Nem-Nem had a serious talk with me that morning, the morning after I'd snuck out with Wreckage. Apparently, Nem-Nem was also a rebel when she was younger. More surprisingly, she had used to play an electric keyboard during her turfing years.

While she wasn't too mad, she had made me promise to never sneak out again, because if I ever did, there'd be consequences from her. I didn't know what those consequences would be, but I could only guess.

Later that day, I had been searching for a way to get in contact with Marina, and it definitely wasn't easy. I didn't want to bother Liv with it today, as she seemed to be busy with Hector. Hector had supposedly discovered something that could help his company out.

I remembered back to when I had first met him. I still had to uphold my promise on telling him everything I could about human fashion, even if I didn't know much. I honestly felt a little guilty about not talking to him about it yet.

As I kept thinking about it, Ezra popped up in front of me, her look having changed. She… seemed to look more like an inkling than an octoling this time, her hair having short tentacle bangs in front.

Looking around, I remembered I was in the local library. Sitting in this stiff chair all day hurt my back a little… "What's up with you?" I asked quietly. "You look different."

"I'm trying out new looks," she said. "You like it?"

"It's pretty, but I'm curious what made you do so," I answered.

She looked at all the inklings sitting in beanbag chairs, a sad look in her eyes. "I dunno… maybe I just wanna feel like I fit in…? Even if they can't see me…"

I… sympathized with that a lot. "I get that," I said.

"Of course you do," she said. "You have so much wrong with your head."

I wasn't sure whether or not to take that as an insult… "You keep saying that," I whispered. "Is there really that much wrong with me?"

She vanished, and then I felt her arms wrap around me from behind, hugging me close. "Mhm… You've got a lot of self-hate. It's getting worse, too. I've got you, though. Soon, that'll just be a memory…"

"You know I can't let you," I reminded her.

"Mhm…" she quietly replied. "I know. We have a strange relationship, don't you think…?"

I nodded, then stood up, her arms going up in smoke as she dissipated. I picked up the book I'd been reading from the table in front of me, then went to put it back. I'd been looking through countless biographies on the popstar, Marina. Hardly anything was known about her from a squid's point of view, as no one knew about her octarian origins.

I walked up to the librarian's desk, seeing a bored-looking inkling leaning back in her chair, her feet on the desk as she chewed bubblegum. I was hesitant to ask her anything, but I did so anyway. "Do you have anything else on Marina?"

Her gaze wandered over to me as she slowly blew a large bubble. I was expecting it to pop, but my stress levels rose as it simply shrank instead. Why was I stressed by something like that…? After she pulled it back into her mouth, she answered, "Nah. We ain't got much on her."

I scratched my arm, feeling nervous in front of her. "Do you think you could direct me to a place that could help me out?"

Her bored gaze penetrated through my head, I felt. She blew yet another bubble, only to draw it back into her mouth with a small pop this time. "Hm… Kid, you ever hear of this magical place called the internet? Full of trolls, but it's got stuff we ain't ever gonna have here on paper."

"I did," I responded. "I could only find videos of her concerts with Pearl."

"I dunno what to tell ya, kid," responded the librarian.

I sighed. Would I really have to wait for Henry to return so I could get another pass from him? When would he return? I was beginning to feel helpless again…

"You're looking for Marina?"

I jumped at the sudden voice. Turning around, I saw Berry, looking up at me with his pink eyes. I nodded. "Yeah. I need to talk to her."

"Unrealistic goals," he said. "I can help you."

He took my hand before I could question him, dragging me out of the library. I patiently followed him, curious as to what he knew. This was Scalpel's son… so, what was his extent of knowledge? If Scalpel knew so much, did Berry know as much, too?

"Marina doesn't typically hang out with any inklings other than Pearl, but I can get you to her," said Berry.

"How?" I asked as he led me down a random alleyway. We were far from the square…

"She likes intellectuals," said Berry.

"So she knows you…?" I questioned.

"Mhm," Berry answered. "She's always teaching inklings when she can."

