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Pomni listens to the shuffling of cards as Zooble sets up the next round, evenly distributing everyone’s hands across the table. They were playing Old Maid without the old maid. Ragatha had disposed of all the queens in the deck out of consideration for Kinger who was actually joining them to play for once. The only missing member was Jax who had coolly declined playing cards claiming he had more important things to do. Pomni wondered if it was due to his absence that Zooble joined them without any excuse this time.
As Pomni picked up her cards, two thoughts occurred to her: the first being Zooble was too good at shuffling because she had no pairs in her hand, the second being, “Does Caine also join you guys to just hang out sometimes?”
Ragatha hums, trying to recall any instance of that in her long tenure in the circus, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Caine outside of ushering us in and out of adventures.”
“Sometimes he announces things,” Gangle said, taking a card from Kinger’s hand.
“And sometimes he makes us perform things for an audience we don’t see,” added Zooble.
“Outside of all that, I don’t think any of us really know what Caine does in his down time,” Ragatha looked up in thought, “Does he have down time?”
“I don’t want to know or even care to know what Jax does when no one’s watching him, let alone Caine,” Zooble remarked, pulling a card from Ragatha before setting down another pair.
“Oh, uh, do you guys not…like? Caine?” Pomni asked, taking a card from Kinger.
“I wouldn’t say that but…it’s like asking your boss to hang out after work. It seems like a great idea at first till certain boundaries get crossed,” Zooble replied.
Pomni looked at them, “Is Caine…our boss?”
The group fell silent for a moment. “Boss” wasn’t exactly correct yet he’s still the closest thing they had to an authority figure in this world. Caine may call himself the boss or ringmaster, but no one wanted to actually consider him as being their boss.
“Well, I want to avoid him like he is one,” Zooble said, leaning their cards closer to Gangle for easier access.
Pomni nodded absentmindedly, watching as the others completed their turn around the table. She fails to make a pair after grabbing from Gangle’s hand.
“Did–did you want to invite Caine to hang out with us?” Gangle asked. Pomni found herself almost flinching as the cast turned to look at her. She avoided their gaze by staring intently at her own cards.
“No, no, I was just curious about what Caine does after I realized he kind of disappears every day?” Pomni stumbled through her explanation, “I–I mean he’s the only one of us who isn’t human. He seems to genuinely want us to enjoy his adventures, but his adventures can genuinely be terrifying? Sometimes he seems to be trying really hard to accommodate us then other times he’s just doing whatever he wants and–and…” Pomni looks up at the wide eyed stares from her fellow castmates. Before she could stammer out something to save herself from the awkward spotlight Kinger speaks up.
“Do you like Caine, Pomni?” Kinger asked suddenly. Pomni wasn’t the only one surprised by Kinger’s sudden question. He stared at Pomni, unblinking bloodshot eyes patiently waiting for her answer. He could also just be staring at the space behind her.
Pomni’s mouth forms a line as her brows bunched together, “I don’t think I hate him at least? Today kind of sucked, but I guess I’m glad he hasn’t made any more self-aware NPC’s since–” Pomni catches herself, immediately regretting where she was steering the conversation. Ragatha, sensing Pomni’s discomfort, clears her throat, “I personally really liked what he did with that haunted mansion adventure! It was nice just talking to the lady of the house. She was a great conversationalist and I actually enjoyed her company.”
Ragatha gives Pomni a small reassuring smile. One that Pomni gratefully returned. Zooble lets out a groan, “Wasn’t that the one he’d specifically made for me thinking I’d enjoy it? The one where Pomni ended up going to hell?”
“He said he made it really “cool” and “ma-tour,” just for you,” Gangle said with a sad smile, her comedy mask sitting beside her unbroken.
Zooble clicked their tongue, or at least made the sound, “Nothing I say to that guy ever sticks. I don’t know whether he’s just ignoring, forgetting, or just not understanding me. It always goes back to his stupid adventures done his way.” Zooble makes a pair after grabbing from Pomni’s hand. “Last time I gave it to him straight I thought I almost caused a chernobyl,” Zooble sighs, “Maybe…it just isn’t in his programming.”
Something about that didn’t seem completely right to Pomni. From what everyone’s said on previous adventures and from the latest adventures Pomni had experienced, nothing had come close to the same genre that Caine made that day. Caine was capable of conjuring up a unique type of horror he believed Zooble would like. It was an odd outlier custom made for Zooble. Something was nagging at Pomni. It felt like she was trying to recall a song whose melody kept fading the harder she tried to remember.
“Anyways, it’s your loss, Pomni,” Zooble said, derailing Pomni’s train of thought.
Pomni looked up to find everyone’s hands emptied of cards. Pomni alone held the last one, a red joker.
“Go fish, Pomni,” Kinger suddenly chirped. Pomni squinted at his empty hands resting on the table. She wondered how he managed to be the first one out.
♡ ♢ ♤ ♧
After losing several more card games Pomni was the first to turn in for the day. Though she did enjoy spending time with mostly everyone, she was exhausted from both the day's adventures and unsatisfied with the earlier conversation. Pomni sighed, rounding a giant toy block. Jax was leaning against it on the other side, eyes closed.
“Hey Jax,” Pomni greeted politely. From the way his smile stretched she instinctively braced herself for what came out of his mouth.
“Curious about Caine, huh?” Jax drawled, eyes opening slightly to peek at Pomni.
“You were eavesdropping?” Pomni asked, thumb pointing back to the table.
Jax scoffed, rolling his eyes as he bent down to Pomni with both hands on his hips, “Please, I just happened to be passing by after leaving a present for dear ol’ Ragatha,” Jax said following Pomni as she walked towards their living quarters. Pomni was too tired to deal with whatever Jax was cooking up. She wanted to get to bed and faceplant onto her covers before the next call to adventure happened. Jax straightened up, smile momentarily dropping from Pomni’s lack of reaction. Jax does a cartoony shrug, walking ahead of Pomni in long strides, “Oh, I get it, us humans just aren’t enough for you anymore.”
