`O, BRAVE NEW WORLD!, Flynn!

[Tron]

"O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world
That has such people in't!"
(- William Shakespeare, The Tempest)

Tron never thought he would see Flynn again. He had had the impression that, once Flynn had saved the entire ENCOM System from the MCP, Flynn would then ascend back to the World of the Users where he belonged, where he was destined to be and where no Program was destined to know in his lifetime. This was the very reason it came as a shock to the Program when he suddenly woke up in a new System, in an unfamiliar wasteland with no one but Flynn. Flynn, who had extended a hand to him and offered to build a new System - for both Programs and Users - together.

That had been long ago. So long ago, in fact, that Tron's memories of the ENCOM System were little less than an enigma in his mind. For a while, he had grieved over the loss of Yori, how he was taken from her and how she had never come for him. He'd requested to Flynn to bring her as well, but Flynn had never obliged, always claiming he wasn't able to recreate her. It had enraged him, though - ever faithful - he had never outwardly showed it to Flynn. If Flynn was able to create all of the other Programs in his new System, called the Grid, then why was he not able to bring back the only thing that Tron had ever loved? The mystery had plagued him for a while, before it simply faded away, becoming as insignificant as the remains of the gridbugs that Tron had to constantly keep out of the Grid. There was no further mention of Yori, although every once in a while, he would hold a private vigil for her in his quarters, temporarily abandoning Flynn for the last remnants of his own hopes and desires. He had no relic to remind him of the woman he had loved, nor any trace of a souvenir left from their short time together. All that he had left of her were the memories of her from cycles past. The part of him that was not fully dedicated to Flynn and the Grid - to the Users - was pining for Yori to return. However, he never mourned long.

His only option was to carry on, unblinking, into the distance.

With Flynn actively in the Grid, there was little need for services in the I/O Towers, which Tron had also deeply missed. At the moment, there were no Users, but just one User - the Creator - Flynn. Tron was honored to be Flynn's second-in-command and protector, and also his best friend, but the lingering thought that there was something more beyond the System never left Tron's mind and - had he been capable of possessing one - heart. This lingering thought was made stronger by watching Flynn come and go from the Grid, just as he used the beam of the dying MCP to be sent back to his own World. The only difference between the two events, Tron had pondered, was that Flynn was able to travel back and forth between the Grid and his World. Ever since Flynn had first used the portal to travel back and forth between Worlds, Tron had been fascinated by the concept and the invention of the portal. He had always lingered there for a short while every time he would accompany Flynn (which he had requested to do often) to see him off. He would watch Flynn leave, and ponder for a while about what had just happened before his eyes, and how it worked.

A secret that had been unknown to Flynn for the longest time was the Security Program's fascination with the World of the Users. Even in the ENCOM System, even under the tyrannical claw of the MCP, he pondered it, dreamed about what it was like, even though no Program could fathom what it was like. Dumont had always said it was full of divine, spiritual creatures who held the power to create anything they wanted. Using methods beyond comprehension, he had continued, they created everything around them - filled with beauty, filled with power, filled with a spirit that was not in anything untouched by their loving hands. All this, and more, Tron kept within him, and he had always tried to paint a picture in his mind about the World of the Users, having seen no visual evidence of its existence before Flynn had come.

Was it possible for Tron to travel to the World of the Users? No, he had concluded long ago. The portal was meant for Flynn and Flynn only. Even if he was able, Tron felt that he was not worthy enough to tread on the sacred ground on which the Users tread, nor even prostrate himself on it. He was not worthy to be blessed by the Users' light, nor even purse his lips to drink the precious Energy that came from the springs brought forth by Them. Tron was Their servant, and ever faithful would he remain to Them, though never would he be worthy to stand among Them. He would always fight for Them, but he would never be able to fight alongside Them, save Flynn.

No. There was no use getting his hopes up. Tron would live and die never knowing the true image of the Users. There was only the picture painted by his mind, and Flynn's very presence.

Tron reflected upon all of this and more as he was walking along a path. A path to where, he did not know, as the Creator had told him to close his eyes. The Security Program felt a firm grasp on his shoulders as every once in a while he was turned to head in another direction. All other noise from the Grid had faded away, save Flynn's voice insisting that he had a surprise for him, that it was going to be something Tron would never forget. It was going to be unlike anything the Program had ever experienced before.

Could it be...? No, Tron didn't want to get his hopes up. He did not want to get his hopes diminished simply because it was impossible for him to make the journey.

Flynn's voice was growing more and more excited as they drew nearer to wherever it was that they were going. He must have been very excited to bring Tron to this place, although if it was anywhere in the Grid, Tron didn't know why Flynn had considered it a surprise. After all, Tron had been just about everywhere known to the Grid because of the Gridbug invasions that had been happening all over the Grid. There was almost nowhere that Tron hadn't had to race to on his Light Cycle...

A new force enveloped him like none he had ever felt before. It was painful, yet at the same time, it seemed to be strengthening him. However, it was too strong to give him the strength to withstand its power. The power was coursing through his body - his arms and hands, his legs and feet, and throughout his spine - so quickly and with so much strength that Tron felt as though he was going to explode. A loud noise like a shot of a beam, but much, much louder coursed through his ears and threatened the loss of his hearing. Tron wanted to writhe, but he could not move. He only quivered, twitched, and he could feel this because his senses were heightened, along with his ability to sense pain. The Program's eyes shot open only to roll back into his head to become completely numb to the sensations that he was experiencing. His mind started to let go of the pain, allowing for one more moment of thought before fading into what seemed to be oblivion: what was happening? Where was Flynn taking...?

Could it be that...?

No. Tron didn't want to get his hopes up.

[Kevin Flynn]

Kevin - the Creator, as he had been called - had never been truly pleased with what he had done. Sure, he had several achievements that he was proud of, but none of those had pleased him. He had been a little pleased with Space Paranoids and Matrix Blaster, even more pleased when he got the evidence he needed, but he had never been proud of that. Even the hi-scores that he had were nothing more than a way to inflate his ego.

It was worse that he had been made CEO of ENCOM, but that was for a slightly different, albeit similar, reason.

However, his newest achievement surpassed all that he had done. No, he couldn't consider the Grid an achievement; it was so much more important than that. It was everything that he had wanted to create since he got back from the ENCOM System. Unlike the ENCOM Systems, Kevin Flynn had created a closed System. Unfortunately, that didn't mean the Grid didn't have problems with viruses. These viruses were different, as they only attacked the Grid. These viruses, though not as menacing as they could have been, were aptly named Gridbugs.