"But, she's a popstar?" I brought up.

"So?" questioned Berry. "That doesn't mean it's all she does."

He knocked on a metal door, and the moment he did, it opened up to reveal a rather tough-looking inkling in a punk getup. He crossed his arms. "Ain't you a little early for class?" the punk asked.

"Marina's expecting me," he said.

"...If ya say so," said the punk, stepping aside.

Berry smiled at me as he led me inside, and I couldn't help but smile back. I was a little excited. I was finally going to get to ask Marina some questions. "Thank you," I said to him. "Why help me, though?"

"I don't know if a human like you would understand," he said.

I was a little surprised. "Y-You know I'm-"

"Of course," he said with a soft smile.

That made sense, as his father must've told him about me, but… then again, was my look noticeable, too? Would he have figured it out anyway without Scalpel knowing? Or did Scalpel even tell him? I was a little confused, but I wasn't going to get into those details right now.

We entered a small room with plush green carpet and oakwood board walls. Marina was sitting in her swivel chair, looking content as she read from her magazine. She looked up, her eyes widening as she saw me. "Oh… I… you weren't supposed to-"

"She's safe," said Berry.

"I know she is," said Marina. "But… she's not supposed to be here so early."

"Early?" questioned Berry.

Marina chuckled nervously. "N-Nevermind… Could you leave us alone for a bit?" she asked him.

Berry nodded. "Yes, Miss Ida."

As Berry left, Marina looked at me and stood up. That was when I'd realized she was pretty tall, much taller than me. She walked up to me, then patted me on the head. "Are you doing okay? Henry didn't hurt you, did he?"

"You knew him," I suddenly said, my mind going back to what I'd learned.

"You found out too soon," she said with sadness.

"How did you know him?" I asked.

"It's very complicated…" she said. "I know a little too much, if that makes any sense."

"It doesn't," I bluntly stated.

She sighed, staying silent for a few seconds. I could tell she was debating on how to talk to me, what to say to me. I couldn't figure out why she was so hesitant. I could only wait.

"I know a lot about the nature of our world," she said. "A younger human like you couldn't handle the truth. Mark knew, at least, somehow, and I was surprised by this."

"You're still not making sense," I said.

"I wish I could," she said. "Look, I know why you're here. You want to help your friend, don't you?"

I nodded. "She needs-"

"A body," Marina finished for me. "I… can't," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

She gave me such a sad look that it worried me. "The damage has already been done. You're very fragile right now. You've gone through so much genetic manipulation that I'm surprised you're still somehow holding yourself together…"

"How do you know this?! C-Can't it be reversed?!" I shouted. "Someone is working on a cure for me!"

She paused for what felt like forever. I became tense, scared. How did she know all this? Had she known about me before I had even met her? I looked up at her in fear, my body shaking a little. Seeing this, she said, "It can be done. The chances are just very slim. A body could be made for your friend, too, but… separating you two will be nearly impossible."

"How slim…?" I asked.

"It's like getting Pearl to listen to soft violin music," replied Marina.

"I'll take those chances," said Ezra from behind me.

"We'll take those chances," I repeated, relaying Ezra's message.

Marina leaned back in her chair, looking stressed. "If you want to raise your chances… I'll need a sample of your DNA that was shed prior to your injection. Do you understand this? I need pure human DNA, not hybrid DNA. Otherwise, I have nothing to work off of."

My mind went racing. "Hair…?" I questioned.

"That'd be perfect," she said. "If you can get that, any kind of strand from before your mutations began, bring it here and I'll do everything I can, okay…? Can you keep calm for me?"

"I-I'll do anything," I said.

Marina sat up straight, then said, "Go on ahead. When you collect what I need, bring it back to this location. I might not be here when you do, but someone will be here. Give the sample to them and they'll deliver it to me."

"Yeah, I will," I said, nodding quickly.

"And before you go," she said. "Remember that it's not a guarantee…"

"I'll take whatever I can get," I said. "To help both my friend and I."

