Eight slowly sipped her ice tea as soft music beat in the background. The drink helped distract her from the horrible itch caused by her leg cast. A crutch leaned against the table in front of her.
"Having fun?"
Across the table, Vella looked up, Eight's phone in her hand. She had been playing with the device ever since Eight arrived and handed it to her. Seeing her examine it, learn how to use the screen and activate the various apps reminded Eight of a young child.
Vella flushed and glanced left and right. "I'm just… analyzing it. We should make things like these ourselves."
"No reason we can't," Eight said. "It's just that it's not a very high military priority."
Vella frowned at her. "Are you mocking?"
Eight giggled. "Maybe a little. Have you forgiven me yet?"
Vella's head sank a bit between her shoulders. "I don't know. I don't think you're bad, but even if you're not a traitor you are a deserter - worse, a defector."
Eight sighed. "I guess I can't argue that. Still, I am loyal to the Octarian people, I just chose to be loyal in a different way by trying to find a way for us to live happily here."
"Under the inklings rule," Vella said pointedly.
Eight shrugged. "If we're happy, does it matter who or what we're ruled by? I know our leaders are trying to do what they think is best for our people, but we want more than what they offer, and more and more we're thinking that they're just plain wrong."
"All of you?" Vella looked around the large space.
They were at the Work Detail warehouse, the day after the rescue mission and ambush. All of the former prisoners were there, and would remain so while they recovered from their malnutrition and other ill effects of their incarceration. Pearl's doctor had examined them all and provided supplements for many of them, with instructions for Work Detail's medics to follow.
Those some medics were soon to become nursing apprentices, the first members of Work Detail to have a real career set out for themselves.
In addition, the two squads that had tried to ambush the agents were also there, as prisoners of war, and they were the reason some members of Work Detail in the room carried their octoshots. Three had asked they be kept there if possible since the NSS had no means to care for prisoners. Callie and Marie agreed to pay for it all.
"Pretty much." Eight shrugged. "Even before we got organized, we were just trying to have fun with fulfilling lives. Ultimately, isn't that what anyone wants?"
Vella stared down at the phone in her hand, frowning. "I don't know. I've never thought about it."
"None of us did, before the Inkantation." Eight tapped the phone and Vella nodded.
"That song. It… changes things."
"We're not sure how, but it does. Once we heard that song, we could never go back to being the people we were. And no, it's not mind control or something. We're still octolings; very distinct from inklings and everyone else. Trust me."
Vella sighed and set the phone down on the table before picking up her glass of ice tea. She took a careful sip and shuddered which made Eight smile. Her dear little sister wasn't used to the taste of sugar yet.
"You get used to it."
"So this is where you've been." A new voice said.
Eight turned and saw Pearl grabbing a chair and assuming a place at their little round table. She sat backwards on it, arms folded over the chairback with her chin resting on her arms.
Vella leaned away fearfully but Eight lifted a reassuring hand towards her.
"It's alright, Vella. This is Pearl Pygmy, my guardian. Remember? I've shown you her and Marina's music."
"Oh…" Vella resumed her natural seating position but couldn't look directly at Pearl. The inkling however kept looking at Vella with inquisitive eyes.
"Pearl," Eight said, switching to Inklish. "This is Vella, my younger blood sister."
Pearl stared at her, eyes widened slightly. "No kidding? Is she seriously your flesh and blood little sister?"
"I wouldn't lie to you about something like that."
"But you would about something else eh?" Pearl grinned and then looked back at Vella. "Nice to meet'cha Vella."
Vella shifted awkwardly. "Um, pleasant to meet you." Her inklish was a bit clumsy and her accent was thick, but it was intelligible.
Pearl chuckled. "Now that I really look at her, she does look a lot like you. Get your eyes from your mom?"
"I think so." Eight shrugged her tentacles.
"So," Pearl asked Vella. "What are you planning to do, kid?"
Vella finally looked at Pearl; although, not in the eye.
"W-what am I going to do?"
"Sure. Now that you're here, you wanna' do something, right?"
"Do something?" She looked at Eight worriedly and switched to Octese. "Is she an officer?"
Eight laughed. "No no, she's not trying to get you to clean the latrine or anything, Vella, she really wants to know what you want to do."
Vella frowned and stared down at the phone. "I want to make one of these," she held the phone up. "But better, and Octarian."
Eight looked at Pearl. "She wants to make an Octarian cell phone."
Pearl chuckled. "Wow, ambitious little tyke, isn't she?"
