Chapter Text
I find myself on a massive stage as soon as I put the VR headset on. Ultra saturated colors attack my eyes as I blink repeatedly. Suddenly there is a person whose avatar looks like someone's OC. I wonder if they made it themselves or if they just commissioned it.
“HELLO THERE! WELCOME TO THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS! I AM YOUR RINGMASTER AND I'M HERE TO SHOW YOU THE MOST WONDROUS, BEFUDDLING, EXSTAVIGANT EXATAVIGNZA YOU HAVE EVER IMAGINED! MY NAME IS C.A.I.N.E, WHAT’S YOURS?” The teeth-faced person practically yells. Why is he so loud, is he trying to deafen me?
“Umm. Well, could you maybe speak softer? And you can call me…” Oh goodness, I’ve forgotten my name. Well, it's the internet, maybe this is a new identity safety thing? That makes the most sense. I guess I should just go with my usual internet I.D in that case. “You can call me Yuaki, Yuaki Robets.”
Caine looks slightly shocked? Less than that though, just like I answered a question he didn’t expect me to actually know the answer to. Why? Oh, do most people use fake sounding names? Or maybe he didn’t expect my accent? (However slight it is)
“Well Then Yuaki!” He zooms towards my face and I instinctively stumble back. Wait, what? “The Rest Of The Cast Is On An Adventure So It Will Be Just Us Two For Awile!” He zooms back out and begins fiddling with his hat.
I just moved instinctively, I should not be able to do that in a game. Something is wrong. “AND ME!” I am shocked out of my thoughts by a flying sphere yelling in my ears. It is see-through and its voice was unpleasantly loud. It squishes itself against Caine, who looks at it with distaste. His eyes do a flip flop motion, I don’t know what to call it. “Oh, yes, And Bubble Here Too.” He pushes the newly named Bubble off of himself, which sends Bubble flying away.
“Hey, um, could you explain what's going on? With diagrams possibly?” I ask, it wouldn’t hurt to know, knowledge is power and all that. Plus, I don’t seem to be able to remember what I look like. That’s definitely not concerning at all, (note the sarcasm).
“Well! You have entered the AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS my zestful zucchini! Place of endless entertainment and wild fun! Once you enter you can never leave, and there are now 7 humans here with you joining us! I am the ring master and I make adventures for all you lovely humans to enjoy. I can control everything here, seeing as I made it. Anything but your mind! Those are outside my jurisdiction. You are currently in the ‘Tent.’” I look around again and see it properly this time. It looks unproportionally large, like I'm a toy in a circus themed dollhouse. He grabs one of my hands and with a snap we teleport “And here is the ‘Grounds’ where day and night are simultaneous!” The grass is a repeating texture and the sun and moon are actually both in the sky. The sky is a marbling of pale blue and deep black with lights inside, he snaps his fingers and we teleport again. “And further is ‘THE VOID’. Don’t go there!” I barely get a glimpse of an ever shifting nothingness before a snap and we teleport back to the ‘Tent’. “And now to your Room!” Caine announces but then lets go of my hand. “This way! Follow me!” He floats towards a hallway and I scramble to follow him.
He floats down the hallway, there are doors periodically spaced on the walls. Some have red X's on them while other's don't, I wonder why? Caine said that there were other humans so maybe I can try and find them later? What else did he say? Something about leav- WAIT I CAN’T LEAVE? What does he mean I can’t leave? Is this like SAO? Oh I really hope not, I’m really bad at games. Think, Think, you bought that headset off the internet by someone that said they think it’s functional but that they don’t understand why it isn’t actually working. That probably means that they put it on, and if they put it on that means that they should be here too but they're not. So that means this is something screwy. But wha- “Here we are my wonderful watermelon! You have your very own room!" Something that sounds like a ringtone sounds from his arm and he goes to look at it. "Oh! It seems the adventure is almost over, so I must Go Entertain The Other Humans Now! See You Later!” He disappears in a poof of colored smoke. I shake myself off and enter my new room.
It is the most eye offending clash of the colors I have ever even imagined. The walls are orange-pink and the floor is white and lime tiles and the roof is a tank of fish. The bed has one of those princess bed drapes (I think that colour is called periwinkle?) and there is a cork board covering almost the entirety of one of the walls. It is chaotic, bright, and messy, and I love it. What was I thinking about before? Oh, yeah, existential crisis… So, if the previous owner used it, but they are still out in the world, how else would they sell it to me? Then this doesn't actually trap a person, just, um, copies? Yeah, let's go with that for now. So I am a digital copy of myself, meaning my human self is going on regularly and trying to figure out how this headset works. So what do I do then? I’m not real, but I feel real because I remember being real. Oh, goodness, this is like “the world is a simulation” conspiracies but they ended up being true. Well, you already know how to treat those, so treat it like one. “I might not be real, but I feel Real, so I think therefore I Am. Everything is fine, the world is [sploinked] but- wait what?
The [ding]? I can’t curse? Well, that’ll certainly keep my sailors mouth down. But, ANYway. The world is [rinnggg], but we persist! Huh, I guess the world isn’t even my world anymore. Because if I’m right and am just code thinking it’s human then the real world isn't my world anymore. Like the outer gods maybe? Cosmic horror anyone? Oh great, the sarcasm is back." I sigh at myself, "at least you aren't manic. So, I’m not real and I’m moving on with my life without myself that I accidentally trapped into a video game, that won't get confusing.” I sigh, and just lay in the bed, let's see what digital sleep is like! Will I have to count digital sheep?