Tron Legacy the Junior Novel - Alice Alfonsi [13]
“The pager! Of course,” Kevin said, as if he’d just figured something out.
“Clu had him on the Light Cycle grid,” Quorra told Flynn. “I intervened.”
Kevin thanked her with his eyes. Then he crossed to the door. “dinner is soon,” he said. “We’ll continue our talk then…”
Sam watched his father walk out the door.
“He’s strange,” Sam said.
“Flynn never thought he’d see you again,” Quorra explained.
Same here, Sam thought, but he said nothing.
His gaze traveled to a Light Cycle parked in the corner of the room. Sleek but retro, the machine was ready to rock.
“Vintage,” Quorra explained. “Flynn built it many cycles ago for the games. It doesn’t get out much these days, but it’s as fast as anything on the grid.”
Another corner of the massive room had been turned into a library. A table in the center of the space was occupied by an inlaid chessboard with carved stone figures.
But there were differences from the game Sam knew. He didn’t recognize all the pieces, and the board had squares of three colors.
“Looks easy,” Sam joked.
“Like chess, but much more complicated,” Quorra said. “We’re nine years into this game.”
Sam gestured to the books.
“Flynn shared them with me,” Quorra said. “I’ve read them all.”
Sam scanned the titles. “Light reading. Tolstoy. Chaucer. Trungpa.” He froze on a title. “Journey Without Goal? Must have a killer ending.”
“Flynn is teaching me the art of the selfless,” Quorra explained. “How to remove yourself from the equation.”
Quorra leaned close to Sam. “Between you and me, Jules Verne is my favorite,” she whispered. “do you know Jules Verne, Sam Flynn?”
“Sure,” Sam replied.
Quorra’s eyes lit with interest. “What’s he like?” she asked.
IN THE LONG SILENCES DURING DINNER, the silverware clanked inside the massive space. The banquet hall itself was as large as the reception room. It had the same tall windows, and pretty much the same view of the flickering grid.
A huge fireplace held a bonfire-size digital blaze that lit the room in an almost-natural glow.
The table seemed as long as a city block. Enough food to feed a hundred guests was spread out on the white tablecloth. But the only ones dining were Quorra, Sam, and his father.
“You digging the wine?” Kevin asked Sam. “My own special sauce. Never thought we’d have occasion to crack it, but here we are…”
Sam warily lifted his glass. They all sipped.
“You getting the black cherries?” Kevin asked.
“I’m getting more of a motor-oil vibe,” Sam said.
“Cool,” Kevin said. “I’m getting closer then.”
Sam blinked, realizing what his father’s words meant. His dad had created everything in this digital domain—right down to the smallest detail, even the wine in their glasses.
“How old are you now, Sam?” Quorra asked.
Sam and his father both replied: “Twenty-seven.”
Quorra cocked her head. “did you attend college?”
Sam nodded.
Kevin started to grin at that until Sam added, “Before I dropped out.”
Kevin frowned. “How about work?” he asked his son. “Are you doing anything at Encom?”
“I, uh…” Sam shrugged. “I check in once a year.”
“Okay,” Kevin said, not hiding his disappointment. “Wife? girlfriend?”
“Dog,” Sam said. “Name’s Marvin. He’s a rescue.”
His father nodded. “dogs are cool.”
After a long silence, Kevin met his son’s eyes. “I imagine you have a lot of questions,” he said.
“Actually, just one,” Sam replied.
His dad sighed, already guessing. “Why I never came home?”
Sam nodded.
Kevin rose and gazed through the window. “Those nights, when I went to the office, I was really coming here,” he confessed. “At first it was about the games. But it quickly became about much more…”
Kevin faced Sam and Quorra again. “I realized this was a place of infinite possibilities,” he said. “But I couldn’t be here all the time. I had you, Sam. I had Encom. I needed partners to help out—”
“Tron and Clu,” Sam said.
Kevin nodded. “We were building a whole new world. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any