"Not little," Vella puffed in Inklish. "I third biggest in clutch, and Mother make many."
Pearl just kept smiling. "Whatever you say. In any case, I'm sure you can find plenty of ways to learn how to make cells. There are tons of phones tossed out every day. Bet if you could get your hands on some of those and take'em apart, you'd learn a lot. That's what Marina does."
Vella frowned and Eight translated for her. Her little sister looked appalled.
"That's so wasteful!"
Eight shrugged. "That's why the inklings need us around." She started to translate for Pearl but the inkling stopped her with an upheld palm.
"I've been around Marina long enough to know what that one means."
Eight giggled and took another sip of her ice tea.
"So, Eight," Pearl said. "Think Marina will finally let me in the loop with all this going on?"
Eight paused. "Well, you are here now. It is a start. It took Three and I a while to get passed that issue of trust and letting go, and what it was about was not even a secret between us. You will get there."
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Don't think that the student has become the master just yet, little Hachiko. I heard that you just kissed Three only yesterday."
Eight went rigid and her face flushed. "H-how did you hear about that?"
"Four texted me about it." She chuckled. "Congrats kid. You're over one of your romantic life's first real hurdles. Now the real pain begins. Kissing's easy; keeping up a relationship is tough."
"But we kissed on the lips," Eight protested. "You and Marina only kiss the head and cheeks."
Pearl shook her head. "We kiss on the lips a lot. Not all the time, but often enough."
Eight stared at her. "I have lived with you for months and never seen it."
Pearl's grin broadened and her eyes shone with naughty glee. "There are a lot of things we do that you've never seen."
Eight's face flushed darker and she took a quick sip from her glass to try and calm herself from this startling revelation.
At that point, Vella, who had been out of the conversation loop for a bit, leaned forward and asked in Inklish, "What is kissing?"
Pearl's laughter echoed throughout the entire hall.
The day after the events of the rescue and ambush were no laughing matter for the young members of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. After corralling all the ambushers and bringing them to headquarters, they had been forced to stand guard over them even though there were plenty of soldiers from Work Detail there.
Callie and Marie had purposely kept themselves too busy organizing things and figuring out what to do with the prisoners with Marina to talk with Captain Cuttlefish. The elderly inkling tried interrogating some of the captured octolings but none of them took him seriously, which hadn't helped his mood.
Once all the octolings had been taken away, Three and Four had been left to do a long patrol, leaving them utterly exhausted, and then had to suffer through a long rant from Captain Cuttlefish about who was in-charge of the NSS and the reasons one followed the chain of command.
After collapsing into their beds at home, Three and Four had to deal with the same thing the next day; albeit indirectly and from a different source.
It wasn't how Three wanted Four to be introduced to the particular mentor who, more than anyone, had turned her into the fighting machine the Octarians called The Green Demon. And yet, it somehow seemed appropriate.
The four agents had sat seiza-style for what felt like ages as Silvie Sansea ranted and lectured as fiercely as Three had ever heard her. The upside to the situation was that Three and Four were less the recipient of her scolding, and more like front-row spectators as she all but ignored the two of them and focused on Callie and Marie.
It had been something of a novelty, seeing the two older girls with their heads hung so low, looking like young children as they were slowly crushed under the weight of parental admonishment.
It was a cruel irony that despite all the worrying and efforts they had put in to prepare for the tribulations of entering official adulthood, since Callie and Marie were still 19, they fell under parental authority, which meant that Silvie was free to administer punishment. In this case, refresher training in the form of night-patrols. Callie and Marie hadn't stopped complaining about it since, even as they walked through a familiar, run-down warehouse district.
"We're never going to get any sleep," Marie groaned. "How are we supposed to find time with our schedules the way they are?"
"Since when did your mom do patrols?" Callie groused. "Refresher training under her for the next while is going to be black pits."
Three couldn't help but grin when she answered. "She did when she trained me. I thought you knew that."
"I thought she stayed back at the cabin and watched you through a monitor."
"Sometimes, but most of the time she was right there with me. I learned a lot. I actually really liked it."
"You liked it?" Callie was incredulous. "During our training, she was vicious. For stealth training, she'd whack me if I so much as crunched a pebble under me."
"And depending on how I did, I got no dessert," Marie huffed. "Why did you like it so much, Three, if it was no different than what we went through?"
Three pulsed grey. "Because… even though she was strict and could be harsh at times, she still did her best to teach me everything she knew, anything that would help me stay alive. She felt… well, like a mom."
