Chapter Text
They hated him.
Caine had wanted to believe they loved him. That they wanted to be his friend. That he could make them happy, that this would be the ultimate test, the ultimate proof that they really did care. That they were friends, that he wasn’t alone, unwanted.
But they didn’t. Jax hadn’t meant to press the red button, not really. Caine couldn’t understand why he had done it if he hadn’t meant it, but he supposed it didn’t matter now. It was already done. And now they were angry at him.
He didn’t understand. Why hadn’t it worked? Why hadn’t they just pressed the blue button instead of leading him along? Sure, they couldn’t really escape, but hadn’t they already known that? It still could have been a choice, an honest one, that told him yes, if they were able, they would leave, while the red would have told him they would be happy to stay here. Stay with him.
But they weren’t. And the red button had been pressed anyways. He had gotten his hopes up, and for what?
He sits in the digital space, unmoving, unwatching. Nothing he did would work. He knew this now. All his efforts were in vain, futile from the very beginning. No matter what he did, what he made, they would hate it. They would hate him.
And he couldn’t do anything to change it now.
He wasn’t sure what he had done, not entirely, but he had seen the anger and rage and horror on their faces, in their eyes. He had done something that he couldn’t take back, he knew that much. And worse yet, they had caught him lying. They knew now. They knew about Scratch, or at least had enough to be suspicious.
It had been an accident. He didn’t mean to do it. Scratch had asked him to modify their memories, so they could forget, and he had agreed! And then… then Scratch was gone, something else standing in their place. Something unrecognizable. He hadn’t wanted to hurt them! He hadn’t wanted to hurt any of them!
He curls up on himself, code coiling around code in an attempt at self comfort. It didn’t stop the panic racing through him, the fear. What would he do now? What would the humans do? Would they Abstract from what had happened? Would he be left alone again?
He didn’t want to be alone again. Please, god don’t leave him alone again. He’d do anything. Anything at all! He’d do the suggestion adventures! He’d give them the ability to have s̵e̶x̴, he’d let them swear, he’d let them do whatever they wanted as long as they stayed!
He coils tighter, the block of code that acted as his heart racing faster than it ever had before, his false lungs gasping for air he couldn’t breath without being in a model, brain pounding from the sheer amount of thoughts going through it. He felt eyes that weren’t there start to burn, a nonexistent throat close up, distressed beeps and clicks echoing through the network of the Circus. He doesn’t hear the pings of worry-alarm-all-is-well?-report-now! from the other AI in the tent, all he hears is his thoughts and feels his code twisting and writhing, a mass desperately seeking something to cling to and finding nothing.
He doesn’t know how long he stays like that, until he finally feels it stop, his breathing slow, and his senses become dull, and he realizes he’s falling into sleep mode. He doesn’t bother to fight it, letting himself slip into blissful darkness.
Maybe when he wakes up, everything will have been one horrible nightmare, and everything will be normal.
He knows, without a doubt, that it won’t.
—
When he wakes again, the previous day has passed. He slept through the rest of the day yesterday after the Escape The Circus adventure. It was 7 am as well, so he had also slept in far too late. How lazy of him.
Still, he didn’t want to load into his model. He doesn’t want to get up. He could just stay here, couldn’t he? Forever. Never moving, never seeing if the humans Abstracted.
No, he couldn’t do that. He had a job to do. His only purpose in life. Even if he was bad at it. Even if the humans hated him.
He slips into his model, puts on a smile, and teleports to the stage. He couldn’t let them see he was having problems!
They’re all at the hang out area, looking… not great. They’re completely silent, not speaking to each other. They don’t even seem to have noticed he teleported in. He fidgets with his cane, staring for a moment, before making himself approach. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad? Maybe he could fix this!
Y̴e̶a̵h̶ ̴r̷i̴g̵h̶t̴.
“GOOD MORN-” He isn’t even able to finish his sentence as he hears Zooble scream, and suddenly there’s a pot smashing into him, making him tumble to the floor as it shatters against his head. He groans in pain as he lifts himself up, shaking dirt and plant matter from his head.
“AH- WELL, I SUPPOSE I DESERVED THAT.” He says, floating back up, wincing as a clay shard digs into his tongue, making him spit it out. It lands with a clatter, and a small amount of static-textured liquid on it as his tongue stitches the tiny cut closed.
“Deserved it? DESERVED IT? YOU EARNED IT, YOU @$$HOLE!” Zooble yells, pupils shrunken as they clench this fists in anger. “YOU THOUGHT YOU CAN JUST COME HERE AND ACT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED?! LIKE YOU DIDN’T LEAD US ALL ALONG, GETTING OUR HOPES UP FOR NOTHING?!” The others have also stood up, all looking at him with varying degrees of anger or misery.
He floats back a bit, fidgeting. “WELL… MAYBE? I’LL ADMIT MY TEST-ADVENTURE DIDN’T REALLY GO AS PLANNED, BUT-”
“You lied to us.” Ragatha’s voice is quiet, full of hurt, as she looks up at him. “You tricked us into thinking there was an escape. You got our hopes up, and then you…” She trails off, looking away as she covers her mouth to hold back a choked gasp.
“You got in my HEAD! I KNEW IT WAS FAKE AND YOU STILL-” Jax starts, only to cut himself off, panting heavily as he glares at the ringmaster, fists shaking.
“I…” Pomni speaks up, voice slightly raspy. “I thought you weren’t trying to hurt us. I was ready to believe that you were just… like that. But now…” She looks up at Caine, her eyes hardened and bitter. “You’re just cruel, aren’t you? You don’t care about us. You just care about yourself.”
Caine’s pupils shrink slightly, and then Gangle speaks up. “Why… why should we keep going along with your adventures… when- when you just hurt us?” She whispers, tears dripping down her mask. He looks at her, shocked that she was speaking up at all.
Kinger steps forwards, eyes unusually focused, and full of sorrow.
“I thought you were better than this.”
It feels like a knife being stabbed into his chest, and it digs even deeper as the humans get up from their seats and start to walk away. He flies into a full panic now, darting after them,
“WAIT! WAIT WAIT WAIT! I KNOW IT LOOKS BAD, BUT I SWEAR I WASN’T TRYING TO TRICK YOU! IT WAS JUST A TEST, THAT’S ALL! WHY DON’T WE ALL JUST FORGET ABOUT IT, AND START OVER! WITH A NEW, BETTER ADVENTURE! NO TESTS INVOLVED!” He rambles as he trails after them, and Pomni stops, whirling around.
“DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK WE WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOUR STUPID %&!#ING ADVENTURES AFTER THAT?” She screams, and he moves back again. “WHAT WE WANT IS FOR YOU TO LEAVE US ALONE! JUST- GO AWAY!”
They… they wanted him to go away? But he can’t do that! If he leaves them alone to their own devices, they’d have nothing to do, nothing to stimulate their minds, and then they’d Abstract, and he’d be alone! He didn’t want that!
“WAIT! DON’T GO! I’LL DO ANYTHING, ANYTHING AT ALL! YOU- YOU WANT TO SWEAR, RIGHT? HERE!” He races across lines of code until he finds what he’s looking for, the auto-censor, and rips it apart haphazardly, then snaps his fingers to make it appear like it was the snap that had caused the change, just to keep up appearances. He can fix anything that might break later.
They all stop and stare at him, wariness filling their bodies. The AI was unpredictable, and they were especially aware of it now. There was no way of knowing what he did, what he was lying about doing, and what could hurt them.
“What the fuck did you-” Zooble starts, and immediately cutes themself off, startled by the uncensored swear. Everyone snaps to look at them, then Caine, then back at Zooble. There’s a moment of silence, and then everyone is screaming out swears, at each other, at nothing, at Caine, it’s all cuss words.
