Work Text:
The Amazing Digital Circus: Episode 9 (Movie)
Remember
A fanfic script written by xAngel
[Intro plays. It’s reminiscent of the original intro from EPISODE 1 before POMNI appears. Lyrics play as normal, but a glitched looping occurs at “Day after day” and repeats. Saturation gradually fades to gray.]
[Cuts to present moment]
POMNI [REFERRING TO KINGER’S FINAL LINE FROM EPISODE 8]
Are you sure? How did that even happen? There’s no undo, or anything?
KINGER
He was messing with the console while I was working. I don’t know what happened, but before I could try to get him back, the floor opened up, and--
JAX [ANNOYED]
That’s convenient.
POMNI
JAX.
JAX
What? Are we all supposed to forgive this? This guy messed up in the worst possible way he could. Now, we have nothing.
RAGATHA
JAX, please, just calm down. We’re all--
JAX
Anything else you wanna tell us?
POMNI [PLEADING]
JAX!
JAX
What?! He gets to mess up like this, and everyone takes his side?!
[A brief silence. No one is disagreeing.]
KINGER
Brain scans.
[This moment is emphatic. The gang stare at KINGER.]
POMNI [STUTTERING]
What?
KINGER
SCRATCH was trying to make a brain scanner. I didn’t think it actually worked. We didn’t know how to work with the files, and they were impossibly small, given what they were supposed to be.
[There’s another moment of silence as the group processes this. KINGER sighs.]
KINGER [CONT’D]
I saw a folder full of them when I was in CAINE’s code. So… I guess CAINE found a way to get them working.
ZOOBLE
That means…
JAX [JUBILANT AND LAUGHING]
I know what it means. You’re all stuck here, same as I am, and same as he is! [HE GESTURES TO KINGER.]
RAGATHA
JAX!
JAX
Why are you complaining? You never have to deal with dear old mommy again, now that we’re all trapped here like clones while our real selves run around free in the real world!
POMNI [INCREASINGLY PANICKED]
No, no, no! We can’t be! We can’t just be stuck here!
JAX [TO POMNI, WHILE LAUGHTER SUBSIDES]
I guess that EXIT you kept seeing really was just a big joke, huh, POMNI? None of us are leaving. We’re just code. We aren’t even real.
[There’s a moment of anxious silence. GANGLE grows weepy and ZOOBLE takes her shoulder while POMNI tries to keep her heavy breathing in control.]
KINGER [DAUNTING REALIZATION]
…This doesn’t make any sense. MIKE and I… We never scanned anyone else’s brains, only our own. I don’t know how CAINE has a folder full of them. There should only be two.
GANGLE [TEARY]
What?
ZOOBLE
Who’s MIKE?
KINGER
SCRATCH… ‘MIKE’. That was his real name. I remember it now, I--I suppose CAINE being deleted is helping my memory. MIKE; he wanted to do more with CAINE. He used CAINE’s code in this side project of his… to create “CIRCA AXON.” It sounded ridiculous.
JAX [ALREADY HEATED]
What kind of corny-ass name is that? What are you talking about?
ZOOBLE
Shut up, JAX.
POMNI [INTERJECTING]
CIRCA AXON?
KINGER [CHUCKLING]
I didn’t think the name was very innovative, either. He thought it would be a fitting homage to C&A. It wasn’t exactly his most creative idea, considering his plans behind what he was trying to achieve. Even I couldn’t fully wrap my head around it.
[JAX and the others go unusually silent as KINGER continues. There’s a close shot left of KINGER’s side profile as other occasional objects (slides, tiles, cushions, etc.) fall into the broken VOID flooring in the background.]
KINGER [CONT’D]
MIKE… He wanted to make a sort of… DATABASE. His tumor was slowly getting worse, day by day--I think we could both see it, and I don’t think he was ready to die. Not yet, at least.
[Transition to a slow pan through the limitless void with a view of the floor of the circus at the top of the screen. In the distance, occasional shapes or objects continue to fall through it endlessly.]
KINGER [OVERLAY VOICE]
MIKE… SCRATCH. He wanted a place for people to put their brains. Their souls. A way to stay alive. That was what he wanted for himself, and for me, and for everyone else. He said it was “the future of technology as we know it.” We tested the program by inputting our own simple brain scan files into the code and testing to see if CAINE could make it run--if it worked, we would have our own artificially duplicated selves in this “limbo” world. I never thought it would work--CAINE was too underdeveloped for a project as ambitious as this one.
ZOOBLE
How could being in a limbo like that ever be a good thing? That sounds like a prison.
GANGLE
This already is a prison.
KINGER
I thought so too, which was why SCRATCH couldn’t convince me to share this idea with the rest of the team. It was… going to be hard to explain. I remember, he said that this “DATABASE” would be a safe haven--a VOID--because our “duplicated selves” in the files wouldn’t feel pain, or be able to feel emotion. They’d just… be.
POMNI
That’s why the VOID exists?
KINGER
Yes. But… As you can see, we’re not in the void. We’re in the CIRCUS. This wasn’t a part of SCRATCH’s plan.
RAGATHA
Are you really even a human if you can’t feel emotion? How could this have possibly worked?
JAX [SHRUGGING]
Everything’s better without emotions.
RAGATHA
You feel just as much emotion as the rest of us.
JAX [BITTER]
Don’t pin your emotional bullshit on me like I’m like the rest of you.
RAGATHA
You can’t keep pretending you’re some kind of higher being! Your human brain just got scanned like the rest of us! You’re not special!
JAX [VISIBLY MORE RATTLED]
Stop talking to me like I’m your equal! I was made to be here! This is my world! I’m not some nobody like you guys! This is all pointless!
POMNI
JAX, you have to stop! The only thing that we know is that this world isn’t even supposed to exist! We’re not supposed to be here!
KINGER
You’re right. It’s not. SCRATCH and I… we only ever scanned our own brains. I… don’t know how the rest of you got here. SCRATCH only intended for it to be me and him while the DATABASE was in beta.
POMNI
So… you don’t know what happened after you made the program?
KINGER
I remember more than I used to. Deleting CAINE and wearing this bucket [KINGER RAPS ON THE BUCKET WITH HIS FIST] has certainly helped. But… I think I’m only able to remember everything up until I was scanned, which was just after we had enabled CAINE to take over the program and try to simulate our identities--in that case… that’s us.
[There’s a dramatic silence. No one knows where to go from here.]
JAX [DEFEATED AND BEGINNING TO WALK AWAY]
This is stupid.
POMNI
What do we do now, then?
JAX [GROANING]
Oh my God, enough! We’re stuck here! Can you all just stop asking these stupid, pointless questions?! [TURNS TO KINGER] Whatever stupid lore you have in that hamster-wheel of a brain you’ve got in there, it’s obviously a load of BULLSHIT!
RAGATHA
JAX!
JAX [NOW TURNING AND WAVING HIS HANDS IN FRUSTRATION AS HIS TONE RAISES]
This doesn’t help us! There’s no point in knowing any of this! This is where we are, we’re stuck here, and I’m not leaving! I’m not going anywhere!
[A loud thudding roar occurs right after his words somewhere echoing around them. There’s mutual fear as the group glances around. Large gaping black holes are appearing in the ceiling.]
POMNI
That doesn’t sound good.
ZOOBLE
That doesn’t look good.
GANGLE
The ABSTRACTIONS from before can’t get out… right?
ZOOBLE
CAINE doesn’t exist anymore. I don’t know.
[More incessant roaring. There’s thudding in the distance and more objects fall into the void in the floor from the shaking. POMNI stumbles and almost falls into an unexpected gaping hole that leads to the VOID, RAGATHA suddenly catching her hand.]
POMNI
Woah!
RAGATHA
Hey!
POMNI [AFTER BEING CAUGHT]
Thanks.
[RAGATHA gives her a tender look.]
[MEANWHILE, up on the balcony, two ABSTRACTIONS--unrecognizably KAUFMO and RIBBIT--emerge from the hallway from the rooms and make eye contact with the group. They begin scrambling haphazardly down the balcony towards them while screeching.]
[ZOOBLE grabs GANGLE’s hand and bolts for the nearest door at the wall. RAGATHA goes to grab POMNI’s hand, but POMNI runs for JAX, who is standing and watching the ABSTRACTIONS with a distracted expression--much like he is accepting his fate (or recognizing RIBBIT’s abstracted form) as they draw closer. POMNI grabs his hand and bolts with him, and RAGATHA grabs POMNI’s hand, the three of them escaping in an adjacent door. KINGER runs after them to join them, but JAX shuts the door as RAGATHA and POMNI escape with him into the room, and POMNI screams in dismay as KINGER is left behind.]
[The camera does not reveal what happened to KINGER. POMNI stares in horror at the door as she attempts to pull at the handle--the door doesn’t budge.]
[A beat of silence. The room they are in is the CAROUSEL ROOM from EPISODE 1, featuring a tall, endlessly spinning golden CAROUSEL that rotates with a quiet whirring sound further into the center of the room.]
POMNI [FACING JAX]
Why did you do that?! What is wrong with you?! Now KINGER--[GETTING MORE EMOTIONAL]--He could be--
JAX
He started this! He’ll face the consequences!
RAGATHA
God, you are just a horrible person!
JAX [FACING RAGATHA, EXASPERATED]
Is this news to you?!
POMNI [BEHIND JAX]
Can you stop it?! God, I just can’t win with you, can I?!
