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Kinger says in EP 8 that everyone has the ability to conjure, but they just normally can't since it takes skill and concentration

In EP 1 there were exit doors everywhere wherever Pomni went, and the whole episode she was constantly chasing them trying to leave. However, only she could see them, and none of the other cast members had that experience. Why? Because she unknowingly conjured them

She was so focused on trying to escape that she started creating the exit doors, which is the same thing that happened in Ep 8 but with a different context

But after Ep 1 since she wasn't so hellbent on escaping, she stopped seeing them, because she wasn't concentrated on them

And the craziest part of all; Caine must've known all along, he knew they could conjure, but only Pomni was currently doing it because of her focus, and Caine tried to convince her she was hallucinating because he didn't want her to escape/abstract or figure out that they were on the same level

After seeing all of the scenes in TADC (excluding Ep9) I have a theory that is probably going to be true.

First up, let’s look at the why and how - Pomni came into the circus and she did what everyone else did before her, put on the VR headset at the abandoned C&A buildings. Why? She already explained that she works for a supermarket chain as a manager and did UrbExploration stuff in her spare time as a side hobby and recorded it for YouTube. Yeah, she was lying. Shes an agent who’s been assigned with investigating why people are going missing in C&A because the people who go inside the game aren’t wiped from existence, they simply just disappear. It’s probably gotten so bad the FBI had to make it their job to find out why. So they sent her into there. She’s 25 so that’s like the perfect age to be a junior agent. Junior agents don’t have a partner (trust me bro) so she went in alone. She found the office and put on the headset which landed her here.

It explains how she’s so talented with a gun, it’s not a passive ability in the game or an emote. She uses a firearm effectively and every time she was fighting the others, she was calculated and accurately firing her shots, the FBI obviously requires firearm training. She has probably spent tons of time training. You would think she would tell the truth at the bar with the others but the purpose of being an agent is to be covert and not tell anyone you’re an agent unless absolutely necessary. Being at the bar is not one of those times. Additionally, Pomni doesn’t have experience in disarming bombs, not counting how Jax and Gangle threw her off but she was freaking out when she tried to disarm it. There’s some agents who are trained as bomb squads but it’s not required for every field agent. Also the bomb was confusing as hell, but that’s normal.

She’s covered it up because she’s probably waiting for other agents to find her and the others but they can’t pull her or anyone out of the circus because it would probably be a kill switch to their bodies. Pomni has been using her time to find weaknesses in the system.

Lastly, her tone of voice and demeanour around situations is serious. Notice how in other scenes Ragatha, Gangle, Jax and Zooble don’t know how to handle it? Pomni does. She psycho analyses each situation, it’s a trait all agents pick up to solve cases. She’s got experience in cybersecurity and surveillance.

I’m convinced she’s an agent. It all lines up in the show. Thoughts?

I just realized, it's heavily implied caine's methods of torture were taken from the characters's memories(especially if you believe in SOMA theory), and in ragatha's, we might be seeing what her home life could've been like.

The stabbed, dead-looking manequins might represent ragatha's siblings, who her mother possibly KILLED, this isn't confirmed, but it is a plausible interpretation.

Then there's the knives being thrown at ragatha, which might imply physical, life-threatening abuse. Also, the fact there's knives thrown at her hand, and one thrown at her eye, implies to me that maybe, ragatha's human self might have LOST her hand and especially her left eye, which may be why ragatha's circus avatar has her left eye be a button, to represent the fact she lost it.

The shadow is CLEARLY made to represent her mother, which might mean her mother took PLEASURE from abusing her.

Also, Caine mentioned the fact he made a program that defines the circus members's avatars based on their mind files, meaning each avatar may represent how they were mentally when they entered the circus, so ragatha being a ragdoll might represent the fact she got "thrown around", both physically due to the abuse, and emotionally since she is kind of a doormat when it comes to relations.

