Neon Jungle

[voiceless_anon]

Who: Anon, OPEN
When: Now.
Where: Somewhere near the Arena.
What: Anon is newly (re)rezzed and very confused, and is looking for somebody who'll explain what's going on.
Warnings: Probably none.

Comments

[yorisearching]

The thought of watching the Games themselves still brought a crushing pressure in Yori's code, but from time to time she went near enough to watch the crowds pass. Joy in their faces does something to drive away the pain, and the clusters of excited programs around those hoping to compete. No fear in their posture, no cages, no executions. They trust Tron's word enough to come back in droves, and Yori was grateful for that

[voiceless_anon]

Anon looked around as somebody called his name, his gaze landing on a pretty blonde program who was looking straight at him. Try as he might, he couldn't find her in his memory banks.

He shook his head when the program introduced herself. Yori. Search string not found. Still, Yori seemed friendly, and she at least knew of him. He tilted his head slightly in curiousty, and waved a hand at the Grid in general. What happened here? The popularity of games that he knew to be lethal worried him, knowing only too well what happened to losing programs.

[yorisearching]

For Anon to be completely voiceless argued that he was still very young, and Yori winced internally at the probable fate of a System Monitor in the earliest millicycles of Clu's takeover. "I helped Flynn debug your code before you were ever compiled," she explained, with a wry smile, remembering how full of hope she'd been at the time. "It's good to meet you, after all these cycles."

His puzzled gesture was pretty standard for newly arriving programs, whether the question was voiced or not. "Clu's out of power, finally," Yori assured him first. "Tron is in charge of system security and the Arena now."

[voiceless_anon]

Anon relaxed at the assurance that Clu was gone, and perked up at the knowledge that Tron was running the Games. Rinzler had told him that his mentor was still alive, but it was useful to have indepedent confirmation.

Yori had checked his code, pre-compilation? Anon ducked his head, the closest he could come to blushing. It was a little odd to know that it wasn't just Flynn who'd had a hand in creating him, but it felt . . . nice.

[yorisearching]

"And now the extremely confusing part," Yori sighed. She fished a datachip out of its compartment and offered it to Anon--she'd begun handing them out upon realizing that a full explanation of events would take cycles every time. "That's basic information on the state of the Grid, and of course if you have questions you can ask me."

As a security program, though, there were things Anon in particular would need to know. "Clu forced a lot of programs to work for him," she said softly. "You'll probably see some programs who supported him. If they're making trouble, of course you should step in, but--try not to derez anyone, if you can avoid it. The Grid is at peace for now, and everyone needs a second chance."

[voiceless_anon]

Anon nodded in thanks and pressed the data chip to his side, where it sank securely beneath his armor. The next time he found a Disc Station, he could pull the chip out and download the data.

Listening intently to Yori's brief explanation, Anon nodded again, this time in agreement. He'd never liked derezzing programs that had the option of changing their mind - not that he'd met many of those. The infected had been stripped bare, minds gone, just their shells and a few basic commands left. Those, he had never been able to save.

But if there is no threat - then what do I do? Anon was a System Monitor. That job description didn't go away just because the Grid had changed, His shoulders slumped without him noticing, the big program suddenly seeming smaller.

[yorisearching]

Yori frowned in concern at the change in posture. There were still a fair number of things to be worried about, but none of them should be troubling Anon yet, should they?

Unless he just wasn't sure where to go. She hoped that was it, because that she could possibly help with.

"You can find Tron in the Arena," she added. "I'm sure he'd be glad to have your help to keep the Grid safe. There's been trouble with gridbugs, and not everyone is ready to get along, which makes for some arguments to break up. And you might even enjoy the games, with Tron in charge."

[voiceless_anon]

Anon brightened again when Yori mentioned that there was still work to do. And if Tron was in charge - did that mean that losing programs didn't get derezzed? He'd only ever known the lethal version, but he couldn't imagine enjoying derezzing his opponents. He hadn't last time.

Find Tron. A simple, clear directive, similar to those he'd carried out before. He looked at the entrance to the Arena and hesitated for a moment. What if Tron was in an area that was off-limits to most programs? Granted, that hadn't bothered him before, but he strongly suspected that in the cycles - decacycles? Hectocycles? - since his deresolution, he'd been taken off the permissions list. And he suspected that there would be objections to him simply hacking his way through the doors.

Anon turned back to Yori and wrapped a careful hand around her arm, tugging gently before letting go. If Yori was close enough to the Creator to help him with creating program, then maybe she had access to some of the private domains.

[yorisearching]

It was obvious enough that Anon wanted a guide and probably an introduction. Which was a small enough thing to ask, when Anon was practically fresh-compiled and also missing time. But Yori looked from Anon to the Arena, and flinched.

She had no right to be afraid of the place; programs who'd actually been derezzed there were coping better than she was. And Yori wasn't, exactly, afraid of it. She had every confidence that Tron was making sure none of the combatants were harmed, and no plans to be among them in any case.

Yet the thought of watching idle as others fought, crashed, fell--no. It hurt too much, for reasons she didn't want to explore.

"I could meet you after the Games are over, if you wanted to watch them," Yori offered, with an apologetic smile. "I know they're safe now, but I can't..." She shook her head, trailing off. "Anyway, Tron might be busy, during."

[voiceless_anon]

Anon was a little disappointed, but stepped back and nodded. He wasn't going to pressure Yori into anything she didn't want to do - and that flinch had said very plainly that she didn't want to be anywhere near the Games.

And yes, he wanted to watch them. He wanted to see for himself the changes made to the Games with Tron in charge. Stepping back, he waved a hand in farewell. He hoped he'd meet Yori again at some point, hopefully after he had a chance to read the data chip.

Turning, Anon headed for the Arena. The sound of the crowed swelled as he approached, washing over him until he could hear nothing else.

[yorisearching]

Watching Anon walk away, Yori rubbed a hand over her eyes in tired resentment of her own weakness.

Well, Anon would have her contact information whenever he read that chip, so he'd be able to message her. Which would allow finer detail in questions than pointing, so perhaps it was as well.

Meanwhile, she would need to contact Tron at the arena. The thought had just occurred to her that it was possible Gem's Tron might not remember Anon, if things had gone differently enough from her own memories.

Yori abandoned the crowd, heading for the nearest com station and silently composing a brief letter of explanation as she went.