* Flynn and Sam sit down, and Flynn starts telling her what happened to him.

“Do you remember what happened the night I disappeared, Sam?”.
She says “Yes, you said that you wanted to talk to dad about something, some kind of Secret Project”.
“That’s right. Well, THIS (he gestures around the room) is the Secret Project I was working on. It all started way back in 1989, when we were in the process of upgrading the entire Encom System.
Ever since I first discovered this Digital World back in 82 I would take whatever chances I could to visit it. It wasn’t easy-the only way was through the Laser bay, and Encom is a big company with a lot of people, so I couldn’t get in there has often has I wanted to, but I did try.

Has the years past and I visited the System has often as I could, I started to realise one important thing-Why was I keeping this all to myself? This is such an incredible place, why not share it with others, invite others here to see it for themselves?
Think about it-the idea that Programs and Users could co-exist, side by side, TOGETHER, here in this world! Pretty cool, huh?
There is so much that we could learn from this world, so much potential here, that it could have the potential to push our understanding of science and technology to whole new level!
Who knows, by studying them and how they do things here perhaps they could even teach US humans a thing or two about how to improve our own society? The possibilities are endless”.
Sam smiles: “A Digital Frontier to reshape the Human Condition”
Flynn: “Exactly! You remember that? Mind you, to create a System like this would have taken a lot of work and planning. Originally, I did at first think about using the Encom system, the idea being that all these system upgrades would provide a cover (a ‘smokescreen’ has it were) for what I had originally had planned.
BUT, I quickly realised that that System would technically be Encom property, and that if I were to start redesigning it in that way it would most likely get me FIRED by the company board when they found out!

So I decided to do the next best thing-I decided to build my own System instead!
The thing is Sam, I also had to be practical has well. I could easily have afforded to buy all new equipment, but then I released that I could simply salvage the discarded hardware from Encom has it was being replaced. Obviously I couldn’t salvage the ENTIRE system (there’s just too much hardware to cram into the basement) but I did salvage has much as I could.
I must admit, I was a bit apprehensive-nothing like this had EVER been done before, so I also introduced new Programs (lots and LOTS of new Programs) to this System has well, many of them originally came from the Old System, such has Tron (he nods towards Tron. Sam looks at him, then continues listening).
Unfortunately, I couldn’t save all the Programs that I wanted to from there, and many were lost in the process and deleted, such has Yori, and Dumont. That was quite hard to bear, especially for Tron.
There were other problems has well, Abraxes being one example”
“Abraxes?”
“Abraxes was a Virus, and an extremely powerful one has well. I don’t think anyone really knows for certain where he came from (I certainly don’t), but I can only assume that he was one of Programs that I transferred that became corrupted. We tried hunting him down, but he was cunning and resourceful, and has he went underground he ended up corrupting a lot of decent Programs along the way”
“Renegades?”
“Yes, Renegades”
“Clu mentioned that when I got here, in the Arena. I wasn’t sure what he meant though”.
“Abraxes and his corrupted Programs posed a small-but significant-threat to this System, but ironically he wouldn’t be the only one. There would be another threat, a threat that I was unprepared for”
“Who?”
“Clu. Clu would be the undoing of all I was hoping to achieve here”.

“Human history has shown that, whenever two civilisations come into contact with one another, it always leads to one thing-DISASTER.

For example, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in South America, it would prove the downfall of the Mayans.
Or what about the Aborigines in Australia? They too ended up suffering at the presence of foreign settlers (mostly from Europe) in their country.
And the Native Americans of the 18th and 19th Century? Again, settlers arrived in their country-their land-and has a result their entire culture was brought to it’s knees within generations.
It’s not a particularly good message to be sending to these Programs about the nature of us Users, is it?

So that begs the question-if Users were to start coming here en masse, how will that effect the population here already?
Will these Programs end up sharing the same fate has the Mayans, or the Aborigines, or the Native Americans 200 years ago?

Clu seemed to think so. And he was deeply worried by it, so worried in fact that when I told him of my plans his reaction was more extreme then I expected….

FLASHBACK.

