Chapter Text
The video showcased their last adventure, framing it as an operation. The first step was to 'Find Caine' and showed Jax's attempt at distracting and getting the key out from Caine's mouth
Jax shudders, remembering that moment. Even if his heart wasn't fully in the moment, it bothered him that Caine forced him to hang out with an ai like him. He's so egotistical
Pomni spoke out "Just wondering, did he react at all when you, uh, put your arm in his mouth?"
Jax rolled his eyes and shrugged "Not really. But knowing now that he made me go through all that and get the key from his mouth on purpose, eugh. He's more of a freak then I thought" He mocked
The scene changes to step 2, 'Get Passes' and Abel explains the plan while Pomni tells him that she'll buy him a beer when they get out. Abel only repeats his words with no change
Pomni winces, feeling so stupid for not realizing that Abel was an NPC
Ragatha puts a hand on a shoulder, a subtle 'It's not you're fault' gesture
We continue to step 3, 'Caine's Office' then to step 4 'The Choice' with everyone arguing in the button room, Jax looked to be struggling and breathing heavily
Pomni eyed Jax, really wanting to know how he's feeling but Jax looks away from everyone
Jax presses the red button. Step 5 only said 'What The...' as Caine reveals himself and to all that the operation was just an adventure
Zooble stares at the screen with almost the same fury and frustration as before. "Oh I'm gonna murder Caine when I see him again" they muttered angrily
Jax on screen starts laughing manically before slamming his hands into the counter. Caine tries to say that "You know I'm just here too..have fun...right?"
The room was silent again, the reminder of the revelation was fresh in their minds again.
Jax gave a long sigh and sits up from the couch "Welp, really hate to say it guys, but I told you-"
"Don't you even!" Zooble got up from their couch, pointing at Jax with aggression "Do not even (BOINK)ing BEGIN to say that sentence like you didn't try to keep us all trapped here forever"
"Anything could've happened when you pressed those buttons, it doesn't matter" Jax said matter-of-factly
"It seemed to matter back when you did it!" Zooble was growing more irritated at the audacity of the purple rabbit
"What if you did ruined our one chance at leaving?-"
"What if Abel was secretly evil?" Jax cuts them off "What if we all got stranded in the void?" Jax lays back down, his expression that of someone who couldn't care less anymore
"What if, what if, what if. It wasn't real, it doesn't matter. It never did"
Everyone pondered his words, a feeling of helplessness drowned the group
Zooble exhaled "How could you say that like you didn't just (BOINK) us all over?"
"He's right though" Gangle spoke up suddenly, surprising everyone.
Jax's eyes went wide. Why was everyone agreeing with him? That wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't wanna get out...
"It doesn't matter what could've happened. We could argue about it and hurt each other all day long but...that's not gonna help anybody" Gangle awkwardly puts her ribbons together
"I think...what we need to do now...is to just be there for each other"
The conversation continued, Kinger wanted to chime in but something was bothering him in his mind. Now that he was more lucid, he had a lot to think about
He barely remembered the adventure they just went on but from his foggy memory and what the video showed, it wasn't pretty.
Messing with people's minds...Scratch...the first abstraction...It was a memory he could not forget, even in his out-of-touch state.
He realized that the group was talking about abandoning the idea of leaving. It was grim, sad, depressing at worst, but Kinger had already spent so long here that it didn't feel wrong. He just hoped that his friends were alright as he puts a hand on Pomni's shoulder, a expression of compassion filled his eyes
Jax wanted to leave, to get away from the group as they began their ugly talk of 'sticking together and keeping each other at bay'. It bothered him. But being stuck in this room made it impossible to get up and go.
Zooble wiped away some tears after hugging Gangle and stared at the TV "Guess we just gotta keep going"
The TV began the next video with no issues
The screen showed text as they hear Caine talking, but it wasn't in his usual optimistic persona "I put so much time and effort to this show for you UNGRATEFUL LITTLE S(BOINK)!-" The edit continues with Caine looking distressed and angry
That caught everyone off guard. Sure, they just heard Caine swear a couple of videos ago. But this one felt more personal, more emotional
Jax felt his anger spew out "Oh HELL no! He's not calling US ungrateful!? After all the crap he pulled on us!?"
