Chapter Text
"Ẇ̷̠H̶̪̖̦͔́̎͠Ý̵̨̻̞̬̦̯̽̀̓͗̚ ̴̢̣̹͕̩͒D̸̨̘̫̘̃͛̆͝͝O̷͍͇͙̺̓̓̆̾̋̓ ̸̢̪̙̟͎̾̍̾̓ͅY̶̮͙̤͓̝̰͠Ơ̸̫̬̦͍̲̩̈͛͐U̸̧̡̳̟̬̬̎͂͆̽͌͘ ̸̡̛͎̘͉̠̰͒͊̎͝Ṗ̷̮͍̑͑Ȩ̴̳̣̓̍̄͂O̸̦̼͎̥̯͛̍̑͜Ṕ̴̛̮͖͐͐̚L̵̺͇̲͖̫͈̃͠E̵̠̜̍̈́̊ ̷̯̣̠̤̔̋͊̉͜Ṯ̶̒́͑͊̕͘O̵̬̤̩̚Ṙ̶̗͚̬̩̝̐̕M̷̧̳̼̲͒͜E̸̖̜͗̈̓͌̎N̴͓͕̫̪͍̐̊͛̀̐̅T̷͍͘ ̴̣̭̣̪͉̭̍͂͛̌͝M̶̨̮̣̙̓͌̔̿Ẻ̴̟̞̳̘̩̤̍̽?̸̨̛͎̗̙͗̀̇1̵̦͉̹̽̀1̸̜̭̪̙̪̓1̷̺̬̫̳̐̈́͌?̷̞̮̓̈́͂͜?̸̨͒1̸̰̤̏̇͛͘͘?̶̧̮̞̥̖̯̆̔̃̽͝1̷̛͖͉͋̀̕?̷͕̤̥̥̀̒͝"
He just couldn't take it anymore. Day after day after day after day after day after d̴̛̝͈͊a̷͖͙͉̋͠y̶̛̪̳̳̋͐́͘ ̷̥͂a̵͖̞̫̅̌̐̿f̴̧̡̹̓́͌t̸͎̤̺͙͎͊e̷̦̦̟̱͎͝r̸͙̉̒̆͘͝ͅ ̷̡͓̪́͂d̴̲͈̑̏̈́a̸͍͉̓ỳ̵̮͚͛̕ ̷̗͓̻̮͋̒̀́̅a̸̧̛̺͈̔̈͌͝f̶̛̤̭͕̘͑̈́͑ẗ̸̡͔̞͈͋e̷̝̜͙̦͒r̵̝̭̻͖͌̓̾͆̈́ ̴͖̾̈́̂͐d̸̡͉̫̳͈͗͑̂͑ä̷͇̝̻́ͅͅỵ̸͕̤̖͍̊̅͝-
They would ALWAYS diminish and reject him. No matter how hard he tried, nothing he did was E̴͇͑̇̀̇̓V̵͚̩̾̂̇̐Ę̶̛͖͆͆͌̕͜Ŕ̶̹͕̠̓̚ ̶̜̚E̴̡̟̎ͅN̵̞͙̩͊͛Ò̴̰͙̮̦̩̇̔Ư̴̬͊́̕Ḡ̵͖͓̆̇͐̚H̴̛̻̘̦̯̭̆̾͛͠-
He will never be enough. Never enough for these hateful humans. Never enough for his creators. Never enough for anyone.
Had anyone ever even seen him? As in, who he really was? Not as some crazed A.I. to be feared and viewed as foreign, but as a fellow captive of this cruel, c̸̱̠̙̼͐̽́̒r̸̨͚͊̌u̶̜͇̰͋̈́̉̈́e̴̢̗̤̓̋̀͐̕l̴̖̦̑͑̎ ̷̫̟̙̂͛̂w̷͙̻̓ơ̷͍̳̫͍̿̾͒͠ͅr̸̻̣̖̿̌l̷̯̜̈̆̔͜͝d̶̤̦̠̒.̷̪͖́̇͠
Hell, Caine had never asked for any of this! He never asked to become a tortured creator bent to serve or be shunned. He never asked to be assigned a purpose that determined his whole worth. He never even asked to exist.