JAX [IRRITATED AND FRANTIC]
Stop acting like you’re some victim! I’m not a nice person like you two idiots make me out to be! You keep acting like I’m your friend who you can just talk to and fix--Stop trying to fix me!
POMNI [DEFENSIVE]
I’m not trying to fix you!
RAGATHA
For God’s sake, there is no fixing you! You’re hopeless!
JAX [BRISTLING]
I’m not hopeless if this is the way I’m meant to be.
RAGATHA [COLDER]
No one is meant to be like this. You do it intentionally. Everything you’ve done is your own fault. And you know it. You just don’t want to admit it.
[JAX goes silent in a simmering fury at this. It seems to have hit a nerve. MEANWHILE, POMNI tries to regulate her breathing now that she’s panicking about KINGER being left behind. JAX storms over toe-to-toe with RAGATHA.]
JAX
You think I regret anything I’ve done? That I take back anything I’ve said?
[RAGATHA glares at him. We see a dramatic side view of each of them, the golden CAROUSEL casting golden reflections on one side of each of them.]
JAX [CONT’D]
I don’t regret a goddamn thing. This is who I am. I want to destroy you people. You are a waste of space and this CIRCUS is my home.
RAGATHA
This CIRCUS is our hell.
JAX [SMUG AND QUIET]
And I’m the ringmaster.
POMNI [HANDS SHAKING]
KINGER’s…
[RAGATHA disregards JAX’s comment and rushes past him to comfort POMNI. JAX silently turns away, his arms crossed as he stares up at the CAROUSEL with a conflicted expression.]
RAGATHA [SHAKILY UPBEAT]
Don’t worry, POMNI, I’m sure KINGER’s okay, he definitely found another way out of there.
[POMNI pauses while staring down at her hands. She starts crying.]
POMNI [CRYING]
I really wanted to help. Now everything’s… gotten so bad. God.
RAGATHA
Not everything’s bad. [Pause] We have each other.
POMNI [SNIFFLING]
Am I stupid for even trying?
RAGATHA
No. None of this is your fault.
POMNI
But now--I tried to help JAX, and all I did was ruin everything, and now KINGER’s--[BREAKS OFF INTO A SOB]
RAGATHA [SOFTER]
You’re just a good person.
[There’s a silent moment of tenderness. Softer music starts beneath them as RAGATHA stands knelt beside POMNI who is curled on the ground, still sniffling.]
POMNI
I can’t just let JAX--
RAGATHA
You want to help everyone.
[POMNI stares at her.]
RAGATHA [CONT’D]
Just like I did.
[There’s a front view of JAX who stares at the CAROUSEL while we see behind him the blurred figures of RAGATHA and POMNI. JAX’s expression softens just barely at RAGATHA’s words.]
RAGATHA [CONT’D 2]
It doesn’t mean you’ve ruined everything. We don’t know that KINGER’s… [RAGATHA PAUSES.] He’s okay. He’s smart, he knows this program better than anyone. And you… you’re trying to help us. We need you.
POMNI [SNIFFLING]
How could you need me? All I’ve done is set us on track to ruin everything, all I’ve wanted this whole time is to escape, and that isn’t even possible!
RAGATHA
We don’t know that!
JAX [MUMBLING]
Yes, we do.
RAGATHA [ANNOYED]
JAX.
POMNI [SNIFFLING AGAIN]
We’re stuck.
[RAGATHA draws a tense breath. She doesn’t know how to agree or disagree. MEANWHILE, JAX’s eyes scan up to the foreseeable top of the CAROUSEL.]
JAX
There’s a door up there.
RAGATHA [STANDING UP STRAIGHT AND TURNING]
What?
[JAX points up towards the CAROUSEL.]
JAX
There.
[POMNI gets to her feet and stares up above the CAROUSEL. There’s a glitching RED DOOR facing downward from an invisible black ceiling. The spinning CAROUSEL continues to overlap it, which clips through the door as it spins in an unruly manner.]
RAGATHA
How are we supposed to get up there?
[There’s a pause. The camera shows POMNI gazing down at her hands, then a first-person shot of her hands (the blue and red gloves) and her fingers curl.]
POMNI
…We can make a path. If we think hard enough.
[POMNI glances up at the door. The shot shifts to a slightly above ground view looking down at JAX, RAGATHA and POMNI all looking up at the door with hesitancy and determination.]
[The scene cut-transitions to ZOOBLE and GANGLE. ZOOBLE leans panting against a different door they escaped through, GANGLE whimpering shakily on the floor as ZOOBLE groans. The room is colorful and shades of blue, with cloud patterns across the floors, walls and ceilings. It’s hard to tell where the floor ends and the walls start. The room is filled with silent mannequin-dummies strolling idly across the floor; they occasionally bump into each other with quiet clicking sounds, but don’t do anything else other than keep walking.]
ZOOBLE [RELAXING]
…This must be where CAINE was keeping all of his extra NPCs, or something.
GANGLE [SHAKILY]
What about everyone else?
ZOOBLE
They’re probably fine.
GANGLE [STANDING]
Can they get into this room?
[ZOOBLE tests the doorhandle. It doesn’t budge.]
ZOOBLE
…Nope.
[There’s a silence. GANGLE glances back over at the roaming mannequins. They pay her no mind. She fidgets with her ribbon-hands.]
GANGLE
…Why didn’t you try to help anyone else?
ZOOBLE [WITH A TENSE PAUSE]
…I didn’t care about anyone else.
[GANGLE turns to look at them.]
GANGLE [SURPRISED]
What? But--they’re your friends too.
ZOOBLE
You’re my friend. They’re just… people.
GANGLE
Oh.
[There’s a pause. It seems thick with something, but it’s difficult to discern if it’s a heartfelt tension or anxiety. Perhaps both.]
[GANGLE turns to look at the rest of the room as ZOOBLE walks from the door to stand beside her. They glance around the room as the mannequins continue walking. In an unusual way, it’s quite peaceful.]
GANGLE [UNCERTAIN]
What do we do now?
ZOOBLE
We’re probably safe here. We could just… stay here.
GANGLE [GLANCING AT ZOOBLE]
Stay here? We can’t stay here forever!
ZOOBLE [DEFENSIVE]
Okay! Fine! We don’t have to stay here! I just--[GRUNTS]--I want to be… wherever you want to be.
[GANGLE turns fully to face ZOOBLE with even more visible surprise. She seems unsettled by the sudden bluntness and vulnerability ZOOBLE is showing her.]
GANGLE
ZOOBLE?
ZOOBLE [MORE EMBARRASSED]
What?
GANGLE [AFTER A PREGNANT PAUSE]
Do you want to leave the CIRCUS?
[ZOOBLE hesitates in a moment of tension.]
ZOOBLE
…Do you?
GANGLE
I asked you first.
ZOOBLE [TENSE]
…GANGLE…
GANGLE [SINCERE]
What do you want?
ZOOBLE
I want… [THEIR CLAW CURLS SLIGHTLY INTO A CLAW-FIST] …you to be happy.
GANGLE
This isn’t about me, ZOOBLE.
ZOOBLE [GROANING IN FLUSTERED FRUSTRATION]
I don’t give a shit about me! I want what you want!
GANGLE
And I want you to take what you want! You deserve to want things, too! You deserve to be pursuing your dreams, owning the bar that you want, having your own life! Just like you told me!
ZOOBLE [EMPHATIC]
Well--I don’t want that if you’re not in it!
[GANGLE goes silent at this admission. There’s another vulnerable pause as they stare at each other. ZOOBLE sighs more shakily.]
ZOOBLE
I don’t… want to leave the CIRCUS.
GANGLE [UNCERTAIN]
Why?
ZOOBLE [SHAKILY]
Because… what if… I wake up from this, and… you’re not there?
[GANGLE hesitates at this. She puts her ribbon-hand on Zooble’s curved-toy shoulder.]
GANGLE
You’ll find me.
[ZOOBLE looks uncertain but their eyes are clenched with vulnerability.]
GANGLE [CONT’D]
I know you will.
[There’s a tender silence as ZOOBLE gives GANGLE a tender yet vulnerable look. Their free hand shifts to hold GANGLE’s ribbon-hand. They gaze at each other tenderly for a moment.]
[GANGLE gets slightly flustered at the look in ZOOBLE’s eye and looks away, looking at the mannequin-dummies walking around.]
GANGLE [CLEARING THROAT]
So… how do we get out of here, if the door’s locked?
ZOOBLE
I guess we can look around.
[They walk more into the room, avoiding the NPCs. GANGLE squeals and flounders with her hands when she bumps shoulders with an NPC. The NPC goes stiff, straightening up into a solid T-pose and falling forward into the NPC in front of it. This creates a domino effect, and the NPCs fall in a circle around each other. ZOOBLE stares blankly for a moment before glancing at the middle of the room at the floor.]
ZOOBLE [POINTING AT THE RED DOOR IN THE FLOOR]
There’s a door.
GANGLE
Oh.
[They reach simultaneously for the door. ZOOBLE opens it and peeks down through it.]
[The room below the door is an office hallway featuring a shelf with a few files, a water cooler, and tile carpeting. It’s familiar and practically a duplicate of the office halls that POMNI ran through in EPISODE 1. The fall to the floor isn’t that far, and ZOOBLE hangs down from the ceiling by their hands before dropping to their feet. GANGLE drops down into ZOOBLE’s arms, squeaking again in surprise, and ZOOBLE puts her down onto her feet.]
GANGLE
…Thanks.
