Forward: This is a Cross-Over Fan Fiction between the the movie “TRON” and the cartoon series “Reboot”, this story takes place a few months after the events in the first TRON film, as well as during and directly after “Daemon Rising” in Reboot. However I am only using the two worlds which I have combined to use as a setting for my own story, the characters in this story are my own creation and while it is possible in the future (if this series is well received and it continues long enough) that a couple of pre-existing characters might make appearances, I will note these characters and give credit to their origins at that time.
Guardian-Warrior: Meltd0wn
(There are simple viruses, there are complex viruses, and yes sometimes there are even worse things than viruses, these are spread all over the net. There are different types of protection against these threats. Most common are the virus scanners and firewalls. But there are other types of security programs also available some of these programs were referred to as ‘Guardian’ programs which work similar to virus scanners but also aid in fixing other problems that may arise in the protected systems or servers.)
[USA]
Greg, a seemingly up and coming young hacker had never really put much thought into the fact that he was breaking the law with most of his activities, as a matter of fact he always made it a point to make sure that he didn’t do anything to harm other people or property. For him it was all about the challenge and constantly learning and improving his skills and abilities. During these many adventures he of course had encountered and cracked most of the different types of Guardian programs as well as had been attacked by quite a few viruses, which he had not only successfully stopped but also copied to examine later to figure out how they were created and sometimes who created them, as you never know when such information could possibly come in handy.
Greg was spending yet another typical evening fooling around roaming from system to system exploring and snooping just for the fun of it as usual, and while he was just idly browsing through some files that he had no right to be viewing his computer was hit hard by something powerful, which quickly started shutting down all of his programs and was also starting to affect his hardware. As soon as he noticed something was wrong, he quickly shut down his system and severed his connection to the net. Surprisingly this actually completely stopped whatever was attacking his system, which he discovered as soon as he attempted to restart his system again, and even more confusing was that upon further inspection, there was no trace of any virus or mal-ware left in his computer, just the non-functioning programs and useless hardware left as a reminder that it was actually attacked.
While going through the long process of salvaging what had survived the attack and trying to repair what hadn’t, Greg started to reflect back on his less than legal activities that he had been participating in and he decided that it was time for a change.
While he was rebuilding and upgrading his computer, Greg also decided to attempt writing a new program basing it similar to the Guardian programs but also incorporating the aggressiveness and versatility of a virus, without the uncontrolled malice and destructive nature of course.
About 5 weeks have now passed since the attack, Greg has spent much of this time down in his room either rebuilding his system or working on his new project and basically only took breaks to eat, wash, relieve himself and on occasion even sleep. His parents were used to their sons behavior, while he wasn’t always a recluse as he did have friends and even though he was what many called a nerd or a geek he still enjoyed a somewhat social life of hanging out with these friends at the arcade or movies, but on occasion he would get absorbed into a project and would practically seclude himself away from others till it was complete, this was of course one of those times and his parents just assumed that it was just his reaction to the global event that happened on the net which they heard about on the news a few weeks ago, Greg however being so wrapped up in what he was working on that he never took the time to watch any TV or read any newspapers or magazines during this time and so was completely unaware that the rest of the world had also experienced the attack on the net at different levels. All governments were quick to keep a fairly tight lid on how massive the attack actually was and it was played off as just a simple hiccup in the net and while it was felt globally it was nothing serious. Thankfully no governments or utilities had been compromised and most major corporations were able to quickly recover and or rebuild. Even the media downplayed the importance of what happened and with the rare occasion of references by comedians and conspiracy theorist most of the world soon moved on and forgot about it.
Once his computer was finally ready and his new Guardian-Warrior program was up and running Greg decided to reconnect to the net. He was very surprised to see how things had changed in the few weeks he was gone. To the common person nothing would seem out of the ordinary, but to a person like Greg who spent most of his time manipulating this world he could tell some major changes had taken place during his absence. He quickly stopped by his favorite chat room to hopefully learn more about what has been going on and was almost instantly flooded with greetings and questions about his absence. Unlike the outside world all the different hacker chat rooms were full of stories and speculation on what happened and why or how it ended almost as suddenly as it had started but nobody has stepped forward to take credit and prove that they were the ones, and no one has yet been able to even discover exactly what had even happened and who or what was involved or to blame.
After a few days of listening to every ones stories and experiences as well as some looking around and some minor hacking when needed here and there, he discovered that something very powerful and very controlling had almost taken over the entire net. The realization that something like this could have happened and the possibility that it could just as easily happen again made Greg believe that programs like his were needed more than ever, however some new alterations needed to be added to his program using this new information he had acquired.
The new updated Guardian-Warrior program has all the same aspects it had before which included virus scanner, system protection and repair utilities and the ability to recognize, locate and destroy mal-ware, but it is now designed to learn as it goes and to be able to specialize its growth according to its location and needs. Once Greg was satisfied that this new program was ready he decided to name it ‘Meltd0wn’ which was his hacker handle and he wanted it to now be recognized as something positive. Greg decided to offer ‘Meltd0wn’ and his services to Encom, the people who had been supplying the current top Guardian program, and were also not only known for their dedication to security, but also had a hand in some of the most popular (and his personal favorite) video games ever created.
Upon close examination and scrutiny of his work and noticing that it was not only better than the upgrades their team was currently working on but was significantly more advanced than even the companies current planed future goals, They of course offered Greg a job and as quickly as possible worked the Meltd0wn program into their list of products, and even started using it as one of their own personal security programs.
>Software Name: Meltd0wn
>Format: Guardian-Warrior
>Company: Encom
>Start-up Date: Sat 03/03/2001 04:42:55 GMT
>start-up sequence Engaged.
>>> End of Line <<<
[The Net]
“Greetings:
I come from a User, I am created from cracked guardian commands and contained viruses, I’m from everywhere.
My format is Guardian-Warrior, my purpose is to be a defender of the innocent by defending against viruses, worms, and any form of enemy intrusions.
My name? Meltd0wn.
Some say that the net is evil, others claim it’s just a tool and neither good or evil.
I believe it’s what you put in it, and unfortunately many chose to input evil.
WARNING TO ALL WHO INTEND HARM.
Meltd0wn is activated.”