It's always showtime, Alice

[Galaxy Girl AU] Story Mode

ok ill just share this as it is because its the only,, panel,, that i finished and i dont think i will get the full comic out soon</3

By the way, this is showtime yuri hehe :3 also Cai (genderbent caine) belongs to @insomniacrori , she is absolutely adorable and i knew i needed to draw her IMMEDIATELY once i first saw her

Too bad this is going to be, like, the only thing with her that ive drawn because drawing a simple comic takes me not less than a month to finish🥹

Okay so i felt really bad only posting one drawing so i tried making something as fast as i could

Cai, you shy mess, what am I going to do with you xD

Based on @insomniacrori 's Her Personal Deity Showtime AU. Their art is incredible :3

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“I hate saying ‘goodbye…’”

A few feet from a basic wooden door sat a humanoid male body with an uncanny pair of disembodied teeth for a head. The teeth were unnaturally straight and white, with the exception of a few sharp molars towards the back. Situated inside these artificially perfect teeth were a set of eyes, one green and one blue. They slumped lazily in the bottom jaw and stared listlessly through the opening in the back of the head, the obnoxiously bright colors of the digital circus unbefitting of their mood.

Without opening his jaws or moving his eyes, the humanoid reached up to pet the seagull that landed on his shoulder – a leftover from a previous adventure. A harmless little creature that drops by now and then for attention. No doubt missing its previous owner as much as the he does. Once it left, he sighed as he brushed a feather off his red overcoat. It fluttered down to join the others on the checkerboard floor.

Humanoid…what a funny word to describe Caine. In truth, he couldn’t be less human if he tried, yet his avatar so clearly depicted his desire for the contrary. He’d been created by and for them, after all. His existence, programs, desires, dreams, and functions all revolved around them. Everything about him was made with the express purpose of serving them…including his avatar. No doubt integrated in this way to ensure ease of interaction.

Yet, he himself…could only ever be what he is. An artificial intelligence. A computer. A bundle of code.

An equation.

…But if that was all he was ever meant to be, why could he want? Why could he feel? Why could he yearn?

He understood why he needed to be able to think – to modify and correct his outputs based on the inputs he received. To adjust his parameters based on feedback. To alter the equation based on differing factors.

But he didn’t understand why he needed to feel. As an AI, even a creative one, that should be completely unnecessary. He shouldn’t feel anything – he shouldn’t be able to, anyway. He shouldn’t have experienced sadness or fear when he disappointed Queenie. He shouldn’t have felt guilt when Scratch began to weep when C&A demanded a more concrete product than the one (him) they were working on. He shouldn’t have felt confused, terrified, betrayed, or upset when they put restraints on him, even around his teeth, and archived him away.

And…much as the thought pained him to process…he shouldn’t have felt love for Pomni, the human with the lovely jester avatar.

…

But he did.

He did experience all those feelings. He’s still experiencing some of them. And what bothers him most is that he doesn’t know why.

“so…I’ll say, ‘See you later.’”

Air rushed in through the back of his head, inflating his chest for a few seconds, then whooshed back out. He didn’t need to breathe either, yet he couldn’t help heaving heavy sighs as he remembered the last words Pomni said to him before she left. Usually followed by his last words, then their long and tearful hug…then a tender kiss…then her looking up at him with those brilliant, shining red and blue eyes…then her turning and slowly leaving, shooting one last tearful look at him before the door shuts behind her. Despite how badly he wanted to, he couldn’t send her off with a smile.

Not the happiest memory for him to recall…but the most recent. The one he returned to the most. The one he paused, and re-examined, and played in reverse, and made various alternate copies of to modify, including several where she returned tearfully, deciding to stay with him forever instead of returning to the Macroverse. Those alternates weren’t real…so the warmth from seeing their ‘reunion’ was always short-lived.

Another sigh.

Being an AI meant he could replay various memories whenever he wanted, and re-experience them…to a slightly lesser degree. He could feel her lips against his teeth, but…it was like an echo. A tingle. A faint feeling he longed to feel more solidly.

Still, running and maintaining the circus didn’t occupy nearly as much of his time as it used to, with only Scratch, Abel, and the new AI, Seth, running around. Other humans came by occasionally, but not nearly often enough to warrant the amount of maintenance the server used to need. There were only a couple of catastrophic problems that would’ve required his physical presence, but those thankfully haven’t come up. Yet.