Pomni stopped, “What’s that supposed to–”
“First the gator from down unda’ and now Caine? I mean, I knew you had a thing for gummy but I didn’t know you had a thing for gummy,” Jax does a wink towards what Pomni assumed to be the audience he sometimes addressed. In the distance a subtle ba-dum-tiss sound is played and heard by no one. Pomni blinked rapidly then felt herself bristle at the implication. Biting down, Pomni clenched her fists and brushed past Jax.
“[%$@!#] off, Jax.”
“Aw, don’t be like that Pom-pom we’ve all got our dirty little kinks. S’nothing to be ashamed of!”
Pomni doesn’t answer as she walks quickly towards the hall.
Jax keeps up with her easily, “Hey, I support your little obsession I really do! Next time he tosses us into an adventure I’ll even help you get some one-on-one time with him.”
Jax waits for a response that doesn’t come. Pomni doesn’t turn around to see Jax drop his smile. He stops walking, letting Pomni walk ahead. The rabbit’s ear twitched once then his smile slid back into place.
“Actually, why wait?” Jax places a fist on his hip, pulling his other hand up to his cheek.
“Oh, Caine!” Jax called out in a sing-song voice. His words echoed through the quiet tent. Pomni stopped in her tracks, slowly turning to look at Jax. His eyes were big and brimming with mirth. After the echoes faded Pomni breathed a sigh of relief when nothing came.
Jax hummed, index finger tapping his cheek,“I don’t think he heard us. Everybody say, ‘Oh, Caine!’”
Pomni sprinted to Jax in a panic ready to tackle him and stuff that nonstop mouth of his up. Pomni sees him take another breath just as her feet leave the ground. She collides with something malleable. Pomni’s vision was distorted and her body weightless. All around her was a transparent filter dancing with iridescent colors. A face appeared in front of her, blown up over twice the size from how she usually sees him. Bubble opened his mouth to speak, “I’m host to a Pomni!”
Pomni did want to think about how she was inside of Bubble, but here she is, inside of Bubble. Caine appeared right behind Jax, which would’ve surprised anyone else but the smiling rabbit who simply side-stepped away.
“What can I do ya’ for, Jax?” Caine asked, giving his staff a twirl. Pomni tried to push her way out of Bubble. Her hands simply stretched his rubber like exterior.
“I’m uncomfortable!” exclaimed Bubble.
“Then let me out!” Pomni cried. Her voice was muffled, much to Jax’s delight. It just makes the next part that much easier for him.
“Oh, it’s just that our pwecious Pomni here simply couldn’t shut up about you!” Jax said, one hand presenting the Bubble encased Pomni.
Pomni kicked at Bubble who didn’t so much as flinch. Jax circled Bubble, placing an arm to lean on him as Pomni tried elbowing her way out. From the amount of censor bars Jax took count of, Pomni could be breaking a record.
“Oh yes she’s just so curious about the, uh, ins and outs and all the abouts of your adventure making process,” Jax shrugged, “You understand, Caine, she’s still so new after all.”
Caine’s jaw opened wide in shock, “Pomni, you curious Geoffrey, why didn’t you say so before!”
Caine looked at Pomni who was vehemently shaking her head. Bubble’s face slowly orbited his form, covering the jester’s panicked expression. Caine tapped his staff against his bottom teeth in thought, “Hm, but this won’t do. Pomni will simply be spoiled for the next adventure.”
“So just show her your old adventures. She really likes the thrilling ones,” Jax suggested.
“No, that won’t work,” Caine said, then puts his fist into his palm, “I’ve got it! I can just show her my old adventures!”
“Great idea, Caine,” Jax sarcastically replied, his smile unfaltering.
Caine leans down to Bubble, easily popping him with a jab of his index finger. Pomni landed on the floor and could only manage taking a breath before Caine placed a hand on her shoulder, warping them both away. Jax was left alone with a smile almost as wide as his face, patting himself on the back for a scheme well done.
♡ ♢ ♤ ♧
Pomni reeled from the sudden warping. Holding her head still in one hand, she looked around what looked like an office filled top to bottom with colorful orbs, displays of random objects, and scattered pieces of paper on the ground.
“Welcome to the Archive!” Caine eagerly welcomed Pomni, waving his arm in an arch to reveal his words spelled out in the air above him. Archive was spelled in Papyrus font. Pomni read ‘Caine’s Office’ in parentheses underneath the title. The words fluttered away like pieces of paper.
“Um,” Pomni avoided the “A” in “Archive" from landing on her, “Thanks.”
Caine places a finger under his lower jaw as he flies through the colorful shelves.
“Which to start with…”
Pomni watched him look back and forth between two orbs, debating on one over the other. Pomni wished she was strangling a certain lanky purple [%$@!#]-hole right now, but she had to figure out a way out of this first. A pink orb caught her eye. Pomni walked over to the shelf, leaning down to see a familiar candy kingdom contained in the orb. Being this close she hears a cheering crowd and the sound of trumpets.
“Are these…all the adventures yo–”
“This one!” Caine tossed a green orb up, spinning it on his index finger. He passes it to Pomni who catches it on instinct. With a snap a portal appeared above their heads and swallowed them up. Pomni immediately feels the humidity in the air, strands of her hair already sticking to her cheeks. She looks up and lets out a scream. Just above her were the wide open jaws of a Tyrannosaurus Rex frozen in place.
“I’m glad you noticed! The details of the teeth are impressive, but not as impressive as that atmosphere!” Caine laid on his side in the mouth of the dinosaur, tapping on the teeth as he spoke. Pomni steadied her heavy breathing trying her best to calm down as Caine practically lounged on the dinosaur’s tongue.
