Chapter Text
1-02 || THERE IS NO ADVENTURE
Macroverse - Hospital 3rd Floor
December 24th 2023 - 11:44 p.m.
Caine
“I hate you…”
“…hate you…”
“…hate…”
Caine sighs as he slumps, or rather tries to, on the chair. It's been hours since Pomni even turned around to look at him and Caine knows that even his presence in the same room as hers is not pleasant for her.
He doesn't know what to do. Should he just… go away and leave her be? That seems like the best thing to do but a part of him, doesn't want to. Where would be go? He doesn't know a single thing about the Macroverse. Besides, outside it's so dark, the Sun having gone down hours ago. He also tried talking to it, trying to convince the NPC to stay a little longer but despite the insane amount of data he's able to collect from it, the Sun never actually answered him in any way. It really shouldn't bother him that much, but it does somehow.
An alarm chimes from the nightstand.
Caine's jaw jumps a few feet in the air, his eyes going wide for a moment before his jaw settles back to it's original place hovering on his shoulders over his non-existent neck.
Pomni, on the other hand, jerks awake. She sits upright in bed, her arms shaking from disuse. She turns around and squints at the light coming from a little rectangular shape on the nightstand. She grabs the object and taps on it once… twice and the thing finally stops it's chiming.
Caine can't help himself as he hovers over from the chair, eyeing the object in her hand. It looks like a tiny computer, it's screen full of color and cute icons. It certainly feels like one. Caine can feel all the electromagnetic field coming off of it, just like he sensed coming from the Sun. As he focuses on it more, a dull ache starts to creep up behind his eyes and inside his teeth. “What is that?“ he asks fascinated, touching the mattress with his feet and sticking his jaw in between Pomni and the phone she is now holding at arms length.
“A… an iPhone?“ She replies and Caine vaguely feels her try to sit back as he allows his eyes to get out of his mouth and glue themselves to the screen of the iPhone.
“It's a computer,” he says, touching the screen and opening what can only be the device's gallery.
Pomni scrambles, swatting his eyeballs with a hand and narrowly missing them as Caine floats away, eyes returning to their previous position inside his mouth. “Woah there, Pomni!“
“What- why are you still here?“ She asks, her voice rising and Caine suddenly feels a very different kind of ache behind his eyes. “If you're not ending this adventure then just leave me alone!“
Caine gestures frantically with his hands in front of him, trying to calm her down, “B-but this is not a-”
“I said leave! Go away!“ Pomni shouts again and Caine flinches back.
Caine meets her eyes, her green beautiful eyes and freezes on the spot. He should have left when she told him to. But he stayed, because he's selfish. Because he only thought of himself.
In the privacy of his office he had accused the humans of thinking only about themselves. Of being spoiled. But now looking back, why did he think that? All the anger, the resentment he had felt, Caine realizes it's all gone. As he looks into Pomni's eyes, he sees that same defeated gaze.
Before he can process more of what's going on, the door to the room is pushed open and a nurse with long brown hair and blue-ish scrubs runs in. “What's going on? Abigail, are you okay?“
“I… I just…” Pomni hesitates, looking between the nurse and Caine, now hovering in front of the window. Something in her eyes changes as she looks at the nurse. The life in her voice dies and she settles back on the bed, “bad dream,” she mutters, “I'm okay…”
“Come on, you need rest,” the nurse says, walking closer and adjusting the sheets, “Tomorrow is your big day!“
Pomni looks at the model, confused.
“You will start your rehabilitation sessions, remember?“ She says, catching Pomni's gaze as she adjusts the pillows behind her back. “You'll need all your strength-”
Caine watches as the nurse continues her speech. He's not listening to her and Pomni isn't either. She completely checked out.
Caine wants to say something to her, but he can't bear to see the look in Pomni's eyes anymore. Especially since that look, it's because of him. His presence is only hurting her.
He should have realized this sooner.
Caine sighs softly and turns towards the window, eyeing the dark landscape, full of thin trees covered in white. He puts a hand onto the glass and closes his jaw, concentrating. Before he knows it, his hand goes through and then he's gone.
✦ . ⁺ . ✧ . ⁺ ✦
He floats around the building for a little while, fascinated by the structure and all the lights coming from the inside, through the windows and pouring their faint lights outside. Some of them even illuminate the snow-covered trees, giving them a glow and Caine decides to store that information for later reference, so that when he's back in the Circus, he can work on a graphics update himself.
Caine then decides to fly away from the hospital. If Pomni doesn't want him with her, then he can't really impose his presence on her. Besides, he's used to it… being alone. Sure, he's in a completely new world with no way of actually interacting with anything… he doesn't even know if he can talk to anyone besides Pomni. The nurses and doctors that came into Pomni's room in the last five days, never acknowledged him in any way.
