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In the days following Caine's... death, Zooble starts to wonder what they ever did to deserve... this. They're pretty sure they haven't done anything all that bad, in this world or the real one. Nothing to deserve being trapped in a fucking... circus or in a body literally made of random pieces, that's for sure—and like that wasn't bad enough, they aren't even "real" anymore. Just a copy of a human's mind, stuck on a computer in an abandoned building somewhere. They've lost...well, everything, and it—okay. It sucks. A lot.
But here they are.
They've got Gangle with them, right now. Once Pomni started taking... "conjuring lessons" with Kinger, the rest of their little group followed because, well, what else was there to do? Conjuring—God, that makes them sound like a cult—isn't the easiest thing to do, but they think they've gotten a good enough handle on it to start working without Kinger hovering over everything and, apparently, he agrees, because he left to go.... do something a while ago.
Turns out having a floor full of holes isn't the greatest thing, so they're... making giant black tiles to cover them up. It's kind of meditative, honestly.
"...do you... um, do you have any idea what we're gonna do... after this?" Zooble snaps out of their reverie, sparing a glance towards Gangle before refocusing on the floating tile that they're enlarging.
"What'd you mean?"
"Well, I mean... once we've finished fixing the floor... what's there to do? We can't just... sit around, can we?"
They hesitate, dropping the finished tile to the floor. Honestly, they've tried not to think too hard about the "what comes next" part. The circus is colorless, the floor is full of holes, and the only "entertainment" they'd ever had before was... well, drawing with Gangle and the... ugh, adventures. Maybe swapping out parts—though there's no way they're touching that for a while. They're still human, even if just a copy, and they know that it won't be long until boredom bleeds through the cracks. "I... guess I'm not sure. I mean, we can... 'conjure' now. That opens up a... lot of possibilities, right?"
They finally turn to look at Gangle, just in time to see her slump. "Yeah, I guess... I don't think I'm very good at that though..."
Well, that's... okay, it's kind of true. The stuff Gangle makes has been... shaky, at best, but they're pretty sure it's nerves. If they can get her to, well, believe in herself a little more... "Hey, don't say that. You're doing great. I mean, it's better than Jax's, that's for sure." The asshole hasn't even shown up. Zooble's not complaining about that, but it's still annoying as hell that he can't even be bothered to help.
Though they do find it kind of... strange, that he hasn't even tried to use the conjuring for some kind of prank. Knowing Jax, he'd normally be stockpiling explosives somewhere just to blow up the floor even more or... something. The fact that they haven't seen him at all is... kind of concerning.
But Jax is... well, he's an asshole. And he's a full-grown adult, even he doesn't fucking act like it. He's not Zooble's responsibility. He can go jump off a cliff for all they care. It doesn't matter right now.
---
Because of-fucking-course, it matters. It matters a whole lot, because now Jax has gone and gotten himself Abstracted, and he's on a rampage through the circus, tearing up all their hard work and generally being a... a nuisance, and—
Damn it.
Dammit, Jax.
Look, Zooble hates—shit— hated the guy's guts. No doubt about that. He... he was the worst, eclipsed maybe by Caine. But that doesn't mean they wanted him gone. Not like this. There's no—there's no build up, no satisfaction, they're not—they're not holding open a door and kicking his ass out on the lawn and telling him to fuck off. He's just gone and...
Godammit. He really does have to have the last laugh, doesn't he?
And Gangle—it's messing with Gangle, too. She feels... guilty, they're pretty sure, though they can't be certain what it is she's feeling guilty about, but she also isn't all that sad, and, hell, they can't blame her, Jax made her life a living hell for—well, probably since she got here.
But then there's Ragatha, who's looking kind of like she wants to simultaneously throw herself in Jax's path but also give everyone a hug or... or something, and Pomni who's... going after him, for some goddamn reason, and it's—it's all a mess.
And it doesn't stop being a mess, either, because even after they all finally get Jax under control, Pomni's glitching like hell and the circus is still falling apart, and so Kinger—Kinger suggests bringing. Caine. Back.
