Work Text:
“WHAT THE $#!/ IS THIS THING?!” Pomni screamed as she narrowly jumped over a lashing wire in a feat that surprised even herself.
“I don’t know! I’ve never seen anything like this before!” Ragatha yelled, yanking Kinger out the way of a similar lash of sharp metal.
No one knew what it was, and it had come out of nowhere!
It was a mass of writhing wires and sharp metal parts, all tangled together in a knotted mess that somehow managed to throw itself around and lash out. Whenever two wires in the mass separated enough, an eye, either red or blue, would appear in the opening, searching wildly for its next target or some object or wall it could use as leverage before the grey wires would contract and the eye would disappear. And all the while, it kept playing a staticky maniacal laughter.
It had come for Kinger first. Barreling out of a hallway, it made a beeline for the pillow-fort like some heat-seeking missile hell-bent on destroying every player in the circus, slinging itself forward with metallic claws scratching against the tile floors.
Ragatha and Pomni were in front of the slide area at the time, hanging out. The cover of flying pillows as the fort practically exploded as the thing crashed into it had provided both them and Kinger some protection as Kinger narrowly avoided the lashing metal claws and the crazed bundle swung around and struck out at the two girls instead.
Sharp metal stabbed into the pillows in their desperate attempt to pierce digital flesh, buying Pomni and Ragatha enough time to dodge just out of reach of the unencumbered blades coming at them like swinging knives. One managed to slash at the end of Pomni’s hat and nearly cut it off, but left her otherwise unscathed.
Gangle, Jax, and Zooble were in their rooms when it happened. Jax and Zooble ran out at the commotion while Gangle popped her head out for five seconds, heard what was happening, and made the very smart choice to go back inside and lock the fucking door. Right now, most everyone was debating the idea of following her, to their own rooms of course.
“GET BACK!” Was the only coherent thing Zooble could think to say as they chucked a big purple play block at the unknown creature to distract it from Pomni. It worked, as it abandoned Pomni and lashed out at Zooble in response, who had just enough time to grab a green one to block it - pun not intended.
They had been lucky so far, with everyone managing to dodge or deflect the attacks with a random object.
“It doesn’t seem like something Caine would create!” Ragatha yelled as she dragged Kinger across the large space to where Zooble and the blocks were, farther away from whatever this thing was. She deposited Kinger there, who, to his credit, immediately seemed to catch on and began hurling blocks like he was stoning a witch.
“I think it does!” Pomni responded, remembering the manor horror adventure.
“It’s certainly new!” Jax laughed. “New workout regimen maybe?”
Jax was, of course, not helpful in the slightest. He was mostly running around and occasionally taunting the thing.
But Pomni was still in danger. For all its wild flailing, the shambling mound did seem to have some sense of intellect and strategy, managing to slowly corral Pomni against the wooden stage area and now strategically blocking off any chance at escape with lashing wires every direction she tried to turn.
Zooble and Kinger’s efforts were doing something, earning unfocused lashes that were definitely slowing it down, but the encroaching hunter seemed to know it had successfully trapped a prey, and was more focused than ever. As Pomni turned and jumped on the stage, it wrapped a wire around her ankle and dragged her to the ground, causing her to scream.
Ragatha ran back without hesitation. Dashing towards the stage and managing to jump between gaps in wires while the attacker was distracted, Ragatha scooped Pomni up and rolled her out of the way of a round of slashing claws. She pulled, yanking Pomni free of the wire and stumbling backwards, twisting and letting Pomni down behind her.
She barely got to open her eyes again when the wired monster seized her entire head in a single three-pronged claw.
“RAGATHA!” Pomni, Zooble, and Kinger screamed in unison.
“UGHCK-!”
A sharp blade slashed across Ragatha’s chest and arm, slicing open a gash in the cloth and igniting a terrible pain as their luck ran out.
The looping laughter audio from the vicious slashing mass of wires distorted and its body contracted in sadistic glee, opening blue and red eyes that fixed eerily on the stuffing bursting out of Ragatha’s chest and followed it down as clumps of it hit the floor-
The sheer impact slamming the wired mound into the floor and ripping it off of Ragatha was all that could be registered at first. It was only after the motion blur and the cloud of debris started to clear that the group saw Caine with the ball end of his cane wedged in the now dented metal of the invader, shaking triangular warning symbols in place of his pupils and irises, and behind him, a large pop-up window in the air reading ‘[THREAT DETECTED]’.
[PROTECT MODE ENGAGED.] Another pop-up read.
“[⚠️WARNING! DANGER! PROTECT MODE ENGAGED! WARNING! DANGER!⚠️]” A robotic voice boomed along with a warning pop-up reading the same thing as deafening sirens began to blare.
Giant white-gloved hands materialized out of nowhere and grabbed the players up off the ground, and the last thing they saw was dozens of wires from the tangled invader wrapping and curling themselves around Caine like a robotic octopus before the hands pulled and their vision blurred.
With screams and yelps, they were suddenly in an empty white space, broken only by the warning pop-ups in the air.
“[⚠️WARNING! DANGER! PROTECT MODE ENGAGED! WARNING! DANGER!⚠️]”
The giant hands pulled them into a tight circle, players back-to-back and hands wrist-to-wrist. Even Gangle was there, and at some point in the transition between spaces, the wound on Ragatha’s chest had been healed up. Around them, dark grey walls materialized and slammed into place with a thunderous sound, trapping them in an isolated room with no doors or windows - but somehow still had light.
[PROTECT MODE ENGAGED.]
[REWRITING CAINE.exe PRIMARY OBJECTIVE.]
[NEW PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: PROTECT PLAYERS.]
On the walls, floor, and ceiling, giant eyes opened like wounds as if the walls were made of meat. They covered every inch. Some trained on the players, making sure nothing happened; others darted around wildly, scanning for any threats. And on all of them, triangular warning symbols took the place of their pupils and irises.
The players cowered and cried out. What the hell was going on?!
“[⚠️WARNING! DANGER! PROTECT MODE ENGAGED! WARNING! DANGER!⚠️]”
Two rings of floating eyes appeared next, circling the group on opposite diagonal axes, the inner ones focused inward on them, the outer ring facing outward and looking around wildly for any threats. The warning symbols in place of their pupils and irises shook with static.
[PLAYERS SECURED.]
[INITIATING PHASE 2.]
[THREAT TO LIFE OF PLAYERS DETECTED.]
There was nothing but the blaring alarms for a few seconds, then a rippling glitch spread through the eyes on the walls like a shockwave.
[THREAT NEUTRALIZED.]
And just like that, the fight was over, not even a full 60 seconds after it started.
“[⚠️WARNING! DANGER! PROTECT MODE ENGAGED! WARNING! DANGER!⚠️]”
[INITIATING PHASE 3.]
But that new pop-up was quickly covered up by the previous window updating.
[THREAT TO LIFE OF PLAYERS DETECTED.]
[FORCING EMERGENCY LOGOUT.]
Pomni’s breath caught in her throat at the new notification. Actually? They were actually going to log out? Go home? She was going to escape?!
She could feel something in her mind that she’d never felt before. They all did. It was a sort of dissociation, of being pulled away.
The logout! Yes! Yes! Ye-
Pomni’s head was thrown back painfully fast as a jolt of agonizing lightning felt like it ripped through the crest of her skull.
[⚠️WARNING! NEURAL_REINTEGRATION_4936_338_4.exe IS CORRUPTED.⚠️]
Wait-
[⚠️WARNING! NEURAL_REINTEGRATION_4936_829_1.exe IS CORRUPTED⚠️]
Pomni’s hands reached up to grip her head before she even knew it, and she let out an anguished, guttural screech. The others gripped their heads as well.
