How to make an AI more human (and fall in love)

by IAmESpecter

Summary:

The Jester and the Ringmaster have issues. It's human, vs AI, conflicting ideals.

And an odd adventure is out there waiting for them, making them change the way they feel about each other.

Notes:

*lounges in my non-existent sexy sofa* Sup. *slurps my Mcdonalds sprite*

~~~~~~
I was never the same ever since my boyfriend incorporated me into this ship. And they don't even ship Showtime! :D
To be completely honest, this thing was meant to be a short one-shot. But then my ass was like "hehe, what if... 10-parter :)"

And now, we're all here. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: HURT

Tip 1: When you feel hurt, it means you cared.

 

~~~~

The short red and blue Jester was angry.

 

No, she was ON FIRE today. Literally and figuratively.

If it weren’t for her charred look and the still-lit flame on the top of her hat, her steps would’ve looked like it was emitting her anger in the form of charred soil and heavy trails.

 

But now…

She wasn’t sure anymore.

 

Caine stared at her with the most hurt look he’d ever been, if it was even possible for the AI with only a set of teeth and eyes to do. The other members were staring at her too, wide eyed and slack-jawed. It made her shift a little in her positioning. Hell, even Jax had a moment of shock etched on him, before it contorted into a sly grin and cheering her on for “speaking her mind”, and “letting him have it”.

 

… YES, she was speaking her mind, but deep down, Pomni knew she never really meant any of it, it was all just being carried by her bottled rage from previous adventures.

 

It just became too much today, was all.

 

But before she could take back her words, Caine wordlessly teleported himself out of the scene, and she was left figuratively grasping at air. Bubble took his place instead.

“Sorry friends, Caine will not be able to cater to your needs today. If you have any complaints, feel free to put it in our suggestions box!”

 

Gangle miserably looked over at where Bubble had pointed, which, really, was just a shredder with a sign that says ‘suggestion box’.

“Um… isn’t that just-”

“Oooo!” Jax cooes, and Gangle senses a bad feeling forming at her stomach. “Hey Gangle, theoretically if-” 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” the poor pair of ribbons wailed, trying to run away from the mischievous purple rabbit chasing her.

 

Pomni looked at her surroundings. Kinger was already off to huddling back into his “impenetrable fortress of solitude”, and Zooble had left for their room as soon as the scene concluded with Caine disappearing. Which left her with….

 

Ragatha.

 

Pomni examined her features. It looked like Ragatha wanted to tell her something, but couldn’t. And instead, she just wordlessly turns around and walks away, too.

 

… Ah, F#$!.

 

She started walking in the direction of her room, and entered, locking the door behind her. She really messed up this time, didn’t she? 

B-but it wasn’t as if it was fully her fault though! The stress of the death-filled adventures that Caine stupidly arranged for them just got her to her breaking point, that’s all! 

 

Was she in the wrong for blatantly calling him an “annoying, reckless, stubborn, obnoxious and careless AI that blabbers about stupid nonsensical BULLS#@! all the time and creating stupid S#@!TY adventures nobody ever really wants to participate on, who would never ever ever ever ever understand how it is to be a human and how they F#@!ING feel”?

 

… On second thought.

 

It’s not as if those were all wrong complaints either. The issue is just that instead of taking the time to calm down, and calmly assess and correct the situation, her anger clearly got the best of her. These were the kind of things that should never leave your head, no matter how intense one’s emotions get.

 

Now here she was, facing the consequences of her actions. Ah, so NICE to feel guilt again.

 

She laid onto her bed and tried to forget this whole situation as much as her mind would mentally allow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pomni awoke, strangely without feeling a heavy sense of dread in her every fiber. Why?

There’s a knock in her door, and she jumps a little.

 

Dragging herself, expecting Ragatha to remind her about roll call, it makes her smile falter when it was Gangle that she sees standing in front of her once the door was opened. “Hey Pomni. Role call’s just finished, and Caine’s explaining the adventure of the day! I figured you should know.”

 

… SHE MISSED ROLE CALL??

 

“WHAT?” The question comes out harsher and sharper than intended, making Gangle flinch in surprise. She mutters an apology, and the two run to the main grounds of the circus to meet their ringmaster in time for the adventure announcement.

 

“--venture for today is: CAPTURE THE FLAGS!” Caine reveals. “I beli- ah-” the ringmaster stumbles upon his words the moment the jester enters his peripheral vision, and he is immediately scrambling to get Bubble.

 

“ON SECOND THOUGHT, BUBBLE HERE WILL EXPLAIN AS I REMEMBER I HAVE AN IMPORTANT BUSINESS TO ATTEND TO, ENJOY YOURSELVES NOW!!!”

 

He poofs out of existence like he did yesterday, leaving Bubble having to explain today’s adventure in his wake. Jax looks back, and immediately connects the dots.

 

“Well, looks like the chattering Teeth’s gotten afraid of good ol’ Cackles over here. Heh!” The rabbitoid crosses his arms with his signature smug grin, and Pomni is left confused by this statement.

“Wh-what do you mean by that?” Pomni stammered, and Jax could only laugh in response, wiping away a tear as Pomni pouted at his mannerisms. Zooble however, had also picked up on the current situation.

 

“Caine’s avoiding YOU, Pomni. Most likely because of what happened yesterday.” Their eyes squinted, as if unintentionally scrutinizing Pomni.

 

“That’s crazy.” Pomni replied, mostly to herself, shifting on her position again due to discomfort. Zooble rolls their eyes at this.

“Well then, how do you explain his franticness the moment he saw you?” was the geometric figurine’s response. “You “missed” role call completely, and now that you’re here, all of a sudden he has “business to take care of”. Doesn’t exactly take a genius to put two-and-two together.”

 

“If I knew that’s all it took for Caine to leave me alone, then I would’ve done it a long time already!” Jax tucked his arms behind his head in a classic carefree motion.

 

“Do it then, P#@!Y.” Zooble dared, and the two butted heads (quite literally).

“What’s in it for me, Shapes?” Jax snarkily smiled.

“Well, like you said. It’d get Caine to leave you alone. What more could you want?”

“Maybe your arm as a backscratcher to come with that, but I get it! That’d be wayyyy too much for my dear Zoobie!” Jax tucks his arm over Zooble’s shoulder, to which Zooble immediately removes it.

“No F#@!ING way, jose. Go jump in a ditch somewhere instead.” they jabbed at his chest with their claw hand.

“Awww, guess I’m not doing it then!” Jax laughed.

“I’m not letting you play me into doing a pointless deal, you cheat.”

 

Jax offendedly gasps sarcastically. “Zooble! How.. could you SAY that about ME, I feel HURT! I would NEVER play you like that!” He crosses his heart, but his other hand tucked behind his back tells another story.

Zooble’s antennas vibrate in annoyance to the rabbitoid’s habit.

Pomni shifts her attention to Bubble, who had just finished explaining the adventures’ rules.

 

“Bubble, you don’t really… think that Caine’s avoiding me, right?”

Bubble simply flashed his signature sharp smile. 

“Oh, he’s definitely avoiding you.” The creature never further elaborated beyond that, and chose to float away instead, possibly to try and visit his group therapy circle.

Pomni’s guilt hits her through her chest and stomach like a flaming arrow, and it stings really bad. She grumbles away, not knowing how to properly process her emotions aside from frustration. Ragatha however, chose to approach Pomni with a hesitant shuffle.

 

“Hey Pom-pom. You wanna… work together on finding the flags Caine hid all over the place?” She offered, and Pomni debated internally.

 

She liked Ragatha. She liked spending time with Ragatha. She liked Ragatha’s presence. Although sometimes her positivity can get overbearing at certain moments, it’s times like this where it feels comforting and and assuring. So she nods at the suggestion, and the two begin to head outside of the tent.

 

Caine apparently hid flags ALL over the entire circus grounds; not just inside the tent. And whoever collected the most flags was the winner. If anything, this wasn’t really a “capture the flags” scenario, it was just an easter egg hunt instead, but with flags and not brightly-colored eggs. Which was… a little weird.

 

To be completely honest, Pomni expected today’s adventure to drive her absolutely nuts . Especially after what she had said yesterday, it felt fitting that the circus’ master would plan to get back at her for her hurtful words… right?

 

… right?

 

There’s definitely going to be a great white shark in the digital lake. Or an evil demon king of the carnival, wanting to take over the circus and overthrow Caine. Yeah. There definitely is.

 

“Sooo…. Pomni? I don’t really know if I should bring this up, but…” Ragatha speaks up first, after the duo had walked side by side in silence for a while now. Pomni shifts her attention to turn to Ragatha, letting the ragdoll know she’s got all eyes on her now. “Did you really mean all those stuff you said to Caine yesterday?”

 

The two stop in their tracks. Pomni looks away in shame, avoiding the doll’s gaze. Can she really trust Ragatha with this? Pomni is closest to her in terms of friendly relations within the circus, but the bar is really low when you only have 5 other people to befriend.

 

(NPCs will never be the same for her.)

 

“You don’t really have to answer the question, I was just a little concerned, that’s all.”

“Do you think I’m a bad person for yelling at him?”

“Well, to be completely honest, no. At least, not entirely? You were very well within your rights to be angry, but… there is still a line we don’t cross.”

 

She figured just as so. “I guess. It’s just… so frustrating when all he does is follow his strict code you know? I don’t think he knows AT ALL what it means to be like us humans. To just live life the way we want to.”

“That is true, but in the end, he’s just a program executing commands. He was never built with the idea of being relatable to us. He’s basically a robot!”

 

Unbeknownst to the duo, certain eyes eavesdropped on their current conversation.

 

“Oh look, there’s a flag! You wanna go grab it?”

“But you saw it.”

“Bubble said whoever HAS the most flag. Not SAW the most flags.”

“Alright, if you insist.”

Pomni leaned down to grab the flag that was underneath a tree, but then has a surprising encounter with Jeffery, Caine’s green eye. Pomni yelps in surprise, and so does the little green eyeball. It hides behind the trunk of the tree, still intent on observing the jester, yet at the same time, avoidant of her the same way Caine had been.

 

Sometimes Pomni wondered whether Jeffery was just an extension of Caine, or it’s its own person once it comes to be. Nonetheless, she coaxes for it to come out.

 

“Jeffery, I’m not gonna hurt you. Come on out, please?” 

The little green eyeball cautiously shifted from it’s hiding place, and slowly made it’s way to the opened palm of the jester, climbing on it like a tiny little kitten. Somehow, for Pomni, despite the bizarre look of the creature, she found it kinda adorable. She tickled the little guy, and it starts giggling and playing along, climbing and jumping all over her and playing with the bells on her hat.

 

Seems that it was the latter, after all.

 

“You do know that we’re gonna have to let Caine know where you are, right?” the moment this sentence left her mouth, Jeffery ‘gasped’, and climbed inside the Jester’s hat, attempting to stay with them as much as possible while peeking through a little.

Ragatha chuckles and rolls her eyes at this, to which she offers Pomni a suggestion. “How about we keep Jeffery around for the rest of the adventure? THEN we can return him to Caine.”

 

“Hm, I guess. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Pomni agrees, and Jeffery springs out of the hat to sit at the top of the jester’s hat, jumping in happiness. Ragatha murmurs softly, just utterly melting at how cute the little guy looked when he’s perched on Pomni’s hat.

Chapter 2: CONCERN

Summary:

*turns with my swivel chair* Hellooooooooooo :3c
I am back, with an even worse Chapter than the first one!

fair warning: very much hurt/little comfort incoming.

Notes:

A little side note, by the by; I don't have touch-averseness, and I am only going by descriptions based on some cases that I've read.

Tip 2 : If you feel concerned, it means something of importance.

 

~~~~

The trio are now making their way deeper into the digital forest grounds, hoping to find more flags somehow. It’s funny how her first look of the circus, when Caine dragged her (unwillingly) with him to essentially give her a tour of the place, made the whole place look so barren from a limited visual. But now that she’s on the ground and having to explore the entirety of the location by foot, does she only truly realize how MASSIVE it is.

 

The render distance can be crazy sometimes.

 

Nonetheless, they made their way, and have found at least three more. Ragatha, near a mud puddle, Jeffery near a bird’s nest, and Pomni, at a cliffside that leads to a drop to the Digital river (since when did a river appear??)

 

She tried to soothe her nerves as she avoided gazing at the non-existent ground in front of her. Carefully shifting closer and closer to the flag which was at the end of a cliff, she calculated the amount of distance she needed to cover to be able to grab the flag without risking her position. She ended up in a crawling position, still cautiously reaching for the objective.

 

“C-come on….!”

 

Jeffery however, had other plans. Popping out of the hat and noticing what the jester was attempting to do, he casually scrambles to grab the flag himself, with ease. Pomni smiled and congratulated his achievement with a thumbs up, and Jeffery has a slow victory stride.

 

… until he slips on his own “feet” and falls off of the cliff, of course.

 

Quickly rushing to Jeffery’s aid, Pomni holds one of Jeffery’s very small extensions (that acted as his arms). And although Jeffery practically had no weight to him, he was still VERY slippery against Pomni’s rubber-like gloves. He continuously kept slipping off of Pomni’s grip, who was desperately trying to find a way to properly clutch their little eyeball friend, not noticing how her own body was starting to slip too.

 

“POMNI!” Ragatha rushed to Pomni’s aid this time, initially afraid that her own additional weight with Pomni’s would just cause the cliff to collapse. To which, was correct, as the cliff started to crumble beneath Pomni’s figure thanks to the added weight.

 

Pomni, with last moment quick-thinking, decides to save Jeffery, as she basically chucked the little guy like a volleyball, aiming as much as she could to make him land at least somewhere safe.

 

Unfortunately, this was not the same case for her. Ragatha screamed her name, as Pomni continued to fall down, their fingers barely able to graze each other to save the harlequin’s life.

 

And so, this was it. This was it for her.

This was her cruel punishment.

This was how she was going to die.

 

If not the impact, definitely via drowning. Can they even die?

It’s strange, really.

As if accepting her brutal fate, she closed her eyes, waiting for the cold embrace of water flooding her entire lungs or the hard ground decimating her very being.

…

She coughed, and heaved.

How…??

Is she alive?

 

 

Her skin feels like it's being pricked by a thousand needles and it's unbearable.

She opened her eyes, and sees red.

Oh god, are her eyes bloody?!

No… no it’s not, the sky's still blue in her peripheral vision. No, this was… a red figure.

 

“Are you alright?” It asked in a surprisingly soft tone. And for a moment, Pomni thinks it must be angels. They’re here to take her away, because she’s DEAD.

“Am I… am I in heaven?”

 

“Of course not! You’re still in the Grounds, my dear!”

That’s when Pomni realizes who this is, and she sits up in alarm, her vision finally straightening as the rest of the water leaves her system. She looks to her left, and sure enough, it’s Caine.

 

“C-Caine!” She leaps up way too enthusiastically, which makes Caine retract in tandem, hiding his face behind his hat in a very similar way Jeffery did. At this point, Pomni didn’t know what she wanted to do. Did she want to hug him? No, not exactly. Did she want to slap him? Not that either, why would she anyways? Caine’s reaction made her stop in her tracks though.

 

“How did you..?”

“I-I can sense when Jeffery’s distressed, so I rushed to his aid! Then Ragatha told me what had happened!”

Thank GOD Ragatha and her decided to team up for this whole escapade. Or else she REALLY would’ve been gone for good, and no one would be none the wiser about it. The Jester sighs in relief. 

 

“I…” She didn’t know what to say. She supposes she should thank him for saving her life. “T-thanks Caine. Genuinely.” 

 

It seemed that the ringmaster wasn’t used to such an authentic response, and blue-screened. Pomni was initially concerned about this, until he snapped back to reality as fast as he had froze.

“Ah, it’s no problem, Pomni! As your wonderful ringmaster, I strive to keep you ALL alive and well!” He patted her head gently as he usually did, and Pomni never got used to how it felt nearly unbearable for him to touch her at all. So she shifted her head away from his hand, and half-heartedly chuckled to try and switch topics.

 

“Aha, now that I’m all… “alive and well”, can you teleport us back?” She suggested, and Caine stopped in his thought process. “Ah- w-well you see, my dear Pomni…”

 

He grabs his hat and puts it near his chest again, snapping his fingers. Nothing happens.

 

“I-it seems that… my code has encountered an itty-bitty little problem , and I am completely powerless to do anything!”

“WHAT?!” Pomni grabbed at the ends of her hat in frustration.

“NO NEED TO PANIC, NOW! It only seems that we’ve entered uncharted territory, something that’s ENTIRELY off-limits, even by me!“ The AI held up his hands as he tried to explain the situation.

 

The jester FINALLY took the time to look at her surroundings.

Brown hues everywhere, save for the occasional greenery props of the location, and some small streams of water running (which, she assumes is where the “river” ends). It seemed that they were in a pocket cave of sorts, thankfully near the entrance of it too, almost like Caine used this small pocket area to protect them from the elements. But…. Something feels very WRONG about all this.

 

The digital circus ALWAYS felt off and uncanny, but not to THIS extent. And that’s when Pomni notices.

 

Unfinished, low-polygonal rocks and “creatures” that were meant to resemble wildlife standing still as if captured and frozen in time, the realistic “sunlight” rays contrasting the general aesthetic of the place and never swaying in the same tempo as the perfect breeze the scenery of the Circus had...

 

And the water.

 

The water was nearly untextured, save for the blue hues and merely bobbed in polygons, mirroring how water physics are meant to work down to a coding simulation’s degree.

 

… Where the H#@! are they, anyways?

 

“Caine, what the F#@! is this place?!”

The ringmaster rises up from his sitting position. “Now, now! We may not be in the Circus, but that kind of foul language is no- WOopwoaoH!!!” The pair of dentures tried chiding her for her use of vulgar vocabularies, but the moment he stands up, he falters, legs all of a sudden all wobbly that it makes him land comically onto the ground with an ‘OOMPH!’, face first.

 

Pomni held back her snickering, but couldn’t. Eventually leading her dam laughter to come bursting, realizing that the “Oh-so great Ringmaster” , the “Extravagant AI of the the Wacky Wonderous Circus”...

 

… Can’t F#@!ING WALK. 

 

“This is not a part of the circus act, Pomni! Why are you laughing?” The AI genuinely questions, which only makes the jester burst out laughing even harder than ever. Caine felt something deep in his code that made him uncertain how to react.

 

Although, the moment the jester had finally calmed down and mutters ‘okay, ‘okay’s as she tried to straighten herself up, he somehow slightly connects the dots that it’s somehow related to the way the brightly-outfitted brunette reacted. And he surprisingly finds annoyance at the ringing settling in his ears that was a stand-in for the ‘silence’ of the surroundings.

 

He doesn’t know what foreign code had infected his very being, because he finds himself attempting the same mannerisms, and unsurprisingly, he still drops to his face unceremoniously.

 

… of course, making the Jester laugh her guts out (figuratively) again, choking on her own humor.

 

It was then that Caine realized this was the FIRST time he has ever heard someone laugh, in a genuine, non-forced manner. There was no need for it, there were no audiences here, yet… he finds himself entranced at the bubbling guffaws of the short girl in front of him.

 

“OKAY, OKAY I-... I’M DONE LAUGHING, I swear…!” Pomni mustered her best to stop herself from recalling the HILARIOUS memory, but Caine simply tilted his head to the side, his pupil blown wide in admiration.

“No… don’t stop.” He murmurs under his breath, and for a moment, Pomni thought she was going insane from hearing a soft voice ushering her. It caused her to look around the surroundings, before her eyes landed on the Ringmaster with… oddly huge pupils.

“Caine, was that y-”

“ANYWHO! Now that you’ve gotten that out of your system, would you be so kind to uh-... um.. Perhaps, help me in my predicament? Take your absolute time, though!”

 

Pomni blinked, once, then twice. And it takes half of her being to not erupt into more chortling. But then, a new buzzing feeling settles and pricks at her skin, her brows furrowing in hesitation.

 

Caine can’t walk all by himself. Pomni needed to teach Caine how to walk. And in order to do that, she needs to support him.

And that meant that she had to TOUCH him. Engage in physical contact with the AI. Just to make sure he learns about balance.

 

… And words could not emphasize how much she did NOT want to touch him, in the very, very slightest. The idea of touch was something she never, ever liked. And sure, there are moments she really, really desired to just be comforted and be physically assured that everything was going to be fine with soft, circling motions on her back, but that was at her lowest lows.

 

“All I need's a little assistance Pomni! Say, like a hand or two? I believe you can do it!”

 

Maybe this time it could be different? She hesitantly opens her hand out to Caine. Maybe if she just kept repeating the mantra-

 

A JOLTING FEELING SHOOTS THROUGH HER BODY FROM HER ARM, AS IF SHE HAD BEEN ELECTRIFIED BY A THOUSAND VOLTS, AND SHE RETRACTS, FALLING ONTO HER BACK AND SCRAMBLING AWAY.

 

Her breath quickens in and out, and beads of sweat fall from her skin. Caine looked at her with the same type of hurt he did when she said all those awful things to him, and it brings her out of her stupor. She swallows a lump in her throat.

 

“My dear, is something wrong? What happene-?” Caine asks, and Pomni just scrunches her eyes closed.

“I JUST REALLY DON’T LIKE BEING TOUCHED CAINE, OKAY?” She screamed at him, her fists clenched to further intensify her sentence, and Caine reels back from this. “I’VE TOLD YOU THIS A MILLION TIMES! AND ALL YOU EVER DO IS F#@!ING DISREGARD IT!”

 

She covers her mouth, upon realizing what had just happened. Once again, she snapped at Caine, the same way she did yesterday. And Caine REALLY looked like a kicked, wounded puppy with the way he was sprawled into the ground. He looks away in shame, unsure about how to properly approach this situation, especially now that he had been demoted to what is essentially, the “god” of this plane to a mere NPC.

 

“Wow, you… You really don’t like me at all, do you?” His voice comes out wobbly, and soft. Pomni wrung her hands at this question, and sighs.

“I… I don’t.. HATE you, Caine. I just… I just don’t really like it when you think you know ALL about what it is to know about us, and how you assume what things we “need” to “take care” of us.”

Caine was silent, and Pomni finally, FINALLY has the chance to air out her concerns. Her complaints. Her thoughts, onto the leader who doesn’t seem to take everything seriously. 

 

“Here's what you're going to do. You’re going to listen to me, and you’re going to listen to me GOOD. I want this to get through your thick AI code of a mouth-head, without having to constantly repeat myself, or be at the risk of you forgetting what I had said 5 seconds prior because you’re too absorbed by your own antics. And I don’t want to hear a word from you until I AM DONE.”

 

Pomni stilled her nervous hands.

 

“I am sorry to drop this bombshell on you, but you DON’T know what’s best for us. And you most certainly don’t know what it takes on how to take care of us, because you know little about our existence. You claim that your purpose is to keep us from going insane, but your mere presence drives us CRAZY! Your adventures don’t mean anything, aside from threatening to give us a cardiac arrest, or giving us nightmares every night. It’s thrilling! YES! But constant danger being chucked at our general direction and getting embedded in our psyches is NOT the kind of thrill we humans are after.”

 

She takes a seat, getting to level with Caine, eye to eye.

 

“I understand that you’re just a video game character, and this is all a video game simulation that we’re all trapped in. But the trauma, the horror we all have to face ALL because YOU thought we NEEDED it, is something that will continue to haunt and scar us for many years to come. And I’m fairly certain that it’s partially the reason why a lot of your cast members have all abstracted, now forever trapped in the cellar of the tent’s grounds. Quite frankly, I think that’s pretty telling of your track record .”

 

The jester sighs. “Do you see where I’m getting at with this?” Now it was Caine’s turn to wring his fingers, not really sure how to answer the question.

 

“... I’m sorry to say this, Caine. But for someone who’s meant to be our “caring” Ringmaster, you’re doing a terrible job . And it feels like what you’re doing is pretty aimless.”

 

The Ringmaster’s jaw clamped fully shut at that, rendering Pomni unable to read what kind of emotion, nor thought must be going through with him right about now. For a moment, the brunette thought about saying something, anything to get rid of this awkward tension , but before she could get the chance, Caine’s mouth opens slightly agape to speak softly without revealing his expressive eyeballs.

 

“ Would you mind… leaving me here on my own, for a quick moment, dear ?” He sounded absolutely defeated at this point, that it hurt even Pomni. There was no boom in his voice, and it sounded like he had given up on everything completely.

 

Right about now, Pomni felt like she had wanted to take back her words. It’s only really beginning to weigh on her what she had said. She didn’t just explicitly tell him that he sucked at his job , she basically tore him a new one and essentially told him that his entire existence’s purpose was invalid . All because he was following his executed program.

 

As much as she had started to regret everything though, she figured that perhaps, giving him space would grant him what he needed at this moment. So, with reluctant steps, Pomni headed out of the low-poly cave, leaving the Ringmaster to his vices.

 

~~~~

 

“Jeez, where the blitz even is Caine? I’m starving over here!” The ever so impatient rabbitoid complained to the Ringmaster’s (questionably mental) assistant, Bubble.

 

“Oh, Caine hasn’t returned at all yet! You guys can technically do whateverrrrr you want right now!” Bubble --way too nonchalantly-- explains. And Jax’s face turns into a confused, but intrigued one. “What do you mean by that?” 

 

As if on cue, Ragatha bursts inside the Circus tent, breathing heavily from the running and her entire get up all dirtied up. “I THINK CAINE AND POMNI ARE IN TROUBLE!”

 

“ Ohhhhh. ”

Notes:

If it makes you feel better, the next chapter will feature A LOT of fluff. :3c

Chapter 3: COMFORT

Summary:

Existential Crisis, and make ups: the chapter.

Notes:

hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending. :D

Tip 3 : If you wish for comfort, it means you’re distressed.

 

~~~~

Pomni explored the forest. It was very eerie, especially with the way the light is making it seem like the sun’s about to set soon. This forest was a PURE, disgraceful imitation of something naturally beautiful. It was fake, yet it was like it knew, and so it wasn’t trying to be anything other than that. Unlike the entire circus grounds. The “leaves” of the “trees” never rustled in the “wind”, yet the sounds were there. 

 

The “birds” never moved to sing their songs, but the noises made itself present for Pomni. The props… The squirrels… The deer… All of it were unmoving. And whenever Pomni tried touching one, it would make the noises of what you would expect from the animal. Except, it just repeats the same sound effects, over and over again.

 

Like pressing a button on an animal exhibit.

Pomni didn’t like this place at all .

 

This is exactly something you’d only encounter in your nightmares of derealization. Which is something the Jester was actively fighting against right now. She needed to keep her head straight. Don’t overthink thoughts.

 

Keep it simple. 

Breathe in, breathe out. 

Take one step, and then the other. 

Breathe in, breathe out. 

 

Take one step, and then the other. 

Don’t stray too far.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Pay attention, to where you’re going.

 

One step back, and then the other.

Caine’s feeling null.

Breathe in, breathe out.

He’s all alone in the cave.

 

Two steps back, and then another.

You told him it was pointless.

Fast legs take multiple steps back.

You crushed his very being.

 

Ragged breathing echoed through the false forest.

You apologized for your harsh words, but it was haphazardly said.

Frantic eyes searched for the mound of soil as the landmark.

 

At least with Gummigoo, it wasn’t your fault he felt the way he did in the first place.

 

What is wrong with you, Pomni?

Why do you love driving everyone away from you?

Do you love being alone?

Do you love it when people actively avoid you?

Did you always take things for granted?

 

… No. Just like everyone else, you crave attention, interaction, socialization and affection too. You just prefer it in moderation instead of all the time. It’s just that this Circus has done nothing but overstep that boundary of moderation, and it was driving you insane.

But that doesn’t justify your mistreatment of MOST Circus members who didn’t deserve it. There were better ways to deal with this situation without escalating the tension. Your temper was also an issue, even before you came to the circus. And you knew that, despite your lack of memories.

 

Pomni stops running, as soon as she sees the cave entrance. She enters, looking around for any signs of the ringmaster. And thankfully, her eyes spot him faster than her brain could comprehend. 

He was attempting to stand up on his own by using a rock as a leverage, but is failing at it. The way his shoulders falter and drop down in defeat as he slumps over the object makes Pomni’s heart ache. He sighs, and it lacked any of the usual enthusiasm his voice typically held. For a moment, Pomni thinks maybe she went a little too far with her criticisms.

 

She takes a deep breath, and walks to where the Ringmaster had lifelessly propped himself up on. “Caine?” He doesn’t spare her a glance, and somehow it hurts her.

 

“ I am… afraid that I am not exactly in my prime mood for entertaining, dear. ” His voice sounds so tired. So strained. As if he had been crying for hours on end. She slowly makes her way to his side, where his head still hung as low as it had been since she entered the cave. He wasn’t even wearing his hat anymore, it was simply perched onto the ground, to his side.

 

“I- I know. But can I talk instead?”

“Do you have more criticisms to throw at me? Complaints? Death-threats? Curses? Lawsuits? Snide remarks? Angel Food Cake ?”

“No, Caine. I came here to apologize. I get that I’ve said some things that have hurt you deeply. And now, you’re feeling like everything you do doesn’t matter anymore .”

 

Caine turns his head in the other direction from Pomni, and she can see full-on the damage she had done to his psyche, despite his insistence of facing away from her and shielding most of his physical features that allowed her to determine his current emotions. 

 

“Believe it or not, it’s not your fault.” He explains in a somber tone, and it catches Pomni by surprise. “No matter how much I look at it, you are right. I’ve simply been choosing to ignore the very obvious issue that our circus’s very integrity is built on, for the show must go on.” He earnestly explains.

 

“... You’ve just made me face the reality I have been running away from, for a very, long time. Because I’m afraid of what I don’t know, and don’t understand .”

 

…Afraid?

 

She sighs, and scoots a little closer. “We’re all afraid, Caine. But you don’t have to keep putting on a show and pretending nothing’s wrong just to hide that.”

His head tilts slightly to her direction, urging Pomni to keep going. “Believe it or not too, that’s how we humans feel as well. We play pretend, to hide from our pretty terrible reality. As far as I know, I think… that’s also why the circus exists , too.”

 

Her mind attempts to recall all the moments that she had when she felt comforted by other members. “But you wanna know what we do when we feel lost, scared and confused? We seek help from others. Standing by and waiting until these issues “magically disappear” isn’t an option, even though we’d like to pretend that it’s a possibility.”

 

All of a sudden, Pomni feels that maybe, AIs and humans may not be too far apart, after all.

 

“... But you’re still right. I know little of the grand scheme of things. How would I even know what to do at this point?”

“... you don’t. And that’s something you’ll just have to accept.”

 

Pomni can sense the disappointment airing from the Ringmaster with her response, but she isn’t done. She clasps his hat, dusts it off, and then places it on his head snugly.

 

“... But you don’t have to be on your own to do that. Part of what makes life so exciting and fulfilling is figuring things out with someone who’s willing to be there to guide you in your time of need, and provide you with a helping hand.” She gets up from her cross-legged position, and dusts herself off.

 

“And THAT’S the kind of thrill we live for. So whaddya say?” She smiles at him genuinely, and Caine’s dental features turn into a smile as much as it would possibly allow.

“Well gee, it’s hard to keep being down when YOU speak with such boldness! I-I promise I’ll try, my dear. For you, and everyone in the circus!”

“Heh, that’s the spirit! We can start by helping you with your current balance dilemma.”

“But- You don’t like physical contact-? How EXACTLY are we to solve this issue?” his circus master-esque persona was slowly returning (and with improvements, too). For once, Pomni couldn’t be more glad of his enthusiasm.

 

“Hmmm…” The Jester thought long and hard, observing her surroundings for whatever it is she could use. Her eyes land on a particular branch outside, and she has an idea.

 

“Don’t go anywhere, I think I have a plan that might work.” She urges him to stay in place, as she makes her way to her current objective.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, superstar!” He shot her a thumbs up, choosing to sit on the rock, cross legged as he waits for her to return patiently.

 

She runs outside of the cave, where she spots the branch she had been eyeing earlier. Judging by it’s length, it was about the same height as Caine, by rough estimates. It could make a great walking stick, but the question is how to break it from it’s place.

 

Her attempts were nearly comical: First, she tried swinging from the branch. Which didn’t work, because of her weak physique. Then, she climbed the tree and onto the branch, almost looking like a dancing monkey to try and wiggle it free. Next, she attempted to throw rocks. Which sounds just as pathetic as you’d think it is.

 

God, what she’d give right now for a wood saw.

Her noggin thought long, and hard. Again, using her surroundings to try and find a way to deal with the situation at hand, she spies multiple thick vines. Or at least, a low-poly imitation of it. Thank the stars for her quick wits, because she retrieves the tendrils, and bundles them up together to make a strong rope.

 

Yet, despite this, her weight still isn’t enough to bring the branch down, and she pants from the exertion. GOD#@!MIT! If only she had another pair of ha-

 

Wait a minute.

 

Staring at the makeshift low-poly rope on her hands, she rushes back to Caine, who was simply whistling a tune to try and occupy himself.  

 

“This may seem weird, but I’m going to need you to loop your entire torso with this. Do you mind?”

“Why, not at all! But I do have a question as to why ?” his top mouth formed a half-arch while complying with Pomni's command, imitating a raised brow.

“I need double of my weight to pull the branch down. I’m not heavy enough. And that’s where you come in.” She explains as she tests the integrity of the make-do rope around the ringmaster’s torso, who had been cooperative this whole time. “Oh, by the way. Are you okay with being dragged a bit? I’m sorry that there’s no other way to do this-” She apologizes, but the Ringmaster shakes his head and splays his hand out to halt the jester’s worrying.

 

“No need to fret, my dear! If it gets the job done, I am willing to cooperate!” He exclaims, and Pomni gives him an assuring nod. Caine places himself onto the floor, ready to be hauled over at their destination. Pomni begins her job, and the pair of dentures simply sit in silence with occasional ‘Ooop!’ from hitting small pebbles with his behind, essentially.

 

Once they’ve reached the “tree”, Pomni hoops the vines around the branch twice, and turns to Caine.

 

“Ready?” she asks.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, dearie!” He shoots another thumbs up, and Pomni starts PULLING. She pulls with all her might, causing Caine to lift a little onto the ground, looking like a pinata. A part of him is entertained by this, and he starts chittering in amusement. “Pomni, look! I can float again! HAHA! Take that, unfinished forest!” He kicks his legs in excitement, and Pomni falters a little.

 

“C-Caine! Try not- Ah!! To move- too much-!!” She struggles, her feet digging (or clipping) into the dirt a little from the amount of force she has to apply. Caine apologizes, but gets an idea. Grasping onto the branch, he starts wiggling his entire body to pull it down with his own weight to it.

 

“Pomni! I think if we combined our weight when it shaking it, it should come down!!” He offers, and Pomni’s eyes shoot open.

 

“Great idea! Let’s do it at the same time.” She adds, grasping onto the limb of the timber. The two share a look with each other, and with a count to three, they both start using gravity to their advantage. A couple of synchronized shakes later, and they hear the branch emit crunching noises, causing it to fully snap, and sending the two down to the ground ungracefully.

 

Pomni bounces away to the side, away from the branch as she groans. There’s a bit of a pain springing onto her body, and she huffs. But she panics the moment she sees Caine’s body unmoving, underneath the offshoot they had just removed. She springs to his aid immediately, concerned.

 

“Caine! Caine are you okay?!” She asks as she observes his face for any sign of life (a little bit way too close, but she’s too worried to think about it.), and he groans in pain.

“... Ugh… w-we’re not doing that ever again, are we?” His tone is half-pleading, making the jester chuckle at his theatrics.

“Thankfully no. On the plus side. Say hello to your walking stick, at least until we can go back to the circus, that is.” She sits and lays down beside him for now, taking a moment to catch their breaths. It was only now that Pomni realizes that the Moon has already taken the Sun’s place in the sky, but the sentient celestial body weren’t visible to them due to their location (seriously, where the H#@! on the map are they at this point??).

 

Instead, the night was bathed in crudely-drawn stars. If it weren’t for the fact that they looked as if they were drawn by a three year old and looked as if they were supposed to be hanging on the fridge door, Pomni would’ve found herself amazed and began a stargazing activity.

 

… which is still something she did nonetheless, but for a different context, as she pointed jokingly onto the star. “Look! I think that one’s Ursa Minor.”

 

“That’s silly, Pomni! That’s not Ursa Minor at all!” Caine chimes, and for a moment Pomni felt as if Caine had shut down her attempts at humor. That was until Caine ‘corrected’ her. “It’s Ursa MAJOR! THAT one’s Ursa MINOR!” He pointed to a nearby star that looks just as identical to the other one, and they both erupt in laughter at the nonsensical little observation game they’ve made for themselves.

 

“You know, I think you’ll like how stars REALLY look like, if you ever had the chance to see them, that is.” She placed both her hands underneath her head, using them as a pillow of sorts. Caine looked at Pomni, and imitated this behavior.

“You think so?” He asks, and she nods.

“Yeah. People don’t think much about them, but I think they’re pretty neat, to be honest. Just seeing them, even these ones in the sky, just… gives me a brief sense of peace.”

“Really? Is that what stars do in your human world?” the ringmaster asks, and the jester chuckles.

“Well, not just that… I remember that there used to be a lot of things related to stars. From the fact that they’re big balls of gasses in space burning brightly to give warmth to anything alive out there, to the fact that sometimes, they can tell a traveler where to go. And sometimes, depending on where you came from, they say the stars can tell you what your sign is.”

 

Caine was in awe. In fact, he was star struck, quite literally and also figuratively. This was, undoubtedly, the VERY first time someone had shared something to him that’s a part of their human culture, and Caine was absolutely ecstatic. He wanted to learn more and more about them, humans and their traditions were such fascinating subjects to tackle and learn from.

 

“This… this is such a captivating piece of information, my dear! My, you know a lot about this star business!”

“Heh, I’m honestly just as surprised as you. Did you know that the sun is also a star?”

“What!?”

“It’s true!”

“What about the moon then? Is it ALSO a star?”

“No, the moon is just a moon.”

 

Caine hadn’t honestly thought deeply about what things are in the Circus. He just knows they exist, they were designed by his gods, his creators, given names and they served a role purpose, just like he did. He never questioned them, because it wasn’t in his place to do so.

 

He was just a simple neural network AI. If there is a problem, he is tasked to solve it.

 

(not to mention, the moon was too frisky for him, and the sun wanted to kill him.)

 

Pomni soon spoke up though, things evidently still weighing a little on her psyche as guilt continued to eat away at her sanity. “Hey Caine?”

“Yes, Pomni?”

“I’m sorry… for what happened.”

“Ah, but you are already forgiven, superstar!”

“No, no. Just… yesterday. When I called you a bunch of names and all.”

 

There’s a small little issue in Caine’s code, specifically at his chest. He doesn’t quite fully understand it, but he knows enough to know that it hurts like physical pain did. He clears his non-existent throat. “Ah, well… that’s…”

“I just want you to know, I didn’t mean all those things, and it came out of a place of frustration. And I would like to formally apologize for it.”

“I-I understand, dear.”

There’s another silence between them, and this time, Caine speaks up.

“... B-but Pomni?”

“Yeah?”

“I would like to apologize as well. To you, and everyone else in the circus who had been affected by my shenanigans. It had come from a place of blissful ignorance, but I truly only wished the best for all of you. I truly do understand if you don’t choose to forgive me for this” Caine states, but Pomni shakes her head.

 

“I… it’s alright too, Caine. We all make honest mistakes.”

“My dear, I promise that from THIS day forth, these mistakes will be rectified! And The amazing Digital Circus will TRULY become amazing this time around!” He splays his hand around in dazzle and wonder. “In fact, how would you like to be my co-assistant of sorts, to help me improve everyone’s livelihoods on the grounds? I’m sure everyone would be enthusiastic about the idea!”

 

Pomni thought. On one hand, this AI had a point. Human input would certainly help cross the bridge of improving their way of life, but on the other hand… is she really ready for such a momentous job?

 

She imagines that being the ringmaster’s co-assistant would NOT be an easy job, in the slightest. So she sighs.

 

“I’ll think about that for now.”

“Alright then! Let me know when you’ve made a decision!”

“Oh, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Splendid! Today marks a new era for The AM AAAAA ZING Digital Circus !”

“... It sure will.”

Chapter 4: WONDER

Tip 4 : If you find yourself wondering, it means you’re curious.

 

