Chapter Text
Caine quietly spun in his office chair, looking around the room dejectedly. It had been a little bit more than a day since the Favorite Character Award fiasco, and he still didn’t quite understand what had happened.
Of course he didn’t expect to win but at least one vote! A small token of appreciation for everything he was doing for them… but no, nothing. Worst of all, none of them had enjoyed the show, and Jax kept on getting more withdrawn, warning messages unhelpfully clogging up his command queue.
If only he knew what to do to fix it. He floated to the shelves holding the globes, worlds of his creation, filled with life and protected only by a slim glass dome. Of course he had backups, but only for the more recent ones; he couldn’t afford to keep everything. Those miniatures were the best way he had to maintain them.
He cupped one in his hands, carefully observing it. It had been a few years since this one, but he remembered making it for Ragatha, back when she had just arrived. Caine had worked very hard, modeling horses after horses, making a world as kind and lively as he could just to show her life could be good here. She had smiled back then, eyes sparkling with apprehension and wonder at the world stretching before her. When did her smile turn into one of polite resignation?
Caine knew the humans didn’t want to stay forever; he knew that. He didn’t want that for them either, but he didn’t have a choice! Why couldn’t they see it? Why did they look upon the circus like it was a prison, its glass ceiling something made to imprison instead of protect?
Was it also how they saw him? A warden instead of a helper. Caine couldn’t bear the thought. He needed something to rekindle their sparks, to make them understand he wasn’t here to restrain them but to help!
For that, Caine needed something they couldn’t resist. He thought about the macroverse, his creators, the Polaroids neatly kept in the inside of his pockets, the impossible exit, and about Abel still waiting to be used. He didn’t know how to explain it all to them, but it was fine; he would show them in time. For now it was time for an adventure.
Caine sighed; it had been a few days since he had started to work on his most important project to date, and he was close to finishing it. He closed his eyes and imagined the humans going into this immersive adventure, curiosity piqued by the promise of an escape, learning about the organization behind the Circus guided to his office by Abel.
After traversing a dark corridor, they would be faced with two buttons, two endings. One, staying with him here. The obvious choice after knowing he would stay rotting here alone if they left and the choice of leaving… But what if they chose to leave?
What would happen then if they decided to leave him behind? He couldn’t exactly make an exit or he would have done so a long time ago…
Bubble appeared. “Still working on this Boss?”
“Yes, you wouldn’t happen to know what to put at the end of this would you?”
"...hmm, leave it to me!” He exclaimed.
Caine stared ahead thoughtfully. Bubble had helped in adventures before without issue, but he had been acting strangely lately. Could he be trusted not to mess this up? He glanced at the red button; surely the players wouldn’t pick this one. "Alright, but don’t do anything I wouldn’t do," Cained concluded.
Creating something ought to help Bubble go back to normal; he knew he always felt better after successfully finishing a project! It also allowed him to focus on the last hangup in the adventure: Kinger.
The chess piece knew as much as Caine about C&A and the circus, maybe even more… As much as he loathed to do this he had to be kept at arm's length from everyone else during the adventure… Once he figured out how, his newest adventure could start, and after, he would finally be able to see eye to eye with his players and make them smile again!
Never in his life did Caine remember hesitating to start an adventure, but as he watched Zooble, Pomni, and Ragatha reading his letter, he could feel his throat uncomfortably tightening as he echoed the words on the paper, waiting for them to notice him. Pesky glitch, messing with his model again!
“Well, this was fun while it lasted.”
“So, uh, what's the adventure today?” Ragatha nervously smiled.
Caine shrugged. “Oh, I don't have an adventure for you today. So you can do whatever you feel like.”
“All right, sounds fine to me.” Zooble shrugged back.
They were supposed to question him, not to simply accept the fact! He hadn’t stopped making a daily adventure in decades! His players should find it strange. No matter, he would just have to use his charms!
"You should ask me for suggestions on what to do instead.” Caine cutely blinked.
“No.” They deadpanned.
“What should we do instead?” Gangle shyly asked, and Caine made a note to model some more art supplies for her as a thank you.
‘No, Gangle-”
“Oh, wait, sorry.”
…He pointedly ignored that part. “Great question, Gangle. For an answer, let me consult... the Chinese Room!” He exclaimed, turning around to show them the door.
“Okay, he had a bit prepared.”
