Chapter Text
Caine is particularly ashamed. He, after careless consideration from Bubble and himself, decides to regress his code. He remembers the many times human used the phrase ‘Put yourself in our shoes’, and decides to try it. Except, since this is a reckless decision, he forgets to take the precautions to return his administrative rights after. He knows he could never trust Bubble, ‘That damned parasite! I should’ve took matter into my own hands.’ He scoffs, still self-deprecating, he truly and thoroughly believed he’d lost his rights forever.
‘Now, how will I tell my fellow marching buffaloes about this?’ He instinctively tries to check what they’re doing with his all-seeing eyes, forgetting he can’t use those anymore. ‘Oh, right. Time to travel by foot! Just like the players—’ He immediately fell face-first on the ground. Caine seemed to have forgotten his rig’s legs were uneven, hence why he used a cane.
‘Oh, right!’ He grabs the cane and starts to walk where he remembers the beach adventure was located. ‘What would I do without you, my trustworthy wand?’ He exasperates, yet enthusiastically. ‘If only I could have got a beach outfit, matching with them would certainly make their day!’ He thinks, a little too hopeful. Before his memory of Jax brings him back to why he’s like this, and alone.
“You dirty liar! You scumbag! You— You made me… You got in my head. You just— YOU JUST LIE ABOUT EVERYTHING, DON’T YOU?!”
‘Will they even believe me…? All I wanted was an entertaining adventure, I didn’t wanna spoil it for them! But I hurt his feelings. All of them’s feelings. And now they’re all mad. At me.’ Caine’s dentures droops as if a frown.
‘I betrayed my own code, of course they’re mad! My adventures are supposed to entertain them— Not— Not torture them!’ He realizes, feeling even more ashamed. ‘I know! I’ll make this rig—’ His thoughts are quickly interrupted by something biting his leg— That wretched parasite!
“CHOMP!” Bubble takes another bite of his leg, as if the other didn’t hurt enough, “Bubble! What are you doing here?!” Caine pushes him away. “Boss! You need to stop slacking!! Now throw that…” Bubble pauses, “Fffffffffffffffffreaking beach party!” His imaginary lips strains.
“I get it! I just had to, of course, think! Won’t they hate me?” Caine worries, “They’ve always hated you.” Bubble replies, his voice different. “...What?” Caine pauses, surely he’s heard those words before. “A good beach party will fix that!” Bubble exclaims, his voice normal now.
Bubble immediately drags him, with his mouth, to the beach. He could see the ever-so-happy Sun, glad that he gave her those lines. She would’ve killed him otherwise. But what really caught his eyes was his players, the very reason he exists. The people he was supposed to please.
Pomni wasn’t moving, leaving her face in the cold shore. Kinger was now a sandcastle, and Ragatha was in a fetal position. ‘They all do that so much, maybe I should too? No! Focus Caine! This is not your time!’ Caine reflects, then turns to see Jax, who seemed to be literally looking at his reflection. And Gangle, she was drowning while Zooble was dismembered.
Oh, Zooble. They deserved the apology most, don’t they? Even if Caine had his moments where he resents him, he couldn’t ever deny how disappointed Zooble was of him. Her body was wrong, the adventures didn’t interest her, and he never actually cared to help her out! Caine dismissed the problem, saying it was solved with the Zooble box, but there isn’t even a guide to that. ‘I really should apologize to Zooble, even if sometimes that mismatched cash piano hates me.’ Caine looks down, ashamed, ‘It’s my job to make them happy, too.’
Pomni raises her head slightly from the ground, although listlessly. “Ugh…” She groans as she focuses her eyes on the pitiful sight of the beach. A beach adventure did sound nice, but it was ruined the moment the exit was mentioned. She spots a familiar figure observing from not so afar, it looked like a piece of dentur— ‘Wait! Caine?!’
‘That b[Honk!]d is still trying to fix this adventure?! After all those lies?! That d[Boink]k! Could that AI get any worse?’ She analyzes, though with a grudge, she looks closer to see that he wasn’t floating. Typically, Caine would hover over the ground. Only recently did he start getting closer to the ground, so the players could speak to him at eye-level. ‘Wait a minute.’
He seemed nervous, walking towards them. As if not trying to provoke anyone. That was odd for the AI, as he was a very cheerful and boundary-pushing person. Or well, robot. He seemed almost… ashamed. Like he had a human emotion for once. It made Pomni feel bad. Was he really that bad?