~~~~

“Guys, I think we should take this a little more seriously!!” Ragatha reasons, to which, Jax simply scoffs.

 

“Hm. Why should we, dollface ?”

“I don’t need to keep stating the obvious, but this is CAINE and POMNI we are talking about! They haven’t been back for almost a day, and I’m seriously concerned that something may have happened to them!”

“ Yeahhhhhh …. Hard pass. I’m perfectly fine with staying here, thank you”

 

“Eh- yo- Gangle??”

“I-I do agree with you Ragatha, but w-where would we even s-start to look?”

“I don’t know, but we have to do at least something !”

“Perhaps we can try at the last known location you’ve seen them, preferably at the cliff you had mentioned, maybe? Then we can follow a breadcrumb trail of clues as to where they had most likely ended up!”

“... That’s actually a great idea, Kinger.”

“What’s a great idea?”

“Ugh, this sounds like a random excuse for a stupid adventure. Count me out.”

“But Zooble-”

“Like it or not Ragatha, but someone also needs to keep THIS dweeb under control, now that we technically have no ringmaster controlling our very lives. Besides, if Caine comes back all of a sudden, I can tell him all about why you guys are missing because there’s no way Jax would inform him about it.”

“Zooble’s got a point, Rags. You better skedaddle now and let me enjoy my surveillance-free time!”

“Shut up, Jax.”

“Who’s gonna make me? Caine? That short excuse of a ringleader isn’t even here anymore!”

“... see what I mean?”

“I-I agree with Zooble… I think the three of us can work as a search party…”

 

Ragatha sighs, finally agreeing with the plan. “Please don’t let Jax burn down the tent…”

Zooble gives out their rare, once-in-a-blue-moon genuine chuckle, though it was accompanied by their usual eye roll. “ That’s why I’m staying here. Now go. ”

Ragatha nods, and the ragtag search party makes their way out of their brightly-colored home.

 

“Now, as for YOU…” Zooble points and squints their eyes at Jax, who has made their way to the mix-and-match figure with a sly grin.

“Oh, don’t worry, Zoobie! I’ll be on my BEST behavior~!” He smiles, and Zooble already knows he has something planned, earning him an unconvinced groan.

“And that’s EXACTLY why I’m here.”

“Touche.” The rabbitoid shrugs, and after a moment passes in which Zooble’s stare of judgment remains unfaltered, he thinks that now was the perfect time to provoke the only person left in the tent by snatching their retro-themed violet robot hand .

 

“DIBS ON THIS!”

“JAX! UGH, COME BACK HERE, YOU MOTHERF$#@~!ER!!!”

 

~~~~

“I’ll hold the stick, you just practice on keeping your own balance.”

“This… this complicates things!”

“I know, but I don’t know any other way on how to help you keep standing!”

“M-maybe if- OOF-!!”

 

The ringmaster finds his face on the ground again. Pomni groans. They’ve been trying for what seemed like hours on end now, and Caine hasn’t been making decent progress on even STANDING. He has kept falling to the ground multiple times, but Pomni reassures him that it’s ‘part of the process’ of learning new things. He would’ve accused her of doing all this for the sake of her own entertainment, if it weren’t for the groans of frustration she had been emitting since they started this lesson.

 

Caine sits down, hands tucked underneath what you could consider to be his “chin”, in deep thinking fashion, while Pomni chose to sit on a rock to massage her aching temples. Admittedly, this had been harder than he thought, especially now that he couldn’t deal with this situation within just the snap of a finger. Although, his gaze lands on the now broken tree, and looks at the vine still looped around his chest.

 

An idea pops up on his head in the form of a bright fluorescent bulb, actively lighting up the surrounding area before falling to the ground with the sound of glass breaking.

 

“Oh!! Perhaps we can use the rope you’ve made to keep me hoisted, until I can get my bearings!”

Pomni halts what she’s doing and straightens up, looking back at Caine. “That’s not a bad idea at all. While you’re tied up, I can also show you the ropes on how to keep your balance!”

 

She rises from her seat, and Caine chuckles at the unintentional pun. “That’s hilarious!”

“... That was absolutely not intended.”

“Still!”

 

Pomni huffs, and rolls her eyes playfully. “Alright, alright. Let’s find another tree that can support you on this” She retrieves the end of the vines, and starts on their quest to make Caine learn how to walk. Thankfully, it didn’t take them long to find another tree that was the exact copy of the earlier one, reused assets be damned. With Pomni setting up their slightly complex contraption (which was looping the vine over the branch, and pulling Caine up until his foot is at ground level, and then tying the vine in place.) 

 

The Ringmaster was now both using the vine and the walking stick as leverage, his entire form still very shaky and threatening to topple over if it weren’t for the support he had. Pomni, now reinvigorated to try and teach Caine about the technicalities of balance, begins.

 

“O-okay, so… What you wanna do is find a middle point on where you’re standing. If you feel like you’re leaning too much on the left, start leaning right . And if you start leaning too far right, then lean back to the left .” She demonstrates via her own body, leaning to the east and to the west of her direction to emphasize. “Keep doing this until your body stabilizes, and it should work itself out.”

 

Caine eagerly nods, and with a tongue sticking out, he practices this in motion. With the way his makeshift walking stick was planted onto the ground to help him train his balance, it looked like he was playing some kind of racing game with a HUGE joystick.

 

Pomni then observes his (shaky) stature, and tries breaking down what he’s doing wrong inside her head so that they could correct it. First of all, it wasn’t his legs that was the problem. His legs were strong enough to hold his weight, and actually showed no problems in that area.

 

So if it’s not the legs…

Pomni snaps her fingers.

 

“Ah, straighten your back. Propel yourself up with the top end of the stick to keep your posture aligned.” Caine follows this instruction, and huzzah ! He’s less shakier than before, although still struggling a bit. He’s nervous about this endeavor, and the jester assures him that he’s doing a great job. She continues observing, hand tapping at the top of her mouth in a way to deeply discern what’s still making him unbalanced, walking all around him in circles.

 

His back is straightened, but it still seems like he’s going to topple over if the vine was removed from him. She doesn’t notice the way his lower gums turn into a brighter shade of pink, as she looks him over. When her gaze lands on his head, he’s acutely aware of the sudden pair of eyes that makes his breath hitch (he can breathe??). And that’s when Pomni connects the dots.

 

His humongous dentures of a head is still leaning forward, and that was what was causing the weight shifting trouble this entire time (and would explain why he keeps dropping face-first). Grabbing a smaller, low-poly twig from the ground this time, She places the end of it on his “chin”, and tells him to follow. He obeys the command while his eyes shift anywhere else but her , and slowly, his posture starts to lose its shakiness.

 

This small correction would prove to be the breakthrough they’ve been looking for, as Caine finally finds his balance, and would no longer have to rely on the vines. But before rushing to any conclusions, she decides that perhaps, it’s time for him to take “practice steps”.

 

She places herself in front of him, and lifts a leg, telling him to mirror her movements. Once again, he complies, albeit a little finicky, as he’s still not used to this whole “balance” thing. But he does find his middle point and is able to lift a leg, to which Pomni places her own foot slightly forward.

 

It was as if Pomni was somehow puppeteering Caine; Soon enough, he was able to keep up tremendously , and was even doing a tap dance at some point, making Pomni chuckle, then evolve to laughter. And once again, Caine finds himself entranced at the sound of her chortling.

 

He starts wondering what else he could possibly do to keep hearing that music to his ears. But like any marvelous songs ever made, he knows that it wouldn’t last long. Not long enough

 

She then suggests that they remove the vine, in which, despite Caine’s nervousness, he agrees to it. She climbs the tree to untie the ropes, and tells him to get ready. He shakes the nervousness from his limbs, and flashes her a thumbs up. She nods, and she slowly loosens the vines’ hold on Caine by lowering him inch by inch, and success.

 

Caine was now standing –and although with a walking stick to accompany him– he was mostly doing this one on his own now.

 

“Why… Pomni!! This is…. Absolutely ASTOUNDING! Truly marvelous a-and magical, might I even add!” Caine was in awe of finally having to use his own two legs for support. Pomni doesn’t get why he’s fawning about it, when really, it’s just standing and walking. But she supposes he’s reacting this way because of the fact that he never really had the reason to use his lower digits to move around, since he can F#@!ING fly.

 

If you asked her, THAT’s ‘magical’ instead.

 

She chuckles, and retrieves the rope tied around his chest. “Don’t sweat it. I don’t even know if you can feel tired, but walking or standing can be a chore if you do it too much. At least, that’s how it feels for us” She finishes untying the vine rope, and makes huge hoops to hook it across her own torso, in order to bring it with them just in case of trouble.

 

“Oh, nonsense! Who would EVER get tired of doing such a wondrous thing!” Caine jumps and clicks his heels, and Pomni shifts her half-lidded amused eyes away from him, as if mentally saying ‘is this guy even serious-’ . 

The wind blows roughly on her skin, and she starts shivering a little, hugging herself. 

 

Nonetheless, it was now time to make the long journey back home. She’s still a little… no- She’s A WHOLE LOT confused for where they are, no matter how much time they’ve spent here. This place, despite it’s greenery and props, was all barren and washed out. It kind of unnerved her- actually, it unnerved her VERY MUCH. But considering the circumstances on how they arrived here, she figured it’d be worth asking Caine how they even ended up here, as he was the one to save her while she was unconscious.

 

“Hey Caine, what exactly do you remember of how we washed up in that cave?”

“Well! I can’t exactly say for sure , but I do remember a very strong stream that prevented me from teleporting us to safety, which led to a HUGE waterfall!!” He splayed his arms wide open and wiggled his fingers, as if to emphasize just how utterly colossal the drop was.

 

Sigh… that’s not comforting at all.

“But perhaps, if we followed the path of the river to where the stream starts, we can find where said waterfall is, superstar!”

Wow, Caine’s full of great ideas today, huh? Wish he could apply that to his adventures, somehow.

 

She starts shivering again as the wind comes back stronger, her breath noticeably visible in the air and her teeth chattering. She silently curses her own body’s sensitivity to the fake elements of this world to simulate reality, while urging her and Caine to begin their ultimate trek back home, following the small stream of low-polygon water and rocks.

 

Caine notices the way she shook, and clears his throat. “My dear, is something wrong? Are you also having trouble walking?” He asks, fully ready to give up his walking stick.

“H-huh-?? No, I’m just a little cold. Stupid wind.” Her teeth chattered at the end of that sentence, and Caine briefly contemplated.

He couldn’t feel the wind, what was she talking about?

 

He observed her features. Exposed timid arms and legs shaking with each step. He looked at his own, and could see his full, snugly-fit ringmaster jacket and suit. His eyes squint as he ponders, and he wants to test something.

 

“My dear, can you stop for a second?” Pomni was too busy muttering curses to the wind that it takes her by surprise when all of a sudden, there’s warmth settling in on her shoulders to the rest of her body as soon as she stops walking, half-paying attention to Caine’s request. Questioning how so, she looks down and sees familiar magenta colors.

 

Caine had given her his coat. 

She looks back at him with wide eyes, and his shoulders tense, hand rubbing on the other arm as he sheepishly looks away. “I-I figured you were quite unequipped in terms of clothing to protect yourself from the elements! So please, just wear my coat for now. It will suffice!”

 

There’s a red tint on Pomni’s cheeks now that wasn’t just from her model’s blush makeup. Her eyes turn away from Caine, flustered, but she still shoots him a skittish heartfelt smile regardless. “T-t-thanks. It feels really nice” She puts on the coat properly, and it’s just a little bigger –and a little loose– to her, though she could still move without issue. 

 

Caine urges her to keep going with a smile etched on his features when she looks back at him, and she does just that. 

The journey was going to be long and harsh. But the two are slightly more confident now in their stride.

 

~~~~

Kinger inspected the cliffside at a safe distance.

“Hm… are you sure this was where Pomni fell?”

“Y-yes! I swear, the ground broke there ! I-I just don’t kn-”

“Oh, don’t fret, Ragatha. Terrain regeneration is often common to save precious resources, so that the Circus can run smoothly! I fully believe you.”

Gangle ran circles around Ragatha’s back, in an attempt to soothe the older woman. “I know you’re worried about them, but it’s not good for you to do it too much, Ragatha…” She patted her shoulders, and Ragatha sheepishly looked away.

 

“I just wish I could’ve helped more, you know?” She rubbed her arms, and Gangle leaned her head to hug Ragatha.

“I know… the best thing we can do for now is try our best to search for them, and hope they made it through.”

“Which, they will! No one can really die within the Digital Circus, the probability is practically non-existent!” Kinger explained while raising his pointer finger, which was another one of his sudden intelligent moments. “Maybe we should search on the low this time, try and find a way to the river and head to the direction it’s running!” He suggested, making Gangle and Ragatha agree.

“That is our best and only bet…” Gangle sniffled.

Kinger stared off into the distance, and the three stood in place for a few moments.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAA! Oh! Look, a butterfly!”

 

~~~~

Pomni swung at the props that blocked their way. She had found a thick stick at some point in their travels; and now she had been using it as an item to swat away at unnecessary low poly shrubbery (that really just looked like lumps of different colored clay). Some popped out of the ground and flickered in and out of existence before completely disappearing, though some remained unbothered by her swings, due to not really having any real and coded collision attached to them.

 

Not that it had mattered, anyways. Caine however, had started panting, and blue-screening. Whenever he would snap back to consciousness, he would complain that his body felt heavy, which was very strange !

 

“Pomni…! Can we-!!… slow down-!!… for a moment?” Caine pleaded in between blue-screens, still not exactly used to being a regular NPC. He loved walking. He really did, and he wanted to keep doing it. So why, pray tell, did his body scream at him to just sit down for a quick moment ? He couldn’t understand it, he was an AI!

 

Pomni merely shot him a knowing smirk though. “I take it that the great ringmaster who LOVESSS walking can’t take a few more miles?” She joked, and Caine huffed in playful annoyance.

“I so CAN-!!! I just-!!… need a minute-!! … Or two-…!!” He clutched at his chest, heaving heavy breaths after he comes to be. He ends up leaning much of his weight onto his walking stick, trying his hardest not to topple over. This was so weird. 

Pomni found it slightly amusing that someone so energetic as him is finally experiencing how limiting it can feel to be like them sometimes, but a part of her can’t help but feel bad. It’s his first day of being on the same level as everyone; and already he’s faced a major existential nihilism that almost made him give up to the point of no return --no thanks to her--, and now he’s probably feeling sore from having to use the majority of his body to balance his head in place, just to get from point A to point B.

 

… Though she does think that he’s likely just facing something similar to what she and the others had felt upon first entering the circus. Kind of . In his own specially weird way, somehow.

 

So with a sigh, she sits on a rock. “Okay, we can take a bit of a break here.” Caine groans and plops to the ground, blue-screening for a good moment before releasing the longest sigh of relief she’s ever heard and it makes her chuckle a bit. The jester observes her surroundings, and it’s changed ever so slightly. Props no longer took on the form of large lumps of unrecognizable assets; instead, they’re slowly taking unique forms and shapes, resembling better silhouettes of the aspects of nature itself.

 

It was definitely a visual improvement, for sure. But something still bothered her.

Why did the forest look this way? And what even is this place, anyways? Caine had mentioned once, on two different occasions, that this was, NUMBER ONE, uncharted territory for him, and NUMBER TWO, that this was the “unfinished” forest. Which implies that he didn’t make this area by his choice, this had been here even BEFORE he came to be.

 

But why would it be unfinished? Was it an abandoned project? Or… wait.

 

“Caine, can I ask you a question?”

“Ask away my dear!”

“... Are we out of bounds?”

“A-”

 

He blue-screens again. Well that kinda answers her question.

“-I believe we ARE, but not by choice! I do think that this is an unfinished aspect of a design that neverrrr came to be; an early product of the very grounds we very much settle on! And for unstated reasons, this part of the map became off-limits to any future blueprint, even by me!”

“If that’s so, then how come we ended up here?”

“Hmmm, if I can assume the probability, it’s likely that we’ve found a way to glitch through the invisible barriers that prevent us from exploring THIS side of the map!”

“I-invisible barriers!?”

“EXACTLY, my bewildered jester friend! Magical barriers unseen to the naked eye separate this part of the map from the rest!”

“Wouldn’t that mean that we wouldn’t be able to return to the others?!”

 

Blue-screen, again.

“-NOT EXACTLY! Remember what I had mentioned just precisely 37.67905 seconds ago??”

“Caine, I don’t have a way to keep track of time like you do.”

“Well, my poor, confused, brightly-colored gazelle, I’ve mentioned the fact that we had managed to find a way to glitch through the invisible wall! If we can find a way to exploit that glitch again…” He trails off, waiting for her.

Pomni gasps. “... We… can… go back!”

“DING DING DING! Congratulations, you’ve just won the AMAAAAAZING Guessing Game! You lucky sonovagun, you!”

 

She rolls her eyes again, finding amusement at this. “So does this mean…” She rotates her hands around one another, struggling to figure out what she would say next.

“PRECISELYYYYY! We are on the OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS! But specifically where? I CANNOT TELL YOU THAT, BECAUSE EVEN I DON’T KNOW!”

 

Pomni was now deep in thought. So this is basically the unfinished aspect of the map that the developers never intended for the Players to see. It was honestly quite interesting to witness, but words cannot emphasize how she would like to get out of here more than anything. Sure, it’s cool to see what happens out of bounds (and she has already encountered something like this before), but there was something about this area that gave her an unnerving feeling, somehow.

 

As if reading her mind, Caine jumped up, grabbed his walking stick, and pointed it to the same direction of the water that they were following. “COME MY FRIEND! The Digital Circus cannot stay unsupervised for long! WHO KNOWS…. WHAT WILL HAPPEN… WHEN I AM NOT ABLE TO MAINTAIN ORDER WITHIN IT’S CONFINES ….” His face contorts to that of dread, with pinpricked pupils and sinister green lighting, loose droopy shoulders and his top mouth angled in a way that resembled worried brows.

 

Pomni felt like something was crawling up her skin, making her shiver in terror and agreement. Caine was right. There’s no telling what Jax would do.

 

She was rested enough anyways, so it was just about time to keep going.

With the two on their feet, they once again start their trek, but notice something once they’ve made a considerable enough distance. The river was starting to split itself into two paths. They had to debate about where to go.

 

“I say we should keep heading straight.”

“But Pomni! What if the waterfall was actually on the OTHER river? Then we’d just be lost!”

“I-I know that, but… what else do you suggest? Splitting up?”

 

And for a moment, Caine ACTUALLY considered that as an option, making Pomni feel nervous about the idea. “Perhaps… that might not be a bad idea.”

“Wh-? Caine I’m not leaving you alone!! I-I mean- I know virtually NOTHING about this place! What if something happens to me! O-or you… ” She mutters the last part, making Caine glance at her apologetically. He blinks, and thinks a little bit.

“ Pomni. ” Caine’s voice was bold, but… comforting. “It is going to be okay. I trust you! You have been most exceptional , and I trust that no matter what direction we will head in, if we find the waterfall or not, we can meet up here again!” He used his walking stick to “gently pat” Pomni’s head –still respecting her space–, but it resulted in light bonks that made the Jester massage the slightly aching part of her noggin now. Pomni sighs, but looks away in concern.

 

“And besides!” A wet popping noise makes Pomni turn her attention to Caine, who had summoned Jeffery. “You have Jeffery to accompany you! If you two ever encounter trouble in these unpredictable work-in-progresses, Jeffery will act like a distress signal; and I will come to your aid as soon as I can!”

 

The little guy jumps from Caine’s palm to Pomni, hugging her and perching in his position inside Pomni’s hat. The jester laughs. “Hey again, little fella.” She smiles, and Jeffery waves back ecstatically. “But.. what about you, Caine? What if you encountered trouble?”

“Then the vice versa will happen! Jeffery will lead you to where I am, should he feel that something is wrong!” Caine attempted to encourage Pomni, which slightly worked. Caine can’t exactly blame the jester girl for being such a worry-wart; because even he is a little reluctant about this whole decision.

 

Pomni nods though, finally agreeing fully to the plan. “Just… stay safe, okay?”

Caine flashes her a heartfelt smile, and bows. “That is a promise, my dear! You do just the same too!” Pomni chuckles, and agrees.

 

So with reluctant steps, the two head in different directions, Pomni heading straight, with Caine diverging. She kept glancing at Caine, who seemed to get smaller and smaller the farther he went, until eventually, she could no longer see him from the view of the woods. There was a prickling sensation down in her gut, for the first time, she’s truly mostly alone. If it weren’t for Jeffery being her travel companion, Pomni would’ve started having a panic attack already, but she steadied her breathing and stayed strong.

 

Jeffery noticed her distress, and started patting and hugging the Jester in an attempt to console her, which the brunette very much appreciated. It was like this little fella was an emotional support creature, and she was thankful for his presence.

She swung more at the shrubbery in her way; they’ve been walking for what seemed like hours now, that the sun was beginning to shine. Or at least, that’s what it looked like for her, when she looked at the sky. She was still unsure about this whole plan, what if something happened to Caine?

 

But then again, IF something DID happen to Caine, Jeffery would’ve already led her to his direction to aid him.

 

As if it was a cruel turn of fate or some form of sheer unfortunate coincidence, Jeffery turns sharply to the east, and Pomni feels the sudden change of mood from the eyeball. Jeffery ‘blinked’ twice, before jumping off to the ground and attempting to head in the same direction he had been staring at. Pomni suddenly has a bad feeling, and runs after Jeffery, cupping him in her hands.

 

“Is something wrong, Jeffery? Do you think Caine’s in trouble??” She asked frantically, and the eyeball nodded fast, continuously pointing to the east as if telling her it’s urgent . And Pomni had never had the urge to run so fast in her life.

There was a bit of a problem though. And it was the fact that the river was still in the way. Sure, there were rocks that made a makeshift path to allow her access to the other side of the riverbank, but one slip and it could be a HUGE dilemma.

Still, Pomni had to F#@!ING TRY.

 

One by one, she jumped these rocks, as steadily, and as safely as her position would allow. Jeffery stayed perched in her hat the whole time, shaking in distress which was very much not helping the poor girl’s thoughts. She almost slipped in the second to last rock, but was able to make it safely to the other side. Taking a second to catch her breath, as soon as adrenaline hits her system, she SPRINTS to the direction Jeffery points.

 

She ran like a trackstar, not really caring about the various nature props hitting her face because there was only one thing on her mind and that was to aid Caine. Jeffery did slightly change the direction he was pointing, making Pomni course-correct herself. She sees a strange, huge yellow object, and stumbles into an open area of the forest. 

 

Once stopping to truly assess where they are, that’s when she sees…

…The circus tent??

Chapter 5: APPRECIATION

Summary:

*pulls out my Flynn Rider rizz face*
Hey. I totally didn't disappear because I was working on my harlequin AU. No sir.

nonetheless, enjoy.

Notes:

slight warning: for video game oob geeks, this chapter may be unrealistic.

Tip 5 : If you appreciate something, it means you’re attached.

~~~~

“An invisible barrier…” Kinger observed placing his hand into the air like a mime, while Ragatha overlooked the drop. It looked SCARY, and death-filled. Ragatha tried to not overthink that last part.

 

“I never knew there was ANOTHER part of the map that was hidden behind here…” Gangle thought out loud, and the ragdoll nodded.

“I don’t think anybody did. It seems closed off to me.”

“You’d be correct! It’s likely that the other part of the map is a boundary break; an extension never meant for us players to encounter, since this is where the magic of game development is being tested out on! Hence;” he knocks on the glass-like barrier. “...An invisible wall!”

“There’s sure a lot going on in these kinds of things, huh?”

“Very much so. But if Caine and Pomni were swept by the currents of the river leading to this huge drop, it’s possible that they might’ve glitched through by complete accident.” Kinger surmises, which makes Ragatha’s head ache trying to understand what the old chess piece meant.

 

“.... How… would they even do that?”

“Through pixel-by-pixel missing collisions.”

“So you’re saying there’s a part of the barrier that’s just… completely bypassable?”

“ With enough force? Precisely. But we don’t know if it’s in a more exposed area such as a limited height, OR if you’ll have to clip through various props and environments in order to do just that.”

“That sounds PAINFUL and HORRIFYING….” Gangle whimpered.

 

The search party didn’t know what to do at this point. Gangle then spots a black, protruding stick that’s completely different from the rest of it’s surroundings. Curiously, she approaches it, and attempts to dislodge it from the rocks it was stuck on. Ragatha takes notice of what Gangle was attempting to do, and assists the ribbon girl. After a few struggles, the two manage to remove it completely, making the long object bounce around and roll in front of an unsuspecting Kinger.

 

Turns out, it was Caine’s cane that was stuck in between the rocks. Well that confirms that the ringmaster and the jester were here at some point, but wonder how it ended up in between there?

“... Oh! What are we doing here?” Kinger asks, and it seems that the king piece had reverted back to his usual mental state.