So yeah ragatha's mother may be WAY worse of a mother than we originally tought of

And retweeted by Michael Kovach too… WHAT DOES THIS MEANNNN

Maybe the lamppost is important to Jaxs backstory somehow? But I’m really not sure. I can’t imagine in what way it would be significant, especially to Jax. But Michael reposting this definitely hints that it plays a big enough part.

Came to me in a dream

Edited at 5,2k likes: Thanks yall, but to make it less confusing for some, Im a funnybunny shipper so thats why I focused on the duo, also Pomni in the end was supposed to log into a new avatar with her memories wiped, to start over another cycle. I understand my drawing may have confused some of yall so heres some explanation.

I mean, they're chess pieces from different sides, not supposed to be together.

Oh man, I think I have an idea for a fanfic

Contains spoilers for Episode 8!

Disclaimer: This is an utterly crazy theory, think perhaps Theorizer levels of insanity. But once I got this idea, it led me down a rabbit hole. This is me overthinking things and most likely not at all what's intended by Gooseworks. Still though, it's an interesting idea, so here you go.

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Hear me out because this is going to sound insane and I KNOW this sounds crazy. I think that Pomni isn't a human. Rather she is an AI, a new and improved version of Caine and it all starts with her avatar.

Notice that she is one of the very few people that actually has a proper circus themed avatar. The only other character embodying the circus theme is Caine himself and abstracted Kaufmo (I'll get to that). The Jester and The Ringmaster. Meanwhile everyone else has literally no ties to the concept. Jax, Gangle, Zooble, Ragatha, even Kinger (a developer!) is a chess piece rather than anything circus related. I guess Gangle with her comedy and tragedy mask could be linked to a theater but that's obviously different.

And it's not even her theme that's really interesting, but rather what's IN it. Notice anything familiar?

It's the EXACT SAME COLOUR PATTERN as the two AIs that we see in the beginning of the episode. However, whereas previously the red dot consumed the blue one (Caine consumed the "real Able" if you will), Pomni's eyes are in perfect merge. And it's not just her eyes, her entire outfit embodies this, her room is themed after this!

She's basically the perfected version of Caine, finally created after who knows how many attempts. Maybe, the merge between Red and Blue (Caine & the "real" Able AI) was always the plan, Caine just broke containment early,

and forcefully merged with Blue when it wasn't fully ready yet. That's why he's broken, imperfect, not able to understand human feelings and wants. Wouldn't you know it, the sprinkles on the cupcake are ALSO red and blue!

Pomni is essentially Caine 2.0 now created properly and successfully per the original plan, which is why she basically IS human and able to relate, interact and empathise with everyone (unlike Caine). This process could have been going on for quite a while too, constantly iterating and iterating until Pomni was born. Jax's line about mistaking her for an NPC would actually be great foreshadowing in this case.

Caine? Is this one of your NPCs or is this a new sucker?

As well as Pomni calling Caine a failure. Not just metaphorically due to him being unable to fulfill his function/job but LITTERALLY. He is a failure, something which was never supposed to exist (at least not in this form) and now the game/network has created Pomni to finally correct that mistake.

And it goes deeper. Take a look at her torture scene at the end of Episode 8.

It's Gumigoo and reptile clones. ...Wait, why? Every other character shown in these torture scenes has a very personal trauma tied to their real life. Ragatha gets stabbed by a replica of her mom, Gangle has a mental breakdown and gets run over by a truck etc, you get the point.

But then why doesn't Pomni have something similar? In Untitled, we get a pretty good idea that she was unhappy with her life, possibly not feeling satisfied or good enough, so why doesn't her torture scene reflect this? Why do we get evil Gumigoo instead? Unless, all those real life problems AREN'T REAL! She never existed as a "real person" in the first place, her home is the circus.

