The Real Circus (A TADC AU)

Kinger's backstory told by his daughter-Brooklin, or Brook, is just a normal girl. Her dad is a video game designer, and her mom is a stay at home mom who, for some reason, loves bugs. They moved when Brook was 11 and her brother, Connor, was 6. They moved for her dad's job. One day he disappeared, so Brooks mom went looking for him. Shortly after, she didn't come home. Brook was 12 when her mom disappeared. Brook became the main caretaker for her and her brother. When Brook was in her twenties, she spotted a stranger in the street who looked kind of like her mom, but it couldn't be. She would have come home, not somewhere else, right? Brook started looking for her dad, waving off the suspicion that it had been her mom. She found a VR headset in an old, abandoned building. Her younger brother was going to be 20 soon, so he needed a good gift. She tried on the headset to see what games it had, and she became part of the Amazing Digital Circus.
It was hell for a while. All she did was hide in her room. But there was one spark of hope. Kinger. She recognized his voice. The way he spewed random words just because he wanted to. It was her father. One day, Ragatha knocked gently on her door and told her that Kinger had abstracted and there was a new chess piece. A bishop. She recognized his voice. It was Connor.

*This story is NOT written by me! All credit goes to my friend Violet. They don't have any socials right now but if they get one, I'll tag them.*