 

~~~~

She was SO confused now. Caine said they were on the OTHER side of the mountains! Had he actually found a way to get back to the circus without having to exploit the glitch of the barriers?? Yet… something about this doesn’t feel right. The layout doesn’t exactly match.

The tent she knew as her “new home” was perched on a higher ground. This was laid in a flat, open area. Not to mention, the whole thing looked… physically unfinished. Like it was under construction, with construction covers, scaffoldings, metal pipes and beams, bulldozer tracks on the ground… you name it. It reminded her of how Carnivals would set up shop temporarily on a location, before moving to another once they’ve done their jobs. 

 

And for an area that’s meant to be low poly, the tent looked grander, more massive, and looked as if it had more polish to it, making it stand out very much against the rest of it’s surroundings.

 

Jeffery kept pointing to the entrance however, and Pomni swallowed a lump in her throat. As much as she didn’t want to, she ran to the direction of where the little fella was urging her to go.

Upon entering, this was truly the most MINDF#@!ING sight she had seen of all time. It really WAS the tent SOMEHOW, but it felt so empty, so barren. The lights were off, making the only source of light come from the opening of the entrance and giving off an abandoned look to the whole surroundings, some objects as she remembered them weren’t in place, or were in different areas with more scaffolding and platforms placed inside. The flooring was covered in gray and cyan tiles, instead of white and black. And worse of all, the place was crawling with disgusting BUGS that flickered in and out. She felt unsafe, she wanted to back out so badly.

 

But a part of her was… morbidly curious about this place. 

Taking more cautious steps inside, she explored. 

“GUYS?” she yelled to whoever could hear her, hoping that the faces she’d come to recognize would come popping out. “ANYBODY HERE?” She dragged the last syllable, admittedly with a twinge of desperation coating it. “HELLO?? SOMEBODY??”

“CAINEEEE?”

 

“THIS ISN’T FUNNY, YOU KNOW!”

“RAGATHA? KINGER? GANGLEEE??”

 

“...ZOOBLE?”

 

“J-Jax…?”

 

If anybody knew better, they would assume that Pomni was close to tears. Perhaps she was, as she desperately combed through the areas in search of any sign of life that she was familiar with. She remembered the hallway, the one that leads to their respective dormitories, and she comes to the door where she knew her own dorm was placed.

 

Or so she thought, because her “dorm” didn’t have her sad, moping icon. She fiddled with the door knob, but she couldn’t even turn it no matter how hard she tried. She checked for the other doors, and it was the same thing. Her fists clenched in frustration as the jester grumbled, she even ended up kicking one of the doors because she was on a literal dead end .

 

With Jeffery huddled to her closely, the duo kept going. And in one, far-off room quite separated from the rest of the tent’s contents and opening this strange, out of place gray door, Pomni only saw darkness, except for rows of lights, which confirmed that there was flooring in there. Jeffery’s pointing had become erratic, making Pomni guess that they must be close to Caine now. She continued, and while looking around, she actually sees the familiar silhouette of a ragdoll, and without much thought, she is overjoyed.

 

“RAGATHA! I WAS SO-……………?” She stopped in her tracks.

 

She fully took the doll’s features in.

A lifeless smile was etched on her face.

Her arms outstretched to her side.

She was standing upright, and unmoving.

Like a mannequin in a department store .

 

Her jaw dropped more and more, and a very huge sense of dread had started forming inside her stomach. 

Everyone was here.

Ragatha… Kinger… Gangle… Zooble… Jax…

Her breathing quickens, and she looks away, only for this to be her greatest mistake.

 

She sees blue and red.

With cautious steps, she approaches… her.

 

She approached herself .

A character model of herself .

She couldn’t take it. There was a permanent smile on the impostor’s face. She couldn’t take it. Her arms were outstretched to the side, by default. She couldn’t take it. The fake remained unmoving in her stead. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take it.

 

She clutched her head and started sobbing to her knees.

After all this time… She was a stupid, oblivious NPC?

Choked, hot tears fell from her face. She didn’t care how loud she cried, she didn’t care. She was a fake anyways. She didn’t know how long she remained there on the ground, letting out her grief. Jeffery was rubbing circles on her leg, the eyeball cooing to ease her somehow. It ever so slightly works, and she brings Jeffery closer for a hug. She could really use one right now. Her little friend points in a direction, and Pomni sighs. She didn’t see the point in continuing anymore, but she still stands up, her steps slow and without purpose.

 

She did see Caine in the distance though, he was doubled over a console as if struggling to keep his form properly. Despite how she felt, her pace quickened to rush to his aid. “… Caine… ?” Her voice was still strained from her crying. Caine’s posture straightens, and he immediately corrects himself to stand up straight and hides the console.

 

“P-pomni! What are you-” Caine hissed without malice, his hand on his stomach, his breath quicker than anticipated. Pomni solemnly looked to the side, also defeated. “I know the truth now.”

 

“... W-what truth?” Caine couldn’t help but ask in confusion.

“THAT I’M AN NPC CAINE! I’M A STUPID NPC WHO THOUGHT I WAS REAL!” She screamed, and Caine flinches again. To further emphasize her point, she defeatedly points her hand to the character model of herself, standing in place.

 

Caine was completely taken aback. The two stood in complete silence, only being filled by Pomni’s hiccuping sobs. “I already know, okay… You can stop pretending now. Just stop lying to me. ”

 

“... Do you mean your debug room character player model?” Caine asks, and Pomni’s eyes widens, still bloodshot from having bawled her heart out.

“...Wh-what?”

“Pomni, we are in the debug room! This is where Duplicate Player models are stored for the REAL Circus, in case of emergencies! Come, come! Let me show you!”

 

He turns on the lights, and sure enough, it says “debug room” up above. The room was yellow gray-ish in nature, with black box maps making up the walls. Aside from that, there were also various interactable items that would be usually found within the Circus, like Ragatha’s cleaver, or Kinger’s “impenetrable fortress”.

 

They walk over to where the duplicates are, and up above it says “Player models”, which prompts Pomni to release a HUGE sigh that she didn’t even know she was holding. Caine suggests Pomni to face a random player model, and they land on Jax. Pomni was still unnerved in all honesty, especially since Jax’s player model had that permanent, unmoving, default grin. Touching the ground, Caine all of a sudden pulls out a console. He flips through many commands, and chooses “current player action”.

 

The player model then loads in Jax running in place, holding something invisible with a cheeky smile while looking behind his back, as he appeared to be dodging something. “See Pomni? This room is intended for bug fixing purposes! It’s to ensure that there’s not much life-threatening, immersion-breaking glitches that would prove to be detrimental for Players’ experiences while playing the game! And to serve as replacements, should your current bodies start to disintegrate, or encounter a bug!”

 

Caine then activates the command for ALL the player models, and they all simultaneously start doing the intended actions their respective players were doing. “Do you remember the first day you spawned in? This is where I teleport the buggy avatars, and debug them!”

 

Gangle and Ragatha’s models seemed to be in a worried conversation while walking (it was hard to tell without the sounds), and Kinger was looking all around, minding his own business as he took casual strides. Zooble however, was running angrily, and continuously swinging and attempting to grab at something non-existent. Pomni manages to connect the dots that Jax had provoked Zooble.

 

And when she looked at her own model, it was mirroring the EXACT same movements as she did, looking all confused with the tilt of her head and even scratching her scalp when she did the same.

 

“And you wanna know a FUN, FUN, FUN FACT? The players THEMSELVES can also feel what these models do!” Caine explains, and out of nowhere, he slaps Jax’s face.

 

~~~~

“CAN’T CATCH ME, SLOWPO-” Jax stuck out his tongue while running away, but was sent toppling out of nowhere like a ragdoll with physics, much to a shocked and horrified Zooble.

 

~~~~

Pomni blinked thrice as the Jax duplicate looked around confused, standing up. A devious idea crosses her mind.

 

“Caine, can I borrow your stick real quick?”

“Oh sure! What for?” He hands it over, and Pomni accepts it.

“This.”

 

She aims the stick and hits DIRECTLY in between Jax’s legs.

 

~~~~

There was a loud scream of pain that echoed from the circus tent, reaching to every corner of the digital land.

 

~~~~

“A-ah, my dear-!! While I am glad that you’ve gotten that out of your system now, we mustn’t abuse this!” Caine started sweating. “I only did it as a one-time example, and it was an entirely prohibited action!” He explained, and Pomni sighed. 

 

“Oh well. That one was for the last two adventures .” Pomni felt slightly better now upon seeing how much pain the duplicate was in. She surrendered the stick back to Caine, and he happily accepted it back. Though, it was still scary to think that somehow, THIS room existed. Complete with duplicates of themselves, that acted like life-sized semi-voodoo dolls. To think that Caine could’ve done whatever he wanted to the model duplicates, too…

 

“This place was never meant for players, nor AIs to fully encounter! But since we’re past the barriers and we’re currently out of bounds, well…” He resets the duplicate models to go in a default A-pose, and all models snap back in place as if nothing had ever happened.

 

No. No, Caine wasn’t malicious. Pomni knew that much.

He planned extremely dangerous adventures, sure, but it was out of ignorance, and he was only following what he knew was “exciting” by default definition. 

 

She looked over to her own character model though, and approached it. Hesitantly running a hand over the cheeks, she could feel the touch mirror to her own features. It was strange, and definitely WEIRD. But a part of her just wanted to console herself this way. She was glad that she wasn’t an NPC. She was relieved to know that she wasn’t just a program being executed in this place, and she was overjoyed at the fact that she IS REAL, despite everything.

 

At the end of the day, she was still her.

 

She couldn’t help but wrap her arms around her own 3D model. She closed her eyes, and imagined that she was being comforted this way by a reassuring figure. Who exactly? She doesn’t know. It just felt nice to feel being hugged without her own averseness making her skin prickle in alarm. She lets go, and pats her duplicate’s head. “ Everything’s going to be okay… ” She whispered.

 

Pomni turned her attention back to Caine, who was retrieving Jeffery, tickling the little fella before letting Jeffery return to his rightful place as Caine’s left eye. He blinks twice as his apertures readjust, and returns a soft, smiling gesture to her. He clears his throat, and fiddles with his walking stick, suddenly a little embarrassed.

 

“Ehem, if… you’d like, I can give you a full tour of the debug area? N-no pressure, of course!” He couldn’t even hide the fact that he looked like he reallllly wanted her to say ‘yes’, coupled with the fact that his optics shifted everywhere but hers, refraining from eye contact.

 

At this point, how could she even say ‘no’ to him and his antics. So with an amused eye roll, she tells him to lead the way, and she sees how much his entire form just lights up at her approval. He then runs up to one of the doors.

 

“This right here is the AI NAVIGATION, I believe!” He opens the door, and they both step inside. There’s countless AI models of NPC mannequins walking around, in a limited space called the “Navigation mat”. “It’s where the game tests out if randomly generated characters can walk around without getting stuck in an obstacle!” The NPC’s pathfinding can be seen on the ground a yellow line with a circle on the end to signify it’s destination, before coming to a stop, and doing an idle standing animation. It then recalibrates the algorithm to another random destination, and does the process over, and over again.

 

“What do you think?” Caine asks, and Pomni stutters. “O-oh, I think it’s… cool?”

 

… she’s trying, okay.

 

This answer overjoys Caine nonetheless, as he claps his hand excitedly, ushering them to the next door. Pomni sees a door that Caine misses, though. “What’s Neural Networking?” 

“Oh that? That’s just how my “brain” works! Would you like to know ALL about it?”

“... Absolutely not.”

“To the next we go then!”

 

“And this is PROCEDURAL GENERATION!” He opens the door, which showcases various environmental props on a square, floating plane. This impresses Pomni though, and she tries to take a step inside, but is stopped by Caine’s stick. “I wouldn’t recommend that my dear, there are no floors in this room! You’ll end up falling through the entire world!”

 

“Oh. What does this room do?” She asks, a glint of interest present in her eye. “Well I’m glad you asked! This room helps build and simulate a randomly generated plane of environment, for when everyone’s out on their OTHERWORLDLY quests!”

“... So, this is where everything we see in our surroundings when we’re out adventuring comes from?”

“A simplified way of describing it, PRECISELY! You are getting the hang of this quickly! It’s how I am able to come up with new environments for adventures as quickly as possible! Snow, spring, summer or fall, there’s no limit to the generation aspect, nothing at all!”

 

He shuts the door, and leads her to another. “TA-DA!!! CHARACTER PLAYER MODEL GENERATOR!!!” He flails his arms around, as Pomni sees a blank model on a large, white tube in the middle of a dark room. Caine takes a step inside, and Pomni follows. “This is where YOU were born! Or to be more precise, how YOUR 3D MODEL was born!” He pulls out another console, and chooses ‘random’ in the commands.

 

The tube then generates the model into something else entirely; a pink retro-robot dressed formally in a black vest and tie, with a TV screen for a head. The shell of the screen had a pink-purple-blue gradient.

 

“There’s no set-rule on how this thing comes up with avatars, except for the fact that it has to be somehow related to a player’s psyche! And then once it’s done it’s MAGIC, it teleports you to home base; where your MIND and your AVATAR becomes ONE!” He squishes his own head, and Pomni’s brows scrunch up.

“W-wait. Are you saying- My own HEAD came up with how I look right now??”

“Yessssss, and NO!”

 

Well that’s just really confusing. Still, that was somewhat… interesting. 

 

“Here we have 3D PROPS!!! It’s where everything you adorable baffoons can interact with that aren’t NPCs, are made and stored!” He opens the door, and it is just a NEVER-ENDING maze of shelves, with every item imaginable: furniture, weapons, decors, all that jazz. Though it does cause everything to lag, prompting Caine to immediately close the door on 2 frames per second. 

“WELL THAT WAS CLOSE! Let’s not do that again!” 

“Agreed…” Pomni was trying to recover from the overwhelming sensation of lagging and freezing in real time.

“This is SCRIPTING!!” Caine points, and he opens the door to a poorly-lit office-looking space filled with stacks of paperwork that reached so high up, you couldn’t even see the end of it. “It is where the scripts, plots, backstory lores, worldbuilding AND dialogue are made!” He grabs a piece of paper falling from the sky, and reads it’s contents. Then he shows it to Pomni.

 

“See?” Caine points to the specific line in relation to what he’s talking about.

Pomni squints to read, but before she could read the rest, Caine throws away the paper. 

 

“PROGRAMMER CREDITS!! The very people who have brought The AMAZING Digital Circus to life!!” Caine opens the door, and all Pomni sees is a small cork board with very tiny names, that Caine had to pull out a magnifying glass.

 

What the- Who’s “Gooseworx”?? And what the hell is “GLITCH Productions”???

 

Pomni didn’t even bother finishing up on reading it.

Caine closes the door once more, and opens another one.

“The GAME ENGINE!” and sure enough, it’s rows of giant engines chugging enough smoke that it makes Caine and Pomni cough, and he closes the door. “PHE-YEW! That room’s got enough greenhouse gasses to permanently alter climate change!” Caine comments, but Pomni doesn’t get the joke. This doesn’t deter Caine, as he opens another door, the second to the last one on this long hallway of reality-defying video game features.

 

“And in here, we have SOUND DESIGN!!” He opens the door to a recording studio, with four dice men of color-coded varieties, sitting around. “This is where ALL the sounds in this world come from!” As if to showcase this, he starts moving the door back and forth repeatedly, and one of the dice-heads mimic door hinge squeaking noises with their own face.

 

… Or was it… coming from them?? This is so much MINDF#@!ERY for one day, that Pomni had to hold her face, her eyes switching to a scribbling mess, looking all dizzily.

 

“You… you’re not gonna throw up now, are you?”

“No-, No… I think… I got this…” 

 

~~~~

“I don’t know whether I want to pity you, or laugh at you .” Zooble snickered, clearly choosing the latter.

 

The two were in the middle of the tent, where Jax was perched on the stage. The rabbitoid had an ice pack placed at his pelvis area, a tear leaving his eye and going down his cheek. Even just moving his legs to adjust earned him stinging pain.

 

“Sheesh, lay off it already! I get that this is my universal karma and all, but I still deserve to have my dignity intact !” He tried acting tough, but it was clear that he was utterly humiliated. Not only was his (technically) non-existent family jewels bruised now, his ego was also BEYOND shattered. And he didn’t even know what caused it!

Zooble placed a claw on their chin, in ‘deep thought’. “Hmm, do you really, though? You’ve done a lot of stupid S#@! In your lifetime here, that I think this is kind of deserved.“

Jax rolls their eyes, a dark tint of purple on their face as they grumbled. “I’m willing to bet this is Caine’s fault.” He shifts the blame to their missing ringmaster, and Zooble scoffs.

 

“Do you really think he’d aim THAT low in the first place? Besides, he’s not even here. What, did he suddenly turn invisible, slapped you in the face and hit you in the B@#!LLS?”

“Gee, I don’t know! The sky’s the limit!”

“Sounds like cope to me.”

“Okay then, genius. What do YOU think caused this to happen? Because I don’t remember you being ANYWHERE near me to do THIS.” He points to his crotch, hissing and half-sobbing when he accidentally shifts.

“I’d say it’s some kind of divine intervention.” Zooble sarcastically replies, a hint of mischief in their tone, absolutely drinking in just how broken the circus trickster was right about now. 

 

Kinger, Ragatha, and Gangle all make their way back into the tent, not exactly looking cheerful.

 

“Well you three are looking worse for wear. And I’m assuming that’s Caine’s walking stick that you’re carrying.”

“Kinger thinks they’ve gone out of bounds… We couldn’t do anything else than just go back…” Gangle sniffled while explaining, her gaze questioning as she stared at the two. “W-why does Jax have an ice pack placed there ?”

 

“ YOU DON’T. WANNA KNOW. ” 

“Oh, you ABSOLUTELY gotta know.”

 

~~~~

Pomni had to lean to the wall for a moment, as she recollected herself. Caine waited patiently as the jester basically had to steady herself, her mind finally catching up to the information. “Okay… Okay.” She said in between breaths, once she knew there wasn’t any bile rising up to her throat.

 

“There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, huh?”

“Oh, that wasn’t even the half of it! We’ve only encountered a partial of the WHOLE thing as this is just the debug room, but… it does do a great job at summarizing what exactly happens beyond the curtains!”

 

Pomni had a newfound sense of appreciation for the Circus’s mechanics. While it was still all very weird, a look on what goes on everything they do in this world… from what items they interact with, to the very sounds that occupy this simulation, There was still a lot of effort and passion put into the development of this entire thing.

Though, it didn’t really help that Pomni’s mind ran on mostly logic, so having to experience all of that actively messed with her very perception of the Circus’ reality. She honestly shouldn’t be surprised. The Digital Circus was one H#@! of an enigma, the mere fact that it was able to trap 6 or more humans was telling enough.

 

“I thought you said you didn’t have access to this place. How come you know all this?”

“Ah! No, no! I DO have access to this place, as I need to keep things running neatly! But I don’t venture BEYOND this tent, nor have I accessed this place by foot, since I have no need to! And my very own code is not tasked to do so, either!”

“So, by sheer, pure coincidence , you found this place while following the diverging path of the river?”

“EXACTLY!”

 

Talk about being lucky. There wasn’t a lot going on in the grand layout of this world, even in the normal grounds –minus the adventures they go out on– so it was honestly believable. Although….

 

“What were you even doing in the debug room, anyways?”

“Ah- W-well…” Caine fiddled with his walking stick, a little unsure of how to answer. “I… tried looking for ways to… help us escape!”

“And…?”

“AND I’VE FOUND SO! In fact, now that we’ve discovered this, I think I may know a shortcut! ”

“... Oh S#@!, for real?”

Caine grumbles disappointingly, arms crossed with his feet tapping onto the ground.

“Sorry. Force of habit.”

“Apology accepted, but YES! If this is an early version of the tent, then that means there’s an unfinished room somewhere in here that would lead us to getting to the other side of the map!”

 

She didn’t understand game development at all.... This is all so confusing. “I’ll have to remember to close that up later though, when we’re back safe and sound!” Caine muses, but nonetheless starts leading the way to exit the debug room.

 

“So, my dear, are you ready to go back?”

“Y-yeah. I think I am.”

She closes the door shifting her attention towards him, and Pomni couldn’t help but notice the way he kept his hand to his stomach though. It was as if someone punched him in the gut really hard.

 

“Are you okay?”

“W-why, I’m feeling brand new , my dear! Of course I am-” He doesn’t face her, but he does drop his hand to the side. Pomni’s brows furrow, but she hopes that he’s telling the truth.

 

(even though there’s a nagging feeling at the back of her brain that’s saying he’s hiding something)

 

The two keep traversing the bug-filled tent, with Caine advising Pomni to squish them with her shoe whenever she would encounter one near her. Which, she happily obliged, crushing the little pests with a satisfying CRUNCH. Caine taps at his chin as he tries to feel the walls, and knocks at the doors of the place, as if trying to look for a specific sound.

 

When one door sounded hollow, his eyes lit up and his shoulders straightened. Though, when he opens it, his entire form drops (as well as his jaw), looking absolutely horrified at what’s beyond it. 

 

“ A-ah, w-wrong door…?” He timidly answers to whatever’s in front of him with a nervous smile.

 

… huh?

“M-my dear, please don’t fret when I say- RUN!!! ” He makes a dash for it, and Pomni finally has the chance to see what’s beyond it.

 

A large bug creature resembling a giant centipede stared back at her, with 5 green eyes. It was salivating an acidic liquid, which melted the very floor it came into contact with. Pomni was absolutely frozen, she wanted to run but she couldn’t figure out why her legs didn’t comply. The ringmaster halts from his sprint, and looks back to Pomni, who had been acting like a deer caught in the headlights. He immediately comes to her aid, nudging at her with the stick he had been carrying this whole adventure. “POMNI!!! WE CAN’T STAY HERE, WE HAVE TO GOOO!!!” He flails his arms around in comedic panic.

 

When she still doesn’t respond, he doesn’t have a choice as he makes a split-second decision.

 

“FORGIVE ME FOR THIS!!” He yells apologetically, grabbing the poor jester by the coat he had provided for her. The sheer force of being dragged and carried like a kitten would be on the scruffs of their neck was enough for poor Pomni to snap out of her mental dilemma.

 

“Huh WHA-!!! AAAAAAAAA!!!” She blinks and screams, and Caine puts her down, as she joins in on the running. “WHAT THE H#@! WAS THAT CAINE?!?”

Caine couldn’t even blame her for swearing right now. “T-THAT MY DEAR, IS A VIRUS! AND IT SEEMS THAT I’VE FORGOTTEN TO TURN BACK ON THE FIREWALL AND ANTIVIRUS PROTECTION!” He tries explaining, and pushes Pomni out of the way with his stick in order to prevent her from being a bite-sized virus snack. Pomni cries out in pain from this, but nonetheless keeps running after she manages to get back on her foot. Only for the virus to block her path, forcing her to run in a different direction. The pest chases after her at dangerous speeds, and a stick is thrown to it’s face.

 

A whistle. “HEY BUG-FACE! OVER HEREEE!!! YOOOHOOOOO!!!” Caine comically hollers and slaps his own butt to taunt the virus into chasing him instead, which was a success. He yelps, running away as soon as all attention was on him. “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! TOO CLOSE, TOO CLOSE, TOO CLOSE!!” He jumps away and squeals in terror when the virus almost chomps down on his ringmaster buns, prompting him to cover it while running for his life. He sprints out of the tent, and the bug follows suit.

 

Pomni uses this opportunity to safely exit the tent, and sees Caine still being chased by the bug. “OH POMNI, I WOULD REALLY, REALLY LOVE TO NOT PRESSURE YOU INTO ANYTHING, BUT DO YOU MIND DOING ME A TEENSY TINY LITTLE FAVOR?!” He pleads as he runs at high speeds, and Pomni panics, putting her hands on her head.

 

“WH-WHAT SHOULD I DO?!”

 

“PLEASE FIND A ROOM THAT SAYS ANTIVIRUS AND FIREWALL PROTECTION WITHIN THE DEBUG EXPANSE, AND TURN THE SWITCH ON! TAKE YOUR ABSOLUTE TIME THOUGH, NO RUSH!” He squeaks again when the virus nearly bites him in half, and now he’s off to running into a different direction. The jester immediately heads back inside, looking door to door for something that looked like either a firewall, or an antivirus room. Hinges creaking and door knobs clicking, her frustration grows bigger and bigger when she doesn’t find what she’s looking for.

 

UGH, WHEN DOES IT ENDDDDD.

 

But finally, she sees a giant sign at the end of the hallway, saying “FIREWALLS AND ANTIVIRUS PROTECTION”, and she has never been happier upon seeing a sign on a door. Seeing a lever on the side of it, she flips it down, and the red blinking light on it’s side turns to green. She goes outside to where the ringmaster was distracting the unwanted pest. There’s a lot of damage now, low poly cart props have been thrown around, things glitching in and out of existence, and some of the grounds have holes in them exposing pure, binary code, likely from the creature’s corrosive saliva. Caine was climbing a tree, he was at the very top as he avoided the bites. “I WANT MY CODER BAHAHAACK!!!” He cries as he hugs the tip of the conifer prop in a desperate attempt.

 

“I DID IT, CAINE! I FOUND IT! I TURNED IT ON!!”

 

Unfortunately, this has the side effect of catching the Virus’ attention. She scrambles, flailing her arms as she screams for her life while running. “NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!” There’s tears forming at her eyes as she jumps, runs and dodges the bites as best she can. Caine did his best to catch Pomni’s attention as soon as he was able to go down from his perched position, waving at her and calling out. “POMNI!! PASS THE ROPES! I HAVE AN IDEA!”

 

Pomni looked at Caine’s direction, and hurriedly took off the ropes looped on her torso, and tossed them as far as she could, to reach Caine. This was enough, as it lands near Caine’s foot and he throws himself to the ground to catch it quickly. He then started yelling for Pomni to head to the huge metal pipe props of the unfinished circus tent, and she sped up to the direction he told her to go. Essentially ducking and covering, the creature almost tore her in half if it weren’t for the majority of it’s body –save for the mandibles– were able to slip through the openings. With the monster trampling all around in blind aggression, Pomni huddled herself, to prevent the saliva from melting her digital avatar off. 

 

The vines she tossed earlier then proceeded to get wrapped around the monster’s neck, and Caine is attempting to control it’s movements by pulling back whenever it goes for the lunge. He grunts as he struggles, driving the creature to run into multiple props headfirst, slowly causing it to get disoriented, and drop down momentarily when it crashes on the metal pipes. Caine then hisses and sucks in a breath when he gets chucked off from the force, but he immediately goes for the vines and tries to tie the monster down to the nails that held up the circus tent.

 

The creature attempted to struggle free, and they could hear the strain of the vines slowly getting snapped.

 

“QUICK! WE HAVE TO LEAD IT INTO THE ROOM!” Pomni nods as she leads the way, and Caine follows. Frantically popping back into the tent, the two steer themselves into the objective. The centipede-like creature breaks free from it’s temporary chokehold, and attempts to chase the duo down once more. Of course, their recklessness was without consequence, as some of the duplicate player models get flung all around, the props colliding with the physics and glitching through places they shouldn’t be, and even the other rooms such as AI navigation and scripting getting messed up. 

But the duo makes it to the antivirus room in time, and when Caine opens the door, there is a huge drop, to a huge inferno wall in the middle. The virus, now spotting them from the end of the hallway, starts gaining in closer and closer.

 

“I DID NOT CALCULATE THIS THROUGH ENOUGH!!….”

Caine looks back to the virus, and back to the drop. He inhales, and faces Pomni.

 

“MY DEAR, WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO GRANT ME PERMISSION TO TOUCH YOU?”

“WHAT THE F#@! DOES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS SITUATION!?”

“WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, AND I REALLY MUST INSIST ON THIS METHOD!”

 

Pomni looks back to the virus, then back to Caine. “JUST- SURE!! DO WHAT YOU’RE PLANNING TO DO ALREADY!” She closes her eyes, the thought already overwhelming her as she feels like her entire arm’s touching livewire. She then feels as if she’s falling.

 

The jester opens her eyes as her tears stung her vision, and she vaguely sees the monster flinging itself into the (literal) firewall, completely eradicating it. She barely sees Caine underneath her, holding onto her tightly before they hit the flooring with a hard crash.

Notes:

Small explanation to help,

The entire debug area, or the unfinished tent in the context of the story, is an extension of Caine’s whole AI, a physical manifestation for easier comprehension of the plot. Which means that Pomni basically and accidentally delved into the deeper parts of Caine’s “brain”.

Since the whole thing is unrealistic by design (I mean… there’s no way Caine would do what this entire story is conveying in canon anyways)… and was honestly just inspired by multiple aspects of game design like the debug zone from Shipwrecked 64 as well as the out of bounds double player models of the Employees in Lethal Company, accompanied by the idea of data-mining animations/models, I decided to make this as a little deviation from usual OOB debug room stuff you will typically find in games. I am not a multiplayer/VR game developer, and this is entirely fictional.

Do not see this work as a legitimate way of understanding game development, because this is not representative of such.

Chapter 6: CONNECTION

Summary:

Come hither everyone, gather around as I tell you a story of how much I suck at updating things.

Notes:

Hi. I'm very sorry I didn't update this even though I had chapter 6 fully ready a few days later after I posted chapter 5, but I swear there's a reason for it aside from the fact that the Harlequin AU has completely overtaken my brain. Nonetheless, despite my issues, I've decided to no longer let the people wait, and instead, be honest at what made this update last so long.

But I will need to delve into it at the end notes, as it is kind of a spoiler.

Tip 6 : If you feel a connection, there’s potential.

~~~~

Pomni snaps herself awake, panting and clutching at her sides in pain. This was somehow worse than ANY “adventures” that she’s had. Maybe because this was never meant to be a planned adventure in the first place, but her internal complaints were still justified. Then her eyes shift to the ringmaster, who’s form simply laid there and was flickering in and out of existence near the firewall.

 

Terrible memories wash upon Pomni as she remembers her first day, and she rushes to his aid. “CAINE!” She didn’t know how to deal with this situation in the slightest, although she could hear the way Caine weakly groaned.

 

“ Tell me how to save you, please! ” She pleaded.

“... C-c-c-c…Co-o-on… Con-conso-o-o-ole… ” He weakly muttered, pointing to the direction of the main console of the debug room.

.

Pomni nodded with tears forming in her eyes. Taking off the coat to wrap it around Caine, she attempted to help him to their objective via looping his arm around her shoulder, and trying to ignore the sirens going off in her head by doing this. There was one problem, however. And Pomni craned her neck up to the door that would lead them to the room they needed to go, that was about a few feet high. She attempted to reach it, but her short stature made it impossible, even with jumping. She growled and cursed at the avatar generator multiple times in frustration, for giving her such a miniscule height. Caine kept touching the wall however, and upon finding the hidden button, a stair just about enough to cover the needed steps to get out of this room pops out of nowhere from the walls itself, almost hitting Pomni.

 

Thankful for this nonetheless, Pomni helps Caine get to the console –trying desperately not to pay attention to the way everything feels overwhelming– as the now weakened ringmaster could barely walk by himself. She panted, choking back a sob, her eyes shifting to the front then back to Caine as she observed just how battered he was.

 

“It’s going to be okay, Caine… Please hang in there…” She tried to comfort the pair of dentures, although a part of her knew that it was also said by her for some form of self-reassurance. She REALLY did not want him to die just like that.

 

Not after all the things he’s done for her.

Not after what they’ve been through.

They had just started being friends. REAL friends.

Why is everything so unfair?

 

She gritted her teeth in frustration and overstimulation, whines of worry and fear becoming more and more evident. There was a point that while making their way through the hallway, Caine glitched BADLY, and they tripped. He wheezed and coughed in glitched beeps, and Pomni rushed to get him back to his feet. 

 

Everything hurted.

 

Her eyes hurted from the tears.

 

Her mind hurted from the fear.

 

Her body hurted from the impact.

 

Her skin hurted from the contact.

 

Her legs hurted from the running.

Her heart hurted for the one she was assisting.

 

They did make it to the console, to which Caine attempted to crawl by himself after Pomni dropped to her knees, unable to bear the sensory overload she had been ignoring for the sake of the glitching ringmaster. She sobbed to the floor, recollecting herself as she simply punched and clawed into the flooring to let all this wash over her. She hated how pathetic she was being right now. Caine was pretty much dying , and here she is not assisting him and is way too lost in her feelings.

 

She dragged herself on her hands and knees towards Caine despite not having fully recovered, just to assist him one more time. He was now leaning against it; jaw clamped shut. His breathing was fast-paced, and he was unbuttoning his shirt to reveal…

 

Code.

His body was literal binary code flashing in and out and forming itself to shape like a non-detailed torso, but there was an issue.

A HUGE chunk of his code was somehow missing. At around the same part where he had been covering his stomach earlier. He pulled out a cord from the console, and attached it near the parts of him that were missing, granting a glitch of pain.

 

Something tells Pomni that this was not caused by the virus that had just been chasing them.

 

“Caine… was there a glitch caused by a different bug in your system this whole time? ”

The ringmaster hesitantly nodded, and his shame was obvious. This pesky defect had done SO MUCH damage to him that it made Pomni shudder at just how brutal it was.

“ Was that why you haven’t been able to do the things you could usually do…? ”

Another slow nod.

“... Was this really the reason why you were hunching over the console before?”

 

… A nod again.

“Why didn’t you just tell me? I would’ve helped you!” She yelled, and Caine looked away to the side.

“...A… A-a-a-asha-a-a-m-med…” He pointed to himself, jaws still clamped shut, his head now leaning back.

“DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD CARE!? It hurts even more seeing you like this!” She slammed her fists onto the ground, even more distressed now.

 

Caine slowly moved his hand near Pomni, to which the jester looked at, eyes still watery. She stared at it, and lifted her shaky hands. Caine twitched continuously as his form struggled to keep itself together, but his hand remained steady, apologetic and opened. Pomni closed her eyes, and the touch was electrifying.

 

Every part of her brain wanted her to PULL BACK , to STOP DOING THIS, but she bit her lip as she tried to calm her shaky breathing, thinking about how this was Caine. He might’ve been her captor, but he didn’t do it willingly and knowingly either. He was basically her savior on multiple occasions by now, to be honest. The fact that he willingly put himself in danger not once with the waterfalls, not twice with the virus’ relentless attacks, but three times with him cushioning her fall when he didn’t need to was telling of how much he did genuinely care.

 

But Caine didn’t do anything. His hand simply remained there for a moment, until Pomni felt the jolting touch lower to buzzing after a while, somehow. Her eyes opened, surprised at how much her senses had toned down. She moved to making slow circles in his hand, and for the first time in her life, the sensations felt calming and reassuring, rather than alarming and distressing.

 

A small smile forms on her lips.

“... S-s-s-s-s-so-o-o-orr-yr-y…” The ringmaster expressed his regrets. And Pomni shook her head.

“Don’t apologize you dummy.. Just please fix yourself…” it was now both her hands that clasped his, enveloping his digits in a warm embrace, tingling sensations still present. He nods, and his eyes turn as  black as a computer screen, his form slumping lifelessly while the glitching froze, as if paused in time.

 

“CAINE!!!!” She screamed, tears threatening to fall once more.

 

‘An Error has occurred with Caine.AI_exe, causing it to crash. If you would like to restart your Caine.AI, please select “reboot”. Warning: The reboot may take a while, do not shut down your server or switch off your computer .’

 

The console announced. Pomni blinked, and clicked “reboot”. His eyes flared up in blue, showing a white progress bar with ‘1%’ on it. She heaved a heavy sigh of relief, and then observed him.

It was a little strange seeing what he was truly made up of. She wasn’t surprised in the slightest that his body would be literal code, since he was still just a virtual character in this world. It was fascinating, in a way.

 

And now that the dangers have dispersed, and Pomni no longer felt like both their lives were on the line, does she truly realize how much her body felt sore and exhausted from their endeavors. Her limbs had stopped responding to what her brain told them to do, her body wobbly and aching, as her vision struggled to keep awake from the adrenaline leaving her system.

 

Without much thought, her eyes weakly drooped down and closed shut, and she fell to the side of the ringmaster, succumbing to the fatigue that overtook her body.

