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]

"And the others?" It's not hard to imagine how they could have been lost; but she's curious to hear about it. Quorra's words also imply that the other cities had a different builder after all. That was worth noting.

[isomorphology]

"Gone." Quorra says simply. There's no reason to go into it. Not that she wants to go into it.

[waterfell]

"Destroyed?" Or simply... deleted? It's the same thing, in this case. And outside of this case, she wants to know if it was natural.

[isomorphology]

"Yes." Quorra glances down. Destroyed, de-rezzed. Even the Sea of Simulation can't produce more ISOs now.

[waterfell]

"By whose hand?" The Flynns? They seem to be revered here, almost like gods; surely no one would continue in that attitude if they were the source of ruin instead.

Surely. No one.

[isomorphology]

Quorra shakes her head. "It's not important anymore." Because CLU and Flynn reintergrated. Neither ca help the Grid any longer, and it's not something she wants to think about.

[waterfell]

"Something like that stays important." No matter how long. No matter what else comes.

[isomorphology]

Quorra remains silent. The woman is right. It is important, because it should never happen again... but she can't bring herself to tell someone she doesn't know at all. It's too painful, too personal.

[waterfell]

That's right: It should never happen again. And that means it cannot be forgotten. The silence grows as Mercury decides whether to press the question. In the end, whether by some nearly-forgotten tact or for reasons of her own, she doesn't.

"Remember that," is her only other advice.

[isomorphology]

Quorra's footsetps echo in the empty city. She wonders why it is so empty. CLU wouldn't have destroyed or repurposed every program on the Grid. That'd be pointless. He was about Basics becoming the only programs anyways. Why else would he go to such lengths to destroy her entire race?

"I can't really forget it."

[waterfell]

"Not if it stays here in your dreams," Mercury agrees. It's an interesting thought of its own: that a program could dream. She's becoming more and more intrigued.

[isomorphology]

She shakes her head. "Not just in my dreams."

[waterfell]

No; the advice had been for all times and places. But in the dream world, it's especially visible, and clear.

"So what will you do next?" You've lost things, Quorra. What now?

[isomorphology]

"I'm moving forward." She speaks softly. "There's something I'm supposed to do... and I'm going to find out what that is. With Sam."

[waterfell]

In a strange way, she can understand that. She has a future. There are people who believe there is something good she can still do.

A part of her wants to find it.

Good luck.

"It's not something someone else can give you," she cautions, thinking of the expectations always put on her: by her mother, by teachers, by the Dark Kingdom, by the hospital. She had to find her own reasons.

[isomorphology]

"He's not giving me anything." Quorra shakes her head, trying to be a bit more specific. "We're working on it together."

[waterfell]

One more warning, because she's never been good at believing in altruism. "You should consider what he wants from it as well."

[isomorphology]

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "We both want to fulfill his father's dream."

[waterfell]

"Parental loyalty? However, he isn't your parent." Ami points this out reasonably. Even parental loyalty... she possesses it, but she'd learned she needed her own reasons, to choose her path for herself, too.

[isomorphology]

"That doesn't matter." Quorra says pointedly. Flynn saved her, protected her, taught her. ISOs didn't have parents, and he was the closest thing she had.

[waterfell]

There's no one who could replace her biological parents, for her. But she's come to truly see Cloud as a brother in her dreams, and she knows in some worlds, Tomoe Hotaru was raised the outer senshi, like a family.

"It's more like an adoptive family," she considers.

[isomorphology]

She nods. "Yes. He found me and took me in... Sam would call it a rescue."

[waterfell]

"You're in his debt." It's for Quorra to decide whether this is a good thing, or better avoided. Kunzite, Mercury knows, would rather die than be indebted to Chiba Mamoru - Endymion.

[isomorphology]

Quorra then shook her head. "No. It's never a debt. He never saw it that way. If anything... he was trying to apologize for what happened, I guess. I never saw it like that."

[waterfell]

The intent doesn't change the situation, though, and it's still an inequality, an obligation Quorra will feel now.

Or at least, Ami, quick to seek out these things, assumes.

"Repayment, then?" she asks.