Fanfiction: Legacy
Title: “Legacy"
Status: OneShot; Complete
Fandom: Tron: Legacy
Characters: Sam, Kevin, Tron, CLU
Disclaimer: The big mouse owns half the world, both Tron movies included.
Rating: T (one f-word *rolls eyes*)
Genre: friendship/family, gen
Beta: The great ScribeOfRED! Thank you very much for your help!
Feedback: Is welcome, sure!
Summary: All is well that ends well - the Users rule over the Grid once again. All happened so fast and emotions boil over. The legacy is passed on in an anticlimactic kind of way...
Legacy
Sam was still feeling off, as if he were waiting for a countdown to end and all hell to break loose - he itched with nervous energy. But they had really done it - this was no dream: they had repurposed Rinzler, locked the portal, frozen CLU's army - and took the MCP prisoner with Tron's help. Once again, the Users ruled over the Grid.
He had even been reunited with his dad, so everything should be peachy, sunshine, roses and all that romantic crap. But Sam had problems recognizing his father in the Kevin Flynn he had found here - the man was cold, distant, ruthless. It didn't match up with memories of bedtime stories and fun in the Arcade but, then again, Sam had spent more time with his grandparents than his father, so of course the good times stood out. The whole issue put a serious damper on his victorious mood.
”Flynn, what do you want me to do with CLU?”
Sam turned away from the window's city panorama fast enough to see his father's disgusted grimace in response to Tron's question. Kevin outright glared at CLU, who stood before him, restrained with humming energy cuffs and the security program's firm grip on his shoulder. CLU met his creator's eyes with a blank stare.
Sam vividly remembered CLU's words at the portal, his desperation. It had reminded him of a lost child, one too intelligent and powerful for its own good, calling out to its father. That CLU had only acted according to his directive and because Kevin had not been there to keep him in check transformed this mess into a moral dilemma of epic proportions.
Sam watched the creepy staring contest between old and young Kevin Flynn taking place right in front of him and couldn't help the feeling that this could get ugly pretty fast.
Finally, Kevin turned away and shrugged. ”Contain him somewhere secure. I'm not too keen on that whole reintegration jazz when we've now got a more permanent solution handy.”
”Flynn...” Tron hesitated.
Sam could see how his grip on CLU tightened and understood that the security program wanted to protect the MCP from the User despite all he had done. Interesting.
”Tron -” Kevin's tone made it sound like a warning, and his cold glare intensified. ”As soon as we've left the Grid, I'm going to delete him. Detain him until then.”
Sam was pretty sure he was not supposed to feel sorry for the guy who had trapped his father in a computer for over 1,000 cycles and then tried to kill him a dozen times - not to mention committed genocide. But damn if he didn't. Because CLU had done all of that in the name of a perfect system and for his User, the Creator, who had broken one promise too many. Kevin should have known better - CLU was so human it hurt. It was like looking into a mirror. And that was the crux of the matter: Sam could relate so easily it unsettled him.
He took a breath to calm himself - it was now or never. ”Dad, we need to talk,” Sam said firmly, preventing Tron from confirming his given order. He turned to the security program. ”Tron, please take CLU outside. I doubt he'll give you much trouble right now, so let's wait a little longer before we stash him away, okay?”
Tron shifted uneasily, weighing both Flynn's deepening scowl and the grin Sam aimed at him, before he nodded. He led CLU out of the command bridge into the anteroom. Behind them, the energy field rezzed into existence with a shower of blue particles that turned transparent. Sam could see how he settled the MCP down on a chair beside a terminal and then stood to watch over him like a hawk. Sam felt CLU's intense stare between his shoulder blades as soon as he turned to face his father. It was unnerving and he really wished for more solid doors.
”Sam, what do you think you're doing?”
The sentence lacked a 'man', so Sam knew that Kevin was really pissed off. Which was just great, since diplomacy had never been his strong point to begin with. ”Dad, what CLU did -”
”What, you believe him, that he did it all for the system? For me? Aren't you too old for fairy tales, Sammy?”
Sam felt his hackles rise at his condescending tone before he could stop himself - he was running on waning adrenaline as it was and didn't have the patience to sugar-coat things.
”Stop calling me that! And I'm not trying to excuse what CLU did, but he's got a point. For a man who always told his son that 'nobody's perfect', you royally fucked him over with such a crappy primary directive!” Sam saw Kevin looking away and tried to use this hint at shame. ”What did you expect him to do? With such parameters set out, only you could have stopped him, but you weren't there.”
