Hey, all, Toon here (unfortunately). So, I don't necessarily know many people are still reading, or who's caught up and whatnot, but like I warned a couple chapters back… this is, finally, the last and final Off Duty chapter (well, maybe, but I'll elaborate in the ending AN). It has definitely been a ride, but I was kind of starting to run out of chapter ideas anyway, and it's time for me to start focusing on the big FF projects. So, let's get this done, and I'll explain more at the end.
Disclaimer: Mr. Blue Sky and its lyrics belong to Electric Light Orchestra.
Dream Team
"Morning! Today's forecast calls for blue skies!"
"Sun is shinin' in the sky
There ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped rainin', everybody's in the play
And don't you know
It's a beautiful new day, hey hey!
Runnin' down the avenue
See how the sun shines brightly in the city
On the streets where once was pity
Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, hey hey!"
Marie's eyes fluttered open as she heard the opening lyrics to her alarm clock. She blinked a bit and, with a smile on her face, reached over to turn it off. Yawning, she sat up, sliding her feet into her slippers by the side of the bed. A bizarre sense of… peace fell over her, as she looked around her room. In fact… she felt better than peace. She felt alive. And oh-so-beautifully real, as the lyrics to the song kept playing in her head.
"Hey you with the pretty face
Welcome to the Inkling race
A celebration, Mr. Blue Sky's up there waitin'
And today is the day we've waited for! A-ah!
Oh Mr. Blue Sky please tell us why
You had to hide away for so long (so long)
Where did we go wrong?
Hey there, Mr. Blue
We're so pleased to be with you
Look around, see what you do
Everybody smiles at you"
A grin etched on her face as she suddenly stood up, full of energy and excitement. Today was gonna be her day. She could sense it. With a quick, gleeful spin and a spring in her step, she ran to her bathroom to start getting ready, quickly grabbing her brush and paste before expertly and elegantly cleaning her beak in just a few strokes. Looking white and ready to go, she spit out the paste, quickly tied up her silver hair into her usual hairstyle, and winked at herself in the mirror before leaping back out.
Almost like a ballerina, she spun down the hall and into her kitchen, where a delicious looking plate of buttered toast and a latte was waiting for her. It must've been left behind by her handsome boyfriend before he headed off to work. How thoughtful of him. Smiling and sniffing them proudly, she scarfed them down and sighed happily. Spinning again, she jumped to get some shoes on, grabbed an umbrella, and opened the front door. Holding the umbrella above her head, she stepped out cautiously, reaching a hand out to test for raindrops. But… strangely, she didn't feel anything. She leaned her umbrella aside and looked up the sky, which was as blue as the sky could be, as the sun stared back at her proudly.
"Oh…" She looked back at her umbella, smiling. "Well, I don't need this silly thing anymore!" She tossed it aside and headed down the steps from her apartment, skipping down the sidewalk as she headed to her new job. She had been working a while to even get this job, and today, her hard work finally paid off. No more vigilante work, no more Splatoon nonsense… just her and her new life.
It didn't take long for her to come up to a big, gorgeous skyscaper in Inkopolis, that towered over her as she walked up. She stared up at it for a moment, admiring it, before she entered in the front doors. Taking the elevator up, she soon arrived on one of the top floors, where she headed down the hall and entered her new office. She came up to the reception desk.
The receptionist looked over, revealing the face of Jessica. She smiled "Oh, Marie. We've been waiting for you. Welcome."
"Hi!" She walked up. She was a bit bothered by her face, but chose to ignore it. "I've been looking forward to this job for months." She smiled.
"I'm glad to hear it." She smiled, before handing her another cup. "Here is your complimentary morning latte."
She took it. "Oh, thank you. You're a goddess."
"Oh, please. I'm just a receptionist." She giggled. "Your desk is over there, Ms. Cuttlefish."
"Thank you." She walked over and sat down, eagerly getting ready. She powered on the computer.
As it turned on, she was met with the face of… Marina. Or… an image of Marina, who was wearing a nice black suit with slick, combed-back hair, against a rotating background.
She stared at it, surprised. "…Marina…?"
"H-H-H-Hey, glad to see you're getting settled in!" The image of Marina replied, her appearance and voice glitched and twitchy. "M-My name is M-M-M-M-M-M-N-N-N-M-M-MARINA H-H-HEADROOM! M-Marina Headroom!" She gave a twitchy smile. "I will be your g-g-guide for this evening! So strap in and hold on, 'cause you're in for a b-b-b-b-bumpy ride! B-B-Bumpy ride!"
"...Marina Headroom as in… Max Headroom?"
"Max Headroom? Ha ha HA! Ha ha HA!" She leaned her head back and laughed multiple times over. "P-P-Please, ain't no thing like me, 'cept m-me. M-M-Me."
Confused, she looked around, looking for help. "Uh… does anyone know what's up with… this?"
Jessica, wearing a suit and a tie, walked by as she sipped her coffee. "It's the computer's guide. You have to listen to it."
"Oh… uh… thanks an-" She paused. Did… she just see a second Jessica? She looked back at the reception desk, where Jessica was still sitting. "…Uh…"
"N-N-N-Now, let's get started." Marina Headroom continued. "I'm going to ask a s-s-series of questions. Your job, for now, is t-t-to answer them all honestly. Be careful, now, your paygrade depends on it." Her image was replaced by a question, and her voice spoke over it. "Please answer the following question."
She looked at it. It read: Are You Marie Cuttlefish?
She paused for a second, before slowly typing in the answer-space: Yes. She hit enter.
The next question appeared. Confirm Your Age?
She typed in: 21. She again hit enter.
The computer loaded for a moment, before the next question appeared. What Are You Most Afraid Of?
Now this was getting… a bit too weird. What kind of question was that?
A woman suddenly approached her from behind. "Need some help?" She asked.
"Uh… no, I was just-" She turned and saw… a third Jessica. "Uh…"
"...Something wrong?" She asked.
"...I'm sorry… uh…" She looked at her nametag to confirm. Indeed, it read: Ms. Murdock.
"Are you ok?" She asked once more.
She looked around the room, glancing at all the different co-workers in the room. Indeed, there was Jessica, running the reception desk… Then there was Jessica, filing something… Two more Jessicas, chatting and gossiping about whatever… Another Jessica, talking on the phone with a customer… How many Jessicas could there be?
Marie slowly stood up. "…Who are you?"
"Oh. I'm Jessica. Jessica Murdock." She held her hand out.
She ignored it. "…Where am I?"
"At… Cuttlefish Incorporated. You… did apply here, right?"
