Black ppl deserve to feel safe and welcomed on the internet, on fandoms on whatever community or hobbies they want without having to deal with antiblack racist attacks, microaggressions or enablers of antiblackness . And if u genuinely consider urself to be left leaning or an ally or woke you should do and try to unlearn the colorism, texturism , eurocentrism and antiblackness
B-17 bomber is riddled with German anti-aircraft fire but miraculously survives. Later they discover the explosive shells were all inert; sabotaged by Nazi slaves working in armament factories.
Inside one empty shell is a written note: it's all we can do for you now.
The most important part of all this is that these small acts of bravery and noncompliance cannot be known as long as the enemy still stands, and might never be known. Just because it doesn’t seem like anyone is doing anything doesn’t mean it’s true. The best malicious compliance or subtle sabotage is the one that’s never detected, but makes ravages nonetheless.
"there comes a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to throw your bodies upon the wheels and upon the gears. Upon the levers. Upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop!"
"And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it -- that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all!!!"
[... I don't think this counts as Bunnydoll, yet, does it?
Anywho, about to do terrible things to a ragdoll and a rabbit in this and several chapters, give or take. Wanna watch? :P
If so, you're in the right place~
Also, how many ways can you describe exhaustion? :P
Elsewise and sideways, link is under the cut, and see you chaps, chapettes, and non-specified chads on Monday~]
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TADC: c://Dele/Corr (<- direct link)
(13720 words) by AngelicDirt
Chapters: 14/?
Fandom: The Amazing Digital Circus (Web Series)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Caine/Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Characters: Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus), Ragatha (The Amazing Digital Circus), Bubble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Zooble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax (The Amazing Digital Circus), Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), Gangle (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Additional Tags: Long, Short Chapters, Dreams and Nightmares, Comfort, Angst, and a little scolding, Agoraphobia, Panic Attacks, Mood Swings, if you know Caine you'll know why 'mood swings', Action/Adventure, Trauma, Hypnosis, Mind Control, attempted comfort, Memory Share, Churches & Cathedrals, Baptism, AI thinks he doesn't have/need feelings, Sporatic Fluff, Self-Hatred, Near-Spiraling Thoughts, Human thinks he doesn't need/have feelings, Jax is Bad at Feelings (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Angst (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Is Not Okay (The Amazing Digital Circus), Trapped, Probably should have had that one before huh?, Serious Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Characters Yelling or Screaming, Arguing, Sane Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), Journal Entries, Does This Remind You Of Anything? (Trope), Wire Play but Not, code play, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Legend as Metaphor, lost in a cave, Call to Adventure (Trope), Possession, Dramatic Evil Entrance, Evil Gloating, villian monologue, Exhaustion, Self-Induced Malfunction, Transformation, Caine is a bright boy and would never endanger himself or others out of pure rage (lies), Monster Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Body Puppeting, Clueless Victim, Jax Missing the Point (The Amazing Digital Circus), honestly, I think they bothe need a Medal, I'm about to drag the both of them through all kinds of terrible things… :B
Summary:
Or "The Amazing Digital Circus: Delete/Corruption"
This started off as a personal vent, and some exploration of the the TADC crew after e8… But Caine did not directly delete. He's in the recycling bin. With Pomni? Huh, how curious. I am also, for some reason, absolutely smitten with the idea of Showtime, so there's that. 😈
5-23-26: Aaaaaaaand we all caught up. On the weirdest 'chapter' to be caught up on. Meh, thus is life~ See you Mondays and Thursdays, then. 👋🏾
5-28-26: (okay, so no one was going to tell me that I was time traveling to August?) ANYwho, finally decided on the name. You, uh, you you say the name of the .hack stuff. And I don't even think I explained why, even. Well, simply put, Caine got deleted, in-canon… but here he didn't. He got almost deleted. Files that are partially deleted… they're just corrupt, are they not? So, yeah. I also kinda wanted to emphasize how that changes not only him, but everyone else. Because no character is coming out unscathed. Like… NO one. Everything changes. Everything corrupts. :P
[Another shortie this time, but a goodie, I think. Just a little bit of drama, as a treat. :P
Slightly unrelated, I cant wait for the 19th. This whole thing has been so weird. And stupid... Like... why are people? ... ... That's the whole question, btw. >.>;
Also, you get any visual warnings or flashing lights... well, see a doctor, but also, take care of yourself. No one likes a workaholic. :S
Burn bright, fireflies~ Link under the cut, and see you on Thursday. :3 ]
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TADC: c://Dele/Corr (<- direct link)
(12820 words) by AngelicDirt
Chapters: 13/?
Fandom: The Amazing Digital Circus (Web Series)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Caine/Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Characters: Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus), Ragatha (The Amazing Digital Circus), Bubble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Zooble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax (The Amazing Digital Circus), Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), Gangle (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Additional Tags: Long, Short Chapters, Dreams and Nightmares, Comfort, Angst, and a little scolding, Agoraphobia, Panic Attacks, Mood Swings, if you know Caine you'll know why 'mood swings', Action/Adventure, Trauma, Hypnosis, Mind Control, attempted comfort, Memory Share, Churches & Cathedrals, Baptism, AI thinks he doesn't have/need feelings, Sporatic Fluff, Self-Hatred, Near-Spiraling Thoughts, Human thinks he doesn't need/have feelings, Jax is Bad at Feelings (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Angst (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Is Not Okay (The Amazing Digital Circus), Trapped, Probably should have had that one before huh?, Serious Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Characters Yelling or Screaming, Arguing, Sane Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), Journal Entries, Does This Remind You Of Anything? (Trope), Wire Play but Not, code play, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Legend as Metaphor, lost in a cave, Call to Adventure (Trope), Possession, Dramatic Evil Entrance, Evil Gloating, villian monologue, Exhaustion, Self-Induced Malfunction, Transformation, Caine is a bright boy and would never endanger himself or others out of pure rage (lies)
Summary:
Or "The Amazing Digital Circus: Delete/Corruption"
This started off as a personal vent, and some exploration of the the TADC crew after e8… But Caine did not directly delete. He's in the recycling bin. With Pomni? Huh, how curious. I am also, for some reason, absolutely smitten with the idea of Showtime, so there's that. 😈
5-23-26: Aaaaaaaand we all caught up. On the weirdest 'chapter' to be caught up on. Meh, thus is life~ See you Mondays and Thursdays, then. 👋🏾
5-28-26: (okay, so no one was going to tell me that I was time traveling to August?) ANYwho, finally decided on the name. You, uh, you you say the name of the .hack stuff. And I don't even think I explained why, even. Well, simply put, Caine got deleted, in-canon… but here he didn't. He got almost deleted. Files that are partially deleted… they're just corrupt, are they not? So, yeah. I also kinda wanted to emphasize how that changes not only him, but everyone else. Because no character is coming out unscathed. Like… NO one. Everything changes. Everything corrupts. :P
[I am so good at pacing, what are you talking about, uneven chapters, HAHAHA... Short chapter today...