But it's fine… he's going to be fine…
He's used to this, he tries to convince himself.
He doesn't know how long he's gone from the hospital room. It must have been a while because the position of the stars and the moon has shifted a few degrees compared to the static objects, the trees and even the cars, he took as reference points.
His headache is getting worse for some reason but he ignores the pain in his eyes and teeth.
Despite how long he flew around, analizing the benches, the light poles, the cars, the snow covering the ground, he never actually flew past the entrance gates…
He can't bring himself to do it.
If he does, he'd be actually abandoning Pomni and he just doesn't want to.
But she asked him to leave her alone…
Caine whimpers, gripping his upper jaw with his hands. He can feel his eyes watering. His headache is getting worse.
Why is it getting worse…?
✦ . ⁺ . ✧ . ⁺ ✦
Macroverse - Hospital 3rd Floor
December 24th 2023 - 11:54 p.m.
Pomni
Pomni smiles tightly, pushing down the feeling of humiliation after having broken down in front of a stranger… one of Caine's NPCs no less. It surely felt different. The woman wasnt even that full as she expected her to be, which was a surprise to say the least.
The nurse turns the light off and closes the door behind her with a smile of her own. She doesn't remember the nurse's name… she had told her but Pomni really didn't and still doesn't have the energy to get attached to more NPCs only for Caine to unceremoniously delete them after an adventure is done. Better to just avoid that headache entirely, she reasons.
She sighs as she sinks back onto her pillows and looks at the spot where Caine had been only ten minutes ago, by the window, floating in the air and curled up on himself.
“It's only just… a game to him,” she mutters under her breath as she looks at the nightstand. The flowers are still there, yellow and vibrant.
As she stares at the flowers, she raises a shaky arm, ignoring how weak her muscles feel and touches the closest petals with her fingertips. They're smooth and small. She never had this much sensation ever since she got inside the Circus… everything felt muffled somehow. The room and… the NPCs also, they look… Pomni doesn't know what to think. They all look real. Even more real that what she remembered reality to be. “Caine really out-did himself with this one…” she muses, growing more irritated at the fact that she's actually praising such a madness.
She shakes her head and winces. She hadn't realized until now that she's got a headache. It's building on one side of her forehead and traveling down towards her neck. That's weird… she doesn't get headaches in the Circus.
Pomni looks towards the window. Everything is dark outside. She wonders if Caine remembered to build the environment outside of this room. Knowing him, he probably built the entire city this hospital is set in… he's a perfectionist after all.
Pomni stands up on shaky legs. They feel unsteady, like the slightest gust of wind could knock her over at any moment. Pomni fights a wave of nausea as she squeezes her eyes shut, trying to steady herself, her hand gripping the backrest of the chair beside her.
When she doesn't feel like she's gonna puke all her guts out, despite not having eaten anything solid even with her NPC sister present at lunch, she takes a few steps and reaches the window, opening it with a bit of effort and her eyes grow wide.
Everything is fully rendered and animated. There's cars and people walking around. The trees are completely dressed in white snow and the sky… the sky is full of stars surrounding the full moon.
It's different from the night sky she's becomes used to in the Grounds though. This one actually looks accurate.
Suddenly, her headache flairs and Pomni squeezes her eyes shut involuntarily, the low light coming from outside still proves to be like a lighthouse for her.
She doesn't remember getting back towards the bed, but as she sits there, she becomes vaguely aware of the fact that she's not alone in the room anymore and… the pain is gone!
She turns her head to the side and sees him.
Caine is back in her room again.
✦ . ⁺ . ✧ . ⁺ ✦
Macroverse - Hospital 3rd Floor
December 25th 2023 - 00:02 a.m.
Caine
“Why are you still here?“ Pomni asks, her voice a little strained. “I thought I had been clear, but in case you're too stupid to actually get it, I'll explain it plainly. I don't want you here. Either end this adventure right now or leave me alone! Haven't you done enough?!“
“Pomni… I-I…” Caine's looks at her, trying to float closer but then he catches the look in Pomni's eyes. She's terrified… of him. He casts his gaze to the ground and stays where he is. “I tried… I really did! Leaving, I mean. It's just that… I can't!”
“Caine, I swear to fuck-“ Pomni freezes for a moment, having expected Caine's filter to still be in place. She looks at him and narrows her eyes, “Do you think turning your swear words filter, or whatever it's called, off is gonna make up for this? For everything that you did to us?“
“There is no filter,“ Caine says, looking her straight in the eyes. His mismatched blue and green into her forest green, “and there is no adventure.“
“Oh yeah? Then what the fuck is all this?“ She gesture all around the room with shaky arms.