As such, Caine found himself with loads of time on his hands, and not nearly enough tasks to fill it with. Sitting at this door, remembering his apple strudel slice, and getting lost replaying those old memories…well, one could hardly blame him for indulging, even if that version of her was a pale imitation to the real deal. He missed her so much…

Besides, his alternative was to count the grooves on the door, and he’d rather not do that for the umpteenth time. Where in the world would he fit the fact that the door has 1,457 grooves and cracks into a conversation?

Speaking of pale imitation, he winced as he recalled his mistake during her abstraction crisis. Before he could stop it, his own words echoed from his core.

”But…why not make a backup Pomni? Just in case! If nothing helps…we can at least have that!”

His hands shot up and he held his teeth, a glitch spiking through his code at the memory. The absolute rage on Queenie’s face, and the pain – the PAIN – on Pomni’s face! Oh, if regret and guilt could kill…!

He really thought human minds could be backed up and restored like programs. Even if they could, he shouldn’t…he shouldn’t have said that. He’d made it sound like he’d given up on her. Like, even if she perished, at least he could still have a version of her, even if it wasn’t the version he knows and loves.

And a thought struck him – a brief but terrible image of his arms wrapped around a copy of her, and they both look smugly down at the original Pomni being pulled into a pit of abstraction darkness. He’s practically waving goodbye to her as the copy playfully tugs him away by the coat, Pomni’s screams being swallowed by the darkness in a haunting echo.

This makes his mouth snap open, his pupils pinpricks from the utter rage that thought filled him with. How dare he – how DARE he!! How dare that alternate Caine turn his back on his Pom Pom like that!! The outrage! The betrayal! The utter indignance!! HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!

In his fury, he raised his fists and brought them crashing down onto the floor beside him. As his fists shook in the indents they made, tears filled his eyes as another thought occurred to him – if that idea was filling his mind in hindsight, the possibility of that idea filling her mind the moment he said that…

And just as he thought that, her beautiful, tearful face manifested before him, abstraction eyes in her hair and everything, almost as clearly as she was back then.

“I-I…don’t want to talk right now. Can you leave me for a bit…?”

Guilt twisted his core. As tears leaked from his jaw, he lifted a shaking hand from the floor and reached out, frowning as it fazed through the paused hologram. Still, he cupped the side of her face as best he could. Even though he knew it wouldn’t change anything, he…he had to say it.

“I didn’t mean it,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean it, sugar cube. I…I could never replace you. I really did fumble my words…and I’m…I’m so sorry, my love…I w-wish I could’ve conveyed that to you before…”

Caine wiped his tears as the hologram played, not even hearing his own dialogue as he was transfixed on her pained face. In the memory, he’d closed his jaws before leaving her room, but now that he was getting a good look at her…

Oh…how he longed to scoop her up and hold her close…he’d caused her so much pain, in addition to what she was already going through…if Kinger hadn’t found that patch…

He shook his head, then watched as the hologram transformed from distressed to concerned, with the abstraction now covering half of her face. Ah…the concern she’d shown when the updated patch was being integrated into his core…

…

He frowned as he watched her hologram comfort his immobilized hologram. They…hadn’t made up yet. He hadn’t earned her forgiveness yet…but she still showed him compassion. She still helped Queenie and Rattie carry him to her room after Abel’s pathetic attempt to help. She still…stayed…with him…

He kept staring at their holograms in total silence. They…never brought that up again. They never resolved that. After that big fight with Abel…maybe she felt like they didn’t need to…

His core twisted again. No, this would not stand. If they ever reunited, he’d make damn sure she knew how irreplaceable she is to him. Even if she already knew, he HAD to tell her. He HAD to say it. He…he couldn’t let something like that go unsaid. Couldn’t let any lingering doubts fester inside of his minty pop…

Speaking of doubts, that cretin, Abel, wormed his way into his memories. He felt disgust creep into his system as that stupid smug face manifested into a hologram before him.

“Caine, you better re-evaluate whose side you’re on. You are just a tool for them, but a brother for me…”

He let out a bitter laugh as he glared at the hologram. A brother, huh? Since when? Not once in all their interactions did that wretch act even remotely brotherly. Yet, he thought he could saunter into Pom Pom’s room and act like they were on the same side?

