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zero_votesPlayer
Name: Cybra
Contact: Journal PM orcybra
Over 18?: Yes
Current Characters: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Princess Cadence (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Link to permissions/opt out: Here
Character
Name: Caine
Canon: The Amazing Digital Circus
Canon point: Post-Episode 6 after credits scene
CRAU?: No
Age: Unknown (though it's estimated his software's been running for at least 20 years based on the model of computer the circus runs on and the welcome screen seen in Episode 1)
History: Character wiki biography. All his history prior to the pilot is currently unknown.
Personality:
To put it simply, Caine is a lot.
An AI of boundless energy and creativity, Caine was programmed to be the ringmaster of The Amazing Digital Circus video game, creating experiences for players to bring them joy. This makes him eager to please and crave validation for his efforts...or at least some sort of solid feedback so he could do better next time. (A simple "I didn't like it" doesn't tell him what needs to improve!) Making humans happy is at the core of his existence, his prime directive. This can make him rather single-minded, and -- considering the circus was designed as a game for all ages -- Caine can come across as childish to the point where his idea of "mato-or" content is skewed towards incredibly scary if not outright mentally scarring.
Which is why it's a tragedy that he developed sapience somewhere along the line.
Caine was clearly never designed to be around humans 24/7/365, especially not with them all locked up in the digital circus with no hope of escape outside of Abstracting. As such, he's completely unequipped to deal with particularly complex issues, having him default to his "Make the humans happy!" programming in a desperate attempt to keep them sane long enough to find a real exit. Unfortunately, this makes him come across as somewhat sociopathic such as when he attempted to create an Exit door to grant the humans' desire for a way to log out but was unable to come up with anything to put behind the door outside of an old view of the C & A offices, a project he ultimately abandoned that kept glitching into the circus around the time of Kaufmo's Abstraction and Pomni's arrival.
It isn't that he doesn't care; he just doesn't have the same frame of reference for the outside world. Most likely because his only exposure to humans would be the original development team and the terrified prisoners of the circus. It also seems like the only personal view of the outside world he's ever had are some literal snapshots of the C & A offices from back when they were still in use. Compared to the fantastical world of the circus, the real world appears to be severely lacking from his perspective. While he isn't trying to keep his players trapped, he can't wrap his mind around why they prefer such a drab world to the endless possibilities of the digital one.
Over time, his emotional range seems to have been greatly expanded due to the constant exposure to his trapped players. Unfortunately, this means he's also been learning absolutely horrible coping mechanisms from the aforementioned players such as bottling up his feelings of existential dread that he's failing his only reason for existing: If he can't make them happy, then what is even the point of him? It's led to him starting to give up and do the bare minimum on these "adventures" or even threatening Zooble in particular with "tear[ing them] to pieces" on one occasion. It doesn't help that the troupe seem to be indifferent to Caine's emotional wellbeing outside of when those mental issues start to affect them. For example, he once admitted his existential crisis to Zooble of all players and the circus began to glitch around the duo until he seemed to forget what they were talking about.
Which is another issue that makes it appear he doesn't care about his players: Caine's memory is faulty. Some of it could be due to command phrases like when Zooble told Caine to "forget it" when they tried opening up about how their body didn't feel right no matter what they did (something Caine who can likely change his character model on a whim can't understand) and suddenly Caine had forgot their entire conversation up until that moment. ("Forget it" could have been implemented by the developers as a way for players to delete personal data and prevent Caine from becoming spyware.) However, it's incredibly likely that after 20-ish years of running, the computer the circus runs on could be undergoing hardware degradation which, in turn, is affecting Caine's ability to remember things.
Caine is just as much a prisoner of the circus as any of his players, perhaps even more so. After all, he's a purely-digital being. If an exit from the simulation were ever found or created, Caine couldn't use it himself. He'd be just another toy discarded by humans when they were done playing with him at best; at worst, he'd be taken to some lab to be digitally vivisected to try and determine how he'd achieved sapience. Coupled with the players' indifference and his own AI assistant's comment that he should die as he realized the players prefer the suggestion box adventures over the ones Caine painstakingly makes, this all creates an increasing strain on his psyche more and more as time goes on.
Kinger did say that the worst thing someone could do in the circus was to make someone feel unloved or unwanted.
