-"I tell you I saw something in the water, Mona !" The boy exclaimed for the umpteenth time.

-"And I tell you it can't be possible. There are no Salmonids there. By the way, just step away from the sea".

-"You never believe me sis'. Fine. I'm gonna stay here 'til it comes back, and I'm gonna film it".

-"Do as you want, but stay away from the water. I'm going back home". The girl sighed and turned away, her two long tentacles following her movement ; she looked at the city in the distance : it has been a long time since she had not set a foot there, but she was not missing it : even at her young age of twelve, she was apathetic towards Turf Wars, weapons, crowds, freshness, civilization… she sometimes liked to observe them, not being into them. She was a social anomaly in this world, but she did not care ; she still had her brother. Mona morphed into a squid and sank into the long trail of orange ink under her feet ; invisible in the liquid, she darted towards her nearby home.

The house was more a shack than a house, but it was home. Her home. She slid under the door and took on her human form once inside. There was almost no technology in the house, except for a fridge and a lone laptop in a corner of the living room ; she sighed when her eyes gazed upon it ; her brother was not like her ; he needed technology… at least that was what society had ingrained in his mind. She lay down in a worn-out red sofa, picked up a book from the nearby shelf and began to read.

An hour later, just as she closed the book, her brother appeared in the house, morphing back into humanoid form with his phone in hand.

-"Did you find something, Cor ?" Mona asked.

-"No. And I'm tired of waiting. Now I just wanna eat somethin' !".

-"Look into the fridge, there must be leftovers from yesterday".

-"Uuugh leftovers…"

-"There should be a better word for it yeah, but as for now, it's "leftovers". I made an extra waffle yesterday. It's a leftover."

-"A waffle !? Let's stick with "leftovers" then !", Cor exclaimed joyfully before opening the fridge and taking the waffle with an out-of-place bottle of coke. As he was going to sit at the table, he turned to his sister :

-"Want some ?"

-"Not hungry. Yet. I made it for you, dig in".

Her brother did not ask a second time and the waffle swiftly disappeared in his mouth ; just as he finished emptying the bottle of coke, his phone rang ; he answered the call.

Mona vaguely listened to the quick conversation, but she saw her brother rushing to his computer ; she shrugged : probably another "fresh" thing from this consumerist society.

-"Sis' ! You gotta look at this !"

-"No, thanks, I won't buy it anyways…"

-"Mona. That's the news."

She did not react to her brother's unusual tone of voice.

-"You know I don't care about the Squid Sisters or Off the Hook".

-"That's not them ! Mona, c'mon ! It's important ! Something's happening !"

It was strange for Cor to use such a serious voice ; she sighed, got up and put her hands on her brother's shoulders, looking at the screen above him.

"That's the worldwide news…" she thought as she recognized the anchor ; her brother turned up the volume for her to hear correctly, even though it was not necessary ; the serious, monotone female voice echoed in the small house.

"…other than that, this unexpected and unexplainable water rise accompanied by sudden volcanic activity and earthquakes lends credibility to some conspiracy theories. Additionally, claims of sudden depollution – most notably of water – have been reported all over the world, correlating with decreasing Salmonids sightings, putting specialized companies at risk. Now, some economics news with the…"

Cor closed the computer window, cutting off the anchor.

-"I hope that's fake news !" He exclaimed faithfully.

-"The worldwide news' made to reach any citizen possible. They never joke nor forget to at least triple-check their source. Something's really happening".

-"I don't like this sis'".

Mona stayed silent ; on one hand, reassuring her brother was probably the best thing to do in the short term. On the other hand, telling him the truth would show that she trusted him. She was going to take a decision when something rang in the house ; it was not the non-existent doorbell ; it was not the computer ; it was not Cor's phone, and it was not the fridge.

Mona froze in place when she realized what it was. "No… That's impossible. I'm just hearing things".

-"What's ringing sis' ?", Cor asked, shattering her hopes.

Instead of answering, she planted herself in front the bookshelf ; there was no mistake : the sound was coming from there.

-"Cor, give me the scissors please", she asked with a detached voice.