It's not even a debate, for Zooble. "Uh, no??"
"Just—hang on, okay? Let me finish," Kinger says, hands in the air placatingly. He's got a new computer sitting next to him on the couch and that random bucket still perched on his head.
They grumble and sit back. "Fine. Finish."
He gives them a Look. It's still weird seeing Kinger be... what, sassy? They're so used to him just... spewing nonsense everywhere. "Uh-huh. Like I was saying. It doesn't have to be...well, here here. I just mean to reconnect him to the circus. That way, everything will stabilize, and we can... well, actually get stuff done. I can whip up a room somewhere out of bounds and leave him there until we're, y'know, ready to... bring him back for good."
"Uh, again, no?" Zooble snaps. They, fine, they get why reconnecting him or whatever is a good idea, but actually bringing him back at all? Hard pass. They're still having nightmares of drowning in their parts for fuck's sake. "I don't want to see that guy, ever."
Kinger's eyes narrow. "Zooble, I..." he sighs. "Look, I understand that what Caine did was—inexcusable. But that doesn't change the fact that without him, we're not going to get anywhere. And if he's reconnected, we really can't just... leave him there."
"Why not?"
"Why—it, because—"
"It wouldn't be fair." Ragatha's quiet voice joins what's rapidly becoming an argument. Zooble glances over at her and sees that she's still holding Pomni's hand. "I mean—this is his home too, right? I don't—I don't think we should just... throw him away like that. Whatever he did... r-recently, he's..." She hesitates. Zooble narrows their eyes. If she's about to say what they think... "He's taken care of us for a long time, hasn't he? Shouldn't we, I don't know, give him a chance?"
That's it. "Are you serious? After what he did? I don't give a fuck if he "took care of us" before—" which he really, really didn't— "—he tortured us. Have you seriously just... forgotten that?"
Gangle's holding their hand. Sometime in their yelling, they'd gotten halfway off the couch. Ragatha flinches, and they feel kind of bad, but seriously, she can't possibly be actually considering this bullshit. "I—of course I haven't forgotten! I just—"
"G-gµys." Ragatha falls silent as Pomni speaks up, turning her head to look each of them in the eyes. "We—we αreπ't going to g-get anywhere like—like this.”
For a moment, no one says anything. Then Gangle pipes up. "She's right. Kinger do you, um, could you maybe lay out the—the pros and cons? Or, w-walk us through what you're suggesting?"
Kinger perks up and Zooble forces themselves to sit down again. Fine. Fine, they'll listen. "Oh! Sure, thank you, Gangle." He clears his throat. "Right, so. Basically the issue is that without Caine, the circus can't be stabilized. It's like—like he's a part of it, in a way. From what I understand, with his... deletion, part of the circus are also getting deleted along with him, just... slower. Maybe because of the size of the circus, I—I don't know. It doesn't matter. What's important is that if Caine isn't brought back and connected, somehow, to the circus, we're—well, we'd be working on borrowed time."
That, that sucks. Really, really sucks. Even from beyond the grave Caine still can't stop screwing them over, huh? “And there’s no other way to fix that?”
On the other side of the area, Pomni's nodding slowly. "Y-yeah, I don't—Kinger, if ther€’s another way—”
"There isn't. Or, at least, not one I can see right now, and, again, we're working on borrowed time. I don't think any of us want to risk falling into the void because we spent too long trying to find an alternative."
"So the question isn't—isn't whether we should bring him back. It's... how we do it?"
"Yes, exactly, Gangle." Kinger spreads his hands. "So. I can reinstall his file from the, well, the trash bin, and I can put him somewhere that none of you will have to deal with him, at least until you're ready. But... well, you already know that I'm not going to leave him there indefinitely—"
"And, again, literally why not? He'd get a life sentence if this were the real world anyways! " Zooble just... does not understand. Is this because Kinger wasn't tortured like the rest of them that he still wants to help Caine? Ragatha... makes sense, in a... annoying, twisted kind of way, but Kinger...
