paradisalogs | Troubled Times

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Troubled Times

Who: Alan Bradley and YOU
What: Alan's Nightmare
When: Nightmare Plot
Where: Alan's headspace
Rating: T for Teen? Death, injury, and psychological damage without vivid description.

It's night - exactly when, you're not sure, but the moon is up, half-obscured by cloud cover. It's chilly out, the cold cutting through your clothes, making everything seem just that much harsher, the world just a little bit bleaker.

It's almost like everything's not only dark, but desaturated.

Welcome to Alan's nightmare. You might not enjoy your visit.

[Part A] | [Part B]

((Prose or actiontags welcome!))

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Finally the disc lights up to indicate that the data has saved. There's still red in the code, of course, but most of it's been wiped away. He had even less time here than he did the first time, with Gibson and the Doctors keeping Rinzler at bay.

Hopefully it will be enough. It will have to be enough.

Alan rushes after them - he's not very past and he can still feel the blood trickling down his neck - to try and catch up. He can't do anything without slotting the disc on the program's back, but even with adrenaline rushing through his veins he's too old to be very fast.

Dairine breaths heavily as she runs. While she's usually rather speedy, the energy loss is taking its toll, slowing her down. So Alan might be able to catch up.

Of course, that also means other people can catch up to her too, which decidedly not so good. She need to put more distance between the programs and herself. One more hit and her shield could fall apart!

At Rinzler's growl the remaining Black Guards throw their discs and he leaps forward with his own, trying to tackle her down.

Alan jumps into the fray as well, reaching to try and slot the disc on his program's back, praying he'll stay alive and that it will even work.

The Guards' discs hit true. Lasting only long enough to deflect the attack, her shield finally collapses, leaving Dairine exposed.

The impact against her spell disturbs her balance, and Dairine stumbles. She nearly recovers her footing, only to have Rinzler tackle her immediately after. Thanks to his speed and relative size, she hits the ground hard, letting out a pained "oof!" as the air leaves her lungs.

Of course Dairine has no intention of staying down. The moment she catches her breath, the young wizard struggles to get up, pushing and elbowing Rinzler as hard as she can. She might be causing enough of a scene for Alan to get the disc on his back.

Edited 2012-12-28 06:50 (UTC)

Dairine's physical attacks do little against Rinzler, but her squirming makes it difficult for him to pin her down effectively. Fortunately, the continued distraction is all Alan needs, and the disc slots neatly onto its slot on Rinzler's back. The program freezes, suddenly going rigid, giving Dairine enough time to wriggle out from beneath him.

The Black Guards seem to have temporarily paused their assault. Alan's about to blame their sudden inaction and the ensuing eerie silence on surprise about what's been done to Rinzler, but a short series of claps and a cocky voice prove that's not true.

"Well, well. Not bad, Users!"

Alan would've thought he'd be over the mimicry between CLU and Flynn by now. Their faces don't bother him anymore - Flynn's aged where CLU has not - but the voice is the same and that cuts deep.

"It was a good show, and more importantly, gave me enough time to finish up my last...pet project."

Alan stares in horror. As if to punctuate CLU's words, a young Sam steps up next to him, clothed in a lightsuit with bright red circuits, blank look on his face. No. It couldn't be. Reprogramming Users..?

"And best of all..? You're next."

Dairine doesn't waste any time slipping out of Rinzler's grip and rushing over to Alan. She could hug him she's so relieved, but that'll have to wait for later. There are still too many programs against them. The wizard stands next to Alan in a defensive pose, ready to protect him if necessary.

The sudden pause in fighting does not sit well with Dairine. What are they waiting for--? Then CLU's voice picks up again, and Dairine hisses under her breath. Of course. She turns to glare at the program... only to get a good look at the now reprogrammed Sam.

She looks as horrified as Alan but not quite as surprised. Human reprogramming was hardly new to Dairine. The young wizard had experienced it not once but twice during her Ordeal. But the Motherboard had done the programming last time, the largest and most powerful computer in the universe. CLU was nowhere near her level. So how could he have managed this?!

"You're a real piece of work, program," Dairine says, her voice laced with cold anger. "But unless you change Sam back right now, YOU'RE the one who's gonna be next."

"I'm afraid that's not in the cards," CLU says with a triumphant, cocky smirk. He doesn't even seem worried about Rinzler, who's still trying to sync with the new data on the disc, frozen in place, circuits dim. It's not as if he can't revert it just as easily. He, although not a User, is a programmer - of a sort - after all. "Oh for one."

"How'd you do that to him?! We don't have disc-ports--" Alan has momentarily recovered his voice, but it shakes as he shouts his question back at CLU. This can't be happening. Not Sam. He's been through enough already.

"I'm afraid that's not an issue I have to deal with, Alan-1." CLU's use of the moniker is harsh and mocking. He looks to Sam, threads his hand through the boy's mop of curly hair, petting him like he's Sam's father. Alan wants to squeeze his eyes shut but he can't look away. CLU knows exactly which of Flynn's movements to mimic to get to Alan's head.

