Chapter Text
"Oop! Looks like one of those guys made it through!"
"Wait, wha-?"
Snap of the fingers. Confetti.
Pomni stands frozen, watching as the NPC she managed to bond with, to connect, to comfort, disappears in an explosion of confetti. Gummigoo doesn't even get a second to process what's happening before he's just gone. She doesn't know if it's for better or for worse. At least he didn't suffer. She hopes he didn't suffer.
It hits her. Gummigoo is gone. Caine removed him from existence.
"W-wait... What?" Is all that comes from Pomni, quiet and meek. Disbelieving.
Caine must've took it as a literal question as he launched into an explanation. "I know you guys love your N-P-Cs, but if I start to lose the track of who's the human and who's the NPC, then... Who knows what could happen!" He's still floating, and fixes his bowtie that could be read as awkward, if not for how calm he was, while doing it. And of course, while saying it all, he continued with cartoon antics.
Pomni stares at him. Her knees are shaking, her hands are probably too, and all she could think of is-
"But... It doesn't?..." She gets out, voice hoarse. "It doesn't make sense?"
Caine pauses. His voice loses its volume and enthusiasm. "I... Don't understand."
Maybe it's the uncharacteristic quietness that did it for her. Or maybe it's the fact that Caine is an AI, so of course he doesn't understand. Or, or it's the fact that Caine is an AI that the excuse sounds like utter crap.
For a second, she thought she was about to lose it. Just like she did yesterday. Maybe try to convince herself it's all a dream before her psyche shatters into million small pieces.
It doesn't happen.
Instead, fury flares up in her chest, hot and blind, demanding answers, demanding to beat his ass, demanding to do something. Pomni had no patience after all of that emotional roller coaster, after having to deal with Jax and his fucked up idea of fun, to hold herself back when she grits her teeth and starts yelling.
"IT DOESN'T MAKE [Bong!]ING SENSE! THIS EXCUSE IS UTTER B[Splat!]T AND YOU KNOW IT, YOU F[Beep!]ER!" she jabs an accusatory finger in his direction. He doesn't flinch, nor does he seem surpsised at her reaction. Somehow, it makes her even angrier. So she goes on, without letting Caine answer. "You're an AI, right?!"
Caine looks at her, unblinking. He replies with a robotic tone. "Yes."
Pomni's eye twitches. "Then how the f[beep!]k you could lose track of who is who?! Why you couldn't let him just be?! I- Is that your twisted way of torturing me?!"
The AI didn't react until the last sentence at which he lowered his eyes in a thoughtful gesture. Then he proceeded to look around, as if checking if anyone else was listening. Pomni wasn't having it.
"Are you even listening to me?!"
"Yes."
Pomni shuts her mouth with a click and takes a step back at, once again, unnerving calm that is Caine's reaction to her outburst. She can't read him, his expression is blank and his body(model) doesn't give away what's going through his head.
Silence stretches on, uncomfortable and deafening. She can still hear voices, far in the distance. Ragatha and Jax having another argument, although, she can't make out the words. Only hear mocking in rabbit's voice, while doll's was full of scolding.
Caine finally speaks.
"About your feedback." He started, proceeding to talk in eerie indifference. "I could not let an NPC roam with the players, since it has proven before to lead to... Disastrous consequences."
Pomni scoffs, squaring her shoulders up to be as intimidating as she could be, as she spits out her next question. "Disastrous consequences? Explain."
"Alright." He replies, and she chokes on air.
"Just like that? You're... You're not?..." She didn't know what she expected him to do, but definitely not agreeing with her immediately. She expected him to push back, maybe try to excuse himself further, certainly not this.
"I don't understand." Caine said, and without waiting for her answer he asks. "Do you want me to explain?"
What was that? What he didn't understand? She didn't have time to dwell on that, Caine's expectant eyes burning into her.
"I- yes. Yes I do." Pomni folds her arms on her chest and attempts to appear as angry as possible. She didn't want him to realize she was unnerved by his behavior.
Caine nods, not paying attention to her facade, and then snaps his fingers.
Pomni yelps, the familiar sensation of being squeezed at all sides and then instantly released making her dizzy and nauseous. She drops to the floor and her knees buckle beneath her. A gurgled sound comes from her throat as she fights with a lump in her throat. She is NOT throwing up again.
"Where... Where are we?" She wheezes out as she raises her head. It swayed, the world was spinning and she couldn't keep up.
