KIT BRIGHT

Kinger spent almost all his time working in his office, developing some programs and analyzing the structure of the digital world, occasionally going out for a walk in nature. The rest of them just hung out together and enjoyed their free time.

But Jax never came back after that goodbye. At first, Pomni thought she was the only one worried about this, but she decided to mention it while they were playing badminton with Ragatha, Zooble, and Gangle at the picnic:

— Have you guys seen Jax?

— No… He never came back? — Gangle wondered as well.

— Well, that’s fine, it’s so calm without him… — Zooble said.

— I don’t know, maybe something happened to him… — the Doll, who was passing the shuttlecock to Gangle, also looked worried.

— Well, we can ask Caine. He’ll find him in a second, — suggested Zooble, — by the way, what is Caine even doing right now? Is he like Kinger’s test subject now?

— Well, it looks that way… — Pomni barely managed to take Zooble’s high pass.

Remembering Caine’s strange behavior, she fell deep in thought, but because of that, she missed the next pass.

— Hey, what’s wrong? — The Constructor brought her out of her thoughts.

— Oh, sorry… — She said, more with a smirk, and picked up the shuttle from the ground, — I was just thinking… If we’re all just brain scans, does that mean Caine is our equal as an identity?

— I don’t think so. After all, he’s the AI that Kinger developed, and we’re human, — Zooble mused. — Unlike us, he has some trouble recognizing our actions. Sometimes it even seems to me that he only analyzes our speech.

— N-no… He analyzes images too; I am sure. — replied Pomni, thinking once again about the recent incident with the flowers.

— But he’s still a program. It’s harder to teach him to combine sounds, pictures, and text together. But Kinger’s people, of course, are simply… %*#@& geniuses, since they were able to do and plan all this.

— Y-yeah… — agreed Ragatha, who was still lost in thought.

Pomni was about to continue the game, but as soon as she tossed the shuttle, she vanished. The three of them just stared in surprise at the racket that had fallen to the ground.

Pomni appeared in Caine’s office. She nearly lost her balance, as she had been in an unstable position while serving, but managed to steady herself, finally came to her senses, and looked around the room. Suddenly, Caine, sitting at the desk, caught her attention:

— Pomni! Sorry to interrupt you, but I really need your help, — he leaped out from behind the desk and landed right in front of Pomni, folding his hands together.

— Uh, well… okay… — she replied slowly, trying for some reason not to look him in the eyes.

— Well, since I rarely spend time with people… — he began with a hint of sadness, but then continued more confidently, “it’s hard for me to come up with an adventure where you can all come together as a team… But no questions about why you need to come together!” Fearing he might give away the idea, he waived his hands.

Pomni flinched slightly at Caine’s outburst, then clarified his request:

— You want to know… How we stick together…?

— Are there any situations where, as a group of people, you talk a lot, trust each other? Or have fun together?

— Um… Well… When we go out somewhere together, we talk and share all sorts of things with each other… Also, during breaks at class, there’s a chance to chat with someone, find out some information… — Pomni listed the usual situations.

— What about during a specific activity? Maybe during some kind of sports game?

— Well… I just don’t really like sports in general… But… Oh, I remember! During board games or party games, people get along pretty w…

— Exactly! Not another word! I’ve figured out how we can all have fun! — He interrupted enthusiastically and practically levitated above the ground.

— Are we going on a board game adventure?.. — The Jester asked with genuine interest.

— No details! — He even grew in size and shouted, but then returned to his normal height and said in a more normal tone, — You’ll find out everything soon! Thanks for the info, Pomni…

He was about to snap his fingers, but suddenly another thought occurred to him. He landed next to her again, making one more request:

— Can you do me another favor? I want to gather the necessary information from your little head so I can make everything feel real…

— Uh… Fine… Just don’t dig into my personal stuff, okay? — the joker warned sternly.

— Of course I won’t!

