Chapter Text
It's Tron who requests a new security program, though he has trouble articulating what exactly he wants. Something more than just another system monitor, he explains; his current helpers are good at their jobs but are too limited, too clearly defined. Even Tron himself, for all the upgrades he's received, has trouble keeping up with all the challenges the Grid keeps tossing out. He needs a true assistant, someone who can operate independently when they're dealing with multiple problems and won't get thrown when the Grid inevitably comes up with another new and different way to try to derez them all. Flynn listens, nodding, and tells Tron he'll do his best. He means it.
The first thing he does after the laser reassembles him in the arcade is go and talk to Alan.
Tron didn't criticize Flynn's own work, he never would, but Kevin can read between the lines. The system monitors are his design, or designs from other coders that he pulled off the Encom servers and modified for the Grid, and they're not enough. Tron needs more than a security program written by a somebody who's really still a game designer at heart; there's a reason the arena is at the heart of the city and the gridbugs are still tearing it apart at the fringe. He needs the best, and Kevin can't think of anyone who can write a security program better than Alan Bradley.
He spins it to Alan as something he needs for a private project, protection for his personal server where he tries out experimental programs that keep having unexpected errors. It's almost the truth. He needs a system monitor that can change to suit new conditions without waiting for external updates or commands, something that can handle problems when Flynn has no way of knowing in advance what those problems will be. He's basically asking for the impossible, and Alan tells him so. But he says it with a smile that Kevin recognizes from talking to Tron, one that says he's looking forward to the challenge. Game on.
It's complicated as hell to write software when you can't fully explain to your co-creator what operating system it has to work on, what other programs it has to coordinate with, and what exactly you need it to do. Alan finally throws up his hands and says that if Kevin absolutely has to keep his precious system so secret, he can handle all the heavy lifting himself; Alan will help him write the bare bones of the program, enough to make it operational, but all the virus libraries and other specializations will have to be added in later. Flynn figures this just means the new program will need a little on-the-job training with Tron before he can go solo. He can work with that.
Thank God Kevin is CEO, because no one else could get away with monopolizing Encom's chief operating officer like this. He knows that Alan has made this adaptive monitoring program his highest priority because he thinks that Flynn needs it to work on creating the next big thing for the company. And he would feel guilty about leading his friend on, he really would, but every time he goes onto the Grid Tron's face is a little more exhausted, his circuits a little less bright. Kevin's keenly aware of how long the coding is taking and how much faster time passes for the security program than it does in the real world.
And then one morning Alan pauses at the keyboard, tilts his head a little as he looks at the screen, and then decisively reaches out and hits compile. Kevin starts fidgeting before it can finish running, drumming his fingers on the desk and looking back and forth between the screen and the clock. Alan, who's clearly had a weight lifted off his shoulders now that they're finished, just laughs at him. When the compiler finishes running, he passes the disc over and tells Kevin to run home and play; Alan will make up an excuse if anyone comes by the office looking for him.
Flynn would protest, but that would mean more time wasted before he can get to the arcade and start uploading. System-Adaptive Monitor: Sam. He can't wait to meet him.