Chapter Text
Pomni felt like she was travelling through the dark, digital abyss, her jester bells jingling frantically, until she stood on the checkerboard floor. She immediately touched her face, the sensation of being present too real.
She looked around, her eyes wide as she took in what she was seeing, glancing up at the floating, nonsensical objects in confusion. She attempted to walk, but a flying eyeball with a green iris zoomed past her head, missing her by an inch. She stumbled backward, spotting a door labeled "EXIT." Her heart leapt, and she sprinted for it, fingers outstretched, but the wood dissolved into pixels just as she reached it. A top hat zipped past, knocking her off her feet, followed by a blue flower pot that glitched into the floor with a series of frame-shunting thuds. The music she's been hearing in the background slowed down until it stopped.
Terrified, she inched away, accidentally colliding with a tall, lanky purple rabbit. The impact sent a ripple effect through the group: Jax fell into Kinger, who toppled into Gangle. A sharp clink echoed through the tent as Gangle’s porcelain comedy mask shattered, replaced instantly by a weeping tragedy mask.
Pomni took a few steps back. What's going on? Where am I, exactly?
"Caine, is this one of your NPCs or is this a new sucker?" Jax complained after standing up, pointing rudely at the red and blue jester. "'Cause if it's a new character, we're gonna have to redo this whole theme song!"
"I'm not doing that again," said Zooble with her mismatched arms crossed.
"My my! It appears a new human has entered this realm!" Caine excitedly, his hands comically on each side of his... face? Dentures? Before pointing in her direction with the golden orb on his cane.
Pomni teared at her head shakily, still trying to find the VR headset, and pulling the lower eyelid of one of her eyes. "How do I... take this... headset off!?"
"Just keep grabbing at it. That worked for all of us," Jax said sarcastically as Pomni's fingers dug into her own cheeks in a panic. She yanked again, hard enough that her eyeball stretched outward like taffy before snapping back into place with a wet *pop*.
Confused at the discomforting sensation, she looked down at her hand. "What's going on? I-I put on some weird headset and now I'm... here?" Her voice weakened as she stared at her surroundings again, uncertain. Her eyes then found the same characters from before, processing their odd appearance. "Who are you people? Why can't I take it off? Where am I?" She wasn't sure why she was asking them, not actually expecting a real answer. After all, this is just a game... right? She was just so confused.
Meanwhile, Caine floated away from the group, thinking about the twitch he felt on his blue eyeball when the new human started to pull her own eye out of the socket. That was new. And dangerous. A coincidence? No, no, absurd! His systems were flawless, meticulously debugged, and yet... His top raw of teeth scrunched down, mimicking a furrowed brow as he scrutinized the small, panicking jester. Were the files of this human corrupted? He would need to check, but not now. Not when he had so much to show the new addition about the Digital Circus! So, interrupting whatever Jax was saying, Caine approached Pomni, floating in front of her and grabbing her arm as he talked. "I'd like to give our brand new member a tour of the circus grounds first. Off we go!"
Pomni immediately felt her feet leave the ground, air swooshing past her at a fast speed, and her stomach lurching. She felt the ringmaster's grip on her arm tighten slightly before she took a quick glance at the red and yellow circus tent.
"Ahem!" That got her attention back to Caine. "As you can clearly see," shaking off the sudden vertigo he felt with a shake of his 'head'. "Here we have The Tent! This is where your living quarters are, as well as all sorts of other activities. These activities may include-" His eyes blue screened as he zoned out. "Ball pits, mini golf, and more." They then zoomed out even further away, showing what was beyond the tent, seeing some trees around a lake with a lighthouse, snowy mountains, and even carnival of sorts. All in low quality and looking more like a bunch of plastic with the wrong shapes of what they are supposed to be. "And here we have The Grounds! Drown yourself in the digital lake or engage in ridery at the digital carnival! Night, day, it's all okay! The choice is yours, a cosmic buffet!"
Everything happened real fast, from showing the lighthouse with a red giant slide of all things, to the carnival with a ferris wheel, more slides, and a roller coaster. Then came a literal Moon and a literal Sun, yet again looking more like drawings than the real thing. Did he just pointed at... someone? Was he talking to her or someone else??
When she managed to take it all in, she hesitantly, almost shyly, asked if that was all there is. She regretted her question as soon as it came out of her mouth, the ringmaster's arm around her shoulders with the oblivious enthusiasm of a hyperactive child. "Of course not." They move further out of bounds before Caine let her go. "This is The Void! We... don't venture out into the void," He half whispered in a soft spooky voice. "Not even I know what's out there."
"...That's-" Pomni tried to say, but yet again they moved back to The Grounds.
"We stay right here, where I can keep my hundreds of all seeing eyes on you!" She watched as multiple eyeballs surrounded him, a blue light she was unsure where it came from bathing him. Everything returned to normal a second later.
Later, after throwing up a bunch of black... substance, and changing the topic of an Exit door to her name, Pomni found herself panicking about not remembering her real human name, back inside the tent. Actually, she could barely remember anything from before arriving in this crazy looking place. "Oh, God! Why can't I remember my name?!"
Caine taped at his head with the sphere of his cane. "Nobody can remember their name once they enter the Digital Circus. One of the few things I don't have control over are your minds. So all I can help you with is coming up with a new one." He didn't seem to notice the jester’s eyes scribbling as she groans: What's my name? Mostly to herself.
Caine approached her, an odd heavy sensation on his chest and in his mind, and patted her head. "Don't you worry your little head. Your new name can be anything!" Then faster, "Hereby acknowledging that your chosen name and or names may not breach the Digital Circus user license agreement stating that your name may not include objectionable content. Objectionable content includes but is not limited to: Sexually explicit materials, obscene, defamatory, libelous, slanderous, violent, and or unlawful content or profanity." When his voice returned to normal speed, he practically fled away from her, extending his arms in a theatrical pose. "What are you thinking?"
"...Huh? I don't care, just pick anything," she said, too mentally tired to even think of any option.
"Let's see." A red and yellow big slot wheel came down near them and soon the spinning stopped, spelling out 'XDDCC'. "What do you think of XDDCC?" The ringmaster managed to pronounce, but Pomni barely could let a word out before Caine interrupted her. "You're right, terrible. Let's try that again! He spined the wheel again. This time, it spells out 'POMNI'. "What do you think of POMNI?
"Huh? Uh, sure," she uncertainly accepted before tying to walk away, her mind still trying to process everything. "I think I just-"
"W-wait!"
Everyone paused. Did they hear right? Was it the ringmaster who just yelled? And not in a excited manner. Slowly, between shock and apprehension, the rest of group who had been watching the whole exchange silently turned towards him. Except from one. Pomni stood rigid, her back turned to them.
"I..." Caine looked around, internally cringing at their expressions. But what worried him the most was the new member, who still had to turn around and face him. Why did he say that? Sure, he didn't want her to leave, but it's not like she could, not really. So why did he? "Um... I mean... W-wait for your first adventure, Pomni!" He tried to correct. Did it work? Their expressions didn't change, but now they were looking at Pomni.