He grabbed her head with both hands. Very quickly, everything began to drift away before Pomni’s eyes. She almost lost consciousness, but suddenly everything became clear again. She looked up and realized that Caine was holding her hands, preventing her from falling completely to the floor. Pomni was overcome not only by awkwardness, but also by… an overwhelming sense of gratitude. She could barely hold back—why, then, did it burn so intensely somewhere inside her, as if he’d saved her life?! After a millisecond of sudden eye contact, she decided to thank him after all, but he broke the special connection first. He abruptly set her down on her feet.

— Whoa, almost fell, ha… — He cleared his throat and immediately continued, — I swear, I didn’t look at anything personal, otherwise the content filter wouldn’t have held up and the whole circus would’ve gone to rabbits!

By the end of the sentence, he twisted his jaw into his usual silly face and snapped it back, returning Pomni to where he’d found her. He stood there like that for a couple more seconds, then suddenly became too serious. He stared down at the floor and started glitching a little. But the glitches grew more frequent and even spread to Caine’s entire office. Suddenly the glitches ended, and the ringmaster headed toward his workstation. He sat down carefully in the chair and, with a kind of panicked concentration, began scanning the desk with his eyes. Out of nowhere, Bubble flew in from above and began looking innocently at Caine.

— Bubble… What do you think of Pomni? — he asked casually, without looking up.

— Unlike certain people, she doesn’t act like a clown! — the other replied, continuing to grin from tooth to tooth.

Caine slowly looked at him, freezing for a moment, then poked him, causing him to pop.

Pomni had fallen in the same clearing, only now her friends were already resting on the blanket. They noticed her.

— Caine? — Zooble guessed.

— Yeah… — Pomni stared motionlessly into space, then slowly walked toward them, still not looking up.

— Did something happen? — Ragatha noticed Pomni’s strange behavior.

— No… It’s just… He asked for advice, — she shook herself and looked at everyone with more composure.

— Strange… — Zooble commented.

A couple of hours after their walk, the four of them were sitting at a table in the hall, drinking tea and eating desserts that Kinger had made.

— So, have any of you had any success in creating objects? Or maybe modifying them?, — he asked, taking a sip from his cup.

— I’ve been able to draw with the power of my mind. It’s a very strange experience,… — Gangle shared.

— Yeah, that looked really cool! — Zooble agreed, not having finished chewing her piece of cake yet. After swallowing, she continued, — I saw it. Though I haven’t been able to do it myself yet…

— Maybe it’s because Gangle is very creative at heart and somewhat of a loner; she’s good at bringing her thoughts to life. And you, Ragatha, how are you doing?, — Kinger asked her.

— Uh… No, unfortunately, I haven’t noticed anything interesting about myself yet… — She said, but she didn’t seem upset at all.

— It’s okay. We still have everything ahead of us…

Suddenly, Caine emerged from behind Kinger’s chair and began cheerfully:

— And we’ve got an adventure waiting for us!

He flew up above the table, and everyone looked at him in bewilderment.

— Wow, Caine, have you started making up adventures again? — Ragatha asked, trying to stay positive.

Although Pomni and Kinger were actually curious about what their boss had prepared. Kinger understood, for professional reasons, but Pomni… had her own interests.

— Yes! Thanks to advice from my best colleagues, I realized what my adventures were missing. It’s all because I didn’t know what you guys like!

— You’ve discovered America… — Zooble muttered boredly.

— So what will the adventure be about? — Kinger asked, even more seriously, with his arms folded.

Caine lifted them all off the table and set them down right by the stage. Then he flew up onto the stage, and text appeared above him—surprisingly, just plain text without any fancy fonts.

— Today’s adventure is “Thank God It’s Friday”! Finally, after a tough day of school and work, you all decided to get together at Pomni’s house and hang out!

They all stood there staring at the ringmaster with their eyes wide open. Yeah, whatever else, you definitely couldn’t expect something like this from Caine. It’s just not his style.

After thinking it all over, Ragatha glanced at her friend. After all, she was the one who’d advised him to do something. Her friend cleared her throat and kept staring at Caine. Had she been wrong to trust him with her memories?

— Um… What exactly are we going to do? What’s the plot? — Zooble asked, expecting a catch.

— You’ll find out the plot for yourselves! Go on, enjoy your vacation! — he said enthusiastically as he bid them farewell.

