Authors Note:

Okay- so I throw out a LOT of OC names in this one… NO- I'm not going OC heavy on this, but it is a full world, and I do need names to casually use once in a while. Considering this story revolves around Sam, Ed and the team they work with- you'll be hearing the same names a lot.

Warnings: Some Language… Brief and VERY mild sexual innuendo.

Synapses: Anon's first cycle back on the grid is… Eventful… He blames the User's for this; they don't argue with that.

"Hey, Tron! So this is Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious, huh?"

Anon whipped his head around to see a male User coming in from the clubs balcony; he was medium height, with light brown hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulder. He gave them a wide, friendly smile. A quick scan of the facility informed him that seven other Users were present, as well as multiple programs. Beside him, Tron chuckled as the User slid down the stair banister and strolled over to them.

"Cole, this is Anon."

Tron turned to him pointing to the User.

"Cole is part of Edward's team, along with Alex, Jared, and Roy… They're quite a set of… Characters."

Anon turned back to look at Cole, who chuckled and nudged Tron with his elbow as he rolled his eyes and waved away the comment.

"Ignore him… He's just won't let go of the fact that we rigged his lightcycle."

Anon queried Tron, who simply crossed his arms and put an overtly serious frown on his face before glancing quickly at him.

"Some Users have far too much time on their hands."

That said- Tron went back to glaring. The small quiver of a smile being repressed was enough for Anon to know that there wasn't any actual malice for either party. Cole simply huffed before looking at Anon.

"Rubbish… Just some simple, harmless fun during a race. Switched the parameters of his batons coding… He wanted a lightcycle- he got a tricycle… It was frickin' hysterical from where we were standing."

He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced.

"Turns out System Monitors run way faster mad than User's do scared."

Anon stared at the man for a second before turning a questioning gaze to Tron who simply gave him a wry grin and a nod. Anon made a notation to always scan his batons before each activation.

Anon was suddenly startled when Cole grabbed his arm and began dragging him farther into noisy club.

"Alright, Monitor… Time to join the party; all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy… Besides, we've got a mutual friend itching to say hi."

He turned, pinging Tron with a plead for help, but his superior simply waved and pinged back a 'good luck' as he went his own way into the crowd.

"Cole, what have I told you about bringing strange programs home?"

The voice came from the direction of the bar- their current destination apparently- and Cole threw his head back and laughed. When Anon saw who the voice belonged to he froze.

"Oh come on, Gibbs- look at him… All shell shocked and helpless and such- how could a sweet guy like me refuse?"

The ISO walked over, chuckling as he handed him a drink.

"Right… You're sweet… And I'm actually a sofa."

"Is that why you let Alex lounge all over you?"

"No, that's because when she gets creative I get one hell of a millicycle out of it."

Anon snapped out of his loop with that, pretty sure that even with the helmet he was doing a fine job of looking at the ISO in a way that clearly stated 'what?' Cole, who had been in the middle of swallowing a drink, suddenly started choking as he laughed. The User waved a hand in the air as he doubled over coughing.

"Dude… W-a-y too much information!"

Gibbs simply shrugged, and Cole shook his head.

"I'm off to find more civilized programs…You two have fun catching up."

Anon watched as Cole left before turning back to the ISO; he signalled a simple query… How?

Once more, Gibbs shrugged.

"Not sure, you'd have to ask Alex- she's the one who found me and pieced me back together… One minute I'm going viral- next I'm waking up in a room with User's acting like they'd absorbed a lifetimes worth of energy. That was about- six cycles ago."

They both looked around the room, Gibbs giving a small chuckle.

"Between you and me- considering the grid when we clocked out- I think you and I got off lucky."

Anon couldn't help but agree. Gibbs laughed and nodded towards a crowd of programs cheering on four participants- 2 of them User's- of a rowdy drinking game.

"Come on, I bet Sam he'd be under the table before I was even walking crooked."

