forum ENCOM OS-12 | OxO | Closed unless you're a fellow Program/User/ISO | Stalkers get a free Light Runner

Started March 25, 2021 by @murphysgirl

tune

“Right…” he nodded, thinking for a moment. “Umm, what about the park? It's public and plenty of other programs will see us together.” Cor suggested.

"The park." Nora had only been to the park once or twice before; she remembered it vaguely, a sweeping open space dotted with things resembling something called "trees". "Yes, we can go to the park."
Bit, with a string of happy yes-es, whizzed around their heads, bobbed a few feet in the direction of the park, and came back and whizzed around their heads again. Nora smiled faintly at it. "It looks like Bit's leading the way."

“Alright.” Cor smiled a little more and nodded. “Yeah, it does. Almost seems like Bit is really excited for this “date”. We better not keep it waiting.” he chuckled before walking up to Nora so they could walk together like they were on a real date.

(rewatching Legacy and I spotted "yes" and "no" Bit figurines on young Sam's bookshelf!!!)

Nora, with a tip of the head, followed Bit. With her long legs, she was a fast walker, but she kept at Cor's pace.

(😍 How cute!!!)

Cor smiled softly and kept even pace with Nora. While this may not have been the way he had thought the end of the cycle would have gone but he was enjoying it all the same so far.

(People: oh Bit isn't in Legacy
Me: ah-HA that's where you're WRONG proceeds to do smug face and victory dance)

The park wasn't far away, only a few sectors. Nora breathed a sigh of relief as they reached it. The park was one of the few places on the Grid open to the sky, not hemmed in by buildings, and apart from the occasional Recognizer, you could even see the stars. It was an unusually clear night, not stormy. Bit itself looked like a star, flickering and flashing. Yes.

Cor smiled and looked around. “Honestly, this is one of my favorite places to go. It's… peaceful. And beautiful.” he said with a soft sigh. Though there was two other reasons… One was that you could see at least three of his favorite buildings from here. The other had to do with Tetra.

Nora agreed with him. The park had been one of Kaira's favourite haunts before The Purge. She flicked her eyes towards Kaira's favourite "tree"; Kaira had sometimes spent hours sitting next to it, reading or watching net dramas with Bit.
"You remember the park, right?" Nora said gently to Bit, holding out a hand; it bobbed up and down above her palm. Yes.

Cor smiled softly as he looked at Nora and Bit. It was a little strange being here with another program. Yes, the park was open to all but after he lost his closest friend, he hadn't visited much. “I’m so glad they tore down that statue. It gave me the creeps.” he said, casually making conversation glancing in the direction Clu’s image had once stood. He had actually been here that cycle… It had somewhat of a liberating experience.

Nora looked at the empty plinth, an anti-testament to what the Grid had once been.
"I wonder what they'll put there now," she said softly. A statue of Flynn, maybe? Although it would look the same, just different light lines. Surely there was some program out there who did sculpture. An abstract piece?
Yes, Bit said, circling Nora's head. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Nora laughed, a short and genuine laugh. It hung in the air like a cascade of silver. "I think Bit wants a statue of itself."
Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Cor shrugged a little at the question before laughing at the suggestion of a statue of Bit in the park. “That would definitely be an improvement.” he agreed, smiling a little brighter. “Though I might be a little more impressed with an homage to Tron.” he teased.

Bit sank a few feet, disappointed. No.
"I'm sure you'll get a statue one day," Nora said vaguely. She had heard of Tron, was familiar with the idea, but had no idea what he looked like. It was hard to imagine it.
The briefest image of a statue of her flashed across her mind, and she shook her head minutely. No. She was not Castor, so self-absorbed she couldn't see beyond her own ambition.

“Relax, Bit.” Cor chuckled. “A statue or hologram of you would be very nice.” he encouraged. “Besides Tron’s got his own building right over there. The one with his insignia on it.” he pointed out, gesturing to that specific building.

"That's new," Nora remarked. One would have thought Clu had torn down anything related to Tron. "Or has it only become his building since Clu disappeared?"

