Cor stiffened slightly before taking another sip of his drink and nodding. “Yeah. No more Recognizers searching the streets for just a new random program. No more curfew.” he finally agreed softly. “But we still lost so many friends and good programs. It's hard to stay optimistic.” he added honestly.
Nora nodded. Curfew had never been much of an issue for her; thanks to Zuse's schmoozing, Clu had lifted curfew for End of Line. She'd overheard enough from customers, though, to know how awful it had been.
"I wonder what will happen to the Recognizers now," she said aloud. If it were up to her, they would all be derezzed, as would the tanks and the other freak weapons she'd heard rumours of. She'd heard that in Argon, there was some sort of code disc that could turn you into a crazed monster. One of General Tesler's right-hand men had gotten his hands on it. And the General himself… he was no pacifist, that was for sure.
Privately, she wondered what Bit would do with such a thing, and a smile flitted, ever so briefly, across her eyes.
“I can think of a couple ideas.” Cor answered casually. Of course, he wouldn't mind getting rid of most of them but they still had some use. Transportation, possibly, of both programs and data mostly. He could think of a couple of times when he could have used one in both his jobs.
The news in Argon was probably some of the most interesting he had come across. News of an ISO escaping off Grid. Possible Tron sightings. Another vigilante fighting against Clu… for a time at least. Most of those stories fell silent some cycles before the appearance of the user Sam Flynn and Cor followed all those reports closely.
Nora nodded. "Like what?"
Cor shrugged a little. “I’m a messager and search program. If I knew how to fly one of those, I could do that in at least half the time.” he told her, even though he did know how to pilot a Recognizer. “I can understand derezzing some. I’d even join in if I was given the chance.” he added as assurance.
"Good," she said, with the tiniest hint of a smile.
Suddenly, there was a loud, klaxonlike sound; startled, she whirled around and dropped instinctively into a fighting stance, balling the fist that wasn't holding her drink. The dance lights, usually flashing, had all come on all of a sudden, and the holograph screens surrounding the centre of the bar had all buzzed to life, showing the same thing.
A program, smirking at the camera, holding a criminal sheet. A program with shrewd eyes and a smug look. A program with white glowing lines running down his face.
"Attention, programs," a voice was saying. "One of the Grid's most dangerous criminals, a program by the name of Cyrus, has escaped from prison. Be on the lookout for this program. Report any sightings to officials immediately. Repeat, be on the lookout for this program. Report any sightings to officials immediately."
The voice continued on about Cyrus, how he had disappeared from prison without a trace, how he was a dangerous killer, that you must not approach him under any circumstance. Nora, with chills running down her back, set her drink down on the table and stood back up.
(oooh plot twist…. plus he's working with Astra… I couldn't help it)
Cor smiled faintly back at her for a moment before the alarm went off. Out of pure reflex, he grabbed his disc and spun in the direction of the club as he took a more fight-ready stance. It didn't take him long to calm down when he realized it was just an announcement though he was a little embarrassed by his actions. He watched the screen and listened closely to the information and sighed as he put away his disc. Great. Just what I need. On top of the issues at the dock, now this…
(don't worry. I think this is an interesting idea)
Nora looked sideways at Cor as they both straightened up and out of their fighting stances, wondering why a messenger program would have that reflex. Interesting.
Her thoughts about Cor, however, took a backseat as she watched the holograph screens. The voice had subsided now, or at least from End of Line - she thought she could hear it echoing through the city, but between the pounding dance beat and her ringing ears, she couldn't be sure. A few of the screens had gone back to their normal feeds, but the face - that face - stared out from a few.
He was smiling. Smiling.
She hated him already.
Cor blushed slightly when he noticed Nora looking at him, though he was likewise curious why a Siren reacted that way. He understood that most worked near or at the Games during Clu’s control but, as far as he knew, they were never really involved in the actual arena.
