Tron Reformation

Chapter 9: Disc Let Me in Your Mind; More Than just a Program

The day did not look as cheerful and sunny as one hoped it to be. The rain clouds blackened the skies, letting only out grayness around the world. The rain didn't do much help to wash away the sadness that was for the Flynns and Chisame's parents, who were all in the living room, dressed in black, mourning for the disappearance of Kevin Flynn. Chisame, who was five years old, looked out the window, sitting on a cushioned footstool as she watched the rain outside, with deep sadness in her young eyes, as the TV and radio each said the same thing.

"ENCOM CEO Kevin Flynn was reported missing today. He was last seen at his sister's home, with his sister and her young daughter, Flynn's niece, Chisame Hasegawa."

She then clutched the Tron plush in her arms, embracing it in a lonely way, and buried her cheek in it, hiding the tear that threatened to go down, as she silently wept for her beloved uncle.

At that moment, a teenaged Sam Flynn walked in. He walked over to his cousin, placing a hadn on her shoulder, as he tried to comfort her. "Chisame, I'm sorry… I really am," Sam consoled her, "I know that you and my dad were really close." However, she didn't seem to answer back, so he tried to tell her to go eat dinner, "You know, um… I just ordered a pizza a while ago. Maybe you should…"

"He promised we see each other, after he was done," Chisame spoke out, her voice in a whispered weep. "He said he was gonna take both of us to the Grid one day."

"Chisame…"

"He promised!" she shouted, and ran out of the room.

Chisame ran outside the door, running away from the house into the pouring rain. Even as Sam ran out to call her back,

"Chisame! Chisame, come back! Chisame!"

She stirred awake, hearing the echoes of her past, as her eyes adjusted to perfect focus. Chisame blinked a little, as she realized she was lying down, and was now staring at a neon black and blue ceiling, obviously a Cell. She groaned, as she realized she was still in the Grid, 'Oh great. All that, and it wasn't a dream at all. The Program soldiers, the force-strip down, those creatures, or even when that Program Dru carried me off in his arms… acting all handsome and cute…'

She blinked at that last memory, and even her last thoughts on him. She went wide eyed and blushed furiously, as she cupped her mouth, "Oh crap. Did I just think of him as being handsome and cute?" She shook her head, as she reassured herself, "Okay, get those thoughts out of your head, Chisame. The last thing you need is dilute yourself of fantasies of love at first sight. There's no way in hell you're falling for a computer program."

However, those thoughts were destroyed, as a familiar voice spoke up, "You think I'm cute and handsome?"

Chisame paled at that realization, as she went bug-eyed, and coughed out a little blood. She turned and saw that she was sleeping on the cell's only bench, and that everyone else was asleep, except for Dru. He was conveniently kneeling next to her, keeping an eye out for her as she slept apparently.

Seeing this reaction, Dru sweat-dropped and asked, "Are you okay?"

Chisame shook like crazy, her head hanging down, until finally, she shot at him, her arms flailing as she screamed hysterically, "DO I LOOK OKAY?! Me and three of my crazy schoolmates have been teleported inside a computer world, I've been arrested, I was thrown into a coliseum nearly eaten alive by some kind of digimon monster… and to top it all off: I WAS STRIPPED DOWN BARE NAKED! IN FRONT OF OTHERS!"

Dru sweat dropped at that, as he made a Brock-style face, and commented, "I suppose with your given lifestyle, that's a pretty rough day for someone like you."

She finally collapsed on her knees, as she groaned, "And to make things even more unbelievable, I find out that my number 1 fan is a computer program."

Dru frowned at that, as he shot out, "Well this computer program saved your life out in the arena." He then stood up, as he glared down at her, causing her to flinch, as he scolded, "And I gave you a specific and very decisive call on your cellphone, stating to stop the investigation before you got further into this." But then he sighed, as he gave her a relieved smile, "But I'm just glad you're alright, Chisame."

Chisame blinked a little at that, but then nearly screamed out, "Wait! You mean… you knew? You knew that I wasn't… that I'm not…"

"A Program? Didn't buy it the first time you or your three friends showed up here," Dru answered. But then sighed heavily, out of regret, as he said, "Though I wished it was a better time when you and your friends came here. You're lucky the three of us met up with your group before the Games started."

