History
Kevin Flynn was born to Derek Flynn and Charlotte Flynn (nee Williams) of Los Angeles, California during a pleasant early December day in the year 1949. He was their only child and looked just like his father, but he had his mother's eyes. The City of Angels suited the family very well, as did the entire state of California. His technological skill, if it could be called such, was revealed around his tenth birthday. He only improved the sound of a transistor radio, but that was big for a kid. His father's only problem was that he used his tools without permission even though he put them back in the garage. He was a very intelligent child and he excelled in all of his classes. He was smarter than a lot of his classmates in elementary school and was able to skip fourth grade. His mother was cautious about that, but she had very little reason to worry once he entered middle school. He grew up a little during six and seventh grade, but he changed during the summer leading to eighth grade. One morning, Kevin woke to find his mother on the kitchen floor. He yelled for his father and began calling 911. Nothing like that had happened to Charlotte before, and that scared Kevin. It took very little time for the ambulance to arrive and Derek and Kevin followed it to the hospital. Kevin stayed at his mother's bedside while Derek spent most of the time elsewhere. A little while later, a doctor came to tell Derek and Kevin that Charlotte had suffered from a ruptured aneurysm. She passed away that night and Kevin was unfortunate enough to witness it. He watched his mother die, and then something snapped within him. She was most important to him, and now she was gone. He showed very little emotion at her funeral and he did not cry when he and Derek got back home. After he changed out of his clothes, he got on his bicycle and just rode. He had no destination in mind, he just wanted to get away from his father. Derek had spent the first few years of Kevin's adolescent life traveling for work. Their relationship was strained at best, but Charlotte's death was the end of everything. He paid less attention in school than he ever had, and it grew considerably worse in high school. Kevin slacked off and really couldn't care less about what happened to his grades. He wanted to get into a good college and that was one of the main reasons he stayed in school. He received various letters and applications from colleges near the area, but he only had one in mind. Once he got a letter in the mail from Cal Tech, one that had an application in it, he straightened up his act to the point of excelling in his classes while still appearing to not care. He received his acceptance letter from Cal Tech during the summer of his senior year and things finally started to improve between Derek and Kevin. Derek apologized to his son for the lack of emotion over Charlotte and explained that he had trouble dealing with death of family members. Kevin was surprised with a new car for college. He soon loaded up the car and left for Cal Tech after saying good bye to his father. He left feeling very happy about their relationship, not truly knowing how long it would last. The week after classes started, Kevin got a call from his dad's half-sister saying that Derek had passed away. He talked to each of his teachers personally before he left for Los Angeles for the funeral. it was a solemn occasion, but Kevin did not cry. From what he had been told, his father had died in his sleep and he barely felt anything. The causes of his death were not very clear, but the signs pointed to a major heart attack. He received all of the money that Derek had, but he had no intention of keeping the estate. He put the money away, knowing that he would need it later. He got much better in college and started caring about what actually happened. He still cared about what he wanted, but it was a form of self-preservation. He found he had a vast affinity for computer science at Cal Tech, though the curriculum was still fairly new. For the first few weeks, he was only certain that he wanted to get his bachelor's degree, but he was certain that he wanted to further his education by the beginning of the second semester. He went on to get both his master's and his doctorate, though he had to find roommates for the latter half of his education. Graduation from college was hard for Kevin, as he had imagined that both of his parents would be in the audience. The people he was renting the apartment with offered him to stay longer, but he wanted his own place. He loaded up his car and found a medium sized building in downtown Los Angeles that seemed to suit what he needed. He bought it from the bank and moved his stuff into the second floor, which already included a set of steps that led up to a bed. He could do a lot with it, but he needed a job first. He dressed in the most professional looking outfit he owned, which admittedly he had very few of, and got in his car. Kevin drove around until he found ENCOM Tower. He joined on the spot, after showing the CEO and board of directors what exactly he could do. He was one of ENCOM's youngest and brightest programmers, but he was not seen as much of a commodity as one would believe. They had computers, legitimate computers, and they were all Apple II's. He had heard a lot of good things about the Apple II, but he had never seen it before. It was shortly after he started at ENCOM that he met Lora Baines. She was beautiful and smart, two qualities that made Kevin fall for her even faster. He soon found his rhythm at ENCOM and started staying later than he