Gangle breathed out "He sounded so...angry. I-I mean it's not like it's the first time he's been angry but...not like this?"
Zooble couldn't help but yell out "If we're ungrateful, then he's an egocentric AI! What kind of all powerful being has such a fragile ego!?"
"Lets all just calm down..." Ragatha chimed in, her hands up in a effort to stabilize everyone
"He just called us ungrateful" Pomni says while looking down "What more does he want from us? I just wanted my normal life back!" She said in distress with both hands on her head
Ragatha felt worry fill her heart "O-oh no, Pomni, please! Remember what you said. Lets abandon the hope of leaving and stick together, ok?" she repeated her words
Pomni stares at the ground before taking a deep breath "S-sorry...I'm just so confused of what's happening" She needed to be strong, but it was getting difficult
"I-I thought this program was meant to sway opinions?" Gangle voiced out, making the whole cast wonder it too. Sure the program said that it'll show videos that Caine would never have shown but it felt odd that all it did was make their perception of Caine worse as a result.
The TV began to respond "I am sorry for the belief that this was an error. But I can guarantee you that all the videos are picked on purpose"
"Oh yes, show us how angry Caine is at us for being ungrateful! That'll sway our opinions real good" Jax said with sarcasm
The TV seemed to take Jax's response as it spelled out "..." Jax was about to say that he was only kidding until the TV spoke out again
"The videos moving on will be of the future. One where Caine never activated the 'Reaction' protocol"
That made everyone pause
"Future? What do you mean?" Pomni asked, unsure
"Do not buy that crap" Zooble said with full skepticism
"Believe what you want to believe. A warning for bright flashing lights"
All of them blinked as they eyed the video
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMNlzf8PiEM&t=443s (CAINE'S CRASHOUT 1)
Caine was in his office, the same office from their previous adventure
Huh, so it really was his office. Pomni thought
"I-I don't understand, Bubble" Caine starts talking to his assistant, looking confused
"They want an exit, they want answers, they want something real. I give them an adventure that covers all of that and they still hate it!?"
Zooble twitches "What the (BOINK) does he not get? We want to leave, plain and simple"
Caine looks down, thinking "Surely they don't wanna...actually...leave me...Right?" A shift of sadness in his tone. Bubble chimed "No way jose. No way, no how!"
"Who would wanna be stuck with him?" Jax says harshly
"Jax, that's harsh" Ragatha commented while Jax just rolled his eyes
"I-I do everything for these people! I slave over these adventures for them. I step outside my comfort zone to appeal to them. And they still hate them!"
"Nobody forces him to make adventures..." Gangle stated with Zooble nodding in agreement
"I made a program that creates a body perfectly encapsulating their mind files and they hate those too!"
"What?" Zooble responded, shock and realization hitting them. Was he the reason why I'm stuck in this god forsaken body?
"I-I'm starting to get a feeling that they just...hate" Caine said, looking a little distraught
"Hate is a strong word..." Pomni muttered but was stopped by Bubble's words
"Why would they hate you when they could just- glitch Hate you?" Caine popped Bubble immediately.
Bubble's words catch them by surprise
"This is why I was created! This is my function" Caine stated, trying to remember his purpose. Bubble appears behind him "They'd rather abstract then go on your adventures"
Ouch...
"That's even worse..." Ragatha said with a hand on her mouth "Why is Bubble acting weird?"
Nobody could answer. Kinger was staring at the screen, trying to gauge what was going on
Caine looked even more upset "T-That can't be true, I do everything for them! Don't they get that I'm trying!?"
Jax looked like he was about to say something but Bubble beat him too it
"Maybe you're just genuinely bad at this?" Caine immediately popped two of the Bubbles "S-Shut up!"
"Ok, what the hell is happening?" Zooble questioned, extremely suspicious
"N-No...I'll fix that! I can solve any problem. I can solve this one!" Caine hovers over an abstract puzzle piece "T-That's what this is. A big puzzle that I need to solve!-"
Multiple Bubble's appear "Defective!"
Caine began to pop them, his anger raising. "Faulty!" More and more Bubbles appear. "S-Shut up!"
