Chapter Text
Sh*t's been real weird ever since Caine said "Here's guns and have fun". And who do you even talk to? When you're in a strange new place with strange new people you barely know? When out of the only two friends you started to make recently, one of them had a mental breakdown at the concept of having feelings, and the other only has any lights on upstairs when he's in the dark. Who do you turn to when the world is falling apart, but the world isn't real? God? Well God has been acting strange as well, and happens to be part of the problem.
Caine was acting strangely. That was probably the worst part of what was going on, simply because of the implications. Wasn't he kind of?....Holding the damn fabric of their reality together? What the hell happens when...or if Caine finally snaps? What happens to the rest of them and the world they're inhabiting? How the F@#k does Caine have a mental snap in the first place?! He isn't even real. Yet he contradicts himself in odd ways at times. There was a bit too much intelligence to his artifice for Pomni to quite feel safe...
Then there were the others. They were acting differently too. Not bad for all of them, but different. Zooble and Gangle seemed closer, so that was good, but felt a bit like a dynamic that Pomni wasn't exactly invited to. Ragatha seemed to be doing...better? Which was a bit odd considering she got shot in the head multiple times the other day. Kinger was the same...some things never change. And then there was Jax...........yep.
Pomni wasn't stupid enough to think he meant everything he said...probably. He clearly wasn't doing well, as if anyone trapped here was. But still. She was mad at his outburst, it's true, but more than that she was worried. Worried because you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. And she was loath to admit...but Pomni liked him. She would never admit it to him, especially now, but...Jax was funny. And now she may be helpless to watch him self-destruct. Maybe even literally. The first person she was able to hang out with for a little while that felt casual. That didn't feel tainted by the place or bodies they were forced to inhabit.
........a f#@&*%g clown...Pomni was never funny enough to be a clown. Why wasn't Jax the clown? For all his mean jokes and absurd slapstick, Pomni was who got the jester bit?
Even Bubble was acting weird! Pomni wanted to say this was because Bubble was some sort of extension of Caine, and that was one explanation, but she already knew Caine's AIs could.....get away from him.
Gummigoo......
So maybe Bubble was having some kind of...entirely Bubble-centric crisis! They were just...around more. Even without Caine, which was unusual since the two typically came as a unit. But now Bubble would float around all on their own...just watching. It was kind of creepy. Maybe Bubble was acting as a sort of roaming spy camera for Caine, or maybe Bubble was developing a mind of...It's?....own.
Pomni sat in her weird room worrying, but trying not to worry too much, lest excess worry cause her to transform into a monster made of eyeballs, glitches, and public domain video game textures...which made her worry more.
The very least of her worries, was Jax. So why did her mind keep circling back around to him of all things? Their fragile digital reality, the last thing tethering their consciousness to any illusion of still being alive, could be falling apart. But, apparently, more importantly, Jax might be sad...This is just embarrassing.
Everyone else had already accepted that they were stuck here forever. That there was no way out. So no one was going to help her escape. No one else seemed to notice that Caine's..."emotions" seemed to affect the Circus itself. She could mention it but she didn't want to make anyone worry. Cause someone to have a mental spiral or.....worse. She felt completely helpless. And for an environment where she was forced to interact with other people near daily, she felt completely alone as well.
A knock on her door drew her out of her thoughts
"Hey Pomni! Caine is trying to kick start an adventure for today, and he was asking where you were? It's fine if you wanna skip out on today's adventure, but you hadn't missed one yet, so if you wanted to do it..." Ragatha overexplained from outside her door.
"I'm coming!" Pomni hopped up and made her way quickly to the door. Caine didn't like it when people avoided his adventures, and she didn't want to see what would happen with three people trying to duck out. Zooble never wanted to participate, and after the incident Jax hadn't gone on their last adventure either. So she opened her door and walked with Ragatha down the digital hallway. Ragatha, for once, seemed content to walk in silence without awkward small talk, or severe anxiety at the lack of any talk at all, and Pomni was grateful for the calmer atmosphere.
