trans_9 | The Game Has Changed [Open!]

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The Game Has Changed [Open!]

It had taken Tron more cycles than he'd anticipated to complete his self-diagnosis to his satisfaction, and even longer to orient himself in this strange new system. Navigation wasn't done through a Grid he could traverse. It was all about forcing his code through and testing the boundaries. The ridiculously convoluted boundaries that he hadn't seen since the MCP had been in town.

He soon had the I/O port located that would allow him to interact with the User crew at any time, but more substantial interaction was difficult. They were divided by that Grid/User world line---he could communicate with them as through a computer screen, and there was even a visual representatino, but interacting physically with that world was impossible.

...that is, it was until he managed to gain access to the heavily-trafficked Sensorium port. He arrived in a chamber consisting entirely of gray space, but the moment he appeared he detected that he was part of solid space. With a little color it could be another Grid.

Predictably, as that memory surfaced, his circuits glowed with the memory-sharing procedure and the room took on a Grid-like appearance. Dark, solidly shaped hills, with pulsing green veins to remind him that he was still Stacy's program. It was rather startling to Tron, who jumped back and sought out a connection with the perpetrator.

"Could you ask permission before copying my data?"

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Zouichi blinked at the sudden appearance of the Grid-like landscape within the Sensorium. Whatever he was expecting to find, it wasn't rolling hills covered in neon.

He blinked, a little bewildered, as he heard Tron's voice. "I'm sorry? I wasn't trying to copy anything in particular, I just sort of wandered in."

No, it certainly wasn't this User's fault. Tron welcomed him inside with a wave.

"I wasn't accusing you. It's Stacy, the core program---she's accessed my memory banks to duplicate a familiar landscape. The trouble's that I didn't approve the transmission. Is this normal behavior?"

Forgive him if he's being a little obtuse. Programs concerned about their structural integrity can sometimes panic.

Zouichi shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't really know how these Sensoriums work. I was told they simply replicate the thoughts of the person inside --"

Then something Tron had said hit him. "I'm sorry, your 'memory banks'? Are you an artificial lifeform?"

Would the Sensoriums even recreate environments from the thought processes of an AI? He supposed it was possible; after all, it was probably harder to monitor and interpret the chaotic workings of biological organisms than those of artificial ones.

"That would explain things." Tron was content with a new explanation. "And from there an environment is replicated."

In how much detail would it create a world? Could it summon a pure energy river with ice-blue flow that a User would swear was water? What about a game grid? He tried to block out Stacy's processes as he thought, since he didn't want the environment further altered just yet.

"I'm Tron, a security program," Tron introduced himself. "I was created to protect another system I once served from threats inside and outside its boundaries. I've been copied here, it seems, to try to free you from the other programs' instability and hostility."

A job that he took quite seriously.

"Pleased to meet you," he returned, almost automatically. "My name is Kanoe Zouichi, a Synthetic Human."

"You're a security program? An autonomous one?" Now Zouichi was interested. He had been under the impression that this ship was run by a single AI: Stacy, the one who had greeted the new passengers after they were discharged from the pods. "And there are hostile programs on this ship as well?"

"She doesn't. It's kind of annoying." Angie had decided to take to the Sensoriums after talking with Trudy. She needed to be able to test her little projector, after all, and if she was meant to record something from the Sensoriums, it made sense to start there. "You get used to it, though."

She was armored again. It was the easiest way to work with what she needed to do.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Zouichi."

Tron drew up a glowing diagram of the system as he saw it so far. "Stacy is the main AI, that's true. She manages crew conditions, pod release, discipline, and a number of other critical functions. I haven't been able to determine whether the ship's trajectory is within her programming, but she operates an entire complex of us. Of all of them, the one you're most likely to encounter is GLaDOS."

Tron almost hissed her name. It was clear that a bit of a grudge had developed there. "Her purpose is to abduct you Users and perform experiments when the system feels that your avia, your...essence of consciousness, is in danger of separating from your body. If you pass the test, you return to us. If not, you're returned to the pods. It's a necessary procedure, but I don't approve of the method or her attitude. Luckily, she lacks the direct hostility of the old HAL program."

"I'm beginning to see that," Tron shook his head. It was disconcerting to be sure, but maybe not so bad.

"Are you working on another project?" He'd see what he could learn about what the engineers were up to.

"Please, call me Zouichi," he said. "I'm not really used to formalities." His eyes traced over the diagram Tron had displayed.

This was the second time Zouichi had heard someone mention that the consciousness of the passengers about the ship might be at risk. "Conduct experiments on us? What kind of experiments?"

"And do we have you to think that this HAL isn't around any more?"

"No, HAL was derezzed by another User many cycles ago. I was idle then: I activated fairly recently. He was the worst of the lot from the data I've collected---he deliberately tried to destroy crew members!"

