I do not own Tron : Legacy.

My Father, My Program

Chapter 7

While Clu went upstairs to check in with Jarvis, and discuss the events at the EOL club, Sam stayed down on the flight deck, examining the various craft stored there. He remembered his father telling him about some of the vehicles he had created for his video games. The light cycles, the Recognizers, and others. He ran a hand along the edge of one of the parked light jets, it wings gracefully folded in an upswept position. He noticed the gun turrets jutting out front, and realized this was a war plane, not a pleasure vehicle. Why would his dad have created war planes for this place?

Sam sat on the raised edge of a platform, just beneath one of the jets. He pondered his earlier experience, fighting alongside his father at the club. He also couldn't get the face of the female program out of his mind. She hadn't seemed to want to kill him. Then it hit him. He had almost been killed, and that realization made him wonder why he just didn't demand they leave the Grid. His father gave no other reason why they had to be here, except to make sure the Grid was stable. Obviously, the programs needed leadership that only Flynn could provide. But it didn't have to be that way, did it? Couldn't he create a new program to replace Clu, one that would maintain things properly while he was in his own world?

Sam sighed as he placed his arms on his thighs, and leaning forward, thought how easily he and his father had picked up where they'd left off. After all the years apart, they were still a good team. It had always been that way in the days before Kevin Flynn's disappearance, and Sam was grateful that nothing had changed. His anger was gone, now replaced by affection and admiration for his father's accomplishments.

His grandparents had always been there for him, doing what they could, making sure he had a home and plenty of love. As his godparents, Alan and Lora had also offered their love and guidance, especially after his grandparents had passed away. All of them had taken an interest in his life, and protected him as best they could. But none of them was his dad. Sam had wanted only his father.

"What are you thinking about?" It was Clu. He sat next to Sam, and scanned the flight deck with pride. This was just a small part of his growing army, one that would overwhelm the User world.

"You," Sam replied.

"Me! Why me?" Clu chuckled, turning to the boy at his side.

"Well, us really. You remember that night, when you didn't come home, you said you'd show me the Grid."

Clu, again thinking as Flynn, said, "You should have seen it back then. I couldn't wait to show it to you. Could not wait."

"Must have been something before Clu tried to screw it up."

Clu sensed a pang inside his programming. Sam did not see the Grid for what it could be. He only saw it as messed up. This was his creation, almost more so than Flynn's. He was proud of it, and yet, this User saw it as imperfect? All of his work. All of the planning and calculations. Cycle upon cycle of following his directive to create the perfect system, after his Creator had abandoned him and their dream. "Sam, we can still make this place what I wanted it to be from the very beginning." Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, Clu continued, "You're here now. We can work together. And it doesn't have to stop here. We could do a lot for the outside world as well."

Sam stared at Clu, wondering what he meant by that. Looking his father in the eyes, he said, "Dad, I don't remember Mom. She was gone before I ever got the chance to know her. And you were always away, busy with work at ENCOM, and this place too, I guess. We have another chance. I don't want to lose that opportunity."

Clu suddenly realized that Flynn had done the same thing to his own son that he had done to him. While he was away from the Grid, he was with his son. And when he was away from his son, he was here. In trying to please everyone, he was pleasing no one.

"Oh my god, I just remembered Marvin."

"Who is Marvin?" Clu asked.

"He's my dog. I found him at the pound, looking all skinny and unwanted, so I took him home. Guess you could call him a rescue. And in the excitement of being here, I forgot all about him." Running a hand through his hair, Sam cursed himself. He'd fed Marvin a hamburger and a small bowl of chow before he had headed out to the arcade. Poor guy hadn't had anything since. Maybe Alan had stopped by, when and if he noticed Sam had gone missing. But how long had it been since Alan had checked in? A year? Two? And this last time, Sam hadn't exactly made him feel welcome. "Damn!"

"Sam, relax. It hasn't been that long," Clu stated.

"What do you mean? It seems like I've been here a long time," Sam said, frowning.

"Time passes here more quickly compared to outside. I discovered that when I first started coming here. It probably hasn't been long enough for anyone to notice you've left." This was true, although he hadn't known it until Flynn had explained the difference in Grid time and his own world, the reason it seemed so long between visits by the Creator. Knowing that didn't make Clu feel any better when he had found out.

"You're sure?" Sam asked, still worried but somewhat relieved.

"Yes, I'm sure. Your...dog...should be fine for awhile longer." Clu clapped Sam on the back. "Feel better?"

Sam grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." Looking around the flight deck, he said, "Look at what you've accomplished. It's incredible. Everything...I can't believe you did all this, the city and the Grid itself."

Clu wanted to reach the User's emotions, binding the boy to him. "Sam, I'd have given it all up for more time with you."

Sam looked at the program he believed to be his father, swallowing hard. He wasn't the type to get overly emotional, but then he hadn't been in a situation where he might do so, not since his grandparents had died anyway. Even then, he'd held it all in until he was alone.

