Erray

Yesterday night…

I carefully glanced into Vichay's hospital room from the window in the hall. She had woken up, but after a quick meal the doctors told her to get some rest. So, she was sleeping again. Angel, who had folded up her umbrella, walked up to me and I didn't notice she was behind me until she tapped my shoulder.

"She's sleeping, but… do you want to see her?" she said, shyly.

I shook my head. "I feel like I said enough…"

"Erray-" Angel glared, slightly, but I pulled out a headband. I had dashed back to Cuttlefish's house and grabbed it from the room I was staying in. It was blue with writing on it.

"Here. Give her this," I said. I knew how sensitive Vichay was when she was injured, even if she didn't want to show it. "It's probably gonna leave a scar and I don't want her to be embarrassed when the bandages are off."

I didn't know why, but Angel gasped upon seeing it. Her hands covered her mouth and her Brella fell on the floor.

"Wh-Where… Did you…?"

"Is… something wrong?" I said.

"N-No! Not at all…" I gasped, upon her snatching the headband from me. "I'll… I'll give it to her."

"O… Okay. I'll keep you posted about Bass."

"And…" Angel held the headband close to herself. "I'll let you know about your sister…"

"Before we start, I just want tell you all once again, so that the newbies here know: This is a safe place. No one's gonna force you to say what you don't wanna say. Everything you say in here, stays in here. All I ask, is that what you do say, is the truth, I can't help you if you lie to me."

I glanced at the floor, knowing I would have to be careful. Mentioning the New Squidbeak Splatoon was out of the question. Tina was just trying to help, but I couldn't put her in danger. Angel's actions were distracting me, as I tried to listen to some of the other Inklings talking. Maybe I was too flustered yesterday, but I was only thinking of Vichay. From Angel's reaction, there was no mistaking it.

She knows Agent 3.

"And that's how I got away, but…"

I looked up seeing an Inkling girl tearing up. Tina patted her shoulder. It wasn't until now that I recognized the crying girl as Coral from Anemy's squad. She mostly kept to herself, so there was no way I could've known.

"So… I joined Grizzco so I could become stronger," Coral then said.

"I see," said Tina. "And how is that going?"

"My captain is really nice, she says something calming whenever it looks like I'm scared." And with that, she began to smile. "It's a little scary to work with… them, though."

"The Octolings, right?" Tina responded.

"Yeah," Coral said, shyly. She held her fingers together, tentatively. "There's one who's a kid and he really nice. And… there's this girl. She's sassy, but fresh. A lot of them are quiet and sometimes stare when an Inkling walks by…"

"Well, it's only natural," said Tina. "Many of the Octolings have never even an Inkling before. They've spent most of their lives underground without contact with the surface world." She smiled. "From the looks of it, you've been doing a great deal to improve."

"Th-Thank-you for recommending I work at Grizzco," she said, laughing nervously.

"Alright," said Tina. "How about we move on to someone else?" She looked around the room, seeing if anyone would volunteer. "Hm. How about one of our newbies? Erray?"

"Huh?" I jolted up. All eyes were suddenly on me.

"So, you're new to our little group," she went on. "Tell us about your view on our Octarians friends?"

My eye twitched a little at that remark. It was little weird to talk about this, but if she wanted the truth, fine.

"They're not our friends." My hand drifted over my shoulder.

Tina straightened up in her chair. There were some concerned looks and a few gasps.

"Since when were Octolings allowed on the surface?" I looked to Coral who was just as confused. "They seem nice, Coral? Sure. But you never know with them." I stared downward, into my lap. The floor reminded of that bus, before I looked forward again. "I would know. I thought they were nice once, too."

"Well, a law was passed two years ago after an incident in Saltwater City," the doctor responded.

"What incident?"

"How can you not know?!" said an Inkling. "It was all over the news! It's how Off the Hook got their huge break!" his face softened at a realization. "Oh, wait. You're one of…" His voice trailed off for a second. "Well, anyway, Pearl and Marina saved Saltwater City in style. There were these two other Octolings and another Inkling who was leading them."

"Good point, Jay," Tina pointed to him. "After so much fighting and protests, that display of such teamwork between Inklings and Octolings to save the city was enough to finally convince the politicians to let Octarians live among us again."

"But… how do we know?" I said, crossing my arms.

"What?" The doctor adjusted her glasses.

