Greetings, Programs. Happy Tron Tuesday and I'm happy to bring you...*dramatic music*...chapter 7! XD
...I'm debating whether or not to point out a movie reference from a certain other movie. Okay, I'll give you guys a hint. If you know Lord of the Rings, you know it when you read it. ;P
Chapter 7 – Hitting the Fan
Beck's POV
His shift was pretty much uneventful. All he did was guard by the fence entrances and check ID's. Simple enough.
And when he met Ally back in their room, he could tell there was something on her mind.
"What is it?" He asked, crossing the room and sitting next to her on the bed. Ally glanced at him. "Nothing." She said quietly. "It's nothing you should be concerned about."
Beck wasn't feeling up to backing down though. "Show me." He pried. "Please." He added.
Ally closed her eyes, sighed, and it only took a little more urging from Beck before she gave in. Ally pulled off her disk and showed him the memory starting with the girl with the damaged eye and ending when the guards hauled Jeremy away.
When the memory was over, Ally reattached her disk to its holder and examined Beck's face. He narrowed his eyes. "He gives me the creeps." He said, frowning. "How does he know you? I can hardly recognize you in that disguise. So how'd he see through it?"
Ally sighed and crossed her arms. "I'm not going to jump to conclusions and assume he recognized my face." She drawled out slowly. "Perhaps he just knew I was different from the others. Like Maggie."
Beck decided to ask, "Did you talk to her?" Ally nodded. "And?" He pressed.
"What I managed to get from her was that same creepy statement Jeremy told me." She spoke to make an impression of Maggie in a way. "'We're one of many – hiding everywhere. Among the enemy, among the Resistance, among the civilians. And when the time is right, we'll overpower everyone.'"
Beck scrunched up his nose. "Sounds a little extreme to me." He said. "In a sense it almost sounds like either that creepy mind control problem in Argon or something similar to Cyrus's motives." He said.
Beck's eyes widened when he realized something. "Wait. Did Maggie say they were literally everywhere?" He asked. "Among Clu's forces, citizens…" He paused. "The Resistance Movement?"
Ally inhaled sharply from the possibility. The possibility isn't unlikely – she wouldn't doubt a thing.
Beck was thinking the exact thing Ally was. If these Programs did more harm than good on their part, they'd have yet another conflict on their hands.
That's the last thing they needed.
Beck sighed. "We don't have enough evidence of their little group actually existing so we can't exactly report this. It could just be Maggie and Jeremy in on this – they sound almost as crazy and determined at Cyrus."
"So we need to keep our eyes open and pay more attention." Ally agreed. "This'll remain between us until we have enough info, then we'll report it."
Beck rubbed his eyes wearily. "This may not be exactly another conflict to worry about yet – and hopefully never – but it's still going to add more things to our cognitive list of more things to pay attention to, which may rise our stress levels more than necessary."
Ally nodded. "I guess this is where trust is going to play a huge role." She said. "We're going to have to rely on each other to find out things and get necessary stuff done ourselves."
Beck nodded. "Okay. But this is where I'm not going to like how logic plays a role."
"How?"
Beck hesitated. "Well, considering those two Programs already know a little about you…"
"I'll have to be the one to keep an eye on them." Ally finished, nodding slowly. "It makes sense. I might be able to spy on Maggie a little but Jeremy is going to be a lot tougher. Medics with similar ranks to me aren't allowed near the cells without proper authorization or an escort by a guard."
Beck frowned. "Maggie and Jeremy are part of the same thing. You only need one target. It's less complicated." He paused. "Just make sure to look over your shoulder now and then."
Ally sighed. "I'm not going to be looking into the original purpose for our mission anymore, am I?"
Beck pinched his lips together. "Maybe a little." He said slowly. "But it's probably better to find out what Jeremy and Maggie's up to. From what I've seen in the memory and what you told me, they make me very uncomfortable." He shifted the way he was sitting on the bed for emphasis.
"Fine." Ally said. "But I still have to focus on why I came here in the first place. If I see an opportunity, I'm taking it."
"Fair enough." Beck said evenly. Then his eyebrows furrowed. "Hey, was Jeremy flirting with you in that memory?" He asked.
Ally giggled. "He just liked my hair."
"But I like your hair." Beck said. "Your hair's all mine."
Ally dramatically put her hands on her head, as if protecting her hair. "No, only my hair's mine! My precious!" She hissed.
Beck laughed. "You're a riot." He said, feeling better now that the mood lightened up in the room.
There was a light tap on the door that immediately silenced the couple. "Alisa? Barclay?" They instantly recognized Zoe's voice using their fake names. He put on his mask the moment Ally rushed to the door.
