Chapter 7: Broken Steel
Cluster Z-904 (Jacqui's POV)
(Same Day as Chapter 6)
I woke up in the middle of the night with a small headache thanks to yesterday. I decided to check my clock to see what time it was. Four in the morning. I rose out of bed to head to the bathroom, and did what I had to. On the way back though, I noticed something out of the ordinary coming from one of the rooms in the hallway; crying. I snuck around the hall, and listened a bit closer, trying to find out where it was coming from.
Eventually, after bouncing from room to room, I walked up to the door to Cass' room. Surprisingly enough, it was actually her. There was something else though, among the sobbing, I could notice something be repeated a few times... A name: Amanda. I opened the door a tiny bit, and Cass was sitting upright, hands covering her eyes, and tears were flowing down her face. I quietly walked over to her out of instinct, and figured the best I could do was comfort her. I stood next to her for a second, gently stroking her tentacles to try to calm her, and suddenly she looked up to me. Her eyes were hazy and red from crying. The beautiful cold blue in her eyes was starting to melt alongside her usual ice cold glare. I couldn't help but feel terrible for her. But while nearly choking on her own tears, she said one word: "Amanda?"
"Cass, it's me, Jacqui." I replied quietly. I felt horrible telling her I wasn't who she was hoping for, but I figured it would be worse if I told her I was whoever 'Amanda' was.
She reached over to me, wrapped her arms around me, and cried over my shoulder. I was on the verge of tears, but before I could join her in her sobbing, she quieted down, let go of me, and wiped her eyes. She looked me in the eyes and said one word I'd never thought I'd hear leave her lips;
"Sorry." She laid back down on her bed, and I felt like I had to do something, so I sat on the edge of her bed for a bit, and after a few moments of near absolute silence, asked:
"Who's Amanda?" I felt bad because I figured I might accidentally have just stricken a nerve, and she'd let the rivers run loose all over again, but she seemed fairly open about it, as moments later I got my answer.
"A girl I used to be into. She died in a dome collapse, and it's all thanks to my dumbass."
"How's it your fault if it was a dome collapse?"
"Well, whatever cruel bitch who decides on what happens in life thought I deserved to have someone to distract me from this hell hole that we call home. She helped me escape my vicious cycle of endlessly getting screwed over by life, and one night, she asked me if she could sleep with me in my pod. That was back when I was still advanced class. I got nervous and said: "Sorry, maybe later." and the morning after, I woke up only to hear from my bitch of a sister that my one and only friend in this world had gotten killed in a dome collapse. And of course, all I had to do was say: "yes". But, I got nervous, so now we're here... and... *sigh* she isn't."
She sat there for a bit, before quietly adding on;
"She didn't deserve to die like that, a girl who only saw the best in people. Hell, she found a good side in me."
Dead silence encompassed the whole room for a minute. I sniffled as I began to quietly cry. I nearly broke down, remembering something similar that happened to me five years prior to now.
She walked over to me and asked "You ok?"
Well, she'd given me her sob story, so I might as well do the same.
"Five years ago, I was patrolling alongside my closest friend. We were sent to exterminate a salmonid breeding ground, it was pretty simple... but just as we finished... a maw ... came out of nowhere. I rushed back to the respawn beacon to take cover, and to regroup with him... It was shattered into a thousand pieces. A salmonling destroyed it, and sparks were flying everywhere. That was the last time I ever saw him. Just the snap of a jaw... and he never came back."
I sat there for a minute, wiped my watery eyes and said; "Splat it. I'll just go back to my room. Sorry if I made your mood worse, Cass."
She sat there, totally quiet, but just as I was about to leave, she said;
"Hey, if you want to you can stay here for a bit."
Might as well.
*Three Hours later…*
Well, back to the daily routine. I grabbed my gear, and prepared for the journey ahead. I decided spend my free day over at the beachside fortress, which had now earned the official title "Firebase Rubicon". I liked the name, simple, but intimidating. I walked around, chatting with some of the octotroopers stationed there before I decided to head up to get a view of the beach from one of the recently installed sniper towers. I sat there for a while, staring off into the sea. I don't know why, but I did. It felt calm and peaceful.
Eh, guess I could rest here for a bit.
...
About thirty minutes later, a sharp sound peaked my interests, so I grabbed my scoped charger to check it out. It sounded like it had came from Tentakeel Outpost. It was the closest Splatoon held outpost to Rubicon, to the point where it posed a serious threat to us should the inklings realize who their new neighbors are. I put the charger to maximum zoom, and I must've been drinking way too much last night, because on my life, there was a Splatoon agent talking to a Hybrid by the outpost. They finished their conversation, and the Hybrid waved to the Inkling before heading into a grate far from the kettles that used to lead to our territories. I laid my charger back down where I found it, and hauled ass back to my squad.
Ooooh, Cass is gonna have a field day with this...
*Twenty Minutes Later…* (Cass' POV)
Someone was in a hurry to reach me, because while me and Elise were sitting down to eat lunch, they damn well nearly broke the door down knocking. I walked over to the door, and opened it.
"What do you wan- oh, hey Jacqui."
She looked like she was about to burst, so we walked back to our table and I asked her what had happened.
"You aren't going to believe me if I pay you" She said
"Try me." I remarked.
"Well, remember our old half-breed friend?"
My eyes widened.
"Well I may and or may not have gotten a peak of her having a nice lil' chat with a splatoon agent."
I Nearly spat my drink on Elise.
"What!?"
Author's Note: I've finally gotten everything down, and after probably two hundred attempts, ya boy has finally beaten agent three, so expect things to revert back to normal (at least schedule-wise). I'm focusing more on making bigger and better chapters, and I just felt as though I owed it to you guys to get another chapter out, so sorry if this is a bit shorter than average. Basically, the takeaway is: Expect Daily Chapters that are larger than normal.
*One final note, I'm getting a drawing tablet come my birthday, so expect a much less shitty version of the cover art coming soon.*
*As per usual, thanks for reading, and have a good one!*