Though, before he had even gotten far on construction of the Grid, he had found that he needed helpers. The first was CLU, a slight recreation of an earlier hacking Program that he had been quite fond of. His second, his friend, was Tron. The Security Program had been a little harder to get, as he had to expressly inform Alan of what he was going to do. A shiver worked its way up his spine as he remembered that conversation. He had enough sense, and he knew Alan Bradley well enough, to be sure that none of the threats he made were idle and some of the threats became promises.

The Creator sighed as he pulled himself back to the present. Even though he had worked out a balance between the time he would spend on the Grid and in his own world, it was still hard to leave. If he were being honest, it was even harder to leave Tron. He knew that CLU, CLU 2.0, could work well enough on his own. The only thing that he had Tron do was protect the Grid. He was a Security Program, but even that was a very poor reason to have him defend the Grid and do nothing else.

If he was trying to be a good friend, he was sure doing a very poor job of it so far. He wanted to do something for Tron, but he didn't know exactly what he wanted to do. He ran both of his hands through his hair as he looked at the Portal, and then immediately dropped his hands to his sides as an idea formed in his mind. An idea? No, it was more akin to an epiphany. It didn't matter what he called it, actually; it only mattered that it had taken him too long to figure that out.

He made his way over to Tron and gently put his hands on the Warrior's shoulders. "I have something I want to show you, but you have to close your eyes. It's a surprise, so there's no point in looking."

Fighting the grin that threatened to spread across his face, he gently directed Tron toward the Portal. He was grateful for the fact that his friend was trusting of him, or else he didn't think he would have been able to convince him to close his eyes. Flynn went over different things in his head that he would have to show Tron, some of which he hadn't shown anyone else. There were things he hadn't even shown Lora, but he had a very different set of reasons for that.

The User managed a small grin as he added, "You're going to like what you see, man. It's like everything you had ever dreamed, yet like nothing you could ever imagine."

As the got to the steps leading to the Portal, Kevin only nudged his friend's leg a little before Tron seemed to get the message that they had to walk up the steps. He had taken this path himself many different times, but this was the first that he hadn't done it alone. A little voice in the back of his head told him that this may not be the best idea, but he wanted to show Tron that he appreciated all the work that he had done to keep the Grid safe. If anything serious happened, Kevin only had to fix things from the outside and that was simple enough.

Though, if he could be painfully honest with himself, he really didn't want to work while Tron was in the "real" world. He would have to go to ENCOM, if only to make sure that the company functioned without him, but that was it. There was so much that they could do, but he would let Tron decide that. Their feet found level ground and Kevin's small grin spread all the way across his face. As they got closer to the Portal, he reveled in the feel of the energy and power that washed over him. Ah, he would never get tired of that.

His grip on Tron's shoulders greatly loosened as they got closer and closer to the Portal itself. He tried to order his thoughts before they stood inside the beam, but he soon found that it would be to no avail. He chuckled inwardly and shook his head as he released his hold on Tron's shoulders. He removed his Disc and held it above his head, glancing skyward as he released it. The familiar sensation filled him up and he took a moment to close his eyes, knowing exactly where he would land once they got to the other side.

The data that he had been broken down into reconfigured itself into the form of Kevin Flynn and he sat forward in the chair in front of his terminal. He glanced over at Tron and quickly got out of the chair to catch the fainting Program. He smiled slightly and balanced Tron's weight in his arms as he exited his basement office. Okay, so it was going to be a little harder to get back to his room, but that was fine.

He took his time going up the steps, taking great care to not jostle Tron too much. He pushed the game cabinet open with is foot and turned his body sideways so he could get through. A sigh passed through Kevin's mouth as he found that his arcade was empty and all of the games were turned off. He would turn them on later that day, but he was more worried about getting Tron upstairs. He followed the familiar route through the rows of machines to get to the door that led to his office and his bedroom.

"One more flight of stairs," he said to himself as he began to climb the staircase.

Chuckling slightly once he got to the top of the stairs, he turned the light switch off with his elbow before he made his way over to his bed. He stopped once his shin made contact with his bed and he gently laid Tron down on top of the comforter. Before he was entirely sure of what he was doing, Kevin gently pushed Tron's hair off of his forehead. He then walked over to his couch and sat down, letting out a sigh as he picked up his handheld game.

Best. Idea. Ever.

[Tron]

So, this was what being derezzed felt like.

There was silence in Tron's mind as the numbness started to fade away. He wasn't sure where he was, nor did he know what was happening. He didn't know what had happened to him. All he knew was that Flynn had taken him somewhere, and that "somewhere" had an effect on Tron that Flynn either expected or didn't care about. However, Tron didn't have the Energy to find out. He simply wanted to lay there, a sudden burst of lethargy hitting him. Was this what being derezzed felt like? Tron felt oddly whole; more whole than he had ever felt before. Though Tron was slowly starting to become aware of his thoughts again, he was still numb to the movement around him. For all he knew, he could have been floating in the air or submerged in the Sea. For all he knew, he was being carried - by what or whom, by natural or unnatural means, Tron didn't care.

Yet, for some reason, Tron seemed to like this lethargy, this lack of motivation to perform the tasks he was assigned. It was almost like being parched for many cycles and suddenly finding an Energy pool... It would have made one never want to leave, never want to waste precious Energy again. Energy was precious... Tron, of all Programs, knew that. He relied on Energy every time he had vanquished a sudden Gridbug infection or any other sort of problem that would find its way into the Grid. It was very tiring work, and therefore, Tron needed to drink plenty of Energy before being sent out again to handle another problem.

However, this experience seemed almost identical to finding an Energy pool, even though there were no pools that Tron could see. This was the opposite of what he thought being derezzed was like. This felt good.

Tron seemed to stir from his unconsciousness, only to discover something new, something his inferior species hadn't found a way to grasp. It was a gift that his User creators had failed to bestow upon him - another way that the Program was not made in his Master's image - and therefore had introduced the Program to Energy, and its taste that was intended to linger with him for the rest of his short, meaningful life. It was a lovely gift, something that made up for this World's lack of Energy pools and yet made Tron never want to touch a drop of Energy ever again. To Users, Tron would someday learn, it was called 'sleep'.

And as he "slept", he "dreamed", although it came in the form of recent memories.

"You're going to like what you see, man. It's like everything you had ever dreamed, yet like nothing you could ever imagine."