"Yay! Louise, you're here!" She said excitedly, entering the hallway. Beck gingerly followed them out towards the elevator, where everyone else was waiting.
"Where're we going?" Beck asked.
"For a walk." Zoe replied. "Is that a crime?"
Ace chuckled. "For you." He muttered.
He didn't mean for Zoe to hear but she did. She turned to him with an intimidating pose since her face still needed to be covered with her mask.
Ally grinned at Dallas. Apparently they were the only members of their little group with small chances of being recognized.
The elevator started slowing down and stopped at a random floor. The doors opened to let another Program in and Ally had to suppress a look of shock while Beck had to stop himself from flinching.
Maggie smiled pleasantly as she boarded the elevator – any mark from her beating was completely gone. Like it never happened.
Her smile widened when she looked at Ally and the corners of her eyes crinkled slightly as the smile finally reached the rest of her face. "Fancy seeing you here." She said casually, as if she never gave Ally the creeps earlier with that statement Jeremy had said.
Ally grinned back and glanced at her group members. "Guys, this is Maggie. Maggie, these are my friends."
Maggie nodded her hello to them respectfully, but she seemed more focused on Ally. "So, going to relax a bit?" She asked. "Maybe we could arrange a meet somewhere, get acquainted with some of my pals?"
Ally smiled. "I'd love to sometime." She said. Beck could see she was tempted to add a 'but' followed by an excuse but that can sometimes raise suspicion. She was doing fine.
Maggie's smile widened further to capacity. "Perfect." She said casually. The elevator landed on another floor closer to the ground and Maggie stepped off, leaving the group behind without another word.
The doors shut behind Maggie and they continued their descent to ground level.
Ace was the first to break the silence. "Alright, I'm not gonna lie. She's cute…more attractive than Zoe," To that, he earned most likely a glare from her and a hard punch to the shoulder. He continued. "But she's creepy. Who was that?" He looked at Ally.
She shrugged. "A coworker." She answered, nothing more.
Liz looked at Ally. "It might be best to avoid her. There's something I don't like – gives me the shivers." She shuddered to make her point.
Ally nodded. "I know. I will."
Zoe stared out a window while they talked. She seemed to be in deep thought about something else entirely.
"But she'll be expecting you to meet her sometime." Sky pointed out to Ally. "You can't break your word or she'll get suspicious."
Ally cursed. She knew, of course, but it was better to play the idiot than to scare the rest of the group. No reason to make a scene for nothing.
She only told Beck because he pried; and they agreed not to share the info with everyone else in the group until there was enough evidence gathered. But Beck could sense something very menacing about Maggie's presence…so they may end up getting soon whether she really was a threat or not.
She discomforted him in person ten times more than what Ally said. Maggie was dangerous, no doubt. But how so?
Beck hoped he nor will anyone else have to find out the hard way.
Like anything will happen in their favor though.
Luck had basically been thrown out the window for everyone since the very beginning of the Purge – for him, when he decapitated Clu's statue. And even before that, when Bodhi was derezzed. He wasn't going to count what happened between him and Ally in Neon though. Unnecessary.
Destiny wasn't very nice to them at all.
…
Ally's POV
The walk had been quite pleasant. Everyone exchanged stories of what work was like. For most, it was quite pleasant. Zoe shared how her coworker she shared a shift with was getting cozy with her and she may be able to get close too and perhaps manipulate info from her. She also vaguely added that she met a medic named Myles.
Though she really had no choice but to share the story when Ace, annoying as he was, pointed out her new bandages. And after that, Ace teased her about having a "crush." He may have crossed a line though as she didn't respond to anyone for the rest of the time shared with each other.
And the regret may have been slightly visible on his face for a brief moment before he covered it up again. He was good at covering up his emotions like Tron helped him master. However, it may not be written on his face but it showed through his physical actions.
And he shot Zoe a couple of apologetic looks that she may or may not have seen.
Up until this point, everyone could assume he had an "okay" time working.
But Ally's story of the conditions of her workplace blew everyone else's out of the ballpark. It even caught Zoe's attention but she still said nothing.
She told them about the poor girl who lost her eye and how she managed to restore it. But they were visibly shocked when Ally added that she also begged for death.
Of course, she purposely left out the tiny little detail regarding Jeremy. In fact, she left him out entirely. He unsettled her a little – not nearly as negatively or as much as Maggie but differently.
He made her curious while the other one scared her a little. But of course she couldn't dive right into investigations. That was dangerous.
What the entire group had in common was that they found no leads or clues that Clu was behind the disappearances. Not surprising. No one can expect any discoveries like that on the first cycle. Not even the second cycle.
This will require a lot of patience from everyone.