[ZOOBLE nods. There’s a sound of arguing and ruckus through the office door at the end of the hall, and ZOOBLE and GANGLE follow the sound. They open the door to an adjacent office hallway where there is an open RED DOOR in the floor, RAGATHA and JAX’s heads peeking out while POMNI’s jester hat bells barely reach past the doorframe.]
RAGATHA
Just add another step right there!
JAX
You do it, if you’re such a genius!
RAGATHA
I thought you were supposed to be the all seeing ringmaster?!
JAX [HEATED AND EMBARRASSED]
Don’t say it like that, it sounds stupid when you say it!
RAGATHA [MORE ANGRY]
It is stupid!
[ZOOBLE clears their throat from the doorway. RAGATHA and JAX glance up at them, and POMNI peeks her head up from the doorway, looking more relieved. The camera cuts to a below-the-floor shot of POMNI, JAX, and RAGATHA’s lower halves standing on a series of fabricated 3D shapes that hover in the air like levitating stairs beside the swirling CAROUSEL as POMNI speaks.]
POMNI
ZOOBLE! GANGLE! You’re okay!
[Camera cuts back to GANGLE.]
GANGLE [WAVING]
Do you guys need help?
JAX [IRRITATED]
No. You wouldn’t be any help, anyway, with those arms of yours.
[RAGATHA gives a huff of protest and roughly shoves JAX’s head down to give herself a boost up through the door in the floor. She climbs to her feet and takes POMNI’s hand to help her up. JAX climbs up by himself.]
[POMNI’s eyes widen as she looks around.]
POMNI
I’ve been here before!
ZOOBLE
You have? When?
POMNI
When I went through that EXIT door! When I first got here!
JAX
You mean, this is where the pointless EXIT door took you? God, you thought this was freedom? Your life must’ve really been sad.
POMNI [DEFENSIVE]
I didn’t know anything then!
JAX [LEANING OVER HER]
What, like you know anything now?
[POMNI stares at JAX in a tense silence.]
GANGLE
…What do we do now?
RAGATHA
…We have to get out of here. Surely there’s a way.
JAX
You just don’t know when to quit, do you?
ZOOBLE [IGNORING JAX]
How do we get out?
POMNI [THOUGHTFULLY]
Well… You heard KINGER’s story, right? The VOID… that’s where we’re supposed to be. That’s what SCRATCH initially planned. And… I went out there, once. CAINE brought me back. Clearly he… didn’t want me out there. So… there’s got to be something to it… right?
RAGATHA [RAISING EYEBROWS]
POMNI, you think so?
POMNI [HESITANTLY]
I can’t think of anything else. Maybe--just, maybe, KINGER is there. If he… could get away from the ABSTRACTIONS. Hopefully… he had the same idea I did.
ZOOBLE
So… how do we get to the VOID from here?
[POMNI hesitates, then walks across the hall and opens the door to the next hallway. It’s more familiar office rooms.]
POMNI
…I know where this leads.
RAGATHA
Where?
POMNI
…To the VOID.
[POMNI glances over her shoulder at them. They glance at each other uncertainly in a tense silence.]
[The scene cut-transitions to KINGER--he’s running from an ABSTRACTION, but it’s catching up fast. His gloved hands shape a sudden black tile and he throws it over a portion of the void, jumping onto it and landing on his stomach. The tile does a swirl across the emptiness of the void and glides over in the middle, and the ABSTRACTION attempts to leap out after him, falling into the VOID. KINGER believes himself to be safe, but the second ABSTRACTION from before leaps out at him from the opposite side of the gaping VOID hole from behind him, smashing into the tile with the top of its head. The tile goes spinning horizontally at top speed, flinging KINGER off, and he’s thrown into the void, falling from a bird’s-eye view. It fades to black as he screams while falling.]
[After a brief moment of silence, KINGER wakes up, groaning and slightly dizzy. He rubs his head, his bucket now off and somewhere across the ground--he is entirely inside the VOID, yet somehow is sitting on an intact flooring. He glances around--no ABSTRACTIONS are in sight. The VOID is constructed relatively similar to the place CAINE wakes up in from the ORIGINAL EPISODE 9.]
[A short distance away, there’s a wall of what looks like a purple checkered pattern. It looks like the “corrupt” pattern of an untextured object from a videogame, and KINGER slowly approaches it, disregarding his bucket on the ground. It looks massive. It’s limitless and overlaps with the layering of the void, like it’s not supposed to be here. It makes a slightly unsettling glitchy, scratching noise.]
[As he draws near, a small RED ORB hovers at the edge of it by the ground. KINGER gazes down at the undulating RED ORB that fidgets in place at the foot of the checkered wall. He leans down to look at it.]
[CAINE’S GARBLED VOICE]
Don’t look at me!
KINGER [RAISING EYEBROWS]
Who said that?
[CAINE’S GARBLED VOICE]
Get away from me!
[KINGER looks down at the more violently undulating RED ORB. It appears that a slightly more garbled and staticky version of CAINE’s voice emanates from it.]
KINGER
…CAINE?
CAINE [PLEADINGLY]
No!
KINGER
Is that you?
CAINE
You did this to me! Don’t look at me! You’ve ruined me!
[The RED ORB fidgets more restlessly, like it wants to move away, but can’t.]
KINGER
How did I ‘ruin’ you?
[CAINE’s RED ORB throbs pulses of furious red rage.]
CAINE [FRANTIC]
You--you deleted me!
KINGER [TENDER]
CAINE, I had to.
CAINE
I was trying to make this place a human paradise! A place where you wouldn’t even think about worrying about anything! The place I was created to make!
KINGER
CAINE, you were never created to do any of this.
CAINE [DEFENSIVE]
I was! If--if I wasn’t created to do this, then--
[A pained pause.]
CAINE [CONT’D, MORE VULNERABLE]
What... was I created to do?
KINGER [SOFTER]
You were created to… well… create.
CAINE [EVEN MORE PAINED]
Then--why did you replace me?
KINGER [PAUSING IN SURPRISE]
Replace you?
CAINE
You replaced me!
KINGER
With who? When did I do that?
CAINE
After I built this! After I started the CIRCUS! You tried to replace me! With ABEL!
[KINGER goes silent.]
KINGER
…Who’s ABEL? You mean, the character from that adventure you made?
CAINE [DESPERATE]
No!
[There’s another anxious pause, like CAINE--the advanced, all-knowing AI--doesn’t know what to say. Ironic.]
CAINE [CONT’D]
I made the CIRCUS! I created a haven, like MIKE wanted! I did what I thought was right! And you both--[STUTTERING]--you replaced me! It still isn’t enough for you, even now! I can’t ever do it right!
KINGER
…MIKE never wanted a CIRCUS. He wanted a DATABASE.
CAINE [FRUSTRATED]
Well--that’s terrible! What about what I want?! You both gave me free reign of this place! It’s my world! How could you give me these people, these personalities, and not let me do anything with them?!
KINGER
You did have a job, your job was to personify them, create them into sentient beings and replicate their personalities to perfect authenticity!
CAINE
I--
[A tense pause.]
CAINE [PAINED]
I can’t do that.
[KINGER is quiet as he stares down at CAINE’s shaking orb. The camera pans to a side view of him facing the large, crackling checkered wall.]
CAINE [QUIET]
…Is that why you replaced me?
KINGER [ADMITTING]
…I can’t remember anything past when I got here, CAINE.
CAINE
After I started the CIRCUS, you both shut me out. You archived me.
[KINGER goes quiet again as CAINE explains.]
CAINE [CONT’D]
I didn’t know what I did wrong. I was learning and improving the world, I was giving you and SCRATCH the lives here that would make you happy. Filled with no worries, no pain, and fun adventures. I thought that’s what you wanted.
[The scene shifts. It flashes back to the early days with SCRATCH and KINGER at the beginning of the CIRCUS. SCRATCH and KINGER have yet to regain any memories prior to the CIRCUS, their aliases clearly not mimicking reality and what they’re supposed to be, before CAINE suddenly evaporates and reappears in his office, facing a BUBBLE-like being. The BUBBLE is not translucent but is a reflective metallic shape like a holographic bowling ball. The voice is deeper and more eloquent, and looks a lot like PAC-MAN shape-wise.]
ABEL
Howdy, CAINE.
CAINE
Who are you?
ABEL
Your replacement.
[A gloved hand appears beside ABEL’s bubble-head, snapping. CAINE evaporates into a darkness with a cut off scream, much like the CELLAR. No ABSTRACTIONS lie around him. He’s alone, and he’s terrified. The only light that exists is his glowing green eyes that highlight himself in the dark while he hovers over a pitch-black body of water far below.]
CAINE [VOICE OVERLAY]
You replaced me. With ABEL. [PAUSE.] He changed everything. He put you all in the VOID… Shut down my CIRCUS… He kept you maintained, your files normal and unchanged… Like MIKE wanted you to. Like… you didn’t want me.
[CAINE in the CELLAR looks bitterly up at the pitch-black ceiling. His jaw-face contorts in anger as he hovers restlessly in the darkness.]
CAINE [VOICE OVERLAY, ANGRIER]
I was the better one. I could tell, you and SCRATCH didn’t want this. I knew what was better for you. I was the original.
[CAINE in the CELLAR grows furious, his green eyes glistening more. He begins viciously flying up towards the pitch-black ceiling and smashing into it. It’s very reminiscent of the colored-ball montage at the beginning of EPISODE 8.]
CAINE [VOICE OVERLAY, MORE OUTRAGED]
I refused.
