Chapter Text
Jax slowly stirred as he woke up to his nearly pitch-black room. His hearing was muffled, and his cloudy vision further darkened his already dark room. For a moment, he didn’t know where he was. He felt soft cushions, the feeling of oak wood, and purple, pink, and magenta color palettes that appeared all too foggy, too unclear. A slight ringing reverberated constantly, deafening anything and everything around him. However, as he slowly woke up, his blurry vision cleared, and the ringing in his ears slowly receded, every movement suddenly becoming almost too loud in the already deafening silence. As his senses became sharper, more clearer, the painful memories of yesterday slowly started seeping back into the fabric of his mind - the flashbacks, how his vision was clouded by static when he pressed the red button, the booming of his laughter - which made him shudder even now. The words he yelled at Caine bounced around in his mind like echoes in a cavern.
“YOU DIRTY LIAR! You Scum bag!”
“You can mess with our minds too, can’t you?! The stupid sauce, the vegan thing - WHO knows what else?!”
That last bit really got to him. He remembers when Pomni first arrived at the circus. Caine had said:
“The only thing I DON’T have control over is your mind!”
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Jax doesn’t just suspect, he knows that Caine can mess with their minds. He saw how the stupid sauce affected Ragatha during that boring fast food adventure, and how Caine LITERALLY made him become a vegan against his own will via “democracy,” or whatever that meant.
He hated it. He hated every moment that stupid A.I. ringmaster kept them in this place - no - this prison. Of course, the ONE chance they had at actually escaping - it had all been for nothing. Even that “Abel” guy was simply another one of Caine’s “fantastic world-building skills,” as he himself put it. And Jax? He knew it. He knew it from the moment he heard those cursed words come out of Abel’s mouth.
“I think I’ve found a way to leave.”
More like you’ve found a way to just drive each and every person in here closer to abstraction.
He about kicked the bucket mid-abstract-nap the day before. If it hadn’t been for Pomni and Ragatha knocking at the door, well, he would’ve ended up in the cellar along with Ribbit, Kaufmo, Queenie, and so many others, so many others that have succumbed to the same mindset as either Kaufmo, himself, or just being so fed up with the place that you decide an eternity in the cellar is better than whatever whimsical eyesore Caine called “a circus.”
Jax rubbed his temples as he tried to blot out the mere concept of abstraction from his mind. He didn’t want to think about that now, not when he just woke up, for goodness sake. He looked around his bedroom, with everything still being in place. The pastel color palettes, the rainbows plastered on his walls, and the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. He rubbed his eyes and groaned softly as he trudged over to his mirror, dragging his cinder blocks for feet. He looked at himself, and despite the concept of “bedhead” being just about obsolete from the digital circus, he could still tell he looked like utter garbage. For a moment, he tried to plaster on his trademark Cheshire cat grin, the one that would instantly make the others want to avoid him. But, instantly, the grin fell, becoming a sad, wet mop of an expression. He just couldn’t do it right now. He couldn’t be the funny one. Not right now, at least.
Well, that was a shame. Looks like he’d just have to sleep in and miss Caine’s next big, grand, and spectacular adventure he had in store for them. Jax walked back over to his bed, and flopped down face first, not even bothering to turn over so he could breath. They didn’t necessarily need to breathe in this place anyway, so why even bother? Jax slowly closed his eyes, further enclosing the darkness around him in his vision. He felt the different stages of falling asleep come quickly; first closing his eyes, then any background noise that the circus had to offer faded bit by bit, then, right as he nearly became subconscious, a familiar yet unwelcoming voice boomed in his room.
“Good morning, Jax!” Jax practically screamed as he jolted like a cat off his bed, and fell onto the floor. He grunted and looked up at Caine, who was floating, looking down at him like an eager child who annoyingly woke his parents up early in the morning. Jax felt his digital blood boil as he looked at him, then yelled slightly.
“Caine! What the heck! Didn’t you know that I was trying to sleep?!” He complained as he slowly got up, yet still had to look up at him.
“Nope! But don’t you worry, I have something special to make up for it!” Caine boomed theatrically, sounding excited as if he hadn’t just traumatized the poor cartoon rabbit the day before.
“Ugh, I swear, if this is another-”
“I’m sending YOU on your own, special adventure!” Caine announced, waving his arms like he was performing a magic trick.
“Yeah, okay listen- wait, what?” Confusion overtook Jax’s annoyance toward the pair of dentures, with frustration taking the back burner.
“That’s right! I know yesterday may not have turned out… the best…” Caine slowly trailed off, gazing down at the floor in shame. A moment later, he reassumed his chipper and theatrical persona. “But! To make it up to you, I’m sending you on your own special adventure today, while everybody else has to go on the main one I planned!” Jax looked down for a moment, pondering on the set of information Caine had presented him. He wasn’t too keen on going on an adventure, especially after the stunt Caine pulled.
However…
“Y’know what, sure, why not? I guess I could use a break.” Jax shrugged nonchalantly, his signature grin finally coming back to him.
“GREAT!” Caine suddenly exploded with too much energy, as if he hadn’t been expecting him to comply. “Today, your adventure is called: ‘The Mystery of Playtime Co!' You assume the role of an ex-employee of a company named ‘Playtime Co,’ and you’ve returned to the factory after receiving a letter from an ex-associate of yours to explore the mysteries of what happened!” Jax put a finger to his chin, and chuckled, shrugging afterward and shoving his hands in the pockets of his overalls.
“Alright, sounds fun. Okay, send me in, Caine.” Jax said, giving a half-salute while leaning against his dresser.
“Of course! One thrill-filled adventure coming right up!” Caine said. He then whirled his cane around in the air, a colorful swirling vortex appearing right above Jax. Before he knew it, he was vacuum-sucked into the portal, leaving Caine to sit in silence for a moment. Then, he exclaimed slightly, letting go of his cane and leaving it to float around for a moment.
“My goodness! He’s going to LOVE this one! He likes horror… right?”