Suddenly, a portal appeared under them, and they all fell into it at once.

— No! Caine, wait! — Pomni uttered before she disappeared with the others.

The clown fell onto the cold floor. Her snow-white, delicate knees ached a little, but the loud noise distracted her from the pain. She looked around and realized she was in some kind of crowded place. All around her, mannequins in suits and casual clothes were hurrying about in a hurry. Suddenly, a familiar, charismatic voice sounded from behind her.

— Yes, Pomni? — Caine, who was hovering slightly above the ground, touched the floor with his shoes, politely removed his hat, and extended his hand to the girl.

And once again, she accepted his help, which, for some reason, she valued more than help with renovating even a thousand rooms.

Pomni stood up and, noticing different shoes on her feet, looked herself over from head to toe. She was wearing a wine-colored long-sleeved top with a collar and a black pleated skirt, and a simple dark leather handbag hung from her shoulder. On her head—which made Pomni breathe a sigh of relief—there was no longer a clown hat.

— Caine, what are you up to? Do you want to recreate our lives based on my memories? — she suddenly snapped.

— In the first, yes. In the second, I just want to know what you humans like. And I realized I’ll understand that if you act like humans in the human world under human conditions! Please, help me… — He gave her a sad look and pressed the hat to his chest.

Seeing that soulful gaze, something twinged in Pomni’s chest. He’s cute enough as it is, and now… STOP, WHAT.

She was distracted from her realization by some eerie rumbling. Taken by surprise, she moved closer to Caine and, acting out of a protective reflex, grabbed his arm.

He suddenly felt a chill. He sensed Pomni’s mind working at a surprisingly overwhelming capacity, a process that was difficult to even read due to the speed of its updates. But then he realized for the first time the third most important thing he had ever experienced: a person had trusted him. It wasn’t a guess. He had managed to catch a glimpse of the code.

After a couple of seconds of listening to that terrible roar, the name of the sound suddenly popped into Pomni’s head. A train. And then, surveying her surrounding no longer from the height of a stump, she let go of Caine, who was frozen again, and remembered the name of this location from her own life. The metro. Everything was as realistic as possible: there were signs and plaques everywhere (though the names on them were undoubtedly made up by the beloved emcee), lots of corridors and staircases.

— Are we in the metro? — Pomni asked to be sure, but when she didn’t hear a response from her loud friend, she turned to him. He was still standing motionless, in shock. She called out to him sharply, —Caine!

— Of course! You live pretty far from work, so you prefer to get around using public transportation! — Suddenly, he flew over to her with a silly gaze.

— I don’t know where you saw that I ride the metro to work during rush hour.

— I saw it in your scan, sweetheart! In the “Germany Trip 2003” section!

— But I don’t live in Germany, I live in the States! There are never this many people on the metro, here, — she spread her arms, gesturing at the crowd around them.

— Well, whatever you say, — he snapped his fingers as usual, and the crowd noticeably decreased.

— So… Do I need to sit on the train? — Pomni asked uncertainly, since the area still didn’t look familiar to her.

— I don’t know, you know where your house is. Hurry up, the guests will be here by seven! — He stuck out his tongue silly and vanished.

Pomni was left standing alone in the middle of the platform. But remembering her friends, she realized she shouldn’t just stand there. After all, according to the plan, they’d agreed to come to her place. Thinking about where she might find them, she remembered her phone. She might be able to track her location with it. The main thing was that the phone was there. She rummaged through her bag and, luckily, found her smartphone. Turning it on, she opened the map app and noticed her home address in her bookmarks. Suddenly, a call window popped up full screen. Ragatha was trying to reach her. Pomni, of course, answered the call.

— Hello? — she said.

— Hi, Pomni! Can you tell me where you are right now? — her caller asked.

— I’m… on the metro. Where are you?

— I just came out of some building and am walking down the street…

— Hold on, I’ll go outside… — said Pomni and headed toward one of the exits. She quickly climbed the stairs and passed through the turnstile, studying the route home on the maps as she went.

— I think… I see a sign for the metro! Maybe you’re there? — Ragatha spoke quite loudly, since even over the phone the noise was audible.

