Chapter Nine: Home

Calyx POV
"Is she okay?" Tron's voice asked urgently. I groaned in response and pushed myself off the floor. After opening my eyes, I remembered that this was the place in my dream. I hacked Flynn's computer. After pulling myself off the floor, I looked down at my clothes. Dust was caked across the front of my shirt and pants. Apparently, the equivalent to a light suit was leather. I spun around wildly, looking for everyone else. Tron, Kevin, Sam and Quorra stood in front of me. Kevin looked concerned. I felt blood trickle onto my lip and wiped my nose with my sleeve. Sam shook his head and went back to what he was doing with his flash drive. Something was missing.

"Where's Clu?" I asked curiously. Kevin seemed to have forgotten and looked around the room. My eyes softened as I spotted him. He was huddled in a corner with his face buried on his knees. Kevin stayed where he was, stunned to silence. I approached him silently and kneeled in front of him.

"Clu..." I whispered. He looked up, tears in his eyes.

"It's so different here." He said quietly in a tone I'd never heard him use. Without a second thought, I leant forward and wrapped my arms around his shaking figure. He stiffened for a second, before relaxing and burying his face in my shoulder. Behind me, the others were silent. Sam had stopped typing things into his transfer thingy. I wasn't a techie, so I had no idea what the proper name was.

"It's okay, we'll all work together now. But you have to promise me that you won't try to perfect everything. Nothing is perfect Clu." I reasoned. He hesitated, before nodding into my shoulder.

"I'll try." He pulled back, eyes looking brighter than before. I smiled softly, before turning to the others. To be honest, I wished I had a camera. Their faces were ones of shock.

"What?" A smile cracked through my lips. Clu placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you." Two words I never thought I'd hear coming from Clu's mouth.

"You're welcome Clu." I grinned without looking back. He removed his hand and walked over to Kevin. He waved his hand in front of his face. Kevin snapped his gaze to him and smiled sheepishly.

"You would have punched me if I did that buddy." Clu smirked and walked over to the wall, leaning on it. He was back to his usual cocky self. I yawned loudly.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm tired after that." I stretched my arms out. It was true. Despite the naps I had in the grid, I still felt like I hadn't slept in days. I couldn't imagine what Kevin was feeling. Sam nodded.

"We'll go back to my house, but I don't know exactly how we'll get there or where you're gonna sleep." He scratched the back of his neck, deep in thought.

"Cab?" Kevin suggested. Sam scoffed.

"Not with these prices. What about Alan? I'm sure we could cram in the back of his car. Although, I'm sure he'd like an explanation first." There was that name again. Who was he? I knew I'd heard it somewhere, although, I didn't know where from. Tron broke me from my thoughts.

"Alan-One?" He asked excitedly. Kevin gave him a half smile and nodded. I was left out of the loop here.

"Can somebody fill me in here?" Kevin's eyes flashed in understanding.

"Tron's user." This piece of information excited me too; I wanted to see the user that created Tron. There was silence before Sam dialled a number in his phone.

"Hello Alan?" A voice identical to Tron's mumbled something on the other line.

"I need you to come to Flynn's arcade." There was more mumbling.

"Don't ask questions Alan, just get down here." He snapped his phone shut and grinned at the rest of us.

"He'll be here in about five minutes." I smiled back and relaxed into the wall. Maybe things would be easier now.

-

Footsteps echoed around the other room and Sam led us out a little passage and we came out behind a gaming machine called 'Tron'. Tron had a game named after him. That is so cool. An older version of Tron stood inside the arcade, staring at his phone and looking around. He froze when he spotted us. Or at least when he spotted Tron. Tron stared at Alan curiously.

"Alan-One?" To say Alan was shocked would have been an understatement. His jaw had dropped open and his eyes were bulging out of their sockets. Then he saw Kevin and Clu. That must have confused the hell out of him. He spluttered in confusion as he looked between the three.

"Alan, this is Tron." Kevin directed this to Alan and he focused again on the beaming program.

"You actually did it?" He asked Kevin. Tron walked over to him cautiously. I tilted my head. What was he going to do? My question was answered as he practically threw himself at Alan and buried his face in his neck.

"My user." He stated happily. Alan looked around in disbelief.

"All this time and you've been in there? Why didn't you come back?" He questioned Kevin and patted Tron's back. Kevin scratched the back of his neck.

"Long story, I'll tell you at Sam's place." Alan nodded and attempted to pry Tron off him. The key word was attempted. I grinned walked over to them, poking Tron's side. After spending some few days on the grid talking to him, I did find out that he was ticklish. Interesting, considering programs had no nerves and such. But Tron wasn't exactly a normal program. He let out a sort if squeak and jerked back, scowling at me. I focused on Alan, who was looking at me curiously. I tried to make myself smaller, shrinking under his gaze.

"Calyx?"