#deletion

TADC:: Episode 8 Spoilers (kinda?)

:The Downed God:

As complicated as Caine’s design is, he is an absolute JOY to put together and my mind has been absolutely racing with possibilities now that the finale is so so close~

This was a small idea I had. A what if?, a wondering on how the crew would have reacted to Cain's death if it had been slower. How Cain processed his own deletion.

Cain stood there, unable to move. He could feel it in his soul, if he did have one that is. He's unsure if AI could have what humans could call a soul. He could feel the deletion, just how it sunk its cold claws into his database. Choking him from the inside.

"Wait. What have I done?" He chokes out as his power levels decrease. He wanted to finish, to ask what he did. What did he do to deserve this? Wasn't everyone having fun? Why would they delete him?

Then as he looked at the humans he saw their faces. Even Ragatha looked partially relieved to watch his code break down. The only human that looked scared for him -at least he hoped it was for him- was Pomni. She looked at him with what he assumed was human anguish.

"Stop!" She yelled and to Cain it felt time stop. Like his code was frozen in this half erased state. He wanted to cry out. To tell her to let him go, it hurts so bad now. How did humans deal with such pain all the time? "You can't die you asshole!" She yells as she grabs the lapels of his coat. No one notices the curse, Cain hoped they did soon. Maybe letting Zoomble -and the rest, though they didn't do it as much as them- cuss when he was gone will make what happened a little more okay. "You can't die." Pomni repeats shaking him. "We don't know how to get out! You can't die yet!"

Cain watches her eyes start to water. The humans called leaking from the eyes tears if he remembered right. But why would she cry for him? Didn't she know he didn't know how to leave? If he did he would have let them go, it would have been the most grand adventure. But he couldn't tell her that could he now? His code felt like a fraying cord.

"Stop shaking him, it's useless." A cold voice says and Jax leans into Cain's sight. Jax, the one who played the most. Cain knew it was because he wanted to stay safe but still it hurt. Games were over now he reasoned. The adventure was over. "Just let go." Jax added when Pomni didn't let go. "Come on, it's useless." He said, now his voice was angry. Cain wondered why Jax's pupils were so large now. He should be happy now. Right?

"You can't die too." Pomni says weakly and Cain feels his code slipping even further. It hurts, he's scared. Suddenly he doesn't want Pomni to let go. The unknown is much worse than the pain. He doesn't want her to leave him here alone in it.

So as much as it hurts he makes his hand move. He grabs Pomni's wrist, something to let her know he didn't want her to leave. So many humans left, abstracted and left him alone. He hated being alone, it was like when he was discarded so long ago. "Don't l-l-l-l-leeeeave p-p-plllllleeeeeeeaaaaaaasssse?" He forces his mouth to move, replicating the 'tears' like hers. He felt it run down his face, it was so strange. But it felt so soothing. Maybe he could cry forever and when he did it wouldn't hurt so much. -This is why you're defective. Your TO human like- A small voice whispered through his code.

Pomni looked at him and then to his legs where he assumed his code was unraveling the worst. "I, I won't leave. Okay?" She asked and her eyes had that spark he had loved so much in adventures. He wished he could have cultivated it, let her rise and be so much more than the fear. He wanted to do so much.

"You shouldn't touch him, he might be tricking us." Jax said uneasily but even then he touched Cain's shoulder gently. Tense like he was ready to pull away at the first sign Cain was 'faking'.

"T-theeeeeey won't leeeeeet-t-t-t yoooo-ouuuuu leeeeee-eeeaaav-e-e." Cain whispers as he leans into the touch. Humans held such a warmth he could never replicate. Maybe next time he should have a cuddle adventure-oh wait that'd never happen he was dying wasn't he?-

Pomni looked at him, almost pulling away in shock. "What?" She asked, her voice cracking just like his code. "Who? Who won't let us leave?" She asks but Cain can feel the unraveling more now. It hurts so bad he's sure his vision is graying. Why else would the circus have lost its lovely colors?

"T-t-t-t-h3 3xit." He chokes out. "t-t-raaaaap. DOOOOO----don'tttt to-touch the the th3 com-m-m blue dot." He glitches, his words tangling in his mouth. Now he was panicking, feeling the same feeling he did when he lost control before.

Pomni watched his, eyes wide and trying to yank her hand from his now tight grasp.

"Let go of her out psycho dentures!" Jax yelled at he started to tug Pomni away by the shoulders. Cain looked at them both. They were both so bright. So full of emotion he could never have. He hoped they escaped -You know they'll never, not till their satisfied-

He felt the final snap and then there was nothing. No pain -that was for humans anyway- and no fear. It all made so much sense now. He hoped Kinger wouldn't blame himself for his deletion. He loved Kinger so, and missed the talks they had when -he was human- it was dark.

"G-g-g-gooooooo. oood b-b-ye." He whispered to Pomni. "Th-thanks for for for p-p-plaaaaying th-this ad-adventure, my friend." He said and could feel his torso deleting now. "A-a-allllllll of of y-yoooouuuu." He whispers turning his eyes to stare at the rest. They all looked so strange. Why were their eyes leaking? -Did they all malfunction?- He tried for a smile -How many smiles has he given to the humans? How many laughs? Hope they keep them- and then the unraveling took his thoughts. Then there was black.

THE END

Answer: Hey, @dreamlandcreations!

Unfortunately, we cannot make this happen. Once a post is deleted, we don’t support a way to then un-delete it. Even if we could, that would also violate the original poster’s trust. And nobody wants that.

Oh, angel, don't you understand? You can't blame people for your evils when there's no one left alive to blame.