"How do we know that what those Octolings did was purely for good? Was that what they were going for, or did they just want to want to win our favor? You can't trust them! We fought a war with them for a reason!"

"Yes, but that was a hundred years ago, Erray," said Tina.

My grip tightened on my sleeve.

"It can be two years, and it can be a hundred years. A grudge is a grudge no matter how you put it." DJ Octavio was a prime example of holding a grudge.

The doctor was writing all of this down on her clipboard. I didn't care. "So, from what I've heard from you, Octarians are not to be trusted, and should remain underground. Is that your stance?"

For some reason I felt bad admitting this.

"Y-Yes," I said. "Yes!" I added a little more confidence. "I know I already almost lost my job at Grizzco because of my views, but I can't just… trust them, you know?" My hands drifted to the one lock of hair that hung down the side of my head and they petted it softly. "My boss, my captain, and bunch of others already think I have nothing but malice for Octarians."

"Well, do you truly believe that?" said Tina.

"Well, I…" I suddenly, thought about Vichay, Cici, grandpa… and Jade. "I… I don't know." A tear fell from my eye.

"Hmm…" Tina tilted her head slightly. "Erray, my assignment for you is to think about what your colleagues said and come to your own conclusion."

"O-Okay…" I said.

"RAH!"

I yelled as practically used a fist full of Burst Bomb to crash through an ink Octocopter. I turned into my squid form leaping around shots from Octo Trooper, super jumping into the air and landing on top of its head in normal form to shoot down with my Dualies. A bomb came flying at my face and I kicked it back into the Octo Bomber's face. It didn't do damage to since it was it's own, but I shot down while it was distracted. Then I super jumped for cover as shielded Twintacle OctoTroopers came from from behind and started shooting at me. They were like Octo Troopers, but they had two tentacles on their heads and had protective shields on the fronts.

I got the charger on my back and swam up the pillar of cover and shot down from above, splatting them. Then I had to jump, because other Octo Snipers were shooting from similar perchers. Luckily, shooting one of them left a trail of purple in to swim in and dodge the other ones shot. I threw a bomb and left the last one disoriented. I jumped up and landed on it, pressing on it with my foot as it fell back on its sniping device.

"Seen Callie?" I said. I got not response and it struggled. "Didn't think so." And I splatted him by shooting through the lengthened mega phone for a sniper weapon.

I jumped back down and walked towards the Zapfish. It was safely still in the barrier. I put the Dualies back at my sides.

"Nice work… But you need to work on that Charger recoil."

I stopped, pressing a hand against the headphones.

"Agent… 3?" I said. I started looking around. "Are you-"

"Don't bother trying to see where I am."

"But you can see me!" I said. "So, I should have-"

"Should? Or will?"

I sighed. "Why are you watching me?"

"...I want to watch… and learn."

I then began to hear static.

"W-Wait! Agent 3 I need to tell you about…" The signal went silent. "Bass…"

"You okay, 4?" I then heard from Marie. "I lost your signal there for a second."

My hand lowered from my headset.

"Yeah…" I said, walking towards the Zapfish. I freed it from its prison and began to head back.

Once I got back to Octo Canyon's Suction Cup Lookout, Marie took the Zapfish and added it to the pile.

"Looks like we almost have a enough for the Boss Kettle," Marie said. She stared at the giant kettle in the middle of the area before twirling the parasol protecting her from the sun that was now setting. "Didn't you want to tell me something yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah!" I said. "It's about-"

"If it's about 3, I don't want to hear it," she then said. The Inkling turned toward the path back to the entrance of Octo Canyon.

"It's not 3," I said. "It about Bass."

Marie then stopped.

"Was he a friend?"

"What about him?" said Marie. So she did know him!

"So he was-"

"He left town two years ago," said Marie.

"No, he's here!" I said. "And now he's missing. He's been missing for days. My… sister and grandfather are also missing, and I can't help but feel like it's connected."

Marie sighed. "Well, if they're missing why didn't you file a report?" she said, flatly.

"Vichay already did," I said, glaring. I was already getting angry. My grandfather always told me it was rude not to face someone when they were speaking to you. "Of course she can't report Bass because he's thief."

Marie still didn't turn and face me. She was silent for a only a little bit.

"If Bass wants to disappear, then he can," she said.

I couldn't believe I was hearing this from a Squid Sister.

"What?!"

