Also known as Mr. Oblivion, will you please stop reading so many science fiction novels. On a more serious note, it's time to explore a bit more of Abraxas' motivations. But he's dead so why bother, you ask? Because-
Chapter 50
Do Programs Dream of Electric Sheep?
The peace and rest Sora had wished to attain had been a short-lived one, only lasting three days. Sora had always told himself that there was no time to rest, that if the world were to keep spinning and he stand still then it would be a valuable waste of time better suited to other ventures. But now, he was more convinced than ever that standing still was exactly what he needed.
He wanted to meditate. He needed to meditate. As he sat on his bed in the hotel, squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to clear out his mind only to fail in the end. Where there was an end, it was with Kefka. No matter how hard Sora tried, he could get that laugh, that make up, that lack of complete empathy and a disregard for human values, out of his head.
"Got anything out of him yet?" Sora had asked Riku yesterday when he had gone to see how his interrogation was going. Sora turned his head and look in through the bars of the door to see Kefka staring back at him, seeming to mime his own facial expression.
"Only what he's been saying ever since I locked him in there. He won't answer my questions. He's just mumbling something under his breath over and over again," Riku said. "Even said he was making some kind of truth serum for the interrogation procedures but it's not for sure that it'll work. This guy is… unhinged. Just from looking at him I can tell he's the kind of person who can fool even his own thoughts and emotions."
"What about a large dose then?" Sora asked.
"Too risky. Our efforts I think are better concentrated on her." Riku walked over to the room next to Kefka and looked inside. Sora gladly looked away from Kefka and joined Riku to see Kairi's attacker lying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling. "She's just as quiet but at least she doesn't seem weird. She's probably a lot more susceptible to the serum than he would be."
Sora nodded and stepped back. "Well, if you think that's the right course of action then I'll leave you to it. Do what you need to."
"Sora," Riku called out to him before Sora could leave. "You shouldn't have had to have gone through that. Now it's just as I feared. They're using us to get to you. I will make them pay."
"I shouldn't have had to, but I did," Sora said before leaving.
The Sora of present shook the memory out of his head and tried to concentrate once again, but it was no good. He let out a loud sigh and fell backwards onto his pillow with his eyes closed. He was pretty much done trying to look at his own life objectively. Why couldn't he ever be happy? He had no idea. Why, whenever there was some semblance of happiness, was he not allowed to keep it? He didn't have a clue. What could he do to regain the control that he felt was slipping away all too quickly? If he had figured that out, he wouldn't be lying here.
Sora rolled over until he was facing his pillow and then he yelled into it. He yelled with all his might until he could yell no more. When he was finally out of breath, he tore away from the bed and started pacing his room back and forth. He needed something to distract him, anything…
A knock on his door soon answered his silent call. Neuge let herself in quickly before Sora could even tell her it was okay, causing him to jump.
"Jiminy Crickets! What if I was naked in here?" Sora asked as she sat herself down on his bed.
"I've seen my fair share. Certainly wouldn't bother me."
"Oh, don't tell me that…"
"But you're not so stop complaining," Neuge said. "You are going back to training, aren't you? Luna's a lot more inquisitive compared to you. She was the one who came up to me and asked if we could start training again. You might want to take a page from her book."
"I thought you said that you had taught us everything you possibly could?" Sora reminded her.
"And that should stop from training, why? In terms of technique, yes, I did pass down my knowledge to you but that doesn't mean you've learned to perfect it either. What I wanted to teach you in my last lesson is that experience is everything. Anyone can read something from a book, but that doesn't mean they can apply that knowledge to real life. Sight, sound, smell, touch, even taste… all those things can mean the difference between life and death and if you've only heard of them, if you've never experienced them for yourself, then your chances of survival are low."
"I know," Sora said with a firm nod. "I did learn things like you said. I learned that the more I seem to care, the more harm I bring to others. That's what I learned."
"You're bringing harm to others?" Neuge let out a loud laugh. "The world does not revolve around you. It's not like when you smile, the hold world stands still or something. You're only a cog in collection of many. You work, you rust, you get replaced."
"Well that's… a positive thought," Sora said sarcastically. "And Yen Sid would seem to think differently anyway. I'm apparently the key that connects everything."
"Oh, who cares about what that old fool says," Neuge dismissed. "Stuffing nonsense into your head. Have you ever thought about seeing the world through your own heart and not the hearts of others? It's a refreshing experience."
"Look, I know you're all trying to help me and I wish there were enough words in the world to express how grateful I am to all of you but… this is something I have to figure out on my own," Sora said.