”And where do you think I was?” Kevin asked, raising his voice to match Sam's tone. ”With you -”
”More likely with ENCOM or playing around in the Grid, because you were only there on birthdays and Christmas!” Sam saw a flash of violet and realized belatedly that the circuitry of his lightsuit reacted to his emotions; he took a deep breath.
”You dare -”
”Sorry, dad, I - that's not the point! We're talking about CLU, not me. You created him so that you could be in both worlds. Well, newsflash, dad: Your creation, your responsibility.”
”He killed my ISO's!” Kevin shouted, jabbing a finger at Sam's chest with each word.
Sam stared at him blankly. This whole disaster, all those programs' suffering, could not have been brought on by playing favorites. He couldn't accept that - Tron, CLU, they were not toys to be tossed aside. Kevin had called them friends once. ”Don't make me kick you out of your own system,” he hissed, anger winning over the numb sadness. Without shouting, the threat sounded somehow more serious in the silence.
Kevin just stared back at him, struck speechless, and it seemed to Sam as if his father was seeing him for the first time. Sam saw his father raise his hand and braced himself for the slap, but Kevin only nodded slowly with a wild look in his eyes.
”Fine. If you think you can do better...”
Sam was too dumbstruck to avoid the hand reaching for him. He yelped as electricity jumped over to his body and rushed into him, bathing the room in light. He could hear Tron shouting in the distance and then he drowned in the sick feeling of a data-upload rushing through him, like the one back in the Armory, when he had received his Light Disc.
”Congrats, kiddo, you got the master key now. Let's see if you can do better.”
Sam barely heard the words or the footsteps as his father left - he was too confused by the sheer amount of data bouncing around in his brain.
”Sam?” Tron's voice again, and the security program sounded actually alarmed.
”I'm fine,” he called back.
Moments passed before Sam felt anywhere near 'fine' but the data finally subsided. When he looked down, his circuitry had lost its blue hue and burned stark white instead. ”Great, as if I was keen on that kind of responsibility”, he muttered darkly.
But then, Sam thought about the possibilities, what he could create here, together with Tron and even CLU. Maybe this would not end in disaster but be a second chance for all of them - Kevin included. After all, they were family - a weird cyberspace one, but 1,000 cycles ago, that had been enough for three friends and Sam was ready to throw himself into the mix.
End
Status: OneShot; Complete
Fandom: Tron: Legacy
Characters: Sam, Kevin, Tron, CLU
Disclaimer: The big mouse owns half the world, both Tron movies included.
Rating: T (one f-word *rolls eyes*)
Genre: friendship/family, gen
Beta: The great ScribeOfRED! Thank you very much for your help!
Feedback: Is welcome, sure!
Summary: All is well that ends well - the Users rule over the Grid once again. All happened so fast and emotions boil over. The legacy is passed on in an anticlimactic kind of way...
Legacy
Sam was still feeling off, as if he were waiting for a countdown to end and all hell to break loose - he itched with nervous energy. But they had really done it - this was no dream: they had repurposed Rinzler, locked the portal, frozen CLU's army - and took the MCP prisoner with Tron's help. Once again, the Users ruled over the Grid.
He had even been reunited with his dad, so everything should be peachy, sunshine, roses and all that romantic crap. But Sam had problems recognizing his father in the Kevin Flynn he had found here - the man was cold, distant, ruthless. It didn't match up with memories of bedtime stories and fun in the Arcade but, then again, Sam had spent more time with his grandparents than his father, so of course the good times stood out. The whole issue put a serious damper on his victorious mood.
”Flynn, what do you want me to do with CLU?”
Sam turned away from the window's city panorama fast enough to see his father's disgusted grimace in response to Tron's question. Kevin outright glared at CLU, who stood before him, restrained with humming energy cuffs and the security program's firm grip on his shoulder. CLU met his creator's eyes with a blank stare.
Sam vividly remembered CLU's words at the portal, his desperation. It had reminded him of a lost child, one too intelligent and powerful for its own good, calling out to its father. That CLU had only acted according to his directive and because Kevin had not been there to keep him in check transformed this mess into a moral dilemma of epic proportions.
Sam watched the creepy staring contest between old and young Kevin Flynn taking place right in front of him and couldn't help the feeling that this could get ugly pretty fast.
Finally, Kevin turned away and shrugged. ”Contain him somewhere secure. I'm not too keen on that whole reintegration jazz when we've now got a more permanent solution handy.”
”Flynn...” Tron hesitated.
Sam could see how his grip on CLU tightened and understood that the security program wanted to protect the MCP from the User despite all he had done. Interesting.
