Marina's eyes fluttered open as she stirred in her slumber. She tossed and turned, rolling over to the side as she steadily lifted her head off of the couch armrests, finally waking from her shock induced state of unconsciousness. Yawning, she blinked away the fuzzy white spots that danced in her field of vision. One by one she made out the faces of her friends clamoring around her, Pearl chief among them.
"Oh, Pearlie. I... seem to have fallen asleep during the Splatcast," Marina mumbled, groggy and bleary eyed. "How strange, I had the craziest dream. I dreamt that Big Man accidentally revealed Shiver's problem to the world and made her a social pariah. It's ridiculous, can you believe that?" She chuckled weakly, expecting the others to laugh as well. Only she received nothing but awkward silence which in turn made her feel awkward as well.
"Uh, yeah... About that," Pearl rubbed the back of her neck and moved out of the way, showing Marina the tv. It was currently broadcasting some kind of daytime talk show with a comically short sea roach for a host speaking with his Inkling co-star. The show was titled 'Jeffrey Roach Coast to Coast' and the main talking point of the episode was about Shiver's spectacular mental breakdown live on the Anarchy Splatcast.
They had the footage of her cackling madly playing in the background on repeat. Seeing Shiver's maniacal expression and howling laughter zoomed up close was both haunting and disturbing to see. In spite of that, the two couldn't help but slip in a witty comment or two to keep the show rolling.
"So, Big Man said she did something called the suckling," said the Inkling. "Got any idea what that means?"
"I dunno, but it sounds kinda kinky. Heyo!" quipped Jeffrey Roach as they both broke out into raucous laughter. The rest of the show was more or less the same, with the two making snide comments and crass jokes for a whole hour.
Suddenly it all came rushing back to Marina like a tidal wave. It wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare. Big Man's accidental reveal actually happened and the whole world had been exposed to Shiver's heinous crime. Word had spread fast as Quattro had shown, no doubt every Octarian in the city caught wind of the suckling by now and had already deemed her persona non grata. The ultimate punishment for embracing the taboo.
Shiver was a pariah now.
Her life as she knows it might as well have come to an abrupt end. The thought of her suffering through such a horrible punishment at the hands of her own people was enough to make Marina faint again.
"Ooooh... I don't feel so good," Marine moaned, wooziness seeping its way back into her head. She could feel her consciousness slipping again, only to be jolted awake at the last second by Pearl grinding both her knuckles against Marina's temple. "Ah! Pearlie, that hurt!" she cried, lips curling into an innocent pout. "What was that for?"
"You've fainted three times already, there will not be a fourth!" Pearl snapped.
"...Have I?" Marina tilted her head, bemused.
"Yes!" Everyone, barring 8, shouted in unison.
"O-oh, I see," Marina grinned sheepishly. "Silly me."
"Eugh. Marina, this is serious," Pearl grumbled, glaring at her friend. "You've been out like a light on and off for the past three hours. Every time you've woken up you take one look at the tv and faint again, rinse and repeat. Well, while you were off frolicking in dreamland, the team has been sitting around in the garage monitoring the situation trying to figure out what the shell it was that we just witnessed on the Splatcast."
"You know something, don't you?" Kuki accused, her expression stern. She pointed over to Agent 8 who fidgeted nervously in his seat, sweating bullets under the watchful eye of Tres and Little Buddy. "And so does 8. Both of you know what's going on, or at the very least, have some kind of general idea about Shiver's unusual predicament."
"Eh-heh, w-what makes you say that?" Marina meekly replied, her eyes frantically darting every which way except forward.
"Marina, you've fainted three times already," Kuki deadpanned. "You can't claim that isn't suspicious."
"I-I'm hypoglycemic!" She hastily rebutted, her expression growing desperate.
"No, you're not! And even if you were, you ate during the Splatcast!" Pearl retorted, gesturing to the partially eaten sweet bean bun in front of her. "Didn't even finish it even though it looked like my face. Tsk, I'm disappointed, Marina," she tsked, shaking her head disapprovingly.
"Tres caught 8 trying to flee the compound!" Kuki exclaimed. "Got an explanation for that?"
