XX. [OOC - Reapplication for Last Voyages]
Apr. 1st, 2011 12:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ifightforUser Name/Nick: Call me Cee.
User DW:corpseknight
AIM/IM: AIM: coronaviridae
E-mail: coronaviridae[at]gmail[dot]com
Other Characters: I played Rinzler previously! None right now, though.
Character Name: Rinzler
Series: TRON
Age: Adult. (Physically resembles a man in his mid-twenties; has roughly the same level of social awareness and emotional intelligence as a human that age.)
From When?: Reapping him as a Warden! Rinzler has spent his year+ away from the Barge hanging out in the vast nothingness where derezzed Programs go. It's time for him to come back.
Inmate/Warden: Warden. His time on the Barge was sufficient to break him of CLU's programming, and--lacking a place to fit in on a Grid where he can only suffer by comparison to the Program he was--has elected to return to the Barge and fix what he can, the best he knows how. While he does not share the morality most Wardens do--and most expect Wardens to--he takes a functional approach to redemption. Most of the crimes that land Inmates on the Barge impair their ability to function to full capacity--and just as he was given a chance--they deserve a chance to "play" at their best. This isn't to say he's completely amoral--he has a very well-developed sense of fair play and understands, intellectually at least, that respect for others gets one further than wanton aggression--but his primary concern as a security Program is getting the job done right the first time. Effectiveness and freedom to act are his key virtues; whatsoever impairs someone's freedom against their choice, or renders them unable to achieve their aims, needs to be done away with.
Item: His dual Identity Discs.
Abilities/Powers: Most of the unnatural abilities available to programs on the Grid are a consequence of the unique "technology" there, such as the lightbikes and lightjets. Gravity can be rewritten at a program's convenience (if they have the right overrides) and coding artificial substances with the resilience of steel and transparency of glass is not challenging. Rinzler's exceptional abilities as a security program do not derive from his access to any sort of unusual technology (aside from being able to split his Identity Disc, increasing its capacity as a weapon) but from the fact he's a martial artist and athlete in peak physical condition. He's a champion sprinter, has a gymnast's sense of poise and balance, recovers effortlessly from falls, and tricks rings around unprepared opponents in combat.
His reflexes and powers of observation aren't superhuman--just the best that a human can be, provided they devote their time and energy to training. (Granted, it isn't a matter of "training" in his case--he was programmed that way.) He has an additional advantage in being adapted to the unusual conditions of the Grid: Gravity lapses, lightless conditions, the ceiling (or the walls) suddenly becoming the floor and other unusual quirks of physics are all the norm in gladiatorial combat. Even confined to a body of flesh and bone in the "real" world, Rinzler would continue to be a formidable opponent. His prowess at hand-to-hand combat, armed or unarmed, is a defining part of what he is; security programs are the warriors of the Grid.
While confined to the Barge as an Inmate, he also began to develop an appreciation for the frailties of the "User" form, though he still lacks proper appreciation for some of the limitations that come with organic biology. In this sense, his incredible tolerance for pain can be a potential liability rather than an asset--he still has no appreciation of when he's at the limits of biological exertion and it takes a very serious wound indeed to make him realize he needs to stop and recover.
As a Warden, Rinzler has available to him a Grid-standard baton, which can transform into various light vehicles--though the CES is the only area large enough to make their use practical--or a shock staff that makes for an effective and devastating blunt weapon also capable of delivering a sublethal stun charge. He prefers, however, to fight hand-to-hand or at range with his paired Identity Discs, which possess razor cutting edges and will leash back to his hand after being thrown. While he has no reason to bring them with him or request them for standard situations on the Barge, he's also proficient with other Grid weaponry--such as shaped explosive charges and smoke bombs--and larger vehicles, both for transport and combat.
One final benefit of being a program rather than a human is an enhanced understanding of programming languages. While he doesn't often speak, Rinzler understands English like a native speaker of the language, but treats certain variations of machine and assembly code the same way. The same is the case for commands for UNIX-like operating systems; even absent of context, they register to Rinzler as part of a natural language.
Personality: Silent, ubiquitous, ever-vigilant--Rinzler had been CLU's strong right hand since his defeat and reprogramming at the other program's hand. The characteristics that made Tron a hero to his fellow programs--his skills in combat, his quick thinking, his magnanimity, and above all, his loyalty--all remained within Rinzler, though they had been distorted to new ends. Where Tron served, protected, and instructed whoever needed him, Rinzler answered to one master with total devotion. He was not a free being and hadn't been for years, his will subsumed into CLU's own.
