mixed pulses and interlocked codes, reprogram start!

Tron stared at Sora in alarm, carefully scanning him over.

“It disappeared… where?”

The lights on Sora’s suit glowed faintly, his eyes closed tightly as another wave of pain rocked through his body. He bit his lip, trying to hold back his cry of pain, his breaths coming out in short pants.

He raised his hand weakly, pointing to his chest plate. “It’s… It’s in here,” Sora said in between breaths, leaning against the wall for support.

Tron moved closer, examining Sora’s chest.

It appeared altered, the lights flickering on and off in the area, a sign that the virus had inserted itself into Sora. He looked up when he heard a whimper.

“It h-hurts,” Sora sobbed softly, “I-I feel it moving around, and I c-can’t get it out.”

Upon seeing Sora’s state, Tron moved without thinking, placing his hand against the chest plate, desperate to remove the foreign entity.

The response was immediate, Sora gasping out in pain and collapsing to the floor.

“Sora!” Tron moved to hold him, the teen hot to the touch. The lights all over Sora’s body were beginning to glow erratically. “Sora, are you alright?”

Blearily, Sora opened up his eyes, staring up at Tron.

“Y-Yeah,” he responded softly, his hand reaching up for Tron’s. “I’m…. I’m okay...”

Tron let out a sigh of relief, holding Sora’s hand, glad that his careless action hadn’t resulted in a complete shutdown of Sora’s functions. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think of a solution.

The virus had inserted itself in a delicate spot of Sora’s core functions. Any reckless stunts could severely damage Sora or allow the virus to embed itself deeper into his friend’s data.

He glanced down at Sora, who had begun to dig at his chest plate with his other hand, biting his lip as his fingers dipped into his body.

Tron’s eyes widened, an idea striking him.

It was risky, but it could work.

“Sora,” he said gently, “I may have a solution, but there’s a risk for your safety involved as well.” He squeezed Sora’s hand before pinning it to his side. “Forgive me, my friend.”

Tron raised his hand over Sora’s heart, opening up a small grid. The body beneath him lay limp, the only indication of consciousness the softly pulsating lights. A few boxes popped up, and Tron typed away, clearing the first hurdles.

Sora’s eyes fluttered open.

More boxes. More clicks. More cleared.

Finally, REPROGRAM flashed, and Tron placed his hand against the grid, access granted.

He pushed past the grid and dipped his fingers straight into Sora’s chest, the material rippling like water.

A scream ripped past Sora’s throat as he began to thrash in Tron’s hold.

“Tron!”

He kept a firm hold as Sora kicked wildly, feeling for the virus with his fingers. Sora’s body arched, and Tron grit his teeth as his hand was pulled in deeper, Sora gasping for breath and calling his name out as if to beg for mercy.

“It’ll be over soon enough,” he reassured him, his own pulse racing as he felt Sora from within. Carefully, he flexed his fingers, feeling the wires and phantoms of flesh surrounding him. He closed his eyes and tried to pinpoint the location of the virus.

He sensed movement within.

With some difficulty, Tron opened up another grid inside Sora. It scanned his body, and the results that read back to him made him want to curse.

It was in too deep. If he tried to push any further, it would only serve to corrupt Sora’s body.

Another box popped up on the grid, Tron reading the new information carefully.

Subject responsive to pulses and electricity.

“Electricity…?” Tron glanced over to Sora. Tears had begun to fall down his face silently, his gaze unfocused as he tried to bear through the pain. Tron felt his heart race at the sight.

Determination renewed, he opened up another box, entering a code. After a moment’s pause, a new command appeared.

Pulsing Thunder: Activate?

He clicked the confirmation, and a wave of electricity shot through Sora, his mouth falling open into a silent scream, body trembling violently in Tron’s embrace.

Tron felt for the virus, sending another wave of electricity through Sora’s body.

Sora threw his head back, his voice raw as his cries started to come out in strangled gasps. His body glowed as the sensations overwhelmed him.

Something inside Sora surged forward, Tron wincing as it wrapped around his hand painfully, biting into his skin, attempting to remove him.

“Tron!” Sora rasped out in between breaths, his eyes unfocused. “Tron!”

Not yet. He couldn’t erase it yet. The virus was still far too tangled up in Sora’s code to remove safely.

Sora’s body trembled, one hand freeing itself and moving to hold the arm that was inside of him. Tron could only watch as Sora squeezed his wrist for comfort, his eyes shining with tears.

He held Sora closer, another surge of pain running through his system as the virus began to tear into his skin.

Almost there… Almost… there…

There was a sound of a gate turning, and Tron sprung into action.

Now!

He ripped his hand out, the virus following with a distorted screech.

Tron flung it to the side, and it fell with a loud thud, the space around it glitching. Swiftly, he opened a grid and watched as streams of data tore the virus apart.

An odd sort of satisfaction filled him as he watched it fade into nothing, the limbs that had been reaching toward Sora vanishing.

He turned back to Sora, who lay limp in his arms. Tron shook him gently, calling out to him. “Sora… Sora!”

No response.

Without much thought, Tron opened another grid, ready to revive Sora if needed.

He wasn’t going to lose him. Not that easily.

But before he could enter the next command, Sora stirred in his arms, his eyes slowly opening.

“Tron…?” he asked quietly, his hand reaching up for him.

He smiled, relieved as he held Sora’s hand again. He stared down at him gently.

“Yes, I am here.”

Sora mirrored his smile, shivering lightly. Tron moved to place Sora’s hand down on his chest, but the action caused the teen to gasp loudly, his body bucking up.

His eyebrows furrowed, testing the motion again, Sora crying out once more.

“Is there still pain, Sora?”

His only response was a soft whimper. Slowly, he moved Sora’s hand to the side, using his fingers to graze over the sensitive chest lightly.

The lights on Sora’s suit flashed brightly, and the teen shivered almost violently beneath his hand.

He wasn’t sure what came over him, but before Tron realized what he was doing, his fingers had begun to dip into Sora’s chest once more, the teen’s face scrunching up in pain.

Tron hummed.

Oh, that’s right. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

“An extra scan can help,” he murmured, “For your safety.”

Sora opened his eyes, and through his tears, he smiled up at Tron.

“Y-Yeah. I-I trust you.”

Tron smiled fondly at that, his pulse racing as he moved his fingers once more.

Sora would be in good hands.

He would make sure of that.