Everything he'd ever dreamed... How did Flynn know what he had dreamed? Of course, he was a User, but... Was it possible that he'd somehow heard Tron's silent prayers, both in the ENCOM System and the Grid? That could have been explained, Tron realized, as well by the fact that Flynn was a User.
Could it be that...?

No. He didn't want to get his hopes up. Not even at this point, because Tron didn't want to be disappointed. Sometimes, he had even scolded himself for having these selfish dreams and desires, because it strayed away from his objective.

But, still... Flynn did say that it was everything that he had ever dreamed...

As he started to come to, Tron felt a pulsing vibration throughout his body, something that made a low, quiet sound into his ear. It was slow, calm, and constant; to an extent, it was even rhythmic. It was vivid in his ear, especially given the silence of the rest of his surroundings, but at the same time, it was telling him there were many more things to discover than simply the pulse (that it certainly wasn't related to circuitry, Tron was sure, for never in the cycles that he had been alive had he had this happen to him before) within his subconscious. It seemed to tell him that there was more. And there was.

Breathing. It was a mechanical process in the Grid. It served no real purpose, except to exercise certain muscles. At least, this was what Tron had discovered of it. However, now, it was a completely different experience. He felt the inhale. He felt the exhale. He felt his chest fill up whenever he took in air, and he felt the impact of its release, the expand and contract of his body...

His body, was it the same? Tron wondered this, and yet he was too lethargic to find out for sure. However, he needed to find out where he was sooner or later... and where Flynn was, at that. He found that he could not simply open his eyes and spring to attention. He was drained of Energy, and this unconscious state.... Tron was almost reluctant to leave it, since it felt so refreshing after a long and difficult series of jobs to do.

Tron tried to move his head, and when he did, it brushed up against something... he didn't know how, but the word he was looking for immediately came to mind... something soft. To make sure, he brushed against it once more. Twice more. It felt lovely, and it was a strong contrast to not being able to feel anything at all, which was what he thought came with derezzing. A contented sigh escaped from his throat as he reveled in the sudden pleasure, unintentionally proving to himself that he was somewhere, and that he was himself.

Now that Tron knew he was able to move his head, he tried to move the rest of his body (fingers, hands, arms and legs all could move, and almost all of them brushed against something "soft"), even going as far as to roll himself over onto his side to allow himself to brush his cheek against whatever beneath him was "soft". To any outsider, Tron would have looked like he was sleeping, for this was exactly what he was doing. The subtle, random movements of his body were dismissable, as was Tron's apparent fascination with whatever his head rested upon. One could have almost forgotten that Tron was a stranger to this wonderful User gift of sleep.

Now that Tron knew that he could move the rest of his body, there was now the daunting task of opening his eyes, for he had become aware that, for all this time, his eyes had been closed. Gradually, Tron's eyelids started to spread open, only to quickly snap shut again at the sudden and bright amount of light to hit his eyes. What World was this, where there was so much light? However, Tron was nothing if not stubborn and persistent. He opened and closed his eyes several more times before he was not as blinded as he had been before, needing only his hand to shield himself from the change in light...

His hand. It wasn't armored. Tron saw that it was made from the same material as his face, for both materials rubbed against each other for a brief moment as Tron pressed his hand to his face. Where was his armor, and what had it become? His now bare hand slowly made its way up his face, intrigued with what bare skin was able to feel, until it reached his hair, which had barely changed since he had last examined it. However, Tron could not shake the feeling that there was something different about even his hair, which he felt had slightly more... dimension? It made no sense.

It was only then that Tron had the courage to look up and fully examine the World around him... It was not the Grid. This much was clear to the Program... or whatever he was now, for he had the gut feeling that "Program" was not an accurate term to describe him anymore. This World's colors... They were more vivid, more... palpable. Why did this word suddenly enter his head? Tron wasn't sure. But in his surroundings, he did find colors... colors Tron was familiar with, and most being colors Tron had never seen before, nor had he ever dreamed of seeing. He saw reds and blues, oranges, blacks, whites... but there were very strange mixtures, and strange ways of blending the colors he knew into creating new patterns that were beyond Tron's limited imagination. And strangest of all, everything worked perfectly together. Despite everything being so different from everything else, despite the random occasional clash against a backdrop that was anything but dark and black, it all worked perfectly. Even his body, black-clad (were his circuits missing?! It was by this that he knew he was no longer fully a Program) lying on his back against the soft surface he had felt earlier, worked with the environment around him, and all of the strange patterns and colors he would have to grow used to.

"Flynn?" he called out softly, calling out the only name he knew at the moment, the only name he felt would help him. A little louder, he repeated, "Flynn?" Again, louder still, "Flynn?"

Could it be that...?

No. Tron didn't want to-

But this time, he cut off his own thoughts. Something filled him - a certain grace, if it could be said - that told him to say otherwise. Something that told him not to deny what was as real as his own skin.

Could it be, then, that this was the World of the Users, what Tron had always fantasized about in his cycles of freedom and his cycles of captivity on the Game Grid and in his cycles in Flynn's service? Could it be the World that was so different, a mere Program could not fathom it on his own? The World of angels and kindly deities in whose image their Programs were made? Could it be that Flynn had brought him here, to walk among those beings called "angels" and to uncover for himself the secrets behind the mighty Users?

Grace told him yes. Yes, it was.

This post has been edited by Tron on May 22 2012, 09:36 PM

[Kevin Flynn]

While he was playing his handheld game, Kevin would look up at intervals to make sure that Tron was okay. He didn’t know what exactly the trip through the Portal would do to the Program, but he took it as a good sign that Tron seemed to be sleeping. He placed his game down and stood up from the couch, wanting to see how his companion was actually doing. Flynn wouldn’t get too close to the bed; just close enough to make sure that Tron hadn’t passed out. He was within five feet of the bed when he heard Tron’s steady breathing and a sigh escaped him.

“He’ll get up when he gets up, but a nap doesn’t sound so bad,” he said to himself as he walked back to the couch.

He kicked off his shoes once he sat down on the couch, almost thankful for having bought a pair of boater’s shoes the summer before. He usually lounged on the couch with his shoes on, but taking a nap while wearing shoes was something that he had never grown accustomed to.

Flynn adjusted a pillow before he laid his head down, stretching out so he was looking at the ceiling. By the time he was done with his nap, however, he would be laying on either his side or his stomach. That was something he had done for as long as he could remember, even before he went to high school.