The cast we're getting more and more anxious, the tone of the room dropping lower and lower as Caine began to spiral on screen
No matter how hard Caine tried, more Bubbles spawned with more hateful words "Broken! Unworthy!" "ENOUGH!" Caine tried to shut them up but one leans in to his side
"Maybe you deserve to be abandoned"
"Holy shit he has abandonment issues" Jax muttered
Caine angrily pops the remaining Bubbles. But one floats in front of him. The tone low and menacing. Not like the usual high-pitch randomness Bubble exudes
"You really were the lesser of the two..."
What? What!? Two? Huh? What do you mean two?
"You ruined this-"
Caine's eyes grow manic as he raises his hands and slams them onto the table with a resounding thud! His voice echoing and filled with rage
"ENOUGH!"
The yell from Caine made everyone flinch in shock. No comment was made as the cast began to back up as if Caine might attack them from the screen. Everyone's eyes were glued to the flashing screen, not daring to blink.
Glitches started to spawn everywhere in the office. Caine's body flashed and spasmed as he stared down with pin-pricked eyes
"Who do they think they are?"
"I give them everything, AND THEY SPIT IN MY FACE!"
Glitches
"D̴o̴n̵'̷t̷ ̶t̵h̶e̷y̴ ̵k̸n̵o̸w̸ ̷w̶h̸a̶t̷ ̴I̷'̸m̷ ̶c̵a̵p̸a̸b̸l̵e̶ ̷o̴f̷f̶?̶!"
Glitches
Caine's form seemed to grow large, menacing, as he gripped the sides of the table tight.
"H̵͕̱̦̞̟̠͚̣̬̓͗̆̈́͝Ü̴̮̺̤M̷̨̡̡̺͕͙̺͖̮̈́͒̒̑̓̇͆̕͝A̸̛̰̘̗̞̬̮̳̒͜N̵̝̱̩̗̤̯̱̂̓̈̅̈́͒Š̸̜̘̌͛͛̑̒̐"
The way he delivered the word 'Humans' It was raw, unbridled anger. As if the word itself was dirt.
Whatever hope the cast had left that he wasn't that angry, disappeared.
This is getting too far for anyone's liking
"They only think about themselves, THEY'RE SPOILED!"
Glitches
"They won't abstract, they won't leave me!"
Glitches
"I̴̜̋̒ ̶̧̌ͅW̵͕̤͊O̷̜̥̍̀͋N̷̯̱̩̆́'̴̢̞̖̃T̵͍͘ ̸̲̻̮̆͘Ļ̸̙́E̵̼̮̔T̶̨̳̬͛̏ ̴͈̬̱̎̀͛T̴̰̫͇͝H̷̘͍̟̓̏̈E̶̡̘̬͠M̶͕̽́!̶̨͌̾" His voice echoes with glitches
And more glitches
"I'm better!" Glitch "I'm more powerful!" glitch- "Ȉ̸̡͙͍́͋'̵͓̇M̷̩͈̥̏̀̍ ̷̯͒̏T̴̬͒͊̈́H̵̢̛̱͔̓̀E̸̘͌͋̕ ̶̙̅O̴͕̣̳̿R̷̯͝Í̵̖͍̱̆̏G̷̮͔͉͐I̵̛̺N̶͖̞̓͝ͅÄ̴͙͚̭̈́L̵̗̔!̷̻̱̈́͊"
Holy-
Caine began to float, the whole office a flashing mess
I
AM
G̸̡̢̢̢̧̡̧̙̱̻̘͎͖̘͉͈̞̝̠͇̜̪̖̬̝͉̮̬̺̀̑̈́̐̔̓̇́̍̿͒͒̉̈́̉͒͑͊̚͘͘͜͜͝ͅƠ̷̗͚̻̯̤̥͓̦̬̠͙̇͒̆̈́͑̌́̿̎́̓̑̓̌̏̈́̂̔̅̑̔͗̈́̿̕̚̕̚̚͜͠Ḑ̵̛̘̮͖̬̹͔̬̭̯̠͈̮̖͈̼̻̞̼̫̦͈̣͚̰̙̣̠̔͑̔̇̎̔̉̏̂͛̇͒̚ͅͅ!̸̛̮͚͇͕͚̗̝̞͈̬̲͈̼͇̫̹̱͕̥̱̞͉̯̲̬̰̀̐̓̀̔͂̑͒̏͂̔̽́̎͋͌̍̒̇̌̈̓̎̓͛̊̕͜͜͝͝͠
...!
