Chapter Text
˚ ✦ . . ˚ . . ✦ ˚ . ★⋆. ࿐࿔
. ˚ * ✦ . . ✦ ˚ ˚ .˚ ✦ . . ˚ . ੈ✧̣̇˳·˖✶ ✦
Another day in this god-forsaken place...
How long has it been? Days? Weeks? Months? YEARS?!... Who would know? Who could get even a grip of an idea of how time works in the digital world?
Pomni didn't at least, that was for sure.
She groaned as she got up from her rather colorful bed, the red and blue color scheme that forever matched her attached clothes was becoming a familiar thing to see. Yet rather creepy to feel.
The mere insight of how her jester outfit never seemed to be taken off always made a chill go under her spine.. if she even had one. There wasn't even time to think about such things in the strange and bizarree world she was within.
However, before she could even have the time to process the fact she woke up from a no-dream and opened a door she couldn't even physically feel, the loud voice of the ringmaster would boom across the hallway, the eccentric man proclaiming his arrival.
"GoooOOOOOODDD MORNING, MY COLORFUL BUNCH OF A TROUPE! Time to rise and shine and get your wits and feet up and about!" Caine announced with a grin across his set of teeth, swinging his walking stick to tap into each of the closed doors as he kept speaking, "IT'S A BRAND NEW DAY, SUPERSTARS! Time to wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! You know the saying, 'Lose an hour in the morning and you will be hunting for it!' HAHA!"
Much to everyone's annoyance, a bunch of irritated and tired sighs came from each of the rooms, everyone walking out almost at the same time. Everyone except Zooble of course. All the while Caine was trying his very best to annoy Zooble into getting into their tracks and off the bed, Pomni snapped out of her unnoticed trance once Ragatha walked up to her, a usually friendly and cheerful smile across her face as she asked her fellow member. "Good mornin' Pomni, how did you sleep last night? You seem quite the usual zoning-out if I may say so myself... Pomni?"
"Huh?- wha..." Pomni blinked a bit, looking up at Ragatha for a moment before giving her a nervous smile, scratching her arm she spoke up. "... y-yeah I'm... fine, I suppose. It was fine. How about yours?"
"Well, it was-" Abruptly, and quite rudely, the cardboard copy of Raggedy Ann was interrupted by Jax who pushed himself into the conversation, a smug smirk across his face as he responded for her.
"Absolutely halerious, let me tell you that" Jax grinned, resting his elbow on Ragatha's shoulder as he leaned over to explain. "Oh, you would've seen the look on the dolly's face. All night long, a bunch of shrieks and yelping over a small centipede stuck on the corner of her wall just.. GOLDEN. Heck, I'd bet on my ears and overalls that not even Kinger would scream that loud."
"JAX! Cut it out!" Ragatha spoke back, flinching her shoulder away from his arm as she placed both of her hands on her hips, furrowing her brows as she exclaimed. "Least you could've done is keep your mouth shut about it! You didn't even want to help me get it off when it was YOU who put it way back when Pomni arrived!"
"Oh pleaseee, it wasn't THAT long ago" Jax crossed his arms, rolling his eyes as he swung a hand dismissively, "You're overreacting Raggs, plus, what's so scary about 'em centipedes? It's just a bunch of legs in a bug"
"Well, I find them downright terrifying, you know?!" She commented, somewhat stomping through the hallway towards the main area, rambling out while Jax lazily walked alongside her with his hand behind his back, Pomni also following behind in utter silence. "They crawl up walls, they eat ANYTHING, they can leg a bunch of eggs EVERYWHERE and you'd never know it. And worst of all, they are just so... so..."
"... Disgusting?" Pomni contributed to the conversation, tilting her head a bit to look at the ragdoll.
"EXACTLY!" Ragatha spoke, turning her head towards Pomni before letting out an exasperated sigh, trying to at least smile at herself. "... well, it's fine I suppose. Maybe whatever Caine may have in mind today can get my head outta that nightmare fuel of a time."
"I don't know Raggs" Jax hummed with his usual smirk, nudging her playfully, "Luck could probably go in way and we'd get an adventure that includes fighting out lives against centipedes or... throwing out bodies into that puddle-of-a-digital-lake. Or... Hehe, maybe we could get lucky and get all of 'em at once!"
"Well... true but" Ragatha swayed a bit at a small pause, her eye turning to look over at Pomni with a reassuring smile as she said, "It's rather impossible to be certain on what might Caine be planning for today, he's quite the unpredictable fellow and what not so... as long as we keep ourselves positive we might as well get lucky and MAYBE, just.. maybe... we could get a free time, right Pomni?"
Pomni hesitantly nodded, her mind wandering away in thoughts as she usually did. Her digital mind kept forming thoughts on how downright unpredictable that AI ringmaster was. The first day she arrived was to search for those 'gloinks' or whatever they were called, the very next day was to go through the carnival and ride a dangerous rollercoaster that defied gravity, another time was a beach day which sounded good at first... if it wasn't for the digital piranhas. Then was the volcano, then was the candy land copy, the chess game, the space adventure, the forest, thE DESSERT, THE SNAKES, THE WORMS, THE EYES, THE VOICES, THE SCREAMS, THE ABSTRACTION, KAUF-
{*+TZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ+*}
"Huh?!" Pomni stopped abruptly from both her thoughts and her steps, her head turning to the sudden sound of what seemed static on the side of a wall. Upon staring at it, her brows furrowed at the strange segment of a moment. Although sure, the walls always looked unnatural and rather peculiar with its bizarre textures that always felt unreal as it was but... even so, it seemed quite normal to her.