“What the [%$@!#]?” Pomni hugged the orb to her chest, gloves slipping across its surface. The dinosaur’s mouth snapped shut. Pomni screamed again, jumping back. Her feet caught onto a thick tree root. She lands on her side, arms shaking around the orb as she backs away from the dinosaur which was thankfully frozen again.
“Gadzooks! Wouldn’t wanna be that guy,” Caine said, reappearing from behind the head of the creature. He wiped his upper jaw in mock relief. Pomni could feel herself nearing hysteria as her body continuously shook.
“Caine, I don’t want to be here!” Pomni cried out. Even while frozen the sheer size of the dinosaur shot in her an ancient, primal, fear. For Pomni, the worst wasn’t the teeth but those eyes. Those blank, unblinking eyes staring down at her.
“Then take us away,” said Caine. His nonchalance spiked her anger.
“How am I–”
“You have the handy dandy Reversible Engineered Motor Orb That’s Effective or “Remote” for short!” Caine slid down the dinosaur’s snout, landing in front of Pomni. He picks up the orb and Pomni along with it. Pomni held onto that little orb for dear life as she was placed on her feet. Caine presses one finger against the orb’s surface and slides it to the right. The environment changed rapidly. The dinosaur opened and closed its jaw again, took two steps back, then disappeared. Up above, Pomni sees the sun quickly streaking across the sky as plants and foliage begin to disappear around her. The humidity disappeared soon after. Caine continued to slide his finger across the orb until there was nothing but gray.
No more jungle, no more T-rex, no more anything really. It was a completely empty, seemingly endless, gray space. Pomni felt herself let out a sigh of relief. She looked up at the ringmaster who took his finger off the orb.
“Caine, what is going on?” she asked, careful now not to let her fingers slide across the orb.
“As you requested, I’m showing you an earlier adventure I’d made! This one was the Jurassic Jungle Expedition of Wonder!” Caine turned to dramatically reveal the empty space.
“Well, it was–is the Jurassic Jungle Expedition of Wonder. This is simply where I start before every adventure comes to exist,” Caine explained, sitting in the air, “So it will be the Jurassic Jungle Expedition of Wonder in 38.22 seconds.” Caine points to the remote in Pomni’s hands. Taking Caine’s cue, Pomni placed a hesitant finger on the orb and slid just an inch across it towards the left. The space became filled with trees, oversized plants, and randomly placed rocks. Pomni moves it another inch. Grass sprung from under her feet and a sun appeared in the sky. Pomni squinted at the sun realizing it didn’t actually shine. Reaching one arm out, she turned her palm towards the sky and felt no warmth. Looking down, she saw no shadows. The sun might as well be a picture cut out and glued to the sky.
Pomni didn’t notice Caine watching her as he floated just above her jester hat. Caine held a finger under his jaw in contemplation. Pomni was always so expressive. Almost every thought and emotion found a way to settle onto her features. Though Caine may not be the most expert at understanding them, he didn’t need to be in order to simply enjoy seeing them.
“Huh,” Pomni remarked, “do you manually add the heat? And the shadows?”
Caine blinked,“Of course! The sun is there but it’s not a light source yet.”
“I actually never thought about that,” Pomni said, sliding her finger across the remote as more and more of the world came to be. Pomni didn’t notice just how dull the colors were until everything suddenly became exceptionally brighter as different hues were implemented into the environment. Pomni lets out a hum as she notices the weather change from sunny to storming then back to sunny.
“Do you–” Pomni began.
“This is taking too long,” Caine interrupted, snapping his finger.
“Wha–” the orb, or remote, disappeared from Pomni’s hands.
Caine pulled the orb from his hat and spun it on his finger, the world once again rapidly coming into creation. Caine bounced the orb once. The environment changed from a jungle to a giant gate with barbed wire at the top.
“This is where the adventure began,” Caine explained, voice somehow more theatrical than before, “I had debated on starting mid-outbreak, but they always ask more questions when I put them right into the action. Apparently it’s “kind of confusing” and “disorienting” and “God, Caine, you can’t just throw us in and expect us to break the Geneva Convention,’” With each quote Caine changed his voice to perfectly mimic the cast’s criticism. Pomni snorted, easily visualizing who said what. Caine peered down at Pomni, noting her reaction. He also noted it being the first time he was the cause of it.
“I have to agree with them on that,” Pomni said.
The doors to the gates opened. Caine led the way floating in with Pomni following along. Caine shrugged his shoulders,“I suppose there is a bigger payoff when the story has the time to build up, but enough of that! This adventure had me test out my newly improved wild animal AI–”
Once Caine got started on explaining the ins and outs and all the abouts of his adventure making process there was no slowing down. He would spin the little remote orb, toss it, juggle it, and even dunk it, as he pulled Pomni through every inch of the adventure. One moment they were going step by step on where the cast would be prompted to go, the next moment they were underwater where Caine showed the importance of preparing things that no one could ever naturally stumble on just so that on the very off chance that someone does they won’t be disappointed. In this case, it was a terrifying low poly red eel which stared into your soul.
Pomni was thrown this way and that as Caine went through his steps at choosing the genre, the NPC’s, the failsafes, textures, calibrating what assets to reuse in order to save time and give the cast a familiar character to enjoy. Pomni winced, remembering the Spudsy’s incident.
Caine quickly continued on going into detail about the puzzles, the plot, the roles, and the end goal he must consider. Sometimes he must think about the possible wardrobe and how it'd fit each person and goodness of course he must avoid clashing their color schemes. It was endless.
