The Amazing Digital Circus

Episode 1

Pilot

Fri, Oct 13, 2023 26 mins

After donning a virtual reality headset, a woman becomes trapped in a circus-themed computer game inhabited by the artificial intelligence Caine, his assistant Bubble, and six other trapped humans: Jax, Ragatha, Gangle, Kinger, Zooble, and Kaufmo. The woman-renamed "Pomni" after forgetting her original name-repeatedly notices an exit door that Caine dismisses as a hallucination. While Caine sends the group on an adventure to gather creatures called Gloinks, Kaufmo is found by Pomni, Ragatha and Jax to have "abstracted" into a mindless beast out of despair. Pomni seeks Caine's help after Kaufmo causes Ragatha to glitch, but finds the exit and deserts Ragatha to escape. However, the door instead leads her through a labyrinth of office spaces to a digital void beyond the circus. Caine rescues Pomni as the others return from the adventure following an encounter with Kaufmo, whom Caine imprisons in a cellar with other abstracted humans before repairing Ragatha. He then admits he created the "exit" to fulfill the group's desire for one but could never decide what to put behind the door, leaving it unfinished. Deeming the adventure complete, Caine rewards the group with a feast of non-sustaining digital food, which Pomni attends in silence.