"He's a grown Inkling. He can go wherever he wants. It wouldn't be the first time someone left without a word, despite the other worrying themselves for nothing." She lowered her parasol as the sun began to disappear over the horizon. "Or for the wrong reasons…" It was then, Marie finally faced me. "In any case, I do hope the police find your family, but Bass is not Squidbeak Splatoon business."

"But-"

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

"But what about dinner with your grand-"

"It can wait." It was just like yesterday…

It was as Marie said when night time rolled around. Marie wasn't home tonight. It was just me and the captain eating dinner quietly. Well, I think he was the only one eating.

"What's the matter, bucko?" he said. "Your dinner's gonna get cold."

I looked at him, before staring back at the meal before me. "So… you're not bothered at all that Marie isn't eating with us?"

"Well, my grandsquids only visit from time to time…" The cap'n sighed. "Ah, poor Callie… Well, Marie is really busy. She can't skip jobs to help, or people will get suspicious."

"True…" I said. "But… is she always this distant and cut off?"

"Well, maybe she's just upset about Callie?" It looked like the cap'n didn't even know about her behavior either. "I mean… she and Callie were constantly busy, even before Octavio escaped. So, I understand. We're family, after all."

I went back to picking at my food.

"Yeah… family…"

Once like a dream

The city called me

And everything felt new…

All I wanted was a life

Why can't family get it right?

But I'll save her, if she falls

And I don't even know for sure

But through all I've endured

I will fight and stand tall

The next day, I had gone to Angel's apartment to show her a short song I wrote. Vichay wasn't going home until nightfall, so it was safe. I had finally bought that guitar and was showing off what I wrote to her. My hair had glowed from singing it. I bit my lip, noticing that it affected Angel. Her hair had turned purple, but I don't think she had noticed.

"S-So… h-how was that?" I said.

"It's… good," Angel said, sitting on the couch, her hands neatly, her ink color turned back to her normal pink. "But, when you sing, try not to do so from the throat. That's how voices get strained."

"Oh… okay," I said. I sat down next to her to retune my new instrument. "So, are you going to audition, too? Because I've already got another Inkling with me and I guess… the more the merrier?"

"Oh, I can't…" said Angel. "Employees aren't allowed to audition. And even if I quit, I would have to wait at least a month and the audition are coming up soon." A small smile came from her. I think it the first I had seen her do that. "But it's fine. I've got another audition lined up anyway."

"R-Really? What is it?"

"They're doing a play at Inkopolis Theater and there's a singing roll. Jelini says I've got good chances, since I've been singing at Albacore Hotel."

"That's great," I smiling back at her. I stared back at my guitar again. "So… I think I know how we can find Bass."

Angel glanced over. "How?"

"Well, do you know anyone else who knew Bass?" I said. "Maybe someone he committed theft with? Maybe if we could find one of them, we could just follow them to wherever Bass could be."

"Well… Bass was really close with someone before we made stop hanging out with that guy," said Angel. "I think his name was Char?"

Wait… I thought. My eyes grew to the size of golf balls. "Char Treval?"

Angel gasped. "Yes. How did you know that?"

The only Char I knew was at Grizzco. It couldn't be that easy, right?

"Erray?" said Angel.

"I think he works at Grizzco."

Angel then stood up from her couch, her hands on her hips. "Then let's go there right now!"

"W-Wait! N-Now?" I said, flinching. "I don't even know if he's doing a shift right now. A-And, I don't think direct confrontation would be the best idea. Remember last time?"

"Ah, you're right." Angel's hands lowered and hung limply at her sides. "But we have to find him somehow."

"Well, I have another idea. We could follow Char after work." I stood up. "I can go and check if he's working and we can just wait until he leaves and follow him."

Angel tensed up.

"Oh. Maybe that's too much," I said.

"N-No! No!" said Angel. "It's just… we're gonna need to be undercover. Like, we'll need disguises!"

"Good point. So, I'll go to Grizzco, then?"

"Yeah…" Angel pulled out a pen and paper from the coffee table. "I'm gonna make a list."

"O… Okay…" My hearts were already racing over whether or not we would get caught.

I did end up going to Grizzco later. I had gone there straight from Angel's apartment, so my new guitar was in its case. I held by the handle on the side. Mr. Grizz was barking orders at people. Inklings and Octolings were busily working, taking inventory. That familiar stench was still apparent in building.

"Trow?" said Mr. Grizz. "What are you doing here? You're next shift isn't until tomorrow."

