Unknown portion of the Grid.

The relative silence of the grid was shattered as a strange light vehicle surged across it, followed by several enormous arthropods - the smaller was the size of an analog world dog, while the largest were...quite a bit bigger.

The giant grid bugs had never seen such a vehicle before, but it looked very appetizing, and thus they had given chase across the wasteland, trying to devour the construct.

It had defended itself, of course - some bugs had fallen to its turrets, others crushed themselves against light ribbon, but still, they trudged on. The environment had also caused casualties, as several had been impaled on spontaneously forming spikes or captured by titanic vine-line entities. Still, many had survived, and they were slowly gaining on the vehicle.

"Keep going, we're almost home!"

"There's too many, we need to break off!"

"But then you'll-"

"We'll make it, Flynn. Trust us."

"...Dammit, alright, just don't get eaten, Jet."

"Please, you know I'm better than that."

Moments later, a pair of light ATVs emerged from the sides of the larger vehicle. Immediately, their light ribbon emitters spring to life as they began to weave, creating new barriers right in front of the bugs, splattering several. Combined with fire from one of the larger vehicle's rear turrets, and the number of grid bugs dropped considerably.

The arrival of several light copters overhead proved to be the last straw, and the bugs broke ranks and retreated. Moments later, the vehicles pulled into a base of sorts, and soon came to a stop outside on of the buildings. Already, a figure was waiting to greet them all.

"So, how's it go?"

Exiting the vehicle, the one named Flynn spoke first. "Great. Managed to retrieve dozens of programs, while Jet here continues to try and outdo me in turns of crazy risks."

"You love it, don't you?"

"I do. Nice to have a challenge."

The figure turned to glance at Jet. "You and Zeke, trying to make the last of my hairs go grey."

"You're not that old, dad."

"Alright, boys," spoke a feminine voice, "remember we have work to do. Save the banter for later."

Sighing, the Bradley boys ceased their playful ribbing and turned their attention back to the vehicle. "Remind me again how programs ended up in this state?" Asked Zeke.

"I have no idea," was Flynn's response. "Me and Quorra were just looking over the Grid after we'd settled everything with ENCOM and found it was corrupted. Seems my dad merging with Clu did more damage than we thought."

A sudden tremor turned the group's attention to an empty field, where the ground had begun to crack. Moments later, a strange crystalline pillar emerged, rising into the skies. Smaller crystals grew around it, gradually subsuming the terrain.

"...I am never going to get over seeing that."

"Me neither, Sam."

A strange humming sound caught the pair's attention. Turning toward it, they watched as a trio of mechanical beings exited the vehicle, carrying a set of gigantic pods with them.

"...How did you putting the Grid into standby mode result in this?"

"I have no idea, Jet. I didn't know that the Grid had a standby mode for debugging, or that it would send out whatever these programs are to put programs into stasis."

"You sure it's called stasis?"

"It said they when I asked."

"Boys," called a female figure, "some help please."

"Sorry Quorra!"

The male users hastily moved to assist the female program, failing to notice a figure in the distance, watching their movements with interest.

XXXXX

Within one of the makeshift structures in the base, groups of Users and Programs were at work examining pods, some merely organizing the pods, others working on the coding of a pod's contents. Occasionally, a pod would open, spewing out a confused program, which was swiftly escorted to a makeshift infirmary.

"So," asked Lora, "how're we doing?"

One of the strange, mechanical entities approached her. "On schedule. Tron City, Neon City, and Selenium City have all been successfully restored, with work continuing on repairing Photon City. And with the recent retrieval mission completed, restoration of Argon City may begin."

"Splendid. How long will the Restoration Protocol take to come into effect?"

"No more than two cycles. Be warned, however, that Aegon's code is exhibiting aberrant data and may accelerate the process."

"Remind me why this is a problem again?"

"It may deactivate the programs before the city has been fully repaired. As there were a significant number of Occupation-associated programs active when the Grid was put into stasis, this may result in a surge of Anti-User sentiment."

"Oh...don't most programs already carry enmity for Users after Clu's actions?"

"Correct. You implied point is noted."

"Thank you."

"Would Users Alan and Lora Bradley report to Infirmary One? Subject 0 has completed ninety percent of the required restoration treatments and is ready to be revived."

"I apologize, but I am needed elsewhere."

"Farewell, User Lora."

XXXXX

Within the infirmary was a single medical pod, which contained a single program - one who had been in need of a great deal of care. Crisscrossing his body were pixel scars, the result of being exceedingly close to the origin of the corruption now plaguing the Grid. The majority of these wounds were now superficial, though some scars remained. With time, they would fully heal.

To any program of the Grid familiar with their history, the identity of this program was obvious: this was Tron.

Next to the medical pod, a timer ticked down to zero. When it terminated, Tron's form began to stir. At first he twitched and shuddered, but soon he steadied and began trying to exit the pod. Eventually he stumbled free, but would've collapsed were it not for the two figures waiting outside. They managed to intercept him and stop the fall, giving the legendary program time to steady himself.

