``Stranger and Stranger...

Greetings, Program! My name is Tron. They call me the "User Champion", although I'm just fulfilling my objective for my User, Alan One. I'm sorry, I'm really not used to talking to that many Users - I've only met one, after all. But feel free to talk to me!

((-Is now the official Security Program of Drama Free Disney!-))

M!A: is Canarychirped's servant for one day (POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE)
accepting!

FC: Br... you know what? If you don't know who Tron's face claim is, go get derezzed.

I TRACK THE TAG XFIGHTSFORTHEUSERS. IF YOU DID NOT TAG IT, I PROBABLY DID NOT SEE IT.

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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

Program Headcanon

Note: This is not just a headcanon about Tron himself, but about Programs from the 1982 TRON movie in general. Of course, Legacy and other sequels have already flushed a good amount of this down the toilet, but I’m hoping at least some of this will make sense. Will add more if I have time or if something new comes up.

1. Programs consume and use Energy, and therefore cannot eat or drink.

Though it was shown here and there in the first film, it was made clear that Programs can survive through a special substance found in the System known as “Energy”. Though Programs are human in appearance, they are more like machines in their functions and anatomy. Unless circumstances made it that the Program was human (which, in nearly all of these cases, makes the Program exempt from these restrictions listed), then he is incapable of harboring a proper digestive system, and therefore cannot process “User food” through his own system. However, the substance “Energy” is safe and adapted for the Program’s anatomical system, becoming able to be provided as “fuel” for the “machine” that is the Program. It is the Program’s sole survival source, and a Program can naturally derezz if he runs completely out of Energy and is unable to obtain a source, similar to User starvation and/or thirst.

Programs are also naturally unused to the User behavior of eating and drinking regularly, as they obtain Energy when it is necessary for them to have it. Therefore, if they were to become human, they would have a very difficult time adjusting to the more dependent and constant method of survival.

2. Programs are physically unable to sleep.

As stated before, though Programs resemble human beings, they survive and operate more like a machine. Also previously mentioned was the fact that Energy for a Program is analogous to fuel for the aforementioned machine, causing it to function properly. Because the Program’s nature is that of a machine, he is also not anatomically structured to obtain Energy from within himself; it is for this reason that Energy is always obtained from an outside source. Sleep, on the other hand, is a way for a User to obtain Energy from within oneself, something the anatomical structure of a human being allows him to do. Therefore, though Programs may rest themselves for mental purposes, in most circumstances they receive no physical benefit in performing the action.

However, this does not mean that Programs are physically incapable of appearing to sleep. On the contrary, Programs are perfectly capable of lying stationary for a period of time with his eyes closed. However, there is not much purpose in doing this, as this position is usually associated with a slow and painful derezzing. This may cause some issues as when a Program should see a sleeping User, he may misinterpret this natural phenomenon as death.

3. If a Program happens to be in the World of the Users, water is fatal to him.

Programs are beings generated of mostly electricity, being from the System. Nowhere is this more prevalent than being outside of the System, most likely being in the World of the Users itself. As Programs are beings of electricity, reaction with water is mostly the same as with any product of electricity. Direct contact with water usually results in anything from a minor burn (similar to a strong acid burn) to a excruciatingly painful death by electrocution, depending on the amount of water the Program has made contact with. Most of these interactions are accompanied by a spark, part of the source of the Program’s pain.

4. Programs cannot reproduce.

There are several reasons for this restriction. Primarily, it is true that all Programs have Users, and all Programs are in the image of their Users. Therefore, it is nearly impossible for a Program not to have a User but to be a physical creation of the User’s creation himself. It is also physically impossible for a Program not to have a User, for it is therefore unable to have a true function and objective. Furthermore, for there to be an unexpected additional Program to the System, there would have to be additional interference from the User, for major changes to the System and to the state of the Program in question cannot happen independently. Another reason that it would be physically impossible for reproduction to be completely successful will be explained below:

5. Programs cannot grow and develop, only be updated.

Given their anatomy difference from Users and their machine-like nature, Programs take on the form of their User’s appearance from the time of the Program’s creation. Therefore, even though the User physically ages, the Program stays in the same physical state unless updated by his User. Even then, updates only affect a Program’s overall strength and function, not necessarily his appearance as designated by his User. This is another primary reason why Program reproduction, even if possible, would not be successful: Programs do not involuntarily grow and develop as they age, and unless the Program was to come into being as an “adult” (which would be similar to by User-related means), then the offspring would not ever be able to correctly function as a Program and would therefore be useless.
Just as they cannot grow and change, Programs also cannot have a “most basic state” other than the state they are currently in, save for User-induced updates. A Program’s most basic state - that is, his “youngest” state - is at the point where he is created by his User. This logic makes the concept of child Programs quite impossible, and the application of this concept would cause many spontaneous divisions by zero which would ultimately lead to the tearing of the fabric of space and time. Anons be warned.
6. An average Program’s lifespan is about five to seven User years.
Contrary to popular belief, many Programs will not outlive their Users without being updated. A single version of a Program can only live for about five to seven User years before he starts to deteriorate and become less efficient in his functions, or get “slower”. Once a Program has reached old age, he can either be derezzed in some way or deleted by his User. He can also be preserved by transferring him out of the System and putting him into a Disk, although this puts the Program in permanent isolation for the rest of his existence. Once a Program is in a Disk for long enough, transferring him to another System could mean natural deresolution.
There have been examples of Programs living outside of this lifespan, but they are very rare, and surviving for that long without an update will cause some definite repercussions, especially in System performance.
((wip))