TF Sideblog

Caine had just sent the humans off on their adventure. He'd gotten lucky for a change, he actually made something that everyone was willing to go on this time around.

Standing idly on the main stage, he takes in the empty silence left behind where idle chatter and backing music tracks would typically fill it.

The constant stimuli was grating. He found himself searching for various ways to turn it down lately. Dimming the tent lights when he could without anyone noticing, quieting the music and sound effects, retreating to his office and covering himself with a blanket.

A moment of quiet was.. nice. Caine closes his eyes for a moment. Mind drifting. Old human memories resurface in the nothing. They always do.

The warm summer breeze blowing through hair and the sweet taste of fruit, the chill of stepping outside on a fall morning. The burn of spicy food. The bliss of a warm drink during the rain, listening to it hit against the windows of your room. Your only sanctuary.

..The sound of arguing down the hall. The anxiety of having to recognize the sound of someone's footsteps.

The thrill of finally running away from it all. The beating of concrete and grass and dirt under your old shoes as the pain melts away.

The distant hum of an old computer in the office building you decided to hide in for the night.

The weight of a headset in your hands.

The blinding light you were hit with when you dared to put it on-

"Having another stuck-in-your-head moment, are ya?"

A voice, causing Caine to yelp as he's quickly snapped back to reality. He turns to see the origin.

Grinning back at him was the transparent terror himself, and now much more powerful, Bubble. He'd gained a body now, suited similarly to the red "AI", and he wasn't afraid to flaunt his newfound abilities often. The assistant leans on a cane, tilting his head.

Cane..? Wait.

Caine quickly looks back to his hands, realizing they were empty.

"..When did you- How'd you take that from me? Give that back."

Bubble simply giggles, circling around much like a bird of prey.

"I don't reveal my tricks! But you do zone out really bad. Just saying."

The cane is tossed back. Caine fumbles to catch it, and it clatters to the floor. With an irritated sigh, he bends down to pick it back up.

"What do you want?" Caine mutters, frustration already apparent from his tone.

"Checking in for Kinger, that's all. He made me promise I would, and I'd never let him down!"

Bubble's sharp grin seemed to subtly widen at the edges as he spoke the latter half of it.

"How's your brain holding up? Feeling abstract-y yet?"

Caine grimaces silently, flinching away and swatting his arms as the AI attempted to pat him on the head.

"..No," He answers, "..Just the normal amount of.. stress. From the job. ..That's all."

The two share a look that made it clear neither believed what Caine had just said. The Ringmaster quickly looks away to avoid further eye contact.

"Well, if you say so!" Bubble teases, leaning backward in the air with his arms behind his head.

"..Why did he ask you, anyway..? Can't he just deal with this sort of thing himself?"

Bubble pauses, opening one eye to look down at Caine.

"You n' me both know he won't be stable enough to do that forever, C."

Caine seems to tense for a moment, gripping his cane a little tighter.

He didn't really like thinking about that. About how the only person - only other human that knows who he really is wouldn't be around for much longer, if the way things were going was any indication.. Sometimes even the darkness wasn't bringing him back after a while, nowadays.

..Caine needed Kinger around, though.. Who would he even be able to ask for help if he..?

He wonders.. is that why the original caused that damage to the old man's memory in the first place?

"Doesn't surprise me. I always had a feeling his guilt was gonna eat him up one day." The blue AI muses, scratching his chin, "..Just didn't think the guilt would be from you."

Caine scoffs.

"Did you learn how to be a massive prick from Jax, or something, or is this pure you? What- What is this? I thought you were just meant to be mean to the REAL Caine because you hated the guy?!" He jabs an accusatory finger in Bubble's direction.

"What, you think I like you just 'cause you're human?" He cackles, circling around Caine once more. "HA! Oh please, don't act like you and him aren't exactly the same. Why else would nobody have suspected something was wrong?"

"Shut the hell up!"

Caine takes a swing only to have his fist caught by the other's hand. The Ringmaster squirms to free himself, but Bubble holds steady.

"I'm just telling it like it is. You have his memories. You know it's true, Boss."

"I-I'm not-"

"Agression from what's probably a crappy upbringing, frustration from being misunderstood, communication issues, fear of being alone.. I could go on."

Caine's breath catches in his throat. He tries to swing the cane at Bubble, but the AI simply presses his palm to the front of Caine's forehead, keeping him at arm's length.

"Worst yet - You haven't even TRIED looking for an exit like every other human does. I have to ask, if you accepted things as they were so fast, did ya even have anything out there?"

"I-I-"

"C'mon, C.. I know. If you're not complaining about being HERE, then your human life must've been totally TRAGIC!"

The words catch in his throat instantly, his train of thought screeching to an abrupt halt.

He wanted to scream that Bubble was wrong, that he was a horrible person for even implying something like that, yet..

Caine's gaze lowers. His reply wavers, as does his voice. The other AI gently releases him and lowers to stand on the stage, more at level with him now that he's identified the problem.

"..That's.. not.." He let out a sharp exhale before continuing. "..It wasn't great out there for me, okay? But that doesn't mean anything - This place isn't much better by any metric."

"How so?" Bubble tilts his head, leaning in closer. "This must be the most control you've ever had, so.. why compare it?"

"Because that's what we do- Humans just like to.. compare stuff."

"What we do?"

Caine pauses, looking Bubble up and down for a moment.

"..What I do. I.. I don't know."

He turns pressing his knuckles to the front of his jaws. The ringmaster's head tilts back in exasperation, taking a deep breath in and out.

"..It's just.."

Caine pauses, thinking over what to say.

His eyes fall downwards, looking at his gloved hands. One of the first things he'd looked at since he became.. this.

"..It's all so.. fuzzy. And messy, and.. Hard to think about right now. I don't.. want to forget everything. I want to be myself, but-"

"..But you'd never be able to like this."

Bubble's tone was less mocking this time. It sounded for matter-of-fact than anything.

"I guess that's why you've been so much nicer to Zooble, huh? You two are kind of the same, now."

Caine turns, an odd expression to his face. A furrowed brow, yet a shine to his eyes at the concept. Emotions were messy and difficult and it was hard to even express them here. But even so, they always seemed to bleed through into his face. His eyes.

"..It's all I've really got," Caine mumbles, "But they're the only one who could really understand how I feel.. and.. they don't even know it."

A tense moment of silence falls between the two. It hung thick in the air much like the Ringmaster's thoughts lay heavy on his mind, and his soul.

"I think you should tell someone."

"What-?"

Caine gawks at Bubble for that suggestion, to which he simply shrugs.

"You never know. Maybe someone will believe you. Maybe they won't. But you aren't going to know unless you try."

Bubble began to walk off the stage, giving him a brotherly pat on the shoulder as he moved past.

"If you want to be heard so bad, you still have to actually say something for it to happen, Boss."

He glances back at Caine, from over his shoulder.

"It's your choice."

With a new layer of anxiety bubbling up under his skin, Caine was alone on stage once more.

His choice? ..When was anything here his choice?

...

Maybe..