Chapter Text
The first thing I became aware of was the lack of noise, save for a single cartoonish pop.
Last I remembered, all I did was put on a headset, only for it to buffer heavily. I would never usually have the patience to sit that one out, but somehow I saw through it to the end. Next thing I knew, I was inside a game that looked far too advanced for its time, standing upon a stage where I was still looking up, but now standing instead of sitting at a desk. There were also golden ropes and red curtains held apart for the stage to be set. The illumination was ambient, realistic, both a wave and a cone. I tilted my head downwards to take in more of the scenery. Lightbulbs all around, simple 3D shapes, a vast environment with depth! I barely paid attention to the characters around me, yet I did not hesitate to make my awe known,
“Woah, how did they put this level of graphics on a 90s computer!? Jesus Christ, the realism of this game! I don't see that many pixels or polygons, this frame rate is insane, and how is there haptics on here? I was expecting this place to look more like the original Trainz, not some Unreal 5 simulation! It's like I'm actually in another world…” I said, looking down to see the reactions of those around me, nearly all of them held confused expressions.
In the center was one looking more concerned than confused, a ragdoll with red yarn hair, a blue patchwork dress and bowtie, and most notably, a button in place of her right eye. I looked to the left, seeing a confused and slightly disgusted expression on a figure resembling a rabbit. It had rubbery purple skin, pitch black square eyes, yellow teeth and sclera, a very slender build, and cartoonish yellow gloves. Before I could even get a look at the rest, the rabbit spoke up,
“What the hell are you talking about?” He said, I never expected such a realistic sardonic drawl from someone like that. Before I could respond, he turned around to face someone else, “Is this another NPC Caine made? Or a new guy?”.
“Never seen an NPC reference Jesus, or any of that other computer tech-y stuff…” A voice responded from my right. It's hard to describe their appearance, but a pink triangle for a head, floating eyes, and a polka dot torso stuck out the most. My attention was pulled back to the ragdoll as she walked closer,
“Don’t mind them, it was hard for all of us when we first arrived…” She reassured,
“All of you… arrived? Either this game is really meta or I am really out of the loop…” I said, now way more confused myself,
A cacophony of voices came next, mostly groans and hesitation,
“You have no idea…”
“Definitely a new guy”
“Oh boy…”
This broke the suspension of disbelief I held since I put the headset on. I began to become more aware of myself rather than just my surroundings. I didn't feel the weight of the headset on my head, all the sound I heard came from sources, not directly into my ears. I didn't feel as weighty, looking down at my hands to see threads just like the ragdoll. I touched my head, a head of yarn pretending to be hair, though much shorter than the ragdoll in front of me. I felt my face, also threaded like a ragdoll. I touched my eye and it stung! There was no headset, at all. Not only did I not have a clear way to exit this place, but it somehow changed me into something less than reality. More of a toy than a living being, I looked like everyone else in the room. Practically a sibling to the ragdoll. I didn’t know how to respond at first, but I noticed my panic drawing the gaze of everyone in this game. I tried to calm myself down, and thought of how this situation was similar to others. A Minecraft Movie just came out, that was also about being trapped in a video game. But who would know about that? Then I remembered a cultural phenomenon that I didn't even need to have watched to know the exact premise of, and it’s what i made vocal,
“This is a matrix type situation, huh? And y’all are humans trapped here too?”
“That's… a weird way to describe it. But yes, we’re all trapped here too…” The ragdoll said,
“This guy really is a nerd, a Matrix reference, really?” the rabbit commented. I heard another voice pop out from a small pillow fort, even more floating eyes, misaligned and on a much narrower frame, a chess piece with a royal robe,
“Did someone mention magic tricks!? Can I see?” he asked. Before anyone could answer, someone else seemed to just pop into existence. It was floating in the air and drew the attention of everyone in this digital realm, dentures with floating eyes inside, a body, and a cane that pointed me towards the name. This was the first of many times i was quick enough to initiate the conversation with this being,
“You’re Caine, right?” I asked,
“That’s RIGHT! I'm your ringmaster, Caine. Welcome, new human, to The Amazing Digital Circus! Sorry for my late arrival, I didn't expect you to load in at all!” the dentures said bombastically,
“Don’t tell me we have to redo the theme song…” a voice then groaned, coming from the amalgamation I still fail to describe,
“Well im here now, doesn't look like there’s an obvious way out…” I said, trying to parse my understanding, “So as far as I'm getting, we’re humans trapped in this weird 90s VR program called The Amazing Digital Circus…”
“That… was remarkably quick…” the ragdoll commented,
“And then our god… I guess… Well, his name is Caine. And mine is… uh… F%&k, thats a stupid thing to forget” i continued, falling into muttering as the gap in my memory revealed itself to be more of a chasm, I then noticed the cartoonish sound that came when I swore. Caine flew down and responded to it,
“Up-up-up. We can't have foul language in this show! The Amazing Digital Circus is meant to be enjoyed by ALL audiences!” I mused that If it was a program, surely the censoring system had major flaws, I was just hesitant to test it out in case I said something uncensored that I would regret. I then moved back quickly to naming conventions,
“Ok… good to know. Can I at least get all of your names? Surely I'm not the only one to forget…” I mused,
“Oh, of course, sorry about that! I’m Ragatha, nice to meet you”
“Well met… Ragatha… So is everyone’s name here a pun on something? Caine carries a cane and yours is a portmanteau with ragdoll…”
“You’re just gonna let him pick apart our names as soon as he hears a few?” Jax sneered
“that one over there is Jax…” She pointed backwards to the rabbit, a more annoyed expression than when she introduced herself.
