I know it's been a while since I've posted, and I'm really sorry about that. This chapter has a lot to it, and it's been hard to think of an ending to it. It's been done though, so here it is. Enjoy reading! :)
Kalie still hadn't heard from Ava since their small argument. She was used to it by now, though. She tells Ava what she missed, tells her that she can't be doing this, and then Ava leaves the medic center. Typical Ava. Kalie was at her desk when Damien, another friend of hers, strode up to her.
"Hey, Kal. Do you know where Ava is? My bike glitched when I was out on patrol, and I can't go to the garage to get it fixed."
"Sorry. I don't know where she is. She took off again." She then grumbled, "I wish she could at least stay for just one shift."
"When is she ever in?" he smirked. "I forgot she's usually out by now. Can you tell her I was looking for her the next time you see her?"
"Sure, but that might take a while, though." Kalie looked back down at the data she had to sort and file. She really needed to get back to work.
"Wouldn't it be a shame," Damien paused in front of her desk, " if your work was to... disappear?" And with that, Damien took the tablet Kalie was working on and ran down the hallway towards the exit. Kalie, not happy with him, ran after him yelling "Give it back!" and "Stop, Damien!" down the hallway. Damien, of course, was laughing while running until he made it to the exit of the medic center.
"Damien! Give it back!" Kalie was both laughing and panting. She's been so busy with work the past couple of mylacycles. that she can't remember the last time she had fun.
He stopped at the exit, waiting for Kalie to catch up. As soon as she did, he gave her back the tablet. "You need to do less work. Here's an idea. Let's go to the club tonight. You, Ava, and I."
Kalie took the tablet from his hands and bit her lip while clutching the tablet against her chest. "I don't know. Ava's not back, and I have to finish up the work she forgot to do before she left. Maybe not tonight." Kalie spun on her heels and began walking back to her desk. Damien, being the persistent program that he was, started to follow her.
"Oh, c'mon. You need the break, and Ava needs to hang out with her real friends, not the mechanics. Plus, when was the last time the three of us hung out together?"
"Fine." Kalie rolled her eyes smiling. "A little fun couldn't hurt. You're finding Ava, though." Damien smiled enthusiastically.
Beck flew back in his lightjet to the rooftop where he last saw Ava, Tron, and Cyrus, only to find it abandoned.
Where did everyone go?
He then decided to go back to the hideout hoping Tron was there. Hopefully Cyrus wasn't doing anything to Tron or Ava.
Beck made it there in a matter of microcycles to the hideout. He hoped Tron wasn't mad at him from what happened before Cyrus intervened. Beck blew up at Tron, and now he felt bad about it.
Beck slowly made his way to the main hallway expecting Tron to be there to berate him. Instead, there was nothing and no one. He decided he should at least walk around. Maybe Tron was just busy doing something.
He was walking around when he heard voices coming from the training simulation room. Curiosity got the better of him and turned him in the direction of the voices. He couldn't believe what he was seeing when he made it to the window overlooking the room.
"Able? Do you have time to talk for a nano?" Mara was nervously biting her lip. That was a really bad habit of hers.
"Come on in, Mara." Able shut the door once Mara was in. Then he turned to look at her. "What's wrong, Mara?"
"Nothing's wrong, trust me." Able gave Mara a quizzical look. "Do you think you could make a delivery for me?"
Able, still confused about why Mara needed help making a delivery, answered, "Sure, but, Mara, why do you need me to do it? Can't you deliver whatever it is? Or maybe even Zed or Link?"
Mara then started to shake her head. "No. No one knows this customer. I figured maybe you could somehow find him." Mara then pulled out the baton to show Able. "It's Tron's."
Able then walked towards Mara and took the baton from her hands. "I'll see what I can do." Mara's eyes gleamed when he said that. She really hoped he could get it to him. She owed him enough already.
The program Ava was following with her lightjet started to bring down his lightjet. He landed at the base of a tall mountain in the middle of the Outlands. Ava landed hers, derezzed it, and clipped it back into place on the side of her leg. The program then started walking towards the mountain, and as soon as he got close to the side of it, a door opened up. Ava's eyes went wide as she followed the program through the door. It was a cramped, square space with a glass floor. The floor then lit up as she stepped on it, and the doors closed behind her. It then started to move upward. Ava hadn't seen an elevator like this in xilacycles. The program had his arms crossed across his chest and was just staring at the wall. On the other hand, Ava, who was easily fascinated with everything, was watching the floor and the walls as they moved upward with big green eyes and a smile. She couldn't help herself. This was so cool!
As the elevator stopped, Ava looked up from the glowing floor to a see a brilliant white room. It had a screen/window on the other side of the room, looking down on this one.
The program was already in the middle of the room by the time Ava decided to step out of the elevator. "Whoa." she quietly whispered to herself. She was walking towards where the program was, only she was spinning around taking everything in.