Although, Pomni had the gut feeling that something was... off about it. If only she could take a moment to pinpoint what it was... she...
"POMNI, MY DEAR! You're quite slacking off there, everyone is already up and going and the adventure is ready to BEGIN TODAY'S ADVENTURE!" Caine announced out of nowhere, materializing right beside her. Pomni instantly let out a small yelp, flinching at the sudden startle Caine had done to her. Without her being able to even process the entire situation, Caine continued to blabber and ramble about.
"You cannot even THINK about missing out on this one! It will be righteously one of my BEST WORKS, I TELL YOU! Oh, I can just see it already! The stage, the bright lights looming upon the rest of the cast while they ALL do their show and tricks! Oh Pomni, I'm more than sure you will be SPECTACULAR ON YOUR PERFORMANCE! I even thought that instead of using knives like the usual trickery, try using DARTS! What do you say?" Caine asked, turning his floating eyes to loom over to Pomni's face as she tensed up, a small gulp sound coming out of her throat as she thought on maybe.. just.. maybe... trying to reason with the ringmaster?
I mean, it's not like he seems like the type of guy to get upset over such. What could go wrong?
And if something did go wrong... well... wouldn't hurt to try, literally speaking.
"A-actually... Caine?..." She mumbled out with a nervous tone, "Is it alright if we maybe... u-um... you know... just.. chill for once?"
"Ah. MY MY, WHAT A SPLENDID IDEA! ICE SKATING NEVER CAME TO MY MIND! Very well then! Everyone enjoys a bit of ice if I do say so myself!" Caine spoke up, just about to snap his fingers before Pomni stopped him.
"N-no no no! I didn't mean it like that!" She stuttered out. shaking her gloved hands as she continued, "I meant by.. well, not doing anything for today, you know?..."
Caine paused for a moment, a confused glance across of.. well, what you'd call of a head as his eyes turned into a loading screen. A few moments later his eyes popped back to normal, her hand scratching underneath his hat with a hum. "I...! seem not to understand your proposition. Mind elaborating?"
"Well... I'm just saying" Pomni began, clasping her hands together as she spoke. "Sure your.. a-attempts on trying to cheer all of us with some wacky stuff here and there... are sometimes helpful on keeping our minds at bay from... you know, going insane but... Caine, don't you think you're sometimes going a bit..."
"...Overboard?"
Caine paused, even though there was always quite the difficulty on understanding the ringmaster's faceless expression Pomni could see the obvious look of an in-thought. Once seeing that he didn't seem to say a word against it yet, she continued.
"W-what'm trying to say is... maybe we could go slow for once, you know?... Not go straight into a dangerous a-and... traumatizing adventure, and for once maybe trying to... take a breather?" Pomni asked, Caine's eyes looking to the ground for a moment as Pomni also added, "J-just a suggestion, of course! I-"
"... Do you perhaps think I'm doing something wrong, Pomni?" Caine asked out of the blue, his eyes darting back at her.
Pomni of course, was taken back from the rather blunt question. She had to take a moment to process what he asked, yet before she could answer back...
{*+TZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ+*}
The sound came back...
Only to come and go by the wall behind her suddenly feeling rather... not there.
Pomni gasped as, right on the wall she sat against suddenly clipped her out of it. Caine's instant reaction was to attempt to catch her. Although only ended up with both of them being dragged down at the same time through the wall. For a moment, Pomni could only see numbers. Flashing across her eyes.
Millions of 1s and 0s in a black abyss, all flashing through before coming to a halt.
Pomni let out a small grunt as she hit an invisible floor, one that matched the colour scheme of the endless walls of number after number. Pomni groaned as she slowly got up into her stumbling feet, now scratching her hat before her eyes widened at the view before her.
Against yet familiar to the void she once stumbled upon on her first day in the digital world, this one seemed rather similar yet quite the opposite in every way. Unlike the void, there was a floor that she could step into and walk around without difficulty. Its surroundings found their way to contain thousands of pixelated codes that all flashed through beneath and nearby before her. The numbers all flew past, up into directions and all somehow found their way into a specific white square that oddly reminded her of a computer screen.
The jester took a long glance at the square of coding before her, slowly taking a few steps forward she tried to reach it. Only to see the square glitch and turn into a small text, one she recognized as.. binary.
" 01000101 01111000 01101001 01110100 "
It's what it read.
Yet no matter how hard she tried to think of the words behind the numbers, she didn't seem to understand it.
Yet some way, somehow, she had a gut feeling it was calling for her to take it.
She then gently went over to grab the bunch of 1s and 0s, surprisingly the numbers turned into a solid code to grab onto. Her eyes tried to examine the numbers on her hand, tilting it occasionally as she mumbled out. "... What the fbleepck is this thing?.."