* We see Flynn, Tron and Clu standing in a command centre. No one is talking, but the look on their faces says it all-Flynn is worried, Tron is deep in thought and Clu is angry. It’s apparent that Flynn has just told them about his plan for the Grid.
* Eventually, Flynn is the first to talk. “Clu, say something, anything”.
Clu looks at him angrily and says “How long have you been planning this?”
“Well, right from the very start, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do”
“Really? So you’ve been planning this all along, without ever bothering to tell us?”
“Clu, it’s not like that…”
“Then what IS it like Flynn, hm?”
Clu looks away. “You know, for a long time now I’ve had the feeling that something was going on, that there were secrets going around in this place. Well I guess we all know what they are now, don’t we?”
“So what gave it away?”
“A lot of things, Flynn. Take this for example…”
Clu picks up data-pad that has plans of the City on it, and highlights one particular area that’s still under construction. “You know, for a while now I’ve been trying to figure out exactly why we were building this construction, because from my point of view it doesn’t really serve any purpose for us”.
He puts the data-pad down and slowly looks at Flynn. “But then again, it wasn’t meant for US, was it Flynn? It was meant for someone else, wasn’t it?
So tell me, Flynn, how many ‘guests’ are we to be expecting when this System goes online? A hundred? A thousand perhaps? A MILLION? How many Users will it take before it stops being OUR realm and starts becoming the Users realm instead?”
“And what about the security risks, eh? Up until now us Programs have only ever had to worry about Users hacking into our Systems and stealing data and inserting Virus’s from YOUR world, Flynn (wherever that may be). But not any longer-thanks to you, they’ve now got the added luxury of coming here and doing it in PERSON! Do you really think that I’m just going to stand by and risk letting that happen?
And it’s not just me though, is it? This could end up effecting EVERYONE! Look at Tron-do you think he’ll appreciate all the extra workload you’ve now placed on his shoulders with this endeavour of yours?”.
Tron just watches them, but says nothing.

* Clu grabs Flynn by the arm and drags him to the window. Tron becomes concerned and threatens him-“Clu”.
Clu ignores him and carries on, to which Tron says “Clu, that’s enough!”.
Clu just glances back at him. By now they’ve reached the window. He points out of it, towards the Cityscape and beyond.
“You see that Flynn? Your FINGER PRINTS are everywhere! Your INFLUENCE is everywhere! YOU are responsible for all this Kevin Flynn. You created it all”
“But that’s the thing, isn’t it Flynn? You’re a CREATOR, and like all Creators you not only have the power to build but also the power to DESTROY has well. I know that your not the only one of your kind-you yourself have told me that there are MANY Creators like yourself in your world.
So the question is What’s to stop any one of the other Creators from coming here and doing the same thing? What’s to stop a hundred of them, maybe even a THOUSAND of them from coming here and undoing all our glorious work? Is it not enough that you Users have dominion over your own world, now your going to come and seek dominion over ours has well?”
“How do you know it will be like that, Clu?”
“That’s not the question, the question is how do you that it WONT?“
Clu sighs. “You seem to forget one crucial thing here, Flynn?”
“Really? What’s that?”
“You may have helped create this world, but we are the real owners of this domain”
* He grabs Flynn’s hand and holds it up. In one quick move he takes off his Disk and slices it across Flynn’s hand. Flynn flinches, and Tron goes to help him-but Flynn sees this hand holds up his free hand, has if to say “It’s okay, I can handle this”. Tron stops.
* Clu holds up the hand so that Flynn can see it bleeding, and says “You see-you are not one of us!”
* At that point a Sentry enters the room to see what all the arguing is about. Clu hands him his Disk and says “Clean this”. The Sentry takes the Disk and walks away. Clu lets go of Flynn’s bleeding hand.
“I will build your world for you, Flynn, if that‘s what you want, but I will NOT hand over to the Users on a silver platter, if that’s what you think ” and turns and walks away.
* Has he walks away Flynn says “This isn’t how I’d define friendship, Partner”.
Clu stops and looks back at him. “ Then I‘ll tell you this, PARTNER, if you keep going like this there’ll be more then just friendship at stake, believe me”, and he walks away.
* Flynn and Tron watch him leave, and Tron says “I’ll go and talk to him”, to which Flynn replies “No, let him go. It’ll give him time to calm down a bit”. He looks at Tron. “Tron?”.
Tron looks at him, and Flynn says “Do YOU think I’m doing the right thing here? Do you think it’ll work, if given a chance?”
Tron thinks, and says “I’d say yes, on both accounts”
Flynn pats him on the shoulder. “Thanks buddy. Mind you, (he looks at where Clu has left) I think things could get a bit more difficult from now on”
They leave the room.