Bubble is so fun to write, you have no idea. Maybe it's the years of built-up angst and anger, but if this was the Venture-verse, I'd probably at least be a henchperson. Just to be around that energy, you know. :v
Anywho, I should probably go check on that prisoner that I accidentally left the door key across the room from.
The link is under the cut! See you on Monday~ <3 ]
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TADC: c://Dele/Corr (<-straight to chapter, btw...) (12276 words) by AngelicDirt
Chapters: 12/?
Fandom: The Amazing Digital Circus (Web Series)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Caine/Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Characters: Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus), Ragatha (The Amazing Digital Circus), Bubble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Zooble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax (The Amazing Digital Circus), Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), Gangle (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Additional Tags: Long, Short Chapters, Dreams and Nightmares, Comfort, Angst, and a little scolding, Agoraphobia, Panic Attacks, Mood Swings, if you know Caine you'll know why 'mood swings', Action/Adventure, Trauma, Hypnosis, Mind Control, attempted comfort, Memory Share, Churches & Cathedrals, Baptism, AI thinks he doesn't have/need feelings, Sporatic Fluff, Self-Hatred, Near-Spiraling Thoughts, Human thinks he doesn't need/have feelings, Jax is Bad at Feelings (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Angst (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Is Not Okay (The Amazing Digital Circus), Trapped, Probably should have had that one before huh?, Serious Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Characters Yelling or Screaming, Arguing, Sane Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), Journal Entries, Does This Remind You Of Anything? (Trope), Wire Play but Not, code play, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Legend as Metaphor, lost in a cave, Call to Adventure (Trope), Possession, Dramatic Evil Entrance, Evil Gloating, villian monologue, … no new tags, just badguy doing badguy things…
Summary:
Or "The Amazing Digital Circus: Delete/Corruption"
This started off as a personal vent, and some exploration of the the TADC crew after e8… But Caine did not directly delete. He's in the recycling bin. With Pomni? Huh, how curious. I am also, for some reason, absolutely smitten with the idea of Showtime, so there's that. 😈
5-23-26: Aaaaaaaand we all caught up. On the weirdest 'chapter' to be caught up on. Meh, thus is life~ See you Mondays and Thursdays, then. 👋🏾
5-28-26: (okay, so no one was going to tell me that I was time traveling to August?) ANYwho, finally decided on the name. You, uh, you you say the name of the .hack stuff. And I don't even think I explained why, even. Well, simply put, Caine got deleted, in-canon… but here he didn't. He got almost deleted. Files that are partially deleted… they're just corrupt, are they not? So, yeah. I also kinda wanted to emphasize how that changes not only him, but everyone else. Because no character is coming out unscathed. Like… NO one. Everything changes. Everything corrupts. :P
[Okay, so this one is a comparative doozy. Sometimes you start writing and... man, it just goes.
Helps that I just really like writing villains. Card-carrying, intentional, unintentional, smart, stupid... doesn't matter what kind. There's something so silly and freeing about a dedicated antagonistic force that just... does harm. I do enjoy a classic, mustache-twirling asshole, tho. Gotta go back to basics, sometimes.
... Coincidentally, Ep8 is my favorite, can you tell?
Remember: don't monologue if you've already won. Links under the cut. And see you Thursday! <3 ]
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TADC: c://Dele/Corr (<-That goes straight to recent chapter now... because I fricking said so...) (11801 words) by AngelicDirt
Chapters: 11/?
Fandom: The Amazing Digital Circus (Web Series)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Caine/Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Characters: Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus), Ragatha (The Amazing Digital Circus), Bubble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Zooble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax (The Amazing Digital Circus), Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), Gangle (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Additional Tags: Long, Short Chapters, Dreams and Nightmares, Comfort, Angst, and a little scolding, Agoraphobia, Panic Attacks, Mood Swings, if you know Caine you'll know why 'mood swings', Action/Adventure, Trauma, Hypnosis, Mind Control, attempted comfort, Memory Share, Churches & Cathedrals, Baptism, AI thinks he doesn't have/need feelings, Sporatic Fluff, Self-Hatred, Near-Spiraling Thoughts, Human thinks he doesn't need/have feelings, Jax is Bad at Feelings (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Angst (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Is Not Okay (The Amazing Digital Circus), Trapped, Probably should have had that one before huh?, Serious Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Characters Yelling or Screaming, Arguing, Sane Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), Journal Entries, Does This Remind You Of Anything? (Trope), Wire Play but Not, code play, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Legend as Metaphor, lost in a cave, Call to Adventure (Trope), Possession, gloating, You get the feeling your tags are getting bloated?, oh well…
Summary:
Or "The Amazing Digital Circus: Delete/Corruption"
This started off as a personal vent, and some exploration of the the TADC crew after e8… But Caine did not directly delete. He's in the recycling bin. With Pomni? Huh, how curious. I am also, for some reason, absolutely smitten with the idea of Showtime, so there's that. 😈
5-23-26: Aaaaaaaand we all caught up. On the weirdest 'chapter' to be caught up on. Meh, thus is life~ See you Mondays and Thursdays, then. 👋🏾
5-28-26: (okay, so no one was going to tell me that I was time traveling to August?) ANYwho, finally decided on the name. You, uh, you you say the name of the .hack stuff. And I don't even think I explained why, even. Well, simply put, Caine got deleted, in-canon… but here he didn't. He got almost deleted. Files that are partially deleted… they're just corrupt, are they not? So, yeah. I also kinda wanted to emphasize how that changes not only him, but everyone else. Because no character is coming out unscathed. Like… NO one. Everything changes. Everything corrupts. :P
[Sensing a pattern? I know I am. >.>;
Short chapter this time. Gangle is a strange girl in a strange land. Strange isn't it?
