I didn't think. I merely took out my disk and threw it. One blow was enough to derezz him, but it didn't change a bit what I was feeling. It was like a well of despair was building up in my chest as I looked at the scattered bits of my friend.
"Not again. Not again.", I muttered, crouching and running my hands through my hair.
Behind me, Nim was just as paralyzed as I was. We would have stayed like that for a lot longer if a new squad of soldiers hadn't appeared on one end of the alleyway. I slid my helmet on and, moved by a sudden instinct, picked up Koru's disk. Standing up, I saw Nim climb back on his floating platform.
"We better split up and get the heck out of here.", I said blankly, "They're too many."
His expression was as blank as mine as he nodded. The platform shot up in the sky, leaving me alone with two disks in my hands. I placed them on my back and took off at full speed. I didn't even notice the white light coming from my body, or the fact that the world around me seemed to vanish in a blur. All I could think was that I'd finally found my friend after all those cycles and it was to watch him die. Life has a cruel sense of humor. Very cruel.
When I arrived to the hideout, the first thing I noticed was how quiet everything was. I knew that Beck was most likely already out on his mission, but there would have been at least the low hums of the panels and controls. Yet, nothing. I dismounted the bike and derezzed it, taking out the two disks I had on my back. Upon entering, the only thing that greeted me was again silence. Not good. Taking a deep breath, I entered the main room, expecting everything but what I found. Beck was lying unconscious on the floor and there were no signs of Tron. I ran to Beck and shook him, afraid that something bad had happened to him and Tron. I had seen enough harm coming to my friends for a long time.
"Beck! Beck, wake up!"
With a low grunt, he woke up, lowering his sight to his chest. That's when I noticed the small device. Oh, no. He took it off and crushed it.
"What happened?"
"Tron. He's determined to kill Dyson. And he's gone off to do it himself."
I inwardly cursed. Could this day get any worse? I silently watched as Beck stood up and walked to the window. Following him, I managed to discern Tron's small white figure, speeding off towards the city.
"Where are you going, Tron?", whispered Beck.
I gritted my teeth just as a lightning fell in the distance.
"We have to stop him. No more death today."
He shot me a questioning glance but said nothing as he followed me out of the hideout. We jumped into our lightcycles and sped up on Tron's trail. Moved by every possible negative emotion that was boiling up inside me, I pushed my vehicle to the its very limit. Soon, we managed to catch up to Tron. As soon as he heard us, he lit up his light trail.
"Come on, Tron! This isn't you!", shouted Beck, lighting up his light trail as well.
He glanced at me once. I nodded. Nodding in return, he sped up and did a sharp turn to block Tron's path, while I slowed down and lit my light trail as well to keep him from escaping. Of course, it didn't work. He derezzed his lightcycle, ran, jumped over our light trails and rezzed his bike again. If it hadn't been because my senses had been heightened by the chase, I probably wouldn't have been able to repeat his feat in order to avoid colliding with the intertwined light trails. The crazy chase continued. I was beyond myself with exasperation and fear. This wasn't Tron, he couldn't be so hell bent on revenge! We caught up with him again, Beck colliding with him, me, always a little behind to cut off his escape route.
"Enough!", shouted Beck over the howling wind.
Tron simply ignored him and kept going.
"You're not gonna get anything with revenge, Tron!", I shouted in turn, praying that he would somehow listen.
Again, he just ignored the words I was shouting. With an exasperated sigh, I sped up, but right before I could bump into him, I noticed the wreckage right ahead of us. Oh, great. I scowled and took a sharp turn to avoid it and so did Beck, while Tron simply slid below it. He came out with a large pylon in his hand, which he used to block Beck's wheel. Turning towards me, he kicked me hard in the leg, making me lose my balance and sending me flying sideways. He then sped up even more and used the giant rock to jump over the ravine he had made us jump on our first cycle of training. Both Beck and I fell of our bikes and almost ended up in the bottom of that ravine. On the other side, Tron stopped abruptly to watch us, then turned again and sped away.I glanced towards Beck, who had a large tracker in his hand, a luminous dot showing us Tron's position.
"Nice work."
"You found me. I guess I should congratulate you."
Tron's voice was cold, colder than I'd ever heard. I looked up and nodded towards Beck, who was standing in an upper platform.
"I was trained by the best.", answered Beck, jumping off the platform.
"You being here doesn't change anything. I'm still gonna finish what I came to do."
"And we'll still stop you.", I said, coming out of the shadows from his other side.
I took off the two disks on my back, knowing that Tron was in a state where he wouldn't listen to words. Beck, however, seemed to think it was still worth a shot.
"Come with us. We can get Dyson's disk the right way. Without derezzing him."
Tron threw me a disinterested glance then looked towards Beck.
"Please."
There was no answer. Then, all of a sudden, he threw a punch at Beck's face. Beck immediately responded, and so did I. Hits flew from each of us, my disks merely avoiding Beck and Tron's body. Tron sent me back against the railing. I reacted by launching myself forwards with all my strength. And I knew something was wrong. I was too... fast. Oh, no. This isn't good. All Tron had to do was dodge me, and I flew off the platform due to my excess of momentum. I hit the platform below with strength, just in time to see Tron handcuffing Beck to the railing, the younger program's disk in his hand.
