thisavrou | audio; march 7th

[The recorded voice that addresses the crew through the MID is affable and slightly apologetic.]

Hello everyone. This is Alan Bradley speaking. I have a couple of questions for the crew, and I think I might as well use this opportunity to introduce myself to those I haven’t met yet: As I said, my name is Alan Bradley, and I’ve been assigned as one of the ship’s MID Technicians. I’m afraid I don’t have any particularly interesting abilities outside of computer programming, but that should be enough for me to do my job here. Some of you may have already met Sam Flynn, my godson from back home, as well as Tron and Rinzler, two, ah, programs that I’ve written. [Is that how he’s supposed to introduce them? It’s quite clear from the misgiving in his tone that he isn’t completely sure. He isn’t even certain he can correctly refer to them as two programs if you want to get technical, but explaining that would be far too involved for a simple introduction, so he’ll have to settle for the potential inaccuracy.] If you ever need to contact me, I’m always available at my personal inbox. [A slight chuckle.] I guess we all are since these things are strapped to our wrists.

Introductions aside, I was hoping someone could tell me who I should see about getting a new pair of glasses? Mine seem to have been lost as I was coming through the portal here. And seeing as my job on the ship will probably require spending most of my day staring at lines of code, I’d like to get a replacement sooner rather than later.

Speaking of my job here, I’m also looking for suggestions for programs people would like added to their MIDs, or improvements made to the interface. I’ll admit, the technology here is quite a bit more advanced than what I usually worked with back home, so anyone with more technological know-how is welcome to offer guidance: other programmers, engineers, AI… I’d be grateful for any advice.

Just leave a reply if you want to get in touch. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You do realize you don't have to make excuses for Rinzler, right?

I’m not making excuses for him. I’m just trying to avoid discussing the specifics of what happened on the Grid with a ship full of strangers.

[ Oh for the love of... ]

He's been here a while. Did you realize that?

So have you. Doesn’t mean I can assume what is or isn’t off-limits. For either of you.

[If strangers were having issues with you, Sam, Alan’s first instinct wouldn’t be to immediately divulge everything that you’d been through on the Grid. The same logic applies to Rinzler.]

[ There is not enough facepalming in the world. ]

Thanks for that. But I'm saying if he tends to rub people the wrong way and he's been here a while, he'll have rubbed a LOT of people the wrong way.

If you try to say you made him (which you didn't) people will either come to you with their problems or blame you for him.

[There’s a sigh on Alan’s end of the MID.] Sam, I did make him. Maybe I’m not responsible for what he became, but I still wrote his original code. You said yourself that what he is now is a result of the conflict between my programming and Clu’s.

And I can explain that he isn’t functioning the way I intended without providing those details.

No, Alan. You didn't. Clu made him. You made Tron.

See I've met Tron, I know Tron and he's not Rinzler. They are two different Programs, and one has been edited. Apparently he's been edited so many times he's not even recognizable from what he started as. You aren't responsible for what he's done.

[An edge of exasperation slips into Alan’s voice.] So what do you want me to do, Sam? If he’s not my program, then he’s Clu’s. Would that be any better?

[Alan lapses into a frustrated silence. He knows Rinzler isn't Tron. And he knows that he isn't responsible for what happened in the Grid. But twenty years is too long to remain ignorant of the suffering inflicted on his programs to turn a blind eye to it now.]

He recognized me. Just like Tron did. [”Alan-one.” Hopeful and reverent in one voice, and distorted and pained in the other, but the same name. The same User.] I can’t pretend that he’s someone else’s responsibility.

[ You know he was gonna leave it alone. Tron gets the stubborn from somewhere, but something Alan just said made a connection form. ]

...is this some weird attempt at repentance? If that's seriously it just say so now.

[ Because that at least made sense, in a completely messed up way. If nothing else Sam understood why Alan would be so adamant about being responsible for Rinzler. ]

[If there’s a way to make silence sound unamused, Alan just did it.]

It’s the right thing to do.

Edited 2016-03-19 02:34 (UTC)

[ Oh my god, that's it. Alan feels guilty.
The reply is slow in coming this time since Sam actually buried his face in his hands at first. ]

Alan. There is no "fixing" him. He's kind of his own thing. Plus, if the original Tron code was stolen from you and dad added the patches or something to make him compatible with the Grid, then Clu edited him so many times the only way I finally saw the similarity was with those 'T' lights, how can you really think he's still your Program?

[ Feeling sorry for the guy was one thing, but knowing he didn't have much left in the way of morality, and that he was a definite danger to others was quite another. ]

[Alan shakes his head at the message. If Sam could see the way Rinzler acted in Alan’s presence, maybe he would understand.] Maybe there isn’t a line of his code that’s the same as when I first wrote him, but he still remembers me. There’s still something there. [Unfortunately for Sam, that’s enough for Alan to see Rinzler as his own. And once Alan has accepted responsibility for someone, he isn’t the type to let it go.]

I spent the past twenty years not knowing he or Tron even existed, and look where it got them. I’m not making the same mistake twice.

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