Title: Retirement is Preferable to Extinction

Summary: AU, Subroutine 'verse. Walter and Lora discuss the particulars of his retirement.

Prompt: "There has been absolutely jack about our two Cool Old Guys version 1.0: Walter Gibbs and Dumont. This MUST be corrected. Give one or both of them an adventure, a missing scene, some musings about other characters, etc." (alltronix1 via tron20in20)

Updated: 8/17/2018

There was nothing remotely out of the ordinary when Lora came to visit his office that morning. She carried Jet in a makeshift sling that cradled him to her chest and a hand supporting the babe's bottom, the other holding bottle of water. A tired, but content smile played on her lips as she strolled casually across the threshold of the illuminated office. "Hey, Walter," She said.

"Morning, Lora," Said Walter, leaning back into his chair. "How are you?"

"Well enough I suppose. This one actually let me sleep last night, tuckered himself out from crying all afternoon."

"He misses his father," Walter stated rather than asked. Lora kept her eyes on the head soft hair as she nodded. "He hasn't gotten used going back and forth from Washington to L.A. quite yet. I think this'll be the last time I visit until he gets older."

"And hold does Alan feel about that?"

Lora shrugged her shoulders, shushing the fussy boy as he shifted awkwardly in the sling. "We'll cross that bridge we get to it," She said. "I'm not interested in talking about myself. I'm interested in you. Flynn said you wanted to talk me about something. What was so important that you'd call me?"

"I'm retiring from my position as head of the R&D," He said. Lora gave a start, mouth poised to ask a question before closing again. "I- I don't understand. I thought that you wanted that position?"

"I did, and Flynn was generous enough to allow me control over the site, but times have changed Lora. Games have changed. I can't keep up with the pace these days and I've been thinking more about my son," He explained.

"Walter Junior?"

"The one and only. Things got complicated between myself and he, we haven't spoken in fifteen years and I feel the need to make up for lost time," Walter mused.

"Has Flynn announced a replacement yet?"

"Not yet, I told him yesterday. I leave in two weeks, that should give him enough time to find someone, I hope."

"You know Flynn, he isn't one to lollygag about anything. Just look how fast he appropriated this place. He kept it running even through all red tape he had to go through," Lora chuckled.

"Yes, it's one of the reasons why I'm comfortable with the idea of leaving this place in his hands. Who knows? Maybe my son will have a place here. If he's still interested in software development that is."

"Nepotism isn't exactly smiled upon in the field of business, Walter."

"I could say the same about married couples, Mrs. Bradley."

Lora threw her head back and let out a hearty laugh, startling her son awake from his nap. Walter watched as the boy's fingers curled around her shirt and his face turn red with irritation. His legs kicked furiously against her upper body, demanding that the vibrations in his mother's body stop. Lora settled down, shushing her baby as she went along. "I'm so sorry about that Jethro, mommy didn't mean to wake you," She cooed gently. "What will happen to the programs you've written?"

"The same thing that happened to yours, I suppose. Deleted or archived on a shelf somewhere, reference material only," Walter said. "Progress dictates that you no longer have to use outdated tools, sometimes new is necessary. I won't be too broke up that, of course, but I will miss this place."

Lora placed a consoling hand on old man's shoulder. "I know the feeling, friend."

Dumont knew the day of decommission was fast approaching. His code felt old and stressed, worked to its near limits. New programs were entering the free system every day, working to keep their world in perfect order. Things were happening fast now, faster than he could comprehend. Yori, Ma3a and Tron were gone, archived from the system to join Flynn in his new "Grid" world. To say that he was saddened by their departure would be an understatement.

To be sure, he was aware of the backup files Flynn promised to create for them in the event that he still needed them, yet, to be the only one left from the older days of the system was… disheartening. Most tower guardians had been deleted; I/O towers were becoming fewer and fewer, quickly replaced by data streams and I/O Nodes as a means of communication and travel.

Dumont stared up into the bright blue sky as the tracks of data streamed overhead, feeding into the new system relay towers. It wouldn't be long now.