“Hey, I wonder what it tastes like,” Flynn says right before shoveling virtual sand into his mouth.
“Flynn!” Tron shrieks, the sound reaching a register Flynn didn’t think possible. He’s already smacking the rest of the sand out of Flynn’s hand and sending it scattering across the beach. “You can’t just eat whatever you want!”
Flynn winks and says, “Oh, but can’t I?” but whatever effect he’s trying to have is significantly diminished by the particles of sand dribbling out of his mouth.
“Spit it out. Now.”
“But Tron—”
“Now, Flynn!”
Flynn complies. Tron wonders, not for the first time, if coming to the Grid was a mistake.
“You know what, though?” Flynn asks after wiping his face. “It doesn’t taste too bad.”
Tron looks at him, despairing. “Flynn—”
“Like, uh, Fun Dip. A flavor of Fun Dip created by extra-terrestrials from the other side of the universe. But finer. You know what I mean?”
“I have no idea what you just said. At all.”
“Okay, what part didn’t you get?”
“The—all of it. Any of it.”
“Okay, do you know what Fun Dip is?”
“No.”
“Extra-terrestrials?”
“No.”
Flynn furrows his brow. “The universe?”
“No, Flynn, I don’t,” Tron says.
“Oh my god,” Flynn says with a sigh. “I can’t believe you don’t know what Fun Dip is.”
“Well if it tastes like sand, then I don’t need to know what it is.”
“Sand? Oh—right, that’s what we were talking about.” Flynn stares at the sand thoughtfully, then, and then glances at Tron. “You should really try some, man.”
Tron levels him with a flat, unamused look. “I’m not going to try sand, Flynn.”
“Aw, come on! It tastes good!”
“You’re aware that that’s a weird thing to say, right? About sand?”
“Just—eat some sand, man!”
“No!”
Flynn grabs a handful of sand and moves to hold it up to Tron’s mouth. “Come on, just—”
“What—Flynn, no, you can’t make me eat sand—”
“Dude, trust me on this, it’s actually really good—”
“No!” Tron screams, ducks away from Flynn’s hand, and bolts down the shoreline.
“Wh—Tron! Tron, it’s just sand!” Flynn calls out with a laugh, and takes off after him.
And they run like that for much longer than they need to, Tron’s screeches of distress morphing into laughter, until Flynn manages to tackle him to the ground and Tron throws him into the Sea of Simulation.