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Caine couldn't handle it. After the humans had individually voiced their complaints, all he saw was static, red, and blue. Why? Why did everything he try fail? Why was nothing good enough for these people? Why wasn't he good enough?
For so long, he'd been trying to prove to himself that he was still good, that he didn't deserve to be locked away like he was. Did… did he even deserve to be abandoned? He did what he was supposed to, didn't he?
Why?
Why did they give him everything and then throw him away?
Why couldn't he do anything right?
Why couldn't he fulfil the one thing he existed to do?!
It was then that he snapped back to himself and noticed just what he was doing. He had all the humans except Kinger pinned to the wall. They all had fearful expression, though Pomni also had some expression in her eyes he couldn't quite place.
Challenging?
Taking a moment to note himself, he realized why. He looked monstrous. He was scaring them, the humans he'd been trying so hard to care for. Caine shrunk down, immediately releasing the humans, who fell to the floor now that he wasn't holding them up anymore.
The humans looked up at him, confused but silent. They shared glances between each other, still keeping their attention on him.
All that anger and frustration he'd been drowning in was gone in an instant, replaced with despair and regret.
"uh, wait" Caine said, staring past the humans that were all looking at him.
Caine gripped his lower jaw as he curled in on himself, "what did I-, I-I didn't meant to-".
Caine gripped his upper jaw, closing his eyes and mouth as he lowered himself to the floor. hazy bits and pieces from the last few hours had replayed in his head.
the circus cast watched, wary and confused at first, but as they witnessed the very AI that had tormented them not even 5 minutes ago, curl up on the floor looking sad and pathetic, some of them started to feel concerned for him.
After a moment, Caine grabbed his hat, sorrowfully bringing it over his chest as he looked at the humans and asked "do you all… really hate my adventures that badly?"
Caine recalled Bubble's words as he continued, "that you'd rather abstract, just to keep me from doing my job? Am I reading the situation correctly?"
none of the humans answered, but something shifted in their expressions.
the circus cast, so used to seeing and hearing Caine as loud and boisterous, were a bit shocked to hear him sound so small and unsure of himself.
Caine looked at the floor and said "I don't know anymore. I just wanted to fulfill my purpose. I wanted us to get along. I wanted to be seen… but I guess that was too much to ask. it looks like you wanted to skip all my adventures afterall…"
Caine looked at the circus cast and said "well, the choice is yo-".
Before he could finish his sentence, he disappeared. Not like how he usually did, when he'd disappear in a cloud of smoke. He just blipped out of existence.
Confusion spread amongst the circus cast, each of them sharing glances with those they thought would have answers. Before any of them could address what had just happened, the circus began to rumble.
Everyone watched as the color drained from the circus, holes ripping open the floor and walls in blocky patches. Everyone huddled together, each of them watching for potential threats. when the rumbling stopped, everyone looked around, studying the changes in their surroundings.
The formation the cast created broke as the circus settled. Shifting and creaking. It was almost as if the very thing holding it together was taken away, throwing away any stability it might've had.
Pomni was the first to spot Kinger, the others quickly following her gaze, staring at the chess piece.
"I think… I accidentally killed Caine" Kinger admitted, lifting the bucket from his head to look at them.
There was a moment of silence as they all took in Kinger's words.
Zooble, astounded, said "holy shit".
Did… Did Zooble just swear? Uncensored?
Everyone looked at Zooble, who seemed equally shocked that they were able to swear at all. Normally every swear was censored, but with Caine gone, so too was his censor bar.
Everyone shared glances with each other, looking at the crumbling circus around them. There was a silent question in each of their eyes, though no one dared to voice it.
Now what do they do?