"So has there been any weird activity going on that Encom place?"
They had been keeping watch over the building for a few days, yet there still was no sign of any disturbances or break-ins.
"Not from what I can tell." Batman said as he glanced over a few monitors.
"Jeez, do you think that intel is even reliable anymore? It has already been a week." Flash said as he leaned against a terminal.
"We can't take any chances. If Grodd were to get his hands on any of the technology that Encom has, we could be in real trouble with his intellect."
Flash shrugged and looked over a few monitors.
"So I take it you found something that was worth protecting?"
He found an entire digital world. "Yes."
"And the man of few words says one!" Flash chuckled before pointed at a small blue light flickering on the keyboard. "What's that?"
An alert. "It is from the sensor I hid in Encom Tower." Pressing the button, the scenes on the monitors switched places and the foremost one displayed the latest data on the company.
Apparently there had been a security breach in the office. All of the computers froze and the monitors displayed a symbol from a prominent video game of Encom's past.
"Impossible." Batman's eyes narrowed beneath his cowl.
"What is it?" Flash asked as he examined the data reports.
"The sensor I planted is supposed to relay information instantly." He pointed at the screen. "It says that this hacking incident happened 5 days ago."
He could see Flash begin to connect the dots.
"Signal jammer?"
"I don't think so. If that were the case then I wouldn't have gotten this data at all. If anything, there's just a delay."
"Think Grodd got in without us knowing? Messed around a bit with their systems?"
"No. This isn't Grodd's style. And the hack involved something from one of Encom's video games." Batman stared at the screen shot taken from the incident. There were four squares, arranged to look like a T.
"Yeah. Tron right?" Flash asked, pointing at the T. "Great game. Loved the lightcycles."
Beneath the opaque lenses of his mask, Batman's eyes narrowed.
Lightcycles.
The Grid.
"You know… maybe it's just Encom's security doing its thing. They are supposed to have the most sophisticated security around. It's probably because of that, that your bug isn't working the way it should."
"Plausible." Flash really knew his stuff when he actually thought. It was true that Batman had to specifically tune the bug to get through Encom's security.
"What-a-ya-know. I'm a genius." Flash grinning and Batman just shook his head.
-failsafe-
"So how exactly do you plan on getting in?"
"I was just going schedule a meeting with the Flynn boy. It shouldn't be too hard to drop a hacker bug and have it steal the codes we need to break in."
"Fool. Did you not look at any of the data I gathered? They scan for any electric devices upon entry to the building and they have some assistant hold onto them and follow you around. Quite genius really. A good way to confiscate items while still giving guests access to their equipment."
"If that's the case, I'll just have you make a phone call. It shouldn't be too difficult hide a bug in my cell phone."
"That wont work either. Upon entry they actually give you a Bluetooth earpiece. A bloody Bluetooth earpiece. Encom doesn't play around."
"…I guess he rumors about Encom's secrecy are not to be dismissed so easily… what is wrong with the people there?"
"The Bluetooth thing was the kid's idea. I told you. He's just a little shit."
"Agreed."
-failsafe-
Four days.
It had been that long since Sam left Tron and Beta on the Grid. There was still more to be done. Plenty more.
But he still had to deal with the company.
And the stunt Tron pulled by activating the emergency beacon still had everyone on high alert. It was both a good and bad thing that it couldn't be traced back to Alan. Good because no one would find the source, bad because everyone was still freaked out over it.
Even so, Sam still got a better idea on the format of Tron's code. Things made much more sense after a good night's rest and actually organizing the data. With some re-writing and a quick reboot, Tron could be fixed now that he actually understood everything. Well, as long as he was still in the same state Sam had left him in anyway.
Any more movement resulting in loss of pixilation would require more time recreating what was lost. If it were kept to a minimum then that would definitely make the repairs run much faster.
Unfortunately, Sam wouldn't be able to return to the Grid until tomorrow night.