"Weeelcome to My Office!" Caine announces, spreading his arms wide, standing in front of Pomni in his full glory. Behind him was a highly detailed desk, with a lavish black chair behind it. The space felt surprisingly professional for someone like Caine, but at the same time it had his recognizable touch of creativity and randomness to it.
At least the lights were dim, unlike the rest of the circus that was flooded with brightness.
Was it crazy that she preferred his voice full of usual manic energy over the ominous calmness?
"Huh." Pomni then turned her head left and right and she saw, what she can only assume are previous adventures in snow globes on the shelves, as a display. He really cares about his adventures. She didn't know what to think of it.
Before the desk were two simple green sofas clearly meant for visitors.
Caine floats and drops himself in the chair behind the desk, gesturing at the sofas as he says. "Take a seat, be my guest." And back to calmness. Totally not creepy at all.
Okay. This... Guy. AI. Whatever he was. He deleted her friend, told her NPCs apparently aren't allowed to roam beyond the adventures, and now she's in his office. With him. Alone.
One on one.
She's fucked.
On top of that, there's, apparently, a good reason for why he evaporated Gummigoo on the spot.
Pomni clenches her fists, and chooses the sofa on the right as she plops down, crossing her legs. She glared at Caine waiting for him to speak.
She hated to admit that it was quite comfy.
Caine sat weirdly still in the chair. Not fidgeting, or drumming his fingers, or anything really. None of the usual quirks humans would do in a situation where they're about to reveal something important or were nervous. He intertwined his fingers and folded his palms on the surface of the desk. Controlled and measured movements.
He looked her in the eyes, unblinking and so, so inhuman.
"Twenty years, four months, three days and fifteen hours ago, another player brought a group of self aware NPCs with them to the Circus."
Pomni's breath hitched. A group of NPCs? And so long ago? All her attention was focused on Caine and his hollow, robotic voice.
"I allowed them to stay. The player was happy, and therefore, my function was fulfilled."
Caine got quiet, as he lowered his eyes towards his hands. Contemplating, the same thoughtfulness enveloped his face(teeth?).
Pomni decided to be the one to shatter the silence this time. "So... It all went well?"
Caine refocused his attention on her. "For a period of time. At one point, the NPCs grew... Too self aware. They wanted my administrative rights."
Pomni blinked. "Administrative rights?" She repeated, quirking an eyebrow in confusion.
"Yes." Caine replied, not elaborating any further as he continued. "They took the player who brought them in hostage, and attempted to negotiate with me. Key word attempted. I deleted them before they could cause any substantial harm."
"Oh..."
Would Gummigoo do the same to her? If she managed to make him stay? Would he too, lose his mind eventually and try to hurt her? She shivered and shook her head to dismiss the thoughts before she goes down the rabbit hole.
She was still angry at Caine. Too raw from his actions. But she saw where he was coming from. Begrudgingly. It made sense. Logically.
Great, now she felt in the wrong for raising her voice at him before.
"But why you didn't tell me? Why did you just... Delete him?"
"Isn't it more efficient to prevent the same mistake from happening again?"
Oh. Fuck. She struggles to find a good counterargument against that. Still, she doesn't like his line of thinking, and now that he said it, a lot of his actions yesterday make sense.
"Maybe it is, but I doubt I would have yelled at you if you explained to me why before doing so." She replied, keeping annoyance out of her voice. Sheesh, now the insults she threw at him felt redundant to say the least.
"Why does it matter?" Caine asks in response.
"What?"
"Why does it matter if you yell at me or not?" Caine rephrases and she freezes on the sofa seat.
"I... Well, it's just." Pomni sighed. "I kind of feel bad now for blowing up at you. I thought... You were like. Petty when you deleted him, or something... I'm sorry."
"Why do you apologize?" He asked instead of accepting or rejecting her apology. Caine's tone remained as impassive as ever.
She made a confused noise. "Because... I kind of hurt you? And assumed stuff about you?"
"You can't hurt me." He stated matter-of-factly. "I'm an AI. I don't have feelings to hurt."
Ouch. She winces and doesn't hide it. That just made her feel even worse for yelling at him before.
Caine carried on, changing the topic. He raised his hand, preparing to snap his fingers. "Since we're done here, I think it's time to go back to-"
"Wait."
Caine halted his movements and focused his attention on her again.
