Comments | grid_lined: everybody loves me

benignspybot in grid_lined

everybody loves me

Mar 31, 2011 05:29

Who: Ram, OPEN
Where: Tron City (anywhere out in the open, tagger's choice)
When: somewhere in the proximity of...now
What: There's a new Ram on the Grid. Have at it, folks.
Warnings: If you make me put something here I will be severely disappointed.

( swaying to my own sound )

ram (namesram), boomer (boomersecurity), !open, ram (benignspybot), location: tron city, yori (yorisearching)

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namesram March 31 2011, 19:34:28 UTC

His circuits were different.

That was the first thing Ram noticed, rounding a corner and stopping just short of slamming into what had first registered as the surface of a mirror -- but there was no surface, just a program, another program with his face. There were other differences too -- a slightly different build, a few more lines around the eyes -- but even with the circuits as the main point of divergence, they could almost pass as the same program, the similarities too acute to be explained even by their both having been written by the same User.

Still, after meeting two different Trons and two different Rinzlers, not to mention ZackAttack and countless other duplicated entities, it wasn't difficult for Ram to grin and face his own clone as though things like this happened every other millicycle.

"Hey, stranger. You new here?"

[[~OH MY, FEELS JUST LIKE I DON'T TRY~<3333]]

benignspybot March 31 2011, 20:18:16 UTC

He automatically began to cite an apology to the other even as he continued to walk by. The words died on his lips though as he stared at the other program and he stopped trying to move forward. His eyes roamed over the whole of the identical looking program and noted all the obvious differences quickly.

He knew he was technically considered a piece of malware but he'd never started duplicating like a virus as far as he knew. Sheesh.

He briefly wondered what his User was up to if he was starting to make copies of his best program. Which thought just made Ram mirror the other's friendly grin as he got his bearings.

"Yeah, around these parts. But if you even calculate calling me a beta I'll knock you a good one 'cause I'm pretty sure I was compiled way before your date of conception." He offered a hand to the other program. "Name's Ram. You got a separate designation or are we gonna have to duke it out to decide which one of us gets the official title?"

He was kidding of course. Mostly.

[♪LOOKS SO GOOD I MIGHT DIE♪ ♥♥]]

namesram April 1 2011, 05:50:55 UTC

"Wouldn't dream of it." Ram's smile broadened as he shook the other's hand. Despite the other Ram's cheery smile (and the fact that, well, it was him, after all), here had been a hint of defensiveness in the cocky answer, and he wanted to put his double at ease. "Believe it or not, I'm Ram also. Actuarial program, complied by ZackAttack in user-year 1981, and before you ask, it's pretty normal for this to happen in this system. You?"

[[EXCEPTYOU'DBETTERNOT~ ?ALL I KNOW IS EVERYBODY LOVES ME :D:D:D??]]

benignspybot April 1 2011, 06:29:13 UTC

That information took the surveillance program aback for a moment. He gave the other program a curious once-over before leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest with a thoughtful expression. "You're still an actuarial program, huh?"

He unfolded and gestured vaguely as he explained. "Surveillance program, recompile date User-year 1991." And he said that much only because he was talking to a fellow program written by ZackAttack. It was hard not to trust his double. "Before that is another story," he shrugged.

"What's up with this place anyway?"

[[HE DOESN'T PLAN ON IT! HEAD DOWN, SWAYIN' TO MY OWN SOUND♫ ^_~]]

namesram April 1 2011, 22:50:51 UTC

"Aren't you?" Ram would have asked, but kept silent, unconsciously mirroring the appraising look, willing to let the other elaborate as much as he saw fit.

The explanation was impressive. Not only must his double have been rerezzed by ZackAttack personally, but he was a surveillance program... almost on the same plane as a security program. For his own part, Ram had always been satisfied with his actuarial functions -- they were a special part of his identity, a gift that could be used to help others -- but to know that the alternative was something like this... it was very, very cool, and Ram didn't even try to hide how he felt about it.

"Before that we probably had a lot in common," he snickered. "What are you looking for?" Because if his User was out there and wanted information, he would be delighted to help.

The next question was more sobering. Ram bit his lip, looking narrowly at his double. "That may take a while to answer. How much do you know about the origins of the Grid?"

[[AWESOME~ ♫FLASHES IN MY FACE NOW♪~ \o7]]

benignspybot April 2 2011, 01:19:47 UTC

The surveillance program considered the first question for a moment. Telling him the basics couldn't really hurt. And who knew? Maybe his double would have something useful for him to work with. Any information was better than no information, even if it was just data on this here System that could help him get back on track.

So, without further hesitance, Ram went on with his explanation freely. "After a User known as Kevin Flynn disappeared in the User-year 1989, ZackAttack began an encompassing search to find him, using any and all media that he could readily get his hands on. And, after a while, anything he couldn't so readily get his hands on. That's where I come in. Zack was denied access to the ENCOM System in 1990. For the past decade in User terms I've been...accessing certain data in the ENCOM System that is pertinent to Zack's search without anyone knowing about it. I keep Zack out of trouble and give him whatever information he thinks is useful to figuring out what happened to this other User." He shrugged, spreading his ( ... )

namesram April 5 2011, 06:01:47 UTC

Ram listened avidly. He'd heard some of this from his User, but ZackAttack had never mentioned rerezzing and upgrading him. Maybe it hadn't happened that way in his timeline -- but it had in another. There was no question that the other Ram was the genuine article, as much so as Roy had been.

The actuarial program's jaw dropped in consternation as the story unfolded. "He was... you were looking for Flynn? All this time?" All these cycles, searching Encom while Flynn had been here.... If he could've gotten his hands on Clu now he'd... well, probably get killed again, but still.

He leaned forward excitedly. Maybe he wasn't a specially-compiled surveillance program, but ZackAttack's need to know what had happened to Flynn was all Ram had to hear to be right on board with getting all possible information to him as fast as they could. "My friend, you have just hit the motherlode. Flynn wrote this place and was trapped here when Clu took over in 1989; that's why he disappeared from the User world. The whole system was completely closed ( ... )

That is supposed to be two decades btw. I keep doing that by accident... benignspybot April 27 2011, 22:08:19 UTC

Ram's eyes widened as his double told him the story in condensed form. The other was right: this was the motherlode of all that he was programmed for. Problem was, now what was he supposed to do with it? He wasn't sure getting back to Zack was going to be as simple as it had been getting here in the first place. Especially considering he hadn't meant to end up here in the first place.

He also slumped when he heard the rest of the bad news. He could have actually met a User. A User! Face to face! But Flynn had gone missing here, too.

He had a thought. "Do you think he went back through it? Maybe he's back in the User world, where he belongs?" That would be good. That would be great in fact. It meant his User would finally be able to stop searching--and concentrate on more important things--once he'd finally caught up with his long-lost friend. He hoped it was what happened. Somewhere.

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