You'll come back when they call you

[notglitching]

Who: Alan, Rinzler, and mostly-open!
When: May 14-16
Where: From the planetary Ingress to the Grid and back
What: Rinzler gets stuck in his old life and people go to get him back.
Warnings: Rinzler things and Tron canon. Depression, violence, NPC-murder, and copious references to genocide, mindscrew, etc. All culminating in... BSOD by warm fuzzies?


When Rinzler had first left the Grid, getting back was all that mattered to him. More—it was all he was capable of caring about. Directive and function were locked in alignment, every line created by a thousand cycles of correction pulling him the same way. Rinzler was the Grid's enforcer. Clu's weapon. He was perfect, he was right, and he belonged at his administrator's side.

Since then, he's spent months trapped in a user shell. He's spilled blood and lost fights, flown through half a dozen different skies and learned what stars look like. He's spoken. He's been listened to. He's shattered to a thousand pieces on lost memories, and cut himself on the truth they left behind. He's killed users. He's met [his] [Tron's] creator, and disobeyed his will.

It's painfully fitting for that to be what brings him back to the beginning. Rinzler is home, Rinzler is back, and everything is how it should be except him. Directive is a frayed leash, function warped by too much time spent wanting. Clu's voice still locks every process to obedience, but even as he bows and follows, Rinzler can't stop the squirming twist of terror underneath. He'll kill Clu's enemies. He'll serve exactly, precisely as directed. But the enforcer has always been unstable, always in need of fixing (breaking) to keep him working as desired.

Sooner or later, Clu will open up his code to check. And then, it won't matter how well he's fit himself back to the mold. His programmer will correct each flaw and imperfection, remove those memories and reset him to automation.

It's nothing Rinzler can fight. Nothing he can run from here, and even if he tried, there's nowhere to go. The ship already feels much too distant, but Rinzler remembers enough to know his absence will only bring relief. He'd been a disruption. A threat. Tron was the one the users wanted, and even that had never been enough before.

No one is coming, and nothing will change.

[[ooc: this is open to anyone signing on for the rescue effort here! As below, prod freely with any questions. Alan's monitoring things from the Ingress-side, and will make sure people get where they're trying to go.]]

Comments

[hatesimprovising]

[ Wash nods as Nihlus answers--he's got even less than that, just a couple quick tips from Alan, that's all. Working with so little is possible, certainly, but it would be far more ideal if they had more...

At the sound of more footsteps approaching, Wash's head snaps to the side to see who it is. ...Not someone he knows personally, but he's sure he's seen the guy around the ship before. When Nihlus seems to know him, he lets himself relax as his suspicion is confirmed to be correct. Good, someone else to help them out. And...someone who seems to know the place? Even better. ]

Pimp-mobile...?

[ He knows the meaning, he just...is confused by the usage of it here. A program isn't really someone he'd expect to have a "pimp-mobile."

Attention drawn back to the turian as he moves, Wash finds himself watching him disguise himself very convincingly, which leaves him rather startled again. Staring quietly, he remains that way for a few moments before he shakes himself out of it, then glancing between Sam and Nihlus. Who both look like they fit in with the environment, whereas his armour has him looking quite out of place. Here's hoping that doesn't cause any problems. ]

I don't know. How far is downtown from here? Walking distance? [ He looks to Sam questioningly. ] Or is there a better way?

[whoami]

[ There was a poetic irony to all this. Here he was, in the last place he wanted to be, looking for someone that had repeatedly made it clear he wanted nothing to do with Sam, with two other people, one of whom stood out like a sore thumb. Nihlus' disguise almost gets a double-take, though. Sam is somewhat preoccupied while answering Wash's question. ]

I - uh - I don't think the three of us can afford to waste the time it might take.

[ Instead Sam cautiously looks out from the shadowed recess of the arcade copy's doorway. A Recognizer is humming as it turns a corner overhead. Sam smirks to himself since the poetic irony just continues. He reaches back for his disk then hands it off to Nihlus. ]

Transport option. I'll run out there without a disk, let them land and catch me, then use your guns to scare them off. Then we have a ride that can move above the cloud line, and is enclosed to boot. Having guns pretty well guarantees cheat mode.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

['Use your guns', he says. 'Scare them off,' he says. Sam has clearly not worked a lot around guns.

Nihlus gives him a look before handing the disc over to Washington.]

The gun fire is going to draw attention from miles around and we'll have more trouble on hand than just transportation problems. We're also trying to avoid casualties.