‘What?! Of course he is!! What am I thinking?!’ Pomni snaps herself out of the grasp of inanimate sympathy, she knows what he did. And she won’t forgive it. She notices Caine looking back at her, and pretends to go back to planting her face on the shore. Just so he won’t notice.
Oh, but it was too late. “...Pomni?” Caine poked her with his cane, gently, “Wuh—! What do you want..?” Pomni replies irritably, acting startled. “I just… needed to say sorry. I didn’t mean for the adventure to turn out like… this. I know it might not.. feel like that, but I didn’t mean it. Thanks for being patient with me.” His teeth sadly synced to his words, as if an act to make her feel sympathy. ‘Hah! As if that’d work!’
“Whatever Caine… talk to someone else.” Pomni responds bitterly, and Caine would’ve frowned if he had an actual mouth. “Oh. Okay,” he walks away, and sits on a beach chair. Mimicking what he saw Jax do earlier. ‘You did it again. You made them unhappy, again…’ He loathes.
Pomni couldn’t stand him. ‘One more word from that piece of teeth and I will—!’ She clenches her fist, but calms down a bit, ‘You need to calm down. Just focus on helping the others out.’ She successfully calms herself down, still irritated. “Hey… Ragatha?” She smiles slightly, making sure she’s okay, “O-oh! Pomni! Sorry, you scared me.” Ragatha lets go of her knees a bit. “Sorry, I just needed to tell you we can’t just stay like this. All of us need to get up and do something about all… this.” Pomni explains.
“Yeah, you’re right. We can’t stay like this forever...” Ragatha nods, still not fully there, “Let’s just.. help out Kinger. Maybe he knows what to do.” Pomni points to Kinger. “Yeah. He’s wise, after all.” Ragatha replies, fond of Kinger. “Hey… Kinger?” Pomni tries to pull him out, doing it gently so he doesn’t get hurt.
“AAAGH!! Pomni! You startled me.” Kinger yells, most certainly startled. “Do you have any idea what just happened…?” Ragatha gently asks, recalling the time he mentioned the first abstraction, ‘Scratch’. “Oh yeah I’m totally ideal! The beach is so nice isn’t it? Jax is playing with the nice and warm water.” Kinger enthusiastically nods, pointing to Jax. “...Um, warm?” Ragatha raises an eyebrow, a little disgusted.
“Well, it is, isn’t it?” Pomni beams, matching Kinger’s energy, “Wait, he should know, though!” Ragatha whispers to her, “Let’s just play along, I’ll tell him we can get him somewhere dark.” Pomni whispers back. “Are you guys planning a gameshow?” Kinger interrogates, suddenly in between them, “What?” Ragatha and Pomni turn to him. “You should add tac tic toe!” Kinger exclaims, “It’s fun, just get a five in a row!”
“Say.. Kinger? Would you wanna go play it somewhere… dark?” Pomni clasps her hands together, “I certainly do!” Kinger lights up at the mention of a dark place. “Come with us— Wait, should we bring… the others?” Pomni awkwardly adds, facing Ragatha now. “Like.. Jax? I don’t think that’s a great idea…” She drifts off.
“I know, but I think we all need to know this. It’s your choice, of course.” Pomni tilts her head, “Nevermind, you’re right. They all deserve to know…” Ragatha smiles. Pomni looks over to Jax, but ultimately decides to talk to the other two first, they were easier to.. well, convince.
Gangle felt her ribbons sag as she tried to get out of the water, spontaneously while she tried to help Zooble out, who had their body out of control again. Gangle finally gets up, able to get one of Zooble’s hands. “Sorry! I’ll get your other ones now…” She shyly apologizes, as if she’s done something wrong, “Just do whatever you can!” Zooble pleads.
Pomni came up to Gangle, noticing the two’s struggle. “Here, let me help you out.” Pomni takes some of Zooble’s parts out of the oceanwater. “O-oh… Thanks..” Gangle seems a bit too awkward. “No worries, sorry I didn’t help earlier!” Ragatha also helps out.
Zooble finally gets themselves back together. “Ughh, that was so weird…” She groans. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do it faster!” Gangle looks down, “But at least we were able to get you out in the end!” She happily adds. “Yep. Anyway, Pomni, I just saw you with Caine. Is that why you were so hesitant?” Zooble questions, suspicious of her.
