Happy Birthday to me! And here's my little gift to you, fellow Programs. :) Enjoy!
Chapter 11 – Weapons and Upgrades
6 XilaCycles since the ISO War…
Maggie's POV
"Jeff," Maggie attempted to get her partner's attention from across the lab.
The male Program didn't glance up from his data pad. He tapped through a few more menus and reports.
"Jeremy," she tried again.
This time, he only grunted in response. He's such a brat.
Maggie had enough of this game and picked up the closest inanimate object to her, a wrench, and chucked it across the room towards his shoulder.
Jeremy's entire upper body was a blur; his hand shot out and caught the wrench. Calmly, slowly, he placed the data pad on a counter and turned to face his friend, absently tapping the head of the wrench in the palm of his hand. "Yes?" He asked to finally acknowledge her.
Maggie turned away from his piercing gaze and pointed to the giant screen in front of her. "Look at this. These codes, theories, ideas that Clu had about the procedure."
It had taken the two Programs roughly two XilaCycles to infiltrate and integrate themselves into Clu's army, and then another one as test subjects. After copying the data and destroying the lab, faking their own deaths in the process, they spent about 11 HiloCycles hopping all over the Grid to hide, gather recruits that proved as legitimate rebels against Clu, and afterward they took 2 more XilaCycles to design and build their own hideout, including the lab. Ever since then, they've been downloading and sorting through all the information of the experiment they were part of.
Jeremy crossed the room to look over her shoulder. He squinted his eyes as he followed her finger to read through the purposes of the experiment, muttering under his breath about super soldiers, enhanced sensory, and the desired ability to control the said soldier.
His eyes widened at the last part. "Have you found more information on this?" Jeremy pointed to the last part of the text he was reading.
Maggie shook her head. "I'm afraid not. See, I only just discovered it. You know, it was the reason I kept trying to call for your attention." She shot him a pointed look. "Now get away, let me get back to working, or you'll have more than just a wrench to worry about."
Jeff simply blinked and took Maggie's hand. Carefully, he placed the wrench in her palm and closed her fingers over it, never moving his eyes from her face. Surprisingly, she managed to hold a straight face as he did so.
"I swear to the Users, one would believe that you enjoy behaving as if you're clinically insane." He jested as he returned to his original place in the lab and picked up his data pad again.
Maggie scoffed, "If you think this is being insane, you have something else coming besides the wrench and my earlier threat."
Not looking up from his work, Jeremy simply replied with, "I believe you."
…
Beatrix's POV
She could go on and on about how much she missed the good old times. Those cycles when she could hang out with her pals and playfully flirt and jest at random Programs without worrying about being attacked or even killed.
Although she never took those simple moments from the Golden Era for granted, Beatrix still felt that she never got enough of those good, fun experiences. She didn't even get to properly say goodbye to her friends…
All of this pain she felt in the present time was only because of what she was, not who she is as an individual. Surely some of the soldiers constantly watching her knew deep down that it wasn't a good reason as to why she was treated so terribly.
But no, they didn't look like they saw anything in her but a disease that needed to be quarantined and eliminated…as soon as she's no longer useful.
An ISO; it seemed that now, they were no longer even seen as Programs, let alone living beings that actually had feelings.
The last Program she met that treated her as an equal individual was one she'd never forget.
Avery. The Special that worked for Tron before Clu rose to power. She heard a rumor that Flynn was somehow corrupted by the Abraxas virus that broke out and Tron died unknowingly protecting the viral User, not able to see reason. An Anonymous System Monitor was said to be infected with the virus as well.
Beatrix called bull crap on those lies. The System Administrator was clever in the art of lying, but it would take much more than a couple of rumors from other Programs to make her lose her faith in the Users, and Tron.
What kept her hopeful was Avery. He told her story of how he was caught, that he refused to change sides because Clu had betrayed Flynn and killed Tron because he didn't join his new army. And if she had to guess, it wouldn't be too far out to believe that Clu created the Abraxas virus to distract everyone from the real problem.
It's funny, because when she was locked in that cell with the Special all those XilaCycles ago, she thought she would've been derezzed soon after he was taken away and never seen again.
She only met him once, and still had yet to find out what happened to him. If anything, Beatrix still kicked herself for making such a terrible first impression on him. She talked so much during the few PectroCycles they had together up until his irritation was obviously visible.
But in her defense, she had no idea how much time her clock of life had left before she was killed simply because she was taking up space. And the moment they removed her from the cell, which wasn't very long after Avery was taken away, she truly thought that it was the end.
Surprisingly, she was only kept around because her creativity plus her scientific knowledge equaled the potential for super weapons to give Clu's side an edge.
She didn't like the project she was forced to participate in, nor did she enjoy being around the staff and coworkers (if they were even considered that) any better, especially Shaw.