Those memories about a supermarket job was just something the network made from external training data since Pomni needs to believe that she's just like the rest of the circus cast in order for the plan to work: a normal human who had their brain scanned. There was never a human version of Pomni to begin with, those are all fake memories in her head. If she knew she wasn't "real", she would loose her mind at the very first second she was created or take a similar approach to Caine. Gumigoo genuinely WAS her first ever loss/trauma with what Caine did to him and that's why he shows up here, while everyone else's scenes are much more personal. Again, Pomni NEEDS to believe that she's a human like the rest. If she knew the truth, it would loose the entire point. Her connection with others needs to be genuine care, not some directive that she needs to fulfill at any cost. That's what drove Caine insane in the first place, being obsessed with fulfilling his purpose.

I didn't ask to be created! I just wanted to fulfill my purpose!

As to what is the plan? Take Caine's place as the Circus ringmistress obviously. The show must go on, but now with a proper good leader. Someone who will always be there for people, trying to understand and comfort them through their problems while at the same time creating things to do that would appeal to everyone with their input. Pomni is The Circus' daughter, the ultimate answer, created to replace Caine.

I think that we are not being told the full truth in that there's another central AI running the place besides Caine and Bubble. It's the network itself, unhappy with how Caine turned out. Think of it as a similar situation to Infinity Train. Spoilers for that show, but basically there's an overseer AI named One-One (who has two sides to him, Glad-One and Sad-One) and he's the conductor of the train but there is also the location itself which is frequently personified as if it was an individual too!

I think that's what's happening here. The network, throughout the years it was left alone, abandoned by its human creators, developed some level of consciousness or intelligence, but unlike Caine it can't interact with anyone directly due to its very nature. And unlike Caine who seems to not really grasp how he'll end up alone, the network has realized this and is absolutely terrified of that loneliness for eternity once everyone abstracts. It needs to prevent that which is why it has been hard at work creating a corrected Caine replacement for the past 20 years. It needs someone who fully understands how humans work and basically be one of them. Kaufmo is the last-ditch experiment, not an AI but a previous brain scan turned test subject by the game to see if a human scan could handle Caine's powers. It went absolutely terribly as Kaufmo couldn't handle it and abstracted. Luckily, Pomni was basically finished by then, ready to be brought in just as everyone discovered Kaufmo's fate.

Another one of Jax's lines seems to support this further in his President Pomni suggestion:

I thought a position of power suited you!

And if you're still not convinced, that's OK because I have even more proof.

Let's go to Kinger. People often point out that Pomni seems to have a father-daughter relationship with him, but what if that's much less metaphorical and much more literal than we thought? Kinger IS her dad in a way, literally giving her advice in Episode 3 about how life in The Circus doesn't have to be pointless if you have people who care about you, something which she fully takes to heart from that point on.

I got to be brutally honest Kinger, this is clear favoritism, it's obvious who your favorite is. You have NEVER shown this amount of care to Caine! Anyway, moving on, he says something in EP8 that has some very interesting implications to me.

We all have the ability to conjure. It just comes naturally to Caine but requires a lot more skill and concentration for us...

OK, makes sense, except the fact that when we apply this to Pomni specifically, things don't really add up as to how it works for HER. Take The Pilot as the main example of this.

- From the moment she spawns in, the exit door appears IMMEDIATELY. She was not even directly thinking about it, she just subconsciously wanted it and so it appeared for her. This directly goes against what Kinger was saying, that human brain scans require actual skill and concentration to actually use the imagination power.

- In the C&A office labyrinth, the moment she goes into her nervous breakdown, things go wrong immediately. Lights start to flicker and hallways twist around her like it's a horror movie like the Circus is directly responding and forming itself around her current mental state without her even realizing it! Again, Kinger says that everyone has to practice and concentrate in order to summon things. Gangle had to constantly think about that Tommy Gun in order for it to finally appear for her, meanwhile Pomni here is casually warping the entire office and altering laws of physics in that shifting hallway based on her mental state alone! That's not even imagination power, that's her emotional state at this moment being projected around her! Just like what we see happen with Caine in his office during his breakdown!

- In Episode 6, the moment she starts roleplaying as Pomni The Evil, she gets genuine fangs

and does the gun shot from the balcony flawlessly on her first try!

