Chapter 13: I Killed Tomorrow
The Raft, Mining Rig of GridTech Labs, TC2014, 1900 PectroCycles...
"Get outta here!" Travis shouted, klaxons barely drowning out his voice. Yet again. He had updated his costume for the occasion. The addition included a visor over his lenses, and two armored rectangles over his helmet circuits. An antennae was placed on the side of his helmet, and a small crescent was placed between the two rectangular armor pieces. need everybody to get out! Now!" A stream of programs rushed down the halls, gripping the walls as another shockwave ripped through the structure. "Let's go! I need you to head to the nearest exit! Streak!" Night Streak ran up to Travis, Sable joining up as well.
"Streak, I need you to get all GridTech personnel outta here. Sable!" Sable turned to Travis as Natalie ran into the flaming hallway. "Try and herd all of the Enforcers into the debris dumping bay. I need to get to the command center and force Concept into the open." Kit nodded, leaping into another fork of the road. The Renegade turned around and looked down the only hallway adjacent to him that wasn't on fire. "Okay, Concept. Time to have a taste of failure!"
…
Uploading File_Travis1A: Firewalls lowered
Time Cycle 2012, 325 Cycles, 0000 PectroCycles...
…
As soon as I began feeling, pain was the first thing I came to understand. Unable to procrastinate any longer, I opened my eyes. Data, handed to my eyes in binary, streamed across that same line of vision. Anything outside this was invisible from that coding.
"Greetings, program." Unable to see, I looked around aimlessly, trying to find the voice's owner. "Welcome to the Grid. What is your designation and function?"
"Designation?" I asked, the binary fading away. "Function? I... I don't...know."
"Well, let me check your disk." A snapping sound came from my back, and my flinching didn't help ease the pain. "Huh. So your name is Travis." A questioning look gave him a clue. "Oh, uh, it's an acronym; it stands for Technical Retrofitting Aptitude and Vanguard Insurrection Specialist. You were programmed to be a mechanical genius, and your disk is automatically compiled with the intelligence of the greatest User minds. Guess Flynn took a good deal of time creating you."
"But... who... who are you?" I asked, trying to make some sense out of the situation.
"Oh, right, bad introduction. That's my fault. My name is Tron. I'm a System Monitor on the Grid. You're going to be molded into one of the greatest programs in history."
"Uh... how?"
"Just full of questions, aren't you?" Tron faintly smiled, even though with a lack of spirit. "I'm grouping a team of specialized programs to form a team of crime-fighters. You're designated to become a new mechanical specialist. Now, let me ask you..." As the binary faded away completely, Tron's face took over. "...Are you in?"
...
The Raft, Mining Rig of GridTech Labs, TC2014, 1912 PectroCycles...
Travis frowned as he rounded the corner of the Raft, fires blazing at him from every side. It seemed that the flames, blazing passively with no intention of harm, were being controlled by Concept just to destroy him.
"By the order of Concept, you halt, Renegade!" Two Enforcers spotted him, and shot electricity-laced tasers at the Renegade's neck. The only result was Travis' body lighting up, hands gripping the cables, and sending the electricity back to the owners of the cables.
"Wanna know where that trick came from?" Travis growled kicking over the two unconscious bodies to the damaged floor. "Let's just say that encounter with Lightning-Rod gave me a few ideas." Travis fired another cable, but instead of latching into the ceiling, the force merely brought the metal collapsing to the ground. The Renegade hissed, "Damn! Well, this calls for a new strategy." Travis sprinted like there was no tomorrow, jumping over missing pieces of the floor and hoping not to look down. "Here's to hoping this works." The Renegade's hands held him as he gripped the last shreds of wall, landing on the other side of the gorge with ease. "Huh. It actually worked. How about that?"
...
Resuming File_Travis1A
Time Cycle 2012, 340 Cycles, 0600 PectroCycles...
…
I stood in a small room, barely lit by a few lightbulbs high above the group. Except for a large holographic projector, there was nothing to make the room special. In Tron Tower, most of the briefing rooms were around this same size.