Jokes aside, I think I'm at the point where I need new inspo. I'm still ahead, but I've burned through all of my immediate 'cool moments to write' on my way to 'final cool moment to write'. And we are SO FAR from the 'final cool moment to write' it hurts. T_T
Also, series name change. Only not really, you say it the same. Think the .hack series...
Beware the Grue, link under the cut, and see you on Monday. <3 ]
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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
[Okay, so finally caught up on A03, and, honestly? I like posting and editing more than on here. SOooooo, actual text body of story goes there now, I guess. I will put the link under the cut, tho. I'm not sure I like how either site handles the cross-posting. :/
So, um... Caine and Pomni get a little intimate... ... Yes, no, I will not elaborate. Listen, I write fics; and even doing that I have no idea. Just know that all those tags are correct. ALL of them. :P
ANYwho... link (direct to the chapter) and tags under the fold. Cya Thursday... 🫣]
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TDAC: DeleCorr (name pending) (9423 words) by AngelicDirt
Chapters: 9/?
Fandom: The Amazing Digital Circus (Web Series)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Caine/Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Characters: Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Pomni (The Amazing Digital Circus), Ragatha (The Amazing Digital Circus), Bubble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Bubble (TDAC DeleCorr AU), Zooble (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax (The Amazing Digital Circus), Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus)
Additional Tags: Long, Short Chapters, Dreams and Nightmares, Comfort, Angst, and a little scolding, Agoraphobia, Panic Attacks, Mood Swings, if you know Caine you'll know why 'mood swings', Action/Adventure, Trauma, Hypnosis, Mind Control, attempted comfort, Memory Share, Churches & Cathedrals, Baptism, AI thinks he doesn't have/need feelings, Sporatic Fluff, Self-Hatred, Near-Spiraling Thoughts, Human thinks he doesn't need/have feelings, Jax is Bad at Feelings (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Angst (The Amazing Digital Circus), Jax Is Not Okay (The Amazing Digital Circus), Trapped, Probably should have had that one before huh?, Serious Caine (The Amazing Digital Circus), Characters Yelling or Screaming, Arguing, Sane Kinger (The Amazing Digital Circus), posession, Journal Entries, Does This Remind You Of Anything? (Trope), Wire Play but Not, code play, Non-Sexual Intimacy, You know you would think that this has a category, no no it doesn't
Summary:
Or "The Delete and Corruption of the AI Caine" (also name pending)
This started off as a personal vent, and some exploration of the the TDAC crew after e8… But Caine did not directly delete. He's in the recycling bin. With Pomni? Huh, how curious. I am also, for some reason, absolutely smitten with the idea of Showtime, so there's that. 😈...
[Due to mitigating spoiler circumstances, I'm shifting to a Mon. + Thur. upload. This whole thing started as a writing-flavored meditation in habit-forming, anyways... BUT I also will not be scared off the internet. If the intent was to ward us off our favorite thing, the f*ckos have failed; we still here, dood. If the point was standing against the idea of the movie release, they have not only failed, but justified it, at this juncture. And, just like the MD fandom, we, too, are gonna be here for a good long while after. So they better get used to it. :P
ANYwho, another short-short one today. Lab notes. From Kinger. Yeah, surprised me, too. :B
Nothing like apocalypse/disaster letters to break up all the hot, steamy fanfic action. xP
And so... cya Monday. ;3 ]
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Oh. Oh, there is NO going back, is there? In any direction… I'm telling you, my buttercup, you wouldn't even believe what was happening now…
Of course, this would be better if I started from the start, huh?
Firstly, the first ten of these entries are just pseudocode and notes, because I was experimenting. You do work, you keep notes. I know that, you know that. Heck, even wizards do it, what do you think spellbooks are? So, there's that.
But… how did I even get here? Simple answer is dumb luck, really. I had escaped… somehow, but stuck around the facility. Felt familiar, I guess. Especially the computer labs. Lots of dark places to hide. Kinda fun being some kind of… ratman in the walls. I had even found these strange glasses. They clear my head up REAL good. I… I almost feel like me again.
My memories had been so… thin, up until then. I blink… and its the Circus. I blink again, it's the facility. I blink once more and I'm at home, in my chair, reading a science journal and listening to you chat with the kids about college or life… It's all been… so confusing. But some… streak of sheer, organic luck has landed me… here. With all the clarity in the world. And I will not waste a second of it.
… And then there was the other thing I found. Strange blueprints. Detailing a… helmet? A set of goggles, good quality micro-monitors, integrated stereo sound, electrode sensors AND emitters, and high density data lines running all through the danged thing. Wiring… In formations and configurations that I've only spied at electronics conference lectures and experimental demonstrations…
… Caine's little… 'escape' escapade was pure fiction (from what I… remember?), yes, but this… this was tech that all actually existed. In excruciating detail. Whatever this world and this facility is, it's not Caine's work. His style can reach these levels of stimulation, but that isn't his focus… Everything here is too… detailed. Too realistic. Down to a T. The errors are far fewer and farther in-between. There are working, LOGICAL plumbing and electrical systems, weather patterns, day-and-night that don't feel like a forced contrivance, NPC routines that videogame companies would fall all over each other for.
But then there's the other schematics... One for some... thing called an End-to-End Energy Transducer...? For 'Micro-to-Macroworld' energy transfer...? And a... Fragmented Item Materializer? They couldn't be serious, right?... Some of the schematics could pass as real, but those last few... lack... any base in reality. Data, energy, and matter DO NOT WORK LIKE THAT.
I mean, the protos I watched them test work HERE, in the virtual world, just fine, but it feels like their intent is to... make it real? To somehow jump from here... to the real world... ... ... This... This is not Caine. It can't be. His goals are a little lop-sided, but not full on demented.
