Lora Bradley

“

This laser's my life's work. Don't spill anything, huh?

”

Lora Baines Bradley
Biographical information
Status	Alive
Physical description
Gender	Female
Hair Color	Blond
Eye Color	Blue
Other information
Functions	ENCOM Programmer and Developer of Digitization technology
Programs	Yori Ma1a Ma2a Ma3a
Vehicles	ENCOM Van
Allies	Alan Bradley Jet Bradley Kevin Flynn Walter Gibbs
Out of universe information
Actor	Cindy Morgan
Appearances	TRON TRON 2.0 TRON: The Ghost in the Machine TRON: Betrayal Flynn Lives
Gallery

Lora Baines-Bradley is a programmer and scientist who wrote Yori and, together with Walter Gibbs, built ENCOM's digitizing laser in TRON. Formerly romantically involved with Kevin Flynn, she later married Alan Bradley while continuing her career at ENCOM and later in Washington. She was also a key figure in the backstory of TRON 2.0, as a devoted digitization researcher, the writer of the program later upgraded into Ma3a, and the mother of Jet Bradley. Lora is portrayed by Cindy Morgan.

Biography

TRON

Lora first appeared as a computer scientist (and perhaps physicist) working directly with ENCOM founder Walter Gibbs in ENCOM's digitization lab. The two were on the eve of a breakthrough, and Lora patiently listened to Gibbs's banter about semantics as they finished setting the laser's programming to dematerialize and rematerialize an orange. As they retreated from the laser bay to a safe area, Lora remarked that this test would prove Gibbs's theory. With the help of Lora's program, Yori, the experiement was a success.

Celebrating this triumph along with Gibbs, Lora was joined by her then-boyfriend Alan Bradley, who was upset about losing computer access due to a security breach within ENCOM. Lora immediately suspected that Kevin Flynn, who had the same Group 7 access as Alan, could have been behind the security breach. As the two left the laser bay, she relayed her suspicions to Alan, who remarked sourly that Flynn, Lora's former lover, had had "access" to her too.

Despite Alan's reservations, Lora was determined to warn Flynn that Ed Dillinger, ENCOM's CEO, knew about his hacking. Prevailing upon Alan to accompany her, she drove to Flynn's Arcade, gently teasing her territorial partner by joking that she had loved Flynn "for his brains" and that Alan shouldn't put any quarters in the meter because "we'll need them for the games." They arrived just as Flynn was beating his own record at Space Paranoids and accompanied him upstairs to talk. Lora, having made it clear that she was still with Alan, threw a couch pillow at Flynn after he repeatedly flirted with her and needled Alan about his and Lora's past relationship.

Mediated by Lora's presence, Flynn and Alan slowly forgot their rivalry as Flynn explained his ousting from ENCOM and reasons for hacking the mainframe. Lora then warned Flynn that Dillinger knew about the hacking. Flynn's frustration at this news was allayed by Alan's certainty that his TRON program could shut down the MCP and prove Flynn's case, and Lora, holding up the keys to the ENCOM van that could get them back onto the company grounds, sealed the conspiratorial bond between the three of them with the words, "Shall we dance?"

Back at ENCOM, Lora sneaked Flynn into the digitizing lab and placed him at her own computer console, ignoring his pranks and mischief on the way. Leaving him there to release TRON for Alan's instructions, she cautioned him that the laser behind him was her life's work: "Don't spill anything, huh?" With that warning, she exited the lab to join Alan at his cubicle, unaware that moments later the MCP would use the laser breakthrough she'd made to digitize Flynn and conscript him into the Game Grid.

Although Lora had no knowledge of Flynn's digital adventure or of his return to the real world, her laser program, Yori, did cross paths with him on the other side of the screen, shocking him with her resemblance to Lora. While Yori's devotion to Alan's digital doppelganger, Tron, mirrored Lora's relationship with Alan, Yori seemed to share some of Lora's feelings for Flynn as well.

After Flynn's rise to power at ENCOM, Lora and Alan waited for his arrival at the ENCOM helicopter pad, where he met them with an exuberant "Greetings, programs!" and a three-way hug.

TRON 2.0

As the prequel story for TRON 2.0 began, Lora and Alan announced that they would be having a child in May 1982 and asked Flynn to become the godfather of their child. Flynn agreed, and Lora's son, Jethro Eugene Bradley, was born to the Bradleys in December 1982.

In 1984, Lora discovered serious problems with the digitizing process that could not be corrected without the MCP. In 1988, she developed the Math Assistant One Audio application - Ma1a, a generic voice-interactive application to front-end a research tool. In 1990, Kevin Flynn left ENCOM as Gibbs Jr. took over, but Lora and Flynn remained in contact. In 1994, a digitizing laser misfired in the lab, fatally wounding Lora.

Lora's death deeply affected Jet's relationship with his father and provided several important plot points in the game. More important was the program Lora left behind, Ma1a, who was upgraded into Ma2a shortly after Lora's death and into Ma3a by the game's present-day time. Ma3a, whose voice has elements of Lora's although her appearance in no way resembles her User, is a key figure in Jet's journey through the ENCOM system.

While there is no specific suggestion in the game TRON 2.0, ENCOM rumours accessible in the game suggest that by 1996, Ma2a was showing traits similar to Lora's. The vocal similarities are also pointed out, and some of Ma3a's plot elements suggest that something of Lora's spirit lives on in her. TRON: The Ghost in the Machine confirms this belief when Jet relays to his program, Jet.exe, that his mother didn't die, as her mind lives on through Ma3a.

TRON: Betrayal and TRON: Legacy

Lora and Alan at the 2010 ENCOM Press Conference

In the official TRON Universe canon, Lora lived and eventually married Alan Bradley. Lora made a brief appearance in the graphic novel, TRON: Betrayal, announcing to Kevin that she had been offered a job in Washington. When Flynn inquired about her relationship with Alan, she assured him she and Alan would make it work despite the distance the job would create.

Although Lora does not appear in TRON: Legacy, Cindy Morgan has appeared as the character at events associated with the Flynn Lives ARG that promoted the movie, in particular a press conference announcing Space Paranoids Online which was interrupted by both the Flynn Lives Organization and by a skydiving Sam Flynn. Alan called her to the stage during his speech, introducing her as "honey" and "my lovely bride" and reminding the audience that anyone who'd been there since the beginning knew how vital she was to the company's success. Lora affectionately greeted Alan, fondly recalled ENCOM's days of digitizing oranges, and thanked the crowd for being there. Several emails between Alan and Lora also appeared in the online components of the ARG, "hacked" by members of Flynn Lives; she signs off with a fondly humorous "Your way better half," and appears on his contact list as "The Best."

Trivia

• In the TRON novelization by Brian Daley, Lora's title is given as Dr., and she is described as Gibbs's deputy team leader and colleague, "not long finished with her post-graduate studies, and already an acknowledged leader in her field; her work in computers had won her international recognition." Her age in the book is given as "mid-twenties"; Cindy Morgan, born in 1954, would have been 28 when the first movie was made.
• Morgan, who played both Lora and her program Yori, explained in The Making of TRON that she perceived Yori as having some of Lora's feelings and emotions but none of her life experiences, and that Lora's feelings for Flynn allowed Yori to recognize a connection with him without knowing why.
• In a deleted scene in one of the original scripts, Flynn and Alan hid in the back of the ENCOM van while Lora drove past the checkpoints and up to the building.