”Tron -” Kevin's tone made it sound like a warning, and his cold glare intensified. ”As soon as we've left the Grid, I'm going to delete him. Detain him until then.”
Sam was pretty sure he was not supposed to feel sorry for the guy who had trapped his father in a computer for over 1,000 cycles and then tried to kill him a dozen times - not to mention committed genocide. But damn if he didn't. Because CLU had done all of that in the name of a perfect system and for his User, the Creator, who had broken one promise too many. Kevin should have known better - CLU was so human it hurt. It was like looking into a mirror. And that was the crux of the matter: Sam could relate so easily it unsettled him.
He took a breath to calm himself - it was now or never. ”Dad, we need to talk,” Sam said firmly, preventing Tron from confirming his given order. He turned to the security program. ”Tron, please take CLU outside. I doubt he'll give you much trouble right now, so let's wait a little longer before we stash him away, okay?”
Tron shifted uneasily, weighing both Flynn's deepening scowl and the grin Sam aimed at him, before he nodded. He led CLU out of the command bridge into the anteroom. Behind them, the energy field rezzed into existence with a shower of blue particles that turned transparent. Sam could see how he settled the MCP down on a chair beside a terminal and then stood to watch over him like a hawk. Sam felt CLU's intense stare between his shoulder blades as soon as he turned to face his father. It was unnerving and he really wished for more solid doors.
”Sam, what do you think you're doing?”
The sentence lacked a 'man', so Sam knew that Kevin was really pissed off. Which was just great, since diplomacy had never been his strong point to begin with. ”Dad, what CLU did -”
”What, you believe him, that he did it all for the system? For me? Aren't you too old for fairy tales, Sammy?”
Sam felt his hackles rise at his condescending tone before he could stop himself - he was running on waning adrenaline as it was and didn't have the patience to sugar-coat things.
”Stop calling me that! And I'm not trying to excuse what CLU did, but he's got a point. For a man who always told his son that 'nobody's perfect', you royally fucked him over with such a crappy primary directive!” Sam saw Kevin looking away and tried to use this hint at shame. ”What did you expect him to do? With such parameters set out, only you could have stopped him, but you weren't there.”
”And where do you think I was?” Kevin asked, raising his voice to match Sam's tone. ”With you -”
”More likely with ENCOM or playing around in the Grid, because you were only there on birthdays and Christmas!” Sam saw a flash of violet and realized belatedly that the circuitry of his lightsuit reacted to his emotions; he took a deep breath.
”You dare -”
”Sorry, dad, I - that's not the point! We're talking about CLU, not me. You created him so that you could be in both worlds. Well, newsflash, dad: Your creation, your responsibility.”
”He killed my ISO's!” Kevin shouted, jabbing a finger at Sam's chest with each word.
Sam stared at him blankly. This whole disaster, all those programs' suffering, could not have been brought on by playing favorites. He couldn't accept that - Tron, CLU, they were not toys to be tossed aside. Kevin had called them friends once. ”Don't make me kick you out of your own system,” he hissed, anger winning over the numb sadness. Without shouting, the threat sounded somehow more serious in the silence.
Kevin just stared back at him, struck speechless, and it seemed to Sam as if his father was seeing him for the first time. Sam saw his father raise his hand and braced himself for the slap, but Kevin only nodded slowly with a wild look in his eyes.
”Fine. If you think you can do better...”
Sam was too dumbstruck to avoid the hand reaching for him. He yelped as electricity jumped over to his body and rushed into him, bathing the room in light. He could hear Tron shouting in the distance and then he drowned in the sick feeling of a data-upload rushing through him, like the one back in the Armory, when he had received his Light Disc.
”Congrats, kiddo, you got the master key now. Let's see if you can do better.”
Sam barely heard the words or the footsteps as his father left - he was too confused by the sheer amount of data bouncing around in his brain.
”Sam?” Tron's voice again, and the security program sounded actually alarmed.
”I'm fine,” he called back.
Moments passed before Sam felt anywhere near 'fine' but the data finally subsided. When he looked down, his circuitry had lost its blue hue and burned stark white instead. ”Great, as if I was keen on that kind of responsibility”, he muttered darkly.
But then, Sam thought about the possibilities, what he could create here, together with Tron and even CLU. Maybe this would not end in disaster but be a second chance for all of them - Kevin included. After all, they were family - a weird cyberspace one, but 1,000 cycles ago, that had been enough for three friends and Sam was ready to throw himself into the mix.
End