Who: Rachel and Kevin Flynn What: Wishes Plot - the Grid is for real! - Part 1 Where: ENCOM HQ When: December 15th, 16th Ratings/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete (Part 1 of 2)
Kevin Flynn bit his thumbnail - or what was left of it. His blue eyes were trained on the old 1980s monitor that glowed through a hard glass screen in a boxy beige frame from a bygone age.
"Come on...come onnnn..." he growled impatiently at the screen. The code was being spit back at him as the program played out. This was his seventeenth attempt tonight to get the ENCOM MCP program to work. He'd been getting the bugs out of it for months and was sure he had it this time.
"What?!" Kevin yelled at the screen. "Come on, man! It was perfect!" He pushed himself away from the computer bay, rubbing his tired face with his hands as he rolled across the wide open floor of his personal lab at ENCOM Headquarters. "It was perfect." He groaned in despair. "I don't understand..." His words trailed off as he turned back to the glowing monitor to discover that new text had sprawled across the dark background.
>>REBOOTING >>....... >>SYSTEM REFRESH. RUNNING MCP SYS 2.1 >>LOADING TRON 1.0 >>RUNNING TRON 1.0 >>CHECKSYS REPORT: >>NO SYSTEM ERRORS.
Kevin's blue eyes stared at the screen as he sat dumbfounded, fingers steepled before his lips. Did this just happen? Had he just managed to finally decode and write the two most important programs from his dreams?
"Babe! Babe!" He called for Rachel, his voice ringing in the empty room. He'd asked if she could keep him company while he worked, promising she could use the meeting room to watch her shows on the big presentation screen and sexy times in whatever room she chose when he'd finished toying with the antique computer system.
Actually, Rachel had started off watching television in the meeting room, but that proved to be incredibly irritating. There wasn’t the funny skip button like she had on the remote at home, so the commercials were getting on her nerves. Thankfully, Rachel had her big bag with her. You know, the one that held everything. So she’d pulled out a book (the third in the Hunger Games Series--she was determined to finish reading it before she saw the movie--so behind the times) and started reading.
Then Kevin started calling out for her and she jumped up off the sofa to come and meet him at his console. “What’s up?”
"I did it. I did it!" He said, jumping up from his computer chair and glomping her in a big excited hug before kissing her. His blue eyes were on fire with delight. “It works, Rachel, the MCP and TRON programs work!” He pointed at the screen and it’s glowing text. “Just like in my dreams! Say, ‘Hi’, Master Control.” The computer spoke back in a digital voice evocative of an early version of Tony’s J.A.R.V.I.S.
“Hello, Flynn. It is good to see you.”
“Say hello, babe. It’s okay.” Kevin said, giddy as a child, ushering her closer to the machine.
Rach hadn’t put her bookmark in her book. When Kev swung her around, kissed her, and glomped on her, she gave a start and a laugh. Then she tried desperately to shove the paper in the book so she wouldn’t lose her place. “What--” She was going to ask what worked, but then the computer started talking at them.
Rachel’s eyes went wide. “You mean, to the computer?” She asked, then turned her attention to the glowing screen. “...hello?”
Kevin chuckled. "Yeah sure. Just pretend it's Siri." In his dreams, which took place in the 80s, talking computers were a revolutionary breakthrough, not the norm as it was nowadays. "He's not gonna bite."
"Hello, new User."
"Say your name. So he recognizes you." Kevin whispered in her ear, wrapping his arms around his wife's waist from behind. This was just too amazing! He'd have to text Tony.
“Oh my God.” Rachel said. “ Um… okay, hello, Master Computer. My name is Rachel.” So, Rach may have gotten the computer’s name wrong. But she was both thrilled for Kevin and confused about what this meant. Had Kevin just created a new … life? Personality? Something like that?
“How does it work?” She asked, reaching forward to slip her hand into her husband’s.
"Hello Rachel." The MCP replied. "Flynn, should I enter Rachel as a User?"
"Yes, MCP, go ahead." To Rachel he explained his creation. "You know those dreams I've been having of the Grid? Well this guy is part of that. I've been trying forever to get the code right for an A.I. like the MCP from my dreams. Tonight I finally got it right! And if I'm right, the laser array should be hooked up to it." He reached forward, still holding on to his wife, and tapped a few keys one handed. Yep, she was running perfectly. "We gotta try this out." Kevin was practically vibrating with excitement.
“Oh, right,” Rach said, nodding. She’d seen that movie. AI. And when Tony and Kevin started talking about it, she always imagined Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment as MCP and Jarvis. Whatever that meant. “...laser array?” Rach didn’t know enough about lasers to not be nervous at the sound of them. They always made her think of light sabres.
