"Maybe not," Nora said slowly. Multiple plans were forming in her mind. "If we could find the Renegade, or maybe recruit the Black Guard - or send out an anonymous message to warn the programs…"
She sighed. She didn't know. It was overwhelming.
His eyes widened as he looked over at her in shock. “How would you propose we get the Black Guard on our side on this? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I’m still on a wanted list by them.” he reminded her, considering his hobby of being a hacker. “Getting the Renegade would work if we knew where to find them. All we know is that they were sighted in Argon and that was before Sam Flynn arrived and left.” he pointed out. “No one knows what happened to them or if they're still there.” Or if they were derezzed… Cor shook his head and tried to focus on what they could do at this point. “I can definitely get an anonymous message out to other programs but… I don't know how they would react. It might cause a panic.”
"The Black Guard aren't being bullied by Clu anymore," Nora reminded him. "They're less… savage. And Argon isn't too far. And… I didn't think about the panic part," she admitted.
Cor nodded briefly as he listened. “Don’t worry about it. I get the feeling you don't spend a lot of time with other programs.” he shrugged. “I guess I could send the Black Guard that anonymous message. And make it more detailed so they know where to start… Though that would be one of my harder hacking jobs.” he mused with a faint smirk at the prospect. Though he wasn't against the idea of going to Argon and looking for the Renegade for help.
"I suppose we can't do much until we know his master plan," Nora mused, looking out over the Sea of Simulation. A reconnaissance wouldn't be a bad idea either, but she didn't want to tell that to Black Light. Two programs would draw too much attention… and she preferred working alone. Besides, Zuse had a great stock of light jets.
“Well… We still have the option of checking out this place ourselves.” he admitted even though he didn't want to miss meeting up with Nora and her Bit. “Unless you’d rather be more prepared first.” he suggested, hinting that he wouldn't mind going to check out this mystery location.
Nora sighed inaudibly. They thought too much alike.
"I'd rather be more prepared first," she echoed. Working alone on this would be better - at least for now, she thought. She didn't want to miss Cor that evening either. "In the meantime, it wouldn't be a bad idea to put some more trackers on."
Cor nodded, feeling a small sense of relief that he would be able to see Nora after all. “I can do that.” he smirked briefly. “When do you think we should go on our little scouting trip?” he asked as he put on his code-protecting gloves. He didn't want to take a chance now that he knew that Cyrus was directly involved with these containers.
(That moment when you find the most obscure Tron reference ever in Phineas and Ferb.)
"Soon," Nora replied unequivocally. In truth, she was hoping to spend more time with Cor.
(lol 😆 )
Cor frowned slightly at the vague answer as he checked the area. “You know we still don't have a way to contact each other.” he pointed out, kneeling down beside one of the containers. “Unless you prefer meeting between the same buildings as last time… Or even here.” he suggested.
(Doofenshmirtz guessing a password: Ooh, I know! How about 'reindeer flotilla'?
Me: YES! YES! YES!)
"Here is fine," Nora said, looking around. "As long as Bit keeps guard."
Yes, Bit agreed before zooming off.
(Wow!)
“All right.” he nodded, grateful for having Bit watch out for them while he worked. “Just need to work out a time to meet.” he pointed out as he moved on to the next container. He figured, if all of these were heading to the same location, it wouldn't hurt to have multiple targets.
(Not even the Tron fandom has it on their site 💪🏼)
"Two nights from now," Nora said. "20000 ticks."
(That's impressive 👍)
“I’ll be there.” Cor agreed, smirking a little at her curtness. It wasn't exactly rude, just brief with enough clip to say that she didn't really want to talk.
"Good," Nora said, watching him work. It was admirable, really, but she would never admit such a thing out loud.
Cor glanced up at all the containers and shook his head. He wouldn't say anything but it bothered him how many were here. If all of them held as many repurposed programs and weapons as the first one… “I’m going to do five of these. That should be more than enough for us to track and make sure they're all going to the same location.” he informed Aroura as he moved on to the next container.
Nora nodded. "Are you checking the contents to make sure they don't contain… luxury goods and such? Things that aren't necessarily bad. We wouldn't want to waste time tracking containers carrying energy bound for Gallium, say."
Cor chuckled at the idea and nodded. “That would be embarrassing. Don't worry, I’m checking. The first mostly had weapons, the second… more programs.” he admitted, clearing his throat to get rid of some of the tightness he felt at the thought. “This one has… looks like mostly equipment. If they are building anything out there, they'll need this kind of stuff.”
Nora frowned, wondering what they could be building. It could be another giant Recognizer like the one she'd heard they had in Argon, or a throne ship like Clu's, maybe. She would have to wait and see.
Cor wasn't sure what they could be building either but with a repurposing program like Cyrus, there were multiple ways he could twist things… Shaking his head to clear it of those thoughts, he quickly went back to work, finishing the current container before moving on to the next.
Nora watched him work. Maybe it was because of her earlier conversation, but she kept thinking of Kaira. She and Black Light were both good at this kind of thing, a skill Nora had never been proficient at.
Cor sighed, running his fingers through his hair to keep it out of his face as he turned in Nora's direction. “Something on your mind, ‘Roura?” he asked with a smirk as he caught her stare.
"Nothing," Nora said stiffly. At least 'Roura was an improvement over sweet cubes, she thought.
A thought came unbidden into her mind: what if Cor nicknamed me? She found the prospect not nearly as annoying as she had thought. Black Light, however…
“Just enjoying the view, then?” Cor teased, chuckling as he flexed his arms behind his head, gracefully walking towards her.
"I don't think so," Nora said. "Are you finished yet?"