— Um… I don’t know… Come over there; I’m just stepping out onto the street.

Pomni squinted slightly at the sudden natural light. Even though it was evening, the sunset was bright. A rather pleasant wind was blowing, ruffling the girl’s bangs. Everything felt so… real. If it weren’t for the mannequins, she might even have thought she’d left the circus.

A familiar face appeared in the crowd. Ragatha walked over to Pomni. She looked different, too. She was wearing a light lilac suit jacket and white straight-leg pants, and her red curls were tied back in a ponytail with a bow. A briefcase hung from her shoulder.

— Hi! — Doll greeted her. Pomni smiled warmly.

They both went back to their phones to hang up, but Ragatha did it first. Pomni exhaled and was about to put her smartphone in her bag.

— Oh… What’s that…? — She pointed at Pomni’s phone.

Pomni didn’t understand the question at first, until she saw her friend’s flip phone.

— It’s… a phone, — she said, holding it out slightly to show her friend the innovations of her world.

Ragatha blinked, looked at it, and then asked in astonishment:

— Is that what they look like in our world now?

Pomni nodded somewhat emotionlessly and finally put the gadget away.

— Want to come to my place? Maybe you’ll see something else new, — Pomni smiled gently at her again, which snapped Ragatha out of her anxious thoughts.

She nodded in agreement. Pomni looked intently in a certain direction, then waved her hand toward it.

— That way.

— And you… Do you know where your house is?

— Yes, I looked it on the maps. Let’s go.

They walked down the city street together. After a while, when they entered a residential area, it became a little quieter and calmer. And the sky had noticeably darkened, filling with a gradient of grayish indigo and orange. All around were just houses and small stalls and shops, trees and bushes.

— We’re almost there… — said Pomni, eager to see what her house looked like. She checked the time on her phone, it was half past six. They need to get ready in half an hour…

— Do you need help? Maybe we should go buy something? If that’s possible here… — Ragatha suggested.

— Well… Let’s check first; maybe I already have something at home.

— Okay.

As the point on the map grew closer, they suddenly noticed a bright burgundy house with a dark blue roof ahead of them. It stood out from the others because it looked more… alive. Birds were perched on the windowsill of the top window, chirping loudly. Along the path to the entrance were various flowers, including those beloved white and fiery gerberas, and of course, bees were flying above them.

Pomni was very touched by this detail. She grinned and even blushed a little.

— Cool house, huh? — Ragatha noticed her friend’s reaction.

Pomni’s expression changed abruptly, and she replied shyly:

— Not bad…

This embarrassed Ragatha, but she decided not to say anything.

They approached the front door. Pomni searched and found her keys. She slowly opened the door into a dark hallway. To the left of the entrance, she felt for the light switch, turned on the light, and a clear picture of the house finally appeared before them.

The hallway led straight to the stairs. She would check out the second floor later. To the right was some kind of large room. Peering inside, she flipped the light switch there as well.

It was immediately clear that this was the kitchen, and perhaps the living room as well. To the left, against the wall, stood a fridge, a stove, cabinets above it, and a sink nearby. To the right, in the middle, was a table; a little further on was a 2000s-era TV, next to it a stereosystem and a small sofa, and against the wall between them stood two wardrobes and a nightstand, as if filling the space around the window. Surrealistic paintings by Caine also hung on the walls.

— Looks like the bathroom is here, — a voice called from somewhere in the hallway.

— Come on in! I think we’ll gather everyone here, — Pomni called out, continuing to survey the living room.

Ragatha walked in but stopped at the doorway, as if to take in the whole view. Then she began to scan the room a little more carefully, walking toward Pomni at the same time.

— Wow, it looks cozy!.. Does it look like your house from real life? — she asked.

— N-no… No, not at all. Mine, as far as I remember, was very small…

Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from Pomni’s bag. She immediately started searching for the source of the vibration. It was obviously her phone. The screen showed a call from Zooble. Pomni answered it and held the phone to her ear.

— Hello?

— Hi! Pomni, where are you right now? — Zooble asked.

— I’m at home… At my place… Where are you?

— I’m with Gangle right now. We just met up and were about to head over to your place. We’re not running late, are we?

