But my torture can't wait. It seems I'm losing ground

[kaztiel]

Artwork by Mel Uran

Title: Pain
Fandom: TRON Legacy
Warnings: Mindscrew, abuse
Who: CLU 2.0 and Rinzler/TRON


“User…”

It was the first discernable word that Rinzler had spoken in… How many cycles? The significance of that simple noun was lost upon the cheering spectators of the game arena, of the Black Guard and the Sentry, to all save one.

CLU straightened in his throne, the helmet he wore masking the look of surprise on the program’s face. He hadn’t truly expected his ploy to be successful as it had been a calculated improvability at best. But more than that he was shocked that Rinzler had spoken. No simulation had ever projected that.

It was rare to catch CLU off guard, let alone twice in such a short amount of time. When Rinzler hesitated, brief as it was, to bring Sam Flynn’s identity disc to him, he knew there was a problem. One that would need to be dealt with.

Once the user had been removed from his presence CLU cleared the throne room, save himself and Rinzler. The program stood at attention, as he always did, but CLU was no fool. He noticed the subtle shift of weight, the way Rinzler seemed to grip his wrist tighter, the slightly elevated rise and fall of his chest as he drew in breath at a more rapid rate than usual. The low scrambled sounds emanating from the security program were more frequent, more regular, as though he were decoding the ability to speak.

CLU circled around Rinzler, making note of the slight head tilt as his movement was tracked. None of it was so uncommon for any program. Any but Rinzler. CLU reached up and let his finger pass over a small circuit on the back of the other program’s helmet, triggering it to drezz. Rinzler’s eyes were pinched shut, his jaw tightly clinched, hair damp as it hung in his face. A scowl passed over CLU’s face at the sight.

“Give me your disc,” CLU ordered.

Rinzler growled softly, seeming to struggle against an invisible force as he reached up to retrieve his identity disc from his back. He removed it from his back, holding it out to his master, breath more ragged then before. CLU snatched the disc away and watched as the data steamed upward. Impossible. Rinzler’s code seemed to be… overwriting the reformatting CLU had done. He turned his eyes sharply to the other program.

“Impossible. How could you possibly correct your own code?” CLU demanded.

The security program opened his eyes for the first time since his helmet was removed, an uncharacteristic smirk pulling at his lips. “Can…not…rewri…me…” Rinzler replied between corrupted growls and purrs.

CLU gripped the disc tightly, the data stream shutting off so suddenly and violently that the security program involuntarily shuddered. Before he could recover from it fully he felt the tight grip of CLU’s fingers forcing his head back. “So… You’re still in there after all this time?”

“Fight…f…for…Users…” The deep red of Rinzler’s programming flickered, for a moment glowing an intense blue-white before flashing and settling back to the crimson red hue.

CLU’s features smoothed out, settled for something calm and all the more sinister. “Oh? We’ll see about that, Rinzler.” He brought the disc up and snapped it back into place against Rinzler’s back before activating the data stream once more.

“Wha…what are…Aaarrrgh!” Pain flooded the program’s circuits as CLU began to rewrite the uncorrupted data while it directly streamed into him. “S…Stop!” Rinzler cried out between sounds of pain and gargled words.

CLU moved his hand from the disc, grasping a fistful of Rinzler’s hair. He pressed the index finger of his other hand against the writhing program’s cheek, a stream of new code running along like veins under Rinzler’s skin. “What is your primary function?”

“I…fi…Aaah!” More jumbled words as Rinzler arched forward, trying to escape from his own disc, his own coding. He reached up and gripped CLU’s robe as a particularly long code wound and weaved through his circuits, intensifying the glow. “Nnnnaaarrggghhh!”

“You know how to stop the pain, Rinzler.” CLU released the grip he had of the other’s hair, but kept a hand pressed to his armored chest to prevent him from falling foward to his knees. Amass the pain of the new invading code was a wash of unexpected grounding from the touch. It was something solid to focus on beside the pain, stilling his movement for a moment. “Good,” CLU whispered in a small puff of hot breath against his ear.

Rinzler’s grip tightened as the other program applied pressure to the unseen circuits, following them down from his waist, over his hip, along his thigh. All the while he could feel the pulse of light brighten; blending the soothing touch and painful code into a harmonious mixture the security program found he had no defense against.

All the sounds he’d been making were gasped and choked off, caught between the cries of agony and sighs of relief. The tug-of-war left him panting for breath, stuck between CLU’s body and the hand that twisted his code into something unrecognizable.

CLU pressed a kiss just below Rinzler’s ear, delighting when he felt the sharp intake of breath. “What is your primary function?”

“To…to…” Rinzler’s words were cut off by a pained moan as the code continued to stream into his programming. CLU let his fingers glide softly, deceptively comforting along Rinzler's forearm, down to his wrist, where he triggered the suit to derezz, exposing skin. He continued to gentle touch to the brightened circuits.

Rinzler's breath came ragged and labored, his code had almost finished rewriting itself to CLU’s specifications. His grip began to loosened on the fabric of CLU's robe, his posture straightening, and a low rubble of a purr began to eminate from the program.

CLU reached up and ran fingers through Rinzler’s hair, pushing it back off his flushed face before gripping the ends of it tightly, forcing his head back once more. “To what?” he pressed.

There was still a little fight left in the security program. He clinched his jaw shut, trying to cling to the last bit of renewed identity. CLU would have none of it. He pressed his hand flat against the center of Rinzler’s disc, forcing the last bit of new code to stream into the enforcer. There wasn’t enough force left in him to resist the overwhelming cascade of pain that single movement did to him. Rinzler cried out loudly, reaching back to try wrapping his fingers around CLU’s wrist, desperate to remove it from his dock.

After the cry died away it was replaced by a constant low, deep purr, his speech once again corrupted beyond coherency to form words. CLU pulled his hand from Rinzler’s grip and twisted it behind the program’s back, rewarded with a hiss from him. “To what, Rinzler."

Rinzler tipped his head towards the admin program and merely purred out.

CLU turned Rinzler around and pushed him forward onto his hands and knees. He knelt down, running his fingers through Rinzler’s damp hair once more before ghosting his finger over a circuit hidden by the other’s hair, his helmet reforming, followed by his glove. “Get up. We have a User to derezz.”