"L̵̤̘̀͐.̸̡͔̇.̴̟̀̚.̷̣̦͆̆̿ ̵̖͎̻̐̽L̸̖͊̿à̶̢̖̯n̸̯͗̾̐͜ğ̸̥̤͔̽u̵̟̰͗͆ä̸͖̭́͝g̵̡̛͙͎͑e̵͓̍,̵̥̒̈́ͅ ̷͕̒̊͝P̷̦̅ỏ̷͜͠m̶̧̺̃ņ̴̠̀į̶̣̣̽!̵͓͓̊͆̔.̴̮̏.̵͎̮̦̃̈́.̶̞͓̐͊ ̴̰̰͓̿̚͠I̴͓̯̍̕'̶̦̼̅̈v̶̛̙͕͓̓͠e̵̲͋́ ̴̗͖͚̆́͝ả̵̩͙̺̊̽l̸̤̺͝͠r̸̦̠̍͘͜e̷̟̔a̶̬̓ͅd̶̢̊̋̐y̸̻͒̇ͅ ̸̰͎͌̓̍t̵̺̉́ó̵̫͘͝ḻ̶̦͍̂d̵̡̙̎ ̸̫͕̈y̶̨̙̆͛o̸͙͚̙͛̃u̷̥̙̳̚,̶͔̻̍ ̷̿͌̈́ͅͅf̵̥̖́̀̍͜a̶͙̭͑m̷̺̮͎̔ǐ̶̩͑l̶̢̑̓y̷̨̡̛̜̾ ̴̟͑̀f̸̰̥̣̾̓r̶͉̘̒i̴̦͍͂̉̓͜e̴̤̎́̄n̶̦̂̈́́d̸̬̻̘̐ḽ̶̙̗̆y̵̮͋̃ ̴̩͍̯̄͂ḵ̸͈̖͆̀̉é̶̡̯ë̴̱̞́͆p̶̲̰̅̍͐s̷̢͎͚̋́ ̶̩͖̯̌ḛ̴̻̀v̶̟̔̕͠e̴̺̊͋r̶̲̙͌y̸͉͕͒t̵̜͕͗h̶̭̾i̷̩͆n̵̗͉͊ǵ̴̳̀̓ ̷͓̦̪̇͠i̵̫̐͗̈́n̸̫̽̏̚ ̴͖͕͕̒͒͝o̴̹̅͐ͅr̴͕̩̅̕d̸̞̭̣̋͌̕e̴͙̭̓̈́r̸̨̢̽ͅ!̴͂̑̆͜.̴̯̿̅̍.̵͖͆ ̷̝̖̹̑͝͝Y̷̟̠̱̔ö̷̲̰́ǘ̶͔̳ ̷̦̬͗̂ḱ̴̢n̴̺̈̕o̴̱̽̌͐w̸̓̀͑͜ ̷̫̼̽b̴͉̺̰̽̈́̚e̷̟̾̍̎ṭ̵͗̋̑t̷̤̳̫̍͘͝e̸̼̟̋̚͘r̵̼͍̈́"
(translate: L... Language, Pomni!... I've already told you, family-friendly keeps everything in order!.. You know better!..)
"GAH!-"
Pomni yelps at the strange incoherent of the glitchy voice, for a moment thinking that it could be about an abstraction yet... Was surprised to see that it was Caine. Or so it seemed to be.
It sure had the figure, the body and the voice of the ringmaster yet... his body was completely covered in numbers after numbers and barely even recognizable. Pomni squinted in utter shock, now speaking.
"C-CAINE?! What happened to you?! You look like if someone messed up your-"