Her brother immediately complied ; Mona took a book in one hand and the scissors in the other. The book was unremarkable, with the pompous title "Of advanced sociology and geopolitics : Turf Wars, a case of cultural and historical propaganda in a free world" and an unusually thick cover ; more importantly, the ringing was undoubtedly coming from it. Mona cut open the cover, revealing a thin unbranded totally black cellphone ; she put back the damaged book in the bookshelf before answering the call ; no number was visible on the screen. An unmistakable voice was immediately heard saying a few words : "WWA : UA highly probable. Waiting for you at HQ. Hurry." The voice immediately hung up.

-"That was Mari…"

-"Don't say anything. Listen, Cor. Do you remember what Mom and Dad told you when they were going off somewhere ?"

-"That I was spared your and their lives ?".

-"Yes, exactly. I'm just gonna tell you that Mom, Dad and I had a… very difficult job. Mom made a deal before she..." Mona swallowed a sob, fighting back a wave of painful memories. "They'd never call me anymore, everything was over... save for one exception : one last time, for something really… difficult. And I guess it's now."

-"Sis', I'm not dumb. You're a spy… or kinda, aren't you ?"

Mona smiled more or less sadly.

-"If only it was just that. Anyways, that's enough questions. You're all grown-up now, so you can do whatever you like, but I ask you one thing, and I'll be adamant about it : you're going to Inkopolis and you stay there until I come back. You NEVER leave the city under any circumstances. Our house keys also unlock a flat there. We're going to Inkopolis together : we'll part ways at your apartment. Take whatever you want, but hurry. There's no time to lose".

Cor complied and put his computer and some clothes inside his beloved backpack.

-"Can I take this ?" He asked to his sister, pointing towards a Brush in a corner of his bedroom.

-"Your Octobrush ? Yeah, of course. We'll travel faster this way. I'm taking something too, just in case", Mona replied as she took the Charger off from the wall it was hung.

-"Mom and Dad E-Liter Scope ? No... it looks… different now that I pay attention to it. Really different", Cor corrected himself, looking closely at the weapon.

-"It's an unnamed Charger… no, a rifle, built specifically for and by our parents for the most part. Totally silent, longest possible range, compressed ink shots powerful enough to shatter glass or piercing light armor. It's a lethal weapon, nothing like the ones used in Turf Wars ; it's made for killing Octarians or Salmonids", his sister explained.

-"Woah ! So cool !"

-"No. Trust me, it's not. Let's go".

Traveling to Inkopolis within ink was fast ; they made it to the city in an hour.

Once inside, Mona immediately took Cor to his – she hoped – temporary new home : the building was small ; there were only eight flats – four on each level – but they were spacious and well-kept seen from the outside. Surprisingly, the neighbors seemed quiet. They went inside the building, climbed the stairs to the last floor, and Mona opened the last door at the end of the corridor.

-"Woah ! For me alone !? Sis', I wanna live here for the rest of my life !" Cor exclaimed as soon as he saw the vast living room furnished with the latest designs and technologies ; the other rooms were identical in terms of furniture. He jumped inside the red sofa and said "TV" aloud, prompting the gigantic plasma screen to turn on, displaying a live Turf War somewhere not in Inkopolis.

-"Hey, where's Off the Hook !?" The boy complained.

-"They have very important matters to attend to. Much more important than being on TV", Mona replied somberly.

She reminded her brother to never leave the city, and she gave him a phone number.

-"You call this number in case of EXTREME emergency, not because you don't know how to cook waffles. I'm not joking, Cor. Call only if your life's really in danger. It'll send… someone to help you ; it can be anyone. I'm sorry, they can't afford you a bodyguard, but they upheld our agreement to help you as the best as they can while I'm on duty".

-"Sis'…"

-"Yes ?"

-"I… I love you sis'. Please come back quick", Cor spluttered before hugging his sibling.

Mona smiled ; she kissed him on the forehead.

-"I'll do as best as I can, you know me. Enjoy everything here, 'cause you won't have it when we'll go back home".

-"Heh. I told you I wanna live here", Cor smiled sadly.

-"When you'll find a job, maybe… See you later, baby brother".

-"I hate when you call me that !"

Mona ruffled her brother's tentacles.

-"Bye Cor, I'll be back soon".

She changed into a squid and slid under the door thanks to a puddle of ink.

"When did she !?" Cor thought as he immediately opened the door : behind it, in the middle of the corridor, there was a long trail of orange ink. When Cor looked at the window in hopes of seeing his sister one last time, the only things he saw were the city, the streets and the small garden of the flat. Mona was gone.