While she had to admit that Shaw was a genius (it was even said that he helped Clu develop the Repurposing Project), he wasn't the friendliest of Programs to work with.
Very crudely, he was the one to brief her about the failed Adaptation experiment on the Specials. And Clu, along with himself, collectively, decided it was a lost cause and focused on a more simple method to upgrade the average Program in general.
If building this prototype was successful, it could be mass produced and distributed to every individual soldier in Clu's army, and they'd be unstoppable.
Beatrix didn't like the sound of that at all, but she had no choice but to help write the code for the weapon, plan out the desired outcome of its use, seek out the flaws and side effects that could happen.
She didn't enjoy working like this; it didn't even count as living. Her freedom, her dignity, and her happiness were taken away from her.
Every terrible scenario, verbal and physical abuse, and forced labor was because of Clu, who wanted nothing more than her to help Shaw design and build a weapon so she can later be executed and forever deleted from the Grid.
Her friends and any hope she used to cling onto was gone, and the only thing she could turn to was revenge out of spite and the sense of justice that Beatrix starved for.
"Come here, ISO," A deep, monotonous voice shook Beatrix from her thoughts, "Hand me that data pad."
Silently, she did as he requested, not willing to upset him any more than he usually is. Even when he was in a happy mood, he'd yell at someone that didn't even spare him a glance.
"Have you found any errors in the weapon's coding?" He asked as he listed all of the material he needed to finish building the weapon's physical shell. It was very peculiar matter, meant to be absorbed into the disk where the code would sync with the subject wearing it, and should it be destroyed, the weapon has regenerative properties.
"No, sir, everything's ship-shape," she lied straight through her teeth. There were various problems with the weapon, some of which she was directly responsible for such as, the integration with one's disk isn't permanent like it was designed to be, as someone could just pull it off, and then there were a few typos in the code, planted in random areas to screw with its function.
There were indeed side effects of the weapon, some of which may have been the result of Beatrix messing with the code, but it made the bearer of the weapon unbelievably aggressive and then there was the small problem of the power it offers being addictive to the subjects that wore it.
In fact, that was only a small fraction of all the problems the upgrade possessed, but she was hoping that all of these problems and side effects would later lead Shaw and Clu to believe that this project was a lost cause, just like the adaptation procedure for the Specials.
"Go fetch me the prototype," Shaw ordered her; "I want to make sure its physicality is appealing and pristine."
…
Auroras' POV
Pure, raw, powerful code waiting to be used…that's all It was.
It didn't have thoughts.
It didn't have feelings.
It wandered all over the Outlands much like the other floating bits of code.
It had no destination in mind.
It had only one purpose: to be used, manipulated, to have scripts written so It could take an appropriate physical form designed solely for the purpose of completing whatever task it needed to do that fit what the code designed It to become.
It wandered, and waited.
And waited.
And It waited for something or someone to touch it, manipulate it, and transform it into something with purpose.
Since the Grid's creation, It has been around, hovering, wandering, and waiting.
Finally, the time came when hands descended over the glowing physical code, touched it, opened an empty holographic box just waiting to be given a purpose, to be turned into something with a new shape, form, and size.
But the hands only typed in a mission: to find a Special named Courtney, to guide her through her confusion and psychological lapses, and help her make the decisions she must choose in order to bring her to the User known as Kevin Flynn.
Kevin Flynn…a User…the same being that was currently organizing her mission, her purpose.
It felt its first real emotion: relief.
The text box closed and It finally had purpose. It felt indebted to the User and privileged to be given a challenge to complete. It felt another emotion: determination.
It felt the inner motivation and desire to do as commanded.
Without hesitation, It left the User behind and continued on its journey. It no longer wandered. It now searched.
It will find Courtney.
…
Jeremy's POV
"I don't like the looks of that script in there." Jeremy commented as Maggie pointed out more details and codes she uncovered about the plan to control the Specials that underwent the procedure.
"No wonder Clu was so unsatisfied with the results, right?" Maggie replied, "In fact, I bet he was quite happy about the new and improved abilities. We just can't be controlled, we were hazards, and risks to the plans he had against the revolutionaries."
Jeremy shook his head slowly. "These two are the individual codes that they used on us." He zoomed in on the code and projected it on a larger screen. "It's flawed," he commented, "See how there's an extra symbol right here in mine and yours is missing two for a particular command."
The lab door opened and a male Basic Program stepped inside. "You guys are going to want to see this," he sounded out of breath and wheezed a little, "Dash sent us an update and says the Renegade in Argon City has been accused of causing frequent blackouts in the City and even attempted to kill off a few civilians by planting a bomb in a tunnel system."
Maggie paused in her work, "That sounds disturbing…even to me."