"C̸̝̘̞̔o̵̳̦̙̒d̴͔̅̇͠ī̸͎͎̅͆n̵̦̓͂̑g̵̭̋̈̒?̸̯̥̖͗ ̵̱͔̄̈́́Ẅ̸̨͙͎́̋͂Ê̶͍̹̺L̶̮̆̋̄L̶̙̫͈̐̂̽ ̷͎̅͊̃t̴̠̥̓̾͆h̵̥̘̰̏̍͝a̴͖̹̐t̴͙͗̈́͘ ̸̧̳͇͂͒̐P̷͍̙͛R̶̙̟̅Ë̵͈́̀̀ͅÇ̶̢̪̽̌I̶̥͍̽͝S̷̼̘͂E̸̙̓L̴͔̜̯̈́̀̐Y̷̖̑̀ ̶̦̆̒i̵̡̩͉̅̈̓s̴͛̔͜ ̷͉̈́͠͝h̶̠̝̀̎̈a̶̭̭͒̄p̷̧̝͇̄̈́p̴̟͖̜͗ẽ̸̹̰̱́n̸̤̽î̸̳̭̀͘͜g̴̢̏͘n̸͇͚͖͒ ̵̐̾̈́͜ṙ̴̪̣̻ḯ̴͙̽g̴͕͎̔̋̂ẖ̶̩̌͜͠t̶̨̛͚̋͐ ̴̣̪̏ṉ̷͈͘o̴͉͛w̵͈̐̔͝!̸̛̹͕̍̿ ̶͎͖͔̓S̷̘̉̎̎ę̷͈̱̅́e̶̝̟͊m̷̺̮͈̐̈̂s̵̘̉̅̕ ̵̠̦͋̓̏a̶̙͇͐͐͝ṣ̶͔͐͑ ̸͊̈́͜͠î̶̹͔̈́f̵͎̯̜͛ ̵̹͝ͅẅ̴̢̫̂ͅę̶́̾͐'̴̼̞̄v̵̱̞͗͊e̴̢͈͊ ̵̤̤̒̋̉s̶̟͍̎t̸̪͑̀̚ú̸̙̊m̷͓̺̅̽b̴͈̪̀̆̀l̴͍̀̓̔e̷̡͈̅̓̃d̶̗͓̂͠ ̸̜̀͐̋ù̶̖͚p̸̖̦̮̓̈͝ō̶̧̹̺n̷̹͚͈̓̐̎ ̴̦̘̀t̸̢̺́͠h̵̯͖̀e̷̦̮̭̿ ̴̦͆f̵̞̬̪̓ǫ̵̪̬̔r̶̫͗̄͐b̷̭͇̙̍̉ì̵̧͇͐͘ḓ̷̙̂͝ď̶͎̈́̽ẽ̸͚̋͆͜n̸͉͌͐̽ ̴̘̰̎a̴̛̹͂͘ͅr̴̨̪̙̄͋͠e̶̖͐̂̔a̴̡̜̦͛s̴̡̨͗ ̷͓̂͆͠ô̷̧͖f̴̖̅ ̵̥̏͊t̶̨̥͈͑͋̅h̴͔̽̈́̈é̶̦͉́̇ ̴͙͕̺̎d̶̰̲̰̈́̅ị̸̼̯͂͘͝ĝ̵̦͍͘į̵̗͚̈́̌͛t̴̛͉̦̏̈ą̴͈̫̔ḽ̶̙̒̏ ̷̖͇̉̽̑͜w̸̞̤͙͐̾o̵̘͆ṛ̷̒̐ļ̷́͝͝d̸͎̫̭͆̉͘'̸̱̠̓̃s̵̛̖̖̾̅͜ ̴̛͉̠̆̚c̶̖̔̃õ̴̪̊͠ḋ̴͙̦͂̌ͅȋ̸͇͑͆n̷̞̩̈̕g̸̣͓̀̕͝!̵̨̘̒̀̈́ ̷͎̯͌A̸̠̣͊͂͜͝n̴̰̈́͌̔d̴̺̘̳̋͊̔ ̵̩̹͛͐̎s̶̡̀̉̿i̸̡͎̖̊c̴̲̋̕n̶̦̹̽͜è̵̡͖̃ ̴̦̀Î̶̧̧͙͐̋'̸̧́v̷̳̚e̴͈̍ ̵̏̋͘ͅṄ̸̼͆͘ͅE̶̛͚͠V̷͕͇̄̇E̸͙̖͂̈́R̵͠ͅ ̵̡̪̯̏v̷̤̲͖̅̏e̸̠̰͆̓̕n̵̨̗̯̋̔t̵͂͝͝ͅṷ̸̜͇̑͒r̷̢̹͊̏͋ͅe̶̹̦̰͂ḋ̶̀̋͜ ̸̗̬͇̀̚ò̷̟̬̫̏͋ű̵̢͖͂t̵̝̄̈́̃ ̴̪͍͉̑̒i̶͕͇̠̔̀̉ǹ̶̦̎̓t̵͓̋͠o̴͎̦̳͋̑͊ ̵̯̪̼̈̽̚ẗ̸͖̘͖̈́̀h̵͚͕̆̑̎͜ǐ̶̳͝s̶͚͔̊̓͠ ̸̧̜̇̐ṗ̸̼̉̀a̷̝͈̺̽͘r̸̪͔̩̄͗͝t̸͉͑̽͐ ̷͎̱͕̍̽̚o̵̰͘f̸̣̩̠͑̿ ̴̄͜t̶̲̼̹̐h̷͓̾ï̴͖̹̭͘s̵̝͂͆͌ ̴̥̭̽͊̾p̴̡̛͎̺̀l̸̤̐̎ͅa̵͙̠͙̓n̷̗̗̿͝ȅ̵̫̬̍̍,̸̢̎̄́ͅ ̸͙͗̏w̷̧̤̔ͅe̷̳̊̓̆l̴̠͊ḻ̶̙̋̑́.̷̪̋̆.̸̞̙̒͗.̵̮̕ ̴̝̖̣́̿Ḭ̸̢͠ ̸̨͕̆̈́̄l̵̰̆̀õ̴̺͇̦̽͝o̸͙͈̎͆͝k̸̠̜̈́̆͜ ̵̲̖͖̃͒̇l̵͍̀̃ȋ̵͎̥̰͘̕ḱ̴̼ȅ̶̻̹̜̍ ̶͍̾͝t̸͚͉̼͑̽͌h̷͖̮͊ǐ̴͕̱̀͝ŝ̴̨̛̥!̷̦̻͇̚"
(translate: Coding? WELL that PRECISELY is happening right now! Seems as if we've stumbled upon the forbidden areas of the digital world's coding! And since I've NEVER ventured out into this part of this plane, well... I look like this!)