She raced through the crowded streets of Inkopolis, knowing perfectly where she was going ; for once, she managed to shake off the feeling of claustrophobia she always experienced when in town. She reached her destination faster than she had anticipated ; the small abandoned building leading to a subway line was still outrageously ugly ; undeterred, she pushed the heavy metal door and discreetly went in.

The interior was suffocating, even though it was mostly empty ; only an old ticket office remained, along with some trash left there by uncivil citizens ; Mona noticed a very well-hidden small camera embedded in the long since dead neon light above the ticket office. Some seconds passed before the small glass shutter in front of her opened ; she easily squeezed her boneless form inside, careful to not lose her long charger ; as soon as she was behind the pane of glass, she stood on a grated manhole concealed by detritus ; she liquefied herself and plunged into darkness.

The voyage was undeniably fun ; speeding through the pipe as a puddle of ink in every direction for a full minute was an unparalleled sensation. It was ending abruptly however, as she crashed on a concrete floor ; she took on her human form again and turned left at the T-junction in front of her, facing a brick wall ; behind her, there was only darkness, but she knew the path was simply leading to nowhere but the ocean.

There were detectors and security cameras hidden in the mortar ; when Mona was totally and silently checked, the brick wall opened and she came face-to-face with four armed Inklings wearing a black business suit, an earpiece and sunglasses that were obscuring their eyes ; secured to their right side, there was a slightly modified N-ZAP '89. Behind them was an automatic, double steel door along with an eye and tentacle recognition interface. The agents received something from their earpiece and one of them unlocked the door, which slid into the walls.

-"Welcome back, Operative Omega", the guards saluted.

-"Thanks", Mona replied as she went in the room while the brick wall and doors closed behind her.

As soon as she stepped into the secret base, she realized the gravity of the situation : the atmosphere was heavy, almost crushing ; right in front of her, seating around a glass table, were Cuttlefish, Marie, Callie, Marina, Pearl, Agent 3 and Agent 8, all silent and sulking. They only acknowledged her when she took a seat and saluted them.

-"Hello Operative Omega. Welcome back, we're so glad to see you. Thanks for answering our call", Callie thanked.

-"It was our deal... Well, mom's deal... So… judging by your faces, it's not pretty, isn't it ? It's the first time we have a worldwide attack : unknown assailant, am I right ? And by the way, where's Agent 4 ?" Mona asked.

-"Yes, that situation is a premiere. That's why we called you. As soon as we realized what we were dealing with, we wanted to seek your help. As for your last question, Agent 4 is currently investigating phenomena far away from here, she probably won't come back soon", Cuttlefish explained.

-"Before calling you, we talked about the right we had to disturb you, but as you pointed out, we had a deal", Agent 3 said.

-"That's okay. My brother is safe, that's all that matters", Mona replied. "Let's get over with this. What's happening exactly, besides sea rising, volcanoes and depollution ?"

Marina took a small remote on the table and activated a screen on the wall behind her.

-"It was filmed by tourists in vacation in Squidburg two days ago. I think you've been there already", she told Mona.

Despite its high quality, the video was shaking so much it was hard to focus on a precise spot ; the amateur cameraman finally found some sort of stability and the video zoomed on the sea ; a giant whale tail emerged from the water before disappearing in a huge water splash ; a female voice drew the tourist's attention and he or she turned away, now filming another part of the sea : the entire animal immediately appeared less than two hundred of meters away before diving and disappearing for good.

-"And this was shoot yesterday, northeast of Inkopolis. Fortunately, there was a Turf War at the same time", Marina said, switching the video with the remote.

Shoot from a pier, this film was more watchable than the previous one ; it was showing an amorphous black mass moving in the ocean, at times separating before rejoining. The video zoomed in as a sudden change in behavior was observed in what was a school of fishes : the mass began to move erratically before suddenly being torn apart by three large, ominous shadows ; the scene lasted two minutes before the fishes choose to retreat offshore. The shadows stayed for some seconds, allowing the video to zoom further on them, before leaving ; Marina turned off the screen.

-"That was… !" Mona exclaimed.

-"Yes. No doubt possible : they're an ancient species of savage sharks", Marie confirmed. "Before you ask, we pulled these videos from Squidtube just in time".

-"Extinct sea-dwelling animals are coming back and we don't know how it's even possible", Agent 8 summed up.

