Chapter Twelve
A few cycles had passed since the weapon upgrade was destroyed. Unbeknownst to Tron, Mira had hurt her back during that fight with Shaw. It had taken three full cycles for her to fully recover from the pain. Tron had not missed her lack of action in training when Beck took part in the simulations he put them through.
She refused to allow anyone know what was wrong. Part of it was out of habit. Showing that she was weak or hurt would make her look vulnerable. Another part was fear that he would never trust her to go on missions again. Either way, she had to recover on her own and suffer the consequences later.
Now the three of them were standing over the edge of the coliseum. General Tesler had called for a city-wide meeting that everyone was forced to attend. Mira suspected it had something to do with the Renegades that were 'terrorizing' the city. Since they had begun making a name for themselves, Tesler was more determined than ever to find them. She knew the bigger risks they took, the higher chances they had of making things worse for themselves and anyone involved with the Renegades.
There's always going to be risks involved with the revolution, she reminded herself silently.
"Citizens of Argon, I would like to see this city prosper as much as you would," Tesler began. "But we can't do that when there are Renegades running about. Even though it is your duty as a citizen to turn in any information on these Renegades is reward enough, I am a generous program."
Mira scoffed when Tesler claimed himself as a 'generous' program. The only time he had been helpful was when he released the two programs he hated the most from the games. And that was only because Paige had convinced him to let them go.
"As a reward for your cooperation, I am going to give the program who turns in the Renegades this roadster, the only vehicle to outrun a light jet." Mira's eyes widened when a vehicle was revealed – she had heard about these before. They were faster than a light jet, and they were very rare. "And on top of this reward I am abolishing the curfew until further notice. Congratulations programs, and happy hunting."
The crowd was roaring in excitement by the time Tesler was finished with his speech. Mira rolled her eyes when she realized how ignorant these programs were. If they thought the lack of a curfew would lead to anything good, they were dead wrong. She knew Tesler was just using this as a way to gain favoritism.
"Wow, and then that happened," Beck muttered.
"Nothing changed," Tron told him. "If anything we press harder."
"I'm sorry, but did you not just see what happened? Every program will be looking for us."
While Beck had a good point, Mira had to admit that Tron was right. This was a desperate attempt on Tesler's part. Not only did it prove that he feared the renegades, it also proved that they were finally making a statement throughout the city.
"It was a desperate move on Tesler's part, we can use it against him," Tron pointed out, voicing Mira's thoughts.
Wow, it's scary when he says exactly what I'm thinking, she thought irritably.
"No, I say we lay low until this is forgotten." Beck stared Tron down until he gave in with a frustrated sigh.
"Alright. Part of leading a revolution is knowing when to proceed and wait. I'll let you take the lead this time."
Mira's eyes widened in surprise when Tron said that. This was the first time he'd given Beck some leverage.
"Finally."
Beck grinned triumphantly before receiving a punch in the arm from Mira. This was only going to fuel his ego, and she wasn't in any hurry to deal with someone who already had one in the first place.
"So, since there's no curfew at the moment, I suppose this means I actually have the freedom of leaving the safehouse?" she asked in a hopeful tone.
Lately, Tron had refused to let her leave unless Beck needed her backup. She was getting tired of being stuck in one place all the time, especially with him. Tron was about to argue when Beck chose that moment to step up and defend her.
"It would be good for her to get out every now and then," he pointed out. "She knows the city like the back of her hand anyways."
Tron hesitated before finally coming up with an answer that surprised them both.
"Alright, fine," he sighed after giving it some thought. "But only if you wear a disguise."
"Y-You're serious?" Mira asked in disbelief, wondering if this was some kind of test. "So where do we go first?" she asked, eager to get away from Captain Buzzkill.
"I suppose we could start at the garage," Beck replied with a knowing smirk. "I'm sure Mara and Zed are already eager to stay out after curfew."
The garage was the last place Mira would have expected to visit. Then again, it had been a while since she last saw Mara and Zed without a mask. Of course that didn't mean she couldn't wear a disguise like Tron had suggested. Luckily, that was the one thing she had taught herself while living alone on the Grid – to make a proper disguise.