Chisame then raised an eyebrow and asked, "Wait, what are you and your friends even doing here? I would've thought a guy like you had more sense in staying away from a place like this."

Dru nodded to that, but explained, "We may not look like much, but we're part of the Resistance: the Rebels that are trying to take back the Grid and rid it of the tyranny of CLU and Sark's empire of the Perfect System. At the moment, we purposely let ourselves get caught in order to rescue some of the other Programs here. And hopefully recruit any willing freedom fighter that wants to help."

The Net Idol then asked, "Okay, I get that; you guys are a bunch of Freedom Fighters. And I even know who Sark was, considering my Uncle Kevin told me stories on how he and Tron defeated him and the MCP from his stories, but who's this CLU everyone's talking about?"

"CLU. It stands for Codified Likeness Utility," Dru explained. "A program that's capable of thinking like a User. But unlike Users, he can't create programs. So he spends most of the time re-purposing them into his obedient little foot soldiers."

"Re-purpose," Chisame questioned. "Wait, you mean… he brainwashes them?"

"Yeah, something like that," Dru answered, as he explained the process, "Repurposing, or Rectification as CLU claims it to be, is a process that reorientates or corrupts a program's functions, claiming it helps them server a new purpose to perfection. CLU uses it to create loyal armies, filtering out their loyalties and directives, replacing them with loyalty to himself and Sark."

"So then it is like brainwashing," Chisame concluded, not liking this as it went on.

Dru nodded, "The process is crude, leaving little or any of the personality intact. Though he's perfected it to the point that those who are repurposed leave enough of their personalities to fool other programs who had known them before into thinking they were still free."

Chisame blinked at that, as she asked, "You've seen it before?"

"I was fooled before," Dru answered, looking rather saddened at remembering the past, "Cutler. A program a friend and I knew a long time ago; we fought together against the earlier days in the war. When we separated for a while, he came back to us, seemingly the same. But when we were alone on a recon mission, me and my friend, we found out that…" He sighed heavily, as he shook his head, looking down at the ground, unable to go further.

But Chisame figured it out, as she finished for him, "Your friend, Cutler… he set a trap."

Dru nodded, "He had been repurposed into CLU's new errand boy; he had all his old memories but he became a fanatical loyalist, convinced that CLU had 'shown him the light'. He caught us and held us prisoner in a Recognizer rebuilt to be a moving Repurposing facility." He sighed heavily, as he went on, "He offered us the choice to be like him: to be repurposed by choice and retain our memories, instead of becoming mindless drones. Luckily, Morpheus and a rescue team arrived and took the Recognizer down. But during the fight, Cutler received a mental shock, severe enough to briefly undo his repurposing. He was struggling to regain his freedom; his circuitry flickering from red to blue and back again. But the code proved too strong for him, and was forcing him to be locked as CLU's minion irrevocably. But before that, he begged me to save him."

Chisame was silent for a moment, not sure if she should ask. It seemed like a really tough and painful memory for Dru to remember on. But she had to know what happened until finally, she asked, "What did you do? What happened to Cutler?"

Dru was quiet for the moment, not sure if he should answer her. But he knew that she would ask again, maybe not now, or ever, but she would ask him. He quietly sighed, as he looked to her in the eyes, as he finally answered, "The only thing I could do: I took my Identity disc, rammed it through his chest, and I watched him derezz right before my eyes." He sat straight up, as he told her, "After that, I promised myself two things that day: One is that I would never let a friend of mine be repurposed. And two, I would derezz myself than ever become a puppet."

Chisame looked at this program now, a bit more differently. At first she thought him to be nothing more than the robot back in her class. But this… she was being shown that he could think and feel… just like a person. This was becoming too much for the net idol girl to even fathom.