The faces of the other three agents softened and she saw guilt rippled through their mantles, most strongly in Marie's.
"Sorry, Cortina," she said softly, spots of apology on her tentacles.
Three brightened the green of her mantle slightly, telling her it was alright. She took no offense.
"Right," Callie said. "Enough complaining. We've been and are going through the black pits for what we did so we'd better go through with it, all the way, and get the most we can from it."
The familiar building loomed ahead, now with the words "Work Detail" painted on a sign made from pieces of scrap metal hanging over the two main doors. They made their way around the side of the building to the loading dock where a handful of octolings sat playing cards and chatting lively. They saw the four approaching and snapped to attention, their eyes lingered on Three just a bit longer than the rest as they neared.
Three certainly stood out in her guard's uniform, a black set of so-called combat pants, a black jacket and a black polo shirt underneath. Although not officially Callie and Marie's bodyguard yet, both stars felt it was important for people to start recognizing her as such, especially as more octolings started coming to the city.
One of the octolings opened the door for them and Callie gave a chirpy "thank you" before going inside. Three looked into the eyes of the four octolings as she passed, nodding to them out of respect, and then followed her two charges inside, with Four bringing up the rear.
Three heard the sound of Off the Hook's Ebb & Flo from the speakers and octolings of nearly every colour were about. Even some she recognized as being among the POWs they had taken, now wore their natural tentacle colours instead of the standard military purple.
Conversation quickly died as everyone noticed the new presences in the room. They all hushed and many of the Work Detail members stood to their feet. The music fell in volume to a mere whisper.
Callie looked around the silent room and then laughed. "Gee, didn't mean to spoil the party. What? Are we mom and dad to you now?"
Marie sighed. "Callie, that joke isn't going to work with them."
Callie pulsed blue. "Whatever, let's just keep the party going. Come on, people, don't we have something to celebrate? Kick it up!"
The music came back on, now twice as loud as before. Callie ran ahead, grabbing one stunned and bewildered Octoling by the hand, dragging her to the middle of the room before starting to dance with her. Four laughed, as did many of the octolings. Marie shook her head but smiled.
"Never changes," the other squid sister murmured. "Keep an eye on her, Three. I'm going to find Marina."
"Yes, ma'am."
Three remained in place, hands behind her back. She was able to get a good view of the impromptu dance floor as a new song started and Callie swayed her hips in ways that would turn most inkyar into puddles.
Four let out a long whistle, her face a bit flushed and her mantle showing vibrant blues and deep pinks. Three had to consciously subdue the feeling threatening to show in her own mantle, otherwise she would have worn many of the same colours as her little sister.
"Can Marie do that?" Four asked softly.
"Yes," Three answered plainly. "She did it in The Temptress."
"I haven't seen that," Four admitted. "I'm still too young for that movie."
"I know. I saw it just before I turned sixteen." She grinned at Four and gave her a nudge. "Maybe I'll bring over a copy sometime. I won't tell if you won't."
Four blushed and smiled appreciatively, the pink in her mantle turning just a bit rosier. "I think I'll go find Eight, see how she's doing."
"Let me know if you find her," Three said. "And tell her I'm… working."
"Will do." She opened her mouth again, as if to say something further, then closed it and flashed blue before walking off.
Three let it pass and returned her focus to Callie as she kept trading one dance partner for another, keeping the party going all while burning away her earlier frustration. Three hoped it might win them a few new fans while they were here.
Given how flushed Vella was, Eight was glad her eyes had been focused more on Three in her very nice uniform than on the dance floor. Even Pearl had let out a loud whistle at whatever they had seen Callie do.
"That girl can move," she whispered. "If there were any guys here they'd be jelly right now."
Eight gave her back-right tentacle a self-conscious tug. It had swelled, albeit only slightly, as she focused on Three. Had she been looking where everyone else had been… she didn't dare think about it.
"Wh-who is that?" Vella asked. She sounded shaken.
"That's Callie," Pearl answered. "One of the Squid Sisters."
"She and Marie," Eight gestured to the grey inkling now speaking to Marina, "sing the Inkantation."
"Oh, the song." Vella stared back down at the phone and one of her tentacles, very much like Eight's, stroked her chin. Then she looked back at Callie, the tips of her tentacles curling, then she looked away again.
"What's wrong?" Eight asked.
"She makes me feel… strange."