"Actually, I had a question," I said, peeking over at the radio neatly sitting on the cooler. "Is Char here today?"

"Treval? You'll have to talk to Anemy. She's in charge of her squad's shifts."

"I'm guessing she's in her room?" I said.

"That, or the breakroom."

"Okay. Thank-you!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Mr. Grizz grumbled.

I went down the hall and knocked on Anemy's door.

"Just a minute!" I could hear some shuffling. "Hang on!" I heard the sound of cans falling over. "Splat it!" Anemy opened the door, peeking her head. "Oh, hey! Come on in!"

Anemy let inside and I could see her giant trash can of cherry sodas had tipped over and were spilled on the floor. The futon was folded, but the sheets could still be seen and papers were more scattered than ever on her desk. I felt sorry for her, she seemed so chill, but so busy at the same time.

"So, what'd ya need?" she said. "Your shift isn't until tomorrow." Anemy plopped down in her swivel chair and it dragged a little against the wooden floor, forcing her to clumsily slide back into place.

"Uh, I was kind of just wondering if I could talk to Char?"

"Char?" Anemy looked through several layers of paper. "His shift also until tomorrow. Squad 7 has the day off."

"Oh…" I said, closing the door behind me. I decided to sit in the chair across from her to be polite. The guitar case was set down beside me.

"Yep," said Anemy. "So, have you picked a song for us yet?"

"Oh, right!" I said. "I was thinking… maybe we could perform Calimari Inkantation?"

Anemy formed a pout with her lips. "Really?"

"Yeah!" I nodded. I always smiled when I talked about that song. "That song inspired me to want to be a musician."

Anemy's eyes briefly drifted to her right, before she looked back at me. "Yeah, about that… I found the sign-up sheet." She slid it across the table. I saw a bunch of people listed and many of them were going to perform that same song.

"Oh."

"If we want to win Off the Hook's favor, we have to stand out." She stood up, seeming almost triumphant. "We appeal to their hearts! Tell me, Erray! What's the first song Off the Hook ever made?"

"Uh…"

"Ebb and Flow! That's what!" Slamming her palms on the desk.

"Eep!" I squeaked, flinching a little. "Uh, I don't really listen to Off the Hook."

"Ugh!" Anemy face planted her face in the papers.

"B-But, we can do that song, if you think it'll help," I said.

"Yes!" Anemy's voice was muffled by the papers, as she raised a hand. She slowly raised her head, but she was smiling. "Sorry. I'm a little tired."

"Then, maybe you should get some sleep?"

"But it's such time waster," said Anemy. She leaned forward and rested her head in her arms. "Besides, I'm-"

"Busy, but you're gonna burn yourself out if you keep this up."

"Don't we have to practice?" said Anemy.

"Uh, h-how about we practice after you take a short nap?" I said.

"Ugh, fine…" She stood up, and I guided her to the couch.

"One hour! Two hours tops!"

"Okay, okay!" I said. "I mean… Yes, captain…"

As the captain fell asleep next to me, I looked over at her desk and what she glanced at: A picture frame. It looked like the one she was singing to the other day. Once she was fully asleep, I checked it out for myself. As I thought, it was her and her brother standing in front of Inkopolis Tower. Judging from Anemy's hand reaching out of the frame, she was probably the one who took the photo.

Wow… she looked so happy, I thought.

I looked back at Anemy, who was sleeping peacefully. Who was with her without her crew? I thought. Everything was about work with her, even if she was so chill about it. It was times like these that I couldn't help, but think that maybe… she was lonely?

I sat down next to her. Nothing was worse than being alone. I knew that feeling more than anyone.

"Let's see, how long has it been since I last saw him…? Carry the one… A year? Maybe more? I… I don't really know."

So many squids going missing… Callie, Bass, Agent 3 and her brother? What was his name again?

Anemy mumbled a bit in her sleep, then I found her leaning against me. I wanted to jump, but I didn't want to wake her. She still smelled like how Grizzco smells, but with her it was different for some reason. My hearts were beating really fast and I could feel myself blushing. I leaned my head back and tried to take nap, too.

If she was alone, I'll be there for her, I decided.

"NO! LET ME GO!"

I couldn't move. Music was playing and it was getting louder. When I opened my eyes, everything was dark, except a bright red light. It was hurting my head, but I couldn't look away. A shadow hand raised up and then there was a snap.