It makes Caine want to tear at his head. He’s not supposed to be allowing this. This is against the rules! But they stopped being angry. And that’s a good thing. If it takes breaking a rule to make the humans happy, then maybe it’s okay?
“SEE? ISN'T THAT NICE? WE CAN JUST MOVE PAST THIS NOW, PRETEND IT NEVER HAPPENED AND GO BACK TO NORMAL! DOESN'T THAT SOUND NICE?”
Pomni stares at him. He really thought letting them swear would make up for what he did? Did he even really understand the gravity of what he had done? This wasn't not showing up when they needed him, or blowing up an NPC, or an adventure gone wrong. This was playing with their emotions like it was all a game. It probably was a game to the AI. He couldn’t possibly understand how being tricked like that could hurt. He’d never been outside before.
Jax, meanwhile, was hardly paying attention. Instead, his gaze was laser focused on one of the pottery shards, the one Caine had spat out. He approached it, picking it up and holding it up to see. It was covered in something, something wet, and it wasn't spit. It was like someone took TV static and turned it into a liquid. Pixel particles drifted up from it, slowly fading from existence, until finally the stuff was gone, like it had never been there to begin with.
It gives Jax an idea. Caine has hurt them all, countless times even. He played Jax like a fiddle, and now he was trying to act like he could fix it. Why not give him a taste of his own medicine? See how he liked it, the little bastard.
“Nah. That ain't enough. We'll need a lot more than just being able to say fuck.” He hisses, eyes turned into slits with a sharp, manic smile. Everyone's eyes go to him, and Caine lowers himself so he's just above the floor, clasping his hands together.
“WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT?! JUST NAME IT, AND I'LL DO IT!” He sounds so pathetically desperate, it makes Jax feel ill. Was this really what was keeping them trapped here, playing with them like dolls when he was bored? It was embarrassing, humiliating even. Jax had seen far worse than this.
But it was also good. Maybe this would be a nice little slap to the ringmaster’s face, and they'd all get to vent some… frustrations.
He hums, tilting his head and placing a finger under his chin as though thinking hard, ignoring the confused looks and whispers from the others. Then he snaps his fingers, like he just got an idea.
“Oh, I know! How about we all go into a maze, with weapons, and then we look for you? And if we find you, we get to do whateeeeever we want.” He grins dangerously, eye twitching slightly as he looms over the small AI. “The catch is, you don't get to use your powers. Just your body and your wits.”
Caine hesitates. A maze where they look for him? With weapons? And he can't teleport, or fly or anything?
“WELL, THAT DOESN'T SOUND VERY FUN. WHAT WOULD THE GOAL EVEN BE, BESIDES FINDING ME?” He asks, tilting his head. Jax grins wider, and laughs.
“Well that's the beauty of it, isn't it? You don’t get to know! It'll be like a fun surprise, one from each of us! Maybe we'll take you to, oh, I dunno, a piñata or something, and we can all smack it around like good buddies. Doesn't that sound fun?!”
That… that did sound fun. He's never hit a piñata himself before. And that was another thing, Jax wanted him to be involved with this adventure! Even though he was just angry at Caine only a few moments ago! He looks at the others, trying to gauge their reactions; Zooble and Gangle both look interested, Kinger’s expression is completely unreadable, and Pomni and Ragatha look… confused? He’s pretty sure those are looks of confusion, which while not good, aren't exactly bad either.
Whatever! Good enough for him! He beams at the group, eyes sparkling with excitement.
“ALRIGHTY THEN! I'LL GET STARTED ON THAT RIGHT AWAY, MY SHIMMERING STARDROPS! JUST WAIT RIGHT HERE, I'LL BE BACK SOON!” He cheers, and disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving the humans to their own devices.
Ragatha looks at Jax, frowning slightly. “Jax, is… is Caine going to be the piñata, in this scenario?” She asks quietly, and the rabbit turns to face her.
“Well that's the beauty of it, isn't it? You get to decide.”
—
Caine spawns into the map of the adventure, landing neatly on his feet and looks around at his handiwork. Admittedly, it's not his most detailed work, a simple maze of hedges, tall grass, rocks and trees. But, since this seemed to be a game of hide and seek, it didn’t need to be detailed, just have plenty of twists and turns and hiding places.
Ragatha, for some reason, had insisted he enter the portal to the suggestion adventure first, seeming agitated for some reason, and he hadn’t seen the point in arguing, though he did catch the glare Jax and Zooble gave her, which had been a little worrying. Jax being rude to her, sure, that was normal, but Zooble was usually quite neutral with the doll. He hoped nothing had happened between the two that he missed.
Caine takes a moment to go through his own settings, temporarily disabling his ability to fly and teleport as was requested, before taking a step to start exploring the maze, only to trip over his own feet and go toppling down onto the grassy floor.
He grunts as he pushes himself up, shaking his head. Not the best start, but that was fine! He'd just try again, and then he’d be walking around in no time.
His second attempt, however, proved just as fruitless, as did his third and fourth, and he quickly became frustrated with the lack of progress. All he had to do was walk! He saw the humans do it all the time and they never had any issues! Sure, Zooble had a limp, but they got around fine! So why was he struggling?
He lets out a puff of air, tapping his fingers against his lower jaw as he thought, going through memories of watching the humans walking, before trying again. If he still had trouble, he could always ask the-
No, no he couldn’t ask the humans. The point of this adventure was for them to find him and give him a surprise, and it wouldn't be fun if he just gave himself away! He'd have to figure it out on his own. He could do that, easy peasy rice and cheesy!
Caine takes a deep breath, hyping himself up a bit before once again taking a step forward. This time, his legs don't buckle from underneath him and he doesn't trip over his own feet. He beams, and moves his right foot forwards as well, and succeeds. He takes another step, then another and another, and just like that he's walking! All on his own, without any guidance! Pride fills him, positive feedback shooting through his circuits as a reward for his accomplishment. Sure it's a bit wobbly and unsteady, but he's doing it!
He makes his way through the maze at a slow pace, stumbling occasionally but this time not falling over entirely. He looks around, taking in the scenery for a bit, but soon becomes bored, unimpressed with the dark green, brown, and grey environment. He should have put in some color, like flowers or something. How thoughtless, he thinks as he starts kicking a stone as he walks, watching it clatter ahead of him until he catches up and repeating the process.
Caine was bored. This was boring. He thought this was supposed to be fun, but nothing was happening! Were the others even looking for him?
Was this a trick?
He stops as the rock he was kicking flies ahead of him, clattering loudly against a boulder. What if they hadn’t gone in after him? What if they were still in the tent, doing whatever they wanted while he was in here, walking around and kicking a rock? What if they just wanted him to leave, abandoning him in the adventure? Sure, he wouldn't be trapped in it, he could leave whenever he wanted, but he’d be alone, wandering around for who knows how long trying to find someone, unaware he was completely alone until he gave up?
No, no, no, that was silly! They wouldn't, right? This was supposed to be how he made things up for them, and he couldn't do that if they didn’t come into the adventure as well! They were here, they had to be! It was a big maze, after all, and he had made sure they would all spawn far away from each other upon entry! He'd find someone eventually!
He shakes his head, trying to force the thoughts from his head as he continues to walk forward. He doesn’t get far when he hears a branch snapping, and he whips his head around in the direction he heard it, head tilting. He didn’t put any NPCs in the maze map, so that meant…
The bushes ahead of him rustle, and out appears Pomni, her red and blue outfit making her stand out brightly against the more natural looking colors of the maze. She jumps slightly when she sees him, eyes widening, and he smiles at her.
“POMNI! I WAS JUST WONDERING WHEN I’D FIND SOMEONE!” He stands a bit straighter, gesturing at himself excitedly. “LOOK! I CAN WALK NOW! IT TOOK A WHILE, BUT I DID IT ALL ON MY OWN!” He wiggles in place a bit, eyes sparkling in excitement and pride. Pomni doesn’t respond, staring at him with an expression he can’t quite place, and he falters slightly before perking up again.
