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Of course you can do it, Cal!
You're so fun and happy all the time,
You're sure to win the festival.
But if you're scared, don't worry.
I can sing with you.
What are we singing?

Marie kicks Callie under the table. Callie glances up from her laptop, to see Marie flipping her little radio over in her hand.

Callie feels her cheeks heat and flips her radio over, right-side up this time. "Be careful, Agent 3," she says. "You've gotten a lot of work done so far; don't let tiredness make you sloppy."

"Take a breather behind that wall," Marie suggests into her own radio.

Callie keeps watch on her laptop as Agent 3 does just that, pushing forward past the octosnipers and rescuing the zapfish. "Nice! At this rate, you'll save the Great Zapfish in no time!" she says.

"Take a break. You've done enough for one day," Marie says; Callie glances at the clock beside them. Almost time for the news. "We'll return the zapfish later. Right now, you need to take care of yourself. Stretch, eat something, relax for a bit. You can come back tomorrow even fresher."

The camera bobs as Agent 3 nods, and Marie slams her laptop shut and switches off her radio. "It is so hard just sitting here!"

"I know," Callie says, keeping her eyes on her own screen. Only when Agent 3 removes the headset and puts it in the charger does she close her laptop. 3 is wearing their long tentacles tied up in a boy's tight ponytail today; yesterday, they wore them long and loose. She can see why Gramps was confused.

"And telling them to take it easy, and slow down, and take breaks..." Marie wrenches a lollipop out of the cup and bites it. She crunches it loudly a few times, bites the rest, and when only a slightly chewed stick remains, she speaks again, a little calmer. "Gramps could be anywhere and we're just sitting here."

"If we blow our cover, things'll go worse for all Inkopolis," Callie reminds her.

"I know! It's just..." Marie drags a hand over her face. "I can't even be there for him myself. And yeah, 3 is—they're doing really well, I don't think I could've done that last kettle with just my charger and without you as back-up, but it hurts to admit it."

"We're still helping," Callie says. "We're keeping the peace, keeping inklings from panicking." Marie is keeping Callie from panicking, though she doesn't say as much out loud; having Marie there as she always is, grumpy and full of sarcasm, gives Cal something to focus on other than, well, everything.

Marie rubs her hand down her face. "I know," she says. "And we've got splatfest in a week."

"And we're on contract for a new song," Callie mutters. "Cod, we probably need that done before splatfest, too."

Someone knocks on their door; the two turn to look as an urchin sticks his head in. "Five minutes til prep, girls," he says.

"Sometimes, I hate being an idol," Marie mutters.

Callie rolls her eyes and stands up. "What, you'd rather keep working for Walleye Warehouse? We probably still have our uniforms."

"No, I burned mine."

Callie laughs and follows Marie out.