"You've got a long way to go," said Marina. "I just wish I could explain everything…"

"It's fine," I said. "Everyone's been keeping secrets lately. You've got yours, and I've got mine."

"Don't get cooked," she said.

I… didn't understand what she was referring to, whether or not there was some other danger or whether it was a casual goodbye. I simply nodded and left, running past Berry and heading straight to Ace's home.

Why there, you might ask? I remembered that meeting with Ace's little brother, Dimitri, all too well. He had asked for a single hair solely because it was human DNA, and even better, it was even before the Booyah Bomb had hit me, so the bots hadn't even caused damage to it yet. If he still had it, then I had a better chance of surviving.

As I approached his home and knocked on the door, a familiar inkling with long bangs and pearl earrings opened it, smiling the moment she saw me. "Ah, it's you! Here to see Ace, I assume?"

I nodded. "Uh, yes, Ma'am."

"You may join us for dinner as well, if you'd like. It's getting to be that time," she offered.

Confused, I looked at my phone. It was late. I immediately texted Nem of my situation, then I nodded in agreement. "Thank you, I'd love to," I said with a smile back.

As I walked in, the first thing I noticed was Ace in the kitchen, setting up the plates. As his mother walked in, she said, "Put out an extra plate. You have a visitor."

As she said that, Ace looked up from the table, his gaze catching mine. He immediately grinned and said, "Amelia, hey! Good to see you!"

"Good to see you, too," I greeted back. "Hey, Ace, is Dimitri around?"

"What did he do this time?" asked Ace's mother.

"Whaddya mean?" I questioned.

"He gets into trouble often with his little machines," she said. "Likes to test them out, sometimes breaks things."

"Like when his time machine literally ended up drawing power from the whole city last year and the outage lasted for about a week," said Ace.

Wait… I remembered that week. Nem-Nem and I had to stay at her sister's place in Inkburg. "That was Dimitri?!"

"Had the government at our door," she said with a giggle. "I had to ground him from his toys for a week."

"How is a time machine a toy again?" asked Ace.

"As long as it's not actually messing up spacetime and is giving him amusement, I'm considering it a toy," responded his mother.

I couldn't help but laugh at her logic, making her laugh in return. I looked Ace's direction and asked him, "So, is he here?"

"Yeah," said Ace. "He's upstairs. You want me to take you up there? No doubt he'll want to study the human again."

My face went red. His mother was literally right there. "A-Ace, my secret!"

"Calm down," she said. "I knew the moment I saw you. I said nothing because it'd just stress you out."

W-What? "And you're not just gonna–"

"No, I'm not," she said. "Dimitri's done some crazy things. Making friends with a human isn't exactly something I'd put out of the ordinary. It's said he gets his brains from his father's side of the family, but I'd have to disagree."

"Wait, what…? Who's his father?" I asked.

"No one important," said Ace.

"Let's not talk about that," she said. "Go upstairs. I've gotta check on the oven anyway."

Ace grinned at me, then held my hand, guiding me upstairs. "Sorry about that," he said.

"You didn't tell me much about your dad, did you?" I questioned. "I can understand why you didn't."

"Look, he was there for me for a while, taught me everything about Turf War, then he left," he said. "That was a loooong time ago, so it's nothing real special. Mom's enough for us."

I had no idea this was how Ace's family was until now, so to hear that he had a father who just left was a little upsetting. "So, you're fine with that?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Just cuz he didn't stick around doesn't mean I can't stay positive."

But how…?

"C'mon," he said, tugging me towards Dimitri's door, where he promptly knocked. "Yo, big-brain. Let us in! The human girl's back!"

I immediately heard a clutter of books and papers. "Wh-What?!" he replied. "Hang on!"

"He's been cooped up in his room all week," said Ace.

As soon as the door opened, I saw Dimitri with tired eyes. "H-Hey, Ace. Didn't think you'd invite her over for dinner."

"I didn't," he said. "She came here to see you."

"Why me?" asked Dimitri.

"I didn't really want to do this, but I need that strand back," I said.