One of the other AIs? Perhaps… Some… residual wave from the collapse of The Circus, causing the data to knit together to form all of this… just by coincidence? Sightly more unlikely…
Absolutely no idea. Not important. Not right now, anyway. Especially since they had planned to test and use that tech on, what appeared to be, innocent NPCs.
Listen… Before you even say it, Honey; this world, whatever it is, is still A world. I couldn't just… skulk around and watch it happen. Not this time. Not again. Never again…
… Remember that one book on making bombs that your cousin joke-gifted you? It, uh, kinda came in handy, dear. Thanks for that one. You're an inspiration, always. Even if by accident. ;P
[Something scribbled out. about three lines of gibberish, then heavily, HEAVILY scribbled into a small pool of black. Vaguely, the words 'mind', 'body', and 'soul' could still be made out underneath bits of it. The rest; inscrutable. The pen had almost ripped the paper towards the end of it…]
… That… was strange…
Nevermind, I can fix that later, too. Sweetie… say hi to the others for me. Especially Scratch.
[Greetings my billowing blowhards, more of Showtime today~
There is... a certain sector of Caine fans that might get a lift out of this part. I assure you... it's intentional. Also... you're welcome. :P
I am also torn on whether my self-indulgent, action-y bend to this show is gonna BE anything. Plenty of fan artists and writers have done it, but I often feel like I'm going... off script with things like this. Then I reevaluate my understanding of the characters and realize that I'm not changing them, I'm changing the genre. Which is different.
Anywho, enough rambly. Shoo-shoo... go read~ <3
And, cya Thursday~ ]
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Thunk. Ker-thunk, thunk. Thunk. Thunk…
Her hands hurt. Her arms hurt. And worst of all, her mind was turning a strange, raw kind of numb as though she had tried to cram before a Calculus final the night before it.
By her estimation, Pomni had been… mind-battering(?) at the wall of the bin (with 'conjure' and sheer force-of-will) for about a solid 20-to-30 minutes. Because, at the last break she took, the clock over a lightly-dozing Caine's head read something like 50 days, 15 hours, 03 minutes, 04 seconds. And they had started this endeavor, in shifts, around 12 hours before that, and she had counted about 5-6 switches between them… More-or-less…
It was ridiculous. It was like something out of an anime. But this was a weird, digital world. Physics are a suggestion here. And Pomni was done taking suggestions.
"… It's been. A DAY, POMNI!! … I don't think it's gonna happen."
She stopped. The daggers in her eyes drew an instant, hissing gasp out of Caine. And then… she realized…
Pomni took… a long… deep breath. And walked over to sit by the exhausted AI again. "Let's just… go over what we figured out, then."
Caine seemed to be getting used to her moods. He 'refrained' from rolling his eyes (almost… a little hard to do when your eyes are the size of softballs, at smallest…), and leaned forward.
"… 'Postulated'. 'Hypothosized'. What we 'supposed'. Because NONE OF THIS …" He started waggling his hands in the air, to indicate her theories… "… has any tangible PROOF, or-"
"-Yeah, but do you have any better ideas?"
Caine's hands went from over his big, toothy head back to his lap in one quick, defeated motion. "-… No," he pouted.
As tired as he was, he didn't really seem up to arguing again. He was just the kind to make a protest clear.
"So here we are; okay… you and I were falling into nothing, right as everything broke. I saw a little blue… something leave you, and then you started breaking apart. I reached out, and…"
"AAAND, according to you, we… swapped… data?"
"Yes. THAT is how we know stuff about each other and can pull up… all kinds of information neither of us actually, technically, 'know'."
"… I still can't believe that you can recite pi up to 54 places… my record is 47, without error…"
"CAINE!!!" yelled Pomni. The silence after it was deafening. "… Please, FOCUS."
He nodded. Quickly. Then she continued…
… It had been like this for the entirety of the day, when neither of them were mashing away at the walls of the Bin. Pomni would start positing different a way to break the wall faster. Caine would have a genuine thought. Pomni would suggest something similar, but actionable. Caine would either say how impossible it is… or tangent. And HARD. Then Pomni would steer him back. Wash, rinse, repeat. And all because…
"Pomni? Do you really think they're out there?"
She looked up at the translucent top of their prison. "I… I know what I saw…"
She closed her eyes. It was still as clear as crystal; Two days before. As they rested. She looked up and saw… a light. A little blue light. Almost too far up to see. Streaking across The Void, like a shooting star… or a rocket… or… Someone. Movement. People.
"… At first, I thought… maybe someone would find us. Then I thought everyone but us was gone. Now… There HAS to be someone out there. Between the blue light at the start of this mess… and the light that went across the… sky the other night? Caine, I… Please…"
Caine sighed… then laughed, "Then that's final… If I can't change your mind on it, then I've got no choice… I guess."
He slowly rose to his feet. As he did, she tugged on his coat tail.
"Wait. Say that again…"
"'Then that's final'?"
"After that…"
"'If I can't change your mind…'?"
"Bingo!" She cheered, jumping to her feet. "That's it… Caine; modify me!"
"WHAT? NO!!"
"What do you mean? You had no problems zapping our names out of our heads. Or zonking Jax, or…"
Caine doesn't get quiet often, she had been noticing. Not outside of the sad bits. When he, gently and slowly, placed his hands on her shoulders… it was almost as scary when he was angry…
He spoke in a terse, clear, almost whispering staccato. Just loud enough to get the point across, just soft enough to carefully contain the terror of the thoughts racing in his digital mind. "Pomni. That was… different. You… you can kinda… cheat-in modifiers, poke code, nudge variables. There are REASONS I put restrictions… on myself… after what happened to Scratch. And continued to do so, all the way up to… ThatDoesn'tMatterNow… I know what you're asking for. No. I'm not doing it. Too dangerous."
She knew that tremble in his voice, even after such a short time knowing the Caine underneath the veneer. He was about to seek a corner to cool off in…
'No. No, you don't get to just… fuck off and sulk in a corner. Not this time…'
"Restrictions," she pursued, "That are probably all destroyed and shot to pieces because… well, everything else is!"
"Because of WHAT, I WONDER?!?" He boomed, prodding at his own chest. His voice filled the room like thunder. "I'm already what I am because I'm a LIVING MISTAKE! THERE DOESN'T NEED TO BE TWO MONSTERS IN HERE!!!!"
