(prologue)
"Again with the hypnoshades? I get they have great abilities but don't you see what they do to you?"
"I do, but there just so tempting! And shiny. And powerful. Just for a little bit marie?"
"NO!"
"But it's been like a month!"
"Exactly and that's a good thing. He could do anything to you in those and you wouldn't remember it! Even- no, lets not think about that. Please let's not think about that."
"Think about what?"
" Callie, do you remember anything- let's say- 'weird' happening?"
"Well i did wake up naked that one time- but that's nothing to worry about wouldn't ya say marie?"
"WHAT?!"
As a kid I was always hidden away, not allowed to go outside, all that jazz that you'd usually expect when someone DIFFERENT is born. But not quite as usual, I understood why. And here is that reason: if anybody figured out i existed, me, a small bond between squid and octopus, everyone would get pissed off, I would be locked up and tested on, and war would break out as everyone searched endlessly for my already dead parents. You see? Easy to understand. But of course, following the usual "you can't do anything storyline," i was NOT HAPPY. And I found a perfect solution. Helmets. I had a whole collection of oversized helmets that could cover all my tentacles. This way I could go out while barely anyone suspected anything. But where did I keep these helmets? Where did I even LIVE? I lived with a not so nice lady named miss shrimp. This is very ironic, because she was a towering island of pure mass, and this lady was MEAN. and i when i say mean, i mean absolutely REVOLTING. She shaved her eyebrows and in their place were two, thick messy tattoos, meant to resemble the brows she couldn't quite tilt down enough. She always used to brag about how she did them herself, and didn't use any of the "fancy-shmancy" healing techniques. That was her favourite word to hate on things. Because she didn't use any medicine,they were just two big scars. She was completely bald, and wore a wig made from pure seaweed with at least a gallon of resen. I was pretty sure that was gonna still be left if she was cremated. She would wear precisely 50 layers of bright red lipstick, and I know this because my room was right next to hers, and you could hear her below each layer out loud every single morning at four am. And WHENEVER you said anything about her that wasn't, "you look nice", you had to scrub the toilets for a week. I honestly do NOT know how she could ever become head of the children's asylum. That was what everyone called the orphanage, because it wasn't really an orphanage at all. It was a cruel, dark place that was pretty much just a prison for all the kids who didn't have parents. I was allowed to stay there because there were inklings and octolings all mashed together in one place. It was about the only one where they even interacted that wasn't the battlefield. I had no loyal best friend, no one that I might lose along the path of life. I was alone. All alone. And I think the very worst part about the children's asylum was that you were not allowed to be adopted. No one could come and scoop you into their arms and tell you that they were going to be there for you forever. No. none of that. Instead the poor children stuck in that place would be trained for war. Bloody, cold merciless war. I sat in my room day after day, and if I dared to go out I would have to wear a full set of protective gear, not just my loose, dull black helmets. I wasn't even allowed to paint them, and if they got dirty, so be it. One day I decided to go out and put on my cheap itchy dull protective gear. It took about an hour. I grudged out of the room, and bumped into regina.
"Hi, I'm Regina. This is my friend, tina. Were the best people here, and we expect you to think so or there will be consequences. Got it?"
"No"
"Excuse me?'
"I said no."
"I'll give you another chance. EXCUSE ME?"
"Inklish number one. I said, 'NO'."
The next thing I remember is a rather large *WHAM* and then darkness. For about 34 seconds. Then there was a dream.A dream so real i thought it was. I did not think I was dead. Because the next thing I knew I was in the middle of inkopolis square. All alone. In the dead of night. Not even the zapfish was awake. The second thing I noticed was that I wasn't entirely me. I had none of my previous suction cups. I was practically bald. Just smooth. I shuddered. I had a bright fluorescent vest over a black shirt, black snow boots with orange cage things in the back, and pointy headphones that lit up. When I stopped marveling at my terrible taste in fashion, there was a smell. A horrible smell, yet something I smelled every day. I looked around only to realize that what I was smelling was much worse than the rancid odor of the asylum. What I was smelling was absolutely horrible. And that smell was hundreds and hundreds of dead inklings and octolings. All covered in ink. All splat-ed and dead. All covered in this strange green ink. I looked down at the gun in my hand. GREEN INK. my tentacles were green. The ink was green. MY ink. I broke down crying in the middle of the street. I scraped my knees on the ink covered pavement. Tears and tears. I screamed. And then I woke up to a light so bright I had to cover my eyes.
"So I see you're awake." I knew that sharp spitty voice. It was miss shrimp. "Aw man." Griped Regina. "I thought she was dead!" Tina scowled as she nodded in agreement. "Well thanks for that." I said as I rolled my eyes. "You must go back to your room." "REGINA'S NOT EVEN IN TROUBLE FOR PUNCHING ME IN THE FACE?" "no. back. Now." "but-"
"NOW liam." Liam. it 's probably not my name. The fact that it was sewn onto the bag the guy who found me dropped me with as he died doesn't mean that it's my name. In fact, now that Annie started her own separate company with her last name, I realize it's liam. Oh boy. I dragged myself back to the room. My groggy cold room. It's a good thing my helmet straps tightened or it would have been knocked off.i unbuckled my helmet and sat on my bed. I heard a knock. Must be miss shrimp coming to chew me out, I thought. I was wrong. Oh, so wrong.
It was regina. And she was looking at all my mixed up tentacles. All my octoness and my squidiness. All my suction cups mixed with smoothness. I slammed the door but not before regina screamed bloody murder.
"HYBRIIIIIIIID!"everyone turned to look. "LIAM IS A HYBRID!" I silently cried as I put my helmet on. I had mere seconds before Miss shrimp would unlock the door and shoot me with the ink pistol she kept secretly under her desk. I opened the window and silently climbed out. Then I ran for my life. I didn't know where but I had to run somewhere. I couldn't stay there. Not anymore. I ran and ran and ran until I couldn't anymore. I found an empty dumpster and collapsed. Another dream. This time I was the one dead, or so everyone thought. The squid sisters were there. Crying at my side. I didn't know why they were there but I felt bad. "i'm here," I wanted to tell them" everything's alright, I can see you. I can hear you."but I couldn't move. Or speak. so I just laid there, completely silent. At that moment, I wished I could cry. But they all disappeared. And I heard more voices.
"Is she ok? "one voice asked.
"lets see. We found her with a bleeding head face first in a dumpster. Yes. she's soooo ok." said the other, very sarcastically. "we should take her with us!" "if she's alive." "oh come on!" "sure let's get into the habit of taking random dumpster girls home!" "ooh look!" I opened my eyes and groaned heavily. "She's alive. Now we HAVE to take her with us." I felt myself being picked up and put into a car. I didn't think that they could have been taking me to die somewhere. I didn't think that they might turn me in. all I thought was that I was no longer bleeding in a surprisingly high dumpster, and I was thankful for that.
I woke up to the squid sisters. yes, THOSE squid sisters. also an old man. he was silently glaring at me.
"she's still in shock" "said marie as she rolled her eyes. I passed out again after another astoundingly loud "HAHA" i heard some mumbo jumbo like, "serious head injury", "blood loss", and most importantly, "will she still make the cut?"make the cut? I thought as I lost consciousness. Make what cut? I woke up for the second time in a cabin. But i guess i wasn't fully awake because callie was yelling at me. "CAN YOU HEAR ME "
I could hear her a little too well and plugged my ears. I got up dusted off, and opened my mouth like I was going to say something- but no words came out. I stood there in silence. Callie nodded furiously shaking the bejesus out of marie.I was handed a uniform. And a gun."Welcome to the team, agent seven."