…
Okay, so Ally wasn't very patient. She'd pay the price for it now.
To shorten the semi-long story, someone saw her go through the files and called Rinzler or something. He caught her without much difficulty, really and then brought her to Clu.
It took a while for him to see through her disguise with the pink hair and all but he eventually did.
He smiled at her. "Good to see you again. I was very worried about you since…Argon." He said slowly.
Ally smirked back. "And that's the thing. Everyone seems to like underestimating me."
"Well, there's evidence that no one else survived when they fell down that little hole."
Ally shrugged, chafing her cuffs against her wrists in doing so. She ignored the bite and gave him her own snarky remark. "They probably just didn't know how to swim."
"Perhaps…" He smirked. "And that'll come in handy with you later on, I'm sure. Us too." He turned and started for the door.
Rinzler, Ally, and several other guards trailed behind.
They walked down a series of hallways in silence. Two guards stood by a door and opened it as soon as they saw Clu.
It was dark inside. Ally didn't quite understand what was going on until they put her into some kind of capsule and a monotone voice echoed from the speakers.
Initiating repurposing protocols… A monotone voice echoed throughout the room.
Ally's disk was unlatched from her back and rose above her head and she fully realized what they were doing. "Pfft!" She scoffed. "You can't repurpose a Special! It's impossible!" Ally smirked.
Clu didn't even flinch. Nothing changed – not even his amused expression, which was really bad for her. "Perhaps not before…but this one's different."
Ally's victorious smile died completely. "No…" She whispered.
"Oh, yes." Clu said, walking up to the tube so he was centimeters from the glass that separated them. "This was designed especially for YOU." He grinned. "I look forward to working with you."
It was Clu's turn to look triumphant. "Have a pleasant cycle." He said smoothly as he turned around and left the room, followed by the other Programs to leave her by herself.
She slumped into the side of the tube in defeat and rested her head against the glass. "No…" she whispered as she closed her eyes and felt the tears as her code started to leave her body.
…
Ally woke up with a start, panting. Beck stirred next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hey," He said groggily. "You okay?"
She nodded as she continued to catch her breath. They were both silent for a while. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked.
Ally shook her head. It wasn't worth bringing up. It was just a bad nightmare. That's all it was. She couldn't be repurposed; it was impossible.
She was just…nervous. Ally had a weird cycle and she was just a little jittery. She'll get used to this craziness later on.
Beck seemed to have realized by now Ally wasn't going to talk about anything at the moment so he rolled over and went back to sleep, with one arm wrapped around her in an almost protective way.
It comforted her a little and she relaxed a little. The paranoia she had of soldiers finding her gradually faded and she closed her eyes.
Everything was fine.
…
Aurora's POV
"-And that's how I ended up in Tron City." Jude finished with a smile. "So we've both had our own little adventures, haven't we?"
Courtney nodded, smiling, and drinking a shot of energy.
"FASCINATING." Aurora said. "AND WE'RE ABOUT TO HAVE ANOTHER THIS CYCLE."
Courtney's eyes widened. "Oh, even I almost forgot! You need to meet with a representative of the Resistance Movement and tell them about the disappearances!"
Jude blinked. "I do?" She gasped. "I do! Jeez I almost forgot!"
Courtney glanced at Aurora. Neither said anything.
Jude paused. "Hold on, I might forget my objective along the way – bad memory problems." She winced. "I need someone to accompany me. Sorry."
Courtney held up her hands. "I can't go. I'm wanted, remember?"
"GUESS THAT MEANS I'M GOING THEN." Aurora said. "ALRIGHT, FINE. AS LONG AS YOU DO NOTHING STUPID." She directed at Courtney. "STAY HERE UNTIL WE GET BACK."
Courtney rolled her eyes. "Okay, Captain Obvious."
"I NATURALLY STAY BY COURTNEY'S SIDE ALL THE TIME NO MATTER WHAT SO THIS IS ONE OF THE RARE OCCASIONS WHEN WE GET SEPARATED. I HATE IT SO WE NEED TO DO THIS QUICKLY."
Courtney smiled. "We're natural companions."
Jude smiled and shrugged. "Okay, we'll make it quick. I don't like going out much anyway." She opened the door and left the apartment with Aurora.
Poor Program forgot to shut the door so Courtney did it for her.
Jude and Aurora walked in silence for a while.
"SO…" Aurora broke the silence. "WHERE'RE WE GOING?"
Jude blinked stupidly and stopped walking. "Uhhh…"
"WHERE'S THE RESISTANCE MOVEMENT?"
Jude shook her head. "They don't have a base."
"WELL THAT'S UNORGANIZED." The words tumbled out before Aurora could stop them.