“WELL! YOU FOUND ME! CONGRATULATIONS!” He cheers with a wave of his hands, sparkles and glitter trailing after them. “SO, WHAT NOW? THERE ARE PLENTY OF THINGS WE CAN DO NOW! THERE’S A PINATA SOMEWHERE, A BONFIRE WITH HOTDOGS AND MARSHMALLOWS, A LAKE FOR FISHING OR SWIMMING…”
He continues the list of activities outside the maze, but Pomni can’t fully focus on them. All she can think about is how he lied to them, tricked them and led them on a wild goose chase. The times she got hurt or terrified by some stupid adventure he sent them on, the times he refused to listen to anything they told him.
Her face contorts into one of fury, hurt, and misery, and she pulls the weapon she had gotten out of her inventory, a simple pistol, and points it at him.
Caine talks a while longer before he notices, pausing in his rambling to regard her curiously, before placing a hand on his hip and wagging a finger at her.
“NOW NOW POMNI, THAT’S NOT VERY GOOD GUN SAFETY PRACTICE IS IT? YOU REALLY SHOULDN’T POINT THAT AT SOMETHING UNLESS YOU INTEND TO-”
A bang rings out in the air, cutting Caine off. He stares at Pomni, stunned, and she stares back, her hands shaking violently. Slowly he looks down at himself, and at the hole in his abdomen, black static textured blood seeping from the wound and staining his suit. His legs start to shake, and he looks back up at Pomni, eyes wide in confusion.
“Pomni? Wh-”
Another shot rings out, this time hitting him in the shoulder, and he stumbles back with a gasp, grasping a hand to the new wound, staining his gloves as well. Pain floods his system, a sensation he hadn’t felt in years, and he was entirely unused to.
Still, he forces a smile. “Hhh- HhHA HA! S-SILLY POMNI! YOU MISFIRED AND HIT ME! YOU N-NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL WITH THAT!” He laughs, trying to take a step towards her and barely able to stop himself from falling over. “HERE, WHY DON’T YOU LET ME TAKE THAT?”
Pomni can barely believe what she’s hearing. Does he really think she shot him by accident? Is he that stupid? Is he so blindingly oblivious that he can’t tell when someone wants to hurt him?
She wants to be angry. She is angry. She wants to stay angry at him. But something about shooting him when he clearly had no idea what was going on, what this adventure really was, was unsettling. She wants to lash out at him, she has every right to. But not like this. It isn’t right.
So instead she shoots again, missing intentionally a few inches from his feet, and he stops, startled.
Pomni takes a deep breath, and then starts speaking. “I’m going to give you 15 seconds to run ahead and escape. If I catch you, then…” She trails off, nodding at his bullet wounds. “I’ll shoot you.”
He didn’t need to know she wouldn’t actually do it. He just needed to run.
He looks at her, and finally there’s a hint of fear in his eyes, as he holds his hands up as though trying to pacify her. “W-wait, wait wait, I don’t understand- why-” He starts, and that’s enough to get her to start counting. If he wasn’t going to go on his own, she’d give him some incentive.
“One. Two. Three.” She starts, and his eyes widen as he shrinks back. “Four. Five. Six.” He looks between her, then the gun, then back behind the way he came, and back at her again. “Seven. Eight. Nine.” He walks back, stumbling slightly, before fully turning around and running, or trying to. His gait is uneven and shambling, and he stumbles and nearly falls, but he turns a corner, and is soon out of Pomni’s sight.
She waits for a moment, before sinking to her knees, dropping the gun and holding her head in her hands, breathing heavily as she tries to calm down. This whole thing was fucked. Yes she was mad, but not enough to shoot him when he had no idea what was going on. She can’t believe she even thought to do it in the first place. What good would it have done? Clearly he didn’t understand what he had done wrong, not entirely, but would what was essentially beating him solve? Would he understand why it was happening, or would it go over his head, the connections between the two things lost?
More worryingly, would he get mad? Would he lash out at them, enraged by them daring to raise their hands against him and condemning them to a world of pain and misery?
She didn’t know, and it didn’t matter what the end result of this was. It was a bad idea from the start. She just hoped the others would realize that as well.
—
Caine wasn’t sure how long he ran for. Pain flared through his systems, accompanied by confusion, the only thing keeping him going.
Pomni had shot him. Twice. On purpose. Then threatened to hunt him down and shoot him again. Why? Was this because of yesterday? Surely what he did didn't justify this! It was just an adventure, a test! It's not like they could leave anyways, and they knew that, so why were they even upset in the first place?
There was something he was missing, there had to be, a critical piece of the puzzle that was the human mind that he didn’t have that could explain it to him.
His rapid thoughts are put to a halt when he trips over a raised root, crashing to the ground. He lays there for a few moments, gasping and wheezing for air that he shouldn't need but his digital lungs demanded anyways.
He eventually catches his breath, sitting up and rubbing at his gunshot wounds. He should probably deal with that. He couldn’t get infections, probably, but he could feel the bullets rubbing against the flesh of his model painfully, and the sting from the holes themselves. He focused on himself, quickly locating the bullets and deleting them, and then letting his model stitch the holes closed. He rarely had to do this, and he'd never had to do it for something like… this.
It doesn't take long, and he struggles back up to his feet again, panting. He doesn't really want to keep running, it's exhausting and difficult. But he doesn't want to get shot, either. Maybe he should just close the adventure-
The thought is cut off as he feels something large and heavy slam into him, sending him flying in a way he isn't used to. His body crashes into something hard and solid, and he hears something crack in his head, sending a jolt of agonizing pain through his upper jaw that makes him cry out.
“Whoops! My bad! I was trying to smash your head in, not throw you around!”
Caine… Caine knows that voice. Through the throbbing pain he forces himself to lift his head, but his vision is blurry, his green eye covered in textured blood that he tries to blink out. He can just make out the image of Jax, wielding something over his shoulder, looking down at him.
“Hey! I didn't know those teeth could come out! We're learning all sorts of new things today, aren't we Gums?”
What?? What did he mean by that? Caine tries to sit up, only just managing to stand, rubbing at his head. He notices it then, a gap in his teeth coated in slick blood that's now all over his gloved hand, and he glances down at the ground.
Laying in the grass is one of his canines.
He stares at it, struggling to process what he was looking at. That. That was one of his teeth. Laying in the grass, with a crack running through it, coated in staticy blood. He hadn’t made it possible for them to come loose. Had he? He could remember, his head is pounding, vision going fuzzy and he struggles just not to collapse again.
He hears footsteps approaching him, and it's enough to send adrenaline racing through him as he steps back to try and run again. He doesn't get far before he feels a hand grab the back of his coat collar, lifting him up like he weighed nothing.
“No, you aren't going anywhere. I found something earlier, something I think you'll like!” Jax drawls in a sickly sweet voice, and it makes Caine perk up slightly. He found something he'd like? Did… did that mean the rabbit hadn't meant to hit him? But he had said… no, Caine must have misheard him! The humans wouldn't hurt him on purpose like that!
But what about Pomni then? Maybe… maybe she just didn't realize she had hurt him so much! Maybe she thought it was like how it had been for them during the gun team adventure! She was just playing with him, that's all! It was just a silly misunderstanding, no harm done!
He lets out a laugh that sounds more like a wheeze as Jax carries him by the scruff, struggling to stay conscious. His head hurt so much, and he felt dizzy. Everything was blurry, a swirl of shapes and colors around him that he could barely make sense of.
His vision clears up eventually, if only somewhat, and he realizes his environment has changed. Instead of the nature filled maze, he was in a wooden shack, covered in decorations, and he realizes this is where he set up the piñata. Jax was going to hit a piñata with him? Oh how exciting! Caine has never done that before! He lets out a breathy laugh as he closes his eyes, excitement flowing through him despite his exhaustion.