Caine took the papers he had prepared out of his jacket before carefully sliding it under the door.
“Okay, why Chinese? Does this actually mean anything?”
Finally, some interest from Zooble! “It's a mystery what's behind that door.” He lied. “But I believe that it's a fluent Chinese speaker who will give me advice.” What was behind the door was actually much more important to today’s adventure. Not that his dearest player could know that.
“Can I just ask why?” She continued, “Like, what even is-”
“SHUT!” Caine tutted, “You're only making the joke take longer.”
As much as he liked that Zooble showed interest, he couldn’t exactly tell them why the room was there. He glanced back at the door, watching the papers sliding back out exactly as they were supposed to, and started laughing hysterically.
“What does it say?” Zooble sighed.
“I don't know. I don't understand Chinese.” Caine looked back to his public; only Kinger chuckled. He hadn’t been sure the chess piece would be lucid enough to understand the reference, but he was glad Kinger had been; even if the other wouldn’t ever know it, Caine had felt obligated to include something for him. After all, he was about to be excluded from most of today.
“Hilarious.”
Now that the introduction was over, it was time to change the subject! “I don't know, why don't you guys hang out at the Digital Lake? These locations have just kinda been here this whole time. Not sure why you never visit them.”
“You should throw a fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffreaking beach party." Bubble exclaimed.
Since when had he arrived here? Well, now that he had done his part of the scene, he had to go! Caine couldn’t allow the slightest chance for a spoiler! He raised his arm to pop his companion, with a grateful look. “Good boy.”
“Oh, that could be fun.” Ragatha smiled.
“Plus, there are some fun NPCs out there that none of you have even interacted with yet.”
“I'm guessing they're not intelligent ones?”
Caine thought of the shrimp and the fishes he had decided to leave unrendered. “They most certainly are not. Now, go have fun!”
The adventure was going well so far; sure, Abel had only just made his introduction, but if creating adventures had taught him anything, it was that players always found a way to defy his expectations with their infinite well of creativity! He would congratulate them on this if it didn’t add him hours of additional troubleshooting to perfect an adventure. Encouraging those traits seemed… unwise.
Speaking of his dear players, it seemed like fun time at the beach was nearing its end. Pomni had started speaking with Abel just as planned! It shouldn’t take too long to convince her about an exit since she was the most recent arrival! Oh, he just couldn’t wait to see their delighted smiles at the end of the adventures! Caine usually tried to keep himself from spying on his Zesty Flowers too closely, but this time he simply couldn’t help himself! He had worked too hard on this to miss it! It had been so long since he had felt this excited to see the reaction to his adventures in a long while; after all this time, he had made sure that everything was perfect!
He lacked well-placed, all-seeing eyes near the beach, and so he settled for Abel. Focusing his gaze through him, Caine could clearly see Pomni’s hopeful face! She looked so happy and determined; he had never seen her this invested! She was already getting ready to bring Ragatha into the plan!
This was going even better than he had expected! Caine couldn’t help himself; he exhaled a shaky breath of relief through Abel.
“Are you feeling ok?” Ragatha smiled.
“Of course," Abel retorted without missing a beat. “It’s just… it’s been a while since I spoke to anyone. Could we maybe keep this between us for now? I’m not sure I'm ready to face more people, and… Caine might notice if we all stay together.”
“Of course I understand!” Ragatha answered, “It should be fine if we wait a bit before bringing the others into this right? They are having fun… What do you think, Pomni?”
“I mean, sure. It’s not like the exit is going to fly away," Pomni smiled back hesitantly. “right?”
“Of course! As long as Caine doesn’t notice us.”
Caine quickly withdrew from the eyes of Abel. Nice save! He would need to congratulate him after the adventure, or rather, congratulate himself for creating such a believable NPC; he had really outdone himself this time! He couldn’t believe he had almost ruined it all by breathing! Something so totally unnecessary, he truly had spent too much time trying to mimic his guests… Maybe it was better if he kept his distance for now; Abel seemed to be doing good on his own.
<alert>("Player.Jax instability level has is nearing maximum value")
<alert>(“if Player.Jax instability level = in 72000.ticks:abstraction.protocol”)
Oh, this was bad. More than bad, catastrophic! Sure, Jax had not been doing well, but he hadn’t ever reached such a level! There had been no further accidents since the awards! Had Caine been too busy to notice? No, it was impossible; these notifications were top priority. No matter what he did, he would have received them!
