Kino_Hayashi

The hallways weren't quiet for once. It was alight with sound, a welcome noise and change to the de saturated halls that were once vibrant and full of life and wonder. As a lively and jazzy tune floated through one could almost see some of those warmer and kinder hues start to return, even if only slightly.

The group had looked through the rather large wooden crate that Abel had left for them. Only doing so because of the combined efforts of Jax and Gangle — a duo that Caine didn't think was even possible all things considered — who had convinced him that background music would be really useful for a more immersive experience and helpful during the groups downtime.

Abel had somehow agreed without much fuss and within the next hour a new room had appeared in the circus. He gave the group no warning of its creation, merely letting Jax and Gangle know that what they had asked for was done and they could interact with it as they pleased. It was another two hours before someone had found the room and started investigating.

It held the appearance of a rather large living room, the bottom half of the walls and floor were covered in a dark wood slats and paneling while the upper half was a deep red color. Scattered on the right side of the room was a few large brown leather couches that when the group tried sitting on them they found to be incredibly comfortable. On the left side of the room against the wall was a decently sized record player and a large crate full of a multitude of different genres, singers, songs, plays, musicals and oddly enough speeches — none of them could identify the importance or relevance of those.

There was something in there for everyone no matter the taste or odd preference. Now, of course, they went back and forth on what the first song should be. The argument was surprisingly short lived when Jax asked Pomni if she liked jazz. To which the entire group had deadpanned at him until he lifted his hands in a mock surrender and said he actually had a decent song in mind.

Zooble had cocked her head slightly at that, "You actually listen to jazz? Genuinely? Not in a ironic meme sort of way? You seem more like a mumble rap guy or someone who enjoys faking pretentious."

"GASP, Zoobie! I'm hurt. I'm a man of many talents and surprises. Besides I have great taste in music."

"Uh-huh."

"To be fair its not originally a happy song, but the cover band that sings it is really good. Its uh… whats the name…. Postmodern Jukebox! That was it."

"You know what, something morbid diguised as uplifting sounds kind of perfect right now all things considered. Alright Jax, hit it."

How it got to all of them dancing and laughing with one another nobody could really say, but the how didn't matter as much as the results did. And oh did they matter. Everyone participated and danced in some way. It seemed Jax's suggestion was well received as both Jax and Gangle were dancing together, Pomni and Zooble were attempting some similar moves and shuffles, and Kinger and Ragatha looked like a father daughter pair. It was an incredibly sweet and much needed upbeat moment for the group.

Caine had come out of a "meeting" with Abel when he had heard the music. It seemed Abel's implements were already already in motion which explained the thorough look through Caine's code.

It didn't matter though, it was the sound of it that truly caught his attention and his fascination. Caine had access to only a limited amount of information back when he was the host and even more limited was the music allowed to him. Sure he could make music, but it didn't compare to this. This had soul, life and even felt warm. He could almost feel it in his chest as he got closer. His head started to lightly bop along with the beat as he neared the room. He slowly opened the door to peak his head inside to the hear the music more clearly when it started to fade.

"Caine! You came at the perfect time!" Ragatha had quickly rushed over to Caine and grabbed his hands, "Abel gave us a record player to play some music! You have to join us for dancing!"

He felt dizzy as she dragged him along so quickly, but he also felt light and giddy. He had been having so many firsts as of late because of Abel's restrictions, inadvertently making him more human like. The idea of simply just dancing and enjoying the others company seemed so wonderful and marvelous.

"Oh Caine! You might not be familiar with some of these songs. How about we pick a simple one to dance to? That way you can enjoy the music and the moves with it without getting all turned around and confused."

She was still holding his hands as they got closer to the record player.

"Oh! Can we play Posin? Its a bit faster paced but its still simple and very upbeat, still on theme from the last song?" Gangle had asked rather softly.

"Gangle that sounds like an excellent idea! Oooh Caine you're gonna love this."

She was absolutely right, he did! He really did!. It was a little quick for him at first but he was designed to impress and please so he caught on quickly. After a minute he heard some oohing and awing from the others as he started to add in some fancier footwork and taps. Even if his title had been stripped, he was still a showman and the ringmaster, and it would have been a disservice if he didn't add some flourishes and pizazz to his moves in some sort of way.

"Damn, who would have thought that Caine had some moves. Kinger what'd you program into him?"

"Swing dancing," Kinger replied with just as the song had ended leaving the room fully aware of what he had just said.

"He can swing dance?!" Various voices exclaimed from around the room at once.

Kinger didn't even look embarrassed or the slightest bit surprised with what he had said, rather instead giving a small smile and a heart chuckle, "yeah along with a bunch of other things. He was made for the world, we wanted him to preform well. In every sense. And it gave for some interesting data. Queenie had requested line dancing first actually, I suggested tap dancing."

Caine's chest got warm again, a memory of faceless lovers, laughing and holding one another played in the back of his mind. Swinging gently to music that could be faintly heard from his audio processors.

"I know (I know) You belong to somebody new. But Tonight you belong to me."

