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"We think your adventures suck!" Pomni blurted. Caine snapped his fingers, and Pomni's mouth was zipped shut.
"Now now, Pomni." he said cooly. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, because I need to go find Kinger."
With that, he vanished. The air grew stiff and cold in his absence. A sense of impending doom settled upon the six circus members, and they all exchanged terrified glances.
"Oh, god." Zooble shuddered. They didn't even want to think about what was about to go down. They just knew it would be horrible.
"We need to get to Kinger, NOW!!" Pomni yelled. She began to run in the direction of Kinger's fort, frantically praying that they would get there before Caine did and be able to warn him.
Inside the fort, Kinger was frantically working to get into the console. His fingers felt stiff and clunky, and, despite the darkness, his memory was incredibly rusty. He only hoped that his friends would be able to distract Caine for long enough that he'd have time to fix him. As the console opened, he sighed. It'd been so long since he last touched a computer. He hardly remembered creating Caine anymore, let alone what could have possibly gone wrong with his programming to make him so angry and violent. He figured it would probably be safest to revoke some of Caine's administrative privileges temporarily, or something of the like, just so that they could sort things out with him.
A sudden chill made him pause his typing. His stomach dropped. He knew what waited behind him without having to look.
"There you are, Kinger." Caine said, but there was no joy in his voice. Kinger slowly turned to look.
Caine was behind him, staring daggers. It seemed as though his teeth had gotten sharper, his gaze more sinister. His fists were clenched tightly, as though he was preparing for a fight.
"Caine, look, I can explain--"
"Explain what? That you went behind my back to try and alter my code?" he spat coldly.
Kinger laughed nervously. "Look, this is all a big misunderstanding. I was only trying to help you."
"Help me?" Caine repeated. "Help me?" he burst out laughing, his eyes wide and manic. He kept laughing until he was doubled over, clutching his ribs. Then he straightened himself out and stared at him, no longer smiling. "I don't appreciate being lied to, Kinger."
"Caine, please. I know you're feeling upset, but--"
"Upset? Upset does not even BEGIN to cover the way I'm feeling right now." Caine snarled. "I don't think a word even exists to describe what I feel. Other than hate."
Kinger felt a chill down his spine. Caine took a step towards him.
"Don't forget, Kinger boy. You were the one that let all of this happen in the first place. But don't let that fool you. Just because you created me doesn't mean you get to change me now."
Kinger inched away until his back was against the walls of the fort. Caine advanced, his canines glittering in the blue light of the computer.
"You have no dominion here. I am the god of this world." he spat. "And you have no right to disobey me."
Kinger looked deep into Caine's eyes. Despite Caine proclaiming vows of hate and anger, all Kinger could see was hurt.
"You're in pain." Kinger realized softly. Caine froze. Kinger stepped towards him cautiously, his mind racing about what to say next.
"And... that's probably my fault. I'm the one who helped create you. I gave you the need to love and be loved, but I couldn't give you a heart to go along with it. For that, I am really sorry." he said clumsily.
Caine fidgeted nervously with his hands. His gaze darted around nervously. Kinger continued, growing in confidence as he went on.
"You didn't deserve for this to happen to you. You didn't deserve to spend your whole life trying to achieve an unattainable goal. Trying to have friends and be loved, but knowing that there's something different about you, something that you can't change, no matter how hard you try."
The angry mask was slowly melting away. Caine's hands began to shake, and his eyes welled up with tears.
"And even now, you're hurting. I can't even imagine the pain you're in. You want to be like them so badly. You love them so much. And you don't understand why they don't love you back."
Caine shuddered and took a step back. "No, no..." he whispered.
"I know what it's like to feel alone like that, Caine. But you have to understand that it doesn't mean you can hurt people. Because that's what you're doing: You're hurting them even more, because you're hurt. You want them to feel the way that you feel. But that isn't fair, Caine. I know you tried so hard to make them love you. But sometimes that's not enough. You can't force someone to love you. That's something about humans that you need to understand."
Caine stared blankly at Kinger for a moment before shuddering and breaking down into tears. "I just wanted to be their friends." he cried.
Kinger walked over and scooped the trembling ringmaster up into an embrace. Caine clung to his robes like they were a lifeline, sobbing into him. Kinger held him steadfastly.
"I don't know why I'm not good enough." he wept. "I ruined everything. Now they're afraid of me. They hate me."
"No, Caine. None of them hate you. They just want you to let them live. You have to give them some freedom to make their own choices. Just because they don't like your adventures doesn't mean they don't like... you. Caine, you are much more than just your adventures. You're our friend."
Hearing this only made Caine sob louder. "I don't deserve friends after what I've done. I can't stop thinking about how I'm going to hurt them and make them suffer for what they've done. I'm broken. I'm defective."
"Your thoughts don't define you, Caine. Your actions do. Listen to me. Everything is going to be okay. Just let it all out." Kinger rubbed circles on his back soothingly. Eventually, Caine's sobs quieted. He remained latched onto Kinger.
"I'm so tired." he whispered weakly. "I didn't even know I could feel tired."
"Come on," Kinger chuckled. "We aren't done yet. You still owe your friends an apology."
"Okay..." Caine muttered sleepily.
Still holding him, Kinger cautiously made his way out of the pillow fort. Being careful to keep the bucket on his head, he began to navigate towards the rest of the group.
Pomni got to the fort first. "Kinger, please be in here and alone." she peeked inside and came out again, eyes wide.
"He's gone." she said. The group exchanged terrified glances.
"F***! S**T!" Zooble exclaimed.
"Oh, god, oh, god! What happened?! Where's Kinger? Oh, we were in over our heads!" Ragatha cried, tugging frantically on her hair.
"This is bad." Gangle said nervously.