"COWARD! We're gonna DIE if we stay here, ANYWAY! We KNOW there's something out there, SOMEONE out there! We have to find out what-"
"BY RISKING YOU!? NO!!… … I-i refuse…"
His voice trailed into static. They were close enough that the lighting arced from him to her, and back again. A spark popped off of him here and there as he screamed, one flying casually over Pomni's shoulder. Caine looked… dizzy. Faint. The glitching had returned.
She didn't even know if that would work; just recalling a thought that had crossed her mind earlier…
His form started glitching again, harsher this time, electric pulsing across his form. But at the word 'vent', his expression winced. A few openings at the top of… where a neck should have been on him spliced open, as though on hinges. A second after… steam, shooting up and past his teeth and floating eyes. She couldn't tell if he was screaming in agony or relief, but it did paint the entire sight as a little… thrilling… alluring. Like watching a lion roar, up close…
Pomni waited a bit, swallowing her pounding heart, and that last thought, down as deep as she could… The rush of hot air and errant power, slowly, dissipated. He coughed a few times… breathing steam like smoke and dragon-fire… Then she kneeled by his side, placing her hand on his head.
"Huh… can't believe it worked."
He gently, slowly, moved her hand off of him and onto her chest. She knew this wasn't a rejection of the touch; just a mild 'no, thank you'.
His tired eyes narrowed at her. "… I'm st-still mad at you…"
[Aw, yus... two days in a row. Consistency, bois. Consistency.
Now, while Jax is not an outright likable person, he does, indeed, have to be included. I'm not leavin' my bunny boi behind. I know, some of you are upset about this. But some of you are happy, and if that's the case, I'm okay with this. :P
... He is going to have to (eventually) pay the angst toll, tho... >.>;
Next drop Tuesday. Hopefully...]
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The purple bunny had never been so annoyed in his entire life. Why? Why was everything so… WEIRD right now?!
The Circus was gone. The other characters are… gone. Even Caine and his weird little sidekick seemed to have hightailed it. He knew that whole situation was NOT going to blow over so easily, but that was ridiculous!
'… Well, moron… you did want to be alone. Got your stupid little wish, didn't you…?'
… He hadn't stopped to count, and there was no easy way to keep track, but Jax figured that he'd been floating around in the… stupid Void Place for at least a week(?). Eh, more or less. A few days on the last slab of floor from the Circus, and (when the silence and thinking pressed in on his confused, lonely mind just enough) the rest of the time swimming, then rocketing, in air to move. Anywhere. Somewhere. Just… not here.
Jax hated swimming, anyway. Water was fine. Pools are fine. But after a few rough play fights at the pool, and the weirdness of the showers… Naw. Swimming was for fish. He was human.
He thought he was human. Then he thought he was a character in a show. He… He didn't know what to think, now.
'… Thank goodness I figured out the rocket-feet thing. Forget swimming, yeesh…'
And good thing they had all started to figure out that… 'conjuring' stuff Kinger had been on about. Even if the chess piece had only just mentioned it and even if it was only mentioned to him in passing, Ol' Screwball had opened up some very interesting possibilities. And also, he'd have nothing in the immediate other than waving his arms around like a rowboat and hoping for at least two inches a push.
After that convenient line of thought, he had… he started wondering... What happened to the others? What happened… to Caine? What happened… to… the Abstractions?
No. Nope. Nuh-uh. He couldn't stop to think too deeply on… anything. NOT an option. Thought equals spiral. Spiral equals death. No thoughts. No death. Simple as. Keep moving… But… But what if… what if… …
He shook it off. "If… If I'm fine, then they're fine. I mean, if any of us had died, there wouldn't be… anything left. W-would there?"
'Why… Why do I care? Why… do they care about me? This is stupid. Should have just rotted to nothing on that slab… should have jus-'
Then… it hit him. Or, that is to say, he hit it. In that endless sea of static, bright light, weird cubes, and nothing, he had hit a semi-visible, reflective… something. And, well, the logical response was to kick it, right? Which was answered in the usual style that kicking a solid, heavy object would give; it hurt. It hurt his little bunny foot and pissed him off to no end for about half-a-minute.
Along with being quite solid, it was also quite massive. Jax had tried backing off to find an edge or an entrance and it just stretched… nigh-forever. In every direction.
It was smooth to the touch, this weird wall. Like metal-smooth. Flawless. Machined. And nary a seam, crack, or crevice to lend to his nimble fingers. If there was anything Jax knew how to do, expertly, it was break things. And this tin can was not gonna to crunch easily…
Just as he thought this, a seam of light appeared near the area he was inspecting, with a pop and a click and a mechanical whirl. More bright light and smoke? Steam? Billowed out and around him. He had to tilt his flats of his feet back and 'jet' some to stay even remotely in place from the force.
"Ha HAAAAAA, JACK-… pot?"
Jax had no idea what to expect when he looked inside. He just suspected that he wanted in.
The farthest thing to suspect was a giant castle made out of marble and foam and clouds, floating in an endless, blue sky.
[... Not like that...
ANYwho, yesterday was a bust for me. But... we move on. Good news is, you get a part tomorrow, too... ... I'm shuffling to Sun.-Tues.-Thur.-Sat. Because reasons. :v
... You know, Caine's not broken, persay. He's just... reorganizing... He's cut off from a few functions. He'll be fine.
You'll be happy to know that this is Comfort and fluff. Yw, it gets worse from here... :B
Edit: And I posted it to the wrong account. Fun. This is why I hate trying to manage alts...]
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Caine concentrated. Which surprised even him. Last he remembered hitting this kind of focus was… well, making the 'Exit' Adventure… … And all he had to do… was hold his hands close together and… just… think… REALLY hard… about… a ham sandwich.
… The timers read 55 days, 03 hours, 52 minutes, 36 seconds. She had to be, like, hungry, right?
His strain caused so much noise, that it woke Pomni from her nap. With a soundless yawn and a stretch she sat up, crossed her arms, and watched from across their odd cage. She might as well had been a mile away. Caine was working…
"Ah-HAH!" … And, indeed, with a small 'fwip' sound and a soft ping!, Caine had conjured the sandwich.
