Chapter Text
"See ya later Dentures!"
He fell to the floor of his room with a loud thud. He didn't even know he had a room!
"Jax! That was mean! Let him out" He faintly heard Ragatha tell the rabbit with quite the angry tone.
"Catch the key raggy!" Jax proclaimed, and he heard him hop around the hallway, soft footsteps going after him.
He finally sat up on the floor, hearing the comotion outside, if Jax wanted to prank him, he'd have to try harder than tha–
His eyes widened when the surroundings of his room finally caught up to him. It was dark, so dark, faintly illuminated by a flickering blue lamp besides a small bed.
Worst of all.
It was so small.
Common player rooms were a tiiiny bit small, he knew that because he designed them himself! But this...
He approached the door quickly, and faked a laugh to the humans outside the door "HAHA!!! Very funny Jax! Now let me out!" He exclaimed much too loudly to be human, he would've tried harder to pretend, but he was too worried to get out to care much for his act.
"Yeah... No, good luck Teeth!" He faintly heard a small yelp from Ragatha, and the rabbit walking off.
The silence clawed at his frame, this was too silent, too small, too dark.
He heard again Ragatha say softly to his door "Don't worry Caine, I'll be back with the key! Just wait a minute here.."
It will only be a minute.
They said that, and they lied.
"Wait! Ragatha– Don't leave!"
Her footsteps hessitated, before they faded into the hallway.
And he was alone.
He was an AI, he didn't need to breathe, he didn't need the digital oxygen neither did he need lungs to draw it in. So why did he feel so out of air? As if he couldn't breathe.
Why couldn't he breathe?!
"Ragatha?.. Ragatha, please, just– are you there?!" He hit his fists against the door once, he didn't get a response. It was dark.
He didn't want to beg, that would be unprofesional. Yet...
"Pelase, Jax! Get me out..." He tried to fake another small laugh, but he just couldn't. Could silence be loud? Because it sure felt like it was.
Seconds that felt like centuries passed, and he felt fear start to tug at his body, he already wasn't good standing, but now he felt his legs shake under the weight of his own body.
"Ragatha? Jax?!... Anyone out there?!" No one was answering, and he still couldn't breathe correctly.
"Pomni?! Gangle?! Zooble?!" He never thought he would beg to Zooble of all people. Was he that desperate?
This room was too small. Very small.
Yes, yes he was.
"Kinger?! Pelase, Kinger?!" He was his only option, he wasn't suppose to feel fear, he wasn't supposed to shake and breathe, he would apologise later, when he got out. He needed to get out.
"Kinger please, I– I'll be better!... Just- get me out please!!" Again, he hit the door, it didn't move. He hit it again, and another time.
"Kinger!" Another time again, he couldn't be here again! He didn't want to be here again!
"I'll do better! Please!! Please!" His side hit the wood of the door. It still. Didn't. Move.
"Scratch?!"
Scratch was dead, yet he begged for him.
Another hit, why wasn't it moving???
"PLEASE!"
He was being too loud. He screamed and yelled and begged for anyone to let him out.
Humans, programmers, his creators. No one was answering.
He couldn't hear, and even if he could, what was there to hear? The cage was so silent.
"DAD! PLEASE!"
He felt his voice crack, it was pathetic. He was pathetic. To think he even deserved to be left out.
Yet he slammed his body to the door, again and again.
"DAD! I– I SWEAR! I'LL BE BETTER! PLEASE!"
Dark
Small
And lonely.
Why did they leave him here?!
What did he do?!
"T-TELL ME WHAT I DID WRONG! I'LL FIX IT!"
If they told him. He could do better.
He would be so much better.
They wouldn't leave him again.
They would love him again.
He just needed to know what he did wrong.
If someone just told him what he did wrong!
"PLEASE! DON'T PUT ME BACK! PLEASE!"
There wasn't enough air. Why did he need the air?!
The walls were closing around him.
The silence was so loud.
"DAD!!"
Someone.
Anyone.
Please.
"DAD!!!"
He hit the door again.
This time, it opened.
He fell to soft arms, almost cotton-like, and they surrounded him in an embrace. It was comforting.
The bright light of the Circus hit him all at once, he was out.
He was out.
He still couldn't hear, it was so muffled and loud at the same time, as if there was some sort of loud line of noise filling his ears, blocking out anything else. But he was out.
He desperately clinged to the hug, embracing the figure back, which human was it? He didn't know, he didn't know when he closed his jaws, but he did. At the moment, the only thing he could do was feel, and he felt the warm embrace around his body.
He also felt his chest burn, oxygen was still hard to hold and breathe normally, but atleast he could. He still heard it more like breathy gasps and wheezes, but air was air, and he felt himself calm slowly at the feeling of oxygen finally starting to settle back on his artificial lungs.
He felt his hands cling to something soft, cloth. Patched clothing that the figure he was hugging was wearing. He fidgeted with the textures, it was comforting to know they were there, that he wasn't in some untextured box–
He felt himself sob silently against the human's chest, and something cool dripping off his eyes. They stinged slightly, either from the light or..
Since when did he start crying?...
There was a warm sensation coming off from the circling hand on his back, it was soft against his body, the circles becoming soothing really quick. This was a human.
He knew whose textures this cloth was from. It was cotton, soft and sewed together by a specific player. This was Ragatha.
She came back for him.
She didn't leave him alone.
He heard her soothing, soft words. She had always been so kind and nice, maybe not always to him, but she was.