"Zooble, I killed him." Zooble groans, a defense on their non-existent lips, because seriously Kinger, just because you feel guilty doesn't mean the rest of us have to deal with it—but they hesitate once he finishes. "If you're trying to use "real world" laws for this, I'd probably go to jail too."
"That—it was self-defense—"
Kinger isn't deterred. "And he'd at least get a trial. Unless you're willing to... mock up a courthouse and find a panel of unbiased judges, we can't just do that."
"And besides," Ragatha adds, looking relieved for some reason, "It would be really cruel to just leave him to, y'know... rot? I mean, being left alone for too long can..." She hesitates, glancing at Kinger. "It can be... bad." She finishes, looking down at her lap.
"Well, that shouldn't be too much of an issue," Kinger admits. "If I did bring him back, he'd be left in sleep mode. It's a typical procedure for AIs like him—or, I'm pretty sure, anyways. I mean, if he didn't go into sleep mode, that'd mean he's awake right now, and he's dead, so that... isn't really possible. It would be like... being in a medically induced coma."
"Yeah, okay, great. So just leave him in it then." Why is this so hard to understand.
"Zooble, that would be like hooking up an unconscious person and using them as a battery. I'm not going to do that."
Oh for the love of— Zooble throws their hands in the air. "Caine isn't human, and if he's asleep he's not going to feel anything, if he even can. And how is any of that worse than what he did to us?"
"We're—b-better thαn him, thoµgh. We aren’t going to—stoop to his l€vel.” Pomni’s eyes are narrowed. Zooble knows that voice. That’s her “determined” voice, the one that says, “this is what we’re doing, whether you all like it or not.” Zooble isn’t really sure what to think about that voice. They aren’t really sure what to think about Pomni, period. On the one hand, it was nice that there was another person who disliked Caine as much as they did, but... honestly, she gave Jax way too much slack. She gave everyone too much slack, it’s... kind of annoying. “If—if w€ do this, we’re goiπg to do it r-right.”
"Look, why don't we—let's just put this to a vote, how's that sound?" Zooble snaps their head around to Kinger. He—seriously? He already knows he's going to win the vote—Ragatha doesn't want to leave Caine and apparently neither does Pomni, that's—that's seriously unfair. Gangle and them are going to lose no matter what.
"Sure thing, Kinger!" And there's Ragatha, perky as always. "Um, well, I... uh, I vote we bring him back, ev—eventually."
"S-same he-h€re."
"And you already know my vote." Kinger turns to Zooble and Gangle. "What about you two?"
Zooble takes one moment to imagine punching his smug face in before they bite out, "I vote no." Honestly it's almost a matter of pride at this point as well, not that they'd admit that.
It doesn't really matter what Gangle votes, they'll be outvoted anyways. She probably doesn't even want to vote at all—Gangle doesn't like being the center of attention.
"I... I vote we... um..." Gangle hesitates, glancing sideways at Zooble. They try to look supportive, though they probably just look pissed. She cringes slightly. "We... don't?"
Kinger claps his hands together. "Welp! Guess that's settled! I'll get to work on restoring him. Then, once we've gotten this place back up and running, we can bring him back into the circus proper. Sound good, everyone?"
"No," Zooble grumbles as everyone else nods.
"Oh, and—Pomni, I'll try and see if I can get rid of those glitches for you."
Pomni smiles. "T-thanks, Kinger."
Zooble sighs and rubs their face. This is going to go so fucking badly.
---
It... goes... okay. For now. Kinger's sworn left and right that Caine won't be able to get out, because he's "stuck in his avatar", whatever that means, and besides, again, he's in "sleep mode" or whatever.
So Zooble backs off, cautiously, and starts joining the efforts to get their unwanted home back on its feet. The color still hasn't returned—apparently that's a thing that can only happen if Caine is brought back fully, and if Zooble has their way that won't be happening any time soon—but the floor and walls get patched up, and slowly, things start looking... well, as normal as they can.
Then there's Jax.
Fucking Jax. Because even from beyond the grave, he still can't stop causing problems.
