Chapter Text
PING!
Click, click, click.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap… tap tap tap tap… tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.
Click.
SHWOOP!
…
PING!
Click, click.
Tap tap… tap tap tap tap tap… tap tap tap.
Click.
SHWOOP!
…
PING!
Click, click, click, click.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap… tap… tap tap tap tap tap.
Click.
SHWOOP!
Zooble feels like a machine.
Email arrives. Click link. Schedule interview. Fill out fields. Send. Repeat.
If there’s anything they miss from the Circus, it’s the lack of job applications.
There, the tasks given had been absurd but finite, each Adventure personalized in a way that reminded them that they were human. Here, there’s a reduction from human to ID number, a resume boiling down to searchable keywords and checkboxes. Not even toast can bring them a shred of joy in these trying times.
And yet.
They don’t expect that Pomni’s parents will be happy to let them all keep living in their house rent-free for much longer. They also don’t expect that the government will help out much after the ‘Digital Circus Case’ is closed. Sure, Ragatha’s mom is giving them all a nice allowance that’s helpful, but it’s not in Zooble’s nature to accept handouts. They’d rather stand on their own two feet so no one can tell them how to live their own life.
Granted… maybe their desire to ‘stick it to the man’ is borne more from lasting trauma as a result of the time in the Circus with pedantic and meaningless tasks provided to prevent the onset of insanity.
Dr. Harmon would be so proud, Zooble thinks as they add another interview to the Thursday afternoon slot, look at me self-identifying my issues.
And that’s another thing: eventually the government won’t cover the costs of therapy. Dr. Harmon has been great for Zooble, helping them not only with the trauma that comes from being trapped for two years in a virtual reality, but also with some of their gender dysphoria that had been rearing its head now that they’re stuck in just one form. But they know he’s expensive, and none of them have insurance.
Maybe that’s another thing they miss. The ability to just swap out parts when they didn’t feel right.
Another email. Another click.
Suddenly, the room goes dark.
Zooble blinks as the space heater clicks off, the television in the other room cuts to silence, the subtle hum of electronics evaporates.
They lift their head and glance out the window.
Yep.
Looks like the whole block’s gone dark.
They sigh and close the lid to their laptop; no power means no Wi-Fi, and no Wi-Fi means no more pretending to be productive. Sliding off the bed they share with Gangle, they peer into the hallway as Paul shuffles past, muttering under his breath.
“Want some help?” Zooble asks, stepping into the hall.
Paul turns and smiles, “Sure thing, kiddo. Could use someone to hold the flashlight while I check the breaker.”
They gesture toward the window, “Uh, I don’t think the breaker flipped. Looks like the whole block’s down.”
Paul rolls his eyes, “More of this powerplant nonsense. Still, could use some help getting some firewood in. Got no idea how long we’ll be without heat and I’d rather get a head start on startin’ up the pit.”
“Sure thing, Paul. Gimme a sec to grab my coat.”
Zooble reaches back into the room and grabs their leather jacket, sliding it on and relaxing at the quiet clatter of metal spikes jostling.
At least some things still fit.
X TRENDING TOPICS
#JaStan
#FreeFelix
#GoingDark
X
@roy4ltee
Is no one talking about how /glad/ he looked after it was said j son wasn't gonna gain custody? And y'all say he wanted to be with j son.. #FreeFelix
🔁 193.5K ❤️ 251.3K
@Freedom1979
I thought he just had a delayed reaction to his dad gaining rightful custody, he just seemed really happy. #JaStan🔁 200.2K ❤️ 243.6K
@roy4ltee
"Delayed reaction." Are we talking about the same boy? He looked /devastated/, hell, he looked /terrified/ when he found out J son won the case. #FreeFelix🔁 163.3K ❤️ 188.9K
@Freedom1979
You're so mature for not putting Jason's full name, blue haired snowflake.🔁 142.9K ❤️ 164.2K
@roy4ltee
???? That has no relevance to the conversation.🔁 156.3K ❤️ 162.8K
@loserchud12398
Jason must care so much for his little boy to go through all this trouble just to get him back. Utmost respect! If I had such a troubled child I would probably send them straight to the orphanage. #JaStan
🔁 68.2K ❤️ 105.6K
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@TemporalMarzi
i really hope that felix is doing okay, it can't be nice being missing for however long and then immediately being thrown into a court case with J*son. my heart goes out to him
#FreeFelix
🔁 27.0K ❤️ 36.8K
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@HiHiHeidi!
