"This unmapped region seems to go on forever." Sam sighed.

"The Grid was supposed to expand and get bigger over time. Of course Clu took the expanding concept to a different level, but I digress." Tron looked around. "Isn't your world quite large?"

She nodded. "Yes, though we can't walk all the way around ours with all the oceans that split up our land masses."

"I suppose that would put a damper on things. Your father programmed only one ocean here, which I am certain you saw when you came through."

"It was beautiful. It's too bad sneaking across is impossible now."

"I don't know about impossible, merely very risky. It is a miracle you got across into the Grid without Clu noticing when you arrived."

"Let's call it sheer dumb luck."

Tron chuckled softly as they stopped to take a break. "I am very glad you had that. Users aren't always so lucky."

"Do you you think my father coming in here was a mistake?"

"No. Without your father, the Grid wouldn't have gotten very far and I believe he knows that too. We programs were like children and needed guidance. I suppose he could have influenced us from the outside, but how would he know what is going on? In your world, we are nothing but code forming patterns on a screen, correct?"

"Yes. My father was curious how it manifested down here, since patterns will only tell programmers so much. He was pretty accurate with his guesses, though he was so happy when he got in. This place is one of the many things that made him feel like he could contribute to both worlds."

"A visionary ahead of his time, from what you have told me."

She nodded. "The only person who didn't call him crazy when he started was his friend Alan. He figured if my dad could get in once when it was supposed to be impossible, he could do it again and revolutionize the world of technology as we know it. Now his company is the most successful on the planet and I'm down here trying to find him. I hope Alan is doing okay, those other people on the board are real sharks."

"Sharks?"

"They're a predator that lives in the ocean, very dangerous and one bite can kill you or remove a limb."

"If they are so dangerous, why are they on the board?"

"It's a very complicated process to remove people, even if you're the one in charge. Alan and I were compiling data to use against most of them so they could be fired."

"Perhaps he is still doing that."

"Alan is a lot like you." She chuckled softly. "Once he's determined, nothing stops him."

"You are fond of him?"

"He's my godfather, so yes."

"Godfather?"

"One who can act as the parental figure or guardian if all other family members are dead or missing."

"I see. I suppose I was something close to godfather where Cyrus was concerned. I fear I failed him in many ways, too focused on what I wanted him to be instead of helping him be himself."

"No one is perfect, Tron. You were trying to do what you thought was right and the rest was influenced by circumstances beyond your control."

"Perhaps. Ready to go?"

She nodded and stood up. "So do you really think if we travel long enough we will eventually end up on the other side of the Grid?"

He shrugged fractionally as they began walking. "That is one theory, yes. The other is that it stops. We may be the first ones to find out the truth."

"Yeah, maybe. It's a good thing we brought enough rations to last a cycle."

"Indeed. Being prepared for anything is very important."

A movement in the shadows caught her eye. "Uh... Tron?"

"Yes, Sammy?"

"You said the lands out here are barren, right?"

"As far as anyone knows, yes. Why?"

"I'm not sure if it was a trick of the light or whatever, but I thought I saw something over there." She pointed to a nearby mesa.

He drew his disk. "Let's go check it out."

She drew hers as well and followed his lead. They approached the area and investigated it, keeping a look out for signs of life. Not even the dirt had been disturbed, yet this feeling of unease nagged at the back of her mind. "Call me crazy, but I think we're being watched."

"I do not doubt it." Tron scrutinized their surroundings with the focus of a hound on the scent. "Grab onto me."

She wrapped her arms around him in compliance, holding on tightly as he launched his grappling hook and it latched onto the top of the mesa, pulling them up to the top. "Nice vantage point."

"One that someone watching would use." He pointed to light imprints in the ground. "You are not crazy. Approximately five foot seven inches, definitely a program by the light impression. I don't think they were here very long."

"What does this mean?"

"Since they didn't attack, it could mean they are an ally or were merely doing reconnaissance." He sighed softly, shaking his head. "But we're not going to stand around debating which it is."

She gasped as he launched them to the next mesa without warning her. "So what's the plan? Leap like monkeys until we find something?"

"Monkeys?"

"Primates in my world. They live in jungles, swinging through the treetops."

"When you talk about the animals there, I wonder why we have none here."

"I don't know. My father may have wanted to add some in and never gotten around to it. I mean, that would have been something he would have definitely wanted to introduce in the off road games."

"That sounds like your father. It's probably for the best we don't have animals at the moment anyway, I am not certain this world is ready."