"You know what? You're right. I was just like you. Still am, I suppose. After my dear old 'friends' betrayed me and left for dead, I too was searching for an answer. I wanted to survive but I didn't know how."
"Wait, I'm sorry, you're friends? Drinking buddies, I presume?" Sora asked.
"No, idiot, Yen Sid and someone else, his name was Eraqus. Have I not told you this story before?"
"Not that I know off. I figured you could never stand to be in the same room as him though. What even happened between you two?"
Neuge shook her head. "Maybe another time. It'll have to be over drinks since I don't really care to tell the story while I'm level-headed. We have more pressing matters on our hands, your next mission."
"Already? You can't even give me a week?"
"It won't wait a week, and don't worry, you won't be travelling far either."
The last time Sora had been in the computer room, he had been there to see the originally programmed Tron restored in all his glory, or at least his memories anyway. The last time he had seen him in person, he had been fighting him as Rinzler, a modified version of the original source code that CLU had manipulated. Now he was being told once again that his friend was missing.
"It could be nothing but it's certainly been awhile since Tron last contacted us. Both Aerith and I are starting to get worried," Yuffie told him once he arrived with Neuge.
On her clothes was an ID badge that Sora had never seen before. In fact, he had only started seeing it recently around town on certain individuals. When he asked what they were, Yuffie explained that they were now making membership badges for Restoration Committee members. Their recent campaign had seen an influx of new members flocking in from around town in order to contribute to rebuilding of the garden. Specifically, the original members were assigned certain roles. Yuffie's was 'Director of Operations' as she was in charge of carrying out various missions to do with the Heartless. Aerith, on the other hand, was 'Planning and Finance Director', in charge of the various infrastructures that they were building around town. It struck him as impressive how far they had come since he had first met them in Traverse Town. They were working towards a common goal, moving forwards and creating. Sora felt as if he were the opposite right now.
Other than Yuffie and Aerith, Luna had also been waiting for them in the room. Her eyes flashed Sora a worried look as he entered the room and Sora tried to put forth the best of smiles in order to assure her that he would be fine. Judging from her deepening frown, he didn't think he quite succeeded.
"That's not the only problem. The system requires check-in every twenty four hours for security purposes. Tron's usually the one who authenticates that password. If the password isn't inputted every day then the system locks down and all the town's defence systems are shut off," Aerith continued to explain. "This is in case there's ever a threat from inside the garden who might try to use our own defences against us. Cid implemented this security measure after we found out that Abraxas was the one who hacked in and shut down our systems last year. Of course the problem is as you see it now. Tron has to be there in order to authenticate the password."
"And if Tron's not there then the security system will shut off," Luna confirmed.
"So you see why this is such a big deal? Sorry to put this all on you guys but Neuge told me you could handle it, plus you know Tron better than anyone else, Sora," Yuffie said before moving over to type something on the keyboard. "We only have a few hours left before the verification process is required. If you can't find Tron in that time then we'll have to wait twenty four more hours until the next verification begins, and in that time, anything could happen. Good luck!"
"You are okay with this though, aren't you, Sora? If you're not up for it, we could always send Kairi instead," Aerith proposed.
"No, I'll be fine," Sora answered. He had been looking for a diversion to escape his grim thoughts and getting back into action was probably exactly what he needed.
"Alright, let's do this. Beam us up, Scotty!" Luna yelled with a big smile.
"I'm sorry, who's Scotty and why haven't we met him?" Aerith asked.
"It's… it's a reference my dad used to… forget it, it's embarrassing. Just do the thing."
The last thing he heard in the room was the sound of a key being pressed down hard. When he next opened his eyes he found himself in the data world. He recognized the setting almost immediately. It was the city where he had met up with Ansem the Wise and had chased Abraxas through the streets. Just up ahead he could see the remnants of the End of Line Club, a presumed safe haven where the rules didn't apply. Perhaps this was why Ansem had been hiding within the club when Sora had found him. Either way, the club was now destroyed due to attack that had happened when Sora and Luna were there. Occasionally, the neon lights of the sign flickered every once in a while for varied periods of time.
"So, where do we start?" Luna asked, walking a few steps ahead to look around. Her new outfit had been digitized and so had his, giving off a new slick feel to them.
Sora placed an index finger on his left temple and stared at the ground. "This world is completely different from the original one, so I'm not sure how much luck we'll have asking other programs where the original Tron is. But since we have nothing to go on either, it couldn't hurt to ask, right?"
"Yeah, but doesn't this city feel rather… empty now?" Luna pointed out. Sora looked up and searched the area but as with Luna, was unable to hear or see anything to indicate life.