— No, Ragatha and I just got here ourselves. Anyway, the address is… 57 Pretzel Street, — she said, only then realizing how ridiculous the address sounded.

— Oh, god… Okay, we’ll be there soon.

— Great, we’ll be waiting for you!

And Zooble hung up almost immediately. Pomni noticed a message from Gangle in her notifications and felt ashamed that she hadn’t seen it sooner. But it didn’t matter anymore.

— Who was that? — Ragie asked.

— Zooble. They and Gangle are already on their way.

— Ow, good!

The girls searched the fridge but didn’t find much that looked good; they set out a selection of berries and muffins on the table and put out a bottle of lemonade. Since they’d already had a snack before their adventure, they figured there was no need to serve a huge meal. While they were getting ready, they also got a call from Kinger and gave him the address.

The three remaining members arrived fairly quickly. Their appearance was also different from their usual look. Gangle was wearing an outfit similar to the one from the restaurant adventure, Zooble was in a black shirt, a bright yellow leather jacket, and pants, and Kinger was in a light violet striped vest.

Pomni led them into the living room.

— It’s nice in here… — Gangle looked at the paintings, then stopped by the patterned cabinet.

— So, what are we going to do? — Zooble practically dropped down on the couch right away.

— Oh… We haven’t had time to figure that out yet, — Pomni replied apologetically.

— Does the TV work? — Kinger asked, examining the equipment.

— I don’t know… — Pomni walked over to the Chess Piece and also glanced at the TV. She pressed the power button below the screen, but it showed no signs of working, — apparently not…

Kinger looked behind the nightstand where the TV stood. There was nothing in the outlet, and no wires were coming from the TV.

Suddenly, everyone’s favorite ringmaster flew right out of the outlet and began speaking expressively, darting his eyes in all directions. Pomni fell to the floor in surprise, and Kinger jumped back.

— Are you guys stupid? You have to plug him into the outlet! — Caine said, holding the wire in his hands.

Suddenly, static came from the TV, even though Caine was still holding the cord with a dumb look on his face. Kinger stared intently at the screen, which was now, apparently under his influence, already glowing, showing static.

— It’s on, — he commented.

— Oh… I think I forgot to record the TV for you… — Caine explained guiltily and slowly landed on the floor.

— Never mind, — Pomni turned off the TV and addressed everyone in the room, — maybe there’s something interesting in the closet?

She walked over to the closet where Gangle was standing. Gangle didn’t dare open the door. Pomni stepped up and, as the housekeeper, did it for her. The first things that caught her eye were various games: playing cards, Uno cards, different Monopoly sets and other board games, Twister. A little further on, there was something else. On another shelf were sketchbooks and various art supplies, from chalks to paints. At the bottom lay all sorts of things for outdoor fun.

— What’s in there? — asked Zooble, who couldn’t be bothered to get up from the couch.

— Oh, just all kinds of games, like cards and Monopoly, — explained Pomni.

— Seriously? Has Caine gone from action-adventure to board games? — rolled her eyes the Constructor Character.

— You’ll see! This is just a little warm-up. I’m preparing lots of exciting adventures for you!

Zooble sighed and reluctantly got up. But it wasn’t the things in the closet that caught her interest—it was the stereo. Behind the glass door of the side table, she noticed various CDs. She rummaged through them carefully, and one CD seemed particularly interesting to her.

— Wow, there’s even Arcade Fire here!” “Do you guys know them? — Zooble asked, showing everyone the CD.

Almost everyone stayed silent or shook their heads; only Pomni answered.

— I think I know them. They have a couple of good songs.

— Damn. Jax would totally vibe to this right now… — They said with a strange, faint sense of longing.

Suddenly, Pomni remembered him too:

— Jax! Caine, maybe you can find him and bring him over here?

— Oh, right! I guess I was thinking too much about Pomni and got distracted from keeping the whole circus in order! I’ll go get our dear Jax back before he disappears completely!

He rattled on and vanished in a cartoonish flash.

— Um… Why would he be thinking too much about you…? — Zooble slowly shifted their gaze to Pomni, as did the others.