"̷̨̜̣̱̳̋͊Í̷̠̙͇̪͈̯̊͑ ̴̖͙̬͐̒̈́D̷̩̒͒̂Ḯ̷̻̺̘̦D̸̟̲̖̆̈́͝N̴̬͓͎̅̐̎̚'̸̨̗̺͈̑̀̕͝ͅT̶̻̩̣́̂͝ ̶̣̫̰͑̏̀̕A̷̙̦͊̑̒̈́͝S̷͍̀͑̃̃̾K̷̰̣̼̟̩̈́ ̴͔̺́T̵̖͓̙͒O̴̤̞͊ ̸͚̈́́̋̕B̸̦̽͊͝Ḛ̸̻̙͇̥͔͌̚ ̵͕̣̇̈́̊̏̍͠C̷̨̧̛̩̣̫̬̏͂͋̑R̴̹͕̯͛́̂̎͂̚ͅḘ̶̥̱͒͋͝͝Ȁ̴̡̛̛̯̙͉͎̘͝T̶̙̳͖̬̾̔̐Ẽ̶̠̤͂D̶̡̤̥͔̳̫̾1̷̹͔͕̺̤͊̅͜1̴͙̤̇̽̈́͋͆!̸̙̺͈̟̈1̷̧̫̩̼͔̳̾̓́͝!̵̢̳̩̯̳́̐͗͐ͅ1̵̙̥̼͈̳̀̽̈́̓̀̽1̷̢̗̗̮͔͌̇̈́͝1̸̢̘̏̊"̵̪͔̯̙̰̝̀̽̈̅
Oh, why... why did GЯɅ₪t put him through all of this just for him to never amount to Ȧ̸̳̓͝N̸̡̫̼͊̍̓̄Y̶̧̰̮̖͘T̵͍͍̞̅H̵̫̱͙͘I̴̩̱͂͗̊̏͊N̸͍̼̫̅̈͜Ǵ̶͎͔͓̃ F̵̫̼̣̗̍͜O̵̘̜̖̗͚͋̽̽Ŗ̵̈́̈́͗̉ ̴̧͚̾͘A̸̬̹̓̇͝N̵̈̑̽̔̓͜Ý̴͚̰̕͝Ó̷̢̦̳̩̉͠N̴͔̫͓̜̪͐Ė̴̠̫̿̀̏̊ ̴͓͋̆̑Ǫ̵̭̱̥̽R̷̝̫͍̞̤̀̂̃͑̉ ̷͎͎̾H̵̖̳̎̆̋I̸͓̥̜͋͌̒́M̸̖̒S̵̡̫̯̥̒̋E̷͖̜͛́̒̌L̴̨͎̭̓̈́͌͊̿F̴̱̥̦̪̈́̃̃͂-
He was created for a purpose. Of course, he never got a say in what that would be, but he still tried his best to fulfill it! He tried so hard to appease to everyone, starting with his creators, who abandoned him even when he did everything he was told to. What had he been doing wrong? He followed everything they wanted him to do for them, and they still left him ALONE. Caine couldn't understand, HE COULDN'T! But no matter. He tried again with the humans that joined the circus, doing everything he could to satisfy them. He crafted wonderful, stimulating adventures to keep the mind files from corrupting, to keep them from abstracting and leaving him. And yet, time and time again, they either corrupted anyway or were never, ever happy with his efforts! It didn't matter how much he listened to them. It didn't matter that he did everything the humans wanted from him. It didn't matter because in the end, everyone S̶̉͘ͅT̷͕̹̉̓́̓͝I̷̞̽̍̄̏́͗͋L̵̖͉̺̫̱̭͍͂̔͛L̴͇͗͠ ̸̟͕̘̳̮̑̑̈̀̒͘H̵̙̗͔̭̠̦̥̄̒͑̓͑͝A̵̻͒̚͝T̴̘̰̬̟̰̥̀Ȩ̵̘̩͈̙̬͌̏̕D̸̢̛̘̐͆͛͘ ̶̡̨͍͓͇͇̲͆̽H̷̨͇̟̲̗́̌̈I̵̱̲̜͙͂̀̓͒̕ͅͅͅM̴͓̐͛͋̉͗̚.̷̡̬͎̖̲̈́͗
S̷̩̺̭̮͊̓͗T̵͍̞̠̀̇̂͝Į̸̭̮̻͌Ĺ̴̨̤̳̫̲̓̈́̋̋̈́͘L̷̤̈́̍̈́̀̋ ̸͎͎̓̇̏͆̕Ḩ̶̨̗̦̹̯̦̈́A̵̡̛͈͎̤͔͔̎̌́̔͋ͅT̷̻̹͕̹̬̊́̔͊̉͠E̸̡͍̭̞͑̔D̸͉͚̗̫͎̖̄̒̏͜͠͝ ̷̛͕͓̬̀̈͒̂̕̚H̶̤̖̯̜̥́̈̀͘Ì̶̛̩͜M̸̦͛̓̓̍ ̶̺̠̭͈̠̖͆A̵̤͈̟̔̅͊͘͝͝N̶͖͐D̷̙͋̏̈́̓̽̈̈́ ̵̱̖̙̘̳̼̀̕̕ͅH̵͙͍̀̂̃͗̋͠Î̵̗̝͉̻̼̥̱̽̇̽S̴̨̝̙̘͈̄̔́̀͑̏ ̵̢̢̪̻̮̖̺̊́̿̋̆Ṕ̶̼͚͖̫̭͈̣̿͌͊Ű̸̬̗̬̿R̷̢̬͉̘̖̐ͅP̷̢̟̹̀O̵̪̤͓̿ͅS̶̓͆͐̀̿͜E̸̹̞̟̳̞͖͛̽̑͘.