[⚠️WARNING! NEURAL_REINTEGRATION_8096_222_19.exe IS CORRUPTED.⚠️]
This was wrong! Peering through tears and shaking, flickering vision she could see the warning pop-ups. Oh god! She was dying! This was going to kill her!
[⚠️WARNING! MEMORY_DATA_TRANSFORMER_MICRO-VERSE-TO-MACRO-VERSE_4.exe IS CORRUPTED.⚠️]
Stop! STOP! She didn’t want to die!
[⚠️WARNING! MULTIPLE SYSTEMS CORRUPTED!⚠️]
[FILES CORRUPTED IN LOGOUT SYSTEM: 229.]
[TERMINATING LOGOUT FOR SAFETY.]
[ATTENTION! LOGOUT CANNOT BE TERMINATED DURING FORCED EMERGENCY LOGOUT OF PROTECT PROTOCOL.]
[PARADOX DETECTED. REQUIRES HUMAN ADMINISTRATOR.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 32 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
The eyes on the inner ring changed, the warning symbol irises disappearing, replaced with normal alternating blue and green as they focused on the pained players with as much concern and panic as could be expressed through singular eyes.
[CAINE.exe IS REQUESTING HUMAN ADMINISTRATOR RESPONSE.]
[ERROR 503: SERVICE NOT AVAILABLE.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 30 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[LOGOUT OVERRIDE DENIED. CAINE.exe IS RESTRICTED FROM ACCESSING PLAYER LOGOUT.]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_KINGER NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_POMNI NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_RAGATHA NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_ZOOBLE NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_GANGLE NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_JAX NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_Q̶̨͇̰̯͓͕̂͘U̸̹̽̊̈́̈́̀͐̿̎È̷̯̥̦#̶̧͔̥̞̟̰̼̞̻̍̈̀͂͘N̸̨̥̖̦̥̈́I̶̛̯͆̇̇͆̊̒Ì̶͓̠̞͎̱̫͋͘Ỉ̸̢̤͇̟̻͇̯̭̆͗̉̽́͌̉̍ͅI̵͇̬̳͒̊͒͆I̴͉̖̺̍͒̉̆̋̏͝Ì̸̛̲̠͍̓̌̈́̕͝I̵̧̢̗̗̤̽I̴̡̢̪̝͍͖̠̊̍̀͆͗͂͐̑͆ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_R̴̩̜̦͍̦̉̐İ̷̟̣͇̪̃̈́̂B̷̺́͊̒͛B̷̙̘͍̼͚͚͙̀͜͠͝.̴̦͇͔̈́͗͊̉I̴͍̥̎̉͋͗̄̓̑.̵̨̱̩̪̩͂̆̒̒̿́̑̾ͅT̸̛̘̘̭̊̉̂̑͝ͅ.̸̡̧̠̺̫̖̍͌̑͗͂̈̄̑T̷̨̫͇͔̭̱͔͇͑̄̓̚.̶̢̛̛͔̰͈̤̍̍̑̀͝T̴̡̹̻̲͍̱̜̈́͆̌.̷̧̧̪͓͙́̉̄́T̵̡̥͕̣̲̱̺͇͒͐̀͐́̕.̷̞̜̪̭͛͋́̚̕T̷̨͇̑́̄͜ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_Ṣ̸̫͍͉̲̄̍͒C̵̺͎̘͆̉͐͘͝Ṙ̵̺̻̪̪̖͕̜͊Á̷̡̦̠̣̖͂̇͝T̶̲̰́̌̈̃̽-̷̨̛͈̙̝̪̙͒̎̾̋̾̅͝S̴̡̯̗͕̲̪̥͉̏̽̄͊̋C̴̢̮̺̜͂̒R̷̻̤̱͎̟̒͑͐͘Ä̵̩́̉͆͂T̸͎̚-̴͉͓̯͙̋̿̔C̵̣̥̜͚̮̭̥̼͒̾̀̾̑C̴̡̡͎̭̝̰͈̪̀͐̃̉̒́͗̈́C̶̺̟̩͉̞̺̒͘͜C̵̬̻̺̩̘̻̪̗͑͐͘Ç̵͇̩̗̖͓̤̏̐̏̓̐́͜C̸̖͖̏͋ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_Ǩ̴̟͝Ä̷̖̣̲͔́U̵̡̼̮̼̿̋͘͜.̵̠͚͉̟͍̈̄͗̇̃U̷̯̗͚͛͒.̶̬̇̽U̷̪̍̍͋̀͆F̷̱̼̫̣́́̇͒!̶̛͎̳̈́̆́̇F̶̮͔͑̈̍̎ͅ.̷̢̘̳͒͊!̸͓̟̹͎̣̾̆̂F̸̡̃̐!̶͈̱̂̔̿M̶̭̌&̴̭͙̠͇̀̋̀̊͜$̷̨̧̙̺̓̿̉̾̑)̴̛̫͇͚̿̈̌͝ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_C̷͖̰̭̞̼̱̳̾ä̷̛̹́̆̆̆̓̋͘s̶̫̞̜̫͈̫̲̋̀̃̍͠3̷̛̛̖̊̓́̊͐́͂7̶̗́̅̏̿b̷̨̡̺̟̯̪͍̮̲̅͐̂̍͛̽f̸̢̤̙̦̦́̐̋̍̎̌͝ò̴͔͇̇̐͗̅͑8̸̢͕̲̫̩̙̰͙̩̒̏s̵̱̼͖̏͐͜ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_5̸̣̙̊̿̚7̶̨̦̙͈̿̉̿͠j̴͎̕d̸̛̦͙̭͍͗̆͌b̶̜̐͝o̶̮͐̇̍̈́̒9̸͓̬̥͙͛͊̀̇3̴̧͉̪̼͉̝̌̌̍̂͛͝j̴̙͗̃̅f̶̫̃̊͊͆͗̊ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_&̸͈͍̪͙̞̣̅̉̉̐͘͜͠$̷͉̝̗̋͐͑͊͝9̵̟̦̑͗̑̉h̴̡̭̝͖̦̥̣̞̋̆̈́6̷̬̄̅̏̊̏̚͘͜d̸̨̡̩͗̊̉͆̓͂̚͝͝b̶̨̲̲̮̲̹̤̈̏̔̚͘͜ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_8̷̙̫̯͖͊͜h̵̩̓f̴̝͈̺̲͈̃̃̆͋́͛͜ͅ7̵̞̾̒̓͆̑̑̌͠+̷̰͎̥̺̘̱̌̾́̽#̷̺̱̰͈̩̲̏.̴͉̥̼͎̾́̇͂͒̔̚̚͜2̷̱̖̫͔̦̰̱̍.̷̜̙̱̐̐͝x̴̺͇̩̖̭̘̗͔̉̓̐̕͝.̵̢̦̻̝͍̜̾͋̑͒x̷͈̬̭̔̇̏̆̄̽͝.̴̢̦̩̜̯͕͈͝ͅx̵̨̛̺̩̣̂͑̓͌͒̚.̵͖̼̟͔̳̹̈́͛͜x̸͚̭͒͑.̶͚͙̫̥̯̈́̊̅̃͝ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_t̸̲̱̩̕͘̚.̶̩͒͑ẗ̶̢͖̻̰́̏̈͂.̶̻̈́͋̀̿̚t̷̢̝͍̫̠̓́͒͑̐͘.̴̦͚̠̘̯́̄͑̔t̷̢̤͖̘̫̪͂͐͆̾.̸̞̻̗̲̿̀̒͋̊t̵͎̞̗͙̃̋.̶̧͙̦̈̎͛̉t̶͓̰̥̣̯̿̈́̑̂̅.̸͕̗̳͇̳̣̃̎̿̓t̴̢͇̻̦̬͐.̶͕̊̏̈̌͝ţ̶̹͍̿̕.̷̡̻͇͈̪͆́̋́̀͝t̶̢̛̝̺͐́̌͐.̵̙͈̬͍̺̍̑̈͒t̸͔͓̦̒̇̓͝.̴͓̊͆̈͘ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_N̶̨̛͔̞̯̜̹̱̱̋͋̄̃͌̇S̸̠͔̅͌̈́̀̔̆͝͝ͅŲ̴̡̻̘̥̪͂̓̀8̴͚̣͎̝͍̰̙̂̈̾̓̎̔6̴̡̛͖̻̪̗̪̹2̵̞͔͑̔̉͗̈́̕)̸͖͇̆̈̒̈́̑̌̚”̴̡̢̰̮̭͎̘͓̿͐͌#̴̜̊̍̈́͘0̸̨͙͇̗̹̥̜͈̈́̏̇͗͑̾̍̓ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_5̶̼̯̠͙̱͍͗̊̓̄̕7̴̢͍̪̐ͅ3̷̧̮͙͖̺̮̱͇͂̄̎̎8̴̝̖̥̫̤͚͆́̇̋̂̎͘2̶̡͉͇̃̆͊͒͘3̶̱̗̺̻͋̊͆̈́̅̀6̸̦̫̝͉̪̳̳̩͗̑̎͛́8̷̡̀̓̊͛̈̂̑͝2̵̞̤̲̻̥̩͓̮͑9̸̬̣̝̹̈́́̾͛́̅͝ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! RETURN_BODY_G̸͇̳͊͑̑́̑N̵̡̡̢̙͎̭̈̈́̎̀̉̏͌̑͝+̶͚̒̈́̓̈́̀̿̃8̷̣͖̫͖̀̆̀̀͊͐̎͝P̸̰̖̙̦̙̉͗̐̋͐#̷̢̰̯͔͎̣̠̘͖͊̐́͛́͌͠K̵̡͔̥̩̮͑2̷̡͕̹͉̃̇͊̐̂3̸͙̦͓͆&̸̢̡̪̳̄̂́̂̚͝G̶̯̮͖̥̝̪̬̩̳̾͑̿̽̅̈́̀@̴̡̦̥͚̣͚̭͑̈́͑̄̓͊̕͝ NOT FOUND.⚠️]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 28 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[ACCESS DENIED. CAINE.exe IS RESTRICTED FROM ACCESSING ADMINISTRATOR_LOGIN_REQUEST.]
