The shakiest voice that was ever tested

[awearysoul]

[The corners of Flynn's eyes crinkle with amusement. He shakes his head.]

Do we really have to do this?

Deadlines piling up. Writing on the backburner. Trust me, man. I've been there. You've got enough on your plate without adding an old man to the waiting line. Besides, you really think we mesh?

Take things slow. [A flash of grief, and his tone goes quiet.]

And don't make promises you aren't equipped to keep.

Comments

[awearysoul]

[Frustration surfaces briefly, but he sighs and shakes his head. Bend. Don't break.]

I saw what you did with the place. Can't say I approve.

[And c'mon, man, even your games don't win that easy. Package deal?]

[sysadmin]

You did once.

[ Before you decided 'perfection' meant ISO. ]

[awearysoul]

No, Clu. [Gently.] Not of that.

[sysadmin]

Don't.

[It's snarled, and Clu's jaw clenches. It still hurts, distantly, to be rebuked; at the end of everything, no matter the excuses, everything he'd done had been for Flynn. ]

Don't try and play the 'reasonable Creator'. You changed your mind. You embraced imperfection.

[awearysoul]

[A hand comes up in a placating gesture before the futility registers. He lowers it, voice calm.]

No. I learned to see past it.

I'm sorry, Clu.

[sysadmin]

No, you're not. If you were, you wouldn't have killed us both.

[awearysoul]

I am. More than you can know.

But none of that makes what you were doing right.

[sysadmin]

I didn't neglect my system and the sixteen million programs within it in favor of glitch-ridden Sea-spawned viruses.

You don't get to judge what was right for the system, when you abandoned it.

[awearysoul]

[Flynn's own pain cracks through his voice, just briefly. Clu's viruses. His miracles. The loss still hurts, even without anything to cling to.]

Oh, I failed the system. And you.

But I wasn't going anywhere.

[sysadmin]

[ Sorry, Flynn, but you've gotten him so worked up that even that admission doesn't do anything to cool his temper. ]

You went somewhere every time. You went to your real world and only deigned to show up once every twenty cycles to meet with your miracles.

I learned, Flynn. I saw the permutations - once you brought the ISOs to your real world, what were you going to do with the Grid?