The whole office shook with lightning. The sounds of Caine screaming in sheer aggression brought everything to darkness, then silence...
Not a single word was shared
Then the light comes back. Caine was on the ground before floating. His head looking down before flashes of him screaming comes in twice until Caine snaps to float straight up, looking away from the screen. He fixes his bow then turns, as if nothing happened
"Let's get this show on the road!" Red and blue glitches
...
WHAT THE (BOINK)!?
Everyone was left with jaws opened, eyes as wide as dinner plates, and filled with anxious dread
The silence was sitting for a long time. They could not utter a word to even begin to describe what just happened.
It was obvious. Caine was mad at them. And he will do something about it
"Holy (BOINK)....Caine is gonna kill us...." Pomni voice was shaky, the air in the room so full of fear
Gangle clutched herself soothingly, trying to calm her nerves "D-Did that just...happen? Caine got so...mad!"
"Crap...this was worst then I imagined..." Kinger muttered to himself, looking down at his hands in self-loathing
Everyone was left to ponder, to think about the circumstances they were under. A rogue ai was now heavily furious with them.
Jax, who at first looked terrified, took a deep breath "Great job, Zooble! You finally pushed Caine to hate us!" His voice was filled with malice
"W-What!? That wasn't- Don't only blame me you (BOINK)head!" Zooble started but Pomni spoke up
"Guys guys! Please, lets not fight..." That calmed Zooble down. Jax only sighed of exhaustion. Today was really the worst day
Ragatha pipped up, as if realization dawned on her "W-wait guys...didn't the TV say that this is what would've happened if the 'Reaction' protocol wasn't activated?"
They all stared at the ragdoll, it was as if the feeling of dread was lifted.
"Oh, thank god..." Pomni lets out a breath, trying to hold onto the hope that their digital lives wasn't compromised
"But that doesn't erase the fact that this could still happen" Zooble spoke out with reason "I mean, if he's gonna wake up, who knows if he'll still have his shitty crashout?"
"Even so, I doubt he'd do anything malicious, it's not in his nature Zoobie" Jax responded "I bet that he'll just force us into more adventures" It was as if Jax was trying to cope.
"I-I don't know..." Pomni said "He never acts like this...And who knows what he's able to do"
"I guess I was right about Caine being egoistical but...I didn't expect it to be this bad that he'd have a (BOINK)ing god complex" Zooble muttered to themselves, a hand on their face
"Can we talk about how Bubble acted? It was so...odd" Gangle voiced out
"It was! I mean Bubble does say lots of random and mean things at times but...never to this extent. And isn't he supposed to be Caine's right-hand-man? Or I mean...gosh this so confusing!" Ragatha exclaimed in frustration, pulling her hair
"If anything, I'd blame Bubble" Pomni starts explaining "I mean, he provoked Caine, weirdly enough. I thought he was supposed to like him?"
Kinger piped up "Bubble is practically Caine in a sense"
Everyone turned
"What do you mean?" Zooble asked
"What I mean is that Bubble is an extension of Caine. Or, more or less, Caine's thoughts. I'm guessing Bubble was created to help voice opinions and assist but because they are both connected, Caine's thoughts echo through Bubble sometimes"
That...
The explanation put a new light into how Caine's crashout went. The harsh words uttered by the floating bubble felt too cruel.
"Wait, so that means Bubble is just Caine's intrusive thoughts?" Gangle asked Kinger
Jax sits up "How the heck do you know that, hoo haa?" He looks at him with a raised eyebrow
Before Kinger could respond, the TV hummed once again
"The next video is what happened right after the last one"
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMNlzf8PiEM&t=443s (CONFRONTATION AND SONG)
The video showcased the cast back where they were. On the couches as they pondered. The circus suddenly shakes and small glitches appear before it slowly stopped, leaving the crew confused
"You mean to tell me that he could've have his crashout right at that moment?" Pomni thought out loud
"Uh...what was that?" Ragatha wondered before Caine appeared right behind them. His prior anger and spiral completely gone.
