Please read: As much as I'm enjoying this story, I'm starting to run out of ideas, especially for flashbacks. So I'm opening it up to you: What do you guys want to hear more about? What questions do you have? Please keep in mind this is about to diverge a lot with the movie when you comment. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! R&R! ~Moore12~

Eleven

1988

It had started out as an otherwise routine excursion to the Outlands. Flynn had sent all three of his co-admins—the User had stayed behind to work on his latest "big idea"—and, even though neither of his travelling partners had spoken the entire way out, everything seemed fine…well, normal at least. It was the same as it always was when Flynn decided to send Ram and Clu somewhere together. Aside from happily calling shotgun—of course that was before he had realized that Clu was going and not Flynn—the normally chatty Ram hadn't spoken the entire trip, and it was hard not to notice that Clu wasn't exactly thrilled to be there. User, why can't you two get along? he thought miserably as he carefully landed the light jet. It would make my life a lot easier…

"Alright," he said as soon as they landed, taking charge as usual, "You already know we have a report of a grid bug hive that's too close to comfort to where the ISOs are staying…"

Snorting, Clu cut him off before he could continue, "I don't see why they don't just take care of it themselves when they're the reason the hive formed in the first place. But that's Flynn for you!"

"Clu," he growled, not wanting to deal with the program's antics at the moment, "We don't have time for you to question Flynn's judgment, alright?"

Before he could continue—get on with explaining their mission and the objectives…which was far more important than sitting around contemplating things they couldn't fully understand—Ram broke in. Chuckling dryly, he muttered, "Well, that's just Clu for ya! He wasn't programmed to understand obvious truths, you see, 'cause he's got loftier things to worry about."

"Oh what would you know?" Clu snarled from the backseat, clearly glitching over Ram's insult. "You're just an actuarial program."

Obviously unfazed by Clu's rather direct insult, Ram replied wryly, "An actuarial program who's got a properly functioning CPU…which is more than you can say."

"Enough!" he snapped, fed up with the pair's arguing and frustrated that neither of them were mature enough to put aside their differences to complete a mission. "Both of you shut up and listen to me! We don't have time to waste…"

He half expected Clu to take another shot at Ram—or Ram to offer another quip about Clu not being able to understand the objectives of the mission—but the pair remained silent. Clu was watching him in moody silence, and Ram looked unusually hurt, which didn't make any sense to him but he didn't have time to worry about his old friend at the moment. Sighing deeply, he continued, "As I was saying, our mission is to take out the hive. Now, the most important thing is that we eliminate it as quickly and effectively as possible. We don't want a whole swarm of them getting out…"

"Come on, Tron, this long explanation is completely unnecessary," Clu interrupted him, a smug grin playing on his face. "Oh…wait…never mind, it is. After all, the glitching actuary wasn't designed to fully understand strategy."

"You know what, Clu? You're right," Ram quipped sarcastically, even though it was clear to him at least he had lost some of his fire. "But…User, I learned so much on the Game Grid where I was—huh…how do I put it?—an undefeated champion!"

At that point, he didn't really care if the pair fully understood the objectives for the mission; he just wanted to get it over with to separate them. "Come on, let's get it over with," he muttered as he opened the doors to let them out. "You both should know the routine by now."

The routine was simple, or at least he thought it was. The hive was located in a crack in the coding of the Grid. All it took to take out most of the grid bugs at one time was a well placed light grenade…the fortunate few that got out the three of them could handle with ease. Simple…so simple. That was when he remembered the one thing he always had to warn them about: "Remember no loud noises, alright?" he said softly before climbing out. All he could do was hope they would actually adhere to the warning…

Ram offered him a weak, fairly apologetic smile before grabbing the light grenade. Since he was the fastest—and most accurate, they had learned from experience—he was always in charge of placing the light grenade. As soon as he armed it, he would take off to get a safe distance away. We should be good as long as few escape, he thought, only a little nervous, as he watched Ram silently approach the hive.

For a moment, he thought everything was going to work out…that it was really going to be a routine trip despite the awkwardness of getting there. But then—out of nowhere it seemed—a large crack rang out. What in the name of the Users? he thought, spinning around to try to determine where the sound came from only to see Clu—an innocent look on his face—looking around frantically as well. "What was that?" he asked, keeping his rather scared voice down.

It didn't matter what it was, and he knew that. He could already feel the ground moving beneath his feet, and he unhooked his identity disc. "Ram, get out of there!" he yelled, well aware the damage had already been done.

Ram—clearly panicked by the turn of events—armed the light grenade and hurled it into the crevice. He didn't even stop to see where it landed; instead, he sprinted away faster than he had ever seen him go. But it was too late for that: the light grenade exploded just as the grid bugs came pouring out of the crevice, and Ram was too close when it went off…he could only watch as his friend was sent hurtling through the air.

To his short-lived relief, Ram quickly pushed himself to his feet, unhooking his identity disc as he did. It was just in time too because the first grid bug reached him just as he got up, and he smashed it with the disc quickly. "A little help, guys!" he yelled, unadulterated fear in his voice.

Without even stopping to calculate what the right course of action really was, he raced to help his friend. No! he thought wildly as he watched as the swarm of grid bugs that had escaped the explosion attacked Ram. There's too many for him. "Hang on, bud!" he yelled as he ran towards him, pushing himself to go faster.

He was too late; Ram had been fighting admirably given how many grid bugs had swarmed him—he had taken out nearly a third of them just with an identity disc—but there were too many for him. He was too small to stand up to all the shocks, too small to fight them all of. He could only watch as his friend fell to his knees, one last small cry for help escaping from him.