would have. Thankful for his Level 7 access, he began to design video games. These video games, he knew, would be unlike any others out there. The first was called Space Paranoids, where players had to navigate tanks to destroy objects called Recognizers. He created two other games by name Matrix Blaster and Vice Squad, respectively, but he knew that Space Paranoids would be the bestseller. He hid the data as well as he could, knowing how valuable it could become. Three months later, however, he saw his games unveiled at ENCOM. He knew the games were his, as the designer who had introduced them didn't bother to change the names. This designer was none other than Edward Dillinger, a competing software designer that was not as young as Flynn was. That, however, had nothing to do with his fast promotion. He soon became senior executive VP of ENCOM, but that was through no honest means. It was Kevin Flynn who should have gotten the promotion, and he wasn't going to take that sitting down. He went to Dillinger and protested what he had done, but the results were not what he had hoped for. He was fired by Edward Dillinger and knew that he had to do something in the meantime. Flynn, who was now down but not out, went back to the small building that he had purchased and decided what he had to do. He wanted to make the first floor into an arcade, and he would do that using the money he got from his father. Though, before he did that, he was going to need a better mode of transportation. Kevin soon said good bye to his Mustang and hello to a 1979 Harley Davidson Ironhead Sportster. The selling of his car and the purchase of the Harley did not put as big of a hole in the money that Flynn had as he would have thought. After getting used to the Harley, he began to visit different establishments in Los Angeles and talked to them about finding arcade machines. He wanted to make a profit out of the arcade, and knew that the only way was with the best arcade games. Two years passed, and Kevin Flynn finally found something useful to do. It had taken quite some time, nearly two years, but he opened Flynn's Arcade. He filled the bottom floor of the building that he had purchased with all the arcade games that he had found. Once it opened, some of the most popular games were the ones that he created. One good thing came from having Space Paranoids as an arcade game, and that was the high score that Flynn had gotten and no one could ever beat. His explanation: It's all in the wrist. It was also during this time that Lora broke up with Kevin. They remained good friends, but Lora had found someone else. The end of 1981 and the beginning of 1982 was a very good time for Kevin Flynn. After long hours of tinkering with programs on the ENCOM mainframe, he finally made CLU. CLU, a Program crafted in Flynn's own likeness, was specifically a hacking program. The ENCOM mainframe was populated by many different Programs, but each had its own specific coding and objective. However, CLU was only being used for one thing. Flynn needed to get the evidence that would prove Dillinger stole his games. He frequently used CLU to enter the ENCOM mainframe to recover the data that he needed, but the Master Control Program that Dillinger created stopped him each time. Apparently, Dillinger took his suspicions out on all of ENCOM. He discovered this when he was visited by his ex-girlfriend Lora and her current boyfriend Alan Bradley at his arcade. Once they got up to his 'office Kevin spun his story about why exactly he had been on the mainframe. Yep, so it was pride, but he was also being stolen from. Alan, who needed to get his access back to perfect his Tron Program, said that Tron could be able to take down the Master Control Program like he was designed to do. Tron was a security Program that operated independently from the MCP. The only way that Alan would be able to release Tron was if Kevin was able to forge them all Group 6 access to the ENCOM mainframe. Lora led Flynn to her terminal in one of the many laboratories at ENCOM so he could forge them access with the possibility of not being caught. The laboratory was being used for experimental laser technology, and the objective was to transport matter. The terminal was directly in front of the laser. Kevin had no problem accessing the terminal, but the MCP halted his access and immediately fired the laser upon him. He soon found himself transported into the Game Grid. This was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and with very good reason. It seemed like he was inside the mainframe of ENCOM. As he was forcefully led into a holding cell where he had to wait for the games, it became clear to him that this was the ENCOM mainframe. He was exactly where he wanted to be, or at least, that was what he was telling himself. There, he was introduced to a Program named Ram and he found out that he was a conscript. They thought he was a Program, but the Master Control Program knew that he wasn't. Flynn was brought to a ring game where he would have to play against a fellow conscript Program by the name of Crom. Once the game begins, he finds that this is not an ordinary game. Aside from stating the obvious, it appeared that the disc game was a gladiator game. When he realized this, Kevin refused to kill Crom and was punished for it. He was later sent to the Light Cycle pit. The Light Cycle pit was similar to the arcade game that he had at his arcade. He had played the game many times before, but felt a gross sense of apprehension as he found himself on a light cycle along side Ram and Tron. There were three other