My outfit wasn't that special, either. About five more programs stood in the room, all wearing the same outfit: Just a regular light suit, adorned with very few, small white circuits. The only thing distinguishing me from the other programs were three orange secondary circuits, holding onto my neck and the middle of my chest. A wing chute held onto my back, complete with a special hacking set installed into it. It was my first time wearing the uniform,
The massive blast doors opened with a hiss, and all six of us stood at attention as a single figure strode into the room. Even though I had only been living in Tron Tower for a few Cycles, I knew who this program was. Tron just walked into the room, and the rest of the programs in the room just began worshipping him. The only one who didn't start flipping out over his appearance was me, and that instantly won over Tron's vote.
"Easy, guys," Tron said, lowering his hands, crossing the border into his own tiny kingdom. "This isn't CLU's reign anymore." Tron looked in my direction, and gestured at my general direction. "See, even the new kid understands how this all works. Anyways..." Tron activated a hologram projector, and hundreds of cubes clustered together to form multiple buildings. Smaller ones, with little space between them, represented the programs around them. "... I have a little mission for you. We have a three-way conflict going on in User's Plaza. And we're sending you in to break
"Hold on," I said, raising my hand. Tron nodded, and I continued. "Wouldn't it be dangerous to intervene. We could risk creating even more casualties by using direct force."
"Smart kid," Tron said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I keep forgetting I'm not fighting a war anymore. You guys won't be anywhere near the war-zone." A couple of programs sighed, and Tron waited until they had finished to continue. "You'll be in the epicenter." Everybody's eyes widened in shock, and Tron attempted to explain. "We have reinforcements coming in from Argon, and we're going to barricade the three groups. Any hole forms in the barrier, fill it in. A situation like this demands a full crackdown by consequence."
I raised my hand again, and Tron acknowledged me. "Maybe we could gather the de-facto leaders of these groups? Figure out what the problem is so that we can solve this without violence?"
"We've tried," Tron answered, pulling up a surveillance hologram, "And subsequently failed at it. The negotiations were a disaster, and we had to call in Riot Guard to prevent the group leaders from engaging in a fistfight. Apparently, its because Flynn's been giving excessive attention to the EVOs, who recently began moving into Basic districts." I nodded, and Tron continued. "We've been giving extra assistance to the ISOs since the Purge, but nobody in that group has been willing to accept it besides from Flynn."
"So this entire conflict is over attention deficiency?" Another program asked, who was wearing a set of forest-green secondary circuits.
"Childish, I know." Tron shut off the hologram, and the normal light levels returned. "I'll be with the Light Guard to try and quell the conflict from inside the ISO barrier. Beck and Anon will be joining you in the city center. Good luck, Squad Nine." Tron exited, and the other five programs breathed heavily.
"I hope I didn't screw up on that one." One program was breathing quickly, as if she required a paper bag to soothe her. "That was Tron speakin' to us! Trav, why did you ask all of those questions?!"
"It doesn't matter if I impress our 'leader'," I retorted, walking out into the klaxon-filled hallways, "I just want to know how to solve this as peacefully as possible."
…
The blast door blew open as the Renegade strolled into the room, unsheathing a fistful of claws, outlined in a thin orange circuitry. "Concept!" He shouted, running his clawed index finger across a wall. "I know you're in here! This is the command center, and holds a view of every motion on the damn station!" Travis drew his disk, and tuned his visor to an infrared setting. A large clump of coding crawled across the ceiling. "Think you can hide from me?! We need to talk this out, let these GridTech people go!"
"These are no longer GridTech personnel," Concept hissed, walking into the light, "They are now under my command structure. And I am willing to cooperate with you. You and your band of rebels could be my top soldiers, if you only chose to join me..."
"You've killed innocent civilians!" Travis shouted, grinding his teeth in anger. "You've been a coward, hiding in the shadows of Tron! I can't join you!" And Travis noticed a flashing console, and looked up. "Hold on. The self-destruct system? Is there a reason... oh Users."
"Correct, Renegade." Concept, his circuits flaring in confidence, "This system will be mine. And this is only my first step."