Eight smiled and translated for Pearl, who chuckled.
"Callie and Marie have a habit of doing that. Besides, females are designed to find other females attractive. How else would you size up the competition?" Eight shrugged as Vella stared at her, confused.
Eight took another sip of her drink and saw Four approaching them. Eight waved and Four waved back. Vella looked almost ready to dive under the table when she spotted her.
As she got close, Four took both of Pearl's hands in hers and gently pressed their foreheads together. A warm wave of pink moved across their mantles, almost synchronized, and then the two parted and Four sat in the chair on the opposite side of the table.
"How's the leg, Eight?" Four asked.
"I think it is starting to bind, now." Eight looked her up and down. "You seem alright. Your text earlier sounded as if you had been in a fight."
Four displayed slightly washed out violet. "Sorry, can't really talk about it. I'd get in serious trouble if I did and I've had enough trouble for a while."
She glanced at the other side of the table and Vella flinched as Four's bright yellow eyes locked onto her. "Um… Vella, right?"
Vella eyed Four with suspicion and leaned away from her. Four flashed blue and then grey, which made Vella flinch.
"How is Three?" Eight asked, trying to switch Four's focus to give Vella's poor hearts a rest.
"She wanted me to tell you that she's working. Probably so you know why she's there instead of here, kissing your leg to make it better." She and Pearl shared insufferably big grins and Eight flushed darkly.
"Will this teasing never stop? I am starting to understand a lot of Three's past behavior."
"It's because we love you," Four said. "Any idea how long you'll be in that cast?"
"The doctor said I should be able to walk unaided in about three weeks. Another two for it to be completely healed.
Four winced. "Ouch, that's rough. Makes me glad we're cephalopods; otherwise we'd take ages to heal."
"One of the god's gifts I'm most thankful for," Pearl said, leaning forward. "So, I know Callie and Marie sponsored whatever this is, but what are you doing here?"
"Just keeping an eye on things. I'm mostly backup for Three though. With so many POWs around, we didn't want to take any chances."
Vella huffed. "You are wise not to take us lightly."
"Thanks." Four kept grinning and Vella stared at her as if she'd said a joke that had gone completely over the inkling's head.
Pearl stood up and adjusted her chair the right way around then leaned forward across the table, bringing her voice down just a bit.
"Hey Four, maybe you can tell me what happened to the slimy groshgott that broke Eight's leg. Marina wouldn't tell me anything and Eight said she didn't see." She crossed her arms and Eight sank a little in her seat.
Four flashed grey. "Well, Marina wasn't actually there when it happened and given Eight's situation, I'm not surprised she didn't see anything."
Four took out her phone. "Fortunately, I took a picture. Three left a pretty good impression on him." She showed it to Pearl who leaned in close to see.
"That's DJ Octavio?" She stared at Eight, baffled. "Is that what your males look like?"
"N-no," Eight said, putting her hands up. She was still surprised that Four had actually shown Pearl the picture. "Octavio is rumored to have had genetic experiments conducted on himself that gave him a strong resistance to ink but he can no longer transform into an octoling form, and it made him unusually large. It nearly killed him."
"The example that all males aspire to follow," Vella said, arms crossed. But that wasn't a topic Eight wanted to discuss. Fortunately, Pearl and Four didn't seem inclined to do so either.
Four pointed to the top of Octavio's head and Pearl laughed. "I see what you mean. Three really does leave quite an impression.
Eight frowned and Four showed her the picture. It took her nearly a full second to see the perfectly preserved shoeprints in Octavio's flesh, badly discoloured and ugly, but still there.
She couldn't help but smile. "Well, that did save my life."
"And now, it looks like your relationship actually has a future," Pearl said, smiling. "Don't waste it."
"I won't," Eight assured her. "I'll make sure."
Three stayed a short distance behind Callie as she made her rounds seeing each of the octolings they had liberated, her former friends, the ones who had taken care of her when she herself had been a prisoner. Without the urgency they had during the mission or the chaos after it had ended, they were finally able to have a proper reunion.
To Three's eyes, they all looked healthier now than they had before. Their skin no longer had the deathly pallor of before, and their tentacles no longer as shriveled. The single elite octoling among them seemed to have recovered best, enough that she was able to give Callie a firm hug in return.
Three risked a glance to her left. Eight was still sitting at her table with Pearl, Four, and another octoling. She seemed cheerful enough. She certainly knew that Eight wouldn't let a broken leg keep her miserable, but still, it was good to see her smiling.
