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[Gooood morning, Paradisa!

As the sun slowly rises, a man stirs on one of the couches in the Lobby. The circuits on his dark armor brighten and steady from where they were once a dull, even blink, not unlike a computer that's been awakened from standby.

He mutters something about system restarts always getting the best of him - as if any program could resist - that's picked up by the open journal nearby if anyone's listening. The man opens his eyes...

Only to immediately go on high alert. He sits up to get a better look at his surroundings. This does not look like the Grid. What in the Users' name is that light, and where is it coming from? Flynn's mentioned a sun to him, but he's never spent much time describing it except to say that it's almost like the Portal that illuminates the sky when Flynn enters the Grid. They were usually too busy to go into much detail - it was always too easy to get interrupted by gridbugs, and CLU had started giving Flynn weird looks when they talked about it, so Tron had refrained from asking questions about the User world in front of him.

Something is wrong. How did he get here? Even a total change of the system couldn't have done this. The last thing he knew he was just coming back from patrolling for gridbugs. Was he glitching? His code had always been stable. Alan-1 had worked hard to keep it that way, even if Flynn had made some changes to upgrade him for the Grid instead of the ENCOM System. He doesn't ask the obvious question aloud, but it is all he's calculating at the present time: where am I?

One option is to explore, and he's already on his feet to do just that when the journal catches his attention.] A book..? [He asks aloud, frowning when his words appear on the page.] Flynn's books never did this...

[Anyone listening might find that his voice sounds exactly like a certain old man or a non-rumbling version of a certain CLU-serving program. It would be easy to mistake them for each other. And Alan? Well, he went to bed last night - Sam and Kevin could confirm that - but now he's nowhere to be found...]

((Loss start! Open to everyone!))

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[Have a confused rumbling noise from the edge of the room. It's actually close to a whine, as he eyes the new arrival. The very strange new arrival.

Rinzler had been on one of his usual patrols, heading through the lobby, when he heard that voice. He wasn't approaching though. Too unsettled. Especially after the past week.]

[Tron immediately looks up to locate the source of the rumble. The circuits and helmet are familiar - this has to be another program. He can't tell what kind it is; the pattern at its neck is too far away to discern properly in the light.

Red circuits, though...that can't be good. The last programs to be that color were the ones following Sark on the ENCOM System. Some rules had changed in circuit colors on the Grid, but he doubts a change of this magnitude took place.

But he needs information. So he'll call out, warily:] Greetings, program!

[Rinzler freezes in place indecisively for the moment. No hostility. No attempts to move closer.

But before long, a rumbling voice responds. One that would sounds very familiar without the feedback.] Greetings, program.

Identify.

[Something's off about this whole thing. The other program suddenly going stock-still, his voice...]

Designation: Tron.

Identify.

[This isn't right. This feels wrong. Very wrong. Rinzler really isn't sure what to think of this other program. At all.

He's not approaching still.]

Current designation: Rinzler.

[Rinzler...huh, he's never heard of that program before. But what's this about 'current'?]

Previous designation. Function.

[Dairine was wandering down to the kitchen for breakfast when she notices another new arrival. This newcomer seems familiar... Something about the way he looks or sounds seems very Alan. But those circuits and the way he talks… A program?

A new program! And one that knows Flynn? But… is that good or bad? CLU and Rinzler both know Flynn as well, and Alan told her to avoid them. Yet if Flynn is the creator of the Grid, wouldn’t most programs know him? Curious, Dairine moves to get closer look, being careful to go slow in case the program tries anything.]

[He knows his master wouldn't approve of this. Knows he should return and report. But shouldn't he get as much data as he can before reporting? It's a difficult decision.]

Function: Security program.

[Now this gets a long pause. Clu would not approve of him really even thinking of himself like that anymore.] Former designation is irrelevant.

[There's some more hesitation before he takes a few steps closer.]

[Whoever's slowly approaching him can't be a program. She's not in a gridsuit, has no visible circuits, and she's got two clear barriers shielding her eyes, almost like the clear front of his helmet when he's on his lightcycle. She's also very small, for a program. Is this what Flynn meant by 'young', by 'child'?

He's already surmised that he's in the User world, although he has no idea how he got here and it is definitely not what he pictured it to be.]

Greetings, small User.

[Security program? But...]

System requirements designate blue circuits for security programs, Rinzler.

[Irrelevant? No. This program is hiding something. He still can't get a good look at those circuits - the few steps closer only helped a fraction, as he's all the way at the edge of the room; he moves a little closer, too, echoing Rinzler's movements.]

Changed. Master changed them. Changed me. Perfect system.

[Moving closer still, making no signs of hostility. The uneasy rumbling continues as he watches the other program.]

[Master...He's never heard that used before. It sounds like he's talking about Flynn, but that doesn't sound like the sort of thing Flynn would want.

Perfect system, however, catches his attention quickly. Flynn had stopped caring so much about that when he found the ISOs. Another friend of his, however, had never let it go.] They did it? How? When?

[Now Rinzler's just close enough for "Tron" to make out that familiar pattern of circuits. Circuits that match his. A voice that almost sounds like his, beneath the rumble of static. His eyes widen and he takes a half-step back.] What--?

[Rinzler rumbles softly as Tron steps back. Does he finally understand?] Clu removed all imperfections.

What imperfections? Flynn would have told me if something were wrong.

[Rumbling in agitation.] Flynn was gone.

[This is what he'd feared. Programs weren't meant to be Users; despite CLU's beliefs, he was not, for all intents and purposes, the Creator.]

He's of two worlds - he couldn't be in two places at once. We know that. So did CLU.

Clu took charge. Destroyed the imperfections.

Flynn ran.

[Rumbling softly.] Both are here.

We were supposed to protect him!

Where? What is this place?

Tried.

Paradisa. User world.

[Rumbling in agitation, looking around the room.] Master will not approve.

[He would never have given in voluntarily.] He betrayed all of us...

How did we get here? I wasn't anywhere near the Portal.

He wouldn't. This can't be according to his plans.

[Rumbling in agitation at that claim. Part of him agrees... But Clu's work makes it hard to listen to that. Clu is supposed to be his master.]

Unknown.

Should report this. Not talk to you.

Do the Users know?

But I'm you.

[Well, that greeting is definitely a good sign, so she'll approach with a bit more confidence now. And normally she would complain that she wasn't small, thank you very much. but she lets it slide. Programs are probably like the mobiles and stay the same height thoughout their life. After all, she has no prove of any kid-sized programs.]

Greetings, program, and welcome to Paradisa.

No. Brought here too.

Not now. Changed too much.

How did I get here? I'm supposed to be on the Grid.

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Action - The paradox of Dairine's glasses returns

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