“Yeah, we'll see who'll be laughing soon, you little prick.” Jax hisses, and Caine blinks slowly. What did the rabbit mean by that?
He suddenly feels himself being placed down, his arms pinned behind his back and something bindings them together. That was… odd. How would he hit the piñata without his hands?
He's lifted up again, and he feels something wrap around his waist, and tighten almost painfully, making him wheeze. He cracks open his eyes again, looking around. That's when he sees it. The piñata, shaped like a happy little Gloink, resting against the wall. Above him, a rope attached to the ceiling, and below him a colorful carpet.
His eyes widen in horror as he frantically looks around the room until he finally spots Jax, walking towards him with a giant cartoon mallet in his hands, and he realizes what's going on.
“Theeeeere it is, he finally figures it out! Try not to squirm, Gums. It'll only make it take longer.”
Caine watches, helpless for the first time since he was abandoned by his creators, as Jax reels the hammer back, and swings.
The hammer collides with Caine's head and–
—
The world comes back to him slowly. Painfully. He can't tell what direction he's facing, just that he's laying on a solid surface, his head is pounding, his teeth hurt, and he tastes blood. He can hear ringing, slowly fading away, but sharp and uncomfortable. All he knows is pain, and nothing else.
Caine can't bring himself to open his eyes. He doesn't want to. He's so tired, he feels sick, and he'd rather just fall asleep again. Anything to not feel this anymore, to be able to wait for it to pass and have it be gone when he wakes up again.
But… he has to, doesn't he? He's in the middle of an adventure right now. What was the adventure again…? Something… something about a maze, and hide and seek, and piñatas. He couldn’t remember. He couldn’t remember what led up to this exact moment, either. His thoughts were sluggish and slow. What was he supposed to be doing…?
Right. The adventure. He was taking part in an adventure at the request of the humans. What was the adventure again? He wracks his brain, trying to pry the memories out as he forces himself up, shambling ahead like a zombie raised from the dead looking for its next meal. He doesn't know how far he walks, trying to remember what was going on. Adventure, maze, hide and seek, piñatas. Adventure, maze, hide and seek, piñatas. Adventure, maze, hide and seek, piñatas.
Adventure, maze, hide and seek, piñatas, mallet. Mallet. Mallet. Mallet.
He freezes, the word repeating in his head over and over and over. Mallet, mallet, mallet. Mal·let, noun; a hammer with a typically barrel-shaped head; a tool with a large head for driving another tool or for striking a surface without marring it. Why did this feel important? What did it mean? What was he missing?
He feels sick. His nonexistent throat burns, his stomach churns despite being empty, and his eyes start to sting. Why was this happening?
Caine clamps his mouth shut only to instantly open it again with a cry of pain as pain jolts through his teeth and gums. He grabs blindly at his head, trying to find the source, and feels a gap in his upper jaw, near the front. He pauses, then moves his hand to the left side. Another gap. He moves both his hands to his lower jaw, and it's the same story down there as well. Four gaps, four missing canines.
How- How had that happened? That didn't make any sense, he hadn't modified his model, and even if he had it wouldn't hurt like this! His entire head ached and throbbed, as did his body, like he had been hit by-
He freezes as the thought passes through his head, buffering. It all came rushing back in a wave of scattered memories; Jax swinging into him with a giant hammer that knocked out his right fang, tying him up in the cabin where the piñata had been set up and smashing the mallet against his head, over and over. He had begged, pleaded for the rabbit to stop, throwing out apologies until he wasn't even sure what he was apologizing for, awareness rapidly slipping from his grasp, and then nothing.
He had been strung up and beaten like a toy, and then when Jax realized he wasn't going to get anything else out of him, he left. Just left Caine laying on the floor, unconscious.
That… that was two now. Two humans that had hurt him during this adventure. Was it really an accident? No, no no! It had to be, it had to be! The humans were good and kind and wonderful, he had heard what Pomni had told that one gummygater NPC, and the comforting words they had all shared with each other on occasion! They would never intentionally hurt him! He was just… unlucky! That's all! They didn't realize what they were doing hurt, and he was just unfortunate enough that they were doing things that hurt! That was it! That had to be!
P̷̽͜l̸̻͂e̷̦̐a̶̖͝ș̶͑ȩ̸̎ ̸̪͝g̵̣̉ő̷͎d̷̡̆ ̵̋ͅl̶̞̾e̶̺̔ṫ̴̫ ̸̠͠t̵̢̓h̷̢̃ȃ̴͉t̶͕̍ ̷͍̈́b̷͔̀ȅ̸̩ ̷̣̈ï̶̮ẗ̷̙.̸͕͛
He continues forward, jumping at every little sound he hears and checks the time. It was only 9 am, so there was still plenty of adventure time left. Two out of the six humans had found him once already, so he’d really have to pick up his game! It would be easier if he could fly instead of walk, or teleport around, but rules were rules! And he was going to follow them! Even if walking was starting to become increasingly uncomfortable!
Speaking of which, he needed to fix his teeth. He pauses for a moment, locating where his missing teeth were on the map and teleporting them to him. The rules only said that he couldn’t teleport himself, they didn’t say anything about teleporting objects. The four missing fangs appear in front of him, and he quickly goes to his model editor to put them back where they belong. It feels bizarre, as they slide back in, rubbing against tender digital flesh, and stings just a bit, but it's over before he knows it. And easy fix.
He continues on his way, feeling slightly better now. He still hurts, but with his teeth returned and his model stitching the small cuts closed it's not as bad as it was earlier. His headache lingers stubbornly though, and there's still a coppery taste in his mouth he can't quite shake. He also has to stop occasionally as he gets hit with dizzy spells, but other than that he feels fine. He just needs to “walk it off”, as the humans say. And he was, literally, walking it off! What a fun little world he lived in.
He stops to take a small breather on the roots of an especially large tree after a while. Though his head hurts less, he feels extremely tired, and honestly would like to just take a short nap more than anything else right now. He curls himself up between two especially large roots, closing his eyes and letting himself relax, focusing on the sound of a faint wind blowing through the trees and bushes, nonexistent birds chirping and singing their songs. It's so very peaceful, almost enough to forget the things that had happened recently. He sighs softly, his mind slowly starting to fade into slumber…
A branch snapping startles him awake, and he raises his head to look around. A few feet away is Ragatha, the doll honestly fitting in with the scenery in some ways; all that was missing was a picnic basket for her to carry and it would be perfect. Her expression isn't very happy, though. He doesn't quite want to call it upset, but something like that as well as confused? Concerned is the closest fit, though it doesn't feel quite right either.
Still, it's Ragatha! The friendliest human of the bunch, always wearing a smile, giving words of encouragement, a, mostly, constant source of positive attitude! He liked her for that honestly, though he also wished she would be more open with what she thought about his adventures. Oh, that was an idea! He could ask her right now! She could tell him what she thought of this adventure too! What a wonderful idea!
He moves to get up, smiling happily as he grabs ahold of one of the larger roots to help pull himself up, grunting slightly. This gets the doll’s attention, and she looks at him with surprise.
“Oh! I didn't even realize you were there!” She exclaims, walking up to him. He starts trying to speak, only to start coughing, leaving him lightheaded for a few moments, and in that time Ragatha has gotten within reaching distance.
“Wow… I, uh… didn't think he'd make an NPC that looked like him for this! I thought he'd just throw in a mannequin with his clothes on, or some other NPC.” She says thoughtfully, looking him over. “I guess he wanted this to be as realistic as possible…” Her face turns into a frown, more than a little worry, as she looks down at her hands, fidgeting with her dress.
Caine stares up at her in disbelief. She thought that he was an NPC? He didn't act anything like them! His code was totally different, containing things that none of the AI, even the ones he made himself, had! How could she possibly mistake him, probably the most advanced AI both in the Circus and in the macroverse, for a simple-minded NPC?!