He was booked solid with meetings today. There were interviews, his daily lecture from Alan, a few stops at the development levels, and the run-down of tomorrow's meeting with his secretary.
Evidently he had received a few calls asking for meetings to be scheduled with Lex Luthor andBruce Wayne.
Awesome.
The lunatic and the one that was eerily similar to Sam himself.
Fuck.
-failsafe-
Quorra frowned as she stared at the chunk of metal in front of her. This stupid thing was what connected the Grid to Outside.
If she could just get rid of it… no. There was still the one at the arcade.
She bit her lip and looked away.
Regardless of her new life Outside… the Grid still used to be her home.
She didn't want to feel any sort of attachment to that place, mainly because of all the horrors and losses, but she did regardless.
Sam would fix the Grid, and maybe -just maybe- he would let it go.
They needed to move on from the Grid. Sure, the place could lead to great things… but look at what happened to the Creator.
Quorra didn't want Sam to suffer the same fate.
Hopefully after fixing Tron and the Grid, he would leave well enough alone.
-failsafe-
Tron stared out over the remains of the city named in his honor.
Slowly but surely, order was being restored. And true to Sam's promise, Tron began to see some changes to the decimated structures. Every few cycles, a building or two would pulse with light. Then another cycle would pass and a grid would erect itself in the original image of the building. Another cycle, and layers were added. Cycle after cycle the layers would build until the building stood tall, proud, and new.
It took time, but it was still progress.
Then when Sam came back, he would repair Tron himself.
Tron didn't quite know what to do he was going to do with himself when that happened.
He was a protector. That much was true, but in the past there had been talks about finding a replacement.
Would Tron be able to retire and live peacefully on the newly repaired Grid?
Or would he bite the bullet and continue to defend his home on the new system?
That particular thought made him think of his early days and all he had left behind when he was transferred…
The opening of the office door roused Tron from this thoughts.
Beta merely entered the room and nodded in his direction before heading over to her closet for a recharge cycle.
"Beta," she froze at the sound of her 'name'. "Report."
She released her grip on the doorknob and stood at attention.
"…three more buildings have finished reconstruction. Two others have just started the first phase. The basic programs are beginning to calm down with the reconstruction. There has been little activity outside the city."
Tron nodded. "Thank you. Please go and recharge now, you did well today."
She entered the small closet.
Tron stared at the door.
She seemed slower today.
-failsafe-
When Lex Luthor arrived before the Encom building, he allowed himself to appreciate its structure. It was a well designed, modern, and attractive building.
He entered with confidence and an attitude that screamed CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company.
Security stopped him about 20 feet in.
Procedure first.
They got his name and ID, created his guest badge, emptied his pockets, and passed his belongings to a young man.
"Please step through the scanner." The gruff security guard pointed at the frame. Luthor walked through with no hassle. Not a single alarm went off.
The security guard nodded and Lex put his shoes back on (what was this place, an airport?) while the guard retrieved a small earpiece.
"Here you are sir," he held the device out. "This is a special Encom earpiece. I've already synced it to your phone. If someone calls, it'll go straight to this."
Luthor pretended to be surprised. "I knew Encom had strict policies, but this is impressive." He fasted the device to his ear. "Can I make outgoing calls on this?"
The guard shook his head. "For that, you must speak to Mr. Davis here." He pointed to the young man that held all of Luthor's belongings.
"If you must make a phone call, I'll direct you to a company phone. You'll have to use your guest ID badge for it to work." Davis explained. "Anyway, please follow me. I'll escort you to Mr. Bradley's office for your meeting."
Luthor halted and narrowed his eyes for a brief second before catching up with Davis.
-failsafe-
"It's nice to finally meet you Mr. Flynn." Sam flinched at the use of his last name.
"Uh, pleasure is all mine Mr. Wayne." Bruce Wayne took the offered hand with a strong grip.
"Please, call me Bruce."
"Only if you call me Sam."