Then he arrived on the Barge and was given a choice: Go mad as his programming drove him into a futile loop of trying to serve a master who wasn't there and didn't care about his fate, or take his life into his own hands. Ever the survivor, Rinzler chose life and sanity. That same stubborn determination to succeed that graduated him from the Barge persists to this day, and he will permit nothing to stop him. Especially now that he knows nothing can--he's the master of his own destiny, and no one will take that away from him ever again.
Though disinclined to express himself--his body language gives little away outside of combat, and even with his mask off he rarely displays much on his face--Rinzler demonstrates a strong drive to explore and observe. A part of it derives from his role as a guardian and soldier: The better he observes his environment, the sooner he becomes alert to potential threats. A part of it is simply curiosity, leading him to see all that there is to see about a new place. Tron was an explorer, after all.
The fascination with novelty also extends to games. Rinzler fights hard and plays harder; while the two are practically indistinguishable on the Grid, his fame as a gladiator came about because of his tendency to play with opponents who would otherwise have no chance against him. Even in games where the forfeit isn't the loser's life, he plays, and plays for keeps. Like any program, he picks up the rules for new games the first time they're explained--though mastery typically takes longer.
However, though he resembles a human, and has some traits in common with them--like his curiosity and fascination with games--it would be a mistake to assume that Rinzler's thinking is fundamentally similar to a human's. His Weltanschauung--his set of assumptions about how the world works--is completely different, involving as it does a world that is provably created and populated with (mostly) created beings. The laws of physics can be accessed, altered for better results, and updated as needed. (His previous incarnation was also best friends with God.)
A world where this isn't the case has and does strike him as unimaginably terrible--though it isn't something, even now, he wastes much energy on contemplating. Rinzler is a man of action, and will stick to a course once he's decided upon it; too, he substitutes actions for emotional responses and even words, a habit he learned in the years as CLU's creature. Since breaking free of CLU's hold on his programming, he has begun to relax many of the habits he learned in service to the other program--but he has not lost his capacity for total loyalty. Loyalty is a central tenet of both Rinzler and Tron's existence; without it, they'd be nothing. Now that he has the chance to choose the objects of his trust and loyalty, though, rather than having them forced upon him, he is very discerning in his commitments--he knows very well how badly trust and loyalty can be abused by those who have little reason to care for the wellbeing of those who trust them.
Rinzler's total silence and custom of going masked can be deceptive. It's easy to mistake a lack of verbal response for lack of engagement, passivity, ignorance, or disinterest; the program is very rarely disinterested in or ignorant of what is going on around him, nor is he often a passive observer. His responses are simply characterized by an economy of action and high degree of patience; he is a very good listener, and people who pride themselves on not giving much away might find themselves inclined to run their mouths in his presence simply because he supplies no cues in conversation.
Silence is something Rinzler values in others. People who know when to shut up without having to be forced are rare creatures, attractive not only because they provide a peaceful environment but also because they've learned the value of withholding information. It keeps them interesting (and worthy of curiosity) longer. He also values boldness; while he was accustomed to simply taking what he likes without resistance, those who stand up to him--who fight, either for what they believe in or simply because it's better than taking things lying down--engender a certain amount of respect. Though, since his time on the Barge, he has relearned Tron's respect for those who are innocent, or weak, or simply will not fight back. Even if he doesn't express it the same way, Rinzler has a better grasp of the idea of boundaries now than he once did--and while he still won't stop at anything to get what he wants, he is more comfortable trying an indirect solution that leaves everyone happy rather than the most efficient one that runs roughshod over everyone else.
Opponents who can best him--temporarily, since Rinzler has no concept of being beaten, and will persist until he achieves a goal or overcomes an obstacle--are worth watching, studying. The wise have their place as well, for while Rinzler negotiates his place in the world primarily through force, he is still an adroit tactician. His attraction to novelty plays into this, and someone who can supply him with constant new information might easily gain protected status in CLU's absence; while the familiar is reassuring, he's driven to seek out what is new, to integrate and understand it so he continues to be at the top of his game.
