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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 !
▶ CHAPTERS: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |

⊹˚₊·‧22: Sign

Pomni felt the sudden shift within Pierrosie even without looking at her.
Within a split second, her brain counted two and two together, and she immediately threw herself down on her knees, taking the tiny doll in her arms and shielding her from all of the mannequins with her body. 

Only then did she feel the pierrot trembling and crying soundlessly while clutching onto Pomni's chest as if she were trying to hide within her.

Ragatha hadn’t witnessed the horrors at the abandoned mall, but she also realized that something was terribly wrong and cried out, “Caine! STOP!”

Thankfully, Caine listened.
The mannequins froze; Then disappeared.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, they are gone—” Pomni frantically whispered as she held Pi close; the tough, cheeky mobster she had been just seconds ago had been reduced to a delicate, trembling creature. Her motions didn’t seem like simple shaking anymore, but borderline glitching.

Pierrosie didn’t calm down. She squirmed helplessly, and when Pomni caught a glimpse of her face, which display so much shock that even her second eye was slightly open; With both of her pupils light grey, nearly white, displaying some sort of code; Almost like Caine when his eyes were bluescreening. 

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Caine stated. It sounded confused. As if he couldn’t fully grasp the turmoil. Or maybe why there was an issue in the first place.

“What’s wrong with her??” Ragatha cried out, now kneeling next to Pomni and Pierrosie, trying to calm her down. 

Caine tried to come closer.

“STAY AWAY!” Pomni yelled at him.

He followed suit, playing nervously with his fingers.

“It’s… it’s hard to tell from afar, but she most likely can’t compute any new information anymore?” He suggested.

“What does that mean?” Ragatha asked while stroking the doll’s back, who didn’t even seem to notice it. The others approached, too, looking helplessly at the scene presenting itself to them.

“It’s… like human senses, in a way. She seems like she can’t process audio and video input anymore, and where she’s supposed to interpret touch.”

“Oh … oh no… my baby…” Ragatha sobbed, taking Pierrosie from Pomni’s arms and gently rocking back and forth, even though Caine just said that the child AI wasn’t able to feel it. “My poor poppet… mommy is here… it’s okay… you can’t sense us, but we’re here…”

Pomni could barely take it. The thought of Pierrosie being all alone with her fear inside her head, without anyone able to reach her in any sort of way, possibly reliving trauma no one of them had any idea about…

Caine had to pay.

She got up.

Ragatha must’ve sensed her intent, because she shouted, “Don’t!”

Pomni halted; Looking at her almost angrily.

“Please. Please. Everyone, just… just calm down.” She followed up while stroking the crying child’s back, “We can learn from this. I don’t want… I don’t want us fighting anymore. Please.”

Gangle got down on her knees now, too, next to Ragatha, and encouragingly touched her arm.

Pomni gritted her teeth but forced herself to stay put for now.

“Please…” Ragatha repeated, “Caine. Tell us what we can do.”

Caine just stood there — not floating. Standing. It almost looked like a deliberate choice — after all, their common game was over. He could’ve gone back to ringmaster mode.
Something about it cooled down Pomni’s anger a bit. 

After some thinking, he said, “I don’t think you can do anything. Her capacity for what she is, it’s…  it's simply too small. You just have to wait. Once she relaxes a little, she should go into stand-by mode. Or maybe even regain a sense. Then you could try to communicate again.” He nervously continued fondling his fingers. “It’s strange, though. She should not feel like this.”

“You don’t decide what she can or cannot feel,” Pomni commented, aggressively. 

“No, no that’s not…” Caine began. A round object clipped through the floor, eating up some of the guns like a blue Pac-Man, interrupted him. It was Bubble.

“Artifical Intelligences can’t be afraid like that” Bubble stated. Caine nodded.

Kinger nodded, too. “The spheric ghost is right. AIs can do a lot, but malfunctioning in fear is never a directive.”*

Pomni looked at Ragatha. She could see in her eyes that this statement — and Caine’s confusion — left her uneasy, too.