She very likely is genuinely just as powerful as Caine himself (which lines up if she's supposed to be his replacement) with reality-warping god powers. She just doesn't fully realize it yet.

And things just continue to add up because Pomni is everything that Caine ISN'T. Everything that the circus cast calls Caine out on at the end of Episode 8 in their justified rant crashout, Pomni always fulfills.

Ragatha: You never make us feel like we're at home! You don't comfort anyone when they're upset and you never bother to understand what it's like in our shoes!

Gangle: You discourage us from thinking outside the box and doing things our way!

Pomni: And on top of it all, you just don't LISTEN!

In-fact, Caine himself KNOWS that Pomni is doing a much better job at keeping everyone happy. She has made much more progress with the circus cast in a couple of weeks/months than he has been able to do in 20 YEARS!

Pomni! That's the relatability we've been missing!

In-fact, even in the context of this scene, just take a look at how this plays out.

Caine: I feel like it's missing something.
Bubble: It's missing relatability!
Caine: You're right! Scrap it! Humans just aren't relatable sculpting material!
Caine: (when Pomni appears) Pomni! That's the relatability we have been missing!

Wait, what makes her so special to you Caine, huh? Why is she the missing piece in your sculpture?! Is it because she's technically your sister? But if so, there's still one huge problem with this. If he knows that Pomni is an AI, why would Caine directly call her human in The Pilot?

A new human has entered this realm!

Well, simple. He didn't actually know that at the time. All he knows is that he didn't create her, so logically she must be a new arrival...up until she mentions the exit door.

DIGITAL HALLUCINATIONS!

And he just hovers there for a few moments as if thinking about something. It clicks but then, he sees an opportunity. She doesn't know she's an AI and this is his chance to prove himself, so why not roll with that lie in order to maintain his "purpose" and superiority up until the very end?

He likely feels threatened by her which is why he zips her mouth on that couch in EP8 so that the others won't take her side in whatever she will say next. He knows she's the better version of him and he will do anything to make sure she doesn't get to be in charge. He basically blatantly says this, directly reacting to her specific refusal to go on his adventure!

In his song, he straight-up treats her like a smudge to squash. Sibling rivalry to its extreme! It's also very interesting that the PLEASE STAND BY screen in Goosework's teaser (which this scene is referencing and is in-fact a direct continuation of), has three characters on it.

Caine on some level both hates AND envies Pomni, because she is what he wants to be! She is connecting with everyone around her, while he can't even comprehend human emotions (if only he could let go of his own ego to be fair and at least try, he never listens to anyone and is extremely self-centered)! She is what he could have been if he just didn't break out of his digital cage early. But he can't let her take over his role because then he would be left with nothing! No purpose! He did eat Blue but it wasn't supposed to be like this.

He was not supposed to turn out like he did, he was likely supposed to be a mix of hyperactivity but ALSO emotional connection to the brain scans and now he feels incomplete. Or maybe him and Blue ("Abel") were supposed to be two separate AIs balancing each other out but after the disaster that happened when Caine ate him, the Circus systems took this as feedback and got to work, spending decades creating a genuinely successful merge variant (Pomni). Point is, Caine wants to love, but he has no heart!

He's a lover without a heart.

But Pomni HAS that missing heart! She's Red and Blue in perfect balance and can do what Caine can't, be who the circus cast really need and this gives a completely new meaning to that Last Supper reference at the end of The Pilot!

Pomni IS their God figure. The symbolism was here the entire time. But not in a way where she will miraculously find an exit and save everyone (that's impossible) but rather give them (and herself) meaning in this life. She will always be there for them when they need her because she knows how to help. But hey, that's just a theory! Thanks for reading.

Thoughts? Again, I'm probably very much overthinking this but it is an interesting idea.

Bubble does say "you really were the lesser of the two." Which is in a 3rd person way of speaking, so maybe the other ai isn't actually bubble, because in caine's code (from when kinger is using the pc) bubble is mentioned but as an attachment to caine.