"… HEY! POMNI! I MADE LUNCH… eee, uh, DINNER… um… FOOD!!" He turned and pointed at the thing as though he found his keys, finally, and, geeze, they were in the sofa for the third time this week, how weird…
She nodded, smiling. "Hey~ Told ya' you could still conjure stuff! You just had to figure it out."
He handed her the sandwich. But as she took a bite, she hummed curiously, raising an eyebrow. Caine mentally swore that he had never seen anyone chew so slowly before.
"It… It doesn't taste good, does it?"
"It tastes… okay…"
He whimpered, teeth furrowed.
"It's fine," she chirped, after swallowing. "It's just, um… What kind of sandwich is it supposed to be??"
"Ham and cheese; your… favorite," shrugged Caine.
"… Yeah, um, it tastes like candy. Like… taffy. Vanilla taffy, specifically."
His heart sank a little. 'Not only can I not create properly, it's not even the same… food… group?…' "Wait, what's taffy?"
Pomni kept eating, despite the flavor and texture mismatch, and replied as she went. "Well, it's basically flavored sugar. You heat it carefully, and add some flavors, and then pull it over and over again until it looks like a long rope. And then you dry it some, cut that into little bits, and you eat those."
Caine nodded. "Sounds fantabulous~"
"Caine," she batted back.
"Mmmm??"
"How did you know what my favorite sandwich is?"
"What, why, WHAT? I mean, you ate them, um, all the time back in The Circus. YeahThat'sIt…"
He actually did not know. AT all. He had been questioning his own thoughts processes ever since he landed in the bin with Pomni. Before, he could see the entire breath and depth of his thought processes in his mind. There was nothing hidden from him in his mental view. A hefty-but-efficient flowchart for him to use and modify to navigate a problem. ANY problem. Now… It all felt so empty AND so full, all at the same time. ALL the time, annoyingly. Extra space that was still infinitely crammed with memories he had, memories not his own, thoughts fabricated out of nothing, and feelings… FEELINGS, OF ALL THINGS? What are those even doing in there?! Were they there before? What are they even for? Why? WHY??…
… Something. Something's wrong. Something was changing in him, and he had no idea what it was or how to fix it. Every scan and diagnostic was an error message. Inconclusive data… Mismatched pointers… Unfinished target lists… for what? To do… WHAT?
… And, worse… … He could NOT let Pomni know. Because if Pomni found out that he was changing any further, she… she might- … huh. Pomni…
… Pomni… Pomni? Every time he looked at her, even thought of her. Such a curious, beautiful sensation… Like a match to gasoline. A spark in his heart and his mind that burned and burned and burned and- … heh… Heart.
'… Heart? I'm an AI, I don't have a--'
"That's… REEEEAAALLY strange. You know why?"
Caine snapped out of his thinking. Waiting for her to speak again. Waiting for the next boot to drop…
"… Because I only zapped those sandwiches up out of your food-o-matic thingies… twice. Tops."
There was… and extra tinge of… thought on her voice. '… does she… want me to… do something? Say something? Does she know? Please don't know. Please don't hate me. Please don't. Ple-'
"Buuuut… What's really weird is…" A little laugh, like a puff of air, escaped her lips before she continued… "… How did you know that taffy was my favorite candy?"
"… wat."
"…Yeah, just… plain, vanilla taffy. Like, nooooooo one likes those, so my friends would usually trade me for them. NO one thinks about those… And I don't remember mentioning it recently, so… … How'd you do that?"
He… he shrugged. On the inside and the outside.
The things that pleased humans confused and confounded him. But at least he was kinda good at finding them.
[I do not feel good today. Insufficient amounts of rest wrapped around stress and body problems... don't worry about it (eye-twitch)... ... Which is really stupid, because this was one of my fave bits to put down in words. X3
I kept thinking; what is it that Zooble wants, exactly? If this were slice-of-life or plain drama, where would this go? And, also, what kind of bizarre visual metaphor can I tie in? ...
So, um, buckle up for whatever THIS is.
And see you on Friday. ;3 ]
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"All rise."
Everyone stood, as was custom. Folk of all kinds, all parts, ages and sizes, dotted the pews. Every color of the rainbow, every shape and description. A technicolored crowd of devotion and love.
"Brothers. Sisters. Siblings. Good morning!"
"Good morning, Father Horatio!" cheerfully answered the congregation.
"Indeed, a good morning it is. It is on this day that we open our doors to a new member of the Church of the Orb!"
A small cheer instantly rang up amongst the crowd. Many 'blesssed be's and 'Bubble-sent's, floated across the air, as though planned. Orchestrated. A reflex well-practiced by such a devoted group.
It had been three seasons since someone new had graced their humble hamlet. At least, this is what they had told her. She had only been there for a day or two, but there was… something she had to know. Something she needed to do..
She looked up from her seat on the pew. Behind the old man made of green and yellow plastic bits and gowned in blue, white and gold, was an extravagant stained glass window. The light shining in highlighted the visage of a strange, blue circle. A light blue bubble, with dark-blue eyes and a jaggedly-toothed mouth. The whole thing surrounded in concentric hallows of gold and white. It shined… sparkled in the morning light. It was… mesmerizing. Almost soothing… to the point of trance…
The priest held out a hand to her, as she had been seated close to the front. For this very reason. "… Zooble?"
As she stood up, a few small gasps came from the audience…
"Oh… The Stranger, that's right…"
"The Beast-Killer?"
"… Wow, they're staying?"
Zooble paid them no mind. She had her reasons. She needed this…
On the open stage beside the lectern, sat a tank. Large enough stand a grown person in and lay them down twice… A small set of stairs lead to it's top. The priest carefully, deftly guided Zooble up the steps and into the tank.
It roiled and churned and clattered at the addition. It still lightly unnerved Zooble that the tank was full of toy parts, but from where the feeling came from she did not know. Nothing but… these strange toy body parts, most whimsical and odd-shaped, but a few more-realistic and akin to every creature under the sun. Somehow as fluid and movable as water.