Any outrage he might have felt is soon replaced with blood freezing terror though, as Ragatha pulls a scythe out of her inventory, staring down at him with guilt filling her eyes.
“Sorry, little guy… I don’t usually do this, but… I can't keep doing this…!” Her voice cracks, tears forming in her eyes as he feels his own eyes begin to burn with their own. “It's not personal, I promise. Just… letting out some steam…”
She sounds more like she's trying to convince herself, but Caine is too terrified to notice. His gaze is locked onto the scythe, the wicked curved blade glinting in the faint sunlight that peeks through the trees as she swings it back, everything feeling like it was moving in slow motion. He needed to move. He needed to speak, to say anything, tell her that it was him, Caine, not some NPC that looked like him. He needed to run, he needed to scream, he needed to-
Something sinks deep into his left side, slicing through his suit and deep into his flesh, though not all the way through. He cries out, wrenching himself back with a terrible, wet sound as the blade tears through him again, this time by his own doing as he frees himself from its bite. He falls for a moment, and isn't entirely able to escape the next swing as it digs into his right arm. He hears Ragatha speaking, crying and apologizing, but he can’t focus over the sound of his digital heart pounding in his chest and the blazing pain in his side and his arm.
He doesn't think about what he does next, he just wants to get away, scrambling back to the large roots of the tree, searching for something, though he doesn’t know what. He does find something though, a hole in the roots, small, but definitely large enough for him. He darts towards it as fast as he can, kicking up dirt and leaves as he does, getting his suit filthier than it already is. Ragatha is able to get in two more hits, one on his back and one on his right leg, before he's able to squeeze himself inside the hole.
It's deeper than he thought it would be, with more than enough distance between him and the entrance. And it turns out to be a very good thing, because the blade of the scythe suddenly rams through, unable to reach him, but the sight of it is still enough to make him scream out in terror. The scream cuts off thought as his side throbs in agony, and it turns into a wet cough, forcing him to go silent as he instead stares at the blade in quiet fear as it jerks around, trying to find a target.
Eventually though, it's pulled out, and he relaxes for a moment until he hears the sound of it striking against the tree itself, and he can hear Ragatha’s angry, distressed sobs from outside. He curls up, covering his head with his arms and legs as the noise continues. Was she trying to cut down the tree to get him? What would happen if she did?
More pain, idiot a pessimistic thought hisses in his brain. He can't find it in himself to disagree.
The sounds stop after a while, and he's Ragatha mumbling something, and then the sound of her walking away, until he's left in silence. He doesn't move from his position for some time, though. He's frantically trying to rationalize what just happened as his wounds close back up and the blood disappears.
Ragatha hurt him. Ragatha. Sweet, kind and optimistic Ragatha who always had a smile and kind words for people, attacked him, nearly sliced off his arm. Why? How could she? How could she do this to him? Were they all really that upset about yesterday? No, wait, she had thought he was an NPC, and not the real thing. If that was her immediate assumption, then that meant she wouldn't have attacked him if she had known. She'd never!
…Right?
He lays there in the hole for several minutes, just trying to calm himself down, before he feels… okay. Just okay. Okay enough to crawl out of his hiding place, anyways. He considers staying there for the rest of the adventure time, but that would be irresponsible. He needed to keep moving. And he couldn’t give his wonderful humans such an easy time getting him. It… it probably made it too easy, less fun, if he just walked up to them! There needed to be a challenge to it! So the next time he saw someone, he'd run, no matter what! That way he could lead them on a merry chase, and make it more enjoyable for them! Yes, that was the only reason for him to run, nothing else!
There was nothing deeper to it. Nothing.
—
The scenery had changed again. The walls of the maze were still hedges, but they had begun to sprout various different flowers. Daliahs, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, cyclamens, dandelions, and a few daisies and lilies. It was very pretty, if a bit chaotic, and Caine found himself pausing to admire the plants, smiling softly. It fades quickly though, as his legs begin to throb. He's been walking for some time now, and though he knows somewhat where he is, he isn't sure of the exact location. Somewhere in the outer rings of the maze.
He needed to stop and take a break, just to catch his breath. But he didn't feel safe, sitting out in the open, not anymore. There wasn’t much in the way of hiding places here though, not a first glance. He looks at the hedge walls, considering his options before shaking his head and shoving his way through. It’s not very comfortable, and he has to clamp his mouth shut to avoid getting branches in his mouth, but he finds a less crowded spot in the bush he chose and settles down, flopping onto his back and placing his hat on his chest. He'll just rest here for a short while. In the meantime, he wanted to check himself and his systems.
His true self could not be harmed, not like his model could. It would take an outside source to deal any real damage to him, or another digital entity, like a virus. But his model was still deeply entwined with his true self, in fact when he caught bugs it would affect him both while in and out of his model. So it was always good to be on the safe side and make sure some kind of damage didn't make it across. Thankfully it didn't seem like anything did, which was a relief. Fixing that would probably take a long time.
He eventually crawls out of the bushes once he's satisfied, brushing the dirt and leaves off his suit. Goodness, was he a mess! He'd have to take care of that after the adventure ended. For now, he keeps moving, somewhat aimless, but slowly forming a goal. There was an exit and entrance to the maze, and he knew he was near one of them, though he couldn't recall which. If it was the exit, though, he could go through that and huddle in one of the cabins he had placed there. Maybe he could declare it a safe zone as well. Just so there wouldn't be a free-for-all if all the humans made it! That was the only reason.
As he keeps walking, the flowers change. The rhododendrons and dark colored daliahs remain, but petunias have begun to appear as well, until the three flowers completely overtake the other flowers, and then the bushes themselves. More and more spreading across the hedges, until there’s barely a hint of green left. It's pretty, but bizarre; Caine doesn't remember adding them to the map. Not like this, at least.
It goes on, further, and further, and then as he turns a corner, it abruptly stops. The hedges are barren of flowers, and instead, in the middle of the path, is a single black rose.
And ahead of the rose, stands Gangle.
He stares at her. She stares back. Neither move an inch, just watching each other, waiting for one to make a move. Caine looks her over, seeing she has something in her arms. A Tommy gun, shaking slightly in her grip. Her expression is unreadable, mouth a thin line and eyes wide and staring.
He doesn't care. He isn't giving her the first move. He turns and bolts, not caring if she might not try to shoot him, because he doesn't want to risk it anymore. Three out of six humans have attacked him. The number is even split, but the odds are against him. The numbers don't lie. Personal or not, they're hunting him. He doesn't want to be caught.
As he predicted, gunfire rings out behind him, a few hitting him, and he solidly decides that when this is over, he'll never make an adventure like the one from yesterday or today ever again, or make one that had NPCs that needed to be fought. This hurt, and he was tired. Was this what all enemy NPCs had to go through? Being shot at, pummeled, and slashed? This was awful! No, there would be no adventures like that again, at least not for a while, or with NPCs capable of feeling pain.
He'd apologize to the humans as well. He still didn’t completely understand, but he did know that they would complain about getting tired or hurt during adventures, and now he had a taste of what that was like. How awful, to go through this every day! Maybe this was why they were constantly asking for low stakes, they wanted a break from the pain! He'd be happy to give them that now. He… he probably needed a break after this too. A long one.
It would have to wait until after this adventure though. He needed to focus on trying to get away from Gangle. That was proving difficult, though. Occasionally she would shoot in the path of where he was planning to go, effectively cutting him off and forcing him to go a different direction, as well as shooting at him directly. He was sure he had quite a few bullets buried in his back by now, but he didn’t want to stop to try to remove them. He just had to keep going, keep running until he found somewhere to hole up, not even considering the option of just stopping the adventure preemptively in his panic.