Pomni knew it wasn’t always easy to finish your sentence around Caine, but right here in his full element he was a complete and utter conversation hoarder. Pomni didn’t know if she was imagining Caine picking up speed or if it was simply her mind failing to catch up with all the information he was dumping on her. Pomni could only smile and nod until one of the millions of details Caine explained caught her attention. They were in a jeep with Caine in the driver’s seat and Pomni in the passenger. The orb was in the backseat with its seatbelt on. Cain reached over to Pomni’s side, opening the glove box.
“Of course, I avoided placing the centipede around this route for Ragatha but hid him in the glove compartment of the getaway vehicle for Jax,” Caine opened the glove box to reveal the hidden centipede NPC reading a tiny newspaper.
Caine continued, “Now, the tricky part was–”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Pomni interrupted, shaking her head to focus her thoughts. Pomni placed a hand on Cain’s arm before he could shift the gear into drive.
“You avoided placing it for Ragatha,” Pomni started slowly, Caine was already nodding his head in response, “but you put it in the glove compartment for Jax?”
“That is what I said, yes,” Caine gives Pomni a little pat on the head as Pomni swallows down a grumble, “Good job!”
“Why?” Pomni asked.
“Because you remembered what I said! Good jo–”
“No, not that, why did you put the centipede there if you knew Ragatha hated them?”
“Because Jax likes that Ragatha hates them,” Caine answered. Pomni opened her mouth, another question ready to tumble out. Caine shifted the gear into drive and floored it. For the next, what felt like hours, Pomni could not form a complete sentence. Caine sped throughout the terrain going the speed of, well, Caine. The car would jump, crawl, and zig-zag all over the map as Caine explained how he planned the route the crew were meant to take.
At the end of the adventure tour Caine waited for Pomni to finish throwing up in a bush beside the getaway submarine.
“Well, that’ll do for this tour of the Jurassic Jungle Expedition of Wonder! Be sure to tip your tour guide on the way out and we all wish you a very Jurassic day!” The obnoxious sound of a wheezing harmonica punctuated Caine’s farewell. A portal appeared under them. They both phased through it, reappearing back in the Archives as the room spun itself right side up so both Caine and Pomni landed on their feet.
“How was it, my inquisitive Anomalocaris?” Caine asked, rolling the green orb down his shoulders and back onto the shelf.
Pomni’s temporary euphoric relief at being out of a cartwheeling vehicle disappeared with Cain’s question. She was grateful for the couches in front of Caine’s desk, she really needed a moment to sit down. The moment she did she felt the weight of the day sink into her digital body all at once. Her mind felt like it was filled with static, her limbs were overcooked noodles, and her eyes were diverting energy by blinking one at a time. Pomni was utterly spent. Caine sat on his desk, hands clasped together over his bent knee, eagerly awaiting her thoughts. Pomni turned away from him, resting her head on the armrest.
“I definitely never realized how much thought you put into every detail on these adventures. I’ve never even considered half of what you showed me,” said Pomni.
“But of course! I put my everything into every adventure for you humans,” Caine stated.
“It’s hard to imagine doing that every day. It’s pretty impressive,” Pomni said, stifling a yawn. Pomni rubbed her eyes, feeling the sting from how dry they felt. She opened her eyes to find Caine face to teeth with her, his eyes blown wide and shaking. Pomni sputtered at his sudden proximity, Caine made no move to distance himself as he floated right above her.
“Uh, Cai–”
“You really think so?”
In the background Pomni sees his staff spinning slowly as it crosses one end of the room to the other. Her gaze refocused on Cain whose pupils were slowly growing bigger as he waited for her to answer.
“Yes,” she finally breathed, “I thought it was very impressive, Caine.”
Caine, without a single sound or bodily movement, floated straight up. Pomni laid there watching him, propping herself up on her elbows as he continued to rise higher to the ceiling. Pomni did not know what this meant in the slightest as she felt dread fill her digital body. Several feet above Pomni, Caine burst into a firework show.
Pomni nervously watched as the fireworks burst into an image. There was Caine mid-victory jump, then on the next burst Pomni saw her own words spelled out in a quote with her face being credited under it. Pomni’s mouth turned up just slightly, suppressing a surprised chuckle from escaping her. A few more fireworks burst more celebratory images before dispersing slowly, colorful streams of light disappearing in the air.
Pomni looked down where Caine reappeared, sitting right across from her on the couch. “Oh, Pomni, your genuine words mean the absolute digital world to this ringmaster,” Caine said, wiping a tear from leaking past his canines. “And that was just my old adventure. It doesn’t even compare to the one you had today!” he added as Pomni grimaced. Cain switched positions to lay on his stomach, jaw resting on his interlocked hands.
“So, my jovial little jester, were you as impressed with today’s adventure? How does it compare? What was your favorite part? Did you catch all the super subtle references I made?” With each question Caine shimmied closer to Pomni who moved as far back against the armrest as she could. Again that staff of his appeared in the background, bouncing off the floor and up towards the ceiling.
Pomni stared at Caine, remembering the awful feeling of dehydration from today’s desert themed adventure. She’d almost suffered heat stroke, a giant sand worm nearly swallowed her up, Jax had lured said worm to attack the bazaar, and sand managed to get into every crevice of her clothing.
“Uh,” Pomni searched every memory trying to find anything she could genuinely compliment him for, “I liked…the bazaar?”
“What did you like about it?” Caine was kicking his feat in anticipation.
“Well, I’ve never been to one so I liked the…variety? Of items?” Pomni tilted her head to the side, “I think I liked that I felt somewhat safe there. It felt like I wasn’t in any mortal danger…until I was.” Pomni looked at Caine who was looking away in thought.
“What about you?” Pomni quickly asked, “What’s your favorite part of the adventures?”
Caine repositioned himself to sit on the couch, “Why, that’s an easy answer! It’s seeing you all enjoying them!”
