CAPTURE AND RETREAT
As Tron and Sam left to go back to Flynn's office, Cyphen and K12 walked together, talking about their plans and what to do next. They had put some distance between themselves and the group of programs from Re:Volution, though they were all actually heading over to a bar called The Power Bar that had just opened recently. After the stressful conversation they had all just had, they were in unanimous agreement that they all needed a drinks. According to Aaron, the Power Bar had the cheapest dirtiest drinks in Tron City.
They had gone back to communicating through the avatar interface. The information they were sharing needed to remain private.
I need you to go back to the real world and do some surveillance for me. There is a user named EDJ_0431 who I need you to keep an eye on.
K12 followed Cyphen's lead. He wanted to keep a low profile, so they just kept moving. She found herself looking around, and took note of what the city layout was like. She had never realized how beautiful Tron City was with its crystal spires and bright lights. Aaron and Lyta were having a heated conversation about their favorite fighters in the games. Orion seemed frustrated that he couldn't get a word in edgewise.
He's not a threat as far as our sources say, but he's been nosing around and he has made contact with some dangerous programs
Something slithered behind a corner. K12 turned but by the time she could have seen it, it was gone. Cyphen saw her and asked her if something was the matter. The city seemed to shift, something was wrong. Orion seemed to have heard it too, and also looked around.
"I heard something." Both of them were on edge, but they kept walking past stores, a random arcade where programs were mindlessly playing games. It was quiet on the street, except for Lyta's exclamations. Something didn't feel right. It was too empty, too quiet. But the feeling passed quickly, and Jayla continued. "I think I already have a good idea of who he might be." She went on to explain who Dillinger was and how he knew about the grid.
Do you have any idea what he's planning?
"No," she admitted. She had no idea why Dillinger might have turned against Sam. They were supposed to be partners. But the promise of power made people do crazy things, and she wouldn't put it past Dillinger to make a play for the grid.
A program on a lightcycle passed them turning around a corner. The sky had been slowly darkening, and a slight rain began to fall. As the rain bounced off of the light tracks on their suits, it took on a hazy glow. They walked in silence keeping a safe distance from the buildings.
Something moved behind them. A yellow program, a viral program, had just slithered out from an alley. It was crawling on all fours, mutating into something gelatinous. The program seemed to be sucking up all the energy in its path leaving a black trail in its wake. It still had human-like features. Jayla could see that this was no ordinary virus.
Run! We can handle this. Get out of here!
Cyphen held his bomb disc in a ready stance. He was already in battle mode thinking of his next move. Orion and the others raced to catch up with them. Clearly they were also ready for a battle. Lyta unsheathed her beam katana and ran to Cyphen's side, holding her blade at her shoulder. Aaron came barreling forward with what looked like a beam axe. Jayla was not about to be left behind.
"Like hell you will!" K12 swung around and faced the virus. "We're in this together. What else have you been training me for?"
She bounced up and down feeling the weight of her body over her knees. She would probably never get over the feeling of using the Avatar. It had become her second skin. Again, the thought of her being a blue furry animal came to mind, but she was fine with that. As long as she had legs, who cared what movie she was in?
The virus came stumbling towards them. For something as huge as it was, it moved quickly, efficiently. Cyphen was already attacking the virus. It came in close and hit him hard across the body, throwing him against the wall of one of the buildings lining the street. Orion threw himself in the path of the virus and began his own barrage of attacks. Lyta quickly raced to the back of the virus and swiped at him with her blade. She was a blur as she raced around the program trying to disorient it.
K12 raced towards Cyphen. "Are you ok?" she yelled. She threw her disc, extending the whip and gave the virus a hard hit to the head. It moved from side to side trying to shake off the blow.
I'll be fine. Take out the head. That should kill it.
She took the opportunity to move closer to Cyphen. The virus retreated a few steps away from the wall, and Jayla noticed that yellow liquid was smoking out of a deep gash on Cyphen's shoulder. K12 recoiled her whip and returned to her identity disc. For some reason the virus was backing away. Jayla realized that it must have completed its mission. It had already infected Cyphen. She raced after it, hoping that by killing it she could cure her friend.