Even though he's begun to learn the value of permitting other people their space, and honoring their rights, Rinzler is still very dangerous in his absolute determination once he's set his mind on a goal. Those who can't or won't stand up to Rinzler run the risk of simply being flattened. It helps, maybe, to think of many of his interactions with others as being like dealing with some great predatory animal--reasoning with it won't work, resisting it gets you killed, and running away just means it plays with you before it eats you. He doesn't behave this way out of malice (most of the time; his willingness to play with unworthy opponents and drag out their deaths is nothing but pure cruelty) so much as the constant drive to know and to make safe.
If there is one thing that has dramatically changed in his stay on the Barge--a change that has persisted through his return--it is Rinzler's willingness to identify himself as a person. While infrequent and unusual, given his clipped pattern of communication, he will use the word "I" now and then, and can express more abstract things like his preferences and desires rather than simple mission objectives. More, he's developed a sense of humor--edged and sarcastic most of the time, and often almost invisible to those unfamiliar with him--as a method of coping with the chaos of the "real" world. Too, it makes him further distinct from the largely humorless Tron--and while Rinzler's intense drive and determination will not permit him to dwell on things he can't change, there's still a small part of him that despairs of ever getting out of his predecessor's shadow. At least on the Barge, where very few people know who he was, he has no fear of constantly being compared to who he was and cannot be.
Focus and goal orientation are two of Rinzler's strongest suites, so it should be no surprise that he will bring them to bear in his Wardening. No matter who his Inmate might be or what problems they might present, he will find a way to fix them--along with anyone else he sets his sights on. Gaining Rinzler's attention--or worse, the thing that passes for friendship with him--can be an intense experience, given he holds nothing back in getting what he wants. It has helped that, thus far, the people he's developed the strongest affection for are those who can tell him forcefully enough to stop--and those who can keep up with him.
Barge Reactions: Despite successful graduation, Rinzler's previous stay on the Barge was...traumatic, to say the least. Being stuck in a body with biology, urges, and needs that didn't match anything he'd previously experienced, in an environment that was dangerously chaotic and unfamiliar, was difficult enough to bear--but he adapted, and learned, because it was his duty to learn. Coming face-to-face with the idiosyncrasies and illogic of User psychology, in a society that was already distorting due to the constant pressures placed on it by the Barge, was much worse and nothing he was mentally prepared for. Meeting Flynn again--a Flynn who didn't recognize him, who insisted he couldn't be Tron at a time when Rinzler was confronting the idea that in order to graduate he might have to erase himself as Rinzler and become Tron once more--nearly shattered him, and having his loyalty torn between CLU and the Warden he was coming to treat as "his" User ripped his self-regard wide open and scattered pieces of it everywhere.
But he bore up under it and pulled through, choosing the freedom to self-determine and play the game on his terms over spiraling into madness from conflicting orders and drives foreign to his nature. And--having survived, and realized that he was a person of his own who could stay who and what he was even in the middle of a world that made very little sense to him--he determined that others deserved the same chance. He's also determined that the Barge "system" itself required fixing, to give the Inmates a better opportunity to achieve their full potential.
That's why he's returned after spending some (much-needed) time away. That's worth hell to him.
History: In the beginning, there was ENCOM, a monolithic software giant that employed among its many bright young programmers Alan Bradley and Kevin Flynn. The latter was to fall from the company's good graces--and payroll--when he discovered its CEO stealing his code, something he was to redress with Bradley's help when he snuck back into ENCOM to hack its systems for evidence of wrongdoing. Sometime during the hacking, Flynn found himself digitized by a quantum laser and loose inside the computer system itself, where he enlisted the help of various programs to battle and finally defeat ENCOM's villainous MCP.
Among those programs was Alan Bradley's Tron, a security program originally created to monitor exchanges between ENCOM's CEO and the MCP. Flynn found himself impressed by the program's loyalty and dedication, so much so that several years later, he brought Tron over to a new project to act as its protector.
That project was the Grid. Launched shortly after ENCOM's CEO was fired for misconduct and Flynn stepped up to take over as the head of the company, the Grid provided a testbed for new game ideas and technology, a private playground and laboratory for Flynn. Tron and numerous other imported programs populated the cities of the Grid, participating in non-lethal games and maintaining it in Flynn's absence--but without constant oversight, the Grid threatened to fall apart.