“Have you considered that maybe, just maybe…” Caine hesitates, also looking around, eyes landing on the night sky view from the window, “we might be in the macroverse right now?“
Pomni pauses, confused. “Macroverse?“
“Well…” Right, she doesn't know. “I call it that. It's whatever there is outside the Circus, past the edge of the Void.“
“…edge of…” she mutters, confused for just a moment, “the exit door!“ She exclaims, but then she looks towards the door. It's still closed, so she continues in a whisper. Caine can hear her just fine though. “But you said there was no exit You practically threw it into our faces with that fake escape the circus adventure.“
“I was sure there was no exit, I swear!“ Caine fidgets with his hands, not bothering to keep his voice down. He's figured out that, for some reason, no one except Pomni can hear or see him.
“Save your breath,” Pomni's eyes narrow to slits, “this is really fucked up, Caine.“
“I-I…” he hesitates for a moment before an idea comes to him. “I can prove it to you! Just…” he floats closer, extending his arm, “take my hand!“ Ignoring how Pomni's green eyes seem to widen as she looks at him. “I think something happened the last time I touched you, maybe if we touch again-”
“No!“ She interrupts him and her voice is still a whisper but stronger and Caine can actually feel her heartbeat going faster now. “Stay away from me! I'm tired of your lies!“
“B-but… I'm trying to make things right! I can make things right!“
“No, you can't,” Pomni shakes her head. “You think that putting an NPC that acts as my sister in a hospital room with me is going to make me forget? You tortured us, Caine!“
“I…” That's right, he did. He actually had been trying to forget it, his mind not really comprehending his memories. He feels like a different person. “I stopped…” he manages to say, but even before he said it, he knows it's not enough.
“Thats the least-”
“I know, okay?“ Caine really wants to float closer to her. Ideally he'd sit on her bed, right in front of her but, Pomni's never going to let him, so, sighing, he decides to float towards the chair and sits himself onto it, folding his tiny legs under himself. “I know I messed up… I was angry and… I lashed out at you guys. And I want you to know that I'm sorry.“
“It's a bit too late for that.“ She's quiet and her voice lacks the aggressive tone she had earlier, but still her words hit him like an electric discharge.
There's also something else that hits him, catching him off-guard. His mind is flooded with images. He's watching his own arm getting bit by a gummy lizard. More gummy lizards are surrounding him, biting him everywh-
“Stop that!“
Caine flinches back, the back of his jaw hitting the backrest of the chair and the world around him comes back into focus, “Pomni-”
“I don't want you inside my mind!“
“I think… you're broadcasting your thoughts to me-”
“Oh so it's my fault now?“ She asks, briefly turning towards the closed door of her room again, before continuing and Caine can literally sense the effort she makes of lowering her voice again. “And even if it were true, no one is making you watch them.“
“I-I'm sorry!“
“You're a hypocrite. First you apologize but you don't even know what you're apologizing for and then you get in my head again? You're doing it just to mess with me,” she says like she's realizing a bigger truth, “To make all of us depend on you so that we don't leave because, oh the poore AI feels lonely.“
“I-I…” Caine scrambles for an answer, he decides to tell her the truth. “I didn't mean to do it this time! I swear!“
“If you're really sorry, then take me back. End this fucked up adventure and leave us all alone.“
“I told you, this isn't an adventure. This is your world. I don't really know what happened but we're out of the Circus.“
“I don't believe you and stay away from me. Don't you dare touch me.“
Caine stops, eyeing her and taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself. It's strange. He never had the ability to breath before and he doesn't think he has it now, but still the act makes his headache more bearable. “Pomni, look around. Don't you see anything different?“ He pauses for a moment. Pomni doesn't answer him but from the look in her eyes, he knows she's actually listening to him. “ If this really is an adventure as you believe, then why does it look so different from the other ones? I'd say the graphics are way better than what I have been conjuring up until now.“
“So what, you just had a graphics update or something,” she says, but she doesn't sound convinced, “a-and maybe you wanna show off.“
“I'd love to get an update on anything…” Caine mutters under his breath, trying not to think about the original developers or how they abandoned him in order to work on… other things… “Do you think it's simple, having to handle the entire Circus? The adventures, even some of the other AIs running around while you guys whine about not being able to circle your own thumbs because you'd rather have nothing to do than participate to one of my adventures?“ He raises a finger, “Adventures that, I might add, are there to avoid you people becoming an abstraction risk, which two of you already are.“
“That's…” Pomni pauses and Caine feels something inside his chest again. His breathing constricts.
“That's the most open you've been out of the entire time I've known you… but why now? Why telling me this right now?” she says.
Caine stares at her, not really knowing how to answer that.