"And I'll do my best to make sure it's your last step. I'll go the ends of the Grid to put you away!" Travis lowered his head, along with his voice, and spoke so softly only he could hear his next two sentences. "I have a personal responsibility in this war. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be here."
…
Resuming File_Travis1A
Time Cycle 2012, 340 Cycles, 0800 PectroCycles...
…
"Attention, citizens!" A voice shouted through a megaphone, only to be drowned out by the shouts and raging of civilians. "You are all in violation of Coalition Regulation 5A-6. Cease hostilities immediately!" The warning was not heeded, as Basics, ISOs and EVOs slammed against the quarantine fields in Users Plaza.
A squad of Riot Guards, armed with durantanium shielding, stood behind the laser barrier, with ten System Monitors, myself included, stood behind them. We could only hope the quarantine field would hold up, as small cracks formed at the bottom of the barrier.
The programs around me stood in terror, looking at the cracks in the transparent blue wall. Norton, the squad leader, was gripping his ranking badge as though his life depended on it. His dark red secondary circuits flickered in fear. Dragon, our voice-recognition specialist, was kneeling on top of a large fountain in the plaza center. His lime-green circuits blazed with the anger of a real dragon, and both Katherine and I could tell he was itching for a fight. Katherine, the program who had freaked out about Tron, was shaking in her own Light Suit, with pink secondaries.
The other two members, Niste and John, were in an old Light Copter, shouting out for the standing down of Tron City's citizens. Along with Tron and his personal squad, they were futile at making the three waring groups stand down.
"Norton!" I shouted, pointing at the small ripples in the shield. "They're throwing things at it! I can estimate that the field'll fail in less than twenty MicroCycles! Any ideas?"
"Don't worry about that!" A new voice shouted, as Flynn appeared behind our squad, his blondish-drown hair blowing in the breeze. Anon, Beck and Tron appeared within the group, as it looked like the situation would grow desperate. "We just need to figure out how to push them back into the city's districts!"
"Incoming mortar!" Dragon shouted, as multiple smoking, yellow-circuited bombs flew over the blue shield. "Take cover!" Clouds of yellow and black smoke, debris and the sound of fallen soldiers filled the air around the quarantine field. I looked up, apparently unharmed by the explosion, and saw three other heads with Tron and Beck around them.
"Norton! Dragon! Kate!" I shouted, running over to the fountain. "Are you guys okay?!"
"I think so..." Kate groaned. "Wait.. where's Flynn?! Anon?!" All of us looked into the crowd of ISOs, who were dispersing. "Wait, what? They're just leaving?!"
"After them!" I shouted, drawing my disk, until Tron's disc slashed it out of my hands.
"It doesn't matter, kiddo." Tron said, grabbing my shoulder. "What matters is finding Flynn and Anon. One of them is a User, not to mention the Creator of everything we've worked so hard to create. And Anon is one of my top officers in the Police Grid. Those two are more important than justice today. Let the ISOs go; we fulfilled our objective."
I sighed, picking up my disk and placing it back on my shoulder blades. "I... I guess."
…
"Do not think you can defeat me, Renegade." Concept's disk ricocheted through the clumps of wiring and sparks to hit nothing, returning to it's owners hand. Travis crawled across the ceiling, glaring menacingly. "It is merely an illusion you have conjured in your rage. Disperse these false presumptions, and retreat. I will never pursue you if you accept said terms."
"This isn't a lie, Concept!" Travis shouted, kicking the virus in the face. "I will defeat you! The offer's tempting, but defeating you is even more promising!"
"Very well, Renegade." Concept growled again, waving his hand over the command console. "That was my last warning, boy. But you have forced me to play my first card." Concept's fist slammed into the console, creating a flurry of sparks and debris. The drill, mostly used to mine for energy, was overloading with a green lightning.
"Concept, you're insane!" Travis shouted, grabbing onto a railing as the entire rig shook. "You're going to kill us all!"
"Perhaps, Renegade." Concept cooly replied. "But if I can defeat your, my Enforcers will inherit my legacy. If to derezz is my wish, it will not make a difference."