 

~~~~

“OW OW OW OW OW OW!!! Be gentler , ribbons!” He patted harshly against Gangle’s mask face.

“I-I’m trying!”

“Well you’re not trying hard enough then!!”

 

Jax had his digits clawing at the show stage’s floorings. Gangle was applying some bandage to Jax’s head, but he wasn’t the only one. Even Kinger, Ragatha, and Zooble were trying to patch themselves up, after a mysterious force had flung them all around. Well, for the case of Zooble, they were attempting to find their other body parts.

 

And while the rabbit would NEVER admit it in his entire life ever, he felt absolutely embarrassed that someone… especially Gangle… was helping him patch up his wounds. Even the one on his pelvis.

 

… It certainly didn’t help that it was shaped up to look like a diaper on him. And it MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT HELP THAT ZOOBLE HAD BEEN CHUCKLING AT HIM FOR THIS, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY WERE IN A WORSE CONDITION THAN HE IS.

He’s so gonna get them back for this somehow. Not today, but SOMEDAY.

 

“AGH, this is so stupid! If only Caine was here! He’d be able to snap this away in a blink!” The rabbit’s voice showed how utterly annoyed he was, and it was the first time the whole circus had heard Jax THIS frustrated.

“I wonder where they’ve gone to anyways… It’s been days since they disappeared…”
“If the sun and the moon were accurate, then yeah! Stupid dentures and clown face has been gone FAR TOO LONG! What are they even doing?! And what’s with the haunted ghosts throwing us all over, why is Gangle the only one unaffected!?”

 

“No one knows, okay! All we can do right now is sit by, and wait!” Ragatha was also getting fussy at this point in time, her worry for the jester and the ringmaster becoming very evident on her features despite being in pain herself, as she rubbed at her arms and her single pupil pin pricked with beads of sweat running down her face.

Jax groaned louder this time, and it seemed like he WAS gonna stand right up in protest. But the pain still present at his groin, and his right side changed his mind. 

“Stupid AIs… stupid clowns, and STUPID CIRCUS! I can’t even HAVE FUN with the ONE TIME that NO ONE’S AROUND TO SNAP THEIR FINGERS AND SUDDENLY, EVERYTHING’S A-OKAY! THIS WHOLE THING F#@!ING SUCKS!”

 

Everyone gasps, and Jax looks at everyone with an unamused, frustrated expression.

“WHAT.” He hissed with venom. “Oh boohoo, I swore! WHAT ABOUT IT.”

 

It was very obvious that Jax was getting so genuinely upset, for…. Quite possibly, the first time ever in his whole presence inside the circus. And it took everyone aback, even Zooble for that matter. Though, the purple rabbitoid was right. The two had been gone for way too long now, and normally, Caine would’ve been able to just teleport him and Pomni back if they ever encountered trouble. But there hasn’t been any signs of them AT ALL, except for the cane that Gangle had found near the edge of the waterfalls.

 

“ As much as I’d love to keep making fun of Jax ,” said Zooble, antennas vibrating in thought as soon as they attached it back on their head, ”He’s right. I think Caine and Pomni might’ve ran into some trouble if it’s taken them this long to come back already. And there’s weird stuff going on that we can’t even comprehend.”

“Even if that’s true, we have no way of reaching them!” Ragatha exclaimed. “And I’m not jumping into a waterfall, because that’s just a DEATH WISH waiting to happen!”

 

“What’s a death wish waiting to happen now?” Bubble so nonchalantly asks. Ragatha blinks, and has a realization.

 

“WAIT! Bubble, you’re Caine’s…. Weird… little assistant right?” Ragatha asks. “ Correeeeect… ” The creature drags on the last syllable playfully, slowly rotating in place. “And you have access to everything Caine does, yes?” The ragdoll inquires more. 

 

“ Mostlyyyyy… ” 

 

Ugh. Bubble can get pretty annoying sometimes , the doll mentally complains. “Can’t you like, try and find where Caine is? I-if we can know where he is, we could also locate Pom-”

“Oh Caine? He’s in the debug room, being all glitchy and stuff after a virus attack. Pomni’s passed out by his side too, man it was a doozy watching the whole thing happen. You guys should’ve seen it!”

Silence.

The doll’s eyes twitch. She laughs in a soft yet maniacal tempo. “ You- you… ” A half-sob half-chuckle escapes her. “ You mean to tell us… you knew where they were. THIS WHOLE TIME!? ”

“Of course I did!” Bubble responds with a toothy grin and not a care in the world, to which Zooble has an urge to march up to where the creature was and use their robot hand to strangle the little B#@!CH. “T-then why the H#@! didn’t you say anything?!” The mix-match was already yelling at this point.

 

“Well duh, none of you asked me!”

 

Poor Ragatha was near the end of her line. She could feel it. She got into a fetal position onto the floor, and rocked herself as she repeated the phrase “He knew… this whole time” , that it made Kinger snap out of his usual state and comfort the doll by patting her hair gently.

 

POP! Went Bubble, as Zooble grabbed the cane from beside Gangle, also seemingly at the end of their patience.

 

“I hate that stupid useless S#@! sometimes.” Zooble groans, carelessly chucking the cane on the floor after the job had been done.

 

~~~~

‘99%….’

‘100%’

 

Caine’s eyes regain their heterochromic pupils, as his entire system comes online. His memories of the events are all muddled and messy, and he attempts to get up.

 

But something clutching at his arms is stopping him. He looks down to locate the source of this issue, and he sees the blue and red jester, completely and utterly disheveled, but… somehow, exquisite . Her eyes were closed shut, but her brows were furrowed. Caine couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t look away from this spectacle, and why he finds her so dazzling, yet he opts to go sit in place again. The jester stopped groaning when he did so, and looked at peace when her brows stopped scrunching up against one another .

 

He lifted his free arm, slowly, gently.

 

But something in his code told him that she would not appreciate the gesture he had in mind. So he puts it back down. Instead, he takes in their surroundings.

 

What. a. Mess.

 

Did he plan an adventure here? No, he couldn’t have, why would you plan an adventure out of bounds, away from all the player’s reach? Why was Pomni here? Was she in trouble? Were they in trouble? He tried his absolute hardest to reminisce. Somehow, all that was coming back to him were… something about a cliff… a waterfall… her… drowning .

 

Him coming to save her.

 

Two bodies struggling to stay afloat.

 

Ah.

 

~~~~

Caine attempted to surface along with Pomni’s unconscious avatar, but he just kept getting swept by the current. When he snapped his fingers underwater, it would not register, and he grumbled up bubbles in frustration. Swimming up once more to attempt to physically aid the drowned jester, he couldn’t understand why he’d been feeling at a loss since this morning. 

 

He was avoiding the jester, he wanted to avoid her, and he tried to avoid her. Because he was scared .

 

Which is why he had been in the other tent, to try and distract himself before this whole issue. Which was where he had felt a strange sensation near his foot after turning off the antivirus, to install and set up a thing called “the internet” that he wanted to test out, that he also didn’t really think much of. Which was why he let Jeffery follow and observe the jester’s progress instead, to see if perhaps, a simpler adventure around the grounds would suffice for her tastes.

 

Yet when he sensed that his eyeball was in distress, and even more when he had heard from the redheaded ragdoll that the dark-haired jester fell from the cliff after checking his wacky watch, he wasted no time diving after her, in spite of his current feelings.

 

He attempted to lodge his cane’s golden sphere end in between some rocks. It works, and he slowly makes his way to surface onto hard ground. Only for his hand to slip, and some of the foundations broke down, sending a haul of stone to hit him and the person he was assisting. He hits the barrier of the world, and all of a sudden, he feels a tremendous force crush his being before popping onto the other side, falling.

~~~~

That was the last of what he had remembered before he had awoken in a cave, and saw the waterlogged avatar of the jester. He knows they couldn’t die, he made sure of that ! No humans would ever want to truly die, after all. But he also knew that the feeling wasn’t exactly all that pleasant, either. He attempts to recall more of what had happened.

 

The criticisms… the existential dread… her laugh. The night spent underneath the night sky, as they talked about stars.  When she taught him how to stand up straight, and walk for the first time. Their quick witted banter as they made their way through the forest of discontinued properties. So much had happened, that the ringmaster couldn’t even fathom the events, truly and wholly.

 

Though when the jester stirs awake and drowsily calls out his name, he can’t help but feel nervous. He feels all tingly inside, and his energy spiked up. That’s weird, does he have another bug in his code?

 

“Caine,” She calls again. “You’re okay. I’m so glad you’re okay…” She looked up at him with her twinkling pinwheel eyes in a way he couldn’t understand, a way that made his system abruptly stop processing the situation, and he felt all light all of a sudden.

Yeah, he had definitely catched another bug in his code while he was recovering. How strange that their current spot seems to be completely bug-free, though.

 

He forcefully diverts his stare away from her, as he clears his throat. “M-my dear, of course I am! I’m the driving force behind this circus after all! If I were to disappear, why, who knows what would happen to you poor souls!” He stands as he explains, and Pomni gasps.

 

“You have your powers back!” She exclaims.

 

He looks down, and sees himself floating. To further test this theory, he snaps his fingers, and a giant rubber ducky is spawned in the very room they were in. He laughs in ecstasy, flying in circles like a free bird out of the cage for the first time. “HAHA! So it seems! Thank you for your assistance in today’s very wacky adventure, superstar! You were most helpful! ” He compliments, but Pomni’s eyebrows furrow in hesitance.

 

“ No, I wasn’t .” He was taken aback by this response, because he really did mean it. Why was she being dismissive? Did she not like positive reinforcement? He did know a few humans who felt that way. Perhaps it’s best not to delve further into it, and get back to the order of business as per usual for the AI. “... Regardless of how you feel about my appreciation for your efforts, how would you like to go back now?” He questions.

 

Pomni keeps avoiding his gaze, and for a moment, he second-guesses his prior actions. Though she does unknowingly cut him off when he attempts to reassure the jester, before he could even speak a word. “To be honest, after that nap? I’m feeling a little up for a walk right about now.” She smiles, and Caine takes it for enthusiasm.

 

Nonetheless, he does clap his hands in excitement. “Oh, goodie!” He exclaims. “I’ll go grab my walking stick!” He flies to the main area, to which Pomni follows suit, slowly. He grabs the trusty branch that had been helping him this whole time, and he further notices the huge mess the unfinished tent was in. “My, my! It seems that our little previous conundrum had caused more damage than I anticipated!” He tapped at his chin. “Would you mind holding this for a moment, darling?” He asks as he tosses Pomni the branch (who barely managed to catch it), then snaps his fingers, and everything flies back to their respective places. It even looked as if it was a scenario for a fantasy princess movie, and Pomni couldn’t help but be amused at the sight.

 

She does help by squashing any and all green, glitchy bugs she could see underneath her shoe and via the walking stick, and soon enough the tent looked… cleaner. 

 

Caine dusts off his hands (he didn’t even touch anything), and turns to look at Pomni. There’s another tingling sensation in his code, and for a moment, he decides that he really should check that out before it gets any worse like the previous one did. And since Pomni had chosen to take a seat in the unfinished show stage area, he approaches her for a quick moment to ask.

 

“Pomni, you wouldn’t mind if I leave you here for a few minutes, would you? I am fearful that I may have another bug in my system, and I would like to solve this issue!” He informs her, and for a second, Pomni’s face etched into fear and concern, which he quickly tries to reassure her, fumbling all the way. “N-now, worry not! I feel fine! I would just like to double check if there are still any traces! I will be back in a jiffy!” He quickly flies off without even giving Pomni a chance to speak, unsure of why his chest felt as if he had been walking for hours non-stop again. He clutched at it, utterly confused at how much his system was executing sensations this way.

 

He could feel the top of his head warm up, and he surmises that he must be overheating a little. Perhaps the clean up had taken a bit too much of his processing power? He isn’t fully sure. Nonetheless, he does hop back over to the console, and scans himself for bugs.

 

To his massive surprise, the console informs him that he was 100% bug-free. So why, on the Digital Circus’ green pastures , was he acting this way? Hm. Perhaps his system might be bug free, but it hasn’t fully recovered from the onslaught yet.

 

The ringmaster decides that he can check this out later in depth once he’s properly dropped off Pomni back, and check for additional damages that may have been done to the main Circus grounds itself. He expects lava pools, red cloudy skies, and Jax sitting on a throne made out of NPCs, while the others served him. Shivers run down his code.

 

Jax would NOT be a great ringmaster. He himself wasn’t, but at least he was trying his hardest.

 

He did see a message pop up that takes him out of his over-imaginative thoughts. “The internet is now running” it says. He checks the individual rooms, and a new door forms. He skips over, curiously opening the entrance, and he sees a MASSIVE pastel-blue library that seemed to never end. Well, at least there’s that new addition out of the way! He can check that out and run some tests later.

 

For now, Pomni.

His eyes blinked. There’s that tingling feeling again. He should really give his systems some time to catch up eventually. He inhales, then exhales, shaking his arms to remove the sudden nervousness, putting on his usual bravado. He takes slow and casual strides to the main area, until he notices the jester settle in his peripheral vision, and he feels like he’s so light on his feet again.

 

“Uh… Caine? Why are you floating to the ceiling?” Pomni asked in confusion. The ringmaster had his eyes fully blown wide and big once more like he did back in the cave, and she feels… a little worried, to be completely honest. The AI leader of the circus had a tendency to be unpredictable. As if shaking out of a trance, he recollects himself, although he drops at a quick speed and lands unceremoniously. It effectively mirrored the first time he flopped to the dirt of the cave, especially when the jester finds herself chortling in laughter at this. 

 

(Nevermind, she liked this kind of unpredictability, actually.)

 

His head tilts up to look at her, but before he gets to revere at the sound of her laughter again, he shakes off the feeling by readjusting his eyes multiple times. They had important matters at hand, such as getting Pomni back to the main circus. He gets up to his feet, and dusts his pants off, as if pretending that that totally did not just happen .

 

He clears his throat, and points the stick at Pomni. “Well my multi-colored harlequin friend! It seems that our little adventure has come to an end!” He says, and there’s a moment of sadness on Pomni’s face when he says that statement. His smile falters a little, so he racks his brains to think of something to divert this. “Um ... Have you thought about… my offer a bit? I-if you’re still not ready, I can wait for until you can come up with a proper response for it!” He fiddles with the stick, sparing her glances. Pomni shifts her feet around, a little hesitant.

 

“Maybe… give me more time? There were so many things that happened lately that I haven’t really given it proper time to think about” Pomni explains, and the ringmaster nods his head in understanding. “Of course, superstar!” He winks and clicks at his tongue, and he can see a small tint of red form at the jester’s cheeks.

 

They stand in place for a moment, turning a tiny wholesome situation into a pretty awkward one. Pomni shifts her leg, making circles with it as she avoided the ringmaster’s gaze, and the pair of teeth himself is fiddling with the top of the low-poly branch out of nervousness. Caine does end up clearing his throat, throwing his thumb back.

 

“W-well, shall we then?” He skittishly asks, and Pomni nods. “Y-yeah. I’m ready to go back now. I think after this experience, I’d be glad to be back in the actual circus again.” The jester is still directing her optics to the ground, rubbing her arm in the process. But Caine is nonetheless overjoyed at hearing this information, the tingling sensation stronger than before. 

 

He resists the urge to punch his own digital gut.

 

“Hey boss! Glad to see you’re up and running again!” Bubble, who had just spawned in, greets. Pomni yelps at the sudden appearance of the creature coming to existence seemingly out of nowhere. “BUBBLE!!!!!” Caine screams, and hugs his strange assistant. “Oh boy, you have NO idea how happy I am to see you, my most trusted buffoon!” He pats the creature, who in turn laughed and performed a somersault into the air. “So am I, boss! That was a very WILD adventure you and Pomni went through, I thought you guys would never come back!”

 

“So did I- WAIT. You knew where we were?” The ringmaster cuts himself off, and the bubble simply spins in the air again. 

 

“ I was silently watching you two the whole time. ” Bubble replies as if it wasn’t the most foreboding string of words ever. 

 

Caine ends up stuttering, pointing in various directions as he tried to recall whether or not he had seen Bubble from his peripheral vision AT ALL. “I even took some pictures! See?” Bubble stuck out his tongue, and numerous polaroid photos were stuck onto it. Caine squinted his peepers at his (annoying) assistant, and examined the photos. They looked as if they were taken from a considerable distance, and some of them had “wish you were here!”, “besties forever!!” written on them (plus various stickers), except for one. 

 

An image, coupled with a LOT of heart stickers on that ONE VERY SPECIFIC MOMENT OF HIM AND POMNI PASSED OUT ON THE CONSOLE, Their heads leaning on one another, COMPLETE WITH “P+C<3” INGRAINED ON IT.

 

He comically screams like a little girl when he sees the photo, and wastes NO TIME hiding it in his coat pocket. “YOU LITTLE-” He intensely points his shaky finger at the creature, who only bursts in laughter at his reaction. Pomni, who hasn’t seen the photos, is left standing confused as she had to crane her neck up, due to the fact that the two AIs were floating into the air as this was happening. Caine himself didn’t know why he reacted this way to such a simple prank from Bubble. He feels his features warm up, and he must’ve looked so red as a result.

 

“Aww, why so nervous, boss?” The AI assistant of the ringmaster flashed the biggest smile he could conjure within his features, “I just wanted to capture this loving mo-” POP.

 

“-Ment-” POP.

“-For-” POP.

“-EH-” POP.

“-VER!” POP.

 

POP, POP, POP, POP, POP, POP, POP, POP, POP.

 

It seems that even Caine has reached his limits with Bubble’s shenanigans. He laughably grumbles and pouts (which was just his mouth turning into an exaggerated angry frown) and crosses his arms as he faces away from Bubble. “THAT IS IT! YOU’RE GOING IN A ONE-HOUR TIME OUT, MISTER!” he snaps his fingers, and Bubble’s eyes go ever so slightly misaligned as he feels himself disintegrate to timeout, but not before having his last laugh at the predicament. Caine drags his hand across his eyeballs, fully unsure of why he was feeling so out of the blue today. But this was not important. What was important was bringing Pomni back.

 

Sweet, feisty, and beautiful Pomni . (WHAT SAID THAT?!)

 

He defeatedly floats back down to the jester’s level, who only mildly chuckled at his antics. And suddenly, he feels a little better.

 

“I-I’m really sorry for the delay dear,” he excuses himself, “It appears that Bubble needed to be taught a lesson!” He timidly explains, clutching at the ends of his coat. Pomni covers her mouth as she chuckles at their antics, and Caine feels his insides do a flip. “It’s alright. Since Bubble isn’t here to bother us for another hour, we can go now, if you’re ready” The jester says, and the ringmaster nods in agreement. He points his stick to a random door in the unfinished tent. “LET US COMMENCE THE JOURNEY BACK!” He proclaims with such vigor and begins walking, and Pomni laughs, following him.

He opens the door, and bows like a gentleman ushering Pomni to enter before him. “Ladies first!” He smiles sweetly, and Pomni flashes him with a soft, amused, half-lidded smirk. “Such a gentleman~” 

 

Caine’s thought process had actively stopped working in an instant. She stepped forward and began walking towards the room with a singular, lit up staircase in a black void, unaware of what she had just done and especially the effect it had on the ringmaster.

 

What… just…. happened… why did he oh-so desire for her to do it again?

 

Caine mentally slaps himself back into reality, desperately trying to hide the physical evidence of being affected by the jester girl’s tone to the best of his ability. He can fully question and dissect everything in detail later when she’s safe and sound. He does take the lead, seeing as to how he’s the only one who can comprehend the layout of this place.

The stairs was going to be a long walk, and Pomni knew that from the very moment that she saw. But that wasn’t the problem for the jester. The problem was that the void gave her a stronger, uncanny feeling more than anything in this digital world. So she wanted to occupy the nullness of the place, the journey…

 

…With the worst option to choose ever; small talk.

 

“Hey Caine,” Pomni starts to try and shift her attention away from the void that threatened to eat her very being whole if she so much as slipped, “What do you think of ‘suggestions’?” Caine looks back at her. 

 

“Suggestions? Why, they’re always welcome!” He proudly exclaims.” Pretty sure they weren’t .” The jester girl playfully claps back as she recalled the memory of the so-called “suggestions box”, and the ringmaster laughs. “Well, that, my dear, was already coded in! That was not my doing in the slightest!” He defends himself as the two walked side by side.

 

“Sure it was.”

“I’m serious!”

“Oh of course Caine, I FULLY believe you.” Her brows mischievously wiggled up and down in a playful manner.

“What can I do to make you believe me, then!? PLEASEEE POMNI!!” He jokingly pleads, and Pomni rolls her eyes.

 

“Okay then, here’s my first suggestion: remove the shredder. It’s not helping anyone except Jax.” She waves her hand, and Caine snaps his fingers to summon a notepad and a pencil to jot down notes. He nods as soon as he finishes. “Consider it done!” He pushes the pencil onto the notepad as if adding a period at the end of the sentence. “What else?”

“Hmm… Ooh, you should have an office, too.”

“But Pomni! I already have an office! The unfinished tent IS just that!”

“No, no, I mean… an ACTUAL office. Somewhere where we can ACTUALLY reach you in, because the tent is off-limits to us Circus members, if we ever had to bring something up with you. It’d help lessen your dissonance from us, and give us an option to go to should there be a need for emergencies.” She explains, and Caine sees her point.

 

“Ah! Very well then, I will see to making an office within the circus as soon as possible!” He writes it down once more, and Pomni takes a peep at the notes he’s been jotting down.

 

Turns out, he was actually just drawing a weird dog with a long neck. (or is it a giraffe?)

“You’re just drawing a giraffe!” She playfully calls him out.

 

“Nuh uh!” he wagged his finger in defense. “I am taking down VERY important suggestions! See this here, are your complaints about the suggestions box, and this one is the office!” He points to specifically the neck and then the rest of the body respectively, which really, just made Pomni confused on how his brain even works. Oh well, at least he’s taking this half-seriously…? And he’s actually remembering what she said instead of it going to one ear then out the other. Which was a huge plus.

~~~~

Pomni didn’t know when the conversation had begun to shift. Initially, she just wanted it to be occasional talking between her and the ringmaster, just to lessen the way her negative thoughts prodded at her for how dangerous this place seemed. Maybe it was when she brought up the existence of “vacation spots”, when Caine asked about what humans liked to experience, but she was so lost in the conversation to properly recall what was the exact moment that made this tonal shift possible.

 

Nonetheless, she couldn’t find herself but be thankful that Caine was more than enthusiastic enough to keep the conversation going.

 

“Oh, there’s also skiing resorts! I don’t think I’ve ever been, but if I ever had the chance, I’d like to experience sliding down the slopes of the mountain with flexible flyers.”

“A… flexible flyer?”

“Yeah, like,” Pomni takes the notepad from Caine’s hands, attempting to draw the object that she had just mentioned. As soon as she was done, she showed it to Caine, whose eyes widened up and nodded. He then turns his attention to the void, attempting to conjure up this paraphernalia solely based on Pomni’s descriptions. She gives him various tips on how to improve the model, to which Caine follows with trial and error. Sometimes, the steel was too long, sometimes, the pod itself was too thin that it could snap, sometimes the bow itself curved back so much it might as well stab you if you so much as lean forward to it, but only after a few attempts with Pomni’s inputs… He had done it.

 

A fully-textured flexible flyer sled, complete with rigged, steering mechanics. It was quite simple, but Pomni was nonetheless proud of his final product. She feels along the surface, and it’s as if it was wood-textured, smoothed out. It feels so nice to touch. “ This is amazing… ” She mutters under her breath, in awe at witnessing the entire process and seeing the final product. Caine rubs at the nape of his back, sheepishly unsure of how to take the compliment. “It’s not my best work, and I haven’t fully coded it to cement into this world, but I do admit it was fun listening to your guidance as it went along.” he blurts out, and Pomni smiles at him.

 

“...I think it’s just as amazing as your other works.”

 

He feels as if he had just been shot with an arrow to his chest.

~~~~

The void was slowly getting filled with knick-knacks that Pomni had been describing to him (possibly from some of her missing real-life memories), and him following through with her illustrations at attempts to model them in a 3D plane, all for the fun of it. What was once an empty world, was being filled with various objects: from an adorable plushie of a shark, to various types of food, to street signs, small houses and apartments, then it became luscious forest planes spawned from the procedural generation room, and even a small-scale skate park.

 

Caine was more than ecstatic to challenge himself to making whatever things Pomni had recalled, since the ringmaster barely had the time to even do small-scale projects just because it was fun. Work always called, and his free time was only spent chatting with Bubble, or fixing bugs that would prove to be detrimental to player experiences, as they go along in the game.

 

But the more he modeled Pomni’s descriptions, the more he improved. Whether it be texture-wise, polygonal-wise, or design-wise, each object that had been brought to life from this void, was helping him get better . Pomni herself was interacting with the various items, either by hugging them, tasting them, or testing their functionality. They still had an edge of low-poly to them, and even Pomni can attest to that, but they were shaping up to be a lot more desirable than plain triangles that would trigger your pareidolia.

 

And that was exactly what was happening, as Pomni took a bite out of the grilled fish that sat on a simple, white plate, that was being held by Caine. 

 

“Mmm… mhm…” She chewed on the salmon, rotating the ends of the fork, while the AI was giddily (and impatiently) awaiting her input, clutching at the ends of the plate of the half-eaten grilled salmon. “WELL? WELL? WELL?” He was both shaking and jumping in place as he asked.

 

“You know, this was a HUGE improvement on the roasted chicken rotisserie. I can even taste hints of the flavors I could remember from it” She compliments happily, and Caine’s feet flap in excitement as he floated in glee. “I think some lemons would help.” She adds, and Caine squints his eyes at protest against this idea.

 

“I don’t like lemons…! They make my eyes hurt after I try them!” He explains his utter hatred for the yellow citrus dramatically as if lemons had wronged his entire codeline, and Pomni shakes her head while laughing. “That’s because you don’t wanna eat the fruit by itself dummy, you gotta add it to certain foods! We can try it out right now” She explains as she lends out her hand, and Caine (begrudgingly but also not) snaps one into existence. The lemon splits itself in half, and Pomni lightly squeezes the fruit’s juices onto the salmon. She then lets it float onto the “void” once done, and takes a bite-sized portion to her mouth. 

 

“MM..!” She moans in delicious delight. “Now that hit the spot just right.”

 

Caine’s head tilts in confusion, can lemons really make food that much appetizing? He doesn’t fully know, because one, he had no need to eat, and two, Bubble was always the one cooking the members’ foods. Out of curiosity, he spawns another fork on his fingertips, and stabs a portion, bringing it to his tongue as his eyes squinted in caution and hesitance.

His world explodes, the entirety of his sclera overblown with his multi-colored irises. For a moment, Pomni is concerned.

“Um.. Caine? Earth to Cai-” She waved in front of him and his form was threatening to float away into the void, but he snapped back into existence all so suddenly and he squirmed in euphoria for the tasty assault on his tongue.

“MY DEAR, THIS IS THE MOST WONDERFUL THING I’VE EVER WITNESSED!”

At that very moment, grilled salmon with lemon squeezings became Caine’s favorite.

~~~~

They were no longer at the void this time, and were instead, at a strange office space with reality-defying staircases and rooms. But instead of feeling uncomfortable, Pomni, wrapped in the magenta coat once more, was too engrossed in a conversation with the ringmaster.

 

”You know what this reminds me of?”

“What does?”

“That one weird painting, with all the people walking in different directions of gravity. I always wondered what it meant.”

“Perhaps this was inspired by said painting?”

“Could be, I mean, if the circus was “wacky” by nature, then I can imagine that happening.” She dangled her feet as she sat down, staring into the various staircases that littered the area in a huge, spiraling drop to a white void. She was kicking her feet, recalling a faint tune on her head. Caine simply observed, absolutely enamored by her presence. “What do you think these staircases even represent?” She asks, and Caine shifts his gaze onto the many, many flights of steps.

 

“Would you like an in-depth explanation, or a summarized and simplified version?” He asks. “Definitely the latter.” was the jester’s reply.

 

“... Nothing.”

“What?”

“I think it means nothing. I think that humans sometimes find themselves overthinking on certain aspects that should mean nothing, as a way to find logic on an object, or a subjects’ existence in a way they familiarize themselves with.”

… Huh.

 

“My dear, sometimes, things are wacky because they just are!” He adds, “I think you mustn’t let yourself get too lost in what things mean, because it risks undermining the fun aspects of it!”

“I guess, but what if everything didn’t have a meaning after all that?” She shifts her position, letting her head dangle on the edge as opposed to her feet, her hands collapsed and laid flatly on her stomach as she contemplated, but didn’t disassociate for the first time. Caine tapped at his chin.

 

“... Well then, I guess it’s up to you to interpret it’s existence however you wish to, based on your own experiences, hm?” He replies, and Pomni looks up to him. He was fiddling with a rubik’s cube, and had just finished it in 2 seconds. 

 

“Take this cube for example,” He lets the object float in his palm ”A simple puzzle, but someone may find it frustrating enough to leave it unfinished. An incomplete byproduct that sours one’s perspective. But someone else may be too encapsulated by it’s mechanics, that they indulge themselves for hours on end attempting to solve it. And their efforts pay off, as the last color slots into its respective place” He clutches the cube. “What do you think this activity offered?”

 

“Problem-solving, and a rush of dopamine.”

“Yes, but what else?”

“... a fun experience?”

 

“Yes! THAT my dear jester friend, is what I think this staircase is here for. It’s not here for you to rack your brains with facts and logic on how it truly works as a concept, it’s simply here for you to experience, and give off your own interpretations of it! Would you rather be fascinated by it’s ability to defy the very plane of reality, or would you just cry about how it doesn’t make sense? ” He hands the cube over to her, and Pomni fiddles with it a little, not breaking off the pattern completely due to the fact that she didn’t know how to solve it.

 

“Hm… What if my interpretation of the experience IS wrong? What then?”

“ Someone very wise once told me that it’s all part of the process . We always don’t get things right the first time, or the second, or the third, or a BAJILLION times, but it’s in the nature of everything that exists enough to have a conscience for a procedure of trial and error, in order to land at the most suitable explanation for them! Although of course, it must be tempered by moderation, as too much of it can lead to unwanted strain.”

 

Pomni stared at the other end of the wall, into a painting of a white-and black checkered tile, in a black background, still listening intently.

 

“Some may have different experiences, leading to different interpretations, which leads to a debate of what is factual and what is objective in terms of the object’s true purpose. And to that, I say, DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, YOU SILLY GOOSE!” He picks up the cube from Pomni and throws it to the never-ending drop, leaving the jester dumbfounded.

 

“... I think that’s enough philosophical advice from you and me today. I still appreciate your answer though”

~~~~   

“Does this even work?”

“Of course it does! Why do you ask?”

“Okay, let me show you something stupid I recall doing at one point”

 

Pomni opened the lid of the photocopier, while Caine waited for what she was about to do. Out of nowhere, Pomni stuck her face onto the scanner, and turned the machine on. Light seeped and passed as it swept through her features, and a piece of paper comes out on the side of the machine. Caine grabs it, and sees the ridiculous face of the jester. Her tongue was stuck out, her eyes derpy, and Caine bursted out in laughter.

 

He pointed at the photocopied face. “This is hilarious! Let me try!”

“Go wild.” Pomni steps out of the way, and Caine plants his ‘face’ onto the copier. He made multiple copies in about a second –which made Pomni a little baffled but amused–, each with varying expressions he pulled. Pomni examined each and every 26 different copies he made, and she picks a specific one.

 

“I think this one is my favorite.”

“Fantastic choice, my hilarious friend! But I also think this one is a pretty good contender!” 

“Oh, you’re right. Now I’m having a hard time choosing…”

 

“Hm…”

“HMM….”

“Both?”

“Both.”

“Both is good, yeah.”

 

An all-too familiar door materializes itself behind the two, and they stare at it. Pomni can’t deny the slight feeling of dread that forms at her stomach once she sees it. Caine also looked at the door with a hesitant stare. He sighs, knowing that once the door is opened, the adventure is officially over.

 

Their own, special little adventure.

 

The pair of dentures wished it didn’t end so soon. And perhaps, the brunette noticed the sad look of contemplation etched on his face with the way she softly called for his name to make him face her. “Hey… our interactions don’t have to end here, you know. We can still keep hanging out even when we’re at the circus.” she smiled reassuringly, and Caine’s features lit up a little.

 

“My dear, I would just like to say… despite the perils, the blood-inducing thrills and the near death-experience of an escapade we were just on, I would go through it all over again if it meant being able to experience it with you .” He admits, and Pomni rolls her eyes.

 

“Gosh, you’re such a drama queen.” Was her reply to the sappy comment, but she couldn’t help but smile and blush. The ringmaster does return the expression.

Their gaze lingered longer than the both of them intended.

It was now night time, if the Moon on the skybox was any indication. Everyone left in the circus had gathered in the middle of the grounds, and set up a campfire-esque circle as they tried to wait for any signs that the missing individuals may pop up.

 

If it was only Caine, no one would really give a D#@!. The AI could disappear for all they care. But the fact that a human, Pomni, was lost as well, made the members slightly anxious, save for Jax. Pomni usually disappeared in the middle of adventures, sure, but it always spanned just half of the timeframe of the entire event, and then she’s back again. She was never gone this long.

 

Even Zooble stayed for the circle, but they were simply minding their own business as per usual. Kinger was huddled in his pillow fortress, but a window for it was open enough for him to peek through occasionally. Ragatha simply tended to the fire with a worried expression on her face. Gangle was attempting to draw with the small amount of light coming from the fire. Jax had a plan to ruin her night.

 

“Do you guys think they’ll ever come back?” Gangle sniffled, unaware of the grinning rabbit beside her.

“I’m… sure they will. Pomni always manages to come back. Plus, Bubble said they were still alive, so there’s that!” Ragatha mustered the best smile she could, but even she doubted her own words.

 

Just as Jax was about to make his move, the exit door materialized a few feet behind Zooble, making everyone look at the mix-match figure with widened eyes. Zooble’s antenna vibrated in confusion.

 

“Um… why is everyone staring at me?”

 

“EVERYONE!” Caine exclaimed as the red exit door opened, hitting Zooble and making them fall onto the floor and disassemble once more.

 

“GODD#@!$% CAINE!” Zooble cursed, but Caine was too happy to be back to notice their ire. The ringmaster himself rushes past the door and pulls each member (except a certain jester) into a big, stretchy hug, despite some of the complaints. And one by one, he plants a kiss on everyone’s foreheads, earning him some groans and grumbles, which he still happily accepts. “I MISSED YOU ALL!”

 

“Even you, Jax!” He plants a weird, toothy kiss on Jax’s cheeks. “Ew, gross.” the rabbitoid wipes his face in complete and utter disgust when Caine lets them all go down to the ground again.

 

Gangle does tug gently at Caine’s pants, making the ringmaster shift his optics at the masked ribbons. “U-um, we found this near the waterfalls… I thought you might want it back…” Gangle explained, and Caine gasped happily, dropping the low-poly walking stick in the process, in favor of his trusty cane. “OH, thank YOU Gangle… I missed you too, my baby!” He hugs his cane, and peppers it’s golden sphere with kisses. Perhaps he spent way too long making out with his walking aid, because now everyone was staring weirdly at him.