"We're gonna need to find a better solution for him soon," Pomni's gotten fixed up by Kinger by now, and she's back on her feet, directing everyone. Zooble would kind of like to know who died and made her the boss, but given that there's two fairly probable answers to that question that will make at least one person upset, they refrain. "He can't just... stay in the tent all the time."
Ragatha makes a slight face at that, but when Pomni turns to her, she smooths it out. "No, yeah, you're right, Pomni. I'm just... not sure where we can put him, y'know?"
"W-ell, there's always the cellar?" Gangle suggests, ribbon hands curled against her chest. She shouldn't have to be here for this.
Zooble sighs. "Look, I don't really care what we do with him, as long as I don't have to go through a bunch of parts to get him there again." They didn't really mind doing it the first time—it'd be pretty shitty of them to just let Pomni deal with Jax all by herself, and Jax—well, they had told him that he was one of them. But doing all that a second time? Yeah, pass.
"I don't think we should put him in the cellar, he... deserves better than that." Pomni's looking at the tent with a... fond? expression on her face. Zooble really doesn't know what she saw in him.
"Well, I don't know what else we can do," they say finally, because if they say any of the other, unflattering things they want to say, the meager bridge they have with Pomni will burn.
And then, comes the dreaded remark—from Ragatha, no surprise there— "W-well, maybe.... Kinger? Will know what to do?"
God, Kinger. Zooble seriously doesn't get why everyone's going to him for everything. Sure, he can code, and sure, he's probably the oldest here, but that doesn't make him the... fucking president or something. A couple of weeks ago he was drooling over bugs and spouting nonsense everywhere. They're glad that he's... got his mind back, because of the bucket's darkness (which is still bizare) but they still don't get why everyone's scrambling to him like he's their... dad or something. For fuck's sake, Ragatha's in her, what, thirties?
But Pomni's nodding, so Zooble sighs and resigns themselves to probably losing even more parts.
"Oh! Actually, I had wanted to talk to you all about that." Kinger says cheerfully when their little group enters his room. He's set up shop there, since the blanket fort is... occupied. Zooble sits down gingerly on a chair that they're pretty sure was conjured and eyes Kinger. He looks... tired. "About the Abstractions, I mean, not just Jax."
"O-oh?"
Kinger nods at Ragatha and gestures to the computer on his desk. "Yup! I was thinking, it might be a good idea to put them somewhere less—well, prison-like, I suppose. I've had a look at the cellar, and—"
"Wait, wait, you... went into the cellar?" Pomni looks concerned. Zooble... well, that would be pretty crazy of him. Then again....
"No, no, I just looked. There are... uh, security cameras of a sort that Caine must have set up down there, I just... had a look through them. And it's... well, it's not bad or anything, but it could be a lot better."
"...all seeing eyes, huh?" Pomni mutters. Ugh. She's right. They'd say they can't believe that Caine would subject the Abstracted members to even more of his.... bullshit, but they really can. And sticking them in some... empty room? That's just fucked up. If their minds weren't already gone, they'd probably go crazy. "Well, okay, then, what do you suggest?"
Kinger hmmms and taps his finger against his... sort of chin. "Well, I'm not sure. I can get them out of there, I-I think, though it'll... probably take me a while, but as for where to put them I'm... not sure. Somewhere on the grounds, maybe?"
"What, like a... Playpen or something?" Seriously? That's his plan?
"Uh, what about a... farm, maybe?" Ragatha shrinks in on herself almost as soon as she says the words. "A-actually no, that—that doesn't make a lot of sense—"
"It's not a bad idea," Pomni soothes. "Maybe somewhere more... enclosed, though? So they can't run around and... y'know, break things? Or, us?"
Yeah, Zooble's not sure about that one. "That just sounds like a zoo."
"Well, I don't know—!"
Gangle's voice cuts through. "Um, do the.... do the Abstractions need to... breathe?" Huh?
"Uh, I don't think so, no?" Kinger sounds bewildered.
"Then what about a, uh.... um, an aquarium? Sort of?"
That's... still pretty close to a zoo, in all honesty. But Kinger looks... thoughtful, because of course he does. "An aquarium... y'know, Gangle, that's not a bad idea! I could make the liquid something... well, not actually water, and maybe..."