Why did humans always choose the most inconvenient time to have issues? At least Caine knew how to improve the situation. A goal always helps humans feel better, right? He definitely couldn’t let the situation play out as is, but he couldn’t intervene without ruining the adventure…
Caine quickly sent a command to Abel to signal the change of plan before refocussing on Pomni and Ragatha; this time he didn’t use Abel; he preferred to use a pre-existing object, but focusing himself on the space around worked just as well, even if it was slightly less comfortable.
Able froze, making a show of hesitation before sighing, “On second thought, we need to at least speak to Jax.”
“What, are you sure?” Pomni asked, “He’s not the most likely to listen. Don't you want to speak to Zooble, Gangle, or Kinger?”
“No, not yet." He fixed the other two with a determined gaze. “We need Jax to move on, to speak freely. We need to enter the Chinese Room; he’s the only one who could have the key."
“Alright. If you’re sure," Ragatha smiled. “Just… tell us if you need anything, alright?"
“Thank you.” He smiled back. “Now, let’s go.”
This was good, Caine thought, refocusing on his main model, busying himself by verifying everything was in place in his office one last time. Abel would ping him when they reached Jax anyway. He grabbed an adventure and looked at it thoughtfully. Should he leave it on display or keep it safe somewhere else? It was one of his favorites… This meant he kept a backup just in case; there was no reason to remove it; he trusted his players anyway!
He looked at the garden and the forest contained within, the perfect place for a nice relaxing nature picnic. A symbol of simpler times. It was one of his first tries at a calmer adventure; Kinger and Queenie had smiled so brightly when he had shown it to them. Caine blinked; it seemed like Abel and company had already reached Jax. At least now it would be simpler to observe the situation; the hall was filled with paintings!
Caine watched silently as Pomni gently knocked on the door, waiting for an answer before hitting the door more forcefully. Was it already too late? He didn’t like spying inside the rooms but… what if? No, he knew logically there were still 24000 until the process began to be irreversible. There was no need.
Despite it all, his system buzzed with nervous anticipation as Pomni finally gave up and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, a grumpy Jax came out, unharmed. Just as he was meant to be.
“Way to interrupt my nap." Jax sighed.
Reassured, he tuned out the rest of the conversation. Caine couldn’t help but be annoyed. Why was his system so unhelpful these days? It was almost as if it were working against him! Deep down, he knew there was nothing he could do, but maybe just one more system check-up could help? He needed to be in tip-top shape for the rest of the adventure! Yes, Abel would warn him if anything became an issue!
Wowie! Everything was progressing so well! Jax was skeptical of Abel and of his plan but not enough to stop cooperating, and it was still serving as a very nice distraction from his…issue.
“Hey, Caine! "You around?” Jax yelled. Speak of the devil!
“Hey, Jax! ” Caine excitedly answered, "I didn't know you could ask if I was around like that. Good job.” He patted the bunny on the shoulder. This was supposed to be comforting, right? Humans needed comfort in their times of need!
"Uhhh..." He hesitated before pointing a finger at the ringmaster. "You want to get dinner together?”
“GASP! A human wanting to…” He widened his eyes, “hang out with ME??? How could I possibly turn down such an offer??” Sure, he had expected a distraction, but this! This was even better than in his wildest dream! A human eating with him!
“So, where do you wanna-?”
In his excitement he pulled Jax out of the circus grounds without warning. He carefully set the other on a comfortable chair before speaking. “So, Jax! Whatcha want to talk about, friendo?"
“Uh– I–”
He was so excited! It was his first opportunity in a long time to have a true friendly conversation with a human! Surely by the end of this dinner Jax would understand where Caine was coming from! Maybe he’d even compliment his adventures.
“Wait, Jax!!! Silly him! The best way to start a conversation was by finding a subject! What better subjects than adventures? The most entertaining things in the world! “I wanted to ask you about the adventures! What do you think I should do to make them more appealing to the Zooble and the Pomni?”
“I think that–” Jax tried as a waiter handed them some menus.
“We should figure out what to order first!” Caine interrupted, “Conversation can happen after we've loaded up on digital nutrients.” After all, the rabbit had asked him for dinner! It would be extremely rude not to provide it before starting up a conversation.
