Chapter Text
Ragatha stands idle as Zooble fixes some decorations at the bar, tidying it from the last time Gangle got hammered and managed to tie her own feet together.
They’ve been hanging out more often, and more privately, Ragatha’s noticed.
She’s happy for them, she really is! And maybe she’s a little jealous, but she’d never ruin it for them.
What, a girl can’t admire her friends in love? Maybe wishing it was her instead?
Oh god, she’s unsalvageable.
She fiddles with her mitten hands, waiting for something to do. No one needs her help right now, right? She can relax?
“Hey, you good?”
Ragatha’s eyes snap up to Zooble, who’s now leaning on the counter.
How long has she been standing here for them to notice? She didn’t say anything out loud, did she?
“You didn’t.”
Ragatha’s face turns red, and she shambles up to the bar when Zooble waves her over.
They regard her with affection, already making her a drink.
“So, what’s up?”
“Uh…what’s up?”
“Well, yeah. You’ve been standing there for a while just… watching me. So either you were psyching yourself up to say something, or I needed to step in before you thought too hard.”
Zooble‘s antenna wobble as they tilt their head to her, one pair of arms giving whiplash to a drink, the other crossed over their stomach.
Ragatha twists her head to check out the clock above the bar. “Um, it’s still early, should I really be drinking?”
Zooble rolls their eyes.
“I knew you’d ask that. Probably not, that’s why this is virgin.
Unless you’re tired of things being virgin.”
Ragatha’s mouth forms a thin line as she mulls this over. After a second, she smiles nervously.
“Uh, what?”
“The drinks.”
“Right.”
Zooble tops the drink with a little umbrella, setting it down in front of Ragatha, who immediately drinks from it.
“Hey, Zooble?”
Zooble glances down into the shelves below, pretending to check something.
“Zooble.”
“Yeah?”
“What’s in this?”
They look back at her, amusement in their eyes.
“You caught that, huh?”
Ragatha crosses her arms and squints at them. “Answer the question.” She says.
Zooble shuffles out of arm’s reach.
“Alcohol.”
She sighs, dropping her head into her arms.
“Thank god.”
Downing the rest of her drink, Ragatha holds her hand out to ask for another. Zooble makes the second one as fast as they did the first, placing it in her palm.
She decides to nurse this one a bit, since it actually is tasty.
Zooble pulls up a barstool to sit in front of her as she stares into space.
“Spill.”
“I actually did a little.” Ragatha giggles, wiping the countertop with her free hand.
“No, I mean- don't do that by the way, I have a towel- I mean spill your feelings.” Zooble bats her hand away, replacing it with a cloth.
“Feelings about what?”
Zooble shrugs.
“I mean, whatever is more dire.
That means love life by the way, it’s physically painful to watch you try to get it through to her.”
Ragatha groans, facepalming the counter. “Is it really that bad?”
”Yeah, sorry. But I mean… gotta hand it to you. Me and Gangle just kinda… happened.”Zooble points to themself with finger guns. “No qualifications, still got the job.”
Ragatha rolls her eyes at the gesture. “And what job is that?”
“Hand.
…
I’m kidding, by the way, don’t- don't tell her I said that.” They say, glass almost slipping out of their hands before they can set it down.
Ragatha blanks. “Are you drunk?”
Zooble’s eyes widen as they stare at their hands.
“Oh, shit… I was just thinking about wanting to join you and it happened- I didn’t even have anything.”
“Can’t you just… try to NOT be drunk?”
“If I had a nickel for every time someone said that to me I’d be able to buy milk.”
Zooble’s pupils grow significantly in size as they peer out to somewhere behind Ragatha, and she knows who’s on their way over before she even hears those soft footsteps approach.
The seat next to her pulls out, and down sits Gangle, sketchbook in hand- er- ribbon.
Ragatha sneaks a quick glance at what she’s been drawing. Seems to be multiple sketches of her as other people’s avatars.
Gangle as a ragdoll, a jester, a mish-mash of parts… She smiles shyly when she notices Ragatha looking.
Zooble is quick to start up a new conversation.
“What you working on?”
“Oh, it’s….well- actually it’s an idea I have for a kind of body swap adventure!”