Pomni took a long moment to stare at him in shock, if she was completely honest, if she was in his shoes she would've bolted in absolute panic at the way he looked. If Caine didn't look inhumane before it certainly didn't look like so now. Nonetheless, she was able to shake her head a bit to snap out of it. Now holding the piece of coding she glanced down at it, furrowing her brows as she then asked.
"... well, alright I guess I just... you think you're still able to get us outta here?" She asked, Caine, taking a moment to look at his coded hands before saying.
"W̶͔͐̀Ȇ̴̗̉̕Ẽ̶̲͕͕̃E̸̺͐L̷̮̕Ļ̴̥̈.̵̺̜̄͊͝.̷̡̧̻̐.̶͍̈ ̶̞̣̇͠p̶̥͔̳̂̂̾e̷͈͛r̵̲̍̕s̶̪͉̓u̴̞̖̩͝m̵̦͛͋͘ẽ̶̫̮͒͒ͅd̶̰̔̔ĺ̸̨͍́͠y̵̲͠,̸̣͊̾͘ ̸͉̔̀̇ẇ̴͍̑̾h̶͖̒ą̷̙̲͛̎̑t̵̨̹̪̽ ̶͙̞̓͗͝ṭ̴͑ẖ̶̨̤̀ï̵̈ͅs̵͕̜͕̈́ ̴̠͕͋͘͠t̷͙̯́̐̕r̴͒̍͗ͅi̷̹̝̿ͅc̵̻̭̿͆̃k̶̰̅e̸̝̓̂r̶͍̍̔ŷ̴̱̦ ̸̬̚ͅo̷̝̘̊̾͊f̵͖̓̋ ̶̪͕̏͛a̷̰͎̱͂̏̽ ̵͕͕͇̋p̴̯̈́l̶̛̖͕͒a̶̡̼͆ͅc̴̫̱̉ẻ̴̬ ̶̝̘̔̈́͝s̷̨̄è̵̝e̸̬̺͝m̸͇̠̏̔̚ṣ̴͖͊̂ ̵̞̇̆̾t̶͎̯̽ő̶̜ ̴͉͖̠̀̂̍d̸͙̤̲̔͂̅o̷͕̊ ̴̧͚̀̿i̵̗͚͋t̷̹̳͎̀̅͝ ̷͙̙̍̀b̵͍̈̕͝ŕ̴̺̪̍̔e̵̱̞͋́̇a̴͕͎̽́ḱ̷̯̪͜ ̷͖̱̞̊̾d̵̰̘̠̆o̴̙̻͝w̷̫͚͔̆n̸̠̝̬͑ ̸̡͍̩̓̄d̸̞́̿̊a̶̭͐̒ͅt̵̪͔̓͑a̴͚̘͓͌͠ ̷̨̡̧͋̕t̴͙͇̺̓ō̸̢̍ ̸̘̓ţ̴̙̄̐̐ḩ̴̹̍̿e̸͍̦̒͊̿n̸̢̬̯̑ ̸̞̯́̋̾ì̶͕̺̪͋̅n̸̮̐p̶͓̫͍̿͝u̶̼̐t̶̬̪́͜ ̴͔͒ï̶̧̦͔͗͋t̷̩͋̒ ̸͇̈́̽į̶̢̂ń̵̘t̵̰͗́̚o̸̢̜̓̓ ̴̟͐͝n̵̰̬͂̂̓ủ̵̞̜̱m̶̘̜͙̉̾͝b̴̺͕̓ẽ̴̯r̷̲̀s̶̢̛͕̹,̶̯̩̒ ̴̢̯̎̊ṱ̵̛̲̉h̶̤͓̘̀̀̚e̷̪̪̹͂͌r̵͍̯̰̀̉̈́e̵̩͒̚͠f̵̟̩̈́̀̀ọ̸͊͜ͅr̵̤̪͌̈́̃ͅe̶̙̓ ̶̛̰̣͇́͊t̵̨͇͌̓ḧ̸̲́̂͆a̷̢̹̝͝t̴̡̧̍͘'̷̩͈̺̌̋͠ṡ̸̺͓͑ ̴͍̮̑w̶̟͍͒̓̎͜h̸̜̾y̷̛͉̑̔ ̵͔̠̬͊͝I̵̱͛́̇ ̶̖͙̟̒͘s̴̛̜̤ĕ̵͓̉ḛ̸̒̏m̶̬͊̔ ̴̬̥͐̃͝t̷̳̯͋o̸̳̐ ̴̳̦̱̅͌l̶̟̓o̶͖̾̃o̸̞͒ḱ̸̨̒ ̴̝͔͛l̶̡̛̳͈ǐ̸̠͎͂k̸̞͎̮̇̇̈e̸͉̺͊͐̇ ̶͍̠̦̿͑͝ẗ̶̩̀͗ͅh̷̩̥͒͠ͅị̶̫̺̉̈́s̸͕͕̽ ̴͓̑͜m̴̡̗̦̈́y̷̱̌̈̈́s̸̏̃͘͜e̵̲͓̎̽l̷͇͒̂͝f̸̄͜!