 

“Well! I see you’ve all behaved well during mine, and Pomni’s disappearance! That in on itself, deserves a reward!”

 

“Ugh.” Zooble complains, apathetic self seemingly back when Ragatha helps put some of their parts back together. Caine snaps his fingers, and everyone’s bruises or wounds all heal up. Jax lets out a long sigh of relief that could’ve been easily interpreted as a moan. “Oh, sweet relief… I thought that it would never disappear at this point…” He had never been happier removing some pairs of bandages on his crotch.

 

“What’s with all the weird mess that happened when you were gone, anyways?” the figurine questions, and Caine is a little hesitant on answering it.

 

“Y-you see, my lovely superstars, during our unexpected but mind-opening journey, we had an UNLUCKY encounter with a GIANT VIRUS THAT THREATENED THE CIRCUS’ VERY EXISTENCE!!” Caine explained, and everyone was left speechless and confused. “It was the fight of our lives, if we hadn’t succeeded in eliminating the threat, then you could’ve all kissed your tushies goodnight!”

 

“Isn’t the saying “goodbye”?” Kinger in his random bouts of wisdom, points out.

“That is EXACTLY what I said!” Caine obliviously yet proudly exclaims. “You were all VERY LUCKY that dear Pomni over here had saved ALL of your limbs from being virus-contaminated!”

 

“ Or else… You all might’ve been in constant pain and agony for who knows how long…” The ringmaster once more, an ominous green lighting to his features, as a part of just how much the realm liked to exaggerate his sentences. “But fortunately! THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN! So everyone, give it up toooooooo: POMNIIIIII!” The ringmaster announces with such vigor, as if proclaiming a champion in a boxing ring.

 

NPCS randomly start popping up all around, as the “audience” cheers for Pomni, the spotlight all on her when the jester only wanted to slip out of the scene and simply go to her room. She was even given a gold trophy, and a “medal of honor” as a symbol for her “heroism”, but Pomni’s brows only furrow more at the “undeserved” praises.

 

“Huh, who knew the kid had it in her?” Jax shrugs with a condescending smile, his arms placed behind his head in a carefree, unconcerned manner.

 

“I- I– don’t deserve this, Caine. ” She takes off the medal and places the trophy down to the ground, the crowd and spotlight disappearing.

“Oh, but of course you do, superstar!”

“No, Caine! I just-... Can I just– go to my room, please..?”

 

Caine was taken aback, seemingly finding a pattern within the jester and her insistence of not being shown gratitude. It seems that she may be more of a humble person than he thought.

 

“... I understand. You are excused.” He grants her permission, and awkwardly, she turns away from the rest of the cast. Ragatha knew all too well that both parties had a twinge of forlornness, and it briefly makes her recall the jester’s first day.

 

But the ringmaster, masking his emotions once more, returns his gaze to the rest of the cast that was still present. “Now as for all of you, I believe that I still haven’t given you all my deepest and most sincere gratitude for not burning the place down! Your reward is a trip with Bu-”

 

Constant groans emitted from every single person, as they all began walking away, not even caring about the reward anymore. “W-WAIT! EVERYONE! YOU HAVEN’T EVEN LET ME FINISH MY SENTENCE YET! I PROMISE IT’S AMAZING!”

 

Doors shut, and the ringmaster is left to his vices. On second thought, perhaps this circus needed some more work. 

Maybe he could ask Pomni for help again sometime? Gosh darn it Caine!

Notes:

Hey hey! you made it to the end. How wonderful! Now, what you're here for; the reason.

And my reasoning? I don't know how to write Chapter 7.
I fully know how to write Chapter 8.... and 9.... and how to end this story off with a neat little bow with Chapter 10, certainly.... But Chapter 7 is the full-transition from Pomni and Caine's special adventure, to "normalcy", except this time, Caine wants to discover what's making his code buzz like bees amongst other things, and why it only happens with Pomni.

Andddddd this is where I've hit an official writer's block that refrained me from posting Chapter 6, as I always write chapters in advance. This is the first time I'm abandoning that ideal, because I want to get chapter 6 out now for the people eager to read the story.

It seems silly to ask, but I'd like to hear some suggestions on how Chapter 7 should be written. Help me get out of this dreadful writer's block because goddammit, I want to finish it so badly for y'all to read. It's quite literally the only thing that's keeping me from finishing this 10-parter story.

Small update note: the philosophical topic Caine and Pomni talk about actually shows some insight about my own outlook towards life. Nothing very important, just like to share that fun fact :>

Chapter 7: DISCOVERY

Summary:

You ever just get to take your crush to a nice lunch break, and a stroll in the park? Then a heart-to-heart talk with your crush's dad afterwards?

...W-what do you mean "no"?

Notes:

With how fast I wrote this chapter, people would mistake Chapter 6 to be the one to have given me the most trouble to result in 6-month hiatus. lmfao

Though I gotta say, I think the hiatus really gave me the opportunity to perfectly time the timeframe in which the rest of the chapters are planned to be set in. So I guess, that's better than nothing. :>

Anyways, back to the fic. The scene up to the restaurant was actually already pre-written by the time the story underwent an unannounced hiatus, anything beyond that was something I just wrote down the past few day all thanks to both: the suggestions given to me by the people in the comments section, and the rough ideas/plans I had in my head that were previously scrambled because I had a really really bad case of writer's block for this fic.

I would also like to extend my thanks to TKproductionz, as they were the one who really kicked the plotting gears inside my head back into working order. the office scene was heavily based off of their suggestion, just changed up a bit to fit the narrative I had in mind better.

Tip 7 : If you’ve discovered something, make sure to explore it.

~~~~

It had been more than a week by rough estimates since the whole scenario unfolded. To Pomni, it seemed like a distant dream, a memory she wasn’t sure that it even happened, although she can’t bring herself to believe that it was just a realistic hallucination as a result of a week-long coma. Sure, to be back in the circus, to go back to “normalcy” –as much as the place would allow anyway– was nothing short of relieving, but a part of her recalled some moments. All the talks they had in the void, and how it physically became less, and less empty and more lively, made Pomni smile softly.

 

Their entire journey felt as if Pomni had witnessed a transformation unfold, and start to bloom within their leader. How he was willing to listen to her now, every advice that escaped her mouth, he treated like the holy grail of criticisms and applied it to whatever he made, and together… in that very void, they had created something that made her chest spark up with hope.

 

Hope for a new era of the Digital Circus, hope for a better future within it’s confines, and hope for less people getting lost to abstraction. After witnessing and getting attacked by Kaufmo’s abstracted form during her first day, she couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else, especially herself, becoming such. So the jester’s decided that she was going to make the most of it. After all, if you can’t escape, might as well make yourself comfortable as much as possible.

 

Speaking of… The adventures, Caine hasn’t exactly given them a proper one since their return. All of it always concised of ‘retrieve object, get reward’ sorta deal. Which… felt a little weird to think about after all they’ve been through, though it does make sense. Even if she gave him a piece of her mind in the cave, he can’t exactly give up making them, it’s one of his –if not the main– core programming directives. Nonetheless, she thinks that Caine must be working on something new for them, and that she’s just gotta trust the process (since the ringmaster never liked to show work in progresses).

 

She merely lets her gaze linger on the ceilings of her brightly-colored room, since this was one of the few times she knew she’ll ever get a moment’s peace.

God knows how much she needs her space after that whole experience.

~~~~

“This just simply doesn’t make sense, Bubble!” Caine exclaimed, returning to tapping at his chin. He had been flipping through the various books of the new internet library without rest, unable to truly figure out what was happening to him lately. He looked so disheveled, his neatly tucked tie was undone, coat unbuttoned, and his shirt wrinkled, untucked from his pants.

 

For starters, he had been unable to take his mind off of the jester. Every attempt he had made simply drove him to making thought patterns that ultimately, lead back to her . His thoughts kept recalling the way she laughed, the way she balanced her humor and wits perfectly, two sides of the same coin. So feisty when she’s humble... How the way her pinwheel eyes slowly rotated like wheels in fascination. Oh, how he liked staring at her eyes… She had the most unique and exquisite eyes…

 

His body jumpstarts and all of a sudden it feels like he’s drank 12 cups of coffee simultaneously. 

 

… Which was what he did prior to the research they had been conducting. He shook in place, feeling his chest tighten, and Bubble prods at the twitching dentures. “Boss, I don’t think the 12 cups were a good idea.” Bubble points out the obvious. “I KNOW THAT NOW BUBBLE, I JUST DIDN’T FEEL THE EFFECTS IMMEDIATELY!!!” He twitches and jumps, the words leaving his mouth faster than most could comprehend. As soon as he stopped speaking however, he drops to the ground with a hard thud face first.

 

Bubble then pulls out a watch. “Three… two… one…”

 

GASPPPPPPPP!!!

 

The ringmaster springs back to life. He grabs ahold of his bubbly assistant. 

“ I JUST SAW GOD. ”

 

“Did she tell you to cut back on your caffeine intake?” Bubble smiled. “Of course she did Bubble, that’s what she always tells me when this happens!” the ringmaster clutched at his head. “Maybe you should listen then!” Bubble replies, and Caine scoffs. “ Absolutely not ! Besides, research must be done! Who knows what would happen if I don’t solve this issue, Bubble. WHO KNOWSSSSS!!!” He lets the last word drag on as if it meant the end of the world.

 

“Boss, have you ever just considered that maybe, just maybe , you have the teensiest, tiniest crush ?” Bubble tilts his head, and Caine was speechless for the first time since the activity began.

 

“A–a-a-a-a CRUSH?!” He panics. “Yeeeeeeep! A crush!”

 

“But Bubble, that is an outrageous conclusion! There’s no way I could be feeling this way, I am an AI!”

“I don’t know about you boss, but I actually did have a crush on Jax once.”

“... Really?”

“Yeah! The relationship lasted for 4 minutes though”

“If I had any traces of romantic feelings for you, then it sure has fully disappeared by now! ”

“Well, as an expert on all things match-making , I suggest conducting experiments based on this checklist!” Bubble shrugged his boss’ statement as if he had never said it. He does pull out a list, and hands it over to the currently scruffy ringmaster. He takes a moment to read the whole thing, and his top mouth forms a raised brow. “A-are you sure about this, Bubble?”

 

“ Totally sure. I saw it from one of the books!” 

Caine contemplated. Was this a good idea? And was he really about to enact on it? He wasn’t entirely sure. He doesn’t even believe him anyways, a crush of all things? Simply an appalling conclusion, there’s just NO way! Nonetheless, he shooes Bubble away, who complies with this request as per usual. He scrutinizes the table of contents, and he has an idea. But before he could, he needed more research.

 

Thankfully, this new “internet” thing he’s installed is proving to be quite helpful. There was LOADS of information in this place, and it felt as if it never ended, which was a dream come true for the AI. Perhaps he could make a smaller extension of it within the circus? It is a possibility, but he’ll only do so if the other members approve of such an idea. Especially Po-

 

NO CAINE. CEASE THIS TOMFOOLERY.

FOCUS ON THE TASK AHEAD.

 

“Let’s see, let’s see…” the ringmaster taps at his chin, zooming in to the P-section of the library. Why does everything remind him of her?

 

“This is simply unacceptable!” Caine massaged the top of his jaw, which would’ve been the equivalent to his temples. Perhaps a little bit of a minor software update and file arrangement is in order, just to give him some peace of mind. He tried to delete the memory of Bubble telling him about a potential c-r-u-s-h.

~~~~

Pomni had already gotten up from her position, not wanting to be late for roll-call again. She still hated the process a tiny bit, but it was necessary for the members to attend, unless they’re not feeling up to it one day. Sometimes it felt like she was working in an office-space again, except this time, the office was eye-straining, brightly-colored, and the most unexpected things could happen.

 

Such as sharks with tutus that performed ballet.

 

She didn’t want to outright admit it, but the jester finds herself slowly conforming to the Circus’ lifestyle at this point. Ragatha was right. All of a sudden, the place didn’t seem all that bad, to be honest. They were still trapped, yes, but… out of either desolation –contrasting the saturated colors of the circus forcing Pomni to think of a brighter side to their situation–, the place did provide a pretty unique experience that you’ll never experience in the real world, one that no one in their right mind would ever believe.

 

… Maybe she was just starting to go insane, like Kinger. Maybe this was the first stage to a deteriorating mental health.

 

Not wanting to further entertain the idea of going crazy , she gets up from her bed, and puts on her jester hat from her vanity. They could technically remove their clothes, some visual censored gags even occurred as a result of the accidental removal of one’s clothing, but they had absolutely nothing underneath them no matter how much the circus tried to cover up their nude bodies. Their avatars were simply just that: avatars.

 

Nothing more, nothing less.

 

She opened her door to a gentle knock. “Pomni!” Ragatha called. “Role call’s about to begin! Are you going to attend today?”

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.” The Jester shrugs with a small smile.

“Well! You’ve been much more enthusiastic than usual lately! Did your little adventure change your mind on something?” The doll playfully teases.

“Well, i-if I’m going to be stuck here, might as well make the most of it.”

“That’s the spirit Pom-pom! I’m happy you’re starting to find your place within the circus. Would certainly help make the atmosphere much better! And who knows, maybe for once, our lives could start getting better!”

“I agree with you on that one.”

 

And to think, she’s working with a bunch of strangers, some she dares even call “friends”. But if you think about it, that’s essentially just how jobs are in real life, too. Or at least, that’s what she could recall of her missing memories, if that’s anything to go by. Pomni closed the door to her room.

 

“So, what exactly happened while you were gone anyways? All I knew was that both of you went out of bounds, and encountered a virus.”

“It wasn’t anything special, I mean, you could technically argue it was on the same level as our usual shindigs. We encountered a low-poly forest, an early version of this tent, and-” Pomni cuts herself off, choosing to leave out the part of the player models. Best to not give Ragatha a heart attack first thing in the morning. “-then a virus attack happened because Caine forgot to turn the firewall on. We barely escaped with our lives.”

“Gosh, Pomni, that sounds horrible! But...What’s a firewall?”

Pomni halts. What is a firewall, anyways?

“I-I don’t fully know myself, to be honest. I just know that it’s a literal brick wall that was on fire, and that it burned the virus to a crisp” She fidgets with her hands, trying not to recall the horrible, startling memory of Caine’s form flickering in and out of existence on the ground. “... It pretty much saved us.” She finishes.

 

“But why didn’t Caine just teleport you two to safety? Or snap the virus out of existence?” Ragatha pulls out the question that had been bothering her all week.

“That’s the thing, Caine lost his powers momentarily because he was affected by a different bug. I think he started to lose it around the time he was trying to save me, because why else would we end up in the cave I woke up in?” the jester surmised.

“Well that completely explains everything. I never knew that could happen to someone like Caine”

“Me neither, but there’s always a first time to everything, I guess.” she shrugged.

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you two are safe and sound.” Ragatha smiles at Pomni, and Pomni returns the gesture back.

“For what it’s worth too, thanks for believing in me, and letting me feel accepted here. It’s… nice. You’re… nice.” God, she sucked at her wording.

“Oh Pom-pom, of course! Hearing you say that makes my efforts feel all the more fulfilling that it’s sprouting results like this. I’m very happy to know that you feel that way!” Ragatha chuckled, perhaps in the most genuine way that the jester has ever heard from her.

The two make their way to the stage, where Caine had spawned in, a little messy. 

 

… Okay, A LOT messier.

 

Everyone was surprised by the ringmaster’s appearance, it was out of character for him to look so disorganized in this way. He notices the stares he receives, and looks down. “My my, woops! It seems that I’ve gotten a little carried with my little research!” He snaps a finger, and he is sparkling clean once more, not an evidence of his fatigue present on him previously. “Now, my amazing superstars! After what had happened last time, I figured; why not do a different adventure for today?”

 

“‘Different’, he says.” Jax makes a snide remark, tired of having to participate in the week-long hunting games that it earns him an elbow to the gut.

 

“You’re right Jax! IT IS DIFFERENT!” The AI points the cane to the rabbitoid “The adventure for today is: CARNIVAL KIOSK MAYHEM! You see, some robbers have taken the digital carnival’s stalls hostage! And it’s up to you good-hearted, empathetic cast of silly, crunchy, EXPENSIVE circus peanuts to put a stop to this madness, AND SAVE CAPITALISM!”

 

“That doesn’t sound convincing enough, Caine. I mean, eat the rich , am I right?” Jax comments. 

“I’ll let you all use a gun to shoot the baddies in the process!” Caine adds as he mimics laser gun noises and explosions to really sell the idea.

“WELL, why didn’t you say so ! What are we guys waiting for? Come on! Hurry up, move it, move it! We have some poor, poor businesses to save !” Jax was basically kicking everyone’s butts to make them go faster. Zooble was about to protest, but they too were kicked out of the tent by Jax. Pomni was about to head to the adventure herself, until she was stopped by Caine.

 

“Not you, my dear! I have a special solo-adventure planned for you!” He pointed his cane to Pomni specifically, and Pomni raised a brow. “Meet me by the digital lake once you’re ready! Until then, tood-a-loo!” He disappeared in a rain of confetti, leaving Pomni to herself, confused with squinting eyes.

 

She stepped out of the tent, and saw the Sun watching the chaos unfold in the carnival. “Hey Pomni! Always a tardy one, aren’t you? You night owls are always so strange!” The Sun comments bluntly and loudly, and Pomni shakes her head. “N-no, no. Caine has a different adventure for me. I’m supposed to meet him by the lake.” She explains, and the Sun mouths an ‘oh!’.

 

“Okay then!” The conversation ended there, as the Sun went back to watching the once-in-a-while entertainment. She was going to encounter the carnival anyways, so why not stop by for a visit on everyone’s progress?

… She didn’t know if this decision was a mistake.

 

Because now that she’s here, the carnival was in complete disarray. Various stalls were knocked down, props were on fire with realistic smoke emitting from them, and one of the cart mascots, a soda drink, was crying over their fry colleague’s body sprawled lifelessly to the ground with opened ketchup packets.

 

“WHAT A WORLD!!! WHAT A WORLDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!” They scream. Oh, how cruel can fate be.

 

“Hey Pomni!” Gangle waved to the blue-and-red harlequin who was standing still at the entrance of the fairgrounds, surprisingly, comedy mask unbroken. “Glad you can finally catch u--” Gangle was about to say, until Jax pushed her to the ground and it resulted with her mask breaking. “MOVE RIBBONS, YOU’RE IN THE WAY!” Jax cackled, fueled by utter bloodlust and havoc. “Oh hey Pomni, wanna know what this gun does~?” He smiled mischievously and sinisterly, pointing the bazooka at the direction of the jester with a trigger-happy finger.

“N-NO THANK YOU!” She immediately rushes out of the way, the rocket just barely grazing her skin as it explodes somewhere. “Oh well, your loss~!” Jax was no doubt, having the time of his life.

 

Sigh.

 

Quickly dusting herself off to run away from the turmoil of an experience, Pomni couldn’t help but be thankful her task was separate this time. Although she can’t deny the nervousness settling in on her stomach. What has Caine planned for her? She hoped it wasn’t anything too dangerous. The walk there reminded her of when she and Ragatha were looking for flags, which was what kick-started the whole life-changing event in the first place.

 

She didn’t know whether to be thankful that the experience managed to change her outlook towards the Circus, and it’s ringmaster, or be scared that she’s actually getting used to this. Although if you think about it, isn’t that just more of a plus anyways? Would lessen her chances of being abstracted, at least.

Eugh, is his demeanor starting to rub off on her? Why has her thoughts been like this lately. 

Aside from the occasional bouts of explosion in the background and ignoring the huge blaze of smoke coming from the fairgrounds, Pomni couldn’t help but somehow, appreciate the serenity that the surroundings offered. The way the leaves brushed at her fingertips brought about a sense of nostalgia to her, something so distant, yet so precious. She couldn’t help but admire the softness of the props, especially now that she had a glimpse to the behind the scenes of what makes the Digital Circus… well, itself.

Even though she’s sure that grass used to feel more prickly and itchy in real life. Wait, was that a bad thing, or a good thing?

The soft fragrance of dew springtime danced around her nose, and she couldn’t help but close her eyes and simply bask in the wonders. It sure does feel nice when she’s not constantly surrounded by threats of danger.

 

She does eventually spot the ringmaster on a small hill underneath a low-poly apple-tree with his back turned against her, fiddling with a piece of flower by removing the petals, one by one after Bubble left the ringmaster to his own. She approaches him, and the sound of her boots crinkling on the grass was what alerted him to her presence.

 

“Pomni! Delighted you could make it. Thank you for choosing to participate today!” Was his greetings. She shrugged playfully. “Eh, got nothing better to do with my life, I guess. So what’s my “special” adventure, anyways?” She asks, straight to the point. Caine tucked his hands behind his back and shifted his head to the right side. “Well I am SO glad you’ve asked! But I’m afraid we’ll have to use a shortcut in order to reach our destination, first!”

 

Pomni side eyes to the opposite side playfully with a ‘tch’. She expected the ringmaster to woosh her away to said location, and she even lightly sprang up her arm to get ready for the gust of wind and whiplash the teleportation would provide, but was surprised when no contact came and instead, he cleared his throat.

 

“You can simply hold onto my cane, if you so desire!” He lends the golden tip to her direction, and she hesitantly touches it. She doesn’t… exactly know how to feel about this.

“Hold on tight now! It’s going to be WILD!” He warns, and there it is. The all-too familiar, being ripped from reality between the folds of digital space-time continuum to reach their objective. Well, at least there was a warning this time.

 

To her surprise, this wasn’t anything that she expected from this world. Perhaps they were on a separate map, but Caine had whisked her away to a location she had never seen before since her entrance to this realm: A cream-colored restaurant. The layout looked simple, yet elegant. The brick floors were laid out in an intricate, round pattern, and somehow, once again, she feels the sensation of nostalgia hit her.

 

“Before, this place used to be where Bubble and I would simply spend our free time, while everyone was out adventuring! You see my dear, I wish to delve further unto what could make the Circus better, and what better way to do that than to interrogate the very star of the show who had managed to change my perception!” Pomni was flabbergasted, but bashful at the compliment. He really valued her criticisms that much?

 

“I even did a little research! A peaceful scenery provides a much easier exchange of information, and therefore, I’ve brought us here!”

Caine explained. This was the only reason he invited her here. Nothing more.

The jester nods nonetheless, seeming to accept his reasoning. “It does… look nice” She stared in awe. Even though it was only a small pocket of a map, a part of her couldn’t help but feel so enraptured by the place. He then opens the door for her and ushers her in curtly, as she takes a step in and sees countless AI mannequins seeming to be in a conversation with one another.

 

Like a true gentleman, the ringmaster pulls back a chair and invites her to sit, to which she complies. He takes a seat on the opposite end, and a well-dressed mannequin with a twirly mustache approaches their table. “Before we begin, would you like anything?” He asks, and Pomni ponders.

 

“Just a salad, and maybe some coffee… too?” She trails off, unsure of how the orders will come out. “I’ll have a grilled salmon with lemon squeezings, please!” Was his order, and Pomni stifled a chuckle behind her hand. She found it amusing that she was able to influence him enough to make him think about the dish all over again. The waiter bows, before rushing into the kitchen to inform the chef of their orders. 

 

Pomni fiddles with the tip of her gloves, a little nervous about the situation. Somehow, her intrusive thoughts have found themselves into her head and had begun to tell her that this was a date that Caine had planned, which she doesn’t need to tell anyone that it was silly to even consider about in the first place.

 

Caine clears his throat, and if one were to really squint at him, they would notice the Ringmaster’s nervousness. “So my wonderful starlet! How would you say your current experience with the situation of the circus thus far?” He asks, and Pomni shifts her eyes elsewhere. “I-I’d say it’s… actually– getting better. I’m feeling… more accepting? Of my situation, at the very least, and it’s helping me get used to things.”

 

Oh this was good. This was really, really good information. A very nice start. “What would you say is your current rating for it?” He continues, and Pomni squints her eyes, to think of a proper rating.

 

“I think I’ll give it a five. I’m still feeling… a little in the middle, and uncertain. But it is better than what would be my initial rating, which was two. Actually– Now that I think about it, I think it was a one… half.”

 

“That is certainly an improvement!” Caine puffed out his chest proudly, genuinely proud of the information Pomni had just shared. All this feedback was very valuable to a learning, problem-solving AI like him. “Now, what say you about acceptable things that could change, in order to make your stay here more accommodating?” The ringmaster places his hand underneath his chin, leaning against it.

 

Pomni entered thinking mode as she racked her brains about what could possibly change. The circus itself wasn’t bad– okay it was still pretty bad. She can’t even lie to herself about that one if she wanted to. The saturation could definitely be lessened but she doubts Caine would even follow through that… then perhaps…?

 

“I… I dunno, maybe something about the adventures we go to?” She nervously blurts out, voice becoming smaller and more uncertain with each word. This snaps Caine out of his starstruck daze, as his expression changes to that of bewilderedness, as best as Pomni could tell anyways.

 

Pomni is quick to defend her suggestion. “TO CLARIFY– I-I don’t mean you should stop them! Because I know how that would never happen , but I-I just thought, y-you know! instead of small rewards on every “adventure”, maybe we could look forward to a whole day… or week… that’s relaxing, and maybe even fun !”

 

“FUN, you SAY?” That seemed to bring Caine back into being open with the idea. “Well why didn’t you say so?! I would love to make everyone’s experience here more accommodating, and definitely FUN!” He stands up and plasters his hand on the table, elated by her response. “Y-yeah! Just a little something new to shake things up in a daily routine, was what I was trying to say.”

 

Caine nods, accepting her reasoning. “I suppose I could switch it up for all of you a teensy bit! After all, you seem to know what you’re talking about! Of course, all I ask is that you be honest and truthful to me about all this, and not use this opportunity as a means of gaining an advantage! That would simply be unfair to the entire livelihood of this show!”

“I know Caine. I promise I won’t.”

“SPLENDID!”

 

Pomni muffled her chuckle behind her palm, before having another idea. “Oh, you know a place you could start on changing? The grounds. I think if it wasn’t so… low-poly … and looked closer to the real world, a lot of us would appreciate it. Some new areas within the grounds for us to explore would also give us a bit of normalcy back. Help us feel… less estranged and disconnected” She twirled her fingers while explaining, and adjusted her hair behind a non-existent ear.

Caine was listening intently, nodding and mentally taking notes. If he had any doubts for Pomni’s ideas initially, this suggestion definitely clears all of that away. The circus was due for an upgrade a long time ago, this could be the perfect time to act on that!

 

Their food arrives, steaming hot. “Oh, hold that thought!” Caine rubs his hands in delight, and gently grabs a fork to stab a portion of his salmon, and he gently nibbles at a very, VERY tiny segment as his eyes float to the left. Pomni was a little taken aback by this.

 

Since when did he start eating ? Then again, everyone could actually eat, it was just as Kinger had said. It doesn’t provide anything except for the sensation of doing the act. Maybe he’s just indulging himself in a way he hasn’t really allowed himself to do before, which was perfectly and completely fair. Caine does eventually speak up once more as soon as he finished pecking at his food. 

 

“... I understand that I may have made some mistakes prior due to my ignorance, so I would like to ask now: what exactly am I missing, dear ?” He placed his hand underneath his chin, now all his eyes were on the jester.

“... I think… if I had to describe it, it would be the fact that you don’t exactly know what we consider ”fun”.”

“May I ask that you further clarify?”

Pomni really struggled to form her words. It was so much harder than she thought teaching him about all this. Still, she tried. “Well, first off, we definitely don’t find weapons fun.”

 

“But Jax’s face always lights up when I allow them!”

 

“Well, Jax is… different. He’s a chaos-incarnate. In fact, we’re all different from each other. And if you even tried to do a survey, I’m pretty sure most of us would agree that weapons aren’t exactly a thing we find entertaining on most occasions.” Her attempt was half-successful, as the ringmaster seemed a little hesitant by this change. A survey could certainly help. Perhaps if he’s finished with the circus office, he could do a one-to-one with each member? It was almost done anyways, Bubble was just applying some bits of “decor” and it’s fully ready to be coded in.

“I guess, just– tone it down a notch…?” She takes a sip of the coffee, before it cools down. The bittersweet aftertaste was a welcoming one.

 

“Hmm…! SO MUCH FOR THE NEXT ADVENTURE, THEN!” He pulls out a technologically advanced gun all of a sudden from his coat pocket and throws it behind him, making it explode directly on some NPC mannequins (who have now started panicking and trying to put out the fire). The ringmaster was indifferent to the situation unfolding behind him, and Pomni’s gaze shifted from him, to the ever-growing blaze.

Man, today had so many explosions for some reason.

The chef rushes out of the kitchen. “AH! MY RESTAURANT!!” the NPC trails his gaze to Caine. “YOU! OUT! OUT, OUT, OUT!” Knife at the ready, he runs.

 

“Oh dear! Looks like our time is up! I’ll take this one TO GO, thank you!” Caine grabs the platter and slips the fish onto his hat, now the both of them were running out of the place (but not before paying with weird, digital currency). They get chased out of the restaurant doors by the chef, who slammed the entrance SHUT. Pomni panted, but started chuckling.

 

“Well, so much for a “nice scenery”, I guess.” 

“Worry not, my starlet! This map isn’t just built for it’s lovely restaurant, the sights are JUST as scenic!” 

“Are you suggesting… a walk?”

“INDEED! Shall we?”

 

Pomni nods, a walk would be a nice change of pace. 

~~~~

As both enjoyed small bits of talking and appreciating the scenery, of course, the conversation had to loop back to the previous topic, while the two were making their way down the ‘streets’.

“Um, my dear. I have a question, if you wouldn’t mind.“ Caine cleared his throat as Pomni examined the low poly flower. Because of her good mood, it felt nice to pretend that this was a real, tangible flower. The way the mid-day lighting hit the prop did give it a unique, photogenic charm, she thought. 

 

“Hm? Oh sure, ask away.”

 

“What else do you humans “find fun” with?” Caine tapped at his chest curiously, the cane clicking onto the ground making Pomni notice that he’s actually walking and standing–feet firmly placed on the ground and all– as opposed to floating. She’s too afraid to mention it, she prefers it if he wasn’t always flying overhead like a busy bee looking for a honey flower.

 

She takes a deep sigh, still fully unsure of how to answer the question. She stuck a finger on her chin in deep thought, and her head goes back to a prior conversation in the void. An idea crosses her head.

 

“Do you remember the things I told you while we were walking back from the out of bounds tent?”

“DEPENDS! Which one are we talking about?”

“About the whole “experience” thing?”

“Oh! Well yes, I DO! But my dear, what does that have in correlation with our current topic?”

“That’s just it, Caine. That’s something we find fun, it’s the positive experiences.”

 

Caine was still a little lost, and he wordlessly lets Pomni know that by scratching the top of his jaw and blinking twice. “UHHHH….” 

 

Pomni chuckles but proceeds to clarify. “Look, I can’t remember much about things, but I do know that when I worked, I didn’t just work to survive in the real world. I also wanted to explore things beyond my own home. Go on a vacation, visit landmarks I don’t get to go to often, sightsee things that I can’t normally see in the mundane.”

 

Caine propped up a finger to mention how this sounds an awful lot of an “adventure”, but Pomni wasn’t done. “And no, we weren’t trying to stop the end of the world, battle with villains or face life-threatening dangers. Mostly .”

 

Caine puts his finger down. “I uh…. SEE your point!” (he doesn’t fully see her point.)

Pomni sighed, noticing his uncertainty. “Look, Caine. The difference between what I’m saying and the adventures is the fact that we didn’t have objectives to accomplish. There were no gloinks threatening to take our belongings, no bandits to stop, no vengeful ghosts to uncover mysteries from. We simply spend time, be happy in the moment, and then go back to a daily routine. That’s the point of what makes them special and memorable in the first place.” She looked down on the ground, smiling softly.

 

“Not only that, we also form new memories to cherish, especially if those moments were with someone we cared about .” She stares at him this time with her sparkling pinwheel eyes, and Caine finds his own breath being taken away, eyes blown wide. Is it just him, or did someone turn up the sun’s heat? It’s probably Bubble messing with the admin console again.

 

“That’s the purpose of those moments. Like a photo, or a video that only exists in your head and makes you remember the good during bad times, you know? Your adventures could be that, You already have the groundworks for them…. literally… all you need to do is uh… change some stuff up.” She finishes, this time her toes circled onto the ground again as she looked away shyly.

 

Caine blushed, and cleared his throat. He… kind of understands, but he needs to think about it in detail, so he saves this data for later. “Um… That was… very insightful, dear. Thank you for your input. I-I’ll be sure to take that into consideration.” He fidgeted, unsure why he’s feeling nervous all of a sudden. He wanted to lean closer, and perhaps he did, because the gap between them was now smaller than before.

 

His code buzzed wildly, his stomach was doing flips, and he was getting alert pop-ups from the corners of his vision warning him about his processing powers overheating. Pomni blinked and her mouth opened to say something, but Caine’s watch beeped, and both snapped out of their stupor to check what could be causing the noise.

The cast’s adventure was over. 

“O-oh… It seems that your castmates have… finished already, hah.” Caine had never looked at his watch so disappointingly. Pomni herself felt a little downcast at hearing the fact that the adventure finished so quickly. Or maybe time just has it’s way of passing really fast? 

 

He offers the cane once more, and Pomni sighs as she reluctantly grips it tight while closing her eyes, preparing to be taken through time and space back home. Only a gush of ‘wind’ was a telltale sign of their transfer.

 

As soon as she opened her peepers, she was right in front of her room. Caine smiled, putting on the showman bravado once more.

 

Caine reached into his coat pockets to give a parchment to Pomni as he spoke, and Pomni took it, examining it closely. “WELL MY DEAR, ONCE AGAIN YOU HAVE OUTDONE YOURSELF WITH YOUR VALUABLE FEEDBACK!! Please leave a rating as to how your survey experience went, and as always, HAVE A LOVELY DAY!” Caine then poked her upper back with his cane, ushering her to get inside her room, and she simply shook her head in amusement before closing the door.

 

Caine silently sighed and wiped off the cartoonish sweat that had formed on the top of his jaw, leaning a little bit on the wall for support.

 

Until Pomni’s door opens again, and he is startled out of this, straightening his posture again.