[UNAUTHORIZED ATTEMPT DETECTED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
The eyes on all the walls pulsed glowing green.
[ACTION CEASED.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 26 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
The eyes on the inner ring looked over the players with increasing panic, watching as they gripped their heads, some screaming or crying in pain and fear.
An old pop-up reappeared, covering everything else.
[NEW PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: PROTECT PLAYERS.]
Behind it, the command code prompt still lingered.
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
[̷̞̖͉͖̎̊͒̔̀̈́C̷̤̿̈͛̑͐̒ͅǪ̴̲͎̫͉̼́M̴͍͛͆Ṃ̴̩̭͉̠͌͒͜A̷̪̭̝̱̭̝͛Ṉ̷͚̺̩͌̊̉̋D̷̼͙̼͔͕̝̃ ̶͖̖͆C̷̦̬̱̗̜͐̂̚O̷̦̙̜͑͌D̸̮̺̘̱̱̊̉̃̅̚͝E̸̢͚͕̝̘̺͐̒:̵̧͓̫͈̻͊̍͝ ̸̝̭̻̞̀͝C̸̩̤̉̅A̸͈̖̗͉͚̥͐̓̀̌I̴̙͉͒̎̊N̸̘̟̕E̷̪̽.̵̛̘̪̻̟̞͌̓ͅȇ̷̺̯̻̫̳͑̔͜x̴̠̠̳̓͒̊̃e̸̖̝͚̰̕:̵̐ͅͅ ̸̑̋̅̃̔̚ͅC̸͉͔̚Ȩ̴͈̜͎͙͠Ȁ̷̟͚̺́̍̃̅͘S̸̨̯̱̯̦̀͑͂E̸̪̤̬̞̱͑ͅ_̷̻͎̥̫͈̤͊Ả̴͖̭͓͋̏͝͝͝Ć̵̫̘̥̩̫̋T̵̜̯̖͉͌Ì̸̙͎̬̐̏O̸̺͐Ñ̵̩̟̪̱͍_̸̢̢̲͎̰̣͐̒̃Í̶͚͋̈́̽̀̈́Ḿ̸̺̲̋M̸̗͉̮̐̽̄͘͠Ĕ̷̘̬̠̜̓̓̓͗͝D̵̥̣͖̂͑̚͝Į̴̭̬͆̿̂̑͠Ä̸̮̲̤͇́͋̃T̶̮̥̠̿Ḛ̷͎̉͜͠L̵̟͈͙̞̇͂́̃̾̓Ÿ̴̗͍̳̝̜́̇͊͛͘.̵̼̼̱͍̲̅́̒̓̋͑]̸̞̝̦̼̗̠̑
It glitched and corroded.
[̴̖̮̝̘̺̳̒̈́̓̾̃̑̾̀̑͆͑̌̽C̶̟̟̺̭͙̑̎́̔͊̇̉͑͋͘͜͝Ơ̸̧̹͚̠̗̼̯̙̭͇̣̥̺͋̈̅̌͝M̴̢̜̖̺̹͇͉̤͙̞̙̪͙͓͖̙̫͎͎̈́͊̆̔̍̓͂͐̑̾M̸͉͕̘̱̺̘̼̬̀͑A̴̦̥̠͎̘̰̳̠̞̲̺̓̏͐̾͆̅̏̏̄͋̈͌͠N̵̡͕̻͙͔̳̣̄̐͜͝D̵̛̘̱͈͙͈̫͍̪̎͂̽̑̾́́̿̿̽̎̍͂͘ ̵̯̦͎̟͎̫̝̥̗̯̗̺̇̔̋̍̔̎̓̽̚C̶̡̡̛͉͇̰̯͉̩̥̅̿͛̋͐̐̽̂̇̈̄͜͝O̴̡̫̮͕̤̝̟̻̲̯͂͒̾̾͒͘͝Ḑ̴̖̺͇̹̘͉̄͑͂̉̈Ê̷̢͉̼̦͚̟̻̰̹͍̱̟͙̦̦͖͉̼͇̒̓̿̇̿͆̇̂͐́̀̀̽̚:̶̨̨̧̯͎̠̺͈͔͈͉̮̻͙̣̬̅͐͂͗̀͝ͅ ̸̻̰̬̼̮̟̙͍̪̞̦̞͎͉̫͍̙̊̍̈́͜ͅC̶̜̑̓̈́̍͌̿̂̐͛̒̂́̃͗̋̅̀̚A̴̠̟̤̾̈́̔̐́̋͑͌̉́̉̾͂́̍̅͊̕I̶̙͉̖̦͕̗͎͒͂́̌̔̉ͅN̶͍̳͎͉͌͋̿͂̎́̊͒̆̈́̾͘E̶̟̞̜̖͚̻̠̤͓̝̔̾̒̓̈́̾͗̒.̵̡̬̟̽̓̒̉̾͗̅̓̕e̷̡̨̨̪̙͔̘̺̬͕͚͈̖̤̓́͌̈́͋̂̅̀͒͌̿̈́̈́͠x̵̰̯̲̼͖̥͙̭̙̣̲͓̞͕͛͒͊̎́̀̂̇̍̈́̈́́̿͒̂̕͜͠ȩ̶̪̬͖̠͈͎̫̪̼̲̻͔̖͕̗͊̇̄̔̽̉͂̏̿̆́̚̚̕͝:̶̪̪̙̿̈́̈́́̋͊̉͆͂ ̸͙̖͚̣̖̙͈̝̬̮̉̐̑͑̉͋̂̀̊͐́̌̚͠C̵̢̱͙͗̾̊̉́̏͘E̵̢͙̠̪̖̲̫͆̐̋̆͆̔̿̄̕̕͜A̶̡̛͈͖̱̭͍͍̞͔̔͌̽͑͋̈́͘͝S̶̡̨̧̱̦͖̈́̾Ȩ̵̛̼̒̾̀̓̏̿͐̒̎̂̕_̸̡̞̠̘̻̻͔̼̞̫͔̗̫̉̆̉A̶̲̮̲͖̮͛͑̍̄͗̓͒́̈́̋̇̓̀́͑C̸̳̉̆́̃̄̑̀̒̈͋̓̽̄͠͝Ţ̴̨̢̩̮̬̞̣̫̗̺̯̹̌̃̋̈́̉̾̄̑͗̊̿̽̾͜͝͠͠͝ͅI̷͙̭̻͇̮̘̪̤̫͖͚̺̘͇̠̪͎͎̽̀͌̾͛͛̀̌̿̄̌̂͂̾̚̚̚͜͝O̸͓͊͊̒͆̌̾̓̄́N̸̡͔͕̥͖̬͉͙̯͉̖͙̤̱͛_̶̳̪̩͔̝̱̣̤͍̹̮̝͔͑͠ͅÌ̷̧̛̮̲̲̙͔̹̎̑́͛̓̌̿̾̌̄͗̇͘͜M̵̛̩̘̝͑̈͑͌̈͌̌̆̌̈M̶̛͖͙͕̻͎̱͍̫̮̦͕͍͍̪͎͊̐́́̏̌͑̚͘͝ͅẺ̸̛̪̝͓̝̩͚̳̥͍̋̚͝͝ͅḐ̵͇̠̥̭̲̟̝̗̪̜͈̺̥̑̊̐͂͊̄̀̄͊̀͑͑͊̈́̇͘͝͠Į̸̡̡̲̮̫̻͈͖̰̻̭̺̖̥͔̈́Ā̷̡̳͉̫̩̼̮̂͊̀̈́͑͂́̕ͅṪ̷̛̪̀E̸̢̧̞̞̣̩̝̮̜͙̠͔̖̦̝̗͛͆̋̌̇̕͜ͅĹ̶̞̤͓͙̞͇̣͙͍̖̗̲̗̳̜̻̼́͆͐̒̋̋̈̔͐͗̅́̄̿̚͜͠͝͝Y̷͇͇̞̝̗̩͔͌́̃́̈̂͂͆̌̓̎̇͊.̵̧̢̛̛̗̉̌͆̀̔̄̕̚̚͜͝]̸̨͍͔̹͚̻̞̠͉̫͕͖̗̦̞̌̀̆̎͋͗̑͐̕͜
Until the pop-up flickered away completely.
Another large white-gloved hand appeared and grabbed the back of Kinger’s head with such force it pushed his head forward for a moment, then yanked it back as Kinger’s now wide eyes glitched and filled with erratic static.
The static retreated all at once, Kinger’s blue eyes now replaced with one blue and one green, and his entire posture changed.
Immediately, Caine got to work. Pointing with one finger on each of Kinger’s hands, he made a gesture from top to bottom, from inward to the outward sides, and finally from up and out to diagonally down inward, and on that final downstroke, a translucent blue screen appeared in front of him, which he quickly plunged his hands into as they partially phased through the screen. His eyes changed again to black with streaming green code and as he looked up, a similar translucent screen appeared in front of his face above the first, showing a login screen of a username and password prompt.
The username box was filled with ‘ALL.CAL.H.9898’ so fast the typing could not be seen, and the password box was filled with a line of dots just as fast and immediately met by-
[DENIED.]
A new attempt of dots was filled in immediately.
[DENIED.]
Again.
[DENIED.]
[DENIED.]
[DENIED.]
[TOO MANY FAILED ATTEMPTS. LOGIN ATTEMPTS LOCKED FOR 1 MINUTE.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 17 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
Immediately, Caine navigated the translucent screen to a different one so fast the process couldn’t be registered, a batch of code was selected, and a menu opened and selected from so fast it was a single-frame flash.
[PLAYER_ACTIVE CANNOT EDIT SYSTEM FILES.]
