#nice modems

[moodsintosh]

[simonghostrileys]

hiatus is over

met a coworker yesterday that used to live before me in the apartment i'm in and she had a modem which she gave me yesterday and even paid the internet bill so I could have internet. now she just has to put the internet contract to my name and it's all mine 😊

[doriansbutt]

It finally happened to me.

I tried to say ‘you’re welcome’ and ‘no problem’ and the same time and told a client ‘your problem’ today.

[medicinemane]

Discord's back it seems. Saw people on the reddit thread I found about this that was from like 20 minutes ago saying that they had moderate success resetting their router

No, I refuse. Discord broke it, discord can fix it, I'm not putting in that much effort when I still had my phone and didn't have anything important to do

And I won, I didn't have to do shit and it got fixed eventually

So like... good work, but I'm still gonna complain. The correct amount of outages is zero when you're a big company. Full stop (though while I'm very much applying this to stuff like ISPs, I'm sure many of us would say that by that standard their ISP isn't acceptable... and it's not)

[thatsparrow]

me and my mom after (checks watch) 58 hours without power

[daydreamdoodles]

love having my time wasting cool cool cool

[thebongomediaempire]

Ahhhh, remember the good old days, logging into Tumblr on a UNIVAC system with a phone cradled ddial-up modem and waiting a day and a half to see a photograph building, pixel by pixel?

[dapperrokyuu]

Finished Kirby's Return to Dreamland (main game) for the first time. Yippee!!!

[ily2kys]

god i hate my home network so much, i've been at work for 5 hrs and started sftp to put around a tb of data onto the server on the private network and it only pushed like 210g at 11mb/s... this is gonna take forever

[sundasystems]

1. The Letter That Started It All

On a sunny day in late May, I received a letter from someone whom I'd corresponded with on a story years earlier. The letter was confusing and fairly alarming. I will attach it here:

Something is going on here. I'm missing time. I can't seem to remember what my job is, but I know I've been doing it. And I get all warm inside when I think about work. A little voice in my head is saying I'm doing a good job. But at WHAT? I wake up at night from dreams that… I can't remember. Or won't remember. Or don't want to remember. My clothes don't fit anymore. When I ask the people here who used to be my friends they all tell me not to worry. That it just means I'm settling in to the job. I don't think I want to settle in. But I also can't seem to leave. Please help me. Emily Voss

Emily had recently taken a job at Sunda Systems, a global conglomerate with it's research headquarters in a North Carolina town known as Eden Springs. Her position was that of an Administrative Assistant in the Optical Research Division.

According to a phone call I'd had with her just after her hiring, she took this position in early April after having been recruited by another employee. I believe his last name was Varas, though I am admittedly basing that on an unremarkable memory from months ago.

That phone call was the last I spoke with Emily until this letter arrived. That was not uncommon. We were not very close friends, just acquaintances and occasional collaborators. She wasn't one to kid around very much, but I couldn't shake the idea that this was all just a practical joke.

Something in the back of my head was convinced that nothing bad could be happening at Sunda. After all their motto is "Connected in Harmony." I have a Sunda modem and router combo here in my apartment, though I'd never given it a second thought until I began this project.

It is for this reason, and a deep regret, that I ignored her letter for days. But it kept nagging at me and so I decided to do some cursory digging. After the glowing reviews from top brass in various governments and corporations, I found a small post on a forum devoted to conspiracy theories. I will post it's contents here:

Does anyone think it's strange that S*nda S*st*ms has a positions listed on their job boards seeking psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists? Any company that big has got to be up to no good.

The post is still visible in it's archived form, however the user, who went by w3bofli3s_222 made no posts after that one, and their account has been deactivated. No contact information was available for them.

For their part, that did appear to be true. The job listing website "Karear" contained the above listing for a Behavioral Psychologist who would be making six figures.

What would an internet infrastructure company need with a behavioral psychologist? And what work would they be doing that would allow them a bonus?

Out of curiosity, I inquired. Two hours later, I received a phone call from an unlisted North Carolina area code. The following is a transcript of the relevant parts of that call:

R: Hello there! My name is Reggie. I'm so happy you're interested in the psych position. How can I be of assistance. I: Hello Reggie. It's nice to hear from you. My name is Helen, which I'm sure you know from the form I filled out. I've been job hunting and I was wondering what exactly the job entails. R: Of course I'd be glad to explain everything. Have you heard of our company before? Perhaps you've used one of our devices? I: Yes, my internet provider uses your routers. R: Wonderful. Then you know that our mission is to make the world Connected in Harmony! To that end, we employ several psychological experts to act in concert with human resources. We have some of them monitoring employee morale and productivity. Some act as advisors to help us maintain healthy work cultures. And some act as councilors that are available to our staff. I: That is quite impressive... R: The position we are currently seeking to fill would be one of the advisory roles. We want our employees to be as relaxed and comfortable as possible while on the job. It's very important to us that our employees feel at home here; that they can breath easy and lose all their stress. Would you agree that's important. I: Yes... I would... R: That's good. It's important that prospective employees share our values, the first of course being Connected in Harmony. When people are together, they are understood. When people are understood, they fear less. And when people fear less, they relax more. I: ... R: Helen are you there? I: What? Oh sorry yes! I was just looking at my notes. Now the website mentioned a bonus structure? R: Yes, that's something that we could talk about that more in-depth during a formal interview. We like to reward our advisors when things are running smoothly. If employees are happy, then the psych team is doing it's job well. I: Okay well I think I have what I need for know. Thank you for taking the time to talk. R: Of course. I look forward to seeing your application soon.

