Chapter 6: ISO Children

Sam and Quorra stood over the modified identity disc, waiting for the program to begin. They were in the center of Tron City where the Input Output tower gave them access to the Motley Crew's system in the real world. They both felt tense. This would be the culmination of a long and winding road. Sam felt nearly light-headed. They were about to see if their work was going to pay off.

Sam tapped the center of the disc and the screen rezzed to life. They had modified Quorra's new identity disc to contain additional ISO cells. In essence she would be the mother of all the ISOs that would come after her. She felt a strange tingle when he touched her disc, it was like he was touching something deep inside of her. Something deeply connected to what his father had called a soul.

"You alright?" Sam asked. Part of his hesitation about the whole project was that Quorra was involved. He was fiercely protective of her, not just because of his father's hopes, but because he liked her. He liked being around her. And he didn't want to see her get hurt. He wanted to make it up to her. This was the way he was going to do it.

Sam entered some numbers into the keypad at the center of the disc. He sent a message to Ryden to upload the program he had created based on the Sea of Simulation. A beam connected to the disc from the I/O tower. The program was downloading.

"Why are you crossing your fingers?" Quorra asked.

"It's just for luck."

"Oh." She crossed hers too. For some reason she wanted him to hold her. She put out her other hand instead. He took it in his.

As they stared at the disc, a small figure started to form. Bits of data began to swirl and take shape in the middle of the disc. They began to coalesce into the figure of a small child, an infant. Quorra gasped. The child was still only a faint outline, but it was clearly there. It was the most beautiful thing Quorra had ever seen.

Then the image flickered. Sam looked up at the I/O tower. Something wasn't right. The program was uploading too slowly. They only had one chance to work with this batch of units, and there was no room for error. He watched the identity disk helplessly as the cells began to deteriorate.

"Damn!" he yelled and grabbed the disc. The disc was hot to the touch and nearly burned his hand. He quickly punched in the abort code. The beam from the tower immediately disappeared.

"Damn! It didn't work again." He turned to Quorra, with a pained look in his eyes. She hated to see him so upset.

"It's ok Sam. I know you tried." She moved closer to him and suddenly he wrapped her in his arms. She held on to him. She felt something wet on her cheek and realized that a few tears had fallen from his closed eyes.

"We saw it. We even saw it this time!" He looked down, not able to look her in the eye. "I'm so sorry Quorra. I made you a promise, and now I failed again. There must be something missing." She pressed her face up against the warmth of his jacket.

"Sam." She didn't have anything else she could say. She just wanted him to be happy. He had already done so much for her, for all of them. "I think we should go back home now."

Sam looked up at the I/O tower. It had to be faster. Something fundamental in the Grid was keeping them from being able to download the program fast enough. He felt trapped. This world was his father's creation and he didn't understand it completely. Nobody did.

Then he remembered he had his father's disc. He tapped the dog tag on his neck. It flashed blue in the dark world of the grid. He smiled. Maybe his father had left behind some clues after all.