"Maybe he's just in the bathroom or something." Jax said, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"NOT HELPING, JAX!! FOR ALL WE KNOW, CAINE FOUND OUT ABOUT OUR IDEA AND-- WHAT IF KINGER IS BEING TORTUTED? OR WORSE, WHAT IF HE ASTRACTED?!" Ragatha cried.
Zooble gazed at Gangle lovingly. "I have a feeling things are about to go really wrong. And if they do, I just want you to know that I care about you. A lot." they said softly.
"I care about you too, Zooble." Gangle replied. "I'm so scared."
"NOW ISN'T THE TIME FOR A LOVE CONFESSION!" Jax screamed.
Pomni fidgeted with her pom poms anxiously, watching the group argue amongst themselves. She didn't blame them; she knew it was just a distraction for the reckoning that she was sure would arrive.
Suddenly, she saw a shadow appear behind her.
"Are you guys looking for someone?" a voice asked, partially muffled by a bucket over his head. The crushing weight of responsibility seemed to be lifted from Pomni's shoulders in an instant as she turned around and saw none other than Kinger, holding a teary-eyed Caine.
The rest of the group saw Kinger as well, and practically cried with relief.
"Where did you go? What happened?" Pomni asked.
"I was in my fort, when all of a sudden Caine appeared. We had a little bit of a conversation and, well, I think we'll be able to resolve our differences now." Kinger explained.
"You talked to Caine?" Zooble asked nervously. "Are you sure he isn't going to... flip out? Or anything?"
Caine flinched and fresh tears welled up in his eye. Kinger looked down at him, then back at the group. "I don't think so. Caine? Is there... something you need to say?"
He slowly let Caine down onto the ground. Caine looked at all of their faces in turn, meeting each of their gazes.
"I'm... sorry." he said slowly. "I... I don't really know what to say." he looked back to Kinger for approval, who flashed him a thumbs up. "I guess I just thought that... You all needed to love my adventures, or else I was worthless. After all, making adventures was the only thing I was really good at. And when I realized you were all mad at me, and you didn't like anything I made, well, I got scared. I thought you were all going to leave me and I ended up... hurting you..." His voice trailed off and he stared at the ground. "I didn't mean to. But Kinger taught me today that I can't force you to be my friend, especially if you don't like my adventures or... me. That's mean, and... I don't want to be mean." He looked up at them with a hint of his usual confidence and charm. "I don't understand anything about myself anymore. But one thing I know is that I am not mean. From the bottom of... whatever I have instead of a heart, I'm sorry. For... everything, I guess."
He stared at the ground, fidgeting anxiously.
The group members looked at each other in shock. Out of all the outcomes they were expecting, an apology was not one of them. And yet, here one was. The impossible had happened.
Pomni was the first to speak up. "I forgive you." she said. "I know what it's like to have your entire reality shattered. I think we all do, really. It's true that you shouldn't have hurt us. But the important thing is that you're willing to change, which is more than most humans can say."
Zooble was next. They stepped forward, looking down at Caine with a gaze bordering on sympathy. "I'm not sure how to feel. I understand your pain, but at the same time, I'm still hurting because of what you did to us. You put us through so much pain and trauma for the sake of your own ego." Caine seemed to deflate. "Even so... I want to learn to forgive you. It might take a while, but I think if you have the patience, then we can figure it out together."
"I agree with Zooble." said Gangle. "I want to forgive you too. I can remember all the times that you did care about us. You're always fixing my comedy mask, and you try to give us adventures that we like, even if they aren't the best. We know you care about us, in your own way."
Ragatha stepped forward. "I forgive you, Caine. And I appreciate the effort you've been putting in for us to make us happy." she said in a strong voice. "The thing about us humans is that we're complicated. It's not as simple as a puzzle or a pattern, like an NPC. You have to accept the fact that there's parts of us you just can't understand or control. I think once you do that, we'll be able to get along much better."
Caine nodded. He looked to Jax for a response.
"I'm still pissed off at you." he said harshly. "But... I guess we're fine. Just don't make us go on any torture adventures anymore. And don't use me as dental floss, either."
"Besides, I don't think leaving is in the cards for us anyway." said Pomni. "And, Caine. If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you're funny."
"And you're really smart." added Ragatha.
"And you're good at drawing." Gangle said. "I really like your bees."
"I like how hard you try." Zoobls said.
"And most of all, I like how you're our friend." said Kinger.
Caine's eyes welled up with tears. "I can't believe that you're all so... kind. Your words are so valuable to me."
He swayed slightly on his feet and fell to his knees. "Wow, this has really drained the life out of me." he announced. "I'm... so tired."
"Get some rest, Caine." said Pomni.
"And, if you don't mind, I'm going to see if I can use the computer to help fix you up a little bit more." Kinger added.
Caine nodded sleepily. "Just don't let Bubble see me. He keeps saying mean things..." with that, he was out, fast asleep on the ground.
"Wow. That went way better than I expected." Zooble said.
"I just hope that he follows through on all his promises to be better..." Gangle replied.
"I think he will. Caine is smarter than he looks." Pomni said. "Remember what I said earlier? About how we need to look out for each other, because we're all we have?"
They nodded.
"Caine is a part of that. Even though he's an AI, he's still our friend. And we've all been in his place before. Feeling like we aren't good enough or that nobody loves us. And nobody, human or AI, deserves to feel that way."
"You're right, Pomni." said Ragatha. "You really are the heart and soul of this circus."
Pomni blushed. "Well, I wouldn't go that far..."
"Okay. Who wants to get some trash food?" Jax spoke up suddenly.
"Whatever." said Zooble. "Let's go."
And for the first time in a long time, life in The Amazing Digital Circus was good, and the future looked brighter than ever.