"...Maybe he wanted some fresh air?" Marina shrugged.
"I found him trying to hop into the storm drain that leads to the Splatland outskirts," Tres replied calmly, scratching his nose. "Had to flush him out with the hose and drag his butt back here in a dirty mop bucket."
"Quattro has been busy combing social media websites for information. Nearly every Octarian and their grandma out there have their tentacles in a twist, and it's all because of Shiver and this-this suckling thing! Which, according to Big Man, was apparently what happened between Tres and Shiver the other day!" Kuki concluded, her tone one of finality. "You know, the thing you freaked out about?"
"That's because...! O-okay, I can't actually explain that one away," Marina stammered, tugging at her tentacle feverishly..
"Like the other excuses were believable," Marie quipped, rolling her eyes.
"Look, I catered to your request before because I believed it was some private thing between Octolings that you could work out yourselves. And you know what? Maybe it could've ended differently if Big Man hadn't accidentally blabbed about it on the air. But the fact of the matter is your way has backfired spectacularly and now we're gonna have to intervene however we can," Kuki stated firmly. "So, are you going to help us or not?"
Marina contemplated her choices for a moment, looking deep in thought. There was no way she could ever turn her back on her friends when they needed her the most. It just wasn't in her nature. However...
"I've come to a decision," said Marina, her eyes steely with resolve.
"...And?" Kuki raised a brow.
Without so much as another word, Marina clumsily scrambled off of her seat and vaulted over the couch, making a desperate bid for freedom as she sprinted all the way to the door on the opposite end of the room. Everyone could only stare wide-eyed in silent flabbergast as the Octoling bolted with all the speed of an escaped convict evading the long stretchy arm of the law. Once she reached the door, she wasted no time in swinging it open and striding on through, slamming the door behind her with a loud thump.
"D'oh!" Marina cried from within, followed by the sound of noisy clattering and objects toppling over.
Kuki sighed exasperatedly, bringing up a palm to her face. "Well, I guess we have her answer. We should probably track her down before she does anything reckless."
"No need," said Quattro. "She picked the wrong door. The one on the left would've led to the mansion. Instead she picked the one on the right and accidentally trapped herself in the utility closet. She's got nowhere to go."
"How fortunate," Marie smirked.
"Grr... Marina, you better have a good explanation for all this," Pearl grumbled.
"Quattro, you and Marie keep an eye on 8. Make sure he doesn't pull the same stunt twice," Kuki ordered as Quattro mock saluted back.
"Sure thing," replied Quattro.
"You got it, Kuki," said Marie.
"And 8, you stay put! That's an order! If I so much as hear a word from either of these two that you tried to run off again I will take my hero charger, ram it up your starfish and use you as a push broom! Do I make myself clear?!" Kuki glared daggers at the Octoling, who flinched beneath her heated gaze. He responded with rapid nodding that made his tentacle flop about wildly, knowing better than to stoke Kuki's ire. She was not an Inkling of hollow threats.
"Hmph. You're lucky you're handsome," said Kuki, her features softening. "Tres, Pearl and Callie. You're with me. Let's get some answers to this mess."
The four walked on over to the utility closet where Kuki rapt her knuckles against the door. They waited for a response but received none in return.
"Oh, for the love of...' Pearl smacked her forehead. "Marina, we know you're in there! Stop being such a goofy goober and help us out! Come on, the future of our collab is at stake! Seven Day Forecast is in danger!"
"And the Alterna investigation," Kuki added.
"And the Alterna investigation!" Pearl repeated. "That's important too!"
"...Uh, who's Marina?" the voice from within queried, pitched at a higher octave. "I'm, er... Judd! That's right. The lovable, huggable mascot of Turf Wars. Uh, me-ow."
Everyone looked incredulous at the baffling response. Marina was really trying her hardest to avoid speaking to them about the truth of the matter. Surely she would know that the NSS doesn't back down from the pursuit of justice or love or whatever it was they happen to be pursuing on any given day of the week. Regardless, they pressed on, knowing full well Marina can't stay stubborn forever, let alone hide in a utility closet.