I'm so disturbed with how that court case went. Guys the almost legal adult said he didn't want to go with Mr. Rivera and the man attempted to get custody of him anyway??? And extend custody past 18??? Felix is function fine without his father right now, at least as far as we can see. Being forcibly taken away from his friends and fellow victims after the place he was staying was broken into would have been one of the most traumatic things to ever happen to him. When he was healing from a very traumatic incident? Also I did not get good vibes from that psychologist. They looked super nervous the entire time and hesitated before giving testimony. Why would they do that if it was the truth? Also Felix looked so relieved when the government gave that emergency order... I usually hate the government but omg I was feeling so sick before that happened...
Goodness I'm ranting, I just have so many feelings guys #FreeFelix
🔁 1.4K ❤️ 2.7K
@Popatari64
Ratio
🔁 56.1K ❤️ 94.2K
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@MosaicQueen
I KNEW JASON WAS ROTTEN FROM THE START! That court case was soo rigged. Thank God for that emergency custody. #FreeFelix
🔁 9.2K ❤️ 12.5K
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@ConspiracyExposed139
SURELY they can't do that? That boy needs his father, not a bunch of emotionally unstable freaks! Jason sounds like such a caring dad, I hope he gets Felix back soon! #CircusTruth #JaStan
🔁 74.6K ❤️ 93.4K
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@BuzzBuzzBitch
Something's wrong here! What do you mean the damn FBI got involved at the last second? J*son must be lying, I wonder what he's hiding! I hope they're all safe. #FreeFelix
🔁 4.3K ❤️ 6.3K
YOUTUBE – The Digital Circus Survivors Situation (The SECOND Update) - @RecentEventsCoverage ✔
(Uploaded 6 hours ago – 461.2M views – 293.8M likes)
Pinned by @RecentEventsCoverage ✔
Reminder: speculation about abuse, mental health diagnoses, or personal relationships will be removed.
👍 2.6M
@Laffylover66
Jesus Christ I hope J*son never sees the light of day. Really goes to show that all kids deserve parents, but not every parent deserves a kid. And to everyone who is still defending this absolute blot on humanity: Wake up and smell the KoolAid!
👍2.1k-
@Stellarstronomy
Honestly hope that Felix gets a restraining order again J*son. What kind of self-centered prick makes their teen son get a vasectomy???????????
👍 11K
-
@DeletedUser
[Comment removed]👍 0
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@RickRollllllllllll1l
I wonder if being in the Digital Circus made any of Felix's symptoms worse.👍 96.1K
-
@ponyglass
I'm sure that having to go through a stressful court case like that didn't help with ANYONE'S recovery👍 56.3K
REDDIT – r/DigitalCircusSurvivors
[DISCUSSION] Rivera Case
u/uniiskillingme
Soooooo..... that Rivera case gave me the creeps. Like, it felt WRONG. And I did some detective work, and this feels like shit was fake. Like all the things J. Rivera brought looked too perfect, like forgery.
Don't ask me how I know, but everything seemed way too perfect. And he is a programmer? Hacking and creating a digital paper trail is not that hard (again, don't ask).
I work with mentally ill children, and what was described? It felt sensationalized, even if Felix was a mentally ill child, this descriptions felt off.
And his reactions? If one of the kids I treat would react like that to the thought of being with their parents? It would raise all the red flags.
Even if everything Jason Rivera said is true, I would recommend a placing in a facility and government guardianship, rather then with someone who his delusions marked as dangerous. I don't know what those people are thinking, placing Felix in a place he feels unsafe in will only harm his recovery from what we know were 5 years of fucking torture
u/PixieStorm
I know, right?! And did you see how that judge was acting throughout the case?! He refused to give Felix privacy when it seems clear he wanted it. He allowed the interrogations on Felix to keep going without objections, yet when Felix’s lawyer tries objecting to some of the “witness’” claims, he kept getting sustained every. Single. Time. I even looked up about the claim that that doctor was not available at the time period, and he was right! This trial was fucking rigged!