gladiators, clad in uniforms with different circuitry, that the three would have to ride against. He knew about the game program, and he used that to make one of the gladiators from the MCP crash into the wall of the Game Grid. The three were then able to escape, and their gold, red, and orange Light Cycles were able to run off grid until a certain point. Once the Light Cycles were out of the Staging Pit, the three began to be chased by Recognizers and Flynn asked himself why he programmed so many. They were pursued by the tanks next, as they were much easier to navigate than the Recognizers. Once the Light Cycles that Flynn, Ram, and Tron are on come to a certain place, they stop and get off to take stock in their surroundings. After they spotted the I/O Tower, the tower where Tron needs to get to so he could contact Alan, the two Programs and one User drank deeply of the energy they found. The energy ran like water and had pooled into what resembled a man-made pond. Invigorated once again, the three got on their Light Cycles and continued to ride to the IO Tower. Before they could get halfway there, however, they were spotted by the same tanks that Flynn used for Space Paranoids. Tron managed to get away, but Flynn and Ram were caught behind a pile of data rocks. Flynn picked up Ram, who had been injured, and carried him away from the wreckage. He soon found what looked to be the cockpit of a Recognizer, a destroyed Recognizer. He and Ram sought shelter inside and went to sleep for a little bit. When he woke up from a fitful rest, Flynn found that the Recognizer was responding. Not just responding, but actually repairing itself. Apparently, it was an ability that Kevin had as a User. Ram, however, experienced deresolution before Flynn could actually get the Recognizer off the ground. The deresolution took the form of his blue light bands changing to red and then pulsing until they stopped and disappeared. Flynn successfully maneuvered the Recognizer, comparing the steering apparatus to the old video game controls. Thankfully, or not so, he encountered no trouble while he was trying to get to the meeting place that Tron had said. Flynn, however, hoped that he could get there in one piece more than he worried about getting caught. His luck ran out when he lost control of the Recognizer. Nothing major happened, except for the fact that he soon fell out of the same cockpit that he had just reconstructed. Whether it was by sheer dumb luck or planning, he found himself exactly where he needed to be. He sneaked inside, knocked out an MCP drone, and his suit accepted the red-orange shade of the drone's. He blended in and was virtually invisible, which is what he had wanted in the first place. Everything was going well, and he managed to make his way onto a Solar Sailer simulation. Tron, not knowing that Flynn had been disguising himself as one of the MCP's drones, nearly knocked him into the Sea of Simulation. Tron helped Flynn back onto the Sailer and he found his circuitry regaining its blue color. Before reaching the junction, however, their path was halted by Commander Sark. Flynn was able to redirect the energy beam so they could get away from the blockage. they continued smoothly, until Sark's ship interrupted the beam and the Sailer was drawn inside. Flynn and Yori were taken inside to a holding bay, but Tron was nowhere to be seen. An older Program by the name of Dumont was also there, but he was going to become part of the Master Control Program so it could gain more knowledge. Sark left with Dumont, leaving Flynn and Yori to be derezzed along with the ship. They both would have been derezzed if Flynn would not have saved them, and they were able to get out of the holding bay that they were in. Once they were on the bridge, Kevin Flynn could see the MCP. Yori gave him a kiss before he did what he needed to. He jumped. This impulsive act distracted the Master Control Program, and Tron took that advantage to launch his identity disc. The destruction of the Master Control Program returned Kevin back to the terminal he had been sitting at, as if he had never left at all. The data was printed out and he snatched it from the printer with a boyish yell that was filled with triumph. He had enough to become ENCOM CEO, and that was just what had happened. Alan and Lora were promoted to the board of directors, and everything was as it should be. While he was surfing the good feelings of becoming CEO of ENCOM, he met a woman named Jordan Canas. He had heard her name before, as she had designed ENCOM Tower. She was everything he could have hoped for in a woman, no matter how completely cheesy that sounded. Though, before he dived into anything, he hoped that he wouldn't have a repeat of what happened with Lora. The decision to end that relationship was mutual, but he didn't want what he had with Jordan to end. They married nearly six months after they started dating and Kevin couldn't have been happier. As the good feeling ebbed, Kevin found himself wanting to return to the digital world. Though, instead of going through the ENCOM servers, he wanted to create his own. He set to work on a private server, one that he hid in his arcade's basement. He called this digital world the Grid. Using some of the same technology that he had encountered at ENCOM, Kevin created a digitizing laser that he used to send himself into the system. However, he knew that there could be certain risks involved with entering the Grid, so he came up with a way to prevent anything from happening. He would run a sanity check program and update his will before