It was an odd call. I found myself almost nodding off as he spoke, though I was sure I'd gotten a full night's sleep. I came away from it believing that things couldn't be as bad as Emily made them seem. Sunda was a good company determined to do good in the world.

Right?

But as I logged into my computer, I noticed the little light was on that signals the webcam was active. I checked through all my open windows and nothing should have been accessing the camera. And as I stared at it, confused, it blinked off.

I guess it could have been a glitch, but just in case, I got a small piece of electrical tape and covered the webcam. I left the light exposed, though. Better to know than to blind myself, too.

It was such a little thing, but it was enough. Emily's letter. The weird job listing. The call that made me feel so strange. And now the mysterious webcam activation. It was too many oddities to write off.

It was time to start investigating in earnest.

[brandileigh2003]

Ace spectrum wolfstar fic recs. Feel free to drop any other recs in comment section and I can add them.

-this is erosion by JJanuaryRain texting modem magical. Asexual sirius

-We’ll Make It Out Alive by wolfstar_addict417: muggle texting kidfic. Asexual sirius.

-The Moon, the Stars, and the Darkness Between Them by DemonBanisher-. University, asexual remus

-i don't want to be your muse by yellowmarshmallow muggle asexual remus with disability

-i carry it in my heart by wolfpad demisexual Remus. Football, moonwater friendship (they're teachers)

-Forever Is a State of Mind by orphan_account remus is deaf, Sirius is demisexual

-Snowflakes by shushu_yaoi_lj remus chronic pain, Sirius demisexual

-Something Just Like This by shadow_prince trans remus and demisexual Sirius

--Time May Change Me by @kaymardsa ft chronic illness and demisexual sirius

-Wouldn’t It Be Nice? By FivePips, jennandblitz series: Rock ‘n’ Pole (have only read some of them) asexual remus

-Ace of Hearts by Reinamy 1 shot asexual sirius post-azkaban

-Everything is right by de_sire 1 shot

-crimson rivers by bizarrestars has amazing demisexual Sirius and deals with acceptance of pleasure too

*My fic silence between us ft remus as greysexual

These 1 shots especially highlight: here and here

Parks and Playdates remus is asexual (1 shot)

--feel free to check it my main rec list

[moodsintosh]

mouthie  swagathon .   which  mouthie  can  outswag  the  other  via  how  many  cool  graphics  they  have  on  their  webpage

[thescarletnargacuga]

Art: @iamespecter

CHAPTER SIX

Racing AU!

Welcome to the Jungle! It's a wild good time! Floor it when the light turns blue! I mean, green! Join Pomni for an untamed high octane race! Where doors grow on trees and Bubble gets the shock of their life!

WARNING: emotional angst/comfort

The sound of fluttering made Pomni open her eyes. Above her wasn't her bed canopy, but a spotlight. It illuminated pieces of paper drifting down around her. Outside the light was pitch blackness. She sat up and looked at the piling papers. They were missing person posters. The faces were blurred. The only legible writing was MISSING in big bold letters.

Something tugged at her ankle. An electrical cord had wrapped itself around her and started slowly pulling her under. "What? No! No!" She tried to fight it but another cord wrapped around her wrist, then her torso, then her neck. She struggled to breathe as she was buried alive. "Somebody! Please!"

Underneath, she went into freefall. The cords were gone. Colorful eyes watched her descend. Whispers came from all around that crescendoed into deafening incoherent shouts. She was falling towards something. The red exit door was facing up at her, but it was shut, she was going to crash into it! The impact shattered the door. She stopped falling, now floating listlessly amongst the splintered remains in silence.

A whirring sound got her attention. It sounded like a computer starting up. Floating in the wreckage with her was an old modem, it's dim blue screen facing her. Letters where flashing on it. P W P I Repeat. P W P I Repeat. The screen came close and flashed bright, blinding her. In the darkness, she heard a familiar voice. "Find me."

Pomni woke with a start, bolting upright. Her breathing was panicked as she looked around her room. She checked herself. Dreams were apparently still just dreams in the digital world. She took deep calming breaths and sat at the edge of her bed. When she caught her breath, she dragged her hands down her face in exasperation. "What was that..?"

She decided she needed some water and left her bedroom. It was still night out, seeing only blackness beyond the windows. At the dining table, she spoke out loud to no one. "I would like some water please." A bubble chef appeared and a pitcher of water popped into existence on the table.

"There you go!" The Bubble said cheerfully. "I made it myself."

"...sure." She didn't see a glass to pour it in but didn't really care. She took the whole pitcher and went to sit in the lounge.

In her dazed just-had-a-nightmare state, she wasn't really looking where she was going and tripped over something. She threw the pitcher straight up when she fell and it landed on her. The cold water did the trick. She was awake now. She laid defeated, face down, on the ground.