Pearl made some hand signs to the others, signaling them to follow her lead. She sidled up to the blind spot of the door as the others followed suit, stacking up behind her.
"Oh, well. Since Marina isn't here I guess we better look somewhere else," Pearl uttered before stomping her feet along the floor. The others did so as well, mimicking the sound of moving footsteps. She then leaned up against the wall, waiting until Marina finally opened the door and slowly tip-toed out. When Marina cleared the doorway Pearl slammed it behind her, causing her to jump up in fright.
Marina turned around and cringed at the collection of frowning faces directed at her. "A-ah, that's not fair. You made walking away sounds," she bemoaned.
Pearl continued frowning at her, impatiently tapping her food like a mother demanding to know why her child came home so late. "Marina, are you gonna tell us about the suckling or what?"
"Please don't say it aloud," Marina flinched at the word.
"What? Suckling?"
"Yes, that!" Marina begged.
"But we need to know what the suckling is."
"Hsssssh!" Marina uncharacteristically hissed, lunging forward with her eyes narrowed, tentacles coiled and fangs bared. Everyone reeled in shock at her behavior, she reacted just like a cornered animal warding off predators. Thankfully, seeing Pearl recoil from her momentary lapse in control was enough to snap Marina back to her senses. She pulled back and composed herself, letting out a weak chuckle as she did. "O-oh, my. How embarrassing, t-that's never happened before. I... I'm really sorry you had to see that, Pearl. Eh heh heh..."
"Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how many people find that sort of thing hot? If I weren't already the butt kicking bad girl of Off the Hook we could totally market that," replied Pearl, recovering from the shock.
"I would prefer it if we didn't," Marina mumbled as her tentacles glowed a bright turquoise. "It's too embarrassing!"
"Marina," Kuki growled, catching the Octoling's attention. "Getting back on topic. This may be about Shiver, but you seem to forget that this is also about the NSS and by extension your careers as idols. Our cohesion as a unit is in danger and you're being insubordinate! Either shape up and cooperate or I am forced to remove both you and 8 from all current and future operations until further notice!"
"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Marina clapped her hands together and bowed her head in forgiveness. "I didn't mean to act the way I did! But you must understand, this is strictly an Octarian matter! I cannot say anything to non-Octarians!"
"And why the shell not?!" Pearl raised an irritated brow. "What is so important about this suckling that has you and every other Octarian out there acting so cray-cray?"
"We can't even begin to help Shiver if you don't tell us what we need to know," Kuki stated. "What is it? Some sort of obscure Octarian tradition, a cultural custom?"
Marina sighed heavily. She couldn't keep it from them any longer. "Alright. I'll tell you guys what I can, but nothing more than I absolutely need to. You see, the suckling is... It's a taboo Octarian ritual," she finally revealed, covering her face with her hands to hide the shame of it all. "Oh, I can't even think about it without- Eugh!?" she shuddered uncontrollably, writhing as though there were bugs wriggling underneath her skin.
The answer had not been one they were expecting, but it was still an answer nonetheless. And given how uncooperative Marina had been so far the team was willing to take what they could get.
"Okay, we get it. It's bad," said Callie, placing a reassuring hand on Marina's shoulder.
"You don't know the half of it," Marina sniffed. "Now that the secret is out Shiver's career is effectively over and her social standing with other Octarians might as well be nonexistent. She's an outcast now, and the traumatic shock of it all has no doubt affected her psyche."
"You can't be serious," Tres looked incredulous, subconsciously rubbing the back of his neck, tracing along the ghost of rings with his thumb. "All because she tickled my neck with her tentacle?"
"It's not just a tickle," Marina cringed. "You have to understand, a lot of Octarian customs and traditions all revolve around specific context clues and conditions, and there's a depraved context behind the suckling."
"That being?" Callie queried, placing her hand on her hips.
"...I-I'm not allowed to say. It's an Octarian thing," Marina hoped the answer would be enough.
"Of course it is," Kuki rolled her eyes. "But, if nothing else, we're at least making some headway here so I'm willing to overlook that little detail. That being said, I don't understand why Shiver is taking this so hard or why the other Octarians feel the need to ostracize her. Taboo or not this is taking things a little too far. Actually, while we're on that, how do so many of you know about it? 8 knows and he's an amnesiac, he can't even recall his own name. For something so shameful you'd think it'd be a topic to avoid and bury rather than hide and quietly tolerate."
