Cor walked quietly down the more lively path. Vehicles thrumming past and other programs chatting away about random topics as they passed him. The sight made his coding feel strange. It was normal enough for anyone else, despite all that had happened, yet Cor just could not shake the surrealness of it. Snippets of gossip made their way to him though they were all things he’d heard before. News of Clu being derezzed. The mysterious survival and disappearance of both Tron and Flynn. He scoffed at that. If Flynn really had been functional then why didn't he stop Clu earlier? He really didn't want to process all this so soon after finishing his most recent search. Glancing around, he spotted what was left of the End of Line Club and made his way over to the building. Since it would be a few cycles before it was reopened, the lower level bar was getting a lot more customers.
Nora was sitting at the bar, idly sipping her drink and watching programs. A large series of screens over the doors were broadcasting the news, which there seemed to be no end of lately. They had sent a few jets across the Sea of Simulation to investigate, finding nothing but the remains of Flynn's old portal. No sign of Clu, no sign of Flynn, no sign of Tron. It was all very odd.
Nora sighed and set her drink down. She was tired and unwilling to do vigilante work tonight, if you could call stopping petty thieves vigilante work. Seriously, what was wrong with the Black Guard? It's like their motivation had come from their corrupted code.
"Refill?" asked the bartender, coming up with a pitcher of energy. Nora shook her head.
Cor walked inside and let out a soft, annoyed groan as he saw the same news being displayed even here. Just what he was trying to avoid. After a little pushing and weaving through the crowd he finally made it to the bar and took an empty seat, not noticing anyone next to him. He just needed to relax and tune out the words.
"You want a drink?" the bartender asked the newcomer.
"I just said no," Nora said, thinking he was talking to her; then she realised he was talking to the guy and frowned, picking up her own drink. The bartender frowned at her, then turned to the newcomer.
"Like I said, you want a drink?" he repeated. "We got the best drinks this sector of the Grid."
Nora scoffed under her breath, but said nothing.
Cor nodded briefly at the bartender’s question, raising a brow as he looked at Nora’s interruption and let out a small laugh. He shook his head slightly and turned back to the bartender. “That’s why I'm here. I don't care what you have, just make it strong.” he told the other program.
"Here's the strongest one we got," said the bartender, setting a tall, thin glass full of glowing blue liquid on the counter. "Enjoy."
Nora watched, faintly curious. She had never been a fan of strong drinks herself; she preferred a lighter touch, if and when she drank, which was rare. The last thing the Grid needed was a vigilante who was a deadbeat drunk.
“Thank you.” Cor said, accepting and paying for the drink before taking a long slow sip of it, downing a fourth of the glass. “Best drinks in the sector… More like the only drinks.” he mumbled softly once the bartender was out of earshot. “But they’re not bad.”
"They're not as good as the drinks at the End of Line Club," Nora remarked dryly, idly stirring her own drink, listening to the little chinking sounds the ice cubes made.
“You got that right.” Cor agreed with a small chuckle. “The only reason this place is as busy as it is, is because End of Line is closed.” he pointed out, turning to face the Siren.
"It should be open soon," Nora said stiffly, hoping that Kama and her workers were hurrying. She had payments to make, for Flynn's sake. There was a whole mess that Zuse and Gem had left for her to clean up on her own, and she wasn't enjoying it.
She had been watching the door absentmindedly, a practise long born of her vigilante skills, and then two programs she recognised walked in. A man and a woman; the woman had a bright purple mohawk, while the man had a tattoo on his cheek, an odd, angular symbol. She'd seen them before. These two were in the Iris gang - a ring of disk forgers who had their fingers in some other sticky business. Most of the members were pretty easy to deal with, but Nora had seen this pair before and it had gotten ugly.
She eyed them coolly, tracking their every move. Take one step out of line…
“I hope so and I don't hope for much.” he chuckled again, the drink already loosening his speech. He took another sip of his drink as he noticed her tense response. Cor was half tempted to say something to try to diffuse her attitude but decided not to and followed her gaze. This posture of her’s was one he recognized and had held more than once. Normally, when he was avoiding the Black Gaurd.
“Friends of yours?” he asked softly when he saw the new pair, his tone serious and tense. He was just as ready for action as she was.
