“i made a program that creates a body perfectly encapsulating their mind files, and they still hate them!”
he’s talking about their avatars. Caine seems to be actively telling us that his program creates a body based off of how the cast see themselves.
Kinger is the smartest and oldest. The king piece is important and strategically used in the endgame of chess.
Ragatha is a people pleaser and struggles to be vulnerable without getting hurt. She’s a ragdoll. Easily destroyed but also quite durable.
Jax is afraid of being vulnerable and open and Rabbits are usually seen as prey, leading them to be cautious and guarded.
Gangle is shy, fragile and used to masking. Her ribbon body shows off her fragility while her sad and happy theatrical masks are her emotions given physical form while also implying that she regularly has to mask her emotions to fit in, being a sensitive person.
Zooble is widely interpreted as having body dysmorphia, and so, feels uncomfortable in their body. This condition is given physical form through their avatar which is made of removable and uncomfortable parts. They bring up a handful of times that they can’t find something that feels good, irritating them despite having the physical ability to build a body to better suit them.
Pomni is more often than not, the main member of the cast that the others confide in. she takes very much of a leader-esque role in certain situations and is very serious about her situation and life in the circus, paralleling her Jester avatar which is very child-like and playful. Furthermore, in medieval times, Jesters were known to cut their ties to the ‘real world’ to enhance their reputation as a detached observer. This again goes against who Pomni is, the newest member of the circus cast who, up until recently, assumed or hoped that eventually she would return to her original life.
In short, the circus cast would hate their avatars because:
Kinger’s body is a reminder of his job, what with Computer Chess being one of the first AI apps in the 1940s/50s and being a reminder of his wife. He’s now a king without a queen.
Ragatha’s body is a reminder of her life as someone’s plaything, rather than their daughter. It’s a reminder of how much abuse she can/has been forced to endure and to a lesser extent, of the wealth she lost, being sent instead from ‘Riches to Rags’.
Jax’s body is a reminder of his vulnerabilities which is why his personality is more that of a predator. He lashes out and attacks others to distract from his own weaknesses.
Gangle’s body is a reminder of her disability, of her fragility and her inability to relieve herself of the masks she’s now been forced to wear.
Zooble’s body is a reminder that their body will never be theirs. Not really. Even faced with a near infinite amount of parts, no form their body can take is good enough for their Dysmorphia.
Pomni’s body is a reminder of her inability to be taken seriously despite her intelligence, emotional and otherwise, but more than that, her body is a reminder that a single decision can make a difference.
…and this all frustrates Caine to no end, because, without actually being human? he can’t/couldn’t begin to actually contemplate or understand these issues.
Sure, he can craft adventures where certain characters may shine, and he can fix Gangle’s mask and create a therapy session for Zooble… but he can’t actually make sense of the issues they feel. He lacks empathy and personal experience so while he can sense there may be a problem, he can only simulate understanding very human problems that he literally cannot fix.