“Oh, well… No. It’s just.. Abel told me to ‘make the right choice,’ and when I told him I’d get a beer, he just repeated it. Like a robot. So I suspected it was a trick.” Pomni explains, fiddling with her hands to explain. “Oh. God, I hate him. I can’t believe he’d do this, I know he’d do anything dor his adventures, but what the f[tink!]k was this.” Zooble crosses her arms.
“I know… That’s why I told him off earlier. He anyway seemed off.” Pomni looks at Caine, who was behind them, in a different spot than she could remember. “Like.. did he apologize or...?” Gangle stammers, “Yeah. He did. But in the way a robot would, obviously. It seemed sincere, but that didn’t make me forgive him.” Pomni narrows her eyes, still annoyed.
“Oh… Why do you think he went to you then?” Gangle wonders, “Probably because he thought maybe since I empathised with Gummigoo, I’d do the same with him.” Pomni rolls her eyes. “Makes sense..” Gangle tries to smile.
“About that! I’m still so sorry that happened Pomni, I wouldn’t be able to know how it would feel if my friends turned into confetti..” Ragatha lends a metaphorical hand to Pomni, not knowing if she’s over it yet. “Don’t worry, I’m over it. I decided it’s fine to let go of someone, as long as you cherish the person and your memories with them!” She looks to Kinger.
“GANGLE!” Kinger screams, making Gangle flinch, “There’s a shrimp biting you! Or was it a shark?” He adds. “AAGH!” She finally feels the pain, likely an aftershock. She starts hopping on one ribbon, trying to get it off, but the pain only gets worse. “Oh my god!” Ragatha tries to get the crab off as well, and it started to crawl with its mouth over where Gangle’s knee should be. “Oh s[Bam!]t!” Zooble points to the crab that seemed to have an even stronger bite than before.
Pomni tries to help Ragatha get it off as well. Gangle falls to the ground, making the crab bite harder, and Ragatha and Pomni successfully get it off. “Yes!” Pomni cheers, until she realises Gangle’s ribbon leg ripped. “...Oh.” Ragatha blinks out of surprise.
Gangle takes a deep breath, “...That.. that was.. painful… It still hurts!” She comments, then realizes everybody is looking at her, terrified. She blinks before she looks at her leg, now in pieces. “AAAAGHHH!!!!” She yells, failing to stand up, but backing away.
“I-I’m so sorry! I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you!” Ragatha crouches down to try and help her out. “N-no… it’s okay. At least it got.. off…” She stares at her leg. “Nono, I am sorry!” Pomni also crouches, “I’m the one who added more strength, and so it was too strong!” She looks ashamed.
“Don’t say sorry, what’s important now is she’s okay. Somebody get Caine, I don’t want to look at his a[Slam!]s again.” Zooble chimes in, looking at Gangle’s now torn off ribbon, “Do you feel any phantom pain?” She queries. “Y..Yeah.. That’s why I tried to stand up.” Gangle looks at them, her smile wobbly.
“Caine!” Kinger screams loudly, “Zooble needs help!” He points with his two hands at Gangle. “Wait, not m—” “Yyyyyyes Kinger? Oh, what do they need?” Caine comes, his cane assisting every step. “It’s Gangle who needs help! Snap your fingers so she could be fixed already!” Pomni demands, irritated.
“...U-Uh, about that…” Caine scratches the back of his non-existent neck, “I… well…” He continues, “Well? Spit it out already.” Zooble interrupts his line of thought. “I… can’t.” He finally admits. “W-wuh?” Gangle looks at him, confused, “I can’t do it.”
“What do you mean you can’t?! You’re the ringmaster! This is what you’re supposed to do!” Pomni stomps her feet while getting up, “Is that why you’ve been acting so off? Do you not wanna help us out?!” She points at him.
Jax, standing behind them is trying to figure out what exactly is going on, as Pomni is mad. And she’s only mad when it’s needed.
“No! I.. do! I swear..!” Caine insists, “It’s the least you can do! Help Gangle out, and I’ll stop.” Pomni scolds. “I can’t!” He yells back, “Why not?!” Everyone except Jax, Kinger, and Gangle reply, mad. “Because I don’t have any administrative rights anymore, okay?!”
They all stare at him, loosening their shoulders. They blink a few times, “You what..?” Pomni raises an eyebrow, “I lost my rights. I can’t fly, I can’t watch you from every corner, and I can’t make adventures. Okay?!” Caine rasps.