“Oh, that’s…sweet,” Pomni said, surprised it wasn’t some obscure step in creating the adventures themselves instead.
“Is that what you do all day when we’re not on an adventure? Make them?” Pomni asked.
“Of course! Along with some other preparations for you rowdy bunch!”
“Huh,” Pomni hummed, “And during the adventures?”
“Sometimes Bubble and I grab brunch,” Caine sighed, “The things we talk about…”
Caine suddenly remembered something. He snapped. A plate of sandwiches appeared on Pomni’s lap.
“Can’t have you chatting on an empty stomach!” Caine said with a smile.
Pomni blinked at the plate, “Um, thanks.”
Pomni realizes she probably missed dinner with the others. She picks up a sandwich and bites into it. A regular turkey sandwich, or rather, close enough to a regular turkey sandwich. Pomni remembered the first time she actually ate after she’d arrived at the circus. It was an uncanny sensation on all her senses. Everything was at close as it could get to chewing, tasting, swallowing, and yet something always felt off. Now she was having a hard time remembering just what the difference between eating a real sandwich and a digital sandwich was. As Pomni ate, she glanced at Caine who was staring at her plate of sandwiches, drumming his hands against his teeth. Pomni picked up the plate and offered it to Caine.
“Do you want the other one?”
Caine looked up at her, “Nonsense, I don’t eat food, Pomni! Nor do I need to!”
Pomni shrugged, “It just feels weird being the only one eating.” Not to mention being watched while you’re eating.
Caine processed this. “Right! Of course! A meal is meant to be shared!” Caine accepted the plate, opened his jaw wide, and threw the whole thing into his mouth plate and all.
Pomni doesn’t react to the spectacle.
“Um, is there anything you like doing for yourself? Like…hobbies or fun things that you enjoy,” Pomni asked, finishing off the last bite of her sandwich.
Caine waved a hand at Pomni, “Oh, my silliest of geese, making adventures is my fun hobby!”
“Then I guess you wouldn’t really join us for a card game anytime soon, huh?” Pomni said offhandedly, dusting crumbs off her gloves.
Caine sputtered, “I–you–me? You would invite me to play cards?”
Pomni flinched, realizing what she just said out loud. She softly pulled at her jester hat, “I–I wouldn’t be against you joining,” Pomni stuttered out. Caine paused. Behind Pomni, a pencil momentarily glitched and fell off the table.
“It doesn’t have to just be cards, it can be any small game or activity…with the others,” Pomni quickly added.
The pencil glitched back onto the table. Caine shook his head. Pomni hears his eyes jangle in his mouth.
“No, no, I couldn’t possibly join you all!” he said cheerfully.
“Right, sorry, I just thought it’d be…it was a silly offer, you are pretty busy,” Pomni said.
“Yes indeed, very busy! These adventures don’t make themselves!”
Caine watched the way Pomni avoided eye contact, her arms hugging herself almost protectively. She seemed embarrassed and…disappointed. But at what? At who? Certainly not Caine and most certainly not the idea of him working on his adventures. Yes, yes, right! His adventures!
“Now that you’ve seen what adventure was and what adventure is, what can I do to make them better? Any thoughts, Pomni?” Caine asked, resting his lower jaw in the palm of his hand.
Pomni sighed wondering if by the time this conversation was over she’d be able to stop hearing the word “adventure” echoing in her mind.
“I guess…is it so bad for us to have a chill adventure every now and then?” Pomni asked.
“No! But it’d be boring! Which is even worse than bad!” Caine replied.
Through sheer willpower Pomni kept herself from openly groaning.
“Okay then, what about the suggestion box? Will we ever do any of those again?”
“You–oh,” Caine’s shoulders slumped forward, “You really…like…the suggestion box.”
Pomni shrugged, “Well, not all of them but, some of them were pretty fun.”
“More fun than my adventures?” Caine asked.
Pomni bit her tongue. Caine wasn’t looking at Pomni. Instead he was slouched down, staring at the floor, forearms resting on his thighs.
“I wouldn’t compare them like that,” Pomni said quickly, “I just don’t–I mean I just prefer–”
“You all really do prefer those boring suggestion box adventures over mine and that means Zooble–they were–” Caine clutched at his lower teeth.
“Zooble?” Pomni echoed, watching Caine frantically look around, “What about Zooble?”
“They said no–” Caine froze. Pomni watched his form glitch once. “No-thing important!” Caine laughed a long and a hollow laugh. “What is important is how I managed to improve on that sun heat! Not to mention the sheer size of that sand worm! And–and the sand physics!” Caine started rambling. On and on he went, listing everything that was improved on in his new adventure. At random points he’d spew off topic statements which Pomni couldn’t follow.
Pomni hesitated, wondering if it was right for her to push the subject further. Caine was the most frazzled she’d seen him be. The ringmaster looked almost lost as his eyes looked everywhere around the room, hands gesturing non-stop. She wasn’t sure he even knew what he was saying at this point.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Pomni suggested, interrupting Caine mid-speech.
“About what? The sand physics? The pathfinding?”
“About…what Zooble said?”
Caine tilted his head, “What did Zooble say?” Pomni’s brows furrowed, confused by Caine’s own genuine confusion.
“That ‘nobody likes your stupid adventures!’” Bubble answered, appearing in between Caine and Pomni, mouth hanging open, eyes empty of thought. He was popped immediately by Caine. Pomni stared at Caine who stared right back at Pomni.
Caine laughs again, “Oh that Zooble–Bubble! They sure can…speak! Yes, they sure can…say…things.” Caine freezes again. Pomni sees Caine’s eyes unfocus as he stares off into the distance. The room began to rumble.
“Uh…Caine?” Pomni waves a hand in front of Caine. He remained perfectly still as the room began glitching apart. The couch across from Pomni disappeared then reappeared vertically, parts of the room began bleeding together, the walls and floors flickered into grids. The orbs lining the walls shook with some being knocked off the shelves.
