TRON: ASCENSION

CHAPTER 14 - UNFORESEEN

THE GRID - FIRST TRONCYCLE

SOMEWHERE ALONG THE OUTLANDS

As Sam and Quorra fled from Purgos, the criminal underbelly of Grid, they didn't even have time to even divert their eyesight toward the city they fled with their lives intact. Even Quorra knew that Purgos became the place that it is now, but the gravity of the ground situation is what she didn't get to experience until now. Sam could've helped so much with her knowledge of this dreaded hellhole, but one cannot benefit from knowing the problem whose solution lies on a massive scale implementation. A simple briefing of the complex solution for people like Sam would be the overhaul of the present administration with an efficient one, which is a far-fetched idea.

Barely showing any signs of injury passing through the wildfire of Purgos, their escape was no easy feat tho. On the contrary, surviving numerous gangs of thugs and murderers with each one sprouting out every seven square miles from the back alleys, sneaking into one shop after another for cover, hiding from authorities by mingling with crowds, and finally, scouring the whole junkie land for a single Light Runner, all these in under just 137 mTC nearly killed the survivors. According to User World, they performed all these shenanigans for just one day, but the Grid Time Zone made it feel like days for these newbies. Claustrophobia and lack of trust in any Program in the vicinity seem to have petrified Quorra more than Sam, as he has already grown amongst such mongrels, although he got bailed each and every time.

Racing against time, the Light Cycle drove faster than the light in the Grid, with the rabid fear of the General's Sentries, bloodthirsty biker gangs, and famished scavengers all chasing for its flamboyance. Leaving the care of its looks and design all in the air, the Light Cycle dashed away from the Outlands as if this is its last MTC. Unlike the Cycles of the Grid, this one couldn't generate Light Wall to its defense. Those comforts are reserved only for the civilized Basics of Argon and Tron City, even though only a select few mastered the art of weaponizing a simple construct such as this. Barring all the distractions from their minds, the Light Cycle thought of giving it a break, supposedly halting at an anonymous yet assumingly safe camping spot. Gasping from their thin escape, Sam and Quorra fell down on the mountainous, rock-solid barren ground, waiting for the fresh air to make them home. Heaving a huge sigh of relief post a few visual, audio, and sensory confirmations of zero threats, Sam and Quorra couldn't help but feel their anxieties and fears vaporize into uncontrollable laughter of narrow escape amidst an unending cat-and-mouse chase for survival:

- Jeez, still couldn't get the hang of that psycho's silent and fast derezz. Never seen such a nasty and creepy Program before.

- The looks of his face were enough, Quorra. Why did you even close your eyes? We agreed to be alert and follow each other, didn't we?

- I couldn't, Sam! What would you do if someone started licking your face and enjoy every bit of it?

- (sarcastically) Boy or a girl?

- (impatient) Girl obviously! Answer!

- I'd say "Go for the tongue, babe."

- (hitting playfully and laughing) Let's see how you'll escape me then. You asked for it.

Rolling on each other in the ground, the tired lovers had joy for some time followed by a short nap of 5.7mTC. As Sam woke up Quorra, preparing them both for the journey ahead, he descended the Light Cycle from the cliff carefully and then revved it up to eleven, racing for several long miles. The journey became eerily silent and bought time for their refreshment, filling the remaining gaps with small banters here and then. The topic then shifted to their main agenda: