Tron: Deliverance

ACCESSING ARCHIVE DATA

Tron stared at Argon through the observation deck of his hideout. Watching as the sleek light lines of a cycle speeding across the snow.

Beck was early.

Tron nodded in approval and sifted through a few more files before he heard the elevator doors open and close.

"I got it Tron!" Beck's jubilant voice echoed through the cave. Tron crossed his arms and turned back to his protégé. A half smile curved across his face at the young program's exuberance. Normally, Beck was remarkably stoic and focused for such a young program. He was sarcastic at times and made a foolish decision here and there. But overall Tron couldn't be happier with his choice of successor.

"You acquired it without incident?"

"Yes, well. Not completely without incident. I had to fight some street level thugs on my way out of Purgos. But it was hardly as bad as the last time we were there" Beck's tone evened into his usual calm and friendly register.

"The last piece we needed" Tron held out his hand for the component.

Purgos tended to be a scrap heap for all things old, broken and useless in the Grid. But in any scrap heap you might find a treasure if you dig far enough. Beck had acquired an artifact from the Flynn era of the grid. Some high capacity data crystals. No longer compatible with current systems. Which was exactly what they needed.

"Now, once I load the anti-viral software into this. We should be able to give repurposed programs their minds back" Tron waved a finger at Beck, who was slowly getting more excited. Tron did not want to snuff out that flame. But he didn't want his protégé getting overconfident. Especially on a mission of this importance.

"It won't be a permanent fix. It would last less than a millicycle. But it would give us time to get these programs back here. Where hopefully that machine your friend built can finish the job"

"Maybe, with this, there won't be another Cutler" Beck's demeanor had gone somber. Showing the reason behind his fire.

He had started fighting against CLU for the sake of a lost friend. Now he had been determined, almost single-mindedly so, to find a way to free repurposed programs and restore them to their original functions.

Tron spoke slowly, not really sure how to comfort the young program but recognizing all too well the guilt written in every facet of his being.

"What happened with Cutler was in no way your fault. You did everything you could. You fought for him, for his free will, longer than anyone else would have" Tron placed a comforting hand on Beck's shoulder "And Cutler showed us that programs can break free from repurposing. Maybe they can't break free entirely on their own. But with our help. It just might be possible"

Beck put on a brave smile and nodded, acknowledging Tron's words.

"So, who are we gonna free first?" Beck asked.

Tron looked back out to Argon and the spots of light floating above it, recognizers.

"CLU brought along his elite security team.....My elite security team. They were all repurposed before I could even try to stop it"

Tron did not share details from CLU's coup lightly, no matter how many times Beck asked. He spoke slowly now, as if the words were floating voxels being drawn out of a wound.

"Dyson told me that they had repurposed everyone under my command within a few cycles of CLU's takeover. But the good news is they were the very first to be repurposed. CLU has heavily refined the process since then. That's why I have been having you and your little network gathering observations on the elite Black Guards specifically"