More Black Guards appear out of thin air, as things only can in dreams, by magic, or by wish requested of the Castle. Alan's too horrified to even question their appearance; this isn't a lucid dream. CLU speaks again, his voice tinged with a saccharine sweetness. "Now, kiddo, why don't you deliver our friends their new presents?"

In Sam's arms are two identity discs.

"I'd say you've got the wrong hand," she quips back at CLU. Dairine, being hyperaware from adrenaline, does notice the Guards' sudden appearance. As Dairine does a headcount to see how many she has to plow through to get to safety, it strikes her as odd. She was sure that direction led to a dead end. So where were they coming from? Now that she thinks about it, the first two Black Guards arrived the same way, as if appearing from thin air. Was it a program thing?

But right now she has a mission, so Dairine puts those thoughts to the side. Protect Alan. Try to get ahold of those discs without getting reprogrammed. Save Sam. Get out of here.

All without her shield to help. After all that fighting, her energy supplies were shot. She could still power a few spells, maybe, but the cost would be taxing. Probably take a few years of her life away. Dairine should save those for when she needs them most, which will likely be very soon, at the rate things are going.

But as she looks at Sam and the identity discs, Dairine begins to form a plan. She might not have much energy, but there's one wizard's trick she can use without it. Silently, Dairine thinks to Alan, using telepathy to create a hidden conversation.

'Don't freak out Alan. Just think back to me like you're talking.

I think I might be able to bring back Sam.'

"I've got the whole deck," CLU says nonchalantly as Sam advances slowly upon them. He's dwarfed by the Black Guards that Alan finally notices. Resistance will, most likely, be futile. They'd had enough trouble with four, let alone an army. And he can't hurt Sam, no matter what CLU's done to his foster son. He can't allow Dairine to hurt him either.

He doesn't know how to reprogram humans. Programs, he could fix. Sam? Alan never was able to completely mend the hole in his heart, the one that was distinctly Kevin-shaped. No matter his efforts. There was a matching one in his own.

He flinches when Dairine's voice enters his head, but it does help to rein in his own wild thoughts. His surprise is evident, and he's a little skeptical about it working, but as he stares Sam down he thinks back at her a single thought.

'How?'

“You wish,” Dairine snaps back. While the odds are certainly against them, Dairine still isn’t giving up. She is not the type to go down without a fight.

She spares Alan a short glance, just to check that he's holding it together, before bringing her attention back to the approaching Guards.

'Same thing you did with Rinzler, except I wouldn’t be focusing on his disc. Instead I’ll be fixing his name. Much easier, in a sense, because I won’t need to be near him for it to work.

CLU is an amateur at human programming, I can tell. He treats it like any reprogramming job. But me? I have more than enough knowledge and experience to pull this off.' She hopes.

'But I'll need your help.'

'His name?' To Alan's knowledge, that's nothing like how code works. Human programming is dangerous and she might be biting off more than she can chew, especially if she can't even muster up a shield.

But if it will help Sam? There's no question.

'Tell me what I need to do.'

'Well, more like his wizard's name... though he isn't really a wizard.

All things can be described in Wizard's Speech. That is the ultimate code. A wizard's name describes a person completely. If I rename him the way he used to be -- removing the code that CLU added -- I should be able to bring him back.' Should, though nothing was certain. Her last spell had failed after all. Using the Speech might not require as much energy as normal spells, but it still could be taxing. Worse yet, if she said something wrong in the Speech, Sam might be changed into something worse. Maybe even permanently.

But she had to try.

'First, tell me what CLU's coding should look like. That way I can avoid those bits.

Then I need you to tell me about Sam. Think back and picture everything you can remember about him.'

The possibility, though strange, is something he can't afford to give up. Alan nods minutely to himself as Sam continues to advance - taking his time. There's no need to rush when victory is not only imminent, but ensured.

'It stands out as red amongst blue and white,' he begins, remembering how it looked on Rinzler's disc. 'Optimization, obedience, suppression of morals and free will. Only a hint of it, enough to expand upon orders, not like the Black Guard.'

That done, he starts from the beginning. Sam coming home from the hospital. Visiting the Flynns. Staying with Kevin and Sam after Jordan's death. Sam's interests, his smile, his mop of curly hair, his never-ending curiosity. Sunday night dinners. Kevin's disappearance, the death of his grandparents. Playing catch. Helping him through homework. Marv. College applications, moving in to CalTech. The annual pranks.

It's not hard for a parent to remember their child.

Dairine nods. Red seemed to be a theme here.

'Got it.' Then she looks straight at the approaching boy and steps foward.

"Sam Flynn," she states. With that, she begins to speak. She repeats Alan's description practically word for word, only leaving out the parts that sound like they'd apply to an older Sam. Wouldn't want to make Sam age suddenly. But there's something more. Her sentences sound richer, deeper than any Earthly language. And although she's just speaking, there is power behind her words. They reverberate as the walls seem to press in around them. The very universe is listening, trying to make her words true, to undo the damage that CLU had done.

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Troubled Times

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