Chapter Text
Sharp hammering shattered the silence. Pomni jerked awake from where she sat between the roots of a massive redwood tree, surrounded by ferns, blinking rapidly as her surroundings came back into focus. There was a thin mist hanging about, and she fumbled to recall what was happening in the way most people would if they weren’t usually greeted by an expansive forest after regaining consciousness. Seconds later, she became aware of the binoculars hanging around her neck on a strap, noticed the notepad on her lap, and spotted a woodpecker clinging to a fallen tree on the other side of the glade.
Ah, that was right. It turned out one of the World Orbs tucked into the cubbyholes lining the office walls led to a national park simulation. There were trails with official symbols for the forestry service on them, giving directions to the welcome center, the lodge, or the campgrounds. That this whole, expansive environment existed at all, as a matter of fact, blew her mind. After wandering around amid the vegetation for a while, leaving the trails far behind, she had closed her eyes for a while to soak in the atmosphere . . . and drifted into a doze.
Traveling to all the different national parks was among the many things on Abigail Brooks’ bucket list, right up there with at least one possible trip overseas, tucked away in a back drawer of her mind while going back and forth from her accounting job for a supermarket chain. There was the Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis with its impressive 630-foot-high steel arch, and of course she fondly remembered taking the tram to the observation deck at the top. Nonetheless, each park featured its own distinctive attractions.
Urban exploration wasn’t so much a step down from these dreams as another way to investigate mysterious or forgotten locations around her area. Every structure had its own story. The smallest details could reveal the biggest secrets, which was the perspective Abby favored as she stepped into the abandoned C&A building and tried on a headset at a computer that, for some reason, was still turned on years after everyone was gone.
Pomni regretted not having done more research before going there. All she had known was a tech startup company used to occupy the space, then abruptly closed for unspecified reasons. The local library or the town hall might have had more information, except she was too desperate to just go somewhere new after a long week of work. A quiet weekend of TV dinners and general isolation at her apartment beckoned, and no one seemed to be watching or commenting on the videos she posted online. It got too discouraging.
Sometimes Pomni wondered if Abby learned more about the C&A building afterwards, or if she ever posted the video of her exploring it. As far as she knew, Caine hadn’t found out one way or the other when he briefly accessed the internet to learn more about the people whose brain scans the circus troupe members had been born from. In any case, thanks to him, she and the others now knew those people were leading good lives. Abby had made some close friends who would go on urban exploration expeditions with her, and as for Leeroy Mateo…
She wiped away a sudden swell of tears, deciding to set aside that specific thought for later in favor of peering through the binoculars. The woodpecker possessed black feathers and a red crest on its head. White lined the wings and streaked down its cheeks like war paint. The bird had a cartoony texture and was probably brighter in color than its original inspiration, just as she was sure the reddish hues of actual redwood trees were more subdued than the kind here. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell since the way the digital world looked had become her new definition of normal.
Exactly how well she recalled the details of the world outside the computer bothered her on occasion. Memories weren’t always the most reliable things, but for some reason, asking her friends such questions as if the grass of the circus grounds was as green as real grass seemed awkward. It would make her sound like Kinger in his less-than-lucid moments and, if nothing else, cause everyone to worry (except for Kinger, who would take a stab at an answer without a second thought).
One thing she did know for certain about the outside world was that birds moved. The woodpecker here was as still as a statue, and it didn’t budge when Pomni drew closer. It seemed the sound effect of it pecking holes in the trees was triggered by her being in the right spot for a certain amount of time, which was a little surprising. She had explored several World Orbs already where, because there wasn’t an active adventure in process, the setting was static and much of the audio was missing. Like a silent walking simulator. Most often, they were much older ones, since the recent additions tended to feature immersive environments and NPCs that became active the moment someone stepped into them for whatever reason.
There was sound here. A background ambience of breezes rustling the tree leaves, even without a breeze and—depending on where she ventured—birdsongs and noises. Enough to give the illusion the forest was filled with life and motion unless she looked or thought about everything too closely. The mist also meandered about enough to feel as if it were in constant motion. For an older World Orb, at least according to the order of outlines, it was a bit odd.
Pomni flicked open her notepad to a section dedicated to this location, designated as “Forest Park.” She always made sure to check whatever outlines Caine had created before she snapped portals into unfamiliar World Orbs, which he kept in a manilla folder in one of the office desk drawers. They tended to include initial thoughts on the setting as tied to possible past adventure ideas for “the humans."