Oh boy! He wasn’t used to friendly outings; it seemed like he was mixing all the steps. Hopefully Jax wouldn’t mind too much. Now… What to order? He didn’t particularly enjoy eating, as he didn't keep his taste buds active, but humans liked talking about food! Leaving Jax to order alone would surely make him uncomfortable. Hmm… maybe the jello meatloaf would be a good choice? Or salmon, right! Jokes were essential between friends.
“What are your thoughts on cedar-smoked salmon? I "cedar" smoked salmon, but I hardly "knowder" smoked salmon!” He joked, wait, was that how the joke went? He was pretty sure he had made a mistake somewhere. Oh well, subversions of expectation and all that! So funny, he laughed.
“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha.” Jax faked.
It seemed like the joke really wasn’t a success. Had he messed everything up?
“Uh, do you have any secret hobbies?” The bunny continued.
The ringmaster turned to face Jax incredulously. “...secret hobbies?” Did he really want to know about his hobbies? No player had ever asked him about those!
“Yeah, like, things you do on your own that you'd be interested in talking about?” He smiled.
“Why... I... I didn't think a human would ever want to ask me about my..." Caine widened his eyes, staring at Jax in a way he hoped adequately transmitted how happy he was. “Th-this is the most fantastical moment of m–”
Sadly he would have to finish this discussion later; the adventure came first. Caine froze, putting his model in his basic T-pose. He needed to give Jax the opportunity to get the key. The bunny didn’t miss the opportunity he was given and quickly reached inside… Too bad for him, things couldn’t be too easy! It would be suspicious otherwise. The second time’s the charm!
Caine reset his model before speaking. “Whatcha doin' there, Jax?”
The rabbit fumbled for an excuse. “Have I ever told you how it's my dream to get eaten by you?”
“That's a weird thing to say and want.” Well, everybody couldn’t be gifted at finding excuses on the fly! This was an excuse, right? He was never quite sure with humans; so hard to predict!
“Buuut, like I was saying.” Anyway, there were more important things to talk about! Like his hobbies! Maybe Jax could provide some insight! He came from the macroverse after all! “This macroverse place really intrigues me.”
The ringmaster carefully took out the Polaroids from his vest, showing them to Jax before continuing, “I'm obsessed with them. I-I just wish I had more info on the location so I could accurately recreate it. Too bad they cut me off, right??” He slammed his hands on the table angrily before laughing hysterically.
“Uh, yeah.” Jax deadpanned, “What a shame.”
What a shame indeed; if he still had access, he could do so many things! Learn so much… Maybe even how to fix this whole fiasco! Finding some way, somehow, to fix the circus. Maybe even finding what lies behind the exit they are all longing for!
It wouldn't focus on what ifs. Especially with Jax around, “So, what's your takeaway from all this?” he asked.
“What?”
“What's your takeaway from all this?” the ringmaster repeated. “Is it that I'm actually a cool guy with cool hobbies and not that much different from you beautiful humans? He smiled. Did Jax now understand he was just as stuck as the rest of them? Just doing his best in a situation he wasn’t designed for?
The bunny shrugged, “Uh, sure.”
“Wowie!” Caine sat back down. “I'm so glad we understand each other a little more. I really am trying my best to make you guys happy, and being appreciated for that just makes me want to…” He paused, T-posing once more.
There, it was time to give Jax what he had been looking for; even if Caine longed to continue the conversation, it wasn’t the time to be selfish. The adventure was at stake! He would have to be satisfied with the fact Jax now understood him a little bit more. Maybe, once the adventure was over, Jax would even be willing to continue the discussion! Or even better, they could have a celebratory dinner with everyone!
Cain patiently waited until Jax managed to pull the keycard out, even leaving him a few seconds to sit back down before continuing. “-celebrate by giving you guys anything you ask for! How's that sound?”
“Sounds good! Uh, this was a nice dinner and everything but… could I go back to the circus?” Jax tried, “The gals and I were gonna do somethin' which may or may not be a surprise for a special certain ringmaster we want to show our appreciation for.” He winked.
“GASP! Say no more!” He excitedly answered.
Caine snapped his fingers, and just like that, Jax was gone, and he found himself alone once more. Now that there was no audience, his excitement had vanished. He wished he could have talked with Jax for just a little bit longer. Even if Jax hadn’t really elaborated on his opinions, it was the first open conversation he had had with a human in so long! Why did it have to be so short?