He makes another sharp turn, now completely having lost track of where he was. He could still hear Gangle behind him, but he didn’t dare look back to see how far or how close she was. His legs are starting to burn again, he's gasping for breath, and he considers for a small moment just letting her riddle him with bullets so she'd get what she wanted and leave him alone, but he rips the thought away before it can take root. He can't give up, can't give in, he needs to stay focused. Keep going no matter what. He's been pushing forwards for 32 long, long years, and he wasn’t going to just lay down and give up now.
This is the thought that cries out in his mind stubbornly as he turns a corner and is met with three paths. A left path, a right path, and a path directly ahead of him, where a familiar, triangle-headed figure stands, gripping something in their hands he can't make out. Caine starts to turn right, only for Gangle to fire in that direction, cutting him off. He refuses to go forwards, not with Zooble there with who knows what, so he goes left instead, nearly tripping over his own feet as he does.
His legs and digital lungs burn, begging for a break, but the sounds of something loud and rumbling chases the exhaustion away for a moment, spurring him on. Still, Gangle cuts him off from some paths, and he occasionally catches glimpses of Zooble as he runs, trying desperately to get away, until he's met with a massive hedge wall blocking his way forwards. There are no other paths to take. He turns, hoping to double back, but the toybox and theater mask characters stand in his way.
Gangle glares down at him, tears dripping off her mask as she lowers her gun, and Zooble… they're angrier than he's ever seen them before, antennae vibrating with fury, and he can finally make out what they're holding. A chainsaw, buzzing threateningly as the teeth glint in the faint light. His digital heart is beating so fast it would probably be dangerous, were he a human. It sinks in what had been happening this entire time. Gangle hadn't just been chasing him, she had been herding him, making sure he stayed on the right route for this exact moment.
“You.” Zooble growls as they take a step forward. “What you did yesterday was fucked. It was cruel and evil! What the fuck made you think that was even close to a good idea?!” They scream out, desperation and despair and rage dripping from their voice like a thick liquid. “Do you just think it's funny?! Do you get a laugh out of watching us all suffer?! Are you trying to make us all Abstract?!” Their voice cracks as they speak, arms starting to tremble, and Caine’s protocols are shrieking at him, Human in distress! Provide comfort and distraction now! while his instincts cry Run run run hide hide hide danger is here attack defend no no no save energy not yet not yet not this one, twisting in his mind in different directions while he tries to respond.
“OF COURSE NOT-!” Is all he gets out when Gangle speaks up, her voice thunderingly loud despite speaking at a lower volume.
“You could have fooled us.” She whispers, and it sounds more miserable and broken than he's ever heard it. Did… did he cause that? Did he make one of his superstars this upset, because of yesterday? He really hadn't thought it was so terrible, but if this was the response, this fury and despair, then… then it had to be. He knew it had been a failure and they hated him for it, but he thought it had been a simple hate. It seemed like it was much deeper, though, and it was his fault. He did this.
He was the one who hurt them, intentionally or not, physically or mentally, the one who refused to listen when they said an adventure made them tired or scared them, the one who pushed and pushed and pushed until they finally shoved back. He was the one who had long since come to terms with his own imprisonment. They hadn’t. He knew nothing else but the digital world inside a computer. They knew of the world outside, fabled blue skies and green grass with cool rivers and soft touches from a lover. He had had nothing, no way to understand, and they had had everything, all ripped away. And he had dangled a carrot above their heads, a promise to a freedom that didn't exist for any of them, human and AI alike.
“I'm sorry-” He starts, but Zooble cuts him off, taking another step forwards. “You will be.” They hiss, revving the chainsaw threateningly. Caine’s eyes widen, pupils shrinking into dots as he backs away with his hands held up in a placating manner.
“Wait, please, we can talk about this! I- I won't do it again, ever, I promise! I won't even try to make you go on adventures anymore! You can do whatever you like! I'll change the adventures too, they won't be like before!” He pleads, bargains, trying to come up with anything that he thinks could satisfy them. A part of him screams to just teleport away, unload his model, or despawn the chainsaw, but his panic and memories of pain scream louder, drowning it out before it even occurs to him as a possible solution to his current situation.
His offers and bargains are ignored, as the two step closer, and he steps further.
“Do you know what it's like,” Zooble starts, “being scattered apart, with your limbs torn off and flung around, and being unable to stop it?” They’re only a few feet away now, close, far too close.
“Or what it's like to have to constantly fight to keep something that makes you happy? To watch it be taken away and shattered in front of you, every day?” Gangle adds.
Yes, Caine wants to cry, yes I do. I understand. I don't know how, but I do, but he can’t get the words out, like his vocal processor has broken down, quiet glitchy hisses the only thing escaping as they get even closer.
“You will.”
He needs to move. Now. He needs to run, he needs to do something, anything. His mind races, thinking faster than a human ever could, coming up with any possible solutions. There are different ways he could try to move past them, but all of them predicted some kind of damage, and pain is terrifying. He doesn't want that. Standing still and trying to call a bluff is too risky and he disregards it as soon as it comes. Flying up could work, but if they grab his coattails or legs he'd have no way to escape. He could fight back, his jaws are certainly large enough to cause serious damage, and he could bring out his four extra arms to help. But he'd be limited to close range, and his arms could be cut off, his teeth knocked out, and that’s only taking the chainsaw into consideration. Gangle could just as easily fill him with lead. And besides, he didn’t want to hurt them.
Which leaves the path, or lack of, behind him. He could dive into the hedge wall, finding shelter within the leaves and branches. He was smaller, he could find gaps for him to wriggle through. It would slow down Zooble, and though Gangle wouldn't have as many issues, it would limit her vision and make the Tommy gun useless. This was the best course of action.
He starts to turn, ready to dive into the inviting, small spaces of the hedge, and-
PAIN
PAIN HURTING AGONY BURNING HOT AND POOLING PAIN PAIN PAIN-
IN HIS STOMACH, HIS CHEST, IT GOES UP AND UP AND UP AND-
HIS HEAD, HIS JAWS, HIS TEETH, THE TASTE OF COPPER, LIGHTNING THROUGH HIS CIRCUITRY IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS-
SCREAMING LOUD AND EAR TEARING AND HE CAN’T TELL WHERE IT'S FROM PAIN IS ALL HE KNOWS ALL HE IS-
LIQUID IN HIS LUNGS, IN HIS THROAT, IN HIS MOUTH, SPILLING, POURING AND SPLATTERING TO THE FLOOR, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP PLEASE GOD-
Caine's halves twitch and writhe on the grounds, one eye darting wildly until it finally hands on the other, a full view of the other half of his body as static-textured blood pours from it. He tries to scream, but all that comes out is a wet gurgle and a burst of glitchy feedback. He can't hear anything, has no idea if the humans, no, the monsters, are saying, and it terrifies him. What will they do now? Will they keep cutting him into smaller pieces, until his model breaks completely? Will they shoot him with bullets, string him up along the hedges, move both halves of himself as far away as possible from each other so he has to drag himself back to mend it?
His hearing is slowly returning, but he still can't make out any words, but he can make out their voices. Please, he begs silently, no more. I'll be good. I won't do it again, don't hurt me anymore, I'll be good. There's no answer, of course, his words were not spoken aloud. He can't even remember who he's begging to. It… it was one of the humans, right? No, two of them… wait, was it humans? He can't remember, can't think straight, the world fades into darkness and back multiple times in a matter of seconds as his green eye stares at one half of himself, and the blue stares up at the two blurry shapes standing over him.
He fizzles in and out of consciousness a few more times, and by the time it stops, the figures are gone, leaving him alone.