"It's my legacy that's gonna be a martyr!" Travis howled, firing a cable and ripping out the self-destruct conduits. "Seriously? We put in a self-destruct sequence? Seems a bit unnecessary. And cliched." Travis' eyes widened in shock as the ground shook, as the support columns collapsed on themselves in a groaning fury. "And that's why you don't install a self-destruct sequence in a mining rig."
…
Resuming File_Travis1A
TC2012, 342 Cycles, 0500 PectroCycles...
…
I had stuffed my Wing Chute with any of the few belongings I had in my room at Tron Tower. The elevator was slowly transcending to ground level, giving me one last look at the city which had once been my home.
"Where are you going, kid?" Flinching, I looked back to see Tron leaning against the wall, glaring at me expectantly. "Seems like this isn't just one of your drill patrols."
"I... I screwed up bad." I explained, sitting on my Wing Chute. "I could've prevented that... whatever it was, from coming through! I would've been able to save Flynn and Anon! I failed, and now we've all suffered for my actions."
"It wasn't your fault, kid." Tron sympathized, putting his hand on my shoulder. "None of us could've predicted what happened. Just let it go." He looked into my eyes and furrowed his brows. "But it isn't my call to decide your destiny. You need to find it yourself, and it won't be in Tron City."
"How can you know what my future'll be?" I asked the question with true curiosity, and Tron sighed when he answered the question.
"I fought in the Grid Wars, far away from a city I knew so well. I found my place in Jetrona, a place I started anew in. You'll find your place on the Grid in a place far away from here. That's all I can say, truthfully." Tron handed me a new Light Cycle baton, containing a 5th Gen Cycle, before walking back into Tron Tower. "Good luck. You're gonna need it."
Nodding faithfully, I turned around, ripping open the baton, and driving off into the lights of Tron City. The bridge was there in what seemed like a MilliCycle, and I left any trace of my former life on that border. My sights set on Argon, I shoved my Light Cycle forward and raced towards the Arjia Conduit
…
A dozen Enforcers flooded into the room, drawing their disks upon first sight of the Renegade. Travis watched a sparking cable, just before a proximity alert went off the Raft's right support columns collapsed, the station tilting to the right. Travis' grip had saved his life, as Concept did the same so neither would tumble into the pit of water below them. The Enforcers were not so lucky, falling into a hole in the floor to slam into the Sea of Simulation.
"Come on, come on!" Travis growled to himself. "I have tons of memories as the Renegade! I have some of Beck's and Tron's memories too! I just need to access them! Think, Travis, think!"
Travis howled in pain as several visions passed through his head. Most of them included Beck and Tron, but some were memories that he didn't know who they belonged to. Travis passed out, wandering into the rift of memories that he didn't belong in.
…
"You really think one program can make the difference?" A shadowy figure asked. The program wore nothing but a pitch black Light Suit, decorated with only a few orange circuits. Beck, looking up from the T on his chest, frowned defiantly. "You know CLU's armies have all but conquered the Grid. You had a flicker of hope, but one program won't change a thing. Why can't you accept it?"
"Why not?" Beck replied, his eyes burning from the circle of light surrounding him. "One program already did. Tron" He used his chin, gesturing to his chest with it. "I decided to take on his identity. Tron saved the Grid before... maybe he could do it again."
…
"Look around!" Tesler shouted, as Beck looked over the corner he had forced himself into. Light Rails pulled the cars to the Coliseum, their passengers awaiting their fate. "I've got dozens of cars, rounding up programs to be sent to the games. YOU CAN'T SAVE THEM ALL!"
Beck drew his disk, activating it when Tesler flared his arm cannons in anger. "Watch me."
…
"I want to do this," Beck replied, his voice as cold as the Outland mountains. "I have to do this." Beck turned to Tron, accepting his new destiny. "I'm ready."
"No. You're not." Beck frowned in relaxed shock, as Tron drew his disk. "But you will be." Splitting his disk in half, Tron handed the uniform section to Beck, who cautiously attached it to his own disk. "Be the next Tron."
…
"The Renegade is the enemy!" Kobol shouted, laying next to an injured, masked Tron. Beck, still in an amnesiac state, held a light staff in his arms, waiting to deal a final blow. And his body shouted "Yes!", but at the same time his mind subtlely whispered, "No." Kobol ground his teeth, and lashed out. "DO IT! I command you!"