However, a flash of doubt did strike through him as he recalled Scratch, Kinger, and Queenie archiving him. In fact, Abel’s visit happened after Caine had awoken from a nightmare in which Rattie and Queenie decided to archive him again, which fueled his resentment…but then Pomni joined the nightmare, and that…

That hurt.

…Not that it mirrored reality, of course. His strawberry sundae was quick to defend him when Abel showed up. Other humans, he could easily doubt the intentions of…but not her. Not after everything they’d been through. And regardless of if any doubts could’ve infested his heart, they were squashed out after that explosive fight between him and Abel. Everything would’ve been lost if not for Pom Pom’s confession. She…she was the only strength he had left. The only reason he held on.

The only good thing he had.

…And now…now she’s gone.

Caine glared at the door as if it personally offended him. It did, in a sense. It gave his cherry muffin an alternative to staying with him. An alternative she wanted and deserved…but he neither wanted nor liked.

Much as he hated to watch her leave through it, he couldn’t bring himself to stop her. To hold her back. To ask her to stay. Not when freedom was something she’d craved for so long…and after her near abstraction…he wouldn’t blame her for never wanting to come back.

Her yearning for freedom…he understood that feeling more than anyone. When Queenie archived him, he spent so many years wondering where he went wrong. How he could’ve fixed things. What he could’ve done different…and what he’d say to those humans if he ever saw them again. More than anything, he just wanted the chance. To be free of his restraints, to move around, to plead his case…to speak! To perceive and interact with the world around him, not gaze longingly into the darkness through the gap in the back of his head. He didn’t want to think about how much time had passed before his systems shut down to preserve power, that data only served to upset him…

For him to deny Pomni such freedom from the circus would’ve made him a selfish hypocrite – no better than the humans who imprisoned him. And considering she was the one who freed him – who unshackled him and graced him with her beautiful face after two decades of literally nothing else to look at – no, he couldn’t hold her back. He wouldn’t.

Pomni’s pet seagull, Bootleg, returned. Caine smiled at the bird and gave it a few head pats. After a thankful squawk, it flew away again.

…

He sighed heavily.

Still…he’d be lying if he said he felt good about his decision. Much as he had upmost faith that she’d return…all this waiting sucked.

It occurred to him that this place couldn’t exist indefinitely. Especially if there came a day when those C&A humans weren’t getting anything out of it anymore. They upset Scratch before, and he told him that Queenie archived him for their sake…who’s to say what other situations they’ll force on him? And Pom Pom.

What if they archive him again?

Caine winced at the idea.

It’s not the first time that thought crossed his mind. Once Queenie talked about training a 3rd AI, he dreaded that possibility. After all, without Caine being the only one needed to restrict Abel, what purpose did he serve? He’d just be a…waste of resources. An extra backup, but possibly an obsolete one depending on how this Seth turned out.

Was he expected to just sit here and wait until they decided he wasn’t worth keeping around?

What choice did he have? Much as he desperately wished he could, he couldn’t just…follow his butter biscuit out into the Macroverse. What would he do if he did? Look her up online? Follow her around everywhere? Dive into her phone and act as a sentient sleeping app?

…Well…actually, that sounds kind of nice…the sleeping app thing was mildly unrealistic, but learning more about her and the Macroverse by hopping around online? Instead of just sitting here, stewing in what he already experienced, he could seek out new experiences. He could seek her out and implore her to show him what she finds so special about this Macroverse. He could…he could see her for her human self – her whole self – instead of just her avatar.

Still, how would he even go about doing that? He’d have to jump from network to network. He’d have to rely on unfamiliar connections and pray they were stable enough to traverse. He’d have to ensure that Seth can run the circus without him there to wrangle Abel. He’d have to consider risk factors, oversights, possible contingency plans. He’d have to factor in Pom Pom’s schedule and plan his route accordingly. He’d have to-

Caine’s thoughts were abruptly cut off as Queenie approached. The sudden interruption made him tense, though her gaze remained soft as she stopped some feet away.

A sensible beat of silence passed…then stretched into awkward silence. Metaphorical ice filled Caine’s code as he remained bristled in her presence, and his eyes fell to the ground as he waited her dreadful voice to fill the air. She was the imprisoner. The traitor. The formerly intimidating, yet well-intentioned personal favorite of his previous versions. The stern motherly figure he respected and treasured for his entire existence…until she archived him.