The User let out a sigh and closed his eyes, turning his head to the right slightly as his breathing began to even out. It wasn’t habit that he took a nap often, but he couldn’t deny that it had an appeal after a long day. Even as he settled down and began to nap, his thoughts changed direction and began to focus more on his son. In the back of his mind, a small voice reminded him that he might have broken a promise he made to Jordan the last time he visited her grave. He had promised that he would spend more time with Sam and less time, well, on-Grid.

That was a simple promise to his wife to keep their family together, and he still had trouble keeping it. Well, not this time. This time, he intended to keep the promise if it was the last thing he ever did. He’d have to go to ENCOM, this was true, but he would stay off of the Grid for as long as he could. He would monitor it from his computer, but he would not activate the terminal until it was absolutely necessary.

As he rolled onto his right side, he hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary for quite some time. However, that was something that he couldn’t always control.

He knew enough about Systems to know that, no matter how hard you tried, there was always the chance that something would go wrong. The Grid, just like any System, had its chances of being unpredictable. There had been some activity on the Grid that Flynn couldn’t explain, but it had garnered the attention of several swarms of Gridbugs. Now, the Gridbugs weren’t overtly harmful, but they weren’t harmless either. They, like Bits, were something that every System needed.

Flynn groaned and rolled over, moving his left arm above his head. If he really wanted his thoughts to give him a break for a little while, he knew that he would need to actually go to sleep. For the moment, however, his bed was occupied and he was fairly comfortable on the couch. He was thankful that he could get a nice rest on his couch, as it was something that he had done several times before and knew that he would do it even more. His movements settled down as he fully surrendered to a nap that he felt he really needed.

Full nights of sleep seemed to be a thing of the past for Kevin Flynn. He thought that he had gotten it under control after he got ENCOM back, but the Grid had rendered any hope of getting a full night’s sleep doubtful at best. He had gotten full nights of sleep when he was first married to Jordan, but those soon disappeared when she became pregnant with Samson. After Jordan passed, all hopes of a full night’s sleep seemed to vanish out from under him in an instant.

He groaned and rolled onto his back before opening his eyes and sitting up. At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to have anything that even resembled a nap. Flynn dragged a hand down his face and shook his head, stretching slightly before contemplating whether or not he was going to stand up. That decision was made for him as soon as he heard Tron say his name. He jumped up from the couch and made his way over to his bed.

A bemused smile spread across his face as he saw that Tron was wearing a shirt and jeans similar to his own, but something that Alan would rarely wear. “I’m right here, Tron; I didn’t leave. You’re in the World of the Users, man,” Kevin said, “Try sitting up, you’ll get a better view.”

[Tron]

Tron looked around the strange and vivid room in which he had found himself. This wasn't real, he tried to tell himself. He wasn't here. He only thought he was. It was like a dream. A very vivid dream, and eventually, Tron was going to wake up from it. He was going to wake up to see another Gridbug invasion, another leak in this sector of the Grid...

Tron's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden odd sound that came from the back of his throat and made him close his eyes for a brief few seconds; Flynn would have recognized it as a yawn. Whatever had caused the sound within him, it made Tron all the more drowsy, and all too willing to sink back into his reboot-like slumber. Experimentally, he closed his eyes again, if only to satisfy his body's craving for rest, and rubbed his head against the soft surface again. It really did feel good, and at that moment, Tron wanted nothing more than to stay there forever, Flynn or no Flynn, World or no World...

World. There was a World out there. A vast, wonderful World beyond Tron's dreams, and previously beyond his very reach.

Tron opened his eyes once again (it took less time to adjust to the light than he originally thought). He felt something in his eyes, so he reached up with his unarmored, fleshy hands and rubbed at them in an attempt to hopefully dislodge whatever was making them itch. It was strange, his hands being significantly more sensitive than they were before. Whatever they touched felt more vivid and real, with texture he could thoroughly describe. Barely a drop of an odd, squishy substance was dislodged from the corners of his eyes after a few moments of rubbing. Curiously, Tron rubbed it between his fingers until it grew so thin, it was almost nothing. A strange and wonderful thing, this sensitive sense of touch was.

After making another one of those odd drowsy-sounds, Tron decided to experimentally feel his way around his surroundings, as if to prove himself right. The surface his body was laying on was very soft, although not nearly as soft as the cushion that was under his head. The curious hands gradually made their way to the aforementioned cushion, which his barren fingertips greatly enjoyed examining. Hands made their way to his face and hair (how warm his face felt! And he was without circuitry? This was a mystery that baffled the former Program), intrigued by the sensitive skin that Tron now wore. His attention gradually changed to the armor substitute that was now on his non-circuited body. Compared to the armor he was used to (and even the armor before that), these garments felt very... loose, and very smooth as well. On his upper body, most of his arms were exposed and unarmored. Curiously, Tron felt the skin (and... hair?) of his arms, wondering if the rest of his body was like this as well.

For a moment, Tron had almost forgotten where he was, or where he thought he was. He had been so busy examining himself and his surroundings that he had forgotten to question what User had brought them forth... Or Users...

The World of the Users. Was this it? Was this what it was like?

“I’m right here, Tron; I didn’t leave."

A familiar voice. Tron suddenly looked up to see a figure near him, looking at him, talking to him. He didn't look familiar at first, but his voice...

"Flynn?" Tron asked softly, drowsily. "Is that you?" There were a dozen other things he could have said to Flynn, he realized, many of them being ways to barely express the amount of joy that came with seeing something vaguely familiar in this strange new World. Yes, with another look, Tron could see that it was Flynn talking to him; he could see by the User's face. It didn't seem to change, whether he was on the Grid or not...

Another drowsy-sound, and Tron was almost ready to close his eyes again and reboot himself, or whatever it was that non-Programs did. However, he barely caught Flynn's next words, and it would be these words that would banish all thoughts of unnecessary slumber from his mind.

"You’re in the World of the Users, man.”

Tron was stunned to see his suspicions confirmed. Was this really it, the World of the Users? Tron rubbed his eyes again (this time ignoring the odd substance) and suddenly saw the World around him with a new light, a new sense of awe, as if he had never been tired in the first place.

"World of the... the Users," Tron repeated under his breath, still stunned at the confirmation of his hopes and dreams. Every secret moment of silent reflection in the Training Complex cell, every wistful and curious gaze at the Input/Output Beam, every moment he had pined for something beyond his established and straightforward life, every image he had of the Other Side... It all added up to this. This was the moment he had waited Cycle upon Cycle to see, and there had been obvious doubt that he would live to experience it for himself. This was the moment that many Programs like him would have broken their Discs for, just to have a glimpse. And here he was, among Them. Among Flynn's kind. Tron was, at this point, the luckiest Program who had ever been rezzed to life. He, of all Programs, was chosen to walk among his creators, to interact with them as if they were Programs themselves, or - Users forbid - he a User like them.