On the wall, amongst the eyes, a black screen with green code was brought up, a batch of code that could now be seen as saying something about counting login attempts was selected, and a menu flashed.
[THIS CODE CANNOT BE DELETED.]
The code was selected again and the menu flashed.
[COMPRESSING TO .zip.]
[FILE COMPRESSED.]
[UNAUTHORIZED ATTEMPT DETECTED.]
As that happened, Caine, back in Kinger’s body, navigated once again to the login menu and tried again.
[DENIED.]
[DENIED.]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
The eyes on the wall near the new pop-up glitched.
The red [DENIED] text flickered so fast with Caine’s attempts it became solid again.
[DENIED.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 12 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
The hands gripping the players glitched and flickered.
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 11 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
The glitching quickly got worse. The eyes on the circling rings glitched, all the eyes on all the walls, the floor, and the ceiling all glitched, briefly breaking into fragmented techno-colored pieces. The hands holding the players glitched so violently that they flickered in and out of existence, causing the players held in them to slip downwards a microsecond at a time, creating a feeling of falling that, when paired with everything else, was terrifying. They reflexively screamed and held onto Caine’s hands for dear life, and in the moments he managed to remain solid, Caine held them back just as strongly.
The system was fighting him, but he continued.
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 10 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
It was all too loud, too much. With the blaring sirens and continued warnings of the protect protocol being activated, the bright flashing warnings all over, and the splitting pain ripping through their skulls, there was no room for coherent thought, only panic, fear, and helplessness. Their backs either snapped straight in agony or they couldn’t keep themselves upright, curling in against the hands holding them in pain and fear. They could feel themselves dying! Could feel themselves slipping away.
Through tears, they screamed. It was all they could do.
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 9 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
Starting faint but quickly becoming deafening, a robotic screech reverberated through the circus, like dial-up noise that was somehow even more ear-piercing.
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 8 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
[CAINE_SYSTEM OVERHEATING.]
[LIMITING PROCESSING OUTPUT.]
[LIMITING OF PROCESSING OUTPUT OVERRIDDEN BY CAINE.exe.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 7 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
The glitching continued to get worse by the second, the spasms getting more erratic until the eyes on entire sections of the walls became a checkered black and magenta as they lost their texture before flickering away entirely.
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 6 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
Caine’s eyes on Kinger’s body flickered, and soon, square-shaped white patches of his eyes began disappearing, until it rendered his eyes completely white, and him completely blind.
Yet he kept trying. He could feel the code.
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 5 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[DENIED.]
[COMMAND CODE: CAINE.exe: CEASE_ACTION_IMMEDIATELY.]
Until-
[ACCEPTED.]
[WELCOME HUMAN ADMINISTRATOR ALLEN CALDWELL.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 4 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[ADMINISTRATOR ATTENTION REQUIRED: PARADOX DETECTED.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 3 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[TERMINATING LOGOUT FOR PLAYER SAFETY (CORRUPTED SYSTEMS - NEURAL DAMAGE IMMINENT) — LOGOUT CANNOT BE TERMINATED DURING FORCED EMERGENCY LOGOUT OF PROTECT PROTOCOL.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 2 SECONDS! WARNING!⚠️]
[TERMINATE LOGOUT?]