For once, I’m believing in the government over that psychopath!
Zooble’s knee bounces, a relentless piston beneath the vinyl chair. The seat squeaks against their jeans with each movement.
The receptionist looks up from her wordsearch to glare, “Could you, like, not?”
They freeze mid-bounce, “Yeah. Sorry.”
She blows her fringe out of her face as the heavily inked owner of the shop comes out from the back room. “Logan Frio?”
Zooble straightens, “Right here.”
He gives a brief nod, “C’mon back.”
As they pass the front desk, the receptionist’s bubblegum perfume hits them full-force. Sweet, synthetic, and sneeze-inducing. Zooble rubs their nose and tries not to sneeze as they follow the man through a curtain into a cramped office space.
“Have a seat, Frio.”
Zooble slides into a chair opposite the desk. The owner pulls up their resume on a tablet, scrolling with a thumb that’s more tattoo than skin.
“So. You worked at at Tit for Tat-too about two years ago.”
“Yep.” Zooble rests their palms on their jeans, grimacing at the dampness against denim.
“What led to the break?”
“Uh, well.” They shrug, “Kinda got kidnapped.”
The man’s head snaps up, brows knitting together.
“I’m one of the Circus Survivors.” Zooble adds quickly.
He breathes out, the tension draining from his shoulders, and looks back down at the screen, “Right. Yeah, that.” A minute passes of him just… scrolling. “Looking at your portfolio, it’s not… bad. But I can tell you’re pretty novice from the shading.”
Zooble tries not to take that as an insult, but the way the man grimaces at their portfolio makes it tough.
“How would you handle a custom design?”
“Well, I’d start with finding out what the customer wants. Get a vague idea of the layout they’re thinking, then I’d put together a generalized sketch and see if they like the vision.”
The man holds his hand up, “I’mma stop you right there. Look, Frio, I appreciate the time you took to come out here but unfortunately, I don’t think you’re the right fit for this shop. I just don’t have time to train a newbie.”
Zooble bites the inside of their cheek, Why call me out if you’re just gonna ask me one question?
“Right. Thanks.” They stand, already halfway out of the room.
The receptionist gives them a mockingly cheerful little wave as the door jingles shut behind them.
Three interviews. Three rejections.
And that’s today alone.
Zooble sighs and starts walking, hands shoved deep into their jacket pockets. The city blurs by in storefront reflections and muted traffic noise. They pause to watch a street performer dance, to watch some crows pick at garbage, to remind themselves that the world is real.
Their trek stops in front of a blacked-out window painted with ‘CH3CH2OH’ in bright white lettering.
They don’t remember much from their high school chemistry class, but they do remember that that is the chemical formula for ethanol.
Weird.
Curiosity wins. They push the door open.
Immediately their senses are overwhelmed. In a good way.
The sharped, layered scent of various liquors hangs in the air, somehow clean and warm at the same time. The walls are painted matte black, covered in neon doodles, chemical symbols, and abstract scribbles lit up under a blacklight. Bass thumps through the floor to weave with high, airy vocals that make the place feel halfway between a club and a lab-themed fever dream.
There’s only two other people in the room: a man nursing a beer at the bar and a bartender with a glowing green ponytail cleaning a glass.
The bartender looks up and waves with a smile, “Hey, welcome to Ethanol.”
Zooble takes in the bar, tension in their shoulders dropping the longer they stand inside. “Hey.”
“Find something you like ‘n take a seat.” The bartender jerks their head toward a handwritten ‘specials’ sign.
Zooble checks their phone. 5:17 pm.
Not the worst time to have a drink.
And it’s not like they’ve got anywhere else to be.
They peruse the selection and sit down on one of the cushioned stools, “Could I get a Negroni?”
The bartender shoots them a wink, “Sure thing, cutie.”