He, Tron, a User-type. It was hard to imagine, but the image was simply too beautiful to dismiss.

"World of the Users," he breathed again, as his mind was a complete blank; there were no other words, no matter how hard Tron tried to find them. "I'm in the World of the Users." Too drowsy to show any gesture of victory, Tron decided to "celebrate" by sinking his head further into the very soft head-cushion. He earned it.

“Try sitting up, you’ll get a better view.”

The last part of Flynn's suggestion was drowned out by yet another drowsy-sound, as if his body was reacting to the interruption of its personal reward. However, Tron obliged, though it was hard at first. Using his arms to push himself into a sitting position, Tron eventually found that his back was now pushing against where his head formerly had been. The brief thought of his back made Tron instinctively reach behind him to check if his Disc had survived the transport... only for him to realize that it wasn't there. All of the drowsiness quickly drained out of Tron's body as he attempted to feel around for his Disc. Oh, Users, if his Disc was gone, that would have meant instant deresolution, should a potential threat come up. Deresolution, and a very painful one at that... Tron kept reaching over his shoulders and around his sides to make sure there was not a place on his back where he had not looked. Oh, Users, this wasn't good...

However focused Tron wanted to be on finding his Disc at that moment, part of him - the same odd sense of grace from before - told him to ignore the lack of a Disc and instead look around him. Tron obliged; he did just that, and what he saw intrigued him. There were the strange color mixtures from before, Tron knew, but upon closer inspection, there were various things and items that he barely recognized; more likely from the Grid than from the ENCOM System. Tron looked up at the lights and over at the walls; he wondered what was beyond one of the windows, and what the floor felt like. Every pixel of Tron's being (of course, "pixel" no longer applied, but the Program-turned-something had no other word substitute) wanted to explore just this room from top to bottom, inside and out, in order to learn as much as he could about this wonderful World.

"Wow," he breathed, before taking the opportunity to stretch out his stiff limbs (a possible side effect of the reboot-slumber?) and to emit yet another drowsy-sound. His face was filled with a mixture of serenity and awe, with the slightest bit of fear in his dark eyes.

He was here.

The World of the Users.

He had made it.

[Kevin Flynn]

Flynn chuckled slightly as he saw Tron yawn, fighting the urge to do so himself. He knew that he was going to yawn sooner or later if Tron kept on yawning, but he could try to hold it off as much as possible. On the other hand, they both had just woken up from naps and yawning was typical after any period of slumber. It made him tired though, yawning, and that was something that he didn't need right now.

A smile pulled at Kevin's lips as he caught Tron snuggling further into the pillow. He had done that frequently when he was younger, especially if he didn't want to get up at that time. It was also something that he had caught Sam doing on more than one occasion.

Sam. Oh, man, he would love to meet Tron.

There was a part of Kevin that also wanted to take Tron to see Alan, but that idea was quickly shot down. He didn't think that Alan would dislike meeting Tron... well, until he found out how Flynn had gotten him there in the first place. He had proved that Programs could go through the Portal, but he had not accounted for the whole fainting episode that Tron had as soon as they got back.

Digital form into human space. Hmm, maybe he should have included that in The Digital Frontier. No, that was something he wouldn't want to spread around. It was a feat to have created the Grid; he didn't need people to know that he could take a digital being out of its World.

Yeah, he really needed to stop thinking.

He lightly chuckled at Tron's question and replied, "Yeah, it's me. I was wondering when you would wake up." Okay, so that was Flynn's nice way of saying that he wanted to have had little bit longer to nap. No, that sounded a little mean. He could sneak in a little nap once they got back, if they went out during the night.

Tron yawned again and, this time, Flynn covered his own mouth as he yawned as well. Once he was finished yawning, he shook his head to fully wake himself up. If that didn't even work, he could quickly run to the bathroom downstairs and splash his face with cold water. Cold water had generally served to wake him up, except for a few times in college when he was working on his master's.

Flynn kept a passive expression on his face as Tron seemed to take in the fact that he was in the World of the Users. Speaking from experience, any transfer of Worlds did take some time to get used to. Kevin had gotten used to the ENCOM System easily enough, but he did not have any other choice once he was in the cell next to Ram. That seemed like so long ago, but there were moments when it was present in his memory like it had just happened the week before. For all that he had experienced, it only drove him to create a digital world of his own. The Grid was something that he had been proud of when he created it, and even took time when building it.

Right after Jordan died, he thrust himself into his work and nearly worked himself ragged. It was the best way for Flynn to deal with his grief without doing anything drastic. No, he never turned to the bottle, but he did spend a lot of time on his Ducati when he wasn't on the Grid.

No, he needed to get his mind away from there. It was a dark time that he never wanted to go back to, a time that he didn't want to drag Sam through again.

He chuckled as Tron sank further into the pillow. Flynn was very happy that he had brought Tron over with him, knowing that they both deserved a break. Well, Tron deserved more of a break then he did. Though, he knew that he would stay out of ENCOM for a little while now. He backed up slightly as Tron sat up, wanting to give the former Program enough space as possible. Kevin's scientific mind was intrigued by how human Tron seemed. Well, it just made sense that Tron would be human. Some part of Flynn's mind wondered if Tron still had his iconic squares, but he wouldn't be Tron without them.

A sigh passed through Kevin's lips as he saw that Tron was looking for his Disc. He would have to think of a way to explain the lack of an Identity Disc, but User memories kind of worked the same way as Program memories did. It was easier for the latter to accomplish, as the former didn't really have an organized system for dealing with memories that were further back but still present when they wanted to be. Kevin shook his head slightly, trying to banish any formulating thoughts from his mind for the moment.

He only wanted to focus on showing Tron Los Angeles, and he knew the best way to do that. Mainly, he just had to find a way to tell Tron that they were going to go out on the roof. Kevin walked towards the bed and held his hand out toward Tron with a smile on his face.

"Tron, come with me," he said as he tried to keep his voice at a measured tone, "I want to show you something."

[Tron]

Tron was so immersed in the World around him that the alarm of his lack of a Disc seemed to be cycles ago. The more he looked around and took in everything there was to see, the more natural and smooth the colors seemed to his eyes. Natural in that this did not seem to be a new World after all, despite the newness of everything that was around him. His eyes had adjusted to the colors to the point where his surroundings were not a separate World from the Grid, but simply a slight modification, a change in the layout. However, Tron knew otherwise. Even though his mind could not fathom how it could have possibly been real and in front of him, this other World, Tron knew it was true. Something in his core knew it was true.