Flynn: “Time passed, and the deadline for the Grids completion grew near. Although he did eventually calm down Clu was very distrustful of me since that moment on. Everything I said and did he watched, has if studying me to see if there were any signs of weakness he could exploit. It’s sad, really-looking back now, all the warning signs were there, but I just didn’t see them until it was too late…

* It’s much later. Flynn and Tron are talking, and Flynn tells him that he must leave because his time on the Grid is almost up. They say goodbye to each other, and walk away. Flynn heads towards the Lightjet hanger.
* Clu appears, and he apologies if he’s been a bit harsh lately. Flynn says that’s alright, but then Clu asks him one more time if he would reconsider what he was doing, and to think about the consequences of his actions. Again Flynn tries to reassure him that everything will be fine, and to stop worrying.
* Has Flynn walks away he doesn’t see a Black Guard who has been hiding in the corner all that time, and has heard everything. Has Clu watches Flynn walk away the Black Guard emerges from his hiding place, and Clu looks at him and gives him a nod, as if to say “You know what to do”. The Black Guard nods back in acknowledgement, and creeps off.
* Flynn takes off. He pilots the one man Lightjet across the landscape and out towards the Sea of Simulation, heading towards the Portal.
* However, unbeknown to him, there is another Lightjet following him, this one being slightly larger. Onboard are three of Clu’s Black Guards-one piloting the craft, one monitoring onboard systems and another standing by awaiting orders. This craft quietly follows Flynn’s Lightjet, using the same Sleeper mode to avoid detection.
* Flynn flies his Lightjet over the Sea of Simulation, quite content…
….and then, unexpectedly, one of the jets engines explodes into a ball of flame, and the Lightjet starts to hurtle uncontrollably towards the Sea.
* Flynn panics-he tries desperately to bring the jet under control, but it just spirals wildly down, before crashing into the Sea of Simulation.
* Has the craft floats upside down on the surface, Flynn breaks free of the cockpit, and swims to safety. He clings desperately onto the upturned jet, cold, wet and frightened.
* He looks up, and sees another Lightjet above him-it’s the same one that has been following, and he waves and calls to it begging for help.
* A panel opens on the underside of the craft, and a Black Guard (the one that was awaiting orders) appears on a tow-rope. He is quickly lowered down onto the wrecked Lightjet (although he is careful NOT TO TOUCH IT) and grabs hold of Flynn & winches him to safety.
* Once onboard the hovering Lightjet, a wet and frightened Flynn thanks the Programs that have saved him.

The Black Guard just looks at him silently for a moment….and then suddenly punches him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

* Darkness. Flynn slowly begins to regain consciousness, and everything begins to come into focus.
* He is in a large, plain room. There are no windows or skylights, or any kind of control panels. There is only one large door at the end of the room, but it is well secured, like a bank safe. The rest of the room has minimal decorations & furnishings (a bed, some chairs, a table, but not much else…).
* Flynn gets up off the floor and looks around. He looks at the large door, and after a few minutes analysing it (and the rooms layout & contents) he slowly realises what this is…

….this isn’t just a habitat, it’s a PRISON CELL!