Pomni’s heart nearly stopped from the sudden attention of everyone in the room. Caine, d*#%…

At first she tried to squeeze something out, then nervously, but more coherently, began:

— I-I don’t know… He just… Maybe he was basing this adventure on my memories… Maybe that’s what he meant…

Kinger narrowed his eyes slightly, as if noticing something in her, but then defused the tension:

— So that’s what it is. TVs didn’t look like that in my reality.

— But it turns out he was watching my memories too. My phone isn’t like Pomni’s either, — Ragatha pulled out her flip phone.

Kinger looked at the device with interest and walked over to Doll.

— Can I take a look? — he asked, reaching out toward the technology that was unfamiliar to him.

— Of course! — Ragatha handed him the phone, though he touched it with too much carefulness.

— Guys, can I turn some music? — Zooble asked for permission, still browsing through the music collection.

— Sure! — Pomni replied cheerfully.

The others nodded in agreement as well. Gangle walked over to her to check out the CDs too. Zooble put on some indie rock and turned the volume down a bit so it played in the background.

— How about a game of Monopoly, then? — Pomni suggested to everyone, pulling the classic version out of the cabinet.

— Well, let’s play, — Zooble agreed, not very enthusiastically, but thinking it was better than running away from yet another of Caine’s nasty monsters.

— It’s been a while since I’ve played… Could you remind me of the rules, just in case? — Kinger asked awkwardly.

— Of course! — Pomni set the box down on the floor and began taking things out of it. She asked Kinger to help, and he gladly agreed, but also suggested clearing the food off the table and setting up the game there. Ragi, without saying a word, joined in and started helping with the preparations.

Caine appeared somewhere on the edge of his territory. It was so far away that the emptiness was already visible here. He began searching for Jax with a puzzled look, then spotted him below, relaxing on a lounge chair. Caine flew over to him and spoke cheerfully, causing him to shudder slightly:

— Jax! There you are! Everyone’s been looking for you—let’s go have some fun with them!..

— Oh, Caine. Anyway, you seemed to want to help with the setup back there, — Jax cut him off, not even listening to what he was saying, — so here’s the thing: I don’t need that room, but I’d be very grateful if you could build me a house right here. I don’t have any big demands—just a one-room house, that’s all. Literally one room.

Caine suddenly fell silent and stared at the hare. For a moment, it was even too eerie. But the hare had no intention of rebelling again… Rather… After his last meeting with Jax, he had formed a different opinion of him. And in contrast to his particularly warm attitude toward Pomni, who had been the creator’s sole source of inspiration lately, he felt, on the contrary, minimal interest in Jax… Perhaps even respect…

— All right, Jax, — the emcee began, measured and calm, — I’ll build you a house later, but in exchange… Will you participate in the event? It’s an experimental format, but so far I’ve seen a positive reaction from the participants.

Jax paused skeptically at first, but after a few seconds he replied sharply and discontentedly:

— Alri-i-ight. Go ahead, tp me.

— Great! — Caine said again in his trademark goofy tone and grabbed Jax by the arm. They vanished together.

Jax and Caine appeared at the round table. Everyone was already seated and getting ready to start the game. Jax, by the way, was also sporting a different look now. He was wearing a sky-blue shirt with a loosely tied tie and dark blue pants.

— Oh, Jax! Where have you been? We were really worried, — Ragi asked sincerely.

— Yeah, re-e-eally worried… — Zooble muttered sarcastically.

— Will you join us? We were just about to start, — Ragatha pretended not to hear Zooble and asked the “funny one,” pointing to the playing field.

To his surprise, Jax was somewhat interested in the offer, and he replied.

— Well… Okay, why not…

— So, since Jax is here now, I won’t distract you! — Caine began suddenly, as usual — have fun, my sweet…

— Caine, don’t you want to join us? — Pomni suddenly asked him.

Everyone fell silent again, making it unclear whether they were against it or not. Caine froze. After all, he had never participated in the adventures he organized; he had only watched. A human… Pomni… Had she trusted him again?..

— So… Is it okay…? — he asked, unsure whether he was for or against it.