She looked around. Now all the Jessicas were staring at her. Hauntingly. "…Sorry… you're right… I should just… I don't feel well, I'm gonna go back home…"
"...You're not going anywhere, Ms. Cuttlefish."
She raised an eyebrow. "…You wanna bet?"
"Just sit back down and get back to work. I'll get you a latte. Ok?"
"I already have my… second latte…" She looked around, again seeing that some Jessicas were starting to approach her. "…Uh… you know what… I'll just-" She suddenly punched the closest Jessica, and made a break for the door, sending a stack of papers into the air on the way.
She lunged at the door and twisted the doorknob, but unfortunately, it was locked up tight. Desperately, she pulled out a pick to pick it open, but she didn't make it very far into the action before she was tackled by multiple Jessicas. They dragged her down and back toward the office.
She clawed against the floor. "…J-Jessica, stop!" She yelled, before one of the Jessicas kicked her in the head. Hard.
"Ow!" Marie yelled as she woke up, quickly sitting up in her bed. She sighed in relief. It was just a dream…
She reached her hand out of her covers to feel her head, before suddenly wincing in pain. Her… head hurt. Right where Jessica had just kicked her in the dream. But… if it was a dream…
She looked at her hand in confusion, staring at it for a few seconds. Why was she feeling pain? After a moment, she shot out of bed and toward her mirror, examining her face. Of course, she looked like she had just woken up. It was the morning, she had her usual bed-head, her hair wasn't tied up, and there was… no signs that she had just been hurt. Yet, the pain was still there, real as ever, as if Jessica had indeed kicked her.
She blinked a bit, and backed away from the mirror. She sighed, thinking about it for a moment, realizing how crazy she sounded. "…Well…" She muttered to herself. "I'm just like Callie… losing my damn mind…"
A Bit Later
"Thanks for coming over, Callie…" Marie said, sipping an actual real latte at her dining table.
"Oh, no problem." Callie said, sitting near her with a beer bottle. "I can always tell on the phone when something is bothering you. It's kinda like my thing."
"I can tell the same for you, you know… and, uh…" She noticed and awkwardly pointed at her beer. "…It's not even 9 in the morning yet and you're already drinking? From my fridge?"
She shrugged. "I realized recently how fun it is to drink on weekend mornings." She sipped it.
"...Ok…?" She shrugged it off and sipped her latte.
"So. Tell me allll about what's on your mind."
Marie leaned her elbows on the table, tapping her drink a bit. "...Have you ever had, like… a weird dream?"
"Well… yeah. Haven't we all?"
"No, I don't mean like your average, nonsensical dream. I'm talking more about… dreams that feel… so… real. And when you wake up… you don't even feel like you woke up, because it feels like you've been awake. Experiencing something… otherworldly."
Callie paused as well. She was starting to think she knew what she was talking about. "…Well, uh… depends on what you mean…"
She sighed. "…Never mind, it's silly."
"No, it's not. I mean…" She decided to make something up. "I've heard it happen to other people. It's normal. You're not going crazy."
"...Well it's just… I had this dream last night. Where I was… I got an office job. And when I went inside… all the employees were Jessica. And Marina was on my computer except she was Max Headroom, for some reason." She sipped her drink again. "It all felt so… strangely real. Like I was awake. And what gets weirder is… the dream ended with all the different Jessicas attacking me when I tried to escape. One of them kicking me really hard, I woke up, and then… it felt like I had actually been kicked. Like, the pain was still there…"
Callie felt her hearts sink a bit, recognizing a few bits of that story. "…Hmmmm… sounds… interesting…" She sipped her drink some more.
Marie, however, started thinking about how this all sounded out loud. She suddenly laughed.
"...What's funny?"
"I'm sorry…" She took a breath. "I just realized how silly I'm sounding… God, I'm overthinking over nothing…"
"...Ha… ha ha ha." She forced out a laugh as well. "Yeah, that's… real hilarious."
"...I guess it's not quite like that time that we both had a haunted mansion dream on the same night. Right?" She nudged her elbow and laughed again.
She laughed a bit as well. "Yeah… heh… what are the odds?"
"Yeah…" She chuckled and sipped her latte.
"...I guess it's not every night when two cousins get a dream about getting kidnapped by me but with evil sunglasses on." She sipped her beer. "I mean… who dreams about that, ever?"
This time, it was Marie who felt like her hearts sank a little. Pausing, she looked at her. "…What?"
"...What?"
"...I never… mentioned you had the Hypnoshades in that dream."
Callie, again, felt her hearts sink. "…You didn't…?"
She stared at her.
"...Right, no, it's because I… made it up…"
At this point, she wasn't buying it. Something was going on. "...Callie… did we… have the… exact same dream…?"
"N-... No…"
She narrowed her eyes at her. "…It… was a dream… right?"
They fell into silence for a good moment, before Callie suddenly cleared her throat. "I have to go." She stood up.
"C-Callie?" She stood up as well.
"Sorry, I just remembered I have a dentist appointment!" She rushed to the door.
"...But you hate the dentist!"
"Never too late to give the ol' dentist a second try! We can talk later, though! Love ya!" She opened the door, left, and slammed the door back shut.
Marie stared, a bit wide-eyed. She put her hands on her hips. "…Could've at least come up with a better lie than that…" She muttered to herself.
Meanwhile
The window to Bridgett and Jessica's apartment slid open, before Bridgett used her Octopus form to slip inside. Falling down to the floor, she morphed back to her humanoid form, revealing her Deepsea Metro outfit and a scratch on her face. She groaned, stretching and rolling her neck.
Jessica slithered in after her, turning back into her humanoid form with her Hero Outfit. She didn't even look like she took a mark, and casually un-clipped her cape, letting it fall to the ground.
Bridgett sighed, feeling her cut. "…That's the last time we do a mission in broad daylight in the morning…"
"The city never sleeps." Jessica replied. "Shit could require our attention any time of the day."
"As I have learned, the hard way…" She sighed.
She looked her over. "…You hurt?"
"It's just a scratch." She replied.
"I'm not talking about your cheek." She pointed at her hip, where a more open cut was, with some ink going down her skirt.
She looked down and noticed. "Oh, shit… I didn't even notice."
"Too much adrenaline?"
"No, I felt the pain, I just…" She felt it a bit. "I didn't think it was a big deal…"
She sighed. "…You need to be more mindful of yourself, Bridge."
"I-I know, I'm sorry… I…" She suddenly looked at her. "…Really? Coming from you?"
Jessica smirked a bit, amused, but ignored her question otherwise. "C'mon. I'll patch you up." She took her over the bathroom, pulling out her first aid.
Bridgett followed her in and leaned against the wall, letting Jessica clean her wound. She looked away and winced as Jessica took a needle, starting to stitch her up.