“I thought she was imitating it, at first. Like a good, realistic AI would,” Caine continued, “To seem more childlike, maybe. But seeing how she malfunctions… that’s just highly inappropriate. She should mock these malfunctions, not actually experience them.”

“That’s… I mean… it’s good, right? We’re… we’re learning here…” Ragtha said, with a tone that poorly covered her anxiety.

“Ban those damn mannequins from the circus, for the time being, Caine,” Pomni said. It wasn’t a plea, not even a suggestion. It was a command.

“But—”

“Pomni is right. We’re all not happy to see them recently, to be frank. Pierrosie isn’t the only one weary of them.” Zooble joined in.

Caine looked defeated. He slowly nodded. “Fine… for now.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Ragatha asked.

Caine shook his head. “When my system stops processing like that, I just need a bit of time. She’s probably working the same way.”

“Hey guys, I think I can see her eye getting back to normal…” Gangle informed the others, “Does that mean she can see again?”

Pomni quickly came over. Pierrosie’s expression was heartbreakingly distraught and scared, but at least she was looking at Pomni directly, indicating that she was indeed able to see. 

“Hey, my little sweetheart… we’re here…” Ragatha, who noticed, too, said soothingly while wiping away the girl’s big tears.

No reaction. As if she still couldn’t feel or hear.

“Can she understand ASL?” Pomni asked Caine loudly but tonelessly, without breaking eye contact, to make sure Pierrosie stays with her.

“Um, well… maybe? I do, and she’s based on my library, so there’s a chance?”

Worthless answer. There was only one way to find out for sure.
She started to sign.

YOU OK ! FAMILY HERE WE PROTECT

Pomni didn’t know how to sign ‘mannequin’, so she instead said, PERSON-THINGS GO-AWAY.

She wasn’t sure if Pierrosie understood. However, after a few seconds, she shut down and closed her eye, giving the impression that she felt secure enough to go to sleep.

Pomni took a deep breath. The situation felt slightly defused.

“Didn’t know you could sign. That’s cool.” Zooble, who also seemed a bit more relaxed now, commented.

Pomni observed the delicate face of Pierrosie, taking in the peacefulness like it was replenishing her. Then she looked at Zooble. “My grandma was deaf. And a girl I really liked as a teen, too.”

Ragatha pulled her daughter closer, putting her on her chest and shoulder in a more comfortable position, while gently rubbing her back. She looked relieved.

“Would you teach me? So I can be there for her, too, when she stops hearing?” She asked.

Pomni nodded.

“What a great ending for a totally lame adventure, everyone!” Caine now boomed. 

Pomni took a deep breath, prepared to shoot the worst uncensorable words at him possible, when Ragatha grabbed her by the arm.

“No. Stop.” She spoke in a tone that resembled a mother scolding her child.

“But—” Pomni began.

“No. No buts. Look at Caine, and tell me that he had any malicious intent.”

Pomni threw a quick glance at Caine, who appeared again unsure and nervous.

As much as Pomni hated it, Ragatha was right. He displayed no ill intent. Not now, not earlier. On the contrary, he tried to bond with Pierrosie. He had made her laugh. He just wasn’t very… How had Ragatha called it once? Socially adjusted?

But she just couldn’t forgive him for trying to delete Pierrosie. For not protecting Pea in that dystopian map. For not being more considerate. For not cherishing the statement that she could be considered his daughter.
She made a dismissive sound — but at least didn’t push any further.

“Just for the record,” Jax, who had stayed silent the whole time, now said, and walked over to Caine, “I still think you’re a sicko. Never pet me again.”

“Jax!” Ragatha shouted. Even though Pomni was angry, she couldn’t help but admire how much she tried to calm the waves. She knew Ragatha probably was the most scared and rattled and maybe even angriest of all of them; The one who loved Pi unconditionally and the most. Yet she tried so hard to create a peaceful environment. It was strong, in its own way.

Jax waved her off, then walked up to the door. “Give the doll a wet willy and a package of chocolate cigarettes from me when she wakes up. She earned it.”

With that, he left.

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