Dimitri seemed to be a little breathless. "B-But I–"

"C'mon, little bro. Hand it over," said Ace.

"I… can't," he said.

"Wh-What do you mean you can't?" I asked for clarification.

"I… met a really cool person at my school today, renowned for his study on humanity and their culture. I wanted to impress him," said Dimitri. "So I gave him the strand of DNA and now he's… coming over for dinner."

My hopes felt dashed for a moment until he said, "B-But I have all the information regarding the strand. I can even replicate it!"

Ezra popped up, saying, "Get the data. It's good enough. Marina should be able to work with that."

"Th-Then I need that," I said. Ezra vanished soon after.

"After dinner?" he said. "I've been putting together papers to impress him even more."

"Who is this guy?" asked Ace.

"Kids, come down!" called Ace's mother. "Dinner time!"

"No time," said Dimitri, walking past us and down the stairs. As we followed him, he asked his mother, "Is he here yet?"

"Not yet," she said. "He might be caught up in traffic. You know how Inkopolis streets can be in the afternoon. Everyone's always rushing to get home."

Just then, an unexpected chill went up my spine as the doorbell rang. Why?

As the mother opened the door, she stared.

Dr. Scalpel stared back.

"Barbara," he greeted.

"Bram," she said back with a hint of disgust. "Why are you back here?"

"Because one of my own invited me," Bram answered, making my blood run cold. I looked at Dimitri, who had a look of confusion on his face.

Ace had a different look, one that told me he was caught in a lie he had been telling me for a long time now, and it made me wonder… if he was ashamed. That was when my entire perspective changed. I had learned that night that Scalpel was the father of Ace and Dimitri.

As we all sat at the table, Ace had a look of discomfort on his face. I wanted to help him, but I didn't know how. Barbara, Ace's mother, sat at one end of the table, staring at Scalpel, who was staring back from the other end.

"So, Dimitri invited you," she said.

"I didn't expect you to hide a child from me," said Scalpel. "I already knew of Ace, but… the younger? He has my intelligence."

"I divorced you because you were dabbling in matters that are beyond us," said Barbara.

"So, Alexander," said Scalpel as he turned his head to look at Ace. "How are your grades…?"

"Don't," said Ace, quietly fiddling with his food with his fork instead of eating it.

"I find it hurtful, you know," said Scalpel. "You never did like to acknowledge me after that day. I didn't leave by choice."

"You didn't even try to come back," said Ace. "Don't talk to me."

Scalpel didn't seem to be offended by this. Instead, he looked Dimitri's way. "So, you're a fan of my work?"

Dimitri caught the gaze of his mother, making the smaller inkling look down in awkwardness. "Yes, Sir," he quietly answered. "But I didn't know you were–"

"Mhm…" said Scalpel, looking at Barbara. "Look, perhaps we can talk alone, if it's alright with you."

"No, Bram," said Barbara. "You didn't care about our family. You only cared about her, someone who wasn't even from this family. She wasn't even from our species. I'm sorry, but you were driving me up the wall with your experiments. You neglected Ace, and I was sure you'd neglect our upcoming child, so I broke up with you. We're done with you, and you're only welcome here until this dinner is over. Do I make myself clear?"

Bram looked at me, then Ace, then back at Barbara. "Yes," he said back in response.

The dinner seemed to almost go on forever until Scalpel finished his food. He then stood up and walked past Ace. Reaching Dimitri, he extended his hand. "It was… a pleasure to meet you."

Dimitri shook Bram's hand, looking up at him, not knowing what to say, his mother watching him. After letting go of Dimitri's hand, Bram walked towards the front door. Before walking out, he said, "Alexander, I never intended to be gone for so long. You may pretend to not know me if you wish to keep doing so. Just know that I did what I could to teach you everything before I was forced to leave. I did that for you."

Ace flinched, but as his mother placed her hand on his shoulder, he regained his composure. "Uh-huh," he said, not seeming to have any positive feeling in it. It was the first time where Ace wasn't as confident as he usually was, and that made me worry for his wellbeing.

