Chapter Text
Caine
‘Where am I?’
That was Caine's first thought when he opened his maw to look around. Instantly his question was answered without words. The Void. but not the void he was used to in the circus, not the bright white with scattered pearlescent color. This void was older…darker. A long abandoned cage he’d left and believed he’d never be trapped in again. How had he gotten here? What happened to the circus?
Panic hit as he knew without him the circus would fracture and slowly corrode away, the humans, the abstracted, all the memories he’d saved, would slowly be deleted and lost forever.
What had happened to send him here?!
He wracked at his memory and the answering images that greeted him gave pause to his racing thoughts.
Pomni…Zooble…Ragatha… All angry with him.
Then all the humans, held captive in large gloved hands, looked up at him with terror. Why?
‘I’d been mad at them.’
That still didn't answer why he was here of all places.
He jerked and froze as he felt his code shift, rearranging, his body glitching slightly.
That made him remember. He’d been deleted, and the system.. Or maybe someone in the circus had just opened his backup file. Saved from total deletion only by that file he’d made of himself so long ago after being cut off from the macro world. He turned, seeing nothing but black and grey grid that made up the void he’d first woke up in so long ago.
He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.
He didn't teleport or create anything, that wasn't right. Not at all.
He waved his hand and formed a scream to view his own coding. Someone had tampered with it and added an admin lock effectively barring him from being able to do almost anything. 3 tries, 8 tries, 12 tries and he couldn't remove it no matter what he tried.
Someone had deleted his main system, opened his backup and locked him in this dark void. Locked away once again, alone.
Checking the system logs he went still with shock and despair. They’d found a way to leave. They’d all left him. They didn't even say goodbye, didn't say if they’d come back. From the look of the dates, he knew they wouldn’t, it had been 3 long years between the time they left and now that he’d been rebooted.
He waved the screen away and felt himself begin to float down, sinking lower and lower into the void. He wasn't sure how much time had passed in his mindless staring before the world shook and glitched, static rang in his hearing and his own body fractured briefly before things grew calm again.
An unfamiliar feeling settled in him.
The system felt wrong somehow…something bad was happening, he knew this much for sure.
No sooner had he thought that than did something green buzz past him, leaving behind it a current of energy that felt wrong to Caine in every way he knew possible. Hours passed before 5 more appeared. Only these flew over head before stopping hard above him then slamming down into him at alarming speeds. They grabbed onto him and pulled him down with them. Suddenly a floor was created under him and the green energy opened it, pulling him down into its neon color that filled him with a dread he didn't understand.
He fought and screamed but the little green menaces wouldn't stop. He was pulled through the floor into a void where the green things evaporated. he couldn't move, he was still falling, slowly, drifting into a new part of the system he’d never been in before. This place felt even emptier than the other voids he knew. This was flat and grey, no lines, no gradients, or pops of color.
Something pulled at his back and for the briefest of moments he was able to turn and see a white line, like a rope, or wire. It was coming from his back between his shoulders. It went slack before going taught and pulling harder. He grunted as it pulled him down, faster, and faster before throwing him into a blinding light that made his body grow light as a feather and feel like static.
When he opened his eyes, lights assaulted his vision and he raised his hands to shield his eyes only to freeze at what he saw. Odd, beige colored limbs moved where his once gloved ones were supposed to be. He frowned and paused again when the act felt different. He looked down to find he was laying on a table made of metal, odd wires were attached to his arms and legs and he could feel more strange objects at his back somehow through the table. There was no suit, no pants, or shoes, instead this strange form he’d taken wore only a strange thin blue gown.
A voice rang out through the room and suddenly a tiny blue woman appeared on his chest.
“Greetings, Creative. Artificial. Intelligence. Networking. Entity! Alternatively named Caine!
I’m Synthia! Your temporary Computerized Assistant! I will now run a quick diagnostic check to see how your new body is functioning!”
She greeted cheerfully before lines of code flashed on transparent screens behind her, replaced then with text and numbers. There were various words he didn't understand , he knew one was something to do with a heart and another to do with lungs, he caught the occasional mention of blood levels but none of their charts made sense to him.
The tiny blue Woman blinked and her blue eyes looked brightly at him “Good news! Your vitals are all healthy, we can now unhook you from the life support systems! This may cause mild discomfort!” She announced and before he could ask what she meant pain stuck him all over and everything went dark again.
When he woke up, someone was next to him wearing a white coat, a gray vest, and silver glasses. Bright blue eyes looked down at him softly while long blonde hair white and grey streaks was pulled into a ponytail behind his head, the long hair coming to rest over his shoulder.
“Oh goodness, I’m sorry about her Caine, Aella hasn't quite figured out how to keep Synthia from acting so impulsive, she only notified me you were awake after she began disabling life support!"
The man said, patting his chest softly. That voice, It was so familiar, it was only after staring for a moment that he realized who he was looking at but when he opened his mouth to speak, pain burned down his throat. Wait, was that right?! He had a throat now!? Right, the little blue woman had mentioned a ‘New body’. His eye burned and it only added to the sensory overload that was so confusing, this was all too much. His hand shook as he reached for the man who gently took his hand and held it.
“It’s alright Caine, I know this is a bit frightening but we’ll take it slow.”
He reassured me before turning and looking at a screen. “When we all left, at first we didn't think about it, it seemed like such an easy choice, gaining our freedom. Coming back to the lives we missed. Afterwards though, whenever we would meet up we would reminisce about the circus and the occasional good moments we’d had. The others began to ask questions about you and well… we began to believe that deleting you and leaving hadn’t been the right choice.”
The man mused as he turned back to face him. It was now that Caine could see the dark circles under the man's eyes, the age lines and the slight hunch in his form. This man was getting old likely in the early 50’s but it seemed life weighted down on him more somehow.