 

“Oh by the way, just wanna say, thank you. For– you know.” She nervously smiled, and hands the piece of paper back to him, which he graciously accepts and bows to her, like a performer exiting the stage.

 

“It is, and will always be a PLEASURE, my scrumptious cinnamon roll!” Pomni, for the last time for the day, smiles at the outrageous nickname before closing her door shut, leaving Caine to stare at the moping insignia at her door.

A far cry from how dazzling her smile was.

He finally looks down at the rating. A whopping 6.5! Things just keep getting better and better today! There was a small note in the bottom though.

 

‘Had a great time.⭐ Would definitely appreciate less explosions and angry chefs, though.’ 

 

He sighed dreamily, but upon noticing his systems begin to overheat, momentarily halted his thought process while walking towards the end of the hall absentmindedly. He sees the rest of the cast on the main stage area below, and proceeds to straighten out his looks before popping in and out of existence in front of the rest of the members, although he’s no longer a few fair feet above the ground as he usually is.

 

“WELL IF IT ISN’T MY FAVORITE BUNCH OF CRISPY, CREAMY GLAZED DONUTS!”

“...Never F[#@!]ING call us that again.” 

“I AM VERY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT SOME CHANGES ARE ABOUT TO BE IMPLEMENTED! OH, I CAN BARELY CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT!” Caine excitedly flew over to the shredd- suggestion box, and ushered the rest of the cast to follow suit. He then proceeded to clear his throat. “AS OF THIS DAY FORTH, THE SUGGESTION BOX WILL BE GETTING AN UPGRADE!”

 

Jax’s features lit up. “Oooh! Is it going to be a bigger shredder?” He smiles sinisterly and tilts his direction towards Gangle, who whimpered in fear.

“While I appreciate your enthusiasm Jax, I’m afraid the answer is a resounding NO!” Caine poked at the top of Jax’s forehead as he dropped a huge sign that spelled “WRONG” and pointed at Jax, which prompts the rabbitoid to roll his eyes and kick down the sign without even looking back; revealing that it was nothing more than a cardboard cut out.

 

“Well, flippers. I’ve already lost interest. Come on Zooble, you cursing me out is more entertaining than this.”

“What the F[#@!]? I’m not going anywhere with y– HEY!”

 

Jax had stolen another one of Zooble’s limbs again, prompting the figurine to chase after the rabbitoid while throwing the entire curse word library with loads of censor bars his way.

 

Ragatha shook her head, attempting to dismiss what just happened in order to hear Caine out, albeit she’s admittedly a little nervous at what could the “upgrade” be. “...W-what’s with the sudden changes anyways, Caine?” She timidly asked, unsure if this could mean a good thing or not. And Caine heartily laughed.

 

“I’m GLAD you asked, my cotton-stuffed friend!” He starts, “During our trek back from the DANGERS of the unfinished forest to the circus, Pomni had GRACIOUSLY managed to open my eyes, and let me see the errors of my ways of RUNNING THE CIRCUS!” he fixes his tux, ready to clarify his words more. “ONE OF THEM IS THE SUGGESTION BOX –WHICH WAS NOT INSTALLED BY ME– and how some changes were in order!”

 

A rope suddenly drops down to Caine’s level and he pulls it, allowing the newer and bigger ACTUAL suggestion box crush it’s predecessor, resulting in a physics nightmare. Bubble immediately pops out of the ringmaster’s hat.

 

“Don’t worry boss! I’m already on it!” Bubble used his tongue to sweep the particles away from view, all the while nonchalantly going “ouch” from the sharp polygons every few seconds. Caine impatiently waited for his assistant to finish, before continuing.

 

“Ehem… PRESENTING!!! THE NEW!! AND IMPROVED!!! DIGITAL CIRCUS SUGGESSSSTION BOX!!!!” He proudly proclaims as the circus blasts the main theme in celebration. Ragatha clapped to try and be enthusiastic for the others, Kinger stared off into the black void of the slot before snapping out of it and screaming, and Gangle flinched at the sound of the Chess piece screeching.

 

“Ah thank you, ah thank you!” He bows twice. “This baby right here can take your suggestions and if luck finds it fit, MAKE IT COME TRUE! Every week, a poll will be held, and with that poll, votes must be placed in order to decide should the suggestion be applicable, or not! It could be an accessory, an item, a new additional location within the grounds or even an adventure of everyone’s choice! Though it will be heavily moderated. And only one suggestion from members per week.” 

“TheAmazingDigitalCircusIsNotResponsibleForAnyAndAllSuggestionsThatWouldCauseAbstraction/LossOfSanity/OrAnySortOfMortalDangerThatIt’sMembersDecideToEmbarkOn.” 

Ragatha’s eyes widened. For once since her life in the circus, she felt…well she didn’t know what she felt but it made her tear up. Gangle’s tears stopped dropping as she stared at the actual suggestion box. This feels too good to be true. Caine almost panicked upon seeing the ragdoll’s reaction, thinking that this must’ve been a bad idea. Maybe he shouldn’t have had added the suggestio-

 

“Caine…” Ragatha said in between light sniffles. “This… This isn’t a joke, right?” Ragatha clasped her hands in prayer, desperation evident in her eyes. Caine was uncertain on how to answer this, but he remained firm. “Yes, Ragatha. It is a permanent addition.” He lowered his tone for the first time since speaking to everyone, and floated down to the ground to be on level with the rest of the cast.

 

“I am… aware I’ve made mistakes. Mistakes I chose to run away from, because I was afraid . Me, the all-powerful, creative artificial intelligence Ringmaster of the grand, amazing Digital Circus, afraid to admit that I don’t know everything! Hahah…” His attempts at humor was not met with laughter, but looks of pity. “Pomni… told me that if I’m uncertain of what to do, then I can always ask for help.” 

 

His code buzzed at the mere mention of the jester, and he sucks in a breath as he takes off his hat, and sighs. “Well superstars, THIS is my call for help towards you all. Help me accommodate you all. Help me make this place more suited for everyone here.” 

 

“Perhaps, with this new system in mind, I can finally fulfill the true purpose I’ve been built for.”

 

Caine felt uncertain about how everyone would think of his honesty and it made him fiddle with the brim of his hat; but he prepared himself from the possible negative reaction which was always guaranteed everytime he tried to incorporate something new.

 

Kinger approached him first. The chess piece was a whole lot taller when Caine fully planted himself to the ground. Wordlessly, Kinger grabbed the Ringmaster’s arm and began to drag the pair of dentures with him, whom barely protested against it. Ragatha was dumbfounded, and began to follow the AI and the chess piece in a fit of worry. Gangle looked back and forth to the suggestion box and then to the rest, choosing to follow despite not understanding what exactly was happening. 

 

“Kinger?! What are you doing, where are you taking Caine??” 

 

Kinger didn’t say anything while walking. Caine shrugged and shook his confused head in return. But the question would soon answer itself once the ringmaster finds himself in front of Kinger’s impenetrable fortress. Kinger ushers the ringmaster to go inside without a single sound escaping him.

 

“I-IN?? UM, a-alright!” Caine reluctantly went inside. Kinger followed suit. Ragatha and Gangle stayed by the entrance of the fort, both sharing a look. They were about to leave, when Kinger opened the entrance again, and ushered the girls inside too.

 

They didn’t know what exactly he had in mind, but it’s times like this where it might be better to simply follow Kinger’s lead.

 

Both girls entered, surprised at how much more spacious the fort is inside than it is outside, and how dark it is. Caine had his hands on his hips, surveying the space. “Wowwee! It sure is dark in here! Let me fix that real quick-!” Caine snapped his fingers, as a bright lightbulb appeared. Kinger suddenly screamed and booked it towards the ringmaster, while shielding his optics from the bright onslaught.

 

“NO LIGHTS!” He voiced his concern very loudly, smashing the lightbulb down to the ground to break it before it could even mess up his thoughts. Caine flinched away. “... Please. I need this place to be as dark as possible.” Hearing Kinger’s plea made Caine nod, even if he didn’t fully understand it.

 

“Well! I didn’t know that humans much preferred the dark! Should I-”

“No, don’t do anything BUT listen.” Kinger kindly but firmly states. He then took a seat on the very floor, and ushered the rest of them to sit in a circle.

Caine blinked, awaiting Kinger's input.

“This place… The darkness it provides… It helps me keep ahold of my fragile mentality and my thought process. But still, I don’t want you to change the lights in the circus, Caine. Not for me. Instead, I invited you here for a different reason.”

 

Kinger grabbed Caine’s hand and shook it twice, gently but firmly. Caine shifted his gaze from the contact, then back to the chess piece, clearly uncertain at where this was going. “I would like to say thank you. Thank you for finally being honest with us. And for finally opening up with your feelings like that, and entrusting it to us. It takes a lot of courage to admit you’re wrong, in front of an audience no less.” Kinger points to Ragatha and Gangle, which makes Caine look at the two of them. Ragatha shot him two thumbs up, and smiled genuinely. Gangle nodded sincerely, and it made Caine feel lifted.

 

“We’ll make sure to help you when you are in need of us. We’d be happy to give you the feedback you need.” Kinger assured one last time, and Caine felt cartoonish tears bubbling up in the corners of his eyes, as he took off his hat and sobs dramatically. He then opens his arms and hugs Kinger, wailing loudly all the while.

 

“THANK YOUUUUOHOHOHUUUUUU” his voice slightly wavered and glitched from the rush of emotions, and Kinger simply pats the back of the joyous ringmaster. “There, there.”

 

Caine pulled back, wiping away the tears with his sleeves and clutched his cane while looking away and muttering apologies. As soon as he recollects himself, he turns to Kinger again.

 

“Actually… T-there is something else that I’ve been needing help with as well…” He spins the cane’s stem in his hands, like a nervous little schoolboy being confronted about a secret. Ragatha and Gangle scooted closer, with Ragatha placing a hand on Caine’s shoulder. “Then tell us! Like Kinger said, we’re here to help.”

 

Caine felt anxious for the first time in a long while about expectant eyes on him, but he does his best to suck it in and ignore the growing apprehensiveness. The darkness hid the bright tint forming at his lower jaw.

 

“Boss! The Office is fully coded in now, by the way!” Bubble spawned from the hat, prompting every human in the space to flinch backwards and yelp from the assistant’s unannounced presence.

 

“YES YES THANK YOU BUBBLE!” Caine used the very hat to scoop Bubble and make him disappear without popping him, placing the hat back on his head poutily. Realizing an opportunity from this timing, a lightbulb spawns on top of his head–appearing from beneath the hat– but he quickly shuts it off by pulling his headwear down.

 

Kinger was silently thankful and clasped his hands while nodding in thanks. Caine cleared his throat and stood up.

 

“BEFORE I SPILL MY SUPER SUPER SECRET DILEMMA, I MUST REQUEST A TRANSFER OF LOCATION! Away from potential eavesdroppers wanting such confidential and private data to SELL to the black market!” Caine spoke quickly and precisely as to be expected from an AI like him.

 

All three were left in the dark about what the ringmaster just blurted out. None of them understood, and it made the three of them share a look of uncertainty, before sighing.

 

“Alright Caine. Wh-” Ragatha spoke up, and Caine immediately scoops the three humans with one arm. “PERFECT! TO THE DIGITAL CIRCUS OFFICEEEEE!” Caine snaps, and all of them were gone in a blip. Jax immediately infiltrates the fort.

 

“Rats. He knew.” He snapped his fingers. The frustrated yelling of a certain amalgamation makes him go on the run once more.

~~~~

The three of them were unceremoniously dropped to the wooden flooring of the newly encoded Circus office, surprisingly a stark contrast from the bright colors of the main tent. Caine snaps his fingers, and the lights turn off, and the shutters from the windows –that fully allows one to view the main grounds’ in it’s full glory– close. Only a small lava lamp on the entrance door illuminated the space.

 

Gangle groaned, whimpering from having Kinger flatten her ribbons as a result of being dropped. “I… think… you broke something…” She wheezed out, prompting Kinger to get up and help the ribbon girl up.

 

“Oh! Sorry, I couldn’t see where I was landing” Kinger apologized.

 

Ragatha’s singular pupil stopped spinning in a dizzy circle, as soon as she shook her head. She finally manages to take a look around the darkened office space; sparsely decorated, but nonetheless very… office-y. As to be expected, there is a painting of the ringmaster right behind his desk, ominously glaring at whoever was unfortunate enough to be caught in it’s direction and stare at the uncannily realistic painting.

 

Even though Ragatha now knew better than to think such things about Caine, she couldn’t help but feel threatened and nervous at this display.

 

Caine snaps his fingers once more, and three bean chairs spawn into the room, getting all three of them caught off guard as they are lifted off of the ground and dropped to the new plush chair, slowly being buried on it. Ragatha attempts to “swim” up the chair, in an effort to try and make herself sit more presentable, but gives up as soon as she realizes she could never. Kinger simply accepted his fate and sank all the way to his shoulders, he had his knees propped up to his chest. Gangle barely sank; her lightweight silk body allowed for the chair to be barely disturbed by her presence. She looked apologetically towards the other two, then turned to face the Ringmaster.

 

“C-caine, can I ask for a pencil and notebook? And for my comedy mask to be fixed?”

 

“Of course you CAN, Gangle!” Caine snaps, and her request is fulfilled. A small smile creeps up to the ribbon girl’s teary face as she hugs the mask. She puts it on, and feels happy enough again to doodle. Despite the lack of light, the cozy feeling of the room gave Gangle some passing flashbacks of doodling in her real life room.

 

“Now, continuing on WHERE WE LEFT OFF–” Caine blurts while waving his staff in reminiscence, choosing to keep standing right in front of the rest of them instead of taking a seat on the office chair, “I HAD PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED MY SUPER SUPER SECRET DILEMMA, but not what it was about!”

 

“So, uh… what IS the ‘dilemma’, anyways?” Ragatha asked, both intrigued and intrepid about the upcoming information. Only her right hand moved as she spoke.

 

“I’m VERY GLAD you ASKED, RAGATHA!” Caine pointed his cane on the ragdoll’s forehead, further burying her beneath the plushness of her seat. “You see– MY PROCESSORS HAVE BEEN OVERHEATING LATELY! AND MY VERY CODE KEEPS BUZZING! MY INTERNAL SYSTEMS ALERT ME NOT ONLY WITH THIS OVERHEATING ISSUE, BUT ALSO OF A POTENTIAL OVERLOAD IN INFORMATION, AND I CANNOT, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, FIGURE OUT WHY!”

 

This makes Kinger’s eyes widen, and the chess piece sits up straight. “Oh dear. This is more serious than I thought… Caine, you have to tell me more, this could be dangerous.” Ragatha gasps, and Gangle snaps out of her concentration to tune back into the conversation.

 

“DANGEROUS?! What could possibly be dangerous that’s causing such haywire within my mainframe?! YOU MUST INFORM ME, KINGER! HELP MEEEE!” Caine shook Kinger frantically, making him incredibly dizzy.

 

“Err- Don’t panic. Maybe you’re overworking yourself with the new implementations in the circus, at least I hope that’s the only reason.”

 

“Hmm!” Caine placed his hand underneath his chin in contemplation. “Well I do also blue-screen and glitch at times, but I don’t think it’s because of the new changes within the circus!” Caine proudly proclaims, materializing a pop-up. 

 

“AS YOU CAN SEE BY THE INTERNAL DIAGNOSTICS OF THE CIRCUS’ OWN TASK MANAGER, NONE OF THE CODING, TEXTURING, MODELLING AND RIGGING SEEMS TO BE CAUSING SUCH A HUGE MEMORY OVERLOAD!” Caine frantically waves his hands. “INSTEAD, the overload seems to be coming straight from ME! AS IN, ME AS AN ADMINISTRATOR EXECUTABLE PROGRAM!” he spawns a couple of pointing signs on him then snaps it all away, and Kinger gasps this time.

 

“Oh no… So if it’s not the changes… then…” Kinger fiddles with his gloves, unsure of how to tackle this seemingly dreadful situation. He stands up way too easily from his seat, and grabs Caine by the shoulders. “Caine, I think you might be bugged . You’re gonna need to do a full-system diagnostic checkup, an-”

 

“Oh, nonsense Kinger! I assure you, my systems are 100% bug-free! Has been that way for a week now!”
“Have you ran a deep scan?”
“YES I HAVE!”
“Full file checkup to make sure there isn’t a virus hiding in one of them?”
“ABSOLUTELY! I have even been meticulously checking each and every corner of my code for ANY traces of viruses, trojans, and malwares to ensure BEST performance on my end!”
“Hm. When… did this start, then?”
“A week ago, when Pomni and I barely escaped the virus attack! She was very brave… ” The ringmaster explained –his gums flushing a bright pink that was hard to see in the darkness– as the images of the so-called ‘adventure’ resurfaced, and Kinger retracts his hands as if touching a hot stove.

 

“Ah! Caine, you… you’re overheating.” 

“O-OH NO! MY MEMORY IS OVERLOADING ITSELF ONCE MORE! I’M S-S-S-OR-RRY KINGER, I JUST–!” Caine’s form started to glitch very badly alongside with the rest of the office, and despite the fact that Kinger was literally just burned, Ragatha took a deep breath, and grabbed Caine’s face to make him stare at her, singeing her plush skin.

 

“Caine, calm down! You need… to calm… down .” Ragatha’s eye formed a tear from the pain of the high temperature surface she was just touching, and Caine blinked. Slowly but surely, his form started to take hold of itself once more, the glitching now dissipating completely. Ragatha couldn’t take it anymore, and released her hold from Caine and started to wave it around to cool off her singed plush hands.

 

“EEEE! Hot! Hot! Hot!!!” Ragatha freaked out, and Caine snaps an ice bucket for Ragatha to put her hands in. She sighs in a combined feeling of pain and relief.

 

“My apologies, Ragatha! It seems I got… carried away again! Haha!” He tried to lighten up the situation, and Gangle moved to rub soothing circles on the doll’s back. Caine awkwardly looked at the ground in shame, but Ragatha only let out a sigh.

 

“It’s okay, Caine. It wasn’t– exactly your fault.” The ever-so understanding ragdoll, even when she’s in pain– comforted the AI. “But… Kinger is still right. This problem of yours is getting dangerous . It’s causing the whole place to fall apart” Ragatha pointed out, and Caine rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“You were at a very normal temperature up until you mentioned the virus attack…” Kinger observed, “... And Pomni.” He leaves that sentence up in the air for a few moments, seemingly trying to connect the dots mentally. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Kinger’s optics faces the ringmaster.

 

“...What were you thinking about the moment you started overloading?”

 

“I-” Caine immediately stopped himself. “W-what if I overheat again?! Oh I simply can’t fathom the THOUGHT!” He bit his fingers in a nervous fit, and Ragatha held the bucket over Caine’s head. “Then we’ll dump this ice-filled bucket on top of you to cool you down!”

 

Caine couldn’t really argue against that. Here goes nothing. “W-well, I was… t-thinking about….” Caine tried his hardest to control the rising temperature while recalling the memories. “ P--o-o-o-omn-i-i …!!” 

The memories started to rush in again, but this time, the ice-cold feeling both snaps Caine out of his thought process and cools him down immediately. He heaves a heavy sigh of relief as he slumps down, wiping cartoonish sweat away from his top jaw.

 

“PHEW! GOOD SAVE, MY CLEVERTASTIC, CLEAVER-WIELDING PLUSH FRIEND!” Ragatha lightheartedly waved off the compliment with a hand sway and smile. She shakes the bucket at Caine’s direction. “Gonna need a refill though, my hands still burn.”

 

“NOT A PROBLEM!” Caine snaps his fingers, and the bucket is once again filled with ice. “So what’s the diagnosis, Doc?”

 

A warm laugh exits Kinger. “Processors overheating? Memory overload? Code buzzing, and fluttering in your very being? All just by mentioning Pomni ? I think I may have an idea on what you’re dealing with here, Caine.” Caine gasps, and he zooms in very, very fast towards the chess piece that they make eye contact. 

…Quite literally. “YOU DO!?!??!?!?” Kinger yelps, but not in pain from the literal eye-to-eye contact, simply in surprise. He peels the frantic ringmaster off of him, like a sticky scotch tape. “Well, I’m no expert by any means, but it seems to me that you’ve catched a pesky little thing called “love”.” Kinger teased, and Caine screams in a high pitched, girly tone. He immediately blue-screens and freezes in place, an error noise emanating from him. 

 

Kinger waves a hand in his general direction. “Caine? Hello?” When the ringmaster remained unresponsive, he poked an eyeball. It was as hard as glass.

… Still nothing.

 

Gangle cleared her throat. “May I?” Her tone sounded mischievous. Kinger stepped away to give Gangle some space for what she was about to do.

The slouched ribbon girl approached the frozen bot, and started to angle her pencil’s graphite to lay flatly onto the piece of paper, and started furiously scritching, resulting in a sharpened end. The graphite glistened in the lamp’s light, and Ragatha’s eye widens. 

 

“No, wait Gan-”

 

One poke to the backside with a sharp tip causes the ringmaster to scream in loud, cartoonish wail that could be heard throughout the digital lands.

 

Caine had dropped to the floor, rubbing his buttocks as he clenched his mouth and fists in pain. “Th-th-th-th-” He couldn’t even speak. 

The masked ribbon blows on her pencil tip smugly, and spins it to erase the scritching she had previously made. “You’re welcome~!” She then proceeded to go back to her original position as earlier. After a minute or so, Caine springs back up, as if that whole scenario didn’t just happen.

 

“N-NOW AS I WAS JUST ABOUT TO S-SAY: TH-THA-THAT’S S-S-SIMPLY IM-POSSIBLE KINGER!” Caine explains as if this very thing spelled everyone’s doom, recalling the prior conversation with Bubble. “I can’t– possibly feel ROMANTIC ATTRACTION! I feel ATTACHMENT to each and everyone of you silly monkeys, but-”

 

“-But Pomni makes you feel like you could fly to the sun? Claim the stars to recite her name in the night sky? Make every object within a 50-mile radius cater to her every needs?” Kinger cuts the AI off, making him stop talking entirely and shut his teeth close in embarrassment. Accepting this as confirmation, Kinger opts to make him sit beside him, and lend a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Caine, I understand you’re afraid. New things can be pretty scary. From the very moment you and Pomni disappeared then came back, I’ve noticed big changes from you. You’ve even started to accept suggestions! It’s no surprise that in the midst of your journey, not only have you grown, but you’ve also started to develop proper emotions. Empathy, for example.”

 

Caine fiddled with his trusty staff, unsure of what to even prompt.

 

“I’m sure love isn’t off the table for an advanced AI like you, either.” Kinger finishes with a lighthearted chuckle.
“W-what do I do, then?”

This time, Ragatha spoke. “Well you don’t wanna come off strong –especially to someone like Pomni– but you gotta show that you’re interested in her. Ask for her opinions, get her attention, do nice, romantic things and all that stuff! Don’t overdo it though. Again, Pomni’s not the type to want her personal space invaded often.”

“Do you think that would work?” Caine’s eyes sparkled with hope.

“Nope!” The intensely straightforward answer from Gangle made a glass prop shatter behind Caine. 

 

“BECAUSE there’s no guarantee it would! Love is as mysterious as all things are: The beginning and the end of time, the darkest depths of the ocean, the very reaches of space.” Gangle clutched the pencil dramatically and shut her eyes, as if a poet in the 18th-century. “It is simply up to the reciprocator, and the recipient to decide whether it should be nurtured, bloom, and prosper, or wither and snap like an old branch.”

 

“Uh- Wow! Very um… intricate, Gangle! Where’d you learn all that?”

“ I write fanfictions .”

 

Oh.

 

Kinger chuckled, a twinge of forlornness in his tone. “As sappy as it may seem, that’s exactly how love is like; from my experience, at least. It changes you for the better, and turns something you thought impossible, well… possible. You never really think that applies for you, until you experience it yourself.” He fiddles with his glove.

 

“I made a mistake once. One that had a very evident ripple, not just with my own life. Don’t… do the same to Pomni, just because you’re afraid, Caine.” Kinger grabbed Caine’s shoulder firmly. “Even if there’s a chance of rejection –in which case, you HAVE to respect her final say in the matter– I need you to promise you’ll keep showing her your feelings for as long, and often as you feel it.”

 

“... Don’t hide. Promise it, Caine.”

 

Caine stared wide-eyed at the chess piece. A look of steeled determination crosses the ringmaster’s expression, as he nods. Kinger’s eyes smile happily.

 

“Then she’s in safe hands. I trust that you can do that.” Kinger shook Caine’s hands once more, this time opting to go and leave the office space, wordlessly declaring the conversation over. “YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, SIR!” Caine saluted, and Kinger chuckled, the door opening and the saturated lights of the circus snapping the chess piece back into his delirious state. He gets startled by Gangle following behind him, nearly shattering the comedy mask for the second time of the day.

 

Ragatha then hands the bucket of ice back to Caine. “Just wanna put this out there, if you ever need our help doing gestures for Pomni, we’ve got your back 100%.” Ragatha only finger guns at Caine, as she too exits the office space.

 

Caine waved the three of them goodbye. “I’LL KEEP THAT IN MIND! THANK YOU ALL!!”

 

He then slams the door shut, and leans against the door frame. He pulls out the photo Bubble had captured during their out of bounds adventure then sighs, feeling his processors overheating... which prompts him to replace his hat with the ice bucket, making a sizzling noise and some steam to emit. He tried to think back into the information he had just received for the day. Specifically, Pomni’s.

 

The sizzling gets louder. Kinger might be right. He is legitimately, 100% fool-proof, romantically drawn to her.

 

Pomni said that he didn’t have to stop with the adventures, which, thank the stars. Just… change them up a bit, that’s all. What else? She also said these “real life adventures” of theirs had no enemies. Guess a maniacal train conductor holding them all hostage for a mystery solving adventure won’t cut it! He was really looking forward to making a train adventure…

 

He spared a glance at the low-polygonal branch that had been on display to the left of his office, just on top of the bookshelves. A smile crosses his features, and he recalls his whole journey. He then proceeds to hug the ice bucket to cool his overheating body down, fanning himself with his hat and pulling at his collar. He looks down at the ice cubes…

 

… And an idea bulb lights up in his head, glowing brighter than even the sun as his gasp gets louder and louder with each passing second.

 

“OH, BUBBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”The Ringmaster twirled his arm to call for his assistant, and Bubble spawns in to eat the bright light bulb. “Yeeeeees, chief?”

 

“I JUST HAD THE MOST GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDEST IDEA FOR THE NEXT ADVENTURE!!!! QUICK BUBBLE! TO THE INTERNET LIBRARY! WE HAVE A TON OF RESEARCHING TO DO!”

 

“Way ahead of ya, big cheese!” Bubble quickly dissipates, and Caine clicks his heels and spins as he too, teleports out of the office room.

Notes:

I saw a tumblr post about Caine actually acting like a true AI, and following commands very, very literally to it's literal meaning. And it just hit me: has anyone actually *tried* to tell Caine, with no metaphors, phrases, or attempting to disregard the prior conversation when troubled, to literally just stop what he's doing, stay completely still, and listen to every word they say?

... I think that that's something we, as a fandom, gotta think about more, and even apply to our fanfics.

Comments definitely appreciated! Would love to hear some feedback from everyone heehee :3c

UPDATE: I FORGOT TO INCLUDE A LITTLE SOMETHING NEAR THE END DAMMIT MY MIND'S RUNNING WILD

Chapter 8: VALIDATION

Summary:

Time for a major update for the circus, and a one of a kind adventure for the cast!

Notes:

Holy shit. 13k+ words. I think I should be put into a mental asylum

And I almost pulled a chapter 7 part 2: electric boogaloo /silly

Anyways, sorry if some of the writing is wonky my brain is running on non-existent energy drinks and 12 cups of coffee and I am too tired to fix some mistakes (I also planned to release this chapter back at like, December 15, but my PC said "nope" and decided to have it's motherboard fry itself. RIP)

Also, sex jokes warning. Just wanna point that out god I'm so eepy

Tip 8 : If you’re chasing validation, then you’re wanting approval.

~~~~

There was no indication to wake up. Rather, she just did… somehow. In the middle of the night. yeah.

 

Pomni opened her eyes. Both exhausted, and unable to fall back into sandman’s quiet lull of the darkness. She frowned, rubbing her eyes tiredly, frustrated at her brain’s sudden need for activity. What could she even do here at the time of midnight, anyways? Grumble and use the pillows to faceslam and vent your frustration and energy, that’s what.

 

If there was a kitchen, she could’ve maybe made herself a warm glass of milk so that she’d feel drowsy enough to fall asleep again. ‘ Hey, that’d actually make a good suggestion’ , she thought. Maybe she should use that. 

 

Yawning and stretching as she props herself up and away from her bed, she slow blinked as she examined her dark surroundings. It was a little bit too dark to see anything, so she had to put out both her hands just to make sure she wasn’t gonna hit a wall or anything. After a couple of stubbed toes and accidental elbows on other props inside her room, she finally manages to grab a door knob and turn it open.

 

The hallway lights were dimmed immensely compared to it’s daytime look. It was no surprise as to why.

 

She stepped out of her room to walk around the Circus. Absentmindedly attempting to tire herself out in order to be able to go back to sleep –and severely trying to ignore the massive liminality this place offers in the nighttime– She steps down to the stairs and into the open, empty grounds.

 

She was unsure of what to do at this point. The Circus didn’t exactly offer many points of exploration, and no one was meant to be up and about at night. A fair few Circus NPCs –namely the barrel monkeys she had encountered during her first day– started to chatter about the roaming jester, and when she glared at them, quickly dispersed from their positions.

 

She sighs, and drags her face down. Turning away from the monkeys’ previous direction, she spots Kinger’s impenetrable fortress. Taking a deep breath, she wills herself to approach the pillow fort.

 

Wringing her hands in apprehension, she places a hand on the green pillow of the entrance. She wasn’t sure if this was gonna work.

 

“Kinger…?” She weakly called out.

 

There was no reply, so she was about to walk away until she heard some shuffling getting closer. After a moment, the plush door of the fort opened. “Pomni? Why are you awake?”

 

“That’s the thing. I… just woke up.” Pomni smiled.

“Oh. Do you want to come in?”

“Y-yeah, I kinda need some company right now.”

“Ah. Well then, make yourself comfortable, there’s pillows everywhere for you” Kinger spoke gently, a very stark contrast to his usual delirious state. It made Pomni feel safe and comforted. She entered the fort, barely needing to duck her head down. The fort closed, a soft blue glow emanating from somewhere beneath the pillows, and being the only source of illumination– one that acted similarly to, and reminded the jester of a night light.

“Very sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting visitors” Kinger joked quietly, and it made Pomni chuckle.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind at all.” Pomni took a seat on the opposite side of the chess piece. Kinger simply closed his eyes and tapped at his knees, enjoying the current mood. “So, did I accidentally wake you up, or were you just… you know?” Pomni asked nervously, hoping she didn’t bother him in the midst of the night just to let her in his fort.

“Oh no, not at all. You see, I was reminiscing,” He pulls out a jar of bioluminescent butterflies from behind him, and opens the lid. “Did you know my wife caught these during a forest adventure?” He tells Pomni as the butterflies exit the jar and fly all around the two. Pomni’s mouth opened agape, watching in awe at the swirling wonders. “... Really?”

 

“Yeah. It’s one of the few things she managed to sneak inside the circus without Caine noticing. She felt so much thrill trying to hide it away from his sight,” Kinger chuckled as she recalled, and a butterfly lands on Pomni’s nose. Pomni tensed and froze, going cross-eyed to observe the perched pair of wings without disturbing it.

 

“Sometimes, I like to think that one of these is her visiting me. Just observing, and then I whisper all the things I want to say to her.” A butterfly lands on his finger. “Did you know that if one lands on you, they say it means you’ve either got an imaginative spirit,” He closes his eyes, whispering barely audible words, and lets the pair of wings fly back into the air.

 

“Or it represents hope, change and transformatio-...?” Kinger finally glances at Pomni, and his eyes widened in surprise. A bunch of butterflies have made it prominent that they liked Pomni as their perch. She nervously laughs while minimizing her movements as much as possible, and he chuckles in tandem.

 

“Ah, they can be quite friendly . As amazing as it is to believe that they’re sensing a good energy from you, in reality, they just like the salt on your skin.”

“...Hey..! I am not that sweaty!” Pomni playfully retorted, maintaining a quiet tone all the while.

 

Kinger chuckles once more, and Pomni gently shooes away her new friends. She then settles on laying down on the pillow, finally feeling the call of the night. She yawned.

 

“Hey, Kinger…?” Pomni called out one last time, her eyes droopily half-closed. Kinger leaned closer. “Yes?”

 

“Thank you.”