But then he turned a glare to Chisame as he calmly stated, "Speaking of derezzing, you're gonna get derezzed a lot faster with the way you handled the combat situation." Chisame flinched at that, seeing he was dead right on that matter. And to make it even worse, he pointed out the obvious flaws, "You obviously ran away, freaking out like a five year old. You have no combat skills whatsoever. You didn't listen to staying with the others, as you ran to the back and pleaded for someone to save you. About the only thing you're really good at is cowering in the corner and crying out in tears, and close to wetting yourself in fear."

Every complaint stabbed Chisame with an arrow of all those complaints into her back. Until finally, she turned to Dru and shouted with a pinkish red face due to her embarrassment, "CUT IT OUT! I know I'm the weakest link in the whole group of seven, I get it." She then finally slid back on the wall, as she grumbled, in self-pity, "Sorry if I turned out to be a burden. I just don't have any fighting experience. Not very good on athletics either."

Dru nodded on that, but then, an idea hit him. "Maybe I can help." He stated, as he walked to her, extending her a hand. "Come with me for a second."

She blinked, as she took his hand, as he helped her on her feet. The two walked over to the center of the room, as he took out his Identity Disc, and looked to her, "Okay, now give me yours." She shrugged, as she took her disc and handed it to him, confused on what idea he had in mind.

Feeling like she needed to know more, she asked, "Okay, what's this idea you have?"

"Memory transfer," Dru stated, earning a confused look on her face. "I'm gonna copy and paste most of my combat experience and knowledge over to you. Teaching in you in a matter of seconds what I've learned in cycles."

He then spun her around, and hooked his disc into her pack, and he did the same with hers to his. He then turned her around so he could face her, face-to-face, as she was nearly six inches from him. She then blinked, as she didn't feel anything, "Is it working? I can't feel anything." Seeing he didn't answer her, she shrugged, "Look, it was a good idea, I admit. But maybe it's because I'm a User that it doesn't work…" but then she became startled as he knelt in front of her, his face to her…

She blushed profusely, as she nearly kneed him in the face, as she screamed, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU…?"

"Can you just kneel so we can see eye-to-eye here," Dru calmly stated, causing her to blink in confusion, as he looked up to her. "We have to connect if this is going to work. Meaning, my hands in yours, and my forehead to yours as well."

Chisame blushed at that thought for some odd reason, as she grumbled, "You sure you don't want me to kiss you?"

Dru grumbled as he asked, sarcastically, "You really think a prison's the most romantic place for a first date, or for a joining of the bodies? If so, you must have strange romance rituals in the User World."

Chisame grumbled, as she got on her knees, and quickly and roughly took his hands into hers. But before she touched her forehead to his, she had to know, as she asked, "Why exactly do we have to do this? I mean, do you usually do this with guys?"

Dru shrugged, "Honestly… this is the first time I've ever done a memory transfer with anyone. But I do know it takes a lot out of both parties. I figure since we don't have chairs or a couch, kneeling would be a better choice. We might faint or fall down when it's over."

Chisame was starting to wonder if this Memory Transference was such a good idea. The physical strains seemed to sound pretty tolling on someone. Quickly, she tried to reconsider the idea, "Does it really take a whole lot out of a Program? I mean, maybe you could just train me quickly before the next Game pops up."

"We don't have a whole lot of time. You slept for about three hours, and we both need to be awake, or we'll get derezzed in the next Game to come. That means five hours to sleep," Dru explained in a serious manner. But he noticed the uneasiness with Chisame, as he reassured her, smiling to her, "It's just knowledge and experience. Nothing more."

She took a calming breath, and saw the reason in his words. They really didn't have a whole lot of options on the training right now. And considering that he'd have to protect her in the battle, the opponents would have a good opening on him and her. She nodded, as she looked to him, "Alright. Let's do it." Dru nodded, but then she asked, "So, um… will it hurt?"

Dru chuckled, as he answered, "Only if you fight back."

"Kay, no fighting then," Chisame stated, and closed her eyes.

Dru closed his eyes, and tilted his face down to hers, receptively. But Chisame opened her eyes for a moment, as she saw him slowly come towards her. At that moment, a rush of excitement and paralyzing fear nearly reduced her to a puddle. Or an iceberg, as she was halfway gonna punch his face in. It was in this, that she really didn't know what to do at this point. 'Oh crap! What is he going to do? Is he going to kiss me? OH CRAP, WHAT DO I DO, WHAT DO I DO, WHAT DO I DO…?!'