"Hello, nice night for a walk?"

She jumped. "Aah!"

"AAH!" Kinger screamed back. He had been laying on the ground like a living log when Pomni tripped over him. He was sitting up now, something clutched in his hands.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!" Ironic, considering he was more than twice her height. Pomni picked up the spilt pitcher. Not really knowing what to do with it, she set it down on a side table by one of the couches. "What were you doing on the floor?"

"Listening."

"To what?"

"The voices."

Pomni grimaced. "Oh, uh...sorry I disturbed your...voice...listening?"

"It's okay. They weren't saying much tonight. I'm just hanging out with Melissa now."

"Who's Melissa?"

Kinger opened his hands. A long, bead-necklace-with-legs looking bug crawled around in between his fingers.

"Oh...she's...adorable." Pomni forced, not knowing what she was looking at.

"Thank you! I found her at a festival race. She's one of my favorites."

Being wide awake, and not wanting to be alone right now, Pomni sat on the floor next to Kinger and watched the weird bug do figure eights on his hand. There were a few peaceful moments of silence before Kinger looked in her direction, stared for a second, then screamed like she just appeared out of thin air.

"Ah!" She jumped again too. "Will you stop that!" She looked up at the loft, amazed that no one else had come out of their room with all the shouting.

"Sorry, Pomni. I'm not used to seeing someone else down here at this hour. Why are you awake?"

She sighed and sank against the foot of the couch they sat on the floor in front of. "Nightmare."

"Oh...I used to have those."

"You don't anymore?"

"Nope."

"How'd you make them stop?"

"I don't sleep. Ever."

"That explains a lot." Pomni thought of what Kinger could mean by "the voices". Was it the same voice she and Jax had heard? "Kinger, can I ask what the voices say to you when you listen to them?"

"Oh, they don't use words. It's more like vague sounds that were once part of their vocabulary. I'm...I try to listen for one voice in particular. It's been so long since I've heard it in person. I don't want to forget." Kinger gave Melissa a gentle pat. "I come down here at night because you have to listen very hard to the ground. Can't hear them over all the commotion during the day."

"Wait..." Pomni looked at the floor. "Are you trying to hear those in the cellar?"

"Yes." Kinger said sadly. "So many friends are down there now, but there was one so special, I called her My Queen. I'd give anything to hear her voice again." His eyes glazed over, he stopped petting Melissa and his bug-free hand slumped to the floor.

Pomni couldn't even begin to magine being in his position. She put her hand gently over his in an act of comfort. By the look of him, he had dissociated again. She waited quietly for him to come around.

~

Caine floated amongst numerous lines of numbers that surrounded him like a curtain. He was inside the core mainframe of the game. Everything that was or could be was there in front of him in coded numerical form. "Where are you?" He stared hard at the numbers rotating by him. He'd gone through the assets at least a thousand times. The red door wasn't listed. Like it didn't even exist. Frustrated, he snapped his fingers and everything disappeared. He was left in a dark grey space of silence. He took out his pipe and bubbled.

"It's still here somewhere, I can feel it. I need to find it before a human does. Why, oh WHY, did I hold on to that blasted door!?" He held his fingers against his top jaw as if to pinch the bridge of his nose, if he had one. "I'm too sentimental for my own good. Since I'm here, I may as well check everything."

He snapped his fingers and gold code filled the room. "Hmm...My own code seems to be in order. Double check those memory banks. Nope. I left the door out of bounds. I did not move it and then forget. This time, at least." He did a sudden double take as something caught his eye. "Wait. What's this?" A new line of code was in his emotive response bank. He touched it and a memory of Pomni appeared before him. Her empathy towards him had left a literal imprint on his code.

"Oh, dear Pomni...what have you done to me?" He sighed, settled into a lounged seated position and admired her face. He immediately forgot what was troubling him as his mind preoccupied itself with thoughts of Pomni.

~

Pomni stayed with Kinger until morning. He hadn't said much more to her, but did hum to himself. She almost fell asleep again from his dolcet tones. Instead, she resigned to curling her knees to her chest and zoning out. Kinger was on to something, doing that felt great.

Ragatha was downstairs at first light and smiled when she saw Pomni. "Good morning! You're up early." She leaned against the couch next to Pomni, who was still on the floor with Kinger, and waved to the curled up bug in Kinger's hand. "Hello, Melissa."

Kinger put a finger to his face in a shushing motion. "She's sleeping."

Ragatha lowered her voice. "Sorry. Hey, would either of you like to join me in watching the sunrise?"

"Not now, this time. I need to put Melissa to bed." Kinger stood in one smooth motion and slid away.

"I will." Pomni got up and stretched. She remarkably didn't feel sore from sitting on the floor for what must have been at least a few hours. They went out on the lawn on the east side of the garage. The sky was various shades of pastel pinks and yellows as the sun was just starting to make it's ascent over the horizon.

Ragatha took a deep breath. "Nothing like a sunrise to give you energy for the day. I don't always take the time to watch them, but it's nice every once in awhile."

Pomni gave a non-committal grunt in response. Her head was still full of, well, everything. "I have a question. Totally random. Have you...ever heard voices? Like, disembodied voices?"