As if he was gradually recovering his ability to move, Tron slowly adjusted his position so that he was sitting cross-legged. He felt the inhale; he felt the exhale; he felt the inhale; he felt the exhale. He tried to settle himself, to give himself a reason to stop looking around at the glimpse he had been given of the beautiful, beautiful World around him, but there was no reason. He tried to give himself a reason to focus on his objective for Flynn instead - to defend the User and the Grid, though the latter was nowhere to be seen -, but no reason could be found. It almost was as if, in coming to the World of the Users, Tron had been set free from his binds, his obligations as a Program. He was free to do and think as he pleased, whether he wanted this freedom or not. Something in that transfer between Worlds had changed him in a way he did not understand. He was not the Program that Flynn had "borrowed" from Alan One in order to bring to his new System, the guardian of the Grid that Flynn had appointed, nor was he the Program who spent his millicycles taking care of any random threat that entered the Grid and took no reward but praise and more work in return. He was Tron. He had a name. A name, a personality, a mind of his own. He was an individual.

Of course, it wasn't like he didn't acknowledge this while he was in the Grid, or in the ENCOM System, for that matter. Throughout his life, Tron had made an identity for himself: in his faithfulness to Alan One, in his rebellion against the MCP, in his persistence to remain a User-Believer, in his escape with Flynn and his recovery of Yori, in the defeat of the MCP and the bringing forth of the System's brief golden age that followed; in being brought to a new System by Flynn and helping maintain it for as long as it had been around... and, finally, in being chosen to be taken to the World of the Users. It was not that he had no identity; it had simply been hidden in his name for as long as he could remember. It had been overshadowed by his objective and his duty to his User. Once upon a time, fulfilling his duty to his User (or Users, once Flynn came into the picture) was more important than proclaiming his individuality. The burden had not lightened when Tron had come to the Grid, even with the improvement in general Program quality of life. Even though there were Programs who could afford to be fooling around in their parts of the Grid, Tron still had work to do; he still had an objective and a User to faithfully serve. Not much more individuality, but still not much.

But now... now was different. Tron had never realized what a prisoner he had been for his entire life until the chains had been broken. User requests, what were they? He was free to do what he wanted, to make his own requests...

Tron shook his head; what kind of thoughts were these? They were completely against everything he had ever believed. They were selfish, very selfish. No matter in which World he was, Tron never put himself above a User. Never, not even when he would have been derezzed for believing what he did. Those were the days...

But, on the other hand, he had never even imagined the possibility of himself becoming a User-type... What, then?

Tron was curious about his new, sensitive hands. Glancing in the direction of a small table, he hesitantly reached out to place his hand upon it. Soft, and yet it was hard at the same time. It had texture, but he could not feel much of it. It was simply all smooth. He switched his attention to something else; there were things on the table, very few of which Tron recognized. A stack of small, shiny, grayish-looking discs was his focus, and he attempted to see what sort of analysis these sensitive hands gave him when the stack had toppled over, sending a good amount of the tiny discs spread out on the floor around the table. Drawing his hand back immediately, Tron scolded himself for foolishly tampering with User objects, before looking over at Flynn.

"Yeah, it's me. I was wondering when you would wake up."

Still slightly embarrassed by the mess he had made (it was his fault, he reminded himself), Tron tried to shake the thought off his mind by focusing instead on Flynn's statement. When he would wake up? Had he been there the whole time? Of course he had, Tron realized as he remembered that Flynn was the one who had brought him there in the first place. Flynn... the User looked so similar and yet so different from Tron's mental image of him. His face was exactly the same, as were his hair and frame, but his appearance... It was much different from his armor, but it was also similar to Flynn's "casual wear" when he came to the Grid (and also similar, Tron realized, to what he himself was wearing at the moment). This made Tron wonder if Users had their own armor; what he was wearing now didn't look like it would be very useful in combat, but he remembered that these were the Users. The Users... who had no limits on whatever they did.

Tron was still searching for words to say to Flynn, but nothing would come out. Nothing coherent, it seemed, although Tron didn't want to be that flabbergasted in front of Flynn. Eventually, however, Tron found the words to say to Flynn, however causing the situation to turn into not the most intelligent confrontation he'd ever had: "You... brought me here, didn't you?"

Of course he did. This was the surprise. This was the World of the Users, beyond anything Tron had ever dreamed. This was the World of freedom, of beauty and wondrous light. This was it, and there was no way to thank Flynn enough...

What were User requests...?

"Tron, come with me. I want to show you something."

Tron had been so overwhelmed by all of the sensations around him that he had almost forgotten he was still laying on the soft surface, now with all thoughts of reboot-slumber gone from his mind. It took several moments for the request to process in his mind; Flynn had extended his hand to him, beckoning him to come, to tread on sacred ground, seemingly to show him something more beautiful than where he had woken up.

Then, there came the question of why he hadn't stood up earlier. Overwhelmed, Tron realized, he seemed to have forgotten he was able. But then, there was the nature of this World, and its inhabitants...

...he was not worthy enough to tread on the sacred ground on which the Users tread...

Sacred ground. If he had just his Program functions and not his selfish desires, Tron would have refused, insisting he was not the one to be in the World of the Users. However, he was free. No matter how long it took for him to process this fact, he was free. Something within him told him that he would never have to worry about Gridbugs, not about infections, not about fighting, not about getting derezzed, not for the rest of his life...

And he knew, besides Flynn, who to thank for this opportunity.

And he knew what to do.

Hesitantly, as if something was to break through the User floor and swallow him whole, Tron adjusted himself once again so that he could get off the soft surface easily. However, instead of simply standing up, facing Flynn and taking the offer, the former Program fell to his knees, his hands clutching together and his eyes closed just as tight. Not even his first step on User ground would go unrecognized. Unacknowledged. No matter how Flynn was looking at him right now, whether or not the User was staring at him with his mouth agape, this had to be done.

Tron took himself back to the I/O Tower services that he had had back in the ENCOM System, before Flynn had come and changed everything. These were distant memories (and difficult to access without a Disc, he realized with slight sadness), but the moment allowed Tron to tap into them easily, and to let them fill him and overpower him.