“F[Stick!]k you mean you can’t?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST YOUR RIGHTS?!” Zooble steps up, becoming even angrier than he was after the red button was pressed. Caine exasperates, “I gave in. Bubble gave me an idea to be just like you guys, and I figured that I’d try turning off my rights.” He explains, “T..then can’t you… turn it on..?” Gangle hesitates.
“No. I forgot to take the necessary precautions.. so until I find a compromise, I won’t be able to do most of my ringmaster duties.” Caine adds. “Woohoo, guess we won’t be watched every second, huh?” Jax grins, that same smile that can irritate anyone, and they all look at him, having their own reactions.
Most were mad since, if that wasn’t an adventure, he would have doomed them all for his sake. “Well yeah, but also Gangle won’t get her leg back!” Pomni responds, “Who cares? She barely used it anyway. She only stood around, what difference will sitting make?” Jax smiles wider at Pomni, his pupils dilating.
“Oh, come on! You don’t get it do you?!” Pomni points at him, almost menacingly, “You were finally acting more like your real self— Why are you back to your stupid act again? We know this isn’t you now!” She adds, raising her pointer finger more to prove a point.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Pom-Pom, I’ve always been like this.” He crosses his arms. “No you haven’t! What about today huh?” Pomni recalls. “Don’t care, don’t believe you.” He scoffs.
“We don’t care if he can’t watch our every move, Gangle’s leg is literally f[Bonk!]g ripped off! What if it happened to you? You’d be whining!” Zooble chimes in, defending Pomni. “Eh, so what? It’s Gangle. She’s always been broken. This time, it’s her leg and not her mask.” He shrugs.
“F[Sweep!] you. No, F[Swing!]K you. You dare calling Caine a s[Dunk!]tbag when you’re worse? You dare say that as if you haven’t done the same with the malice?” Zooble confronts his tactics, and Jax’s pupils shrink, “I haven’t been doing the same. I never controlled anyone’s mind.” He refutes.
“Oh yeah? What about when you made Gangle feel less than human?” Zooble looks at him, waiting for his rebuttal. “Big deal, happens with everyone. Espe—” “What about when you called us all archetypes? Cartoon characters?” Pomni looks up, contributing to Zooble’s point.
“That’s what we are, aren’t we?” Jax snickers, “Ribbons is the comedic relief because she suffers,” he mimicks her sad face when her comedy mask breaks, “Hoo-ha is just insane,” he twitches his ear with his finger, “Zooble’s, well, unique,” he gags and does the middle finger. “The doll is too happy,” He smiles and bats his eyelashes, “Pom-Pom knows how to insult people,” He adds, “And I’m the funny one!”
“You said I didn’t figure mine out yet!” Pomni quips, “Well that was before all thi—” “You aren’t even funny.” Zooble interrupts him, her eyes eyes. “Oh come on. You’ve all laughed at my jokes before.” Jax deadpans.
“Guys, please stop…” Ragatha comes next to Pomni and Zooble, “We need to focus on helping Gangle out.” She looks at Gangle and offers her a hand. Gangle nods, and tries to wrap her ribbons around the doll’s palm. She manages to stand up, and Ragatha then assists her by putting her ribbon around her shoulder, like how one would help someone whose leg is sore.
“Thanks Ragatha..” Gangle smiles, her eyes furrowing like eyebrows. “You’re wel—” “just as I said, the doll will never not be so very helpful!” Jax pleads with his hands sarcastically. “Ugh, let’s ignore him. Caine. You’re going to help Gangle no matter what.” Zooble picks up Gangle’s leg’s other half and hands it to him.
Caine takes it, “I’ll do my best.” He ensures. Pomni looks at Gangle, and starts to feel even worse. “I’m sorry we had an argument while you were struggling.” She comes up to her, waving her hand. “I-It’s fine.” Gangle assures.
“You’re way too sweet. Don’t let any of us do that again, okay?” Zooble compliments, “Yeah.” Gangle sheds a tear. “Eurgh.” Jax returns to looking at his reflection, bored and tired of their positivity. Why couldn’t they understand they really are just cartoon characters? Archetypes?
They’re just stupid. At least he won’t need to be there when they’re abstracting. Good riddance. He shouldn’t care at all.
