My Kind of Town-- Chicago is

[electrifythem]

Who: Open to Everybody! Mingle with the other programs and users!
Where: The End of Line Club
When: The Present
Warnings: I have no idea IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU FOLK.

Comments

[tanks4thememory]

Clu couldn't believe he'd waited so long to pay a visit to the End of Line Club. Sure, there had been plenty of bars and other places to get refined energy in his home domain and the various Systems he'd visited in the past, but they had nothing on this place. Everything was brightly lit in white, but not so much that it was uncomfortable. The staff all seemed to be in white too, and most of them seemed to have white circuits as well, even the masked MP3s he could see up in their booth above the action.

'Seems like Castor really likes advertizing that he and his employees are high-end programs,' Clu thought. 'Or, at least, he wants others to think that.' He'd never met Castor, the club's owner, but had seen a few images of him and would know him if he saw him. Not that he'd have been hard to spot in any case; the proprietor of the End of Line had a very distinctive look to him

[dollyoftheeol]

Dolly probably wasn't a familiar face, since he hadn't been part of her Grid. She swept her way easily behind the bar, dropping the glasses from her tray into the recycler before collecting a tray-ful of new ones in a variety of colors.

If she was startled by his appearance she didn't show it, just arched both brows, steadying her tray again, holding it carefully against her side, "Administrator. Don't often see you around these parts." And she was fairly certain that Lizor had told her he'd been overthrown, or something similar.

[tanks4thememory]

Clu turned as an unfamiliar woman, a waitress at the club, from the looks of her, adressed him. At least he assumed she meant him when she said 'Administrator' and not the Tron who was currently acting as such.

"Hmm?" he said, and noticed that she was definately adressing him. "Oh! No-no, I'm not him," he assured her quickly. "I'm not even from this Grid. I'm the original Clu, a hacking program Flynn wrote for the Encom System. I rerezzed here not even a cycle ago. I just... look alot like him, that's all." He shrugged slightly. At least she didn't seem frightened, which was a good thing.

[dollyoftheeol]

Both brows arched, "Oh! it's a remarkable resemblance, no offence meant." She smiled then, "I think I can see the differences now though, just took a closer look is all." She gave him a wink before shifting her grasp on the tray, holding it more steady so she could offer a hand, "Dolly. Obviously I work here, just returned not too long ago myself."

[tanks4thememory]

He gave something of a wry smirk at her comment about the resemblance between himself and the Grid's Clu. "Believe me, I know," he said. "And no offence taken."

His smirk softened to a friendly smile at her wink. "Nice to met you," he said, reaching across the bar and shaking her hand. He released her hand and settled back as the bartender set his drink in front of him. He gave the man a nod of thanks, which the bartender returned, before turning his attention back to Dolly.

"So," he asked, "you settling back in alright? I know from personal experience that derezzing and rerezzing isn't exactly the most fun experience out there."

[dollyoftheeol]

Dolly easily passed her tray off to another one of the waitresses going past, just leaning against the bar so she could continue her conversation, "I'm doing alright, kind of helps that everything I know was already here, even if my apartment's got a little different layout." She shrugged, "Really I was right back to work almost as soon as I'd arrived. Just what I do, what I'm good at." A soft laugh, tucking her hair behind her ear, "What I was written for, actually."

She tilted her head then, "But you, you're from long ago and far away, how are you finding the place?"

[tanks4thememory]

Clu nodded at her reply, smiling and taking a sip of his drink. "That's good to hear," he said. "Usually it tends to be rough on people, due energy loss, if nothing else. The last new rerezz I ran into had the bad luck of reappearing right in the middle of a Disc Wars match at the arena; good thing for him the new safety measures kicked in

[dollyoftheeol]

"Ouch." She replied, shaking her head, "That couldn't have been fun for the poor guy." A shrug followed, "But I wound up here, luckily before it got too busy or I really would have caused a scene, falling in screaming like I did." She shook her head, "Just took a disc to the chest before I got here, was pretty well certain I was derezzed for sure."

A soft laugh, shaking her head again, "But apparently that's pretty common around here, so I'm not about to argue it, rather be here than in the great beyond anyway. Seems like it'd be pretty boring there."

[tanks4thememory]

"No, he wasn't," Clu said, smirking wryly again. Man, was that the understatement of the decacycle. "Fortunately though, he settled down some once he'd gotten properly energized and had things explained to him."

Clu nodded at her story, taking another sip of his drink. He sort of shrugged at her comment about the great beyond, though. "I wouldn't know," he said. "I don't think anyone remembers anything between derezzing and rerezzing; one moment you're gone, the next you're back. Which makes for some very awkward moments, but... I think it's probably better that way, honestly. The Invisible was meant to stay that way."

[dollyoftheeol]

She nodded, "I did good when I got an explanation, did better when I got back to work. I know what I'm good at, and I'm good at what I was written for, keeping things flowing here as easily as possible, no matter what." And apparently that included dying and being ressurected.

There was a smile at the statement, nodding, "Exactly, it's Invisible for a reason." She shrugged, "And I don't remember anything between one and the other, which is why there was so much screaming." A soft laugh then, "And I say I wouldn't have minded causing a scene, but I prefer to do it a little less ..." She waved a hand in a vague circle, "A little less distressingly."

[tanks4thememory]

"I'm glad you were able to get back on your feet so quickly," Clu said. "Doing exactly what I was written for is... a bit complicated here, but like I said, I'm getting along alright."

He chuckled, though, at her comment about causing a scene. "Yeah, that's probably not the best way to get people's attention," he said. "That's why I usually wear a helmet and facemask in public; less chance of causing trouble. Or of running into someone with faster combat reflexes than processing speed." He smirked slightly at that.

[dollyoftheeol]

There was a crooked little smile at his statement about the facemask, "Understandable." She clasped his arm then, just for a moment, warm and gentle and somehow amused, "You've got nothing to worry about here, I believe I can speak for our proprietor when I say that the End of Line has always been, and will always be neutral ground."

The riot she'd died in had been a fluke, she didn't see that happening again anytime soon, not with the way things were now.

[tanks4thememory]

Clu's smirk morphed into an amused smile at that one, matching Dolly's own. "I'm glad," he said. "Rather hard to drink anything through a facemask, you know, and I wouldn't want to miss out." He indicated the glass of energy in his hand.

"Though I noticed that there do seem to be a few around here who find it a good look," he added, glancing up toward two MP3 programs in their DJ booth.

[dollyoftheeol]

She followed his glance, then laughed softly, shaking her had, "Those two. They're something of an anomaly. Not really sure how they do it, or if they do. Don't figure anyone else does either, part of their mystique."

[tanks4thememory]

"Maybe they just do it when nobody's watching," he suggested with a small shrug, taking a sip of his own drink. "Though you've gotta wonder what they look like under those helmets..."

[dollyoftheeol]

"That, my friend, is a mystery for the ages." She said with a solemn nod, though there was amusement in her eyes, apparently she'd been asked that before, under the assumption that since she worked with the pair, more or less, she'd know.