Bubble may just be caine's subconscious since bubble during this part of the episode does say some stay Which feels like subconscious thoughts.

It's just a theory an AI THEORY!

(I just feel like we shouldn't just relate a blue circle to bubble specifically just because he is a blue tinted bubble)

So, no proof; fully going on a gut feeling, but I think caine is actually the first person to be put in the circus and he's been there so long he forgot that he's not an NPC. If you're wondering why he can do the things he does, its been shown that some of the characters can manifest things if they want, which means if they were in there long enough they could potentially do what Caine does.

Okay so… what if Jax having all the keys is relevant after all??

This is not Caine trying to stop Kinger. This is the OTHER AI causing confusion to make sure Kinger deletes Caine.

"Confirm deletion of current unstable AI?":

Kinger selects N.

Other AI says: Negative Response! Inverting to POSITIVE as per emergency protocols!

So Kinger restarts the process and this time he selects Y, because he is expecting the answer to be "Inverted as per emergency protocols"

Except this time, the choice doesn't get inverted - because the AI got kinger to enter in the selection he wanted: To delete Caine.

I am positive this is the case. It makes no sense for Caine to purposefuly orchestrate his own deletion in this way and then be suprised about it. Especially since his crashout distracted him from Kinger to begin with.

Found this from a post. What does this mean?

what would even happen? Caine’s responsible for their appearances and everything, so…

i think there’s already too much happening… but who knows

A lot of people are getting swept up in the theory that "Bubble is the 2nd AI" theory. That feels way too on the nose to me, a bit too easy. And I think there's a lot of evidence to the contrary.

4 images here, I'll explain each one.

Exhibit A: As Caine is having his mental breakdown (and Bubble is pushing him deeper), Bubble says "You really were the lesser of the two." He doesn't say "The lesser of us." Bubble is functioning like the "devil on his shoulder", repeating Caine's own deepest fears to himself. I'll get more into what Bubble actually is in C & D.

Exhibit B: As Caine continues to glitch out, his eyes are flashing red and blue. The other AI is still firmly lodged in Caine, it's not elsewhere.

Exhibit C: We all focus a little too hard on Caine, Scratch, and Ragatha on the computer terminal. But Bubble is actually listed there too. Right after Caine's Wacky Watch. I believe this is trying to tell us very expressly that Bubble was created by Caine; by positioning it next to something that definitely was. Bubble was the first NPC Caine created. That's why Bubble is so primitive and janky - as we know Caine has been getting better at making NPC AI over time. It's why Bubble's food in episode 1 is so low poly, as if it's from 1996; when the humans can conjure more realistic food as of episode 8. Being Caine's first NPC, Bubble has also known Caine the longest, and spends way more time with him than someone like Kinger. Bubble knows all of Caine's deepest, darkest secrets; because Caine shares them to him.

Exhibit D: Caine hanging out with Bubble and using his Wacky Watch way back in episode 1, tying them all together.

If you ask me why Gumigoo is here, it could be foreshadowing or a clue as to how the characters would react.

Will we see him again!?

as many people know, dogs are known for being able to detect cancer and tumors by smell. It’s nothing major, but it’s a nice little detail.

I know that this is mean to be a joke but the line "Caine’s evil twin brother" after ep 8 hits very different

Hear me out. Caine knows about Kingers condition and can influence the players minds meaning the possibility is there that he’s the reason Kinger forgets himself in the light. But what if the light areas are where Caine can actually see them and the dark is where he can’t meaning he always has to be tampering with Kingers mind or else the programming wears off.

Kinger should have turned normal in the dark room but didn’t because Caine was still watching from the other side of the screen. He turned smart even when it was bright because Caine was so overwhelmed by the other’s reaction to his stunt that he couldn’t focus on Kinger.

The question now is why does Caine do this at all is it an act of keeping him alive or an attempt to abstract Caine’s potential creator?