"Relax…" Jessica told her.
"I am…" She replied, although she remained a bit tense.
Jessica quickly finished and got her bandaged up, before standing. "There. Now, actually relax."
She felt her bandage. "…Thanks… Living with you is… certainly useful…"
"Welcome. I learned how to do it when we moved in together. Thought it best to be prepared."
She looked at her, a bit touched, before they heard her phone ring. She walked into the other room, locating her cell phone before picking it up and answering. "Hello?"
"Eight?" Marie spoke on the other line.
"T-That's me." She said. It seemed that, despite the time they've known each other, she still occasionally got flustered while talking to a Squid Sister. "What's up?"
"I'm, um… asking for a favor."
"...Ok? Why aren't you contacting Dylan?"
"I did call him first. But… this is going to be for something really weird, but can I get you and Three to my apartment? I'm trying to hold a team meeting. A subtle one, mind you."
Uh oh. They hadn't held a team meeting in a while. "…What kind of weird are we talking?"
Marie's Apartment
Marie set down a plate of her own admittedly poor attempt at oatmeal cookies on the table, sighing to herself. She turned to Bridgett and Jessica, who were now wearing casual clothes, as well as Dylan, who was chilling nearby. "Ok, uh… thank you all for coming."
Dylan smiled a bit. "Oh, thank you for the cookies." He grabbed one and attempted to take a bite, but it suddenly fell apart in his hand, half of it falling to the floor.
She noticed. "…They're…" She sighed. "I tried, ok?"
"So…" Bridgett started. "Why aren't we meeting at the usual spot?"
"Because Pearl and Marina aren't answering my calls. And for now, it might be better talking… not there. I wanna keep this on the down-low. Uh… where the hell is Sheldon?"
She and Dylan both shrugged.
"Where's Callie?" Jessica asked, leaning against the wall.
"She's ignoring me." Marie sighed, sitting down. "We tried to discuss the meeting topic this morning, and she… panicked and ran away. That's why I'm instead discussing this with you."
"...So… what's the meeting topic?" Dylan asked as he took another cookie, which also fell apart in his hand. He sighed in disappointment.
Marie sighed. "…We're talking about dreams."
"...Pardon?" Bridgett asked.
"Dreams. I, uh… I've been having some really weird ones. Some that felt way too real. I'm… wondering whether or not they actually happened."
The three agents looked at each other, confused, while Marie blushed in embarrassment. Jessica sighed and stood up straight. "Ok, I have other things to do besides this tinfoil-hat stuff." She turned to leave.
"Jessica, you leave right now, so help me god..."
She turned to her. "What are you going to do to me?"
"...I'll splat you."
She gave her a look. "You'll splat me?"
"Don't look at me like that, I can do it."
"Whatever…" She turned to leave anyway, but before she could open the door, the doorbell rang. "…Uh…" She opened the door.
Sheldon was standing there. "Ah, Agent 3."
She sighed. "Sheldon…"
"You can talk again? That's nice. " He entered. "I hope we're not here to talk about when we last saw each other. You know… when I tied you up and sent robots after you."
"Trust me, I am beyond caring…"
"Oh, good." He went inside and leapt onto Marie's table. "Hello, Marie."
"Hello, Sheldon." She replied.
Jessica, realizing she was a bit curious to see what this dream nonsense they were talking about was, sighed to herself as she subtly and awkwardly rejoined the meeting.
"So…" Marie continued. "The reason I want to discuss dreams is because… I want to ask all of you if you've experienced hyper-realistic dreams. As in, when you feel awake during them, and, like in my case, maybe even feel pain from the dream after you wake up."
"...Well… now that you mention it…" Dylan said. "I've had one or two dreams like that. Minus the waking pain. It was bizarre, but, I haven't questioned it much since."
"I've… felt that, yeah." Bridgett asked. "…Why, is that not normal?"
Marie thought about it. "…Sheldon, what about you?"
"What about me?" Sheldon replied, eating a cookie.
"...You were present during my haunted mansion dream. Do you… recall anything like that?"
He thought about it. "…Haunted… mans-" He suddenly looked at her and gasped. "You experienced that?"
"Y-Yes."
"Where you were in the painting? Where you were kidnapped by Callie but with her hypnoshades on, and then she held you hostage aboard the Octobot King while the actual Callie tried to save you?"
"...Y-Yes. O-Oh my god, that was the exact scenario!"
"...Time out. What about a haunted mansion?" Jessica asked.
Marie, now more nervously, proceeded to tell the group about her experiences in the haunted mansion dream, as well as her office job dream from that morning. Sheldon also told his own point of view of the haunted mansion, and Marie finished by explaining how Callie had left when asked about it. By the end of the catching-up chat, they were all a bit spooked, even Jessica.
"...So you actually had the same dream?" Dylan asked. "…Wait… were they even dreams?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." She replied.
Sheldon sat down. "…This explains some things… I mean, inside that… scenario, I felt so sure we were in some kind of hell reality… but then when I woke up, I shrugged it all off and moved on. In fact, I've barely even thought back on it."
"...We need to get to the bottom of this." Marie continued. "Callie's not answering my calls, but while I work on regaining contact with her, we need to start finding leads."
"...How?" Bridgett asked.
"...By asking around, with people we know. If we find more people who have or haven't experienced these dreams, we'll start narrowing it down. If we don't learn anything from them, we'll at least learn that this phenomenon only surrounds us."
"...We're going to come across as a cult or some shit." Jessica commented.
"Then so be it. I don't really see any other options right now."
She sighed, and they all looked at each other.
Marie got back on her phone to attempt another call for Callie, but stopped when she noticed they were now standing around. "...Come on, chop chop, guys!"
The team soon got to work on Marie's new mission, and it involved making a list of people they could ask about it. They headed out and started on their interrogations one at the time, as they headed to meet their first target: Samantha Schultz.
It wasn't long before the group got seated in Dylan's apartment, the agents sitting across from Samantha, as Dylan started recording on his phone. "Ok, Sam…" He got his notepad. "It's a simple question. Just tell us about any… unusually realistic dreams you might've experienced, especially if they've made you feel pain from within the dream, or straight up question reality."
Samantha took a moment to think about her answer, but came up with a question instead. "…Why are you recording and taking notes?"
He looked down at the two items, then back at her. "…Because."
She scoffed and smirked. "Whatever, moron…"
"Come on, Sam, we don't have all day. You can tell us about any dreams, even if it's personal."
"...How personal are we talking?"
"Sam, I'm your brother. I can handle it."