She threw her identity disc and watched as it sliced through the virus' neck, splitting it into a thousand tiny cubes of data. She holstered her disc and watched as the program faded away. That was too easy, she thought.
From around the corner a hooded program dressed in white appeared. It walked slowly over to where the virus had faded. It had a cane and tapped it on the ground as it walked.
"You know that was really one of my best programs. It's such a pity you had to go and kill the poor wittle thing."
Cyphen stood up, nursing his sore shoulder. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Don't you recognize me? I'm an old friend." The program removed its hood to reveal a pale face, long hair with a disc symbol emblazoned on his forehead.
"I thought you were dead." Cyphen winced. The wound had grown deeper.
"In my line of work, it always pays to have a backup lying around somewhere." He walked up to Cyphen and looked at his shoulder. Cyphen quickly stepped back, avoiding Zuse's probing touch.
"That's a pretty bad wound. You wouldn't want it to get infected now would you," he laughed. It sounded cold and bitter. This wasn't the Zuse Cyphen had met before. There was anger behind his voice a deep seeded anger that could only come from being betrayed one too many times.
"Cyphen who is this guy?" K12 moved so she was standing next to him, ready to pull out her disc and fight if it became necessary.
"He's not a friend, if that's what you're wondering."
"Now now, that's not nice, is it?" Zuse said, pouting and pretending to nurse his sore ego. He walked up to Cyphen and grabbed Cyphen's sore shoulder twisting his hand into the cut. Cyphen held back a scream. "You should know something Cyphen. That virus, the one my friend programmed, it is now coursing through your handsome little body. If you don't get an antidote soon you'll be in quite a lot of trouble. "
Cyphen growled. He knew that Zuse was right. And he had a feeling where this was going.
"And you're the one with the antidote."
"Of course! We have the antidote for you, and we'll give it to you. As long as you play the game, of course." Cyphen knew that Zuse liked to play all the angles. But now he seemed more menacing.
"Who's we?" K12 said, interrupting.
Another hooded program came out of hiding. He moved slowly, taking time to move towards the waiting programs. He was wearing a grey coat with light tracks glowing from the inside.
"Don't be shy," Zuse said. "Go ahead! Introduce yourself to these lovely programs."
The program removed its hood. K12 nearly gave herself away when she gasped. The face was unmistakable, dark hair, blue eyes and somehow his glasses had followed him into the grid.
"My name is Edward Dillinger." His blue eyes glinted in a sudden flash of lightning. Jayla had never seen him this way before. He was feeling the power he had in this place and enjoying it. "I'm a user."
"Come with us. We don't want to hurt you. All we need is information and then we'll let you go." Jayla wasn't so sure about that. It could have been a lie so Junior could feel better about what he was about to do. Cyphen would never follow them willingly.
He signaled to two black guard soldiers who came up on their lightcycles at his command. They dismounted, their red circuits flashing in the rain. They both grabbed Cyphen, pinning his arms behind him. One of them took the communicator off of his wrist and smashed it against the ground. The other knocked him in the head and laughed as he slumped over. Another two programs appeared and approached K12, ready to strike her with their batons.
"Unfortunately," Zuse said as he walked away with Dillinger and the guards, "we really only need him. I'm sure you'll put up a good fight though."
K12 unsheathed her disc and began fighting. She tried to run over to Cyphen, to help him get free, but the guards kept getting in her way. She was powerless to watch as Zuse and his cronies had boarded a recognizer and dragged Cyphen with them.
She put her disc through one program's chest, derezzing it on contact. Then she whipped around and sliced off the head of the other program. There were two more, and her anger helped her make quick work of them. But she knew she was too late. She would have to find a way to rescue him before the virus got to him first. The recognizer had already taken off.
Then she remembered Dillinger. She had a thousand questions, but couldn't seem to figure out answers to any of them. But she also realized she had an advantage. Dillinger didn't know that she was in control of K12. He must have thought she was just another program, maybe another member of Re:volution. And she realized what she could do. She took off the touchstone and disappeared from the grid.