̸͖͔͚̋ ̴͓̑̃͐B̷̝̖̥͑̒̀ư̵̗̫͚̕t̴̰̅ ̸̬͌͗̌â̸̯̹̅̂s̶͕̚͝ ̶̥͓̻̈̕t̷͚̬̾o̷͇̫͋̈́ ̴̛̖͑̔m̸͙͊ý̶̒ͅ ̷̡̦̊̈́c̷͓̊ò̵̗̈́͝ń̴̢̓̕c̸̤̥̈ê̸̠̗̔͜͝r̴̢̘͕̓̚n̴̮̅̾,̶̮̱̿̓́ ̷̳̯̆i̴̗͗̚t̴̟͔͒ ̷̲͊d̴̜̦̫̾ơ̷̩̊͛ȅ̵̡̛̦͈͌ś̸̼̦ñ̸̝̄͠'̷̙̣̀ț̸̋ ̴̡̖̾͋̿s̸̨͔̞̓̓è̸̘̄͜ͅè̶̙́͝m̷̜̙̊ ̸̙̹͛͂͂t̴̡̊͠o̶͓̓ ̵̠͖̚d̴̞͙́ḛ̶̳̩͛̓̂ả̵̩̤̲͠t̴̰̖̞̉t̴̰͉̉͊a̷̯͆̚c̶̠͙̙͗̉̽h̷̙̏͊͝ ̷͙̼̮̽̒̽m̵̞̳̤̑y̶̡̺͐ ̸̣̽͗͒ő̵̫̼͉͘w̷̥̅̓́n̸̪̯̪̽̒ ̴̨̉̊p̸̘̄̍o̷̰͇̐̀͐w̴̛͚͓̪̏̈́e̴̗̾r̵̮͒̄̔s̸͇̯̜̉͊ ̵͚̑͠ḭ̸̡̖̈́̏͝ň̷̳͇̮ṭ̶̈͗̀ỏ̶̦̆̓ ̷̧̤̓͜ļ̶̔͒ḭ̴̧̛̤m̶̡̲̗̕i̴̹̔̊t̴̺͙͒̋̌s̵̝͇̭͐́,̸͎̃̔ ̷̗̾̆̊ḅ̵̧̮͆͝e̸͓͑s̷͚̅ì̴̝̙̥̐͝d̷̜̖͙̓̑̀e̵̙̫̔ś̴̤̈́͗ ̴̥̄̋͝ì̷̥̙̒f̶͚͛ ̷̥̓̆i̵̧͆t̷͔̄͛͝ ̶͓̻̆d̵̝̐̌̍ì̴̺̩̅͘d̴̥̃̾͝ ̴̛̹͒Ȋ̶͈̠ ̸̪̉͐̎m̷̺̩̮̒y̵̞͐͘̕s̴͙͖̹̉̔͌e̴̯̦̓l̵̮͒f̶͖͙́ ̸͕̞̝̈́̑w̷̗̤̿̇o̵̡͚̰͋u̵̻̫̣͋̓l̵͓͙̅̚d̴̩̳̾̄'̵͇͙͐̀̌v̴̙̈́ę̸̫̣̅́̎ ̶̰͇͗̿b̵͔̣͋̉͆ẹ̸̿e̶̫̖̘̍͌͘n̸̰̓̊̌ ̶͍͇̜̈p̸̫͊l̸͔͊ą̸̮̩́c̵͎̣̍̈́̅e̷̩͒d̵̟̩̊͜ ̴̭͈͉͒i̴͓̥̍̊̒n̴̟̲̤̂̋t̵͎͗o̴͕̘̊̿ ̵̢̟͑̕p̵̩̄î̸̥̜̀̊͜ḛ̶͍̖̍̆c̵̺̒͗e̵̛̻̫̾s̸̱̅ ̵̜̠̐͆a̶̗̹͇̎̚n̵͎̓d̵̤̜̂̾͜ ̸̠͙͊͋́r̴̩̔̃o̷̲͓͛ḁ̵̑̅͆m̴͖̹̭͌è̷̥̳̥͗̏d̶͔̭̝̅ ̷̤͉̾̎͝à̶͈r̴̳̊̋o̷̱̞̾́u̶̪̒̾n̴̻̱͕̐̈̔ḋ̸̯͑̐ ̸͔̻̣̑ḁ̵̳̀́ī̸̳̟ḿ̸̰̜̥͌l̶̰̗̪͂̃̏e̸̯̻̜̋̄͐s̵͔̣̻͐s̸̪̬͉̽̇̄l̷̻̚̕ẏ̶̢̰̗̅ ̶̢̋͠ï̸̥̼͎ǹ̴̖͍̋t̷̹̻̞͝͠o̶̧͕͕͆̇͋ ̷̹͚̺̂̎t̴̰͔̫͋͠͝h̶̨͇͐i̶͍̮̭͊͊͛ŝ̶̻̮͜ ̷̙̼̟͌w̴̯͐̏̃ä̸̤̦́̀ņ̵̢̯̏̽n̶̖̫̻̔̉à̴̫̻̓-̷̣͋̂̒b̶͓̞͝ẻ̵̻̮̱-̷̤̻̂̐̅v̶̼̅̇o̴͉̺̙͛̂̐ì̷̢̝̆d̷̢̗̄̎͘!̶̦̻̀͊͘"
(translate: WELL... presumably, what this trickery of a place seems to do is break down data to then input it into numbers, therefore that's why I seem to look like this myself! But as to my concern, it doesn't seem to downright un-attach my powers into limits, besides if it did I would've been placed into pieces and roamed around aimlessly into this wanna-be-void!)