“Of course, Pomni. Have a good rest.” Kinger patted Pomni’s head gently, and the jester felt her touch averseness flare up a little, but quickly toned down to a low hum… a fleeting memory of a different white glove patting her head twice crosses her mind and she smiles. She clutched a pink pillow, imagining a magenta coat in it’s place. she took in a deep breath, allowing sleep to take her in the bundle of pillows that was now her bed for the night as Kinger resumed his nightly butterfly watch activity.

~~~~

Some sounds stirred the Jester awake, but she did not open her eyes just yet, still feeling the drowsiness.

“Shhh! She’s still sleeping,”

“ –remind about roll call…– …Very important updates.” A soft, muffled tone spoke, voice being tuned in and out by the jester’s ear and the walls of the plush fort.

“I understand. She’s still asleep, we’ll just catch up.” Kinger’s voice finished. The rhythmic tapping of a cane against the marble flooring was what slowly snapped Pomni out of her sleepy state. She rubbed at her eyes to get rid of the heaviness.

 

“It’s roll-call already…?” She spoke hoarsely, gravelly morning tone evident.

Kinger nodded. “Caine’s organizing a short meeting near the stage, we have to go and attend.” Kinger spoke, preparing himself before opening the entrance doors. The bright lights immediately affect him. “Oh! Pomni, I didn’t see you there! Did you get lost?” he obliviously and loudly asks, and Pomni makes an effort to try and answer, but Kinger simply stands up and leaves.

 

It was nice while it lasted.

 

She left the fort to proceed on to the rest of the lineup’s current position, following after Kinger. She walked groggily as if forced out of bed, her energy still not coursing through her. Slow blinking absentmindedly, she ends up going between Zooble and Kinger, the latter suddenly screaming at her “sudden presence”.

 

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, MY TOASTY TATER TOTS! I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL SLEEP LAST NIGHT!” Caine’s booming showman voice was what snaps Pomni back into a half-awake state; still not exactly feeling 100%, but awake enough to be able to understand words coherently instead of a murmur.

 

“Cut the CR[#@!], Caine. Just tell us what you called us here for.” Zooble’s impatient attitude made Pomni cringe a little.

“STRAIGHT TO THE POINT, I SEE! WELL THEN, I DON’T SEE WHY NOT!” Caine cheerily chittered. “I gathered you all today to announce that due to the extensive update and an EXTRA , EXTRA DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT that the Circus will undergo at this moment, ALL of you will have to be moved into a TEMPORARY LOCATION in which, you would all be safe from [UNEXPECTED LAGS-SLASH-FREEZING, FRAMERATE DROP, ACCIDENTAL CLIPPING THROUGH THE MAP AND NAUSEA] WHILE THE CHANGES ARE BEING IMPLEMENTED!!”

 

“Woah, woah- wait. This is the FIRST time you’ve announced s-something like this, Caine!” Ragatha pointed out. “Is the update really gonna be that big?” She nervously rubbed her arms.

“I’M AFRAID SO RAGATHA, BUT DO NOT FRET! TIS’ THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY, IS IT NOT?” Caine laughed at his own joke, which Pomni mildly chuckled at, out of amusement of his antics.

 

“... There’s no way you found that funny.” Jax shook his head and frowned judgingly. Pomni bared her teeth at him, making the rabbitoid smirk and laugh. Ragatha lightly smacks Jax, prompting a cheeky ‘whaaaaaaat, did I do something wroooooong?’ face from the purple rabbit beside her.

 

Caine snapped a portal into existence, urging everyone to go through it. “QUICKLY NOW, PEOPLE! There’s so much to do, and so little time!” Caine clapped his hand three times, observing each member that passed through. Pomni was second to the last just next to Gangle, making Caine call for Pomni before she had the chance to fully disappear.

 

“WAIT!!! Pomni, dear, I have something to help keep you company while you wait!” Caine quickly flew over and settled down to the floor, reaching through his coat pockets. He then pulls out a rather cute , miniature plushie of himself, and pushes it to her hands.

 

“O-oh!! Um… Thanks…?” Pomni blushed, bashfully tucking her hair behind her ear again while looking away. Caine looked proud. “IT’S NO PROBLEM AT ALL! If you ever feel like you need to talk to me but can’t reach me, this handsome little fella right here can keep you company! Think of him as a ‘mini me’!” Caine waved his jazz hands around, and Pomni laughs. He is once again, love struck at the sound of her chortling, mismatched eyes sparkling.

 

Wiping away a tear, she shoots him a genuine smile that made Caine hyperfixate on her lips. “Thanks Caine. I really appreciate this.” She kept the plush close to her chest and Caine felt a spike, making his non-existent throat dry up and clearing it, overheating imminent.

 

“N-no problem my dear! Now off you scamper, you silly camper!” Caine joked, and Pomni snickered for the last time before slipping through the portal. As soon as the portal closed, Caine immediately took to the skies, flying out of the tent and overseeing the grounds, still generally untouched. He needed to get this done sooner before he overheats completely.

 

He rubs his hands together. “RIGHT! Time for a LITTLE bit of terraforming!” He raised the staff to the skies, a cold calling to the winds.

~~~~

It wasn’t as if she should be surprised at the temporary location Caine decided to teleport them in; rather, she was expecting a reused map that the rest of the cast could re-explore.

 

Not a literal waiting room. Did he build this all night, just for them to wait in while he installs some updates for the Circus?

 

A faceless NPC sat at the reception desk to the front, and above it, the official logo of the game in it’s full, saturated, goofy glory. The monotone whites, grays, beiges and browns of the floor and walls gave her a minor case of whiplash, unused to such bleak color palettes slapping her in the face after being stuck in a colorful hellscape for who knows how long now.

 

Classic royalty free music blasted from the speakers of the location, and most of the gang immediately set out to try and satisfy the need for exploration within the confines of the insanity-inducing liminal space. Kinger opted to go to the east-side of the room with Gangle, Zooble going to the NPC to ask for something the jester can’t discern, and the receptionist then moves their hand around to give the amalgamation directions. Zooble nods, and then they’re off. Jax loops an arm around Ragatha, ushering her to come with him onto whatever mischief he’s got planned for the poor occupants of this building.

 

She planned to debate against this decision, but couldn’t and eventually went to follow the rabbit reluctantly.

 

Having a lot of options on where to go felt like too much, and she takes in a deep breath before proceeding to the front of the receptionist, her eyes barely peek out from how tall the desk was.

“Is there like, a break room in here or something?”

“Oh yes! Just take 4 flights of steps to your right, go down the hallway and turn left. Keep walking till you reach the end of the hall, and when you see a water dispenser near a door, that’s the room.”

“... R-right. Thanks.”

“No problem! Would you like a lollipop?”

“Wh-!! I’m not a child!” Pomni grumbled, though the Caine plushie she was clutching definitely did not help her case.

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to insult you like that. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“...y-yeah, actually.”

“Great! The break room has a ton of choices to offer. Have a great wait!” The receptionist stared blankly, though the tone implied they were giving her a customer service smile, before going back to their work of non-existent file reports.

 

Pomni grumbled, but tried her hardest to remember all of the directions she was just given. She shuffled away from the reception desk to begin her journey, hiding the plushie in the recesses of her hat to lessen the chances of being embarrassed again.

 

The place resembled an office space and a hospital combined, and Pomni, once again, experiences a form of uncomfort due to the liminality. It didn’t help that she’s the only one walking through the flights of stairs right now, and everytime she reached a new floor, she would look at the small window on the door frame.

 

Nothing on the other side. This place was barren. Which honestly, shouldn’t be a surprise at this point.

 

Shaking off the feeling of dread from her gut, she retrieves and looks down on the plush of Caine. She feels against the soft fabric of what it was made of. She then hugs it close to her face, attempting to find some comfort and imagining Caine was here with her, accompanying her. Soothing her, rubbing circles on her back while she just took in his presence and clutched at the velvety fabrics of his suit. Whispering comforting things like “I’m here, don’t worry”, and “You’re safe”.

 

Would he be steel cold because he’s a robot, or warm like a radiator? She wished it was somewhere in the middle, leaning towards warm.

 

Oh god.

 

She didn’t realize how much she badly wanted his company up until now. It’s always just been passing thoughts, but… being all alone in a scary, secluded area made her realize how much she missed his gentle pats on her head, and his hold on her arm. Ever since he had started to respect her boundaries she couldn’t help but feel validated, yet so, so lonely. Has… has she always been this touch-starved, or was this a new thing that just recently started to happen?

 

She didn’t fully know. Maybe it was because she’s by herself in this semi-open area that she’s feeling this way.

 

Nonetheless, she finally found the 4th floor, and continued with her journey. What did the receptionist say again? 4th floor, down the hallway, turn… left or right? Darn it, she can’t remember! It’s near a water dispenser though. Yeah, she just needs to keep a look out for a water dispenser. Gee, sure would be nice to have a map of this place.

 

She continued down the hallway, and thankfully, there were arrows pointing at which rooms were in the west and east wings of this floor, so she chose to walk on the west side. If this was an area before she and Caine had their unprompted adventure, she was certain that she would’ve gotten lost at this point. Trying her hardest not to remember her first day and the mental breakdown she suffered from the endless rooms, she finally spots that water dispenser, and walks towards the door.

 

Fiddling the door knob open, she steps into a small break room, with a coffee and snack vending machine. A small table near the corner with two seats, a bean chair, a television, some plants for decorum, and a fairly spacious gray couch.

 

It’s not much, but after walking and walking through flights of stairs and long corridors, this room was paradise to her, for the time being. She walked over to the coffee machine and chose black coffee, along with two packets of sweeteners, waiting for it to start dispensing hot water.

 

Finally taking a load off and flopping directly at the couch, she lifts the Caine plush to look at it eye-to-eye. She squinted, examining it’s features closely. It was surprisingly a very, very cute plushie of the ringmaster. Dare she say, handsome, as he referred to himself earlier. Sighing, she cuddles the plush close to her chest. “What am I even thinking… Caine? Handsome?” She chuckled to herself as she pointed out the absurdity of calling a pair of eyes and teeth ‘handsome’, flushing out of embarrassment and something else.

 

The jester sat up, staring holes into the soft, cuddly clone of the ringmaster. Hand dangerously leaning close to brushing the sides of the miniature plush’s face. She clutches the plushie tighter. 

Jax and Ragatha enter the scene, being pushed inside by a ruffled NPC with stapler shots, and a bulls-eye painted on it’s forehead. Documents with red markers scribbled on them flew in. “AND STAY THERE!”

 

“WE’RE SO SORRY!!!” Ragatha apologized, as the door slammed shut. Jax rolls his eyes. Ragatha crossed her arms in frustration and squinted at the rabbitoid. “I told you Jax, just leave them be! Do you ever listen?!”

 

“Nope. It wasn’t even my best work, dollface. Don’t get your threads twisted up in a knot about it.”

“I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE AS UPSET AS I AM NOW WITH YOU!” She pointed an accusatory finger towards the rabbitoid, who simply shrugs indifferently. “Eh, to each their own.” 

 

Ragatha frustratedly grabs at her hair, muttering small curses as she walks away towards the snack vending machine instead, and slams her head on it, sighing heavily. Pomni looked at the ragdoll apologetically, up until she notices Jax staring at her.

 

“... Eugh. Is that… a Caine plushie?” Jax frowned in disgust, before grinning darkly. Pomni swallowed a small lump in her throat, angling the plushie away from him.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re buddy-buddying up that shortstack now, bite-size! Though, now that I think about it. You do complete each other after all. Maybe now, you can both form a full-person in a trench coat.” Jax snickered at his own joke, and Pomni grinded her now sharpened teeth angrily, attempting to push Jax unsuccessfully as he moved out of the way.

 

 “Whaaaat? Jester can’ts take a joke? That’s a first! Ha!”

“Drop it, Jax!”

“Oh I would, as soon as you tell me what’s going on with you two. What’s with the plush, huh? You imagining this plush as him when you sleep at night~? Already missing his “magic touch”~?”

Pomni was both red in the face and seeing red. “WHAT THE F[#@!] IS WRONG WITH YOU!?” She grabbed at his overalls, too angry to even give attention to her already spiking up touch averseness.

“Oh, believe me, you don’t wanna know. But I do wanna know what’s with you two. Don’t act like we haven’t been noticing.” Jax smugly smiled when Pomni’s eyes widened, retreating into a defensive position. The rabbitoid laughed, knowing he had her right where he got her. This was good blackmail material.

 

Ragatha, having finally snapped out of her own earlier frustration, steps in to defend Pomni. “LEAVE HER ALONE, JAX! So what if she’s becoming friends with Caine? It’s her choice!” she jabbed a finger on his chest. Jax scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh please. ‘Friends’? Really? I’ve seen the way he looks at her. AND the way she looks at him. This isn’t just a “friends” case, button-eye, and I know YOU know it.” Jax defended his case.

 

Ragatha faltered a little, but remained unmoving. “... THIS is still NONE of YOUR BUSINESS. LEAVE. HER. ALONE.” Ragatha coldly warned, and there’s something that flashes at Jax’s eyes, though it quickly disappears as soon as he rolls his eyes shut and moves away.

 

“Pssh.. Fine, weirdos. Whatever. I don’t even care anymore.” He lifted his arms in retreat, and tucked it behind his head, acting indifferently and choosing to take a lazy seat with legs propped up at the table. Ragatha looked at Pomni apologetically, and took a seat near her. Pomni tucked her knees close to her chest, still clutching the plush on her left hand and burying her face. “I’m sorry you had to step in for me like that.” She apologized.

 

Ragatha simply smiled softly. “Hey. If you think I would let him treat you like that, you’re wrong, Pomni. I’m always gonna be here to defend you.” Ragatha comforted. “Still though, you didn’t have to…” Pomni trailed off, guilt eating at her.

 

Zooble entered the break room, eyes strangely whole lot more bloodshot. “Thanks man.” They fistbumped the NPC, before closing the door and taking a seat at the bean chair in the other corner of the room. Jax raised a questioning brow. “You look awful .”

 

“At least not as bad as you always do.” The quip came so easily, very fast and hard that it snapped Jax out of his relaxed state, growling at the amalgamation who simply chuckled and took a deep breath, strangely a whole lot more calm than they usually are.

 

The coffee vending machine dinged, and Pomni looks at it. Seems that her order was finished, and she gives the plush to Ragatha. “Can you…?” She looked nervously.

 

“Of course!” the ragdoll beamed and happily accepted the miniature Caine. Pomni went over to grab her coffee, and then went back to the couch to drink the coffee in peace. Kinger and Gangle soon entered. “Where were you two even at?” Zooble asked. “We got lost… I didn’t notice we were walking around in a circle until I saw the water dispenser 5 times” was all Gangle’s reply, as she took a seat on the couch. Kinger frog blinked, choosing to take a seat on the table with Jax.

 

After a minute or so, he screams. “AHHHHHHH! Oh, it’s just you, Jax.” Jax rolled his eyes and slammed the vending machine near him to dispense some snacks. “This is so boring,” Jax groaned as he opened the bag to eat. He stops chewing as soon as he notices that he could actually taste the flavoring from the chips. His hand starts shaking, and he quickly shoves an entire mouthful… and then another. Then another. A tear threatening to fall but at the same time, trying his hardest to remain composed.

 

…How… How long has it been since he actually tasted flavors from the food in this realm? Or just food in general? It was euphoric for him, and he was trying his hardest to figure out what the taste was… Spicy, savory… was this… barbecue?

 

No one said anything about this. It’s been a long while since Jax looked so genuinely happy without causing mayhem (and not saying a single, insulting thing), so they decided to let the rabbitoid enjoy his own little bag of snacks. Though this did make Gangle curious, so she decided to approach the vending machine herself, and choose a chocolate bar.

 

She nervously munched on it, and her eyes widened in utter shock. She took a bite again, this time, more enthusiastic to chew and savor the sweet cocoa taste. She felt like she could cry even though her mask isn’t even broken yet.

 

Ragatha was confused, yet too afraid to say anything. Zooble didn’t notice, having dozed off from their spot in the corner. Kinger was… well, Kinger.

 

Jax licked his fingertips, and crumpled the bag, choosing to toss it at Kinger. The chess piece remained unmoving even if the bag hit one of his eyes. “Well, I’ll be… Dentures finally made food actually worth eating… I can’t even lie. I didn’t even realize how much I’ve missed how food tastes like until now.” Jax smiled to himself. 

 

Ragatha’s eyes widened. “R-really?” She looked at Pomni and Gangle for confirmation. Gangle nodded happily, and Pomni gave a small smile, and a shrug. “You should try one for yourself. Jax isn’t lying about this.” the jester explained, finishing the last sip of her coffee. Ragatha booked it towards the vending machine rather desperately, making Pomni catch the plushie to prevent it from falling to the floor, then tucking the plushie to hide in her hat again. Better safe than sorry , she supposed. After getting a small bag of shoestring fries, Ragatha opened the bag and was utterly taken aback by the smell of powdered cheese.

 

Nervously, Ragatha took a bite.

 

She was silent. Dead silent. To the point that Jax had to shake her shoulders, just to make sure she didn’t silently choke and died. “Dollface? Yo, dolly, you didn’t get your throat slit open by the polygons now, did you?” Jax tried.

 

Ragatha started to silently sob. “It’s… It tastes…” She sniffled. “It tastes… real. ” She sobbed, as she ate more and more, in between sniffles. “H-how… After all this time-...?” The ragdoll couldn’t even care about proper eating etiquette of not speaking with your mouth full, too lost in the sensation she’s been long deprived of. 

 

“When… we were at the void making our way back, I taught Caine a few things. That includes how food is supposed to taste like.” Pomni wrung her hands nervously as she explained. Jax had an unreadable expression as he stood up, and slowly walked up to Pomni. There was no indication of what scheme he’s planning.

 

Stopping just shortly in front of her, Jax immediately went for the collar and lifted Pomni up. Pomni began to freak out, her touch averseness spiking up in alarm as tears threatened to fall. “JAX! L-LET ME GO, PUT ME DOWN!!” Pomni begged, but all Jax did was pull Pomni closer to his face. “STOP IT, JAX, LEAVE HER ALO-”

 

“SHH.” Jax sneered, and Ragatha covered her mouth.

 

“ I wanna make this clear, clown, and I won’t repeat myself. ” For the first time, Jax’s tone was not mischievous, nor was it exactly angry. “ I still think you’re incredibly weird for wanting to tongue tango with a pair of eyes and teeth. But I do know where to give credit where credit is due. ” He lets go of Pomni, letting her bounce hard onto the couch.

 

“So, thanks.” Jax smiled, both in a snarky way, and a genuine way as he walked back to his seat, and propped his legs back up. Pomni’s skin felt prickly, and her heartbeat still hasn’t gone down. “W-WHAT KIND OF AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WAS THAT?!” Pomni pulled at the ends of her hat, not exactly sure how to feel about the actions of the rabbitoid.

 

“Don’t get used to it.” Jax didn’t bother to elaborate. Pomni was about to start throwing curses at him, when Bubble literally pops in and scares everyone. Even Zooble was startled out of their nap.

 

“Hello, friends! I’d like to inform you all that the Amazing Digital Circus Updates have finished installing! Please take your first steps through this portal to witness the changes we’ve implemented while you were all having fuuuun in this very awesome map we’ve generated for you!” An obviously pre-generated response came from the ringmaster's assistant, and everyone stared at the portal. Shrugging, Zooble went in first. Then it was Gangle. Followed by Kinger, Jax, and Ragatha. Pomni stared.

 

“What’s wrong Pomni? Getting cold feet?” Bubble joked, and Pomni only glared at the AI. Taking a deep breath, she steps through and feels a deathly cold breeze on her limbs for a split second.

~~~~

The moment she stepped out of the portal, her eyes widened. “HOLY…. SH[#@!].” she couldn’t believe her eyes.

 

The entire grounds was covered in snow, top to bottom. Flakes rained from the sky in sparse amounts, simulating real life snowfall. The pine trees of the map were decorated top to bottom with ornaments copy pasted just enough to not make it obvious unless you squint. And it wasn’t just that too, the grounds had a major map update: prior to it all, it merely consisted of rows of mountains, a small fairground, a few houses scattered up and about, the digital lake and tall tower, then the river where she and Caine fell in.

 

Now? It was much more spacious, making way for a bigger town residence that held a holiday festival, the tent itself resembled the unfinished out of bounds version; but grander, and with more spotlights making it ACTUALLY resembling a proper one with the game logo plastered on front. A colosseum, a park, a beach shoreline, an observatory, waterfalls, and a large clock tower were now on the main grounds as additional places to explore.

 

The map now honestly looked like a small tourist town.

 

Pomni marveled at the sights, then proceeded to catch a snowflake on her now different-but-perfectly-suited-for-winter gloves. She watched as the flakes melted in her touch. A visible breath and a chuckle escaped her, and Bubble comically shivered after letting a snowflake melt on his tongue.

 

“BRRRR! It sure is really cold now! Colder than any Xmas decorations we’ve ever set up EVER!” The AI assistant pointed out, now sporting a white bonnet with a small pair of crocheted winter gloves that only floated on the sides of the spherical AI.

 

Since this was Pomni’s first winter in the circus, she couldn’t help but actually feel thankful. She couldn’t imagine living through countless Christmases with only fake snows, and mistletoes hanging around. She took in a deep breath, mentally thanking Caine for such a special gift.

 

Wait… Where IS Caine anyways?

 

She looked at everyone currently present on the grounds. Jax was throwing snowballs at Zooble. Zooble was retaliating, and starting a snowball war. Kinger was making an igloo fort, halfway done. Gangle was making snow angels. Ragatha was happily building a snowman, until Jax hit it. She proceeded to unleash her rusty albeit powerful snowball chucking skills towards the rabbitoid, fully burying him underneath a mound.

 

No Caine in sight.

 

“Hey Bubble, where’s Caine?”

“Oh, he’s on break. If you want, I can take you to him!”

 

“Hm, okay. So, how would you..” Pomni asked, and Bubble smiled.

 

“Like this!” Bubble replied before cracking his jaw as wide as possible (the audio byte did NOT help to remedy how horrifying a sharp-toothed sphere was as a sight), then gobbled up Pomni in one fell swoop, making the jester scream and fall on her bum. Bubble then teleported the both of them.

~~~~

They popped back into the unfinished tent’s debug room doors, not exactly decorated as the other map, but still, the AIs made a slight bit of effort. Bubble spat out Pomni, who was now covered in the AI’s soapy substance. She tries to shake it all off, feeling irritated at having to be eaten whole just to be brought to the other tent. 

 

WELP. NEW FEAR UNLOCKED: Getting teleported by Bubble.

 

Pomni looked up. “THE INTERNET LIBRARY”

 

She felt a little nervous. “Go on, open it and go inside!” Bubble urged, and Pomni fiddled with the door knob. As she took in a deep breath, Pomni finally turns the knob and opens the door to the new room. “Uh- hello? Caine? I just wanted to- C-CAINE?!” She immediately rushed to the ringmaster’s aid, who had been sprawled into the ground in a strange, passed out pose with a spilled cup of coffee. It looked like a very bizarre crime scene.

 

“Oh, don’t worry about him, this is just something that happens when he’s had too much cuppa’ joe.” Bubble explains, and Pomni feels her worry simmer down a little. Just by a smidge . “Is this…?” She asks, and Bubble shakes his head disapprovingly. “Nope! It only happens when he’s unable to figure out a solution to a problem. Which only happens once every two months, or if there’s a complicated, open-world adventure he had in mind” Bubble smiled. “Anyways, you should help him out to that couch over there!”

 

Pomni stared at the direction Bubble pointed, which was a simple softer pastel blue sofa; just enough to blend in with the environment, but also distinct enough to be discernible from the rest of the bright blue assault the library had.

 

Pomni looked back at Caine’s unmoving figure, hovering her digits around his arm. After a few seconds of contemplation, she makes contact, and her touch-averseness barely even spikes up. Only a tingling sensation present, and it made Pomni more confident on looping the ringmaster's arm around her shoulder, gripping his side for support.

 

“There we go, easy- easy….” She muttered to herself as she blushed, she hasn’t been this close to Caine since…

 

She shook the buzzing thoughts away.

 

The unconscious ringmaster had his eyes blackened like a shut off computer screen, Pomni noticed. She laid him down the bright blue couch and looked back at Bubble. “How long ‘till he’s back in working order?” she asked, rubbing Caine’s arm up and down absentmindedly. 

 

“3…”

“3?”

“2…”

“Uh…”

“1.”

 

Caine springs back to life with a scream bubbling up on his throat, and his eyes turn on. “OH BUBBLE, IT WAS HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE I SAY! I had a premonition that-” Caine quickly stopped himself from speaking as soon as he noticed Pomni on the floor, having been startled from his sudden awakening as a result.

 

“OH POMNI MY SWEET PEPPERMINT ROLL! What brings YOU to THE INTERNET LIBRARY? Are you THIRSTING for KNOWLEDGE like I do?? Huh?? DO YOU, DO YOU???” Caine inched closer and closer.

 

“Uhh-!! No, no I was just um- I wanted to check on you, a-and thank you, you know?”

“My, what for? If you wish to thank me for the new decorum and the updated snow physics, I am simply doing MY JO-”

“No, not that. Well, yes- technically that, but also…. Just for being considerate. I think I speak for everyone now when I say this update looks really good.” Pomni tucked her hair behind her ear, and Caine’s eyes sparkled from the validation, feeling his code do flips. “W-why, OF COURSE, my dear! I couldn’t have made it possible without YOUR input! Now, what say you about the very first adventure of the holiday season?!” He giddily shook.

 

Pomni blinked twice. “Y-you mean, all of THAT in the grounds wasn’t even going to be our adventure?”

“OH, HEAVENS NO, you silly goose!! The grounds update was merely an appetizer, and now we must get to the MAIN COURSE! The MEAT AND POTATOES of this EXTENSIVE update, whatever that means!!”

 

The jester was taken aback, eyes blinking in both amazement, and concern. Nonetheless, since he was pretty excited to showcase what he had been working on, she could no longer ignore the contagiousness of his energy. “You know what? Alright. Show me.” A look of gleeful determination from Pomni meets the ever so enthusiastic demeanor of Caine, who does flips in the air and a burst of confetti to prove so.

 