Beck rose an eyebrow in surprise once she was finished working with the code on her disk. Her hair had reverted back to it's original reddish brown. It was longer now, almost down to shoulder length. But that wasn't the most surprising feature she had added. She managed to cover her scars so that no one would question where she had gotten them.
"You look… different," he said after struggling to find the right word.
He would never openly admit that she actually looked beautiful. Somehow it felt wrong to say that, especially with Tron watching them like the security program he was.
"In a good way or a bad way?" Mira asked, tilting her head to one side worriedly.
The last thing she wanted was to stand out. Even if there wasn't a curfew in effect, that didn't mean programs would go out of their way just to send her to the games. The only reason they would send her to the games was if she stood out like a sore thumb.
"A good way," Beck reassured her.
As they headed for the garage, Mira took full advantage of the speed boost on her light cycle. She reminded herself to thank Zed later for the upgrade. Thanks to this speed boost she could easily get through the city faster if it was needed.
What she wasn't expecting to find were guards posted on either side of the garage entrance. Mira pulled to a stop until realizing Beck was well behind her. To her relief, they didn't have to go inside like before. Instead, Beck led her to the roof where they had a good view of the city.
"Beck, it's about time you got here!" Right on cue, Mara and Zed had arrived just when they settled on the rooftop. "And I see you brought a girlfriend," Zed added teasingly.
Mira only rolled her eyes at that, though it didn't stop the heat from rising to her cheeks. She couldn't bring herself to wonder what these programs would have done if they knew she was a User. Unease swept through her at the thought. She finally tore her gaze away and looked down at the ground warily.
"Erm… we're just friends," Beck managed to stutter out, earning a smirk from Mara while Zed smiled coyly.
"Right," Mara said knowingly. "Well, I don't think we've had the chance to introduce ourselves properly. I'm Mara," she introduced herself in a casual tone. "And this bitbrain here is Zed," she added with a sly grin towards the program rolling his eyes.
Mira wasn't sure how to respond to that. For so long she had refused to trust anyone with her name until meeting Beck. And now his friends were waiting expectantly for her to introduce herself. She suddenly found herself in an awkward position, wondering if this was a good idea after all.
"She's uh, not from around here," Beck intervened before she could think of way to avoid introducing herself.
She threw him a thankful look while Mara and Zed exchanged looks of surprise.
"Where are you from?" Zed asked this time.
"Tron City," she blurted out, earning looks of surprises from everyone. Well, it was technically true. Tron City was where she had learned to use a light cycle and her disk properly. It was also where she had been captured by Clu's soldiers. It was also the last place where she would ever want to go back. "I worked at a club in Tron City as a DJ for a few xilacycles before moving to Argon City. Life here isn't as fast-paced," she quickly explained.
"Wow, that must be exciting," Mara said thoughtfully. "You know, I've never actually been anywhere outside of Argon."
"None of us have," Zed pointed out, though Mira could see a look of unease flashing in Beck's eyes.
His friends had no idea what sort of dangers he was constantly putting himself through. She wondered if he suddenly had any regrets in becoming the renegade. After all, this sort of life wasn't easy for anyone to live. Especially when you were the most wanted program in the city.
Mira glanced down to the streets where guards were on constant patrol. Despite the curfew, programs weren't making it easy by accusing their neighbors left and right of being the renegades. She felt guilty for putting them through these trials. These programs hadn't done anything to deserve getting tossed out of their homes and placed under arrest for crimes they didn't commit.
"Hard to believe the curfew was finally lifted."
Mara broke the uneasy silence as Mira continued watching the programs down below. By now her fists had clenched as she longed to stop the guards from capturing more innocent programs. She hated not being able to do anything without giving away her position. A warning look from Beck was all it took for her to restrain herself.
"It doesn't feel like it has," Mira said under her breath. "It's not going to do them any good if the guards are out there to catch them."
"It wouldn't be this way if it wasn't for the Renegades," Zed pointed out in a bitter tone. "Unless, you're one of the Renegades."
