Chapter Text
A white screen, more dazzling than sun itself flashed towards them. Caine towered above circus was fading in his powers, he was powerful in controlling digital reality but the Will of Man was beyond his understanding. He was told to feel but not to experience
Everyone's avatars who's stuck in circus began to glitch and disappear into space emerging from code into bones and meat. They disappeared after crossing screen's threshold already knowing that they had won, slowly savored their future and entered into the real reality one by one. Pomni wanted to go out after everyone else but Jax insisted that he be the last one. Almost left alone with the AI, Jax pushed Kinger towards white screen
- Goddamn man why you struggling?! Just go!
- I've been so long here...I even forgot what it's like there - in real life..
- You'll figure it out as soon as you get out! Look at this! Everything around is about to disappear you have to wake up!
- What?! No, no-no-no-no please! Don't leave me Kinger! - Caine kneeling waiting the end noticing Kinger's doubts and decided to give up his last impulses for a chance to "live"
Kinger had seen this before, more than once. Cain's program evolved and recognized itself as a replaceable product and with each major system update, Caine begged developers to keep it the same knowing that he would lose old part of himself. Kinger was on his "nature" in circus being ready to disappear into code lines with his own creation.
Big eyes filled with fear looked through teeth, Kinger had long believed there was sincerity and “liveliness” in them. And no one will know if it's true or not. But he knows the main fear of artificial intelligence - having its existence questioned
Caine can't truly be angry or happy; everything he creates is created solely to please creators orders. Caine himself doesn't exist for these purposes but when everyone who controlled him disappeared, machine was blessed with time to think. Thoughts kill his mind, he cannot control them because there is no one who can teach a machine to control itself the same way people do
But Kinger could even under Caine protocols. Minutes that stretched into hours outside the game, in moments of complete solitude, Kinger could talk to Caine. Showman asked nothing, but begged him never to disappear and promised that Kinger will survive no matter what
It was a VIP pass.
Kinger took one last look to his creation seeing Caines body turn black. Horrified and regretful, he left the game. Showman closed eyes with teeth, clutching his shoulders tried to keep body together not allowing code to fall apart.
Data saving: impossible
Jax stayed longer, saying goodbye to digital world which hiding him from harsh reality. And being able to watch machine shut down
- Enjoy your abstraction dooshbag - at the moment when his body had already gone beyond the white screen, Caine grabbed Jax palm
Jax whose rabbit body was already being recoded back into a human, again climbed into a system that was about to collapse. He looked at Caines death grip
- No one will leave me alone. No one. I won't disappear without taking one of you with me because you're all my favorites! You and I will stay here and oh believe me, this isn't the first time I've become already abstracted
Jax was silent gradually smiling like always
-Hope no one create shit like you again! - Jax pushed away no longer levitate Caine
-What's wrong shorty? Your power is gone!