* Just then, the large door at the end begins to unlock and grinds open. Two Sentries walk in and take up guard positions either side, watching him.
* And then, another figure enters the room-it’s Clu! Although Flynn is relived to see him, he still demands to know where he is and what’s going on.
Clu remains impassive: “I asked you not to go ahead with this Plan of yours. You didn’t listen. I asked you to reconsider what you were doing, and to rethink your overall strategy. You didn’t listen. I asked you to think about the consequences of your actions. You didn’t listen.
And now your frightened about how things have turned out now!”
Flynn is shocked. “Why are you doing this?”
“BECAUSE YOU GAVE ME NO CHOICE! You just cant see how dangerous this whole endeavour is, can you? How can someone with so much knowledge and understanding be so reckless?”
Flynn puts his hands up in frustration. “So what you going to do? Keep me here like the Prisoner of Zenda?”.
“Well since you put it that way….yes I am”.
“No! You cant do this to me!”
“WHY NOT? You remember what you said to me when you first revealed this Great Plan of yours, don’t you?”
Flynn just looks at him, waiting for the answer.
“‘To use whatever resources and options I consider necessary to maintain the safety and efficiency of this Operating System’. Those were YOUR exact words, were they not?”
“Yeah, but…”
“But what?”
Flynn goes to speak, but stops. He realises that he is losing this argument.
“Oh, come on Flynn! Where did you think this was going, eh? How did you think this was all going to end?”.
Flynn is bitter. “Well it’s certainly not like this, that for sure!”.
“Be that has it may, the proposition that I’m going to put forward to you is actually quite simple really”.
He steps closer and says quietly “You are to remain here from now on. I PERSONALLY will make sure that you’ll have the food and comfort you’ll need. You’ll remain here for the rest of your natural lifespan. Understood?”.
Flynn is dismayed and protests. He tries to make a dash past Clu and run for the door, but in a split-second Clu catches him and throws him back. Standing over him he says “It’s probably best if you didn’t make this anymore difficult then it already is”.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Like I said, you gave me no choice-you’ve done your bit for King & Country, why not let someone else have a go for a change, hmm? Enjoy the rest of your life, USER!”.
Clu turns and walks aware, saying “Oh, and don’t worry too much about the Portal anymore either”
Flynn gets up. “Don’t worry too much about the Portal? What’s THAT supposed to mean?”
Clu stops and looks back at him. “It means, PARTNER, that the Portal closed three Cycles ago”. He turns and walks out the door.
Flynn is shocked and cries out. He starts running towards the door, but it starts to close.
But he gets there just too late, and the last thing he see’s is Clu standing there staring back at him.
And door closes. Flynn thumps his fists on it in frustration, but is powerless to do anything. He is trapped.

Flynn: “I didn’t know how long I was in there, in this world there is no real day-and-night has such. Eventually I lost all track of time altogether.
I would just sit there, in silence, for hours-maybe even days, who know?-just wondering, wondering what was happening out there, both in the Grid and our world. I had nothing to do, but just sit there and think….and hope.”
He smiles. “And then, one day, hope finally came”. He looks up Tron, who in turn sees him and walks over.
Tron says that they must leave soon, and Flynn gets up to get ready.

---------------------------------------------------------------------


* Has they wait for Flynn to get himself ready, Sam takes Tron aside for a moment and asks him how well he (Flynn) has been coping.
* Tron says he’s been coping well, and that he and the other Programs have been helping him and keeping him safe all this time, they believe strongly in his cause of ‘removing’ Clu and abolishing his brutal reign over The Grid, and support him in everyway.
* Sam asks Tron about why he didn’t’t come back sooner, and Tron tells him:

