Nora nodded. "There's definitely a reason why they're some of Castor's favourites." Then her eyelashes dipped. "Were, I mean."
It was odd, this. She had heard the rumours that Castor had some sort of deal with Clu, but had ignored them; she'd fought alongside him in the Purge. He had been a good program then, sincere and warm-hearted. And then… he turned into whatever he had been. She missed him; she had always missed his good side, but now the chance of that returning was less than zero.
“I’m sorry.” Cor said gently. “May I ask… How long did you know him?” he wondered, knowing that was probably a sensitive topic but he was too curious not to ask. It didn't take him long to find out that Castor had once been Zuse, a very influential program who helped ISO's escape Clu's tyranny. But what had happened to make him so… different? Plus there was that one rumor that was not talked about; that Gem had been an ISO herself and was only disguised as a Siren. It was an interesting angle but he wasn't sure how much sense that made and now there was no way to prove or deny it.
"When the Purge started," Nora said, swirling her drink absentmindedly. "He and Gem… they started a program of smuggling ISO's from the Games. He was Zuse then."
She hadn't talked about this in what felt like thousands of cycles; she didn't like talking about it. It must have been the drink that was freeing her mind, freeing her lips.
"Gem said she could see the fire in me." In her mind's eye, she could see the tall, white-haired Siren approaching her after a long Games shift, saw the barely-there smile on those full, pale lips. "Said I was no use being stuck underGrid all the time. She asked me if I'd… like to take a second job."
With a heavy sigh, she sipped her drink and set it back down on the counter, continuing her story, about how she'd joined Zuse's resistance movement, about how she had turned out to be better than they'd thought. About how they'd repurposed her. How she had started work here.
"I guess everything just… fell into place," she finished. What she wasn't telling him was the vigilante work, the moniker she'd taken up when Zuse had become Castor. How her repurposing had proved far more valuable than she had ever anticipated.
Cor nodded occasionally as she told him the story. It was very moving to hear and he couldn't help but give a small soft smiled at her. “That’s… a very impressive story. A little sad too but I can't think of too many stories from the Purge that aren't.” he admitted. “At least yours had a better ending… and second start.” he said softly before sighing slightly. “I… didn't know Zuse, just of him. But I told you about my friend; Tetra, the artist, and how she wanted to help too.” he sympathized, before ordering another round of drinks for the two of them, though he asked for his to be a little stronger. “She… She used a nickname when she did. Athena.” he chuckled, thinking of the name he had considered using if he had decided to help in time. “She thought it made her safer.”
"I don't think you told me about her, no," Nora said, eyeing the crowd, which seemed to grow thicker with every minute. "But she seems interesting."
“Really? Well, I remember mentioning her when we were dancing the last time we saw each other.” Cor said softly.
Nora nodded. "Now I remember."
There were a few minutes of silence in which Nora sipped her drink and observed the surrounding programs, and then Skye suddenly appeared out of nowhere. With a loud cry of "Nora!", she draped her arms around Nora's shoulders like a black-and-white fur stole.
"Nora, it's so good to be back!" Skye said energetically, apparently not noticing that Nora had become statue-stiff. "Isn't this just incredible?" Then she noticed Cor. "Oh, hi! Are you Nora's friend? What's your name?"
“Yeah… I just didn't mention her name before because I didn't know you.” Cor nodded solemnly as he watched Nora play with her drink. “I guess this means that I…” the rest of his words were cut off when the same Siren-lookalike that had called Nora up to make her speech. He couldn't help but chuckle at the other woman's energy and gave a small friendly smile when she spoke to him. “Cor. Nice to meet you, miss…” he said politely, liking her more subtle approach compared to Astra’s overly confident personality.
"I'm Skye! Hi! I'm Nora's friend!" She gave him a big grin. "Nice to meet you too! I work here, isn't that great?" Then she gasped and gripped Nora's shoulders. "Nora, I had the best idea! Cor, you should come work here! It's so fun!"
Nora smiled painfully. "If Cor wants to, then he can."
“Ah.” Cor smiled back, though it was a little more strained after she introduced herself. Perhaps she did have a little too much energy but she was still better than Astra in his opinion. “Thank you for the offer, ladies, but I don't think this place would be a good position for me.” he explained. “I’m just a basic search program… though I double as a messenger at times. So I don't really have time to pick up another job, especially one I have no experience with. But I do hope to be a regular customer.”
Nora nodded, letting her smile evaporate; Skye looked disappointed, and then her smile appeared again. "Oh! Well, okay! I guess I'll see you around, then! I gotta go, Nora, there was this really cute guy over by the DJ booth and he totally kept winking at me. See ya!"
With that, she disappeared into the crowd.
Cor let out a soft breath of relief when Skye left them alone and took another sip of his drink. “At least she knows how to take a hint when someone isn't interested.” he commented dryly.
Nora shrugged. "She wasn't interested. You would have known if she was interested." She sighed. "The whole club would have known she was interested."
Cor chuckled softly again. “Good to know. So that was her being genuinely friendly… Wonder why she asked me if I wanted to work here then.” he questioned.
Nora wanted to roll her eyes, but refrained. "Skye thinks everyone should work here."
“Oh.” Cor nodded, understanding her annoyance. “She must really enjoy her work then. … I’m sorry, by the way, if that was awkward. If I had the right skills I would be glad to work here.” he admitted.