"Now, I could actually explain all of that, but I don't know if you'll like the answer," said Marina.
"Try us," replied Tres, folding his arms.
"Well, you see... How do I put this in a way that doesn't make me come off as insensitive?" Marina twiddled her thumbs, choosing her words carefully.
"Um, you know how you Inklings are carefree and inattentive at times? Well, it's the same for Octarians, only instead we have an overdeveloped sense of pride and shame. That emotional hypersensitivity is what drives us. It's how we've been able to accomplish so much in so little, it's also why we're so prone to knee jerk reactions as we do, much to our detriment. With how dreaded the suckling is perceived in Octarian society, it's no wonder Shiver is so ashamed of what she did or why every other Octarians was so quick to judge her once they found out."
"Huh, what?" Pearl stopped picking at her ear with her pinkie. "Sorry about that, Marina. I was being inattentive."
"You're a credit to Inklings everywhere, Pearl," Tres quipped. "Alright, so you Octarians are a buncha sticklers."
"That explains a lot," Callie casually remarked.
"Fascinating," Kuki deadpanned. "And this ties into your innate knowledge of it, how exactly?"
"See, that's where things get a little... weird," Marina nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "Um, I know I said the suckling was a ritual, but that doesn't exactly cover it all."
"Well, out with it. We don't have all day," Kuki wrinkled her nose.
"So, the reason why we all know what the suckling is regardless of education or awareness is due to this funny little thing called genetic memory," Marina grinned sheepishly, earning more than her fair share of disbelieving blinks in return. "I understand it sounds hard to believe but all Octarians are all born with this, hmm, I can't really call it an instinct, I suppose it would be more apt to refer to it as an inherited concept that's been carved into our very DNA.
Now, I can't say for certain because I am woefully uneducated in the fields of psychology but the suckling has been theorized to be a lingering vestige of our primitive Octarian consciousness embedded deep within our genome that we unfortunately haven't evolved beyond. It's pervasive, but not so much that under normal circumstances can't be ignored entirely. Although, accidents do happen, as was the case with Shiver.
And, I guess that's everything that I can really say without revealing too much," She concluded, fidgeting in place. The silence around her was deafening.
"...Wait, so let me get this straight," Tres broke the silence, looking quite perplexed. "You mean to tell us that you, 8, Shiver and every single Octarian out there are wired like this?"
"That is a crass but not entirely incorrect summation of things, yes," Marina nodded.
"That's... a lot to take in," said Kuki.
"Puts things into perspective, doesn't it?"
"I think we're gonna need a moment to process it," said Callie.
*POOF!*
Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the other side of the garage where Quattro, Marie and 8 were at as an obscuring cloud of bright yellow smoke began filling the room.
"Boss Marie!"
"*Cough!* *Cough!* Frye, we have a door! You don't have to smoke bomb your way in!" Marie coughed, having been caught in ground zero of the blast.
"*Cough!* *Cough!* I can't breathe!?" Quattro strained.
After the team finished airing out the yellow smoke from the garage, they all gathered at the common area by the tv. Frye had just arrived on the scene in a rather dramatic fashion with an out of breath Big Man trailing right behind her. They had been trying for the past few hours to get through to Shiver, only to have nothing to show for their efforts. The team wasted no time in sharing what they know, hoping to try and get a better understanding of the situation.
"Shiver locked herself in her home," Frye explained glumly, throwing herself onto the sofa as she hugged one of the throw pillows. "She won't answer our calls or respond to our text. She's completely shut us out. I'm worried for her."
"Ayyy! (Bwaaah! It was just a-a question, boss!) A-a-ay! (I-I-I didn't mean to ruin Shiver's life!)" Big Man bawled uncontrollably onto Marie's shoulder, staining her clothes in tears and runny snot.