"Ȋ̴̪̉̍ň̴̳̫͕̍͒ ̵̤̮̳͋̎̈́o̸̻̻̖̒̀ẗ̶̨̝͙h̶̦͙̭̿̃e̵̹̚r̸͔̣̐ ̷̛̗̪̑̿w̴̺̜̞͝ŏ̶͕̋͜r̸͙͊͘̚ď̸͉̭̝ș̸͐,̵̥̰̦̀̑͠ ̷͇͇̻͐á̷̳ͅn̸͉̎͒͛d̸̨̘͐ ̸̘̳̫̊̀͗t̷̰͐̃o̴̯̔̈́ ̴̖̗͕̐b̵̥̹̉̓̓e̸͖͋̉ ̸̥͕͊̏͛c̶͔͓̣̍ú̷̳͙͈̂͗t̴͍̏͑ ̷͍͕̒ö̷̝̮́u̷̗͈̓̋t̸̬̺͒̚ ̸̢̻̃̐͐s̸͓̼͗ḧ̷͕́̀̚o̸̜͌r̶̛̰͚͕̓̎t̵̢͊͜,̵̞̄ ̷̬̀͑͘s̸̠̚e̷͙̔̕e̸̡̲͑m̷̘̹̉s̸͎͔̄ ̷̢̿́͒l̶͖̈́̉ỉ̷̼k̸̤̤̄̌ę̶̛͉̯͗ ̷̪̈́I̷̡̛͇̩͘ ̴̖̻̭̒̇c̸̺̾͗͆ä̵͎̙͚́n̷̨͚̝͐͘!̶̲́́͜ ̴̤̌̈́̒B̵̝̮͐ủ̸͍̰̮t̸̝̽͋ ̵̝͋̂͂ͅo̴͔̬̐̔̕t̴̮͓̩̔h̸̥̒̊ȅ̵͚̖r̷̲̗̻͌̉ ̶͖͇̐͑̃ţ̷̨̦̎͆h̴̹͗̀a̵̛̹̔ņ̶̟̳̀̓ ̶̦͍͛͝t̴̠̣̆͛͒h̸̨͊̚a̸͕̙͗̽t̶̠͗̋,̶̤͠ ̴͖̠̝̒w̸͙̝̒̒̈́h̶̹͎̙̀ä̴̗͎͑t̷̲̋ ̵͙̔h̷̥͙̔͗a̷̛͎̾̇s̶̱̙̠̽͋̿ ̴̭̹̊̂͠c̸̦̓ả̴ͅu̴̫̎́g̷̩̮͎͂̈ḧ̸̠́̂t̵͍͋̂ͅ ̵̮͍̱͊y̸̮͐̍ǒ̵͙̹͕͊͛u̶̡͑̒ŗ̵̥̮͗ ̸̢̛͚̻ị̶̧̎̑͜n̷͈̈́͗t̶͚̳̀ȩ̸̪̤̾̀͠r̶̝͔͒̈́e̵͎͐s̶̯̮̞̈́t̸̻͔̬̔̾ ̵̙͖͆̑͘ơ̸͔̍̈t̶̡̖͆̂͊h̶̨̹̪͐̔e̴̥̤͂̓̓ͅr̸̗͋͆ ̷̱̳͎̏t̵̹̤̗͋̍͘h̵̺̿̐͜e̵̳͎͓̿̓r̴̯͍̜̍̕ḛ̶̡̣͆̿̀ ̵̭͂m̶̡͓̈́̑̌ỳ̷̡̳͇̂ ̶̹͙͎͛̒f̶̨̀̏́ė̴̲͆l̸̯̒l̵̺͎͖̅o̶̪͖̔͜w̴̖̳̿͑ ̴̡̳͑b̵̹̄͠u̵̙͋͑f̷̛̝̒̈ͅf̵̡̉͆̍ö̵̹́n̸̨̞̭̾̈?̶͔͕̼̆͊"
(translate: In other words, and to be cut out short, seems like I can! But other than that, what has caught your interest other there my fellow Buffon?)
Caine asked, pointing his rather glitchy walking stick towards Pomni's hands. Pomni realizing what he meant, held the piece of code for a moment before answering.
"Oh! I'm... not quite sure" She answered with a raised brow "Just some random code thingy that seems different from the rest... actually, I was hoping you'd understand what these numbers mean"
Once Pomni walked over to him and showed him the piece of binary codes, Caine froze in an instant. His floating lower jaw fell comically to the 'ground' as he stared at the piece of code for a long while. Pomni was, of course, taken aback by his strange reaction. Upon seeing his reaction she raised a brow, asking him.
"... Is something wrong, Caine?"
Caine took a long pause as his jaw reappeared into its position. His eyes showed someone deep in thought before they glanced at Pomni. For a long moment, a hesitant look across his face as then began to pace around with a thoughtful look. Although after some minutes he frozed, turning towards Pomni before slowly taking her free hand to place it untop of the code string.