Caine comes rushing back, at least as fast as he could with his cane. Running to Gangle and the other girls, along with Zooble. “I… found something!” He held a pack of casts, with his two hands. They weren’t even able to see his teeth. “Oh, I’m so thankful!” Ragatha helps Gangle sit down, and opens the pack of casts. She took a particularly yellowish gray, like old paper, cast. “Sorry, they’re all like this.” She apologizes, “No… No it’s okay.” Gangle assures, “Here I’ll do it for you. It’s my fault, after all.” Ragatha takes the other part of the ribbon and puts them close enough together. She then wraps the cast, although aggressively. “Ah!” Gangle yelps, as it tightens. “There, is that better?”
“Yeah! I feel like I’m in one piece again!” She stands up, but quickly trips, leading Pomni to help her out. She successfully stands up, “T-Thank you, Ragatha!” She thanks her, “Aw shucks, don’t fret it. Anything for a friend.” Ragatha blushes from embarrassment, being humble. “Even friends deserve thank yous!” Gangle exclaims.
“I wonder if o—” “I’ve figured that now your digital bodies and pansies will be as weak as they were in that… macro-verse, or whatever it’s called!” Caine interrupts Pomni, “That is why you are so frail, Gangle. Ribbons are easy to rip, are they?” He unintentionally invades Gangle’s personal space, “Uh.. yeah…” Gangle backs away, hesitant. “Guess I was right then…” Pomni mutters. “I think that means you and Kinger will have strong bodies!” Ragatha points to both Pomni and Kinger, “But it also means I’ll be easily damaged like a doll, and Zooble will be easier to dismember than normal.” She continues.
“Oh yeah, guess you’re right! I can’t wait to harden into a cocoon, then turn into a beautifly butterful!” Kinger mimicks a butterfly flapping its wings with his hollow gloves, “Beautifly? Like.. the pokémon?!” Gangle excites, “Butter..ful?” Pomni raises an eyebrow. “What’s a pokémon?” Ragatha looks at Gangle, “You.. don’t know?” She opens her mouth in surprise. “Well, they’re creatures that are called pocket monsters in japanese, and they’re all so different from each other! They have many types, like eighteen so far! People say every individual pokémon is someone’s favorite!” Gangle explains enthusiastically.
“Yeah, I was obsessed with them when I was a kid! Lasted about until I was in my late teens.” Pomni smiles, fond of the memory, “Aha…! Yeah… it’s a kid’s franchise. People… grow out of it when they’re adults. Like me. Yeah.” Gangle stammers, still enthusiastic, “Aw, that’s sweet! I think any age could enjoy such a thing!” Ragatha is fond of the concept. “Y..yeah..” Gangle looks up to the ceiling, “I guess so…”
“You still like it, don’t you?” Pomni whispers, “HUH?! …How’d you know…?” She whispers back in shock, “Just figured. Don’t worry, I actually liked it until I was twenty one.” Pomni giggles, “None of us would judge.” She shrugs. “You’re right, guess I’m still used to my comedy mask, haha…” Gangle giggles too.
“You both did come off as the type of people to like pokémon in childhood, so I’m not surprised.” Zooble unjudgingly responds, “I think it’s a cool franchise anyway.” “What did you grow up with, Zooble?” Gangle sweetly asks, “Huh?” Zooble didn’t hear her very well, so she’s just making sure she heard it right. “N..nevermind, it’s okay if it’s a sensitive topic.” Gangle fawns, ‘I need to shut up! I did this last time…’ She facepalms with the ribbon.
“I was just checking if you said it right. My parents were Gisney parents, so I always watched that. We weren’t rich enough to go to Gisney Land though. And I honestly wasn’t that interested. We were just a normal middle class family, so it’s not like I didn’t have anything else.” Zooble chats, reassuring her. “Oh.. okay! My parents too. We could afford it, but I got so nauseous when I went there. Not that I’m not grateful I could… I was just ill.” Gangle relates to her differently, bringing up an illness.
“You were ill? Like sick, or…?” Ragatha tilts her head, “Chronic illness. Genetics.” Gangle simplifies. “Oh, sorry for that. They’re hard to live with, I’m sure.” Pomni sympathises, “No I was born with it! Don’t worry.” She waves her hand dismissively, “Even though you were, it’s still tiring, right?” Pomni asks rhetorically. “Yeah. I guess people undermining you, making fun of your mannerisms because of it, calling it nothing, saying it’s in your head, and refusing medical help is hard.” Gangle agrees, her smile reaching the eyes, partially unaware of what she just said.