"Uh... There, there, Big Man," Marie awkwardly patted Big Man on the back, cringing at the slobbering mess he was making on her outfit. "It was an honest mistake. We know you didn't mean to destroy Shiver's career as an idol and her social life because of a misunderstanding. It's not your fault that she's an outcast now or that every Octarian in existence shuns her very existence or even the fact she may have lost her marbles from the trauma- Oof!" she groaned as Callie suddenly rammed an elbow into her side.
"Not. Helping. Marie," Callie punctuated through a forced smile.
"Uh, right," Marie grinned sheepishly. "Listen, Shiver's in a bad place at the moment but we're gonna fix this. I promise. So don't you worry your chubby little cheeks, Big Man." Big Man's eyes widened at Marie's kindness, they were positively brimming with admiration and respect.
But also tears.
Mostly tears.
"A-ay! (B-boss!)" He exclaimed before proceeding to cry even harder, burying his face deeper into her shoulder as the waterworks kicked up a notch.
"Ugh, I'm gonna need a shower after this..." Marie mumbled.
"You're doing a great job, cuz," Callie quipped, flashing Marie a thumbs up. "Now, back to the matter at hand. It's good to know that Shiver is staying put. That makes things easier for us."
"I was starting to worry that she might've skipped town," said Tres, feeling a great weight taken off his shoulders.
"She wouldn't do that. Splatsville is her home," said Frye, tightening the grip on the pillow. "Even if she feels like it's a cage with the walls closing in."
"You know, I'm quite surprised. Shiver's handling this rather well, all things considered," Marina remarked, still speaking with crucial knowledge her mentality prevents from sharing, much to Kuki's aggravation. "She chose to shut herself in. Most Octarians in her position would've exiled themselves into the wilderness where they live out the rest of their disgraced lives in solitude as a mad hermit, or barring that, join the circus and become a carny."
"What? Why the circus?" said Marie, looking bewildered.
"Where else would they accept society's rejects?" said Callie a matter o'factly.
"And liberal arts majors," Pearl quickly added.
"Riveting stuff girls, but not exactly relevant to the current issue," Kuki groaned. "Quattro. Give me the sitrep. How's Splastville handling Shiver's little fiasco?"
"About as well as you would expect whenever there's a celebrity scandal. It's only been a few hours but the footage of the Splatcast has been circulating the airwaves and everyone is getting in on the action. We got news reports, reaction videos, memes, you name it. However, there's a baffling contrast between how the Octarian population is handling it versus everyone else," replied Quattro, gesturing to the computer screen.
Most of the news and blogging websites wouldn't shut up about Shiver and the suckling. Squids on the gossip columns went mad with walls of text theory crafting what the suckling is or what it meant while talk shows like 'Jeffrey Roach Coast to Coast' reveled in the views they raked in from squeezing the story dry. It was the hot topic of the day and will more than likely stick around for weeks, if not months to come if things stayed as they were.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Octarian runned programs and news outlets were mum as an oyster about everything. They went to ridiculous lengths to deny the existence of the suckling and refused to even speak about Shiver. It was suspicious to everyone but most folks simply chalked it up to the eccentricities that they were known for.
"I've also noticed something while browsing the Octarian chat rooms," said Quattro. "They do bring up Shiver occasionally, but not by name. They're calling her something like; Deev... Dove... Doo-way- Bleugh! It's hard to pronounce."
"De'Vk'Aa," 8 pronounced in his native Octarian. "It translates to the Inkling tongue as: the deviant. It's a derogatory term used for Octarians who have disgraced themselves. It is a... harsh word."
"Good grief," Kuki mumbled, facepalming. "This is getting out of hand."
"You can say that again," replied Quattro.
Marina sighed, leaning back into her seat. "This is what we were desperately trying to avoid. Even if Inklings and other mariners don't shun her, the damage has already been done."
"Well, there's no use crying over spilt milk," said Pearl, casually kicking back. "All we can do now is try and fix it."
"Pearl's right. In the name of love, it's up to us to help Shiver!" Callie declared fervently.
"Let's review, then. What do we know about the suckling so far?" said Marie, still trying to pull Big Man off of her, to no avail.