"My disk.", realized Beck, as he tried to free himself.
"The cuffs work on a timer. By the time they unlock, Dyson will be dead."
Every time Tron spoke, I felt hope abandon me more and more. There was no way a program with such anger and hate inside of him would simply let go.
"Tron!", shouted Beck, "Don't end the revolution before it has a chance to start!"
"Mind giving me a hand?"
I couldn't contain a stifled laugh at Beck's desperate call for help.
"Just hold on a sec'."
I inwardly groaned at what I was about to do, but, since the barriers were down, I had to take every advantage I could. Taking a deep breath, I crouched almost to ground level, then jumped with all my strength. Of course, the jump took me way over Beck's level, but it also gave me the time to land safely where he was.
"Neat trick." commented Beck as I took out my disk to break the handcuffs, "Mind teaching it to me someday?"
"Someday.", I vaguely answered, avoiding his eyes.
Before I could break the cuffs, a sudden explosion made me lose my balance. Debris started to fall all around us, breaking the platform where we were standing. I managed to hold on to the railing, several meters away from Beck.
"Dammit.", I muttered, trying to readjust my grip so I could cut Beck's binding.
With a heavy grunt, I slowly advanced towards Beck, letting out a small gasp when the platform dropped a few inches.
"Watch out!", he cried.
"I'm doing my best here.", I managed to snap between gritted teeth.
I closed my eyes for a half second, then took a deep breath and jumped. The platform dropped again brusquely as I caught the railing with one hand, immediately cutting the handcuffs.
"Thanks," said Beck, "I owe you one."
I smiled and swung myself upwards to free his disk.
"Let's not keep count.", I answered as he caught the falling disk with one hand, "Come on, we got a program to save."
We both let go at the same time from the railing and landed heavily on the floor below. Exchanging a quick glance, we took off running immediately.
"Come on, come on, come on." I kept muttering to myself, wanting to go faster, but afraid of what would happen if I did.
A sudden obstacle made us stop in our tracks. A large piece of platform was missing from our path, and it was the only way to keep going.
"Dammit!", I cursed.
With one heavy sigh, I grabbed Beck's arm and swung it across my shoulders.
"Hold on tight.", I instructed.
"Ramee, what he.."
His question was cut abruptly when I took a couple of steps back, then jumped across the void. As we landed heavily on the other side, I stood up immediately and started running to stop Beck from asking the question that was now obviously haunting his mind. My own mind was plagued with doubts as well, wondering if I had done the right thing, if we'd make it in time to stop Tron from becoming a murderer. I knew quite well that one single death on your hands changes you forever. A small movement caught my eye as we ran through yet another platform. Grabbing Beck's arm to stop him, I turned towards it.
"Oh, no. Tron.", whispered Beck.
Below us, Tron had Dyson up in the air by his neck and was ready to derezz him. I gripped tight the railing, holding my breath, waiting for the outcome. I knew it was too late to intervene. Even with my speed, it would take me too long to get down there. Suddenly, I saw Tron release Dyson and lower his disk.
"Thank the Users.", I breathed out.
"You're only alive for one reason.", I heard Tron say, "To deliver a message."
With that, he turned his back on Dyson and walked away.
My eyes shot a careful glance at Tron. He was in the healing chamber, recovering from the damage the scars had left on him. Beck was leaning on a nearby wall, back with the white suit.
"It was never about getting Dyson's disk, was it?", he asked as soon as Tron walked out of the chamber.
"No. We both know what I was looking for. But you helped me find my way." he looked at me, "Both of you. I owe you a thanks. And an apology."
"So, does that mean I get time off?", asked Beck.
Tron let out a chuckle.
"What do you think?"
A smile stretched my lips. Yeah, everything was back to normal. Looking back down I let out a sigh. Lying in my hands was Koru's disk. I still didn't know why I had taken it, but my gut told me it was important. Letting out another sigh I manipulated the disk with care, trying to ease that doubt that had been etched in the back of my mind since I had encountered Koru. A sudden instinct made me open up the code.
"Yes! I knew it!"
My shout resounded with strength, making both Tron and Beck look towards me in surprise.
"What is it?"
I turned towards them with a bright smile.
"It wasn't Koru."
The look on their faces was of equal shock.
"How can you say that?"
I pointed at the disk still in my hand.
"The code. This code is really complex, but, trust me, it doesn't even go near the complexity of Koru's. This is amazing!", I screamed, letting out a relieved laugh.
Both Tron and Beck continued to look at me as if I was crazy. Which I probably looked like. But it didn't matter to me. Because if there had been a copy of Koru running around the Grid, that meant he was with the only person capable of doing that. Kevin Flynn himself. That meant he was safe. Koru, my best friend, probably the last ISO on the Grid, was safe.
He, he... was anyone expecting that?