Try
Not every caterpillar will become a butterfly, love.
There are too many things in their way.
But you've spent all month reading
What they eat, how they live.
We have enough space to keep ten.
We can make them butterflies, at least.
It's not much of a difference,
But it's all the difference in the world.
The area between the snow globe and Gramp's hut was empty save for her, her charger, and the targets she set up. Marie sets down the six new ink tanks and syncs her charger with the first.
"What foolishness are you attempting?"
Marie rolls her eyes. "Keep insulting me, I'll use that silencer Sheldon installed last week."
Noise from the grate. Callie desquids, another five ink tanks weighing her down, and struggles over. "Oof," she says, dropping them, and glances at Marie, her sunglasses still on. "Do you need any more?"
Marie flaps a hand at her. "I'm good, thanks."
"Then I've got a script to read," Callie says. Turning, she frowns at the snowglobe. "What's with him?"
"Threats, mostly," Marie remarks, turning as well. Octavio is glaring at them both, his eyes on Callie. "I hope at least one of these'll work."
Callie glances at him again. "What are you trying, anyway? I know you and Sheldon have been cooking something up, these past couple weeks."
Marie shrugs. "It's... I can't shake the feeling of those goggles. If they worked during fights... maybe, if we got them off, they wouldn't fight us any more?"
"They're not active during fights, you stupid inkling."
"I... guess that might work," Callie says, though she doesn't sound sure. "But it's not like we can take them off mid-fight, not without getting hurt really bad."
"Maybe we can, if I do this right," Marie says. "Each of these tanks is supposed to modify the ink in it a little. Maybe one can eat through the goggles strap and free them, without splatting them."
Callie snorts and grabs her script. Her glasses flash at Marie—no, it's just them catching the sunlight. "You'd be better off trying to snipe them right off than get that combo."
Not a bad idea, honestly, but the way Callie says it stings.
Callie's face softens. "Sorry. I'm having... memorizing movie lines and auditioning and... it's a lot harder than I thought."
"Apology accepted," Marie says.
Callie gives her a one-armed hug. "I'll go sit by old wrinkled and ugly," she says, too quiet for Octavio to hear. "If he keeps being annoying, I'll deal with him. You focus."
Marie pushes her off, but she's smiling. "Thanks, Cal."
With that, Callie trots over to flop on her belly in the grass by the snowglobe, and Marie pulls on the inktank. She has five dummies, kid-shaped fakes in Octarian armor Callie retrieved on previous missions. With Gramps and Three hiking Mount Nantai, looking for any sign of Octarian life, it's the perfect chance to get some testing done without being told she's sentimental.
She focuses on the first dummy, coating it thoroughly in ink. Sheldon assured her the top layer of each dummy should react to any ink like Inkling and Octoling skin would, and the ink seems to irritate the 'skin' of its eyes... but Marie can live with that. If it won't do permanent damage.
The second dummy has a standard pair of goggles on, just some normal goggles she bought a while ago, with strap material identical to the outer case of the hypnogoggles Marina was wearing. Marie takes a second to aim, holds her breath, and fires.
Direct shot to the temple, the corner of the goggles where strap meets case. Marie waits, watching. Slowly, so slowly she almost gives up, the strap starts to melt.
It takes a full five minutes or more for the strap to release the goggles, so they fall on the ground. A very long time in a fight. But it can be done. Marie takes aim at the next, a dummy with metal wires around it like the insides of the goggles, and shoots it.
The rubber coating the wires melts off, but the wires are untouched. If she tried this ink in combat, the Octarian wearing the goggles might be electrocuted. Not what she's going for.
The ink's already gone from the first dummy. Marie removes the first ink tank, sets it aside, and syncs her charger to the next one. She writes notes as she waits for it to finish, dubbing that ink tank acid ink and noting the results, then replaces the ruined goggles with a new pair and glances at Callie.
She's leaning with her back to the snowglobe now, mouthing her lines. Octavio's... reading over her shoulder, mumbling just as quietly. Marie tucks away a smile; he's been locked in there without anything to do for months, now. He must be desperate.
Maybe she should get him a book as a reward for good behavior.
The second ink tank does nothing, not even the normal irritation that comes from getting ink in someone's eyes. Marie dubs that 'low tide' ink: useless. The third and fourth batch behave like any normal ink.
The fifth tank melts the dummy. Completely, into a puddle on the ground, stinking and rotten, and Marie drops her charger and struggles out of the tank before they can melt, too. If that had been an Octoling...
Maybe Callie's right. Maybe it isn't possible. But she has to keep trying. It may make a difference, someday.