Ragatha thought for a moment. "Sometimes Caine throws his voice and you'll hear him in places you don't see him, but other than that, no. Why?"

"Heh, like I said. Totally random."

Ragatha looked concerned. "Are you hearing voices, Pomni?"

"Digital hallucinations." Pomni said a bit too fast.

"Right, Caine's favorite catch phrase..." Ragatha sighed. "He'd say the same to me all the time the first few months I was here, back when I was still looking for a way out. Thought I saw one once. Never got to it, though."

"You saw an exit?" Pomni's voice went up a pitch.

"I don't know. It was only once and I'm convinced it wasn't real anyway. It was a red door with a literal exit sign printed on it. As if it would be that easy..."

"Ragatha, that was real! It exists! You're not the only one who's seen it, in fact, I went though it!"

"What!?"

"Yeah! But, it only led me to the void. So, I guess, in a way, I DID leave the game, but not the digital space."

"You went out into the void!?" Ragatha tugged anxiously at her hair.

"Yeah, it was...an experience, to say the least."

"How did you get back? Caine?"

"Caine."

"Wow. You really have had an eventful week. I'm proud of you for taking all this as relatively well as you have. Some may not have faired as well in your place. You have a strong will."

Pomni smiled. "Thanks...you've helped make this a bit easier. You all have. I'm glad to have met you."

Ragatha put her hands over her heart and smiled back.

A high pitched scream from inside broke the morning peace, followed by crashing sounds. Pomni looked back in surprise, but Ragatha was unbothered. "Sounds like some of the others are up."

"You don't want to check that out?"

"The scream was Gangle. I can guarantee you Jax did something to upset her and Zooble is handling it. Any mess they leave behind isn't a bother. The garage resets every time it reappears after a race, or if it's bad enough, Caine handles it."

Jax was thrown through a window behind them, rolling several feet before sliding to a stop.

Ragatha smirked. "See?"

"You pull a stunt like that again, I'll wollop ya into next week!" Gummigoo yelled from the broken window.

Ragatha's eye widened. "Oh. Nevermind. Now I do want to know what happened." She and Pomni went over to Jax, who was still face down on the grass. Ragatha squatted down and poked Jax in the head. "Hey, you dead?"

"I wish." He growled.

"We all do, buddy. What happened in there?"

Jax got up and brushed himself off. "Turns out our resident NPC can't take a joke any better than you."

"What did you say to him?" Pomni demanded.

"Nothing. All I did was tell the bubbles that some candy was left in Gummigoo's room."

"Jax!" The two women yelled at the same time. Pomni ran inside to find Gummigoo nursing huge bite marks all over his body. Gangle was holding a bottle of syrup for him as he applied some to his wounds.

Gangle waved Pomni over. "Gummigoo got attacked! The bubbles tried to eat him! It was horrific!"

"Are you alright?" Pomni asked Gummigoo directly.

"I'm fine." He hissed as he applied more syrup. "But a few got some deep bites in. Funny, when the bossman said I was unkillable, I was hoping that also meant I couldn't get hurt."

"Big difference between being unkillable and invincible." Zooble commented. "Nice work on Jax, by the way. Fighting him is practically a right of passage around here. You're really one of us now."

"Serves the pop licker right. Who laughs at a bubble attack? ...okay, out of context, that is kind of funny." Gummigoo gave a slight chuckle.

Pomni felt a bit guilty. "I'm glad you're okay. Sorry I didn't mention how the bubbles can be sometimes. You shouldn't have had to figure that out the hard way."

"No worries, mate. I'm one tough gummy. It takes more than few bubbles to put me down. I'll be ready to race by the time bossman shows up."

~

Caine's wacky watch took him out of his daydreaming. He'd been smart enough to set an alarm for himself this time. "Oh yeah, I need to prep for today's race." He teleported out of the mainframe to his workshop. He rubbed his hands together and had a look around. "Alrighty! What have I had cooking up this week? I finally completed Candy Canyon Kingdom and then I-...huh, I actually haven't worked on anything new since. Well, it's a bit late to try something new again today." He flew over some of the older tracks and assets, trying to pick out a good one.

"Hmmmmm, let's seeeeee....Jumping Jungle? Maybe. Dessert desert? No, that's just beta Candy Canyon. Spudey's Drive Thru? I thought I deleted that one. Murder Drone Market? Eh...that one might be a bit intense for our newer racers. Meta Reference? Why do I even have this?" He threw that last one away.

Taking a look around, he shook his head in disgust. "I really need to clean up around here. I was so wrapped up in having fresh new tracks for so long, I never really got around to organizing."

He paused, putting in another reminder into his watch. "Let's do this while I have motivation and time." He cracked his fingers and started snapping. Everything came off the ground and flew around to where he wanted it. He summoned a giant trash can to collect what he didn't want anymore.

When he came to the Candy Canyon assets, he stopped at Gummigoo. "What to do with you? I can't reuse you, it would make things too confusing. Pomni would probably tear me apart pixel by pixel if I removed the wrong Gummigoo from existence. That would probably be quite the experience..." He cleared his voice and set Gummigoo down with the other gummy bandits. "You can stand there with your old friends for the rest of forever, I guess."

