[closed and backdated] Oh if you could see me now

[whoami]

Who: Sam Flynn (whoami) and Alan Bradley (alan_1)
When: backdated to ...sometime during the Clu clusterfault
Where: The aft (or the observation deck whichever)
What: It's sharing time about the Grid whether Sam likes it or not.
Warnings: Angst? TBE if needed


Sam stood looking out at one of the three planets. With so many of the crew off the ship, even places often frequented by people were quiet. He preferred it that way.

Honestly he would prefer not to be doing this at all, but there wasn't really any other way to talk about Clu without talking about dad. And if he had to talk about dad, hs might as well talk about everything that happened on the Grid. He hadn't really mentioned Quorra yet because a part of him hoped that by not talking about her he wouldn't have to think about the possibility of never seeing her again.

But it wasn't right to pretend that what happened to an entirely new form of life was forgotten. Sam knew about it because he was told, but Tron and Rinzler were there. They lived it, and according to dad it had been genocide. Complete purging of her people. And the Program responsible was here now.

The idea and the implications made Sam feel a little sick.

Comments

[alan_1]

Alan arrives at the aft shortly after Sam. His mind is still racing with everything he had read, already trying to calculate risks and work out a plan of action. It’s not fair that this should happen -- that out of all the people the Ingress could bring here, living or dead, it had chosen Clu. But that’s the reality of the situation and they have no choice but to do whatever they can to mitigate the damage.

He approaches Sam, stopping next to him in front of the window. A sideways glance is enough to see the tension in his expression. Alan knows this can’t be easy for him.

“Are you ready?” It’s asked gently, though there’s the silent knowledge between them that Sam doesn’t have much choice in the matter. Clu is here now. Sam needs to be ready to share what he knows if they're going to deal with that fact.

[whoami]

Samm didn't turn. He didn't uncross his arms. But his voice had a quiet sort of resignation.

"No."

He probably never would be, really. He sighed, shoulders slumping a bit. There is one important detail.

"This isn't the Grid, though. And even then Clu had Rinzler chasing dad and just trying to kill Quorra. I don't think he'd want anything to with just me."

Sam hasn't mentioned that he ended up with a disk, and only a few others have seen it.

"Quorra was an ISO - Isomorphic Algorithm. True AI. There used to be thousands. They walked out of the Sea of Simulation and made entire cities for themselves."

Sam shook his head for moment, sad at the thought of so many being gone for no reason.

"But Clu wiped them out. Dad called it genocide. You'd have have to ask Tron for details but he must have done something to the Sea to stop more from coming out. As far as dad knew, Quorra was the last."

Alan had asked about Clu's plans on getting out, though. Most of which were petty vague, but at the time they weren't talking about space.

"Once they were gone I guess Clu shifted focus. He was planning to get out with a massive army, and all the trimmings. Dad only said he must have figured out how. I'm not sure if he planned to conquer, or use the Flynn identity to his advantage and buy, either way was bad"

[alan_1]

Alan wishes Sam didn’t have to put himself through this. He really does. He doesn’t interrupt as Sam speaks, just listens in silence, sorting through the facts as Sam lays them out. New names and terms filter through his mind -- Quorra, Isomorphic Algorithm, Sea of Simulation -- fitting (imperfectly) into an already incomplete narrative.

He doesn’t speak until he’s sure Sam is done talking.

“Clu doesn’t have an army now,” he says quietly, thinking out loud, “And your father and Quorra aren’t here.” Which means Clu might be just as adrift as the rest of them. If it means he’s less powerful, it also means he’s less predictable.

“What do you think he’ll do now that he’s here?” Clu doesn’t have the numbers required to conquer (and Alan will make damn sure he won’t be able to use Flynn’s identity) -- the question is what he’ll resort to without those options.

[whoami]

Sam could only shake his head. The last time he had seen Clu...well. It had been the last time he'd seen his father. Sam would remember that look until the day he died. That look of something that was absolutely chilling because he had never seen that kind of hatred on his father's face. In all other ways Clu looked just like Kevin Flynn. It was convincing enough to fool Sam at first. But hatred...that had been new.

"I have no idea. He seems to be trying this weird pseudo-religious bent? On the Grid that might have exited, but that wouldn't anywhere else.

The important question becomes organic versus synthetic, and if he'd find a way to drive that wedge deeper."

[alan_1]

Organic versus synthetic. God knows Alan had already done enough to sow the seeds of that conflict.

“Do you think that’s how he’ll try to gain the trust of the synthetics onboard? Stirring up hostility and convincing them he’s on their side?” It would be a risky strategy, one that could net Clu the ire of his organic crewmates very quickly. But if he could build an image of himself as some kind of champion of the synthetics on the ship -- well, he wouldn’t need Flynn’s identity to cause irreparable damage.

[whoami]

Sam made a disgusted sort of motion. It was probably a shrug,

"With how badly everything seems to be working out for him here, who knows. But I doubt he's capable of gaining anybody's trust, especially since those among the crew that might have anything to do with him were wise to the brand of BS he was tying to sell them the second he opened his mouth."

Sam might be a little bit bitter. Just a little.

[alan_1]

“Well, that’s something,” Alan says with a sigh. He’s still not sure how he feels about letting Clu’s presence go unheeded on the ship. If even one synthetic decided to place their trust in him…

“What exactly was he saying in that network post you saw?”

[whoami]

"Nothing really. He was just trying out an old way of talking, I think."

Sam curled his fists into balls and actually turned away from the window to face Alan fully. He didn't want to hurt him, but if he wasn't going to talk about it, Sam would have to.

"Rinzler will go right back to Clu, now. You understand that, right?"

[alan_1]

Alan meets his godson’s gaze for a moment and then looks away, expression troubled.

“We don’t know that for sure,” he says quietly, but even to his ears, it sounds weak. He’s seen Rinzler’s code. He knows just how deeply the dedication to his admin lies.

But his hope isn’t completely groundless.

“The last time I saw Rinzler, he was trying to hide from someone in an elevator. He didn’t even notice I was there until the doors were closing behind him, and he can usually sense me from a mile off. He wouldn’t tell me who he was hiding from at the time, but... it would’ve been just one or two days after Clu arrived.” Alan meets Sam’s gaze again. “I don’t know how long it’ll last. But I think he was trying to get away from him.”