When the two of them reached Caine and the others Pomni noticed that Jax was among them. Grinning mischievously as if nothing had ever happened at all. At the sight of him standing there Pomni's heart leapt for joy...and then sank to her stomach.
Jax skipped down the hallway with an artificial spring in his step. He had sat out the last adventure since his little...episode. Buut if he kept doing a thing like that, a certain Clown may begin to think he's sulking! And he doesn't plan on giving her the satisfaction.
And so he stood there as Caine summoned Zooble, and they complained and b*!×hed and moaned at him for making them go on his adventures. Just another day.....but it wasn't, was it?
Ever since that day Caine gave everyone guns, perhaps even a little before that, Jax noticed Caine acting differently. It was behavior that he was all too familiar with. The tone and body language of somebody reaching the very limit of their tolerance. Jax figured he was the only one who noticed. In fact, he thought it would be funny to see what would happen if the damn AI lost its mind! He was sure he'd be able to push Caine over the edge....he just didn't quite want to see what would happen if he did.
And then Pomni walked in. She looked surprised to see him. He had been right, of course. Pomni had expected him to pout and avoid her. Yeah right! He'd show her that it meant nothing to him. That she meant nothing to him. So he shot her his signature smug grin, only for a moment, and turned back to Caine yapping about today's adventure.
"Gather treasures! Hide from monsters! Work as a team!" Caine exclaimed.
"M-monsters?" Gangle asked anxiously...like a coward.
"Yes! Hide, fight back, or run away to escape these dastardly ghouls! Now here are the rules! You will be to-ZOOBLE WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"
Jax thought he saw the curtains behind Caine lose their texture for a moment...He thought he saw Pomni notice too. But Zooble kept walking away.
"For the millionth time, I don't want to go on your stupid adventures."
Caine looked angry. Caine was clearly capable of tormenting them if he wanted. Making him vegan and putting him in a humiliating outfit was something Caine did because the others voted on it. But that showed that he could do it. That he was capable of forcing them to wear things and say things they didn't want to. And though Jax hadn't mentioned it at the time, and never planned to, he didn't like the way it felt. Words he didn't mean and had no control over spilling out of his mouth as he declared himself a vegan at the bar. Everyone else glossed over it. Of course they did. It was Jax after all, and nobody gave a f@#k about Jax. But the part they should give a f@#k about is that if it happened to him, it could happen to them. And it's not like they knew what strict rules Caine was bound by. Jax could get Zooble to stay. If he really wanted to...and he did want to. But he couldn't let the others know he was worried.
Jax slid over to Gangle and smacked her on the back just a little too hard.
"Aw, don't worry Gangle! Stick with me, and I'LL protect you from the monsters. Heh." Nooow Zooble was turning around...predictable.
"Leave her ALONE Jax!" Zooble grabbed Gangle's ribbony hand and tugged her away from Jax. Gangle looked grateful for the intervention as they both distanced themselves from him, and something twinged deep inside him. I mean, if Gangle were smart, she actually would go with him. He was stealthy and slippery when he wanted to be. And it was JAX who won the shootout the other day...and like Pomni too or whatever, but Jax could have totally shot her and won, so he may as well have won altogether. Maybe if Gangle were nice to him and could take a joke, he really WOULD protect her from the monsters. Whatever...his plan worked, and now Zooble was staying of her own perceived volition, so he made a show of rolling his eyes and turned back to Caine, who looked less angry, but still pretty displeased. Pomni looked relieved Zooble was staying too...not that he cared about making Pomni feel better!
"FINE!" Caine threw his hands in the air. "You don't care about my rules?! Just...Go then! Figure it out or something!"
"Wait! Wait! I for one would like to know the ru-" Pomni was cut off by the violent jarring feeling of switching digital realities that they were all mostly used to by now.
Now! Where were they?.....Was this the back of a f@#&*%g truck?