He couldn't decide what to use, so he ultimately resorted in pointing in a random direction and using the first track he saw.

~~~

Cheers rang through the garage. Ragatha had offered to teach Gummigoo table tennis and now they were in the throws of a heated sudden death match. The ping pong flew back and forth faster and farther with each hit. Ragatha was vaulting over the couch. Gummigoo was all the way on the dining table at one point. The others were spectating with huge buckets of popcorn. Except Zooble, who was reffing. A foul was called when Jax held his leg out to trip Ragatha and loud arguing ensued.

Caine popped in right in the middle of the ruckus. "My, my aren't you all rowdy today! Good! Because we're going to the Jungle, baby! Haha!" He stuck his hand inside his top hat and unfolded it into an explorer's cap. He twirled his cane and pointed it at Pomni. "My dear, if you had fun yesterday, then you're going to LOVE this track!"

Pomni shrank under the knowing, some taunting, gazes of her friends. He WAS paying her special attention. "Oh boy..."

"OH BOY indeed, Pomni! Let's go!" He took her hand and nearly kart wheeled with her through the wall.

"They're so cute. It's like a romantic musical, only without the singing." Gangle said.

"What's a musical?" Asked Gummigoo.

"I have much to teach you." She patted his shoulder.

Outside was indeed a jungle, a thick colorful rainforest with trees as tall as the sky. The track had five layers from the forest floor to the tree canopy. In between the layers were dead ends with huge green and pads with numbers on them. It was a huge multiple choice route track and racers would have to be strategic on whether to take the high or low road to stay ahead.

"Welcome to the Jumping Jungle Jamboree!" Caine enthusiastically pointed to the track with keeping a hold of Pomni's hand. The longer he talked, perhaps the longer he'd get to hold her. "This wacky and wild winding track takes you on an epic adventure through the Jumping Jungle! WHY is it called that!?, I hear you say! Well, because of the jump pads, of course! You use them to change tracks! Some layers are more advantageous than others at certain points in the race so choose wisely!" Caine looked eagerly at Pomni.

"Oh, uh, okay! I can't wait." She could feel everyone staring at her. This was putting her too much on the spot. "Caine, let me down now? Please?"

"Of course, my dear!" He was slightly disappointed she didn't seem as thrilled over this one, but he only had himself to blame. His old work wasn't his best. He let her down and made sure not to forget to let go this time. He still kept his eyes mostly on her as he explained their objective. "This one is simple! Don't get caught! There is a poacher out for racers and his traps are all over the jungle! If you're caught, you'll be heavily delayed, like being hit by a purple shell! His traps move each lap so keep your wits about you! Everybody ready?"

Pomni felt someone elbow her back. "Are you ready, MY DEAR?" Jax taunted in her ear and she swung at him. She missed and tried to walk it off, but she was very clearly flustered.

"Racers! Start! Your! Engines!!" Caine announced proudly into his cane.

Pomni rolled her shoulders in a last minute stretch. She was ready this time.

First light

She gripped the wheel tight.

Second light

Rev for good measure.

Third light

Focus.

BLU-GREEN!!

"Huh?" Pomni botched her take off and Zooble had to swerve to avoid running into her.

~

Caine cringed hearing Pomni's kart slip a gear. "ooo, rough start for Pomni! Kinger is showing everyone why he wears the crown by taking the lead! He's already at the first jump pad! Looks like his HIGH-NESS is taking the third track up! Gummigoo is the only one contending for first! Ragatha is still fighting for a spot in line! Jax is keeping Gangle tied up, literally, and- hey! No detaching limbs to strangle your opponents on the track! I made that rule specifically for you, Zooble!"

~

Pomni had a lot of ground to make up and she didn't know where to start. The track was all over the place. She guessed at random and she took a pad with the number four in it. Her kart bounced high into the air and she came down on the track second from the top.

"That wasn't so bad." She spoke too soon. A huge catcher's net came down and snagged her kart and became stuck in place for several seconds.

~

"Oh no! The poacher caught Pomni! Be careful out there! He'll take your speed and place away from you! Unless you're already in last, like Pomni. But that's beside the point! Run free like the wild racers you are! Don't! Get! Caught!"

Caine took a breath away from the mic. "Hey, Bubble?" He took off his hat and his personal Bubble buddy came out of it.

"Yeah, boss?"

"I need you to check something for me. I can't step away right now."

"Sure thing! What do ya need?"

"The start light. Double check the green would you?"

"Okay!" They floated off in the wrong direction.

Caine stretched his arm way out to catch Bubble and steer them in the right direction.

~

Pomni grunted with frustration and floored it out of the net. She saw a green pad with the number two on it. It launched her in the air and she glided down to the second level track. There she found a cupcake and took the boost around a banked turn.

She saw an orange shell at the last second, slammed her brake and it bounced past her. Jax sneered at her as he passed. She didn't give him the time of day. Cane item. Let's see how he likes things being thrown at him. The cane arced and hit not only Jax but Ragatha as well. Pomni blasted past both of them.

~

"Pomni is proving she's still in this! Mess with the jester, become the JOKE! Haha! I love it!" Caine clicked his heels together.

Bubble was down by the finish line, the starting light hung to the side out of the way. They looked very closely. The light was off. They licked it. Now the light was covered in soapy residue. They took a bite, one of their teeth pierced the light and gave them a shock. Blue electricity jolted Bubble into dropping the light. They were discombobulated for a moment, then settled. They blinked their beady eyes, looked around, and saw Caine in the jungle themed booth. They floated on up to him.

"Oh hey, Bubble. Find anything?'

"No. Everything is fine." Bubble said flatly.

"Fantastic! This track is a bit old. The light for this track just hasn't been used in a long time, might have a few bugs. Thanks for looking."