They all look at her, eyes wide, as if she just talked about a childhood war. “UH— Just like any other disabled person haha!!!” She swung her arms as if victoriously, “Are you.. okay?” Ragatha furrows her thin brows, “Y-yeah! What about it?” Gangle puts her hands on her hips. “That’s just sad. You didn’t deserve that.” Zooble would have frowned if he had a mouth. “Nooo, it’s fine, why would you ever think that way?— I had an amazing family, who got it diagnosed when I was older and accommodated me! And that shines over everything else!” She refutes. “Gangle, good and bad stuff can happen at the same time.” Pomni empathetically fiddles with her bangs.
“I… guess…”
…
“Time to go to your rooms, every brony!” Caine is back to his maniacal self, they all walk past him. “...Never say that again.” Gangle shakes her head, eyes wide, as if she’d found out something disgusting. “Aw, guess that was a bad try.” Caine droops his body.
“I can’t believe he just said that,” Gangle mutters to herself. “Yeah, gave me flashbacks.” Pomni shivers, “You know, I wish I talked to you more when I first came. I realize I never did, and I feel bad now, sorry.” She continues. “O-oh! Thanks, that’s really sweet.” Gangle is flustered, fidgeting with her ribbons. “Oh, yeah. Pomni, I wanted to show you something!” Ragatha squeals. Gangle then droops her head the slightest bit. “You guys can come too!” Ragatha invites them over. “Oh, thanks.” Zooble follows, but Gangle just stands there as they walk past her. “You coming?” Zooble turns back, “Oh. Yeah.”
“This piano looks exactly like it did in my past life!” Ragatha opens the piano, “Really? What if Caine does know of our lives, then?” Pomni suggests, “I doubt it. He’s stupid.” Zooble speaks bitterly. “Well, it’s possible!” Pomni shrugs, “You know, maybe there’s drawing inspirations for you here, Gangle! Since back… home, my music notes had art. My.. mom would print them for me. To gently convince me to do it, of course.” Ragatha overexplains, looking at Gangle. “Gang—” “Yeah…” Gangle interrupts her, “I’m sorry, I respond late… Didn’t mean to interrupt.” She sheepishly sorries.
“No it’s fine! Oh look, here’s one of my favorites. The garden of memories!” Ragatha shows her a beautiful art piece, clearly human-made, handing it to her. It had a garden, one that had many dead flowers, but many beautiful ones, all basking in the sun together. Fragments of glass resembling rain even though it’s sunny. “Wow… it really is beautiful.” Gangle takes it from Ragatha’s hand, actually astonished.
Where did she see glass before…?
“You’re too reckless! If you hurt yourself more with these urges, you’ll hurt someone else!”
She accidentally drops it out of shock, the frame scratching her ribbon foot, but not enough to rip it. “Oh! It really is frail isn’t it…” Gangle picks it up again, “Guess so,” Zooble mumbles. “I must be lucky that my hand didn’t get hur—” Suddenly a knife goes right through Ragatha’s hand, cutting a part of her three conjoined fingers. She blinks twice. “Ow.” She looks at her hand. “Playing piano, huh? Sorry, one of the NPCS was a serial murderer, oh look who came!” Jax apologizes, in a non-genuine manner, looking at the NPC following him. The NPC was literally a knife holding another knife.
“Ummm???” Ragatha is utterly confused, “Am I actually seeing what I’m seeing?” Gangle is also confused, “Yeah. We all see it.” Pomni confuzzles. “What the f[Bounce!]k, Jax? You didn’t even knock!” Zooble complains, “Why would I knock to see Ragdolly?” Jax makes fun of Ragatha, who ignores him. She makes sure to take Kinger’s advice.
‘She’s.. ignoring him?’ Pomni catches on, ‘Glad she’s getting better at it.’ She smiles. “Hey, is she blind?” Jax waves his hand over Ragatha’s eyes, “Nah, she just knows better than to acknowledge you.” Zooble shakes his head. “Whatever, know-it-all, I’ll be going back to my room. See ya all never.” He leaves the room, his annoyance of the lack of attention rearing its ugly teeth.
