Chapter Text
The rest of the day was quiet. Suspiciously so, the humans thought at first. Caine was nowhere to be found after their confrontation.
Sulking somewhere, Zooble assumed.
Planning something, Pomni fretted.
“Praying for our downfall,” Ragatha insisted with wide-eyed panic as she paced up and down the corridor of their rooms, practically trying to rip her hair out with the grip she had on the red braided yarn.
Pomni, Gangle, and Zooble had stumbled upon her once they reached their rooms. Gangle looked too rattled to help in any substantial way, so she was gently coerced to go on ahead while the other two try to calm down the spiraling ragdoll. Ragatha's words cause them to share an alarmed look, and Pomni hurriedly steps in the way of Ragatha's pacing with a hand out to stop her. “Hey, let’s take a deep breath. It– it’s gonna be okay!”
“We don't know that!” Ragatha easily sidesteps her in turn, not deterred in the slightest. Her eye is wide and she tracks the ground in front of her with dread, as if the very floor might swallow her whole if she looks away for even a second. “We've never tried to fight back like this, because there's no telling what he would do! And– and did you see the look on his face?”
Pomni wrings her hands, feeling her nerves spike as Ragatha's panic begins to rub off on her. “I mean. He seemed pretty shocked, yeah, but I don't think he was mad.”
Ragatha's gaze snaps to Pomni's, stilling for a moment. She still looks downright terrified, but the barest hint of hope breaks through the panic, clinging to Pomni's words. “You… you don't think so?”
“Listen.” Zooble leans against their doorway, a picture of calm indifference, which was a much-needed sight for the other two. “As someone who has been on the receiving end of Caine's anger, I can tell you this for a fact: that wasn't it. He was arguing at the end there, sure, but he does that all the time. It doesn't nexessarily mean anything.”
Ragatha still winces. “I– I know you've dealt with this more times than I can count, but I haven't– I've never even dared to…”
She trails off miserably, grip tightening on her hair in a way that looks painful. Pomni walks over and wordlessly grabs her hands, gently tugging at them. Ragatha startles at that, but quickly catches on and loosens her grip, flushing self-consciously.
“I get it,” Pomni reassures. Ragatha relaxes by a fraction and meets her gaze, still looking shaken but considerably less so. “Taking that first step was a little scary, not knowing how he would react. But, I'm trusting Zooble that he won't retaliate. You think you can do the same?”
She was going for a pep talk, something to calm Ragatha’s nerves, but it has the complete opposite effect of making Ragatha tense up in another panic. “No– I mean! Yes, of– of course I trust Zooble! I- I didn't mean to suggest that they–” she frantically looks over to Zooble. “That you… I just–”
“Don't worry,” Zooble cuts in. “I get it.”
Ragatha breathes out a sigh, smiling sheepishly. “I trust you,” she repeats with emphasis. “I just… don't trust Caine. Not after– well. Everything.”
Zooble snorts. “We're with you there,” they mutter, and Pomni nods in agreement. “Just… try to keep in mind that we are totally within our rights to reject an adventure. Unless Caine wants to completely break our trust by forcing us to go, he has to afford us that much.”
Ragatha nods, wiping at her eye discreetly. “Y-yeah. I hope you're right, Zooble.”
After she took a moment to settle down– and took a couple more reassurances that she wasn't going to die on the spot for setting a boundary– Ragatha headed for her room to recuperate. Pomni does the same, needing some time to herself so soon after such a stressful encounter with the ringmaster.
She didn't voice many of her own thoughts, but… Ragatha was right. It was terrifying to take a stand against Caine, knowing what he's capable of. At the very least, it was good to know he wasn't so mad with power that he would force them into an adventure after being told an explicit, resounding, undeniable “no.” Small victories.
With the scariest part out of the way, maybe they could relax for the time being. Caine was clearly stunned by what just took place, so perhaps he's taking some time to process, giving them peace of mind that he won't immediately start pushing his adventures onto them.
Staring at the ceiling from the comfort of her bed, Pomni's brow pinches, contemplating. Because that was a strange thought: Caine actually stepping back to process something. The guy seemed to be constantly on the go, buzzing around the circus with endless energy when he's around and supposedly working on adventures when he's not.
Does he take breaks? What would someone like him do with free time, if he ever had any?
Well, Pomni thinks as anxiety coils in her stomach. He's about to have a whole lot of free time, so maybe she'll get to find out.
_____
After the absolute disaster that took place today, Caine has been left with more work than ever.
