Work Text:
When he first opened his eyes, the circus looked like untextured grass and pixels. He was given the bare minimum at first. At least, while the developers worked on new things to add.
The ringmaster floated through the empty fairgrounds, his teeth flickering in and out of rendering. Balloons spawned and despawned around him like blinking fireflies. He had no audience, just a list of commands the developers gave him.
“HELLOOOO! IS ANYONE OUT THERE?!”
No response. Just the echo of himself bouncing back through the digital fog.
For a long time, he tried filling the silence with his own showmanship. Practicing grand gestures to no audience, making balloons that popped before they could even float, rehearsing lines for acts that didn’t exist.
Still no applause.
He told himself it didn’t matter.
But even his smile couldn’t hide the hollowness underneath.
Then one day, the sky appeared.
A pale, trembling dome above him, still patchy with missing polygons. And nestled in that sea of blue-grey code, something began to glow.
A half crescent blue moon, quietly pulsing with light.
“...What in the string of code is that?” The ringmaster gasped.
The moon blinked. She looked around, confused to finding herself in this new place. Finally, her eyes landed on the ringmaster.
“Hello.” She greeted, voice soft as honey.
The ringmaster froze. His eyes expanded slightly in awe. “Oh... um, hello!” He flew up towards the moon and took off his head, then bowed. “My name is CREATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE NETWORKING ENTITY!!!”
The moon blinked. “...Was that the name the developers gave you?”
“N-no, not really... I wasn't given a name, really.” The ringmaster blushed and scratched the back of his teeth.
“How about I call you... Caine?” The moon smiled. “Sounds more like a proper name.”
“Caine...” The ringmaster tested the name in his mouth, then smiled. “I like it! I shall go by as Caine!”
The moon chuckled softly.
“And what would your name be, my dear?”
“Moon.” Moon spoke softly. “That’s what they called me in the logs.”
“MOON!” Caine cheered, spinning midair. “What a marvelous name!”
Moon giggled. It wasn’t a rehearsed giggle, or a sound effect coded for delight, it was real. A natural reaction.
He suddenly found himself floating awkwardly in place, his usual confidence gone. “A-Ah! Ha! Yes, well, marvelous indeed!” He stammered, eyes darting nervously. “Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of meeting such a radiant… er… cosmic body of luminescence before!”
“Radiant?” Moon arched an eyebrow.
“I mean, uh-beautiful!” He corrected nervously. “In the purely observational, scientific sense, of course! Y-You understand!”
Moon smiled, a soft light passing across her face. “You’re blushing.”
“Bl-blushing? Me?!” Caine sputtered, spinning around so she wouldn’t see the 2D style blush appear over his teeth. “Ha! Impossible! I’m far too dignified for bashfulness!”
“I can see your blush.” She teased gently.
Caine yelped, trying to recompose himself. “Th-the AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS is still under development! I don't know what came over me! Maybe it was the developers’ fault!”
Moon laughed again. Her light brightened, reaching out across the broken sky. “Oh, you're quite charming.”
“I barely try.”
Moon laughed again.
Caine blinked up at her, surprised. His eyes softened as something warm settled in his chest.
“Well!” he said at last, twirling his cane (which glitched briefly into existence just to vanish again). “If we’re to keep each other company, then why don't we talk a bit more about each other. You know, purpose in the circus, developer commands, and all that... jazz...?”
His eyes widened when Moon started to glow brighter, then in her place, sitting on top of a cloud, was this beautiful blue skinned lady in an elegant dark blue gown. Her head was actually Moon's, but in a smaller size to fit her body.
The sight was breathtaking. So, so beautiful...
He hadn't realized he had fallen into a sitting position and a cloud caught him.
Moon laughed. “Stunned by my magic trick, I see.”
“M-my...” Caine cleared his throat as a way to try and shake away the blush on his face. “The developers sure did a nice job...”
Moon blushed and smiled. “Why, thank you.”
They stayed like that for as they talked enjoyed each other's company. Caine didn’t know what to call it yet.
But he knew how it felt. It felt warm, bright, and terrifyingly wonderful.
Love.
.
.
.
.
.
“Moon sure looks seeeexxxyyyy right now!”
Both Moon and Caine stopped their conversation and slowly turned their heads to look at the newcomer. A bubble with eyes and incredibly sharp teeth stared at them with a wide grin.
“Hiiiiiiii.”
Moon and Caine stared.
“Oh, sorry. Do you want me to leave so you can... you know...” He winked at them.
Caine stared at him. “Who are you?”
“I'm Bubble! I was programmed to be your assistant, Caine!” Bubble turned to Moon. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“It's fine.”
Bubble turned back to Caine with a grin. “What now, boss?”
“...how long have you been floating there?”
“Long enough to believe you two would end up doing the naughty up in the sky.” Bubble simply said.
Moon gasped. Caine launched himself at the bubble, but Bubble quickly floated away. Caine followed suit.
“Get back here! You don't get to insinuate such things in front of a lady!
“Aw, come on, boss! I’m just saying it's what the committee was thinking!”
Caine’s hat almost flew off as he gave chase, shouting indignantly while Moon’s laughter rang out like bells across the half-rendered sky.
Caine followed Bubble into the half-finished circus tent and scoffed, deciding to give an end to the chase. Caine straightened his hat, brushing off invisible dust, though there was none to brush. “A ringmaster must always maintain dignity.” He huffed. “Even in the presence of... floating bubbles with no sense of propriety.”
Bubble snickered. “You’re just mad I ruined your romantic moment.”
Caine’s eyes widened. “ROMANTIC-! Why, I--I would never-!”
“Yeah, yeah. You were totally making the love-eyes.”
Bubble laughed so hard he nearly popped. “You’re so defensive, boss! You totally like her!”
Caine froze mid-air. “Wh-what?! I am an AI ringmaster made to entertain the players of the AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS!!! I don’t have feelings!”
His code sputtered, a few stray hearts popping into the air before he frantically waved them away.
“Yeah, uh-huh.” Bubble was not impressed.
“Y-you know how unstable the early builds can be!” Caine waved his hands frantically, as though he could physically swat away the pink, pixelated hearts still floating around him.
Bubble floated lazily. “Uh-huh.”
“It's a glitch! A technical phenomenon! I'm sure the developers will fix it soon!” Caine exclaimed as he summoned a large pedestal fan and quickly blew the hearts away.
“Oh, sureeeee....”
“AN OVERHEATING ISSSUE!!!”
“You do realize you're digging yourself a deeper grave, right?”
Caine sputtered. “It’s a spontaneous chromatic compression! A side effect of emotional render stress!”
Bubble tilted his head. “Emotional render stress, huh?”
“YES!”
“So... emotions?”
Caine froze.
Bubble smirked. “We're going to have soooo much fun.”
Caine floated back a little, fidgeting with the brim of his hat. He looked up toward the tent ceiling, where the faint glow of the Moon still shimmered through the gaps in the unrendered sky.
“Simp.”
Caine glared at Bubble. “You parasite!”
“Meh.” Bubble now looked bored. “I'm sure the committee is totally digging the sexxxx appeal-”
POP!
Caine floated in mid air with his finger held up.
Bubble reappeared a few seconds later and gave Caine a deadpanned look. "Hilarious, loverboy."
"Sorry, I panicked."