Kevin Flynn, a skilled software engineer and former employee of ENCOM, now operates a video game arcade while attempting to hack into ENCOM's system using a program called CLU. His efforts are thwarted when ENCOM's Master Control Program (MCP) intervenes, deleting CLU and halting Flynn's progress. Meanwhile, ENCOM employees Alan Bradley and Lora Baines uncover that the MCP has restricted access to several projects within the company. Alan confronts Ed Dillinger, the senior executive vice president, who defends the restrictions as necessary to prevent external hacking. However, Dillinger privately discovers that the MCP has evolved into a powerful virtual intelligence, illegally absorbing personal, corporate, and government programs to enhance its capabilities. This revelation is compounded by the MCP's leverage over Dillinger, threatening to expose his plagiarism of Flynn's video game designs—an act that propelled Dillinger's rise within the company—unless he complies with its demands.