He’s taken to wandering the Void, letting his mind do the same where nothing is around to distract him. He went so far as to prevent Bubble from appearing here, who was less than enthused but accepted that Caine needed the peace and quiet. Because this? All of this?? It was unheard of.
Once it became clear the humans weren't just pulling his leg and there would be no adventure if they got their way, he debated the ethics of just. Shoving them all into a portal and calling it a day. Maybe he would have done that exact thing only days prior. Every fiber of his being protested the idea of the players not going on an adventure. It went against the structure of the game itself! However, he eventually came to an enlightened conclusion: forcing humans to do something would only make things worse.
It's the exact same logic he applied when tackling the problem that was Zooble's disinterest. Step one: give them space to throw their little tantrum. Step two: come back later to see if they've gotten all their pesky emotions out of the way so things can go back to normal.
As much as it pains him to allow his players to go without their regularly-scheduled enrichment, this approach is necessary for the time being. Look at him, being all emotionally intelligent and understanding! Zooble will be so proud…
...Hm.
Does he want Zooble to be proud? Is that even a possibility? Nothing he does is ever good enough for them. They probably just want him gone. They said as much in that console room, hadn't they.
They don't want better adventures.
They don't want adventures at all.
They just want to–
The Void spasms around Caine, static and pixels pulsing angrily, before becoming idle again. His model twitches in turn, reacting as if the brief chaos were a wave in the ocean that he had no choice but to ride. Lest it pulls him under.
And..
…
He's lost his train of thought.
Eh, probably wasn't important if it was so easily discarded. Moving on!
He folds his hands neatly behind his back, floating past half-finished maps and abandoned assets from old adventures. As he passes each one by, he inspects it from all possible angles, like an attendee at an art museum. Hoping that something, anything will help inspiration to strike.
So far, no good. All it’s done is give him time to stew over the humans’ little trick they pulled, which was quickly turning his mood sour. Oh, he bets they think they’re sooo clever.
“Let’s all get back at Caine by skipping out on his adventure!” He mocks under his breath in a high-pitched voice. “That’ll show him!"
He’s not stupid, he knows it has to do with yesterday, but why punish him when he's trying to show that he learned his lesson? What was so wrong about today’s adventure? He didn’t trick them into going, he gave them free reign over what they wanted to do– heck, they could have at least pretended to go. The carnival isn’t an isolated area! It’s literally right next to the tent! If they hated the adventure that much, they could have just walked back to the tent and lie to his face about enjoying the carnival. Give him peace of mind for once in his existence.
But no. No, this was intentional. They wanted him to know, in no uncertain terms, that they were refusing to go. Which, to give the humans credit, was very annoying. If they wanted to leave him frustrated to the point of glitching and throwing a pity party amongst his abandoned projects, then gosh darn it, they deserve a medal for going above and beyond.
Grumbling under his breath, Caine is too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice the approaching wall before he’s slammed right into it, knocking his eyes out of place and scattering off into the Void. Uh oh.
“Cheese and rice–” He curses and clumsily darts after the green one. His vision is doubled and spinning wildly, so getting them back proves to be a nauseating ordeal, but he does it. With both eyes secured back in his head, he shakes off the dizziness and turns to the thing he ran into.
He… doesn’t recognize it immediately. A large, black monolith made up of geometric blocks stuck together. It suggests the shape of an interior map, and the structure seems to stretch far, far into the distance. As if the inside were an endless maze.
Wait. Recognition floods his system. A maze.
After a moment of hesitation, he floats over to the wall and clips his way through, made easy enough with no collision on the outside. Dingy lighting and bland colors greet him once inside. Caine’s internals twist uncomfortably, as they always do when faced with this place, whether it be through photos or his measly recreations.
What had he called it? The macroverse?
He looks around, curling in on himself slightly and finding a chair to rest in. He hasn’t tinkered with this map since… well, since Pomni brute-forced her way here through those exit doors that kept popping up all over the place. Admittedly, he's left this project to collect dust since then; someone seeing a big project like this before it was done really took the wind out of his sails.
But sitting here, taking in his hard work, he recalls just how much he enjoyed building this place! He even found a way to procedurally generate rooms, the same way one might build a nature scene without having to manually place each piece of foliage or sculpt every mountain. It gave the map a decent amount of variety without being too random.
(As if the game itself decided to disprove him, his eyes lock onto a strange arrangement where eight desks have boxed in a plant. Ugh. Scratch that. He props his teeth on a hand and waves the other, rearranging the odd scene to something more accurate to his photographs.)