"They have a good reason." Jude said. "That's as much as I remember about it." Her eyes widened in realization. "They're holding a meeting in a warehouse right now!" She broke into a run.
Aurora followed close behind at an easy pace. In no time, they arrived in the warehouse.
And Jude felt it necessary to burst in halfway through the meeting and make a scene. "I have important information!" She said loudly.
Many pairs of eyes in the room turned towards the Byte and Special. It would be easy to hear a pin drop. Jude took a deep breath. "Aaand…I forgot…"
Aurora patiently spoke to Jude. "The disappearances." She said quietly.
Jude perked up. "Oh right, right…that."
"Hold on, who are you?" Evelyn said.
Jude smiled. "I'm Jude, and this is Aurora." She gestured to the Byte.
"Courtney's Byte?" Jay asked.
Several Programs in the room gasped. "GREAT." Aurora muttered. "JUST WHAT I NEEDED…" As Flynn would've said, their plan was thrown out the window.
Crap hit the fan.
Evelyn narrowed her eyes. "Where is Courtney?" She asked.
There were some murmurs throughout the crowd.
"Yeah, where is she?" Someone agreed.
"She deserves a trial!" One said.
"Didn't she kill those Specials in Argon?" Another inquired.
Someone abruptly bagged Aurora and another Program grabbed Jude's arm and escorted her away. "Where're we going?" Jude asked curiously as another blindfolded her.
No one spoke as they kept walking except Aurora, who cursed and protested inside the bag. Jude smiled slightly, showing obvious amusement and forgetting the situation she was in.
Jude was separated from Aurora by rooms.
Aurora was dumped out of the bag and put in a glass box bolted to the top of a counter of sorts. She didn't know what they were doing with Jude. Probably confused by her confusion.
Aurora would smirk if she had a face but the simple feeling of amusement was enough.
Evelyn was in the same room as her. "Tell me, where's your companion?" She asked.
"WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO WITH HER?" Aurora answered her question with a question.
Evelyn blinked, seemingly not irritated at all. "The Council has come to the decision that she must be brought to justice for her crimes."
"FAIR ENOUGH." She said. "BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED PUTTING YOURSELF IN HER SHOES?"
"She has no shoes." Evelyn said.
Aurora made an irritated sound. "THINK ABOUT IT. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU HAD YOUR MEMORIES ERASED AND THEN MANIPULATED INTO DOING BAD THINGS FOR CLU?" She watched Evelyn's frown grow. "YOU WOULDN'T FEEL GOOD, WOULD YOU? YOU'D SEEK REVENGE LIKE YOU DID WITH CYRUS."
"How do you know about that?" She demanded.
"I KNOW HOW TO KEEP UP ON NEWS UPDATES." She said. "I SAY SCREW OFF. YOU CAN HAVE COURTNEY AND YOUR STUPID TRIAL AFTER YOU UNDERSTAND ALL THAT SHE WENT THROUGH."
A Program walked into the room and whispered something in Evelyn's ear. She nodded and looked back at Aurora. "It was nice speaking with you. I must take care of a few things now." She stopped at the door. "Have a pleasant cycle."
The door shut and locked.
Aurora managed to say something vulgar in return before the door locked. It wasn't much but it gave her a sense of small satisfaction inside.
She knew she was capable of telling convincing lies, though she didn't like it and didn't do such things much. But she made sure every word she said to Evelyn was true.
"SHE CAN KISS CLU'S BUTT BEFORE GETTING ANYTHING FROM ME." She muttered to herself. "I'LL JUST KEEP MY PRIDE AND DIGNITY…AND COURTNEY'S SAFETY."
…
Reni's POV
She quickly boarded the recognizer, like she'd done once before. She was assigned to a different crew this time. She had nothing to report from her assignment from last time – they only picked up stray Programs and others that broke curfew.
Last time, everyone was taken to the Coliseum. But this time was different. When they arrived at the Games with full "cargo," about half stayed on board, sentenced with "rectification."
They went up in the air again, taking an unusual route – back to the City. Their destination was beneath the City ground level. Where the Solar Sailors were.
Each of the prisoners was unloaded and boarded on the aerial train before deactivated into forced sleep mode. She'd never seen or heard of anything like this done before.
She felt chills run down her back from the possible thoughts of what rectification was. The word sounded familiar.
Had she heard it before during the Purge? She pinched her lips together. It seemed like KiloCycles ago…
That one word echoed in her mind…
"Rectify."
So...anyone catch it? It wasn't much but it was something. XD And was anyone surprised that I twisted around one of the scenes from my little trailer? Come on, be honest.
And I think just to be fair, the next couple of chapters are going to be pretty eventful. Just sayin'. :)
TRON LIVES! Toodles.