Chapter Text
Jax stared up at the ceiling of his room, the events that happened playing in his mind like a broken record; pressing the red button, everyone staring at him in shock, Caine appearing and revealing that it was all an adventure he made
“YOU DIRTY LIAR! You Scum bag! You-You made me...you got in my head, you just–you just lied about everything don't you!
“You can mess with our minds too, can’t you?! The stupid sauce, the vegan thing, God knows what else?!”
He hears Pomni’s voice from behind him, small but it echoed across the console room.
“Our names?”
That last bit really got to him, he remembers when Pomni first arrived at the circus, Caine had said:
“The only thing I DON’T have control over is your mind!”
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Jax doesn’t just suspect anymore, he knows that Caine can mess with their minds, he saw how the stupid sauce affected Ragatha during that boring fast food adventure, and how Caine LITERALLY made him become a vegan against his own will via “democracy,” or whatever that meant, and he now has a growing suspicion that Caine has something to do with abstraction after what Kinger said earlier
“Scratch…the first abstraction.”
That really led Caine in a panic as the AI tried to deny it, but the moment that ringmaster teleported away leaving them with that stupid gift basket, the others turned to him like it was all his fault. He could still remember the shouting match he and Zooble were in, with mostly Zooble shouting at him and him telling them that he called it all from the start, but the toy box wouldn’t listen, none of them would listen as they all looked at him like it was all HIS fault, that HE orchestrated the entire thing and not Caine. Then the toy box said something that still rings in his ears
“None of us would %$!# care if you abstracted!!!”
The whole room went quiet after that, everyone's eyes wide in shock from what came out of the toy box's nonexistent mouth, Kinger looked at the toy box in shock and a bit of disappointment. Even Zooble was shocked by what they said, and after what felt like an eternity, he walks out the room, ignoring Pomni calling out to him as he leaves Caine's office and heads straight towards his room. The purple rabbit let out an exhausted sigh as he pulls himself out of bed and dragged himself to the floor length mirror, looking at his reflection, in the reflection of the mirror he saw his short purple fur was ruffled and a mess, faint bags under his eyes topped with tired lines, his ears drooped low and crooked, and he had a deep frown on his face ‘god I look like %$!#,’ he thought
He runs a hand through his fur to smooth it out, rubbing under his eyes so his fur hides the tired bags and lines, he then forces his ears to straighten up back to their proper posture, and with a deep breath tries to plaster on his signature smile, it lasted for about 15 seconds before it dropped involuntarily, he forces it back on again, it held for 10 seconds before it fell. Jax let out another tired sigh as he drags himself back to the bed, flopping back down on his bed “no one would care if I abstract…should’ve known.” Jax mumbled, staring up at the ceiling of his room. Soon he felt the familiar relaxation he felt hours ago, the sound of static filling his ears as his body began to vibrate and start to grow numb, then his eyes began to glow neon blue and pink, spiraling as he felt himself starting to let go when…
“JAX!!!”
A voice boomed above him, Jax let out a shout as he jumps out of bed and falls to the floor, the neon colors in his eyes gone, as he breathes heavily, his heart beating in his ears, he looks up to see Caine floating above him “C-Caine, what the heck are you doing, I was trying to nap!” Jax said glaring at the AI, his hand over his racing heart "apologise my robustic rabbity friend!” Caine said cheerfully, Jax let out a sigh as he sat up “what do you want?” Jax asked dragging his hand down his friend “well, as you recall earlier, today's adventure did…not go well as I hoped” Caine said, shrinking a bit, ringing his cane in his hand ‘oh you think!’ Jax thought, giving the ringmaster a deadpan glare
“And to fix this, I came up with the perfect solo Adventure, just for you!” Caine said pointing at the purple rabbit “oh, after what you…wait what?” Jax asked his anger morphing into confusion and annoyance “that’s right, to make it up to you, I’m sending you on your own special adventure today, it’ll have all the things you enjoy!” Caine said cheerfully, Jax looks at him like he just grew a second head, he was about to yell at the AI when he paused, pondering over what Caine said, on one hand he could refuse and stay here, with the others after what happened, and on the other, he could go on this new solo adventure, see what Caine made for him to ‘cheer him up’, distract himself in a way, and avoid everyone in the circus. Jax let out a long sigh “you know what…fine.” Jax said with a tired shrug
“SPLENDID!” Caine said with too much energy and excitement, as if he hadn’t been expecting him to comply “today, your adventure is called: ‘The Great Mysteries of Playtime Co!.' You assume the role of an ex-employee of a company named ‘Playtime Co.’ and you’ve returned to the factory after receiving a letter from an ex-associate of yours to explore the mysteries of what happened!” Caine said, pointing at Jax with the tip of his cane. Jax looks at the cane then to the ringmaster “alright, sounds fun, beam me in” Jax said forcing a small smile “wonderful! One thrill-filled solo adventure coming right up!” Caine said and with a snap of his fingers, a bright red portal appears 6 feet away from Jax, and before the purple rabbit could get up, he was vacuumed sucked into the portal before the purple rabbit could let out a yelp “oh, he’s gonna love this one, he loves horror adventures…right?” Caine asked, scratching his upper jaw “oh what am I saying, of course he loves them!” Caine said and teleports out of the room
However, just as the portal was about to close, Jax's door opened and Pomni poked her head in “Jax?” Pomni said, looking around before spotting the portal closing “Jax!” Pomni said running towards the portal, but it closed before she could reach it, leaving the jester alone, confused and scared of what happened to the purple rabbit