"Well, according to what little Marina has told us," Kuki began, covertly glaring at Marina and 8. "We know that it's a taboo ritual. We know that every Octarian is born with this knowledge as a result of their genetic memory. And lastly, we know that it is so bad that they can't help but feel the need to ostracize the one responsible for committing the act because of their emotional hypersensitivity."
"...Aaaand, that tells us, what exactly?" Tres asked.
Suddenly, Kuki fell forward, unceremoniously slipping off the chair like a wet noodle and slamming her head against the coffee table with a loud wet smack.
"Absolutely nothing," she let out a long drawn out groan, bringing her hands up and gripping her head in frustration. "Grr... We still don't know what the suckling is and we're nowhere closer to helping Shiver than when we started! Marina's long winded exposition was completely pointless!"
"E-eh?! I thought I was being helpful?" Marina pouted.
"All you did was explain to us using big words why Octarians are natural born spazzes, which is a revelation to absolutely no one!" Kuki groaned.
"This is true," said 8 nonchalantly
"Yeah," Quattro nodded.
"Mmhmm," Frye hummed.
"Waaah!" Little Buddy agreed, perched upon Tres's shoulder.
"Kuki's got you there Marina," Pearl shrugged, pulling her friend into a side hug. "Don't worry. Even with all that gobbledygook about genetic memory this and overdeveloped senses that, I still love ya."
"W-what did I do to deserve someone like you, Pearlie!" Marina cried as she returned the gesture.
"So... What now?" Tres asked, frowning. He turned to Marina. "I- We can't just leave Shiver like this. If the suckling is a ritual, then that means there has to be a way to undo it, right? Or, at the very least, some way to absolve Shiver of this perceived crime?"
"There is something, but..." Marina bit at her lip.
"Let me guess, you can't tell us. It's an Octarian thing," Kuki mumbled, her face still planted on the table.
"No, no it's not that," Marine assured. "Okay, so I can't tell you, but there is a solution. Sort of. It's just... Shiver has to be the one to do it, within the proper context with all the conditions met, and Tres has to be involved. But seeing as she's sulking in her home and actively avoiding him, the odds of her actually going through with it are slim to none."
"You know what's sad? That's probably the best news we've heard all day," Kuki mumbled, finally lifting her head off of the table. "At least there's a solution, however unlikely," she sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Tsk, look at us, mucking about in the garage like a bunch of snot nosed teenagers after school with nothing to do. We're the NSS. We've outplayed a tyrannical DJ, unplugged a genocidal telephone and shaved a hairy situation brought on by a capitalist bear. And yet, it's biology, of all things, that's given us the most difficulty in our career as agents. Pathetic. Well, I for one ain't gonna stand for this!" She bellowed suddenly, leaping up onto the table.
"I'm captain of this outfit and I say it's high time we do things our way! The NSS way!" she hotly proclaimed. "We're gonna do what we do best and that's investigate!" She hopped off and stood in front of the tv, her eyes glimmered with the fires of leadership. "Listen up, we're in uncharted waters so this ain't gonna be easy. But then again, when is anything worth doing easy? The way I see it, there are three things we have to accomplish if we ever hope to help Shiver, uncover Alterna's secret and save Seven Day Forecast!"
She raised her hand and began counting. "One! We look into this suckling however we can. Talk to anyone and everyone to get the juicy details on this ritual. There's bound to be a way to correct all this and we're gonna find it. What are the odds that every Octarian out there will stonewall us like Marina and 8?"
"Statistically speaking? About a hundred percent, actually," Marina replied before recoiling at the dirty look Kuki gave her.
"...That was a rhetorical question," Kuki grumbled.
"R-right. Heh heh. Rhetorical," Marina shrank, grinning nervously. "Er, go team! Whoo! Heh heh..."
"Ahem," Kuki cleared her throat. "Two! We look after Shiver. She may not be a member of the NSS but she's still one of us! We leave no one behind, Inkling or Octoling! We're gonna lift her spirits up and get her back to her old self, that's our way!"
"Yeah!" Frye cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. "The Mistress of Megalodon will ride again!"
"Ay! (Deep Cut forever!)" Big Man shouted fervently, still clinging to Marie, much to her chagrin.