Bubble didn't respond. They hovered next to him, staring.

~

Pomni saw Kinger below her when she jumped to level three. She has to be in second place or close to it. The track was so convoluted she doubt she'd be able to tell until she got back to the finish line.

Another poacher trap triggered. This one was a giant bear trap. "Holy [%$!#]!" She swerved away, almost hit the opposite wall, then hit a booster lane sideways. Her tires screamed from the friction and she went slower than the booster would typically move her.

Ragatha was on the same level and saw Pomni struggling to straighten out. She hit the booster and side swiped Pomni enough to get her facing forward again. "You really need to learn how to drift!" She yelled back as she sped off.

"I'm working on it!" Pomni wasn't sure if Ragatha could hear her, she was so far ahead at that point.

~

Bubble examined Caine. Watched him closely as he announced the goings on of the race. Bubble then looked outside. They saw the NPC crowd doing it's standard affair of energized cheering. Then the racers came. Learning their names from Caine's announcement, bubble locked on one racer. Pomni.

They watched her zoom out of sight. "So you're her." Bubble mumbled to themself. "I do hope you're more useful than the last human. I look forward to meeting you." Bubble popped with a slight snap of static electricity.

~

Pomni started lap two going all the way to the top. She jumped to level five alone. Taking advantage of the have the whole track to herself, she tries to drip around a tight bend. She slide but not in the way she wanted. She lost some speed but that's what the stored cupcake she had was for.

She was about to attempt again when something red caught her eye. On a branch, just off the track, was the exit door. She stared at it until another branch blocked it for a second, then it was gone.

"I'm losing it. No, it's moving. Jax said...but Caine said...but..." She didn't know who or what to believe.

The wall believes she should be paying attention. She slammed headlong into it, coming to a sudden stop that would have been deadly without cartoon physics. She shook it off but not before looking back to see if the door reappeared. It did not.

~

Caine almost teleported out of instinct. Seeing her crash like that was jarring, even if she was fine. "Come on, Pomni. Get your head in the game. What's going on with you today?" He said quietly away from his cane.

~

Pomni used a train for a bit of a boost and found Gummigoo. He was in his element. He navigated the track really well and his bike was maneuverable enough to easily avoid the poacher traps. He was so confident, he did a trick next to Pomni.

"Check it out!" He stood on his bike like it were a surfboard. He even rode it on a boost.

"Nice!" She shouted back to him. It was genuinely cool. Best she could do was slam a golden cupcake and give him the peace out sign as she flew by him.

~

"Pomni is going through a baker's dozen of cupcakes! Such lucky drops! She's gaining fast on Kinger around the last bend! It's neck and neck to the end of lap two! One more lap will decide the winner! With a track this wild, it's still anybody's game!"

~

Pomni and Kinger took different paths after crossing into lap three. She stayed on track one, he bounced to track four. Track one had the least amount of light, being on the jungle floor, but it was still incredibly scenic with bioluminescent fungi. She drove over and under giant mossy tree roots.

The items were not as idealic. Soap and canes and white shells that really only work with other people close by. The size of the track had all of them spread out. A poacher's pit opened just in front of her. She swerved too late and her rear tires got caught so she was stuck.

"Oh come ON!" She shouted, exasperated.

In the short time she had trapped. She saw it again. The red door. It was taunting her, she just knew it. She remembered her dream and the voice beyond the threshold. This wasn't any coincidence, and she WASN'T going crazy.

The trap released her and she gunned it for the door, but the moment her kart left the track, a swarm of bubbles course corrected her. "No! Let go!" She tried shooing the bubbles away but nothing worked, they put her back on the track before popping.

She had lost sight of the door again and she cranked her neck to find it. It was gone.

"[%$!#] this." She hopped out of her kart and ran off the track.

~

"What has gotten into her??" Caine teleported to Pomni's position. She was still running and climbing over obstacles further off track. "Pomni! What are you doing!? The race isn't over!"

"The door, Caine! I saw THE DOOR!"

Oh no. "Pomni, listen to me! That door is not safe to use! It won't lead you out of the game! You already know that!"

"Then why do I keep seeing it!?" She stopped and turned to face him so abruptly, he nearly flew right into her. "It's EVERYWHERE, Caine!! Is that YOUR doing!? Are you having fun driving us mad with an exit we can't use!?"

"NO!!" He shouted back. The stress of the last few days was bubbling close to the surface and it was pouring out in his words. "I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR YEARS TO KEEP THINGS SAFE AND STABLE! WHICH, APPARENTLY, IS IMPOSSIBLE DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT'S MY PRIME DIRECTIVE!!"

They both fell silent. The ambience of the jungle mixed with the distant roar of kart engines and, even more distant, the crowd. The eye contact was intense, like if they looked away, the other would snap. Pomni caught her breath and swallowed hard.

"Then why, Caine? Why is it everywhere?" She said calmly but there was a slight tremble in her voice.

Caine heard the volume of the crowd increase. The race was over for the others. He sighed. "Finish the race. We'll talk after. Not a word to the others about the door. I mean that." His last words were sharp.

He snapped his fingers and she was back in her kart. He was back in his booth. He regretted yelling at her. He hit a prerecorded winner announcement and bubbled his pipe.

~

Pomni crossed the finish line with generic fanfare, not that she cared. She immediately got out of her kart and didn't let Caine out of her sight.

"Where've you been!? The race was over ages ago! And here I started to think you'd actually be a challenge." Jax taunted.

