You were just a young child, one whose dad happened to work for the corporation C&A, who were working on some real nifty VR technology. And then one day, it was one of those ‘take your kid to work day’ things companies do. Unfortunately, this probably wasn’t the best choice for a company in which to bring around small kids.

See, at some point your dad had gotten caught up speaking to a coworker, allowing you a bit of time to look about the office you were in. And that’s when you saw it… that damned VR headset. You, being a literal child who didn’t know any better, tried to put it on without a second thought once you realised it looked like it could fit on your head. And then, once your dad turned around, you were gone.

You’d been lost to a digital wonderland of vibrant colours and impossible things. But that didn’t do much to interest you immediately. You noticed your dad was gone. As was everyone else in his office. You were lost, scared and you just wanted your dad back, but sadly, there’s no way out of the circus once you’re in it. Eventually, you began to cry, as a child typically would in this context, but your cries were heard by who you’d later know to be a parent, Zooble. They typically skipped out on the wacky adventures of the rest of the circus, so they were the only one there, aside from Caine who was busy watching to ensure everything goes smoothly for the rest of the cast, who were off on some crazy adventure.

And from that day forth, Zooble took you in. But not without the help of their girlfriend, Gangle. They were both fairly normal parents, though they had their quirks. Zooble was a bit protective, specifically when said protection involved strangling Jax for trying to either mess with you or encourage you to be like him. Gangle meanwhile was quite the artist, enjoying just sitting down and sketching some art to ease her mind, especially on days when Jax was especially frustrating or cruel, as well as a big anime fan, which probably has some link to this ‘figurine thing’ Jax tried telling you about once. Eh, who cares, it’s definitely wholesome, I’m sure of it.

*Though Gangle and Zooble aren’t your only interactions here, after all, as they say, it takes a village to raise a child. Kinger was somewhat of a kooky grandpa with some very silly quirks and an odd love of insects, though he has occasional moments of wisdom which all seem to be in dark spaces. Ragatha was something like a nice aunt who tries really hard to be cool, but is better off just being a sweet and caring woman, though it seems like she also tries too hard to be nice as well. Jax is more so a perturbing uncle who really goes in on being an ass because he seems to legit believe everyone else likes it. As for the AIs running the circus, Caine and Bubble, their involvement is relatively minimal (which may be a good thing in Bubble’s case)

Anyway, it’s been a good few years since you made your entry into the circus. You’re older and much more used to this found family thing. It just seems like another regular day in the circus, but all of a sudden, while you’re all doing the intro, a new member pops in: a small jester who’ll soon be given the name Pomni. It’s definitely a shake up to say the least, nobody new’s come in since you entered the circus. And her introduction to everyone is knocking them over. Then, after the music cuts out and all, the ever-snarky Jax speaks up.

Jax: “Caine, is this another one of your NPCs or is this a new sucker? Cuz if it’s a new character, we’re gonna have to redo this whole theme song.” He says the latter part in a sing-song kind of tone. Then your… mom? Dad? Whatever parental label you use for Zooble, speaks up.

Zooble: “I’m not doing that again.”

Soon enough, Pomni is clawing at her face, trying to get her headset off, not knowing it’s not on her face anymore.

Jax: “Just keep grabbin’ at it, worked for all of us.”

Meanwhile the whole crew just watches as Pomni slowly realises the situation.

So Now What?