entering the Grid each time. In order to keep his work safe, he copied over Alan's Tron Program from the old system. He had seen Tron in action and knew how much of an asset he would be to any digital world. With his duties in the real world, it was nearly impossible for him to stay on the Grid as long as he would like. He recreated CLU and gave him the instruction of building the perfect system. However, at the time, Flynn had no actual idea what perfection was. He had an assumption of perfection, but very little knowledge of what it actually was. His return to the Grid didn't happen as soon as he thought it would, but there were very good reasons for that. He got to the hospital just in time to hear his son cry for the first time. He and Jordan named their son Samson, knowing that they would shorten it to Sam quite often. The family ended up finding a modestly sized home just outside of Los Angeles. They wanted to get away from the noise of the city while Sam grew. The location was near a suburb, but they were still close enough so that Kevin could get to the arcade when he needed. He parceled out the time he spent in the Grid and the time he spent with Jordan and Sam, but most of his time was spent with Sam. Kevin knew that Jordan appreciated and loved what he did, but being a father was more important than anything that he had created. He wanted to be a good father, as he knew just how important a father was to a young boy. He was able to check for updates about the Grid on his home computer and saw that everything was in working order. CLU was expanding and improving the Grid like Kevin had designed him to do. It was another full week until he resumed a regular schedule of going to work at ENCOM and checking on the Grid. He spent more time with the latter rather than the former, something that everyone at ENCOM noticed. It was his company and there was very little that they could do about that. He had more freedom with the Grid and he liked that. When he arrived, CLU gave him a report and they talked at length about expanding and improving the Arena. Tron was one of the main competitors on the Game Grid, which provided entertainment for the Programs there. The next time he left the Grid, he was confident that he had left it in good hands. CLU was created in his own image and the instructions that Flynn had given him were very direct. Even though he did not go to the Grid itself, he spent some time at his office in the arcade monitoring all of the data. There was also a drawing of the Grid that he had done himself on the wall in front of him. He had simply done two-dimensional drawings of the places on the Grid and wrote the names above each picture. Above all, Tron City was his favorite. It was a very happy occasion when he was able to see his son walk, but Kevin was so proud of Sam when he said his first couple of words. It was not enough for a sentence, but the three most intelligible words were: Love you, dad. "Mama" had been Sam's first word, but he said "Dad" second and it sounded clearer than his first word. When Sam was nearly one year old, they began to take trips to Centre City to visit Jordan's parents. The Canas family home was on a river that provided an excellent place for father and son to spend time together. 1985 started off smoothly, but then the good times ended. Kevin would never forget the phone call that changed his life. Jordan had gotten in a car accident. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done. The worst part was when he got off the phone; how he had to tell his little boy that his mommy wasn't coming back home. They made it through Jordan's funeral without much crying, but Kevin gave his son the longest hug when they returned from the cemetery. He remembered the loss that he felt when his own mother and father died, but he never wished the feeling on his own son. He woke up in an otherwise empty bed the next morning and something changed within him. He never identified exactly what the change was, but it started when he and Sam drove to Jordan's childhood home in Center City to spend the day with his grandparents. Belinda and Donnelley were joyed to see their grandson, but they could tell that something was off with Kevin; it was something other than the fact that Jordan had died. After he said good bye to Sam, Kevin got back in the car and drove to his arcade. Burying oneself in work is a classic grief response, but Kevin became more and more devoted to the Grid. There, everything was perfect and there was no such thing as disease or natural death. Deresolution was something entirely different from death, but it was not an event that one encountered very often. The Grid had grown more than he could have ever imagined. As always, he looked over different maps with CLU and talked with a Program named Zuse about all of the percentages on the Grid. The data was important, and everything needed to be monitored. As he continued to spend time on the Grid, he began to see how much a system like this, one that was available to everyone, could be beneficial to society. It could benefit all of humanity, reshape the 'human condition' as it were. When he returned to the real world, he immediately went back to ENCOM and began scheduling conferences. He wanted computer systems to be open, and he even began to give away ENCOM software. The first thing he gave away was a propriety operating system, one that he named after himself. He knew that people needed free access to such operating systems, especially children and those who were in college. There was a connection between the human and digital