“Caine!” Pomni yelled above the noise in a panic. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his staff again. An orb teetered off its place catching the end of the staff and sending it careening towards Pomni. Pomni instinctively put her arms up, closing her eyes, she braced herself for the impact. A few seconds went by.
Pomni slowly opened her eyes, finding the tip of the staff just an inch away. She looked up. Caine held the end of it, having caught it mid-air before it collided with her. The room was silent. Pomni couldn’t see Caine’s expression over the staff. Her mind tried to work out what exactly just happened. What Zooble said earlier echoed back to her, how he almost went nuclear the last they gave it to Caine straight. Was he so hurt by what Zooble said before that the whole circus almost fell apart? The thought of the structural integrity of the circus being held together by the emotional capacity of Caine made Pomni sweat. Pomni looked down at her lap, eyes searching as her mind tried to find an answer.
Gripping the couch cushions, Pomni went through her thoughts one more time. Caine puts his everything into these adventures. He exists for these adventures. And yet, his favorite part wasn't some plot point or trope in his stories. It wasn’t even the art of creating them. Pomni took in a shaky breath. She looked up at Caine. That’s right. What Caine loved the most wasn’t the adventures themselves. It was seeing everyone enjoy them.
Pomni grabs Caine’s staff, pulling him close till she was practically in his jaws.
“Ragatha really liked talking to the lady in that haunted manor! Kinger loved the detail of the fireflies you included for his suggestion! Gangle was so excited to imagine her own evil counterpart after you made ours she even drew her version of it!” Pomni blabbered on, not letting her thoughts have even a moment to gather.
“I see now how hard you work on them, Caine. Choosing and making these adventures from nothing, that’s–that’s not something I can even begin to imagine doing!” Caine watched, expressionless, as Pomni took a breath.
“Your adventures have great aspects to them, Caine! You even made parts of our suggestions better than what I imagined! And I literally never know what you’re going to think of next.” Pomni hoped that last bit sounded positive, but she herself wasn’t too sure. At the very least, the room wasn’t glitching. Pomni was out of breath, her hands hurt from how hard she was gripping the staff.
Caine lets go of his staff. Pomni quickly lays it down in front of her. Backing up, Caine clamped his jaw shut, and waved his other hand sheepishly. Pomni could make out what seemed to be blush coloring his teeth. Which was an odd thing to observe.
“Oh Pomni, you–you flatterer. You don’t mean all that!” Caine gushed as steam rose from in between his teeth.
“I do!” Pomni cried, grabbing Caine’s waving hand as he peeks out from his teeth. “Seeing all you do for us today–all that you’ve done. I realized I don’t show my appreciation enough. I’m sorry,” Caine feels Pomni’s grip on his hand tighten, “Thank you, Caine.”
Caine looks between Pomni’s round, sincere eyes and her intertwined hand in his. Pomni, noticing his gaze, quickly let’s go. Caine begins floating up, hands holding his head, knees almost pulled up to his chest.
“Oh goodness, Pomni,” Caine said, voice cracking, “For so long I’ve wanted–I’d always hoped–this is the best–Oh! Oh dear, I think I’m overheating.”
Caine looked so giddy he was almost vibrating. Steam rose from his head as Caine’s blush deepened. His body does a slow flip in the air. Pomni felt like she could breathe again. She felt she’d stopped something from happening, possibly Caine kicking her out his office with a boot and a new “No Pomni’s allowed” sign. Pomni felt her shoulders sag from the sudden exhaustion of maneuvering a conversational mind field. But far above that, Pomni felt relieved at seeing Caine back to his usual goofy self.
“I sure am learning a lot about you today,” Pomni said, putting the staff on her lap.
“You are?” Caine peeked out from his teeth. He stopped spinning in the air and was now upside down facing Pomni.
“I realized I…barely knew anything about you before this. Now you seem a bit more…multifaceted?” Pomni perked up, “Oh, that reminds me. Do you know all of our likes and dislikes? Like with the centipede thing?”
“I know lots of things!” Caine said enthusiastically. He snapped, a small notepad appearing in his hand. He relaxes back into the couch, crossing one leg over the other. Pomni only saw little doodles of bees on the pages he flipped passed.
Caine clears his throat,“Gangle hopes no one finds the hidden sketchbook she lodged in between her mattress!”
“Wait–”
“Ragatha does have a favorite horse, though she denies it!”
“I don’t think I should be hearing all of thi–”
“Jax absolutely, positively, utterly, and completely cannot let anyone find out he–”
“Stop!” Pomni jumped on top of Caine. She was aiming to, at the very least, grab the notepad he was using out of his hands. At the very most she was prepared to do an elbow drop on his upper jaw to shut him up. Instead of either of these things, Pomni finds herself pinning the ringmaster to the couch. The staff and notepad both fell to the floor.
Pomni panted above Caine who was still as he looked up at her. Pomni’s hands were planted beside his head while her knees sunk into the couch beside his waist. Pomni’s heart began beating faster as she became much too aware of how close their bodies were to each other. Looking into Caine’s eyes, she saw herself reflected in them. Her eyes looked frantic, her lips were agape, and her cheeks were flushed red. Pomni watched the red in her face deepen as her heart beat jumped. Caine’s eyes widened. Pomni hears a snap beneath her. Caine disappeared.
Pomni sat up. Holding her cheeks in her hands, she worked to settle her heart. Once the pounding of her heart calmed down she called out into the empty room, “I’m sorry! I–I didn’t mean to–I just think you can keep everyone’s info to yourself. I didn’t feel right knowing without their permission...” The room remained Caine-less.
