AN: Here's a quick update on the next chapter! There will likely be one more chapter of flashbacks after this, so hang in there ^^ And thanks to Ridyr for your reviews, they're much appreciated!

Chapter Thirteen

The four women had led her to what appeared to be a room of white lights. She found it difficult to adjust to the sudden blinding white. Fortunately it didn't take long to adjust as the black-haired woman reached for what looked like a round object.

"This is an identity disk," one of the four women explained as it was handed to her. "Protect it with your life."

Once she was handed the disk her clothes were replaced with what appeared to be a black suit. She gaped at the suit in surprise when blue and white lights lit up. The siren with black hair smiled like her mother had when she got up in the mornings.

"Now, tell me, what is your name?" she asked when she crouched down to meet her levelly.

"I..." She hadn't thought of that before. She could use her real name, but her mother had explained that it could be bad if she gave it away. Instead she thought of something that sounded different. "Mira." She looked down at the floor in embarrassment when the siren sighed.

"Mira, once you are on your own your life will be full of danger," she explained. "Use your disk when it is needed. Find programs that are willing to help you. And what ever you do, stay out of the Creator's way."

Does she mean God? Mira wondered. Her family went to church every Sunday. Her mother was strict when it came to going to church. She remembered one day coming down the stairs dressed in plain clothes when her mother had forced her to change into a sundress. Maybe this new life wouldn't be so bad after all if it meant disobeying her mother's rules.

. . .

Mira woke up with a start. She gasped and struggled to comprehend what had happened. Beck had crashed into the island. She had landed on one side of the island and passed out due to the shock of the crash. She was alone for all she knew.

Great, how am I going to get out of this place now? she wondered as she looked around. The island was empty. Jagged peaks rose above her; their peaks were stained with snow. Under her feet the ground was cold and covered in snow as well.

"Guess I'll start wandering again," she said out loud with a wave of her arms.

Wandering was something she had done most of her life on the Grid before she was captured by Rinzler. She jumped from city to city when Flynn was still in power. But after the fall of Flynn she had been more careful. She had to be in order to survive.

This was almost as boring as hiding out in the Outlands. With nothing to do or look at she decided to think of what had happened to her when she was younger.

. . .

Mira ran when a program gave chase. She had found a shop with interesting stuff for sale, but she had no way of paying for it. So when she told the shopkeeper this, he ordered a program to chase her out. Once again she was on the run in a city she knew nothing about.

She didn't stop running until she was out of breath. The program caught up with her easily and glared.

"Just who do you think you are trying to steal our stuff?" he demanded when he reached for his disk.

Panic washed over Mira when she realized he was going to fight her. She had no idea how to defend herself. The program grinned and chuckled before swinging his disk in her direction. She gasped in surprise when the disk was tossed aside by another disk.

The program growled in annoyance and picked up his disk. Mira glanced over her shoulder to see another program standing behind her.

"Now, why would you harm a User, when the Creator himself is a User?" the program demanded when her attacker looked startled.

"Castor, I..." The program didn't have a chance to respond. Mira cried out in surprise when a disk flew into his chest. Pixels streamed onto the ground as the program fell.

"Castor?" Mira turned around after trying to fight tears that were threatening to overwhelm her. She didn't know why it was so hard to watch. The program that had attacked her disappeared once the disk returned to Castor's hand.

"That would be my name," the program replied with a bow. "I have heard rumors that there was a strange little program wandering about the streets."

"What's a User?" she asked when she realized that he wasn't going to harm her.

"You are a User," he replied. "I'm surprised the sirens failed to explain this to you. Come with me, you will be safe for now."

Mira glanced over her shoulder and wondered if he was right. After her last failed attempt at finding a safe place to stay, she didn't know if she could trust him. To her surprise she saw a couple of oddly dressed programs wandering across the street.

One was wearing a cloak over his head, while the other was tall and dressed in white like Castor. Standing beside the tall program was another black-suited program with orange lights glowing against the black. Mira tried to hide her face when the taller program glanced up from his mutterings.

I don't want to get in his way, she thought.

. . .

"Hey!" Mira nearly leaped when she heard a voice shouting in the distance. She had been wandering for what felt like cycles around the island, avoiding crevices and fallen rocks. To her disbelief she saw that Beck was standing on a fallen boulder, waving his arms to get her attention. She hid a grin and ran until she reached the boulder. "Glad to see you're safe, though you fell into the sea," Beck sighed when she met him.

Without warning she punched him in the arm, and Beck took a startled step back. "That was for doing what you did," she grumbled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know the light jet would do that," Beck replied. "But we've got a bigger problem. The island's derezzing."

Mira stared at Beck in alarm. He led her to the top of the ledge they were on. Sure enough pieces of the island began crumbling into the ocean.

"How is that possible?" she asked.

"The crash from my ship caused the island's coding to malfunction," he explained with a shrug.

She was about to say something else when she realized that they weren't alone. Her eyes narrowed when she spotted Paige trying to break off a piece from her light copter.