"...Ok, if you insist… um… In recent memory? I had a dream where I finally hooked up with my old crush from Turf Warring, and finally lost my virginity to him. It was one of the greatest moments of my life, until, I woke up. I realized none of it was real, and… I was totally crushed, that whole day. Kinda still haven't gotten over it."
"That's… hm…" He looked down and sighed in embarrassment, while Jessica rolled her eyes.
"You asked for it, bud." Samantha replied.
"...Ok…" Bridgett felt a bit awkward as well. "Did it… feel real? Like it had actually happened?"
"Real? Hm… I guess, kind of, at the time, but when I look back on it… No, it was blurry and surreal."
"...Anything else worth sharing too much of?" Jessica asked.
"...Hm… Not relating to this topic, no… um… what exactly is the topic, again?"
Dylan sighed and stood up. "Ok, we're done here."
The next meeting: Shella Freshwahter
"Well, that's an… interesting question…" Shella replied, sitting the backrooms of the Ballista store. "I mean, all dreams feel realistic at the time. It's not like our brains are capable of telling until we wake up."
"That's… what we're talking about." Sheldon replied. "Like, when you wake up, it doesn't feel like you were dreaming. It feels like it actually happened."
"...Now why are you asking this, Shelley? This is getting kind of weird. Even for you."
"...Are you insinuating that I'm always weird?"
"...Yes. Yes, I am."
He paused for a moment, before looking at his teammates. "…Do you guys think I'm weird?"
"...Well…" Dylan droned.
"Yeah…" Bridgett admitted.
"Absolutely." Jessica finished, casually leaning back.
He opened his mouth to say something, but instead looked back at Shella, who was now trying and failing to mask a giggle. He groaned.
Shella cleared her throat. "Sorry…"
"...Have you had any dreams like it or not?"
"...Uh…" She thought about it for a moment. "No comment."
The next target was someone they opted to instead call to avoid attention at the IPD: Sergeant Johnson.
Johnson, who was working at the station, stepped into a private corner to answer the phone when he saw that Jessica was calling him. "Yes? Do you need something?"
"Just… permission to ask a weird question." Jessica responded on the other line.
"...Is it work related?"
"...Kind of?"
"...Ok, might as well, at this point… just make it quick."
"So… my Splatoon friends are currently freaking out about… well… dreams."
"Excuse me?"
"It's… please don't make me repeat myself. Marie wants me to ask if you've had any strangely realistic dreams. Like, when you wake up and feel like you weren't dreaming, or you feel actual pain that came from the dream, or another person experienced the same dream."
"...Is this a test question?"
"...Depends on how you look at it."
"...I'm going to go back to work, now."
She sighed, immediately giving up. "Fine…"
"Don't hesitate to call if there's something actually important to discuss." He awkwardly hung up, before returning to work. "I swear, working with that woman just keeps getting weirder…" He muttered to himself.
Next up: Anna & Chloe Henderson
It didn't take long before the four agents got seated in front of Chloe's desk in her living room, where she appeared to have been doing some work before getting interrupted by this… meeting.
"...So… where's Anna?" Bridgett asked.
"...Book signing." Chloe responded, awkwardly turning her pen in her hand as she stared at them.
"Ah…" She looked away, slightly intimidated by her stare.
"You can just answer the question, you know." Jessica continued. "Then we're gone."
"Yeah, sorry…" Chloe replied, somewhat sarcastically. "But you do realize that coming to my apartment and asking me about my dreams is weird, concerning, and points to you being delirious psychos, right? You're reminding me of those 'Ever Dream This Man?' posters."
"...Do you have an answer, or no?"
"...Yeah, actually, I do. Just let me…" She pulled out a note and started writing something down.
"...You don't have to write it down, just tell us."
"I'm just trying to be safe, in case the aliens hear us." She finished it, set down her pen, and handed it over. "Here."
Jessica took it, but to her frustration, it turned out to be some recommendation for her to see a psychiatrist. She glared at her.
"It's for you." She clarified, grinning slightly.
She scoffed and stood up to leave, keeping the note. "Just in case."
"We are coming up with NOTHING!" Sheldon shouted as they left Chloe's apartment. "I am not gaining a single neuron of new information! Marie is wasting our time!"
"Sheldon. Cool it." Dylan replied. "I get you want answers, but it's not time to get hysterical."
"This is the perfect time to get hysterical!"
"We're not learning nothing." Jessica sighed as they walked down the stairs. "All the people we've asked so far just think we're crazy. Whatever phenomenon we're dealing with, it's likely in-house. Among our team. At least we're narrowing it down."
"I still want to know why Callie is avoiding this." Bridgett replied. "I mean, what could she know that we don't?"
"...I don't know…" Dylan said. "She seems pretty front-and-center in this, though, if she was the… uh… 'antagonist' of the haunted mansion thing, for lack of a better word."
"There were two Callies present there." Sheldon added. "The good Callie and the evil, brainwashed Callie. The evil Callie disappeared as soon as the good Callie broke her shades. She was a fake."
"...Or maybe a representation of something." He stopped.
"A representation of what?" He said as the rest stopped as well.
"Well, think about it. Callie was only ever brainwashed during her time in the Canyon, by Octavio. And then also think about Marina, who appeared in the Max Headroom form. They're both connected to the Octarians."
"...So, you think…?"
"They are the species with the superior technology."
They looked around at each other.
"...So when was the last time we've spoken with Octavio?" He finished.
Octo Canyon
Octavio, like always, was still trapped within his snow globe, which was a stronger, more fortified version of the previous one that he managed to escape, something that kept him imprisoned while the Splatoon was distracted during the Underdogs incident. He was snoring lightly, his head drooped forward, before he was woken by the nearby plop sound. He blinked awake. "…Hm…?" He looked over.
Bridgett, Jessica, and Dylan walked over. "…Octavio." Bridgett greeted.
He suddenly desperately slammed himself against the glass. "LET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE!"
In response, Jessica and Dylan both swiftly pointed their weapons at him.
He groaned and relaxed again. "…Those guns are pointless. Ain't nothing getting through this glass…"
"Ready to behave?" Jessica asked.
"...Do you people give me any other choice?"
"Don't be bitter with us. It's because of your actions that you're in there."
He looked them over, specifically Jessica and Dylan. "…I don't think I've ever seen the two of you together before. The two agents that single-handedly infiltrated all my domes… ugh…"
"...Just get better defenses, dude." Dylan said. "Even my sister managed to sneak in without getting noticed."
"Oh? You have a sister? What's her name? I'm in the mood to squidnap someone again."
Jessica ignored him, unconcerned. "We're here to ask you something."
"And I'm here to not listen…"
She asked anyway. "Your Octarians and their tech. Do they have anything… dream related?"