Pomni waited, but minutes passed by without an answer. Pomni considered simply leaving the office and never mentioning what just happened to anyone. Without her gracious host, it was actually the perfect excuse to get out of there and save herself further embarrassment. She started scooting off the couch when Caine reappeared floating in the middle of the room.
“When’d this place get so messy?” Caine asked, snapping once. The room reverted back to how it was. All couches, office items, and orbs returned to their usual position.
“Now,” Caine snapped again, the notepad reappeared in his hand along with a pencil, “what were we talking about?”
Pomni took Caine’s queue, gladly brushing past what just happened. Pomni cleared her throat.
“You know a lot about us–a lot more than I thought,” Pomni began, “Why don’t you implement more of those into the adventures?”
Caine rolls his eyes, “Well, because you all like so many different things! How am I supposed to know what to add, what not to add, and how much to add?”
“Okay, that’s fair,” Pomni notices the staff on the floor and picks it up, “How about just focusing on one person at a time first? Like Zooble? I know they haven’t really been on an adventure in a while.”
Caine tapped the notepad against his teeth, looking up in thought.
Pomni continued, “And maybe it’d help to implement something simple? Like…something they’ve enjoyed doing.”
Caine hummed, glancing from his notepad he watched Pomni fidgeting slightly under his gaze. Caine was taking longer than usual to answer. Pomni wasn’t sure if her small suggestion could cause another incident. Holding onto the staff in her lap, she prepared for the worse. Caine held out his hand and snapped. Pomni flinched.
Nothing happened. Pomni checked her body, the room, and then Caine. Nothing was out of the ordinary.
“What just–” Pomni started to say.
“Well, my dear kaleidoscopic Calliope, would you look at the digital time!” Caine exclaimed, not looking at any time at all, “You should go out there and do that rest–thing you humans love to do so much of!” Caine snapped. The doors to his office swung open.
“Oh,” Pomni said, slightly deflated. Hopping off the couch., she walked towards the office doors where Caine was floating, ushering her out. Pomni paused at the doors, realizing she was still holding onto his staff. Turning, she held it out to Caine.
“I…I’m glad we got to talk,” Pomni said.
Caine beamed, accepting the staff from Pomni.
“Wonderful! So did I! We should do this again somet–” Caine glitched. It was only a millisecond of a glitch, but it reverted his body and staff back to where they were before he’d taken it. The staff fell to the ground in front of a confused Pomni who had already taken her hand back after handing it off.
“Wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed yourself!” Caine said, holding out his hand. The staff flew back into his grip on its own.
“Right…thanks.” Pomni stepped across the threshold of the office doors. Pomni hesitates briefly, then turns back to Caine.
“Let’s do this again sometime,” Pomni said.
Caine seemed to still for a moment, then he smiled, “That would be fun!”
With that, the doors to Caine’s Office (The Archives) quickly closed. Behind the doors Caine hears Pomni mumble to herself, “Oh, I…go through here, okay.” Caine listens as Pomni gets sucked out of the tube back to the circus.
Bubble immediately appears beside him, “This seems like an HR violation!”
“There is no HR!” Caine cried, popping Bubble.
Alone in his office, Caine clamped his jaws shut. Holding onto his head, Caine began glitching quietly.
♡ ♢ ♤ ♧
Pomni was launched out of the air balloon basket screaming. Miraculously, she lands on one of the couches where the cast usually sits around to decompress after an adventure. And decompressing was exactly what she needed right now. Laying down, Pomni covered her face with her hands asking herself what in the digital world was she trying to do. Pomni felt flustered, but for what reason she didn’t want to pick apart, especially not in this public space. Exhaustion hit her like a dropped piano. It was too much to ask her legs to carry her back to her room. Pomni turned to her side. Using her arm as a pillow, she breathed slowly, letting the semi-darkness behind her eyes soothe her. Eventually, Pomni fell sound asleep.
Pomni woke up with a start. Breathing heavily, she tried to get her bearings as the bright lights of the circus assaulted her senses. Yes, right, she’d fallen asleep in the middle of the circus. Thankfully, it seemed no one else had shown up just yet.
In the distance, Pomni sees a portal open. One by one the cast exits the portal as Caine appears above them. She can hear him call them his ‘cool cats and dogs’ as he welcomes them back to the circus. Pomni hops from the couch and jogs over to them.
The whole cast was silent as the portal closed behind them. Pomni quickly inferred that they’d just returned from an adventure that she missed out on. Pomni couldn’t complain, if anything she was grateful for the break given that she didn’t get one all night. Pomni took a quick glance at everyone, brows furrowed in confusion. Jax looked like he was sulking with arms crossed over his chest. Meanwhile, everyone else seemed awestruck. Only Kinger seemed his usual self, staring off into the distance.
“Um,” Pomni began, “are you guys oka–”
“Incredible!” Gangle squealed out, ribbons shaking Pomni by her shoulders, “They were incredible!”
Pomni backed away from Gangle, realigning her eyes with a shake of her head, “They were? Zooble was?”
“I never knew, you never mentioned–” Ragatha started, only to be interrupted by another outburst from Gangle, “Incredible!”
Zooble themselves was silent, looking at their own hands. Pomni walked over to them.
“How was it?” Pomni asked gently.
The crew silently turned to look at Zooble. Zooble placed a clawed hand on the back of their neck. “It was nice,” they said quietly. Pomni’s eyes widened in surprise. The moment was interrupted by the sudden blast of horns and voices joined in a choir coming from every direction. Above them, arms spread open to the sky, Caine was ascending. Everyone covered where their ears should be and left Caine to his ascension.
Thankfully, the sound didn’t follow them to their usual resting spot. The cast returned to the four couches, each sitting in their undesignated seats save for Jax who took up the space of a whole couch on his own. Pomni noticed Jax wasn’t smiling as he laid down on the couch with his hands behind his head. She started to ask if he was alright.