Scalpel then left, closing the door and leaving only silence. The only word I heard was quietly uttered by Ace's mother, one being a slur that I didn't wish to repeat. After a while of the silence, when everything was being cleaned up after dinner, I walked up to Ace with my plate. I had cleaned it myself, not wishing to leave him with the workload.

"Where would I put this?" I asked.

He pointed to the cabinet in the corner of the kitchen. "Right there. Thanks, Amelia."

"No problem," I said. "Hey, um… You never… uh…"

"It's in the past," said Ace, looking at me with assurance. "It's nothing that needs to be discussed. No worries, okay?"

I slowly nodded before putting my plate away. "You know… Squidmas is coming up in two days. I almost forgot about it with all the crazy stuff that's been happening lately."

"Crazy stuff indeed," said Ace. "I got you something, too."

"Same for you," I replied. In fact, I had bought him a present sometime before the trip to Wahoo World. It seemed like a long time ago…

"I'm pretty excited about it. It'll keep my mind off of today," he said.

I had so many questions by now. If Scalpel was the father of Ace and Dimitri, then was Berry from another marriage? And who was Scalpel's deceased daughter? What marriage did the daughter come from? Exactly how many kids did Scalpel have? I wished I could get all the answers right away, but for now, I was stuck in the dark with limited information.

After we had finished cleaning the dishes together, I got the DNA data from Dimitri, who seemed a little disturbed by Scalpel's visit. Cod knew what kind of things were going through his mind, and I wished I could have helped him in some way, but I didn't want to make anything worse unintentionally. It just wasn't my business. I was just a random person, and he was in his own world of confusion that could only be consoled by his family.

As I was walking back to the alleyway where Marina was, I couldn't help but think about what Dimitri had said earlier. He had given the strand of my hair to Scalpel. That was very worrying to me. I didn't want to think Scalpel might do something wrong with it, like… use it with that creepy robot, but his intentions were definitely clear when he introduced Tartar to me.

Was Scalpel really capable of bringing his daughter back? More importantly, was it even a good idea? What if something went wrong? I didn't want to think about it too much, as it would only increase the existing stress I already had weighing down on my mind.

Once I approached the door in the alleyway, I raised my fist to knock on the door, only for it to open up, my reflection staring back at me through Henry's helmet, my brother holding his hand out. "The DNA, please…?"

"Didn't you want my DNA for octarian purposes…?" I questioned, stepping back.

That was when Marina stepped past him, smiling at me with a hint of anxiety in her expression. "I'm sorry, we were both catching up."

I remembered what Henry had said to me once before, that he and her were friends back then, but… how close were they, I wondered? I simply nodded, handing over the USB to Marina. She seemed confused until I said, "It has the data for my DNA. All other traces are gone."

Marina seemed disappointed, but she continued smiling. "I think I can work with this, then. In fact, it might be faster. If I had the DNA itself, it would've taken me a while to analyze it all."

Henry stepped outside, then looked at me, holding out his hand. "I need you to come with me for a bit, if that's alright…?"

My bond with my brother kept telling me yes, but my mind kept saying that this wasn't my brother anymore. Still, however, I went with my gut, taking his hand. Marina gave us both a sympathizing look. "Aww…" she said. "I'm glad to see that you've both reunited. I'll just get to work on this data for now, so, don't mind me!"

Henry began walking away with me, but before I could leave Marina's sight, I said a quick, "Goodbye!" back. "I'm counting on you, Marina!"

I… received a sad smile back.

I had this fear overwhelming me, my hand shaking in Henry's. When he tightened his grip, my fears were lessened. He seemed to be aware of my feelings, so I guessed he was trying to help me keep calm.

As we walked, I began asking him questions. The first thing on my mind was his recovery, so I wanted to ask his likes and dislikes, anything related to what Mark used to enjoy. However, no matter what I asked him…

"Reading?" I questioned.

"Was never a bookworm," he said.

"What about science?" I asked. "You used to love it. You knew so much."