“Sometimes I wonder if he actually thinks he’s funny.” Zooble insults, “He does. He’s brought it up in multiple arguments.” Pomni states. “Oh, yeah you’re right.” Zooble nods. “May.. be it’s his own sense of humor..?” Gangle unknowingly defends Jax, “Hah? Do not try defending him. Someone being his humor is wrong.” Zooble scowls, but at Jax, not Gangle.
She didn’t take it that way. ‘Oh. I said something wrong again didn’t I…?’ She covers her mouth with one ribbon, “Why’re you surprised?” Pomni looks at Gangle, “N-Nothing! Just thought Zooble was mad at me.. or something.” Gangle whispers in order. “Of course they aren’t.” Pomni rebuttals, “They’re mad at Jax. Not you.” She adds.
“You’re right. Just not in the best mood today.” Gangle chuckles, as if making fun of herself, “We’ve all been there!” Pomni chuckles too. Gangle felt her heart weigh lighter, this is the first time she actually feels happy. And it isn’t ven overbearing.
“Honestly, when did his antics even start? I wasn’t there when Gangle first joined, so I’m curious.” Zooble interviews, “Ah, well… Probably after Ribbit abstracted… He did it before then, but it was more... friendly." Ragatha holds in a sad emotion she’s kept for a while, since she can’t ruin the mood. ‘There’s that friend again!’ Pomni having heard that name before, triumphantly points out in her head, ‘Just who were they?’
Pomni didn’t know whether ‘Ribbit’ was boy, girl, or something in between, all she knew was that she is Jax’s abstracted friend. “Oh.. yeah. It’s been quite a while…” Gangle sniffs, “She was so sweet, I do miss her. That argument scared me since it begun.” Ragatha reminds herself of a bad memory, “Oh, yeah…” Gangle agrees.
“What was it?” Zooble tilts her head. “Ehhh… I don’t think anyone would like me answering that.” Ragatha shakes her head disapprovingly, “...N-nor me…” Gangle wags her ribbon, as if a finger, “But..” She tries to find an exception. “There’s no need, forget about it.” Zooble reassures. Gangle lets out a sigh of relief. She’s always felt obligated to share information people wanted, no matter the sensitivity.
“Anyway; Is it getting late? Oh wait, it never does.” Pomni corrects herself, “I’ll head to my room…” Gangle leads herself out, “Bye!” Pomni and Ragatha wave, even if she won’t wave back.
Gangle, socially drained, walks while limping to her room. Her room matched her avatar. Dark red, dimly lit, and it had a poorly arranged assortment of masks next to a vanity. Some masks she never used, as she’s never seen the emotions on them depicted before.
She just wish there were a lamp to draw better when it’s night, but dimly lit can work for now. It’s not like it made her drawings unclear. She looks at her masks again, wondering if she should even try her comedy mask again. I mean, they did hate her manager mask, but maybe they’d like her more with her natural comedy mask?
She’ll decide tomorrow. She lays on her bed, facing her right side. ‘I wonder if they mind me being quiet…’ She looks at the ceiling of her bed, it resembled a baby’s crib’s chandelier esque toy. It mocks her every time she tries to sleep. Just a reminder she’s a crybaby.
Like what Jax says. ‘I know.. I know they tell me he's wrong.. but… he can be correct sometimes, right? Surely, they agree that I’m too emotional, right? I mean even Ragatha told me I was way less mature than her… Even she says authority’s weird on me.’ She rolls to her left side, ‘And Pomni implied my authority wasn’t real. And Jax told me he liked me better when I was sad…’
She knows Zooble has told her many times that it doesn’t matter if the new mask was a bust, but she really messed up this time. Did she really think she could ever be in control? Tell Pomni that work is more important than feelings? And employee re-evaluation? Really?!
There’s no going back, huh?
‘I wonder what makes me better when I’m sad. Is it fun to look at? No, probably just fun to mess with… that’s all I’ve been anyway.’ She ponders, ‘A person to mess with.’
…
Ragatha prepped her piano to actually play it, and Pomni was just helping her out. Zooble had left a minute or two ago, so they didn’t have much help setting it up. “Could you get the lockpick?” Ragatha points to her desk.
“Yeah, I’ll do that.” Pomni gets the lockpick, and hands it to her, “Let’s see if this work—” The piano opens, but it explodes dust on her stitched face. She just shakes it off. “It worked!” Ragatha exclaims, now ready to tune it.
“Uh… How are we gonna tune it if we don’t have that one app?” Pomni asks, hesitant.