“Because you… they always just… want me to leave you guys alone.“ He knows he should just… shut up and let it slide. Not say anything. But, a part of him wants to tell her everything. “There's never time to talk to you. It's either 'Caine leave us alone' or 'Caine the chairs got stuck in the ceiling again'…”
“We're getting off track…”
“Uh…” he pauses for a few moments, scratching his upper jaw, “Didn't you want me to leave you alone?“
“I did… still do actually, but… I don't know, I guess I've felt the difference from the moment I woke up here. I just couldn't really place it. The doctors and…” she takes a breath, “Violet… they said I've been cometose for two months. Feels like two years though.“
He looks up. He knows how to help her! “Well, I do know a way to cheer you up!“
“I'm not in the mood Caine.“
“B-but… wait!“ A realization hits him, “So you believe me!?“
“Let's just say I'm not ruling out everything you say just yet.”
“Wowie!“ He floats back in the air, brimming with energy, “That's awesome news! Do you wanna see?“
“See what?“
“The difference! Between the circus and here!“ He floats closer to her and gets right on the edge of the bed, on his knees. “It's so odd! The vectors and the code and everything else is just gone. I didn't know you guys could understand all the models that exist in this Macroverse without code. How do you know exactly their position related to your position? What about their weight and textures? I-didn't-expect-everything-to-be-so-colorful! Can-you-also-see-all-these-lines-running-around? They mostly come from devices like your mini-computer. I think they're electromagnetic fields! I-never-actually-felt-one-of-those-before-the-Circus-is-a-closed-system-you-see-”
“Caine!“
He stops mid sentence, floating down a bit after noticing he almost reached the ceiling.
“You're doing it again. That thing where you get too excited and you start babbling and I can barely understand you.“
Well, he usually blue screened so, he'd call this an improvement. Not that he even noticed a difference, or something. Usually the players, some of them at least, more during the first years than now, made him notice whenever he did.
“Besides, I'm still pissed at you and as I said, I'm not exactly in the mood for chit-chat. But… I believe you. I'm still not ready for… whatever it is that you want to do touching hands.“
“I understand…”
“But… if we're out then what about the others? Can you locate them or something?“
“I have no idea,” Caine admits, “as I said, I tried leaving, giving you space, but could never go past the entrance gates. Every time I tried to go, I started feeling… disoriented and short of breath. Like something was choking the air out of me.“
“That's weird…” Pomni muses, “I think I started having a bad headache just before you showed up again in here… I'm not really sure though…”
“I think we're linked somehow,” he says and he knows he's going off on a complete hunch, but he's suddenly excited, “but we'll have to test it when you get out of here. I hear you start rehab tomorrow! That's awesome, by the way!“
Pomni snorts, “It just means some doctor is going to help me build up some muscles again,” she says, grimacing as she looks at her thin arms. “After two months in a coma, they said it's a wonder if I even sit up in bed without folding myself over…”
“I know what it means!“ He pouts, crossing his arms. What, does she think he's a child? “And I'll say it again! It's awesome. The faster you get your strength back, the faster we can understand what happened, maybe find the others if they're around here as well and how to reverse it-”
“Reverse? Caine, we're not going back.“
“B-but… why not? That's our home! And without me, who knows what's going on! What about Bubble, Sunny and Moony? The Sun and Moon here are so boring, you know? Besides, it's going to be different, now! I'm gathering a lot of data on the Macroverse! More than I ever hoped to get from the developers! Might I remind you that this-” he sticks a hand inside his mouth but then remembers that the .png files are all gone, “uhm… well, they didn't give me a lot to work with, just some office rooms and hallways… but anyways, now I'm in the Macroverse! I can study how it works and I'll be able to recreate it in no time! I'll even work on a graphics update!“
Pomni sighs, waving a hand in front of her to make him slow down, “That might be your home, but it isn't mine. Me and the others, we belong here.“
Having said that, Pomni adjusts her position on the bed, checking the clock on the nightstand.
Caine looks at it as well, trying to ignore all the flashy lines coming off of the device, intertwining with the ones coming off the iPhone's and the flowers'. His mind catches up quickly as he looks at the number displayed on the screen. It's almost midnight. That can't be right. Humans have strict sleep cycles and if they don't sleep, their mind batteries are basically dead. And they can't sleep during the day, because the day is for the adventures and activities and in Pomni's case, for rehabilitation.
Caine looks at the bed and finds Pomni already under the covers, only her hair showing from her position buried under the sheets.
He wants to go back to the window and look outside. He doesn't want to go outside right now but he can still admire the stars, almost wanting to slap himself silly knowing how off his approximation of a night sky had been in the past.
Instead, he suddenly feels a deep loneliness inside his chest. He hugs himself and cautiously floats over to the bed again, setting himself near Pomni's covered feet and curling himself up. He sets his jaw on her legs, grateful when he doesn't go through her. A gentle feeling runs through him at the contact and he closes his jaw.