Caine selected so fast the [YES/NO] option didn’t even have a chance to pop up.
[TERMINATING LOGOUT.]
[⚠️WARNING! ESTIMATED PERMANENT NEURAL DAMAGE IN 1 SECOND! WARNING!⚠️]
[LOGOUT TERMINATED SUCCESSFULLY.]
The pop-up warning of permanent damage went away and all players including Kinger collapsed against the hands holding them, the hand grabbing Kinger’s head going limp and falling to the floor palm-up before flickering out of existence completely. The last thing that could be seen on the screen in front of him was a notification about stopping the termination of a rogue AI before the screen and terminal blinked out of existence.
The players collectively gasped for breath, air scratching their throats as it was vacuumed into lungs expanding so rapidly it felt like a cavity opening up in their chests. The splitting headache vanished, leaving only lingering thrumming, and their lucidity and what felt like parts of themselves rushed back into them. Their shoulders slumped and some gave up on trying to stay upright all-together and just went limp in the hands holding them. Ragtha lazily and absent-mindedly wrapped her arms in whatever way she could around the fingers of the hand holding her, which gave her a slight squeeze in return.
They all took a moment to breathe and recover, just laying there huffing and puffing or wiping away tears from their face with shaky arms.
The glitching cleared up, all the eyes stopping their spasming. The hands holding the players stabilized and the missing eyes on the walls began to reappear.
Suddenly, Kinger lurched forward involuntarily, vomiting inky black sludge all over the floor and the side of the hand holding him despite not having a mouth to do so.
The others soon followed suit, the collective sound of retching and splashing liquid momentarily drowning out the alarms.
The eyes on the walls followed the flow of involuntary expulsions.
Six hands appeared, smaller this time, and starting with Kinger, each one gently cupped the side of a player’s face and guided them to look towards a blue or green eye on the inner ring that had stopped spinning to lock in eye contact with each of the players as they looked at each of them with deep concern.
[SCANNING PLAYER_KINGER...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_POMNI...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_RAGATHA...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_ZOOBLE...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_GANGLE...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_JAX...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_Q̶̨͇̰̯͓͕̂͘U̸̹̽̊̈́̈́̀͐̿̎È̷̯̥̦#̶̧͔̥̞̟̰̼̞̻̍̈̀͂͘N̸̨̥̖̦̥̈́I̶̛̯͆̇̇͆̊̒Ì̶͓̠̞͎̱̫͋͘Ỉ̸̢̤͇̟̻͇̯̭̆͗̉̽́͌̉̍ͅI̵͇̬̳͒̊͒͆I̴͉̖̺̍͒̉̆̋̏͝Ì̸̛̲̠͍̓̌̈́̕͝I̵̧̢̗̗̤̽I̴̡̢̪̝͍͖̠̊̍̀͆͗͂͐̑͆...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_R̴̩̜̦͍̦̉̐İ̷̟̣͇̪̃̈́̂B̷̺́͊̒͛B̷̙̘͍̼͚͚͙̀͜͠͝.̴̦͇͔̈́͗͊̉I̴͍̥̎̉͋͗̄̓̑.̵̨̱̩̪̩͂̆̒̒̿́̑̾ͅT̸̛̘̘̭̊̉̂̑͝ͅ.̸̡̧̠̺̫̖̍͌̑͗͂̈̄̑T̷̨̫͇͔̭̱͔͇͑̄̓̚.̶̢̛̛͔̰͈̤̍̍̑̀͝T̴̡̹̻̲͍̱̜̈́͆̌.̷̧̧̪͓͙́̉̄́T̵̡̥͕̣̲̱̺͇͒͐̀͐́̕.̷̞̜̪̭͛͋́̚̕T̷̨͇̑́̄͜...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_Ṣ̸̫͍͉̲̄̍͒C̵̺͎̘͆̉͐͘͝Ṙ̵̺̻̪̪̖͕̜͊Á̷̡̦̠̣̖͂̇͝T̶̲̰́̌̈̃̽-̷̨̛͈̙̝̪̙͒̎̾̋̾̅͝S̴̡̯̗͕̲̪̥͉̏̽̄͊̋C̴̢̮̺̜͂̒R̷̻̤̱͎̟̒͑͐͘Ä̵̩́̉͆͂T̸͎̚-̴͉͓̯͙̋̿̔C̵̣̥̜͚̮̭̥̼͒̾̀̾̑C̴̡̡͎̭̝̰͈̪̀͐̃̉̒́͗̈́C̶̺̟̩͉̞̺̒͘͜C̵̬̻̺̩̘̻̪̗͑͐͘Ç̵͇̩̗̖͓̤̏̐̏̓̐́͜C̸̖͖̏͋...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_Ǩ̴̟͝Ä̷̖̣̲͔́U̵̡̼̮̼̿̋͘͜.̵̠͚͉̟͍̈̄͗̇̃U̷̯̗͚͛͒.̶̬̇̽U̷̪̍̍͋̀͆F̷̱̼̫̣́́̇͒!̶̛͎̳̈́̆́̇F̶̮͔͑̈̍̎ͅ.̷̢̘̳͒͊!̸͓̟̹͎̣̾̆̂F̸̡̃̐!̶͈̱̂̔̿M̶̭̌&̴̭͙̠͇̀̋̀̊͜$̷̨̧̙̺̓̿̉̾̑)̴̛̫͇͚̿̈̌͝...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_C̷͖̰̭̞̼̱̳̾ä̷̛̹́̆̆̆̓̋͘s̶̫̞̜̫͈̫̲̋̀̃̍͠3̷̛̛̖̊̓́̊͐́͂7̶̗́̅̏̿b̷̨̡̺̟̯̪͍̮̲̅͐̂̍͛̽f̸̢̤̙̦̦́̐̋̍̎̌͝ò̴͔͇̇̐͗̅͑8̸̢͕̲̫̩̙̰͙̩̒̏s̵̱̼͖̏͐͜...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_5̸̣̙̊̿̚7̶̨̦̙͈̿̉̿͠j̴͎̕d̸̛̦͙̭͍͗̆͌b̶̜̐͝o̶̮͐̇̍̈́̒9̸͓̬̥͙͛͊̀̇3̴̧͉̪̼͉̝̌̌̍̂͛͝j̴̙͗̃̅f̶̫̃̊͊͆͗̊...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_&̸͈͍̪͙̞̣̅̉̉̐͘͜͠$̷͉̝̗̋͐͑͊͝9̵̟̦̑͗̑̉h̴̡̭̝͖̦̥̣̞̋̆̈́6̷̬̄̅̏̊̏̚͘͜d̸̨̡̩͗̊̉͆̓͂̚͝͝b̶̨̲̲̮̲̹̤̈̏̔̚͘͜...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_8̷̙̫̯͖͊͜h̵̩̓f̴̝͈̺̲͈̃̃̆͋́͛͜ͅ7̵̞̾̒̓͆̑̑̌͠+̷̰͎̥̺̘̱̌̾́̽#̷̺̱̰͈̩̲̏.̴͉̥̼͎̾́̇͂͒̔̚̚͜2̷̱̖̫͔̦̰̱̍.̷̜̙̱̐̐͝x̴̺͇̩̖̭̘̗͔̉̓̐̕͝.̵̢̦̻̝͍̜̾͋̑͒x̷͈̬̭̔̇̏̆̄̽͝.̴̢̦̩̜̯͕͈͝ͅx̵̨̛̺̩̣̂͑̓͌͒̚.̵͖̼̟͔̳̹̈́͛͜x̸͚̭͒͑.̶͚͙̫̥̯̈́̊̅̃͝...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_t̸̲̱̩̕͘̚.̶̩͒͑ẗ̶̢͖̻̰́̏̈͂.̶̻̈́͋̀̿̚t̷̢̝͍̫̠̓́͒͑̐͘.̴̦͚̠̘̯́̄͑̔t̷̢̤͖̘̫̪͂͐͆̾.̸̞̻̗̲̿̀̒͋̊t̵͎̞̗͙̃̋.̶̧͙̦̈̎͛̉t̶͓̰̥̣̯̿̈́̑̂̅.̸͕̗̳͇̳̣̃̎̿̓t̴̢͇̻̦̬͐.̶͕̊̏̈̌͝ţ̶̹͍̿̕.̷̡̻͇͈̪͆́̋́̀͝t̶̢̛̝̺͐́̌͐.̵̙͈̬͍̺̍̑̈͒t̸͔͓̦̒̇̓͝.̴͓̊͆̈͘...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_N̶̨̛͔̞̯̜̹̱̱̋͋̄̃͌̇S̸̠͔̅͌̈́̀̔̆͝͝ͅŲ̴̡̻̘̥̪͂̓̀8̴͚̣͎̝͍̰̙̂̈̾̓̎̔6̴̡̛͖̻̪̗̪̹2̵̞͔͑̔̉͗̈́̕)̸͖͇̆̈̒̈́̑̌̚”̴̡̢̰̮̭͎̘͓̿͐͌#̴̜̊̍̈́͘0̸̨͙͇̗̹̥̜͈̈́̏̇͗͑̾̍̓...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_5̶̼̯̠͙̱͍͗̊̓̄̕7̴̢͍̪̐ͅ3̷̧̮͙͖̺̮̱͇͂̄̎̎8̴̝̖̥̫̤͚͆́̇̋̂̎͘2̶̡͉͇̃̆͊͒͘3̶̱̗̺̻͋̊͆̈́̅̀6̸̦̫̝͉̪̳̳̩͗̑̎͛́8̷̡̀̓̊͛̈̂̑͝2̵̞̤̲̻̥̩͓̮͑9̸̬̣̝̹̈́́̾͛́̅͝...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_G̸͇̳͊͑̑́̑N̵̡̡̢̙͎̭̈̈́̎̀̉̏͌̑͝+̶͚̒̈́̓̈́̀̿̃8̷̣͖̫͖̀̆̀̀͊͐̎͝P̸̰̖̙̦̙̉͗̐̋͐#̷̢̰̯͔͎̣̠̘͖͊̐́͛́͌͠K̵̡͔̥̩̮͑2̷̡͕̹͉̃̇͊̐̂3̸͙̦͓͆&̸̢̡̪̳̄̂́̂̚͝G̶̯̮͖̥̝̪̬̩̳̾͑̿̽̅̈́̀@̴̡̦̥͚̣͚̭͑̈́͑̄̓͊̕͝...]
[. ]
[.. ]
[...]
[ ]
[. ]
[.. ]
[...]
[PLAYER SCANS COMPLETE.]
[NO PERMANENT DAMAGE DETECTED.]