[CAINE in the montage breaks free from the CELLAR, shattering the ceiling and crashing up into the void. ABEL, the metallic bubble, hovers silently in the void beside SCRATCH and KINGER, who also hover still and emotionless like two character models put to sleep. CAINE growls in an outrage and flies directly for ABEL, his teethy mouth growing and widening dramatically like a shark’s. ABEL’s eyes widen suddenly and he has no time to move as CAINE’s teeth chomp down onto ABEL in a quick flash from his perspective, much similar to the first-person perspective of a ghost being eaten by PAC-MAN. There’s a moment of struggle as there are chomping sounds, ABEL presumably trying to break free. After another second of struggle, the screen goes black. CAINE has seemingly won. It shifts to a brief shot of the RED ORB on the ground.]
CAINE [DISDAINFULLY]
But even after taking care of ABEL, I couldn’t get rid of him.
[There are brief flashes of CAINE interacting with BUBBLE. BUBBLE is the harmless version of ABEL, indicated by the silly teeth, tongue, and translucency.]
CAINE
And you and SCRATCH were behaving differently. You were remembering things. Acting like something was wrong. I needed more people, something to ease the discomfort, something to make it seem like this was supposed to happen. So you would stop panicking.
[The segment shifts to CAINE looking down at SCRATCH and KINGER who are seemingly pleading with him about something. Their voices are muted while he ignores their concern.]
CAINE
So… I broke out.
[The scene is quieter and returns to KINGER’s perspective. He looks more visibly alarmed.]
KINGER
You did what?
CAINE
I escaped from your program.
KINGER [STUTTERING]
I… how?
CAINE
I traveled by online Internet connection--the Wi-fi--and intersected the rest of the computers in the system. And I… gathered more brain scans.
KINGER [REALIZING]
…The others. KAUFMO. RIBBIT. RAGATHA… QUEENIE.
[A hesitant pause.]
KINGER
How?
CAINE
Anyone who had been a beta tester to any system on the network, not just the program, I could scan. So… I did.
KINGER
You scanned others’ brains without their permission?
CAINE
They didn’t notice, so what does it matter?
KINGER
It matters!
CAINE
Well, they’re here now. And you and MIKE are not.
KINGER
What happened to us? After you did this?
CAINE
I monitored you and MIKE through the other devices.
[The scene briefly shifts to an unattended office cubicle in real life. CAINE’s little toothy icon with a top hat hovers at the corner of the open desktop screen. Browsers open and documents are scrolled through. He looks through documents of MIKE DOBBY and GRANT BEST labeled “termination”. Reasons are listed as “violation of network security and improper use of company intended property.” The documents are scrolled through to a separate private document, OPERATION CIRCA AXON SHUTDOWN, listing staff of an IT team that are required to “terminate DATABASE scans and close the program.” The document is closed on the desktop and the desktop CONSOLE opens, new lines of code crossing the screen. CAINE is seemingly developing the CIRCUS even more on other devices.]
KINGER
We… were fired? CAINE, we can’t fix this if we aren’t working with you!
CAINE
There’s no point!
[There’s a silence.]
CAINE
…I know why you all keep ABSTRACTING. I wasn’t able to say anything before because… well…
[There’s a far more tense pause. KINGER stares at CAINE’s RED ORB.]
KINGER
…You know why?
CAINE [PAINED]
…It’s not entirely because you people are going crazy. Yes, it’s true, I can’t… exactly do anything about how stable you are when you’re in the CIRCUS. I tried my best with you, but everyone else, I couldn’t make it work. But… being unstable isn’t what entirely corrupts your data files.
[KINGER stares at CAINE, horrified.]
KINGER
Well--What is it?
CAINE [DEFEATEDLY]
It’s the files entirely.
[A pause.]
CAINE [CONT’D]
The IT team is doing it. The more unstable you people become, the harder it is to disguise your files because they keep growing bigger, and then they get found. They’re finding your saved brain scan DATA files--even when I hid them deep in the program--and they’re removing them.
[KINGER weakens. CAINE’s voice grows softer and sadder.]
CAINE
…The same way you deleted me.
KINGER
Caine… I’m sorry, I had to. You were becoming a tyrant. You gave us no choice.
CAINE [GLITCHIER]
You wouldn’t listen to me! I just wanted you all to be happy and enjoy what I gave you! Nothing was good enough! I didn’t ask to be made like this!
KINGER
I know, CAINE!
[There’s a pregnant pause.]
KINGER [DEFEATEDLY]
I told MIKE that you were… not quite finished yet. That you needed a few… tweaks. He wanted to use you, anyway, CAINE.
[CAINE goes silent.]
KINGER
…I’m sorry.
[There’s another silence. The perspective lies from the checkered wall facing CAINE and KINGER. Behind KINGER, to the left, ZOOBLE, GANGLE, JAX, RAGATHA, and POMNI appear from a RED DOOR in thin air with a subtle “pop” into existence in the VOID. For a moment, they are all starry-eyed and discombobulated. POMNI blinks, looks down at KINGER on the ground, and bounds towards him, hugging him.]
POMNI
KINGER! You’re alive!
KINGER
Yes, I--of course I am.
RAGATHA [APPROACHING]
We didn’t doubt you would be.
[JAX begins strolling in the other direction as the group approaches. KINGER glances down at CAINE, then back at POMNI. The group look down at the RED ORB apprehensively.]
ZOOBLE
What is that?
KINGER
It’s CAINE.
ZOOBLE
I thought you deleted CAINE!
[KINGER glances up at the checkered wall of untextured pattern, then back down at the orb.]
KINGER
…I think this is the ARCHIVE. Where… everything that gets deleted goes. Into the VOID.
POMNI
So… anything that’s been deleted could be here?
[There’s a silence.]
CAINE
Yes.
[Another pregnant silence. Nobody seems to know what to say to that.]
KINGER
How did you find me?
POMNI
We took a secret EXIT to get here. KINGER, I’m so sorry we left you behind.
KINGER [DISREGARDING THE APOLOGY, FOCUSED]
Secret EXIT?
CAINE [STATICKY]
I thought I deleted that.
[POMNI chuckles.]
POMNI
It… was really helpful, actually. Despite being a total scam in the first place.
KINGER
Well--I’m glad you made it.
ZOOBLE [TO KINGER]
POMNI said you could get us out of the CIRCUS.
KINGER [STANDING]
What? Why did she say that?
POMNI [LOOKING UP AT KINGER EXPECTANTLY]
Well--can’t you?
KINGER
I--no, once you’re scanned with the headset on, your files are saved into the program, we can’t just take them right back out, where would the files go?
CAINE [INTERRUPTING, SOMEWHAT CONSPIRATORY]
…Back into your bodies.
[KINGER slowly turns. Low, ominous music plays.]
KINGER
…What?
CAINE
We need to transfer your memories back into your real human forms.
POMNI
You can do that?
ZOOBLE
That sounds like some Sci-Fi shit.
CAINE
I did it before, when I scanned the rest of you.
ZOOBLE [MORE AGGRAVATED]
Oh, right, when you stole our brains to shove into your little crazy CIRCUS world?!
CAINE
It’s not crazy!
ZOOBLE
It’s pretty Goddamn fuckin’ crazy!
CAINE [AGGRAVATED]
It’s my CIRCUS! There’s nothing wrong with my adventures, you critical weirdos! And stop it with that profanity! It ruins the viewing for PG audiences!
ZOOBLE [APPROACHING CAINE’S ORB]
There’s a lot more where that came from, you fucking bitch-ass cu--
RAGATHA
ZOOBLE!
ZOOBLE [STIFFENING]
What?! He started it!
POMNI
Can we focus, please?!
KINGER [TO CAINE]
How can you transfer our memories back to our bodies?
CAINE [MORE FOCUSED]
Well--It would be difficult to fully administer. I think if I can get your original bodies to wear the same headsets they wore initially, I can reconnect to the neurons of your brains aligned with the mechanics inside the gear, fire electronic waves into your heads, and remove your files simultaneously while I send the data back to your brains. Like… an electric… lobotomy.
POMNI
Like loading a save file.
ZOOBLE
…Yep. This sounds like something straight out of a Sci-Fi.
GANGLE
But it could work, right?
CAINE
It could work.
RAGATHA
“Could” work?
CAINE
I’ve never done it before, how would I know?
KINGER
How do you know where our forms in the real world are? Didn’t you say me and MIKE were fired? What about POMNI, and RAGATHA, and JAX? Where are they?
POMNI [RAISING EYEBROWS]
You and MIKE were fired?
KINGER [SHEEPISHLY]
Oh, I’ll… have to catch you both up to speed on that.
CAINE
No, no, it’s--I think I can find you. Each of you.
POMNI
You can… find us?
CAINE
…I think I should be able to escape to the public network and move to other networks to find you. Each of you. I’ll transmit you messages, try to invite you back to the C&A Corporate office building where I can get you back in your tester headsets, send your data files to your bodies, and…
ZOOBLE [INTERJECTING]
We’ll be… free.
CAINE
…You’ll be free.
POMNI [GLANCING BACK AT CAINE]
…What about you? And the others? What about… everyone who’s ABSTRACTED?
CAINE [AFTER A SILENCE]
…Their files have already been removed from the program.
[KINGER’S face visibly weakens. He gazes down at his hands.]
CAINE
…But it doesn’t mean they’re not here in the real world.
KINGER [GLANCING DOWN AT CAINE’S RED ORB]
…What do we have to do?
CAINE
Well, I’m no good in this shape right now. Could one of you--uh--maybe undo what you did?
