Chapter Text
Caine was nervous.
How could he not be upset after such a reckless act?!
He had acted stupidly, without thinking much about the consequences of his actions; the loneliness that gnawed at him had reached a critical point, to the point that he had wished he wasn't alone in that immense place.
Caine looked back, observing the materialization of his desperate longing.
A tiny dot floated in the middle of his office; it was small, bright, and purple, doing nothing more than being present, floating without a care in the world while Caine was simply slowly losing his sanity.
Because it shouldn't be possible!
How on earth had he managed to create it?
Where had it come from?
Was he really so desperate for companionship that he managed to make this bright point of light materialize?
Caine watched as the small sphere lost its shine and a panic flooded his mind, floating quickly towards the small sphere; He extended his hands, allowing the small purple ball to float low above them.
The sphere began to move, slowly taking shape; Caine watched intently as the purple orb took shape, letting a purple rabbit fall into the ringmaster's hands.
Caine's eyes opened in surprise and disbelief.
It didn't make sense.
It shouldn't have worked.
And yet…
Caine watched the purple rabbit, its little eyes slowly opening, revealing enormous eyes, full of curiosity and innocence; Caine held her carefully in his hands, while she tried to reach out her own hands towards him.
His heart leaped in his chest, overflowing with adoration and affection; she was his, this was his creation, his firstborn, his daughter…
He will not allow anything to happen to her, ever!
Caine gently hugged her, cradling her against his chest; he placed a hand on her nose, making her eyes roll inwards, causing him to let out a laugh.
"Now, what shall we call you, my dear?"
She needed a name, but what name to use was the question.
His mind began to run through a long list of names and possible combinations; Caine lifted her with both hands, raising her above his head and looked at her; her enormous eyes looked back at him.
"What do you think about Daisy?"
The small laugh she let out was enough for him as confirmation.
He began to spin around in the air, embracing her, listening to the laughter of his little creation, his heart beating in his chest, full of joy and love; promising himself to be better than his own creators, she will never lack anything and will be loved.
His little Daisy…
Caine had disappeared.
Kinger had deleted it by mistake.
Because of this, the world began to collapse; but not entirely, because there was still a secondary AI existing in the digital world, an AI that the world tried to cling to in order not to disappear.
The world has not been destroyed because Jax was still present.
Jax moved away from the group, walking away as his eyes felt blurry and his mind filled with lost memories, memories he didn't know were missing from his database; Jax felt his eyes fill with tears and allowed himself to let them fall as reality settled in his head.
The system recognized it.
He had never lost access, he had just forgotten how to get there.
That explained a lot of things, actually.
Caine's favoritism, the way he always arrived when Jax called him, in Jax's own ease in summoning things and his abnormally rapid adaptation to the digital world; as well as his own disgust at what they would call Caine evil, or capable of harming them.
Caine had been able to hurt them.
Something that was not inherently possible.
Something had gone wrong.
Something bad had been happening to Caine, and Jax hadn't been there to help him.
He was supposed to be his assistant in the heavy burden of running the digital world; Caine should never have run the place alone.
But now, Caine was gone.
His creator had died.
His father has been murdered.
Jax felt his hands tremble, clenching them tightly to calm the shaking.
He wasn't going to blame Kinger; it had been an accident.
The old man himself admitted it with a devastated and regretful expression.
Jax looked ahead, feeling his senses sharpen, perceiving more than others were capable of; the system seemed expectant, patiently waiting for his decision.
The world was collapsing, the system felt it and had quickly sought a secondary anchor; an AI capable of carrying the weight of stabilizing the digital world, patiently awaiting the decision of the heir to the original ringmaster.
Jax nodded slowly, swallowing nervously.
Jax felt his father's coat settle on his body, like a farewell hug, finally molding itself to his body and size; the hat simply appeared in the air and fell on his head as his ears slowly drooped, reflecting his sadness.
“Jax?”
The rabbit felt Caine's cane appear in his hand and gripped it tightly.
He looked over his shoulder, staring at the humans behind him, their faces filled with expressions of surprise and disbelief as tears continued to stream down their cheeks.