I woke up screaming, my arms flailed forward, but were then held back by another pair of hands.

"Erray! Snap out of it!"

Without thinking, my agent instincts kicked in, and I hit whoever was grabbing me in the face with my own head, and ran off whatever I was lying on. The same pair of arms wrapped around my waist and wouldn't let me move, no matter how much I struggled.

"LET GO!" I screamed.

"Erray, it's okay…" That didn't sound like, Jade at all. "Just take deep breaths."

I did as I was told, and I became aware of my surroundings. The hardwood floor, the desk with messy papers, the Off the Hook poster behind it the dimly lit light bulb hanging down, the wall of weapons with Sheldon's weapon manual, the overly stuffed closet and lastly, the fold out couch, that I found myself sitting back in tears, with Anemy by my side.

"It's okay, I'm here." Anemy simply hugged me and rubbed my back. I was shocked at first, but soon I put my arms around her, too.

"I'm s-sorry," I mumbled. "I didn't mean to hit your nose…"

"It's fine," she said, pulling away. She kept a hand on my shoulder. "I used to get nightmares, too… when I started working here."

"Wh-Why?"

"The Salmonids… You know how they are…" She pulled out her phone. "But, hey! An hour and a half of sleep. Do you… wanna do some warm ups? It might make you feel better."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Alright, then!" Anemy jumped up from the couch and walked over to her keyboard across the room. "They won't even know what hit them when we're through with the competition." I leaned back against the couch. She was my captain, but she was always trying to make my day better. I wondered if her brother did the same for her. Why did he leave her?

After our practice I headed home. And, as much as I'm embarrassed to admit it, I had a huge smile on my face. I felt good… that our rehearsals were going so well. Anemy looked happy, too.

Once I was home, I was humming Ebb and Flow down the hall to my room. As much as I didn't trust Marina, Ebb and Flow was really catchy. When I set the guitar down by my bed, I got a text from Angel.

"I've got disguises."

She's really serious about this… I thought, as I laid on my bed. My phone was held up and texted her back.

"Char will be at work tomorrow. Meet up in the square then? In the afternoon?"

"Okay," was the response.

The Next Day…

I headed to Octo Canyon. Another day, another Zapfish. To my surprise, when I got there, the Boss Kettle was open.

"I got it."

Marie walked out in her agent clothes. She was holding a charger.

"Whoa. D-Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry." Marie sounded so flat. "I got the last of the Zapfish here, so the boss kettle's open." She pointed towards it. "It should lead us to an Octarian layer. So, be prepared."

"Okay…" I said, nervously. I walked up to the kettle, Dualies in hand, and Marie went in first, bringing Callie's Roller if we bumped into her. I pulled down a gulp and dove down as Squid, as well.

The screens were dark when we got there. The way inside was just up ahead, but it looked deserted. There weren't Octarians on patrol. In fact we were able to waltz right inside. The halls were dark, illuminated by fuchsia lighting. It was all to familiar to me.

"Something's not right…" said Marie. She took the lead and I flinched upon seeing ink on the wall. It wasn't fuchsia. It was light shade of yellow green. Marie stopped me upon us turning the corner at a corridor. I covered my mouth in horror.

Octarians and Octolings alike were on the floor, unconscious. Most of them were gravely injured. Yellow green ink was scattered around the place. We walked by quietly, hearing some moaning from the fallen soldiers.

"There should be a security room somewhere. It might tell us what happened. Maybe up these stairs?" She gestured to them, nearby. We ventured up, but found ourselves back outside on the buildings roof. Suddenly the ground caved in beneath my feet and I fell down, while Marie screamed.

"AGENT 4!"

I threw a Splat Bomb downward and fell into a pool of my own purple ink. Once I stood, my hands drifted over my sides, feeling that my Dualies were gone! Maybe they fell out of my hands when I fell. I gasped, seeing that the light on my ink tank was off. Whatever this place was cut off my connection to the HQ Spawn Point. Up ahead, I could see an open space. It was really dark, though.

"Agents…" said a low voice.

"Huh?" I walked carefully ahead, holding a Splat Bomb. The open space was circular and the lights suddenly came on. A huge light shot upward and a round figure. It was an Octarian, but he was huge and riding a unicycle for some reason. His feet were tiny, he wore a black vest and he had one of his tentacles tied back. In his hands was a giant roller and he slammed it into the ground. He held it in his hands like a samurai.