“What about the one with the triangle head?” I asked, prompting continuation,
“Are you talking about Zooble?” Ragatha asked,
“Sounds about right. What about the chess piece?”
“Oh, that's Kinger, he’s supposedly been here the longest and it drove him insane” Jax interrupted. "You know, nonsense is his only language, but it seems you speak it too. Maybe you'll be a good translator” he then sneered,
“Jax! Come on!” Ragatha protested in a strained whisper,
“What? He’s just some nerd who thinks he’s special” He complained, feigning innocence, “You can't coddle your baby brother forever, ragdollface” Jax sneered. I thought of something as Ragatha and Jax glared at one another, I wasn't about to let them bicker about me without me being involved.
“Lemme guess, Jax is short for jacka&$. Explains why you act like one” i didnt even mind the cartoonish bonk or censor bar, What i did notice was the giggles from a few in the circus, and would quickly realize my folly in poking the rabbit. Initially I saw a flash of rage upon Jax’s face, quickly fading into an extremely wide smile as his black pupils dilated to an uncanny degree. He slowly walked towards me, leaning down to my eye level in a clear attempt to intimidate. I never particularly enjoyed eye contact, this situation did not make the experience any less uncomfortable.
“Oh, this guy’s funny. Good job, new stuff, you're the resident comedian now. Real original joke there, comedian” he sneered. In hindsight there were a billion responses I could have come up with, but most if not all took significant thought and time I could not afford,
“Was it not… original?” I tried to stammer out with nervous laughter, my bravado dying as soon as it was propped up. My brain was not working as fast as it should have, it never did. It brought up memories of similar people in my school, I knew it was a lose-lose. Even if I did have a good comeback, it would be turned on me. And what social capital did I have here?
Jax took my panic as an opportunity, “Now you can't even look at me? This just keeps getting better!” he chuckled. I still refused to look him in the eye even as he got up in my face. “Come on, tell another joke, you’re the comedian, remember?” he continued in an attempt to provoke me. I looked over to anyone else in the room, and that allowed me to notice Ragatha jump in quickly,
“Hold on now, let's not fight! I’m sure he was just trying to lighten the mood” she said, putting arms between me and Jax to diffuse the situation. I sighed with relief as Jax shrugged and walked away, not bothering to further the confrontation. I tried not to focus on the argument that just ended, and instead turned my attention to one of the strangest figures by far, a set of red ribbons in a somewhat humanoid form, all supporting a theatre mask with a cheerful expression.
“That was actually pretty funny, don't listen to him” she said, still seeming to giggle,
“Have we met? I don't think I got to you when asking for names”
“Oh, sorry, my name’s Gangle”
“Well it's nice to meet you, Gangle” I then looked at Jax as he walked further from my sight. “Is Jax always this much of a jerk?” I asked,
“I’m more surprised you tried to stand up to him, but yeah, he is…” There was a bit of awkward silence as I slowly understood what she meant, and didn't want to say it out loud. I instead said something that, in hindsight, was really bold,
“So… Do you have any ideas?”. I thought that maybe offering my trust would build her trust in me. It's how making friends worked before, at least school was like that for a while.
“Ideas for what?” she asked, i forgot to clarify what i was even offering her.
“Oh right, my name. You all have names and I don't exactly have the time to be left out…” I said, my nervousness growing even as I thought I hid it well, I looked down, once again fidgeting at my threads, each tug felt like I was pulling a hangnail. I wrapped the loose thread around the finger on my other hand, I needed to at least feel something. Gangle seemed shocked initially, before remembering something from her past. Then she began to ponder,
“Maybe… Randoll, like a male version of Ragatha?” She suggested, I didn’t have much time to consider it as Caine popped in once more.
“Excellent name, Randoll! I’ll make sure to put that RIGHT into the system. Now, Randoll, are you ready for the GRAND TOUR of THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS?”
“Not right now…” I muttered,
“Well too bad, you’re going anyway!” Caine said, suddenly I felt his arm across my shoulders and both of us flew off far and fast into the air. It was only then that I knew just how much I, Randoll, would be in for.