USER WORLD (EARTH)
QUORRA'S HAVEN – THREE WEEKS LATER
The Study Room has not been the same since the visit to the Arcade that day. A once silent, neat, and untouched hollow space is now infested with creepy optical fibers crawling all over the living space. Large Server boxes, less than half a dozen of extension boxes, and a couple of hard drives decorated themselves with these wired creepers. The soft and sophistically lit room now became a hazy, dark, neon-light Flash dance of RGB color palettes. It is the perfect setting for rave parties, only if anyone was so high enough to dance on those infinite cables. The irony is that the room looks the same for drunkards and junkies as well as for the sober. Quorra always wondered how Sam managed to gobble up the supper inside that never-ending dark tunnel.
Conviction is a good thing, emerging instinctively for loved ones even at the brink of destruction. The transformation into a self-destructive and mindless obsession threatens the life around the undeterred soul. Quorra felt the signs of this mad pursuit when Sam revisited the Arcade since her arrival. At first, she was empathetic to Sam as she too felt this inexplicable regret and trauma of losing loved ones way before she met Kevin. She just stood there, shocked, and helpless, as her adobe crumbled, her kith and kin vanished into thin air, and her friends crushed into voxels in the faintest of TronCycles. Even though Kevin's company and refuge gave her second life, she could not forgive herself for not standing up to C.L.U by herself to this moment. All she could do then was to help Sam get his second chance or let him off on his journey. She chose the latter at first, which is why even she could not put a leash on Sam now. What started with soft remarks on Sam turned into frustration, shunting, and a few meals skips as well. Slowly Sam started skipping meals by himself. At that point, things usually go either way: - slaps or separation. Quorra, being naïve and optimistic she is, never had the faintest idea of separation in mind, rather she ran through heaven and hell in taking care of her man.
Finally, she decided to settle this issue once and for all and entered the junk-fest room, calling Sam to have a small talk. When the usual "I'm busy" code came, his face tasted the splash of fresh cold water and shivered in shock, as if a power jolt passed through. Before he could react, his legs walked themselves to the living room as his upper body forced them to. After a few seconds, he could see it was not his arms or frame carrying him all alone, but his apple pie struggling to carry him.
- (Tripping with dizziness) My love, you could've asked me to come. I have feet, strong feet, you know!!
Ignoring the mindless fluff, Quorra made him sit on one side of the lavish lounge seated royally at the center of the living hall, waving hands around his blurry eyes.
- (Cuddling and caressing her fingers) These candy sticks are oily and delicious; my tongue can wait no more. (Advancing towards her)
- (Pushing his face with her hand) A bucket of Baskin Robbins isn't enough for you? I'm your partner, goddammit, not a chocolate cornetto.
- But these French Fries are mine, senõre. (Pouncing on her again).
Realizing that he'd gone too far into his obsession, Quorra found no other choice and smacked his face with her eyes closed. Although the slam punch brought Sam back to his senses, it hurt Quorra's hands and her heart. All she wanted was to follow Sam through this thing called "Love" that Users define, which is the most mysterious yet magical thing she has ever experienced. She imagined a beautiful journey with Sam using the second life given by Kevin, which would bury her deepest trauma and regrets forever. But seeing her partner and sole guide trailing off at the beginning itself broke the poor soul from the inside bit by bit, day by day.
- - (Controlling her tears) Never in the tiniest TronCycle I imagined seeing you like this, Sam. You made me dream about the future, something I never heard of inside the Grid, and now you destroy those dreams yourself.
- (In semi-consciousness) What future, dear? Is Dad in there?
- No, he isn't and wouldn't be. Not until you sober up and have the guts to show what a User is.
- (escalating voice a little bit) Do you mean Users don't care about their Dad, their families, and loved ones? This is what you think a User is?
- (Calming slowly) Just, answer this one, when did you begin the search party?
- Long time, maybe weeks or months. Let me go inside and check the server logs. (Rising from the sofa)
- (Pushing him back) It's over a month, Sam. Not "months". And did you know his location?
- Yes, I have the coordinates with me, those stick notes inside the room.
- (Cozying him) Later Sam. You have the coordinates, what are you waiting for?
- The Grid's architecture is changing in microseconds, Quorra. All this after we left the Grid. Dad's location could've changed a trillion times by now, depending blindly on those coordinates is futile.
- So, you just sit by idly, waiting for the Grid to "stop" changing or something like that, and then get Kevin back?
- Idle, why do you think I skip office daily? Streaming DOTA every day? Half of the Grid's architecture is already completed; the other half is almost done, and here I am wasting my time on your interrogation.
- O Lord! Thou shalt forgive thy child for questioning your divine play in action. Amen.
- Oh great! Shakespeare's your new crush? (Sighing in disbelief) Cut some slack already.
- You have the coordinates and blueprint of half the Grid. What more do you want now? Outlands?
- I already told you; the Grid changes every minute. We need to have a proper layout and wait for the right time.
- (sarcastically) Yeah, just like your first entry into Grid, when you didn't have a fraction of a clue what was happening around, am I correct?
*Quorra waits for Sam to respond, but continues later, breaking the silence.
- It could very well be C.L.U or his henchmen behind the play, reshaping the Grid once again for his PERFECTION. What if they are changing the Grid just to get Kevin faster? Ever thought about that?
*Sam remains silent, probably due to his consciousness slowly kicking in and also that Quorra got the better of him this time*
- Handling C.L.U's sentinel inexperienced, and on top of that, locking horns with Rinzler to protect me, is that what you call "right time"?
- And things went back to square one as soon as I left the Grid, so that's not the right time, to answer your question.
- He saved the Grid from C.L.U, Sam! The Grid and User World would've been destroyed if you hadn't been searching for your father.
- And yet, I lost him again, what difference does it make?
- Programming in a computer doesn't make a difference, that I can tell. The Sam I knew would've been fighting with unknown monsters by now, not wasting time on plans. He convinced his father to save the Grid by being himself, not through some elaborate plan.
*Sam again goes into a deep silence
- Kevin didn't just give you a job; he gave you his dreams, his trust, and belief, not because he's your dad. He saw something in you the day you rescued me, think about it. Kevin had one thing C.L.U never had: IMPROVISATION.
Having the most eerily silent dinner since their relationship, both lost in their doubts and concerns, Quorra slept happily for getting a sober and normal Sam by her side tonight, although he wasn't in his usual romantic self for now. Sam, on the other hand, gradually slipped into a full introspective mode, wondering into the man he has become from his reckless self in just one month. It's as if he spent a lifetime, inside and outside the Grid. He wondered whether Dad would've done the same thing in his place. Wandering into the black hole of memories, he would spend the rest of the night with his EYES WIDE SHUT.