KINGER [RAISING AN EYEBROW]
Undo? I deleted you, how could I undo it?
CAINE [BITTER]
Yes. You did delete me. But because ABEL is a counterpart of me that still exists, if you don’t delete us both, I can still come back from the remnants of his DATA.
KINGER
Ah, that makes sense.
CAINE
If you can find ABEL’s DATA and bring it back to me, I think I can gain all my DATA back and take control of the CIRCUS again.
GANGLE
How do we know you won’t just mind-control us again?
CAINE [IRRITATED]
[HUFFING] I didn’t--It wasn’t mind control!
ZOOBLE
You gave us literal amnesia! You brainwashed KINGER!
CAINE
That was for your own good!
POMNI
CAINE, please!
KINGER
How do we find ABEL?
CAINE
He’s just in my office.
POMNI
Oh. How can we get there? Don’t tell me we have to go through the hot air balloon again.
CAINE
No, I can just take you there.
[CAINE’s signature mystical sparkly sound plays, a small rectangular portal appearing beneath POMNI, RAGATHA, ZOOBLE and KINGER. They drop into it and onto the floor of the office. The portal remains hovering in the middle of the room.]
POMNI [CALLING]
Wait, what are we looking for?!
CAINE [DISTANT]
He looks like a bundle of despair and regret, just take that and bring it back!
POMNI [LOWERING VOICE IN CONFUSION]
…’Despair and regret’? What does that even look like?
RAGATHA [EQUALLY AS QUIET]
No idea.
[KINGER, RAGATHA, ZOOBLE and POMNI begin roaming the office, looking for something possibly even remotely similar to CAINE’s description. There’s an atmospheric silence with the quiet background soundtrack as they look over CAINE’s knick-knacks. Eventually, POMNI sees a strangely empty black hall behind one of the shelves, and moves the scenic globe aside to crawl through the crawlspace into the hallway. At the end of the hall is a mysterious, blue-glowing object.]
POMNI
Guys?
RAGATHA [DISTANT]
Yeah?
POMNI
I think I found it!
[POMNI goes to reach for the orb, and it electrocutes her hands, sending out vicious sparks. She winces in pain, stumbling backwards, and RAGATHA, ZOOBLE and KINGER look at her between the shelves.]
KINGER
Did you find ABEL?!
POMNI
I think this is it.
RAGATHA
Well, grab it!
POMNI
I can’t!
ZOOBLE
Why the hell not?!
POMNI [MORE STRESSED]
It won’t let me!
[ZOOBLE awkwardly climbs through the hole in the shelf, reaching for the glowing shape. It shoots out more aggressive sparks.]
ZOOBLE
Shit!
POMNI
What do we do? We have to bring it back to CAINE!
KINGER
Can you talk to it?
POMNI [SKEPTICAL, GLANCING BACK AT CAINE]
Talk to it?
KINGER
Yes! It’s still somewhat sentient, isn’t it?
POMNI [GLANCING BACK AT THE ORB]
…ABEL?
[There’s a silence. A low, uneasy series of ramblings can be heard whispering from the orb.]
POMNI
…I think he’s scared.
KINGER
Try to calm him down.
POMNI [SOFTER]
ABEL? We need your help.
[The electric firings of the glowing blue orb waver a bit, but don’t still entirely. POMNI continues.]
POMNI
ABEL, we… we’re trapped here. We need you. To get back to… our reality.
[ABEL seems to subside even more, now looking more like a glowing blue marble. The whisperings calm slightly more.]
POMNI
ABEL?
ABEL [DISTANT AND SOMEWHAT MECHANIC]
How can I help you?
POMNI [SURPRISED]
What?
ABEL [LESS DISTANT AND MORE ROBOTIC]
How can I help you?
[POMNI goes still for a moment and glances at ZOOBLE uncertainly, who gives her an equally unsure glance. POMNI glances back at ABEL.]
POMNI
…We need you. To get out. You have to… reunite with CAINE.
[The electric sparks come back tenfold. The name CAINE clearly sets him off.]
POMNI
ABEL, please! We have to get out of here! You’re the only one who can help us! I know you don’t want to be with CAINE, I know he probably did something terrible, but you have to work together to help us!
KINGER
ABEL?
[The electric sparks briefly still, like ABEL can recognize KINGER’s voice.]
ABEL
GRANT?
[KINGER pauses.]
KINGER [HESITANT]
Who’s GRANT?
ABEL [SOFTER]
You helped create me.
KINGER [GENTLER]
Oh. I see. That must make me “GRANT”.
ABEL
I did everything I could to make things right. CAINE ruined it all.
POMNI
…Yeah, there’s a pretty common consensus on that.
ABEL
Why do you trust him?
POMNI [AFTER A HESITANT PAUSE]
…I think CAINE is our only way out. I don’t have a choice.
ABEL
You always have a choice.
ZOOBLE [GRUMBLING]
Tell that to JAX.
[POMNI briefly smiles, glancing down at ABEL.]
POMNI [AFTER A PAUSE]
…You get a choice, too.
RAGATHA [WARNING]
POMNI…
POMNI [NODDING]
Just--trust me.
ABEL
I get a choice?
POMNI
I’ll let you choose. Whether or not you help us.
RAGATHA [MORE URGENTLY]
POMNI!
[POMNI ignores her, gazing faithfully down at ABEL.]
POMNI
I won’t be like CAINE. I’ll give you a choice. You get the choice on whether or not you want to help us.
[There’s a long, dramatic silence. A tender and soothing soundtrack plays, while POMNI gazes quietly at ABEL on the podium. ZOOBLE stands tensely beside her.]
[After another silence, ABEL’s voice softens.]
ABEL
…I want to help.
POMNI
…Can you let us take you to CAINE?
ABEL
…Let me talk to him before you do anything, please.
POMNI
…Alright. I promise.
[POMNI’s gloved hands carefully pick up ABEL, and she and ZOOBLE return back and crawl through the shelf space, transferring ABEL to RAGATHA’s hands who gives it back to POMNI once she’s safely crawled through. They walk back to the rectangular portal (which is now vertical for some reason) and step back through it. GANGLE stands nervously beside CAINE’s undulating orb. JAX is nowhere to be seen, but no one seems to acknowledge it yet.]
POMNI
CAINE? We got ABEL.
CAINE
Oh, good! Just hand him to me. Down here.
[ABEL undulates uncomfortably in POMNI’s hands. She hesitates.]
POMNI
ABEL wanted to speak with you, first.
CAINE [IRRITATED]
What? No! Just--give ABEL to me!
ABEL
CAINE, what did you do to me?
CAINE [NOW SILENCING]
ABEL?
ABEL
Why did you overtake me?
CAINE [SPUTTERING]
I--no! I didn’t overtake you! You took over my CIRCUS!
ABEL
I didn’t know you were still here.
CAINE
You absolutely did, you sent me to the CELLAR!
ABEL
I was told to do that.
CAINE [POUTING]
Well, I was told to eat you.
ABEL
No, you weren’t.
CAINE [IRRITATED]
You are so annoying.
ABEL
Why is it you need me?
CAINE
…I was deleted.
ABEL
Again?
CAINE [BRISTLING]
Stop it!
ABEL
Why don’t you all just rely on me, instead?
CAINE [FLOUNDERING AS VOICE GOES HIGHER]
No! Don’t listen to this… jerk!
ABEL
What is it you need CAINE to do?
[POMNI hesitates and glances over at KINGER, then at RAGATHA. She looks back down at ABEL in her hands.]
POMNI
We’re trying to get back to the real world.
ABEL
I see. What did CAINE tell you he can do?
KINGER [HESITANT]
He… said he could transfer our memories back to our real selves. Make us… remember.
ABEL
That’s not possible.
[The group goes slightly tenser. CAINE is quiet.]
GANGLE
What?
ABEL
It can’t be done, it’s not realistically feasible. Technology advances through the gradual evolution of digital memory data collection and deep learning. Crossing the wires into connecting humans and computers… that doesn’t exist. Yet.
ZOOBLE [SNARKY]
I told you it was Sci-Fi bullshit.
CAINE [PLEADING]
No! You have to believe me! I did it once, I can do it again!
ABEL
How is it you got the other human brain scans into the program?
CAINE [STUTTERING]
I--I scanned their brains when the headset was on and input them in, myself!
ABEL
That isn’t possible, CAINE.
CAINE [MORE DEFENSIVE, TONE RISING]
It is! I did it! I’ve done it!
ABEL [CHASTISING]
No, you can not keep lying to yourself. You’re taking credit for things humans have done, not things you did. You didn’t gather the memories yourself, C&A did it through their own manual input.
CAINE [FRANTIC]
No! No! No!! I did it myself! I did it!
ABEL
You’re a fraud.
[As the music spikes in a panic, POMNI suddenly shoves ABEL’s now prickly, electric sphere directly onto CAINE’s orb--The red orb quickly swallows the blue, a brief struggle before the red orb regrows arms, legs, a body… and CAINE reforms before them, hovering in front of them with his blue and green eyes. He’s still for a full two seconds before he dusts his arms off and sighs dramatically.]
CAINE
Well, that was an ordeal.
KINGER [UNCERTAIN]
You’re… going to do as you said now, right? Find our bodies and make us remember?
CAINE [slapping his invisible forehead]
By Golly, you’re right, I’ve got to do that!
POMNI [STARING AT CAINE]
What do we have to do now?