"I know them," she said tersely, eyeing the two as they made their way through the crowd. The woman, who seemed to have sensed Nora's gaze, was looking around for her pursuer; Nora swivelled her head slightly, observing them out of the corners of her eyes.
"Refill?" asked the bartender, shuffling up to them.
"Not for me," Nora said quietly. She needed her senses as sharp as possible if these two were up to something.
And then something caught her eye. Something familiar.
"Is that… an ISO armband?" she asked, peering curiously at her neighbour's accessory.
Cor hummed softly, picking up her tone and deducing that it wasn't a pleasant experience between them. He made himself look as relaxed and disinterested in the couple despite his focus on them.
“I’m good. Thanks.” he told the bartender before placing a couple more bits on the counter.
Cor stiffened slightly and covered the band with his free hand. “Y… Yeah. It is. Why do you ask?” he asked, forcing himself to calm down. It wasn't like before. Wearing that band wasn't as incriminating as it used to be.
"Nothing." She shrugged. "Programs just usually don't wear those in public anymore." Or ever in the first place, really.
Cor scoffed softly. “Oh, programs wore them alright. They were just more secret about it.” he told her, sure she already knew that fact. “I… I just can't seem to find the nerve to take the glitched thing off.” he admitted softer.
Nora nodded, scanning the bar again, and, with a jolt of horror in her stomach, realised the two programs had disappeared. Good cubes, she'd been distracted at exactly the wrong time.
Her dark eyes scanned the crowd, searching frantically for a purple mohawk, but she found nothing. Apprehension laced with nervous excitement started to tingle in her stomach. She began looking at programs' backs, searching for empty disk holders, but again, nothing.
"Excuse me," she said, standing up, "I've got to go do something."
Cor blinked at the sudden action and nodded slightly. “No one’s stopping you.” he pointed out, though his own gaze swept the bar and realized what seemed to have worried her. “Looking for trouble or going to stop it?” he asked, referring to the now missing couple. Something was strange about those two and the reaction this Siren was having… Well, it actually interested him.
"I never go looking for trouble," she said shortly, looking around and finally spotting the couple sequestered in a far booth with a few drinks. Maybe it was just… a date? Still, her gut told her something was up.
Frowning, she sat back down and took a sip of her own drink. "Trouble usually finds me."
Cor laughed a little and nodded. “I know what that’s like. Though I don't always need help getting into trouble.” he admitted. His… other job, if you could call it that, usually got him into plenty of trouble. He’d actually lost count of the number of times he’d nearly been derezzed. “Mind if I ask, what's with those two?” he asked.
"Just some old friends," Nora said, with an odd, twisted smile, before disappearing into the crowd. The two programs were nowhere to be found - until she spotted them, sequestered in a corner booth with a pair of drinks. They were on a date.
Disappointment mixed with anger washed over Nora. She had actually been looking forward to fighting those two, which just went to show how boring her life was nowadays. She was down to yelling at construction programs and suspecting an innocent couple on a date.
She hoisted an innocent smile on her face and went back to the bar. "Sorry. I thought they were someone else."
Cor nodded, more to himself at her answer, as she walked away. He wasn't sure he believed the way she said friends about that couple… But who was he to judge? He hardly had any. At least any that he really considered as one. There were a few contacts, some knew him and others didn't. But that suited him just fine.
He turned in surprise when she rejoined him. “Oh… You don't have to apologize. It's your business, not mine.” he replied with a friendlier version of his usual smirk.
It's everyone's business, she thought to herself, sitting down and picking her drink back up.
(BTW I'm pretty okay with one-liners)
Cor looked at his drink, already half-finished, and debated how buzzed he wanted to get. Then again, two of these probably wouldn't be a good idea… he hummed to himself.
(ok. Good to know.)
Nora leaned back against the counter, watching the programs again, barely noticing that a fist-sized, pulsating, white polyhedron had come floating through the crowd towards her. When it reached her, it zoomed around her head excitedly.
She sighed, exasperated, though it was laced with amusement. "Bit!"
Yes, Bit said, flashing yellow.
Cor looked up and chuckled at the interaction. “This one belong to you?” he asked, smirking playfully.