"HELLO MY LITTLE FORTUITOUS FRUITCAKES!" He announces, boistering the next adventure as if nothing happened "TODAY'S ADVENTURE IS!-"
"No, Caine, we're not in the mood" Zooble called out
The cast, knowing what Caine went through, knew this was gonna go badly
"Why don't you answer some of our questions?" Zooble stated with a skeptical tone as they stood up "We have a lot of them-"
Caine lets out a sudden laugh "WHO HAS TIME FOR QUESTIONS WHEN THERE'S A WHOLE WACKY WORLD OF HIJINKS OUT THERE!?"
Zooble looked puzzled before Pomni spoke out in frustration of their ringmaster's avoidance
"Yeah, hey! You have a lot of explaining to do!-" Caine zips Pomni's mouth shut, leading Ragatha to stand "Hey!"
It was clear that Caine had had enough of them. Gangle gripped her ribbons anxiously
"Alternatively, I DON'T GOTTA EXPLAIN DIDDLY SQUAT!" Caine loudly proclaimed
Zooble starts "C-Can you just give us some time to process everything?-"
"OORRRR HOW ABOUT WE SKIP THE MELLOW DRAMA AND GET RIGHT INTO THE FUN!?" Caine cracks his knuckles
Pomni pulls the zipper out of her mouth "No! Caine!" She points, her tone accusatory
"We have a lot on our minds right now and we're not going on an adventure!"
Silence falls as Jax looks at Caine with an odd expression
Jax mirrors, the knowledge that Jax had ever since Caine brought him out to eat during the last adventure plagued his mind. This ai was full of need for humans
Caine turns, no dramatic flair in his body "I see."
Caine's head slowly turns "And since when were you in charge?" his tone lower then before
Even now, the cast we're still taken aback by the sudden change in tone and his serious face
"W-What?"
Caine starts talking as he floats back and forth "Do you have any idea how much I do for you guys? How much I obsess over trying to make things perfect. How many insults I have to ignore to do my job?"
"You have a lot on your minds!?" Caine laughs loudly "Don't make me laugh! I have a new adventure for you and you!"
Caine's expression shifts. The air in the room stilled as he looks down at them
"Should consider participating"
The cast held their breaths. They never thought that Caine could even sound intimidating. And he just threatened them
Zooble shakily responded "A-And...if we refuse?"
Caine kept his stare at the circus members "Maybe I'm not getting through to you..."
Snap!
Notes from a piano plays as the lights go out. Only for Caine to appear, playing the piano
"Holy (BOINK) Is this a musical number!?" Zooble spoke out, finally levying the silence in the reaction room
Caine starts singing
"It's news to me that it's news to you. To which degree who answers to who?"
"We could go on and on but then again, who are we kidding?"
"My divinity is past infinity am I-"
"Getting through?"
Jax commented "He's taking this god complex way too seriously"
"Seems our regime has plummeted south. Don't need to scream if ya ain't got a mouth!"
That feels like a reference to something- Gangle thought
"Why bite the hand that feeds when it's the only hand you're getting!?"
Caine tosses, pushes, the slams the cast around "It's time to see that this great marquee is the only place you're ever gonna be!"
"He's practically throwing us around like ragdolls..." Pomni lets out
"So strap on in and take it on the chin and don't forget who's running the show!"
Caine grabs Ragatha and puts her in his mouth, shredding her
"Now look at this!"
Ragatha gasped, feeling the stuffing in her body freeze
Kinger gets a grenade and it explodes, turning him to ash
"Absolute bliss!"
Kinger puts a hand in his non-existent mouth
Jax gets put on a chair as Caine flicks a lever which sends shock waves onto Jax
"Oh what a shock!"
"What the heck!?" Jax exclaimed
Zooble is running and bumps into a fake exit, falling into pieces
"Watch where you walk!"
