001 __ ( THE GRID )

[isomorphology]

The Grid looks the same day after day, cycle after cycle. Sleek black roads and buildings with glowing lines of energy to decorate them. TRON City is at the heart of the Grid. The skyline doesn't quite go on forever, broken up by the mountains of the Outlands. To the far distance is the Portal - the way out of the Grid. Only one person ever used it: Kevin Flynn. The Creator. Then, his son, Sam Flynn.

Quorra is standing in the roads of the city, looking up at the rain that seems to always fall. She's out of the Grid now. Free to explore the User world. In her dreams, she always returns to the city. She can't tell if it's before or after CLU took over, but it's always empty. Alone in a ghost city. Maybe it's because she's the only remaining ISO.

She sighs and leans against one of the railings of the road.

Comments

[waterfell]

It seems too empty. The silence bothers her more than it should, and she's wary. Mercury keeps a tight grip on her sword as her eyes scan the surroundings. She raises her fingers to touch her earring, and her VR visor slips into place to supply more data about the surroundings.

An energy-signature from some sort of life form? Another touch withdraws the visor and Mercury is left staring at Quorra. Her eyes widen, just enough to be noticeable. She can feel her own slightly quickened heartbeat. The sword is definitely not discarded.

She speaks bluntly. "What are you here to do?"

[isomorphology]

Quorra looks over at the woman, standing up. The lights on her suit glow brightly. She's not dressed in clothes from the Grid, but then again, she's not dressed like any User she's ever seen. Quorra is the first to admit she doesn't know much about the User world... so maybe some people dress like that.

Her gaze goes around the empty city block as lightning crashes over head. "I don't know. How did you get here?"

[waterfell]

Mercury wants to see every world she can, traveling and exploring to the very ends of all of them. Maybe that's why she has so many dreams of so many worlds.

It's the last response she expected from Quorra, who she'd last seen on the other side of a disc battle. Her eyes narrow slightly. "I came by chance, like last time." It's true enough.

[isomorphology]

"Like last time?" Quorra echoes, her head tilting with her eyebrows raised ever so slightly. "You were here before? On the Grid? When?"

[waterfell]

No one would be stupid enough to lie that baldly. The contradiction is too easy and too obvious.

Then... A different world? Almost imperceptibly, Mercury's grip on the weapon relaxes.

"I see," she says, mostly to herself, and to Quorra, "It was about a year ago."

[isomorphology]

She lets out a sigh. Quorra is vaguely aware it's a dream, but she doesn't recall seeing this woman at all. Then again, dreams were strange things. Instead of making it a rather large deal, she smiles and makes a wide gesture with her hands.

"Welcome to the Grid... again."

[waterfell]

"I was interested in it last time," Mercury admits frankly. This kind of technology would always fascinate her. She won't make the mistake of forgetting what happened before, but she's letting that interest in her surroundings make it secondary, for now.

"What can you tell me about it?"

[isomorphology]

Quorra nods but frowns. Still... "How did you get into the Grid?"

[waterfell]

[She'd like to take the credit... so she does. Perhaps in the dream, it's even tangentially true.]

I'm good with computers. [This comes with a sly smile.]

[isomorphology]

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Good enough to hack into a system that Flynn built?"

[waterfell]

The scarier part is that she probably is. Technology is her gift, and he contribution as they watched over humanity's development. It's one of the few things she's so confident in that she doesn't seem bothered by Quorra's skepticism. She relies on her power and abilities. "When it comes to that," she says easily, "Don't doubt me."

"More importantly," she adds, "Now that I'm here, I want to see more of it this time, and learn more." She glances straight at Quorra. "Want to come?"

[isomorphology]

Quorra is just curious as to how it'd happen. It'd mean she'd have to find Flynn's computer and network in the real world, and then find a way to create a digital version of herself--at the least--and upload it to the Grid. She's just not sure how someone who isn't a Flynn would be capable of it.

"There's not much to see." Quorra shrugs. "Not with everyone being gone."

[waterfell]

"I'm not interested in 'everyone'," Mercury admits without shame. "I'm interested in the Grid itself."

Admittedly, the programs, like Quorra, are a part of that. But she's far more interested in the structure.

[isomorphology]

"Shouldn't you know something about it? If you've been here before and you found your way here." Quorra tilts her head.

[waterfell]

A valid question, but Mercury shakes her head. "I was only here for a brief time." It's true enough.

[isomorphology]

"What did you learn the first time you were here?" She's suspicious to the max.

[waterfell]

"Not much," she admits easily. "I was here just long enough for a battle with the identity disks."

She pauses for a moment to let the next words be emphasized. "With you."

Be glad she's not fully carrying a grudge. She doesn't let those go easily.

[isomorphology]

Quorra narrows her eyes slightly. She has never seen this woman before. How could she have ever engaged in battle?

"You got into the Gaming Grid." She decides to say instead.

[waterfell]

"Does that surprise you?" She's still feeling her way through what's normal here, what's not, what's programmed, where the line between computer and reality is drawn in this world. It's a very thin one, to her experience so far.

[isomorphology]

"It is." Quorra said. "No one else has ever gotten on the Grid other than the Portal."

[waterfell]

"This time was an exception." She doesn't know herself precisely how it came to be - of course she knows it was a dream, which explains that fact itself, but she has nothing to add to it.

"Ever since then I've been intrigued."

[isomorphology]

She simply tilts her head as she weighs how trust worthy this woman is. If she's a User, then she's unpredictable and dangerous... but she's clearly not an ISO or a Basic, so what else can she be? With a look over, Quorra nods and starts walking ahead of Mercury.

[waterfell]

Mercury is unpredictable and dangerous. But right now, she's content to follow behind Quorra and keep sharp eyes on their surroundings to note anything of interest.

[isomorphology]

She was on high alert, ready to fight if she had to. Quorra never went looking for one, but she knew how to fight. She had to.

"What questions do you have?"

[waterfell]

"None yet. Explain as we go, as you see fit." It would let her pay attention, like a guided tour, while she let the surroundings remind her of the last time.