"It's weird alright, but we can't give up now. There has to be someone here," Sora said. They set off down the dark streets in hopes that they were to soon come across someone. Sora was instantly reminded of The World That Never Was, not only in the way the city was designed but the uncomfortable atmosphere, the eternal night, the lack of people around and the silence because of it, pretty much everything. He didn't like it one bit and yet he couldn't help but be impressed by how vastly technological and futuristic these buildings were in comparison to any he had ever seen.
"Sora, I just saw someone! It was a shadowy figure so I couldn't tell whether it was a program or something else but what do we have to lose?" Luna pointed to the one of the buildings on the left side of the street that they had just entered. As Sora attempted to follow alongside her, he found his body sagging like a bag of potatoes. While his body wasn't all in it and wanted to follow its procedure of the last three days, it was his concern for Tron that kept him pushing forward. He couldn't afford to allow any sluggish movements where he needed to fight.
"Are they running from us or something?" Sora asked, spotting his first glimpse of the shadow for only a second before it disappeared behind another building. "Luna, keep following them. I'll see if I can cut them off from ahead."
Luna confirmed his plan with a nod before breaking off into a full run down the street. Instead of following her, Sora went into the alleyway on his left that was in between two buildings and set off on his own sprint. The ground beneath him was neither of concrete, metal or any other material that he knew to be used for making roads. It was instead a road composed of small individual hexagons that lit up briefly and created a strange thunk sound when he walked on them.
He soon arrived on the other side of the alley to see the figure running towards him. Sora leapt out into the street in front of him, causing the person to come to an immediate halt. He turned to head in the other direction but Luna had managed to stay behind him and trapped him.
"I don't know why you were running but how did you not think that was suspicious? Show yourself!" Sora ordered, craning his neck to get a good look at the face under the hood.
"Woah, woah, calm down there, Sora. It's me." The figure pulled off his hood and smiled at him. All of a sudden, all of the complaining that Sora had done these past few days seemed non-existent. He had of course known that the program was still alive, that he had reverted back from Rinzler and he had even talked to him on more than a few occasions since, but there was something about actually being by his side for the first time in a long while that gave him a fluttering feeling in his chest.
"Tron? It's really you? TRON!" Sora ran up to program and tackled him in what he had meant to be a hug but instead had sent them both to the ground due to a loss of balance. "It's really you! You're here, right in front of me."
"I'd certainly hope so. Not that I mind this or anything but you're kind of depriving me of air."
"Oopsie, sorry." Sora retreated from Tron's body quickly and helped him up. Luna, who was completely mesmerised by the return of Sora's playful nature, began chuckling and smiling sweetly at the sight of them being reunited.
"It's good to see you so cheerful again, Sora. You don't know how happy that makes me feel," she said before looking at Tron. "Oh, it's our first time meeting, isn't it? I'm Luna. It's nice to finally meet you, Tron."
"It's nice to meet you too, Luna. Sora told me about you from the user's world a while ago. It's good that he managed to rescue you in the end," Tron said.
"Hmm, what else did Sora tell you about me?"
"Er, we don't need to talk about that now, do we?" Sora dismissed it rather quickly with a laugh. "The more important question is where've you been, Tron? We've been trying to get into contact with you from outside but you weren't there."
"Ah, so that's why you're here now. My apologies for making you all worry," said Tron.
Sora exchanged a raising of eyebrows with Luna when what followed from Tron was an unexpected silence. Truly, they had expected something more but Tron appeared as if leaving them only on an apology and not a full explanation was satisfactory enough.
"That's… it? It'd be great if you could tell us what you were doing, or why you were running in the first place. Is there something wrong?"
Tron stiffened for a moment before relaxing. "That would be a good place to start, wouldn't it? The truth is I'd tell you but I'm honestly not sure myself what I'm doing. Does this happen to users to, where an idea or a spark just pops into your head?"
"Of course, all the time. So you got that?" Luna answered.
Tron nodded. "It's weird. It wasn't exactly an idea, more like… instructions. They just suddenly entered my mind at that exact moment. I had what you users would describe as a dream."
"A dream? Can programs dream?" Sora asked.
"That's the problem. I've never had one of them before. It shouldn't be possible, I would think. I don't even remember what it was about because there was no context. It was incredibly irrational and yet I felt compelled to seek out the place that was in my dreams for some reason. I almost feel like there might be something wrong with me."
"Tron, even if you are a program, you still have a heart. Your thoughts and desires are your own and I guess that's only now emerging as a goal… or something like that," Sora proposed with an unsure look.