"Agent 4!" a voice yelled. I looked up and saw Marie on the upper level by some railing. "Catch!" She threw down Callie's Hero Roller. I super jumped and caught it in the air before landing on my feet.

"You couldn't give me my Dualies?" I said, through my headphones. "I dropped them when I fell."

"I'll find them," said Marie. "Just hold him off. Do it for the honor of your family… or something."

I ran at him, holding the roller forward to make a path. He was slow, but when I got close, he tried to slam down his own roller on me. So I jumped to the side, yelping as fuschia ink almost hit me and I flicked my own ink at him. My feet kept me leaping around him as I swung at him. Even with a unicycle he could jump really far. In fact, he leapt across the arena. It was a little funny to see him glaring with his tiny eyes while covered in ink.

I suddenly heard the sound of a motor running. Somehow he was riding on the roller like a vehicle and charging right at me. As as squid, I dove into my own ink and swam away. Once he was back on his unicycle, ran towards him only to see his eyes lit up for a brief moment before he spun around. I yelled, managing to to block his roller with mine, but was thrown against the metal fence. Beyond it was an endless fall to many buildings below. I slid below his swing and threw two bombs in his face. He nearly fell out of his unicycle and I flung some in forward to swim away. I didn't stop until I was on the other side of the arena.

"Get back here!" I was shocked to hear it talk. Once I rose up with a full tank of ink I saw pieces of the samurai's roller spinning. He slammed it down sending a wave of ink towards. I jump out the, but some ink touched my ankles and land on uninked turf. Another wave came at my but the impact sent me flying into the fence again. The roller, just barely managed to block enough ink but a lot of it was on my face and suit.

My roller shook in my hand. The enemy ink stung. It was all too familiar. My eyes were shut tightly. I didn't want to cry.

"I finish the job!"

No, I won't cry!

The Octo Samurai leapt through the air. I stood on my stinging feet and stopped it's slam. Pushing back as hard as I could. He was really strong, too.

"Enough! You've lost…" he said, pushing back harder.

My grip tightened on the handle I closed my eyes and pushed back harder.

"NEVER!" I said. When I opened my eyes, my hair was glowing and I threw him off his unicycle. The samurai looked shocked. The roller shook in my hands, but I guess almost getting splatted invigorated me. "As I told Jade…" I was shocked to see the ink I had laid out was beginning to float into the air slightly in particles. In the reflection of an ink puddle, I could see my eyes glowing. I shook my head. "As I told her: For every minute of the rest of my life, I will fight! This why the Inklings won the war!"

I yelled, swinging my roller. All the ink I had scattered followed it and wave of purple ink was sent towards the samurai and he slammed against the fence. He dropped his roller.

"Now, I finish the job…" I ran towards him. "Octarian scum."

"AGENT 4, STOP!"

I turned and saw Marie. She jumped a little, but she was pointing her charger right at me.

"D-Drop it!" she said.

My weapon shook. I wanted to show the Octarian I wasn't afraid… even though I was.

"Just put it down."

I let go of the roller and it clattered on the floor. Marie walked past me and didn't say a word as she took Callie's roller. Then she pointed the charger at the beaten samurai. I took deep breaths, the glow in my hair fading and I prayed my eyes stopped glowing.

What's… happening to me? I thought.

"Tell us what happened here!" she ordered.

"Wh-What… What do you mean…?" the Octo said. "You agents were just here."

"What?!" I said.

"Three… there were three of them…"

Marie lowered her charger. "Get out of here. And don't come back!"

"Agent 2!" I said. "He could've-"

"That's part of the job, 4!" Marie snapped, as the samurai grabbed his unicycle and roller and walked away. "We put our lives on the line everyday. Now, let's go!"

"What about my weapons?"

"You can have them back when we're out of here," she responded.

I followed behind her, my hearts were still pounding from earlier and my hands were shaky. What the shell did I do back there? I thought about the Octarians. I knew it was them. It had to be.

We entered a room with many screens and the Zapfish was in the middle. It was trapped in a barrier, which was powering the room and probably the rest of the base. There were some unconscious Octarians and the white walls were stained with ink.

"There you are!" I said, running up towards it.

"Wait!" Marie said. She ran up to the screens and ran through the footage. "Just here, huh? Then let's check what happened in the last hour. I already have a good guess."

I walked up from behind her and stared at the same screen.

What I saw was shocking.