"Deal." Sam let a small smile show before gesturing for Bruce to take a seat.
"So, Bruce, what brings you to Encom today?" Sam watched Bruce carefully.
Of course the owner of Wayne Enterprises would want to get in on the Encom action. Thus far the company had done well with keeping away from others like LexCorp or Wayne Enterprises.
"I'm sure you have an idea."
Sam leaned back in his chair. "Well, tell me what you've got."
-failsafe-
"Hello Mr. Luthor, welcome to Encom!" Alan smiled and shook the CEO's hand.
"Thank you Mr. Bradley." They took their seats. "I'm sorry to bring this up, but I was under the impression that my meeting would be with Mr. Flynn."
Alan frowned a bit.
"Yes, well unfortunately Mr. Flynn has had a plethora of meetings so I've had to take on a couple for him. It seems his secretary had accidently double-booked the boy for this time."
"Double-booked?"
"Ah, yes. He should be starting his meeting my Bruce Wayne right about now."
"How unfortunate."
"It was an honest mistake. By the time the error had been noticed it was took late to reschedule your meeting."
Luthor raised an eyebrow. "My meeting?"
Alan let out a short chuckle. "Well, Sam has a first-come-first-serve policy when it comes to meetings and scheduling."
"That doesn't seem very professional."
"Well, it sort of is. Meetings are always first come first serve when it comes to time slots. In your case, Mr. Wayne got there first. Simple really."
It didn't mean it wasn't irritating. He had just gotten pawned off.
"But I'm sure I will be able to satisfy your reason for being here."
"Perhaps."
-failsafe-
"So that's it? You just want permission to expand on our existing products?" Sam crossed his arms. "I'm sorry, but no. We're already doing that."
Bruce frowned a little. "That's not precisely what I meant. You see, your company is so far ahead in technological advances that it is pretty hard to keep up. I'm asking more for a joint partnership in terms of the application of your technology."
"And by applications you mean?"
"Computers, vehicles, robots, weapons, defense systems, medical equipment..." Bruce tried to 'sneak' in that bit about weaponry. It didn't work.
"Weapons? No. That is not what Encom is about. This company is all about advances in computer software. We don't need to develop weapons." Sam narrowed his eyes.
"Ok. So maybe not weapons. But think about it. A partnership between your programmers and my R&D department could bring out a multitude of opportunities. If I could get my people to examine your work more closely, I'm sure they could apply it to other practical things aside from computers. We could even land government contracts."
Sam sighed.
"What makes you think we need government contracts?" And to tell the truth… they already had a few. They were for creating anti-virus, hack-proof programs for the White House and the Pentagon… but Bruce Wayne didn't need to know that. "We do just fine without the extra business. Our software sells just fine."
"I suppose that's true. But think of the possibilities Sam." He was.
"I'll think about it. But know that I can't give you a definitive answer without consulting my team."
"Of course." Bruce showed off another one of his playboy smiles. Sam quirked an eyebrow.
"Forgive me for saying this but… You know, you're a lot less annoying in person than you are in the papers."
"I see my reputation has preceded me, though I could say the same for you Sam Flynn." A chuckle. "It wasn't that long ago that you broke into this very building and gave the world a 'gift' right?"
"Touché Wayne. Touché."
"Back to the last names?"
"It was for dramatic affect."
"Understood."
"But really. It is strange to see you being so serious compared to all of the articles and news coverage."
"Its always the media. I do know how I must act in a professional environment."
"I'm… still trying to learn how get there myself."
-failsafe-
"Beta?"
There was knocking.
"Beta. Wake up."
The door opened.
"Beta? Beta, wake up. Override Code 000: Good morning."
Her eyes finally opened.
-failsafe-
tbc…
There you have it. A little more on the crossover side of the fic. Hope you enjoyed.
I kinda suck at dialogue so please forgive me.
As always, review, fave, alert, and have a nice day 3