Tron: Deliverance

DATA PACKAGE INBOUND

Alan thumbed through the code on the depurposing machine. It was an excellent work of machinery. Zed may be a mechanic program but he certainly had a gift for engineering. If he were human Alan would be tempted to offer him a job at Encom.

Zed was tinkering with one of the pods on the machine. Making final refinements. Mara was working the console. She had been back for a while, returned from her shift at the garage.

"Do you think they'll get him back?" Zed asked no one in particular. His voice low and worried.

"I believe so. We cant lose hope. Paige will get him back" Mara said with a stiff chin.

Thalia nodded "They are the strongest group of fighters currently active on the Grid. Their abilities should be more than enough to accomplish this task" her demeanor was blank and toneless, even for a program. But somehow that made her seem more confident. Wins and losses were simple math to her.

"I would have gone with them if I thought it would be too much to handle" Alan said reassuringly. Though he was far and away the most experienced coder in the group, he had to admit to himself that he was in fact a middle aged man. And one that had never been particularly combat inclined. He knew that he would be more of a liability than a help on a mission that would likely require running and punching. So instead he stayed back to lend his insight to the machine.

Zed perked up when the older man spoke and nodded vigorously. Mara and Thalia also acknowledged his input with lowered eyes. There it was again, talking to programs always seemed like talking to a brand new intern at Encom. Their eyes huge, their backs stiff, and their chins nodding rapidly. Alan now fully understood why Flynn had pulled Tron from the old system.

When Alan had been reworking Tron's code through the long night after they found him in the sea, he had come across years of memory files. He had tried to avoid watching them, partly because he was focused on the task of fixing the code and partly to give his program some modicum of privacy. But there were some he just couldn't avoid seeing. Specifically, the memories that involved Tron interacting with Kevin Flynn in the early days of the Grid. Tron seemed to be the only program that would call Flynn out when his ideas were too bold to be feasible. Or his plans were so audacious the bordered on irresponsible.

It was strange really. That was exactly how Alan had worked with Flynn at Encom. It was why they were such a good team. Flynn was the dreamer with high ideals, and Alan was the practical coder with his eye on execution. Alan didn't particularly enjoy seeing young corporate employees scraping and bowing at his every word. He was forthright and tended to focus on ability over style.

Now if only Flynn had pulled Alan in on the Grid. If he had just TOLD him, he would have been more than happy to point out how harebrained the whole idea was. Perhaps have kicked Flynn until he added in a fail-safe or emergency exit or two. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe Sam would have had a real father instead of a surrogate one. Maybe Tron.......

Realizing that he was spiraling into regret and frustration Alan decided to switch gears. He strolled away from the programs, speaking to his wife in a low voice.

"Lora, how is the Grid looking overall? Has the power drain changed?"

His wife's somewhat tired voice chimed over the link "Not much dear, the grid is still hemorrhaging power but the rate is steady. Its putting some serious strain on the outskirts of the Grid, the whole system is overworking to compensate"

"That could get hazardous. It already puts a strain on the Grid to have so many Users active inside it"

"You just need to get to Purgos ad figure out whats going on"