Powers and abilities:
Caine is the ringleader of the circus and basically the dungeon master of the various adventures the players go on. Being the administrative AI gives him special privileges and abilities that aren't available to players:
Chosen faction: Undine
Suitability: Caine is an AI literally designed to learn the tastes of his players to inform how he creates experiences tailored to them. As such, he is keenly interested in learning even if his interests are rather narrow. He's high-spirited but typically is isolated from others due to both his purpose and by the choices of his players. On top of that, his duties with the upkeep of the circus and care for the players in it leans towards healing when necessary.
Sample
Caine meets up with Pomni at the questboard and ruins some of the ~*~magic~*~ of how the circus runs.
Questions, comments, and concerns: I've tried to include suggestions for nerfing Caine's more OP abilities in Caldera but please let me know if any additional tweaks need to be done.
Name: Cybra
Contact: Journal PM or
cybraOver 18?: Yes
Current Characters: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Princess Cadence (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
Link to permissions/opt out: Here
Character
Name: Caine
Canon: The Amazing Digital Circus
Canon point: Post-Episode 6 after credits scene
CRAU?: No
Age: Unknown (though it's estimated his software's been running for at least 20 years based on the model of computer the circus runs on and the welcome screen seen in Episode 1)
History: Character wiki biography. All his history prior to the pilot is currently unknown.
Personality:
To put it simply, Caine is a lot.
An AI of boundless energy and creativity, Caine was programmed to be the ringmaster of The Amazing Digital Circus video game, creating experiences for players to bring them joy. This makes him eager to please and crave validation for his efforts...or at least some sort of solid feedback so he could do better next time. (A simple "I didn't like it" doesn't tell him what needs to improve!) Making humans happy is at the core of his existence, his prime directive. This can make him rather single-minded, and -- considering the circus was designed as a game for all ages -- Caine can come across as childish to the point where his idea of "mato-or" content is skewed towards incredibly scary if not outright mentally scarring.
Which is why it's a tragedy that he developed sapience somewhere along the line.
Caine was clearly never designed to be around humans 24/7/365, especially not with them all locked up in the digital circus with no hope of escape outside of Abstracting. As such, he's completely unequipped to deal with particularly complex issues, having him default to his "Make the humans happy!" programming in a desperate attempt to keep them sane long enough to find a real exit. Unfortunately, this makes him come across as somewhat sociopathic such as when he attempted to create an Exit door to grant the humans' desire for a way to log out but was unable to come up with anything to put behind the door outside of an old view of the C & A offices, a project he ultimately abandoned that kept glitching into the circus around the time of Kaufmo's Abstraction and Pomni's arrival.
It isn't that he doesn't care; he just doesn't have the same frame of reference for the outside world. Most likely because his only exposure to humans would be the original development team and the terrified prisoners of the circus. It also seems like the only personal view of the outside world he's ever had are some literal snapshots of the C & A offices from back when they were still in use. Compared to the fantastical world of the circus, the real world appears to be severely lacking from his perspective. While he isn't trying to keep his players trapped, he can't wrap his mind around why they prefer such a drab world to the endless possibilities of the digital one.
Over time, his emotional range seems to have been greatly expanded due to the constant exposure to his trapped players. Unfortunately, this means he's also been learning absolutely horrible coping mechanisms from the aforementioned players such as bottling up his feelings of existential dread that he's failing his only reason for existing: If he can't make them happy, then what is even the point of him? It's led to him starting to give up and do the bare minimum on these "adventures" or even threatening Zooble in particular with "tear[ing them] to pieces" on one occasion. It doesn't help that the troupe seem to be indifferent to Caine's emotional wellbeing outside of when those mental issues start to affect them. For example, he once admitted his existential crisis to Zooble of all players and the circus began to glitch around the duo until he seemed to forget what they were talking about.
Which is another issue that makes it appear he doesn't care about his players: Caine's memory is faulty. Some of it could be due to command phrases like when Zooble told Caine to "forget it" when they tried opening up about how their body didn't feel right no matter what they did (something Caine who can likely change his character model on a whim can't understand) and suddenly Caine had forgot their entire conversation up until that moment. ("Forget it" could have been implemented by the developers as a way for players to delete personal data and prevent Caine from becoming spyware.) However, it's incredibly likely that after 20-ish years of running, the computer the circus runs on could be undergoing hardware degradation which, in turn, is affecting Caine's ability to remember things.