[That said, that plan was pretty sound. Nihlus's sleeve flickers away briefly as he brings up the MID control for the hologram and quickly edits out the disc on his back.]

I'm coming with you. Do not make a move until I say so. Once that thing's cleared, be prepared to take the controls. Washington, keep out of sight, ping us on the MID if you see any trouble coming up. You'll be our backup if things go awry. We keep shooting as a last resort.

[hatesimprovising]

[ Peeking out from the cover of the entranceway to catch a glimpse of the Recognizer as he hears the hum, Wash hesitates just a little. Using guns to scare them off? Yeah, that sounds just a bit extensive...

The details of the plan confuse him, honestly. What does not having a disk have to do with anything? Are they supposed to look unarmed, or something? Frowning slightly beneath his helmet, he takes the disk as Nihlus passes it to him, glancing down at it and flipping it over in his hands. He's interested in it because it's an unfamiliar weapon and he'd tried to get a look at Rinzler's disks a few months ago, though that hadn't gone over well, but he knows better than to sit here staring at it while there are important things going down. ]

--Right. [ There's a nod, and he almost salutes in acknowledgement. Almost. He catches himself so he doesn't come off like a complete dork. ] I'm on it.

[ As a show of his being prepared for this, Wash reaches down with one hand and unclips his pistol from the armour on his thigh. Just so he has it ready if he needs to use it. ]

I won't shoot unless I have to. Good luck.

[whoami]

[ Sam, on the other hand, didn't care for being bossed around. He also didn't care for company, but knew how to pick his battles, even if it was kind of obvious he had to grind his back teeth together. ]

I didn't mean actually shoot at them.

[ And seeing as how Nihlus hasn't been on the Grid before, Sam had a mean little impulse to let him lead. See how far that bossy attitude gets him.

Immature fits of pique weren't getting them closer to finding what they needed, though. So Sam just swallowed that impulse, hoped Wash didn't get bored and start stress testing that disk, and started out from cover at a brisk walk. Running outright would attract attention at the wrong time. Sam waited until there was a gap between him (and Nihlus) and where Wash was. Then he started to run.

He barely made it three steps before a familiar barred spotlight illuminated the ground. Ground that was starting to come away in hexagons. Sam looked over to see the same was true for Nihlus; he was on his own platform with hexagons coming away from where he stood as well.

That's when an awful realization hit Sam. One he didn't think of before, but may well prove disaster. The Recognizer landed. Sam felt sick as the Programs did that precision-paired walking towards him and Nihlus.

They've never seen a gun. They don't even know what the word means.

Sam thought fast, doing all that he could to avert said oncoming disaster. He quickly turned to hiss at Nihlus; ]

Take off your disguise!

[beautifulspaceraptor]

Generally, a gun is used when you want someone shot at. Besides, if they're anything like the program crewmates we have, they're probably not the sort to scare easy.

[Nihlus gives Wash a respectful nod as he straightens up and follows Sam out into the open. He saw the way the young man grated under his words though and he quietly worries: was this going to affect the outcome of the rescue? Wash, he could tell has some kind of military experience, but Sam was the clear civilian here.

The vehicle above them was long nothing Nihlus had ever seen. By normal laws of physics, the thing shouldn't be flying at all, and yet...

Around them, the ground falls away but he doesn't let himself stare, fascinating as the sight was. He squints against the light, watches the platform descend, noting the captured programs, how they're held in place, the location of the pilot, the weapons the two red coded programs had. The last pieces of his plan fall into place.

There was no way to reach the cockpit without the platform lifting up.

At the sound of Sam's voice he turns, pale eyes on the human next to him. His voice is even and cool when he speaks.]

We need to get onboard. We need to be close enough to stop any attempts at communication. If I drop the disguise now, they'll have time to send for backup.

[Nihlus' heavy pistol was hidden under his disguise at any rate and also biometrically locked to him. There wasn't really any way for Sam to know that, though.]

Keep calm. Do as they say.

[He turns back to the approaching enforcers.]

[hatesimprovising]

[ The exchanges between Nihlus and Sam and the very different attitudes they seem to have make Wash somewhat anxious about this plan. It's clear that Sam is biting back some sort of argument, but if they get into one while the plan is in progress? Things may not end well. He's so much more used to working with a team that knows each other and gets along...

Still, as the two take off, he nods after them and slinks just a bit further back into the shadow of the entryway.