As soon as Ram fell, he reached the crevice. His rage and desperation consuming him—he couldn't lose him too—he slashed through bug after bug. He didn't even know if Ram was still alive, but he fought, hoping he hadn't been de-rezzed. It didn't take him long to reach where his friend lay sprawled on the ground, grid bugs all over him. Hacking through them one after another, he managed to grab his unmoving friend and pull him over his shoulder. That was when he realized something: Clu wasn't there. Clu wasn't fighting with him.

He didn't have time to worry about that at the moment—but he was going to have a lot to say to him as soon as they were safely in the light jet, that was for sure—and he kept running even though his legs ached and his processors were pounding. As soon as he reached the light jet—figures Clu's already inside, ready to drive, acting all innocent, he thought bitterly—he pulled the still unresponsive Ram in, sitting him in the seat next to Clu, and climbed in the back.

"Let's get outta here!" he yelled, and Clu obliged, shutting the doors and taking off in an instant.

As soon as they were safely in the air, he exploded; he just couldn't help himself. "Why didn't you help me, you glitching viral?" he yelled. "The grid bugs could've de-rezzed both of us."

To his surprise, Clu just offered him a sly, yet still malicious smirk, "I had to get the light jet ready to go, Tron. You understand that right?"

He understood, but something about the whole situation didn't sit well with him. Glancing over at Ram—who was sitting slumped in the chair, his head resting on his chest, his circuits flickering—he sighed deeply. He was so caught up in his concern for Ram, he almost didn't hear Clu mutter under his breath, his voice filled with satisfaction, "This'll be easy."

2009

I

"What were you thinking, man?" Clu raged, glaring at him in a way that was usually reserved for his enemies. "I told you to repurpose him, and you…you decide to challenge him to a fight? What the hell's wrong with you?"

Jarvis knew there was no way he could possibly justify his actions—not when he allowed the conscript to get away…the conscript who had prevented Clu from eliminating the User. He knew he was going to pay for what he had done even though he wasn't sure anymore why he had done it. He should have known the stupid viral was trying to rile him up…and he had succeeded brilliantly. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Clu snarled as he stalked towards him, a vicious sneer forming on his face. "Any pathetic excuses?"

Who was he kidding? There were no excuses for what he did. You've got to give the actuary some credit, Jarvis thought bitterly, well aware that he was about to be either de-rezzed or entirely repurposed. He can talk his way out of anything…

After a long moment of awkward silence—the low rumble of Rinzler's growl the only sound—Jarvis finally decided that he should just tell the truth and hope that Clu would be merciful…not that he would be; even though he was on the program's side he knew compassion wasn't part of Clu's programming. "I thought it would be better to de-rezz him…" he offered weakly.

The last thing he ever saw was Clu's identity disc coming towards him…a lethal blur…

II

Rinzler watched silently as his master nonchalantly walked through what was left of his once chief administrator. He had to admit that he respected him…had to admit that there was part of him that was afraid of him. Still, he knew de-rezzing Jarvis was the right thing to do give the circumstances…if he couldn't handle one lowly actuarial program, what was he good for?

Muttering to himself, his master paced around the room, and Rinzler tried to calculate for himself what the next move would most likely be. Well, the program Jarvis let get away has to have de-rezzed, he determined. So he's no longer an issue. Flynn's son had to be going to Flynn…but where is Flynn?

Finally, Clu spoke, and his frustration was all too apparent: "Stupid viral ruined everything again!" he growled, practically quivering with rage. "I wouldn't be surprised if glitching Ram was still out there somewhere, laughing at me."

Clu continued, but he didn't hear a word coming out of his mouth. Ram? he thought, his CPU frantically trying to determine where he had heard the name before. Ram?

He was vaguely aware that Clu was still complaining—still furious about what had happened—but he wasn't about to start listening. His CPU felt like it was burning as it tried to recall the memories hidden deep within him. Every time it felt like he was close to remembering, the memory escaped him…but…still…he knew that name, knew this "Ram" from somewhere.

But from where? And why couldn't he remember?

III

"You should've been there, Castor," Gem said rather slyly as she sat down at the bar. "A User was in the games today…and he managed to escape."

Castor looked up from what he was doing at the mention of there being a User in the games. But it couldn't be, he thought, beginning to feel slightly nervous because he knew Clu would probably be calling soon enough. Even though his curiosity was getting the better of him, he managed to answer nonchalantly, "Really? Was there anything else remarkably out of the ordinary, my dear?"

"Well," Gem smiled—still playing it as cool as ever, Castor thought dryly—and replied, "the Champion, well, the 'unofficial' champion, saved him."

That, to Castor at least, was far more surprising than the User's appearance on the Grid. "Wait, the Champion saved him?"

"Come on now, Castor," Gem grinned smugly, clearly aware that she had him right where she wanted him. "We both know the champion is really that actuarial program Ram, and we both know you're part of the reason he was locked up and put in the games."

"Well…did he escape with User?" Castor asked, trying his best to sound as flippant as possible. He couldn't have Gem thinking that he was afraid of some little actuarial program…even if he was once again an undefeated gaming champion…and very lethal from what he was told.

"You could say that," Gem replied, still smiling that smug smile at him. "He was damaged pretty badly…ran his light jet right into Clu's light cycle…but, yeah, he got away with the User and the ISO, Quorra."

For some reason—even though Gem said he had been damaged—Castor knew he'd probably be seeing the co-admin he'd betrayed soon enough…especially if the User had gone off Quorra…

But, being who he was, he'd make it through it…He would turn what could be a deadly situation into one that would finally allow him to achieve the influence he still craved…he hoped.