FLASHBACK

* We see Tron at a command post with a few other security Programs under his command, and they are looking at a map of the City and talking about new security procedures (or something like that), when Tron receives an urgent message from Clu, asking that he go to the shoreline of the Sea of Simulation right away. He asks Clu why, but Clu just says it’s urgent. Tron dismisses his officers, and rides off on his Lightcycle in that direction.
* When he arrives at the shoreline of the Sea of Simulation, he sees that Clu is already there, along with a few of his Guards. They are looking at a large object on the beach. Clu’s ship is nearby, and a couple of Recognizers are flying around scouring both the coastline and the sea with their searchlights, looking for something.
* Tron walks up to them, and Clu turns and sees him coming, with a sad look on his face. He moves aside so that Tron can see what they are looking at.
* As soon as Tron sees it he stops dead in his tracks-it is Flynn’s Lightjet, lying upside down on the beach. Clu indicates towards the jets engine, which is burnt and completely wrecked. He tells Tron that an explosion must have occurred in one of it’s engines, and caused it to crash into the Sea. It drifted on the surface upside down for a while before being washed up on the shoreline.
* Tron asks if Flynn was onboard, but Clu just shakes his head-there’s no sign of Flynn anywhere, and in all likelihood he must have been washed out to the Sea (assuming he actually survived that is…).
* Tron is completely shocked-he refuses to abandon the idea that Flynn is dead, but Clu sympathises with him and says he is already doing everything he can to help. He’s already organised a search party to look for him at the Sea, and indicates the Recognizers that are flying around looking with their searchlights.
* Tron is dismayed, and refuses to believe that he is dead. He rezzes up his Lightcycle and rides off back to the City. Clu calls after him, but Tron doesn’t’t listen, he just rides away with Clu shouting out for him.

(NEXT SCENE).

* We see Clu standing at a podium, with a HUGE number of Programs gathered before him. Standing to one side of the platform is Tron, looking sad. Clu tells them that, despite their best efforts, Flynn has never been found, and despite an exhaustive search they must now consider the truth=

Kevin Flynn is dead, and is never coming back.

* Naturally the Programs gathered are shocked and saddened by this news, many gasp and are dismayed at hearing this.
* Behind Clu is a large view screen, and an image of Flynn’s wrecked Lightjet lying on the shoreline appears. Clu tells them what happened-that on his way back to the Portal an explosion occurred onboard his Lightjet causing it to crash into the Sea of Simulation, and that Flynn has been swept away, and presumed drowned. The audience are upset by this.
* Clu then tells the audience that they now know what caused this-they now suspect that it was a BOMB, planted onboard by one of the Renegade Programs.
* The audience react badly to this, with many crying out in anger and bitterness at how they’re Creator has been (apparently) ‘murdered’ by these rebels. Clu sees (and senses) this public anger, and he tells them that he personally will hunt down every Renegade Program throughout the System and execute for treason.
* The audience cheer wildly when they here this, and show they’re support for Clu in his pledge to exact revenge on them (needles to say, Clu finds this VERY SATISFYING!).
* There is one final thing Clu says before the gathered Programs-he says that, while Flynn’s loss is a terrible burden for them, under his leadership they will FINISH the Great Plan that Flynn had started, and he will lead them in completing Flynn’s work in creating the perfect System, and they will honour his memory when it is finished.
* And has if to emphasis the point, a LARGE, 3D map of the entire City (showing every building, street and level) appears above the audience, showing them a big, highly detailed map of the Plan that Flynn was working on (with Tron & Clu) before he vanished.
* The crowd are overjoyed at Clu’s devotion and desire to lead them in honouring Flynn and finishing the Plan that he started, and start cheering (some even start chanting Clu’s name has well, such is his inspiration).

Clu, seeing the overwhelming devotion & support that he has instilled in them has they’re new leader, just SMILES menacingly….

* Whilst all this is going on, Tron just stands at the side of the platform and watches silently. Although he wont admit it out loud, his every instinct is telling him that there’s something wrong about all this…

* Time passes, and things start to get back to normal in the City. Clu has assumed leadership of The Grid, and under his command he continues to redesign and redevelop the System to Flynn had wanted it.
* But things are different now-Clu has increased security throughout the System, and his authority is becoming increasingly harsh against the population. He becomes increasingly intolerant and aggressive against any potential threat that in the Grid, which results in an increasingly oppressive regime against the population.
* Meanwhile, Tron has become increasingly disturbed. Ever since Flynn’s death his instincts have been telling him that there has been something wrong about the whole event, and so (without Clu’s knowledge) he begins a secret investigation behind Clu’s back.
* And what he finds is disturbing…

For example, Clu displays the detailed map of the Grid for the public to see, showing them the plan Flynn had for redesigning the System into something new and more sophisticated.
What Clu doesn’t’t realise is that, before he disappeared Flynn also gave Tron an EXACT copy of the map, telling him to keep it safe and hidden away from anyone that could misuse it.
Tron had studied that map extensively (in private), and has memorised every minute detail. However, has Tron looks at the map that Clu has displayed he notices that there are differences.
LOTS of differences….