-"By the way, Grizzco Industries' on the verge of closin' : no pollution, no Salmonids. Harsh huh ? Not that I'm worried 'bout the guy, he's gonna find somethin' else to do business, but still…" Pearl told Mona.

-"All the places are depolluted ?" Mona asked.

-"Except one, yup", Pearl replied.

-"By which means ?"

-"Radiation-eating bacteria. Plastic, metal, glass and other has been dissolved, presumably, by an unknown chemical of which we found no trace", Agent 3 answered.

-"As you probably heard, depollution's occurring everywhere in the world", Callie added.

-"That's why it's a WWA : UA", Cuttlefish reminded everyone. "The Octarians and Salmonids have no part in this. Octavio is in jail and I personally interrogated him : without him, the remnants of their hostile society are no threat. We also made sure no remains of ancient technology is involved like the last time ; there's no source cause, it's happening everywhere at the same time".

-"How can we be sure we're under attack and not experiencing natural phenomena ?" Mona interrogated.

Cuttlefish sighed ; he nodded to Marina who pulled a brown envelope from a suitcase under the table ; she opened it and gave the sheaf of papers that was inside to Mona.

Operative Omega – as she was called here – looked at the photographs, her face twisting in a worried expression as she went through the documents, mumbling to herself :

-"Taken from orbit I suppose. Taken from drone probably. Hmm… spaceship… twenty kilometers at least, that's quite big… seamless… painted in black. This one's too blurry and taken from too far… shame, it seems to show what our assailants look like. Hmm… More fauna and flora… I saw this somewhere else… or it's a déjà-vu…"

Mona gave back the documents to Marina save for one photograph ; the Octoling girl put them back into the envelope and then the suitcase.

-"Try to enhance that photo by any means possible. I want to see them. Please", Cor's sister asked to her.

-"I'll see what I can do, but don't keep your hopes high", Marina replied.

Mona offered the assembly a sad smile.

-"Heh… I'm surprised that none of you understands what's happening…" she let out, sighing.

-"Huh ? We're under attack, that's all", Agent 8 said, confused.

-"No. That's not all. Don't you see ? They're not only colonizing. They're terraforming".

Her interlocutors let out a terrified gasp.

-"If it stops here, we can accommodate these changes. Now, what I want to know is : why no contact has been made ? The spaceship, the creatures… Why no one approached them ?" Mona asked.

-"Dumb reason : we can't find them anymore. They're pretty good at hiding", Marie replied.

-"Hmm… You said one place is still polluted, right ?" Operative Omega interrogated.

-"Yes, near Inkopolis' Bay, in a wasteland ; it's under surveillance", Cuttlefish answered.

-"I know that zone. Surveillance's not enough. They'll come for sure… so we're going to ambush them. Even if they don't show in person, and even if it takes days", Mona decided, the plan quickly taking shape in her mind.

-"Mo… Operative Omega, are you sure about this ?" Cuttlefish asked, visibly uncomfortable.

Mona steeled herself before answering :

-"Yes I am. I'm not my parents : I won't make the same mistake. We're going to stay away at first. I want a sniper group comprised of Marie, I and Agent 3 with Chargers on the closest possible roofs from the beach. Callie will be equipped with a Brush and Agent 8 and Pearl with the pistol they feel the most comfortable with, just under each sniper, at the foot of the skyscrapers. Cap'n Cuttlefish, Marina, if it's not too much, I want you on a silent helicopter, hovering far above us so as not to be seen, with steel nets at hand, and an ink bomb in case of emergency. Everyone must wear thermal imaging goggles, and sonar-equipped drones must scan the sea permanently : they'll relay their information to the helicopter. Three supplementary agents with steel nets will accompany us ; they'll serve to cover more ground when the formation will move to surround our invaders. Four boats with nets on the beach's far away sides ; two of them will serve to cut off a possible retreat in the middle. Of course, black ink, sound amplifier, night-vision goggles and binoculars for all of us. I'll check variables once there. Is the plan clear ?"

-"To-totally clear", Marina spluttered, impressed.

-"Even your parents weren't so quick to conceive plans", Cuttlefish congratulated.

-"That's friggin' brilliant !" Pearl exclaimed.

-"Your mind's still a computer I see", Callie joked.

-"Thank you. To be honest, I thought I was rusty…" Mona admitted with a small smile.