Chapter Text
Pomni groaned as she sat up, placing a hand on her shoulder as she rotated her arm. Her shoulder ached. It was almost nice to know she was still capable of feeling pain, even in this digital clown body that wasn't her own. It made her still feel human in a way. Maybe once she finally got out of here, it wouldn't take her long to readjust to her real body since she still had the same sensations of pain and feeling as she did when in her human body. It may have been foolish to hold onto hope of escape, but she clung desperately on to that hope. It was what kept her going during all of this. That and the others. She'd come to grow attached to the other residents of the circus in her short time being here, namely Jax. Since the gun fight, though, they'd...
She hugged her shoulders, staring down at the red and blue striped blanket that was draped over her frame. She squeezed onto the edge of the blanket. It was confusing to her how quickly he withdrew and pretended to not care. She didn't know him very well nor for very long, but did what time they'd spent together as friends mean nothing to him? Nothing at all? She shut her eyes, trying to push out the thoughts swarming her, and the image of his face yelling at her that sat so vividly in her memory. She wasn't entirely sure why she attacked him like she did. She didn't regret it, either. Still, maybe it was to blame? No. She thought with a sorrowful certainty. He would've shut me out either way. After the gun fight, she'd tried to reach out to him multiple times. He rejected it every time. And the fact he slammed his fist down so confidently on the button, unsure of if that was an adventure or not... It infuriated her. Not only had he pushed her away, he didn't communicate anything whatsoever. But her anger was short lived.
She felt bad for him, even though she tried not to. He'd been alone all this time, and now that they had fought, he was only crawling further into himself and hiding from the others. He'd stayed in his room, avoiding interacting with the others for multiple days now. She didn't say anything and pretended not to notice because she wasn't sure how to approach the issue. She was afraid that for every step she tried to take closer to him, he took four steps backwards. She questioned if she even should try to get closer to him. He seemed upset by the attempts. Like he said, he wasn't some "chicken fetus in an egg just waiting to be cracked open." He was a person, just as she was, with his own thoughts and free will. If he wished to be alone, she had no reason not to grant him his wish. And yet the thought angered her. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, no matter how hard she tried not to care, it infuriated her how easily Jax let go of their friendship, how easily he let go of her.
Pomni grabbed the block on the floor beside her, and impulsively hurled it at the wall with a loud crack. The wooden block suddenly shattered, pieces of confetti filling the air where it had once been and slowly falling to the ground among the shattered pieces. She stared for a moment, eye twitching. Pomni turned her body to the side all at once, flinging the blanket off of herself and placing her feet firmly onto the ground. She marched out of her room, slamming the door behind her, and made her way to Jax's room. She lifted her gloved hand to knock on the door with several days of pent up frustration behind the force as she swung her arm, and suddenly she found herself falling onto the ground, fist slamming against tile.
"Stick the landing next time, PomPom." A familiar voice snorted. Pomni shot up from the ground instantly, holding herself up by her hands as she looked over at him. Jax was looking down at her with the same shit-eating grin as always. Just like that he was... back to normal?
"Jax," Pomni stood, reaching a hand out. But he flinched away from her, smile warping quickly into a frown. He shook his hand, turning to face Caine infront of them. Pomni shrank into herself, recoiling her hand. All her frustration and resolve left her body in an instant, and she was left with only shame and loneliness.
She felt so out of place here.
"Hello, my lovely circus members! I, your loyal AI, have prepared another adventure for you!" Caine exclaimed, his teeth chattering with excitement. He threw his hands up in the air as he spoke, and rotated in a circle without having to move any of his limbs. It made him look like a windmill.
She looked up at Caine and her eyebrows furrowed, recalling the events of the last "adventure" he'd hosted for them all.
"Now now, I know you're all...mad at me after the failure of the Escape The Circus adventure," He laughed nervously, putting his hands together. "So! Bubble helped me research this 'real world' phenomenom some more," He made quotation marks with his fingers as he spoke, "and I've created a veerrryyyy reliable replica for you! And more importantly, all of you play your own roles! You'll have jobs, do taxes, all of that fun 'real world' stuff that humans do!" He laughed, clapping his hands together like a giddy child. But he wasn't a giddy child, and Pomni knew better by now than to think of him as such, especially after the events that had recently transpired.
"Wait. Did you say tax-" Pomni was cut off as Caine flicked his fingers and they all disappeared from the circus floor.