Chapter Text
First, remain calm. Gather information. Prioritize. Work through problems step by step. Wait until help arrives.
She was good in emergencies. It’d been drilled into her since she was young how to behave when everything goes to shit. Well, things were going to shit. But that meant that she actually knew what to do. This was just a crisis - she was great at those.
First, remain calm. After the screaming, she felt like she’d done a pretty good job of that, but it was an ongoing process. Mostly what was keeping her calm right now was the thought that this was an emergency. That’s a thing she knows how to handle. So she is Calm.
Gather information. She was in “The Amazing Digital Circus”, according to the computer pop-up window(?), in a type of VR video-game/situation. There seemed to be no imminent danger - no environmental hazards that she could see, and the six (6) other people approaching her seemed friendly, or at the very least not visibly aggressive or violent. Giving nicknames to strangers based on appearance so she could keep them straight in her head was a long-standing habit from her time as an EMT, and making them silly or punny always went a long way towards keeping her calm. So far, between Dr. Teeth’s whiteboard presentation and The Mask’s written introduction, she had 4 real names and 3 confirmed sets of pronouns.
She was first approached by Ragatha (Raggedy - they beat her to the punch on that one), she/her, who seemed to be a leader of some sort (though there was no strict social hierarchy here that she could discern). Gangle (The Mask) had written a short introduction in what looked to be their sketchbook, apologizing for not knowing much ASL (semi-typical) and also for not having hands (completely bonkers. Smile, nod, move on.) Pomni (Hardly Quinn), she/her, and Kinger (The King and Eye), he/him, were both mentioned on the whiteboard presentation by Dr. Teeth.
Thank God for Dr. Teeth. She really needed to find out their (? the vibes were masc but she didn't want to assume) name. So much information, thoroughly explained, with pictures and with SUBTITLES! It looked like maybe they could only make them for the whiteboard or something, but still, holy shit. She hadn’t fully processed everything yet, but a few things caught her attention. The way they created drawings, subtitles, and animations, fully formed in an instant, the constant use of terms like “file”, “digital”, and “avatar”, the way they kept referring to the others as “humans” and her as “our new friend”, and the one that stuck with her, that they were the one who created the big pop-up window she was currently leaning on - the one that asked her “preferred form of communication,” the one that zoomed up to catch her when she fell, the one with “don’t worry - everything’s fine!” written on it in Comic Sans.
There was a lot of information. Time to prioritize.
Her sisters couldn’t hear her. That was the only answer. They’d been there when she got the stupid thing stuck on her head, but whatever sound or movement she was creating in here, they weren’t perceiving any of it out there. But they had to be still in the same room, somehow, she just…couldn’t interact with them. She shouldn’t rely on immediate help from that quarter, but given time, they’d surely find a way to get her out, if she couldn’t find it herself. The people around her probably had some form of communication with the real world she could ask about, but even if not, it was only a matter of time. S….Her sisters were smart. Her sisters she could totally remember the names of and was just choosing not to right now. Calm. Remain calm.
Work through problems step by step, and wait until help arrives. Help would arrive. Help would arrive. Just work through the problem. Step by step.
Someone tapped her shoulder.
She blinked back to the present and saw Gangle waving a non-hand nervously in front of her face. Aloud, she said, “Sorry, I kind of zoned out there.”
Gangle nodded, seemingly sympathetic, and held their notebook up again. You probably have a lot of questions - we can answer. We’ve all been in your place before - you’re not alone.
A kind sentiment. Don’t focus on the implications too much.
“Thank you,” she signed as she spoke. That’s one you don’t need fingers for, at least. “That’s very kind. I do have questions.” She took a breath.
Logically, the best thing to ask was if there’s a way to call for help communicate with the outside world. But now that she noticed the gap in her memory, it was like a mosquito bite - she couldn’t stop itching.
“Why can’t I remember my sisters’ names?”
Too blunt. Dammit, she was usually better at that.
But Gangle didn’t seemed alarmed, just…confused? Sad? Well, the cartoon-y tears didn’t really help with reading that part. Looking at the others, the reaction was variations on confusion, frustration, and pity, but no one seemed surprised. Just wincing, and…glancing at Dr. Teeth?
Speaking of, what the hell were they doing? The subtitles had stopped when they stopped speaking, and after they pointed to the pop-up window it looks like they just sort of…sunk down to the ground and started staring into space? But their fingers were still tapping on their pointer/scepter thing.
Pomni turned around her whiteboard and tapped it to call her attention to it. We might be able to fix that.
Kinger flipped his whiteboard too. We can tell you your name!
“I know MY name, it’s…” A terrifying void. Static rang in her ears. Irrelevant. Signal for help. Help will arrive. Help will arrive.
Everyone was turned towards Kinger now, mouths and faces and hands were moving. She didn’t need to know the exact words to get the general vibe - way to go, moron, now she knows THAT!
Focus. Focus on anything else.
Ragatha’s whiteboard was hanging loose in her hand as she spoke - she’d started to write something and stopped, presumably to yell at Kinger. Sorry about Caine - he can be a bit
New information. New puzzle. Focus on the puzzle.
She was only missing two names - Triangle Man and Dr. Teeth. Triangle Man hadn’t interacted with her at all thus far, at least that she noticed - the lack of a mouth didn’t help - so it didn’t really make sense for Ragatha to be apologizing on their behalf. “Caine”, he/him, had to be Dr. Teeth.
What the hell had he done that needed to be apologized for? He’d swooped in, explained a bunch of stuff, then drew attention to her typed words on the pop-up window. Which apparently he had made!
She took another look at him. Still distant. Still tapping.
She looked up at the big whiteboard, at the drawings of her and “the other humans”, and the frequencies, and the little drawing of him at the end, making the window for her.
She looked at the window, still slanted a little bit after catching her. It was smooth under her touch, and just barely warm. The bee in a construction hat looked up at her, smiling.
Two conclusions thunked into her like arrows.
Caine wasn’t human - he was likely a computer program of some kind. That’s why people act weird around him.
Caine knows whatever’s actually going on.