Mira found herself stiffening when Zed pointed an accusing finger in Beck's direction. His eyes widened in shock as if Zed actually was accusing him. Then she realized that Zed was joking as he said that. She tried to regain her calm composure after noticing that it was Zed's way of trying to lighten the tension between them.
"All right, you got me," Beck laughed.
"Come on Zed, why can't we just have some fun tonight, instead of arguing about the Renegades?" Mara demanded.
"You're joking, right?" Zed glanced at Mira nervously, but she just shrugged in response.
"Mara's right, we have the night off, why don't we enjoy it?" Beck suggested after pushing Zed away.
He glanced at Mira as if daring her to say anything rude.
Don't look at me, she thought with a smirk. They're your friends.
"Let's just head to the club, we can chat there," Mara finally said after shaking her head in annoyance.
This time Mira didn't complain. She had only been to the club in Argon once or twice. The last club she had been to ended miserably, as that was when Beck had lost his disk. Fortunately they weren't looking for stolen identity disks.
…
It didn't take them long to reach the club. Mira usually avoided them in the hopes of not being caught by Clu's soldiers. Every now and than she would have to sneak into the clubs just to get an ounce of energy when she was on her own. Without the energy that was required to survive, she wouldn't have lasted much longer.
Already she could hear music blasting outside before Mara opened the door. According to Zed, this was where they spent most of their time off. It was a good place to find energy when it was available, and a good place to just relax.
Her eyes widened in disbelief however when she saw guards standing around all over the room. She followed Beck as he pushed his way through the crowd, while Mara and Zed were close behind.
"This isn't happening," Beck said when they managed to get out of the crowd. "This used to be our place."
"Watch it!"
Mira glared when she bumped into one of the guards. He turned and glared back, staff in hands and raised. If this had been any other situation, she would have gladly fought him off for being a jerk. But this was not the place to do that. Mara and Zed were watching her with equal surprise as they noticed just how annoyed she was with the guard.
"Mira, don't," Beck whispered, grabbing hold of her arm as her fists clenched with anger.
"Keep an eye on your friend," the guard snapped when Mira relaxed a little, but only just.
"So much for old times," Mara sighed. "I'm going home."
"Wait—" Beck was cut off by Zed's frustrated sigh.
"Mara's right, there's no point in staying," he said.
They were about to turn and leave when several guards and one of Tesler's commander stormed into the club. Mira moved to the side and narrowed her eyes when she recognized Pavel. The one program that she hated more than Clu just had to arrive at that moment.
The guards had surrounded one of the programs she had seen at the garage a few cycles ago. What bothered her more than anything was that he was one of the programs supposedly working for Tesler. So why would his own try to go out of their way arresting him?
"By the name of Clu, you are under arrest for being the Renegade!" Pavel shouted.
"I knew it, that roadster could've been mine!" his annoying friend cried out in annoyance.
One of the programs standing nearby looked down at the floor shamefully when Pavel and the guards led the struggling program out of the club. Mira narrowed her eyes when she realized that this program had probably falsely accused another just so that he could win the prize.
"Why would Link accuse Hopper of being the Renegade?" Beck asked in a whisper.
"It's sick. All this reward has done is turn programs against each other," Mara added as the music began to play once more.
"That surprises you?" Mira scoffed under her breath.
She should have known that a program would take advantage of another one. Though the two programs in question had been incredibly irritating at the garage, she knew for a fact that neither were the Renegades. Heck, neither of them showed any skills at fighting or resisting the Occupation.
"Sure Hopper's a pain, but he's not the Renegade," Zed put in.
"We need to find out the truth," Beck said when he looked at Mara and Zed. Mira stepped in beside him as she began to think of why Link would have done such a thing. She already had a feeling that he wanted the roadster more than anything else. Pavel must have had something to do with what had happened. "I'm going to talk with Link and find out what happened," Beck suddenly told them.
"Right, we'll go with you," Mara said.
"No, you need to talk with Bartick, find out what he thinks about all of this," Beck replied. "He can't really believe his best friend's the Renegade."
Mira quickly turned and began to run just as Mara tried to say something in response. Beck wasted no time in following her as she rezzed her light cycle.
