Chapter Text
Pomni yawned. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before jumping up, not having to change clothes because of the jumpsuit that was glued to her. She rushed out of her room to see the portrait across the hall from her.
She smiled as she stepped towards it, opening it slowly, trying to hide the light as she went in. She saw him shift. Her boyfriend, her bunny, Jax. She closed the door behind her as she kept smiling, tiptoeing closer to him. She pushed the blanket off him as she hopped into his bed and cuddled up to him. He opened his eyes blearily seeing the primary colors startling him a little bit before he wrapped his arms around her, tucking the blanket around the two of them.
Pomni cuddled into her bunny, the plastic feeling of their skin touching connecting them like electricity.
“I’m takin you out today Pom.” Jax mumbled into her sleeve.
“You’re taking me out?” She asked, his arm tightening around her waist.
He grumbled out, “Nyes I ‘m” before his soft snoring resumed.
She smiled as she looked at the calendar hanging in his room. The date was circled saying “MOTNNTHAVERSARY” with a lot of arrows pointing to it. She hadn’t even remembered herself, but he already seemed so passionate about their monthaversaries she couldn’t deny him them.
Pomni let her eyes close to the sound of his soft snoring. She was comfortable, warm, and though she didn’t usually like being touched, as long as she started the interaction it didn’t bother her. She felt his soft breath pushing her hair out of her face, and she nuzzled into his warmth.
A loud yell came from out in the breakfast room and the two jumped up, realizing Caine was already explaining the adventure. They rolled their eyes as they both got out of the bed, grumbling.
Pomni was bleary eyed as she stepped into the dining room holding Jax’s hand. Her yawn alerted the ringmaster. “POMNI! I need your help in something! The rest of you leave us alone!” Caine snapped his fingers as the rest of the cast were sucked into a portal, Jax only looking slightly confused as he let go of her hand.
Caine snapped his fingers, scepter appearing and popping bubble the moment he appeared. He bonked Pomni’s head softly, Pomni’s eyes closing as he did it and when she opened her eyes again he had teleported her into the admin files. “Pomni- I’ve found something you thought might be interested in.” His words were serious.
“Me specifically?”
Caine nodded. His ringmaster tone dropped almost completely as he let himself drift to her eye level. “This is probably the most important revelation of the circus.” His voice was very serious, the most Pomni had ever heard from him.
She nodded. “Lead the way Caine.”
He floated towards his mind palace, the doors opening automatically for him, letting Pomni through behind him.
“I was looking through the game’s files and I saw something that would be of interest to you specifically.” He floated towards his ‘mind’, grabbing her hand and pulling her up with him as he was floating, her legs dangling as he lifted her with him.
Her feet hit the platform next to his mind as he stepped in, beckoning her to join him.
She stepped into the jelly-like substance before popping into a dark sphere, bigger on the inside than she thought it would be. It was pitch black, the only light a soft screen highlighting Caine’s jagged teeth. It made him look ominous.
“Pomni.” His voice was unlike anything she had heard from him before. She gulped and stepped closer to his screen that he gestured for her to look at.
“The circus automatically binds itself mostly to the newest player who joins. That would be you.” She nodded as he swiped to a different screen, effortlessly and effective. It was much more graceful than his normal stilted movements. This was his element and he knew it.
“And?” Her voice was shaky as he opened a few new tabs around them. The different screens appeared and made her a little dizzy.
“This one here shows the administration priorities also go to the newest player, as usually they are a moderator coming to intervene with the game.
However my power has been on the fritz.” He felt himself shake again. “I’ve been dealing with what seems like an illness, my chest will get tight and heavy. I’ll have a hard time breathing and realistically I know I don’t need to because I’m not human but-“ he turned to her.
“You’ll know what this means.” His words were shaky, but sure.
“Me? What would I know?” She asked confused, but stepped up to the many screens as well.
“More than I do about humans, that's for sure.” He sounded grouchy, as if he was mad that he had to even entertain the idea of someone knowing more than him.
Pomni clicked a button and it zoomed in on the screen. He flew fast over to her screaming “DON’T TOUCH THEM!” She stumbled backwards into some of the other tabs, knocking them out of midair and shattering them on the floor.
He all of a sudden started to glitch. “I- I- I- so-o-ry P-P-mni- his head started to shake as his eyes welled with tears. He was scared. Pomni could see it in the small amount of light coming from the last screen. She pushed past the screen, letting it fall out of the air as she embraced Caine. She didn’t know what would happen if Caine somehow abstracted, but she didn’t want to find out.
He lunged to the screen and caught it as it hit the ground, before he placed it down and smacked it with his fist. “I-I-I -o -ood- -t m-m-y -o-ob”
Pomni shook her head, squeezing him tight. “You’re perfect at your job Caine. Because you’re ours.”
At that he dropped his hand, his body fainting after having been so tense, right before and the screen hit the floor, shattering into a million pieces.
It was dark. Pitch black. She was scared. Then all of a sudden she was alone. Caine had been lifted from her lap. Where was she being taken? She was in the air, hovering. A light pierced through a small rift that looked like- a crack?
She floated closer, the crack attracting her like gravity. It got large and larger as she floated towards it. The light came bright and fast. All of a sudden everything around her shattered and she was in nothingness. The void.
And she was scared.
For a while she floated there.
She was scared.
She tried to find her way out.
She was scared.
She screamed and called and cried to anyone who would listen.
She was scared.
She shook and sobbed and screeched.
She was scared.
All of a sudden a screen with two buttons appeared in front of her.
Request by C.A.I.N.E.
Transfer administrator permissions to
P.O.M.N.I.
(Accept) (Decline)
Pomni looked at the screen for a long minute. She looked until she didn’t know how to think or what to feel.
She pressed “Accept.”
And everything went black.