So Flynn duplicated himself in code form to create CLU, who would act in his absence to create the "perfect system". At first, CLU proved the ideal minder of the Grid's resources, bringing stability and order to the system during Flynn's long absences to tend to his family and company.
Then the ISOs began to emerge from the Sea of Simulation.
Self-created programs, the isomorphic algorithms were--to CLU's perception--a dangerous hint of chaos in his perfectly minded system. To Flynn, they were a gorgeous new breed of life, the first *real* citizens of the Grid. Tron accepted them with the same welcome and warmth he extended to all the other programs in the Grid, defending them from any possible dangers that might arise.
Over time, as Flynn was around less and less, and the ISO population grew, this led Tron to notice that the ISOs were attracting more than their fair share of danger in the Grid. He brought his concerns to CLU--but it was, perhaps, already too late by then: CLU dismissed his concerns out of hand, saying that it was the nature of the ISOs themselves that destabilized the Grid and made it more dangerous.
Then simple ambient danger--Gridbug waves, building glitches--became terrorist attacks. Flynn's infrequent visits to the Grid necessitated a honor guard from CLU. Tron uncovered plans that showed CLU's handiwork behind all of it--releasing a virus among the ISOs, poisoning the Sea of Simulation to prevent more being born, bombing their part of the city--but could not act fast enough to prevent the other program's depredations.
And by the time he tried to take his evidence to Flynn, it was too late. CLU and his Black Guard surrounded Kevin Flynn and Tron in an isolated part of the city; Tron made the only viable choice and sacrificed himself to give the Creator time to escape. CLU struck Tron down that day, mortally wounding the security program and sealing the coup to overthrow Flynn's control of the Grid.
Against all odds, though--against betrayal, torture, and a first attempt to repurpose him into something else--Tron survived his injuries and escaped into the Outlands, there to convalesce and become a persistent thorn in CLU's side. His wounding had left him unable to carry the fight himself, though; he recruited hopeful young programs to his cause, one by one, only to see them fail successively against CLU's encroaching regime.
And then CLU finally caught up with Tron again, and put an end to his uprising once and for all. CLU had larger plans than simply destroying Tron, though; the other program was too useful. Instead he tore out the code that had been damaged and rotting all those cycles, condensing and repurposing the Grid's champion into something amoral, aggressive, and absolutely loyal.
Rinzler was to spend the next years as CLU's hound, his secret police, his personal gladiator. He was a favorite in the Disc Wars even as programs lived in mortal terror of his masked silhouette outside the arena. And Flynn, mured away in his cave in the Outlands, knew nothing of what had happened to his old friend.
He would assume Tron had died in his defense for all that time, too--until his son, Sam, entered the Grid and drew him back out of hiding. Even then, there was no reunion between Rinzler/Tron and Kevin Flynn, just an eleventh hour meeting of the eyes while Flynn was trying to escape the program with Quorra and Sam. Something was communicated that was enough to wake Tron from his years of slumber and make him sacrifice his life a second time to protect the Users, so powerful was his devotion.
Instead of death by drowning in the Sea of Simulation, though, Rinzler awoke on the Barge with no knowledge of Tron's resurgence--only broken memories of Flynn doing something to him that resulted in CLU putting him down. It was his luck to be paired with the Warden Toshiko Sato, a woman with the patience, determination, and technological knowhow to put up with the peculiar problems he represented and fix the unique errors he encountered. Rinzler did not thrive in the Barge's hostile environment, but he survived to graduate.
Sample Journal Entry: [Text-only. Par for the course with Rinzler.]
Query: Barge status?
[A later edit adds:]
JA307020 once more present on Barge system.
Apologies to those who remained; anticipated earlier return.
Standard introduction: Security Program JA307020, designation "Rinzler," Class:Warden. Unassigned at present. Remit: Barge security.
Sample RP: Inmate Rinzler and Sarah Connor have adventures.
Newly minted Warden Rinzler does what he does best: Security!
Rinzler deals with CLU, with Toshiko's help.
Special Notes: Because a good chunk of Tron's backstory post-coup is still being revealed (via TRON: Uprising), Rinzler isn't going to remember any of the Uprising-era events initially. If it's all right with the mods, I'll slowly update him on that canon once the series completes via recovery of the lost memories. (Or, in the really unlikely event we get Uprising characters on the Barge, he can remember those parts of his history as he encounters them!)