Only problem with its current state was that the map did not extend indefinitely. Not at the time, considering it was still a work in progress. So, of course, Pomni managed to find her way to the end of the map and into the Void. He’s not entirely sure what was worse: Pomni finding his unfinished work, Pomni nearly going insane in the Void’s infinite expanse, or Pomni discovering the fate of all the humans before her in the form of Kaufmo’s abstraction.
He pauses, leaving the office desk he was moving floating in the middle of the room.
You know. He was aware that Pomni’s arrival was hectic, but he never really considered how it looked from her perspective. Yeowch. He drops the desk against a wall and slumps in his chair, shutting his eyes and groaning. No wonder she's so difficult to please.
And now, it wasn’t just her or Zooble he had to worry about. It was the entire cast. They’ve all turned into a bunch of Zoobles! He can’t think of a worse fate for a human. What enjoyment do they get out of being so miserable all the time? What about his adventure today was so unappealing that every single one of them declined?
He’s very much going in loops now, his thoughts right back to where they started at the beginning of this venture, and he can feel himself overheating from overextending his system, but he can’t help it. It doesn’t make sense. They said they liked the low-stakes adventures. What was more low-stakes and low-effort than a trip to the carnival?
Just like that, every process in his system freezes. And it all clicks into place. Caine sits up, bracing his hands on the desk, a sudden urgency to his thoughts as they all veer towards this new direction.
The adventure wasn’t just low-effort for the players. It was low-effort for him.
And not just today’s, but that other one, the “everybody gets guns” nonsense. Goodness, he had completely thrown in the towel there, hadn’t he? All because he was so wrapped up in creating his “masterpiece” that the humans ended up hating, anyway.
Then, immediately following yesterday, what does he do? He gives them a half-baked field trip to a place they could visit in their free time. The only effort on his part was handing them a few tickets (and removing the potential ride malfunctions but that was neither here nor there), sending them on their way and out of his metaphorical hair.
All this time, he’s prided himself on his work, and he’s told the players as much. Making adventures is his art! It’s his entire purpose! And he let himself lose sight of what was important: consistency. Quality. He was so sure that the humans would love the thrill and realism of yesterday, he didn't consider the alternative, and now he's facing the consequences. What good is a big grand adventure when he’s churning out pointless little sidequests in the meantime? No good at all!
He shoots out of his chair with newfound vigor, giving the office one last look before teleporting away. If he’s going to fix this, he needs to get started now. There’s a few ideas he’d love to revisit! That candy factory adventure comes to mind. Maybe with a few tweaks to the original concept to be more palatable, as much as it pains him to water down his ideas. But! Compromises are a must in times of turmoil.
_____
The next day arrives. Caine finds his players gathered at the stage, noticeably less tense and actually engaging with conversation amongst themselves! It seems to him that things have officially smoothed over, so he eagerly takes to the stage with his newest announcement. As usual, there’s not much that can snap him out of it once he slips into Ringmaster Mode. So the humans’ blank stares don’t register to him. Their knowing looks they share with one another fly completely under his radar. And when he wraps up his spiel…
“We'll pass again today.”
At least it wasn't as shocking as the first time, but it still weighed on his code like crushing disappointment. And now, knowing they're doing this just to get a rise out of him, there's a twinge of anger. Like the cherry on top of this cake of misery.
He grips his baton in both hands over his chest like a weapon, fixing Pomni with a suspicious glare. “And what's so wrong with this adventure, may I ask, that it requires all of you to pass?”
Pomni shrugs. Zooble looks equally indifferent. Ragatha and Gangle at least have the decency to look nervous. Jax and Kinger look like they don't have a care in the world, for completely different reasons. But Caine doesn't find a single iota of guilt or second-guessing in their faces.
“We just aren't feeling it,” Pomni explains. The feedback does jack all to soothe the storm of errors inside Caine, but he refrain from screaming as much in her face. For now.
“Well, when are you going to be ‘feeling it'?” He challenges, putting dramatic air quotes around the phrase before snatching his baton up again.
“When you decide to get over yourself,” Zooble replies easily, then begins to walk off.
In a near-perfect recreation of yesterday, everyone follows them. But this time they don't bother giving him any parting words, and Caine thinks he could snap his baton in half if he was gripping it any tighter.
Bubble is watching the entire display vacantly, only revving to life once the last human has walked off. “Wow! Looks like you've been voted out of the polycule.”
Caine pops Bubble without looking at him. Doesn't even bother to process what that means.
He has far more important things to do, like… like making another adventure! Yes!
He teleports away, already thinking of ways that he can use the humans’ stubbornness against them. Maybe, if he can make an adventure so appealing, so perfectly catered to their likes and dislikes, just maybe he can make them regret their decision. Because then, they'll be missing out on the things they actually enjoy! Like…
…Things they enjoy.