— Wait, this is only for a maximum of six people, — Kinger, who had been studying the instructions, pointed out.

Caine let out a short, disappointed “uh” and lowered his gaze. It was strange, because he himself had been ready to leave them behind, and now it felt like he’d missed a rare opportunity.

Pomni felt sorry for Caine. She had even been ready to organize something else, just so her new lonely… friend… could participate in something for the first time. Here we go again. She was very struck by her tender attitude toward him, and yet it was hard for her to give it up.

— Uhm… I can give my spot to Caine. I’ll find something else to do, and this might even be good for Caine, — said Kinger, folding his arms, and waited for the other’s reaction.

— Well, okay, if you want… — Ragatha spoke up first, but without much enthusiasm.

— Maybe it’s even better. I mean… Kinger is too smart; he’d win without a doubt, — Pomni added, trying to make sure no one took offense.

— Hah, well… I don’t know… Maybe… — Kinger grunted, crawling out from behind the table. — Have fun, then. I’m going to take a walk in the yard…

Caine, meanwhile, froze in shock once again. A whole new world was opening up for him, thanks once again to this unique girl… He glanced at her. She was looking at him with surprising kindness. He would never have thought he’d be given such a warm smile and support. After all, he was the odd one out… The second… The forgotten one… Why, then, does she keep pulling him out of the depths?..

Suddenly, for a moment, his mind went blank with confusion. But then he snapped out of that strange state, shaking himself. He suddenly snapped to attention and unexpectedly changed his style: now he was wearing a shirt with a black bow tie and suspenders. Then he said:

— All right, let’s get started, — he scanned the table, studying where everything was… As long as he didn’t meet her gaze…

— Do you know the rules? — asked Pomni, sitting next to him.

— Players take turns rolling the dice. The player who rolled the highest number goes first… — he began reading at double speed.

— Okay, that’s fine! — She gave him a light nudge on the shoulder. This action, which was new to him, immediately cut him off his stream of words. — Who’s going first…?

The game went pretty quickly, yet it was unexpectedly intense. Throughout the game, there was tension between the three main, most headstrong characters - Jax, Zooble, and Caine. Even Kinger, who came by every twenty minutes to check on his friends, found himself drawn into their interactions. But of course, the other three girls also happily participated in the process. By the end, though, Jax lost his cool and dropped out of the lead, and Zooble ended up as the winner. After all, analytics isn’t really Caine’s thing. He got annoyed at first, but then he still handed the winner her prize - a barrel of stupid sauce.

Later, everyone started doing their own thing. Gangle was sketching Zooble, Jax was teasing Ragatha as usual, Caine was trying to sort of make peace between them, and Pomni and Kinger were standing there looking at Caine’s paintings.

— I don’t get how it happened that the project you were working on didn’t become famous? In 2017, it’s kind of… still science fiction. But here, these images are so high-quality… And the whole idea of brain scanning… It’s all just unbelievable!, — Pomni mused, looking at an abstract composition of bright red shapes in the darkness.

— I think we just had bad luck. Many brilliant ideas never get their due. And Caine wasn’t perfect, while Abel was too new and unfinished, and therefore unclaimed. Though who knows, maybe… Maybe someone up there is watching over us… — Kinger thought, gazing at the starry sky through the window.

— You mean watching? — she asked, also approaching the window.

— We exist on one of the servers, after all. I don’t know what could have happened there, but since we’re still alive, it means it’s working. And uninterruptedly. Or maybe we just don’t notice the glitches…

— Well… The last thing I remember is some kind of abandoned office. So it’s unlikely anyone still needs this project.

— Well… All we can do is just exist… Unless the building collapses, ha… — he said with sad irony.

These conversations about their future fates always filled Pomni with a kind of overwhelming panic. But she definitely didn’t want to get distracted right now, so she decided to change the topic to real problems.

— Kinger… Um… If Caine is almost the same as us, can he feel real emotions? I mean, not just inserting jokes into every conversation, and not just worrying about his own disappearance… But, say, getting attached to friends? To people?..