The idea was so opposed to the core of Tron's programming that it made him shudder to think about.

"I've tried to look in on the experiments. From what I've found, they're a series of mazes. It's a monotonous activity designed to show any differences in your reactions, though she likes to add an air of danger."

Scarily, he's not entirely sure that that danger is false.

Alex walked in, hoping for an empty room, to find Tron standing there, asking the room to request permission. He chuckled a bit, "I f-figure, it's like a-an end user l-licence a-agreement. W-walking in g-grants permission. N-not r-really fair, b-but it is th-the functioning o-of th-these rooms a-after all."

Zouichi was puzzled. If the purpose of the ship was to ferry along crew members to fight giant insectoid aliens, what could be the use of a program that killed off those crew members? Maybe it had been malfunctioning.

"So what is a security program doing in here, then? Are you chasing down a rogue program or something?"

Angie offered him a comforting smile. "It has its uses, admittedly. But, personally, I'm pretty used to what I'm thinking about becoming real. Or more real."

The smile widened to a grin. "Yeah, actually, I am. Sort of a side project, really. Just a small holographic image capture and replay device for one of the crew members."

Actually, that program had been functioning perfectly. As Tron usually suspected, the system was a far more dangerous place than it appeared to be on the surface.

"I believe I'm here to monitor the system and protect all of you. I can't intervene as effectively as I used to thanks to all of Stacy's restrictions, but I can warn you when things are about to go wrong. If I'm there when you all try to make repairs, I can let you know about what you're dealing with."

Tron reached back and pried the disc off his back, turning it over in his hands. "For now, though, I'm focusing on learning what I can about all of you. I've never had an opportunity like this before."

That was one of her User powers, wasn't it? He gathered that it wasn't too common, but that made it all the more interesting.

"I'm beginning to think that reality is relative," Tron admitted, taking in the landscape around them. "From one system to another it's largely the same, but out in the User world there's so much more to process."

It was a distinction that he wasn't quite sure how to phrase. He thought about it for a few more moments, then studied the device.

"This environment is a hologram, isn't it? Were you looking to test the device?" He would happily get out of the way and allow her to test whatever she liked.

"I wasn't made aware of that."

Tron seemed to be calming down at the sight of a familiar User. "Greetings, Alex. What brings you out here?"

"I'm not sure that there's necessarily more to process," Angie replied, grinning. "We're used to processing all that information. Have been since we were born. Our world is new to you. It'll take time, but you'll figure it out."

She showed him the device, then tossed it to him. In the Sensorium, he'd be able to catch it. Hard light was awesome like that. And he was perfectly welcome to a closer look. "Well, since the images I'm looking to capture are Sensorium images, you'd actually help me a lot by not getting out of the way."

He smiled and nodded, trusting her with that.

Tron caught it with ease, turning the device at all angles. How intriguing! "You want to capture my image? What else do I need to do?"

"You or just the area." She waved toward the valley they were in. "The light/dark contrast would be a good test, at least for the start. I'll need to record something moving for a second test, but I can come up with something myself for that."

"Got it." Tron handed the device back to her and then moved into the clearing. Immediately, branches of options presented themselves. Should he just stand? In a certain way?

Ultimately, he settled on a wide stance, fists balled on his hips. Very much trying to be the tough guy, though the smile probably ruined the effect.

She honestly hadn't expected him to take up a pose to be recorded. And the pose!

Angie bent her head over the projector, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. "All you need is a cape to complete the image," she said, finally getting herself under enough control to talk, though she was still grinning widely as she looked up. "Right. Just a moment...there. I think I've got it."

A look of concern flashed over Tron's face at the shoulder-shaking, but she seemed to be well. As soon as he got the okay, he strode over to her side.

"Great! But if I may ask, what's this cape that you're referring to?" Programs didn't have capes. Too much excess data to be sliced off during a disk game.

It took a moment for her to get it turned over to projector, but Angie did and very soon they were looking at Tron himself. Not quite life-sized, but close, standing there with his hands on his hips and a cheesy grin. "A cape is...well, it's basically a big bit of cloth that a lot of superheroes seem to wear. That pose just reminded me of a comic book hero I used to read about when I was a kid."

Okay, it reminded her of Superman. Who was on the ship. She'd just not managed to say hi to him yet.

"A hero, huh?" Tron inspected the double critically. "If anyone's the hero, it must be you."

Sigh. User-worship strikes again. "Can you show me what a cape looks like? Is the system capable of that?"

She smiled at him. "You'll find that a lot of people on the ship are heroes in their own worlds. People who did everything in their power to make a difference." She nudged him with her elbow. Which was sort of code for 'including you, bucko'. Even if it might not come out exactly that way.

"As for a cape...that shouldn't be too hard. If you're willing to let me have control of the Sensorium for a bit?"

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The Game Has Changed [Open!]

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