worlds, and he wanted everyone to experience it. The largest crowd he presented to was his shining moment. He summed up everything that he had learned, everything that he believed, in a simple declaration: "In there is a new world. In there is our future. In there is our destiny." One evening at the Canas residence, Kevin received many different phone calls from ENCOM. There were too many deals that Kevin wantedt to go through, but they just weren't happening. It was becoming too much, and it was taking time away from his son. ENCOM was becoming stressful and time consuming. Kevin knew how short life was, so he decided to take a break from ENCOM. Instead, he was going to write a book. The book would be based on what he had learned from the Grid. It would give him more time to spend with his son, and he would get away from ENCOM. He titled the book The Digital Frontier and the goal of the book was to "reshaped the human condition". Belinda and Donnelley did not seem entirely thrilled about this, but Kevin was spending more time with Sam. There were many things that they could do as a father and son, but very few were greatly meaningful. Then one day, Kevin thought it was time that Sam learned how to ride a bike. With Donnelley's help, Kevin went to a local bike shop and found the perfect one for his three-year-old son. The bike was dark blue and had lighter blue stripes, making it seem like one of the first Light Cycles that Kevin first programmed. Thankfully Donnelley had a station wagon, or else getting the bike home would have been difficult. Kevin got Sam to come out of his room and out to the front yard as Donnelley was taking the bike out of the trunk. Sam's face was pure happiness as Kevin helped him onto the bike. It took Sam a couple of tries to get his balance right on the bike, and Donnelley even offered to get him training wheels, but he wouldn't have it. Watching his son pedal a bike at three brought a large smile to Kevin's face. However, Kevin continued to find his thoughts returning to the Grid. Returning there, knowing what was going on, seeing what else he could do. It was his life's work, and he was finding it hard to keep on dividing his life between the two. The human world had Sam, the only tangible piece of his wife he had left. The Grid, however, had Tron and CLU. CLU always remained in the back of his mind, as he wondered how his former hacking program was doing. Sam wanted to stay with his grandparents for a little while, so that made things a little easier for Kevin and his visits to the Grid. The Grid was no longer his playground - it held the key to change the entire world. Two years passed with little to no surmountable progress on the Grid, but then something amazing happened. Kevin turned away from CLU and the blueprint that he was hold to see a line of beings approaching them from the Outlands. They intrigued Kevin because they were unlike anything he had ever seen before. They were not Programs because Flynn had knowledge of everything on the Grid. They were Isomorphic Algorithms, beings that were created from the Grid itself. These ISOs, as he had dubbed them, changed all the he had known about his creation. They were wise, more wise than even a Higher-Function Program, but also very naive. That was probably Kevin's shortest - no, it was Kevin's shortest - visit to the Grid. After he talked to one of the ISOs, he immediately went back to the real world and sought Alan out. He usually told Alan about what happened on the Grid and speculated what advances could be made in the real world, but this time was much different. He thoroughly explained all of the breakthroughs and the changes that could be made to many different aspects of life. Alan knew what Kevin was like and how eccentric he was, but he did believe what Kevin was telling him. As he was curious to see how the ISOs would improve the Grid, Kevin stayed in the real world longer in order to spend more time with his son. However, he did this without first checking on CLU. They would spend most afternoons riding bikes down the street in front of the Canas house, and then they would finish off evenings with skipping stones on the lake before Kevin would tell Sam a bedtime story. Well, they tales weren't so much fictional stories as relaying what took place on the Grid. Sam always loved the stories, and he wanted to go to the Grid with his father. One night in 1989 began with another of his stories. This time, the story ended with Kevin telling Sam about a miracle. This miracle was the existence of the ISOs, but he never got to that part. He told his son that he had to go to the office, and that they would go to the arcade the next day. Out of all the games that were there, Paranoids seemed to be his son's favorite. He tossed Sam a quarter with the offer of beating his high score. Then, Sam wanted to know if they would play doubles, on the same team. "We're always on the same team." He got on his 1987 Ducati 750 Indiana and made his way to his arcade. It was the same thing he had done on and off for the past six years. However, as he parked his bike outside and unlocked the door, something told him that this time was going to be different. He went back to the TRON game cabinet, pushed it so the hinges would activate, opened the door, and descended the steps. He went to his basement office, ran the same sanity program and will check that had become second nature, and entered the Grid once again. When he arrived on the Grid, Kevin went to see what the ISOs had created and CLU was standing right behind him the entire time. The Creator, as Kevin