"Well, they say dreams are the repressed desires of the heart so maybe if you can try and remember anything in the dream, that might help us figure something out," Luna offered. She could believe more than anyone in the power of dreams, having dreamed constantly about seeing the stars. Her dreams had come true but that wasn't exactly the case for others. The least she could do was help them make their own come true, not that she was pretentious enough to dub herself as the fairy godmother or anything like that.
"I can't say much was happening. I was standing on a cliff somewhere watching a sea of endless data. There was something so calming and warm about it that I've never really felt before. It was a light… that's right! In the middle of that vast darkness I spotted a single light rising to the surface. That's where the dream ended. It was like the dream was trying to tell me something, like the light itself was calling out to me. At that moment, those instructions seemed to override and take precedent over all over directives I had been issued. I have to find that cliff to see if it really was a dream. From what I understand, you users' goal is to find your purpose in life. I feel like this is mine. It was what I was created to do."
"What you were created to do? Woah there, I wouldn't go that far. Your creator isn't here Tron and that means you get to decide your own purpose, not Ansem," Sora said.
"Then, why is it that I feel so powerless this time around? When we defeated the MCP together, I felt as if I had the power to change the system for good, or maybe it was that my user wanted to give me the power to choose." Tron brought his hands forward and looked down at them in thought.
"I don't know but if you want to wax philosophical, you're talking to the wrong person. We'll help you, Tron. Why were you running by the way? Oh, and the cloak. Why the need to make yourself look so suspicious?" Sora asked.
"Didn't Aerith and Leon tell you? I left a message behind for them before I took off," Tron said.
"You left a message? Not one we got," Sora said checking with Luna who shook her head.
"Weird, though maybe it has something to do with it. I'll fill you in while we walk," Tron pulled the hood back over his head and led them back onto the main road. "Find it strange that there's no one about? No less than what would be eighteen hours ago in your world, I received a distress signal from somewhere within this city. Further analysis told me that a type of malicious software had found its way into the system. That software soon manifested itself in this city as a familiar face. Our good old friend, the MCP."
Sora stopped in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at Tron. "You're kidding me? But we defeated it, didn't we?"
Tron nodded. "Which is why it can't be the MCP. I can only imagine it's taking its form though I'm not sure how. In any case, this mysterious entity has hijacked the city with viruses. From what I can tell, the viruses can corrupt a program by rewrite its code. Only recently did he come out with his demands. He wants me."
"So not only do we have to find this place of yours but we need to find the source of this malicious software and defeat it. Seems easy," Luna said trying her best to be positive. "Maybe our perpetrator is the one who stopped your message from getting through on our end, because there's no way Aerith and Yuffie would forget to tell us something as important as that."
"That would be my guess, so we need to be careful as we make our way out of the city." Tron suddenly pressed himself against the closest building and peered around to see if there was anything down the street. He looked back at Sora and Luna and motioned them to look with a finger. Peering past his arm, they could see just what Tron had meant by viruses. Up ahead were two Programs that looked to be completely withdrawn from the world around them, they heads slowly turned as they searched the area like zombies before moving further down the road.
"The safest gamble would be not to directly engage with them unless we absolutely have to. Let's find another way around," Tron said before turning and heading back the way they had come. As Sora followed along with Luna, truth be told, he was glad his mind was on the impending threat of the MCP's mysterious return and not the events of the past. It wasn't exactly what he would have chosen but he wouldn't exactly have chosen to remember that fateful night either. In a way, he could see it as being a necessary evil. With that thought in mind, he corrected his posture and started to walk more confidently, a smile forming on his face that had not been there for days.
Riku pulled a seat away from the small rectangle table that had been set up and sat in it slowly before dragging both him and the chair back towards the table. The entire time, he never let his eyes wander from Freya. Behind him was Kairi who leaned against the wall and was chewing on her lip nervously.
The rat didn't seem to register the teen that had sat in front her and was eyeing her in a demoralizing fashion. Her eyes were cast downwards on the wooden table in front of her, with its various imperfect scratches and dentures. Riku knew that he was going to have a tough time cracking her will and getting her to talk. The only other person he had interrogated before this was Astra and she hadn't exactly been easy to break either. This time however, he had a weapon at his disposal which he hopefully wouldn't have to use, but wouldn't hesitate to do so if she gave him any trouble.
"You know, I'm not exactly experienced in this interrogation business. This isn't what I'm supposed to do as a Keyblade Master. My duty is to protect the worlds from whatever harm befalls them. This really is only the second time I've had to do this. Right now you must be wondering why I told you that. Now that you know I'm an amateur, you have no reason to fear me. Interrogation I suppose is like a composition. You need to hit all the notes and if you don't then the piece loses its effectiveness. Therefore, because I'm inexperienced, I'm likely to miss notes from time to time. But me being inexperienced also works against you, because I'm afraid I don't quite know when to stop. I can be reckless and keep going, and we'll both suffer for it but that's fine. Sometimes it's not the professionals that are the most dangerous, but the amateurs."