"...Are you high on something? Can I have some?"
"Just answer the question."
"...My Octarians played around with a lot of stuff… did a lot of experimenting… glorious work that would've made us king of the hill…" He sighed. "…Too bad it was all for nothing."
"...So, if we've been experiencing… hyper-realistic dreams that can inflict real pain on us, can we assume it's tied to your people?"
His eyes widened a bit. "…Interesting…"
"...What?"
"...I've seen only one project of that magnitude… and even we thought it wouldn't work out…" He smiled a bit, amazed. "The Subgrid…"
"...Tell us about it." Dylan replied.
"Oh, you should be the ones telling me about it. Even with all our technological might, there were things even we thought impossible. But hey. I'm sure the girl here remembers the initial blueprints." He ushered toward Bridgett.
Dylan and Jessica both looked at Bridgett, who just looked at Octavio, confused. "…What?"
"...Interesting…" He thought about it. "Cuttlefish told me about the Octoling girl who lost her memories… I suppose it was you?"
She just stared at him, not responding.
"...Shame…" He sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't press further. Best to leave that behind, anyway, now that I know you're a traitor."
"...Who engineered the blueprints?" Jessica pressured, taking them back on course.
"The one and only. The smartest girl I've ever known, who happens to walk among you, now. I get it, now. She came to the surface, joined your Splatoon, and finished her project. Wow. If she were here, I'd give her congratulations…"
And that was all they needed to hear. They looked at each other, nodding. "Marina." Jessica said, before rushing back to the manhole and diving in, wasting no time.
"Thanks, man." Dylan told him, before doing the same.
Bridgett, however, was frozen, staring at Octavio, still trying to process a couple things.
"...You need something more, girl?" Octavio responded, annoyed at this point.
She blinked a bit. She wasn't going to get into it… not with him… Now wasn't the time anyway. Looking down, she rushed back to the manhole as well and dove in.
It wasn't too much longer after that when Bridgett, Jessica, Dylan, Sheldon, and Marie all walked up to Marina's house; Marie sighed, looking at her phone. "Of course this all had to be on the day these two both refuse to answer my calls…"
"You guys really think Marina could be behind this?" Sheldon asked. "I mean, she's… kind of my friend…"
"She's a friend for all of us, Sheldon. But we need answers." Marie said, approaching the house. They could hear loud rock music coming from inside, obviously from Pearl, and Marie knocked on the door only a couple times before quickly giving up upon receiving no answer. She sighed and moved to pick the lock.
"Oh, fuck this shit…" Jessica interrupted, before suddenly picking up a brick and throwing it at the window, smashing it open.
The other four jumped and looked at her, taken aback somewhat.
"You're welcome." She went to climb through, heading toward the source of the music.
Bridgett and Dylan looked at each other. "…That's the girl you chose to live with?" Dylan asked.
Bridgett ignored him and slipped through after her, followed by everyone else.
They all moved to the back of the house toward the source of the music; so far, Marina didn't appear to be home, but Pearl definitely was, as she was the source of the very loud music. She was in Bridgett's old room, which she had apparently turned into her own personal music room; She had sound-canceling headphones on, and was going very rough on her electric guitar, practically beating it as she screamed the lyrics. "YYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Holy mother of god…" Marie grimaced, covering her ears. Jessica desperately turned off the music.
Pearl took a solid moment to notice that an essential part of her music was now gone, and continued hamming it away on her guitar. When she did notice, however, she turned to them and stopped. "Hey, what's the big idea?"
"My ears are ringing, you annoying gremlin." Jessica hissed.
"How have the neighbors not called the police on you…?" Marie groaned, her ears also ringing.
"Oh, those old people?" Pearl shrugged. "They all moved. Couldn't handle my style. The next-door places have been vacated for months."
She sighed, deciding to get back on-mission. "Where's Marina?"
She paused. "…She's… working."
"...Marina's unemployed." Bridgett replied.
"Well, not anymore. Can you please turn my music back on? Thanks."
"...Pearl…" Marie got closer, looking her in the eye with a serious glare. "…I've been having a long, stressful day… It's barely the afternoon and I'm tired… I have a headache… and my ears are now ringing. But I've been in the Splatoon long enough now that I can pick up cues from people. Specifically, what I'm trying to say… I've gotten pretty accurate at telling when people are lying. So I'm going to ask again." She got closer still. "Where's Marina?"
Pearl gulped slightly, staring back. "…She's handling personal matters."
"What personal matters?"
"...Personal matters."
"...Well… how about you call her and tell her we have something important to talk about? Before I get mad and give you some real personal matters?"
She gulped again. "…She told me not to call during her… personal matters…"
"Uh-huh…"
Pearl slowly reached to turn the music back on, but Marie grabbed her arm.
"What are you and Callie hiding?" She asked, growing frustrated.
"...Uh…" After a moment, she suddenly ripped her arm from Marie's grasp and bolted out of there. Of course, she didn't actually make it that far, as Jessica swiftly grabbed her and shoved her against the wall, pinning her. She yelped in pain. "Motherfucker! Not again!"
"Start talking." Jessica hissed.
"I-I can't! I can't say anything!"
"Yeah, you can." Marie folded her arms. "Come on! Spit it out."
"I can't, I can't!"
"Barf it up! Up up up!" She kept pressuring, as Jessica twisted her arm.
Upon feeling her arm getting twisted, she yelped. "S-She's at her lab! Her secret lab!"
"What secret lab?"
"S-She works in a secret lab, inside an abandoned Shifty Station! She goes their to work on her experiments!"
"Like the Subgrid?"
"Yes! T-The Subgrid! S-She only let me and Callie know about it!" Jessica finally let go of her arm, and she panted, holding her arm. "Ow…"
"...So Marina was really behind this…" Bridgett thought aloud. "…Why…?"
"S-She never told me… Well, last time, she put Callie and I in so that we could patch the program… that was it…"
"So it's a program." Marie continued. "That gives you realistic dreams?"
"...Yeah… uh… more-or-less…"
"...Ok… uh… sorry for the interrogation. But like I said. Long day." She took in a breath. "Take us to her lab."
"...What, so you can throw her up against the wall too!?"
"If we have to." Jessica shrugged.
"No, no." Bridgett interrupted. "No more throwing people against walls. Ok? She's Marina, she's our friend. We just want answers."
"Just help us, Pearl." Marie added. "So we can put this behind us."
Pearl just stared at them all, thinking about it.
A Bit Later
Underground
Abandoned Shifty Station
The Splatoon team were all lined up, following behind Pearl as she led them through the maze that was the half-baked construction site of this Shifty Station arena that never came to be finished. Marie followed directly behind Pearl, while Sheldon rested on her shoulder, riding on her; Dylan was not far behind, while Bridgett and Jessica were at the back of the pack, following from a slight distance.