"Where do you suppose Link would go?" she asked as they surged through the streets.
"He would have collected the reward by now," Beck replied.
By now he had replaced his suit with the Tron suit, easily adapting Tron's persona. Mira followed his lead and replaced her own suit, taking on the identity as her own Renegade. She'd seen quite a few programs trying to accuse one another of being the second Renegade. The desperation they reeked of only made the situation that much worse. She knew full-well this wouldn't be happening in the first place if Tesler had kept his big mouth shut.
Beck was right as usual when they reached the coliseum. Sure enough, the roadster loomed ahead.
"I'm going in," Beck shouted above the roar of the engine.
Mira was about to say something in response when he turned his light cycle back into a baton. Her eyes widened when he managed to slip into the roadster undetected. She forced back a grin when she realized that this Link program wasn't as intelligent as she originally thought.
She followed them closely as the roadster swerved near a corner. Programs were congratulating Link on his capture of the renegade as he road past. Mira tried not to meet their gazes as she crept forward. They would know something was up if she moved just a little faster.
All of a sudden when they reached a tunnel she heard a shout of surprise. Mira would have laughed if there weren't guards standing around. Beck certainly acted like Tron, scaring the circuits off of programs. But it was necessary for him to stop Link and ask what had really happened.
The roadster came to a halt near the middle of the tunnel. Mira was surprised to see that the street was empty. In the distance, she could hear the roar of a crowd, and guessed that they were gathering for the execution. Her fists clenched once more as she thought of how much time they were wasting. Time that was needed to save an innocent program.
"Wait, there are two of you?" Link asked when he emerged from the roadster.
Beck leaned against the roadster while Link watched Mira get off her light cycle. His expression was full of unease when he noticed her for the first time.
"Nope. He's Tron," she replied cheekily.
She didn't miss the wary look Link gave her. He was clearly a nervous program, someone she wouldn't expect to try and get Hopper arrested for something he didn't do. Something told her that this was planned by someone bold enough to pull off such a stunt.
"Right, you need to explain to us what happened, and who accused Hopper of being the Renegade," Beck ordered after clearing his throat.
Frightened of being attacked by two Renegades, Link went on explaining how Pavel had found him admiring the roadster. Mira scoffed in annoyance when she realized that Pavel had just taken advantage of Link's weak mind. The Commander wanted Tesler to look bad in front of Clu. She knew that from the moment Pavel took the weapon upgrade he was hungry for power. Eventually, Link finished the story of how Pavel had promised the roadster if he was the one who accused Hopper and proved the program was the Renegade.
"So, what now?" Link sighed in relief as if the rush of guilt had rubbed off.
"You tell them the truth," Mira replied.
"You announce to Tesler that Hopper isn't the Renegade, and I come in and clomp you over the head, revealing myself as the real Renegade, erm, Tron," Beck explained when Mira threw him a warning look.
She knew that in order to make it convincing, Beck needed to act as if he was Tron himself. While that in itself would be difficult, it wasn't impossible.
"Can you… go over that again?" Beck sighed in frustration while Mira just kicked at the street with her foot.
Link was beginning to annoy her more than Pavel and Clu. She still couldn't believe that Link was able to pull through with the plan Pavel implanted in his mind. It was obvious that he was nothing more than a coward who didn't know a thing about defending himself.
"You heard what he said, why can't you just get it straight?" she demanded.
"I'm just having trouble with the clomping over the head part," Link laughed.
Mira was about to grab him and slap him senseless when Tesler's voice boomed around them.
"Programs of Argon, your nightmare is over! One of the Renegades has been captured, along with the Renegade conspirators!"
"Oh no, they've already started!" Beck sounded panicked as he looked over the rails. "Mara, Zed!"
Mira gaped in shock when she saw Mara and Zed's image plastered across the screens that surrounded Argon Square.
"We need to get them free!" she shouted while getting into the roadster.
Beck quickly followed after realizing that she was right.
"Wait, don't forget to use the blinkers!" She heard Link shouting as Beck drove the roadster forward.
"So now we're thieves," she stated when they were far enough away.