Kevin chuckled and gave his wife a reassuring squeeze. "It's ok. Not the dangerous kind of laser. More like a scanning laser." He let go and looked for something to use as an example. He saw the book in her hand. "Here, lemme borrow this. I promise it'll be okay." He hoped. In his dreams Lori had operated the laser array, he'd simply figured out a way to jury rig it later on. And he hadn't had too many of those dreams to figure out how, plus he didn't have his computer table. But he and Tony had made enough rough guestimations to make sure it didn't literally disintegrate things.
Rach nodded, handing over the book. “What’s gonna happen to it?” She asked, moving with him a little closer to the machine--but pretty far out of the laser’s scope, too. She didn’t want to be on the wrong end of the AI’s laser. She’d seen bits and pieces of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and knew that computers who had minds of their own really did have minds of their own.
Kevin placed the book on the computer chair and lined it up with the laser - which looked like something out of an old scifi movie. It had appeared at their house one day, an object from his dreams.
“Well, if we play our cards right, it oughta digitize it. Basically,” and he grinned at the lame joke, “turn it into an ‘e-book’. Remember the dreams about the Grid? Well, this baby, if she’s working right, might be my ticket into seeing it first hand instead of just dreaming it.” He typed a few keys into the keyboard, activating the digitizing program, and stood back with Rachel. “Here we go…”
There was a low thrum, and then the eye of the laser turned on, shining a bright red. Within seconds there was a snap of energy and the beam was locked onto the book and literally digitizing it atom by atom, which essentially looked like it was wiping it out of existence in rows. First a quarter of the book, then half, and before ten seconds had passed it was completely gone into thin air. The computer clicked and whirred, the laser powered down, and Kevin watched as the computer confirmed the digitization of the book and showed it on the screen - albeit in the limited graphics of the 1980s. He let out a victorious laugh.
“Look at that! It worked! It worked!!” He picked up Rachel and whirled her around giddily. “You see that? That’s your book!” He tapped the glass screen.
Rachel gave a jump and a gasp, stepping backward away from the red light at first. But then she couldn’t stop herself. She leaned in to watch. It was as if she was holding her breath the entire time. Then Kev laughed, startling her a little, and suddenly she was swooped up into his arms and laughing, too. He finally put her back down and she turned to look at the screen. “I hadn’t finished reading it!” She cried out, leaning in and getting another good look. “...is it… can I get the book back? Does it work in reverse?”
"Oh yeah of course! That's how I was able to go in and out of the Grid." Kevin said, practically preening. He punched in a command and the sound of the laser charging up was heard once more, and the laser lit up, and line by line the code from the computer relayed the atomic structure of the book just as they had left it. "There you go; one really awesome young adult novel." Kevin spread his hands in grand presentation.
Rachel gasped and reached forward to take the book. She flipped through the pages. “Oh my god. Kev. This is amazing.” Beat. “...does that mean you can go into the grid here, in this world? Like in your Dreams??”
Kevin grinned that wide, enigmatic grin he had when he was incredibly excited about something. His blue eyes were on fire with anticipation.
"There's only one way to find out." He had his long arms around her waist from behind, holding her as Rachel wondered at the book. He nibbled at her neck. "Wanna come with?"
"I... really?" Rach asked, and turned to look at him over her shoulder. "We can go together?" Because she wanted to. She didn't really understand it, but she wanted to check it out. Go in. Get a taste of his world.
"I can program it to time the scans. So it'd send one of us in first, then the other a minute later. After a half hour it could send us back out." Because he sure as hell didn't want to get stuck there like he had in his dreams, let alone put Rachel in that danger as well. "I'm not sure if it's safe for both of us to get scanned together, might mix up the molecules." And he winked. He turned her around in his arms. "So whaddya say, babe? Want to see what this Grid is all about?"
The idea of mixing up the molecules was a pretty terrifying one. She had a sudden vision of coming out of the machine with Kevin’s arms attached to her body. Rachel turned around in his arms to look up into his eyes, worriedly. “Are you sure it’s safe to do at all?” She asked, frowning gently. “I don’t want to get my molecules mixed up.”
But she glanced at the machine again, then down at her book, then back up to him. “If you’re sure it’s safe.” She knew he wanted to go in, and she couldn’t stop him.
Kevin Flynn smiled down at his wife and chuckled softly before planting a kiss on her nose. "It's perfectly safe." He was sure of it. And too blinded by curiosity to really think this through a bit more. Like maybe testing it with just him first instead of them both going in.
Kevin went over to the computer and started running the laser program again, nimble fingers flying over the keyboard. He stepped over to the laser and stood where he'd placed the book. "Okay Rachel, don't freak out. It'll scan me just like the book. When I'm gone, check the screen to see me there then get in front of the laser as soon as possible, okay?" All of his senses were buzzing with excitement as Kevin watched the aperture of the laser light up and the low, building thrum of it powering up the only noise in the room.
