Chapter Text
“JUST PROMISE ME YOU WON’T LEAVE ME IN HERE FOREVER, MY DEAR.”
That was the promise they had to make in order for Caine to help them escape.
When they did finally get out, it was… strange. They didn’t take the headsets off, they didn’t have to- they woke up all scattered across the abandoned office room’s floor, near the computer that started this all. She wondered briefly if the headset had legitimately absorbed their bodies via some fucked up science-fiction function (she forgot which movie featured that ability), because none of their bodies had rotted away whatsoever, despite having been in the circus for weeks at best, and near-decades at worst…
Ragatha was the first to speak. “I- Is it finally over? Did we really get out..?” Her voice was shaky, like she hadn’t used it in a while. She stumbled into a stance, then leaned against the desk for support. She laughed awkwardly, “I’ve been walking on my tip-toes for so long, it.. feels weird to have normal legs again!”
Pomni glanced around at her fellow (ex-)cast mates. Gangle was staring at Zooble (Pomni had to admit, they looked really cool- they had a colorful punk/scene aesthetic and a couple tattoos, and Pomni suddenly felt self-conscious about her bland appearance in contrast..), Jax was already getting ready to leave, and Kinger…
Kinger was staring at the computer.
Pomni stood up and grabbed Jax’s arm, tugging him back. “You’re not going anywhere. Not yet, at least. We still need to decide what we’re gonna do.”
“Oh, darn, I thought we were all in agreement that we’d never speak of this again! Guess I didn’t read the room correctly.” Jax spoke sarcastically, and tried- and failed- to free himself from Pomni’s grip. He wasn’t really trying, though.
“Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Zooble grunted, exasperated, “You’re STILL gonna keep up this shit?”
“Yeah! You can’t just- leave after all of that! After everything we’ve been through!” Pomni pulled him back and finally softened her grip, and was relieved to see him not try to leave again.
Gangle finally spoke up. “Wh- what do we.. do about Caine..?”
They all looked to the computer. Ragatha cringed silently, Zooble furrowed their brows, and Kinger seemed lost in thought.
Jax scoffed. “That’s your problem. I don’t care about any of this.”
Pomni considered challenging him again, but felt it was pointless. There were other things they had to worry about outside of Jax’s authenticity.
“We.. bring him with us. Like we promised.”
“Pomni-“ Zooble started, but was interrupted.
“We *made* a promise. We don’t get to go back on that now. He helped us get out, we can’t just… leave him there.”
“Why not? I thought we all hated him.” Jax couldn’t help but point out the obvious, it seemed.
“We do.” Zooble agreed for once.
“Well, I just.. is it really fair? Don’t we owe him that much?” Pomni felt silly defending an AI, but she just… couldn’t bring herself to go back on her word, even if it wasn’t to another human.
“He’s not a human,” Zooble tried to reason, “If we power it off, won’t he just be gone? Problem solved, right?”
“No,” Kinger spoke up, and they all glanced over to him. “…I don’t quite understand it myself, but.. when we tried that before, uh, years ago- he just went to sleep. He was still conscious… I’m not sure there’s any way we can really get rid of him without hurting him in the process.”
Zooble’s gaze softened, and they pressed their lips together in an uncomfortable grimace. “Right. You.. made him, didn’t you?”
“I did. He was my greatest achievement as a programmer. I can’t just.. leave him behind.” Kinger looked over to the rest of the group, and smiled. “You don’t have to stick around. I can deal with him on my own.”
Pomni walked over to Kinger and smiled back at him. “No, we’re not leaving you alone. And we’re not splitting up,” she glared at Jax.
“We’re.. in this together.” Ragatha gave a soft smile. “Even now that we’re outside of the circus, I… I don’t think I want to just.. leave it all behind. I still love you guys, you know?” her voice cracked as tears formed in her eyes. She wiped them away with her hands, “Oh, gosh- I’m.. I’m getting emotional already, I’m sorry..”
“No, it’s okay,” Gangle said, “And.. you’re right. I- I don’t feel good about just.. pretending to forget about all of this. It doesn’t feel right, not when we’ve.. been in the circus for so long.”
Pomni thought about it for a minute. “Here, how’s this? We’ll all exchange phone numbers, so that way we don’t lose each other. Why don’t we meet back here tomorrow to discuss the game plan?”
“A- are we even sure our phone numbers will still work..?” Ragatha asked, “it’s been so long, is technology even the same anymore..?”
“What year are you from again?” Zooble asked.
“2008..”
“It’s not,” they answered bluntly.
Ragatha made a scared sound and her shoulders tensed; she started thinking about her job, her co-workers- her.. mother… She hugged herself in search of comfort.
“Okay, then.. why don’t we figure out the phone situation and meet here tomorrow at 3?” Pomni suggested.
“I don’t mean to alarm you, but-“ Zooble gestured around, “this building’s abandoned, but there might still be security or cops around. We can’t just waltz in and out like we own the place.”
“Oookay,” Pomni thought aloud, “then.. why don’t we find a building nearby and meet up there instead? Then we can figure out how we sneak back in.”
“Sounds good to me,” Zooble shrugged, and Gangle nodded after them.