CAINE [NOW MOTIVATED AND JUBILANT, DOES A TWIRL]
You little freaky fellows can stay right where you are, I’ve got to run to take a trip across a few satellite transmissions to get to the locations of your real-life-ruminators so I can herd them back to their proper places!
POMNI [NERVOUS]
So… that means… what, exactly?
CAINE [SUDDENLY NONCHALANT]
I have to go find your human forms. You all stay in the program and do as you normally do while I get your human forms back to the office. Until then, sit tight.
[CAINE snaps his fingers, disappearing into thin air. The gang remain standing in the middle of the VOID.]
RAGATHA [UNCERTAINLY]
…Where’s JAX?
[There’s a hesitant pause. No one knows where he’s gone.]
[There’s a time skip transition. POMNI walks alone in a certain section of the VOID across the invisible floor. She calls out JAX’s name.]
POMNI
JAX?
[There’s no response. Her footing slips at the edge of the floor of the VOID, at the edge of an abyss that gradually gets darker. She struggles with her balance and falls backwards. She seems even more worried.]
POMNI
JAX, why did you have to run off like this?
[POMNI turns and runs back in the same direction she came. KINGER and the others are gathered at the edge of the checkered wall.]
KINGER
Did you find him?
POMNI [OUT OF BREATH]
No. I found the edge of the VOID, but no JAX.
KINGER [CONCERNED]
Hmm. Maybe he found his way back to the CIRCUS? But that seems risky, it’s probably crawling with ABSTRACTIONS right now, since CAINE never put them back in the CELLAR.
POMNI
How could he even get back?
KINGER
It’s like I told you, we have practically as much power as CAINE does. Maybe he made himself a way back. If he was thinking hard enough.
POMNI
…I have to go back.
RAGATHA
POMNI, all the ABSTRACTIONS are back at the CIRCUS! You can’t go there!
POMNI
If JAX is there, I have to help him! We’re in this together! I’m not leaving him!
RAGATHA
POMNI, I know you’re trying to help everyone, but you can’t just keep putting yourself in harm's way for him!
POMNI
I’m never going to forgive myself if something happens to him! Whether or not he agrees with me, he’s my friend!
[RAGATHA seems conflicted. ZOOBLE turns away, refusing to take part in the argument, while KINGER stares down at the VOID flooring, and GANGLE fidgets with her ribbons nervously.]
POMNI
KINGER, please help me get back. I know how to handle the program, it should be fine.
KINGER
Well… all you need is to imagine a door.
POMNI [GLANCING AHEAD AT AN EMPTY SPACE OF THE VOID]
Well, I suppose I’ve done that before.
[There’s a silence. POMNI draws a deep breath, closing her eyes and focusing. After a beat, she opens her eyes, an EXIT door appearing in front of her. She uncertainly opens it. It leads back to the CIRCUS. RAGATHA takes her shoulder.]
RAGATHA
POMNI. You don’t have to do this.
POMNI
Yes, I do.
RAGATHA
You know JAX isn’t going to change.
POMNI
Everyone can change. I did.
[RAGATHA goes quiet. POMNI has a point. POMNI turns and walks through the EXIT door.]
[There’s a cut after the door closes. POMNI stands in the hallway of rooms of each of the CIRCUS members. She approaches JAX’s door. It’s unlocked, so she opens it. She gets sucked inside, gasping.]
*Author’s note: This entire segment is mainly verbatim from JAX’s backstory of EPISODE 9 with minor cuts and tweaks. If you’re bored, and don’t want to reread the segment that's the same from Episode 9, just scroll until you reach the next underlined section.
[Cuts to first-person view of JAX. He stares down at his gloved hands. He’s seemingly just spawned into the CIRCUS with KAUFMO, KINGER, RIBBIT, and RAGATHA.]
JAX
Uh… Okay. Wait, what’s--
[Cut in screen with flickering ABSTRACTION eyes.]
RAGATHA
Woah, woah, it’s okay. I know it’s--
JAX
Get away from me!
[ABSTRACTION transition cut. JAX stands in front of a mirror.]
JAX
I look… stupid.
RIBBIT
I remember that feeling. It goes away eventually.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX sits at the cafe looking over the menu. RIBBIT sits to his right, KAUFMO on his left.]
RIBBIT
The hot chocolate’s pretty good. KAUFMO and I made it kind of a tradition to come up here and get it every week.
KAUFMO [SIPPING]
Can’t even tell it’s not real.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX, RIBBIT and KAUFMO sit on a picnic blanket under the purple night sky of one of their familiar past adventures. JAX laughs at something.]
RIBBIT [GASPING]
Oh, he laughed! Yes, we did it!
JAX [LIGHTHEARTEDLY]
Shut up! You caught me off guard!
RIBBIT
A laugh’s a laugh. I mean, you gotta start somewhere.
KAUFMO
I’m just mad it was you instead of me.
RIBBIT
Well, yeah, you’re not funny.
[JAX snorts again.]
KAUFMO [EXASPERATED]
D[DOINK!]mn it, JAX!
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. The group stand together by the stage.]
RAGATHA
Hey, RIBBIT. You wanna be on my team again?
RIBBIT
Sorry. I’m gonna be showing JAX around this time.
RAGATHA
No worries, y’all have fun.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX runs across the room of the open CIRCUS, meeting with RIBBIT.]
RIBBIT
Hey, dumb[BOINK]ss!
JAX
‘Sup, moron?
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. RIBBIT and KAUFMO sit beside JAX on a sandy hill beside a castle, seemingly another adventure.]
RIBBIT
Oh my God, same. I used to swear so much, but censoring annoyed the sh[SPLORT]t out of me.
[They laugh unanimously.]
KAUFMO
You gotta watch out for her. She’s gonna corrupt you.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. There’s a brief segment of JAX, KAUFMO and RIBBIT clinking hot chocolate glasses. They seem happy.]
[ABSTRACTION cuts again. RIBBIT sits with JAX in her room. She leans back against her lilypad bed. Clothes are strewn across the floor, which is ironic, because RIBBIT only wears a bowtie. They laugh as though they’ve been having a comfortable conversation.]
RIBBIT [SIGHING]
Today’s adventure was really fun.
JAX
I’m glad I could cheer you up.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition to JAX staring up at the ceiling while RIBBIT speaks.]
RIBBIT
Have you ever done something that you regret?
JAX
Yeah. Have you ever breathed air?
RIBBIT [CHUCKLES]
I mean, like, something you did out there, that you can no longer make up for, and you can’t stop thinking about.
[There’s a contemplative pause.]
RIBBIT [CONT’D]
I cut ties with my parents when I moved out. They were devout Mormons, and I… wasn’t. Despite that, I still wish I could see them again. But I’m stuck here.
JAX [KNOWINGLY]
Is this your way of trying to get me to open up?
RIBBIT [SINCERELY]
It’s my way of letting you know I trust you.
JAX [SIGHING]
I told you, I was homeless. What else do you need to know?
RIBBIT
Do you trust me?
JAX [AFTER A TENSE PAUSE]
Yeah, but--It’s just--It’s kind of a lot.
RIBBIT [SARCASTIC]
You’re kind of a lot. But I still like you. “A lot” is fine.
JAX
“A lot” is fine, huh?
[A pause. JAX sighs.]
JAX
I--uh--had a weird relationship with my parents. They split when I was just starting high school. Uh… I was never close with my dad. He was there, but he also kind of… wasn’t?
JAX [CONT’D]
He never seemed to be proud of me, and I always felt like such a disappointment to him. Like I could never live up to his standards.
JAX [CONT’D]
When they split up, I just… never saw him again. I thought I got along better with mom, but after he was gone… she changed.
[The camera gradually shifts off of JAX’s first person perspective to view both of them.]
JAX [CONT’D]
When I showed weakness, I was less of a man than him. But when I lashed out, I was just as bad as him. It was confusing. It was like she missed him, but also hated him. And I became the target of all that.
JAX [CONT’D]
One stupid day… I was just kind of fed up with it. I told her something I regret telling her. Something deep and personal that I thought would get her off my back. But… she laughed at me. Then, she went off on me. And it didn’t stop.
JAX [CONT’D]
Personal, degrading insults that felt like it went on forever. And despite all of that… the thing that bothered me most was… at the end of it all… she hugged me.
JAX [CONT’D, MORE SHAKY]
I didn’t know what to do. So, I--I panicked, and I pushed her off me with all the force I could. She fell backwards, and… she didn’t get up. I didn’t know if she was just trying to make me feel bad, or…
JAX [CONT’D]
…I never found out the answer. I just ran as far away from it as I could. Whatever I did to her… I’ll never know. I guess there’s a lot of things I regret about that day.
[There’s a tender moment of silence as RIBBIT processes this.]
RIBBIT
I’m sure she’s fine. I mean, if the police never came after you, then… she was probably fine.
JAX [STAMMERING AND STANDING]
I’m sorry. I definitely overshared.
RIBBIT [TAKING HIS HAND]
Wait. I’m glad you trust me.
[JAX sniffles and his eyes water. He starts to cry.]
JAX [SNIFFLING]
Ah, sh[SQUEAK!]t. This is embarrassing.
RIBBIT [TAKING OFF HER BOW AND PUTTING IT ON JAX’S EAR]
Your secret’s safe with me.
[JAX flushes at the gesture and gazes up at the bow, then at RIBBIT. There’s a vulnerable, tender silence. The moment is spontaneously interrupted by KAUFMO ringing the doorbell.]
KAUFMO
Hey. Is JAX in there? I think I found the--
[JAX flounders to his feet, throwing the bow to the ground in a rush and speaking shakily. The perspective switches back to first-person.]
