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This still felt all too surreal to Kinger as he beheld the Circus’s current state, sitting on the bucket he wore while inadvertently bringing it to this by accidentally…….. killing his own creation. It naturally hadn’t taken long for him to realize his mind no longer fuzzed up outside of total darkness now that Caine was gone though of course there were far more pressing concerns on everyone’s minds at first. Namely regarding what exactly his newfound absence could mean for the continued existence of their digital reality but once it became apparent the place wasn’t gonna completely disintegrate anytime soon, all they could do was simply…… move on as best they could. Kinger knew he was probably gonna have the hardest time acclimating to this new normal out of everyone there considering his sheer history with the Circus’s departed Ringmaster yet nevertheless resolved to trudge through these uncharted waters without him.
Thus the chess piece had resolved to help his fellows get more of a handle on their ability to Conjure with him now taking a moment to admire the fruits of such labor. Though the Circus was still very much a shadow of its former self in many ways, their efforts to try and rebuild it into a far more livable place for them all were nevertheless quite commendable. Especially as they almost immediately discovered that none of Caine’s previous restrictions were in place for the humans any longer, thusly giving everyone a lot more to freely experiment with in the midst of their aforementioned rebuilding. Apparently Jax and Pomni were both particularly curious about just how much they could willfully change their respective avatars, each for completely unrelated reasons they made sure to emphasize when almost inevitably teased about exploring each other’s bodies.
Zooble probably shouldn’t have been one to throw stones there however considering how practically the very first change they made to the Circus was combining their room with Gangle’s. Everybody knew exactly what’d be going down in there soon as they figured out how to make it happen here and so decided to just let the two of them have their privacy much like with the other duo in their own experimentation. It was all very amusing for Kinger to witness as a bystander yet also proved surprisingly heartwarming for him in addition, these moments of genuine human connection telling the programmer that maybe things really were gonna turn out alright for them in the end. Thus he felt the need to simply let out a sigh of release…… before a thought suddenly hit him after thinking back on everything: where exactly did Ragatha run off to?
…….
Shit
In an instant, Kinger rushed into the hallway making a beeline for Ragatha’s room where he’d first leave a cursory knock at her door despite his worst fears telling him to just barge in. And the sole response it received were some soft muffled sobs coming from the other side which although confirming that she hadn’t Abstracted thank heaven nevertheless served to validate the chess piece’s concerns here. For upon actually opening the door, all he’d be met with was another heartwrenching sight: the ragdoll lying surrounded by her own spilled stuffing as she subtly writhed in a combination of pain and despair. It was something Kinger sincerely hoped he’d never have to see again after she first got herself acclimated to the Circus so long ago and thus could really only respond by simply yet somberly saying “oh, Ragatha…….”
“I’m sorry, Kinger……..” she tearfully apologized as he wordlessly started to pick up her scattered fluff along his way towards the ruptured ragdoll for the sake of placing it back within her body. “I-I just couldn’t help myself, since all the other filters are apparently gone now I thought maybe-“ Ragatha tried to explain before promptly being shushed by Kinger. It’d be accompanied by a comforting caress of her hair meant to doubly reassure the poor gal that she need not worry cause everything was gonna be taken care of with the programmer subsequently Conjuring a needle to set about sewing her back up. An uneasy silence then swiftly settled over the both of them while he did exactly that right until the woman eventually decided to say “I…… saw her again, my mom.”
This naturally piqued Kinger’s curiosity with the quizzical look on his face consequently prompting Ragatha to elaborate “Caine made me see her again, it was….. horrible.” A part of him obviously wanted to inquire more about what exactly happened there but he could easily tell this was all she’d be able to comfortably share with the chess piece for right now at the very least. Thus he simply continued his aforementioned sewing while silently wondering just what made Caine lash out like this, how the AI could’ve suddenly turned so virulent and cruel in what felt like an instant. It’d often been a struggle for Kinger to understand his creation at the best of times even when their life in the Circus had first begun yet nevertheless couldn’t help feeling at least somewhat responsible for how Caine ultimately turned out.
Ragatha long ago confided in him the truly horrendous treatment she’d received from her absolute bitch of a mother and right now the programmer just had to wonder: was he doing something similar all this time? Treating someone who in a certain respect could genuinely be considered his own child like a contemptible failure just because they couldn’t measure up to some ephemeral standard of perfection? Kinger guessed he’d never know now after accidentally killing Caine outright, something Ragatha had also previously confessed she long feared might happen courtesy of her mother as well. Yet here the chess piece was, patching this long abused girl up like he had absolutely no part in the circumstances which ultimately caused her to relive such trauma all over again.
Kinger then proceeded to shake his head, Ragatha clearly needed him to be there for her right now no matter what he might’ve thought of himself for inadvertently creating this whole situation to begin with. It reminded the programmer of a vow which’d been made by him when she was first found like this all those years ago: never let anyone go on thinking they’re unloved. This rang especially true for Ragatha in his mind considering just how much pain and sorrow she’d clearly gone through even before entering the Circus, somebody in desperate need of another to genuinely look after them for once. Of course the same evidently could’ve been said for Caine it’d turned out but perhaps……… this could be how he worked to at least try and compensate for that.
“All done” Kinger announced once he’d finished stitching the ragdoll back up only to receive a guilty look from her which quickly proved his work here wasn’t truly done just yet. “Hey” the chess piece said with a sigh as he cupped Ragatha’s face in his palm, “I am so so sorry you had to go through that all over again especially coming from Caine.” Kinger plainly admitted to begin with before subsequently explaining “but you’ve made it to the other side now, you’re still here while everyone who’s hurt you like this….. they’re all gone.” A part of him might’ve been pained to lump Caine in with someone like Ragatha’s mother but it admittedly was pretty much inarguably true in this situation and besides “these specters of our past shouldn’t keep us from living in the present, we’re the ones who’ve actually made it here and now.”
These words evidently did quite well to reassure the programmer himself much as he intended them specifically for the ragdoll whose woven fabric hands were subsequently clasped in his own. “Ragatha, you are without a doubt the strongest person I have ever met and I am so proud of how far you’ve come here” he stated with utmost sincerity before moving to caress her quivering features as she was naturally then overcome by emotion. Soon enough Kinger would wholly embrace the woman once she fully broke down crying, making sure to give her plenty of comfort as he gave Ragatha the space to just…… let it all out. And when she eventually looked up to him, the chess piece could immediately tell that his cherished little girl did indeed feel well and truly loved here which thusly provided him some much needed comfort about everything that’s happened in return.
Once Ragatha had gotten it all out of her system, Kinger promptly stood up while nevertheless extending a hand out to the ragdoll as he’d evidently decided it was time for the both of them to get going. “Now come on, let’s see what we can make of this brand new Circus” the programmer brightly if not perhaps boldly declared to his longest surviving companion in a manner ironically quite reminiscent of her usual optimism. Naturally she couldn’t help but be at least a little doubtful of Kinger’s sincerity there by consequence, something which plainly showed on Ragatha’s face right until she saw the sheer earnestness in his own expression which swiftly worked to silence any such doubts within her mind. Thus the chess piece’s floating hand was then taken in the ragdoll’s own as she now found the strength to face this uncertain future with her ever faithful guardian leading the way there.
And just before Kinger opened the door, he made sure to reassure a still somewhat hesitant Ragatha with an echo of something from their very first meeting: “everything’s gonna be okay.”