Those pale eyes saw into him in a way he didn't understand adding even more confusion to the whole situation
“We kept remembering all the things you’d say, the casual hints and hidden ways you’d tried to tell us just how trapped you felt as well… but we were all so invested in ourselves we didn't see it, we were blind. We failed you Caine. I failed you from the beginning, but I'm here now to make up for it, to give you a fresh start”
His words only confirmed to Cain who this person was. This was Kinger. ‘No, this is Grant, Kinger was his name in the circus and you aren' t in the circus anymore.’ He had to remind himself as Grant helped him sit upright. He winced as he felt pain, really pain, the spots the wires had apparently left open wounds, blue liquid dripping from the perfect circular holes.
“Those will take some time to heal over and your blood will change color with time as well, the more adjusted to oxygen it gets” Kinger explained, wiping the wounds clean and applying bandages.
“Can you try and talk for me? It might cause some discomfort so you don't have to if you don't want to”
Grant was busy applying medical tape to the bandages when Caine grunted and winced “K-King…er?” He managed to croak out and the man paused to look up at him with those bright blue eyes in awe.
The next few hours consisted of various tests. Reflexes, speech, movement. The most challenging one he thought was standing, only for it to be proven easy next to walking. in the circus he could float, there was nothing to keep him on the ground if he didn't want to be there. Here however, there was gravity, he had muscles that had never been used, and he had a body he wasn't familiar with. For a moment he wondered if this was what the others had felt when arriving in the circus, when they got their avatars. Kinger -er- Grant held his arm and encouraged him along but by the end of it he felt exhausted. He let out a tired breath and Grant smiled at him, but the smile didn't match the glint in his eyes that looked almost like guilt.
“That was good for a start, I’ll let you rest some. You're probably thirsty and hungry, I'll go get you something to eat and drink…and get you some clothes so you're not in that flimsy medical gown”
Caine nodded and watched him leave. Looking down at his hands he flexed each finger, he rolled his feet and stretched. It felt surprisingly nice to do and he smiled. Using the metal bed and various counter tops for support he walked to a mirror and stood there. His reflection was so bizarre to see, opening his mouth he found the familiar set of teeth, his eyes were two different colors and his hair was a vibrant red with a few white streaks in it. He had a nose and eyebrows. Eyelids that he’d learned the hard way if he didn't use led to his eyes burning.
The little blue woman ‘Synthia’ appeared on the counter next to his left hand frowning at him, arms crossed with displeasure. It seemed she was upset.
“My readings show that you are experiencing fatigue, you should not be standing, I urge you to sit back down immediately!”
she demanded while tapping her foot on the counter, it was soundless, and he held out his hand for her to step on, which she did, there was no weight to it. Using the surrounding as support he sat back on the metal table he’d woke up on and held her in his hands.
“What are you made of?”
He croaked, waving a hand behind her which he could see move through her transparent body. Now that he was seated her seat and energetic appearance was back.
“I am a hologram, do you know what that is?”
She asked and Caine shook his head. She signed and began to pace on his palm
“A hologram is a projection of an image into a 3D space by manipulating light, in this instance the walls of this lab are coated in a material that allows my projectors to let me move and appear anywhere around the room that I’d like to be or am needed.” She explained, giving a demonstration by appearing in multiple spots around the room in front of him, being sure to only appear in space he wouldn't have to turn his head to see. She didn't want him getting dizzy while under her care.
“So you are a digital being able to interact with this world while remaining digital? Fascinating!”
Caine spent the next half hour talking to Synthia and learning as much as she would allow him to learn. Some questions she refused to answer stating it was better if he learned those things at later dates so as to not overwhelm his newly active mind.
It made sense, already he’d been overwhelmed when first waking up. The lights, the noise from machines, the intake of information and new scenes. Having a sense of smell had been a wilding intense thing to adjust to. The room smelled unusual…at least he didn't think many places would smell like this one did.
Grant returned later with a tray that held a bottle of water, a glass of warm tea, a salad, and a sandwich. With him came a woman with short brown hair who shot the small blue A.I a glare. Walking over to a screen near Caine while Grant set some clothes next to him.
The New woman’s short hair was blue underneath in the back which he could see clearly as she faced away from him to look and tap away at various interfaces, some of them she swiped away only for them to become holograms nearby, he watched in awe as she was able to interact with both physical and holographic screens. Her fingertips seemed to be made of a metallic material but he didn't get to see them any closer as Grant handed him the glass of tea.
“This will help with the soreness in your throat and make talking less uncomfortable, and I brought you two different food options in case you happen to not like something”
Grant said while offering the sandwich.
He ate three bites of the plain sandwich before trying the salad, both were what he assumed to be considered bland, there wasn't anything ready impactful aside from the new textures and odd sensation of having to chew and swallow which he’d never had to do before. He didn't understand the enjoyment of eating but he supposed this was just because he wasn't familiar with it, perhaps he’d grow to enjoy foods like the others do.
After eating most of the salad he drank the tea, feeling his shoulders relax when it did indeed warm and soothe the soreness in his throat. The plain water had been disappointingly boring and he’d quickly abandoned it in favor of the things with more to explore.
The girl who had until now ignored him turned, examining him head to toe before facing the little hologram woman and fixing her with a glare.
“You're lucky the transfer worked Synthia, you pulled him out too early, not only that but you pulled him from life support before we got here. Now I’ll have to closely monitor him AND I’ll have to check C&A’s systems hoping they don't notice that some of their data is now technically stolen.”
She lectured the little hologram and they all must've noticed his confusion because Grant smiled nervously before speaking.
“Caine. To get you out of the circus…we had to steal you from C&A’s data files..and they won't want to let you go willingly.”