tron asked.
The female nodded. "My name is Ada. I was second in command of the Bismuth Rebels," she said. She then pulled down her sleeve to reveal the mark on her arm. "I'm also an-"
"ISO," Paige whispered, staring wide-eyed at Ada.
"Yes, I..." Ada trailed off as she looked at Paige. Ada then gasped.
"Paige?" Ada asked.
Beck's voice is still recognisable as Beck's, despite the modulation he uses. His helmet is also completely different to Tron's. Tron's helmet is, perhaps unsurprisingly, almost identical to Rinzler's helmet in Legacy.
The main reason Tron doesn't quite trust Paige is because he has been betrayed quite a few times in the past. First Clu, then Dyson, then Cyrus... that many betrayals in a relatively short time period would be an easy way to give a security program trust issues.
About the only way an Occupation spy could infiltrate a resistance movement without someone noticing their behaviour is off would be to either join the Occupation willingly, or be repurposed by the repurposing device in the super recognizer. I believe that recognizer had a prototype repurposing unit onboard, one that would make the repurposed program blindly loyal to Clu without affecting their personality. That would explain how a repurposed Cutler was able to fool Beck at the start of Terminal.
Despite what Clu would say, the Purge was not perfect. Any ISOs who did survive would've scattered to the far corners of the Grid. Those that did survive were probably unaware of other survivors, and all of them would believe they were the last ISO. And believe me when I say I have a plan for those three captured Rebels, as well as for that other escapee...
And, yeah, Tron and Yori did not get the happy reunion most of you were probably hoping for. It's coming in the next episode, I swear to Flynn.
Speaking of the next episode, it is tentatively called Survivors, and will be focused more on character interaction rather than on action. Basically, it's a breather episode to recover from the whirlwind of the première.
-ShortyBoss.