had become to be called, continued to find the ISOs intriguing and wanted to spend more time with them. He paid more attention to them than he should have, but they were true products of the Grid. The ISOs had set up two colonies near the Outlands and the Sea of Simulation. While he saw the ISOs as a miracle, he had a sinking feeling that CLU saw them as an imperfection. He knew that they were different from the other Programs, but Flynn never thought that CLU would do something about his seeming animosity toward the ISOs. He would soon find out that he was terribly wrong. Kevin and Tron were walking through Tron City when CLU's voice halted the pair. They turned to face him and both were equally taken aback by what they saw. The circuitry on the robe, as it could not have been called anything less, was now golden. It was ironic, as that was the same color circuitry that Kevin's first CLU had. In a voice that was full of more authority than Kevin could have ever had, CLU asked if he could still create the perfect system. Kevin gave him an affirmative answer and then CLU stepped back. A helmet formed around CLU's head and a group of Black Guards, security Programs faithful to CLU alone, attacked Flynn and Tron. Tron took his identity disc from his back and activated it in an effort to hold off the Guards and give Kevin an opportunity to escape. CLU turned on him and accused Flynn of being corrupted before Tron attacked him. Kevin got up and ran without looking back. He had no idea what became of Tron, but he knew that it was nothing good. He knew that he had to get away from Tron City to save himself, and he knew that the Outlands would be a good place to hide. He needed to not only hide, but he needed to live and survive. Once he had gotten far enough into the Outlands, he turned around in time to see the Portal close. Flynn had programmed the Portal to where it could only be opened from the outside. He did it as a precaution, so that no Programs would be able to escape and come into the real world. However, he never expected to be trapped inside. He turned around, pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, and continued to walk through the Outlands. It didn't take him long to find an area that would make a good hideaway, so he began to build a home. He constructed it using the rock structure, but he also included some small reflecting pools and allowed him to have a view of Tron City. The interior of his home, as that was what it resembled, was purely white. Shortly after everything got settled, Kevin completely changed the color of his outfit and his disc. He wore a loose pair of white pants and a long-sleeved white tunic top with a robe over it. Every Program in Tron City wore black, but he was now exiled from the world that he had created and he no longer wanted to be defined by black. It was from his outlook that he witnessed the beginnings of the Purge. The fact that CLU hated the ISOs had always lingered at the back of Flynn's mind, but he had never expected anything to the degree of the Purge. He saw the two colonies be destroyed and he couldn't do anything about it in his current situation. Using some of the Programs that were still loyal to him while staying as far away from Tron City as possible, Kevin began to mount a counterattack. CLU grew stronger each time he resisted and Kevin soon found that any such resistance would prove futile. They were connected, and reintegration would be the only way to stop him. He thought that CLU had destroyed all of the ISOs until he was contacted by Anon. Anon, one of Flynn's last loyal monitor Programs, had been aiding an ISO named Quorra. Flynn put his white cloak on and left his hideaway for the first time since the Portal closed. Even though no vehicles could reach the Outlands, he was still very careful in locating Quorra. She was the last ISO, and that fact gave him all the hope he needed. She was close to a state of deresolution when he found her and he helped her up. They both retreated back to his hideaway and the safety that it provided. For all the safety it provided, the hideaway did nothing to improve how Kevin was feeling. Since the Portal had closed, he had found that his thoughts were his most constant companions. Usually, his thoughts helped steer him in the path that he wanted. Now, all he could think about was that he really hadn't changed. CLU was now controlling the Grid and subverting everything that he had wanted to create. Slowly, these thoughts caused him to sink into a depression. All of the guilt that he felt burdened his mind and his heart, but that was no way to live. He also wanted to help Quorra, to teach her about the Users as well as train her in the different weapons that were on the Grid, but he could do none of that without first helping himself. He used the books that were in the hideaway to acquaint himself with the Zen lifestyle. The Zen Buddhist principles appealed to him because of the meditation it offered. He meditated when he needed to, but did not think that it would become a regular occurrence for him. He shared the books with Quorra and began teaching her the art of the selfless. It was not the best way to live, but it was most definitely a way. As Flynn witnessed the changing of Quorra's circuitry from blue to white, he knew that he had found an apprentice. Even thought he knew fighting was not the best idea, he decided to train his apprentice. He trained her in the use of the light sword and the identity disc. The disc, commonly used in the Game Grid, was the most reliable weapon because it always returned to the