"Don't start," Beck muttered. "Should've known Link wasn't capable of pulling off a stunt like this," he added when they reached a traffic jam. "We don't have time for this!"
He pulled the roadster back and swerved towards another street. Mira's heart raced with excitement as he swerved through the traffic.
"We should do this more often," she gasped when the roadster began rolling down stairs.
"Right, like that's going to happen," Beck scoffed.
Though, she could tell that he was actually enjoying this almost as much as she was. It had been a long time since she felt a rush of excitement like this.
Soon Mira could hear the shouts of programs as they demanded for the 'Renegade's' deresolution. She leaned forward as lights flooded through the tunnel's entrance.
"Here we go," Beck warned her as he sped forward.
Mira didn't have time to respond as he jumped into the air with the roadster. She stared at Mara and Zed in horror when she realized that they were attached to a platform. Bound by strings that were being pulled by light cycles, it was a cruel way to go. And the crowd was enjoying the torture.
Beck suddenly threw his disk at one of the ropes, and Mira threw hers at another. The ropes snapped in half, freeing Zed and Hopper. Zed dove for Mara before the light cycles could pull her apart.
"It's the Renegades!" Mara cheered when Zed cut the rope bound to her wrist.
"Mara, just before they came you were saying—" Zed was cut off by a blast coming from where Tesler and his commanders were watching.
Mira staggered at the explosive sound before jumping into the roadster as it began sliding down. Beck and Hopper jumped in after her, followed by Mara and Zed.
"Oh, this is incredible!" Mara gasped when Beck avoided another blast from Pavel's canon.
Mira tried not to laugh as the seat in the back of the roadster got crowded. Zed and Hopper were sitting beside her while Mara sat beside Beck, unaware of who he really was.
"The Renegade saved me!" Hopper shouted when they were out of the canon's range. "Wait, the Renegade… pull over!"
He swung his disk against Mira' neck just as Beck pulled to a stop.
"Zed?" Mara glanced over at Zed, who punched Hopper out of the roadster.
"Like I said, they just don't agree with me," he said when Hopper was tossed out.
"This is amazing!" Mara shouted with pure glee as they moved forward. "Thank you, for everything."
"Zed—" Mara was cut off by Zed's sigh of frustration.
"I'm just saying, we wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for the Renegades."
"We're riding in a stolen roadster with the Renegade and Tron. When have we ever had this much fun?"
Mira was beginning to drone out their argument. She knew that Mara was trying to hide her feelings for Zed, while he made it a bit too obvious. Mara had feelings for the Renegade, or Tron as she now called him too, however.
Not for the first time, Mira suddenly found herself wondering what they would say if they knew who the Renegade and 'Tron' really were. More importantly, she found herself wondering how they would react if they found out she was a User. She had no doubt that either of them wouldn't hesitate to turn her in.
"Yeah, I guess this is fun. I just wish Beck were here."
An awkward silence suddenly surrounded them as Beck sped forward. For once in her life Mira was thankful that she didn't have many friends. Now she understood how Beck had felt when he wanted to tell them the truth. It must have been hard lying to them all of the time.
"This is where we part ways," Beck suddenly told them. He pulled on the break, and the roadster suddenly split apart into a light cycle. Mara drove one cycle while Beck drove the other. "Remember, Tron lives."
Before Mara could thank him he sped forward. Mira knew that he was returning to the safehouse. Tron would never let them live this one down. Asking for time off seemed impossible when it came to Tesler running things. She suspected this was exactly what Tron had been planning the entire time.
"You know, it was actually nice having a normal cycle for once… even if it was just an act," Mira sighed once they reached the safehouse.
Beck glanced at her in surprise before remembering she didn't exactly ever have a 'normal' life.
"Well, the next time we have a day off, you call the shots," he suggested with a sheepish grin.
She couldn't help but grin back. Somehow she had a feeling that would never happen. It was a nice thought though, especially given the situation they were placed under. Maybe Zed wouldn't be so hard on Beck now that the renegades had rescued him along with Mara. Though something told her that wouldn't happen anytime soon.