Beck looked at the masked Tron, who held up his hand. "I know you're still in there, Beck." Beck's mind, wrestling against his body, was losing focus, and his vision blurred. His mind was losing. "The memory loss hasn't taken over yet. Killing is not your way." The mask peeled back to show Tron's face, and Beck's mind pulled one final punch, dropping the Light Staff from his body as Kobol stared in shock. "Tron..."
"Beck, this is about... about more than the Revolution. You're my friend." Beck, still at a loss for words, backed away, his eyes fixating themselves on Tron's face. "I didn't say it before because I... I didn't think I could. But... that was wrong of me." Tron heaved another breath. "We're friends."
...
"NO!" Travis shouted, drawing his disk, and throwing it at the cable Concept held. The virus tumbled into the water, picked up by his troops. Travis, in spite of his actions, activated his nano-claws to grip the floor as he made his path to the hallway. "Great... now, who's gonna rescue me?" Another explosion shook the hallway, and Travis found another body lying in the debris field. "Heliod?!"
"It's... it's okay, Tron." Heliod choked, as Travis held her in his arms. "I'll be okay, Travis."
"Heliod..." Travis said, cradling her as she lay dying. "I... how long have you known."
"Since you started disappearing for no actual reason, kiddo." Heliod smiled, her cracked lens preventing the full emotion from coming out. "But you've done the right thing so far. Look at what you've stopped. You've saved hundreds of programs, maybe thousands from an overloading rig in one swift fight. I'm proud of you kid." Travis felt another explosion rock the station, and stood up, holding Heliod and carrying her with him. The Raft collapsed, as Travis leaped out an airlock, and hit the water to watch the Raft sink into Argon Quay.
The Renegade held Heliod, who smiled before slowly shattering into small cubes. Travis' eyes swam with tears, trying to grasp onto the cubes before they sank below. Travis sobbed behind his mask, not caring if he was taken by the Sea of Simulation as well. Heliod was his friend, a mentor, his boss. Nothing mattered now.
…
"She sacrificed herself to save us," Tron said in his memories, as he and Beck stood over the Outland springs. Tron tossed a white disk with a young girls facial hologram into the spring, a face of mourning plastered over his own. "That's who Lux really was. A hero."
Beck just stood there, watching the disk float in the water. "She was also a friend. I... remember what you said back there. Got a little emotional, huh? Don't worry... I won't hold it against you."
Tron straightened up, replacing the touching moment with a solemn lecture. "A long time ago, I misjudged somebody."
"CLU?"
"I let.. friendship cloud judgement." Tron pointed to the scars on his face, and a single tear slid down his face. "It paid a heavy price. But I didn't misudge you, Beck. With you..." The disk dissolved, green and blue particles floating away into the sky. "With you I chose well.
Night Streak and Sable stood on the dock looking out towards the Raft, watching as the mining rig collapsed and sank into the Sea of Simulation. Another thing to worry about was the fact Travis had gone missing, and Heliod was not in the head count of the rescued programs.
A hand cable lashed out, gripping the dock as the Renegade dragged himself out from the water. "Tron!" Streak shouted as she and Sable helped him up. "You did it! You saved Argon again!"
"It doesn't matter," Travis muttered, sitting on the dock and grasping his head in his hands. "Concept'll find a way to frame me regardless. But I failed." Streak and Sable looked at the Renegade in confusion, who just sat staring at the Raft's sunken remains. "Somebody died."
A/N: Yeah, another dark chapter. I know most of you liked Heliod, but, like Able, she really did actually do something, even if it wasn't physical. I decided to upload on Monday since I have no time on Tron Tuesday, so I hope nobody out there minds. This is just the first chapter of "Sins Remembered", and I'm honestly not that good at first person stories, so bear with me as I work on improving my first person writing, even if it doesn't get better. I'm just hoping to get past this arc so we can start the next one: "What I did for Love".
Next: A delve in Natalie's memories after a long patrol delivers info on her origins, including how she became Night Streak.