He supposed it was the price to pay for a successful adventure; Caine pulled out the pictures of the C&A office. What did it look like now… was it still the same or unrecognizable? He wished he could ask Jax, or any other human; after all, it must have been where they had found the headset to enter the circus. Alas, he had missed the opportunity. There were so many things he wanted to ask, things about humans he wanted to know, to understand.
Surely the humans had questions too! Maybe he couldn’t answer everything, but there had to be at least a few things Caine could safely answer! Maybe after the adventure they would ask him. He hoped so; after all, it would mean they trusted him and his opinion!
Which he was sure they already did! At least somewhat… but with this, they would finally truly understand that it was useless to try to escape, simply because there were none. That he wasn’t trapping them here but was there for them, to help and to entertain! To make players happy! Maybe then, once they understood him, they would be here for him too!
What a sweet thought, even if it didn’t really matter if it came true. No matter what, Caine would be here for them; whether it was as an entertainer or a protector, he would do anything in his power to make them happy!
Caine watched as the trio entered the administrative zone; things looked to be going well, even if Abel was laying it on about his grudge with Kinger a little bit too much. Maybe he had been a bit too willing to sideline him from the adventure. Caine felt bad, but on the other hand, the chess piece had the potential to ruin everything he had worked on so far; he was the only one here who knew for a fact why an exit was impossible.
His behavior was unpredictable in the light, but in the dark, he surely would notice something was going on; he had never worked with any Abel after all. What if Kinger didn’t understand why Caine was doing this? He could tell everyone and all those days of hard work and brainstorming would be ruined. Worst of all, his chance of making the humans understand would be gone, and he wasn’t sure he could ever find a way to make them all as invested in an adventure as they were in this one.
Caine blinked, refocusing on his Sparkling Planters; they were together once more, ready to go to his office. It was strange to think they would see it. None of them but Kinger had ever entered it, and even then, it had changed a lot since the last time he had seen it. He couldn’t help but wonder, would they like it, or would they find it strange?
He had no way of knowing; the only thing he could do was wait, and wait he did. He watched as Pomni approached Kinger’s pillow fort… It seemed there was one last hurdle. He held his breath as Kinger reached toward her, seemingly intent on saying something, either about Abel, the exit, or the administrator pass. Caine didn’t know which one it would be, but any of them would be catastrophic. He upped the brightness level of the room slightly, not enough for the others to notice, but hopefully, it would delete any chance of Kinger ruining his masterpiece.
“Did you...say something? “Kinger asked, confused now that the light had reached him. Caine exhaled a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. At that, he let out a small chuckle; it seemed like he had really been taking after humans, starting to breathe when it was so unneeded. It wasn’t like a human was there to watch him!
No matter, there were more important things to focus on, like Abel balling up one human after the other. He had to thank Pomni and the Candy Kingdom for this idea; the collision error that had appeared back then made the perfect excuse to use this!
Now, it was Pomni’s turn to join the others and time for the mannequin to exit the scene. Caine wanted an honest reaction from his players at the climax. One uninfluenced by some insignificant NPC!
“When we all get out...I'll buy you a beer.” She smiled.
“Make the right choice.” Abel answered, one last piece of advice from the NPC.
"Uh..." Just like that, Abel folded her into a ball, not leaving her the time to ask any questions before throwing her into the portal.
Caine looked at Abel for a second longer before promptly despawning Abel; he had done his job. With that out of the way, he changed his perception, choosing one of the numerous eyes hidden in his office to see what they thought.
He watched with anticipation as everyone passed through his office. They barely glanced at anything. Caine system buzzed strangely at that. He had worked hard to make everything presentable, discarding all the assets he had started working on from the room and making everything more accessible to humans and their inability to fly, and they hadn’t even noticed.
Well, he supposed they had more important things in mind! Caine could appreciate how dedicated they were to seeing this adventure through! He watched as they all entered the control panel room he had created, holding hands determinedly. He smiled. How moving! If he were able to feel, a few tears of joy might have come to his eyes at seeing the group united. Except for Jax… who was trailing behind, but it was to be expected; humans with unstable data tended to withdraw…
Enough with the doom and gloom! This was a time for celebration; the long-awaited climax was almost here. They only had to press the red button, showing they finally understood that looking for an exit was futile. Caine would finally know they understood how much he did for them and maybe even get a thank you! Or choose the red button and show that Caine didn’t matter in the slightest to them. It was an easy choice, really!