User DW:
corpseknightAIM/IM: AIM: coronaviridae
E-mail: coronaviridae[at]gmail[dot]com
Other Characters: I played Rinzler previously! None right now, though.
Character Name: Rinzler
Series: TRON
Age: Adult. (Physically resembles a man in his mid-twenties; has roughly the same level of social awareness and emotional intelligence as a human that age.)
From When?: Reapping him as a Warden! Rinzler has spent his year+ away from the Barge hanging out in the vast nothingness where derezzed Programs go. It's time for him to come back.
Inmate/Warden: Warden. His time on the Barge was sufficient to break him of CLU's programming, and--lacking a place to fit in on a Grid where he can only suffer by comparison to the Program he was--has elected to return to the Barge and fix what he can, the best he knows how. While he does not share the morality most Wardens do--and most expect Wardens to--he takes a functional approach to redemption. Most of the crimes that land Inmates on the Barge impair their ability to function to full capacity--and just as he was given a chance--they deserve a chance to "play" at their best. This isn't to say he's completely amoral--he has a very well-developed sense of fair play and understands, intellectually at least, that respect for others gets one further than wanton aggression--but his primary concern as a security Program is getting the job done right the first time. Effectiveness and freedom to act are his key virtues; whatsoever impairs someone's freedom against their choice, or renders them unable to achieve their aims, needs to be done away with.
Item: His dual Identity Discs.
Abilities/Powers: Most of the unnatural abilities available to programs on the Grid are a consequence of the unique "technology" there, such as the lightbikes and lightjets. Gravity can be rewritten at a program's convenience (if they have the right overrides) and coding artificial substances with the resilience of steel and transparency of glass is not challenging. Rinzler's exceptional abilities as a security program do not derive from his access to any sort of unusual technology (aside from being able to split his Identity Disc, increasing its capacity as a weapon) but from the fact he's a martial artist and athlete in peak physical condition. He's a champion sprinter, has a gymnast's sense of poise and balance, recovers effortlessly from falls, and tricks rings around unprepared opponents in combat.
His reflexes and powers of observation aren't superhuman--just the best that a human can be, provided they devote their time and energy to training. (Granted, it isn't a matter of "training" in his case--he was programmed that way.) He has an additional advantage in being adapted to the unusual conditions of the Grid: Gravity lapses, lightless conditions, the ceiling (or the walls) suddenly becoming the floor and other unusual quirks of physics are all the norm in gladiatorial combat. Even confined to a body of flesh and bone in the "real" world, Rinzler would continue to be a formidable opponent. His prowess at hand-to-hand combat, armed or unarmed, is a defining part of what he is; security programs are the warriors of the Grid.
While confined to the Barge as an Inmate, he also began to develop an appreciation for the frailties of the "User" form, though he still lacks proper appreciation for some of the limitations that come with organic biology. In this sense, his incredible tolerance for pain can be a potential liability rather than an asset--he still has no appreciation of when he's at the limits of biological exertion and it takes a very serious wound indeed to make him realize he needs to stop and recover.
As a Warden, Rinzler has available to him a Grid-standard baton, which can transform into various light vehicles--though the CES is the only area large enough to make their use practical--or a shock staff that makes for an effective and devastating blunt weapon also capable of delivering a sublethal stun charge. He prefers, however, to fight hand-to-hand or at range with his paired Identity Discs, which possess razor cutting edges and will leash back to his hand after being thrown. While he has no reason to bring them with him or request them for standard situations on the Barge, he's also proficient with other Grid weaponry--such as shaped explosive charges and smoke bombs--and larger vehicles, both for transport and combat.
One final benefit of being a program rather than a human is an enhanced understanding of programming languages. While he doesn't often speak, Rinzler understands English like a native speaker of the language, but treats certain variations of machine and assembly code the same way. The same is the case for commands for UNIX-like operating systems; even absent of context, they register to Rinzler as part of a natural language.
Personality: Silent, ubiquitous, ever-vigilant--Rinzler had been CLU's strong right hand since his defeat and reprogramming at the other program's hand. The characteristics that made Tron a hero to his fellow programs--his skills in combat, his quick thinking, his magnanimity, and above all, his loyalty--all remained within Rinzler, though they had been distorted to new ends. Where Tron served, protected, and instructed whoever needed him, Rinzler answered to one master with total devotion. He was not a free being and hadn't been for years, his will subsumed into CLU's own.
