Chapter Text
Well that had been quite the strange adventure.
Despite being rooted in possibly the most normal thing Pomni had seen since coming to the circus, she had mixed feelings about spending the day working at Spudsy’s. For one thing, she’d just seen Gummigoo again and he hadn’t recognized her. For another, Ragatha was still high off of the stupid sauce, laying upside down on the couch next to Kinger (who seemed quite content after whatever adventure he’d had while the rest of them were working). But it had given her a sense of normalcy the circus just couldn’t seem to provide.
They’d all returned to the circus at different intervals depending on when their evaluations had taken place, eventually ending up on the couches together. Gangle was the last to appear, taking one look at everyone sitting down before walking off.
Pomni noticed her plastic mask was missing.
Zooble glanced at the others before walking off in the same direction.
She glanced over curiously as the two exchanged words. After a couple minutes they walked back over, Gangle clutching her sketchbook to her ribbon chest. Jax's eyes narrowed, mouth opening to say something before Zooble shot him a glare. He huffed before closing his eyes, hands behind his head.
"Woah."
Everyone startled, looking over as someone spoke from the stage.
"This is a weird VR game."
Someone Pomni had never seen before stood on stage, looking around in awe at her surroundings. She looked like the plastic dress-up dolls Pomni had played with when she was younger, complete with long purple pigtails, a pink plaid dress, cat-ear headphones, and a visor-screen displaying her eyes and eyebrows.
The newcomer took a step forward, only to immediately stumble. She waved her hands around frantically, trying to regain her balance.
"Woah- heels? What kind of avatar is this?" she complained after managing to not fall over.
"Yeah, it does look pretty stupid," Jax chuckled. Pomni elbowed him.
The doll startled, looking up and noticing everyone else. In the time it had taken her to stand up straight the others had walked over to the stage.
"Wow- I didn't realize there were more people here. And this place is huge… there's gotta be terabytes upon terabytes of information stored," she mused, spinning in a slow circle.
"What's with your face, new thing?" Jax taunted. "It looks stupid."
"Says the purple rabbit who talks with his mouth closed," she shot back. "How do you access the menu? I wanna see if I can change up my avatar," she frowned, shaking her head to move her pigtails back and forth.
"Well actually-"
Before Jax could respond, Caine popped out of nowhere, overly excited as usual.
"Welcome to the Amazing Digital Circus, new human!" he cried, spinning around. "You've found yourself a wonderful new home filled to the brim with fun! Now," He continued, posing as if he was leaning on his cane even though he was floating in midair, "What would you like your name to be?"
"My name? It's… Well…" She paused, frowning. "Wait. No. Why can't I…"
Her shoulders tensed as she pressed her hands against her forehead. "it's right on the tip of my tongue, I should- wait, why can't I feel the headset?"
She patted her eye-screen, frown growing deeper. "My face feels weird though… okay… maybe it's a full dive system." She swiped a hand through the air a few times, then the other, her hands growing shaky. Pomni noticed Gangle perking up, though she wasn't sure why.
"Do you need some help choosing a name?" Caine asked, snapping his fingers to summon the random name generator. Pomni winced.
"Why don't we just call you Terabyte?" Jax suggested. "A nerdy name for a nerdy doll."
"Jax-!" Zooble began, but the newcomer cut her off.
"Terabyte's fine for now, I guess. How do we log out of this game?"
The room fell silent, even Caine looking slightly uncomfortable. Terabyte looked around, her digital eyes widening when no one would meet her gaze except Jax, who looked like he was about to laugh.
"Is… Ah dammit, is this like SAO?" Terabyte groaned, burying her face in her hands. "That's annoying…"
Pomni glanced at the others, wondering if any of them knew what Terabyte was referencing. To her surprise Gangle was the only one that seemed to understand, a small smile playing on her mask as she tapped her ribbon hands together nervously.
"Well then Terabyte," Caine began, as if nothing had just happened. "How about a tour of the grounds?"
Without waiting for an answer the ringmaster hooked his arm through hers, and the two disappeared.
"You think she's gonna throw up like you did, Pom-pom?" Jax asked, leaning on her hat.
"Can you stop calling me that?" she complained, brushing him off as the group headed back to the couches to wait. "I'm sure she's fine, I just get really motion sick sometimes."
Jax was proven right as the pair reappeared in the middle of the couches, Terabyte instantly falling to her knees with a hand pressed over her mouth.
"Oh [BOINK] my stomach does not-"
She paused, quite literally blue screening as her visor flashed cerulean. After a few minutes her eyes returned, blinking a few times as she caught her bearings.
"I'm sorry- what was that?" she asked, still on her knees but nausea seeming momentarily forgotten.
"The Circus is family-friendly and meant for all ages!" Caine explained with unecessary gusto. "And that means no swearing!"
A censor bar complete with various sound effects flashed in front of Terabyte's mouth as she went down what Pomni assumed to be an extensive list of swear words.
"Not even in other languages?" She groaned after a few minutes.
"Y'know, I'm starting to get déjà vu," Jax commented, nudging Pomni with his elbow. "But I think she swore more than you did on your first day."
"And now, since you've just arrived," Caine started, looking a little too eager, "I say we start a brand new adv-"
"No!"
Everyone looked in surprise towards Gangle, who was covering her mouth in embarrassment.
"I-I mean… we just did a really l-long adventure and everyone's probably… probably pretty tired," she stammered. "What if I show Terabyte around the tent while the others get some rest?"
"Well, I guess I don't see why not," Caine shrugged, looking a bit disappointed. Pomni noticed as Terabyte's gaze flicked between Caine and Gangle, her lips tight. "Just don't take too long, alright? I've got plenty of fantastic ideas cooking up!" He added before teleporting away with a pop.
Terabyte stood up, still shaky from her trip around the circus grounds. "What do you mean by adventures? Like… like minigames? Or levels?"
"Something like that, yeah," Gangle agreed, taking a few steps over. "I'm Gangle."
Terabyte examined the ribbon Gangle offered her for a moment before tentatively shaking it with her plastic hand. "Terabyte… I guess." She frowned. "That's kind of a mouthful. Just call me Tera."
Tera glanced up at the others as her and Gangle released hands. "And you all are…?"
Zooble was the first to speak up, introducing themselves and following Gangle's example by offering a handshake.
"Jax, at your service," the rabbit answered next, sweeping in a low bow with a sarcastic grin.
"That's Ragatha," Pomni began, pointing at the still-high-from-stupid-sauce doll draped over a couch. "That's Kinger," she added, pointing at the chess piece.
"And I'm Pomni," she finished, giving Tera a small wave.
"Nice to meet you all… I think," Tera answered, frowning at Jax. He grinned and she rolled her eyes.
"So… where are we gonna start?" Tera asked Gangle. Their height difference was almost funny- Tera seemed a few inches taller than Jax (not including his ears), and Gangle's hunched over position made her look smaller than she actually was.
"How about I show you our rooms and you tell me what other anime's you've watched besides SAO?" Gangle suggested.
Tera's expression brightened as the two walked off, immediately starting up a conversation full of show names that Pomni didn't recognize. Zooble seemed to relax as the two hit it off, lagging behind and letting them have their moment.
"Oh wow, we've got two anime nerds now?" Jax scoffed.
"Leave them alone Jax," Zooble argued, beginning to follow the pair.
Pomni watched as the others walked off. Unlike herself, Tera seemed to be getting used to the idea of being trapped pretty quickly. That, or she was still in shock.
Either way, it was nice seeing Gangle make a new friend.