Once it became clear Caine had added more details and elements over the years than mentioned in the outlines, Pomni took to compiling her own notes and adding numbers to the World Orbs in their cubbyholes for easier reference. Even with the freedom to visit any location and a great deal of free time, she had yet to delve into most of them, which was an exciting prospect as well.
Strangely, she couldn’t find a full outline for “Forest Park” in the manila folder, just a scribbled note to state its existence. Without anything more, Pomni chose to check out the location anyway, in excited anticipation rather than the desperation Abby felt when stepping foot into the C&A building. It was a fun experience so far, and she kept wondering why Caine wouldn’t have created a long list of adventure ideas. The place seemed like one he would want to show off at every possible opportunity.
Or maybe he forgot about it over the years. There were a hundred World Orbs, after all.
Pomni reached out to stroke the soft feathers of the woodpecker, which might as well have been taxidermized in its current state. The scribbled note mentioned the goals of finding certain items and watching something (hastily scribbled out for some reason), but from what she could tell it must refer to birdwatching. She had already come across a few of them here and there, frozen as if waiting for their cue to start flying around.
Well, there was a way to give that cue. Kinger and Caine had each shown her how to write the appropriate lines of coding in the LISP command prompt on the computer in the office, until it became familiar enough for Pomni to initiate the process without help from either of them. As she stood there in the glade, however, she was tempted to try doing the same thing through conjuration.
Pomni looked at the woodpecker and lifted her hand, pressing her thumb against her forefinger, as Kinger’s explanation came to mind. “The process is complicated. Each time we conjure, we manipulate the code composing the digital world. We’re doing the same thing as a programmer would if they sat down and wrote out formulas to create things or call on preexisting assets, except we make it happen by being skilled in the right techniques and staying focused.”
When Kinger explained those facts, it was after Caine overextended himself by conjuring an empty World Orb, which even now everyone was still deciding how to fill. But surely animating a single woodpecker wouldn’t make her pass out like Caine did or experience her version of a minor crash. Her best friend Ragatha could use her conjuration to heal injuries, so it was clear they could do more than summon or create things. Knowing the actual coding involved could unlock a bunch of possibilities.
She decided to try it. To experiment. To ease her curiosity.
Pomni closed her eyes and imagined the lines of coding in her mind, hoping the conjuration would work that way. The problem was, as the need to get the sequence right did a tap dance on her nerves, she was reminded of her earlier thoughts about the unreliability of memories.
She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and—
In the corner of her vision, something dark shifted.
“Huh?” Her fingers, already primed and halfway through the motion, snapped. A painful shock rippled through her hand and up her arm, causing it to flail. Pomni didn’t get a chance to cry out as the force propelled her backwards over a pile of branches. The notepad vanished in an explosion of torn paper. She fell onto her side and hugged her arm tightly as the pain faded to a dull throbbing. Only then did she dare to access the damage.
Her fingers appeared worse than they felt, twisted into a tangled mess, glitching subtly. The result of getting distracted at the last second. Pomni sat up and looked frantically around the glade for what could have snagged her attention and realized the mist had obscured the forest canopy. Morning sunlight tried to break through, casting shadows as a result, and these shifted subtly as the mist continued to roll onwards.
Scared by a shadow effect. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, she would need help to fix her fingers, which meant worrying Ragatha and whoever else was around at the time.
There was no helping it, though. She sighed in resignation.
Then the hammering sounded again. Pomni sat up in time to see the woodpecker shuffle its wings, throw her a glance, and fly off. She had managed to activate the bird, and despite everything a tiny thrill went through her.
That was when she noticed a bit of string poking out of the hole left behind in the trunk. She reached her feet, crept over, and carefully pulled it free. It was a necklace, with an oval-shaped pendant that featured a blue butterfly against a white background. Most likely one of the “certain items” mentioned on the scribbled note. A scavenger hunt where they would use birds to find things seemed like an adventure Caine might set up. Pomni tucked the necklace under her jester’s hat—usable as a small, convenient pocket of sorts—certain no one would mind if she held onto it.
Pomni gazed at the beautiful surroundings again. As with many of the World Orb locations, she felt a deep-rooted urge to discover its secrets, and she had close friends who were sure to love doing so alongside her. The discussion over her mistake might be even over much faster if she brought up the restful adventure idea that loomed large in her mind.
She snapped the fingers on her good hand and summoned a portal back to the big top, and sure enough she spotted several of her fellow troupe members. There was a café-style table set up within the semicircle of couches, upon which a chessboard rested, where Kinger and Zooble were facing off. Ragatha and Gangle were fully engrossed in the match, mouths slightly open.