Anon blinked when he processed that one of the User's- designation unknown- was currently sitting on a programs lap, while Sam Flynn seemed to have 'lost' the upper part of his grid suit. Anon sent a message to Rezz, informing him of the likelihood that 12 to 23 programs would require holding while they recuperated from overcharge and stepped into the group.

The final tally ended up being 36, including Gibbs.

That included all 7 of the User's.


"SP-ARE!"

Anon stopped his system patrol at the sound of items crashing to the ground; locating the source to a nearby alley he quickly got off his lightcycle and went to investigate. Walking around a corner he did a quick scan and froze at the scene before him.

At the far end of the wide alley was Alex, lying on the ground, clearly having slid into the wall; around her were a number of 4 cubit tall, bottle shaped items- all tipped over. The ground had clearly been altered, and was completely smooth and polished. With their backs to him were Sam, Edward, Cole, Gibbs, Quorra, Jared, Rom, K12, and Sera. Anon tilted his head in complete confusion as some of the User's and programs started cheering while others were clearly annoyed; Cole threw both arms up, motioning to the other group.

"Boo-yaw bitches… That's two strikes in a row… You're going down!"

Sam raised one hand, indicating his displeasure with a human gesture Anon had come to recognize.

"As if… Come on, we all saw it… She totally used an elbow to knock those last two down."

"Yeah, yeah… False accusations are the resort of the weak and mean spirited. Take your whooping like a man."

Ed laughed as Sam snorted.

"Wanna talk some smack… Okay- you get code sorting duty tomorrow…"

Cole paused.

"Now that's just mean."

Everyone's attention was drawn when Alex cleared her throat loudly.

"I'm getting a little dizzy here, now that the score is totalled, may I get off the floor?"

Anon went to step forward, when a figure stepped out from the shadows, pulling him back. He whipped around, ready for attack to see Tron smiling at him. The Monitor chuckled as he nodded towards the group.

"Just watch… It's the other teams turn."

Anon turned back to watch as the group reset the 'pins'- ten in total- before making their way back to the other side of the alley. Once there, Quorra got down on the ground, curling herself into a tight ball as she laughed. K12, Sam, Edward, and Sera all reached out and- as a group- began rapidly pushing her towards the pins. There was a bright white circuit on the ground, when they reached it they all stopped while Quorra continued sliding down, right through the pins. They all crashed down around her, and the ones who had pushed her jumped up in the air. Sam turned to Cole.

"And that's how the professionals do it."

This was followed by several loud responses and general name calling; Anon turned back to Tron who was now openly laughing as he shrugged.

"They call it 'human bowling'… Edward taught them- said he played it in something called 'University'…. And no- I don't get it any more than you do."

He was about to send a query of the format of the game, but was suddenly interrupted when he was pinged by Rezz. He nodded at Tron, who nodded back before going back to watching over the group. Activating his lightcycle he made his way to the Administrative building.

Entering the main room, Rezz turned, signalling him to take a look at the information displayed on the large projector. As he neared, the Administrator narrowed the field to a particular sector.

"We've been getting reports of instabilities in sector 42… It's a beta sector, so glitches like this are somewhat expected- but I can't suppress the feeling that it's something else. I want you to go over and investigate causes and potential risks to the Neo programs; if there's anything- no matter how insignificant- I want it reported immediately."

Anon signalled his understanding and headed toward the elevator. As he was about to step into it, a thought occurred to him and he pinged a question at Rezz. The program turned to him in confusion and shook his head.

"I'm not sure I understand… I'm unaware of how one 'bowls'- and I don't see myself ever intentionally using a program in that manner."

Anon didn't bother explaining- he didn't get it either. Instead he signaled his approval of Rezz's opinion and stepped onto the elevator.

Sometimes differences in values between Creator and creation were a good thing.


"I crashed London, I crashed France… I stole Edward's underpants..! Run and hide, minions- Melissa's back on the grid- WHOO!"