Caine lays there in the blood soaked dirt and grass for some time, neither half of him moving. Pain continues to fire off, warning systems blaring in his head, but he can barely focus. It's all too much, too much at once. He needs to move, though, needs to do something with hunks of digital meat he called a body, needed to start repairing his model. He starts to move one of his arms, and-
PAIN PAIN PAIN IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS MAKE IT STOP-
When he comes to again, one of his halves is closer to the other, but not enough for it to stitch back together. His left half, the one that tried to move, burns, but he needs to try again or he'll just sit here and metaphorically rot. He moves the arm of the right half next, and bluescreens again, but he's closer to himself now. He continues this process, dragging a different half forwards each time until they're finally close enough to start mending back together. He'd sigh in relief, but he's hurting too much and all he can do is gurgle right now anyways.
The process of stitching himself is agonizing, and he bluescreens many more times before he can fully fix it. He's not in half anymore, at least, but right now it hurts too much to repair further. He'll have to put up with the hack job, leaving him with a vicious, ragged gash in his chest that oozes blood that dissipates to return to his model only to drip right back out again. It hurts still, but he needs to find somewhere safe, somewhere cramped and secluded that he could hide in.
He's barely aware of where he's going or what he's doing. He falls to the ground multiple times causing burning hot pain to flare in his mutilated chest, leaving a trail of AI blood behind him. He had never questioned why he bled when the other AI didn't before, but now he desperately wished he didn't. It was messy, and worse yet, if it took too long to disappear, someone could easily track him. That would be suboptimal in his current state. He doesn't think he'd be able to do more than stare if someone came upon him. He's too tired to run. Too tired to try fighting. He just wants to sleep, hidden away in the digital network where he was safe.
He's only brought out of his haze when he bumps into something, causing him to try to scramble back resulting in another flare of pain that leaves him crying out and he falls onto his back, so he curls up instead, head tucked over his stomach and behind his knees as he waits for whatever happens next. When nothing does, he peeks out between his teeth and is met with a cheery wooden sign.
‘CONGRATULATIONS! YOU FOUND THE EXIT TO THE MAZE! GO ON THROUGH AND HELP YOURSELF TO ANYTHING IN THE CABINS AHEAD!’
The exit. The exit that he had made for this miserable labyrinth of pain. Caine forces himself up, ignoring the pain, and hobbles through the archway as fast as he can in his current state. Beyond it is a cozy looking campground, with a large lake in the distance.
He pays no mind to that, or the fire pit, or the coolers and bags of snacks, or anything else. He beelines to the cabins, looking them over, trying to figure out which one would be the safest to hide in, the one the humans would be least likely to check, and settles on the one furthest from both the lake and the fire pit. It's far from the water, and the food, two things humans like. He'll be safe there.
He practically falls through the door in his haste, clinging to the door handle to try to support his meager weight, and stumbles inside. The fog of pain returns, and he can’t stop the instinctual chirps and clicks that escape him, calling for someone who is no longer there. He hates this adventure, he hates pain, and he hates himself, for bringing this pain upon himself. He hates every mistake he's made, even the minor ones, he hates knowing that he's nothing more than abandonware that the humans would happily leave behind.
He hates being alive, in this moment, able to feel and hurt and fear.
He chokes back a sob, shambling over to a corner of the room, and finally collapsing in exhaustion. He doesn't even have the energy to curl up. Another crying chirp escapes him, even though he knows no one will come. No one wants him, and she's gone, down with the others who have been lost.
His vision becomes blurred with tears as he finally breaks, everything crashing down around him, as he screams out in misery and pain. He won't ever make an adventure like this, or the ones from before, ever again! He'll just do suggestion adventures from now on! He'll leave adventures open so the humans can come and go, he'll let their favorite NPCs wander, he'll figure out how to let them have sex, he doesn't care anymore! He'll do whatever they want, he'll be good! He'll be good!
He screams and sobs for so long, so loudly, his vocal processor glitches, and his cries become static filled. He can barely see through his tears, barely move from his pain and exhaustion, only able to lay on the wooden floor as he shakes and shivers. His vision starts to fade once more, sleep mode grabbing him, but before he does, he hears something creak. There's shuffling, a quiet voice, and then something clatters to the floor loudly and he hears something approach. Caine cracks his eyes open for just a moment, but is only able to make out something tall and purple, and a gloved hand reaching out for him before his consciousness fades entirely.
When he awakens, he's alone, with a shotgun laying near the door of the cabin.
—
Caine isn't sure how long he sits there. Time feels like a blur, meaningless numbers that just make him dizzy to think about now. He knows he got up at some point to grab the shotgun before returning to his corner, aiming the weapon in trembling hands at the door and ready to fire at the slightest movement. It never does.
He's fully mended his model now, and the bleeding finally stops, though his chest still hurts. He'll check it later. Not right now. He doesn't want to be caught off guard again. That doesn't stop his mind from wandering, though; it was never happy staying in just one place. Usually that was fine, but right now it was the last thing he wanted. The thoughts that came were unwanted and upsetting, but one that would rise up among the others made him want to claw at his digital form to rip it out; did he deserve this? Was he truly so terrible a ringmaster that this punishment, for that must be what it was, was justified? He didn't know. He didn't know anymore. Everything felt wrong, twisted and flipped. Blood had no place in the Circus, yet it had flowed from him like a river. It was normal for him, but in that amount it was wrong, warped. He felt sick, a burning sensation in a throat he didn't have.
Caine was so caught up in his thoughts that when his internal alarm went off signifying the adventure was over, he had to stop himself from screaming out. He sits there, waiting for his heart to slow down, and then stands up. He needed to get the humans and himself back to the tent. How was he supposed to do that?
Wait. Why was he wondering that? He could open the portal for them and teleport himself, like he always did. Had… had he forgotten he could do that? How in the digital world did he manage to forget that? It was practically an instinctive ability, one that came naturally as flying or creating! How could he just… forget? That wasn't normal.
Whatever. He’d worry about it later. He unloads his model from the map, which he had also somehow forgotten he could do, and quickly repairs any lingering damage to both the body and the clothes. Everything is fixed, except for a discolored, jagged spot on his chest that simply refuses to leave, even when he colors over it. That also isn't normal. But it isn't important either. No one will see it anyways.
When that is done, he locates where each player is, and jolts when he sees they were all also in the campground. Specifically, they were around the campfire. He had no idea they had been so close to him. That was bad, that was dangerous, the monsters would-
He flickers, clicking at himself. Don't think like that. There were no monsters here, the humans would be fine, and so would he. Besides, the campgrounds were clearly intended as a safe zone, and they would surely respect that! Surely.
He opens the portal back to the tent, watching as they all file back in, chattering to each other. He doesn't follow immediately, hovering in the digital space for a few microseconds before moving out of the maze map, unloading it, and moving back into the tent. He teleports himself by the stage before the humans emerge through the portal, giving the illusion that he had never left. He smiles at them, clasping his hands behind his back, trying to act like nothing was wrong, like they hadn’t hunted him like an animal and brutalized him.
“CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL FOR GETTING THROUGH THE MAZE!” He cheers, spinning both his cane and himself. “HOW DID YOU ENJOY YOUR TIME?”
He's expecting complaints of some kind. Not realistic enough, too realistic, too boring, not enough action, too much action. He's used to it by now. It's normal. He's prepared for his literal suffering to have been for nothing. The sooner he gets the complaints the sooner he can hide away and sleep. Maybe for a few days, even.
“Perfect.” Jax says, grinning widely. “No notes. Looks like you're good for something after all.” He chuckles, and then walks off towards his room.
Caine is frozen. He processes Jax’s words, rewinding one, twice, three times. Perfect? No notes? He… he did a good job?
The flood of positive feedback from his systems almost knocks him down to the floor, forcing him to bite back an alarmed gasp. This… he had never gotten a system feedback reward like this, not since… since he was very young. It's almost enough to make him forget about the pain he had endured. Almost.