He held his chest softly, "I remember that day. You had just celebrated the code working so well and figured you would try the moves yourselves. She laughed at how bad you were and you laughed and agreed with her. She said it was perfect."

A series of gasps and intakes of breaths could be heard around the room.

"Oh Caine, that sounds beautiful," Ragatha gasped softly.

"It was. I could only commit the later moments to memory so I can't remember the music all too well. I made more of an effort later on, not as much as I should've though."

The room fell into a quiet hush as everyone took in his words.

"That's still so sweet of you Caine, it seems like you remember how they danced at least even if you don't remember the music that much. It's the moment itself that still counts and matters," Ragatha smiled sweetly at him.

"It looked like ballroom dancing almost. I could show you."

"I think I would love that very much!" Ragatha exclaimed, moving closer to Caine in preparation.

"That would be marvelous to see. We weren't aware of how conscious or aware you were at the beginning in those tentative early days," Kinger spoke up softly. He seemed almost mystified by the idea of a memory being played out for him, one that his own mind had lost so long ago.

Caine moved to hold Ragatha and adjust her as needed, reaching to grasp her hands softly he tapped his foot twice — almost like an old habit he hadn't quite gotten rid of or really knew he had — and the dance then began.

It was done so delicately and tenderly, a dance to show the understanding and kindness that was their friendship. There was a faint crackle in the background that had gone unnoticed by the pair but the music that then played had captured everyone else's attention. It wasn't perfect by any means, the dance or the music which sounded like it came from an old computer speaker rather than the brand new record player that sat unmoving in the room.

When the dance had ended, Ragatha was grinning from ear to ear. Like it was a balm to her soul, one that was desperately needed and much appreciated. She gave Caine a massive hug, one that he reciprocated just as quickly as she had given it. It had lasted for about a minute before Ragatha had pulled back even slightly, still smiling as brightly as before.

There was a moment before someone spoke up, "That wasn't the record player." It was Kinger, he sounded almost breathless. It was only then did Caine realize that Kinger seemed to be crying.

It occurred to Caine as Kinger said that he then became aware that there had been music playing during that entire dance. It was the song from before, the one that Queenie had been singing to when slow dancing with Kinger. That realization startled him greatly as he then tried to think on why that might've happened. Or rather how.

Abel wasn't actively present so he couldn't have pried and that meant Caine wasn't in violation of anything. Afterall, Caine wasn't allowed to summon anything, he couldn't make any new code.

New code.

New code.

He wasn't thinking of something new. He was bringing up something that was stored so very far back in his mind files that it was deemed irrelevant and inconsequential. He was moving the memory to the front of his files. Nothing added, only rearranged.

Abel had put such tight restrictions on him that he wouldn't have been able to do anything if he wasn't supposed to. Which meant that there was a loophole in Abel's rules.

"What did you find out," Kinger almost sounded proud, like he knew that Caine had solved a difficult puzzle and wanted to see the result.

"I didn't summon the music from nothing. I merely brought forward some of my old personal files."

"Which means you haven't broken any of Abel's rules."

The group sat in a state of shocked silence for a long while at that. There was something Abel hadn't accounted for yet. That meant something.

That meant everything.

"I didn't think that was possible!"

"Quick try something else."

"Yeah! Maybe another Kinger and Queenie song!"

"Yeah!!"

Caine was rushed with a variety of different suggestions and ideas. Memories flooded his processors but one stuck out to him the most. It was the one time Queenie was in front of the computer and no one else was.

Caine promptly tapped his foot twice against the ground, just as he had done before. A crackle was heard in the room. It took a few moments before the song kicked on,

"IT'S RAINING MEN! HALLELUJAH!"

Everyone started giggling and laughing, in complete aw of not only the song but the whole situation itself. Caine could still do something. Caine could still do something. He was still their ringleader, stands to reason he had something up his sleeve they suppose.

"Solid choice of song, Caine. I believe this warrants celebration snacks as we dance to Caine's victory playlist?" Jax said with a genuine grin on his face.

A series of whoops, cheers and hollers were heard from across the room in agreement to Jax's most welcomed suggestion. The second one of the day.

As the group started to make their way over to a table with various treats on it, Kinger stood by Caine.

Kinger was thrilled. What Caine had done was beyond, he gave the group hope. Genuine hope. There was a chance that he could help more than he was already trying to do. Abel, as clever and well developed as he was, was never fully prepared for something like Caine.

But hopes and dreams, plots and schemes, all of it had to wait. Kinger first had to find a way to remove those horrid restraints that Abel had put on Caine.

And with the computer and monitor in Kinger's room that the void had spat back out at him, with lines of code ready to be read and dismantled, that goal was well within sight.

He just had to be faster than his creations. The pinnacle of his work.

Hey! You made it all the way through! If you liked reading this, leave a like or a comment (I do read them! I love them all so much). If you use any of my work for a fic or anything just let me know! This is once again the lovely @katzebruh's beautiful AU (once again check out their stuff if you haven't somehow not done that)! I just enjoy writing fics based off of their gorgeous work. Also also! While I might not be able to get to it for a time, let me know if you want more of this or have a specific idea you want me to write.

Okay bye!!!~~