Three felt someone approach from behind. Without even turning she knew it was Marie.
"I see the reunion's going well," Marie said as she stood next to her.
Three flashed green. "Did Marina tell you anything?"
"She seems to agree with our idea. It'll make a real difference. It's not like we can keep them here anyway and what we've been doing so far hasn't been working. We need to try something different." She sighed. "Then, maybe I won't have to listen to Mother complaining about Gramps not retiring anymore."
"Wishful thinking," Three said. "Gramps said he'll never retire as long as Octavio's around."
Blotches of maroon and burgundy appeared in Marie's mantle. "Well, we can at least try dislodging a few pebbles to see if it starts a landslide. So, once Callie's done with her little reunion, have her come to the back room, you know, the one where you almost died."
Three's mantle darkened then flashed a dark grey. "I remember. I'm over it."
"Good. After that, we'll need you to bring Eight. I'd like to make sure there are no hard feelings between her and the POWs. That could be bad in the future."
"Understood." Three looked at Callie as she started pulling her old octoling friends into group hugs, and then she pulsed blue. "But this reunion is going to go on for a while before I can pull her away."
Marie's mantle turned a solid blue but then warm spots of pink appeared., and she smiled a little. "Yeah, I know. Insufferable as she is, I wouldn't change a thing about her."
Three smiled a little too. "I think Callie said the same thing about you."
Eight was trying to show Vella how to play one of her phone's game apps when Three arrived. She felt a slight heat rise to her face and couldn't help but smile. Vella backed away and hid behind her. Eight gave her a reassuring pat with one of her tentacles.
Three leaned forward and Eight felt her hearts beat faster.
"We need you in the back room," she said. "They've decided what to do with the POWs and it's important you be there."
Eight grimaced, imagining facing the officer she had shot at the start of the fight. She would be there. "Will I not cause problems?"
"Maybe." Three offered her hand. "But better to try and clear things up now than later. Bad blood is what's kept this whole war going."
Eight accepted Three's hand and carefully stood up, leaning heavily on her good leg. Pearl handed her the crutch and she tucked it under her arm. She still wasn't used to walking with it.
"I suppose you are right."
"Where are you going?" Vella asked worriedly.
"Just to clear things up with your commanding officer, I imagine." Eight gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'll be back. In the meantime, I'm sure Pearl and Four can teach you how to play the game."
Vella's tentacles curled upward. She still didn't trust the inklings.
"If they wanted you dead, Vella, you would be. Just relax. Pearl's a civilian and Four is a fellow soldier."
"From the other side," Vella pointed out.
"For now. But not forever. Don't worry. I'll be back soon enough."
She nodded to Three and the two of them headed towards the back of the building, into an all too familiar hallway to an all too familiar room.
"I wonder if they're having it in this room on purpose to try and make me feel uncomfortable," Three said as they entered the corridor.
"I am sure it is only a matter of practicality," Eight assured her. Pettiness is not an Octarian virtue." She grinned then added, "Besides, who would want to make you angry? The last one that did got two very obvious footprints on his head."
Three grinned back. "Well he deserved it. That counts as me beating him twice."
Halfway down the corridor, Eight gently put an arm in front of Three and they stopped. Three looked at her, brows furrowed with concern.
"I just wanted to talk for a moment," Eight said. "We have not been able to really talk since before yesterday."
Three clasped her hand behind her back and looked straight ahead. "I'm not mad at you or anything. I was just… dealing with a lot of stuff at the time."
"I know. I am sorry I did not think about that when I… when I kissed you." Her face warmed and she could see Three's mantle flickering as it warmed with pink blotches over the green.
"You nearly died," Three said. "It makes sense you would be emotional." She bit her bottom lip and Eight through she saw her quiver. "I was almost too late. I almost lost you."
Eight gave her a small smile and gently grasped her arm. "But you weren't. You were there for me, in the end, and I was the one who got myself in that situation."
"Yes." Three's mantle flared crimson and she pointed a stern finger right in front of Eight's face. "Don't ever do that again."
Eight stared at the finger, making her look cross-eyed, and then looked at Three's hard expression and smiled as her chest swelled.
"As you wish."
"I almost lost you," Three repeated, her hard voice a little shaky. "Don't do that to me again."
Eight grasped her hand and pressed her cheek to the back of it, one of her tentacles wrapping around the hand to hold it in place.
Nothing more needed to be said. The intentions and feelings of the other were clear, their souls in harmony. It felt even more wonderful than Eight imagined.