But before she could pull away, Dru was merciful to her, as he nudged forward the last half-inch… touching his forehead to hers, and gently nuzzled…

And that's when she felt a strange buzz-tingle; first in her forehead, and then it spread from there to all of her body. She nearly arched her back, as it was stimulating nerve clusters, both feeling receptors as well as pleasure centers. A swarm of electric snowflakes danced around all of her body, but focused into her mind. It was as if Dru was teasing, nibbling, and caressing all of her, both outside, and inside. Soft fingers of electric energy gently weaved into her mind, triggering a mixture of random knowledge and experience through words and images that seemed to grow and transform into a beautiful spiral of information. For Chisame, it was an overwhelming sensation which defied anyway to describe it.

Some of the images weren't easily recognizable to her, as they looked like scenes that took place in the Grid. She heard chatter and whispers on the fringes of her consciousness, that strangely filled her up with a warm comfort and joyful contentment. It was then that she realized the whispers were from Dru's voice. It was then that she was beginning to understand what this Mind-Transference was doing.

It was like he said; he was transferring his memories and experience into her mind. But what he didn't tell her, or he didn't know, was that during this their minds were embracing each other. This was a new sense she didn't know ever existed, or anyone knew of in her world. It was a sense based on the flow of data and electrical energy; a sense beyond the physical touch that was known by Humanity. This was something completely unknown: this was how a Program in the Grid kissed.

She'd punch the hell out of him for stealing a kiss from her. But… she was strangely losing her anger from this, as she relaxed more. Her face blushing deeply, as she had small moaning breaths escape her mouth. It felt like a blast of heat, striking at her like a lightning bolt from a summer storm, and then the intensity subsided into a billion microscopic bubbles, as if an ocean of floating candles in little paper boats were glowing in her mind. It was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt in her life…

Data Transfer: Complete

And just as it was becoming close to what was a good time, it ended, as Dru pulled back. However, Chisame nearly fainted over, but he caught her in time, as she rested her head on his chest, as she breathed heavily. Dru had to smirk rather goofy at this, as he commented, "Wasn't as bad as I thought."

Chisame let out a small moan, as she looked up to Dru, flustered and sleepy. Her eyes seemed to dance with a hint of pleasure from all that happened. "Whoa," she whispered, a little coquettishly, "That was… actually amazing."

"First time I've ever done it," Dru confessed, but then blinked, as he looked surprised at her. "Um, Chisame…"

Chisame looked at the expression on his face, as she asked, "What?"

"You're drooling."

She blinked in confusion, until she traced her lips, and there it was. A single stream of drool down her lip. She blushed profusely, as she cupped her mouth, in embarrassment, "Oh my god! I wasn't, I mean I didn't…" but then she stopped, as she saw Dru, stifling a chuckle, as well as a smirk. This riled Chisame to no end, as she balled up a fist, and screamed, "You… ASSHOLE!" and tried to deck him.

But he pulled away, allowing Chisame to fall on the ground, but amazingly, she recovered, as she rolled forward. Crouched, she launched herself by her hands, and attempted to get him with a double-foot kick into the wall. But he dodged it, as he rolled to the side, and she chased after him, striking punch, hand-slice or backhand. But Dru managed to dodge or block all of those moves, until she connected with a palm strike to his chin. He staggered back a little, until he regained his momentum and equilibrium from the strike.

Chisame seemed a bit stunned by all that, as she realized she did all that. "What? But how…?" she whispered in confusion, as she looked at her hands in question. "I didn't even know all that stuff. How…?"

"The memory transference, remember?" Dru replied, as the confused girl looked to him as he answered. "I told you, I transferred my knowledge and experience to you. Your body's just remembering what I know that you know now. With a little time, you'll be able to do it without having to rely on muscle memory."