But they don't get far. Finding himself holding his breath as he watches the two get caught in the beam of light, clearly spotted and about to be captured. It's part of the plan, but he can't help the worry that creeps in. He isn't familiar with these surroundings, with these enemies, and if things go sideways... What if he can't help?

He remains calm, however--or as calm as he can--and stays hidden. The disk is still in one hand, though more or less forgotten as he raises his pistol in the other. He won't use it, not yet, but he wants to be at the ready.

All he can do for now is watch and be prepared to leap in if things start to go obviously wrong. Eyes on the programs heading toward Sam and Nihlus, Wash exhales quietly and simply hopes that this plan ends up being a good one. They don't have time for failure. ]

[whoami]

[ Sam could have facepalmed. No, regular sentry Programs are nothing like Tron or Rinzler. Er, Tron and Rinzler? Whatever. Clu kept Rinzler because there was nothing else like him on the Grid. The only thing half these other orange-circuited Programs had going for them was numbers.

Hands up in the classic 'surrender' pose, Sam didn't have much choice but go along with being caught. He was shoved in an empty slot with the still-disguised Nihlus 1 slot down. At least the slot between them as empty right now, though both still had their feet locked in as the sentries were locked into those….sarcophagus…things…Sam didn't like them whatever they were. The entire space rose to just below the cockpit (you could see it now) and the Recognizer took off to resume its rounds. ]

Well. Since physics is totally void here, there goes my plan. I really hope you have a better one.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

[Oh. Oh, this was a weird sensation. There was nothing restraining him and yet his arms were clamped in place somehow. His feet were a bit more free: the foot clamps were made with a more human shape in mind.

Bizarre. And fascinating. He could see the ground falling away below them and again laments that he won't have much of a chance to explore the place. They had a short window before Wash really started to worry at any rate.]

As you humans say: 'cross your weirdly many digits'.

[He looks up through the ceiling at the pilot, then at the two other red programs folded tidily away in their slots, clearly not expecting trouble. His omni-tool glows to life.

There's a crack of electricity and light, surging through Nihlus' immobilizing platform and the ones nearest to him. They flicker offline and the turian pulls free- and then blasts the enforcers in their sarcophogi with more Overload before they could fully free themselves.]

Make sure they stay down, [he orders Sam: he knows Overload knocked Rinzler out cold, but that was when the program had been severely injured.

Swiftly, the turian leaps on top of the immobilizers, his omni-tool flash forging a blade. The pilot looks down in time to see the platform being cut out from under his feet.]

[whoami]

[ ...apparently Nihlus did have a better plan.

Sam felt a bit superfluous until the pilot (who actually stood in the same spot and watched the blade cut the floor away beneath him) fell away with a receding, electronic yell. The sudden yaw of the pilot-less craft had Sam moving quicker, though. He had to get up on top of the immobilizers too. Jump. Then scramble through the hole as fast as he could. There was the awkward moment where his legs kicked at nothing.

When he managed to get inside, he was surprised to see the controls were just like the old Space Paranoids game. He'd always beat out everyone at that game, even his dad. And dad was the one that designed it. Now Sam knew where he got the idea.

Well, to be accurate, Users used a joystick. These bar-things were on the screen. Anyway, anything had to be better than smashing into a skyscraper. So Sam turned them sharply to the right, and started back and down to grab Wash so they could do what they came to. ]

changes up the posting order slightly...

[hatesimprovising]

[ There is a point in the way things play out where Wash starts to worry more, but he still manages to refrain from firing his gun. Just a little more time, he'll give them just a little bit longer before he acts.

...But things improve quickly. He can't see everything that happens from his angle on the ground, but he can see enough to know that whatever Nihlus and Sam are doing is working. Casting a glance around the street, keeping watch for anything else that might be heading their way and cause an interruption but seeing nothing, the freelancer's attention returns to the Recognizer. Just in time to see Sam take the controls.

Well. That ended up being a lot more impressive toward the end than it had started.

As they head back and down toward his location, Wash hurries out from the entranceway of the arcade and waits on the street. He clips his pistol back into place on his armour and, as the vehicle reaches him, he climbs in so they can finally get going. ]

Nice work. It, uh, kind of looked like things were going south there at the beginning, but that was great.

[ Obviously he can't not compliment them on their work! ]

[beautifulspaceraptor]

[Nihlus blasts the pilot with Overload for a good measure before looking up in time to see Sam scramble through the hole. Quick kid, that one.