She holds up her book, presenting the drawings to Zooble.
“I- um… I thought maybe it would be cool for us to swap around character traits! I want to see what it’s like to-“
Ragatha tunes her out. She feels bad for doing it, but she’s just not really in the mood. Besides, Gangle has Zooble’s full attention, so there’s no shortage of an audience.
Where’s Caine right now? Usually if there’s more than two people in one spot, he just shows up. She doesn’t know how he does it, since he can’t even monitor them anymore.
He’s been acting strange recently. Being accepted into their group as ‘one of them’ is something he accomplished a while ago, so it’s not apprehension or nervousness or anything about that.
It’s almost as if he doesn’t really want to talk to them as much.
Like they’d be his second choice.
…..
Does he miss-
Ragatha’s startled from her thoughts as a hand grasps at hers, dragging her from her seat and away from the bar.
“Pomni? What’s going on?”
“Jax.”
“What?”
Ragatha wriggles out of her hold, flinching as she whips around in response.
“I was in the tent with Jax and he started- he was crying.” Pomni says.
……What??
“What?”
Pomni holds her hand out this time instead of taking Ragatha's, panicked determination displayed on her face.
“Please? This hasn’t happened before, I need your support.”
Ragatha holds down a blush. That’s a stupid thing to get flustered over, it’s not even a compliment!
Still, she takes Pomni’s hand.
As they near the tent, Ragatha’s nerves shoot up. She hasn’t seen Jax since they first captured him.
What if he doesn’t want to see her? What if she makes it worse?
She’s never interacted with an abstraction before- at least not one that’s left her in one piece.
“Uh- I don’t know about this, Pomni.”
“Crying. Tears! Ring a bell? We thought abstractions couldn’t really feel.”
“I heard- I mean- it’s just- Are you sure? You’ve been spending an awful lot of time in there with him and- god, I really don’t want to be that person but- do you think...maybe…you might have imagined it?”
Pomni keeps her eyes trained forward.
“No, I know what I saw. I’m not sure what it means, but what if it’s a sign that he’s still in there?”
Opening the curtains, Pomni ushers Ragatha inside.
It’s dark, and there’s a smell she can’t make out.
It’s not necessarily a bad smell, just vague and potent enough to be noticeable.
Once her eyes adjust to the dark, she finds a lump in the middle of the tent.
Oh- that must be-
That’s-…
“Uh… Pomni? What is…”
Ragatha points to the cracked shell of… something.
“…that?”
It’s black and staticky, slowly shifting edges like an abstraction usually would.
But the eyes aren’t moving.
They’re unfocused, desaturated.
Dead.
She finds herself taking a heavy step back.
The air in the tent is… off…
She can just barely perceive something.
It’s not coming from the thing in front of her,
It’s more of a feeling.
Like back in the real world, when she knew someone was watching her.
Humans can’t just sense things.
If you feel like you’re not alone, chances are you’ve subconsciously picked up on some kind of visual or sound cue that’s too subtle or in the background to be completely noticed.
But it’s still perceived by some part of your brain.
A part of Ragatha’s brain that screams for her attention.
She moves her head slowly to the right, positioning her ‘ears’ to the back left of the tent.
There.
Something’s there.
Something is hiding in the tent with them.
Too small to be an abstraction. Too quiet to be Caine or Kinger.
An Npc?
But Caine said there were no more ‘stalky’ Npcs.
“Ragath-“
Pomni starts, but she doesn’t finish.
They both heard it.
A voice.
From somewhere in front of them.
The back left of the tent.
“Wœnn….n-f-f- i-…nnc-cai-….n-n-e”
In the space between Pomni and Ragatha, time stops.
Neither of them can move.
She can’t turn her head to look at Pomni, but she has a feeling that they’re both experiencing the same thing.
Dread.
Terror.
Stuck in place like deer in headlights.
The voice comes again, bit crushed and distorted. Unnaturally deep, but- again- an unmistakable attempt at english.
“M….mmi-m-……orrr- …b-bb-tnn-nt…”
It seems to buffer halfway through words like a virus-ridden computer, stalling on letters, playing the same tone for a few seconds before moving on to the next.