Bridgett's mind was… occupied, to say the least. Not only on what Octavio had said to her, but… rather, more-so on what Marina could be doing. Was she doing this the whole time she knew her? Was it really like her to play the secrets game? When she thought about it, she supposed it was. There was a lot of details about her Octarian life that Marina never told them. She was a bit private on her life prior to Inkopolis… and, apparently, her life in Inkopolis as well. She sighed, starting to feel like her mind was racing a bit too fast for her. It distracted her so much, that she suddenly bumped into Jessica, having forgotten she was walking right next to her. She looked at her, nervous about bringing Angry Jessica out. "…Uh…"
Jessica, however, didn't really seem to mind. She looked at her. "…What?"
"...Nothing…" She replied, her nervousness getting washed over by relief.
She sighed. "…If you feel nervous, I get it."
"...You do…?"
"I've already expressed my distrust in the Off the Hook girls…" She elaborated. "But… if it makes you feel better, I don't think Marina is a bad person. Whatever's going on, I'm sure there's an explanation."
Now, it was a bit of a feeling of calm that was washing over her. "…I guess it's just been a bit confusing on what to think, lately…"
Jessica patted her shoulder. "I've been there…"
She smiled a bit at her, before becoming distracted again as she suddenly heard Pearl's voice: "A-yo, we're here!"
They all gathered around Pearl, who had finally led the team to a door, with a keypad next to it. Instead of just opening the door and entering like Marie expected, however, Pearl instead stood there, as if waiting for someone else to do something.
Marie noticed, looking at her. "…Can you… take us inside?"
"...Oh, I don't know the access code."
Most of the team suddenly groaned in frustration. "…Well, now what?" Dylan asked.
"Don't look at me." Pearl said somewhat shyly. "I've only been here twice."
"Figure out a way inside." Marie commanded.
"...I don't-"
"Figure out a way inside!" She suddenly snapped.
She gulped. Not wanting to be tortured by Jessica again, she turned and started studying the door. "Hm…"
A few moments passed,as Pearl awkwardly played with the door; She tried using the communication feature to ask Marina to open it, she tried pulling it open, she tried entering in random codes, she tried kicking it open, and she even tried waving her hands around like a mad person as if trying to activate a motion sensor.
Marie rolled her eyes and sighed as she watched, to no results. "…Ok, this isn't working."
"Ya think?" Pearl replied. "I can do a lot of things, but apparently not even a godly rap-queen superhero like myself can get past these defenses on my own."
"...Did you just call yourself a superhero?" Jessica asked.
"Yes, it's my Subgrid persona."
"I thought your persona was Ant-Lady." Bridgett added.
"Yes. I am Ant-Lady."
Marie sighed again. "Ok, we need new options. Either Marina isn't here or she's avoiding us."
"Guys, we've broken into the Octarian settlements before." Dylan pointed out. "Are we really going to let a single door stop us?"
"I can get us a battering ram." Sheldon said. "Or we can blow up the entrance."
Marie thought about it. "...Normally, I'd say no, but that actually sounds enticing today…"
"I know, right?"
Pearl raised a finger to add her own opinion, but was interrupted as they heard a beep sound. They looked over to see that the keypad had just activated itself, turning green.
"Welcome, New Squidbeak Splatoon." An automated voice told them, just as the door slid open.
Marie got in front of Pearl and pointed her charger at the entrance, protecting the rest of the group. A moment passed, however, and nothing else happened. She glanced back at her team, confused.
Pearl just gave her a shrug, and Marie turned back to the entrance, slowly heading inside, while the others followed. They all headed inside to the lab, where the lights were on, but no one seemed present; It didn't take them long to arrive in a room that was filled with beds and lots of wires, that hooked up to a large computer.
Marie looked it over. "…Is this…?"
"The Subgrid? Yeah." Pearl confirmed.
"Woah…" Sheldon hopped down to examine all of it, amazed by the technology. "…This produced the haunted mansion…?"
"Well, it can produce a lot of things."
Marie, however, kept on exploring, and walked into the other room, which was clearly the main area of the lab. The walls were lined with monitors, which contained different information like the weather (for some reason), entire walls of Subgrid code, and other bits of information she didn't even understand. She looked it all over, confused, amazed, and a bit haunted. As she found herself distracted by the different screens, however, someone approached her from behind.
"I figured you'd find this place sooner or later…" She heard a voice behind her. She jumped and suddenly turned around, pointing her charger directly at Marina's face. Marina, surprised, jumped as well and raised her hands. "Woah, woah, Marie. It's just me."
Marie took a breath and slowly raising her weapon, but did not let her guard down. She gave another look around. "…I've been looking for this all day…"
"...Pearlie told you?"
She looked back at her. "Only after I started tracing the weird dreams to you. The haunted mansion… the office job… they all came from here?"
Marina sighed, and awkwardly walked over to her desk. "For the record, I was going to tell you. All of you. Eventually."
"What do you mean 'eventually'?"
"I mean that I was-" She sighed and faced her again. "I was waiting for the right time. I'll admit, the Underdogs incident threw… pretty much everything off."
"The Underdogs Incident?" She thought about that. "…How long have you been up to this for? How long have you been plugging us into that… that… machine for!?"
She hesitated. "…Almost since the program has been up and running. Think about it, Marie. Your first delve into it was the haunted mansion. You passed it off as a dream before the Underdogs incident. And I've only plugged you in a couple times since then, because using it too often would damage your brain. I'm still working on that."
"...A-And last night, with the office job dream?"
"...Yes, I plugged you in last night."
"...And what about the thing where Callie went missing? And came back blabbering about another weird dream? She won't even talk about the Subgrid. I asked her about it and she left. I still haven't spoken to her since."
"...Yes, she's the one I've plugged in the most."
"You mother-" She suddenly pointed her charger at her again.
"Marie, Marie!" Marina again held her hands up. "Calm down and let me explain!"
"Then get on it! Because YOU HAVE A LOT OF IT TO DO!"
"I get it! It's freaky! That's why I've avoided telling you! And I'll admit right now that plugging people in was risky! But I need you to know, right now, no one was ever going to get hurt. I've been very, very careful. Ok?"
"...Why were you plugging us in, Marina?"
"...Let's just-"
"WHY WERE YOU PLUGGING US IN!?" She snapped.
She jumped, and then sighed. There was no hiding it now… she wondered, should she just come out with it today? Hope for the best? "…I'll get to that."