"You aren't the only one who cares about the revolution. There are a lot of programs who would do anything to fight back. So, what makes you so special?" The program still had his arms crossed, and he spoke with a deep voice.
Ava's attention was now back to the program. "Because I'll fight even when the war is over." With a brush of her fingertips, Ava revealed an ISO symbol at the top of her left arm near her shoulder. The program, upon seeing this, stepped a little closer and uncrossed his arms, speaking the words softly, "You're an ISO."
"I'm already fighting back against Clu just by being alive, so I figured it wouldn't matter." Ava pulled up her sleeve over the symbol to cover it again. "Tron was the greatest warrior to live and to fight alongside him... it was truly incredible. I want to continue the fight where Tron left off, and I believe he left off where the Renegade has started."
"So you believe Tron is dead?" The program asked.
"Not entirely. He could be alive, but they tell us he isn't. But do you trust anything Clu says? I know I don't." Ava was standing up straighter and becoming increasingly confident with every word she spoke.
"You're right." Ava stared at the program confused. How would he know if she was wrong or right?
"I'm not dead." As he said that, his suit changed to the black version of Tron's suit. Then, his mask receded, revealing an overwhelmingly familiar face.
"It's nice to see a familiar face. I'm glad you're not dead, Ava. The revolution could use your skills."
"Tron. I thought... we all thought you were dead!" Shock filled Ava's voice. She couldn't believe he was alive. "How are you alive? Clu plunged his disk into you. I saw it with my own eyes."
"He left me with scars that will never heal. A program helped me escape. How are you alive? I thought every ISO was gone."
"Not every ISO. A few other programs, ISOs, and I were able to escape. The programs taught us how to blend in with the other programs on the Grid. So, this is where you've been hiding all those cycles."
Tron smirked. "No. I came here very recently. Only a couple of hilocycles ago. I was in the Outlands outside of Tron City. No one is smart enough to check the Outlands. I would've looked there first if you ask me."
Ava chuckled a little. Her reunion with Tron was immediately over when she saw a shocked Beck looking at them through the long window overlooking the room.
Paige was just walking around her room when she found herself stopped in front of her monome. It had been several cycles since she had last created music on it. She pulled it off the shelf it's been sitting on and set it on the table in the middle of her room. At first, Paige was just staring at it, unsure of what to do with it. Then, she finally pushed a key on it, and the notes started to fill the room. Once Paige realized how much she missed doing this, she stopped, the notes fell into silence. She pulled her fingers away from the keys and turned to window behind her overlooking Argon. That's when she realized why she hasn't touched it. Awful memories were associated with it.
ISOs called Quorra and Ada betrayed Paige's trust and used that against her. She tricked Paige into helping her, and then used the ability she taught Paige, against her. The ISOs fled and Tesler found her, told her everything that happened, and gave her the opportunity of a lifetime.
She then sighed. She hasn't done anything fun since then. Well, there was that time when she went out on a date with Beck. She sighed again. Paige missed Beck. Maybe she should visit him later at the garage. No, she couldn't do that. Besides, she was the one who told him she couldn't see him anymore. Paige realized that she was cutting off anyone who tried to be friends with her. She then realized she hasn't had friends since the ISOs derezzed her other friends. Paige couldn't handle the pain if she made new friends and ended up getting them derezzed. That's why she didn't bother. Her work was dangerous and the programs she would make friends with would end up as targets. Paige couldn't do that again. She just wouldn't.
"Ava! What are you doing here?" Beck couldn't believe Tron unmasked himself in front of Ava. What was he thinking! Ava didn't need to be involved in this. She would end up like Bodhi! Beck did not need to lose another friend.
"Beck, relax." Tron practically rolled his eyes at him. Tron turned to Ava, said something to her, and they both turned to walk out of the simulation room. How could Tron and Ava be so relaxed about this! Does Tron realize what he's doing?
"Tron, can I talk to you?" Beck spoke the words through gritted teeth. Tron walked up to him hoping for a quick conversation.
"What is Ava doing here? Why did you tell her about you and show her the hideout?" Beck couldn't believe what Tron had just done.
"Beck, I wouldn't have brought her here if I didn't trust her. She belongs here in the revolution. She has connections with people who are with our cause and would be a huge blow towards Clu."
"Tron, I don't want Ava to be a part of this. She'll end up like Bodhi. I don't want that."
"No, she won't. She's stronger than you think, Beck." Beck was already shaking his head at Tron. "She can take care of herself."
"No! I don't want..." Beck was about to finish his sentence when Tron cut him off.
"She's an ISO." Beck looked at Tron with complete shock.
Ava's an ISO! :O I'm so happy I got that in there. I actually didn't plan on her being one until just today, and I added another character, Damien. I'm glad I got him in, too. So many new elements to now work with that I'm excited to use. Chapters will take just a bit longer to post because of that, but that's ok. It's worth it in the end (I hope). Thanks to Panda Bear Lover 317 and mach5plus1 for reviewing!