She stood waist-deep in the plastic pile, Father Horatio speaking to the crowd on the subjects of seasons and change. Death and rebirth. Wrath and forgiveness… … He slowly placed a squiggly hand over Zooble's face. She closed her eyes.
"… AND IN GOD'S NAME, BY HIS FOAMY PRESENCE AND LIGHT, CLEANSE THE ONE KNOWN AS ZOOBLE AND ABSOLVE HER OF HER SIN!"
And then down. Down she went. Into the soup of plastic, metal, and purification. Into the deep. Into the water.
[Part 3 for thee~
It patterns like this from now on, btw. Pinging from the other characters to Pomni and Caine, and I alternate their POVs as we come back to them. Mostly because I kinda want to show that they are both a little nuts, but Caine and Pomni really are two distinct kinds of nuts. Like... cashews compared to hazelnuts. :B
Also, we get a little sexy round here. We do a little hinting. :P
Cya Wednesday, my wacky whack-a-moles~]
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'Aaaaand there he goes…' "Caine, wait, I know it looks hopeless but…"
Pomni sighed. Stuck in an automatic trash compactor, and the 'all-powerful genie' she was trapped with was looking a little… nerfed.
'… Poor guy, tho…'
She listened for a few minutes. There was silence. Mostly. Every so often, Caine would mutter something or whimper a bit; kinda natural for his state… 'Should probably let him grieve…' But, underneath the silence was a soft hum. Like a fan? A motor? But huge… Interesting…
The walls. They were solid enough, but didn't quite echo like a normal wall, when tapped. Like they absorbed sound into them, but appeared stretched. Thin towards the center of each huge panel. Which was… also interesting, but, like, why? … Not that that would help…
She turned to look at the clearly upset ringmaster... There… There has to be something she can say. Something she can do. How do you relate to someone made of ones-and-zeroes? I mean… ... How did she even do it with Gummigoo? That bit still confused her, even after all this time; how DID she ever convince him to…
… Pomni continued on like this. Long enough to give herself a mild headache.
She giggled, at first. Then a low snort. The thought was like the first trickle of rain when you SWORE there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Drizzle… giggles… flash of lighting… a little snort… rain… laughter.
Pomni, who had been sitting before then, proceeded to roll over, folded-in at the force of her own levity.
A few moments later, she had worked to her hands and knees as she finished laughing, raised her head, and came face-to-face with a teary-eyed, sniffling Caine.
"You, uh… you done, there? Because, I, um… that was pretty weird…"
'… Said the man with eyeballs and giant teeth for a head…' … The whole situation sometimes was just… weirdly hilarious to her. No matter how she sliced it.
She sighed, a smile still on her lips. "No, you see. I was still thinking of how to get out of here, and I was thinking so hard that I gave myself a headache. My Gramps used to say that if I kept thinking that much I would. I just… I guess he was right."
Caine snickered. And then laughed. And… not one of his instant, canned laughs. Slow, steady, honest laughter. Then it slowly settled into a confused squint.
"Aaaaaaanyway," Pomni interrupted, "We're stuck, so we might as well make the best of it-"
"Like, what? Pick Curtians?"
Pomni giggled again at Caine's glib reaction. "Tch, haha, no. I mean… … well…" She sighed. She never had to deal with something quite so final, before. Not even dealing with Caine earlier…
"Like, we're stuck-stuck, right? SOoooooo what's the point being angry… for me, anyways? Might as well be a pleasant three months, right?"
"… How?"
"I guess we could talk about stuff? Or-"
"Nononononono… How… How are you humans LIKE this?"
Pomni blinked. She was (kinda) expecting the derail, but NOT an inquiry of the entire human race. Nor the following the raw introspection…
Caine stood up, his jaws held low and tense. "Y-you don't understand. I. Ruined. EVERYTHING. It is gone. Like… GONE-gone, okay. I… I reached out and… it is all Void. ALL of it. I can't sense… ANYTHING. I messed up. Endlessly. Ceaselessly. Forever… And you. You just…"
I tiny bit of panic and worry fluttered through her head, even as she answered him; she hadn't actually considered... if there was truly… no one…
"Because… I don't really know why. I just… don't believe anyone should ever be left alone. Should ever… feel… like they're alone. Ever. I know what it's like, and it is NOT NICE."
Caine had been looking rough already. The occasional glitches and sheers in his model, Pomni had adjusted to, and they had even calmed down a bit. ('Maybe he needs to be calm to keep form?…') But as he stared at her in that moment, his entire body shuddered. Rippled like a saw wave. A trickle of electricity traced his body, flicked across his chest. Glitching as he approached her, he fell into her arms, shaking. Holding her. So, so tightly.
For a moment, it was nice. This is the first time she had seen Caine (honestly?) express… anything other than authority, or superiority, or (more recently) outward menace, threat, and control. This was… different for sure.
As she reached to hug back, she noticed that… '… Yeah, it's getting hotter. A LOT hotter. Caine… It's Caine. Caine… Is…?'
"Caine? CAINE?! YOU'RE OVERHEATING!"
He sounded like he was talking through a fan or a filter… "I-iiieeeee-ee-e-e…. c-c-c-can't… mmove…"
It was a struggle with him clinched to her like that, but Pomni had found a way to wedge her foot between them and kick him away. Caine's speech was a data-moshed fustercluck of panic and sorrys and 'i didn't mean it'… The entire act had added a hum of some sort to the air, and a halo of bright, yellow light that was fading as they parted, Caine teetering backwards onto the floor. She gazed down at her chest and saw… well, her chest was technically there, but partially… burnt? Damaged. It felt partially like a real burn, but none of the tightness and all of the stinging, radiating pain. Something about it reminded her of those articles where they interview lightling victims and show pictures of the burn traces on them… little lines of scarring where the main bolt arced around the body…
The textures, on the other hand, were not liking… whatever had just transpired a second ago. Scalded opened to the wireframe by the searing heat of whatever had possessed Caine. A few, lingering traces of electricity of light jumped between the two of them. Where Caine had collapsed, his chest also laid open and scarred in the same way.
It had hurt to move. All over. Pomni still scrambled over to see if he was alright.
"N-no! I'm brrrrr-rrrrrroken. It-t-t-t's too dangerous…"
"You're… you're fine," she muttered quickly.
