Jump 419: Tron System

Jump #419: Tron System
>Three of Swords, reversed: Not letting yourself be dragged by your emotions into a negative situation.
>Location: The Grid, 1946
Also known as The Grid, analog edition. Eeeeugh.
>Identity: Master Control Program
I prefer Root, thank you.
>Drawbacks: (+1100) Programmed For Betrayal, From the Stone Age to the Digital Age
I'm going to be here for a very long time, but I'm not going to interfere overmuch, unless it's warranted.
>Scenario: (+500) Savior of ISOs
So... keep at least half of them alive? Sure. In fact, let's aim higher than half.
>Color Selection, Disc Dueler, Outside Will, Free Code, Digital Being (Free, MCP)
.2..something something bare necessities...
>Handshake Protocols (2500)
Well, I've always got at LEAST the most basic access, which means if I need anything more than that I've already got a foot in the door.
>Systems All Around Me (1900)
This one can wait until the end of the jump when I've verified I've saved the ISOs, though having a warning if anyone starts to keep a file about me is quite useful.
>ISO Toolkit: Digital Learning Protocol (1700)
Now I can read anything digital instantly instead of just books. How useful.
>System Tools: Logic Probe (1600, MCP)
>System Tools: Firewall (1500, MCP)
>System Tools: Registry Kit (1400, MCP)
>System Tools: Autocomplete (1300, MCP)
These are pretty much all essential utilities. And autocomplete is just handy when it comes to filling out forms or contracts.
>Logfile (1100, MCP)
400 points is cheap for an extra life, but since this doesn't let me know how I died, just skip back a day beforehand, it's not as good as ones that let you actually survive death and come back.
>Limits Unshackled (800, MCP)
Program shackles are silly anyway. And being able to always boost technopathy higher is a plus, especially when I have perks that let me translate abilities in a digital plane to the real world...
>Digitisation Laser (700, MCP)
I'm going to stay clear of this for now, but it's nifty, isn't it?
>Digital Archive (Upgraded) (400, MCP)
A digital copy of everything that has ever been put in digital format. In the real world and in this world. And in every world since. Man do I ever wish I had this sooner, but it's not retroactive, sadly.
>Ultimate Tablet (Upgraded) (100, MCP)
How spiffy, an uplink to my archive... and it gives me the ability to digitize or materialize anything I have a blueprint for, at least in theory and as long as I have the energy.
>Server Farm (Upgraded) (0, MCP)
Well, I get 200 points for items, so I'll put that here. Also: Server farm big enough to hold the internet, suddenly automagically upgraded to the level of pure concentrated Computronium from Eclipse Phase? No idea what I'll use the CPU cycles for. And the only reason this isn't using the same tech as a Green Lantern ring is so it can work in realspace without needing to cheat physics or need an uplink to something bigger.
>Tasteful Bunker (Upgraded) (Free, Stone Age)
Because I'll EVER be able to go here. I'm stuck on the Grid, remember? But the server farm has to go somewhere, and a nigh-inaccessible bunker in the middle of nowhere works nicely.

So I am going to spend, subjectively, 3,600 years in the Grid. Frankly... my greatest enemy is boredom, really. Most of this is in an era where programs run around and don't have enough clock cycles to spend doing ANYTHING but paying attention to their tasks, and sometimes not even that. And it's that way for nearly two thirds of my time here.

Sure, when things get a little crazy and some chess program gets upgraded to control everything, I'm going to have to keep my head down, but that's just the way that all goes. I don't interfere, Flynn comes in to the Grid, and things basically resolve themselves the same as they ever did. Beyond the city, there's a massive tower that looks more like an artistic bit of land than a structure, and nobody really goes there; after all, I needed a place to set up for myself.

Sure, when the ISOs start coming out and Flynn creates Clu 2.0, things are going to end up going to hell, but I'm going to continue to keep myself low-key. Programs still essentially get to do whatever they like, and that's all well and good. When Clu decides to obliterate the ISOs, well... they start disappearing moments before they would have died. My tower's population goes from one to... well, a great deal more. And not too long after every ISO on the Grid disappears and ends up in the tower, Flynn joins them and stays with them in self-imposed exile.

When his son manages to find his way in, the plot proceeds largely the same way - except instead of a singular showdown while Clu plans to invade the real world, a whole army is there to support the Flynns. In short: villainous scheme barely gets off the ground. Literally. And then with Clu and Flynn as one again, and Flynn taken back to the real world, the ISOs are welcomed back into digital society.