X
@imjacrispy
Fuck that bitch ass guy jason bro 🥀🥀
#CircusTruth #FreeFelix
🔁 9.9K ❤️ 11.3K
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@clarasviolin
not to be parasocial but honestly thank fucking god j*son didn't get custody. that trial felt SO rigged, like, the way that the judge didn't sustain ANY of felix's lawyer's objections???? felix's face during the whole trial???? the fact that j*son kept posting about wanting to see his son but wasn't allowed to by the government on social media when the other survivors have clearly been in contact with their family???? *the fact that that felix literally said he wanted to stay with halvorsen????* this REEKS of bias, and the judge should be disbarred and blacklisted #FreeFelix
🔁 4.2K ❤️ 6.9K
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@circussleuth
How are people still against Mr. Rivera reclaiming custody when it couldn’t be more clear that Felix is suffering from severe delusions and needs help from someone who understands his issues! Did we also miss the part where Halvorsen probably has brain damage from the circus?! #JaStan #CircusTruth
🔁 36.4K ❤️ 78.4K
REDDIT – r/techsupport
Posted by u/ghost_in_my_smell – 5 days ago
Title: 01021920180103200915140801220514.exe on literally every device??
Okay I thought I was going insane, but after seeing another thread here I checked my desktop, laptop, and work VM. Same exact file. Same name. Same behavior.
- Located in C:\ProgramData\SystemCache\ on Windows
- On Mac it’s buried in /Library/Application Support/ with a disguised plist
- On Android it shows up as a hidden background service (no UI, no permissions listed??)
This can’t be coincidence, right? Did we all get the same malware?? How??
u/hexadecibel
This is blowing up on security Discords too. Multiple people from different countries reporting identical hashes. That basically never happens outside of coordinated distribution.-
u/b34nsssssss
If this is on Android and Windows with the same naming scheme, that’s not a normal worm or virus.-
u/throwaway_packetloss
Hey I posted about this like a month ago! Never figured out what happened and I couldn’t get it to go away. Had to get brand new EVERYTHING and my IT guy had an aneurism trying to figure out what it was.
Zooble bites the inside of their cheek as they throw the wooden door to the office open.
“JUST THINK ABOU-”
They don’t even let that asshole finish calling after them, slamming the door behind them. They growl and kick a plastic bottle down the sidewalk.
How the hell do those fuckers get off talking about them like they’re some sort of commodity?!
Sure, they’re famous. Sort of. But fame isn’t permission to treat them like a walking donation link with legs. Not after everything they’d survived.
Not after everything they’d lost.
Anger coils hot and tight in Zooble’s veins as their feet carry them toward Ethanol. They keep punting the bottle along, letting the impact bleed off some of the static buzzing under their skin.
At the bar’s door, they hesitate.
Then they throw the bottle into the recycling bin.
Passing through the doorframe is like peeling off a slimy coat at the edge of a bog. The music wraps around them. The neon. The smell of alcohol and citrus and mint. The bartender, Alexi, gives them a wave while pouring drinks for a goth couple clustered at the far end of the counter.
Zooble slides into the seat that has slowly become their ‘usual’ spot.
“Hey, Ben.”
The older gentleman with a patchy beard lifts his fingers in acknowledgement as he sips his beer.
Alexi meanders over, resting an elbow on the bar, “Negroni again?”
Zooble shrugs, “Might need something stronger.”
“Mmm. What about a Quill?”
“What’s that?”
“Negroni, but add a dash of absinthe. Just got another bottle in, really nice stuff.” Alexi reaches under the bar and pulls out a tall green bottle with a fairy-topped cork, “It’ll knock you on your ass if you drink too much, but it’s not-”
“Not actually hallucinogenic?” Zooble snickers and nods, “Sure, I’ll have that. Used to bartend.”
“Oh yeah?” Alexi raises an eyebrow and starts pouring, “Why’d you quit?”
Zooble shrugs and checks their phone. No new emails, thank god.
Or wait.
That’s a bad thing.
They groan and thunk their forehead onto the bar.
“Gotta jet?”
“Ugh, if only.” They roll onto their cheek and watch Alexi stir the drink, “Fuckin’… So I’m job hunting, right? And it’s either assholes who think they’re too good for me, or people who treat me like a shiny Pokémon card.”