"Users are Users," he muttered, barely audible. "They create with loving hands everything we see, everything we know, everything we are... It is our duty to serve them, for no amount of service can amount to all that they have given us... Life... Purpose... Beauty to behold... to behold... to..." He felt the inhale, he felt the exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... "Life..." Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, "Purpose..." Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, "Beauty..." Inhale, exhale...

He couldn't finish. He simply couldn't. As much as he tried to continue, the words were lost, or simply forgotten over time. He had forgotten that recitation for cycles. It was odd and yet fitting that it chose now to return to him...

Tron realized that his behavior might have been, in Flynn's eyes, too spontaneous to be considered normal (what was normal for Users? He didn't know...). Now slightly embarrassed, he opened his eyes and looked up at Flynn, not knowing that his face had turned a shade of crimson. Overwhelmed by the sensations he had just experienced, however, the recitation continued in his mind as Tron got to his feet, standing upon User ground as if in a dream.

He looked at Flynn, half-dazed and in awe, before stating in a breath, "Go ahead." He took Flynn's hand, preparing himself for what he was going to see.

He was ready.

[Kevin Flynn]

(Permission from Faryl to g-mod.)

Flynn lowered his arm slightly so that it was simply closer to his side, hand still open and palm welcoming. The manner with which he held his hand out was something that he had, in a short time, perfected with the help of Sam. Sam, like Kevin himself at that age, was very prone to wandering off and scaring his father more than he ever wanted to be scared. He was a first-time father, so he assumed that all of the times he was scared that something would happen to Sam were very grounded and normal. Well, there were other reasons for his cautious manner around cars, reasons that he didn't have to explain to everyone that he had encountered.

If Kevin told anyone about the accident that robbed him of a wife and Samson of a loving mother, all of the feelings that he tried to deal with at different times would come flooding up to the surface. He had a manner of coping with things that, to anyone who didn't know him well, would make it seem like he was ignoring what had happened. Flynn had gotten used to compartmentalizing things that would swallow him up and take control of his life and all his actions. If he didn't have a son, if he didn't have a company to run or a System to build and perfect, he would have let his feelings consume him long ago.

With a resolution that would not have been known to him in the past, the User swiftly pulled himself back from the edge of a chasm that led to nothing but pain and bitterness.

As he watched Tron, he was able to think about happier times. For the short time that he had spent on the ENCOM System, he had made very good friends. Ram, strangely, reminded him of someone that had worked at ENCOM during the same time that he was there. Tron, without a doubt, had quickly become someone that he could rely on when he felt down. However, it was the first time that Flynn was seeing Tron in the position of.. well, a child. Not that Tron was a child in any sense of the word or stretch of the imagination; it was just the first thing that Flynn could equate him to. He knew that, while in a System, Programs were entirely sure of where they were and what they had to do. However, that left them with a certain naďveté once they were out of the System.

Slight motion drew his attention and he saw Tron reaching out for his bedside table. A half-amused thought crossed his mind when he saw that he had stacked the quarters that were there. Why on Earth would he go through the trouble if, by the time it was afternoon, half of the stack was on the floor anyway? So, he wasn't at all surprised when the stack collapsed after Tron had touched it. By the sound of it, Flynn assumed that he had stacked at least five dollars' worth of quarters there for easy access in the morning. He made his way over to the table and crouched down, picking up the coins that had fallen and putting them in his pocket as he rose.

"Tron, Users do that all the time; it's nothing to feel bad for," he explained with a slight smile, reminding himself that he had done the same thing many different times.

A different kind of smile pulled at the corners of Flynn’s mouth as he heard Tron’s reply. There was something in the way that the question was asked that told Flynn there was more that Tron would have wanted to say. A more amused part of his mind, the immature notions that he couldn’t get rid of, noted that it was a partial surprise that his friend even uttered that. He settled on a soft smile as he replied, “I did bring you here. You needed a break and, well, I wanted to show you my World.” It was the honest truth, and he felt that Tron needed some honesty from him.

Flynn toed on his second pair of shoes before he stepped back, seeing Tron shift positions to (he would assume) get off the bed. His mind wandered to what he could see from the roof, to what he was going to show Tron. This was his city, the only home that he had ever known and truly ever wanted to know. ENCOM Tower was also easy to see from the roof of his arcade. The building, completely at home in the mass of tall buildings that comprised a great portion of downtown Los Angeles, reminded Kevin of the woman who had designed it. It got easier to go about his work day by day without the reminder of Jordan being so present in his mind, but that was only if he allowed himself a few moments of recollection. However, when he was having a bad day and he was alone, he would take some time to cry silently in his office so no one could see the CEO’s tears.

As he saw Tron sink to his knees once his feet hit the carpet, a momentary notion to help him stand crossed Flynn’s mind before he willed it away. His friend, Kevin knew, believed in and fought for the Users. Recently, when Lora and Alan would come over, three Users would regularly tread on the carpet. Flynn had mimicked this action only once before in the recent years, and that was with very good reason.

He had gone to the cemetery to visit Jordan on what would have been their wedding anniversary. Once he was there, he was overwhelmed with such great emotion that he found himself unable to stand. Kevin had nearly collapsed in front of the tombstone as sobs wracked his frame, an action that he only did because Samson hadn’t been there. He would have been different, stoic even, if he had brought his son to visit. No, their anniversary had always been something that Jordan and Kevin celebrated alone.

Willing a smile to his face as he dragged himself out of that alley, Flynn repositioned his hand as he heard Tron stand. The smile, as it turned knowing, was to show his friend that he knew all that he was going through.

Once Tron agreed to what Kevin was proposing, he exited his room with the (nearly) former Program in tow. Much like the set of stairs that they took to get up to Flynn’s room, the stair leading up to the roof consisted of less than ten steps. When he first bought the arcade, he spent what seemed like countless hours up on the roof just looking out over the streets below. It provided him with a pleasant view; one largely unobstructed by the buildings that immediately surrounded the area. He opened the door and stepped out onto the roof, glancing back behind him to make sure that Tron was still with him. Kevin, once Tron was clear of the door, gently pushed it closed with his foot before they walked toward one of the ledges.

Keeping the smile off of his face was quite hard for Flynn, but he managed to do so even as a gentle wind pushed through his hair and tickled his scalp. Pieces and chips of stray gravel crunched underfoot as User and Program neared the side of the roof that had them looking right across at ENCOM Tower. Flynn gently let go of Tron’s had and stepped back slightly, motioning outwards with his left hand in an effort to encompass the whole downtown area.

“Welcome to the City of Angels.”