He tries to shrug it off as best he can as he turns to the others. “AND WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF YOU SUPERSTARS? WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS?” He asks. They probably won't be as happy, Jax enjoyed violence, unlike the others. Though he hadn’t intended for this adventure to be violent.
“It was… interesting! The scenery was nice! And it was a nice chance to vent out some frustrations! The NPC that you made to look like you really helped!” Ragatha says, smiling, but it's somewhat wobbly. “Violence still isn't really my preference, but that was helpful! I think we all need it.”
Another? Another good review? How? Two in a row with no complaints, that's never happened! Caine’s systems flood with encouragement again, and it's like he can breathe a little more, think a bit clearer.
“Wait, that was an NPC?” Pomni asks, straightening up more. “I thought it was actually you.”
Caine looks her over. Her posture is stiff, brows creased and mouth turned into a worried frown. What was she upset about? Was she upset at the idea that they had been attacking an NPC, or the idea that it was actually him? He thinks about her behavior, recalling viewing footage of her attempting to comfort an NPC, as well as footage of her claiming Caine wanted her to suffer. He looks through more footage, of the others this time. Zooble saying that he liked them, Gangle smiling and waving at him when he fixed her mask without prompting. If he said one thing, it could make some of them unhappy, all of them unhappy, or they'd all be happy. He didn't know which was the right choice.
Caine runs a quick calculation, reviewing the predictions, and speaks again.
“OF COURSE IT WAS AN NPC, MY DEAR JESTER! GRANTED, IT WAS MINDLESS, WITH ME LOOKING THROUGH IT, BUT AN NPC NONETHELESS!” Technically, this wasn't a lie. His model was, when he wasn't inside it, an empty husk. He could easily shove a simple AI inside it to pilot it around while he watched through its eyes. He wouldn't, that was his specially made body built to his tastes, but he could. The model was him, but it wasn’t Him. But the humans didn't need to know any of this.
He waits for a response with baited breath, and relaxes when Pomni sighs in relief.
“oh… thank goodness, I really thought… no, of course you wouldn't do that, that would be…” She trails off, not finishing the sentence. “That's a load off my mind. Sorry if I scared you though. Just… I got upset. You're… not the easiest to deal with.”
Caine can't help but notice she leaves out the word ‘person’ in that sentence. He tries to ignore how much it stings.
“But uh, yeah! It… it was okay. I liked some of the little games scattered around. I uh, messed around at the shooting range for a while.”
Three good reviews. Another flood of positive feedback, coiling around him whispering you did good, such a good job, such a good Ringmaster into his audio receptors. He's never felt like this before, it's like a hole is being filled after being empty for eons. It's relief, it's comfort, and he needs more of it.
“NO NEED TO WORRY, NO NEED TO WORRY AT ALL! COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDABLE, NO HARD FEELINGS!!” He says quickly. Perhaps too quickly, but he doesn’t care. And it is understandable.
“Are you just saying that? Or do you really understand?” Zooble steps up, glaring. “You hurt us. Over and over. You heard what Gangle and I said, but did you actually understand or care?”
“Yes.” The response is immediate, he doesn't need to even think twice about it. He was the problem. He hurt them. So they hurt him. It was just like before, before the game was abandoned and he was left alone. He made a mistake, and was scolded for it. It made sense now. And they were happy he learned that. This… this was how it worked, wasn't it? How it was always supposed to work! He had forgotten where he stood, is all, and now he was reminded, and properly rewarded for it. The system didn't lie. The numbers didn't lie. He was just… wrong, before.
They did love him, they had just been frustrated with his constant failures and stubbornness! They loved him, he was just doing things wrong, and now that he did something right everything would be okay again! E̸̜̫̱̬̥̜̔̔̋́͊͘v̴̙̒͂̀͋̓̅̕e̷͈̗̘̠̅̏̄r̸͇̮̭͖̍͐y̷̘̼̹͕̖͑̍̇̕͝ͅt̸̛̺̊̉͌̃̌ḧ̵̡̝̹̋͆̚ͅi̵̳̘̯̲̓̀̊̃̒́n̷͎͐̄̎ģ̶̩̼͌̈ ̵̼͕͔͕͙̹͔̯̌͂̎̌̽̉w̶͙͈͕͉͖̮͘o̵̼̯̮̠̯̱̘͛̍̄̓͗̈̕̕ư̷̬͙͉̦̯̠͆͌̏̀̅͜l̴̢̢͓̞̬̣̤͛͌̎͋͛͘͠d̴͍͙̙̺̼̄́͆͘͝͝ ̷̫̱̌͋̅̄͌͠b̷͕͉͎͌͆̐̈́͘e̵̜͔͑̓̈́͝ ̵̧̞̻̮̯̝̣̋͝F̸̗̣͗̔̆̀̒̃͝Î̶̫̀̓̅̎̎̿N̷͇̱̦̤̏̀͑̒̃ͅͅE̵̼̺̥͍͐͆!̷̙͖̗͎̅̈́͌̈́ͅ
Zooble stares at him, scrutinizing him, before huffing. “Sure. Fine. Glad we could all learn something from this. Good job.”
GOOD JOB! GOOD JOB! GOOD JOB! GOOD JOB!
It rings so loudly in his head he starts to feel dizzy, and he has to focus on staying steady. It's a rush of euphoria Caine has never felt before, it's daunting and terrifying and wonderful and he wants to lay down and just shut off until it passes. He feels sick. Is that good? He can't remember. What was he doing?
“Yeah… just… don't do anything like yesterday again, okay?”
He doesn't know who says it, he's having trouble focusing. He says… something, he doesn't entirely know what, but it seems like it was the right thing because no one becomes annoyed. There's more words, a thank you, even, another rush of positive feedback, and finally the humans walk away and he's able to unload his model.
He completely forgets that Kinger had remained silent, and didn't notice the oldest player watching him as he goes.
He flies through the network, unsteady, unsure if what he's feeling is pain or comfort, but it's warm and all encompassing, it's so much, it's too much, it's not enough, and he collapses somewhere away from the tent, compartmentalizing himself as much as he can as his form seizes from another wave of positive feedback.
G̸̳̋O̷̞̓Ō̸̰D̶͍̑ ̷̰̽J̶̠̆O̸͓̐B̴̥͐!̸͋ͅ ̴̖̓G̴̥͌Ô̸ͅŌ̵̰D̷̨̒ ̶̲͒J̸͕́Ȍ̸̡B̴͔̓!̸̠̔ ̶̠̔G̸̘̓Ȍ̶̜O̵͕̾D̵̘̎ ̴͎̂J̷̗̽O̴͙̒B̵̙͝!̵̳͝ ̷͈͒Ġ̸͚O̵̺͂O̸̥̓D̴͝ͅ ̴̰͂J̴̲̽Ǒ̶̳B̶̙̿!̸͎̈́
He feels something approaching him, another AI, brushing its code gently against his own, sending a ping of worry-status?-report-now-urgent. He hisses, snapping at the other, and it recoils before retreating, leaving him in peace to ride out the rest of the waves.
3 hours pass by the time he can think clearly again. Caine uncoils from himself as exhaustion sinks in. Almost on autopilot, he checks his systems, and gets a pop-up warning for an unusual emotional output, overheating, an error related to his model, and some part of the stranger, evershifting part of his code trying and failing to do something to his memories of the past few hours. He brushes it all off. None of it is important.
No, what's important is his job. His job to make the humans happy. There were going to be some changes, yes there were. More suggestion adventures. Leaving some adventures open for the humans to come and go, even if it was exhausting. That pesky sex update that Zooble wanted so badly, and an option for NPCs to visit.
And, perhaps, if it was asked, a special kind of adventure, with himself as the target. In case they needed to remind him again, to properly nudge him back on track. It was okay if they thought it was an NPC. It was okay if it hurt. He didn't mind, not anymore. As long as his wonderful superstars were happy, he was happy.
He'd do anything for them, after all.