There was a flash of light. The air crackled in his ears and everything tingled all at once. He saw nothing but light and then his brain registered that he had suddenly shifted - an instantaneous jump in sensation not unlike being in a car accident, only minus the terror and the car.
Kevin blinked as he tried to absorb where he was now. The room looked the same..only it wasn't exactly his lab. The surfaces were all dark or shades of gray, with glowing lines outlining and detailing things.
"Haha!" He crowed triumphantly. He did it! He was on the Grid!
Rachel nodded. She stepped back, watching the computer scan him in. This was all so bizarre! Then she saw him on the monitor. God, her heart was thundering. She set the book aside on the floor and stood in the right spot. Another flash of light nearly blinded her, the air crackled, and she winced slightly--was this what being “beamed up” was like?
There was a bump. A jump? A moment of elation or terror--and then she was inside the computer. inside the computer. Wow. Everything was glowing, dark between lines of light. She laughed, well, half-way between a laugh and a cry. “Oh my God.” She said, and moved forward to touch Kevin’s arm.
Kevin was busy gaping about he hadn't even noticed Rachel's entrance. He jumped when he felt a hand on his arm.
He grinned broadly. "Rach! Look at this!" He laughed, turning around in place with his arms spread. The thrill was intense, every fiber of his being felt electric - probably because it was, actually. "The Grid. Finally! After all those dreams!" He then turned and grabbed her hands. "Let's go check this place ou...wwwhoa." He fell dumbstruck as he saw Rachel in her Grid outfit. In his dreams everyone's lightlines and colors were different. Rachel's were a perfect shade of lavender and accentuated her body perfectly. "Babe...you look hot."
“What?” Rachel asked. She turned to look down at what she was wearing, then glanced over at what he was wearing. It was all so… amazing. She was in so much awe of everything that it hadn’t even occurred to her to look down at her own Grid outfit. “Really?” She asked, her nose crinkling up with delight. “Okay. I’ll make something like this when we get back home!”
Kevin chuckled. Of course she would. Leave it to Rachel to create clothing immediately inspired by something she was complimented on. It was adorable in his eyes. And genius, too, because he knew she’d pull it off spectacularly.
“So long as it’s a nighty. With EL wire.” he grinned stupidly. He took her hand. “Let’s go see what all these dreams were about.” They headed out the door and as they wandered the hallways of what had been ENCOM tower, it was apparent it was a strange mirror image of the real building. Shades of black, grey and glowing lines everywhere but everything more or less was where it should be. Yet the world seemed a little different in style - in his dreams there was a lot more grey, and everyone had dorky helmets. But here, no one seemed to have helmets as he spotted a program further down the hall and peeking out a window at the street below, and the clothing either looked like the garb from his dreams or something sleeker - like Rachel’s outfit. Kevin wished there was a mirror so he could see his clothing. It looked to be more like the one from his dream, minus the weird sash across his chest.
“Weird.” he murmured to himself. “It’s like two styles clashing. Two worlds.” His brain was racing a mile a minute to figure out why. They made it to the elevator, catching up to the program. It had no buttons. “Uh…” Kevin stood there, scratching his head. “Well that’s a design fail. Excuse me!” The program turned around and stared at them a moment.
“Yes, program?” he replied, looking like he was busy and didn’t want to be interrupted.
“I’m not a program.” Kevin replied, knowing full well what the reaction was about to be. “We’re Users.”
The program gaped at them. “U-users? Here? On the Grid?” He looked flummoxed.
“It’s okay, man. We just need to know how these elevators work. We’re a bit new in town.” The program blinked at them and then came to his senses.
“Yes, of course.” he waved his hand over an area next to the doors and a panel flickered into being.
“I take that back. Love the design. Keeps things clean.” He turned to the program. “Thank you.” The program nodded nervously, clutching the futuristic clipboard to his chest.
“Is there anything else I can do for you, User?”
“Flynn. Name’s Flynn.” Okay now Kevin was just amusing himself and massaging his ego, wanting to really see this guy flip out. Which is precisely what the program did.
His eyes went wide and he bowed awkwardly, fumbling and nearly dropping the keyboard. “User Flynn! The Creator! It’s...it’s an honor!”
Kevin was chuckling. He gestured to his wife next to him. “This is User Rachel. And you are?”
“Baud. I’m Baud.” He nodded and bowed shortly to Rachel. “User Rachel, a pleasure.”
Rachel chuckled. "I wouldn't make it anything else." Her hand slipped into his, and she followed him out the door and through ENCOMM. Or was it ENCOMM? It looked unlike anything she'd seen before. Almost like a negative of the real world. A photo negative. Kinda.