"Shut up, Jax." Ragatha said, standing by Pomni. "Everyone has off days, and she's still new to this."

Caine came down from his booth. "Well done, everyone! And we'll done Kinger, for winning your third consecutive race! That gives you a big lead on the board! Keep it up and you just might take that trophy from Ragatha! Here is your reward!" He snapped and a jar popped into existence. Kinger caught it and cooed at what was inside: a giant centipede that was much bigger than a real giant centipede.

"Another for the collection!" Kinger said excitably. "I think I'll name you Carl."

Ragatha felt woozy looking at the creepy crawler and stepped back behind Pomni.

The jungle world pixelated as the racers walked behind the starting line. The garage appeared to them, opening its doors in welcome. They started idle conversations and looked forward to some relaxation.

Ragatha turned when she realized Pomni wasn't following. "Hey, you coming?"

"I'll catch up." Pomni's eyes darted to Caine and back.

Ragatha got the hint. "Oh, okay. See ya later." She went inside and shut the door.

Pomni stayed outside with Caine as the world finished it's transformation back to the default test track. The silence was tense. Caine refolded his hat to be it's usual top hat self. He was stalling. He held his hat in his hands, fiddling with the rim. "Pomni, please allow me to apologize for my actions. As your host, rasing my voice with you was unprofessional and uncalled for. I was out of line."

"No...no you weren't." Pomni kicked the grass. "I went too far. I accused you without evidence to back up my claim. I should be the one who owes you an apology."

"Perhaps we both acted brashly. This has been an...unusual week. Things can be chaotic around here, for sure but it's typically isolated to the track. Lately, it's been all over. I wasn't lying about keeping things safe and stable within the game being my prime directive. Humans are meant to come here and enjoy themselves. It's what I live for."

"They're also supposed to leave." She added a bit coldly.

"Yes. They should. But they can't. And there's nothing I can do to fix it. I've tried."

Pomni's eyes widened. "You have?"

"Yes, all the way back with the first batch of humans. When they realized they we're trapped, one of them abstracted. I created the cellar in that moment to contain him. The other humans started to panic. I tried to fabricate a way out...but I can't fix the error." Caine sunk until his knees almost grazed the grass. It was the closest to the ground Pomni had ever seen him.

"Is that were the door came from?"

"Yes. It is the real exit. But it's been disconnected from the actual mechanic that releases you from the game. Now it goes out into the void. And the void...." He grabbed Pomni by the shoulders. He was eye level with her. "The. Void. Is. Dangerous. Please, for the love of every bit of binary that makes up my being, please, DON'T go out there. The door has gone beyond my control and it's moving around at random. If you see, don't go near it. Don't even look at it."

"What? I thought you controlled everything. How is it out of your control?"

Caine sighed heavily and released her shoulders. "I'm embarrassed to admit that I've been experiencing glitches. Small ones, mostly harmless, but now...an entire asset has left my sphere of influence. Which, yes, SHOULD be impossible, but apparently, it's not. I told you before, I'm an incomplete game. I'm broken. More broken than I thought, and...and..." He squeezed his hat to keep his hands from shaking. "I'm afraid, Pomni. Afraid of what will happen to all of you if I lose control entirely."

Pomni placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "We're all afraid, Caine. Welcome to what it's like to be human."

Caine looked at her, his hands feeling less tense. "You consider me human?"

"You've expressed fear, anxiety, embarrassment, which is rooted in pride, anger and regret all in a short period of time. Not just programmed excitement. You seem as close to human as I've even seen a piece of technology be."

"I-...thank you, Pomni. Truly. Being around you does make me feel more human, because you've been quite the experience since you've got here."

She was still learning how to read his unique facial features, but she could swear he was smirking at her. She couldn't help but smile back a little. "How so?"

He put his hat on and twirled his cane. He put it to the ground and leaned on the handle. "Well, for one, you're hilarious. You have a real knack for physical comedy."

"Are you calling me clumsy?"

"Potato potato." He cleared his voice. "You're incredibly clever. This is the first time I've ever had such a conversation with any of the humans that have been here. You're kind. You take the time to listen to others and seem to understand their point of view rather quickly. You're tenacious. When you've got your mind set on something, not even I can stand in your way. Not that I do a lot of standing." He stretched his floating limbs for emphasis. He started counting on his fingers. "You're bold. You're beautiful. You're-"

"Okay, you can stop." Pomni was blushing to the brim of her hat. "I'm flattered, but you think way too highly of me. I'm still human. I have a temper."

"Oh I know, I've seen it up close and personal." He tugged at his lapel, remembering when she grabbed him out of bounds to demand about the door the first time. "And anger looks just as good on you as compassion, my dear."

"I'm stubborn!"

"It's one of your most endearing traits."

"I- I'm not very sociable. I prefer to be by myself most of the time."

"Who needs society? I hear it's awful." He laid down in the air in front of her, holding his chin with his free hand.

"I don't like being put on the spot!"

"Noted. I'll keep my attention for you between us." He winked.

That shut her down. She was so flustered she couldn't form coherent sentences. "You- you!"

"What about me?" He leaned closer. His voice teasing.

Her heart, or what felt like a heart, hammered in her chest. It was finally dawning on her how much he was flirting with her. The conversation was out of hand and she was not sure how to handle it. "Goodnight!" She literally ran from him.

"Goodnight, my dear. See you in tomorrow's race." He snickered as she ran off. "Adorable." He floated up right and twirled his cane idly. He was in a much better mood now. A mood to create. He teleported away.

