Chapter 9: Tron... Alive?
Recovering from my slight shock I eyed him suspiciously.
"How do I know you're the real deal?" I questioned, my disc still aimed at his neck.
"Other than the fact that you're still alive? I think your chances are good." He said as he pushed my hand away.
"Fair enough." Deactivating my disc, I docked it to my back as my cape returned to cover it.
Standing beneath the spotlight, I squinted when the space was flooded with light, illuminating the room. It would have blinded me if I didn't have a helmet on. Looking around the now-lit room, I see a newly revealed door a few feet away from us.
"Come, we have lots to discuss." He said, already walking toward it as the door opened automatically.
Watching him exit the room, I grumbled as I pulled my hood over my head, reluctantly following after him. Walking out, I see a large circular room, with windows lining the entire space. A stairway was placed in the middle of the room leading to a second floor shaped like a half circle.
As I climb the stairs, I see a big rectangular arc with Tron standing in front of it, looking out at the city. Moving to stand beside him he let out a long sigh before speaking.
"A war is raging. Clu's generals have taken over almost every city on the Grid. Most programs haven't the slightest clue of what's really happening." Silently listening to him he continued to monologue.
"When I first discovered what had happened in Argon with that statue of Clu, I was excited at the prospect of finding a protégé. A program that denied their programming, no less, wearing my symbol." He paused before continuing.
"So, I watched him. Intently. And when the chance for me to go get him arrived, imagine my surprise when I found you surrounded by scattered cubes instead." He said, glancing at me, causing me to scoff.
Looking out the window, he stared out at the city once more. A small smile that seemed filled with bitterness was on his face. It looked like he was reminiscing before he went stone-faced and moved on.
"I thought of just leaving you where I found you, but there was this feeling I couldn't shake. A sense of familiarity, yet strangeness at the same time. That program must've felt it too. That was probably why he gave you his disc. Because of that same feeling." He said, fully turning to me.
"I don't know who you are, nor why you came looking for me, but I can be sure of one thing. You are the key to ending this war. I can feel it." He stated firmly.
"Look, I'm not here to fight in some war. If you wanted to defeat Clu so badly, why haven't you done anything yourself?" I respond condescendingly.
"You don't think I want to? I can't. I thought Clu was a trusted friend, but he was a traitor." Stepping back a ring of glowing lights enveloped him, slowly revealing many large wounds.
"Clu left me with scars that can never heal. Everything I once had, everything I once knew, is gone. Everything was taken from me. Everything, but the name that inspires hope in every program that still believes in it. Tron."
"And what do you want me to do about it?" I said as I leaned against the window
"I want you to help me carry on my name. To show every program that as long as Tron still lives, there's still hope."
Staring at him, I looked over his scars before sighing.
"Give me some time to make a decision. There's some stuff that I need to take care of before anything else."
"Take all the time you need. When you're ready, I'll be here."
Getting up from my leaned position I walk toward the stairs before pausing.
"Uh, where's the exit?"
"That way." He pointed.
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Using the light cycle that Tron had given me, I rode towards Argon. I need to think about how I'd deal with Beck's. The memories of them, and the time he spent with them make what I have to do next a little difficult. I don't necessarily have feelings toward these memories, nonetheless, I did make Beck a promise.
Plus, his memories are literally now fused with mine so remembering moments that didn't happen to me is weird. Still, it's a bit creepy to think about. Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I continued my trip.
As I sped through the outlands I saw recognizers flying over me, their searchlights scouring the ground. Switching my bike's lights off, I accelerate toward the city, trying to avoid being spotted as the ship's searchlights crept closer to spotting me.
As they were about to spot me I quickly de-rezzed my bike, turning it back into a baton as the searchlights almost spotted me. What I failed to consider, was that doing this at high speeds was a terrible idea.
Too late now considering I was sent flying into the snow. Crashing into the snow with a thud, more piles of snow fell on top of me. Groaning I wait for a few minutes, before clawing my way out of the snow.
'Least I wasn't found.' I thought, seeing the recognizers far in the distance before I continued to Argon.
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{Argon City}
I finally made it into the city. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, with me trying to conceal myself without alerting the guards due to the curfew put in place and my… uh, unique appearance. Geez, Tesler's army was everywhere in this city. Every corner and street, it's annoying as hell.
Groaning, I drove towards Able's garage, it'd be where I could find Mara and Zed. But now the hard part, telling them Beck died. Should I just not tell them? Nah, that wouldn't be good. Pondering a bit I just decided to lay it all out on the table.
They'll find out eventually I'm just speeding things up a bit. Pulling up to the huge garage, I saw a lot of people working on vehicles. It was more of a factory than a garage, but hey I'm not going to complain. Turning my bike back into its baton form, I walk through the garage in search of the two programs.
As I walked, I got wary looks left and right, it was understandable. I mean, to them, I'm this strange program that showed up out of nowhere cloaked and seemingly dangerous if I could gather anything from their whispering. Though it'd be better if I could blend in a bit more.
Just as I thought that my suit began to morph into that of what a normal-looking program wears. It lost its armor look, my cape and hood disappeared, and my talons also vanished. Man, I really need to give a name to the different forms my suit takes.
