Splatoon: Number's Game
Chapter 1
"Ever since our last battle with DJ Octavio; you know, the one where you got captured…twice?"
"Yes, Marie, I remember that. You never let me forget it, that's for sure." Callie said, folding her arms in front of her.
"You know it. But anyways, ever since that all went down, there's been an increase of octolings showing up in Inkopolis, especially around the Square. Have you noticed it?" Marie asked.
"I usually see them in the background during the Inkopolis News segments, but I don't usually go to Inkopolis Square anymore." Callie admitted.
"I understand why. Nevertheless, there have been more and more making their way in, and I recently became aware of the possibility that there could be sleeper agents among them." Marie explained what she was getting at.
"Sleeper agents?"
"Yes. Octolings still under the effects of mind control slipping into Inkopolis amongst the ones who actually broke free. Under this cover, they could easily make their way around without suspicion. They could even be in position to kill Inklings if they catch them without a respawn point."
"Did Gramps pull that one out on ya? That sounds like something he'd say." Callie asked.
"He did say that it had been done before during The Great Turf War. They're older tactics, but they'd be much more effective now than they were back then. I don't think it's something entirely worth discarding." Marie said.
"You're probably right… So what do we do? It's not like we can just line up all the octolings one by one and ask them, 'Are you a sleeper agent?' That'd be wrong on many levels." Callie pointed out.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, all we can do is be observant. In the meantime, I've notified Agents 3 and 4 to keep their eyes peeled for any strange behaviors." Marie informed her.
"Oh yeah, good idea. Doesn't Alex live in the Square?" Callie asked.
"I believe so? Either way, he and Agent 3 are in better positions than us to check everything out. Now that you mention it, Alex will probably be better suited to keep an eye on the octolings. I think Agent 3 is still checking out Grizzco Industries."
"Oh yeah, Grizzco! That's a totally different issue!" Callie exclaimed, having forgotten about the mysterious Mr. Grizz and his company.
"You're right about that. We've still yet to learn what it is he does with all of those eggs. Agent 3 has been slowly working her way up, but she hasn't established herself enough yet to speak with Mr. Grizz directly." Marie said.
"Mmm, those Salmon Runs are nasty stuff, man. Have you seen Salmonids up close? Ugh, that green goop they leave behind is nasty. I stepped in it once and it took me forever to clean my shoe off!" Callie said, shaking her head in the disgust at the thought of it.
"Right, yeah," Marie said with a sigh. "Things never take a break in Inkopolis, do they?"
"Nope, but that's part of the charm!" Callie said with a smile.
At that moment, Alex came out from the ink pipe that led outside the city. He stood up and stepped out of the ink, tugging on his jacket and waving at them with a smile as he walked towards them.
"Hey!" Alex greeted them simply.
"Look who finally decided to come back for another visit," Marie said with a pleasant smile. "We were just talking about you, Agent 4."
"Oh, really? Heh, well you know what happens when you speak of the devil." Alex said with a chuckle.
"How've you been, Alex?" Callie asked with a wider smile.
"I've been pretty good! I saw your message in the chat about octolings and figured it'd be easier to talk about that in person. At the very least, it gave me an excuse to come here again." Alex explained himself.
"I see. What is it that you have to say?" Marie asked.
"Uh, just that so far I haven't really seen any 'suspicious activity'. I mean, almost every other Turf War and Ranked Battle I'm in there's at least one or two octolings, so I see them on the regular. Some are kinda weird, but none of them strike me like what you're looking for."
"I see. Well, just keep an eye out, okay? We should stay vigilant. The moment we let our guard down is the moment we could be taken advantage of." Marie said.
"Read you loud and clear, Marie. I'll keep you posted if I find anything. Oh, and I wanted to mention that I've started helping 3 in her assignment as Grizzco." Alex brought up.
"Really?" Marie asked, looking surprised.
"Yeah. I had the time, so I signed up. It pays a lot of coin! But other than brief conversations with Mr. Grizz, I haven't found any leads or times to sneak around." Alex reported.
"Jeez, Alex! You're really on top of all this stuff!" Callie exclaimed.
"Heheh, well, we gotta stay vigilant. I vaguely remember someone saying that." He said, glancing at Marie with a sideways smile. She just shook her head and smiled back.
"Maybe you can buy me dinner with all that Salmon money!" Callie suggested with a grin and a giggle.
"You can buy yourself your own dinner, you know." Marie pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, I mean I could, but everyone knows that free food tastes better!" Callie pointed out with a chuckle. Alex rolled his eyes and smiled.
"Yeah, exactly. Tell you what, Callie, we'll keep in touch, set a date, and I'll come by and pick you up from ya'll's apartment. Sound good?" Alex suggested. Callie nodded.
"Awesome! I look forward to it!" Callie grinned.
"You think you're so slick, don't you, Agent 4?" Marie asked, shaking her head again. Alex simply chuckled and began to head back to the sewer pipe.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Marie, but I'll see ya round!" He said before disappearing back in the sewer pipe.
"You want me to bring you back a plate, Marie?" Callie asked with a tease.
"Shut up, Callie. C'mon, we should go on patrol again before lunch." Marie said, gesturing for Callie to follow her…