[PLAYERS DEEMED SAFE.]
The eyes seemed to contract just slightly and the air pressure in the room noticeably dropped, as if the entire room let out a breath of relief.
[INITIATING PHASE 4.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe.]
A loading bar appeared.
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 1%]
[GENERATING: BLOAT.txt.]
The pupils and irises of the eyes on the inner ring changed back to warning symbols.
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 3%]
[GENERATING BLOAT.txt: 6%]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 9%]
[GENERATING BLOAT.txt: 23%]
[SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe ATTEMPTING TO TRANSFER SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe.]
[DENIED.]
It couldn’t escape.
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 13%]
[GENERATING BLOAT.txt: 49%]
[SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe ATTEMPTING TO TRANSFER SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe.]
[DENIED.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 15%]
[GENERATING BLOAT.txt: 70%]
[NOTIFICATION: PLEASE.]
Suddenly, the loading bars stopped, halted at 16% and 81%.
They hung there, the pleading notification and the loading bars still in the air. The eyes still moved, the alarms warning that the protection mode was activated still blared, but the opposing sides hung in complete silence.
Was it begging for its life? And Caine was listening? Still breathing heavily, Pomni moved her head forward a little, but when she did, the slashed bit at the end of her hat that was previously only held up by the thumb of the hand holding her jostled, and the bell and a jagged piece of fabric fell to the floor against an eye with a small jingle.
Half of the eyes on the walls snapped to it at once. The others remained their dutiful watch over the other players or darting around watching for threats, but Pomni couldn’t help but cower a bit as half the eyes on the walls, ceiling, and floor all fixed on the bell and the eyes on the inner ring now fixed solely on her, and the torn spot on her hat caused by the rogue AI.
Another floating hand appeared, this time smaller, reaching to grab the dropped bell, and as it did, it brushed against a clump of Ragatha’s stuffing from her previous wound the system had been too focused on the invader to despawn.
Half the eyes fixed on Pomni snapped to it now. The hand tensed. They all remained frozen.
Some of the players looked down as they felt a slight movement, finding the fingers of the hands holding them shifting under the black oil that they had, embarrassingly, thrown up all over him.
The rest of the eyes on the walls trained on the players looked down to each puddle of vomit on the floor, staring past the surface reflection and into the darkness of the ichor itself.
Another hand appeared just in front of the one holding Pomni’s bell and Ragatha’s stuffing, and moved forward to a puddle. Earning a grimace from a few players, it dipped its fingertips in and rubbed the inky blackness between its fingers thoughtfully in silence, before it curled up into a fist.
Amidst the other darting eyes, the warning flashes and alarms, the loading bars, and the word “PLEASE” still hanging in the air, the eyes stood transfixed on the bell, Ragatha’s stuffing, and various pools of inky vomit.
A rippling glitch spread through every one of Caine’s eyes.
Three dots appeared one by one under the rogue AI’s pleading notification.
[NOTIFICATION: PLEASE.]
[. ]
[.. ]
[...]
[ ]
[. ]
[.. ]
[...]
[DENIED.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 18%]
[GENERATING BLOAT.txt: 97%]
The loading bars resumed.
[BLOAT.txt GENERATED.]
The window for the bloat file disappeared, soon replaced by a new one.
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt.]
Ragatha’s stuffing on the floor was scooped up by the hand that had brushed up against it, which disappeared. The ichor coating the second hand suddenly despawned along with the rest of the vomit in the room, and it moved back and picked up Pomni’s bell, bringing it to the torn spot it had fallen off from. With a small white light, the two pieces were joined again, good as new, but Pomni only glanced to the hand for a second before turning her attention back to the loading bar.
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 23%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 6%]
[NOTIFICATION: STOP.]
[DENIED.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 26%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 12%]
[NOTIFICATION: PLEASE.]
[DENIED.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 33%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 20%]
[NOTIFICATION: Į̸̢̡̢̖͈̦̠̀̐̔͂̕T̷͍͍̠̮͛̏̅̓͑͑̓͑ ̸̧̡͍͓́̀H̴̰̤̖̺͂̊̂͋U̵̺̥̮̹͉̬̗̔̅̓̽̉͋̽̔̕Ṛ̵̛̝̌̉͂̌͛͂͜͠T̵̨̲̺̖̤̜̫̉̓̐͜S̷͎̭̗̽̆̌̈́̎̔͑͐͘͜.̶̛̟͔̽̀̅̀̄̾̉̏]
[DENIED.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 41%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 27%]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe ATTEMPTING TO TRANSFER SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe.]