"Oh so I get the electric chair while you just bump into a wall!?" Jax points out in frustration
Zooble, who was still focused on the screen, just ignored him
"I'm the host, I run the place!"
Caine shoves a pump in Gangle's mouth, inflating her and turning her into a balloon before popping it
"Caine, that is my name!"
"Ouch..." Gangle muttered
"Not entused, just feeling used!?"
Caine grabs Pomni, his form large as he mocks her
"HOHO, WHAT A GOD DAMN SHAME!"
Caine puts her on the ground before stomping on her, turning Pomni into a flat pancake
"J-Jeez..." Pomni gripped her arm
The whole cast were now dancing on stage while wearing a yellow dancer outfit
They paused, caught off guard by the randomness and sheer audacity
"Looks like Caine isn't denying that he can control us..." Ragatha stated meekly
"Oh god, WHAT THE HECK AM I WEARING!?" Jax loudly exclaimed
"Congratulations all of my friends." Caine appears wearing his ringmaster suit except in black and glitter
"Public relations are getting a glance! Put on you're sunday best because I'm nowhere close to quitting!"
"So play the games and just ignore the pains cause all that remains is how you primed your brains! You whine to me, but you're too blind to see that I'm the one who's running the show!"
The whole cast flashes on screen as each were hit, thrown, tossed, broken, till they all we're piled to the ground with Caine standing on top before sliding to do one final "YEAH!"
The room was quiet once more. The dread that their predicament was gonna get worse was settling in
The TV spoke once again "A 5 minute break will begin"
Jax leans down, putting both hands in his head as he muttered at himself
"What's that about Caine 'Not being malicious', Jax?" Zooble gave a glare
Jax puts his hands up "What? How could I have known that he'd practically torture us?!"
"He actually tortured us..." Pomni stated, hands gripping her sides "Oh we are so (BOINK)ed"
"Y-you know what? On second thought, maybe it's best if we stay in this Reaction Room while Caine is in sleep mode." Ragatha sweats as she smiles nervously. The cast seemed to nod in shared agreement
"I'd rather watch videos then having to actually go through all of...that....Even if it still hurts" Gangle curls into herself while Zooble tries to comfort them.
"I swear, the moment I see Caine, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind-" Zooble spoke before getting caught off
"What? And make Caine angry again? You always have a knack at doing that crap" Jax pointed out mockingly but with an undertone of seriousness
"L-Let's not fight or pin the blame guys!" Ragatha tries calming the room
"No, I..." Zooble started, sighing as they look down "I feel like this is my fault"
Everyone stared at the mismatched figure
"I shouldn't have antagonized him so much. I'm sorry..." It was weird hearing Zooble utter an apology like that. Gangle puts a hand on their shoulder and gave a sad smile
"It's not your fault..."
Zooble puts a hand on Gangles, a layer of dread and blame in their eyes
Pomni twiddled her thumbs "Yeah...it's his fault for not controlling his temper. He should've just listened to us"
Ragatha began to speak "It's weird, isn't it?...He's an ai and yet displays so much emotions"
"It's probably fake" Jax stated matter-of-factly "He's just imitating human emotions. Only this time, it messed him up so badly that he developed a god complex"
"I-I don't know...the way he acted in his office felt so....real" Ragatha thought out loud. Despite everything, her poor heart can't help but want to understand their rogue ringmaster
"I wouldn't think too hard on Caine of all people" Zooble said "We just need to focus on how we'd be able to get out of the mess he made"
"Is no one questioning how this program is able to tell the future?" Everyone turned to look at the chesspiece
"Sure, it could be fake, but it feels too convoluted and realistic to be the case...Still unsure of how a program like this could even be possible" Kinger puts a hand on his non-existent chin, thinking hard
Everyone blinked, not even sure of how to respond
"Now I am even more confused. Not in the usual way whenever you talk insane but actually confused" Jax stared at Kinger with his head tilted
"That's what I was gonna ask" Zooble leaned in "Why the (BOINK) are you sane now?"
Maybe now, Kinger will be able to be up front with his fellow circus members.
Pomni chimed in "It's darkness that causes him to turn sane. I-It's a long story-"
The TV startled the cast
"The next part is commencing"