“Did you want some chips, Pomni?” Ragatha asked.
Pomni looked away from Jax and towards the ragdoll, “Yeah, sure,” she answered.
Ragatha passed out some snacks previously stashed beneath the center table. She laid a half-eaten bag of candy next to Jax who doesn’t acknowledge her. Kinger helped himself to some chocolates while Ragatha and Pomni shared a bag of chips. Only Zooble and Gangle left their usual snacks untouched on the table. Gangle was preoccupied fervently drawing into her sketchbook. After everyone settled in, Zooble gave Ragatha the okay to start recounting their adventure.
It was a typical “Caine” adventure where everyone had to infiltrate a highly secured casino safe and retrieve the mcguffin. The mcguffin being a suitcase that emits light when you open it. Everyone had disguised themselves to be a part of the casino. Ragatha and Zooble played as security to the rich and affluent Gangle who was dressed to the nines. Meanwhile, Kinger was set as the getaway driver and man behind the screen stationed in a van outside the venue. Jax was a serving boy who abandoned his role to start gambling at a table.
Everything was going somewhat close to their laid out plan until Zooble, Gangle, and Ragatha stumbled on a “woe is me” band of NPC’s missing their drummer due to him suddenly being struck by lightning. The NPC’s really laid it on heavy by saying that without a band for the night the casino goers would be up in a riot. Zooble was about ready to firmly decline when they noticed the drum set.
“This is mine…” Zooble whispered. It was an almost exact replica of the one they had used when they were briefly in a band from the duct tape all the way to the faded stickers. With Gangle and Ragatha’s encouragement Zooble reluctantly took up the drum sticks and joined the band onstage.
At first they all awkwardly stood in that spotlight. It took a moment for Zooble to realize they were waiting on their cue. Zooble glanced at a very excited Gangle watching from backstage. After taking a breath, Zooble knocked their sticks together, counting the band in, and launched into an old song they used to practice.
“I haven’t played that song in years but…everything came back so easily,” Zooble shared.
Just like that the casino suddenly housed a music venue. Colorful lights shined down on the stage, sound engineers were on standby, a barrier was even erected. Casino goers became a cheering crowd.
“I’ve never been backstage to a concert before,” Ragatha said, “It was pretty amazing!”
“Did you write the song, Zooble?” Gangle asked, pausing from her sketchbook.
Zooble shook their head, “No, an old friend of mine actually wrote it. I just helped a bit with the composition.”
After the song was done, an alarm was tripped making everyone in the casino panic. Jax somehow got his hands on the mcguffin while all of this was happening. Pomni expected Jax to speak up at this point with a quip or two, but he remained silent. At least he started chewing on the candy Ragatha gave him. Everyone gathered up to squeeze into the getaway van where Kinger drove them away. Of course, they couldn’t end it there. They had to maneuver a whole city while running from casino police and the FBI. Pomni didn’t want to ask why the FBI were there. Now here they were, back to the circus after delivering the suitcase to a very grateful and well dressed NPC.
“Now, don’t get me wrong,” Zooble said, “I still didn’t enjoy the adventure as a whole but that one part was…fun.”
“Wow,” Pomni said after a beat, “I’m actually kind of sad I missed out on seeing that.”
“Where were you, Pomni? We tried waiting for you but Caine kind of pushed us all in pretty quickly,” Ragatha said biting into a chip.
“Yeah, Pomni," Jax spoke up, rising from his stupor. Sitting up, Jax pulled one leg to his chest and rested his elbow on his knee. He smiled a wide Cheshire grin, “Where were you?”
“You of all people should know,” Pomni spat out.
“Pomni was on a little date with Caine,” Jax said, dragging out Caine’s name like it was a tattle.
“It was not a date,” Pomni bit back.
“You hung out with Caine?” Ragatha asked.
“Because of Jax–”
“You're welcome!”
Pomni groans, “I am not thanking you–”
“So what exactly did you two do?” Zooble asked, glancing up from Gangle’s sketchbook.
Pomni waves her hand “We just went through an old adventure, the Jurassic Jungle Expedition of Wonder? Because of Jax’s suggestion,” Pomni shot Jax a heated glare which he returned with a multi-fingered wave, “We ate some food. Then we just…talked afterwards.” Pomni felt her heart sink realizing it did sound like a typical date.
“Oh, how romantic,” Kinger swooned.
Pomni flushed as Jax held his stomach cackling. If only her stupid hat could actually be pulled down to cover her face.
“I remember that adventure,” Ragatha said wincing, “It was…a lot. It wasn’t too rough of a time for you, I hope?”
Pomni pulls at her gloves,“In the beginning yeah, but–”
“Aw, does that mean no second date for the poor AI?” Jax interjected.
Pomni opened her mouth, ready to retort. She felt herself go blank. Pomni took a breath, ready to try again. Her mouth hung open as her brain short-circuited.
Jax, Ragatha, and Zooble, watched Pomni struggle to form a sentence. Even Gangle looked up from her sketchbook, pencil paused against the paper. Kinger remembered to blink. As the silence stretched on, all that played in Pomni’s mind was her last exchange with Caine. Let’s do this again sometime. That would be fun! Pomni felt her cheeks get warmer.
Jax lets out a low whistle, “Wow, forget about a second date, when’s the digital wedding?”
“Jax, stop teasing her!” Ragatha quickly came to Pomni’s defense.
“Oh, please, Dollface like you weren’t thinking the same.”
“I was not! Jax you–”
As the two jumped into the argument Pomni wished she could somehow phase out of existence. Meanwhile, Gangle showed Zooble her finished sketch of them playing the drums on stage. Zooble gave several appreciative nods of approval. Kinger looked off into the distance letting out a small wistful sigh, recalling a distant memory.