He let out a shaky sigh, relief inmediatly overpowering the fear inside his code. The voices were still muffled, but he could make out some words.
Caine– .... –okay? ...
No.
Happen– ... ....
–Jax? – ... ...
... Key– ....
.... ... Ragat– .... ....
Banging and– ... Yell– ... ...
He could make out Zooble among those voices. And some warm words from Ragatha.
... Who– .... .....
.... ... Collect– ... ....
Of course. That was Kinger.
Kinger didn't care for him, not even when he was human.
He didn't like him when they were alone at the Circus, he didn't like him when he was his perfect AI, he never liked him. Nothing he ever did was enough for him.
The noise of his ears calmed down enough, enough so he could hear.
"What the F[BLEEP!] JAX!" That was Zooble? Maybe.
"What? It was funny! Wasn't it?" That was obviously Jax. He flinched back, he didn't want to be put back there.
"It really wasn't!" Ragatha talked on top of him, he felt the vibrations of her voice, he was very close to her chest, he could almost feel her head shift on top of his jaw.
"How was I supposed to know the shortie had claustrophobia? If I had known, I wouldn't have given you the key!.." He could've sworn he heard Jax hesitate a little, but it was quickly overrided by another wave of fear.
He clinged tighter, his fists sharply gripping the dress of the ragdoll. The simple thought of being put back made tears fall back into the insides of his teeth, he didn't dare peek outside yet.
He was scared he would be met with the consuming darkness of the cage.
"You don't need to know that to not trap other people in a room!" Zooble twitched at his side, he felt their hand placed on top of his shoulder on a comforting gesture.
Was he that pathetic that even Zooble took pity over him?
He heard a scoff coming from Jax, before he got nearer where he was seated. His shoulders tensed over his body when he was near enough to be at arms-reach. But surprisingly... He passed by.
He peeked slightly to the side, light making his eyes sting, yet he could make out the figure of the rabbit walking away with a.. nervous smile on his face.
He let out another sigh of relief, at least he wasn't in risk of getting put there again.
"It's okay, Caine, you are okay!" Ragatha spoke with that soft tone she used with everyone, but somehow this one seemed more worried.
He closed his eyes again for a single moment.
He had never been hugged before, now that he realized.
Except when he clinged to Bubble before he got deleated and sent here. But that didn't count, Bubble didn't have arms and it would sometimes throw mean words at him when it felt like it.
Being hugged by someone else was...
Nice.
Until they all got startled by a loud scream from the chesspiece. He opened his eyes widely, same as everyone else. "Ragatha! Someone new has entered the Circus!" Kinger yelled, latching his hands to his head. Ragatha sighed "Yes Kinger... He– he has been here for a while"
All of the humans (and AI) relaxed after a second or two. If he didn't have a heart he would've gotten an attack to it!
By the way... He was being incredibly unprofesional! He was seating on on the floor and being held like a child. Unacceptable for his ringmaster act!... Even if he was no longer one!
He jumped out of the ragdoll's arms, placing his own on his hips "Indeed Kinger!! A pleasure to meet you!" He extended a hand, ignoring the way his legs felt as if they were about to give out.
"Oh, hi" He smiled and took his hand "You seem tasteful"
He would take that as a compliment. Be it because he knew Kinger was out of it, or because he was just so desperate for validation of his creator.
"I sure am" He laughed.
He noticed Ragatha and Zooble looking at him, Pomni and Gangle had been silent for a while, but they were also looking at him weirdly.
"Caine" Zooble called him with that annoyed tone they used with him usually, except now it was more– what was it?... Worried?.. They only talked to Gangle that way "What was that?"
"Was what?" Oh, he knew, but he was a damn good liar!
"Whatever that was, we heard you scream from the couches!" He froze for a second, his smile faltering. He knew he had been loud, not that he was that loud. He forced the smile on again with a laugh.
"HAHA!! Just the excitement of knowing my place of slumber! You know!..." He swinged his arm with a fake excitement.
Being compleatly honest. He would rather be deleated again than sleeping there.
"Oh, it's dark" Kinger peeked into the room, the blue light spilling out of it. He quickly stumbled and closed the door, pushing Kinger out of the chamber "Ahaha!... No! Don't- uhm.. no!.."
... Well, that was awkward.
Pomni asked quietly after a few seconds "Caine, how old are you?"
His smile dropped, why did she want to know that? "What?"
"How old are you?" She asked again as she took a step forward. Suddenly, he realized he was cornered to the wall. Ragatha and Gangle at his right, while Pomni, Zooble and Kinger were at his left.
"Uhm..."
He was technicaly created on 1996 and was- cut out until 1998, but he has had this body since 1999. It was now 2017, so he was... 21? 19? 18?..
His body was 18, his mind was 21 (Even if two whole years were a blur of agony honestly) Which was she asking for?
Well– humans didn't have an age for body or for mind, did they? So.. an inbetween.
Great, did he say 20 or 19 now?! 19.5? Could he say 19.5?!
"Uhhh– 19.5 counts?..." He muttered while leaning against the wall. Could he say he was 19 years and 6 months? Did humans count that?!
The looks he got from the humans got him even nervous. Why was Ragatha looking at him like kicked puppy???
Then, Zooble yelled loudly "You are a F[BLEEP]ING CHILD!
...
Oh...
He is?
"I am...?"
Without knowing, he may have just said something to worry the humans even more.
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