Chapter Text
Ragatha was worried.
To be honest that wasn’t unusual. She was by far the most sane person currently in the circus- at least, the only sane person that also had a moral compass, so she found herself fussing over their ragtag group of fellow digital prisoners almost constantly. But today the issue wasn’t that gangle broke their mask, or… that Jax did, well, anything.
“Have any of you guys seen Pomni?”
Ragatha poked and prodded the group at almost every hour, always receiving the same response.
“Not since Kaufmo’s funeral.”
Zooble sighed, hand… object things on her waist.
“Rags, if you’re that worried, go and check on her room.”
“I did! But she wouldn’t come out! What if- you know…”
Ragatha trails off, but the implication stays heavy in the air.
“Man, if she abstracted already, that’s gotta be a new record!”
Jax snickered, ever ignorant of the mood.
“Nobody’s managed to go crazy in less than three days before. Maybe she can get a trophy for it at those funerals you throw.”
“Jax, don’t be a %#@.”
Ragatha frowns at the large rabbit, who only grins as always and starts searching for someone new to antagonize. Probably Gangle.
Ragatha lets out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding.
“Zooble.. I know you don’t know her much either, but could you.. come with me, to check on her? I feel like- I’m worried she doesn’t really like me. I mean- maybe, I’ve been overfriendly before, and-“
“Rags. You’re babbling again.”
Zooble cuts the doll off, rolling her mismatched eyes.
“Ragatha, you’re the only person here that actually deserves to get out. Well, you and maybe gangle. I’m sure Pomni is just… taking a break. Remember when I first got disassembled, in that dumb Wild West adventure? I was in my room for a week!”
Ragatha let herself smile slightly. That had been funny, in hindsight.
“Yeah. Sorry. Just… worked up, I guess. Shall we?”
Zooble nods, offering a claw to the ragdoll as the pair walk towards the hall of bedrooms in higher spirits.
-
Pomni was not okay.
To be honest, that wasn’t unusual. In the two… three, days she had been here- was time even real here? Whatever- she had witnessed horrors beyond her feeble human comprehension. Abstraction. Amnesia. The realization that this brightly textured hell was the only place she might ever know- and she can’t even remember what came before it, just that whatever it was, it wasn’t like this. Everything here was fake- even food didn’t have a real taste, her own body didn’t feel like her own because it wasn’t, it was some… digital avatar that might not even look like who she was.
But this time she wasn’t okay not because of the terrible weight of existentialism, though that never went away. Pomni was grieving.
She looked at the sparse handful of confetti in her hand. Weightless. Textureless. Like nothing.
Like he was nothing.
She hated the way the tears came from her too-big eyes, flowing like cartoonish waterfalls. Even the dignity of crying was ripped away from her, molded into this comical image that left her in a deeper pit of loathing for the hapless god that controlled this world.
She knew Caine wasn’t.. evil? Probably? He seemed borderline stupid, negligent, even cruel, but it was less like genuinely bad intentions and more like… a toddler, she supposed, given power beyond its years, playing with people like toys with no malice but a deeply shallow understanding of what they really felt.
She missed gummigoo.
He wasn’t even real, apparently. Which was stupid. Caine is real, and he’s not a person! It was so… it wasn’t-
The words couldn’t flow.
A subtle knock at her door startled her out of her spiraling thoughts, the now familiar sound of Ragatha’s voice cutting through the silence.
“Hey..? Pomni? Um, I know you’re not.. feeling great right now, but, I, uh.. yknow, if you want to come out, maybe-“
Her wheedling tone was cut off by the much more dominant voice of Zooble.
“Hey clown girl. You’re gonna make Ragatha go crazy worrying over you. Get outta your room, let’s talk.”
A series of angry whispers ensued, no doubt Ragatha needling Zooble for her aggressive tone.
Pomni found their presence comforting, at least.
She opened the door.
Ragatha was still whisper-shouting at Zooble for being too harsh, before noticing the short woman staring at them and petering off.
“Oh- Pomni! You- you’re alright!”
Pomni winced slightly at her immediate coddling.
“I’m- not. At all, really.”
“Girl, same. Forgot I had no hand again and tried to pick up my key with my stupid noodle thing.”
Zooble grumbled, making Pomni snicker slightly.
At least the people here were mostly okay.
“Um, I just… thank you guys. For caring, I mean. After gummigoo, I-“
“Was that the name of that gator dude you put a picture of, on the funeral table?”
Zooble cuts in, and Pomni nods bashfully.
“I hope that wasn’t offensive. To kaufmo, I mean.”
“Nah. He would’ve loved sharing. Never liked being alone.”
Ragatha mumbles, feeling the wave of sadness wash over them all again like a dark cloud.
Zooble clears her lack of throat.
“Oh, right. It- well, he was a close friend. Gummigoo.”
“Really…? You guys were only in that adventure for like… four hours, tops.”
Zooble tilts her head, and Pomni suddenly feels small.
“We- we bonded! And, he made me feel…”
The two blink at the jester.
“He made me feel real.”
Immediately a heavy look crosses both of the other residents' faces. Real. That was a fleeting feeling in this digital expanse, and a terrible one to let go of.
“Oh, Pomni. I'm so sorry. I should’ve warned you.”
Ragatha starts to sniffle.
“I knew this would happen. Once, Gangle and Kaufmo brought in this weird plush cat npc, and Caine did the same thing, and-“
Pomni had tuned out already, eyes wide and pupils devolving into scribbles.
“You knew?”
Her voice is so defeated, Ragatha stops talking.
“I mean.. I didn’t know for sure-“
“You KNEW Caine would- would KILL him, and you let me bring him here anyway?!”
“Pomni, it’s not- I just thought-“
Pomni suddenly shoves the taller woman, who barely hits the ground with a gentle grunt.
“Hey now, maybe we should take five and-“
Zooble steps back as Pomni wails and uselessly slams her fists against the floor, making comical squeaky noises.
“THIS PLACE IS SO BULL@$#%!”
Zooble helps Ragatha back up as the small clown takes her misery out on the cold tile. After a few minutes, the distraught girl calms down, taking long, shuddering breaths.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. No, don’t be. You have every right to be mad.”
Ragatha murmurs, fiddling with her soft cloth hands.
“I think.. I think I just need some more time alone.”
Ragatha curls in on herself slightly, but nods.
“Okay. Yeah, that’s… that’s good. Um, should I tell Caine-“
Ire flairs in Pomni’s pinwheel eyes, and the ragdoll silences herself.
“Just tell Caine I’m not doing his stupid adventures until he… I don’t know, apologizes? Learns not to murder my new friends? Does he even- feel emotions like sorry?”
“I don’t know, Pomni. None of us really know what that freaky little denture goblin thinks.”
Zooble shrugs.
“How about this. We get outta your hair, we tell Caine you’re… on strike, I guess, and maybe… maybe we can ask him if he’ll reuse that gummy-gob npc in the next adventure you take part in. Sound like a plan?”
The amalgamate offers a claw to Pomni, who after a moment, accepts.
“Yeah. And also, tell Jax he’s a total %#£ for throwing me at the speeding truck.”
The group erupts into awkward laughter, finally relieving some of the building tension that managed to linger even after they cooled down.
“We can count on Jax to be the worst version of himself he can manage.”
Perhaps this place was actually pretty good.