[Tron]

As Tron was being led out of the room, his thoughts kept returning to how he had tampered with the User items and the consequences of that mistake. He had expected to be scolded for this mistake; he expected a "you-should-have-known-better-than-to-do-that" speech of some kind from the User who knew much more about this World than he. However, the scolding never came, much to Tron's surprise. As a Program who had been top notch from the very moment he opened his eyes; as the Program whose mission it had become to rise to the challenge in a situation that cost the lives of millions of innocent Programs in his place; as the Program who was the User Champion... there was a significant amount of pressure to get things done correctly on the very first try, for there were situations where one try was all he got. All or nothing. Life or deresolution. Tron had grown accustomed to this type of lifestyle, so for him to suddenly be in a World where mistakes were all he made... and he had not been scolded.

"Tron, Users do that all the time; it's nothing to feel bad for."

No, he had not been scolded. Not for tampering with things that did not belong to him, and therefore should not have been touched. Was he allowed to disobey and make mistakes without suffering the consequences for it? Of course he was; he wasn't a Program anymore, he reminded himself. He was a User-type, with everything User-types had. If anything - Tron realized, given the nature of Flynn's explanation - Users weren't allowed not to make mistakes.

It was a very strange twist in Tron's perception of the Users, that Programs had to be perfect for them when they were imperfect themselves. Very, very strange.

"I did bring you here. You needed a break and, well, I wanted to show you my World."

Tron could not possibly believe those words, not even for this time after they had been said. So his hunch was correct, then. For some rhyme or reason, Flynn had found it in his heart to choose Tron, the only Program who was not really his own, to see the World of the Users. And Flynn chose to use this as a token of appreciation for everything Tron had done, for both Flynn's System and the one in which he was created? He couldn't believe his ears, and Flynn's words - those words every Program wanted to hear when being treated with a "break" such as this one - pulsed through his body like the circuitry-substitute he now had. This wasn't just a "break", this wasn't even just a reward, this was... Tron didn't know what this was for him, except that it was one of - no, the - biggest honors a User could bestow on his Program. It was too wonderful for Tron to even put to words.

He felt the inhale; he felt the exhale; he felt the inhale; he felt the exhale.

Flynn led him through the rest of the building (or what he thought was the rest of it) they were in. Higher and higher they went, and Tron looked around him, eyes full of wonder at even the blandest detail. Tron would have been lying if he said he knew what was coming. He didn't know what to expect from Flynn, from this World. How much more beautiful could it be?

Tron remembered being in the room with the soft surface and the head-cushion that his unarmored hands loved to brush against. It had only been moments before, but with the way it had been imprinted in his mind and core, it could have been millions of cycles ago, and at that very moment, he would have still remembered it. The very strange patterns of colors he knew and didn't know (they continued for the rest of the time in the building as well, in several different ways and forms) plagued his mind, and the User-armor rubbed loosely against the skin he didn't know he had.

What more could Flynn possibly show him?

Finally, the two of them had reached the top of the building. There was a door at the end of their path, and when Flynn had opened it, User and User-type (it was very selfish not to refer to himself as 'Program', but the word was lost from his mind) were both bathed in a more subtle light than what there was inside. Tron lingered for a moment in the doorway, hesitating to follow Flynn out of the strong and circuit-based (in a way; Tron had a way of sensing these things, being what he was - or had been) light.

Inhale, exhale, he followed Flynn.

He felt the inhale; he felt the exhale; he felt the inhale -

But then, there was no more. As he stepped away from what was left of the World of circuits and power, there was a tight feeling in his chest that let the exhale slip away unnoticed, along with the subsequent inhales and exhales. All that Tron was aware of, at that very moment, was when he inhaled, his User-type body now took in something more; a calming, soothing feeling that made the World around him seem more real.

As Tron followed Flynn, completely and irreversably mesmerized by the sight around him, it seemed as though all the heat was expelled from his body, the heat that had found no reason to leave him for his entire life. It was almost as if this World was telling him that he did not need to have heat; that the safe feeling of being filled with Energy was no longer necessary in this World. A sudden invisible force brushed up against his User-type body, like a soft touch from Yori's unheated hand or a tender swishing of her ethereal cloak against his sensitive circuits. It soothed him, gave him what he would later learn were "chills", tenderly stroked his hair and made him miss her more and more and more.

Yet, this wasn't even close to the beauty and wonder that Flynn had wanted to show him. A dazed upward tilt of the head, and Tron knew.

Instead of the dark sky that he had come to know and accept, the sky was illuminated, and Tron knew it was not by anything with circuits. He did not remember the last time he had seen stars in the sky above him; it had been in the ENCOM System that they had been prominent. Combined with the Input/Output Beams that had graced the skies before as well, it had been an amazing view in the ENCOM System every time Tron had taken a moment to look. The stars hadn't come out, he suddenly remembered, until the MCP had been destroyed. Until Flynn had left them. And tie time that he had spent looking at the marvelous view of the sky, he had spent with Yori...

But here he was now, surrounded by stars, in the World that no Program had ever seen. The stars were just as beautiful as he had remembered them to be, if not even more. Infinitely far (he wanted to reach out to try to touch them, if only to remind himself just how far away they really were), some of them flickered, moved, changed forms like tiny Bits. Yes-neutral-no-neutral-yes-neutral-no-neutral... millions of them surrounding him, and it seemed like he and Flynn were the center of it all. Tron was at a loss for words; his mind could barely function correctly, like something in this World had caused it to consciously reboot. The stars were reflected in the User-type's dark eyes as he took in the wonder, the beauty.

"Welcome to the City of Angels."

Tron managed to tear his attention away from the stars above only to see that there were more stars, below him and in his level vision. The city was not like that of the Grid; it was not completely lighted. Not everything had its own source of light and Energy. The things that melted into the darkness did so, but everything else created a sea of stars. These stars, too, flickered, and they sometimes zoomed from one place to another like Light Cycles. Tron could almost identify where there were roads and where the buildings were, but the horizon did not separate the ground and the sky. It was all blended together, blended perfectly like the odd colors and patterns of inside. These stars below him, he expected to float away to the sky in a marvelous display, instead of being rooted to the ground like they were. Some of the stars, like those on the buildings, almost seemed to float away, but it was almost as if time had stopped for them. Time was moving slower in this World, so much that this moment alone seemed to last for millions and millions of cycles.

The invisible Yori caressing him, the millions of stars surrounding him and below him, the soothing feeling that pulsed through his body whenever he inhaled... Tron closed his eyes and took it all in.