"Maybe that makes sense. People who belong here, and people who don't," Rachel offered. Of course, she said 'people' instead of 'programs'... her brain didn't work that way.
She was quiet while Kevin interacted with the guy. The program? Whatever that meant. Rach decided that she liked being a User. She liked impressing people.
And it seemed that Kevin was very impressive. Rachel's grin continued spreading when the program freaked out about meeting him. She gave a curtsey when she was introduced. and nodded. "The pleasure's all mine!"
Then the elevator doors opened.
“I dunno if that’s it,” Kevin said distractedly as they walked along. “I get the feeling the rules are just different in our world. Also I didn’t build the whole Grid in my world, just wrote programs for it. So it’s possible things are different because this time I designed it from the ground up.”
“Baud, huh?” Kevin said, folding his arms across his chest. “Let me guess: you’re in charge of checking how many electrical signals are being passed back and forth between this computer and the laser array?” Kevin said, folding his arms over his chest, trying to look even more in charge than he already was.
“Yes! I am!” Baud replied enthusiastically all of a sudden. “All signals are operating and optimal speed.”
“Good, good job. Keep up the good work.” Kevin said as the elevator pinged.
Kevin nodded to the program as they stepped into the transparent elevator. As the doors slipped closed between them and the program, Kevin leaned over to whisper into Rachel’s ear, “Seems the programs are named after computer stuff here too. A ‘baud’ is a measurement of transmission speed.” That was the easiest and least complicated way of explaining it. He spoke regularly now that they were alone. “In my dreams, there was a guy named RAM, of course you know about TRON, and there were these little floating guys called ‘Bits’, which are - whoa…” The elevator was descending the tall tower at a pretty snappy clip, and from their vantage point they could see over what turned out to be quite the start to an impressive city. Tall glittering towers in amazing geometric shapes and spires dotted the landscape; others were under construction with glowing cranes, the unfinished code flickering squares. An arena was in the distance, glowing softly. Below, two light cycles sped along the street beneath them, trailing temporary light ribbons behind them.
“Rad,” Kevin breathed, wrapping an arm around Rachel’s waist and pulling her against his side. He’d made all this. He was a creator. In a way, he was a god. It was a computer programmer’s dream.
So, Baud’s job went straight over Rach’s head. She nodded, though, because ‘optimal’ sounded like it meant it was the best. And she wanted everything to be running perfectly. Especially since they were inside now and she had no idea how they were getting out. Surely Kev had an exit plan. When they were finished, of course. Which might take some time.
“Oh, good,” Rach returned with a whisper once they were inside the elevator--it made her think of the Glass Elevator from Willy Wonka. “Then you’ll know what they do by their names.”
Rachel turned to look out through the glass wall, and spent a long time staring at the city beyond. “Wow.” She repeated. Then leaned against Kev, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. “You made all of this?”
"Yeah...I did." He said, sounding surprised at himself. He marveled at it all. It was even more amazing than his dreams.
They arrived at the ground floor and the doors slid open noiselessly. Stepping out onto the dark sidewalk, Kevin gaped up and about them at the soaring buildings surrounding them and the smattering of programs walking about.
“Hm, not as populated as I expected.” he said to Rachel. “Then again the system from my dreams was well established, this one I’ve only been working on for a couple of months.” As they walked, the programs they encountered immediately knew they were different somehow, and all stared in curiousity. Kevin exchanged looks with Rachel. “Guess we’re celebs here. Works for me.”
Ahead at the end of the block seemed to be some sort of club. Programs were streaming into it while digital music not unlike electronica or dub step thumped through the walls.
Overhead, queer shaped ships roared overhead, one of them landing a couple hundred feet away from them. It was shaped similar to the stones you might see at Stonehenge. Or a bad guy from a 1980s videogame.
“Ooooh,” Kevin breathed. “A Recognizer. I totally programmed that! I dreamed about the code for Space Paranoids and had to recreate it.” He wanted to run up to it, but checked himself and looked at Rachel, who he figured, might be more interested in the club than the giant ship a hundred feet away. “How’re you doin’ babe?”
It was amazing. So much like the real world, but so different at the same time. Rach walked alongside Kevin, her hand slipped inside his, gripping it tight. She didn’t want to lose him, though she wasn’t sure what that would mean if she did.
And he spoke, so she nodded, though she had no idea what ‘well established’ meant. That there were a lot of other programs running around in it? Hmm. She had no idea how to make programs, but would if she could. To help him populate this world.
“They’re all staring,” Rach said, torn between wonderment and anxiety. She wasn’t sure if she should be afraid or not. She was nervous and excited at the same time.
“I’m okay. This is a lot of fun.” She said, and squeezed his hand. “What do we get to see next?”