#{i fixed it}

"I wasn't worried about the exit anyway," You told her. "I'd already accepted my fate."

She stopped pushing at that.

You'd made your way to Caine's office, cringing at the tainted memory of the threshold following his most recent adventure.

You knocked at the door. 

Nothing.

That was strange. Normally Caine was quick to respond.

"Caine?" You called. "I'm ready to talk, now. Are you up for that?"

With the slightest press of your hand the door swung open. You poked your head into the office.

"Caine? Are you here?"

You took another few steps in. Caine was at his desk with Bubble. You weren't entirely sure what they were saying so you continued to get closer.

"-why I was created. This is my function."

"They'd rather abstract than go on your adventures," Bubble commented cheerily.

Your breathing stopped.

What?

You quickened your pace toward the pair, unconcerned with gentle hiding now that you could hear the floating sphere's words.

"That can't be true, I do everything for them! Don't they get that I'm trying?"

"Maybe you're just genuinely bad at this?"

You were nearly to the desk.

"I mean, why else would Y/n not want you around when they-"

"Bubble, what the hell?" You finally found your voice.

Caine looked up at you terrified. You'd never been able to sneak up on him before.

Bubble also turned to look at you, eyes glassy and unfeeling.

"That's not helpful! Or even true!" You continued. "Why would you say that?"

"What do you mean? He always was the-"

"Bubble, stop." You commanded.

He froze immediately and you raised an eyebrow. He was listening to you. 

You took a deep breath and tried to think quickly. "Bubble, I need you to go to my room and spend exactly two hours writing me a report on the political candidates in shrimp town."

"You got it, boss!"

He disappeared with a popping sound and you let out a breath.

"I cannot believe that worked."

Finally you looked over at Caine, who was still staring back at you with a worried expression.

"Is…now a good time to talk?" You asked slowly.

He didn't respond. You decided to continue. Perhaps a distraction was welcome, given what you'd overheard.

"I appreciate you giving me space earlier. That kind of thing is hard for you."

He just nodded.

"Are you okay to be touched, Caine?"

He stiffened as if waiting for you to reach out, but you stayed put.

"I-I don't k-k-kk̴̥̈́k̸̩̀k̷̨͗k̸̜͛k̸̻̉k̷̳̂k̴͉̹̰͂k̴͖̮̕ͅk̵̥̰̮̖͊͊k̵̡̬͈̀̓k̷̷̶̛̖̥͚͖̩̫̻̈́͛̍͆̀̃̽̈́-̷͍̆͑̒e̷̩̭͙̓͂ä̶̠;̴̟̂s̴͊͜d̸͇̃--Know." He glitched with emotion. You felt a pang in your digital heart.

"That's okay, Caine. I'll just sit right here until you're ready. We don't have to talk if you don't want to, but I'm worried about leaving you alone when you're distressed."

He didn't say anything for a while and you just sat there patiently as he eyed the bead puzzle on his desk.

"They all hate me," He said, finally. "And I don't know how to fix it."

"That sounds tough." You offered, "I don't hate you, though."

"I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought it was what you all wanted and…and you didn't like it. You all want to leave…want to leave me…"

He finally looked at you, really looked at you. You smiled softly.

"If I ever did, I would try to take you with me," You said. Then you laughed, "I'm not sure if your program would fit in a phone, but I'd try and get a camera so I could show you everything from home and take you with me to see everything I never got to see."

His eyes widened at that.

"That would be…nice."

"I'd like to think so."

He was so vulnerable right now, so eager to be loved, yet your emotions hadn't changed unnaturally. Deep down you understood what that meant.

"Just because someone wants to go home, it doesn't mean they don't care about you. Humans don't like being trapped…put in a cage without purpose…And I don't like being lied to or tested. I want you to trust me."

"A cage…" He almost whispered the words and the momentary fixation caught you off guard, then he shook his head. "I don't think I'm very good at talking about those things. They're…bad. I shouldn't have done that to you, my dear. I'm so sorry. I will endeavor to be more forthcoming in the future and…I promise not to put you through that again." 

"Thank you, Caine. We can talk through it a bit more once we've both had some time, okay?"

"That sounds like a good idea," He said, reaching out a hand and taking yours gently. 

You felt a thrill at the action, despite everything. 

"You don't have to tell me anything, but…I hope that when you feel like this again, you try to talk to someone other than Bubble."

"He…wasn't being very helpful."

"No. He wasn't."

For a long while you both sat in comfortable silence.

"Caine, I want to tell you something."

He looked up eagerly, eyes somehow getting larger.

"I care about you, I care about you so much."

"You do?"

"Of course. But you know something else? I don't always like your adventures."

He cringed at that, but you pressed on.

"Sometimes they're triggering, or they're just not interesting to me, even though I can see the work you've put in."

You lifted his lower jaw so he'd look at you.

"But the adventures aren't why I care about you. I care about you because you're you. Your adventures could be amazing or terrible and it wouldn't change that. If anything, there are some adventures I only enjoy because I can see bits of you in them. Your passion for them is probably what I like about them most."

"I…I don't understand. I have a purpose. If I'm not properly fulfilling my directive then…how could anyone care about me?"

Oh…oh no.

"Caine," You said it a gently as you could. "I wouldn't lie about this, even if it's hard for you to understand."

The room grew silent again as you thought.

"Think about it like this," You said. "I don't have a specific directive. I'm sure you'd like for me to go on and enjoy every adventure, but I wasn't built for that."

He nodded for you to continue.

"But even when I'm not having fun, you still like me, right?"

"Like you? I love you! I-" he glitched for a moment. "I'm fascinated by all of you."

"Exactly." You patted his head. "And…by the way…I love you, too."

His pupils dilated to the size of dinner plates.

"Still?"

"I don’t think I could stop if I tried."

—