“Excuse me a moment. I’m probably going to make a fool of myself.” he said once the alarm stopped playing. He set down his drink and walked over to the top of the stairs. He knew that this honor would probably usually go to the owner but he wanted to spare her. “Hey, Bartender!” he called down. “Next round for the club is on me!”
"What are you doing?" Nora hissed, reaching forward to grab his arm, but it was too late: Astra and Skye had seen him, a boy, in Nora's office. A poisonously delighted look appeared on Astra's face; Skye turned back to her latest boy toy and continued schmoozing him.
“Trying to cheer the club back up after that announcement.” he explained, letting her pull him back into the office. Cor hadn't noticed Astra or Skye so he didn't understand why Nora seemed a little worried.
Nora's face smoothed, if only slightly. "Ah."
Why was she worrying about what Astra and Skye thought? Skye, she knew for a fact, would be genuinely happy, but Astra…
Bit, meanwhile, zoomed happily through the club, whirled a few times around the bartender's head, and then bonked against an empty glass. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
"Oh no you don't!" cried a loud, booming voice, and one of the bouncers, an enormous, strong woman, pushed through the club and snatched Bit right out of the air. "You get right back here, you little pest."
Bit struggled for a moment, but then admitted defeat and held still. The woman, still clutching Bit, stamped her way back over to the doors. "You're coming with me, where I can keep an eye on you."
“It’s alright, Nora. I've actually made a bigger fool of myself than just that before.” he assured her, though he doubted that she was really worried about him like that. Cor looked back at the club in surprise at the commotion as he had briefly forgotten about Bit’s energy craze. His eyes widened when he saw the strong woman actually catch Bit. “Is that the program you mentioned earlier?”
Nora, who had stiffened slightly when he said her name, nodded. "That's Rika. She's a bouncer. She's very firm with Bit, but Bit loves her anyway."
Cor noticed her tense posture but didn't understand the reason for it. He considered her a friend, even though he knew he shouldn't… It was dangerous for both of them if he thought that way, and yet he couldn't change his mind. “She looks like she does a very good job.” he commented, not wanting to end up in a fight against Rika. “How did they become friends?”
Nora sighed softly. "After… after the Purge, when Kaira… after Kaira left, Bit needed someone to latch on to, and Rika was one of Kaira's friends. I think her toughness reminds Bit of Kaira."
“I see.” Cor nodded in understanding. “Kaira must have been a very interesting program. I wish I could have met her.” he smirked briefly. “I have a feeling she and Tetra would have gotten along.”
"She got along with everyone," Nora said, now watching the one screen that still had Cyrus' face on it. "She was the kind of program that everyone liked."
“Tetra definitely would have liked her then. She was easy to get along with most of the time, but if she didn't like someone, she let them know it.” Cor chuckled at the memory. “She’d probably get into a fight with Astra.”
Nora nodded. The feeling of wanting to get into a fight with Astra was certainly relatable.
Cor smiled softly at Nora and picked up his drink again. Though he didn't drink it just yet, instead he just sort of stared at the energy inside. There was a distant look in his eyes as his mind wandered back to when he lost Tetra. It felt like a chuck of his code had been ripped out and was missing an arm. He’d done a lot of things he wasn't proud of the following cycles and nearly ended up in a bottle of energy… and a lot of trouble on top of it.
Nora noted him staring at the energy. "Do you want more? Or is it too strong?"
Cor jolted a little as Nora’s voice brought him back to the moment and shook his head. “No, thank you. I'm fine.” he answered. “And honestly, I have yet to find an energy that was too strong for me. At least that I can remember.” he chuckled softly at himself.
Nora smiled softly. "You haven't seen Zuse's private collection, then."
“No. I haven’t.” Cor smirked at her comment. It almost sounded like a challenge… but he knew he shouldn’t push himself like that. It might cause a relapse as well as a time he likely wouldn’t remember. Not to mention what he could end up saying with a loose tongue. “Because, as I told you, I haven’t had the opportunity to be here before.”