"Where...where am I."

"You're in an infirmary. You were badly injured. You still need time to recover-"

"Where's Flynn?"

The figures froze for a moment, sharing a look , before sighing. "Flynn's gone."

Shock filled Tron. "What? No. What happen-"

"Flynn is gone. He sacrificed himself to reintegrate with Clu. The process was fatal. He's dead."

Tron began to struggle, mind unable to comprehend what he had heard. "No-"

"Tron stop!"

Surprised at the outburst, Tron turned to the figure on his left. "Who are you?"

Instead of saying a word, the figure deactivated his helmet, revealing a face just like Tron's, only significantly older.

Tron could only stare at said face, mind still racing. "Why do you look like me...wait. Alan?"

The User in question smiled. "Yeah. Nice to finally meet you."

A storm of emotions filled Tron - joy, confusion, and sorrow Chief among them. "I..what happened?"

"You fell into the Sea of Simulation trying to stop Clu from pursuing Flynn, his son Sam, and Quorra. Your code was corrupted after Clu and Kevin reintegrated. Sam, Quorra, Lora, and me have spent over six hundred cycles trying to repair you code. It looks like we succeeded."

After taking a moment to process Alan's statement, Tron pulled his creator into a bug. "I...I...I never thought I'd get to meet you."

Alan couldn't help smiling as he returned the hug. "I know. This is a shock for me too."

"...What happened to Yori?"

"She's alive," replied the second figure, who deactivated her mask a moment later. "I'm Lora, Yori's creator. Right now, she's resting. She's been helping us for some time, and she's tired now."

"I..I'm happy to know that...This is all..so unexpected."

"I know. But we're ready to help you through it together."

"..Thank you."

XXXXX

Glancing at one of the pods, Quorra sifted through the a list of files, each corresponding to a different program. Some had been marked as 'repaired', a few 'derezzed', but most were just 'unknown'.

"You almost finished?l

Glancing upwards, Quorra found her husband had made his way next to her. "Not yet."

"Well, hurry. We've got half an hour before we need to be ready for the meeting."

"Can't I sit this out? You and Alan are the chief shareholder and Chairman. I'm just a researcher-"

"Who has helped ENCOM innovate to a degree that blows everyone else out of the water."

"This is, what, the fifteenth merger attempt this year. You'd think they'd take a hint by now."

"Eh, at least Microsoft, Intel, Microchip and TSMC just want software. I get the feeling F-Con, Bloom, and Abstergo just want to control all markets."

"Perhaps. You think we should hand some of these off to Keeva?"

"I think she could manage a few. You have an specific ones in mind?"

"Several, actually. One of whom I owe a favor."

"I'll see if I can tell her about them after the conference. Just, not too many programs - my dad really wasn't there for me, and I don't want to go the other way with Keeva and Kenneth."

"Of course."

XXXXX

Digital Sea, several hours later...

The strange vessel made its way through the digital ocean, zeroing in on its destination. It only took it a few minutes to reach its target, at which point it was halted for an inspection, a process that was tedious, but necessary.

Unnoticed to security programs, a jellyfish-like entity has slunk into the construct, and managed to secure itself in a section that had already been searched. Soon, the inspection was complete, and the ship entered its destination.

XXXXX

From within the depths of the Digital Sea, XANA pondered in silence.

He had not expected to encounter another digital world like Lyoko. It had only been a chance observation that lead him to this location - a monster he had constructed to patrol the sea had found the vessel surging through the virtual ocean, dead set on reaching its destination. With some difficulty he had managed to slip the Scyphozoa into the vessel, and now it was showing him the world it had found.

A world where all programs were alive? And sapient? One where the newest of his enemies had originated from? That was...interesting, to say the least. It seemed like an opportunity, but it also carried risks.

But those risks weren't exactly high.

Time to get to work.

XXXXX

"Oi," asked Lemarr, "can someone tell me where all of these programs came from?"

"Argon City," replied one of the medical programs. "I believe that this was where Tron chose his apprentice, the Renegade."

"Is that particular program among the batch sent to us?"

"...Yes."

"Then let's get him up and ready."

XXXXX

AN: Yeah, interlude chapter.

ENCOM is a big success now, people want in. I am currently undecided if the company names chosen are just references to other series or will actually have bigger roles.

The weird mechanics entities are special system repair programs, meant to activate only if the Grid is in need of extreme repairs. They're not meant to look human and really lean in on being machines.

The timeline for this story is that Tron was captured a few weeks before the events of Legacy. Cyrus was getting ready to try and frame Beck when Sam entered the Grid, so the Renegade's reputation is still intact. Also, I really like the characters from Uprising and wanted to give them some focus.

If you have any thoughts, share them - I'm not one to keep writing if I get only praise and no critique.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!