Anon whipped around as his viral detection function went into overdrive; he drew his disk and immediately began scanning for infected areas and highest risk programs. He was brought up short by the sight of an apparently 'viral' program in User attire, running down the middle of the street waving around what humans would call 'boxers' high over her head.

Suddenly a voice screamed down the road.

"Melissa, get the hell back here and give me my shorts… Just because those damn Sirens cut up everything else I had on doesn't mean you needed to participate."

The virus just laughed and twirled in the street.

"Ah, come on Eddy- the Commando look is IN… Besides, the grid looks good on you."

Edward stalked out from the building, now sporting a grid suit. Reflecting back, Anon realized that this was indeed the first time he'd been in anything but User attire. Edward looked like he would simply walk by, but froze when he caught Anon standing there with an activated disk. The User rubbed the back of his neck as he pointed in the direction of the virus that was now far down the street weaving back and forth as she went.

"Look- I know it goes against everything I programmed you for, but don't derezz her… I've limited her function- she's been made benign, can't harm anyone; and it's her knowledge and coding that has allowed us to install most of the firewalls within the system."

Anon sighed and clicked his disk back into place and Edward signaled a thanks. Anon looked at him in surprise while the User simply shrugged.

"Rezz told me about the pings and signals… I've been studying."

"BOO!"

"AH!"

They both whipped around to see Melissa running up to random programs and touching them on the shoulder. Just because she couldn't infect, didn't mean everyone was aware of that fact, apparently. Edward cursed as he took a couple of steps.

"MELISSA! Stop scaring the nice programs and get down off that sign!"

"NO! It's my party and I'll scare who I want to"

Edward growled in his throat.

"I swear, when I find out who gave her those Red Bull/ High grade energy shots I'm going to flambé them."

Anon shook his head as he watched the User chase after the laughing/squealing virus.

It was strange to think just how used to this like this he was becoming.


"Sam- instead of trying to convince my program that letting you jump the length of the bridge on a lightcycle like Evil Kenevil- why don't you and Ed's team do something constructive and begin the decoding of the bridge?"

There was a series of whines as five User's protested in sync. They did however, do as they were told. Alan turned to Tron, shaking his head.

"I swear… Managing that group- it's less like working with programmers and more like running a damn daycare."

Tron laughed as he patted Alan's shoulder in mock sympathy.

"And you love every minute of it."

Anon stood on a ledge, keeping an eye on the five young User's as Tron talked with Alan. He liked the older human, and watching the two of them interact- it was easy to see how the best qualities of the User went into the program. Alan was more focused and laid back than the others, confident in his abilities and sure in his actions- a tribute Anon had come to recognize came with experience.

That being said, he'd also been there when rash actions on the young User's parts had almost resulted in Tron and Rezz's deletion… Alan may not have Tron's natural agility or fighting prowess, but when he was on a 'Warpath' he was an unstoppable force.

Anon turned his attention back to the younger ones; they were doing as Alan had ordered, but it was clear that Sam was still plotting angles and trajectories for some kind of stunt. Anon signaled Tron, who leaned over and whispered something to Alan.

The bridge was an old one, stretching across a channel the Sea of Simulation had carved out into the area and linking sector 12 and 32. However, the bridge was no longer viable for traffic needs and a larger one had just finished completion. The Users were now breaking down the code in a way that filtered it back into the system. Cole called it 'recycling'.

At least, that's what they were supposed to be doing. Anon had long given up expecting the User's to act in any kind of rational fashion; although he did have to confess that some of their 'escapades' were amusing.

"Hey, Anon… Feel like having some fun of our own?"

Anon turned his head to Alan, tilting it in a silent question. Alan simply smiled and waved him over.

"Come on- you're going to love this."

Anon jumped down off the ledge, walking over to where Alan had brought up a panel that was monitoring the coding stabilizers. He pointed to the screen and flicked through the data quickly until he isolated the bridges code. He gave Tron a quick glance.

"I'm going to need your clearance to do this."