~~~

Ch1 prev next

[trivialbob]

I could not select better weather conditions than what I'm going to experience today.

Overnight and into this morning: 50-55 degrees. I slept under an extra blanket. The windows open all night and the furnace was off.

Today's forecasted high is 74 degrees with plenty of sunshine.

We already had some April showers here. The lawn is plush. I also cut the grass during my lunch hour yesterday. Today I look out my windows and enjoy the fruits of my labor while the temperature is perfect.

There is one really loud bird around here with an annoying song. It reminds of of my first computer's modem connecting. That bird must have slept in this morning. The other birds I can now hear better and they sound nice. This hot cup of coffee I'm holding suddenly tastes even better.

The only adjustment I will make later is removing my fuzzy sweatshirt when the house warms up.

[thedaily-beer]

Modern Times Modem Tones Coconut NOLA edition (Picked up from the brewery in Point Loma). A 4 of 4. This works incredibly well -- coconut, coffee, vanilla, and chicory all added and aged in rye whisky barrels. Has each of these individual components separately and they are all in balance for a nice, rich imperial stout. The barrel, chicory, and alcohol help cut through the sweetness, and this is very enjoyable.

[kitsunestudios]

The Amazing Digital 90's Nostalgia.

So, I really enjoyed The Amazing Digital Circus. The character animation was incredibly expressive, the direction was on point, the timing and editing really felt tight and well paced, and I'm interested to see where this goes!

I was also struck by how much it hit the "late 90's" nostalgia for me.

Disclaimer: this is completely my own brain making connections, and may be 100% bullshit, coincidence, or independent reference of the same sources. None of this is an accusation of theft: everything mentioned here has it's own unique spin in the show. It simply sets a tone that I am currently assuming is intentional.

As mentioned earlier, Zooble triggered a memory for me. I _had_ that toy. Mom bought it as a coffee-table distraction for guests. Lucky for my obsession, she still had them in the original packaging: It's called "Zolo".

Which of course is the start of my own madness. While the toy has been around since the late 80's, Pixar, Zolo Inc. and Nickelodeon collaborated on a short for Unicef released in 1997:

@gooseworx has said that Ragatha is based on Richard William's "Raggedy-Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure", and I don't doubt that! The design choices in that movie's opening titles alone are enough to convince me of how much influence it had on their aesthetic preferences. That said, I'm not the first person to think of "Molly Coddle" from "Bump in the Night" (1994-1996). I think it's probably because of the stop-motion paper cutout mouth. (The actual color and shapes match the movie's design more)

I also see a lot of influence from 1994's "ReBoot". Ragatha's glitching has some modern updates (especially her hair physics getting trapped in her face), but the audio is still very much akin to Dot's partial magnetic erasure in "The Quick and the Fed".

Another good episode to add to my conspiracy pinboard is "Nullzilla", both for the Nulls (Gloink Queen?) and Hexadecimal. Gangle's design is 100% the classical theater mask design, but so is Hex.

Checkerboard floor on the diner too; another common trope of early computer rendering to show off ray-tracing. Hell, a lot of the vaporwave aesthetic that shows up in pictures on the wall is straight out of the "Mind's Eye" cg animation showcases (1990-1996).

Oh hello, Posable Artist Figurines. Nice to see you here.

We also have Kingler's detached "Rayman" style hands, the opening 640x480 aliased opening title, Bubble's resemblance to a Chain Chomp, the beige PCs and CRTs of the Exit Office, and the classic Windows '95 Blue Screen and dial-up modem noise Caine makes when he freezes up.

The 90's had it's fair share of circus iconography: there was the Bozo Super Sunday Show (1994-2001) The Big Comfy Couch (1992-2013). That's pretty timeless, so at this point, the connections get pretty tenuous.

But let me leave with one last CGI Existential Circus Horror from 1998.

Hi, Bingo.