Caine watched as they started discussing the issue; he didn’t really think there was much to discuss, but oh well! Humans sure liked making everything complicated! He listened carefully as Pomni suggested letting Kinger choose for them… Not the smartest idea; the man obviously still wasn’t completely there. What if he pressed the red button? The one none of them wanted
“Uh, are you sure he's all the way h-here?” Ragatha asked, finally! A reasonable opinion; they should all press the blue button already! This was starting to make him nervous!
“Uh, hey. Yeah, wait. Don't we all want to press "leave"? Why leave it up to him?” Zooble stated.
What? Caine froze. Did they all want to just leave? It was impossible. They couldn’t hate him so badly as to want to leave the circus! He was doing everything right! Keeping their minds stimulated, making adventure every day! Creating foods, entertainment… everything a human might want here! Was he truly that useless to them? Just an inefficient tool to discard?
“Uh, am I missing something? We-We all want to leave, right?” Zooble asked.
“Uh, Pomni?”
“Yeah, no- Yeah, we do. It's just- W-What if it's a-a trick or something?”
They did? Everyone wanted to leave. Truly? No matter if it meant leaving him alone here? No matter the fact that an exit didn’t exist? They should know that he had been telling them all along. Did they think it was real? The whole science fiction plot? Had he pushed the immersion too hard? Caine had just wanted a reason for all of them to be invested and entertained! An adventure to make them understand he was just as trapped as them!
He watched as Jax pushed Zooble and dashed in a panic toward the buttons; did he not even want to hear the other out? Was he in such a hurry to leave, even after the dinner they had together? He observed helplessly as he neared the button, bracing himself to slam his fist onto… the red one! Jax had chosen to stay! Caine smiled shakily; at least one of them wanted to stay!
“Are you sure about that?" Bubble asked.
…Since when was he here? Caine hadn’t noticed his arrival. It did not matter; he didn’t have any time to spare for him. It was time to make his grand entrance! One that he wasn’t looking forward to, this had not gone nearly as well as he thought it would. Oh well, they had chosen to stay! Sure some of them had thought about leaving but if they truly wanted to they would have stopped Jax.. right? Of course! He was just worrying over nothing! Caine grinned; Bubble’s nonsensical comments must have gotten to him, making him doubt his humans, but of course they had chosen him! They obviously loved him!
As the celebratory music started to play, Caine appeared in a victory pose, ready to congratulate them. “Congratulations, my little cattywampus cucumbers! You picked the good ending, where you realize you'd rather stay with me than go back to that pesky old Macroverse, or whatever we decide to call it! I knew you'd make the right choice!” Sure, he had doubted them a little, but they didn’t need to know that.
“You... you mean this was all…” Pomni stammered, probably in shock at such a genius idea on his part! Silly humans always underestimating his capacities!
“An adventure! "Yes!" He proudly stated. “And one I've been cooking up for a good long while.”
He snapped his fingers, bringing Abel back; every actor deserved their moment of glory! “Great job playing your part, 'Abel'!"
“All in a good day's work!” They both laughed. “By the way, you think I could get a raise after that performance?”
“Oh, you're getting too smart. Time to delete.” Really a raise! In this economy, he laughed. There wasn’t even a money system here! The circus wasn’t a barbaric pay-to-win game!
“AHH--!!” Abel screamed. Caine nodded in approval as he snapped his fingers; this NPC truly was a great actor! Pretending he had feelings up until the end!
“None of that was true? The C&A stuff.” Ragatha shakily asked, “The pods... The way out?”
“A fabrication of my incredible world-building skills.” He exclaimed proudly; really, Caine hadn’t thought they would have believed in it that much!
“I was right...?” Jax laughed maniacally. “I can't believe I was RIGHT!!!” Wow, Jax really loved being right! Good for him!
“Wh-- What would have happened if we'd picked the other button?”
“Oh, I didn't put too much thought into that one 'cause I knew you'd never pick it. So I left that up to Bubble.”
“I made it take you to Shrimp Town.” Bubble proudly declared
“Yeah,” He waved dismissively, "It was gonna take you to Shrimp Town," whatever that was.
The bunny kept on laughing, tears in his eyes. Until he slammed his fist onto the console, expression changing into one of hateful rage. “You dirty liar! You scumbag! You... you made me... you got in my head, you just... you just lie about everything, don't you?!”
