CHAPTER 5

Sam found himself stuck in an endless loop. He would stare at a motionless Quorra and then drift off into the past and retrace his steps up into the present, then he would look back at Quorra and retrace his steps again but this time was different as his mind began to drift off; he had realised through his constant retracing that something wasn't right. The time Sam had been incarcerated, the time he had been rescued by Adam's black ops; that would have been weird enough but with all the money of Encom at his disposal a team like that wouldn't have been impossible, intelligence on Sam's location wouldn't have been impossible to find either, so why did something feel wrong.

Sam wasn't ready to re-join the present just yet when a series of loud bangs seemed to echo outside, the bangs were followed by muffled screams and shouts. The four shaman Programs stopped and turned towards the door and motioned forward. Sam scuttled to his feet and stood in front of them before they could leave the room, holding out his arms and looking into their eyes Sam pleaded with the shaman Programs.

"Don't leave her, she is more important than anything else and it's you who can save her."

"Programs outside require immediate attention." Replied one of the Programs.

"No! They don't! She requires immediate attention, all of the attention you can give… immediately. Understand?" and with those words Sam discovered a ferocious side to himself that he didn't know he had.

One by one the shaman Programs turned and resumed their posts at Quorra's interface. Sam watched them for a brief moment and then turned his gaze to Quorra; he stared at her until one of the Programs blocked her from his vision. Sam took a few steps back, turned and left the room; the screaming and shouting became instantly clearer as he ran down a corridor, through a room and into the main foyer of the building. Sam took a sharp breath as he saw the scene in front of him. A small crowd of Programs lay on the floor of the Sanctuary's foyer; some were on their knees and clutching at wounds, others were face down and motionless but all of them had one thing in common, their light suits were flickering between the familiar orange and whitish-blue glow. Upon seeing the orange glow Sam was instantly reminded of CLU, his followers and TRON and felt instantly threatened by their presence. Sam drank up the scene and eventually came to his senses, he saw Gate tending to a woman, her right leg missing and the rest of her body badly damaged. Her suit was flickering orange more vibrantly than any of the others around her. Sam rushed over to her and knelt beside Gate.

"What's wrong with her?"

"The Ghost of The Grid." Replied Gate with a droning melancholy in his voice.

Sam turned his attention to the girl on the floor in front of him; he wanted to help her but didn't know how. He paused and out of desperation turned to Gate once more.

"How can we help her, how can we help all of them?"

"There is nothing we can do Sam, it is up to them. The Sanctuary is one of a handful of havens dotted around The Grid, Programs corrupted by The Ghost of The Grid retreat to places like this one where the corruption is in some cases vaccinated and repelled from their systems, other times-"

"-Sam… it calls for you Sam…" Sam felt a chill run down his spine as the female Program's word reached his ears.

"We all hear it… Sam… Son of Flynn… Sam. It calls for you it wants you, it needs you… it can see into us… it searches for you within us… and the emptiness it finds… drives it insane."

The woman lifted her head, derezzolution crystals falling from an eye as she jerked her broken body towards Sam. Sam fell backwards off of his knees as the woman lurched towards him again. Too dumbfounded to move Sam stayed and watched the woman drag herself over him.

"The emptiness drives it insane, without you Sam; it needs you, the son of Flynn. Now, in me it can see you."

The woman pulled the light disc from her back and activated it. Sam's eyes widened as the woman reached back with her last ounce of strength, ready to separate his head from his shoulders. The woman began to throw down her arm over Sam's neck.

Gate's hand caught the woman's arm, her arm almost completely lost in Gates overly large hand. With one motion Gate threw the woman back several feet into the flickering crowd at The Sanctuary's door. Sam, Gate and the woman were still for a handful of eternal seconds until the woman's voice sounded again and one by one with each repeated word more Programs behind her began to speak the same words.

"Flynn, son of Flynn, Sam… it calls for you."

One by one the Programs able to stand, stood and those which couldn't began to crawl towards Sam and Gate; each of the Programs constantly repeating the same words.

Sam and Gate took several steps back, completely taken with the surreal spectacle before them. Sam's mind conjured up several zombie scenes from several horror movies; feeling the wall on his back Sam turned to Gate; Gate felt the wall behind him, realising there was no other option Gate then took a step forward, took his light disc in hand and threw it to the far side of the room. The disc ricocheted off of the wall and cut most of the Programs down, another ricochet, another handful of fallen Programs; eventually the room was cleared leaving only a sea of black crystals scattered on the floor.

"…other times?" asked Sam between breaths.

"Other times the Programs cannot overcome their corruption, derezzolution must follow if corruption is not overcome… I had hoped to show you this much later during your time here but these events have forced my hand and time is no longer on our side. The Ghost of The Grid will now know that you have returned, more Programs will suffer than before and safe havens like this one may no longer be safe… come with me."

Gate observed what was left of the destroyed Programs scattered across the floor before slowly turning his attention away and motioning out of the room. Sam followed a pace behind Gate on walk that seemed to last forever.