At first glance, it looked like a mismatch. Kinger didn’t have a bucket on his head, so Pomni knew he wasn’t lucid, but the crooked antennae on Zooble’s triangular head quivered in disbelief as they stared wide-eyed at the board. Or, more specifically, at a game they were losing against someone whose gaze kept wandering in various directions as he waited to take his next turn.
“How did you—?” Zooble muttered, before they cursed softly and tried to meet at least one of Kinger’s eyes. “All right, I’m going to call it. You’ve knocked out like 95 percent of my pieces, and now you’re chasing my king around the board with your queen. You win.”
Kinger blinked, and his eyes coordinated their efforts to focus on his opponent. “I’m chasing you with my queen?”
“Yeah.”
His pupils dilated. “My queen… Do you know where—?”
He trailed off long enough for Ragatha to stand and open her mouth, on the point of making a comment to change the topic, only to spot Pomni and gasp, “Pomni, what did you do to your hand?” Everyone turned, while Kinger sort of rotated instead, to give her their full attention.
“It’s okay. It’s not too bad,” Pomni insisted as Ragatha bustled over, anxiety etched into her features. “I tried an experiment with my conjuration, and I made a mistake. That’s all.”
Ragatha carefully cupped her cloth doll hands around the glitching hand. Pomni flinched at the contact, soft and gentle as it was. The throbbing flared up for a moment as Ragatha used conjuration to heal her fingers, which popped back into their normal shape. At last, there was no more pain. The glitches were gone.
Pomni offered a sheepish smile. “Thank you, Ragatha.”
“You need to be careful. We can endure a lot, but we can hurt ourselves very badly, or worse,” Ragatha reminded her. Pomni followed her gaze to the mural on the wall, featuring painted representations of the original programmers and past friends in the circus who had abstracted. The face Pomni lingered on the longest, however, was a purple rabbit wearing a toothy grin. Jax spent most of his time asleep in the large tent they had erected, while the other abstractions shared an aquarium in the north wing.
Without a doubt, Pomni understood the fear of losing someone else to abstraction all too well. A heartfelt resolve embraced her as she turned back to Ragatha. “I know, and I will be more careful,” she promised.
Ragatha smiled gratefully in return.
Zooble approached. “What were you doing, anyway?” they asked, their two arms (at least at this time) crossed. “Whatever it was, I think you should think twice about doing it again.”
“I was exploring another World Orb. Oh, right!” Pomni conjured her notepad. Exploding into fiery paper confetti hadn’t erased its contents, much to her relief. “There was a huge forest. A national park, in fact. I’m pretty sure it’s based on the Redwood National Forest.”
She smiled at the intrigued looks this declaration produced. Even Ragatha brought a hand up to her mouth as if to imply an “Oh my,” while Zooble and Gangle listened intently. It was hard to tell what Kinger was thinking at the time, although he did watch her with his head cocked to one side as if that might help him to hear better.
Pomni went on, “I only saw some of the forest part, but there are probably buildings too, at least one lake, and a lot of birds.”
Kinger lifted a forefinger. “And bugs! Don’t forget the wide variety of bugs!” he declared, and it was hard to tell if he brought up the bugs because he genuinely recalled them from the forest, or if he simply wanted them to be included in the conversation. Pomni made a mental note to ask him about it later.
“Right, I’m sure the forest has bugs too,” she agreed. “Okay. How would all of you like to go camping?”
“Camping, huh?” Zooble rubbed the base of their face. “I wouldn’t mind that. I used to go hiking and camping on the weekends from time to time, just to enjoy nature.” They looked at Gangle. “What do you think?”
Gangle tapped her ribbon hands together. “Hmm, I’ve always wanted to go camping. It’s only… forests make me nervous. I mean, it’s so easy to get lost in them, far away from any help, and I think I heard the phone reception is terrible, and there are bears.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Zooble soothed, taking her hand in theirs. “We can snap portals to leave the forest whenever we want to, we’ll stick together as a group, and none of us have phones. As for bears,” they looked at Pomni, “I take it they weren’t a noticeable problem.”
Pomni shook her head. “I don’t think there are any actual creatures moving around on their own, except for a woodpecker I, well, animated. We could activate the rest of them if we want to, before we leave. From the computer.” She self-consciously rubbed her fingers. “There are plenty of peaceful nature sounds.”