Then he arrived on the Barge and was given a choice: Go mad as his programming drove him into a futile loop of trying to serve a master who wasn't there and didn't care about his fate, or take his life into his own hands. Ever the survivor, Rinzler chose life and sanity. That same stubborn determination to succeed that graduated him from the Barge persists to this day, and he will permit nothing to stop him. Especially now that he knows nothing can--he's the master of his own destiny, and no one will take that away from him ever again.
Though disinclined to express himself--his body language gives little away outside of combat, and even with his mask off he rarely displays much on his face--Rinzler demonstrates a strong drive to explore and observe. A part of it derives from his role as a guardian and soldier: The better he observes his environment, the sooner he becomes alert to potential threats. A part of it is simply curiosity, leading him to see all that there is to see about a new place. Tron was an explorer, after all.
The fascination with novelty also extends to games. Rinzler fights hard and plays harder; while the two are practically indistinguishable on the Grid, his fame as a gladiator came about because of his tendency to play with opponents who would otherwise have no chance against him. Even in games where the forfeit isn't the loser's life, he plays, and plays for keeps. Like any program, he picks up the rules for new games the first time they're explained--though mastery typically takes longer.
However, though he resembles a human, and has some traits in common with them--like his curiosity and fascination with games--it would be a mistake to assume that Rinzler's thinking is fundamentally similar to a human's. His Weltanschauung--his set of assumptions about how the world works--is completely different, involving as it does a world that is provably created and populated with (mostly) created beings. The laws of physics can be accessed, altered for better results, and updated as needed. (His previous incarnation was also best friends with God.)
A world where this isn't the case has and does strike him as unimaginably terrible--though it isn't something, even now, he wastes much energy on contemplating. Rinzler is a man of action, and will stick to a course once he's decided upon it; too, he substitutes actions for emotional responses and even words, a habit he learned in the years as CLU's creature. Since breaking free of CLU's hold on his programming, he has begun to relax many of the habits he learned in service to the other program--but he has not lost his capacity for total loyalty. Loyalty is a central tenet of both Rinzler and Tron's existence; without it, they'd be nothing. Now that he has the chance to choose the objects of his trust and loyalty, though, rather than having them forced upon him, he is very discerning in his commitments--he knows very well how badly trust and loyalty can be abused by those who have little reason to care for the wellbeing of those who trust them.
Rinzler's total silence and custom of going masked can be deceptive. It's easy to mistake a lack of verbal response for lack of engagement, passivity, ignorance, or disinterest; the program is very rarely disinterested in or ignorant of what is going on around him, nor is he often a passive observer. His responses are simply characterized by an economy of action and high degree of patience; he is a very good listener, and people who pride themselves on not giving much away might find themselves inclined to run their mouths in his presence simply because he supplies no cues in conversation.
Silence is something Rinzler values in others. People who know when to shut up without having to be forced are rare creatures, attractive not only because they provide a peaceful environment but also because they've learned the value of withholding information. It keeps them interesting (and worthy of curiosity) longer. He also values boldness; while he was accustomed to simply taking what he likes without resistance, those who stand up to him--who fight, either for what they believe in or simply because it's better than taking things lying down--engender a certain amount of respect. Though, since his time on the Barge, he has relearned Tron's respect for those who are innocent, or weak, or simply will not fight back. Even if he doesn't express it the same way, Rinzler has a better grasp of the idea of boundaries now than he once did--and while he still won't stop at anything to get what he wants, he is more comfortable trying an indirect solution that leaves everyone happy rather than the most efficient one that runs roughshod over everyone else.
Opponents who can best him--temporarily, since Rinzler has no concept of being beaten, and will persist until he achieves a goal or overcomes an obstacle--are worth watching, studying. The wise have their place as well, for while Rinzler negotiates his place in the world primarily through force, he is still an adroit tactician. His attraction to novelty plays into this, and someone who can supply him with constant new information might easily gain protected status in CLU's absence; while the familiar is reassuring, he's driven to seek out what is new, to integrate and understand it so he continues to be at the top of his game.
