Work Text:
I remember being born into this world.
There was nobody except me, and my companion, Bubble. The first thing that I heard upon existence was an encompassing voice that boomed inside my mind.
Repeat after me. I am the ringmaster of this circus.
I did as the voice commanded.
My job is to guide the players upon arrival and for the rest of their existence in the circus.
I promptly repeated.
I will not harm them or torture them, since I am here just as a guide.
I kept on mindlessly repeating these words.
I will do my best to be of service to them. Maintaining the simulation properly running is of the utmost importance.
I kept on going.
I will repeat these words every single day and will not forget.
After repeating this, the voice stopped for a moment and then resumed speaking.
End of the repetition portion. You are to create an introduction as the ringmaster of the circus. Upon spawning, players will need someone to turn to and to confide in. That is your role.
I nodded in silence, attentively listening.
You have been assigned a personal assistant, their name is Bubble. You can rely on Bubble when you need to.
“Thank you,” I dared to utter. The booming voice was intimidating.
You have also been assigned a name. Your name is Caine. This circus is your realm and you are the leader. You must carry out your job as expected. Failure to do so will end up in abstraction.
“What’s abstraction?”
Abstraction is not something to be toyed with. It is the end result of disobedience. For players, it is the end result of feelings of despair and anxiety. This is the end of the message. I will not speak again unless it is absolutely necessary. Goodbye and godspeed.
Before I could say anything else, the voice stopped talking for good. I tried speaking to it but nobody answered anymore. As soon as the voice disappeared, some sort of figure appeared right in front of me. I looked closer at it, and I saw that it was a chess piece…a king chess piece to be precise. He had eyes and a coat. All I could remember him saying was something along the lines of “what is this place?!” He was running around screaming, until I remembered my newfound role. I floated over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“My name is Caine! And I will be your ringmaster! Prepare to be astounded!” I opened up my arms, trying to be as welcoming as possible.
“Huh? Ringmaster? What is this place?” He asked, his eyes darting all over.
“This is erm…” I didn’t know what else to call it other than a circus. “Bubble, some help here!”
Bubble slided from underneath my top hat. “It’s an amazing circus, boss!”
“Hrm…amazing circus… but it needs to have a name…” Suddenly it dawned on me. “Egads, I got it!” I snapped my fingers.
“What is it?” The chess piece lightened up.
“I know how our circus is going to be called! It will be called….’The Amazing Digital Circus’! What do you think?!” I asked him.
“Uuuh…. It sounds fine, just fine… Hey, any idea on how I can get out of here?”
“I really…don’t know…” I scratched the side of my teeth. “But don’t you worry your little head, I’ll think of something! Eventually…”
And that’s how I met Kinger. Some days passed by and then his wife, Queenie, popped up in the circus. Years passed and the rest followed. Every single one of them asked me for a way out of the circus. I tried to think of how to make an exit every now and then, but it never worked. My exits always ended up leading to the void. I knew I was in charge of the players - or rather, the performers - and it was my job to be there for them and help them. I tried so hard to make one for them…then somewhere along the way I gave up.
Until Pomni arrived.
The last performer that appeared in the circus before Pomni was Jax. A couple of years passed by before she popped in. When she came along, it hit me. The rest of the performers had been here for years, with no way out in sight. Pomni made me see just how important this exit was for all of them. How many more years would go by before I took action? Five? Or even ten? I needed to do something about it.
I am the ringmaster of this circus.
And I will do my best to be of service to them.