Tron Legacy (7 page)

SAM REFUSED TO CLOSE HIS EYES
. In just a few more seconds, the elevator would slam into the street.

Suddenly Kevin whooped in triumph. At the last possible moment, the concrete opened up. The elevator car continued its descent down, and then through, the city street!

The glass car dropped through sublevel after sublevel. The underground world was stacked with acres of maintenance machinery, networks of pipes, and ribbons of cables.

Plasma energy throbbed through grid lines embedded in the walls. These glowing conduits were the underground world’s sole source of light. Their radiant energy powered the machines that kept the city running.

Finally the elevator plunged into a dark tube and slowed to a stop. When the doors opened, Sam lifted Quorra out. Trying to still his own shaking legs and slow his beating heart, he stepped out onto a platform, his eyes growing wide. They had gone much farther than he thought. In front of him was the Sea of Simulation.

Massive wharves stretched as far as the eye could see. The structures floated in a blue-black ether. Beyond the docks, a fleet of vehicles he recognized as solar sailers hung in the digital sky, their winglike panels folded.

Sam realized the winged sailers were tied to floating cargo containers. While he watched, one hovering ship spread its massive wing panels. The sailer pulled away from the dock, towing a container as large as a skyscraper.

As Kevin moved to join his son, Sam finally saw the empty sheath on his back.

“Are you all right?” Sam asked with worry, his father’s earlier behavior now understandable. “Your disc. It’s gone.”

“It is,” Kevin replied.

“And that’s a big problem, right?” Sam asked.

His dad raised an eyebrow. “Is it?”

Sam looked down at the unconscious woman in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know I screwed up, but we can go back—”

His father shook his head slightly. “This is the road we’re on now,” Kevin said. “We head to the east. To the Portal. Unless something else happens…”

Kevin moved down a series of ramps to reach the docks. Sam stayed right behind him, carrying Quorra.

The piers were stacked with machinery and cargo. But there were no programs there. The cargo loaders and ships didn’t need programs because they were all automated.

Sam followed his father onto a long, rising catwalk. The incline led right up to one of the larger solar sailers hovering in the air. The two boarded the flying ship, and Kevin ducked into the bridge. He easily overrode the navigational system and quickly entered his own coordinates.

Sam stood on the deck as the ship’s sails unfurled. With a high-pitched whine, the solar sailer linked to a beam of plasma high in the sky. riding this tide of power, the ship could travel all the way across the Sea of Simulation.

“This ship knows the way now,” Kevin said, joining his son on deck. “It will take us to the Portal…”

WITH RINZLER BY HIS SIDE
, Clu found Zuse at his shattered club. Still in top hat and tails, Zuse twirled a cane in one hand and Kevin’s disc in the other.

There was no sign of the Black Guardsmen that Clu had dispatched to take out the Flynns.

Derezzed, no doubt, Clu mused. So Zuse could seize Flynn’s disc for himself. Clu did not express his thoughts aloud, however.

“The boy and Flynn are gone?” Clu asked.

Zuse shrugged. “I presume, Your Excellency, that they perished in the elevator.”

“You presume?” Clu sneered behind his visor. Then he whirled to face his black-armored enforcer.

“Rinzler, go!” Clu commanded.

The elite guard turned on his heels and marched to the destroyed elevator. Meanwhile, dozens of guards entered the club to replace him.

Zuse made a point of ignoring Clu’s show of force. Clu pretended to ignore the disc in the club owner’s hand.

“So you saw Flynn,” Clu said. “How’s he look?”

“Aged,” Zuse replied. “And my apologies for not delivering the entire package. I pride myself on execution, but when Kevin Flynn entered, everything changed. The programs became unpredictable.”

Zuse paused, recalling the response Flynn got from the crowd. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “Their awe was palpable…”

“Right,” said Clu. “Now, about that disc.”

Zuse rolled the disc down his cane until it was within Clu’s reach. But when Clu went to snatch it, Zuse rolled it back again.

“I presume our understanding is still valid,” Zuse said. “Control of the city?”

“You’ll get the reward you deserve,” Clu replied. Behind him, the Black Guard busily moved through the club.

“A sizable request, I know.” Zuse displayed the disc in his hand. “But how long have you been searching for this? Over a thousand cycles, no? Imagine the secrets this disc holds, the master key to all the riddles of the universe—”

“Give it to me!” Clu commanded.

Zuse glanced at the guards. At the sound of their leader’s raised voice, they had taken a step closer. Zuse knew there was no more negotiating. He handed the disc to Clu.

“I realize our alliance is at times uneasy, Clu, but always necessary,” Zuse hastily said.

Why are they still advancing? Zuse wondered.