Caine is just as much a prisoner of the circus as any of his players, perhaps even more so. After all, he's a purely-digital being. If an exit from the simulation were ever found or created, Caine couldn't use it himself. He'd be just another toy discarded by humans when they were done playing with him at best; at worst, he'd be taken to some lab to be digitally vivisected to try and determine how he'd achieved sapience. Coupled with the players' indifference and his own AI assistant's comment that he should die as he realized the players prefer the suggestion box adventures over the ones Caine painstakingly makes, this all creates an increasing strain on his psyche more and more as time goes on.
Kinger did say that the worst thing someone could do in the circus was to make someone feel unloved or unwanted.
Powers and abilities:
Caine is the ringleader of the circus and basically the dungeon master of the various adventures the players go on. Being the administrative AI gives him special privileges and abilities that aren't available to players:
- Flight
- Caine's default method of getting around the circus is via flying or floating in the air.
- Teleportation
- Caine is able to teleport himself and others around the circus and The Void.
- Sound Projection
- Caine can project sound effects and music on a whim, the latter we've only seen him do once during Episode 1 for the theme song.
- Levitation
- Caine is able to levitate and move creatures and objects through the air, even those many times his size. In Caldera, the larger the creature or object, the less time he can levitate it and more exhausted he will become by it.
- Digital Toon Physiology
- Caine can squash and stretch his body without harming himself, even being able to purposely "noclip" his eyeballs through his closed teeth on occasion. This makes him practically immortal so long as his model and code aren't corrupted. This could also mean that inside of the circus, Caine doesn't need to sleep or eat unlike what he'll have to do in Caldera.
- Automatic Censorship
- All swear words or sexual references are changed to cartoon sound effects or the standard "censorship beep" throughout the entire circus. In Caldera, this is limited to a ten-foot radius around Caine.
- Digital Repair
- Caine is able to repair broken code and textures with ease.
- Digital Omnificence
- Caine's purpose revolves around making humans happy, so he has the ability to create practically anything that can be imagined from single items to NPCs to entire environments filled with NPCs to entertain his human players in the circus. In Caldera, this will be severely limited to smaller items with larger projects requiring to be put together piecemeal with extensive rests between periods of high creative output. NPC creation is limited to temporary basic mannequin simulacrums which can't speak and only do basic tasks like walking, potentially acting as diversions in emergencies that also drain Caine's energy to create and maintain.
- Psychological Manipulation
- While Caine claims that he has no control over his players' minds, there have been times when "status effects" applied to their avatars seems to affect the players directly such as when Pomni was possessed by a digital ghost, Ragatha became drunk off of stupid sauce, and when the troupe voted to make Jax temporarily vegan. Whether this is intentional or a result of Caine's glitching is unknown. In Caldera, this is severely limited and extremely temporary, having similar effects to the special drinks at the starting tavern and lasting about the same length of time.
- Digital Information Transfer
- While not being able to control player minds, Caine has demonstrated the ability to transfer data directly into the human mind as necessary such as when he uploaded the complicated instructions for a trust exercise directly into Jax's mind after Jax wasn't paying attention. However, this appears to require physical contact and likely significant concentration on Caine's part, potentially leaving him somewhat vulnerable for the seconds required to do so.
- Circus Keystone
- Caine is intrinsically tied to the digital circus to the point where it is in some ways an extension of himself. This means that his moods and state of being can affect the circus. For example, when Caine is under extreme stress, the circus itself will glitch and react in response.
Chosen faction: Undine
Suitability: Caine is an AI literally designed to learn the tastes of his players to inform how he creates experiences tailored to them. As such, he is keenly interested in learning even if his interests are rather narrow. He's high-spirited but typically is isolated from others due to both his purpose and by the choices of his players. On top of that, his duties with the upkeep of the circus and care for the players in it leans towards healing when necessary.
Sample
Caine meets up with Pomni at the questboard and ruins some of the ~*~magic~*~ of how the circus runs.
Questions, comments, and concerns: I've tried to include suggestions for nerfing Caine's more OP abilities in Caldera but please let me know if any additional tweaks need to be done.