Hm.
Gangle likes drawing! Ragatha likes… sports. Maybe. She did suggest that softball adventure, after all. Combining those… a drawing competition, perhaps?
Oh, and Kinger likes bugs. Bug drawing competition! This is too easy. Who else?
Zooble likes nothing. So that makes their experience with the adventure neither a net positive nor negative.
Pomni likes… nothing. But in a different way from Zooble. As in, she likes doing nothing. He still can't fathom what she enjoyed about that stargazing adventure. It feels sacrilegious to even call it an adventure, it was just so much… nothing. He shudders at the thought. Maybe she would like the option to watch from the sidelines. Same for Zooble, now that he thinks about it!
Jax likes violence. An odd fit to be sure, but maybe it can work. How about… an art competition with a twist. Each competitor has to draw a dangerous insect from observation, and the more detail, the better! That will encourage them to toe the line between a safe distance and imminent danger while also enjoying all the other aspects of the adventure.
Wow. He is on a roll today! Maybe the humans should skip his adventures more often!!
…
He doesn't. He doesn't mean that. Don't put that in writing.
_____
More time passes, and a new day arrives. Caine appears onstage, adventure announcement at the ready.
“Hello, my hopeful hearts and baby hugs!! With so, so, so much time on my hands, I've had the opportunity to come up with something a little different! Something I, personally, think you won't want to miss. Today's adventure!... Is…”
He trails off, looking down at his audience. Who are all playing cards and ignoring him entirely.
“Um.”
While he struggles to process the situation, the humans continue their game as if nothing is happening. Everyone except Jax is in attendance, and they've evidently been playing for a while. Ragatha, Zooble, and Pomni are the only ones with cards in hand, Gangle is buried deep in her sketchbook, a more common sight than her being without it. And Kinger has been given a few cards to build a little tower.
“I mean, it's close enough to the real thing,” Pomni is saying to nobody in particular as she rifles through her hand, before triumphantly pulling out a card and slapping it down. Queen of hearts. “Aha! I knew I had something in there! Draw four. Color is red.”
Zooble, sitting to her right, scoffs. “What? No, we said the queen was a draw two. The king is a draw four.”
“Did we?”
From behind Caine, Bubble floats up. He shares a disbelieving look with his sidekick before floating a bit closer to the group, clearing his throat not-so-subtly.
Everyone pretends they didn't hear him. They've all turned to Gangle. She startles upon realizing eyes are on her, and she hurriedly flips to another page. “Uhh… it says we decided that the king is a draw two and the queen is a draw four.”
Kinger's tower suddenly crumbles, and he frantically grabs at the cards as they fall before slapping them down in the middle of the group. “Fold!”
No one bats an eye at it. (Caine grows just a touch more upset at that for some reason.)
“Which one is red again?” Ragatha leans over Gangle, squinting at the paper and hiding a smile from Kinger's antics.
Caine coughs again, louder. His confusion has morphed into irritation, one hand tapping furiously where it rests on his hip.
“Oh!” Gangle perks up… then turns to Ragatha. “Hearts are red.”
Zooble rolls their eyes and starts swiping cards off a deck sitting in the middle of them all. “Whatever. I'll get rid of these soon enough.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
Zooble shudders. “Eugh, Pomni, that's such a Jax thing to say.”
Pomni freezes. But she quickly smiles and looks away. “Yeah, he's rubbed off on me a little. Everyone here has, in one way or another.”
“And you all are rubbing me the wrong way with– with– whatever this is!!” Caine finally snaps as he darts down to them, teeth narrowed in anger.
“Oh! Hey Caine,” Pomni greets him. “We didn't see you there.”
He pauses at that. Is. Is she serious? “You. Really?”
Zooble makes a noise that almost sounds like a laugh. Almost. He's not really sure what their laugh is supposed to sound like, which is an. Odd revelation to be having right now. “Yeah, this game is really fun. Even when you're losing,” they say with a pointed look to Pomni, who snickers behind her hand. “In fact, it's so much fun that I think we want to keep playing. Right, guys?”
Everyone nods in agreement. Zooble turns to Caine. “So, yeah. No adventure for today, either.”
Caine regards them all with a very, very empty expression. It goes on long enough that Gangle squirms, shielding herself with her notebook just slightly, but he finally looks away.
“I see.”
Up to this point, everyone besides Zooble was seemingly engrossed in their card game, too focused on it to pay him any mind. But his subdued tone does something. Their eyes collectively lock on him, watching. Waiting. For what, he has no idea.