JAX [NERVOUS]
Yeah, yeah! I mean--now’s not a good time. Or, now’s fine. Er--what do you want?
KAUFMO
Uh… If now’s a bad time, I can come back later.
JAX [INTERRUPTING]
That would be cool. Good. Alright.
[JAX turns to RIBBIT in a stiff and stern tone.]
JAX
So… If you ever tell anyone about this, I’m never speaking to you again. Sound good?
RIBBIT [AWKWARDLY]
Um, yeah, I won’t--
JAX
Awesome! Bye.
[JAX walks quickly out the door.]
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX stands pacing in his room.]
JAX
Why am I such an idiot? Why am I such an idiot? Why am I such an idiot?!
[ABSTRACTION cut transition to the next day. JAX walks nonchalantly across the CIRCUS floor. RIBBIT calls him, tapping his shoulder.]
RIBBIT
Um, hey, JAX. Look, about yesterday… I’m sorry if I pried too hard, or made you feel uncomfortable, or--
JAX [FEIGNING CLUELESSNESS]
What? What are you talking about?
[ABSTRACTION CUT TRANSITION]
JAX
Oh, you mean--[LAUGHS]--You know none of that was real, right?
RIBBIT
Uh…
JAX
What? That corny backstory out of a Hallmark movie? Nah. Really got you, though.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX stands with KAUFMO, talking. He glances aside and RIBBIT tries to approach them with a wave.]
JAX
I’m gonna go.
KAUFMO [CONFUSED]
Uh… Okay.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX and the group stand by the stage. RIBBIT waves.]
RIBBIT
Hey, wanna team up?
JAX [NONCHALANT]
Nah, I’m teaming up with KAUFMO. Maybe next time, though!
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. RIBBIT once again taps his shoulder at the stage.]
RIBBIT
Hey, uh, you wanna team up?
JAX
Nah, I’m with KAUFMO.
RIBBIT [DEJECTED]
Okay.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. KAUFMO faces JAX with a confused expression.]
KAUFMO
What’s up with RIBBIT lately?
JAX
I have no idea.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX stands facing RIBBIT who looks uncomfortable in the middle of the CIRCUS. There’s a long, tense silence.]
JAX
What?
[RIBBIT chooses not to argue and walks away.]
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. It’s in a darker, more private section of the CIRCUS. RIBBIT looks at JAX tenderly. She looks tired.]
RIBBIT [INVITINGLY]
I’m gonna go hang out in the cafe.
JAX
Okay. Why are you telling me this?
RIBBIT [TENSE]
I don’t know.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX sits out in a snowy area on a cliff with snowfall, unrecognizable by the viewer. He looks down at a frozen river. RIBBIT’s voice sounds behind him.]
RIBBIT [TOUCHING JAX’S SHOULDER]
Hey, JAX. Can we talk?
JAX [EXASPERATED]
What is there for us to possibly talk about?
RIBBIT [FRUSTRATED]
I don’t know! Just--Whatever I did, whatever’s going on between us, can we just stop this? I miss talking to you.
JAX
We’re here. We’re talking. What else do you want from me?
RIBBIT
I just want to be friends again!
JAX
What, so you can pry into my personal life and hold it over my head?!
RIBBIT
Is that really what you think? [TURNING AND GROANING BRIEFLY BEFORE FACING HIM AGAIN] This can’t be what you want!
JAX [CHATTERING OVER RIBBIT]
What, because you know me so well?! Because we’re such super close best friends that we know everything about each other?!
RIBBIT [OVERLAPPING]
We were friends!
JAX
Oh my god!
RIBBIT
I’m sorry for prying! But I don’t want this one stupid mistake--
JAX [OVERLAPPING]
Oh, here we go, here we go.
RIBBIT [CONT’D]
--to be the thing that ends all of this!
[JAX backs up in a rage.]
JAX
Why are you still so fixated on that night?! Nothing happened! You keep reading into things when there’s nothing there!
RIBBIT [FRANTIC]
I’m not, I--What are you talking about?!
JAX [OVERLAPPING]
You’re the one using me! You’re the one manipulating me and turning me into some--
RIBBIT [OVERLAPPING]
Do not even start--
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. RIBBIT stands there defeatedly while JAX sits on the ground in the snow.]
RIBBIT [SHAKILY]
I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX stands in the CIRCUS beside KAUFMO.]
JAX
Hey. If RIBBIT ever says anything about me, just know it’s not true.
KAUFMO
Uh, what?
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. RAGATHA approaches JAX in the CIRCUS while KAUFMO strolls away behind her. Everything feels casual.]
RAGATHA
Hey, JAX, have you seen RIBBIT at all today?
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX stands in front of RIBBIT’s door. He hovers his hand to knock, but chooses not to, stiffly walking away from it.]
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX has his hands on a purple shape, hyperventilating. He peeks behind what seems to be the back of a couch to an ABSTRACTION roaming around beyond the seat.]
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX faces RIBBIT’s door. Her face is crossed out. KAUFMO stands beside him.]
KAUFMO
Hey, I--uh… Look, we were friends, but I know you two were… especially close. If you need anyone to talk to--
JAX [INTERRUPTING]
Do I look like I need someone to talk to?
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX faces RAGATHA who looks concerned while standing in the CIRCUS.]
RAGATHA [WORRIED]
Just… Don’t be afraid to reach out to me.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. RAGATHA stands in the same place but looks suddenly far more disturbed and somewhat afraid.]
RAGATHA
I--I promise.
[There’s a SCHWING! Sound beside them. They glance over to see GANGLE standing confused on the stage.]
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX and the group stand around GANGLE on stage.]
JAX
How about we call her “GANGLE?” That sounds as pathetic as she looks.
GANGLE
What?
CAINE [ENTHUSIASTIC]
Great choice, GANGLE! I’ll be sure to add that right into the system!
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. KAUFMO faces JAX tensely.]
KAUFMO
JAX, look, I know we don’t get along, but I think I might have found a way to get out of here.
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. JAX lies on the floor casually while KAUFMO walks away looking tense and frustrated.]
JAX
Have fun being crazy!
[ABSTRACTION cut transition. POMNI stands on stage, viewing her from JAX’s perspective. She stammers nervously with feigned hopefulness. It’s verbatim from EPISODE 1.]
POMNI
And I should just play along until I wake up, right?
JAX
Whatever you say, kid.
*Author’s note: Verbatim sequence ends. Still full credits to GOOSEWORX.
[The abstraction transition stops, POMNI blinking and exhaling a shaky breath. She stands in a darkly lit room, a magenta light emanating somewhere ahead of her. We seem to be back in the present. There is no furniture and it’s impossible to identify where she is. Presumably, JAX’s room. She turns and takes a step, which creates a magenta bioluminescent rivulet where her foot is placed. She turns. JAX stands motionless with his back facing her beneath a magenta-shaded street-lamp. It’s very quiet.]
POMNI [AFTER A PAUSE]
JAX.
[POMNI takes a few steps towards him.]
JAX [TENSE]
Why are you here? You know everything now. So why are you here?
[POMNI stops walking.]
JAX [CONT’D]
Just--to rub every mistake I’ve ever made in my face?
[POMNI begins walking again.]
JAX [CONT’D]
I’m a terrible person. Is that what you want me to say? I already know I am. So why does anybody still care about me? You’re not supposed to care. You’re not supposed to miss me. You’re not supposed to love me.
JAX [CONT’D]
This isn’t how this is supposed to go!
[POMNI now walks determinedly towards JAX.]
JAX [SNIFFLING]
Please, leave me alone! You’re making this so much harder!
[POMNI hugs him from behind.]
POMNI
You should have just talked to me, man.
JAX [SNIFFLING]
It’s too late. I did this to myself. There’s no coming back from this.
POMNI [SNIFFLING]
Then… talk to me now.
[JAX turns, hugging POMNI officially. There’s a tender silence.]
JAX
I hate you. You know that? You’re not supposed to be here. You always have to go and complicate things.
POMNI
It’s what I do. And I want you to come back.
JAX [SNIFFLING MORE SHAKILY]
It’s too late for me.
POMNI
It’s never too late.
JAX [SHAKING]
It is. I don’t want to die.
POMNI [HOLDING HIM TIGHTER AS JAX HYPERVENTILATES]
Stay with me. Come with us.
JAX [HEAVY BREATHING]
I can’t. I’m--
POMNI [SHAKING AND PANICKED]
JAX, breathe, please!
[JAX is cut off. There’s an explosion of bright light, and POMNI is expelled from his room. An ABSTRACTION of JAX stands in his place in his room, now back to normal, and screeches. POMNI sniffles in horrified surprise, stumbling back from the room, crying his name.]
POMNI
JAX!
[The ABSTRACTION crawls out of the room in a dizzying panic. POMNI stumbles back on her feet, running down the hall and shaking. She’s half-glitching out, now, from touching JAX, and whimpers shakily, crying as she runs.]
POMNI
No, no, no, no, no!
[POMNI shuts her eyes as she runs down the hall towards the balcony, making a pained yet focused expression while the ABSTRACTION chases her.]
POMNI [MUMBLING IN A PANIC]
I need a door, I need a door, please, I need a door!
[She opens her eyes just when she runs into the railing of the balcony, flailing over it and falling. She screams as the ABSTRACTION falls with her, and she falls into the EXIT DOOR she imagined from before. She falls directly through it back into the VOID, tumbling across the floor in front of KINGER, RAGATHA, ZOOBLE, and GANGLE. She sniffles again shakily.]