"Well that says something then…" Jeremy commented with a thoughtful look on his face. "May I see the report?" he held out his open hand.
Silently, the Program handed Jeff the data pad, and retreated from the room, clearly dismissed.
Maggie looked over Jeremy's shoulder and skimmed over the report. "This can't be right," she argued, "If he's impersonating Tron, wouldn't he continue to fight for the Programs and not be turning on them at any random moment?"
Jeremy sighed. "I have to agree that something's missing from this report, a very important detail." He opened another menu and began typing a reply to Dash's message. "I suggest he simply stands on the sidelines and attempt to more thoroughly observe what's going on, maybe even ask his boss, coworkers and friends of their thoughts and opinions of this concerning topic."
Maggie says nothing, but curtly nods in agreement to his plan. After all, Argon wasn't their problem – the two were more focused on fixing and improving the adaptation procedure for use in the future.
"For now, I think it's best to simply keep an eye out on Argon City to make sure nothing too drastic occurs there, but the majority of our attention should go to this," he lifted a hand to gesture at the big screen still projecting the code used on Maggie.
The female Program once again nodded, "I can see the differences in the scripts used on us that resulted in our unique abilities," she went through and fixed the typos and got rid of the unnecessary code. "I think if we merged the two scripts and experimented with writing our own to achieve Clu's former goals…excluding the mind control," Maggie said, "We might just get exactly what we need before we can start performing tests on consented subjects."
Jeremy nodded at Maggie's suggestion with a ghost of a smile. "I approve," he declared, "Let's get started."
…
Beatrix's POV
The weapon was finally finished, much to her displeasure. At least Shaw never bothered to double-check for any flaws himself.
Oh well.
When it finally is used and tested on a subject in a simulation, the errors are going to be quite obvious. And by then, she'd be dead, so neither Shaw, nor any other Occupation scientist could ever consult her to fix them. As long as she can successfully destroy her disk before she's executed, no one could look into it and discover how to undo the problems she caused.
Beatrix hoped that this weapon wouldn't cause any problems for any other living soul besides those in the Occupation, because no Program deserved to endure such complications.
However, she knew and acknowledged that from here on out, nothing was in her control anymore.
In the next room over, she could hear Shaw speaking with General Tesler about visiting Argon City to introduce the weapon to his army and maybe, gain the upper hand against the Renegade and finally delete him.
She didn't hear much about anything outside the lab, so listening in on the scientist's conversation spiked her interest about a mysterious Program taking on Tron's persona and fighting for the innocent Programs forced to endure the slavery Tesler's putting them up to.
Secretly inside, she rooted for the male that she may never meet and wished him the best of luck, the hopefully Kevin Flynn was watching over him.
Beatrix could hear the meeting between Shaw and Tesler concluding so she had to work fast. Not bothering to glance at the soldier guarding the door, she dashed towards the nearest high-powered energy welder and without bothering to use safety protocols, ripped her disk off her back, placed it on the table, and activated the machine.
It sliced cleanly through her disk a few times before the soldier finally got close enough to turn off the machine. Then came the moment Beatrix had been expecting for the longest time, wondering when it would finally happen.
Derezzolution.
It hung above her head like a ton of weights held up by a weak, flimsy energy cable.
Time seemed to go in slow motion after that.
Beatrix took a deep breath and closed her eyes when she saw the guard draw his disk and activate it because of the violation on her part to the lab rules.
It felt like two and a half eternities before she heard the disk move, come closer and closer.
Surprisingly, she didn't feel anything. Beatrix didn't open her eyes, but she gasped in surprise.
Bit by bit, she disintegrated into a pile of cubes, but not before she set a wide smile on her face, as if mocking the soldier that murdered her.
In reality, she was mocking Clu, Shaw, the Occupation, because she wasn't miserable anymore. After so long having to endure mental and physical torture, she was finally set free.
Obviously, I called Aurora an "It" in this chapter because technically, she didn't develop a "gender," let alone a voice until she actually found Courtney.
And then there's Beatrix...sorry, I know her ending in this chapter's a bit dramatic and a little fast, but it's getting late for me and I just HAD to post this today...on Tron Tuesday. We all know I owe it to you guys...whoever's still reading this. ;P
Usually I'd apologize for the late update with an excuse, but we all know by now why I hadn't posted earlier. Besides...this whole chapter was written all today. XD I'm getting better!
And truthfully, I just can't wait 'till school's over, because I WANT MORE WRITING TIME!...And I decided after I post several more Tron Fics, I will post a Transformers story because...why the heck not?!
Credit goes to QuilSniv for suggesting that I go deeper into detail about the creation of the Upgrade weapon. Thanks for your handy idea, because I personally think it went quite well in this chapter!
Again, I'm glad to have updated today! Have a great evening (or morning for some people). TRON LIVES! Toodles.