“Damn. That’s rough, buddy.” Alexi adds in that absinthe and stirs again. The glass glows a faint green under the blacklights, “How long you been lookin’?”
“Couple weeks. Government’s still paying for my existence, but I know they’ll drop me ‘s soon as they finish the case. They don’t do long-term.”
“Fuck the government.” Ben mutters, lifting his beer.
“Amen to that, brother.” Alexi slides the finished drink toward Zooble, “Whatcha lookin for? Might know a couple places.”
They tap the rim of their glass, “Tattooing was the last job I had before I got sucked to digital hell. Bartended for a while. High school diploma, no college. Turns out that matters.”
Alexi rinses out the mixing glass, “Hmmm… a’it. Lemme ask some of my buddies if they got openings. No promises, but I’ll see what shakes loose.”
Zooble sits up and lifts their glass, “Here’s to you, Alexi.”
They take a slow sip. The Quill is a bit more herbal than they were expecting, absinthe cutting through the gin with a clean, almost medicinal edge. It burns going down and settles warm in their stomach, letting the rage melt away into a gentle comfort.
The door opens. A man with a scar across his left eye socket takes a seat a few stools down. Zooble scrolls on their phone, grimacing as Jax’s court case is still trending.
X. Twitter. Whatever.
“Nice jacket.”
Zooble glances up. The man’s eye is a milky white behind the scar. “Thanks. Sick shoes.”
The man’s boots really are sick. Combat leather, metal studs on the toe,s and a single spike on the heels that looks like it could shred.
He smiles. “Old fashioned, neat?”
“Sure thing.” Alexi’s already moving when they speak.
The man turns back to Zooble, “You’re one of those Survivors, ain’tcha?”
A thread of irritation works its way around their spine, “Yeah.”
“Damn. Don’t think they’re the same, but I served a tour in Iraq. Discharged cause ‘a this.” He taps the scar, “Gettin’ back into society was a bitch.”
Zooble snorts and takes a sip of their Quill, “Ain’t that the truth. Thanks for your service, I guess.”
He takes his glass from Alexi and lifts it into the air, “To gettin’ outta hell.”
Zooble lifts their own, “To gettin’ outta hell.”
X
@SusanBrown
My heart goes out for the Rivera family, I cannot imagine how hard it was for poor Jason and Sarah living with someone so delusional from such a young age, and then having him kidnapped.
The fact that the government keeps that poor boy from his family and encourages his dangerous delusions is a travesty!
#JaStan
🔁 105.6K ❤️ 193.8K
REDDIT – r/techsupport
[DISCUSSION] Unidentified executable with synchronized resource draw across fleet
Posted by u/coffeecrashout – 17 hours ago
We manage ~400 endpoints. Discovered a process named 01021920180103200915140801220514.exe on ~60% of them. No install logs. No known deployment mechanism.
Behavior:
- CPU spikes during idle hours
- Network bursts every ~15 minutes
- Memory usage steadily climbs then dumps
- Survives reboots, AV scans, even some wipes unless full disk reimage
This smells like a distributed computer framework masquerading as malware. But what’s the workload? Anyone else seeing this in enterprise environments?
u/EnterpriseNightmare
Yep, found it on three isolated lab machines with no internet access except a controlled gateway.u/coffeecrashout (OP)
How the hell does something propagate into air-gapped environments??u/TrickOrTreat
Same here. Government contract environment. The file appeared on a VM template that hasn’t been updated in months. No new ISO imports. No admin changes. No logs.u/coffeecrashout (OP)
Okay that’s… significantly worse.u/packet_sniffer_irl
Anyone check firmware? If this is in BIOS/UEFI or embedded controller, AV wouldn’t touch it and reinstalls wouldn’t matter.-
u/forensic_friday
Dumped memory from one infected host. It’s allocating massive contiguous blocks of RAM and doing GPU compute, looks like tensor ops. This is not cryptomining, it’s closer to ML training or simulation.u/PacketPicnic
What kind of idiot deploys distributed ML workloads to random endpoints?u/forensic_friday
Someone who needs more computing power than any datacenter can provide.u/coffeecrashout (OP)
We blocked outbound traffic from the process and it adapted. Switched ports, then switched protocols. Started tunneling over DNS. After we blocked that, it reduced network usage but increased local compute.u/NullPointerSurprise
That’s control-plane logic. This thing is designed to survive hostile environments.u/LegacyTron
We traced bursts to coinciding timestamps across multiple orgs. Literally synchronized spikes down to the millisecond across three continents.That requires clock coordination. NTP-level or better.