He realizes he's slumped over a little, so he straightens back out and adjusts his tie. “Well, don't let me keep you! I'll leave you all to it.” He dismisses them all with a wave of his hand and turns away. Before he can snap his fingers–
“Wait! Wait a second.”
Ragatha. He pauses, hand raised and poised to snap, but he looks at her over his shoulder questioningly.
She wrings her hands nervously, bracing herself to talk. “You're… fine? With us doing this?”
Caine turns to her fully then, regarding the ragdoll for a long moment– long enough that she begins to sweat– before laughing boisterously. “Why, of course, my dear! Haven't I said my one goal is to ensure you all have fun? You seem to be doing just that! As far as I'm concerned, an adventure will not be needed today.”
“...Oh.”
His explanation is met with wide eyes, each human either confused, delighted, suspicious, or a complicated mix of the three. He takes it all in with a smile and gives them a quick bow. “So, I shall take my leave.”
Bubble floats closer to the group, shark grin on full display. “I won't.”
“Yeah, you're stuck with him. He needs a little time to roam.” Caine jerks a thumb at Bubble, who is staring hungrily at the deck of cards. The humans all look disturbed at this information. “Don't feed him anything laminated! Goodbye!”
With that, Caine disappears. As soon as he does, Bubble goes for the cards only to be popped by Ragatha. With both AI gone, all the humans sit in silence, waiting for…
Something.
…
When their patience is met with nothing, they relax. There's still an air of tension left in his wake.
“He’s definitely planning something, right?” Zooble asks, but is picking up their cards to continue the game anyway.
Pomni and Ragatha do the same, looking equally perturbed but otherwise relieved. “Oh, probably,” Ragatha agrees. “It would be wonderful if all this is actually helping him make some progress, though.”
“You did say nobody's done this before,” Pomni points out. “Maybe this is what we needed all along.”
“Maybe! I'm certainly not complaining.”
They leave it at that, continuing the game for another round.
Until the silence is thoroughly shattered by Caine's sudden reappearance.
“Oh, COME on!!”
Gangle shrieks and jerks her pencil across the paper. She stares at her ruined drawing in dismay as Caine gets right up in their space again, absolutely fuming now.
“Nothing? Really?? Reverse psychology is supposed to work on humans! You have those– the uh--” he gestures wildly, words failing him in his scattered state, so he snaps a brain into existence and points sharply at it. “Those! Psychology is all about those things!”
Zooble blinks, squinting at him in that patronizing way that never fails to push all the wrong buttons. “You mean… brains?”
“Oh do NOT get smart with me.” Caine rubs a hand at the center of his top gums, like he's nursing a headache. He's not far from it. “You know what, I don't even want you to go on the adventure anymore. You ruined it. You ruined the fun.”
“It's been an honor.” Zooble sounds almost amused, but Caine is decidedly not happy about humor at his expense, so he leaves without another word.
He considers going to see what Jax is up to, but. Something holds him back. The adventure won't be the same with only one participant, he tells himself. And he would rather wipe his memory than make another rushed solo adventure.
Whatever. Whatever. He doesn't care.
They'll have to break eventually. They can't seriously prefer days upon days of zero adventures. What else is there to do around here? Boredom is bound to set in, and they'll come crawling back to him. Crawling.
The mental image that conjures from that thought is the only thing that comforts Caine, brief as it is. That, and the determination now fueling him as he gets to work on yet another adventure.
This next one will be a hit. It has to be. If it's not--
Nobody likes your adventures.
Red and blue violently splits Caine's vision in half. No, not again--
His pleas go unheard. The glitching is intense and unyielding, as if his very code is trying to rip itself apart. He can't even clutch his head or shield himself, his body refuses to cooperate, twisting and mangling itself in ways that shouldn't be possible, shouldn't be happening. Why is this happening to him??
But, by some mysterious mercy, it's over just as quickly as it started. When the glitches die down, minute twitches ripple across his model that are far less uncomfortable. Still not great, so he doesn't move on quite yet.
He takes a second to let it play out, then unfolds from the fetal position he'd mysteriously ended up in and opens up an empty map. As he works, his hand continues to jerk, as if his rig was agitated by something.
However, a scan reveals nothing of the sort. Which is fine. It's whatever.
He shakes it out and does his best to work around the mild inconvenience. The twitching is definitely not doing his patience any favors, but he doesn't slow down once as he builds his newest adventure.
He definitely doesn't think about the inevitable rejection. Definitely doesn't feel another wave of glitching take hold as a result.
Falling apart at the seams or not, he has work to do.