wielder. The light sword was similar to the staff that CLU's Black Guards were so very fond of. He had also designed a new vehicle, the Light Runner, that was able to handle the terrain of the Outlands. Quorra's training, however, was not only limited to physical might. Mental power was as valuable as physical skill in any situation. The Creator and his apprentice had spent cycles reading the books that Flynn had, so he decided to try something new. From his own experiences, strategy games like chess and Go were very good for developing strategy. He taught Quorra the rules of both games and spent time explaining how each and every chess piece moved. Her strategy was more aggressive than his strategy, meaning that he won most of their games. Go usually ended in a draw as both were frequently without available moves. At first, Kevin didn't think a sense of normalcy in exile was possible, but he and Quorra had created their own. Part of the normalcy included Kevin telling Quorra about what home was like. He told her all about the Users, especially Alan, and what they were capable of. He went into great lengths about technology and some of what he had created. Flynn even told her about Paranoids, though he neglected the whole recovery effort. However, most of the stories were about Sam. Kevin loved to talk about his son and, if able, would spend his entire life talking about Sam. He admitted to Quorra that he thought he would never see Sam again, that he had those thoughts since the Portal closed. This normalcy continued for many cycles without interruption. Kevin wagered it was about twenty earth years, and that was just going by his appearance. He let his hair and his beard grow out, keeping both at a reasonable length. One night, he dreamed of Tron. He hadn't done it in years. It was always there in the back of his mind, the question of what had become of his friend's Program. He never found an answer, but some part of him didn't really want an answer. With everything that had happened to the Programs, not knowing was probably the safest option. Since discovering the Zen way of life, the meditations had soon become a regular occurrence. It was during one of these meditations that Quorra returned to the safe-house. When Quorra came and knelt down beside him, he told her that he had dreamed of Tron. Where she held it as a sign he held it as the sign of a weary soul. He thought that something had happened, and it was then that she told him they had a guest. He sighed and explained to her that there were no guests, but he began to stand up when she stood and turned around. Kevin turned around as well and found himself looking at Sam. He made his way over to his son, now an adult, and hugged him. Unfortunately, Sam didn't return the hug, but the circumstances were such that Kevin didn't mind it too much. Quorra explained that she had found Sam on the Light Cycle Grid. Kevin said that they would talk over dinner, allowing him time to sort out what was going through his mind once again. His son was there and Kevin had thought he wouldn't see Sam again. He kept his promise and explained everything to Sam, including why he didn't come home like the said he would. One question that plagued Kevin's mind, one that he asked Sam, was how exactly his son came to be on the Grid. He explained that Alan had received a page, one sent from Flynn's office at the arcade. CLU's page. The Portal was open, but it would only be open for one single millicycle. Sam suggested they leave for the Portal. Kevin, on the other hand, knew what the page to Alan meant. More pieces on the board meant CLU's game would be more fun. Waiting was the best option, and Kevin knew that. Kevin knew that his son would not like what he had to say, but it was what had to be done. Sam was frustrated with his father, and the feeling did not dissipate as they retired to their specific rooms. Kevin didn't exactly sleep well that night, but the got the sleep that he needed. Memories played through his head like a family movie, bringing a smile to his lips when he wasn't even aware of it. He soon opened his eyes and got out of bed. Something was different when he got up. Something was missing, and he soon found what it was. His Light Cycle was missing. He dragged a hand over his face, but he wasn't the least bit surprised. Sam always liked to ride bikes, and the Light Cycle was as similar to a motorcycle as one could get. He was going to go to Tron City to find his son, and he soon became clad in black. To go back into the city was a great risk, but Sam was his main concern. He told Quorra to get the Light Runner ready. They were going to go find Sam. From the expression on his face and the determination in his voice, it was clear that Kevin knew what he was doing and that is son was worth everything. Quorra told Kevin where they needed to go, and they soon found themselves at the End of Line Club in Tron City. Kevin and Quorra quickly intervened in the fight that Sam had found himself in. Quorra was injured in the fight, and that was when Kevin quickly intervened. As he placed his hands on the floor of the club and the lights went out, letting the Programs that were gathered there take advantage of the Black Guards. Sam picked up Quorra and the three of them made their way to the elevator, but a Black Guard snatched Flynn's identity disc from his back just as the elevator doors closed. The Black Guards caused an explosion near the elevator and it plummeted to the ground. Sam, Kevin, and Quorra would have been killed when the elevator crashed into the ground if Kevin hadn't been able