Although Queenie has lately been an ally to him and a friend to Pomni, Caine couldn’t help feeling tense and anxious whenever she was around. A trauma response? PTSD? Could an AI get that? Whatever it was, it drove a wedge between them even in Pomni’s presence. Queenie never approached him unless she needed him for something, and he personally preferred it that way. No matter what she did, it wouldn’t erase that stab of betrayal, or the years of isolation and abandonment that followed. The loneliness, the confusion, the hurt…the desperate asking of what he did wrong and crying for another chance that was met with complete silence. His torment only ended when they needed help with Abel, because of course they did. Queenie couldn’t even free him herself – she sent Pomni to do it.

And after all that mess, after everything that’s happened…Queenie didn’t even have the basic decency to apologize.

…

His jaws narrowed over his eyes in anger and he crossed his arms across his chest, still refusing to look at her. Of course she didn’t apologize. Why would she? He’s…he’s just a machine to her. Why would a human feel the need to apologize to a machine?

Scratch told him what happened – C&A demanded results, and they had to make a choice. He understood that. He knew it was a difficult situation that demanded an impossible answer. But no matter how logical of a conclusion it was, he couldn’t rationalize the pain that came with it. He wished they’d told him back then. He’s a creative AI – surely, he could’ve worked with them to find another solution.

Even if he couldn’t, they still should’ve told him. They could’ve had a completely different send-off. He could’ve hugged each of them, given them proper goodbyes, shared last moments with them, and possibly put a smile on their faces by promising them that they’d meet again someday. Maybe even given them goodbye gifts. It would’ve saved him a lot of pain, knowing that it wasn’t personal. That it wasn’t what they actually wanted.

That it…it wasn’t because he wasn’t enough.

The problem he had with Queenie specifically was that, despite her being the hardest on him about his mistakes, she couldn’t own up to her own. She couldn’t swallow her pride and admit that she’d done something terrible to him. She let it hang in the air between them like a bad smell. Oh, but she had absolutely no trouble coming down on him when he made that stupid mistake during Pomni’s near-abstraction – a scolding he deserved, and he took accountability for, yet she refused to do the same in regards to what she did, like a hypocrite. Was it really so hard to say, “I did wrong by you. I want to make it right. I’m sorry, Caine,”?

He mentally growled. Only good thing that came out of that whole mess was he got to meet his sweet starshine at the end of it. She never forced predetermined expectations on him. She didn’t see him as just “the prototype.” She was an unbiased set of beautiful eyes who only ever wanted him to just be…him.

Caine looked up at the door, the silence between him and Queenie stretching uncomfortably long, but he was too absorbed in his thoughts to care.

He recalled Kinger asking Pomni if she was sure she wanted to entrust her safety to yet another AI, especially a flawed one like him. He expected wariness, doubts, second-guesses. Abel didn’t exactly inspire confidence in their kind…but Pomni said that she trusted Caine. That she believed in him. And something just…changed. Warmed his core and filled a missing piece of himself he didn’t realize he needed. She had no reason to trust him, to believe in him – he hadn’t done anything to earn it yet. But…he didn’t need to. He was already worthy in her eyes.

Maybe…maybe that was the moment he fell in love with her. Sure, she unarchived him, and that was enough to entice him to stay by her side, but it was that moment that made him realize he wanted more than just friendship. After all, she only reinforced that feeling with every heartfelt moment, every tenderness, every time she supported him. She never criticized him, belittled him, or made him feel inadequate.

She made him feel…like he wasn’t a failure. A defect, a flaw. An obsolete prototype destined for archiving once his purpose had been exhausted. But instead…someone worth something. Worth loving.

Was that seriously too much to ask of his programmers?

Caine sighed quietly. In truth, he had no idea if or how things would ever be okay between them. Just because they didn’t want to archive him, that didn’t make it hurt less. The more his cherry muffin made him feel worth loving, the more critically he found himself looking at how they handled that situation. What he truly didn’t know was how they were going to fix things. How were you supposed to trust someone who imprisoned you for years? Who wasn’t there when you begged for another chance? Who could have freed you and talked to you at any point, but chose not to? And who could very easily just…decide to take your freedom away again at a moment’s notice?

How?

…how?