"Looks like we've got company," she warned him. Beck realized that she was right. He hid his face once more and began climbing down the ledge.

"Hey!" Once again he shouted and gave Paige enough time to realize that she wasn't alone either.

"Huh, you're hard programs to derez," Paige sneered. "But I like a challenge."

She suddenly leaped onto the ledge and shoved Mira aside. Anger and annoyance flared within Mira when Paige kicked Beck across the rock. Mira ran forward and tried pinning Paige to the ground, but she managed to push her aside.

"Look, we don't have to fight!" Beck's shout was left unheard as Paige swung her disk at him. Suddenly the ground began to tremble, and Mira had to steady herself before she fell over the ledge. Paige was less fortunate. She gasped when she grabbed hold of the ledge. "I'm trying to help," Beck insisted when he tried pulling her up. Mira was amused when Paige tried attacking him again. "Would you quit it?"

"Not until you're derezzed." Paige managed to pull herself up and gave Beck another kick. He was sent flying across the rock once again, but this time the cube that he'd stolen fell out. Mira's eyes widened in alarm when Paige grabbed hold of it. "I bet you thought I'd forget about this," she said icily.

"Would you just listen you bit-brain?" Mira demanded. "The island's derezzing, and we'll go with it."

Paige's own eyes widened when she realized that Mira was right.

"The sea's going to get rougher as more of the island's code falls in," Beck told them. "I could build some kind of craft that floats in the water if we work together."

"That's impossible," Paige retorted.

"Look around you. There's no army, no one out here to save you but us." Mira sighed in annoyance when Paige looked away.

"I am the army," she snapped. "And I can get off of this island on my own."

She left them standing there to work on her ship once more. Mira rolled her eyes and glared once she had her back on them.

"Great, so now what do we do?" she asked.

"We wait," Beck replied. "Her plan will fail, and she's gonna have to listen to us."

Mira shook her head and sat down on the rock. This was getting them nowhere. More pieces of the island were falling off as the cycle went by. She knew that they didn't have much time left. If getting Paige to work with them was their only hope, than they would likely be derezzed in the next cycle.

. . .

Castor had led Mira to a place that was called the End Of Line club. Programs were scattered around the room chatting idly. A few programs gave Mira an odd look as she followed Castor. He simply waved the staff that he held and grinned sheepishly at them.

Music echoed in the background when they stopped near a set of stairs. In the center of the room was a round bar where energy drinks were served. Mira had learned that in order to keep hunger from getting the better of her she needed energy drinks. She knew that was what they served at clubs.

"So, you followed Flynn into the Grid," Castor announced when he turned to face her. "You are quite the lucky User to not have fallen prey to power hungry programs."

"Can you tell me how I can get back home?" she asked. She wanted to see her mother and father again. She didn't even know how much time had passed because she wasn't aware of the cycles. She wasn't even aware of how exhausted she really was.

"I am afraid you will have to find Flynn if you wish to return," he replied. "As for defending yourself, you might want to use this."

Mira's eyes widened when he gave her what looked like a stick. When she pressed the button on the piece of metal she gasped. Light protruded from either side of the stick. When she touched the light she realized that it was solid.

"That is a light staff," he explained. "You can use it against programs such as the one that attacked you earlier."

She glanced at the light staff as the ends disappeared.

"Why are you helping me?" she demanded.

"Flynn made the Grid what it is today because he is a User." For the first time since she had met Castor sounded serious as he spoke of Keven Flynn. "You are a User, and I am certain that you could have the same capabilities as Flynn."

What exactly does he mean by that? she wondered. Another program had suddenly joined them. This one was a siren was well, but her hair was silvery blond. She raised an eyebrow when she looked at Mira.

"So you're the User I've heard rumors about," she whispered.

"Gem, be a darling and give this lovely User a light cycle," Castor suddenly ordered.

Mira had seen light cycles before. They were like motorcycles only cleaner looking and slightly safer looking. She wasn't even old enough to drive in the User world. Why would she want to drive now? Gem turned and searched through what appeared to be a box full of the stick-looking objects that Castor had given her.

"So what, are we going to teach her how to ride one?" Gem asked when she pulled out a stick.

"What are those things called?" Mira asked. The term 'stick' sounded weird to her. If she was going to survive in this Grid place she wanted to sound just like a regular program.

"They are called batons, and yes, we will teach her," Castor replied. "After all, we are in Flynn's debt. We would not exist if it was not for him."

For the first time since she had come to this place she was thankful that Flynn had created it. It seemed that he was popular amongst these programs, especially the higher ranking programs like Castor.

"We should take her to Tron or Clu," Gem muttered. It was the fifth time she had heard of Tron. She wondered who Tron was, and why he was so important to these programs. Obviously he had done things to help improve safety on the Grid.

"This will be between us," Castor insisted.

AN: Zuse/Castor is one of my favorite characters in Legacy. And definitely fun to write about as well :P More to come after this!

End Of Line