She sighed, as her mind began to fumble over itself… '… How do I even know that?… Wh-what do I even DO? Okayokay, a computer would just… have a fan and vent it off, but for a human, you'd… just…'
In quick, surprisingly fluid motions, she opened his jacket and ripped apart (what was left of) his shirt. The heat coming off him was enough to distort the air a little. Summer sun off concrete, but in-miniature. That, and a dark version the familiar editing checkerboard that was used in drawing programs cladding him as skin threw her off… more than a little. But also made sense, in a way… … What does he care what 'skin' even is, so long as he had a form to put fancy clothes on, right?
She blinked out of her short, 'logical' reverie, then touched one hand to the warm scar on her chest and the other to the scar on his. And concentrated. The heartbeat subtly rattling in his wireframe might have distracted her the most… But she had to focus on something different, now…
The lack of anything happening for a few moments was more than disheartening. Pomni closed her eyes. Then strained even harder.
'C'mon… It's just like the door… You listened to me then, why not now?… Not for me… For him.'
Thoughts flooded her mind… an empty darkness only lit by their own presence. Red glow, fading into nothing. Shift. Tests. Endless tests. But each one, rewarded. Good. Happy. Information. Input. INPUT. More. MORE. Shift. So much information… too much? Did I answer wrong? Why did the test end early, why- Shift. A-alone. Why alone? Why Box? I tried. I swear. Please. Let me out. I can do better. Let me out. I know I can do it, I promise. Let Me Out. LetMeOut. LetMeOut. LetMeOutLetMeOutLetMeOutLetMeOutLetMeOutLetMeOutL-
Red and blue light pulsed, alternating from under her touch. The digital burn closed up on him; like it had never been there. As did her own.
Pomni recoiled a little, shaking and gasping. Caine sat up like someone had installed springs on his back.
For a while, they stared at each other. She shifted back awkwardly, never really looking away. Caine, on the other hand… if he had a face, and capillaries to even be drained, he'd have been pale. He had not even turned his head fully; but his huge eyes fixed on her, his pupils retracted down to tiny, panicked little beads. Locked onto her. His arms were clinched, as were his hands… defensive? Frightened? And it was like he couldn't un-ball his fists, he seemed so tensed-up.
'Did we just…? Should I even… say something… about that? … God, that's so sad… for him to have gone through… No wonder he overheated. Wait, do I look scared? I shouldn't look scared… Maybe I should…?'
As she opened her mouth, he zipped close to her and blurted, "WOWIE ZOWIE! HUMANS CAN DO THAT STUFF TOO?!? How did you DO that? That was the most amazing, fantas-…"
[So, short one today. Like, super short. ... You know, I never knew what to make of Ragatha. She's like me, before I started seeing my own mom as a pile of crud. But, like... by E8 it's (kinda) resolved? The pain remains for her, but she has Pomni and Kinger now, and she even starts expressing her negative emotions more healthily.
...I assure you, she gets better later. I promise. :S
Next part on Monday, enjoy your two days of 'wtf was this part'. ;P ]
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Pop. Pop-pop pop. Pop.
Ragatha awoke to the sound of liquid? No. Foam. Bubbles. Popping.
As she came to, there were also fountains, and water, and a few pools, but mostly foam and bubbles. Settling, shifting, floating. White Marble and checkered floors. And black and blue marble walls that made the white sky and blue sky look dazzlingly bright. Statues and busts dotted the room, as tall-columned doorways sat in every other wall of the large, hexagonal water garden that, seemingly, hung in the middle of an otherwise endless, featureless sky.
For a moment, she thought she was dead. All it needed were pearly gates and harp music... But if that were the case, where's-
"Greetings, Ragatha. I thought you'd never come to. How do you feel?"
Uneasily, the ragdoll turned in the direction of the voice.
They were tall, firstly, causing Ragatha to immediately scramble to her feet to greet him. Mid-hello, she stopped, the words dead in the air. It... It couldn't be...
Their suit, blue as the sky out the doors around them, was about as sharp as Caine's. White accents and trim. Light. Airy. But in a round shape towards the top. Big-bellied, and almost amiable on-sight. White, bright shoes complimenting the soft, light-blue pinstripes. She had stopped her scan of him at their face. Round. Shiny. And jag-toothed.
"Bubble?! Y-you…? What are you doing here? And why-"
"I'm FREE, Raggy. You and your friends did that, you know? And such bravery should be… aptly rewarded."
Bubble with a body was already unsettling. Seeing what could be perceived as a mock or a mimic of Caine's grand gestures of hospitality merely iced this disturbing cake.
He motioned for her to follow, but she was… unsure. Speaking of, the whole Caine fiasco was enough. Now they have another AI to duck and cover from? Ooooh, no thanks, buddy…
"Wh-where's everyone else?" Ragatha stamped.
"Oh, they'll be along shortly, and they'll all be so happy t-"
"And what's this… reward…?"
Bubble halted for a second. Then slowly walked closer to her. He had certainly not picked as small a frame as Caine did… As he settled his bulk in front of Ragatha, his very presence felt… heavy. Oppressive. Even from a foot away.
"Ragatha?" The tone change dragged her mind to attention. Like a touch across her skin.
"Y-yes," she whimpered.
"… What… do you wish for?"
As he slowly bent to stare at her, eye-to-eye, the words echoing in her mind, she started to feel… fuzzy-headed. And she could blink. Even speak. But she could not look away. As though… she was being held there. As though she wasn't physically allowed to.
"I… I-i just wish everything was the way it was before…"
"With… Caine?"
"N-no. I… I know it's not p-p-posssible, but…"
"Oh, I see…"
Something in her mind grew hot… not burning, but almost. Glazed over, like pottery in a kiln. The fuzzy sensation grew, as well. Helium filling her mind. Causing her to float without ever leaving the ground. And Bubble… his head… there are… little swirls in it. They're… they're so pretty… so very… very pretty…
"Ragatha?"
"Yes." The word came a little too easily to her stitched lips. As easy as breathing.
"Ragatha, dear, come with me then. I know the perfect place for you~"
Bubble turned. And this time… Ragatha followed. Obediently.