They watch in paralysed horror as the darkness shifts, unable to look away or even close their eyes.
A figure struggles to stand from behind one of the blocks, groaning in typical abstracted gargle.
It’s Jax.
It has to be.
Only it looks like this is the first time it’s ever walked, focusing way too hard on where exactly each foot should land.
It grabs the back curtains of the tent, opening them just enough to step through.
Through the crack in the same opening, Ragatha and Pomni watch the form smooth down into a more familiar shape.
Purple body, black hair, long ears.
Purple body, long ears.
—————————————
Jax stands with her hands on her hips, staring up at Caine, Who has been buffering for the past few minutes. His eyes are blue screens of death, above his head a loading icon.
She turns to Kinger, her foot tapping the ground.
“I think your son’s slow.”
Kinger rests his index finger on his chin as he ponders something that Jax probably couldn’t care less about.
“Hm…..”
“ ‘Hm?’ That’s all you have to say?”
“Well, I wasn’t sure how he’d react, but this wasn’t at the top of my list.”
…
“Lovely weather we’re having!”
“Kinger, sky’s like ninety percent cloud.”
“/weather clear”
“Does that even work if you just say it?
…
Well I’ll be damned.”
As the sky clears, Kinger glances back at Caine.
“Bubble?”
That gets Jax to look up and sure enough, Bubble.
“Hoooo boy! You idiots must’ve really messed with his head; he hasn’t needed me for a while.
Jax, loving the new look.”
Bubble winks at Jax, sticking his tongue out like a freak.
She responds deadpan.
“Smooth.
Yeah, somehow did my makeup while I was dead.”
Bubble shakes his head. “Nuh, I meant the whole naked thing.”
Kinger‘s eyebrows appear.
“Wait, Bubble, how are you here? I thought Caine let you go.”
“Pfft, what? I’m not Abel! That sick son of a bitch is outcast! I’m just plain ol’ Bubble. No more, no less, honey.”
Tuning back into the conversation, Jax tilts her head slightly.
“Abel? That npc guy?”
“Uh-uh, the real Abel. Well- as I like to call him. Caine had demons, babe. Actually- just him. Two, if you count me after a good ol’ round of ‘pass the blunt’
Except it’s just me and I pass it to myself; I don’t have friends.” Bubble says.
Jax shudders as he winks at her.
“Will you stop winking at me?”
“Have it your way, but if Caine’s not gonna play, he better pass the controller.”
“You’ve been gone for a while, where were you?” Kinger asks, hands clasped together politely.
“Maternity leave! Any more questions?”
Jax raises her hand.
“Yeah, I have one.”
“Shoot!”
“If you nod your head, does it also count as you shaking ass?”
With that, bubble disappears.
Caine awakes with a startled snort, confused and sputtering.
It’s clear that he hasn’t calmed down at all, hands flailing frantically in the air as he speaks.
“H-how- WHAT!? How is this even possible- I thought-…… I was sure that abstraction was irreversible!”
He turns his attention to Kinger, flustered.
“This- this should’ve had an alert! I should’ve been alerted! H-how does someone de-abstract without me knowing!? How does someone de-abstract in the first place!?
Is it un-abstract? i-I should get the others-“
Before Caine can snap his fingers, Kinger interrupts him.
“Wait- hold on!” He shouts.
Caine freezes, staring down at him as he continues.
“Caine, remember, you’re not in charge anymore. The reason I didn’t come to get you is because it was Jax’s decision whether or not you- or anyone- found out today.
Humans can’t control each other.”
Caine‘s fingers tap his thigh. He does not look happy.
“How long have you known?”
Caine has the emotional intelligence of a toddler, so their next move has to be carefully executed. He’s not dangerous anymore, but it’s clear that Kinger just doesn’t want to upset him. Jax can see that.
She rips the tie out of her hair, letting it fall down her shoulders.
“Here we go.”
Kinger speaks slowly when he addresses Caine again.
“Just about an hour or two.”
Caine’s jaws (eyebrows?) fly open.
“TWO HOURS!?”
Jax scoffs quietly, both amused and annoyed.