Cor shook his head. “It used to be Tron’s headquarters before the coup. He even had a whole team that worked with him to protect the Grid.” he told her. “I think Clu did remove the logo after he took over but… it seems like it just sort of came back when all the big rumors of Clu’s death started up.”

"Oh." Nora looked at it, the four large glowing squares emblazoned on the building wall. The ghost of a smile lit her features. She was glad someone had brought it back. "I wonder what it will be now, since Tron is…"
Her lips formed around the word dead, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, somehow. She had heard the rumours, of course, that Rinzler was really Tron, but now Rinzler and Clu had disappeared. Clu, it appeared, was dead; the natural assumption was for Rinzler to be dead too.
"Tron is missing," she finally said.

Cor sighed softly and ran his fingers through his curly mess of hair. “I don't know. Especially since security programs, in general, were hit first during Clu’s take over.” he said, leading Nora and Bit towards a bench near a light, still facing the Tron Tower. “But I heard a lot of rumors out of Argon that there was another program was following in his footsteps. They called them a Renegade, but there was some debate that it actually was Tron.” he told her with a bit of a smile. “So, if Tron is still alive, he may just be hiding out in Argon again. However, if there was a second program like they said, then maybe they'll step forward and reclaim that symbol. I don't know, but at least it gives me a little hope.”

(Got the Flynn Lives t-shirt on today :P )

Nora nodded and looked at the Tower as well. She, too, had heard of the Renegade. But that was cycles and cycles ago. Whoever it was, he or she might not still be active.
"Me too," she said softly, sitting down on the bench. It was nice to have hope. Hope was needed now.

(Nice!)

Cor sighed a little and sat down on the bench beside her, close enough for others to believe they were on a date but not too close to make her uncomfortable. He hadn't heard much from Argon recently so he didn't know what was happening or how things were but, even though he wasn't usually a very optimistic program, he liked to think that either the Renegade or possibly even Tron was still there.

There were a few moments of awkward silence. Nora was unsure what to do, what to say. Conversation was an unfamiliar thing to her now. Her hand went absentmindedly to the lightcycle baton at her hip, and she started fiddling with it, a nervous tic. It was an old, battered baton with a particularly large scratch on the side, and it had the air of something that has seen a lot.

Cor looked over at her, a little uncomfortable with the silence but he couldn't think of anything to say. Both of which was something of an oddity to him. Normally, as Cor, he didn't talk much and preferred the quiet but as Black Light, he was a very smooth talker. He blinked a little when he noticed her baton. “What happened there?” he asked, gesturing to the scratch.

Nora's fingers stilled on the baton for a moment. She hadn't even realised she was touching it.
"It's a strange story," she confessed, taking the baton off her leg. "One night at End of Line, there was a scuffle with a few drunk programs… they started fighting. Discs were drawn. I went to help break it up. I mistook my baton for my light staff, and…"
She rubbed the scratch with her thumb. "The lightcycle itself wasn't harmed, and I've never repaired the scratch, even though I have the parts for it."

Cor raised a brow at the interesting story and gave a brief playful smirk. “That seems like an honest mistake… At least it all turned out alright in the end.” he chuckled. “Though I didn't know End of Line allowed their employees to carry weapons, other than their disks.” he admitted.

"Usually, only the bouncers are allowed to carry weapons," Nora said, nodding. "But my light staff goes with me wherever I go. I am more… protective of me and my body than the other girls. I didn't want to get harassed."
In truth, one of the reasons why she had never repaired the baton was because that was the day she had decided to become a vigilante. Plunging into the fight, adrenaline singing in her ears, feeling ready to fend off anyone - it was an unstoppable feeling, albeit one that violated her programming. It felt sappy and sudden now, that impulse, but she wouldn't have gone any other way. It was what had to be done.

“A little personal security. I can respect that.” he nodded again. “Where did you learn how to use it?” The obvious answer, to him, was that she'd learned at the Games as maybe a precaution but he wasn't sure if that was right. Plus, he hadn't heard much of Sirens being fighters before.