"Uh, can they even swim?" This is sounding really half-baked—okay, you know what? Not going there. Nope.
Kinger perks up. "Oh! Actually, I think so! You see, I noticed that there's a layer of water in the cellar. I'm... not really sure why, but anyways, the Abstractions down there seem to have grown some kind of... flippers. I think that whatever their models are adapt to the environment they're in. So, in that vein, if we dunked 'em in an aquarium, they'd... probably grown fins and be just fine!"
Okay well that's... weird, but then again, so is everything here. Still... "That seems like a kind of big risk to take?"
"Well, it's worth trying, anyways," Pomni says firmly, and Zooble is well aware that nothing they say is going to get past that expression.
But hey, maybe it'll be okay. They're about due for a win anyways, what with all the bullshit that's happened over the last... God, it's almost been a month at this point, hasn't it?
Well, either way. They'll let themselves be... cautiously optimistic. Maybe it'll work.
---
It doesn't work.
Well, okay, it does. But not at first. And not without a lot of shit.
First, Kinger has to code in the aquarium. Pomni mentioned that she'd found a random room just... full of water on her first day here, so they start with that and build up. The aquarium itself is pretty nice. Zooble isn't really a fish or water person, but they can admit it's kind of peaceful.
The problem starts with the Abstractions.
As it would turn out, they hate light. As it would turn out, light makes them go ballistic, and as it would turn out, Zooble is down about twenty pieces, Gangle's mask is a wreck, and Ragatha's face is glitching so badly her eyes are playing ping-pong with her nose by the time they wrestle Jax into the aquarium.
Once he's in, though, he... sort of calms down? And Zooble helps Gangle pick up the pieces of her mask, seething the whole time, and watches with a raised eyebrow as Pomni puts her hand on the glass and talks to Jax in hushed whispers while Kinger basically preforms minor surgery on Ragatha four feet away.
And it turns out Kinger was right, and Jax's Abstracted form changes into some kind of squid-like thing. So that's all good.
From there, the problem is everyone else in the cellar.
Eventually, Kinger just throws his hands in the air and decides to try merging the Cellar with the aquarium.
It... works? Somehow??? At this point, Zooble's starting to just ignore the impossibilities of everything. If it works, it works, and it's not their problem anymore.
They throw a little party, afterwards. Kinger looks... exhausted, and Zooble isn't feeling much better. There's been so much chaos lately that it's been hard to just... be.
Gangle's sitting next to them on one of the Aquarium benches, sketching one of the Abstractions in her sketchbook. They really should talk soon—about...well, about them, and what they are. Zooble hasn't really put a word on it yet, but they think they know. They just want to be sure.
Pomni's off... being a Jax whisperer, again, and Ragatha's chatting quietly with Kinger as she casts longing glances in Pomni's direction.
Zooble isn't going to touch any of that with a ten-foot pole.
---
"I—I just... she said we were friends, but now..." Zooble nods as Ragatha talks, wiping down a glass from behind the counter of the bar they'd mocked up a few days ago. "I mean, she barely ever talks to me, and I just... I don't know..."
Zooble honestly wants nothing to do with this. But they're a bartender, and part of that job is being the listening ear or... shoulder to cry on and to. It's something of an occupational hazard. Alcohol tends to open people up.
Right now, Ragatha is something of a sad drunk, though Zooble isn't sure if that's just because of the topic she's crying about or if that's her default state.
"I just wish I knew where I stood with her, y'know?" Zooble nods on autopilot, then takes a minute to format their response.
Really, Pomni's whole thing with Jax... they're starting to think that Pomni likes "bad boys". And Ragatha's about as far away from that as you can get. "Think of it like a break-up," is what they settle on, only to be alarmed when Ragatha almost immediately starts crying, "Oh, shit. I mean, not like—for shit's sake."
"S-sorry..."