Tron smiled mischievously.

"Gladly."

Alan chuckled as he turned to Anon. With a wave of a hand he created another panel and shifted it over to Anon.

"And you… I need you to maintain the isolation field as I adjust the code. Considering how close the other bridge is, I don't want to risk destabilizing more than the immediate area."

Anon hesitated, unsure of what the User was planning, and therefore unable to come up with worst case strategies. He turned as Tron put a hand on his shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.

"Alan knows what he's doing; and he would never allow any of them to come to harm… He's just… Having some fun."

Anon nodded and turned back to the panel, focusing the field until it fully contained the bridge. When he was sure it would hold, he nodded to Alan; the User began to rapidly adjust parameters and alter code, eventually turning to Tron and waving for him to step forward.

"Okay- security code please."

Tron walked over to the panel and typed in a series of algorithms and then stepped back. The screen flashed with the words 'execute' and Tron cupped his hands over his mouth.

"SAM FLYNN!"

Sam looked up, uncertainty spreading across his face. And the distance made his voice sound small.

"Yeah?"

Tron's chuckle grew downright wry as he hollered.

"HOW WELL CAN YOU SWIM?"

With that Alan activated the changes, and the bridge- literally- disintegrated right out from under them. Even he could appreciate the almost comical levels of surprise displayed as they hung in open space for a nano, flailing, until gravity took effect and they plummeted into the Sea.

He turned to watch as Alan and Tron began to almost fall over with laughter as the cries of indignation and shock echoed over to them. He did a scan just to make sure, but- although wet- the Users were perfectly fine.

Slowly Anon began to feel a warmth radiating from within and building outwards. He tried to assess it, but it defied his queries; suppressing it only seemed to make it stronger. It was only when his vocal processor activated and noise began spilling out that he realized what it was.

Laughter… He was… Laughing.

Tron reached over and grabbed his shoulder; Anon suspected it was because that was the only way the program could remain standing.

"Did you see…? The looks… On their faces…?"

Alan began wiping moisture from his eyes as he tried to stem the flow of laughter.

"For the record- let it be known that it was SAM who in fact screamed like a pre-pubescent girl."

And that was enough to start them up all over again. Anon shook his head as he forced himself back under control. He reached out and patted Alan on the back as he made a note to never underestimate the programmer.

They all turned at the sound of footsteps. Anon was surprised to see that some of the bridges code had been adjusted to form a flight of stairs jutting from the rock cliff. Sam was the first to arrive, dripping wet and gasping for air from the climb. He looked at them and shook his head with a chuckle.

"Well played guys… Well played."

Soon after the other four joined Sam, and Anon found himself chuckling once more. Cole jerked his head up from where he'd laid on the ground panting with a look of shock.

"It speaks."

Anon just shook his head.

"Users…"

They all froze in surprise at him. He simply chuckled and turned back to the system, activating his lightcycle and riding off. There's was a legacy that Kevin Flynn had initiated and both program and User alike worked to build upon.

Yes- Users could be crazy and chaotic, but they were also dedicated and strong. It was a strange combination, but it worked. Anon smiled under his mask.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

Authors Notes: I KNOW all Tron seems to do in this is stand around… But I was trying to focus on Anon- and these were only snippets from an entire YEAR grid time. Besides, after what happened before, I have no problem believing that Tron would make any User on the grid his priority above all else- even if that meant spending a lot of time simply watching them act nuts.

Gibbs… Is it logical he's back..? Nope… But I brought Anon back, so I figured 'Why not'.

Human Bowling… Old College sport… You need a REALLY well waxed, smooth floor or one of those mechanics trolleys… But it's FUN.

I thought about keeping Melissa out of this one… But couldn't... I just kept imagining what she'd be like the first time back in a computer system (time has gone by in this one- it's probably been at least sixth months since she was pulled from the system)

Alan deleting the bridge… Alan doesn't yell or get mad- he gets even :D