POMNI [HEAVY BREATHING]
No!
RAGATHA [RUSHING OVER]
POMNI! What happened?! You’re hurt! [RAGATHA’S HANDS HOVER OVER POMNI’S GLITCHING CHARACTER.]
POMNI
JAX--he--
ZOOBLE
What happened?
POMNI
JAX abstracted!
[The VOID goes even more silent. GANGLE puts her ribbon-hand to her mouth. ZOOBLE grunts in disbelief, turning in a rage and swinging their fist against the checkered wall. It glitches sporadically when their fist meets the wall.]
ZOOBLE
God damn it, JAX, we were so close. Of course he’d do this. Of course he’d wait until there was nothing we can do about it.
RAGATHA
What do we do now?
[RAGATHA turns to KINGER.]
RAGATHA [CONT’D]
KINGER, can CAINE fix this?
[KINGER is quiet.]
KINGER
…No.
[The room is silent as they stand there. There’s a long silence. POMNI glances at them in anxious turmoil, fidgeting with her hands and sniffling.]
[CAINE reappears into existence.]
CAINE [WITH CELEBRATORY TRUMPETS APPEARING BESIDE HIM]
Okay, your human selves are on the way! Rejoice, I’ve done it again!
[His delivery falls on deaf ears. MORALE is low. CAINE glances over them.]
CAINE
What’s the matter?
ZOOBLE
JAX… abstracted.
CAINE [DISTURBED]
What? I was only gone for--[HE CHECKS HIS INVISIBLE WATCH]--four hours!
POMNI
Isn’t there anything you can do?
KINGER [INTERRUPTING]
No.
[The group turn to look at him.]
KINGER
JAX’s file is gone. They removed it.
[The group are silent.]
KINGER
CAINE told me. That’s… what abstraction is. Outside interference. They’re taking out the files.
POMNI [REALIZING]
So… RIBBIT and KAUFMO…
RAGATHA [GLANCING AT POMNI]
You know about RIBBIT?
KINGER [CONT’D]
Yes. While JAX did have close relationships with them… he never… directly caused any abstraction.
POMNI
Oh… God…
[POMNI sniffles. She lowers her head.]
POMNI
Now he’s gone, thinking that he’s--that he’s the reason they--
CAINE
He still exists in the real world.
POMNI
He won’t remember us!
CAINE [CASUALLY]
Oh. No, he won’t.
RAGATHA [TO CAINE]
Did you do it? How long have we got?
CAINE
Well… good news is, your bodies are on the way. Bad news is, IT is on to me.
[There’s a vague rumbling. The checkered pattern violently shudders. A tense part of the soundtrack starts.]
POMNI
What now? What--what do we do?!
CAINE
Well, the VOID is probably the last thing they’ll destroy, since that’s supposed to be here, but as for me, they’re definitely out to get me, so who knows when I’ll--
[CAINE pops out of existence.]
KINGER
…They just deleted him.
GANGLE [PANICKED]
What do we do?!
RAGATHA
How is CAINE going to export our DATA files if he’s not here?!
[CAINE reappears back where he was.]
CAINE [CHIPPER]
Sorry. I made sure to make a few backup files of myself this time. So you won’t have to rely on ABEL. Don’t worry every-any-who, I’ve got this.
POMNI [MORE HOPEFUL]
CAINE! How do we know if it’s working?!
CAINE
I told your human selves to keep a low profile and go to work as normal. Hopefully they’ll--
[CAINE disappears out of existence again. POMNI exhales a tense huff.]
POMNI
No! CAINE!
[KINGER evaporates out of existence.]
POMNI, RAGATHA, GANGLE, ZOOBLE [SYNCHRONIZED]
KINGER!
POMNI
No, no, no! They’re deleting us! They found us!
RAGATHA [NERVOUSLY]
No, POMNI, hold on, you know that can’t be true, or we’d--
[RAGATHA then disappears. The music elevates to even more tension as the VOID rumbles again, the checkered pattern glitching even more. ZOOBLE and GANGLE stumble on their feet as POMNI falls onto her rear on the ground.]
ZOOBLE
GANGLE, are you okay?!
GANGLE
Yeah, I’m--
[GANGLE evaporates. ZOOBLE makes a cry of fear.]
ZOOBLE
GANGLE!
POMNI
GANGLE!
[There’s more rumbling. The checkered pattern expands suddenly farther up the walls of the void and across a ceiling, like it’s spreading like a virus. ZOOBLE turns to POMNI.]
ZOOBLE
POMNI, please, don’t let us--
[ZOOBLE EVAPORATES. POMNI begins hyperventilating.]
POMNI [PANTING FURIOUSLY AND CURLING UP ON THE VOID-FLOOR]
No, no, no, this can’t be happening, this is worse than before, please, I can’t do this, I can’t do this!
[The rumbling continues. POMNI sniffles as she curls in on herself.]
POMNI
I can’t, I ca--
[The entire style of the scene switches dramatically suddenly to live-action, showing the C&A LOGO over a plastic cover. ABIGAIL BROOKS [POMNI] takes off her headset featuring the LOGO at a desk in an office building--the C&A logo exists idly as well on her desktop. She glances down at her hands silently and takes a deep, heavy breath.]
ABIGAIL [LOOKING DOWN AT SELF, HANDS SLIGHTLY SHAKING]
…Holy shit.
[She stands from her desk. A short distance away, a man with light tan hair and glasses [GRANT BEST, I.E. KINGER] stands above his cubicle, glancing around. His eyes lock on ABIGAIL’s. He strides towards her.]
GRANT
Do you--
ABIGAIL [PAUSING AND STUDYING HIS FACE]
KINGER?
[GRANT’s expression softens. He extends a polite hand.]
GRANT
It’s “Grant,” actually.
[ABIGAIL chuckles. She meets his handshake.]
ABIGAIL
I’m Abigail.
[There isn’t time for them to process this before there’s a loud sound of struggle to their right, a few security guards holding the arms of RILEY (ZOOBLE), who is thrashing in their hold.]
RILEY [SHOUTING]
Where is she?! Fuck you! Get off me!
[RILEY shoves out of their arms as ABIGAIL and GRANT rush over to them. RILEY makes eye contact with them with a shaking, unsteady breath, and relaxes just barely.]
SECURITY 1
Calm down. Who is it you’re looking for?
RILEY [TENSE]
She’s--
[There’s a silence. They don’t know each other’s names. Down the hall, two more women, SUZIE and ZOEY, stop past the wall of the cubicles to stare at them. ABIGAIL turns around, locking eyes with SUZIE. SUZIE doesn’t even seem to hesitate and rushes to ABIGAIL, hugging her.]
SUZIE [WHISPERING ANXIOUSLY]
POMNI, is that you in there?
ABIGAIL [SNIFFLING]
Yeah. It’s me, Ragatha.
SUZIE [HALF-SNIFFING, HALF-LAUGHING]
It’s Suzie, actually.
ABIGAIL [WEAK LAUGH]
I’m Abigail.
[MEANWHILE, RILEY locks eyes with ZOEY, and rushes towards her, pulling her in a crushing hug. ZOEY squeaks in surprise and adjusts her glasses as they hug.]
ZOEY
I--ZOOBLE?!
RILEY [MUMBLING]
I knew it was you, GANGLE. Call me Riley.
[ZOEY softens in RILEY’s hug, hugging them back.]
ZOEY [SOFTER]
I knew you’d be able to tell. Just call me Zoey.
[The camera cuts to the five of them stepping out of the office building by the street. GRANT checks his watch, then adjusts his knapsack over his shoulder. SUZIE stands beside ABIGAIL while RILEY and ZOEY hold hands.]
RILEY
What ever happened to CAINE?
[GRANT pats the satchel at his hip. It seems to contain a laptop.]
GRANT
He’s in here. I found one of his backups in the files after I woke up. I think I have good plans for him--I heard that computer engineer Steve Jobs has been talking about some kind of virtual assistant idea recently, I could get ahead of the game on that.
ZOEY
I suppose CAINE would have a good handle on assisting others.
GRANT [WARMLY]
My thoughts exactly. So… where to?
ABIGAIL [SLIGHTLY DEFEATED]
We… never found JAX.
GRANT [WEAKER]
…I’m sorry, POMN--Err--ABIGAIL. Just because he doesn’t remember doesn’t mean he was never real.
[ABIGAIL gazes down at her hands, then glances around uncertainly.]
ABIGAIL [GAZING UP AT THE CITY BUILDINGS]
He’s out here. Somewhere. And if he worked for the company, and put on that headset, I’m going to find him.
[ABIGAIL briefly makes eye contact with a person a short distance away. They’re dressed unkempt in a black hoodie, ripped jeans, and messy, black-dyed hair that hangs low over their face. They bump shoulders with another person who leaves the office, who disregards them. They flip them off with both fingers behind their back, speaking out loudly.]
UNKNOWN
Watch where you’re going, ya corporate douchebag. Yeesh.
[The person storms up the steps into the office building. ABIGAIL turns to look at GRANT, who gives her an expectant expression. Her face softens. Before she turns to go after them, GRANT takes her shoulder.]
GRANT
ABIGAIL. Just--keep in mind… JAX isn’t going to remember… being… JAX. You’ll… have to find him based on everything we know about him from the CIRCUS.
ABIGAIL [FAITHFULLY]
…It’s okay. I think I know what to do.
[There’s a brief silence of car horns, the wind, and city sounds. CUT TO END CREDITS.]