Tron: Deliverance

<INITIATE> "ARK PROTOCOL"

Quorra watched the tracking beacons of the two teams as they bounded through Purgos. The group fighting Grid bugs seemed to be keeping to the shadows and avoiding the fray. Knowing how security programs thought, she had no doubt Tron was probably grinding his processes in an effort not to jump into action and destroy the bugs. She had to admire his restraint.

Gem's smooth voice came over the com.

"This is Gem to base"

"Go ahead Gem" Quorra responded evenly.

"The Mods have destroyed a majority of the bugs. They are currently in the cleanup phase. We have gathered relevant observations and should return to base shortly"

"OK, let us know if you run into any problems"

"Copy, Gem out" a slight crackle of feedback accompanied her voice as she severed the call.

"She's really....straight to the point isn't she?' Sam asked as he scrolled through a data packet that Roy had sent about the breakdowns around Purgos. His brow knit with concern.

Quorra felt a soft smile form. Fond files, memories, pressing forward.

"She's always been like that. Maybe a bit less reserved. Warmer, I guess you could say"

Sam focused on her, an eyebrow raised.

"Ok, sooo things have been hectic so we haven't really gotten to discuss her but like...How well did you know her back before the Purge?"

Quorra laughed once "You're wondering why I didn't recognize her immediately, back when we found her in Tron city". Stabbing straight to the heart of his query. Sam was like that. His real questions tended to be buried behind his words. It took practice to figure out what he meant aside from what he actually said. She was a quick study, though.

He scratched his head "How do you do that?" He said sheepishly, not really expecting an answer "But yeah, what are you guys to each other anyway? Your relationship is kinda, weirdly close and distant at the same time"

Quorra sighed, letting her thoughts on the topic form properly "I think I would have closeness to any fellow ISO. Purely because we're so few. If humans were whittled down to a handful I'm sure you would feel the same way"

"Fair enough"

"But we didn't know each other very well before the coup. Radia had many attendants. I was actually quite young at the time of the Purge. Her older attendants were in a class of their own in a way"

"So she's like Gen X and you're a millennial?" he asked, wiggling an eyebrow.

The former ISO rolled half-smiled "Users put so much emphasis on generation gaps. Its baffling "

He shrugged "Humans are weird like that"

She chuckled once "Also, Harmonia was special. Even among the attendants. We were like a.... politician's staff. We had different jobs. Radia worked with me to relate her message to others, to pass information along. I spoke for her"

She absently swiped her hand through the holographic map of the city, not really seeing it. The past too strong a distraction.

"But Harmonia was among the attendants that managed her personal security. Like I said, she was an information gatherer. A spy if you will. I mostly knew her by reputation more than personality. I saw her very occasionally among the other attendants. She was a ghost"

"A pretty damn good one too, if how quickly she infiltrated Dyson's HQ is anything to go by" Sam muttered.

She nodded absently "She was the best of us. I suppose I admired her as a senior"