"You put my fucking cousin at risk, you fucking-"
"Marie, again, calm down." She sighed. "You want an explanation? I'll give it to you. All of you. There's been a lot I've been working on. Ok? I… I think it's best I tell you all as a team."
Marie just stared at her, her finger not even really on the gun's trigger.
"...Marie?" Marina continued. "I promise I'll tell all of you. Just calm down first. Please?"
Marie sighed, finally lowering her charger. "…This better be fucking good."
"...Ok." She nodded. "Let's get everyone."
That Night
The cat was out of the bag, now; The remaining Splatoon members had been contacted by Marina and told about the situation, and the entire team was now gathered under the dome of the abandoned Shifty Station.
Cap'n Cuttlefish gripped his cane as he stood inside Marina's lab, looking over the Subgrid tech as if it was the most impressive thing he's ever seen.
Callie, who was standing next to her, eagerly awaited his opinion. "...Well?"
"...Well… it certainly is… new." He finally said.
"...Isn't that what you said when you first discovered cell phones?"
"Yeah…" He tapped his cane against one of the wires. "But this is… Octarian." He turned toward the team, who were standing nearby. "And I find it unsettling that I could've been here before without knowing it."
"You haven't been." Marina assured. "I'm aware of your age. I'd never plug you in."
"But you do see why I would have trouble believing you, right?"
She sighed. "…Y-Yeah, I guess…"
"And regardless… what can I say for my granddaughters? They're been plugged in before."
"...Yes. I've plugged most of you in."
"Without our consent…" Marie replied, her arms crossed as she leaned against a wall.
"And, it could've gotten you hurt."
"Without our consent…" She repeated.
"But, I'm no longer hiding it. I'm no longer playing secrets. Ok? It's all out in the open now, so… ask me whatever you want. So we can put this behind us."
The room fell into silence for a moment, which Bridgett was eventually the one to break. She had still been thinking a lot about what Octavio told her, and had even considered asking Marina if she knew anything about it, but… she didn't have the strength to confront it today. Yet, she still spoke up. "…Why were you doing this?" She asked, locking eye contact with her.
Marina thought about her answer. "…I began development of the Subgrid for a few reasons… To… create worlds, and scenarios that we could never accomplish in real life. To… See things we could never experience. To…"
"Escape from reality…" Callie added.
She nodded in agreement. "Escape from reality… And to… prove to myself that I could finish it. Which… I haven't. I haven't finished it, I have to admit. You… were all brought on as test subjects. To do the beta testing that I couldn't in order to help me make it the best program it can be."
"...You know what, that's all well and good." Marie continued, standing up straight. "I'm glad that you're… smart enough and good enough to be able to pull off projects like this. Seriously, I'm proud. But the problem I'm seeing here is that you took all of us, and plugged us into that thing without us knowing. You… subjected us to god-knows-what without our permission."
Marina looked at her. "…I know I should've done it differently. And… I'm sorry. It's why I tried to pass it off as dreams for all of you. Honestly, guys." She looked around at all of them. "I tried to make it as safe as possible for all of you. I don't believe you were ever in real danger."
The team remained silent as they all stared back.
"...Do you believe me?"
Silence proceeded for another moment, as no one responded.
"...I don't know." Bridgett admitted to again break the silence.
Marina stared at her, disappointed.
"...I'm sorry, young lady." Cuttlefish spoke up. "I know, deep down, you mean well. But I have to put my foot down on this. I don't see it as safe. You need to shut down your experiments."
"...I…" She didn't quite expect that. "…I can't do that."
"But I'm asking you to." He got closer, speaking firmly. "This was a breach of trust. You know that."
"...I…" She grew genuinely disappointed. Could all of her work just come to an end like this? "…I already explained I made sure it was safe. For all of you."
"I know. But you have to understand: Here, we operate on trust. If you want to continue to be a part of this, of our team, we need to know we can still trust you. That's just how it is."
"You can trust me."
"...Then prove it to us."
She looked around at the team, waiting for someone, anyone to back her up. As the room yet again fell silent, most of the group seemed to be in agreement with Cuttlefish, and were staring at her, waiting for her to say something. "…I… I thought you would understand…" She spoke up.
They didn't respond.
She sighed and looked down, thinking for several seconds. She didn't want to lose her Splatoon position… but what other choice did she have? "…Ok… I'll just… stop…"
Cuttlefish patted her shoulder. "Thank you, young lady. I knew you'd set this right."
She didn't respond, keeping her gaze down.
"...Wait." Callie said. "What about the other stuff?"
"...Other stuff?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah, of course. Marina's been working on way more than just the Subgrid. She's been working on stuff for the team. Or at least, that's what she told me."
"For… for the team?" Bridgett asked.
"Yeah." Pearl added. "The voice thing outside let us in as the Splatoon. Didn't it?"
"...Working on what for the team?" Marie asked.
Marina looked around at all of them, suddenly feeling more hopeful again. "…It'd be better if I just showed you."
The entire Splatoon followed behind Marina has she led them outside of her main lab and into a different portion of the dome. This room appeared to be less of a lab and more-so resembled a small hangar. The team looked around the dark room.
"Yes, the Subgrid was only one project I've been working on." Marina explained as she led the group. "I mainly got to work on these next projects after the Underdogs incident. Because I knew after things calmed down, our team was going to be practically torn down to the ground. Of course, I was right."
"Don't need to remind us…" Marie muttered.
"So I got to work on making sure that, afterward. we could get back on our feet. Except, this time, only stronger." She pulled out her remote and pressed a button.
Slowly, the lights in the room began powering on, one by one, revealing more of the room bit-by-bit with each one. Soon, the center lights came on, revealing the full glory of a medium-sized jet-like plane, with a sleek black design, bullet-proof windows, and foldable wings.
The team stared at it, amazed. "…You built a plane? By yourself?" Bridgett asked.
"Mhmm. But it's not actually a plane. Well, it can be if we wanted, but it's more than that, trust me."
"...Then what is it?"
"I call it the Ray. Another project I've had the blueprints of for a long time. It's fitted with several Octarian-tech engines that can keep it in flight continuously for literally months… It has an oxygen supply and an artificial gravity system, it has a work-in-progress teleportation system, it has a weapon system, a metal exterior that can withstand sub-zero temperatures in the very void of space, and, a built-in kitchen and bathroom."
Now the team was even more amazed. "…You built a spaceship!?" Dylan shouted.
"Mhmm. I… haven't called it that, but yes, it's designed for space travel."
"...Does it work!?" Sheldon shouted this time.
"For the most part. It's not finished, but it's close."
"WOAH!" Dylan shouted as he and Sheldon suddenly went up just to feel it. "I can't even believe it!"