Caine stiffens, streaks of pink on either side of his eyes. “And you! You need to- to put some clothes on!”
He snaps his fingers, and Jax notices the familiar feeling of clothing on her model.
Caine holds up a comically large mirror for a few seconds, letting her take a look.
She’s wearing a striped long sleeved top that hangs around one shoulder, exposing a bra strap (kinda perverted, Caine) with shorts and leg warmers.
Alright, she can admit it- in her mind at least, this fucks hard.
Caine throws the mirror back into the void.
“There! Now you’re decent!”
Jax scoffs, turning to Kinger. ”So Gangle and Zooble get to walk around buck naked all day but when I do it, it’s a problem?”
Caine stamps his foot mid-air. “YES!”
“Why!?”
“Because it makes me feel weird!”
“That’s not my problem!-“
Jax points down at herself.
“- And did you have to put me in THIS? Why not my overalls?”
Caine grunts in offense, also pointing at Jax. “I didn’t choose that, the algorithm did! I have no control over it anymore.”
“Anymore? So you admit you put me in those stupid overalls before!?”
“I didn't think they were stupid!”
“EVERYTHING YOU MAKE IS STUPID!”
Kinger steps in front of Jax, cutting off direct eye contact between her and Caine.
His voice is firm, scolding them.
”Alright! Both of you, that’s enough. Caine, Jax, don’t raise your voices at each other, it won’t get you anywhere.”
…
“B-but!-“
“No buts!”
Kinger turns around to Jax, ignoring Caine’s protests.
“Look, I know you’re not ready, and I’m sorry, but you can’t hide from the others.
The longer you’re kept a secret, the more betrayed everyone will feel. We’ve all lost people to abstraction- you know that.
What if what happened to you can happen to everyone we’ve lost?”
Jax’s features soften, watching the ground below them silently as Kinger rests his hands on her shoulders.
“If we can find out why you’re back, we might be able to recreate it. We’ll need all the help we can get, though.
I’ll be right there with you, I promise. But we have to tell them about this,
about you.”
Jax rolls her eyes at Caine as he peeks at her over Kinger’s shoulder.
“… oka-…”
Wait.
Who-
She can’t go to them.
She needs to lay low.
She needs to get to Caine.
Can she do that?
W-why-
Yes, I can.
Kinger is staring at her, Caine is staring at her.
Does she want them to know that?
That she’s just using them?
Like she always has?
“No! I…”
“No? Well, why not?”
Jax’s eyes snap up to kinger, the ambience of the environment suddenly too loud in her ears.
There’s a nice breeze, the birds are chirping, the trees are swaying.
…
What was she doing again?
Right, fishing.
“Uh- are we actually going to fish or did you bring me here for nothing?”
—————————————
They don’t talk the entire way back to the bar; the scene in the tent is far too fresh in both of their minds.
Neither of them went after Jax.
Was it even Jax?
Ragatha and Pomni sit down at opposite sides of the bar, Gangle between them.
Maybe if they’re apart, they can feel farther from that moment.
From the thing in the tent.
“…everything okay?” Zooble says. “You two look like hell.”
Ragatha peers over at Pomni, using her eye to ask if they should try to explain what happened.
Pomni shrugs lightly, eyes wide.
Ragatha turns to Zooble.
“I’m-…We’re…
…
Don't go near the tent.”
Pomni nods, fidgeting with her collar.
Gangle curls in on herself, keeping her eyes trained on Zooble as they respond.
“…o-okay? I mean- we can do that, but… I’d like to know why.”
Ragatha slowly shakes her head, hands trembling lightly as they find her bow. “I- um. I don’t know. It’s- probably nothing.” She chuckles awkwardly, smile disappearing as soon as she stops.
“It’s not-“ Pomni starts, but she goes quiet.
“So, uh… what are you two up to?” She says.
When Ragatha leans forward to look at her, Pomni looks completely normal. A little awkward, sure, but nothing like a few minutes ago.
Zooble shoots a confused look at Ragatha, who immediately addresses the elephant.
“Pomni, what was that?”
“What was what?”
“Where’d you go just now?”
Pomni stares down at her hands. “I don’t know.
…
I can’t remember how I got to the bar.”