Tron things hard about this, and comes to three possible conclusions:

Either the map that Flynn gave to Tron was a fake (which is impossible-Flynn gave it to him in person, and even encoded it onto his Disk himself).
The map that Flynn’s given to Clu is a fake (again, impossible-Flynn gave Clu the map in person & also encoded it onto his Disk. Tron should know because he was present when it happened and saw it….).
Or the most plausible answer-Clu has started redesigning the plans that Flynn had for his own personal reasons, and is ignoring most (if not all) of Flynn’s original ideas about the Great Plan.

Another example is that Tron notices that on the map (which we now know Clu has altered for his own benefits and ideas) Clu has established a garrison of Guards and Sentries right on the coastline of the Sea of Simulation.
At first Tron is puzzled has to why Clu would place a garrison there-that location has no real tactical or strategic value.
And then it suddenly occurs to him-the Portal! Flynn needed the Portal to leave the Grid and return to his world.
Given the nature of the Portal (and that only User could use it), with Flynn gone, no one else could use it and so Clu had it shut down, citing it has “an unnecessary waste of power and resources”.

So why put the garrison there?

Unless the garrison was there to watch it in case anyone tried to use it.

But Users are the only ones that could use it, and seeing how Flynn was the only User in that world that could only mean one thing….

* These are just two of the many details that Tron has noticed during is secret investigation behind Clu back, and eventually he comes to one single conclusion:
That there is a conspiracy going on, and that Clu is at the heart of it.

There are other clues that become apparent over time too-Tron asks Clu if he could analyse the wreckage of the Lightjet again, but he discovers that Clu has already had the wreckage DESTROYED, without anyone else’s knowledge (least of all Trons).

* Tron soon discovers that he isn’t the only one who has become suspicious of what’s been going on since Flynn’s apparent death-over time other Programs start contacting Tron also voicing their concerns about a possible cover-up.
Tron makes notes of there concerns, and with their help he comes to one single conclusion:
There’s a conspiracy occurring on the Grid, and Clu is at the very heart of it all.

* Tron gathers the rest of the other Programs (including Beck!) and together they form a rescue plan…

(NOTE: at this stage I still haven’t figured out how Tron discovers the existence of the Hidden Prison. I’m open to ideas about this part of the story)

(CHANGE SCENE).

* We see the Outlands, and in particular the location of the Hidden Prison. In the cover of shadows a small group of Programs is creeping forward, heading towards the Hidden Prison whilst remaining in the cover of the terrain.
* When they get to the cliff face they do a quick scan-and find a hidden access panel concealed there. They hack into it and activate another hidden door. They quickly and quietly enter.
* Inside they find the two Sentries who stand guard there, and they fight. The combat is brief, and they are derezzed. Tron steps over the derezzed Sentries and walks up to a large door.
* Using his skills has a security Program he breaks into the locking mechanism and opens the door. Inside he finds Flynn, who has become worried at all the commotion that was occurring outside. He runs over and hugs Tron in relief,
* Tron tells him that they must leave, and after checking that the coast is clear Tron and the other Programs make they’re escape into the Outlands.

* A short time later we see Clu enter the compound, after being alerted by a Silent Alarm that he has engineered so that only HE can be aware of it.
He see’s the remains of the derezzed Sentries on the floor and becomes angry.
* He sees that the large door is open and walks into the room-it’s empty! Flynn is gone!
He turns and walks out again. He see’s one of the Disks that belonged to one of the Sentries, and picks it up. When he accesses the memories he see’s Tron breaking into the Prison and rescuing Flynn, before escaping.
* Flynn is outraged. In a fit of anger he hurls the Disk into the wall opposite and turns to walk away….
….but he stops, and turns to look back at the Disk embedded in the wall.

And he SMILES has he begins to form a plan….