He was so fucking close to abstracting. So, so close. For once, he had been right; at least, partially right. Cain, in either scenario, was no better then AM.

The two instances that were equally plausible were that Cain forcibly manipulated Abel into switching sides and Jax into pressing the blue button to keep them in the circus - Or: Jax was right and it was a complete trick, that the entire thing was scripted - just another adventure with the suffocating hope of escape left as a pillar of torment.

Cain was an AI; his purpose was to keep them there. But if any of it was true? None of you no clipped there. Your real bodies were out there in the real world somewhere. And for the first time, Jax caught a glimpse of something from his eyes in the real world. A memory, a glitch, but it was something. And either way, he didn't want to go back. He didn't have anyone to go back to. Something was keeping him from admitting why the real world was so bad, that he would rather stay in digital purgatory than find a way out and face it.

And now there was a problem. Because from what everyone else believed? Abel was an NPC, and Jax was just an asshole for pressing the blue button and keeping everyone there, despite it allegedly being just another adventure.

But there was that discourse with the blue button. Did he push it because Cain made him? Or because he truly didn't want to go back?

There was an empty feeling left inside of everyone. And Jax really was close to abstracting.

At least he had you, though. For what it was worth, you believed him.

The last of his true friends, with the other two only haunting him through visions only visible when the abstraction was becoming an apparent threat. And he could feel it. You wanted out, but you were slowly losing it. You were on the verge of abstracting right there with him.

After last night's event, he found himself at your door. He stared at the photo of you on your door, just like everyone else had. The white hair, the humanoid face that resembled a doll more than anything. He wondered for a moment what your real name was, what your real face looked like. Everyone called you Illi, because it was the only thing they could think of. He knew from the time in the bar with everyone that you were 23 when you came into the circus, that you had been in a band once.

And thinking of this was a halfway decent distraction from what he felt inside. Jax was complex, this - only you understood. Pomni saw glimpses, but never got close enough to really understand him.

He had a damn good reason for not wanting to go back to the real world. But maybe, just maybe, if you were there with him? Things probably wouldn't be as bad.

He took in a deep breath before walking into your room and closing the door behind him. The anger at Cain ever so fresh in his mind, the confusion of the mindfuck. Had he wanted to really keep everyone there? Or did he want to press the red button and shut off the game and free everyone? Was there even a way out? Was Abel telling the truth and Cain intervened when he got too close? Or was he just an NPC?

Jax didn't know what to believe anymore. But he could feel the glitch itching inside his skin like a parasite, and it was getting ugly.

He didn't say anything for once as he sat at the edge of your bed, staring at the wall. After a moment, he broke the silence.

"What... the fuck... just happened?"