I also needed to figure out what kind of abilities I have in this world because, damn, wouldn't that be useful to know. Now that I think about it, from what I gathered from the little time I spent in the Grid, I had enhanced strength, speed, and durability. Plus there's that weird energy that I emitted.
Caught up in my thoughts, I was shaken out of them before I could think anymore when I spotted the same type of wrench that Beck had on him. Glancing around, I quickly swiped it before continuing to look for two programs. Walking a bit further into the garage, I spotted Mara and Zed as I walked up to them.
"Hey, are you guys Zed and Mara?" Asking what I already knew, but they didn't know that.
"Yeah, I'm Zed, and this here is Mara. And you are?" Zed huffed.
"Name's Jay. I have something you need to hear." They looked at me strangely.
I'm getting sick of these looks already, but anyway. Before I could continue, I stopped when we heard the sounds of recognizers beginning to land in front of the garage. Not good, really not good. As the guards began to exit the ships I looked around for a place to hide.
Finding a light tank nearby, I quickly duck behind it as the guards begin rounding up everyone to the front of the garage. Peeking out from my hiding spot, I see everyone gathered in one spot as the guards lined up in a parallel formation in front of a recognizer before their apparent commander walked down the middle of them.
Seeing a woman walk out of the recognizer made an image of her appear in my mind, immediately causing me to know who she was. That was the woman who gravely injured Beck, inadvertently leading to his death. I'd have to be careful of her. I watched from behind my cover as she spoke to the group of programs.
"What happened last night was nothing short of sedition." She said a hologram popped up on the recognizer displaying the scene of Beck blowing up Clu's statue.
Funny, seeing it from an outside perspective is kind of weird considering I experienced it through my memories. With that thought over, I continued to listen to her speak.
"If any of you know this program, turn him in. Because as long as he's free, none of you will be." She threatened as whispers among the crowd began to form.
"I'm here to announce that General Tesler is bringing the games to Argon. For the next few cycles, we will take groups of volunteers until this imposter is caught. Now, get back to work."
What a load of crap "volunteers," more like prisoners. Waiting a while, I stayed hidden until they all left before coming out. I couldn't stay here for too long, I'd have to tell Zed and Mara and then leave. Scanning the dispersing crowd I found them once again before quickly moving to them.
"Hey it's me again, I Need to say something to you guys and then leave it's important."
They were about to question me before I put my hand up.
"Look, friend, Beck. He's gone." I said in an apologetic voice.
"Y-you're lying, right? We just saw Beck last night." Mara choked on her words, tears beginning to well in her eyes.
They both looked shocked and in disbelief. It wasn't like I didn't understand them. Losing two friends in the span of a few days would suck extremely. I stared silently at the two as they were overcome with grief.
"First Bodhi and now Beck? This is all the renegade's fault." Zed seethed, barely holding in his anger.
Hearing that kind of pissed me off. Sure, Zed didn't know that Beck was the Renegade, but badmouthing him after trying to deal with a problem no one else seemed to stand up to or care about to protect his friends was a little much.
"It's not the Renegade's fault." I firmly stated.
"Oh yeah? If Tron, the Renegade, or whoever he is hadn't blown up Clu's statue none of this would've happened. In fact, how are we supposed to trust what you say? You're wearing a mask. For all we know, you're the Renegade, and the one who killed Beck." He pointed accusingly.
Almost immediately and without thought, I socked him in the mouth. I tried not to use too much force because I still didn't know the extent of my strength, but it was enough for him to end up on his ass.
"Zed!" Mara exclaimed as she rushed to see if he was alright.
"I was there when Beck died. He made me promise him to look after his friends... his family. I won't allow you to blame me for his death." I said, staring down at him.
"If you want to lash out or put the blame on someone, then blame Clu. The only reason you all are suffering like this is because of a tyrant." I said firmly as Mara helped him up. I could see his shoulders slump slightly as he stared at the ground.
It may have been harsh, but they needed to know. I can't have their anger misplaced by blaming a dead friend for something that wasn't their fault. With my piece said, I turned to leave only to see Able staring at me from a few feet away.
I'm sure he heard everything, and I don't feel the need to talk to him right now. So moving toward the exit, I was about to leave when I heard Mara shout at me.
"Wait! Will we meet again?" She questioned.
"Maybe, maybe not. But with how things are going now, we'll see each other a lot. See ya later." I took out my bike's baton, pulling it apart so it could materialize around me, waving as I sped off.
I've been riding for a few minutes now, I gained a bit of distance from the garage. I was about to head back toward Tron's hideout when I heard a huge blaring noise. It was faint but loud enough to tell which direction it was in. The garage. I saw recognizers and light tanks heading toward the noise as well. Only one word was able to come out of my mouth.
"Shit."
Sliding my bike to a screeching halt, I pressed the accelerator turning around as I rode back toward the garage.
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TheEndlessAbyss
TheEndlessAbyss That's it for this chapter what do you guys think of the story so far? If you like it tell me in the comments, and rememeber to add to your library and give stones they help a lot.
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