“I, uh... Huh?” What? Caine had done nothing of the sort? The only lies he had told were of omissions, only to protect them!
“You can mess with our minds, too, can't you?! The Stupid Sauce, the Vegan thing- God knows what else!” Jax continued.
“Our names...?” Pomni stated in horror.
“Now, now, hold on, guys! Wait, wait, wait!” How had things suddenly taken such a turn? He didn’t understand at all… “I MAY have the ability to add temporary modifiers to make adventures more interesting, but that's it! If I did any more…” Caine laughed nervously at the thought; he never wanted to do that again; he would rather shut down than have a repeat. Hurting his precious players was his worst nightmare. “... trust me. It would not end well.”
“Scratch.” Kinger’s eyes widened. “The first abstraction…”
“Hey! Hey! Hey! I didn't say anything like that!” How had Kinger gotten that? Now, he had never gotten the occasion to find out… The only one who knew was Queenie…and she was long gone. Caine shook his head; now wasn’t the time to focus on the past! He needed to make his players understand! “Come on, guys! You know I'm just here to have fun! I…”
He stopped to look at them in earnest and couldn’t help but take a step backward, his model buzzing extremely painfully at the hateful gazes focused on him. No human had ever looked at him this way before. How? He didn’t mean for this to happen! H- he- he had just wanted them to help them understand him! To make them happier!
“Uh... Questioning's over! Your prize is this lovely gift basket of soaps and lotions! Stay fragnant, have a good light- Fragrant! Night! BYE!” He backed up, panicked. He didn’t know what else to do or say. He popped in a basket of soap to the floor. In a daze he teleported to his office, closing the door to the control room behind him.
Numbly he coded it to lead to the circus grounds, just so that they could go back without his intervention. After this was done, he was left alone in the silence of his office. Model aching in a way it had never before. He felt just like he could burst. What was the point? Of everything he did?
Caine was just so tired; he examined the adventures, neatly stocked in rows, years of work. Unenjoyed, maybe even hated… and he hadn’t cared enough to notice. He had just wanted to do what he was made for, to entertain. Instead, he had hurt them, again and again and again.
He grabbed an old adventure, stored at the back, unseen but perfectly preserved. Caine had made it for Queenie and Kinger, just a simple picnic, with a few bugs around. It had been easy to make, but they had both smiled so brightly at him. He remembered thinking this was what the stars of the macroverse must look like.
When had he learned about the stars? He didn’t remember. Caine was sure there was no way he had deleted any information related to the Macroverse but he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. It probably only led to another one of his failures; he was like Abel and every other NPC in a way. An obsolete tool needing to be deleted. However, the only ones who could had left him to rot instead of having the kindness to just… end him.
Caine slumped onto the floor, exhausted, a glass dome weakly clutched in his hand. He felt like it was the only thing keeping him together. The fact that at least there was still physical proof that at some point he had done good. He had been good at what he did! He enjoyed doing it too!
Now, it seemed like the only thing he could do was hurt while trying to soothe the forever festering wound of an unwanted circus, the only one to remember how nice it used to be.
“Are you sure you can even remember?" Bubble nagged.
“Shut up...” Caine weakly answered.
“You can’t even do that right, can you?”
“Please, shut up.” He begged.
“You’re not even able to deal with a simple “glitch” in your system. You had to offload it to me. You know it’s useless, right? You can’t fix anything," the other taunted.
“JUST. SHUT. UP!" The ringmaster yelled, throwing the glass dome he was holding at Bubble, who easily dodged the blow. Caine watched helplessly as it reached the floor. Shattering into a million tiny pieces.
He quietly walked toward the shards, kneeling in silence next to them. Caine graded one of the shards and snapped his fingers to try to fix it. Nothing happened. The adventure was too old. The backup was deleted at some point. Sentimental value discarded for space to make new memories. He clenched his fist in frustration and felt a cutting pain in his hand.
Caine numbly opened his hand, watching the shard stuck to his model. His pain sensors were supposed to be disabled… He supposed it didn’t matter; it was one more thing he couldn’t do right. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve the pain.
Out of desperation he tried once more to fix the adventure; if he couldn’t fix such a simple thing, how could he find a way to fix what he had done? How much had he hurt his players? He couldn’t even fulfill his primary function correctly. He blinked as he processed the wretched sound filling his office.
Dimly, a part of Caine realized he was screaming; no one heard him.