"Riku…" Kairi's warning came out as a whisper and Riku smiled.
"Did you know who she was when you went after her?" he asked.
"I don't pry into my client's affairs. I'm told only the basics about the target such as her appearance and then I do my job. No questions asked," Freya answered quickly. "Listen, I'm not sure what you think you're going to get from me. I'm just a hired killer."
"I'll be the one to decide whether you have anything to hide or not," Riku said leaning forward a bit before relaxing back in his seat. "I want the name of your clients. Of the members within KRONOS. We have Kefka but that's not enough."
"And what makes you think I know the members of KRONOS?"
"Let's use that as a question, why don't we? Why wouldn't you know the members of KRONOS?"
Freya let out a stifled laugh and looked at Kairi for a second before looking back into Riku's eyes. "I don't ever recall saying I received them directly. My orders come from proxy. They have no reason to trust me with the members of their inner circle and as I've stated before and will continue to do so, I do not question my orders."
"Alright then, we'll try this. How many requests have you received from KRONOS? Can't be just the one." Riku took his left hand off the table but rather than resting it at his side, he was reaching for something in his pocket.
Freya shrugged quite casually, as if she were talking to a friend. "I'm not sure you need to know that."
"And you clearly don't use your ears. I said I'll be the one to decide if what you have to say is important or not," Riku said before raising the object he had taken out of his pocket. It was a small vial containing green liquid. He shook its contents up and down while keeping an eye on Freya.
Freya propped her elbow up on the table and rested one side of her face on her hand. "Food dye?"
"Truth serum. Truth be told, I didn't want to use this on you. I still don't want to use this on you. Even, one of the scientists working here, insisted that he be the one to develop this. The thing about Even is that he's unpredictable. I don't know what he put in this, and I'm sure you don't want to know either."
"Wonderful. You really are no different from the evil you claim to fight, are you?" Freya said with a chuckle.
"You went after my friends. I have no forgiveness for people like you who indulge in killing others for no reason other than money. I have no forgiveness for KRONOS or anyone that tries to harm my friends. By the way, unlike my interrogation, it's the first time this serum is being used. It's in its experimental phase. You can take the risk, get injected and hope nothing happens, or you can answer my question now and play it safe." Riku took hold of the vial with both hands and rotated it around before setting it on the table in front of him. She could see it but with her hands bound, she wouldn't be able to take it.
Freya looked at the vial in unreadable thought before looking back at Riku. "I have names. I'll give you what you want to know on one condition."
"Oh, I thought you didn't know any names? What happened to receiving your orders by proxy?" Riku asked.
"They come up every now and then. I just about remember a few of them that have been brought up. I'm not sure all of them are related to KRONOS but it's a better start than any, no? In return though, I want protection."
"From KRONOS?"
Freya nodded. "They don't work in the shadows, they are the shadows. For every bright corner of a world, there are shadows. The shadows live alongside the light. They co-exist while at the same time opposing one another. If you hope to destroy the shadows, you must put out the light. If you intend to go after them and you cannot make that compromise, I'm afraid it will be an endless battle which will only result in innocent lives being snuffed out."
"I- we," Riku corrected, looking at Kairi quickly before continuing, "don't intend to let that happen. You say they're shadows? I say they're just people who can make mistakes, just like they made the mistake of trusting you."
"But we'll protect you, right, Riku?" Kairi asked.
Riku was rather taken aback at Kairi's defense of Freya at first, only to remember how pure and kind Kairi's heart was. In all honesty, he had found it strange from the start that Kairi had been so insistent on coming along with him to interrogate her assassin. He had expected apprehension or perhaps a trickle of fear from her but instead she had surprised him with a look of strength and commitment on her face. Whether she realized it or not, she was acting a lot braver than he felt he was at the moment.
"You say that so easily. I did try to kill you," Freya said, also surprised by Kairi's outburst.
"You did, but I'm also interested in learning why exactly it is that you do what you do. I don't meet many assassins, but you seem different somehow. You also applauded me on my fighting skills so I thought I should return the favor," Kairi replied.
"Is that all? What silly reasons," Freya said and let out a laugh. "But I suppose I can't deny that I'm not exactly your typical assassin."
"Then tell what you know. Everything you know," Riku said. He retrieved the green vial from the table before stowing it back in his pocket.
