Chapter Text
It had been one and a half months since Gamer, the newest and youngest member of The Circus, had joined. It was currently June 21st- more or less. Gamer was still comprehending that they had turned 13 a few weeks earlier– and, truthfully, so were the others. Gamer was the youngest by far, the only one to be in The Circus under 16.
Gamer sat in their bedroom. They usually went to bed around midnight, but Caine was acting unusual, and they were worried. So now it was 1 am, and Gamer couldn’t really sleep. It wasn’t that big of a problem, since they didn’t need to sleep, but still.
Someone slipped a note under Gamer’s door. Who the hell could that be right now? They thought. They picked up the note, and…
It was from Caine.
Meet me beneath the hot air balloon, please.
—Caine
This was weird… Gamer could already tell that the joy in his demeanor was gone. Something was wrong. Really, really wrong.
A few minutes later, Gamer was below the hot air balloon, the one with Caine’s office inside. Caine was standing beneath there, a somber void draped over him. His hands were clasped in front of him, seemingly waiting for Gamer.
“Caine…? Are-” Gamer paused, looking Caine up and down. “Are you okay?”
“Ah, Gamer. I- come on, follow me.” Caine responded, taking Gamer by the arm and floating up to the hot air balloon, going down the twisty, lit-up slide. Caine opened the red and blue doors to his office.
Gamer had been in his office multiple times, just hanging out with him, but this time, it seemed… duller. All the colors faded, as if put through a grey filter.
“Caine. Are you okay?” Gamer asked, a bit firmer this time. Caine paused, staring at something on his desk, facing away from Gamer.
Gamer stepped to see what he was staring at. It was a pop-up of some sort, but they couldn’t see all of it.
…asterAI.exe?
…….. No
“Caine…? W-what is that…?” Gamer asked, their breath picking up.
Caine sighed. “My dear, we both know that no one but you likes me. You’re just a kid, so hopefully they’ll treat you better than me…”
Gamer’s heart dropped.
“Caine, what are you talking about– W-what are you doing?” Gamer stuttered, stepping back.
Caine turned around, taking off his tophat, the red stripe glinting slightly. He handed it to Gamer, and they felt a warm sensation, like they were submerging their hand in warm bath water.
“You’ll have my power. And they… won’t have to deal with me anymore…” Caine started, pushing the tophat against Gamer’s chest.
“C-Caine, what- no, no, I- I couldn’t possibly run this place. I- I know they don’t like you, but if we could just talk to them together, we could solve this problem- please just-” Gamer rambled, placing a hand on Caine’s shoulder.
He was shaking.
“I-I’m sorry, my dear. But I believe this is the best thing for this place. And for the other humans. I trust you the most.”
Gamer froze, tears welling in their eyes. “Caine, please, this isn’t the only solution. I know what you’re doing. I promise you don’t have to do this. Please just-”
Caine turned to his desk, finger hovering over the pop-up. “I’m sorry, my dear. But I trust you. Tell them I meant well. Goodbye.”
The Circus flickered and glitched, walking up everyone. Gamer clipped through something, falling as Caine turned around, tears in his eyes right before he disappeared.
A few minutes later, Gamer woke up on the Circus floor, below the hot air balloon. Ragatha, Jax, Pomni, Zooble, Gangle and Kinger were crowded around them, in that order.
“What the hell happened?” Jax asked.
“Yeah, what the fuck was that?” Zooble remarked.
Everyone froze.
“What the fuck. Why are the censors gone?!” Zooble exclaimed. Everyone looked around.
“Where’s Caine…?” Pomni asked. Gamer sat up, looking at the others. “H-he’s…” Gamer trailed off, not able to say it.
“He’s what? And why are you… wearing… Caine’s outfit…” Zooble’s eyes widened, some sort of realization dawning on them. “Tell us what happened. Now.”
Gamer stared at the ground, tears welling in their eyes. “He… he’s gone.”
“Yeah, but how?! An AI doesn’t just disappear like that.” Zooble snapped.
“Zooble, something bad clearly happened, and Gamer’s upset. Just give them a minute.” Ragatha said, stepping towards Zooble.
Zooble sighed. “Alright, fine. It’s just- this is freaky, right? There’s a bunch of glitching in the middle of the night, and now Caine’s dead and this kid is wearing his outfit.” Zooble responded, gesturing all around The Circus and to Gamer.
“He deleted himself.” Gamer blurted out.
Everyone froze, staring at them.
“H-holy shit… I-I’m sorry, kid…” Zooble responded, switching rather quickly from their rough outside.
Everyone else just stared, in too much of a shock to say anything. Even Jax looked taken aback.
“He put me in charge… So… um… yeah…” Gamer responded. “Everyone just… go back to bed.” Gamer said, walking past the others.