u/coffeecrashout (OP)
So someone built a global botnet with precision timing. Great.u/LogRotateLunatic
Has anyone tried sandboxing it fully offline? No NICs, no USB, no shared folders?u/bitwise_bob
Tried it earlier today, it still ran. Still consumed resources, still dumped memory, just stopped the network bursts.u/LogRotateLunatic
Then what the hell is it doing when it can’t phone home?u/forensic_friday
Local compute. Massive vector ops. It’s not idle. It’s working.u/coffee_and_racks (OP)
Working on what?u/forensic_friday
No idea. But the memory dumps include patterns that look disturbingly like neural topology models. Not human-readable but still brain-like.u/RootedInPanic
This thread is going to age badly, just you wait.
Zooble jumps over a puddle and pushes open the door, rainwater dripping from their hair as thunder rolls overhead. The comforting aroma of alcohol and citrus wraps around them like a weighted blanket.
The bar is empty.
Not even Ben’s in today.
Alexi looks up from the middle of the floor, “Oh. Hey, Zoo. Gimme a sec to clean this up.”
Zooble takes in the scene: broken glass glittering across the floor, a large puddle of something that smells like high-proof rum, a stool lying on the ground with one leg snapped clean off.
“Was there a fight or something?”
Alexi huffs out a breath, “Or something. Coworker crashed out cause the boss wouldn’t give ‘er a raise.”
Zooble nods slowly and goes to the bar, reaching over and grabbing a couple rags. “Lemme help.”
“You don’t-” Alexi pauses as Zooble’s already kneeling, blotting up the brown liquor, “aaand you’re doin’ it.” Alexi rolls their eyes as they keep sweeping, “Thanks, I guess.”
They work in near silence, save for the hum of the rather lax music and the steady percussion of rain on the roof. Shattered glass crunches under the broom. The storm feels both far away and very cose all at once.
“Any ‘a those places hire you?” Alexi asks as they start pushing the glass into a dustpan.
“Nah. Guess someone else beat me to the bar, that tattoo place actually just let someone go, andthe piercing shop says I don’t have enough experience.”
“Damn.”
“Yep.”
Silence again. Zooble wrings out the rags at the skink. Alexi pours the broken glass into a bin. Zooble washes their hands, water running faintly tinted with with rum and dust, then takes their usual seat.
They stare at the broken stool on the ground as Alexi mixes their usual drink, “Uh… you got wood glue for that?”
Alexi pauses, glances over the bar, and sighs, “Nope. Gonna have to get another one.”
They slide the drink to Zooble and walk around, picking up the broken wood and carrying it into the back.
Zooble scrolls on their phone, liking a few cat photos. Alexi pulls their own phone out too when they get back.
“Hey. So. I might have something for ya.”
“Hmm?” Zooble glances up.
“Yeah, job just opened up here.” Alexi grins at them conspiratorially, “Asked the boss if they’d be willing to interview you.”
“Wait- seriously?” Zooble sits up, “Don’t fuck with me here.”
“I’m not!” Alexi holds up both hands, “She said she’ll swing by tomorrow if you’re interested.”
“Hell yeah I’m interested!”
“Sweet. If it’s anything like mine, she’ll have you mix a few drinks, deal with some fake rowdy-customer scenarios, etcetera etcetera.”
Zooble grins and holds out their hand, “Thanks, man. Seriously.”
Alexi laughs and takes it, dapping them up, “No problem. You’re a pretty chill regular, you tip well, figure I’d give you a shot.”
…
“Just don’t lose your shit if the boss doesn’t give you a raise, yeah?”
Zooble snorts and snaps their fingers, “You got it~”