A/N: This chapter is the first one to be composed of entirely new content! Before I initially put the original story on hiatus back in 2014, I didn't write much of the Real World plot line aside from one chapter, and I wanted to rectify that with the revised edition.

Meanwhile, in the real world…

The chill autumn wind whipped at Sam's hair as he sped down the forested frontage road on his Ducati. Through the trees to his left, he could see that the eastern sky was turning soft shades of orange and pink, heralding the breaking dawn. He opened the throttle and the bike picked up speed. There wasn't much more time before sunrise, and he wanted to reach the south river bridge as soon as possible since it offered the clearest vantage point in Center City from which to watch the sun as it rose from behind the mountains. He could feel Quorra shift in her seat behind him as she turned her head to the left and right, taking in all the unfamiliar sights and sounds of the Real World.

The sun was just cresting over the mountain peaks as the Ducati roared over the bridge. Quorra's arms loosened around his waist as she straightened up and lifted her head high to catch a glimpse of her very first sunrise. Soft rays of sun warmed the side of Sam's face, and over the sound of the wind and the motorcycle's engine he could hear Quorra's soft intake of breath. He couldn't help but smile.

…

It was almost 8AM when Sam and Quorra pulled up in front of his riverside apartment. As the garage door slowly rolled up and Sam parked the motorcycle inside, Marv trotted over to greet him with a reproachful bark. "Hey buddy," Sam greeted his dog as he dismounted the bike. "Sorry I was gone all night. But look, I brought a friend."

"What is that, Sam?" Quorra asked, staring at Marv with fixed fascination.

Sam grinned, lifting the little black and white furball, "Who, this? This is Marv. He's a Boston Terrier, and my best friend." He gestured to the rest of the apartment, "And this is home sweet home."

He placed Marv back on the ground, and the terrier marched over to his empty food bowl and sat down, pawing at the ground expectantly.

"Make yourself comfortable," Sam said to Quorra, "I need to feed this little terror before he decides my leg looks appetizing." The horrified look on the ISO's face made Sam quickly add, "I don't mean that literally. Marv's a sweetheart."

"Oh! You used a hyperbole," Quorra said with a relieved smile. "Flynn taught me about those."

Her words, spoken so casually, caused a painful knot to form in Sam's throat. He swallowed hard, and forced himself to think about anything else.

Unaware of the effect of her words, Quorra began to explore his cozy home. Sam walked over to Marv and scooped out some canned dog food into the dog's bowl. When he turned around and saw Quorra sitting on the couch and rubbing the soft faux leather curiously with her fingertips, he suddenly realized that he probably needed to find a new place to live. Until now, the single room of his converted shipping container apartment had been enough of a home for him and Marv, but with Quorra in the picture for the foreseeable future, he needed a bigger living space. She would need a place to sleep, and his current abode housed only the one couch, and no bed. He supposed for at least tonight, he could rough it on the floor with some extra blankets, but he needed to start looking for a proper apartment.

Sam glanced at his watch. He'd told Alan he'd see him at ENCOM at 8AM, but it was now 8:15. He could make it there in 20 minutes if he broke a few traffic laws, but he'd have to leave now. "Quorra, I need to go."

She looked up at him. "Where?"

"I have to go to ENCOM–uh, my dad's company– to take care of some things," he answered. "I'll probably gone for a few hours. Um…there's some food in the fridge to eat, if you get hungry, and I have a some books you can read if you get bored. They're over there on the shelf."

"…Okay." Quorra looked a little uncertain, but she smiled. "I'll figure it out."

Sam hesitated, feeling a twinge of guilt. Quorra had existed as a living, breathing being in this world for only a couple of hours, and now here he was already leaving her alone. What she knew of the world outside the computer was limited to the books she'd read and whatever his dad had told her, which in of itself would've been twenty years out of date.

"Do you need me to stay?" he asked. "I can stay."

