I was really inspired by this video, and I really recommend listening to it as you read. Enjoy!
Bars of light flashed across the hood of a lone light-cycle as it sped toward the center of the grid. A humongous Recognizer followed in its wake, a race toward the safety of the city streets. The crystal-white light-cycle swerved side to side as it dodged various rocks and obstacles consisting of huge pillars of jagged rocks, pitfalls, and the walls of the narrow canyon. The menacing blood-red Recognizer flew above the canyon, casting on ominous shadow across the cycle’s viewfinder.
I was freaking out. I had broken out of the games, and was running for my life. The interior of my cycle didn’t have that good of lighting, being one of the closed hood models, and the main thing lighting up the small cabin was my white light-lines and the brand on my arm. The mark of an Iso.
Recently, Clu had put into effect several new laws for the Iso population. They included a curfew, limits to where we could go, and a withdrawal of some of our rights. The Isos was and is a peaceful race, only wishing to benefit society in any way we can, but Clu didn’t see us that way. Many didn’t know it, but he thought that we were abominations. We had emerged from the sea of simulation, a pure by-product of the grid itself, but Clu thought of us as some kind of disease.
He pretended to treat us the same as any other program, but I knew better. He had condemned me to the games since I had broken curfew, and I had been forced to de-rezz several innocent programs. I had broken out of the cell block after I had lost count of how many battles I’d gone through and had fled the sector. I was now heading for the Iso apartment complex for safety. It was the only place where I could be safe, and the recognizer was prohibited by The Creator’s law from entering the premises.
I shot out from under the protective covering of the canyon, and the recognizer opened fire. The beams of energy it fired wouldn’t hurt me, just derez my light-cycle. Even-still, it would still be very painful for me it I got hit. I expertly weaved in and out of the laser blasts until I reached the sector’s edge. I flipped up the windshield on my bike and put on my helmet visor.
I grabbed the disc off my back and hurled it as hard as I could at the recognizer. My aim was true, and it smashed through the glass in front and sliced through the controls. It spun in an arc back to my hand, and I sheathed it on my back and put the windshield back up. The recognizer was fine for a couple of seconds, until it stopped firing at me. Its left engine blew out with a small explosion of red energy, and I smiled in triumph.
My cycle flew through the strangely empty streets, and I finally arrived at my destination. It was a huge building, completely surrounded by lush grass and plants that the Isos had cultivated. It was like an organic paradise! Flaps on the side of my light-cycle opened, and I drastically slowed down. Collapsing my bike, I sheathed the cylindrical baton across my back and ran into the building’s entrance with my long legs.
I ran in so hastily, that I didn’t notice the line of red light jets and recognizers armed with weapons of mass destruction flying toward the building from behind. I ran up the stairs and down the dazzlingly clean white hallways until I reached the room that I had been given. Opening the door, I sighed in relief.
Every Iso had been given a room in this building, and The Creator had fixed it so the building grew as needed. He had given each Iso their own cycle, jet, para-wings, and other bits and bobs, but told us to only use the bigger stuff in emergencies. Running from Clu himself was certainly an emergency in my book, so I grabbed everything and hooked it all onto a utility belt that I had purchased exactly for this purpose. When everything was in order, I turned to leave, but found my door locked.
I shook the handle, but the circular door wouldn’t budge. I slammed my shoulder against it, but it felt like hitting a steel wall. I took out my Identity Disk, but for some reason it wouldn’t turn on. I pressed the inner circle of material again and again, but nothing happened. Starting to panic now, I put my disc back on and opened up a viewing port on the wall by tapping a green hexagon on the pure white wall.
I stumbled back in disbelief as I saw a red army fly and drive toward the building in which I was trapped. Stopping outside the un-crossable barrier around the building and raising all of their weapons to bear, all of the recognizers, light-jets, and light-tanks all opened fire upon the massive building.
As the firestorm hit, the building shook. I toppled to the ground as my room and the rest of the building started to implode due to all of the combined energy. Everything was being ripped apart in front of my eyes, and my vision seemed to crack, breaking apart and allowing me to see the source code of the world. The normally blue numbers and letters that made up the code that I could see through the cracks started turning red as Clu’s power took hold.
I closed my eyes, blocking out the horror before me, as I started to hear the other Isos screams pierce through all of the noise and flames. I suddenly became aware of my own screaming, shredding my own throat, as I started de-rezzing bit by excruciating bit.
The building containing around 97% of the Iso population crumbled before Clu’s eyes in a glorious firestorm, and Clu just looked out at it with happiness. He was just fulfilling his task of creating the perfect system after all. Right?