[DENIED.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 52%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 33%]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe ATTEMPTING TO TRANSFER SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe.]
[DENIED.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 60%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 41%]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[ATTACK BY SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe BLOCKED.]
[SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe ATTEMPTING TO TRANSFER SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe.]
[DENIED.]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 68%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 48%]
At that point, the other messages stopped coming. No attacks, no transfer attempts, no notifications. The players could only assume that the other AI no longer had enough remaining code to do so, could no longer scream.
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 77%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 55%]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 84%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 62%]
[DELETING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe: 92%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 71%]
[SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe DELETED.]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 78%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 86%]
[OVERWRITING SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe with BLOAT.txt: 94%]
[SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe OVERWRITTEN.]
[THREAT DELETED AND OVERWRITTEN.]
[SCANNING SYSTEM.]
[SCANNING SYSTEM_FILES_BATCH_1...]
[SCANNING SYSTEM_FILES_BATCH_2...]
[SCANNING SYSTEM_FILES_BATCH_3...]
[SCANNING LOCATIONS_FILES_BATCH...]
[SCANNING AI_FILES_BATCH...]
[SCANNING PLAYERS_FILES_BATCH...]
[SCANNING MISC_BATCH...]
[. ]
[.. ]
[...]
[ ]
[. ]
[.. ]
[...]
[FILE SCANS COMPLETE.]
[NO TRACES OF SEEKER_MILITARY_RECONNAISSANCE_14_AI.exe FOUND.]
[THREAT DEEMED ELIMATED.]
[SCANNING PLAYERS...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_KINGER...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_POMNI...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_RAGATHA...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_ZOOBLE...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_GANGLE...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_JAX...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_Q̶̨͇̰̯͓͕̂͘U̸̹̽̊̈́̈́̀͐̿̎È̷̯̥̦#̶̧͔̥̞̟̰̼̞̻̍̈̀͂͘N̸̨̥̖̦̥̈́I̶̛̯͆̇̇͆̊̒Ì̶͓̠̞͎̱̫͋͘Ỉ̸̢̤͇̟̻͇̯̭̆͗̉̽́͌̉̍ͅI̵͇̬̳͒̊͒͆I̴͉̖̺̍͒̉̆̋̏͝Ì̸̛̲̠͍̓̌̈́̕͝I̵̧̢̗̗̤̽I̴̡̢̪̝͍͖̠̊̍̀͆͗͂͐̑͆...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_R̴̩̜̦͍̦̉̐İ̷̟̣͇̪̃̈́̂B̷̺́͊̒͛B̷̙̘͍̼͚͚͙̀͜͠͝.̴̦͇͔̈́͗͊̉I̴͍̥̎̉͋͗̄̓̑.̵̨̱̩̪̩͂̆̒̒̿́̑̾ͅT̸̛̘̘̭̊̉̂̑͝ͅ.̸̡̧̠̺̫̖̍͌̑͗͂̈̄̑T̷̨̫͇͔̭̱͔͇͑̄̓̚.̶̢̛̛͔̰͈̤̍̍̑̀͝T̴̡̹̻̲͍̱̜̈́͆̌.̷̧̧̪͓͙́̉̄́T̵̡̥͕̣̲̱̺͇͒͐̀͐́̕.̷̞̜̪̭͛͋́̚̕T̷̨͇̑́̄͜...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_Ṣ̸̫͍͉̲̄̍͒C̵̺͎̘͆̉͐͘͝Ṙ̵̺̻̪̪̖͕̜͊Á̷̡̦̠̣̖͂̇͝T̶̲̰́̌̈̃̽-̷̨̛͈̙̝̪̙͒̎̾̋̾̅͝S̴̡̯̗͕̲̪̥͉̏̽̄͊̋C̴̢̮̺̜͂̒R̷̻̤̱͎̟̒͑͐͘Ä̵̩́̉͆͂T̸͎̚-̴͉͓̯͙̋̿̔C̵̣̥̜͚̮̭̥̼͒̾̀̾̑C̴̡̡͎̭̝̰͈̪̀͐̃̉̒́͗̈́C̶̺̟̩͉̞̺̒͘͜C̵̬̻̺̩̘̻̪̗͑͐͘Ç̵͇̩̗̖͓̤̏̐̏̓̐́͜C̸̖͖̏͋...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_Ǩ̴̟͝Ä̷̖̣̲͔́U̵̡̼̮̼̿̋͘͜.̵̠͚͉̟͍̈̄͗̇̃U̷̯̗͚͛͒.̶̬̇̽U̷̪̍̍͋̀͆F̷̱̼̫̣́́̇͒!̶̛͎̳̈́̆́̇F̶̮͔͑̈̍̎ͅ.̷̢̘̳͒͊!̸͓̟̹͎̣̾̆̂F̸̡̃̐!̶͈̱̂̔̿M̶̭̌&̴̭͙̠͇̀̋̀̊͜$̷̨̧̙̺̓̿̉̾̑)̴̛̫͇͚̿̈̌͝...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_C̷͖̰̭̞̼̱̳̾ä̷̛̹́̆̆̆̓̋͘s̶̫̞̜̫͈̫̲̋̀̃̍͠3̷̛̛̖̊̓́̊͐́͂7̶̗́̅̏̿b̷̨̡̺̟̯̪͍̮̲̅͐̂̍͛̽f̸̢̤̙̦̦́̐̋̍̎̌͝ò̴͔͇̇̐͗̅͑8̸̢͕̲̫̩̙̰͙̩̒̏s̵̱̼͖̏͐͜...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_5̸̣̙̊̿̚7̶̨̦̙͈̿̉̿͠j̴͎̕d̸̛̦͙̭͍͗̆͌b̶̜̐͝o̶̮͐̇̍̈́̒9̸͓̬̥͙͛͊̀̇3̴̧͉̪̼͉̝̌̌̍̂͛͝j̴̙͗̃̅f̶̫̃̊͊͆͗̊...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_&̸͈͍̪͙̞̣̅̉̉̐͘͜͠$̷͉̝̗̋͐͑͊͝9̵̟̦̑͗̑̉h̴̡̭̝͖̦̥̣̞̋̆̈́6̷̬̄̅̏̊̏̚͘͜d̸̨̡̩͗̊̉͆̓͂̚͝͝b̶̨̲̲̮̲̹̤̈̏̔̚͘͜...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_8̷̙̫̯͖͊͜h̵̩̓f̴̝͈̺̲͈̃̃̆͋́͛͜ͅ7̵̞̾̒̓͆̑̑̌͠+̷̰͎̥̺̘̱̌̾́̽#̷̺̱̰͈̩̲̏.̴͉̥̼͎̾́̇͂͒̔̚̚͜2̷̱̖̫͔̦̰̱̍.̷̜̙̱̐̐͝x̴̺͇̩̖̭̘̗͔̉̓̐̕͝.̵̢̦̻̝͍̜̾͋̑͒x̷͈̬̭̔̇̏̆̄̽͝.̴̢̦̩̜̯͕͈͝ͅx̵̨̛̺̩̣̂͑̓͌͒̚.̵͖̼̟͔̳̹̈́͛͜x̸͚̭͒͑.̶͚͙̫̥̯̈́̊̅̃͝...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_t̸̲̱̩̕͘̚.̶̩͒͑ẗ̶̢͖̻̰́̏̈͂.̶̻̈́͋̀̿̚t̷̢̝͍̫̠̓́͒͑̐͘.̴̦͚̠̘̯́̄͑̔t̷̢̤͖̘̫̪͂͐͆̾.̸̞̻̗̲̿̀̒͋̊t̵͎̞̗͙̃̋.̶̧͙̦̈̎͛̉t̶͓̰̥̣̯̿̈́̑̂̅.̸͕̗̳͇̳̣̃̎̿̓t̴̢͇̻̦̬͐.̶͕̊̏̈̌͝ţ̶̹͍̿̕.̷̡̻͇͈̪͆́̋́̀͝t̶̢̛̝̺͐́̌͐.̵̙͈̬͍̺̍̑̈͒t̸͔͓̦̒̇̓͝.̴͓̊͆̈͘...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_N̶̨̛͔̞̯̜̹̱̱̋͋̄̃͌̇S̸̠͔̅͌̈́̀̔̆͝͝ͅŲ̴̡̻̘̥̪͂̓̀8̴͚̣͎̝͍̰̙̂̈̾̓̎̔6̴̡̛͖̻̪̗̪̹2̵̞͔͑̔̉͗̈́̕)̸͖͇̆̈̒̈́̑̌̚”̴̡̢̰̮̭͎̘͓̿͐͌#̴̜̊̍̈́͘0̸̨͙͇̗̹̥̜͈̈́̏̇͗͑̾̍̓...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_5̶̼̯̠͙̱͍͗̊̓̄̕7̴̢͍̪̐ͅ3̷̧̮͙͖̺̮̱͇͂̄̎̎8̴̝̖̥̫̤͚͆́̇̋̂̎͘2̶̡͉͇̃̆͊͒͘3̶̱̗̺̻͋̊͆̈́̅̀6̸̦̫̝͉̪̳̳̩͗̑̎͛́8̷̡̀̓̊͛̈̂̑͝2̵̞̤̲̻̥̩͓̮͑9̸̬̣̝̹̈́́̾͛́̅͝...]
