Here's the next installment, Programs!
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Chapter Four
Grid Troubles
Control Center, Tron City
"Sector C12 initiating shut down protocol," announced the feminine voice of the Grid. The System Admin growled in irritation as he turned his attention to that part of the city and watched as the lights of distant buildings began to slowly fade. He started typing rapidly into the controls to try and slow down the shut down, both to give his Programs time to escape and to delay a Grid wide blackout.
He knew what was happening and the feeling of helplessness from being unable to stop it was beyond frustrating. Add to the fact that Risk and his Black Guard have yet to find Kevin Flynn, the User he was laying the blame on for the Grid's current predicament, made his circuits misfire in irritation, figuratively speaking.
"This is the second section that has initiated a shutdown protocol in the last two microcycles," he muttered under his breath as his fingers continued to type furiously to stay ahead of it.
He hated to admit it, but he needed Kevin Flynn to stop what the man's son was doing in the User world! Without the administration powers of a User there was little he could do to save his world. If only this was another viral attack, could he do something with utmost confidence.
But this wasn't a viral attack no matter how much he wished it to be.
Clu slammed his fists in anger against the console and stared out ast his cit and watched helplessly as the last tower went out in the section. At the rate the shut down was commencing they had only eight or so microcycles remaining before a total shut down occurred.
Where in the Grid was Kevin Flynn?
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The Outlands
The Recognizer was a mere speck behind him as it continued it's search for him but Flynn knew it would not remain that way for very long. Not only were there other Recognizers searching for him, he could only travel so far, so fast on foot. And while theyw ere actively searching for him in the darkness of the Outlands, he could not afford to create a transport for fear of giving away his position like he nearly had with his campfire earlier. Besides it would take too long to build something like a lightcycle or a lightrunner from scratch. Precious time he did not have to waste in an attempt to travel faster. So he was left with his own booted feet to get him where he needed to go.
Kevin Flynn carefully made his way down a switchback as he thought about what he was going to do now that he was trapped inside the Grid once more, his last chance of escaping having already closed half a millicycle ago with his son and Quorra. Thinking of them had him wonder what was happening in his world. Has his precious ISO seen the sunrise like she had so often dreamed of doing? Was his son dealing with the threat of the Grid like he had promised he would do once he had reached the other side? Did they even make it before his programs reintegrated and derezzed everything within a kilocycle?
He wanted to believe so.
The Creator set foot on the bank of a nearby stream flowing through the small canyon he had descended in to and knelt down to take a drink of the luminescent energy. As he drank from the cool spring, a memory of himself and two other programs came to him.
Ram and Tron.
They had escaped the lightcycle grid and found their way to an underground well spring of energy. He wished they were here with him right now. He could have used the security of their companionship right now. Ram's enthusiasm and Tron's pragmatism would have been welcome right now but they were both gone. One had died long ago on the Encom system and the other had perished saving his life twice.
"Wish you both were here," he softly whispered in regret. He shifted to lay down on the bank and drank straight from the spring this time.
When he had his fill he followed the spring with his gaze until it had blossomed into a river and finally into Tron City. The spring was one of three that sustained both the city and those that dwell inside. He found himself staring at the city for the longest time until he realized something was not right with it.
"Odd," he muttered as he continued to stare. Then it hit him. Parts of the city was dark, it's buildings unlit and no activity could be seen in those sections that had gone dark. Something was happening on the Grid and not in the way he was expecting to happen if his son had made it out. It was as if the city was running out of energy and yet he was sitting on the bank of one of the rivers that fed the city. That river had a steady flow of energy going to it and did not look like it was going to run out any time soon.
So what was happening then?
His concerns were interrupted by the search light that shined down upon him and he snapped his gaze skyward at the Recognizer that hover over him. Where had it come from? He knew the one he had been running from had been going the opposite direction as him. His only conclusion is that this one had been following the energy, possibly thinking that he might be drawn to it and it's pilot apparently had been right.
More importantly how had he not heard it's approach?
You were distracted by the problem on the Grid, Flynn! He admonished himself as he bolted to his feet against aching protests and ran.