Clu wasn’t paying attention to the club owner any longer. His gaze was transfixed by the disc in his hand.

Zuse swallowed, nervous now. “You know you need me right where I am, Clu,” he said.

“You’re right,” Clu replied with a little smile. He snapped his fingers. The Black Guard closed in. Before Zuse could escape, they restrained him and bound him to a chair with powerful force bands.

Clu started for the exit. “Enjoy your club while you have it, Zuse,” he called over his shoulder. “And don’t ever presume…”

Fully panicked now, Zuse struggled against the restraints. But it was useless. The Black Guard turned and marched away, falling in behind their leader. That’s when Zuse noticed the bundles of explosives wired to his club’s bar and DJ booths. On a nearby table, a small digital display ticked down the seconds before detonation. His eyes widened with fear.

This was the end for the End of Line Club—and for Zuse.

OUT ON THE SEA OF SIMULATION
, a devastating flash lit up the horizon. The blinding brightness made Sam squint. Shock waves rippled through the ozone. The echoing boom rolled all the way across the blue-black water.

Sam turned back and gawked at the city skyline. A piece of it was glowing red now. Like a roman candle, the End of Line Club burned hot and fast before the entire building beneath it collapsed.

“Clu?” Sam whispered.

His dad nodded.

Sam clenched his fist. “What’s he doing?”

Kevin did not answer. Instead he went and kneeled beside Quorra. His father took her disc in his hands and began to manipulate it.

Finally Kevin looked back at Sam.

“He wants a little fresh air,” Kevin explained. “Clu is done with this place.”

“Him getting out? To our world?” Sam shook his head. “Dad, it doesn’t seem possible.”

“It is possible,” his father said matter-of-factly. He was still working on Quorra’s disc.

“But you created everything in here. Every program, every place!”

Kevin tapped the empty sheath on his spine, where the disc had been. “Like I said. Golden ticket.”

A holograph suddenly flickered above Quorra’s disc. Kevin frowned. This was not good. Her vital signs were failing.

Sam saw the worry on his father’s face. “Is she going to make it?”

“I don’t know,” he replied softly. “I have to identify the damaged code. The sequencing. It’s enormously complex.”

He concentrated, worked a few more minutes, and finally cracked the code. The disc opened like a makeup compact. Light flooded the bridge of the sailer with kaleidoscopic torrents of color.

“She risked herself for me…” The realization weighed on Sam.

“Some things are worth the risk,” Kevin assured his son. Then his eyes went wide. “Hey, look at that!”

Sam watched a holographic grid appear where Quorra’s arm used to be. The limb became a glowing mass. Then pixels began to re-form around the grid lines.

“Now that’s impressive, if I do say so myself,” Kevin said, with the hint of a smile.

“She’s going to be all right now?” Sam asked.

“It will take a little while for her system to reboot, but yes. She’ll be fine.” Kevin exhaled and a full grin finally spread across his bearded face. “Nothing like a little bio-digital regeneration to move the spirit, eh?”

He slapped his son’s back.

FROM THE DECK OF THE FLOATING SOLAR SHIP
, Kevin watched the digital sky as his son filled him in on what was going on in his world.

“…And there’s a war in the Middle East, and the Lakers and Celtics are still at it,” Sam went on. “The rich are getting richer. The poor are getting poorer. We have cell phones. There’s online dating, and Wi-Fi—”

“Why-Fly?” Kevin interrupted, an eyebrow raised.

“Wi-Fi,” Sam repeated slowly. “Wireless Interlinking—”

“Of digital devices? I thought of that in 1979!” Kevin cried with indignation.

Sam shrugged. It didn’t really surprise him. Then he remembered one more thing. “Hey, remember your ducati motorcycle?”

His father smiled and nodded. “Not a day goes by I don’t think about that bike.”

“I’m fixing her up,” Sam said proudly.

“I didn’t realize she was broken,” Kevin said.

Sam put his hand on his dad’s shoulder. “Twenty years in a garage, no tarp. She needed a little love.”

“How’s she run?”

“I’ll let you know when I get her out there,” Sam said.

“Man,” Kevin said with a faraway gaze. “I’d like to see that.”

“You will,” Sam promised.

For a moment, father and son were lost in thoughts of rebuilding their family. Then they both heard a groan. Quorra was waking up.

“Here,” Kevin said, handing Sam a flask. “give her this.”

Sam helped Quorra take a sip. His father moved off, his gaze fixed to the eastern sky.

“Time for me to knock on the sky and listen to the sound,” Kevin said cryptically as he walked away.

RINZLER STRODE AMONG THE CRATES
and cargo-loading machines on the crowded dock. Like a digital bloodhound, he sensed his creator’s presence.