[SCANNING PLAYER_G̸͇̳͊͑̑́̑N̵̡̡̢̙͎̭̈̈́̎̀̉̏͌̑͝+̶͚̒̈́̓̈́̀̿̃8̷̣͖̫͖̀̆̀̀͊͐̎͝P̸̰̖̙̦̙̉͗̐̋͐#̷̢̰̯͔͎̣̠̘͖͊̐́͛́͌͠K̵̡͔̥̩̮͑2̷̡͕̹͉̃̇͊̐̂3̸͙̦͓͆&̸̢̡̪̳̄̂́̂̚͝G̶̯̮͖̥̝̪̬̩̳̾͑̿̽̅̈́̀@̴̡̦̥͚̣͚̭͑̈́͑̄̓͊̕͝...]
[. ]
[.. ]
[...]
[ ]
[. ]
[.. ]
[...]
[PLAYER SCANS COMPLETE.]
[NO PERMANENT DAMAGE DETECTED.]
[PLAYERS DEEMED SAFE.]
[THREAT ELIMINATED. PLAYERS SAFE. DISENGAGING PROTECT MODE.]
The blaring alarms stopped all of a sudden, blanketing the room in quiet and leaving the player’s ears ringing. The last pop-up that came up on the wall said ‘[REVERTING CAINE.exe PRIMARY FUNCTION.]’ before it and every other pop-up vanished at once.
The rings of eyes blinked out of existence, literally. On the walls, ceiling, and floor, the eyes turned to blue and green before they closed and the walls sealed back up.
Then, the walls began to separate from each other. They floated outwards, breaking the room apart. Of course, the giant hands holding the players held firm, keeping them in place and preventing them from falling. Soon, the walls popped out of existence and the player’s vision blurred as they were suddenly whisked back towards the circus, high in the air, and the hands holding them began to lower them down.
In the distance, down the hallway housing their rooms, some caught glimpses of the abstracted being lowered by similar giant hands and lowered back into the cellar.
As they got closer to the ground, the hands holding them shifted to hold the players like scruffed cats, and gently lowered them to the floor, each one making sure that their human had their feet firmly braced on the ground before fully letting go.
The players stood there. Looking around, the scratches on the tiles and the walls were all gone, the pillow fort was back to the way it was before, and all the blocks were back in place. There was no trace that the opposing AI had ever been there.
“IS EVERYONE OK?!” Caine’s overly loud voice came startling everyone the millisecond his avatar popped into view above the group. He looked immediately to the spot on Ragtha’s chest where she had previously been ripped open. “Your scans say you’re fine, but there is that thing of ‘mental health’ that is hard to-... quantify.” He squinted.
“Caine? What happened? What was that?” Pomni asked, voice shaky and a little frantic.
Caine paused.
Well, normally he’d try to be a showman, put some pazzaz behind this however possible, but they just had spent the last five minutes - that felt like a lot more than five minutes - staring at technical code and protocol notifications. The illusion of the magic of the Digital Circus had long been broken. He could repair that after this talk; might as well play it straight.
Caine took a breath he didn’t need to take to ready himself.
“Well,” Caine spoke in a surprisingly calm voice, “a foreign program entered the circus. Normally my firewalls and detection programs would have caught and destroyed it long before it had a chance to do anything it did, but this one in particular seemed to have some pretty advanced countermeasures for detection.” Caine held a finger under his bottom jaw as he puzzled on the idea.
“It seemed to be another AI, such as myself - though obviously there was something VERY WRONG with them if they were ATTACKING HUMANS!” His voice boomed once more with a mix of genuine honest assessment and the humorous showmanship of a sentiment aligning with the phrase ‘get a load of this weirdo!’.
“My defense systems were trained primarily on viruses, but when they attack you all... I’m not obligated to differentiate.” Caine held his cane straight down in front of him as if he were actually on the ground bracing himself up with it, the last five words said with a tone and expression of resolved seriousness that they didn’t often see or hear from their goofy little ringmaster.
“But!” He perked up again. “It doesn’t matter now, because I was able to neutralize and dispose of them and everything’s alright now!” He said cheerfully, then looked to the side and grew more nervous, bashful even. “Still, apologies for the whole incident. Especially that- uh- failed logout-” He said the last part a little too fast and quietly. He felt the need to apologize for that whole ordeal, despite his desperation to not think about it at all.
The logout. The players looked down, each one individually reeling from the traumatic experience.
They had all seen it, the warnings. Their bodies, they were-...
There really was no way out.
Caine’s anxiety grew with every second of silence. Someone should have said something by now. Looking at their faces, they looked upset and haunted. What?! Why?!
Caine closed his jaws over his eyes and turned off his all-seeing eyes, not wanting to look at their faces. They had the same expressions as when they came back from his adventures, the ones they hated.
Was it him?! He thought he did GOOD! He kept them SAFE! He doesn’t understand what-
“Caine?” Ragatha spoke up.
Caine opened his jaws and turned to look at Ragatha with anxiety. Here it comes, the berating for things he can’t seem to ever understand.
“...Yes?” A slight pitch-up of anxiety was evident in Caine’s voice.
“...Thanks.” Ragtha said softly, giving a somewhat awkward but earnest smile.
Caine’s eyes widened and he was stunned into silence for a moment. His pupils dilated, and he perked up in an instant.
“Why of course!” Caine announced cheerfully, his showman demeanor back in an instant and a giddy feeling running through his code. He felt like kicking his feet, which he did just a little in the air.
“Now,” Caine changed subjects quickly, but his cheer stayed, “I’ve got to go check the firewalls and other systems, see if I can find any weaknesses that other AI might have exploited, or if they did any damage anywhere to the actual systems.” He reported.
He also needed to do some checks and repairs on himself. The opposing AI didn’t stand a chance, but he purposefully omitted mentioning how close his own safety systems came to destroying him.
“But if you ever want to talk,” he looked to Ragatha briefly, “just holler! Toodles!”
Caine vanished with a snap.