Zooble forces themselves to soften. "It's okay. I just mean, right now, Pomni's still... she's still hung up on Jax, for... some reason. It'll... probably take her a bit to get used to not having him around." It also doesn't help that he technically is still around, and Pomni's been chatting him up like he's going to suddenly turn back to normal. It's really screwing with the whole "stages of grief" process. "Give her some time to... adjust, and she'll probably—" hopefully "—get over it."
Of course, that also implies that Pomni would only be friends with Ragatha because Jax isn't an option anymore. Which isn't super great, but they're all kind of limited in human interaction, and Ragatha doesn't seem to mind being the rebound. That's not really a good thing, but there isn't a whole lot Zooble can do about it.
"Y-yeah, I guess you're right... Oh gosh, I've... I'm so sorry Zooble, I didn't mean to start talking your ear off like this—"
Zooble shrugs. Again, occupational hazards. "It's fine. I don't mind."
On the one hand, they... kind of do. But on the other... well, things are still... tense, with a lot of the group.
They've all sort of started to do their own thing—Zooble has their bar, Gangle has her art, Kinger's... still coding stuff, Ragatha... they're pretty sure Ragatha's been trying to fix up the Grounds, for some reason, and Pomni is... kind of bouncing around, apparently. Slowly but surely, they're all fitting into a new normal in the greyed-out circus, but there are still pieces that aren't quite falling into place.
And this group—well, they're all Zooble's got now. If they have to help hold them all together, well... it's... not ideal, but it could be a lot worse.
---
Zooble cannot see how this situation could get any worse.
Unless Jax miraculously comes back from the dead or something.
Kinger wants to bring Caine back.
"Listen, it's been a while. Almost three months, by my count. The circus is patched up, we've settled down—I think now's the best time."
Zooble feels their eye twitch. "I know we... "voted" or whatever, Kinger, but I'm still not ready. Caine did some fucked up shit to me—to all of us. It's barely been two months since then."
Kinger sighs. "Look, I just don't want this to become something without an end date. The longer we put it off, the less likely we are to do it at all. And I'm not okay with that."
Two months in and Zooble wants. To. Scream. "Kinger..."
"No, we—we said we would." Pomni says with that goddamn voice. "We're going to be better, remember?"
Kinger looks at them each. "So...?"
"Uh, ma—maybe we could give it a few more weeks?" Ragatha suggests, clasping her hands together. "To, y'know, get used to the idea, make some plans first!"
"That... well, okay. That's not the worst idea. We do need to figure out what kind of restrictions we're going to place on him..."
Great. A few more weeks without Caine fucking everything up again. Well. If Zooble isn't going to be able to stop it happening at all, they're going to get their two cents in, at the very least.
They still think that the second Caine is back he's going to throw another temper tantrum.
---
Caine is back, and he's just... laying on the floor.
It's... weird, seeing him not moving. Caine's been in motion for as long as they can remember—it's driven them up the wall more times than they can count, and they don't miss it, exactly, but it's still weird.
"Okay," Kinger says firmly. He's kneeling on the floor with the computer. "Let's see—"
Caine sits up. It's abrupt, and Zooble finds themselves stiffening and glaring automatically upon seeing his stupid teeth.
Caine's eyes dart around the area, settling on Kinger. There's something... weird, about his expression. It's almost blank, but there's a sort of... anger? Desperation? Fondness? In his gaze that Zooble can't quite figure out and it's making them nervous as hell.
"Caine...?" Kinger says, quietly, and Caine—
Caine smiles.
Zooble has seen Caine smile before. It's always looked a bit odd, because his mouth is also his head, but everything about him looks odd. He's almost always smiling, when he's not talking. They honestly haven't thought that much about his smiles before—they're just there, they're just a thing he does, like anyone else. It's... normal.
This is not. Fucking. Normal.
They feel like they're a deer watching a hunter aim a fucking rifle at their head. It's like he's looked right at them and decided they aren't important, but if they want to be, he's more than happy to make them.
Then he opens his mouth and— "Hello again, Kingerboy. I just love what you've done with the place."
And it hits them square in the gut, that something is terribly, terribly wrong.
They aren't sure what.
But something tells them they're about to find out.