to slow the elevator down enough to where the doors would gently open on the ground floor. The events of the day did not go as smoothly as Kevin had planned, and he accidentally snapped at Sam. With the choices that he had, Kevin decided that they would do what Sam suggested and race to the Portal. Once Sam had Quorra in his arms, they quickly made their way to a Solar Sailer that was being used for transport. It was the first time he had been on a Solar Sailer since his first excursion on the Grid. As he set to repairing Quorra's code, he fervently wished that they weren't interrupted by the same transport that caused him trouble when the MCP still controlled the digital world. Sam asked his father if he designed Quorra's code when Kevin said that some of the code was beyond him. Kevin explained that she was an ISO, the last ISO. Once he finished repairing the code, Sam helped his father and they were able to place Quorra's identity disc on her back. Her system had to reboot, and Kevin used this time to listen to stories that his son told him about what had happened in the twenty years that Kevin had been away. One piece that caught his attention, and that was Sam's explanation of WiFi. He was amused that the wireless linking of electronic devices, which he had thought of in 1985, had taken until his son was nearly thirty Their journey was cut short when the Solar Sailer docked with a huge Carrier Ship. The Carrier Ship reminded Kevin of the one that he had found himself in those many cycles ago. There were many Programs being unloaded, though most appeared as if they were in a state of suspended animation. They were not fully awake, but they still knew what objectives they had to follow. As they explored the Carrier Ship, it became clear that CLU wanted to invade the real world. He had Kevin's disc, and that was all he needed. Rinzler was coming toward them before they were able to do anything. Quorra handed her identity disc to Kevin and ran out of the cover. Kevin told his son that she was removing heself from the equation as Rinzler caught her. He immediately recognized Rinzler as Tron, and that answered all of the questions that he had. Alan's Program had been corrupted into serving CLU, and he supposed that was better than the alternative. Father and son retreated to formulate a new plan, though Sam was not so enthusiastic about that idea. Sam would retrieve his father's identity disc and Kevin would find a Light Jet for them to us to escape and make a break for the Portal. Kevin found where the Light Jets were and made his way to the closest one. The Black Guard was turned around and Kevin reworked his coding before he turned around. At first, he told the Guard that he was going to take the Jet and the Guard refused him. He made a fist and hit the Guard on the head. That got the Guard to step aside and Kevin was able to get in the Light Jet. The waiting was starting to make him anxious, but then he saw Sam and Quorra flying down to meet him. Once Sam and Quorra got in the Light jet, he asked Sam where he learned that move. His son's response was simple, and it brought a smile to Kevin's face. He had his identity disc in his hands again and he told Quorra that she was able to fly the Light Jet all by herself. They were making an impressive pace with the Light Jet, but only until they were pursued. CLU and Rinzler were at the head of the pack, but they were followed by four Black Guards. Kevin sent Sam to the back turret, knowing that the controls were similar to those found on most arcade console. Thanks to Sam's work with the turrets and Quorra's skill with the Light Jet, the four Black Guards were soon all derezzed. A dogfight between the Light Jet and Rinzler ensued, until Kevin and Rinzler caught sight of each other at close range. Tron remembered what his mission was and he crashed into CLU in order to give Kevin and his young counterparts a chance to escape. While Sam was still at the turrets, Kevin switched his disc with Quorra's. He knew what he had to do, and he knew what kind of future he wanted for his son. They reached the portal and the three went up the steps. As they reached the landing, they discovered the CLU had survived Tron's attack. Telling Sam and Quorra that it was his fight, Kevin approached CLU and they confronted one another. CLU argued in favor of system-wide perfection, defending his purging of the ISOs from the system.. Kevin, who had been slightly naive in wanting to have CLU create the perfect system, learned that perfection was right in front of you. He explained that to CLU, but it was to no avail. Then CLU attacked. CLU blocked Kevin's way to the portal, but Sam and Quorra took that opportunity to escape. From his position on the ground, Kevin reminded CLU of what he had come for. The Program turned around and the path to the bridge began to retract. CLU took the disc off of Kevin's back and activated it. When CLU discovered the Kevin had Quorra's disc, he ran to the portal in an effort to stop them from escaping. Sam wanted his father to join them, to come back to the real world with them, but he told his son to take Quorra instead. Kevin crouched and placed his hands on the ground, tapping into the power that he had as the Creator. Using all the will and the power that he had in his capacity, Kevin pulled CLU back toward himself in a bid to destroy it. This was reintegration. It was the only way to save his son and Quorra. The reintegration happened quickly, and creator and creation were together again. It was a sensation of peace, a spiritual peace that Kevin had been searching for.