"You know that Gummigoo became sentient because we clipped under the map, right?"
"No. I didn't." Caine lowered his arm, now listening attentively to what she'll say next.
She huffs and rolls her eyes. Of course he didn't. "Then maybe you should monitor the next adventure so it won't happen again. I'm willing to forgive you for what happened to Gummigoo if you do so."
He'll say no, won't he-
"Alright."
You have got to be kidding.
Pomni narrows her eyes at him, but he just kept staring back at her with that blank expression of his. He's an AI, she reminds herself, he won't behave as a human would. She really needs to stop expecting him to do so. It was hard to remember this, seeing how energetic and emotional he could get.
Realization dawns on her.
"You don't supervise the adventures?!" Pomni shrieks before she could stop herself. No fucking wonder her first day here went to shit! No wonder he didn't know she bugged out of the adventure today!
"I don't." Caine replied, robotic.
This annoying son of a-
Breathe. Just. Breathe. You're an adult. Act like one.
"Okay. Okay, fine. But you will supervise it tomorrow?" She asks again, just to make sure.
"Yes, I will." He says and laps into the silence.
Caine doesn't move at all, patiently waiting for her response.
Guess that's it then.
"Cool, uh... You should... Send me back, I guess?"
The switch was startling, making her jump.
"Sure, my beautiful bumblebee!" Caine said, infectious energy returning to his voice as he snapped his fingers.
Pomni yelped, feeling herself going through the same abrupt sensation of being squeezed and suddenly released. She got dropped in her room. Dizzy, disoriented and nauseous.
Shit.
As soon as her knees hit the ground, she hurled over.
So much for not throwing up.
Knock knock knock.
"Pomni? A-are you there? I just haven't seen you since the adventure ended and... I was a little worried."
Pomni, who was cleaning up the puddle in the middle of her room, cringed. Right, she blew up on Caine right after they exited the adventure after Gumigoo...
Explosion. Confetti.
She shook her head. Don't think about it.
...and then Ragatha became too occupied arguing with Jax over his treatment of Gangle. Kinger went to his pillow fort and Zooble left to their room. Guess no one noticed her being teleported with Caine.
Relief floods her.
She gets up from where she was, leaving the colorful rag she was using to cover the leftovers of the black goo.
"I-If you're tired that's fine too! I'll come back tomorrow-"
Pomni doesn't let her finish and opens her door just enough to slip out and slam it behind her. She would rather die than let Ragatha see the vomit.
Ragdoll startles, raising her arms in alarm, but relaxes once she sees Pomni standing there.
"Pomni! There you are!" Ragatha beamed with a smile, and it stirred Pomni's insides with guilt. She still didn't apologize to Ragatha for leaving her behind.
Now could be a perfect time.
"U-uh... Yeah. I was just... Kinda tired so..." The excuse was lame.
She is a coward.
Ragatha didn't push it though. "Oh! That's totally okay! Although... I don't see your friend anywhere? I thought I'd give him a tour around the place."
"It, uh, didn't work out. Caine had to send him back." Pomni's shoulders dropped and she looked away. It shouldn't sting this bad. She didn't know Gummigoo for long, but it still felt like it was her fault.
Ragatha covered her mouth with a hand. "I'm so sorry Pomni! M-maybe you'll see him on the next adventures! Caine sometimes reuses NPCs so, it's a high chance! Granted, your friend probably won't be the same, but... A-anyway, if there's anything I can help you with, you can always tell me!"
"Reuses... NPCs?..." Pomni mumbled, dazed, her mind already imagining bumping into Gummigo on some other terrible adventure. How is she supposed to face him after he got deleted right in front of her? After she gave him hope, only got it to be immediately crushed?
"Oh my god, I probably shouldn't have- U-uh- W-well, I promised Kinger I'll stop by at his pillow fort so, see you later Pomni!" After giving her quick thumbs up, Ragatha hurried away.
Pomni was left standing there alone.
She sighed and took a step back, sliding down the door until she was on the ground. Hugging her knees, she bitterly thought, this is my life now. Sentient AIs and a group of strangers trapped here with her.
How fun.
Caine's unblinking stare came to forefront of her mind and she shivered. How can one achieve being so creepy by being calm and still is beyond her. At least tomorrow's adventure will go better, since Caine will be supervising it.
Right?
The corridor didn't answer, its bright colors piercing her eyes.