Even though he's begun to learn the value of permitting other people their space, and honoring their rights, Rinzler is still very dangerous in his absolute determination once he's set his mind on a goal. Those who can't or won't stand up to Rinzler run the risk of simply being flattened. It helps, maybe, to think of many of his interactions with others as being like dealing with some great predatory animal--reasoning with it won't work, resisting it gets you killed, and running away just means it plays with you before it eats you. He doesn't behave this way out of malice (most of the time; his willingness to play with unworthy opponents and drag out their deaths is nothing but pure cruelty) so much as the constant drive to know and to make safe.
If there is one thing that has dramatically changed in his stay on the Barge--a change that has persisted through his return--it is Rinzler's willingness to identify himself as a person. While infrequent and unusual, given his clipped pattern of communication, he will use the word "I" now and then, and can express more abstract things like his preferences and desires rather than simple mission objectives. More, he's developed a sense of humor--edged and sarcastic most of the time, and often almost invisible to those unfamiliar with him--as a method of coping with the chaos of the "real" world. Too, it makes him further distinct from the largely humorless Tron--and while Rinzler's intense drive and determination will not permit him to dwell on things he can't change, there's still a small part of him that despairs of ever getting out of his predecessor's shadow. At least on the Barge, where very few people know who he was, he has no fear of constantly being compared to who he was and cannot be.
Focus and goal orientation are two of Rinzler's strongest suites, so it should be no surprise that he will bring them to bear in his Wardening. No matter who his Inmate might be or what problems they might present, he will find a way to fix them--along with anyone else he sets his sights on. Gaining Rinzler's attention--or worse, the thing that passes for friendship with him--can be an intense experience, given he holds nothing back in getting what he wants. It has helped that, thus far, the people he's developed the strongest affection for are those who can tell him forcefully enough to stop--and those who can keep up with him.
Barge Reactions: Despite successful graduation, Rinzler's previous stay on the Barge was...traumatic, to say the least. Being stuck in a body with biology, urges, and needs that didn't match anything he'd previously experienced, in an environment that was dangerously chaotic and unfamiliar, was difficult enough to bear--but he adapted, and learned, because it was his duty to learn. Coming face-to-face with the idiosyncrasies and illogic of User psychology, in a society that was already distorting due to the constant pressures placed on it by the Barge, was much worse and nothing he was mentally prepared for. Meeting Flynn again--a Flynn who didn't recognize him, who insisted he couldn't be Tron at a time when Rinzler was confronting the idea that in order to graduate he might have to erase himself as Rinzler and become Tron once more--nearly shattered him, and having his loyalty torn between CLU and the Warden he was coming to treat as "his" User ripped his self-regard wide open and scattered pieces of it everywhere.
But he bore up under it and pulled through, choosing the freedom to self-determine and play the game on his terms over spiraling into madness from conflicting orders and drives foreign to his nature. And--having survived, and realized that he was a person of his own who could stay who and what he was even in the middle of a world that made very little sense to him--he determined that others deserved the same chance. He's also determined that the Barge "system" itself required fixing, to give the Inmates a better opportunity to achieve their full potential.
That's why he's returned after spending some (much-needed) time away. That's worth hell to him.
History: In the beginning, there was ENCOM, a monolithic software giant that employed among its many bright young programmers Alan Bradley and Kevin Flynn. The latter was to fall from the company's good graces--and payroll--when he discovered its CEO stealing his code, something he was to redress with Bradley's help when he snuck back into ENCOM to hack its systems for evidence of wrongdoing. Sometime during the hacking, Flynn found himself digitized by a quantum laser and loose inside the computer system itself, where he enlisted the help of various programs to battle and finally defeat ENCOM's villainous MCP.
Among those programs was Alan Bradley's Tron, a security program originally created to monitor exchanges between ENCOM's CEO and the MCP. Flynn found himself impressed by the program's loyalty and dedication, so much so that several years later, he brought Tron over to a new project to act as its protector.
That project was the Grid. Launched shortly after ENCOM's CEO was fired for misconduct and Flynn stepped up to take over as the head of the company, the Grid provided a testbed for new game ideas and technology, a private playground and laboratory for Flynn. Tron and numerous other imported programs populated the cities of the Grid, participating in non-lethal games and maintaining it in Flynn's absence--but without constant oversight, the Grid threatened to fall apart.