— I don’t think so… It’s hard to explain. His emotions are purely simulated. Our structure is very different from his, because, well… AI has never been and can never be in a human body, but our mind was, so he remembers everything: habits, sensations, hormones, and so on. Although, theoretically, it’s possible to…

— Even though I don’t have sensations, hormones, or feelings, I have a thousand questions and challenges I could ask you in ‘Truth or Dare’! — Caine spoke up loud enough for the entire house to hear, immediately catching everyone’s attention.

— Ugh, not that… — Jax muttered aloud.

Caine snapped his fingers, teleporting everyone to the center of the hall on the floor, while he stood inside the circle.

— I think that, just like me, we all need to build trust with one another so we can become one team! — he continued encouragingly, rising slightly into the air. — What do you think of the idea?

At first there was a rather long silence filled with suspicious glances, but Zooble broke it by saying the right words:

— Fine, but let’s stick to appropriate questions, okay?

Pomni didn’t like this idea. This game always ended badly, and with Caine and Jax involved, it was hard to know what to expect.

— So, is everyone ready? — the ringmaster asked invitingly.

— I’m game, — Ragatha replied cheerfully. She glanced at Pomni, but seeing the anxious look on her friend’s face, she said, — You don’t have to participate.

— No! We must participate, especially Pomni, — said that damn Caine, once again saying something that greatly embarrassed not only the poor girl but everyone else as well, — otherwise, how are we going to build good relationships with each other!

— Well… We could try… — Gangle said, also reluctantly.

Kinger also slowly shook his head.

— Well, since everyone agrees, let’s get started! Here are the rules: as soon as we reach the last person, we start the round from the end. That way, we’ll have more varied interactions with each other!

Suddenly, Caine started spinning fast, then slowed down and came to a sudden stop, pointing at Gangle. She opened her eyes confused.

— So, Gangle. Truth or dare?

— Well… Truth, — Ribbon chose hesitantly.

— Well… — Caine said, dropping his jaw and falling silent, then suddenly approaching her and asking seriously, — Do you have any masks besides the comedy and drama ones…?

She swallowed nervously and smoothly shifted her gaze to Zooble. The designer nodded in support of her friend. Gangle looked at Caine again and spoke cautiously:

— Well… After you… Lost it… I decided this would be useful…

She unexpectedly touched her primary mask of sadness… And slowly began to remove it. Apparently, this mask hadn’t been her main one for a long time…

A terrifying Gangle appeared before Caine. Her large, bottomless eyes now had eerie white pupils, her mouth was twisted and had crooked fangs.

The others, even Zooble, watched this with their eyes wide open in shock.

Suddenly, Caine began to experience a very strange glitch. But not from fear… But from some kind of realization… The mask was deliberately pressing down on him… Not as usual… With some kind of strong splitting of the silhouette… Then it spread to the room… Everything around him began to float…

At this sight, everything around Caine suddenly went dark, and his eyes twitched nervously. He even sank to his trembling knees.

And how could he trust the players after this?.. What if he is teaching them to be like him without good reason?..

— Stop! — Ragatha suddenly ran out into the center of the circle with a shout.

Immediately after her words, all the glitches stopped, leaving behind a deafening silence. Only Kinger gasped in amazement, almost silently, realizing Ragatha’s capabilities.

Gangle put her usual mask back on and slumped guiltily.

— Let’s not dramatize things, or we’ll all abstract right now! — she continued, a little calmer. — We’re just figuring things out, right? So, let’s trust each other… Okay?

Ragatha looked everyone over, then fixed her gaze on the source of the tense atmosphere. He hadn’t been looking at Gangle for a long time, but at the floor, deep in thought about something.

Pomni’s own hands were shaking from what was happening, and she was too afraid to even imagine what was going on with Caine. Overall, it was hard for her to imagine how Caine felt, trying to make sense of people’s actions. The funny thing was, she couldn’t understand him either. It was a vicious cycle of misunderstanding.

After a while, she caught her breath and could finally see everything around her clearly again. What surprised her most was Jax’s reaction; the last time she’d seen him so worried was during that very argument.

Ragatha caught her breath and made her way back to her place in the circle.

Pomni just kept repeating to herself over and over how bad is that idea…

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