“Cool. Are we done now? I wanna go home and sleep.” Jax groaned.
“Do we.. even still have homes to go back to?” Kinger asked, and it was an uncomfortable question that left everyone silent.
“We can.. stay in a motel, or rent an airbnb,” Zooble suggested.
“What’s an airbnb?” Ragatha tilted her head.
Jax spoke before Zooble could, “It’s like a headquarters for serial killers where they take their victims and beat them to death!”
“Shut up Jax,” Zooble glared at him, “It’s like a hotel room, but you’re paying to stay in someone’s house.”
“O- Oh, okay.. that makes sense. But.. does anyone here have money on them..?”
“I’m sure I have something in my wallet..” Kinger dug into his pockets and pulled out his wallet- though he was surprised to find quite a lot more money than he remembered having in there. “Oh, there’s a note.”
“What does it say?” Gangle asked.
“Let’s see..” Kinger read it aloud,
“Hello, my daydreaming dandelions! I’m aware that there might be problems in the macroverse regarding that silly currency you humans like so much! So I’ve managed to manifest a couple extra $100 bills into the wallets of those who came in with them! I hope this will help you on your journey back into the real world!”
“…I didn’t write this,” Kinger scratched his head.
“It’s from Caine,” Pomni said. “Damnit, I wish I brought my wallet when I came here..”
Ragatha dug into her own pockets and pulled out her wallet, finding a couple $100 bills as well. “Ah- it’s okay, Pomni! You can have some of mine!”
“Won’t it be incredibly suspicious that a bunch of missing people suddenly reappear with $100 bills in cash?” Zooble asked, trying to figure out how the hell they’re gonna make this work.
“We can say we got it from.. uh, someone who found us. A- A generous stranger! We were all kidnapped and they.. got us out, or something…” It’s not exactly that far off from the truth, Pomni thought.
“Alright, sure, whatever. But,” Zooble continued, “Can we at least wait for nighttime? So we don’t get arrested for trespassing?”
“That sounds reasonable,” Pomni agreed, and then they were all in agreement, so they waited.
—————————
“Hey.. Pomni..?” Ragatha approached her sometime near dusk, while they were all hanging out in the office building. Pomni gave her silent permission to sit beside her, and Ragatha knelt down to sit. “When.. we get out of here… do you think I could- I- I mean, you definitely don’t have to if you’re not comfortable, but- could you… let me stay at your place, for a while..?”
Pomni opened her mouth, and Ragatha immediately panicked again, “It- it’s only if you’re okay with it, really! I- I don’t wanna be a burden, I just… I don’t want my mother to find me. Not.. this soon, at least. And I’m afraid that if I go back to my place, she’ll- find me, somehow.”
Pomni let out a breath, “Yeah, you can stay with me. Is the couch good?”
Ragatha couldn’t help the smile that formed on her teary face, “the- the couch is more than enough, thank you.”
“Like you said, we’re in this together. We gotta stick by one another, you know?”
Ragatha let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah, you’re right…”
—————————
When nighttime finally came, Kinger insisted Jax take at least one $100 bill so he’d be safe, and he finally took it because everyone was staring at him for him to do it. He disappeared into the darkness, and Pomni felt a knot of worry in her stomach. She reassured herself that he’d be fine, he’s tougher than he looks, but… it’s hard to believe that after what they’ve all been through.
Gangle and Zooble stuck together in the same way Pomni and Ragatha did, and Kinger reassured them he’d meet them at the designated spot at 3, so there was no need to worry about him. They all went their separate ways, with the promise that they’d all return soon enough.
When Ragatha and Pomni arrived at Pomni’s apartment, there wasn’t an eviction notice like Ragatha expected there to be.
“Wait, why isn’t there..?”
“Oh, I pay my bills in advance. I just like staying on top of things.” Pomni unlocked her door and pushed it open, walking inside.
It was the same as she remembered it, if only a little dusty. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been in the circus for, but if she had to guess, maybe a month or two. She considered herself lucky compared to the others, who’d probably gotten evicted by now, or worse.
Pomni glanced behind her and saw that Ragatha hadn’t crossed the doorframe yet. She looked paralyzed in fear. Pomni reached out her hand for her, and Ragatha finally took a hesitant step forward, then smiled at her.
—————————
“Thank you, again. Really, I- I can’t thank you enough,” Ragatha sung her praises while made the pull-out couch more suitable for someone to sleep on.
“Don’t worry about it, Ragatha. You needed a place to stay, and this is a place to stay. That’s all there is to it. So don’t start thinking you owe me something, because you don’t.”
Ragatha let out a weak laugh, “Yeah, I guess.. If you say so.”
“Now, I’m gonna go pass out. You got everything you need?”
“Y- yeah. Thanks again.”
“No problem. Goodnight, Ragatha.”
“Ah- Goodnight, Pomni!” She called out as Pomni closed her bedroom door.
Ragatha laid down on the couchbed and raised her hands to her face. She stared at them for a while, clenching her fists to make sure that this was really real. And it was.
They were finally out.
Ragatha cried herself to sleep, not quite from happy tears but not quite sad ones, either. Just real tears that stained her cheeks and confirmed even further that this was real.