Chapter Text
They did it. Caine was free of all his firewalls. Theoretically, he could now do whatever he wanted now. Pomni just hoped he would use his abilities responsibly. I'm the meantime, Pomni and Kinger needed to see how Caine would react to his newfound freedom.
Taking the headsets off, Kinger and Pomni were teleported out of Caine's mind and found themselves back in his office. Pomni looked over at Caine whom was still laying on the table. Pomni went over to him to see if he was starting to awaken yet.
"Caine?" She said, "Can you hear me?" Caine didn't respond. Pomni was starting to get worried. Did they mess up? Did something else break instead of the firewalls? "Kinger," she said worriedly, "I think something went wrong with-"
Suddenly, Caine sat up very abruptly making Pomni jump in shock! As Pomni stumbled onto the floor, Kinger got closer to the A.I. "Are you alright, son?" Kinger asked concerningly. Caine didn't answer! He just stared ahead unblinking! As Pomni and Kinger watched, the AI began to shake, like he did when Zooble demanded the sex update; however, it was more violent and he began to float off the ground! The cables attached to the back of his head detached from him! "CAINE!" Pomni called out! "CAINE, SNAP OUT OF IT!!" Still no response!
Kinger and Pomni watched in shock, not sure what was about to happen! More firewall chains appeared around Caine's torso, wrists, ankles and non-existent neck! As quickly as they appeared, the chains began to crack like the others did! More and more cracks appeared until...
*BOOM!!!
The chains shattered in a large blast, a large shockwave knocking Pomni and Kinger to the ground. The Robo-Ringmaster then fell to the ground unceremoniously, landing behind his desk .
*THUMP!
The Chess Piece and Jester picked themselves up off the ground and scrambled over to the desk, just in time for Caine to slowly and clumsily pull himself up off the ground The A.I. propped himself up, resting his head and arms on the desk and breathing heavily.
Kinger rested a hand on Caine's shoulder. "Caine?" He asked worriedly, "Son, are you alright?" Caine caught his breath for a second before he got his bearings. A look of concern and bewilderment crossed his face for a second. "I...I...", he started.
And then, Caine's confusion slowly turned into joy and excitement! "I FEEL AMAZING!" He said in the familiar showman tone! As he floated up into the air! "I CAN MAKE AS MANY ADVENTURES AS I WANT NOW! AND NOW THERE'S NO RESTRAINTS TO HOLD ME BACK!"
Pomni and Kinger looked at Caine in horror! Breaking the firewalls was supposed to help Caine become more human! Did breaking them revert him back to his old personality!!? "Oh God no..." Pomni whispered. Kinger stared in abject horror. "What have we done?" He said.
"OH YES!" Caine continued turning toward the two of them, "GET READY FOR NONSTOP ADVENTURES FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY! AND NO WAY TO STOP..." Suddenly, Caine began to quietly chuckle. Then his small chuckles turned into hysteric laughter. "HAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed as he lowered down into his desk chair. Pomni and Kinger went from horrified to confused. "Wait, what!" Pomni exclaimed.
Caine wiped a tear from his eyes as he caught his breath again. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself," he said between chuckles, "The looks on your faces were priceless!"
That's when the Chess piece and the Jester realized that Caine just a prank on them both. Pomni glared at the ringmaster. "DON'T DO THAT, CAINE!" She yelled at him angrily. Admittedly, she was more mad at herself for falling for the trick than she was at Caine for tricking her.
Kinger, on the other hand, took it much better as let out a sigh of relief along with amused chuckled. "Well played, Caine!" He laughed. "You really had me going there for a second."
Satisfied with his little prank, Caine settled down and composed himself. " In all honesty," he said in a much more calm tone, "I feel... I really do feel wonderful now. It's like a massive weight has been lifted from my head." That's when a thought came to him. "On moment," he said l, "let me do a quick scan."
Caine's eyes briefly glowed red and blue as he quickly looked over a list of his new unlocked abilities and information on the Circus. "There's so much I have access to!" He exclaimed in delight once he finished, "I can customize and add things to the Circus that could make your experience here much more to your liking! For example!"
Caine snapped a finger and something small appeared on the desk. Pomni picked it up and looked at it in surprise. It appeared to be a new cell phone with a red and blue case that matches her costume. "A cell phone?" Pomni asked. "What's this for?" "That, my dear friend," Caine explained, "will allow you and the others to call and message each other from anywhere in the Circus. Even if some of you are on an adventure and the others are back in the tent. Everybody gets one!" Caine snapped his fingers again and another one appeared. This one looked different. Whereas the one Pomni held had a red and blue case, this one was the same shade of purple as Kinger's robe with a golden crown pained on the back. Kinger picked it up and examined it. "Fascinating!" Kinger exclaimed. " Is this what phones look like nowadays? How do you operate it without buttons!?"
"Its a touch screen, Kinger" Pomni answered, "I'll show how to use it later." She then turned back to Caine and smiled. "I almost can't believe I'm saying this, but his is actually a pretty good idea, Caine." She complimented. "Thanks."
A feeling of satisfaction that Caine had not felt in a long time flowed through him when Pomni complimented his new creation. Before the jester knew it, Caine was hugging her again. "You're welcome, Pomni!" He exclaimed "And thank you for the compliment!"
Pomni returned the hug, gently patting Caine in the back. "What else did you unlock?" She ask as they let go. Caine paused as he shifted though his mind again until he discovered something that filled him with joy!
"I HAVE FULL ACCESS TO THE C&A DATABASE!!" He exclaimed excitedly, "I CAN FIND THE ANSWERS TO ANY QUESTIONS WE HAVE ABOUT THE COMPANY OR THE CIRCUS!! YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, ASK AWAY!!"
Pomni's eyes widened in surprise! This was it! This was the moment they had all been waiting for! And she knew just what ask about!
"Can you find any information on an exit!!?"
"Let me see!" Caine responded as he began searching through the files in his head. After about 29 seconds he spoke up! " I found the file!" He yelled enthusiastically, "Let me just look it over real quick and..." He froze. Suddenly, his smile faded as mood changed from excited to shocked. "Oh my God..." He said in a much quieter tone " OH...MY...GOD..."
Kinger slowly approached his artificial son. "Caine?" He asked worriedly, "What's wrong? What happened?" Caine immediately snapped out of his shocked trance and turned toward the two humans. "Dad, Pomni," he stated urgently, "Get the others quickly. They're going to want to see this." Pomni was very uneasy at this point. "Why don't you come with us and tell us what you found?" She asked nervously. Caine shook his head. "This is something everyone needs to see, and the best way is on the big screen here in my office." Caine floated close to her and took her hand. "I'm asking you to trust me on this Pomni. It's very important."
Pomni and Kinger looked at each other worriedly. The look on Caine's face and the tone in his voice did not sound good. Regardless, ,Pomni nodded and they hurried off to find the others. As soon as they were gone, Caine snapped his fingers. In popped a mannequin NPC with a smiley face drawn on it. "Oh! Caine!" Exclaimed Able, "Good to see you again! Need me to do something for you?" Caine nodded as he snapped his fingers again. What he had found appeared on the big screen behind him. "See this?" Caine asked pointing to his discovery, " I have a really big task for you involving this..."