Rinzler knew he was close.

The enforcer paused at one pier. Not far now, he thought. A few more strides brought him to an access bridge. The rising catwalk led to nothing but empty sky.

They left on a solar ship that was moored right here, Rinzler realized. He touched the catwalk and the structure crackled. ripples of energy spread outward. The corrosive power shorted out loaders and dimmed lights.

Rinzler lifted a hand. Instruments built into his gauntlet summoned the U-shaped recognizer hovering overhead. The massive machine settled onto the dock. Rinzler boarded.

On the bridge, he punched in new navigational coordinates. The recognizer lifted off a few seconds later. With an electronic hum the airship headed east, out over the Sea of Simulation.

QUORRA SNATCHED THE FLASK
from Sam’s hand and drained it dry. Then she looked around, confused.

“We’re safe now,” Sam explained, “headed east, toward the Portal.”

But Quorra frowned. “Clu has the disc?”

“Yes,” Sam said. “But once I get out, I can shut him down.”

“I never should have sent you to Zuse. It was a mistake,” she said softly.

Sam touched her arm. “It’s okay. I’ve made a few myself.”

Quorra looked doubtful. “Where did Flynn go?” she asked.

Sam scratched his head. “I think he’s knocking on the sky—”

Quorra finished Sam’s thought. “And listening to the sound.”

“You’ve heard that one before?” Sam asked.

“I’ve heard them all,” Quorra answered. “I’ve been with him a long time.”

On the other side of the deck, Kevin had returned from whatever he had been doing and was sitting in a lotus position. He suddenly stirred.

“I haven’t seen him this way in a long time,” Quorra said quietly, gazing at him.

Sam shook his head wonderingly. “What happened to him?”

“He lost hope,” Quorra replied.

“Of defeating Clu?”

Quorra shook her head. “Of getting out. Of seeing you, Sam.”

Just then, the two became aware of a dazzling sight on the eastern horizon. A massive pillar of brilliance reached into the black sky. Though it was nearly blinding to stare at, neither Sam nor Quorra could tear their gazes away.

The Portal…

“What a view,” Sam whispered.

Quorra nodded. “The Portal used to tell us that Flynn was here. It became a symbol of something bigger, something better than this world.”

Quorra shielded her eyes. “I’ve never been this close to the Portal before. It’s how I imagine a sunrise to be.”

Sam glanced at the single-hued glow. Mentally, he measured it against the splendor of a real sunrise.

“Trust me,” he said. “There’s no comparison.”

“What’s it like?” Quorra asked.

“The sun? Oh, man…I’ve never described it.” He gazed intently at Quorra. “Warm. Radiant. Beautiful.”

Suddenly Kevin appeared. “Get below! Move!” he cried.

Sam rose and followed his dad’s gaze. There, lurking in the distance, he saw the square lines of a recognizer. The ship quickly vanished behind a black mountain. But not before Quorra saw it, too.

They scanned the rugged peak that rose above the Sea of Simulation like an island in an ocean. Soon the recognizer reappeared. The craft was approaching their ship!

The deck under their feet suddenly shuddered. Sam watched a bright tractor beam reach out from the recognizer. It caught the solar sailer’s plasma stream and bent it to alter their course. Now their ship was headed for an island Sam had seen out of the corner of his eye a few moments before.

Quorra grabbed Sam’s arm and dragged him down to the cargo hold. Sam peered through a porthole. The sails were retracting. The ship was preparing to dock.

“What happened?” Sam asked.

“A new course,” his dad said, coming to join them.

The sailer entered a mammoth cave in the face of the mountainside. The cargo bay was plunged into darkness. Sam stared as sheer rock walls slid past the window. Then he heard Quorra gasp.

In the darkness, the cargo containers began to glow, and Sam could make out their contents. The containers were packed with programs. Thousands of them. Frozen. Inert. Locked inside some sort of electronic trance. They were stacked one on top of the other.

“What is this?” Quorra asked.

“Clu can’t create programs,” Kevin explained. “He can only destroy or repurpose them.”

“Repurpose them for what?” Quorra asked in alarm.

“Look here,” Sam called from the porthole. He had just seen the answer to Quorra’s question.

The ship had entered a massive underground facility in the heart of the mountain. The cave was filled with Sentries and Black Guardsmen. Soldier programs stood in rigid ranks. All wore identical uniforms and carried war discs on their backs.

Another sprawling sector held thousands of armored tanks. They were larger than the tanks in the Tron game. All of them had rotating turrets with two cannons mounted on their beetle black hulls.

“Clu is building an invasion army,” Sam said grimly.

And it wasn’t hard for him to guess which world Clu was planning to invade.