Tron is looking out over the outlands when Beck returns. He doesn't turn when the beta enters the hideout; either Beck's failure was that predictable, or Tron watched him drive here alone. Maybe he can tell that there's only one set of footsteps. Regardless, Beck is not with Paige.

"Aren't you going to say I told you so?" Beck asks. He means for there to be some bitterness behind the words, maybe a little snark, but instead there's just- sadness. He's too sad to joke, which makes him even more sad.

"I never told you not to pursue Paige," Tron says. His voice is free of the smugness Beck expects, which leads the beta to gravitate closer.

"But you did say that trying to turn her might be a lost cause."

"You tried, Beck," Tron says, as if he actually accomplished anything. "That's all you can do."

"She was so close." Beck bangs his fists on the window. "For a while there we were on the same team. I really thought she was going to come with me when they were chasing us, and then when I saved her from the games- she hates me even more, now."

"She might hate the Renegade, but she doesn't hate you."

"I am the Renegade!"

"She doesn't know that," Tron returns. His expression shifts to something sharper. "That's not a suggestion, by the way."

"I know." Beck snaps, and once that bit of anger is out disappointment rushes in to fill its place. "It doesn't matter. She literally pushed me away. I get the feeling she won't want to see 'Beck' anymore either."

Tron doesn't say anything. Beck tries to focus on the view instead of letting his thoughts wander, but the landscape is bleak; hardly uplifting. He's never really noticed how lonely this place is before. Does being Tron mean being alone?

"Give her some time, Beck. She might come around."

Beck doesn't even look up. Not for the first time, Tron wishes he was better at offering comfort. Maybe a different approach would be more efficient.

"I've told you about Yori," Tron says. That gets the beta's attention. Tron has only mentioned his counterpart once before, despite Beck's multiple queries about the old system. "Did I tell you that our first interaction was an argument?"

"What?"

Tron attempts to look annoyed and doesn't entirely succeed.

"I was instructed to run a security sweep of the sector she worked in, but she wouldn't let me in. She kept going on and on about protecting her work, which I could understand, but I didn't like being accused of snooping or stealing."

"What happened?" Beck asks.

"Our Users had to intervene. Neither one of us was very fond of the other after that." Tron shakes his head, though he wears a soft smile. "She was impossibly stubborn. You couldn't say anything to change her mind. Her beliefs were based on what she saw. What she learned. When she saw that I was a monitor, that I protected other programs, she grew to trust me. And eventually I won her over." Tron pauses. Gives his apprentice a look, though it isn't unkind. Beck should've known this would turn into a lecture.

"It's good that you want to help Paige, Beck. But if she's ever going to change sides, it'll have to be her own idea. You can't change her mind for her."

Beck doesn't like the sound of that anyways; it sounds too much like something Clu would do. He sighs.

"You're probably right."

Maybe things will change, in the future. Maybe Paige isn't a lost cause. He doesn't plan to give up on her either way.

In the meantime, though, Beck is still sad, and Tron has never offered this much information about his past. Maybe he can use this to his advantage.

"So, uh, how specifically did you win Yori over?"