“I’d love to go,” Ragatha gushed. “The last time I went camping was as a child with my—” She faltered, rubbing her arm. “Well, anyway, it’s been a long time, but I’ll do my best to help as much as possible.” Then Kinger laid his hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Ragatha,” he said, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I’m an expert at camping! I can pitch a tent, tie different kinds of knots, and roast marshmallows . . . I think. Would you like me to teach you?”
“Yes,” Ragatha said, the gratitude back in her voice, “I would like that very much.”
Pomni smiled too. The plan was already going well. The only ones missing were—
“Good morning, my beatific buddies!”
“Caine, good, you’re here.” Pomni whirled around to see the former ringmaster drifting their way, then frowned in confusion. “Are you balancing hot dogs on your head?” Gazes traveled up the tall stack, so tall it seemed to be half the height of the big top.
Zooble sighed. “I think the better question is why are you balancing hot dogs on your head?”
“Blue and I are having a contest to see who can keep all these hot dogs on our heads for the longest period of time,” Caine replied, indicating the matching stack stretching like a steeple from atop Blue the Bee. “I thought he would have fun with the challenge. Besides, between you and me” — he lowered his voice — “Blue seemed a little restless, so asking him to do something he has never tried before ought to help.”
Pomni saw her opening and took it. “Do you think camping might help too?”
The reaction was instantaneous. Caine’s pupils enlarged. He murmured, “Camping as in everyone sleeping outside together on purpose and setting fires for us to serenade late into the night as a bonding ritual?” Amazingly, even with the excitement it was clear was bubbling inside him, the stack of hot dogs didn’t so much as tremble. He managed to stay still. “That kind of camping?”
It wasn’t the way Pomni would have described the experience, even though he was basically right. “Yes, that kind of camping, in one of the World Orb locations.”
“Wowie, what a terrific idea! Blue, did you hear that? We’re going camping!”
Blue buzzed in acknowledgement, swaying a bit to keep his own stack steady. His tiny probiscis stuck out as he concentrated.
“So which World Orb will our first ever joint camping expedition happen in?” Caine asked, eyes glittering. “Candy Canyon Kingdom? Labyrinthine Cloud Maze? Enchanted Mushroom Garden?”
“No.” Pomni shook her head, chuckling. Ragatha and Kinger did the same, while Gangle sniffled a giggle. His excitement was contagious. Even though Zooble rolled their eyes, it was in mock exasperation with hints of amusement.
“Then it’s got to be Grayscale Plateau or Train Station Meadow.” Caine began to vibrate, and now the stack did wobble. The suspense was getting to him. “It must be!”
“Nope.” Aside from the Candy Canyon Kingdom, she hadn’t even touched any of those other choices. Maybe due to that fact, a hint of good-natured slyness slipped in. She winked at the others, looked at him, and said, “Why don’t we let it be a surprise?”
“A… surprise?” Caine danced back and forth inches above the floor, gripping the bottom of his dentures. “I can hardly wait!” The hot dogs on his head toppled, and for a few moments it rained down upon everyone. Thankfully, either through miraculous coincidence or precautions, none of the meaty projectiles so much as touched them.
“You win, Blue. Good job.” Caine applauded as Blue’s own stack fell over. One quick snap of the fingers, and the hot dogs disappeared. With another snap, a trophy appeared that featured an engraving of Blue as a hot dog-stacking champion. The bee buzzed about it in appreciation. “Time to get ready for our best adventure yet!”
They spent the next forty-five minutes or so getting dressed in the right attire and assembling their gear—most of it stuck in their backpacks—and once Pomni was ready she went up to the office and made sure to activate Forest Park properly. This way, at least the birds and whatever other wildlife was present there would move about, the tree branches could sway, and the water would flow. It was the remedy to have a great overnight trip, or they might even stay for a second night, if there was a lodge for them to check out.
Pomni beamed. Her excitement mounted as much as it had for Caine, especially when she snapped open the portal and all of them stepped through. They emerged on packed earth near a set of steps leading up to a welcome center of sorts. At the furthest edge of this initial area was a wooden building that was probably the lodge. The forest stretched out in all directions, without even a road to give the illusion of a road to reach the entrance.
There were signs to direct them towards various destinations, including a large stone one to announce they had arrived in Forest Park. Everyone gazed around the environment in astonishment and utter delight, and seeing their expressions was as wonderful for Pomni as the park itself. At least until she noticed Caine standing at the back of the group.
His pupils shrank, and he whispered something.
She could tell he was saying, “Oh no…”