"And finally, three!" Kuki continued. "Damage control! Everyone in Splatsville is in a frenzy over this scandal and we need to quell it before it can spiral out of control. We'll have to be careful and play our cards right or else the media vultures don't rip you guys apart. The show must go on and Seven Day Forecast needs to show that there'll be clear skies ahead! You all got that?!" She concluded, receiving a round of cheers in response.
"That's why you're the captain, Kuki!" Callie exclaimed.
"Waaah!" Little buddy clapped his fins excitedly, bouncing up and down Tres's shoulder.
"Heh," Kuki smirked, tracing the rim of her cap. "This hat ain't just for show."
"So, when do we start this operation?" Tres inquired, eager to begin. He couldn't sit still, not when Shiver was suffering.
"I'd prefer it if we could start immediately, but the wound is still too fresh to start prodding at it so soon. We'll start tomorrow. It'll give us time to plan and rest. Hopefully things will have cooled down a bit by then," replied Kuki, causing Tres's expression to fall. Noticing this, she placed an assuring hand on his shoulder. "Buck up, Tres. This is something worth doing, and we're gonna do it right. But, I like your initiative. Hmm, Cuttlefish sure knows how to pick 'em."
"Heh, back at you," Tres chuckled.
"In any case, you can start tomorrow afternoon. You'll be paired up with Quattro. Both of you will be on investigation duty. Scope out Splatsville and get down to the nitty-gritty. If what Marina says is true, and knowing her it probably is, every Octarian out there won't say a word about the suckling. I'm afraid I might be setting you guys off on a fool's errand, but we can't just stand by and do nothing. Who knows. Maybe you'll get lucky and find the sole exception, though I wouldn't hold my breath."
"We'll do our best, cap," Tres saluted as Little Buddy mimicked his action. "You can count on us."
"We're agents," Quattro smirked, flashing the peace sign. "We got a handle on this sort of thing."
"That's very on brand for you, Quattro," Kuki chuckled before turning to face Frye and Big Man. "As for you two. I know you're feeling for Shiver, that's why I'm tasking the both of you with keeping an eye on her. You're her best friends, after all. It was a no brainer. I don't need to tell you this but do what you can to make her feel better. With the way things are, Shiver will need every ounce of support she can get."
"We were planning on doing that anyway," Frye nodded sagely. "We're Deep Cut. We look after our own and nothing is ever going to change that."
"Ay! (Tell it like it is, Frye!)" Big Man bellowed enthusiastically. "Ay, ay, ay! (I'm gonna make it up to Shiver! I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy again!)
"Big Man, do you know what would make me happy? Some personal space," Marie all but growled.
"A-ay! (O-oh! Sorry about that, boss!)" Big Man pulled away, rubbing the back of his head.
"Eugh," Marie grimaced, wiping at the stain on her shoulder with her gloved hand. "Thank you, Big Man."
"Ay! (You're welcome!)" Big Man beamed.
"Speaking of," Kuki turned to address Marie, Callie, Pearl and Marina. "You four will be doing damage control. Considering, you know, you're good at this sort of thing."
"Yeah, we were kinda expecting that," said Callie. "The life of a celebrity is a balancing act of charm and cunning. And we got that in spades."
"Well, Callie's got the charm and I got the cunning," Marie quipped. "Regardless, I can't wait to stick it to those tabloids. Nothing would make me smile more than seeing those sensationalist rumor mongers squirm underneath my gaze." A wicked smile curled up on her lips as a sinister glint sparkled in her eyes.
"Marie, we're trying to save our rep, not make it worse," Callie giggled.
"Ooh, scary," Pearl guffawed.
"As expected of the talented Squid Sisters," Marina beamed.
"Now, Pearl," Kuki addessed, a look of apprehension on her face. She hoped what came next won't come back to bite them in the butt. "Some of those talk show hosts are real slimeballs with their act so... Ugh, I can't believe I'm saying this. We might need your star power for this. Splatsville is enamored with you. If things don't go your way you have my permission to assert yourself upon them. But only as a last resort. Is that understood?"