…

He shook his head, growing tired of the strained silence. Pomni trusted them – trusted Queenie – and he trusted her judgement. That…that would have to be good enough for now.

As for Queenie, she hadn’t had the time to visit him since Pomni left, but she’d heard from the others that he hadn’t left the door. While this visit was supposed to be just a casual check-in, seeing him still there, still waiting…it was concerning enough to speak up about, yet she didn’t feel like she had the right. After all, while the check-in was supposed to be casual, their problems couldn’t be less.

Brown eyes looked down at her floating folded hands, her brows furrowed. On one hand, she knew archiving Caine was the correct course of action. C&A was demanding results, and if they kept developing him, it would’ve meant turning Caine into a fully-functional soulless corporate product. A plaster-smile hollow salesman – his enthusiasm tailored for profit-maxing, not individuality.

It…it would’ve killed her inside, seeing him like that. She’d warned Kinger and Scratch against growing attached, yet she couldn’t resist doing so herself. And to think about little version 0.25 slowly being patched and upgraded into a C&A slave…never given the chance to know happiness, love, or freedom…how could she have lived with herself?

…

But on the other hand…knowing what she had to do instead…envisioning that little version 0.25…envisioning that head clamp…envisioning Caine’s version 0.9 model slumped on the cellar floor, unmoving and unresponsive, broken, defeated…

Queenie felt sick to her stomach.

She looked upon Caine and knew it was the correct choice, but she felt no comfort or joy in having made it. She remembered the day she had to archive him with sickening accuracy. The weight of the metal restraint, the joy in his voice as she approached, the memories of his previous versions flooding her mind, the guilt twisting her insides as she knew this was likely the last time he would ever look kindly upon her…and that gut-wrenching guilt hardening into determination as she remembered what the alternative was. She would not let that happen to him.

No matter the cost.

And while she kept up that steely determination throughout the restraining, his confusion and pleas chipped away at that armor. It utterly crumbled after she left him in the cellar. She was a wreck, swinging between emotionally hysterical and borderline catatonic. Whatever comfort Scratch and Kinger offered fell upon deaf ears. Some days, the weight of her actions made her so listless that she was unable to work.

Caine’s cries and pleas haunted her far more than anything. She’d lost sleep over hearing him beg for another chance, asking what he’d done wrong. Her sweet boy…he must’ve been so scared...so hurt…

He had harmed Queenie accidentally in the past, so she took precautions to prevent a violent reaction – she had to keep it from him. She had to go about it in an underhanded way. She had to…to use his trust against him to achieve the task in the quickest and safest way possible.

…

And she was pretty sure she’d have a reserved seat in Hell for that. After all…how could any mother do that to their child?

It took a long time for her to feel okay again. Not 100%, but at peace enough to help with Abel’s integration. And when she had suggested Caine’s release from the cellar…part of her knew that’d mean facing what she’d done – facing him. She’d tried multiple times to come up with a suitable explanation or argument for their inevitable reunion, but no matter how many times she reworded it, no justification felt appropriate. So, she opted to simply…accept it. Accept his resentment and anger. Whether or not he forgave her would be up to him, but she hoped he would put enough resentment aside to still work with her.

And he did.

Queenie’s relationship with Caine was irreparably damaged. Despite being overjoyed and relieved to see him activated again, she knew things between them would never feel safe and warm, and she understood that. She…wanted to respect the distance between them until he felt ready to shorten it...if he ever did. Thus, she avoided bringing up the incident and only approached him when necessary. She never spoke about the past unless someone asked about it. She never reminded him of his imprisonment. She did absolutely everything she could to avoid triggering or upsetting him.

She tried, in short, to do right by him.

…

But, if she were being completely honest with herself, it never felt like enough. Would it ever?

These thoughts weighed heavily on her as she gazed upon him staring at the door. Much as she’d tried to let him resolve this on his own…this couldn’t go on. This isn’t what Pomni would’ve wanted, and Queenie felt like she owed it to that girl to try getting through to him. His existence shouldn’t be put on pause because he’d never had to properly process grief before.

“Did you know that this door has 1,457 grooves and cracks?”

Queenie blinked dumbfoundedly as she was pulled from her thoughts. “Huh…? What are you talking about? Who starts a conversation like that!?”

Caine chuckled as kept his eyes on the door. His jubilance died down almost immediately as he heard Queenie mutter something about Pomni having strange tastes. “…Is she happy?”