"It's all right," Nora said softly. "I think I've got all the staff I need." A tiny smile lit her lips for a half second. "Although if I fire Astra, I'll let you know."
Cor chuckled a little and gave a small nod. “Thanks for the offer. But I really have no experience working in a bar.” he said. The most he’d be able to do is security work but that would give him away as a vigilante. “And honestly, I’m not interested in being repurposed. I know it works for some but…” he shrugged.
"I didn't expect you to accept the offer. Hardly anyone does." She looked him over coolly. "I couldn't see you working in a bar anyway. You're not built like that."
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Cor quipped lightly before giving a shy chuckle and taking a longer sip of his drink. “Just out of curiosity, how do you think I’m built?”
She looked him over. "Nicely. Lithe. You seem suited to your sort of work. Not standing in a bar being eye candy for customers."
(I got my major paper turned in for English and it has Tron things in it let's gooooo)
“Another compliment. If you're not careful, I might start to think you might like me.” Cor laughed good naturedly and smiled genuinely, though it was still soft. “Though… It's nice that you don't see me as that.”
(Cool!!!)
Nora didn't know what to say to that, and she could feel her inner walls going up. Connection. What was wrong with her? She usually veered as far away as possible from that.
Fortunately, Bit intervened, zooming around Cor's drink like it wanted some.
"Bit, you are a maniac on energy," Nora said, batting it away. "No."
No, Bit replied, though if it was a mimic or a cheeky response, Nora wasn't sure.
Cor felt a little awkward after he realized what he said and how it may have sounded. As much as he thought he… Well, he appreciated her company and the conversation was nice but, it wasn't safe. For either of them.
“Hey.” he chuckled at the Bit, guarding his drink. “As mischievous as you already are, energy is the last thing you need.” he said in agreement with Nora.
Yes, yes, yes. Bit bobbed up and down above Cor's drink like it intended to dip into the energy, but fortunately, the glass was too narrow, as was Nora's. Disappointed, Bit floated off, obviously in search of energy.
"Bit," Nora said warningly, but it ignored her, zooming off in pursuit of a program carrying a nearly-full, wider glass of energy. With an exasperated sigh, Nora set her glass down on the counter and stood up. "Excuse me for a moment."
“Well, that looks like trouble in the making. Go ahead. Chances are I’ll still be here for a while longer.” Cor nodded, waving her on to try to catch the wayward Bit. Last thing she needed on opening night was for her little companion to cause a problem and get wired.
Nora allowed a smile to brush her lips before rushing off after Bit, who had reached the program with the energy and was just about to dip into it. Fortunately, the program turned away from Bit before anything happened; Bit, with an indignant No, whizzed around the program. Nora got there just in time, snatching the drink from the program's hand and trying to catch Bit, who merely zoomed off in another direction. With an apology, Nora handed the drink back to the program and hurried off after Bit, who had found another drink. It happened several times: Bit was just about to touch the energy when Nora appeared and chased it off, forcing Bit to pursue its next target. Soon, most eyes in the club were turned to Nora, who was chasing Bit with the same kind of determination she usually only used when she was doing vigilante work.
At last, Nora caught up with Bit, swiping for the pulsating white polyhedron and catching it. Bit, with a series of No's, attempted to escape Nora's iron grip, but failed miserably. Nora, panting, angry and humiliated, clutched Bit in one hand and grabbed a small cube from her belt; it erupted into a light cage, and Nora stuffed Bit in it.
There was silence save the talk of a few programs who hadn't been watching, and then a voice broke out over the crowd.
"Nora, your host!"
Everyone turned to see Skye, who was standing a few stairs up on the stairs leading to Castor's old office. She was, surprisingly, wearing a big smile. "Provider of entertainments and diversions. End of Line's owner may have changed, but End of Line hasn't! Take it away, DJ's!"
A wave of pounding dance music broke out over the club; pretty soon, programs continued chattering, laughing, and dancing, just like normal. Nora sent Skye a rare, and genuine, smile, which Skye enthusiastically returned. With a grateful sigh, Nora slipped through the crowd and made her way back to Cor, plunking Bit's cage down on the counter and picking up her drink again.
"Now do you believe that the stories about this one are true?" she asked, with a wry smile.
Cor was torn between laughing in genuine amusement at the sight of poor Nora chasing her Bit around the club and wanting to join the chase to help spare her some embarrassment. Though he wasn't sure how much help he could be unless Bit flew towards him. Fortunately, Nora was able to finally capture the little troublemaker and Skye was very helpful in redirecting the crowd's attention away from her. Cor was one of the few programs that applauded Nora's success as she walked back over to the bar.
“Nicely handled.” he said with a small friendly smirk. “I never said that I didn't believe those stories. I just thought they were exaggerated. Though now I'm not so sure that they were.”
"When Bit's around," Nora said, "anything can happen." She looked over to where Skye was, but Skye had disappeared. "Skye saved my cubes there."
Cor chuckled lightly at that and nodded. “Certainly seems like it is.” he agreed, taking another sip of his drink. “Well, I don't know her like you do so that makes me think it means one of two things. One being, she genuinely enjoys working here and wants everything to go well… Or she's just trying to get on your good side.” he said, offering his opinion.