"It's not that big of a deal." Marina continued. "Octarians have worked on space-travel designs for decades. I'm not even the one who invented artificial gravity. It's more of a feature I borrowed."
"Octarians are AWESOME!" Sheldon kept geeking out like a child, walking around it to check out all the different details he could pick up.
She smirked a bit. "Uh… any other thoughts?" She asked the group behind her.
The team remained silent, as they stared at it in awe.
"...No?"
Marie blinked, her jaw open slightly. "…I'm… at a loss for words…"
"I'll take that." She shrugged. "…I built this for the team. It's not all about flying through space, I… thought this would give us the edge when we were ready to… you know… be a team again. I thought the Subgrid would help with that, too. I thought it could maybe be used for training exercises, if I could… just get myself to finish it."
"...You were just trying to help us…"
"Yeah… and that's not it."
"...It's not?"
"Come on. Just this way." She motioned them to follow.
"...Come on, nerds!" Jessica shouted at Dylan and Sheldon, who were still admiring the Ray, prompting them to follow as well.
The team again followed Marina into the next room, and Marina wasted less time turning the lights on. The lights quickly revealed an entire command center, lined with desks, computers, and monitors. The monitors also activated, revealing stats like the weather, maps of Inkopolis and the Octarian settlements, camera feeds, and even maps of space. Everyone's jaws dropped further as they came inside, looking around at amazement, while Marina just stood by the door to watch their reactions. Bridgett was turning in circles as she looked around, before noticing something beneath her; She looked down to notice she was standing on a massive new NSS emblem: A Squid that was wearing headphones similar to Dylan's Hero Headset inside of a bold circle, that was painted on the floor. "…Wow…"
"This is what I envisioned to be the Splatoon's new headquarters." Marina continued. "Something to take us in the shadows. Away from the police, away from supervision, just… us. As a team. If it's… a bit too much, after today, I'm sorry…"
"...I love it…" Marie replied.
She paused. "...You do?"
Even Jessica was impressed. "…Yeah, not bad."
"...We're gonna be a team again!" Callie added, a big grin on her face.
"Hell, count me in." Sheldon said.
Dylan was feeling around a computer. "…You guys really think we can do this?" He looked at everyone else.
Everyone turned to Cuttlefish, once again knowing he'd be the man in charge. "…Gramps?" Marie asked. "…What do you think?"
Cuttlefish was smiling. "It's… certainly impressive."
Pearl sighed. "I feel a 'but' coming."
"But…" He indeed continued. "I'm not sure I can… allow you all to just… risk yourselves again. We're already in hot water when it comes to this stuff."
Callie scoffed. "Gramps, we've been risking our skins for you ever since we all joined. That's always been the nature of it. But we've all joined not just because someone's asked, but because, ultimately, in our own ways, we've all wanted to. We've all been brave enough to. Brave enough to… risk our lives for the world. You know? What makes you think we suddenly care about the risk involved? Jessica's already still out there… doing her thing… and today, Marina showed us she doesn't have to do it alone. We don't have to let what happened stop us."
Marie, although agreeing, squinted a bit at her, confused by her sudden wise tone.
"...I don't speak for the whole team on this… but who cares about Marina testing out the Subgrid on us?" Callie continued. "Hell, I think the Subgrid was a lot of fun looking back. I still think Marina is our friend. Our family. Because that's what we are. A family. And I think, together, we can do it. We can change the world. So are we going to?"
They all stared at her.
She noticed. "…What are you all staring at me for!? We know our duties! Who's with me?"
"...Me." Jessica said, earning a surprised look from a couple people.
"...Me." Pearl added.
Bridgett nodded. "Me."
"Me…" Marie raised her arm a little.
"Me!" Sheldon shot his arm into the air.
"Me." Marina smiled.
"...Me." Cuttlefish finally said.
The last one left was Dylan, who still seemed to be reluctant.
"...Four?" Marie asked.
"...You in?" Bridgett asked.
He sighed, awkwardly raising his hand. "Me…"
Cuttlefish proudly tapped his cane against the ground. "Then I guess that settles it. We're back in business. And bigger than ever."
"And no longer off duty." Marie pointed out.
"...I guess we have a lot of work to do." He nodded in agreement.
"So where do we start?" Bridgett asked.
"I have an idea-" Marina pulled out a hidden box and set it down, revealing it to hold several bottles with alcoholic beverages. "Drinks." She pulled out a beer.
"...Ok, so I guess we're off duty for a little bit longer." Marie shrugged, also taking a drink. "We can start, uh… tomorrow."
"You're always saying that when we're working…" Callie giggled, grabbing one as well.
They all formed a circle, each of them getting a drink. Marina held hers out. "To the Splatoon?"
"To the Splatoon." They said in unison, before all clinking their glasses together.
Ok, that is all she wrote. Sorry if this turned out a bit underwhelming to anyone who wanted final, definite answers on what exactly Marina was up to, but here's the thing. Writing this final chapter, I didn't necessarily set out to make sure everything is explained, but rather to draw some of the Subgrid arc to a close and leave a stepping-off point, so that I may pass the story-telling torch to NSS: Ascension. Yes, that is my next major story, and I'm about ready to start getting it out there; it'll continue on some plot threads you've seen here, and it'll shake my little Splatoon world I've made to its core. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that Off Duty is dead forever, but it may very well be, depending on how things go from here on out. At the very least, it'll be going to sleep for a long time now, and I will be marking this as "Complete" until further notice. So, with that, thank you so much for sticking it out to this point if you have; it means a lot to me and you are, quite simply, awesome.
Oh, and one side-note. I know a couple chapters ago, I mentioned that a prequel based on the original Squidbeak Splatoon would be coming soon, but honestly, my plans on that have changed… It's not cancelled, I have about half of it written down, but because of writers block, I've decided to instead focus on Ascension more exclusively. Maybe if I can, I'll be able to write out the rest sometime and get it out along the way. We'll see. Until then, though… later, all. *waves*
It was deep into the night, at around 3 in the morning, as Marina's lab rested, dark and abandoned, with the Subgrid powered down and taken apart somewhat. All was calm inside, not moving an inch, until the room suddenly jolted a bit, shaking some of the objects on the shelves.
A moment passed as peace returned, before another larger jolt happened, and then a third, as the Earth around the dome began to shake violently, knocking some things down. In the lab's main room, some of the monitors began turning themselves on, alerting no one to a bizarre ping signal, coming from very far away… somewhere that was not of Earth. The room shook like this for a moment, before the Earth again settled.
A radio on the table activated a few moments later, playing an unrecognizable voice against a static feedback. "Marina?" The transmission fizzled a bit. "…Marina Ida, do you copy? Over."