Chisame didn't admit it, but she was colored impressed by all that, as she looked to her hands. She even allowed a small smirk to come on to her face, "That's amazing. I know Grid Kung Fu." But her joyous moment was replaced, as a troubled thought came to mind. She then frowned and sternly looked to Dru as she asked, "Hey, wait a minute. If you gave me a copy of your memories… did you get any of mine?"

Dru blushed a little, as he turned to the side, and scratched his chin, sweat dropping, as he mumbled, "Well… nothing too embarrassing. Chiu-Chiu."

At that second, Chisame's anger went to boiling, as she fumed, until she screamed, "AAAAAAAAAARGH! I'LL KILL YOU!" And chased after him, which he ran like crazy at that moment.

"What are you gonna do?"

"Nothing!"

"Then why are you chasing me?"

"Stop and you'll find out!"

"I told you, it wasn't anything too embarrassing!"

"Well, you won't live long enough to tell anybody about it!"

"Chisame!"

"ARGH! AND DON'T CALL ME CHIU-CHIU!"

The Next Day

Arena

The crowd roared furiously, as the Games were commencing without fail. The cell platform moved forward, carrying with it three Blackguards and the 'willing combatants'. Unfortunately, the only ones were Dru and Chisame. As they were going forward, Chisame turned around, and asked the guards directly, "Where are the others? Why are we the only ones participating?"

"Your comrades will have their chance," the first Black Guard said. "Today, CLU wishes to see you both in the Games."

Dru turned to look at the guard, and asked, "Why's that?"

"No one questions what our leader wants," the second Black Guard replied. "Let's just say he's curious about…" and then pointed to Chisame, "… her."

Before Chisame could register worry, the two were pushed inot the gaming arena, where six Black Guard combatants were awaiting the two. Three of the six flipped back, landing in impressive kung fu moves, as they pulled out their Identity discs.

ALL COMBATANTS PREPARE FOR COMBAT. DIFFUCLTY LEVEL: EXTREME

Chisame gulped, as she pulled out her Identity Disk and her visor helmet folded on her head, "Oh great…"

Limo Box

As CLU sat down to watch the fight before him begin, Tessler walked to his side, and glared down at the two, "I don't like this. Those two should be derezzed. Win or lose."

"Then you'd be making martyrs for those of the rebellion to cause me more grief," CLU pointed out, sounding rather pleased. "Not that it would do anything, since the Rectifier's completion will be ready within a month."

Tessler then looked to CLU, as he stated, "And that's the other thing, sir. You've been working on this project for several cycles now, but you have yet to inform me or my unit, much less anyone's unit on what it is except for your Agents."

CLU didn't turn his visored face away from the Game before it had a chance to begin commencing, as he asked, "You asking to be included?"

Tessler stated, but didn't go too far, "I'm thinking I could help production go faster."

"If I did that, you'd derezz everyone on the spot the first time something goes wrong or if a program didn't work fast enough. You know that's not how I operate, Tessler; beating and derezzing the men before they can finish the job. It's getting harder and harder to Repurpose new programs these days," CLU calmly berated, sounding not too annoyed or disgusted by the General's methods. "I haven't forgotten the blunders you've made in Argo."

Tessler cleared his throat, as he explained fetidly, "Sir, if I had any inkling that my subordinate, Pavel, would have caused the Uprising and the Rebellion in the first place, I…"

"Still would have messed it up," CLU pointed out. Tessler silently raged on this beratement, but sighed and looked away in defeat. But CLU spoke up, "Although… if you're interested in helping, I do have something of great importance that needs to be included with the Rectifier."

Tessler looked to his leader and asked, "What is it?"

"Flynn's Identity Disc," he answered. "In order for the Rectifier's main function to even be possible, we need it."

"But… Flynn's been missing for over 500 cycles," Tessler replied, feeling this mission would never be accomplished. "We wouldn't even know where to begin looking."

"Oh, not to worry, General. All one needs to set a trap is the right bait," CLU replied, as he looked down at the arena, and saw Dru and Chisame ready for battle. He smirked under his helmet, as he replied, "And I think it just came to us."

Next Chapter: A Reunion or Deception; Fight for Your Life