Looking at Clu, he smiled. "When we leave here, we'll get your old Ducati fixed up, good as new. We can take a road trip, maybe go on a camping trip."

Clu didn't know what a road trip or camping was until he accessed his memory files. Even after he had, it didn't seem like something he would care for. But he smiled and agreed. "Sounds great, Sammy. We'll do that." Clu stood. "I think for now, we need to do some checking up on those rebels who attacked us at the club. There could be more. No one will be safe, man, until they're rounded up."

"Yeah, Dad. I couldn't believe it, attacking you in the open like that. But I want to find out who that female program was. She seemed interested in me for some reason."

Clu knew of whom Sam was speaking. Clu wanted to know where she had gone as well. And here he thought she had been de-rezzed cycles ago. It was like seeing a past memory brought to life. But if he found her, he might also find Flynn. Clu didn't want Sam to see his real father, not yet. He wasn't quite ready for that fateful meeting.

Scanning the area, Clu suggested they take a walk. Seeing things on foot would lend a new perspective to things, he said. He held out a gloved hand to Sam.

Taking his father's hand, Sam stood, and walking beside Clu, tossed an arm around his shoulders. "Have you ever played in the disk games?"

"Yes, I have, Sam. And your old man's not too shabby at it," Clu remarked, adopting the vernacular that he'd heard Flynn use so often.

Sam smiled. "Oh, come on, Alan once said that if sports were video games, you'd be all over them. You remember that time you took me to the park to play baseball?"

Clu quickly accessed his memory for Flynn's stories about Sam. "Yeah, I remember. What, you're saying your old man wasn't any good?"

Laughing, Sam replied, "You were terrible!"

Clu found himself laughing, as if the park memory were his own. "Well, Sammy, since baseball is not a game you'll find on the Grid, we'll just have to play Disk Wars together, not to the death, mind you. I'll show you just how good at sports I've become."

The pair walked all around the city, with Clu pointing out the best details, while Sam interjected a memory here and there from outside when he had Flynn with him.

Clu found that as he became more immersed in the life of Flynn's son, he was better able to relate to what the boy went through as a child. He knew what it was to feel abandoned, to have to fend for oneself. Unlike a program, a human would have no directives to guide him. If Clu had compassion, he might have told Sam that he wasn't his father, and made it possible for Flynn to be with his son. Instead, he would take the boy under his wing. For all intents and purposes, he would be his father.

As they neared the darkened and empty Disk Wars arena, Clu clapped Sam on the back. "Come on, kiddo. You wanted to see your old man in action? I challenge you to a match."

"Woo, yeah, you got it, Dad!" Sam answered, eager to play in a friendly game for once.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

An unidentified light runner entered the city through an entrance so dis-used, that no one even bothered to monitor it. They'd be safe coming in this way.

"Flynn, how do you intend to find Sam, and how will we get him out of the city? You know Clu has probably never had him out of his sight since he arrived here." Quorra drove the runner over the rocky terrain with ease. Not only was she a skilled driver, but she had been over this path many times, sometimes without Flynn's knowledge.

"I don't know yet, Quorra. First, we have to make sure it is Sam." Flynn sighed. "It's been a long time since I've seen my son. Maybe we can get in touch with the Resistance, see if they know where we can find him."

"He's probably living with Clu in his headquarters," Quorra offered.

"I agree with you. And that would make it all the more difficult to reach him. If we can do this without making ourselves too obvious, all the better." Flynn sat back, observing the city through the front window with nostalgia. How long had it been since he'd last been there? From out here, it didn't look that different. But the brightness was gone, now replaced by a darkness deeper than the simulated sky above it.

"Quorra, let's leave the runner here," Flynn suggested when he saw a place well hidden within some piles of data. "We can walk around, and see if can get any news on where Sam might be." He found himself suddenly nervous. What if this Sam was his Sam? How would he approach him? What could he possibly say that would explain being gone for the last two decades? And how would he get him away from Clu?

Looking like two ordinary programs in dark cloaks, Flynn and Quorra entered the heart of the city, looking for whatever information would be forthcoming.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Sam was thoroughly enjoying playing Disk Wars against his father. Having him as, not the old man he might have expected, but one only a few years older than him, made for good competition. Perhaps the way he had related to Flynn was what surprised him most. He still regarded him as his dad, unchanged and unaged as he was. It was as if Sam had gone back to his childhood in the way he felt about his father, but now they could enjoy doing things together. Sam's only concern about going back home was, how would the rest of the world relate to a still young Kevin Flynn.

"Sam, you're not paying attention. That disk flew right past you. It could just as easily have cut you in two."

"Sorry, I was just thinking. Dad, when we go home, are you going to try and take over ENCOM again? Alan says the Board is making some changes he doesn't think will be good for the company. He doesn't think they'll make you very happy either."