"...Oh, my gosh. It's finally happening," Pearl brightened exponentially, her expression grew to one of childlike wonder and excitement. The light reflecting off her forehead could practically be focused into a laser with enough power to amputate a limb. "You're going to let me go mad with power?!"
"That is a... very specific interpretation of my orders," Kuki was already starting to regret her decision, but she couldn't back down now. She needed to use every asset at her disposal, even if there's a strong possibility it could lead to something worse in the long run. "Just... keep it to an absolute minimum and only if you really, really have to."
"Come on, Kuki. It's me," Pearl smirked, posing with a dramatic flourish. "Just you watch, I'll have all of Splatsville eating from out the palm of my hand."
"How reassuring," Kuki sniffed, turning her gaze over to Marina.
"I'll make sure she behaves," Marina replied, already knowing what Kuki was going to ask of her.
"I'm gonna hold you to that," Kuki echoed, narrowing her eyes. The intent was not lost on Marina.
"And what will you be doing?" Marie asked.
"I'll be pairing myself up with 8. We'll also be on investigation duty, but our area of operation will be a bit more... exotic," replied Kuki, placing a hand on her chin. "Quattro and Tres will be investigating things in Splatsville, 8 and I will be investigating Alterna."
"Alterna?" Marina tilted her head bemusingly. "What do you hope to find there?"
"Hopefully, some truths... I have a hypothesis," said Kuki, her expression one of discomfort. "Our origins lie in Alterna. I hate to think about it but the logs didn't mince words, and neither did O.R.C.A. We exist as an echo of humanity, an unintentional but wholly miraculous result of their advanced sciences. The Octarian's genetic memory had to have come from somewhere. The answer must be there, deep in the Crater."
"Eugh," Marie shuddered uncontrollably. "Don't get all existential on me, Kuki."
"That is merely the unfortunate nature of it," said 8, walking up beside Kuki. "The unknown awaits us, once again. I'll assist you however I can to the best of my capacity."
"Oh, so now you're cooperating," Kuki raised a brow before cracking a smirk. "Are you going to start acting like an agent or am I going to have to make good my threats?"
"I-I do not wish to be used as a cleaning instrument," 8 gulped.
"That's the right answer," Kuki laughed, giving 8 a firm pat on the back. "Now, I take it we're all in agreement about your assigned tasks?" She received a round of acknowledgement from her peers. "Good to hear! We'll rotate our tasks between us everyday to maximize our efficiency. But until then, we should get ourselves ready. We've got a long mission ahead of us, it's gonna be an interesting week."
With that, the group dispersed and went about their own activities. Pearl, Marina, Kuki and 8 however still hung by the common area.
"Marina, 8. There's something I gotta say before you go off to do your own thing," Kuki addressed. "I know I was behaving harshly earlier, but that's only because I care about you guys. I can overlook your insubordination because I know that if either of you found yourself in Shiver's position you can bet your butts the NSS will rush to your aid just as quickly. Count on it. I'd be a terrible captain if I didn't look after my own."
"I... I appreciate that, Kuki," 8 smiled warmly, his cheeks glowing red.
"Thank you, Kuki," Marina bowed respectfully.
"Heckin' yeah! No Inkling or Octolings left behind!" Pearl bellowed. "We'll never let you guys join the circus!"
"You know, now that you've brought it up, I wonder how many circus performers out there are actually disgraced Octarians?" Kuki pondered the thought. "Hmm..."
Elsewhere, Tres found himself sitting along the edge of the mansion, quietly enjoying the view of Splatsville as Little Buddy rested on his lap. He gently scratched the small fry behind his freakishly bulbous eyes, who clumsily wiggled his fins in delight at the sensation.
"Heh, you little weirdo," Tres joked before his mood turned somber. "I guess that makes two of us." Sighing, his thoughts drifted over to Shiver. "Hang in there Shiver. Things will get better, we're all here for you..." He laid on his back and shut his eyes. "Heh heh, I really should be honest with myself..."
Deep within the heart of Shiver's isolated abode, the scratchy sounds of vigorous scrubbing echoed from within the walls of her serene home...
A/N: If Tres is an Ork, does that make Little Buddy a Squig?