Chapter Text
The sun was setting in the orange sky with big, pink clouds surrounding the horizon; perfect for a picture. Your feet kick away pebbles at each step against the pavement. Earphones plugged into your ears blasting your favorite playlist.
You were on your way home from work.
On your usual route home, you always walk by an abandoned establishment guarded only by chainlink gates long ago cut open by trespassers. Its glass doors and windows are either covered by planks of wood, or remains of it being brittle shards on the floor. That being said, you've seen some curious people sneak into the building itself.
From what you've heard, it used to be a software and hardware development company's property, way back in the 1990's. Their stuff were pretty advanced for their time, now you wonder what could've made them shut down.
Your train of thought was interrupted as a cat approached you curiously. Fascinated, you carefully sank to your knees to not provoke the cat, and streched out a threatless hand. "Here, kitty kitty..." You murmur softly, urging the feline to step closer. It complies with your untold request, inching towards you cautiously with a string of meows. It's one chatty kitty.
Beep Beep!
An oncoming car's horn startles the feline, making it scamper off. "Fuck, man it was RIGHT there..." you grumbled to yourself disappointedly as you watch the cat slip under the chainlink fence. It's an adorable cat... damn it, you can't really help but follow. Nothing wrong with a quick side quest!
You pull the chain fence up and slide right under to follow the cat. It trotted into the building, and you still chased after it. Awfully dark inside, thanks to the bombarded windows. Creeped out, you grab your phone to illuminate your way. You caught a glimpse of the cat and came after it again. You were determined to get at least a nuzzle from the furry creature. After a quick chase and a flight of stairs, you find it rested atop of a classic, beige and bulky desktop. It's... turned on. In this abandoned property? And that thing's old as hell too!
What the hell is powering it up??
You walked towards it one you were sure it wasn't a creepy fucking trap set up by some maniacs trying to drug you. You scratch the kitty's ear, earning a long purr from it as you took a better look at the computer's screen. "The Amazing Digital Circus"? Ha, sounds like a kids' game. You looked around more.
"...Holy shit, VR Glasses?!" You exclaimed excitedly. This stuff's wayyy advanced for the 90's! No wonder some people say this company was ahead of it's time! Now you wonder even more why it really shut down...
You examine the VR box a bit... Definitely not safe to put on. You look at the cat as if to wait for its own opinion. Curiosity kills the cat, but hey! This one's still alive, so might as well take a risk! ...If that even makes sense.
You slip the box onto your head and let an animation play out. The camera shows the title. Its letters are colorful and playful like a clown's as it hovers over green hills, and a circus tent could be seen from the distance. It stays like that for a bit as the intro to a theme song loads, before flying past the floating letters to zoom right into the tent.
...
...
...The display is black, with a white throbber rotating in your view. Nothing else. Of course... this thing's gotta load up the experience; and knowing that it's pretty damn old, it's gonna take a while.
...
...
..ZAP!
"OW, FUCK!" You exclaim as the gadget sends a zap right through your brain, making you toss the VR box away from your face. What the hell was that about? Well... again the thing's definitely old as hell, it's got its aged flaws, but that safety hazard you just experienced made you conjure up the reason why this project may have been abandoned.
Well now you have an irritating migrane. You look at the kitty and shrugged, before grabbing it to take back with you at home. That was a shitty adventure experience, but at least you have a new friend!
You walk away from the computer set up, making your way back home. Another day finished.