Clu powered down his disk, and approached Sam. Taking over ENCOM wasn't the goal Clu had in mind. It could be a starting point, but he had greater ideas than the control of one User enclave. He planned on taking over every system in the User world. Soon, humans would be following his orders as easily as the programs here were. "When we get back home, Sam, we'll see what we can do about bringing ENCOM back to where it needs to be."

"Right, Dad. And I'll help any way I can. I may not have graduated from the University, but I took lots of technical classes in programming..."

"You didn't graduate from programming school?" Clu asked, knowing that Users were not created as such. They had to be taught by other Users in the craft. Flynn told him once that he had graduated from such a place and with honors. Clu wanted Sam's help, so said, "It's ok, son. We'll work things out together. How could I do anything without you right there with me." He placed his hand on Sam's neck and clasping it lightly, pulled the boy toward him. "We're a team." Smiling, Clu backed up, and activated his disk. "Come on, Sammy, one more round."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Flynn and Quorra had contacted a few members of the Resistance, whose numbers had been reduced due to the EOL club altercation. They told Flynn that, yes, Clu had a new favorite he seemed to be grooming even more so than he had Rinzler. This new program was allowed access everywhere, and that he and Clu had been seen around the city often. But they didn't know if he was a User, having seen no sign of his being one.

"He just appeared one cycle in the Disk Wars games. As a matter of fact, he said he wasn't a program, but he never said he was a User either, Creator. Is it important?" one program said.

"It might be," Flynn replied. "Thanks anyway, man." He turned to Quorra. "Let's go to the tower, scout around there, but be careful."

The pair wandered over to the square where Clu's headquarters stood. The main entrance was closely guarded by sentries, as well as a few Black Guard. Flynn and Quorra were just circling around to avoid any contact with either, when off in the distance, they saw two figures approaching.

"You really are pretty good, Dad," Sam said, admiring his father's prowess in handling his disk, Since he also seemed to be the best light cycle rider on the Grid, Sam figured he must have learned a great deal more playing his games live rather than just using a joystick.

"I told you, Sam. Your old man is the best," Clu said, smiling, enjoying how the boy was looking up to him and his accomplishments. Clu had done so much for the Grid, yet had his Creator been the least bit grateful?

"Don't get cocky, Dad. I haven't been doing this as long. We'll see who's the best once I get some practice under my belt." Sam laughed more freely than he had in ages. He had his father back, and he wasn't going to lose him again.

Clu suddenly stopped. Sam glanced over at him only to see him staring off into the distance. Following his line of sight, he noticed a man and woman standing no more than 50 feet away. As they moved closer, Sam could see it was an old man in a black coat and a young woman, obviously a program. The old man held an arm out in front of the woman, forcing her to stop, then he proceeded on.

Flynn saw Clu with a young man, bringing a pain to his chest as he saw how both laughed comfortably with one another. If this were Sam, he and Clu were close, no doubt about that. He prevented Quorra from going any further. "Stay here. I don't want Clu to get his hands on you."

Clu's eyes narrowed as recognition set in. He took Sam by the arm, and started to lead him to the hangar bay.

"No, Dad, wait." Sam took a step, then two, toward the approaching man in black. From here, he could see that he seemed to be in his 50s, with a salt and pepper beard lining his jawline. The two were no more than 20 feet apart.

Flynn stopped and peered at the young man. "Sam?"

Sam's mind wanted to explode. It couldn't be. He turned back to Clu, who only whispered 'Sam', while shaking his head slightly. "Dad?" he questioned, begging for an explanation. Sam frowned, and looked back to the old man. He stared at the man's face, looking for something familiar. "No, it can't be."

So that was how it was, Flynn thought. Sam had been deluded into thinking Clu was him."Sammy, it's me. It's Dad." He held out his hands. "That's not me, kiddo. That's Clu, you remember? My Codified Likeness Utility program. He's tricking you, son. He's not me."

Sam looked to Clu, then back to Flynn. He shook his head. "No. No!" Turning on his heel, Sam ran away from the tower across the square and into the darkness.

Clu shouted an order, and several sentries came running. Pointing at his Creator, he sent them after Flynn.

Flynn bent low and placing his palms on the ground, sent a slight shockwave across the immediate surface area, sending the sentries into convulsions as they collapsed to the ground. Grabbing Quorra by the arm, he shouted, "Let's go, Q, before Clu has a chance to get what just happened."

As he watched his Creator and the ISO he had thought dead these many cycles, Clu clenched his fists in anger. First he had to find Sam and come up with an explanation, or a threat, that would keep the young User at his side. Then, he would find Flynn and get his identity disk. He would not let his plans be waylaid by Flynn's unexpected return to the city. "You gave up everything, Kevin Flynn. Now it's all mine, including your son. And you can't have it back."

A/N: I have a terrible work schedule this week coming up, so writing may not be a priority. Bear with me as I struggle to stay awake these days and nights. At least I have a two day weekend so may be able to write some then.

Again, I have changed the sequence of some events, and used some film dialogue with a bit of tweaking. I love how naive Clu can be about some things. Thanks for any comments, which help me write more. *wink*