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R A I S I N G ◦ A N ◦ N P C !

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▶ BOOK 1: M A K I N G ◦ A N ◦ N P C !
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⊹˚₊·‧Chapter 14: Zip

They all stared at the display board. It showed that there was one minute left.

Then, finally, it switched to 0.

However, nothing happened. They all looked at each other, waiting. As Ragatha was about to say something, Caine and Kinger, still wearing his darkened goggles, reappeared again.

“Okay, we found a way. It’s a dilettante solution and nothing to be proud of, but I figured that making something as quickly as possible was more important than creating something stable and polished.” Kinger said.

“You were right. Where’s the portal?” Pomni asked, immediately ready for action.

Kinger answered quickly. “There is none. We still couldn’t create a stable connection to the world. However, we can send a very compressed version of one of you into the world. That’s… that’s all, regrettably. But in the meantime, we will work on a way to get Pierrosie back once one of your compressed selves finds her.”

Ragatha came closer. “I… I don’t fully understand what you’re saying… so, you haven’t found a way to get her back?”

“I must say,” Caine intervened both nervously and eagerly, “This feels like I’m being part of an adventure for once! This is exciting.”

“Would you kindly shut up, Caine,” Kinger responded without looking at Caine, which made the virtual ringmaster freeze in place as if he had encountered an error.

Without acknowledging this, Kinger continued, “I’m sorry Ragatha. Not yet. But as I said, we found a way to send one of you. Albeit… in a problematic way.”

“Please, explain, briefly,” Zooble asked of him.

“It’s… it’s hard to, briefly. But… Imagine only a tiny part of you — your personality, skills, and memory — is taken out of you and then put into a zip file so it can be transferred over a slow, broken connection.
What arrives won’t be fully you, but only a partial bare-bones botched version of you.”

“Will we even be able to function?” Jax asked.

Kinger seemed hesitant.
“You will. This version of you… it can walk and maybe even talk, but the memory will be almost completely erased. I’m… frankly not sure if it will remember what it’s supposed to do.”

Ragatha wanted to say something, but Pomni beat her to it.

“I’ll do it. I won’t forget.”

Kinger sighed ever so slightly, making Pomni feel that he had hoped she would step up.

“There’s no guarantee…” He began.

“I won’t. Forget.” Pomni assured him.

Ragatha stepped beside her, holding her hand, looking at her with hope and gratitude.

“I will protect her. Make sure to take her in with all the kisses that you can muster, when she comes back.”
Ragatha sobbed silently and nodded.

Kinger added, “I just want you to know… I saw the level design. It will be rather scary.”

Pomni’s heart tried to sink, but she grabbed it.

“Send me in. I’m ready.”

“I can see that. You’ve really grown, Pomni. I’m proud of you.”

Pomni gave him a weak smile. He was wrong, because she was afraid beyond belief — not just of the horror part, but of what splitting apart and being compressed meant — but now was not the time to discuss this.

“Here’s some last info. The enemies are light sensitive. Immediately look for a light source when you enter. And a weapon — something long to keep enemies away. They are also sound sensitive. Try not to make any sounds.”

Pomni swallowed hard, trying to gulp down the panic that Kinger’s words had caused; Even though Pierrosie usually wasn’t verbal, her body made constant sounds when she was moving: The chiming of her little bells, the porcelain feet clattering over stone… Hopefully she had managed to keep herself safe.

“Don’t let them touch you.” Kinger continued, “If they touch any part of your body, they will trigger a respawn at the beginning of the world, wasting much time. I wish I could send you in debug mode, or program some cheat codes, but… I have no influence on that world whatsoever. All I can do is send the tiny part of you. And if we’re lucky, pull you out.

Please take this.”

Kinger handed her a very thin but bright red string that was tied to his finger.

“It’s just a visual representation of your connection to the circus and me; it is not bound by the laws of physics, so it can stretch without getting in your way. Once you find Pierrosie, pull on the string to signal that you are ready to return. Caine and I will then try to get you out of there. But there’s no telling how long that will take, so please don’t use it as a last resort. And don’t let go of Pierrosie from that moment on. This is very important. Understood?”

Pomni nodded. “Understood. Never let her go. Please, send me.”

With that, Kinger pulled out something like a virtual keyboard out of nowhere and started to type.

The others came closer, compassion and worry written all over their faces.

Ragatha leaned down and hugged her.

“Whatever happens… This will have a good ending. I know it. I will ensure it.” Pomni whispered.

“I love you,” Ragatha whispered back; Her voice as faint as a breeze of the real world.

In the next moment, Pomni felt like she imploded into one mere single pixel, leaving everything dark.

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