So Flynn duplicated himself in code form to create CLU, who would act in his absence to create the "perfect system". At first, CLU proved the ideal minder of the Grid's resources, bringing stability and order to the system during Flynn's long absences to tend to his family and company.
Then the ISOs began to emerge from the Sea of Simulation.
Self-created programs, the isomorphic algorithms were--to CLU's perception--a dangerous hint of chaos in his perfectly minded system. To Flynn, they were a gorgeous new breed of life, the first *real* citizens of the Grid. Tron accepted them with the same welcome and warmth he extended to all the other programs in the Grid, defending them from any possible dangers that might arise.
Over time, as Flynn was around less and less, and the ISO population grew, this led Tron to notice that the ISOs were attracting more than their fair share of danger in the Grid. He brought his concerns to CLU--but it was, perhaps, already too late by then: CLU dismissed his concerns out of hand, saying that it was the nature of the ISOs themselves that destabilized the Grid and made it more dangerous.
Then simple ambient danger--Gridbug waves, building glitches--became terrorist attacks. Flynn's infrequent visits to the Grid necessitated a honor guard from CLU. Tron uncovered plans that showed CLU's handiwork behind all of it--releasing a virus among the ISOs, poisoning the Sea of Simulation to prevent more being born, bombing their part of the city--but could not act fast enough to prevent the other program's depredations.
And by the time he tried to take his evidence to Flynn, it was too late. CLU and his Black Guard surrounded Kevin Flynn and Tron in an isolated part of the city; Tron made the only viable choice and sacrificed himself to give the Creator time to escape. CLU struck Tron down that day, mortally wounding the security program and sealing the coup to overthrow Flynn's control of the Grid.
Against all odds, though--against betrayal, torture, and a first attempt to repurpose him into something else--Tron survived his injuries and escaped into the Outlands, there to convalesce and become a persistent thorn in CLU's side. His wounding had left him unable to carry the fight himself, though; he recruited hopeful young programs to his cause, one by one, only to see them fail successively against CLU's encroaching regime.
And then CLU finally caught up with Tron again, and put an end to his uprising once and for all. CLU had larger plans than simply destroying Tron, though; the other program was too useful. Instead he tore out the code that had been damaged and rotting all those cycles, condensing and repurposing the Grid's champion into something amoral, aggressive, and absolutely loyal.
Rinzler was to spend the next years as CLU's hound, his secret police, his personal gladiator. He was a favorite in the Disc Wars even as programs lived in mortal terror of his masked silhouette outside the arena. And Flynn, mured away in his cave in the Outlands, knew nothing of what had happened to his old friend.
He would assume Tron had died in his defense for all that time, too--until his son, Sam, entered the Grid and drew him back out of hiding. Even then, there was no reunion between Rinzler/Tron and Kevin Flynn, just an eleventh hour meeting of the eyes while Flynn was trying to escape the program with Quorra and Sam. Something was communicated that was enough to wake Tron from his years of slumber and make him sacrifice his life a second time to protect the Users, so powerful was his devotion.
Instead of death by drowning in the Sea of Simulation, though, Rinzler awoke on the Barge with no knowledge of Tron's resurgence--only broken memories of Flynn doing something to him that resulted in CLU putting him down. It was his luck to be paired with the Warden Toshiko Sato, a woman with the patience, determination, and technological knowhow to put up with the peculiar problems he represented and fix the unique errors he encountered. Rinzler did not thrive in the Barge's hostile environment, but he survived to graduate.
Sample Journal Entry: [Text-only. Par for the course with Rinzler.]
Query: Barge status?
[A later edit adds:]
JA307020 once more present on Barge system.
Apologies to those who remained; anticipated earlier return.
Standard introduction: Security Program JA307020, designation "Rinzler," Class:Warden. Unassigned at present. Remit: Barge security.
Sample RP: Inmate Rinzler and Sarah Connor have adventures.
Newly minted Warden Rinzler does what he does best: Security!
Rinzler deals with CLU, with Toshiko's help.
Special Notes: Because a good chunk of Tron's backstory post-coup is still being revealed (via TRON: Uprising), Rinzler isn't going to remember any of the Uprising-era events initially. If it's all right with the mods, I'll slowly update him on that canon once the series completes via recovery of the lost memories. (Or, in the really unlikely event we get Uprising characters on the Barge, he can remember those parts of his history as he encounters them!)