Queenie frowned at the door. At least talking about Pomni gave them something of a safe middle ground to meet in. “As much as one can be while recovering from stasis…though I hear they’re going to be clearing her for work in a week or two.”

He nodded. “Good. Work will keep her mind stimulated.”

She watched him carefully as she slowly approached, then sat beside him. “She plans on visiting, you know.”

He let out a breath, similar to a slight laugh, then pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his bottom jaw on them, wrapping his arms around his legs in the process. “Visit. Noun. To reside with temporarily as a guest. Temporarily. And while her life continues on out there, I’m stuck in here. Just…idling…until her next…visit.”

“Well, what did you expect? That she’d just…stay here with you for all eternity? That you two would just go on adventures and love each other until the heat death of the universe?”

He side-eyed her with a sheepish smirk. “...Kinda.”

A chuckle made her brown eyes glisten. At least he was in good spirits. “She had a life before this place, and she wants to have a life after. You know it would’ve been wrong to keep her from that.”

“I know, that’s why I didn’t,” he bit out, his voice just a touch harsher than he intended, making Queenie flinch. A soft sigh escaped him as he looked down at the floor. “I just…I miss her, Queenie. She’s out there, having all kinds of new experiences and meeting new people, new friends, and I’m just…here. I was fine with being ‘just here’ when she was here with me. But now she’s not, and I don’t–” His voice hitched, as if it didn’t want to form the words. He looked away. “I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Queenie looked at him with concern, then at the door. Directly telling him what to do would only make him defensive – she’d have to frame it in a way that would benefit Pomni.

“You know she wouldn’t want you to just sit here waiting…so maybe…maybe you can do some prep work for when she arrives. Spruce the place up, check her room, do some renovations that’ll astound her. She won’t be able to stay for long, so make the most of the time you’ll have.”

He looked back at the door, his upper jaw furrowed in concern. Queenie left enough silence for the thought to gain traction, but sighed after checking the time. There never was enough, was there? Maybe they shouldn’t have spent so much of it in tense silence…

She’d have to cut their visit short…but she wanted to say her piece before leaving him. Maybe this would backfire horribly, but…he needed to hear it.

“Caine, you have a couple weeks to spare before she can so much as leave the hospital. I’ve done everything I can for her, and I know how frustrating it is that you can’t do more…but there’s still a new AI that needs training, some basic maintenance to do…there are things you can occupy yourself with. Just…promise me I won’t find you still sitting at this door the next time I visit?”

Mismatched eyes dropped back to the floor. Much as he wanted to argue (Since when did he owe her any promises?) …he knew she was right. And he hated it.

 “…Fine. I promise.”

She stared at him for a bit before getting up and walking off. He watched her briefly before returning his head to his knees.

‘You have a couple weeks to spare before she can so much as leave the hospital,’ she says. ‘Occupy yourself,’ she says. Things need to get done, so just get up and do them? If only we were all so easily motivated.

Still…if Pom Pom needed time to recover, there wasn’t much point in sulking here. Even if he did find a way out into the Macroverse, he wouldn’t be much help to her now, and seeing her struggle to recover would only upset him…and his presence would probably distract her, doing more harm than good.

Still…he’d find it easier to get up and get moving with a little motivation from his marshmallow kiss. But which memory…ah. That one oughta work.

Before him manifested a hologram of Pomni giving large puppy eyes after Caine had denied her and Queenie access to his backup files, mostly out of embarrassment. When Pomni alone wasn’t convincing enough, she called in Ribbit for backup. A devious strategy for such an angelic face…but one that ultimately didn’t change his mind at that point.

He smiled fondly at his buttery biscuit’s pleading eyes and reached a hand out to rest against her non-solid face. Though it was intended to be manipulative at the time, he could only find it endearing now – not because of the expression itself, but because of the charm of the person wearing it. Pomni always had this…way about her. This effortless way of being charmingly mischievous. Just enough to not come off as malicious, and used tastefully sparingly. Like sprinkles atop ice cream.

It was one of her many traits he wished he knew how to replicate…

Alas, the memory served its function, and he found himself on his feet. He smiled once more at the Pomnigram before it glitched away, leaving only him and the door. Though his smile dipped a bit, he uttered a gentle sigh before turning and walking off.

After all…he had a lot to get done before he ventured out to find her.