Looking back down, he sees the wide eyes of the captured programs staring at them as the ship yaws. He raises his hand in a hopefully universal gesture.]

Please remain calm.

[Fortunately, Sam gets the controls down pretty fast and they're landing barely a minute later. As the platform descends, he hops down from his perch peers up at the young human through the hole in the floor.]

Are the control for these immobilizing platforms up there? We need to let these people get off and lock Clu's lackeys down.

[To Wash, he offers a smile as the man steps onto the platform. It looks weirdly off on his dark, hologram face.]

Thank you, Washington. [He moves to go cut the enforcers out of their strange wall-slots.] Lets hope the rest of this pans out as smoothly.

[whoami]

[ The Recognizers are interchangeable, so there's really nothing in the pilot's compartment that would unlock the wide-eyed, captured Programs. It must be part of the senties' equipment, or it happened automatically. Sam put his palm absently on the console to look over it - which was a shot in the dark but hey - and he felt a sort of jolt. They all became unlocked after that. Nihlus and Washington still needed to extricate the sentries and toss them off, though.

No one saw that little display of User-ness, and Sam stared at his own hand for a moment. ]

Uh they They can make contact pretty easy. This thing is gonna eventually attract attention, too. So our timetable just got tighter, that's all."

[ Which means they should probably get going. ]

[hatesimprovising]

[ At the thanks, Wash just nods and offers a smile hidden by his helmet before setting his attention on the programs still on board. With Nihlus moving toward the enforcers, he steps up to the captured programs and looks over the way they're locked in, though he quickly gets the feeling there won't be much he can do to free them.

Fortunately the slots all unlock just a moment later--he assumes it's Sam's doing--so he takes to quickly assisting the programs out of their positions and off of the platform one by one. ]

We better move as fast as we can, then. [ Casually taking to hurrying the programs along now. Once the last one is off, Wash casts a glance up toward the hole to the pilot's compartment. ]

You know how to get...wherever it is downtown, exactly, that we're going, right? Like, you have some idea of where Rinzler might be?

[ It's a complete assumption made based solely on Sam's gridsuit, but he seems like their best shot with this whole thing. If he and Nihlus hadn't shown up... Well, Wash is pretty damn sure he'd be lost. ]

I don't feel like we had much time to begin with, considering Alan's message.

[beautifulspaceraptor]

[While Wash helps the captured programs, Nihlus drags the enforcers into the middle of the platform and lays them out. Bringing up the rendering platform on his omni-tool, he quickly fabricates a couple of zip-ties from a pack of omni-gel and goes about tying them up.

It probably wasn't going to keep them immobilized for very long after they woke up, but they needed any delay they could get and he didn't particularly want to kill them. Tron said that a lot of programs were re-purposed, after all.

He nabs two by their disks before dragging them off the Recognizer and into the arcade, returning again for the pilot. The door is zip tied too for a good measure, mostly because there was nothing around to barricade it with.

That sorted, Nihlus returns, hopping onto the platform, picking up the staff-like weapons the enforcers had left behind.]

I met BB earlier. He tried triangulating Rinzler's MID and got these coordinates.

[The Turian's own MID lights up and a strange blue thing pops up above him, followed closely by lines of light that point them towards the depths of the city.]

[whoami]

[ Sam wasn't all that certain how to get the platform to raise up again with only two people on it. The entire console in front of him was blank. So, experimentally (what the hell. right?) he put a palm against the console. There was that tingling feeling again, and with his intent the platform rose and locked in place so the Recognizer itself could rise. Sam mumbled a chagrined "Real User power."

Nihlus' Bit flew up through the same hole in the floor he'd come through. It startled Sam so bad he yelped and the Recognizer dipped to the right very sharply, if very briefly. ]

You could have warned me.

[ When they cleared the clouds one could see other Recognizers heading towards what Sam figured was the armory. The admin towers weren't hard to spot. Where other lights on buildings glowed white or gaslight blue there was a bold, bright yellow stripe on the towers. Sam landed on the jetty that was there just for that purpose and lacking a better idea clambered back down through the hole onto the platform. ]

Bit, can you let us down?

Yes!

[ Sam's hunch proved right. Both on what it was, and that there must be some simple way to work a Recognizer that he wasn't seeing. Once the platform was down and the bit returned to floating above Nihlus, Sam stepped back. With just his recovered disk in hand but unlit, and keeping Nihlus and Wash in front he felt a bit superfluous. ]

Okay. You guys are on.