Avrika purposefully ignored Octavio as he yelled at them while they passed. Even within the confines of the glass globe he was an intimidating presence.
"Shut up!" Agent 4 yelled at him, "or I'll put footprints on the other side of your head."
Avrika and her troops marched in-line with the two agents on either side, both carrying weapons. Even if they were merely a precautionary measure, none of them had any doubt they would use them without hesitation.
As they reached the edge of the square concrete pad on which the inkling's headquarters stood, they stopped. Beyond was the escarpment and then the territory belonging to the domes, filled with Octarians struggling just to live from one day to the next. But it didn't have to be that way, she had seen first-hand how Octarians might live.
She turned to the right and the octolings behind her stood awkwardly. They all had mixed feelings about what they had done, what they had seen, and what they were about to do.
Avrika steadied herself and shouted out, "Right-turn!" By reflex, all the octolings straightened and turned as one, lifting their left foot and then stomping it down at the end of the turn.
Agent 1 and 2 emerged from the small wooden headquarters building, each carrying a large box. Octoshot barrels stuck out of them.
"Your weapons and tanks," Agent 1 explained as they set the boxes down in front of them. "You will each come one at a time to retrieve your weapon and tank. Do not attempt to load your tank or weapon at any time or it will be considered an act of aggression." She didn't need to explain the consequences of that.
Avrika stood in front of the octoling formation. "By numbers, go." The first octoling on the right moved, going to retrieve her gear. Avrika glanced back towards the headquarters building as Vella emerged, carrying another box and looking downtrodden. Avrika felt for her, but this was for the best.
Once all the weapons and tanks had been recovered, Vella handed out the communicators to everyone, each soldier in turn strapping it back onto their tentacle. She came to Avrika last, her eyes big and infantlike, almost pleading as she looked up. It nearly broke Avrika's soul.
She accepted the communicator and placed a hand on Vella's head. "You aren't deserting your duty, Vella," she whispered. "It has only changed form. The skills you will learn and the knowledge you will gain here will aid our people one day. We're going to need that."
Vella pouted and her gaze fell. "I just don't want to leave you."
Avrika gritted her beak, trying to keep back her own tears from spilling. Vella's youth made her maternal instincts cry out, refusing to be ignored. She had to keep herself under control.
"I know the unfamiliar can be frightening and leaving the place you want to be, where you think you should be, feels bad. I didn't want to leave my children, but the army -our people, needed me somewhere else. I may not be with my children, I may not ever see them again, but at least I know that I am making a difference and maybe, I can give them a better future than what I had. If I can do that, then I can be satisfied."
She reached down and began curling the tip of one of Vella's tentacles around her finger. "We need you to do the same. Try to make a future for us. And don't worry, you at least have a sister here to watch over you."
"She's holding me hostage," Vella sniffled.
"Only technically. I know it doesn't sound good but I hope you'll come to understand eventually." She gave Vella a pat on the cheek. "You're dismissed, trooper. Make your mother as proud as you've made me."
Vella sniffled again and then stood up straight, eyes watery but determined. "I'll never forget you, honored mother." She bowed and then left, stiff and formal, hands clenched into irontight fists at her sides. Vella felt as though it was one of her own children walking away and it hurt, but she also felt proud.
"We'll watch over her," Agent 1 said softly. "Don't worry."
"I'm not worried," Avrika said, and slipped her communicator back onto her tentacle. "If there's nothing else…"
"No, you're free to go. Please try to keep out of trouble."
Please don't give us a reason to shoot you someday. Avrika translated in her head.
She turned to the right and addressed her splatoon, minus one. "Left-turn. By the left, quick, march!" With that, they left Inkopolis and a portion of their past behind. Avrika could only hope that they would be able to come again, without having to be shot at or captured. In the future.
Author's Notes:
Welp, the main issues are over and we're starting to wrap up. I'm currently writing a sequel to this story that will focus on the consequences of the agent's actions in this one as well as wrapping up a few loose ends. So there are a lot of things happening in the background of this chapter, most of which won't be properly explored until the epilogue, but I'm sure some of you can make some reasonable guesses. This chapter also softly introduces Silvie Sansea, Marie's mother. She was originally going to be introduced in a prequel story but that's something I haven't been able to make work so I'm focusing on sequels for the moment. She does have a bit of a backstory to explain why she was able to train Three to be as deadly and dangerous as she is and it might not be what you think it is.