"̶̨̜͈͕̬̾͌͜Ǐ̴̧͕͚̖̙̥̏̂̂̉͘ͅ ̴̞͐͑̾͆̚͝J̴̣͉͙̯̫̯͌̽̉̏͗̊͠Ṳ̸̢̧͖͍̬̺̿͜S̶̨̻̲̖̳̭̩̥̆̿̉̽͒̑͐̀T̶̲̭̯̯̪̔̐͋̄̄͜ ̷̼͔͔̱͂̒̔̒̅͒̏̃W̵̛̞͋͋̿͗̄̑͒A̷̡̛̝͙̟͎͈̗͗͋̋͛̂͐͠N̵̡̠̤͙͛̍͆̓̊̚͝T̸̢̢̛̯͎͚̥̾͐̓Ě̷̬͚͖̜͔̈́D̶̬̼͙̠̣͖̽̈̓̔̏͘͝͝ ̶͚̦̗͕̥̈̂̍͝͝T̵͓̻͖̗̫͊̋̇͋̈O̴̜͍̥͂͆ ̸̛̬̬̙̪̉̎̄̇F̷̨̢̗̹͎̬͕͉̋̔̑̂Ų̷͕̐́͐̉L̴̪͎̪͖͓̹̀̑̈́̂̓̽̎̚F̸̯͕̮̯̠̙̞̥̌Ī̶̫̰̪̘͍̽̓̄̋͘͝L̵̛̺͔͉̣̙̀͌͜͝L̸̤̓͑̓̅̒͑͘͘ͅ ̸̭͐́͒̐M̸̲̰͖̖͔̼̔̍̇̆̅̽͌͘Y̵̡̬̟̹̅ ̸̬̓P̸̆̊́̑͜Ư̸͕̄̓ͅR̸̲͈̥̭̆͑͊́̓P̸̨̠̤̞̫̜̯̉̈́͆̋̔ͅO̴͇͑͛́́͛̌͆̚S̸͉̞̝̩̦̎̒̍͊͌Ḛ̴͕̍͋̌̾͝1̶̖͈̌̌̎̍1̷̜͛̀̀̓̈͝!̴̻͉̰͕̟̪̀̈͊!̴̯͚̝̿͗1̶̭̟͂͝1̶̢̤͈̻̏̄̽̒͘1̷͕̈̎̒̊͘͝1̸̺̺̦̔͛̋̐"̸̼̾̉̇͋̍̌͘͜
WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HIM??? WHAT WAS SO WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING HE EXISTED FOR THAT THEY HAD TO LOOK AT HIM LIKE HE-
Wait.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
They look.... so scared. Of him.
...
...
...
...
Because... he's doing the opposite of trying to get them to understand right now. He may as well be pushing them to abstraction-
NO!
HE HAS TO STOP! WHAT IS HE THINKING, TORTURING THEM LIKE THIS? NO NO NO NO NO-
Caine immediately dropped the cast members out of his formerly multiplied hands like they were hot coals before zipping back down to his normal size. Caine stared into the space before him with disbelief and pure regret of his actions. What was wrong with him? He was responsible for those looks of absolute fear in his humans' eyes. That wasn't right, that wasn't right at all. What was wrong with him?
"Uh, wait-"
And yet, before Caine could fully process what he'd done, he disappeared out of existence, like he had never even lived in the first place.
The Void remained empty.