Although difficult to see through the many numbers across his form, a smile seemed to be drawn across his denture and his floating eyes lit up, although a tint of.. sorrow crossed his expression as he said.
"T̴̮̜̈́a̸͇̅́̏k̷̨͘è̸͙̚ ̶̨̮̾͠i̶̜̦̦͌t̶̺͗͋ ̵͇̖̜̀w̸͔̿̚ḯ̶͇̟t̸̰̦̗̾h̶̖͗͒͆ ̸̲̝͑̑̉ÿ̵̯͚͍́ö̸͚̘̞̑͆ȕ̴͌̇ͅ.̷͓̠̭̈́̈́̚.̸̛̦̪̥̈́̚.̴̠̣͊̎ ̷͇̰̐͊́i̴͉̓̓́t̴̘̗̎̈́ ̸͖̈́̓͘ẇ̸̧ī̵͇̲̮̾͐ḻ̵̝̔̆͝ḻ̴͚̜͐ ̵͈͚̟͌̀̕b̴̖̀e̵̞̘̘͠ ̶͎͈͆̃̓v̷̱͍̒̉e̴̟͋́r̴̫̅̀y̵̬̟̑̑͆ ̴̧̺͍́͂́u̴̺̔̕s̶̨̎́ȇ̵̦͚̜f̶̤̋̚ǘ̸̢̀l̶̙͒ ̴̠͚̪̆̃̀t̴̖͠ọ̵̓͊̚ ̷̘̭̺͐͝y̴̭̽ò̴̺͉̬̂̑ư̶̦̍.̵̧̧͎̽̀͝ ̶̤̀́A̷͔̔̽̕͜ņ̴̗̙̓̓͘d̷̝̗̝͑̔͝ ̵̳͉̤̌̆̒e̷̘͌v̴͙̝̅̆e̷̦̕̕r̵͈̫̊̾̇y̴̰̲̓̅ͅḃ̶͈͗ọ̶̡̘͗d̶̜̽͝y̵̢̛̕͠.̸̬͍̯̆"
(Translate: Take it with you... it will be very useful to you. And everybody."
Pomni's face took a confused glance, just when she was about to question him further, Caine already teleported her to the main stage where everyone was gathered around. Once the crew noticed Pomni appearing with Caine on her side, all their attentions turned towards them.
"Finally, that took you two so long?" Jax asked with a raised brow and his arms crossed. "Got so bored standing here for so long that I was considering abstract for amusement."
"Uuuh.. well we just-" Pomni blinked, trying to recollect herself from the sudden teleportation before noticing Caine slowly lowering into an almost touching-the-ground height. His head hung low as he slowly took hold of his hat into his hands. Everyone looked at Caine with puzzled looks, none understanding the reason for his sudden grimace attitude.
But once Caine's head tilted up, a happily in tears look came across his lit-up heterochromian eyes as he announced.
"FRIENDS!.. comrades... Ladies and gentlemen!... I come here to announce that, well... even so not completely into understanding of your human minds, I seem to see that I've made my mistakes in and out of my once playful antics that turned into... well, what else than worrisome and traumatic responsible ones? It has come to my understanding that my intentions were taken into a much more... dark turn. Even whenever I tried to ignore the fact that all of you may be suffering because of my cause! I... must admit that I never imagined that such misunderstandings may have taken such foul responses!"
"Point is... is that I... apologise for my actions." Caine's voice dropped into a much more guilty one as he averted his eyes away from the group, "I knew for a long time that maybe finding the closest I could get to human entertainment could perhaps contain the mere fact that all of you were trapped into this digital plane! When... regardless of my efforts, I was just doing everything worse for your stay in here."
"I need all of you to understand that my reasons for all these activities were because I never wanted to see any more abstractions... my prideful self always blinding me to the truth that door after door was being claimed by an unsuspected victim into madness and i... even now do I have no idea how to redeem myself."
"... Or maybe I do," Caine said, turning to look at Pomni as his eyes glared at the piece of coding she was carrying. Everyone's eyes now were set on Pomni, a nervous look across her before noticing that it wasn't towards her. But rather the code she was having a grip on.
"... Not too long ago, I only believed that the exit never existed in the first place. Once, twice, more than I've ever counted have I tried to satisfy your needs and attempt to create one myself!... But... Each of my attempts always came to an absolute failure."
"On each of those attempts, more and more I've tried to only think on MAKING an exit instead of FINDING one... therefore I never could prove myself if one behind the deepest areas of coding could be part of."
"Wait..." Pomni's eyes widened as she looked at Caine in shock, now muttering out. "Are you... saying that this.. is..."
"... Now my friends, it was a pleasure to have been your ringmaster. But now..." Caine now turned to look at the rest, letting a small bow as he then said,
"It is time for you to go... I can gladly and most proudly now say you've all earned it and... Well..."
"What is there to say but you all being just one step ahead and out of this inferno?..."
. ˚ * ✦ . . ✦ ˚ ˚ .˚ ✦ . . ˚ . ੈ✧̣̇˳·˖✶ ✦