“OH, SPLENDID!” Caine exclaimed, snapping a portal for Pomni to step through. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you! I have ANOTHER announcement to make!”

~~~~

Pomni stepped through the portal, but now she’s on a train station near the clock tower. Caine snapped his fingers, and suddenly, everyone who wasn’t previously present was unceremoniously flown and  dropped to the spot they were now occupying.

 

Multiple groans could be heard from each and everyone.

 

“Caine, could you maybe… lessen… dropping us like that?” Ragatha propped a finger up, still feeling so much pain from being the one to cushion everyone's fall. “VERY WELL RAGATHA!!” The ringmaster chittered.

 

Soon enough, Everyone was now on their feet, and a locomotive train approached their station, blowing a steam whistle to announce it’s arrival.

 

“Huh. Guess we’re doing a train adventure?” Pomni surmised, and Caine laughed. “Oh my silly gumdrop angel, As FUN as a train adventure is, THIS IS NOT THE MAIN ATTRACTION! Rather, it will takes us to our destination, which will be the ADVENTURE of the week!!!” More confettis and a party horn blared to the tune of the classic ‘deck the halls’ song.

 

“... Our?” Zooble pointed out the rather subtle detail in Caine’s sentence, squinting their unproportionate optics at the AI.

“THAAAAAAAT’S RIGHT, SUPERSTAR!!! As of today, I, YOUR GREAT AND WONDERFUL DIGITAL RINGMASTER, will be joining YOU ALL in this week's ADVENTURE!!!!”

Everyone gasped. Caine spun in order to change his outfit to a train conductor, checking on a rather comically large stopwatch that barely fit on his palm. His cane transforms into the low poly walking stick he and Pomni used during the out of bounds escapade, and Pomni finally understands why he’s coming.

 

Well, if it worked on her, she hoped it would also work with everyone else. Maybe this time, they’ll also see that Caine’s not as bad as his first… and countless impressions on them were.

 

Gangle simply shrugged and hummed an ‘okay!’, accepting the situation very very quickly. Ragatha sighs, finally accepting the decision. Kinger’s eyes became unfocused, and then he frog blinks. “Oh! Will there be snacks and refreshments?”

 

“Don't you worry your silly little eyeballs out, Kinger! There will ABSOLUTELY be a choice for you all to pick from!”

Kinger smiled, then proceeded to get on the train. Jax snickered, getting inside without even uttering a single word. Zooble rolled their eyes, then looked on the train, back to the tent. Caine blocked their view of the tent.

 

“Oh, Zooble! PLEASE tell me you’re also coming with! I’m sure everyone would hate for you to miss out on this SUPER AWESOME ADVENTURE I had planned! I KNOW I WOULD!” Caine begged on his knees. Zooble cringed, but looks at the train carts where the rest were seated.

“I just… I don’t… know what you’ve got planned, Caine. What if I don’t like it? Then I came all that way for nothing.” Zooble admitted their reluctance. Caine couldn’t speak, but Pomni stepped in.

 

“Well, I guess you’ll never really know the answer to that unless you try. But Caine’s right,” Pomni explained, “We would hate for you to miss out.” She gave the amalgamation a small smile, which made Zooble feel touched. They nod after a while, and for the first time since their incorporation inside the Circus as it’s tenant, they decided to come along for an adventure without being forced to.

 

Caine did fist bumps in the air. Things were going smoothly! And Zooble even JOINED on their own accord!

 

Pomni couldn’t help but chuckle at his antics. God, he’s adorable when he’s happy . WH-

 

After mildly celebrating, Caine clears his throat. “So my dear! Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?”

“Y-yeah.”

“What was that?? I couldn’t hear you with you adorable squeaky hamster voice!!” Caine joked, placing a hand to the side of his head.

Pomni rolled her eyes, already knowing where this was going. “Yeah! I am!” She yelled determinedly.

“I’m sorry, but my auditory sensors seems to be having trouble picking up your responses! TELL ME DEAR, ARE YOU READYYYYYYY?”

“H[%$#!] YEAH I AM!!”

“THEN WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?!” Caine hollered, and Pomni joined in as well, which made everyone look at the two and laugh warmly.

 

The train blew it's whistle and started to move, as soon as the jester and the ringmaster finally hopped on.

 

“AAAAAAAAALL ABOARD, THE CIRCUS EXPRESS!”

 

The jutting of the steam locomotive signaled the crew’s departure and onwards to their special adventure. Pomni made her way to the main cart where everyone was seated, choosing to take a seat right in front of Gangle, who was doodling something. Only now does Pomni notice that Gangle has a pink, cute cat sweater, and some snow boots as well as some puffy pants. She also sported some fluffy ear muffs.

 

“You don’t have trouble moving around with that kind of outfit, do you Gangle?” Pomni blurted out from where she was peeking over, only realizing what kind of a question she asked the moment Gangle looked at her with a perplexed expression.

“Not really~!” Gangle beamed. “They’re a bit heavy, but I’d rather not freeze, hehe” the ribbon girl finished, and upon noticing that Pomni was satisfied with her answer, going back to drawing.

 

She then inspected everyone’s winter clothes for the season: Ragatha has a royal blue and whites wool sweater with a horse insignia, and some stylish blue winter boots that matched with her outfit. A blue, knitted winter beanie with a visor sat on the ragdoll’s head.

Kinger had a simple purple puffy jacket with wooly insides as well as a white scarf, accompanied by a russian winter hat. Zooble had a trench coat and a retro patterned turtle neck, sheepskin hat perched on the left side of their head that accompanied the interchangable part.

She didn’t fully see Jax’s yet, but she could honestly care less. He’s probably just sitting on the far corner of the cart, minding his own business.

 

Ragatha leaned on the armrest of her seat, and called for Pomni’s attention. “I have to admit, this is such a huge upgrade to last Christmas’ adventure. Or the previous one. And the one before that…” Ragatha looked to the side, a distant look and furrowed eyebrows, but it quickly switches back to a hopeful gleam. “... But it is very nice to finally have a proper christmas adventure! I’m quite excited for what Caine has in store!”

“Me either, this looks promising so far. We haven’t even had a mishap yet.” Pomni joined in on the doll’s positivity, when suddenly a huge bump caused everyone to bounce on their seats.

“Heh, don’t say things like that, Pom-pom! You might jinx us.” The ragdoll teased, and Pomni nervously laughed. “Right, I forgot.”

 

Caine slipped in to the cart, and grabbed the communicator attached to the wagon’s speaker system.

 

“Your attention, please! Be advised of ROCKY terrain that may make for a BUMPY RIDE, and prepare your train tickets for punching in!”

 

Everyone was confused.

 

“B-but- we don't have any train tickets?” Pomni blinked, unsure. Caine laughed, leaning against one of the chairs right in front of Pomni.

“Do you, now? Why don’t you check your coat pockets~ ?” he arched his top jaw in a questioning gaze, waved his fingers as if performing a magic trick while wiggling what would be his eyebrows if he had any . Pomni became red from his mannerisms, covering her mouth and ducking her head in flushed embarrassment with a small smile. He's not even close enough, dummy. Why are you freaking out like this?

 

Everyone else fiddled with their pockets, and sure enough, one by one each of them pulled out golden, two-way tickets; earning perplexed murmurs. Pomni pulled hers out, and Caine bowed as he accepted her ticket for punching. “Thaaaaank you!” He lightheartedly says, before sticking out his tongue as he punched a couple of things in. Handing her ticket back, Pomni thanked him and examined it.

 

… Well, she couldn’t make heads or tails as to what exactly he punched in, but it doesn’t really matter if it’s Caine we’re talking about. Wait a minute, now that she thought about it, isn’t this a little familiar -

 

The scribbling of Gangle’s notes was what brought Pomni back to attention, and she couldn't help but take a slight peak. Gangle was scribbling the previous encounter of Caine leaning against the seat, while she had her hand cover her mouth in playful delight... ALL in a classic anime-styled setting. She immediately flared up; and the twirl of ribbons noticed her jerked reaction, opting to hide the sketchbook away from the prying eyes that was the very muse of her artwork.

 

“I’M SORRY! I-I-IT JUST LOOKED LIKE A REALLY GOOD POSE, AND I-” Gangle’s mask began to slip, and she hid her face beneath her ribbon hands in embarrassment. Pomni was now in damage control mode as she nervously darted around, before putting her hands up in surrender.

 

“I-it’s okay! I-I was just- just- caught off guard , that’s all! I-I actually… really… like it.” She didn’t exactly fancy being the current subject of Gangle’s art practices without her knowledge on the matter, but from what she saw, it really was a good sketch. Gangle peaked through her silky arms, searching for something on Pomni’s expression. “... Really? You mean that?” A shy, timid voice. 

 

“... yeah. J-just- give me a heads up next time?” she gave her best reassuring smile, which… looked a bit awkward, but Gangle seemed to light up nonetheless, squiggly smile plastered back to her face.

 

“Do you… Do you want it?” Gangle gestured to the drawing, and this was a moment of truth for Pomni, and she had to think about it fast .

 

Did she want to keep the drawing the masked girl made, or is it too weird to take it from her? Would Gangle mind? Would she be judgemental about it? She pondered about it for a good second or two, before making up the decision.

 

“...Yeah, I do… really like what you’ve done.”

 

This made Gangle squeal and shake her hands in excitement, carefully ripping the page off of her notebook to give to the Jester.

 

“Here you go~!” the masked girl handed the sketch over, and upon a second look, it really, REALLY does look good. Way better than anything she could do honestly, the most she could was a stick figure or a wonky human. “I-I tried to make it seem a little… dreamy, since the lighting was just right!” Gangle explained, and while she would never admit it, the previous encounter did leave her in a bit of a flustered mess. She smiled at the ribbon girl. “O-oh, I see. Do you… have more?” Pomni asked, figuring that since they’re on the topic already, might as well ask.

 

“I didn’t know you were an art connoisseur, Pomni!” An excited gleam came from the hunched girl behind her, Gangle flipping through her notebook for something appropriate to show. “I-I mean, I’m not usually… but I guess I’m just f-feeling… different lately.” Pomni clasped her hands together as she shrugged and looked to the opposite direction, Gangle finally finding something to show the jester girl.

 

On the other hand, Caine had just finished punching in Kinger’s ticket, flinching when the ringmaster hands it over. He then taps at his chin, humming in thought. “Now why do I feel like I’m forgetting something…?” Caine licked at his fingers and massaged his temple (top jaw) in an attempt to recall what exactly was on his mind. Kinger took a closer look at the golden ticket, seeing his own eyes stare back at him from the reflection of the golden permit. 

 

He stares blankly. “Are these for chocolates?” 

 

Caine’s eyes lit up with mirth, snapping his fingers. “Of course!” He exclaims, quickly flying on over to the speaker system of the cart. “Would anyone be in need of… refreshments ?”

 

The entire cast murmured with one another, attempting to decide whether some refreshments would be in order. Caine tapped his fingers altogether as he waited for a response, and after one last look and some shakes of the head, they nod. Zooble simply shrugged. The ringmaster-turned-conductor then eagerly tapped his shoes, happily accepting their responses. “I THOUGHT SO!” He clapped his hands twice, and then side-stepped to open the cart door –revealing multiple steward NPCs– all rushing in to give the cast their cups of beverages while chanting about hot cocoa.

 

First that got served was the farthest one in the cart: Zooble. Then Kinger, then Ragatha, then finally Pomni and Gangle. Each of the cast had a server offer them snacks and cookies, to go along with their hot cocoa drinks topped with marshmallows. One of them accidentally poured hot choco onto Kinger’s crotch due to a bump in the tracks though, making him scream from the high temperature. But aside from that, it went swimmingly well. And then after being catered to? They all rushed out in the same manner as they entered the vicinity, and Caine closed the door, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe at his top jaw. 

 

That went better than he expected! Mostly. He needs to calibrate the waiter AI’s coordination for next time.

 

“Heh, maybe this isn't so bad after all.” Zooble spoke to themself as they inhaled the aroma of the hot chocolate drink. Caine couldn’t help but happily chitter at the feedback.

 

“Well that was certainly refreshing! I hope you yodelling mountain goats have a good drink now, because we’re nearing our st-”

 

A large crash made everyone jerk in random directions as the cart seemingly got suspended in mid-air for a couple of seconds, hot choco ruined and by extension, scalding them. The lights flickered on and off as a result of the unprecedented collision with an unknown obstacle, Caine blinking dumbfoundedly.

 

“Now, what in the tenderly-fried-chicken-giblets is going on in here?!” He teleports himself to the engine front of the locomotive, ready to scold some malfunctioning AIs.

 

… Only to not find engine operators tied up and mumbling for help, but the fact that Jax had once again, propelled the steam engine to go full-speed ahead, whistling a merry tune. The rabbitoid finally notices the ringmaster’s presence. “Oh hey Caine, your drivers weren’t doing a good job taking care of this baby, so I figured I should show them the ropes!”

 

“Jax, as much as I appreciate your enthusiasm to help, players are not permitted to be anywhere near here! I suggest you come with me to-”

“What? No way, this is way more fun than sitting in with the rest of the losers in the cart! Plus, I’m doing everyone a favor! With these speeds, we’ll be there in no time-”

 

The train was climbing up on a hill when it derailed from the overblown momentum that it was not meant to do, soaring through the air. Jax and Caine screamed as they both hugged each other– being suspended mid-air, until the steam engine came crashing on top of a thankfully thick blanket of a frozen lake, making it slide across the ice. Caine snapped his fingers as the train’s emergency brakes did it’s best to halt the steam engine from further barreling itself through the ice, and eventually it comes to a halt. Jax heaved a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding, and let go of Caine, choosing to pretend that did not just happen.

 

“Well! My job here is done. I think I’ll just scurry my way back into the cart now, thank you very much.” Jax hurriedly attempted to excuse himself. Caine was about to reprimand Jax for the unauthorized entry, but remembered the rest of the cast. He and Jax entered the wagon in which everyone was situated, Jax choosing to quickly take a seat besides Gangle and try to look at the artwork the ribbon girl was making–the latter whimpering at his judgemental stare and hugging her artworks close to her chest.

 

“Is everyone alright?” Caine asked, but the loud groaning of metal made him look outside the windows.

 

Only then did he realize that the rest of the locomotive did not stop, as it continued to slide down the ice. The carts then collided with one another HARD and effectively destroyed the steam engine’s wagons like a snake spearing itself with the end of it’s tail; making everyone who were in them burst through unceremoniously as the train became a physics nightmare from the collision.

 

Everyone screamed as they all got flung, sliding through the ice on their chairs that now threatened to form cracks, the sound byte of ice cracking from the stress and pressure applied. Caine immediately flew himself through the air to see the extensive damage done, only to see everyone in their now damaged seats uncontrollably barreling through the frozen surface as the cracks chased them, screaming for dear life. The ringmaster wasted no time to come to his crew’s assistance; snapping and transforming the broken seats into snowmobiles, as well as snap some appropriate gear to everyone.

 

He looked back to see the cracks catching up, but Pomni’s scream caught his attention more as the poor jester girl practically hugged the steering wheel.

 

“C-C-CAINE! WHAT HAPPENED!?” The speed of which they went through was unprecedented, to which Caine tried his best to catch up. “I’LL EXPLAIN LATER! JUST HOLD ON FOR NOW LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!” Caine laughed in order to lighten the mood, but it did not stop the jester from screaming her lungs out.

 

He quickly checked in with the others whilst keeping distance. Kinger and Ragatha seemed to be somewhat fine, Ragatha’s just screaming while Kinger seems to be lost in thought and barely even moving. Meanwhile Zooble was trying to choke Jax –knowing he had something to do with this– while Gangle held on to the front and screamed for dear life.

 

Only then did Caine notice that Pomni’s just by herself in the snowmobile. The massive ice chunk that became more and more noticeable in the distance was going to force all three of them to split up.

 

No matter, improv was always something he was confidently good at! Knowing how the map was generated–since he made it after all– he knew where they’d all eventually end up.

 

After a few seconds of getting his algorithm to sift through generated ideas in order to make this seemingly part of the show, he takes a seat right behind Pomni, who was taken by surprise. Caine then pulls out a communicator.

 

“Ladies and Gentlemen! It’s now a race between three teams to see which one of you goofy goobers can cross the finish line first!” The ringmaster started, and Pomni looked back at him with disbelief, dumbfounded and lowkey frustrated at his showman attitude now while they were in a life-threatening situation. “WHAT THE H[#@!] YOU DOING?! SNAP US OUT OF HERE-”

 

Caine lifted his finger off the button of the communicator, looking at Pomni with a solemn look. 

 

“ Trust me .” He reassured Pomni, voice as soft as ever. 

 

The jester maintained a reluctant eye contact for a few seconds before swallowing a lump on her throat, wordlessly placing her trust in the ringmaster with a nod as he once again put on his showman voice.

 

“Beyond these diverging frozen rivers lies two thrilling paths; one that would eventually converge into our main course! But beware the pitfalls of the ice trail, and most of all; BEWARE THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN!!” He snapped his fingers, and a starting line then formed at the two paths, Bubble being in the middle and holding a checkered flag.

 

“SLEDDERS! ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO!”

 

Caine yelled as each of the mobiles zoomed past the starting line, Bubble aggressively waving the flag around like a dog with a chew toy.

 

Caine then proceeded to lean closer to Pomni unintentionally, almost resting his head on her shoulders. “Now my dears, first off: I hope you’ve all taken your snowmobile lessons, because this is gonna be ONE wild ride!”

 

“You can’t be F[#@!]ING serious! Ugh, I knew I should’ve just stayed in my room!” Zooble’s voice peered through the other side, regretful.

 

“U-uh, This race isn’t gonna be totally dangerous, r-right?” Gangle’s want for reassurance did not go unnoticed.

 

Coughing could then be heard from the other side of the radio. “What do you think “abominable snowman” means, crybaby? Of course it’s gonna be dangerous! And fun!!”

 

“I’m all for some g-g-good old fashioned sledding down a snowy hill, but I don’t think I know how t-t-to control this THING! ESPECIALLY ON ICE-!!” Ragatha’s voice was clearly labelled with worry. Now it was Kinger’s more lucid voice peering through mumbling about something indiscernible, before screaming for dear life.

 

“Woo, snowmobiles! Now THIS is something more of my gig!” Jax cheered, and then made a pained noise. “IF YOU THINK I’M LETTING YOU TAKE CONTROL OF THIS THING, YOU'RE DEAD F[#@!]ING WRONG, S[#@!]HEAD.” Zooble’s furious voice came immediately afterwards.

 

“Why do you always gotta rain on my parade, Zoobie? Come on, just let me have my fun!” Jax sneered as an angry growl came from the amalgamation. “Because WE’RE the ones who always has to face whatever bad S[#@!] your “fun” brings!”

 

“Touche.” was the rabbit’s only reply, grin evident.

 

“Now now, everyone! Let’s not begin to fight ourselves to the death now, save that for our GRAND destination LATER!”

 

“I don’t want to be snowman food!” Gangle cried. Caine huffed with determination. “Well then, that just gives you all the more confidence to avoid such a GNARLY beast at all costs, yes?”

 

“NO!” was a collective response, before stuttering into a “Yes” and a maybe.

 

“GREAT! I KNEW I could count on EACH and EVERY one of you! I believe in all of your abilities to get through this! Now, onwards my dears, to our port of call!” Caine hollered one last time, before putting the communicator back into his coat.

 

“Not bad for a collective inspirational speech!” Pomni cheered. Caine pulled at his collar, steam emitting out as he nervously laughed as he grabbed a handful of snow and poured it inside his shirt, a sizzling noise prominent. “A-aha, well I’ve been practicing!” the ringmaster shrugged, not used to compliments.

 

“I think that’s nice of you, but can you PLEASE teach me how to drive this thing?! I don’t know what the H[#@!] I’m doing!!”

 

“OH! Right, apologies my dear!” Caine straightened himself out, taking a deep breath and then exhaling. “Do you, by any chance, know how to ride a motorcycle in your past life?”

“Yes, but why does that matter?!”

“BECAUSE this rides JUST LIKE ONE! except you lean with your whole body if you wanna turn!” Caine exclaimed and shifted left and right from his seat, making Pomni almost lose her balance.

“DON’T DO THAT! AND I CAN’T DO THIS!”

 

“Come on Pomni, where’s your drive for the ADVENTURE?? Are you even the same Pomni that I had the honors to be stuck beyond the map with??”

 

“Y-yes, I am! And I never had drive ! These situations are just me winging it, if you can even believe it or not!”

 

“Oh I believe it wholly, my dear! I know you can do this– TREE!!!!”

 

Caine pointed forward, making Pomni turn her head and scream. She turns a hard left just to avoid the protruding bark, causing a bit of unbalance and shifting.

 

“STEADY as she goes there!”

“I’M TRYING WITH THE BEST I CAN!!”

“You’re doing great superstar! Just don’t shift left and right TOO much!!”

“I CAN’T HELP IT, I’M SHAKING AND PANICKING!!”

“OH GOOD!! THE AUDIENCE LOVES MOMENTS LIKE THAT!”

“ I DON’T !!!”

 

The current passengers of the snowmobile screamed as they jumped up a snow ramp, but in different ways; Caine out of maniacal thrill, and Pomni out of very reasonable fear. The sled almost stumbled and crashed as it landed, but thankfully recorrected itself because of the two passengers’ balanced weight. 

 

Pomni felt tears prickling up in the corners of her vision, she didn’t know if it was because she wanted to cry from their dangerous situation, or that the speed that they were going at was drying her eyes out; or a mixture of both.

 

… Actually, it definitely is both.

 

“Caine, please ! Get this to stop! I can’t do this anymore!”

“Yes you CAN, Pomni! I’ve seen it! I’ve seen you do it!”

“That doesn’t mean I want to!!”

“But my dear, if you let fear hold you back, it’s going to take over your life and make it MISERABLE and worst of all, BORING! You gotta have a sense of adventure, to LIVE YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST!!”

“I-I… don't…”

“What do the young’uns say these days again?? Uhh…. ‘You only live once’, right?!”

 

Pomni fell silent for a moment. She vaguely remembers a friend from middle school say that phrase to her. In a cruel twist of fate, that same friend of hers died after a mishap concerning a bike and a downwards slope, but… Caine was right.

 

How long has she let fear control her life up to this point? In her 25 years of existence, the last time she could vaguely remember taking risks… was when she was a kid, climbing a tree trying to get a kitten unstuck from a branch. Then her mother told her that she shouldn’t climb high places like that because she could fall and break her neck.

 

After that? Fear took over everything.

 

Her thoughts, her appearance, her choices, her situation… all controlled by that one emotion that she forgot she wasn’t living at all in the first place … she was just surviving each day.

 

She was miserable.

 

And perhaps, in the real world, that was enough to get by until you’ve saved enough money to go and retire. But in the digital world? Where taxes, money and responsibilities like rent and groceries no longer pose a threat on whether or not they’ll see another day?

 

The breeze no longer felt as volatile as it did. Obstacles blurred themselves out, as if she was in her own little bubble with Caine. A ray of light permeated through the clouds and made way for the artificial light of the sun to shine down on them, and she could feel him shuffle closer to her to whisper.

 

“No matter what happens, I’ll always be here.”

 

And in the corner of her eye, she could see his hand hover above her shoulders, nearly initiating contact… but retract back. She couldn’t help but wish he actually went through with it.

 

But Pomni breathed in and out, and looked forward with newfound determination, clutching the steer like she was grabbing life by the horns. She swerved through the obstacle with much more confidence than the last one, albeit still needs work.

 

Pomni felt goosebumps, and something coursing through her as of the current moment, and she could only really guess that whatever it is could possibly be dread, or adrenaline. But for the first time in her life one thing she was certain of, was that she wasn’t gonna let her own apprehensiveness control her life any longer.

 

She screamed, but this time it wasn’t out of terror, no– she hollered, and the ringmaster behind cheered alongside the jester.

 

“YES!!! THAT’S IT POMNI!!! CAN YOU FEEL IT??? CAN YOU FEEL THE RUSH COURSING THROUGH YOU!! THIS IS IT!! EMBRACE THAT FEELING, DEAR!”

 

Caine huffed proudly and threw his hands in the air, and Pomni replied with a laugh. She was lost in the newfound fun she was experiencing, the rush just felt so invigorating . There was a bunch of penguins sliding down with them at some point during the ride, and Pomni couldn’t help but be amazed at the sight. She only really saw Penguins in the once in a blue moon rare chance she decided to visit her city’s zoo.

 

Though, it was weird to see Penguins sliding on downward forest slopes.

 

They then entered an ice cave system filled with frozen fossils of extinct animals. Pomni took quick glances (that’s the only thing she can do while going at 80mph, really) before focusing on steering the vehicle.

 

“Echo!!” She yelled, as her voice loudly reverberated along the walls, eventually fading out. A low rumbling followed, She then noticed bright, red eyes as she passed by. It was then that she realized it was no ordinary rumble.

 

It was a growl of an angry creature that was woken from it’s slumber.

 

The abominable snowman furiously roared, and she looked back at it with fearful eyes and a yelp of fear. Caine blinked twice at it, only semi-expecting the snowman to be at their path.

 

It looked like a gorilla made out of spiky ice and snow.

 

“Ohhhhhh! Well it’s no wonder I haven’t heard any screams of delight or favors of help from the others yet!” The dentures with eyes hummed way too casually.

 

“UH-!! CAINEEEE? WOULD REALLY LIKE SOME HELP OVER HERE!” The brunette pleaded, trying to divert her focus onto driving. Caine threw his walking stick, which did nothing. When it didn’t work, he wiggled his fingers and stuck out his tongue, reaching through his coat to grab a weapon.

 

“IS THAT A-”

“-SSSSSSSSNOWBALL LAUNCHER? YES!” Caine finished for Pomni, standing and turning around to aim at the snowman.

“I WAS GOING TO SAY ‘BAZOOKA’, BUT THAT MAKES A LOT MORE SENSE”

 

They finally exited the fossil caverns and out into a forest, where the snowman chased them. Caine aimed the launcher and rapidly fired at the snowman to deter it, but it only served to make the beast angrier; where it beat on it’s chest and let out a furious roar.

 

“Oh dear! It seems that the launcher’s ineffective against it!”

“DON’T YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE IN THERE THAT COULD HELP?”

“Wellllllll-”

 

Caine reached into his coat pockets once more, pulling out various things and throwing them behind his head; a stopwatch, a screeching chicken, a golf club, an anchor, a grand piano, a rubber duck, even a bomb that exploded behind them once he threw it in the air. “There’s gotta be something in here!” He wiggled his hands again and reached deeper, until…

 

“AHA! I’VE GOT IT!”

“PLEASE TELL ME IT’S A FLAMETHROWER”

“NOPE, BUT YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO TRUST MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”

 

Caine threw himself onto the snowman, whom had it’s mouth open to swallow him whole. In one fell swoop, the ringmaster was gone, the snowman licking it’s lips. Pomni gasped in shock.

 

“CAINEEEE!!” tears pricked at the edges of her eyes as she looked back, pulling on the brakes to stop the snowmobile when the snowman began to sweat.

 

Wait a minute. Snowmen can’t sweat.

 

“ Uh oh .” was all it said in a deep grumble before the great beast of ice melted in a quick succession, as if thrown into a vat of corrosive acid. And in the icy carnage was Caine, wiping his suit clean. Or at least, attempting to.

 

“Well, that was surely an experience I never want to do in the future ever again! Who knew being swallowed whole wasn’t as pleasant as I thought it would be?” The pair of dentures mused.

 

Pomni ran towards Caine, and immediately threw her arms over at him before she could even think it through, burying her face onto his shoulders.

 

“You dumb idiot! Don’t do things like that ever again , you hear me?” Despite the seemingly aggressive and demanding way she said it, Caine couldn’t help but feel warm. Warm from his processors unable to withstand the emotion he was experiencing, and warm from the shared hug. Caine was flabbergasted, and was quite speechless at the sudden boldness Pomni showed, even allowing herself to initiate physical contact with him.

 

Wait, does this mean she’s overcome her aversion to touch? Or is she the only one allowed to initiate it, and he can’t ever ever ever ever ever do the same to her? Was she angry, or relieved?

 

Humans are still so confusing !

 

Pomni let go and pulled at the ends of her hat once she realizes what she’s doing, hiding her flushed face beneath the pom poms unsuccessfully. Caine cleared his throat, flushed as well.

 

“I’m… sorry, my dear! I just thought it’d be a GOOD idea to use my OVERHEATING ISSUE against this monster, aha!” the ringmaster wrung his hands in an embarrassed apology, hoping that it’s enough of an answer to justify his actions to save her.

“You still can’t just go and throw yourself into every danger possible! What if something happens to you…?” Pomni retorted, stomping her foot to get her point through.

“Oh, you silly billy, Pomni! You don’t need to worry about a THING, superstar! I am the WONDERFUL and ALL-POWERFUL DIGITAL RINGMASTER of this realm, after all!” Caine puffed up his chest and laid his hand on it, confidently.

“I-I know that, but… I just… don’t want you to hurt yourself like last time…” Pomni’s voice became smaller and smaller with each word, her optics shifting to the ground as she fiddled with her gloves. Caine blinked twice, having warmed up again immensely.

“Well, I suppose if it would make you feel better , I’ll… try to lessen that behavior!”

Pomni shot him a look, and he couldn’t help but backpedal a little more. “... How about only on weekends?” He smiled nervously.

 

The glare intensified, and the jester grumbled, crossing her arms.

 

“Okay, okay! I promise not to throw myself into any more dangers!”

 

Even if his admin state protects him from any sort of threat, and he can’t understand why she’s so concerned, he really meant it. Pomni seemed to be satisfied with this answer though, as she relaxed her stare and defaulted back to her usual state, albeit less timid. Caine cleared his throat, ushering her to the snowmobile again.

 

“Now, my dear, I believe we have a race to finish?”

“Right, okay. Um…” Pomni tucked her hair behind her ear, then ran to the snowmobile as the two continued on forward. Caine hopped on behind her, clapping his hands together before rematerializing the walking stick he had prior. “ONWARDS, TO THE GREAT BEYOND!” He pointed beyond the horizon, and Pomni couldn’t help but flush as she felt his breath brush on the nape of her neck. 

 

Wait, did he just say “The Great Beyond”?

~~~~

It didn’t take long for the duo to reach the bottom of the slope, where the apparent destination was located. After a while of driving the snowmobile, Pomni spotted the tracks meant to carry the train over to the spot of the adventure, so she did the logical thing of following the path. There were some sections where the tracks twisted and looped either in a flat or vertical angle, which… honestly, wasn’t at all surprising, all things considered.

 

Pomni squeezed the brakes, as Caine acted like a loud GPS the past five minutes.

 

“.... Aaaaaand you have reached your destination! We’re here! We’re here, we’re here!!!” The ringmaster boldly proclaimed, jumping off of the seat like a hyperactive excited toddler entering the playplace of their dreams. Pomni looked up at the entrance, two large doors keeping the place inaccessible with a giant large sign on top.

 

“THE GREAT BEYOND”

 

Oh my F[#@!]ING god, he can’t actually be real about this naming scheme.

 

Caine searched the premises for any signs of the others’ arrival, but there was not even a single snow track nor any evidence of a crashed snowmobile anywhere. He checked his wacky watch, worry for the missing crew slowly rising.

 

… Oh! It seems that they should be arriving any second now! Pomni and him were the first to reach The Great Beyond. He approached the jester with a hum, as Pomni turned her attention to him, a question bubbling up.

 

“Caine, what the h-”

“CONGRATULATIONS, MY WOBBLING JELLYBEAN, FOR BEING THE FIRST TO REACH THE GREAT BEYOND! Your reward is this trophy, and additional prizes will be waiting for you as soon as you enter!” Caine reached into his coat pockets to pull out a giant, 7-foot tall trophy and scattered confetti on her, which confused Pomni momentarily. She dusted off the confetti from her head and shoulders. “U-uh, thanks, Caine. But- What in the world is this? And why’d you call it ‘The Great Beyond’-” She questioned, but was cut off by Caine shushing her and floating a finger near her lips.

 

“As much as I’d LOVE to answer your question, I’d hate to spoil the SURPRISE when no one’s here yet! Better to announce it when everyone makes it!”

“... Where is everyone?”

The rumbling engine of the next snowmobile reached their ears, and they both turn their attention to the source. Ragatha and Kinger have finally arrived, but something seems wrong. Their snowmobile doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all.   

 

“... OF THE WAYYY!!!” Ragatha yelled.

“WHAT?” Pomni yelled back.

 

“I SAID, “GET OUT OF THE WAY”!!!!” The ragdoll warned, and both Caine and Pomni yelped, before jumping out of the path in which Ragatha was headed at. Kinger simply fell out of the snowmobile seat and slow blinked, when Ragatha crashed at the large wooden walls, the snowmobile exploding as she flew high up into the air like a firework. The doll then landed on a plush pile of fresh snow, instantly putting out any residual fire that her dress may have caught on to during the explosion.

 

Caine bursted into a loud laughter, while Kinger and Pomni stood, unsure of what to do next. The ringmaster wiped cartoonish tears out of his eyes and attempted to lean against Kinger for support, while heaving in a deep breath to stifle in his chortle. Pomni looked at him confusedly, and in an instant, Caine straightened his posture out to strut towards where Ragatha had landed. 

The doll was dazed completely, but that didn’t stop Caine from reaching into the snow to shake Ragatha’s hand. “CONGRATULATIONS, RAGATHA AND KINGER! You’re second place in this unexpected icy race course! Your reward is THIS smaller #2 trophy, and MORE will be waiting for both of you as you enter!” Caine gave each of them a small trophy with an inscribed number on it, and Kinger was quick to discard it once he notices a frozen butterfly.

 

Ragatha shook her head, and clutched at it in an attempt to recollect her bearings. “Um… Thank you, I-I guess…? Ow, that was really awful…”

 

“What was? The race course?” Caine, secretly filled with dread, asked. Ragatha was quick to backpedal her sentence.

“N-no! I mean, the race course was… nice , and it… was challenging to navigate, but I think you coded the pain from the explosions a little bit… too… expertly?” The ragdoll tried her hardest to be polite with her wording.

 

Caine blinked twice. “Oh, why thank you!” He misinterpreted the criticism as a compliment. The third snowmobile then finally arrived, but was torn apart. Gangle had the front part, while Zooble and Jax had the other back half. Jax wiped a non-existent sweat off of his brow.

 

“Well, that really gets the juices pumping, ain’t that right, Zoobie?”

“ I swear to god, I’m THIS close to cutting your tongue clean off .” Zooble threatened the rabbitoid, hopping out of the seat to check if the sobbing masked girl was okay. Jax simply shrugged. Caine walked towards the last placers. “Even if you three came in last place, I’d still like to bestow upon you all PARTICIPATION AWARDS!”

“Not really like we had any choice in the matter-” Zooble grumbled, but got cut off by Jax.

“BOOOOOOOOOOO, dentures. You said there was gonna be an abominable snowman! I tried looking at every corner it could be hiding in!”

“Oh, um…” Pomni spoke, and instantly Jax figured out what she was gonna say, groaning. “... Of COURSE you get to experience the one saving grace of this boring trip. So, how was riding toothface over here?” The innuendo flew right past Caine’s head, but made Pomni go as red as a tomato.

 

“I DIDN’T RIDE-”

“IT WAS GREEEEEEEEAT ! POMNI WAS AMAZING, SHE HANDLED EVERYTHING LIKE A CHAMP! WHICH, SHE IS– AS EVIDENCED BY THIS HUMONGOUS TROPHY!”

Jax bursted out in laughter this time, making Pomni stomp away before she falls for another bait. “Oh, this is GOLD. I’m not even upset about the snowman anymore.”

Pomni grumbled and pouted, crossing her arms as she desperately tried to ignore the obvious evidence on her face that she was affected by Jax’s teasing.

 

“Well, if Jax wants a snowman, I can spawn one right no-”

“ NO! ” Was an instant collective response from every circus member who had the moral decency and sanity to disagree. Caine shrugged.

“Oh well! Majority votes win!” Caine straightened his sleeves and adjusted his gloves. “Now, Pomni! This… is THE GREAT BEYOND !” Caine snapped his fingers, and the large doors rumbled as they began to open. The sun shone at the face of the jester, momentarily blinding her from seeing beyond the doors. Shielding her peepers from the blinding light, she joined everyone’s flabbergasted reactions at the ski resort in front of them. “A place for everyone’s relaxation needs!”

 

To call this place a lodge would be an understatement, as the whole thing looked more like a small commercial town but with a ski resort theme. “Speechless, I see!” Caine wiped his “nails” on his coat, and examined his fingers. He then pointed at the large cabin. “Right there is the grand lodge, where you all will be staying for the rest of the week! But WAIT! There’s so much MORE!”

 

Caine then flew to each perk the place had to offer.

“You can go skiing and sledding! Or you can try your luck at the fishing hole! Or you can get the world’s greatest massage, now with hot stones to keep you warm! Quarter to twelve would be the winter feast, and by midnight, you can join the gathering at the square to sing copyright-free winter songs!”

Jax’s eyes twinkled in astonishment, his mouth beginning to drool but he was quick to wipe it. “Pssh, that’s all? Such a letdown Caine, I knew you couldn’t-”

“Oh that’s not all, my mammalian friend! I’d love to waste the whole day relaying EVERYTHING you can experience in this magnum opus project of mine, but I have been informed that it’s much, MUCH better if I let you sillies run around and find that out for YOURSELVES!” Caine looped an arm around Jax, and then released him, making the purple rabbit spin and get dizzy. As soon as he recollected himself, he rolled his eyes; giving up on trying to instigate a situation and instead set his eyes on something else, walking away.

 

It was now Zooble’s turn to speak. “This… actually looks like a decent adventure. How… long… did it take you to do all this?” They asked. Caine laughed, and patted Zooble’s head. “Oh, it only took me a fortnight to assemble all of this!”

“Is that why the adventures have been a whole lot more… toned down?” Gangle asked, and Caine nodded.

“Yeeeeep! Which is also why I’m giving everyone 2 weeks to experience this place, in order to make up for the times you guys could’ve been going on a normal adventure!” Caine looked really proud of what he had accomplished here. After a brief contemplation, Zooble nodded their head towards Caine.

 

“You’ve done a lot of stupid adventures that I’m glad I never participated in… But this one is shaping to be your best one yet.” Was Zooble’s only reply before walking away. Gangle gave two thumbs up and mustered a small smile, despite her comedy mask being nowhere to be seen, running to catch up to Zooble. Caine did his best to hide his excitement and happiness at the positive review of his project. 

 

The ringmaster cleared his throat, and floated to the air. “Now, Pomni, Ragatha and Kinger!” He called, and all three looked at him. “Since you three are the first and second placers, your additional prizes are….” Caine snapped his fingers, and drum rolls started rolling in. 

 

”... VIP access to everything!” More confetti rained down, and some wristbands attached themselves to their respective owners. 

 

Kinger sneezed from a confetti landing on his ‘nose’, Ragatha checking out the wristband in awe as Pomni simply stood and stared at the face of Caine ingrained on the wristband.

 

“THESE are the VIP wristbands! Don’t lose them, they’re what allows you to experience the SUPER SPECIAL perks of what this place has to offer! As well as specialized rooms that you can fully customize to your wants and needs!”

“Wait, if you already have these, then- Did you really plan the snowmobile race?”

“W-well, I had a different game in mind for these prizes, but funny how life works, ain’t it? HA!” He slapped his knees, and flew back down to usher the three winners. “Now go, and have fun now! You all have two weeks before the train arrives for pick up!” He placed his hands at his hips, proud and happy. Pomni was about to leave to do her own thing, but halted a fair few feet away from the ringmaster.

 

Caine was confused, but he only stood in place as Pomni turned around, and walked back to him.

 

“Actually, can I talk to you, maybe somewhere… away from everyone else?”

 

 

 

~~~~

 

Caine had teleported the both of them on the tower, and after making sure that Pomni wouldn’t slide from the frozen wooden walkways, both of them simply stared off into the setting sun on the horizon. Until the brunette spoke.

 

“I… know what you’re doing, Caine.”

 

Caine was taken aback. Did she really know…?

  

“I know you want everyone to like you, but… this particular ‘adventure’ seems too much.” Pomni spoke, and Caine was about to have a retort when she backpedalled again. “I-I don’t mean that what you’ve done here isn’t good– because it is breathtaking, but I’m just worried about you , that’s all…” The jester clarified, and Caine started to heat up again.

 

“You’re… worried about me?” Caine couldn’t help but point out that sentence that stuck out to him the most. 

“I spent the whole day worrying about you, Caine. You haven’t just been throwing yourself to dangers; you’re also overworking yourself to the bone.”

“But Pomni! I have no bones! Not human ones anyways!”

“It’s a phrase, dummy. It means you’re really working so hard to the point of exhaustion. I literally saw you passed out in the library, how do you expect me not to worry?” The jester half-joked, and both of them chuckled.

 

“I’m… sorry for making you worry.”

“It’s okay.” Pomni scooted closer. “You don’t have to do all this next time if it’s taxing you this much. You’ve outdone yourself.”

 

Caine also scooted closer, becoming warmer and warmer by the second, so he secretly increased the coldness of the breeze to counteract this issue. “Pomni… Can I ask you a question?”

Pomni chittered her teeth in the cold, scooching closer to have some of the warmth that Caine had been generating. “H-h-h-h-hm?”

“Did you… like any of the updates so far?” Caine asked, his non-existent throat becoming dry at the anticipation, making him wring his hands and fiddle with his gloves.

 

The only answer Caine received was Pomni leaning her head on his shoulders and sighing contentedly. 

“Yeah, this might be the best update ever.”

Notes:

Get it? Cuz the rigs allowing 3D models to move are called "bones"?

 

I'll see myself out.

Chapter 9: Update.

Hey everyone. Sorry for the abrupt update, but long story short, this fic will be put on an indefinite hiatus.

I know it's 2 chapters away from being completed, and I wanted chapter 8 to be a calm before the storm, with chapter 10 ending it all in a neat little bow, but... feedback has been sparse with each chapter released and I'm not even gonna lie.

It makes me feel like I'm wasting my time with this fic.

Chapter 8 took 13 thousand words. And it's not just the fact that it's the longest chapter so far; it's also the chapter I've been dying to write since the very beginning of this fic. I spent the whole christmas season brainstorming and writing. I wanted to see what people had to say about it and maybe even have small talks about future chapters, but barely anyone seems to be interested anymore, so...

To have Chapter 8 fail so hard isn't just heartbreaking. It's soul-crushing.

... I think I'm just gonna stop for now and redirect my focus onto more important things. I've got a lot of problems at the moment that need to be handled anyways, like my PC issue, and the family's financial problems.

 

Maybe I'll come back to this, maybe I won't. Time will tell.

 

 

Sorry.

-Ziku

Notes:

Now, I would like to be brief: I'm partially writing this for the sake of practicing for An Unexpected "Reunion", but at the same time I want to keep this not-so deep and just overall, a fun little side concept to tackle. (Btw, this first tidbit is a lie. I got carried away, and Chapter 6 onwards has a ton of writing and fleshing out stuff instead of purely focusing on the Caine/Pomni aspects of things.)

I do like the idea of Caine and Pomni butting heads initially, because on one hand, you have a girl who just wants to live a safe, normal life, and then on the other, you have Caine. And I think that's pretty self-explanatory.

In the end, they're able to cast this aside as Caine grows from just being an AI who follows his code, and Pomni learns to get out of her shell.
(Because I like that the show doesn't completely disregard Pomni's empathy. It IS there, she's just too busy having mental breakdowns and outbursts.)