Quorra shook her head. "You don't need to stay," she answered firmly, but with a hint of amusement. "And you don't need to worry about me. I survived the genocide of my entire people, I can survive being on my own for a few hours."

Properly chastened, Sam said, "Great. Um…just don't leave the apartment, okay? You don't have a phone yet, so you can have mine, in case of an emergency." He quickly explained to her how to use the basic functions of a smartphone, specifically how to make calls and how to answer calls. "Can you remember all that?" he asked.

"Of course," Quorra said. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"…Right," Sam chuckled wryly. "For a second I forgot who I was talking to. Alright, there's one last thing I need to do before I go."

He shrugged out of his dirty shirt, walked over to his hanger rack and rifled through the clean shirts until he found the one he was looking for: a steel gray tee with FLYNN LIVES emblazoned across the front. "It's time to go to war. I'll call you when I get to the office, Quorra. Marv, behave yourself with the lady."

…

As he rode the elevator up from the ENCOM parking garage, Sam mentally congratulated himself for the success of his little publicity stunt. He'd wanted to make a public statement that he was stepping up to take an active role in the company and that he intended to make some changes, and he'd wanted to do it before the company had time to attempt damage control. The idea had come to him as he left his apartment, to use a payphone to call a bunch of the news tip-lines and anonymously report that Sam Flynn was making his first public appearance at ENCOM to address the Board of Directors. As expected, when he drove into the parking garage, a swarm of cameramen and reporters were waiting to pelt him with questions and broadcast his response on live television, while two ENCOM security guards rushed to escort him into the elevator.

The elevator came to a stop at the first floor and the doors opened with a soft chime. The security detail, which consisted a tall guard of lean build with black hair and another guard of medium height with a shaved head, stepped out of the elevator and stood to either side of the doors while Sam walked out after them. The black haired guard placed a hand on Sam's shoulder and said, "Please come with us, Mr. Flynn. Mr. Mackey has requested you come to his office right away."

Sam grinned. "Hm…I don't think so. I have a better idea."

Before either of the two men could react, Sam had slipped out of their grasp and made a dash for the concierge desk in the middle of the huge lobby. The front desk clerk, a young woman, was alerted to his approach by the shouts of his escorts, and she stared in dumbstruck amazement as he vaulted over the counter to stand next to her. "Hello miss," Sam greeted, making sure to smile charmingly. "My name's Sam Flynn. You might have heard of me?"

The girl flushed slightly pink and unconsciously tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. "Mr. Flynn, of course. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could direct me to my office? I've never actually been in it before, so I'm not really sure where I should be going…?"

"Of course, I'll look that up for you. One moment."

The two guards caught up to him then, and while the black-haired guard started to make his way around behind the concierge desk, the other guard said slightly pleadingly, "Sir, please. You need to come with us."

Sam looked at him. "Look, uh…?" he trailed off inquiringly.

"Jesús. Sánchez."

"Jesús. Look, Jesús, I know you've been given an order by your boss, but technically since I'm your boss's boss, that sort of makes me your boss. And as your boss, I'm asking you both to stand down." The last sentence was spoken in a loud, authoritative tone, loud enough to be heard by nearly everyone in the lobby. Employees who were crossing the lobby floor on their way to work, or holding quiet conversations over breakfast bagels and coffee in the café area, stopped to stare at the confrontation happening at the concierge desk.

"Mr. Flynn?" the clerk spoke up timidly, breaking the silence. "Your office is on the 23rd floor, number 237. Office of the CEO."

Her words hung in the air, a reminder for those within listening distance of exactly who Sam was. Sam stared down Jesús and his partner, waiting for them to make a decision. Finally, Jesús nodded and said, "Of course, Mr. Flynn. My apologies. Would you like us to escort you to your office?"

"I'd appreciate that very much, Jesús." Sam turned his smile to the front desk clerk, quickly glancing down at her name badge, and said, "Thank you for all your help, Beatrice."

She blushed again. "It was my pleasure, Mr. Flynn. Have a nice day!"