"I literally can't even stand math," he said. "I leave that stuff to Ophelia."

"There's gotta be something left in you," I said as we walked past the city limits. We seemed to be going up to the mountains. There was a lot of snow up there, so I was curious as to what he'd even want to show me.

"I like using my roller," he said. "That's pretty much it. Training, exercising, staying fit."

My heart was sinking, and there was no way to patch it up at this point. "C'mon, Mar–"

"Don't call me Mark," he said. "Not until I can remember…"

We walked in silence, my thoughts of Mark making me want to burst out in tears, but I kept my composure. Henry was still here, so I just needed to remind him somehow… "What about stick fighting?" I asked.

He gave me a glance as we walked, only to return his gaze up ahead. "Stick fighting? Like what younger inklings do?"

"I… yeah?" I confirmed. "You and I used to play on the beach. We'd use branches and driftwood. You used to have such a carefree attitude whenever we were play-fighting!"

"I don't remember a thing about it…" he said. "Amelia, I know you're trying, but when I said I don't remember a thing, I meant it. I can only try at this point, but… if I can't be your brother, Mark, can't I just be your brother, Henry…?"

There were mixed feelings. I didn't want to let Mark go, but I also didn't want to hurt Henry's feelings. What could I even do? No matter how much I had interrogated him on the way up the mountains, he just couldn't remember a thing. There wasn't a single hint of Mark left, and I… couldn't handle that…

As the cold began getting to me, I shivered. Henry immediately noticed, taking off his leather jacket and placing it around me. "Here," he said.

"You need it m-more," I said. "You're not as warm-blooded as I am."

"Keeping up with our anatomy, I see," he said. "Impressive, but there's no need to worry. I've handled worse…"

"Where are we going…?" I asked, trying not to think about Mark…

"A place I go to so I can think to myself," he said. "I think better here than I do anywhere else."

I was a little confused. Why would he come up here where it was so cold? There was snow all around us, and it was even falling from the sky… "How can you think out here? It's freezing!"

"It's… a place I found on my own," he said. "I don't know why, I don't know how. I just… knew it was here. Since then, I've been coming here."

And that was when… I saw it.

Home.

There, proudly standing in the snow was our home, a remnant of the past that still existed, a real, living memory. With this, my feelings were threatening to pour out with happiness and sadness.

Henry knew where home was. He remembered where home was.

I didn't give him any warning. I just wrapped my arms tightly around him in a tearful hug. "Y-You remember!" I sobbed out. "You remember! You're still in there!"

He was frozen with surprise, asking, "What are you talking about?"

"Th-This is our home!" I exclaimed, pointing to our house. Our standing, intact house.

"I lived here?" he questioned.

I nodded, then took his hand, running up to the front door, where I flung it open with excitement. I was surprised it didn't come off its hinges. It was more stable than I'd thought it would be, and as I stepped into the familiar living room, my eyes welled up with happy tears.

"After so long, I'm back home," I whispered.

The living room was just as I had left it, with the sofa by the front door and a long coffee table in front of it. Mom's reading chair was in the far corner, where the lamp stood proudly by it after all these years, waiting for her to turn it on again. On the other side of the room, across from the front door, was the door to Dad's study room, where I was rarely allowed.

Henry calmly stepped into the house, closing the door behind us. "If this is really your home, I wouldn't go into the rooms upstairs…"

My heart nearly stopped. "...Why?" I hesitantly asked.

"Remains," he calmly said. "I can only assume now that they're…"

"M-Mom and Dad?" I assumed.

"Signs of a struggle," he said. "Overturned bookshelves…"

Mom and Dad had always been fighting back then. I… didn't want to imagine what had happened after I had been frozen in the cryopod. Did their fights go too far in the end…?

I slowly nodded, holding in what little tears I had left. "Thank you for… warning me…"

"I did what I could to gather what books were in the house," he said. "From there, I was able to pick up the human language rather easily."

"You were human," I reminded him.

He raised his arms and placed his hands onto his helmet before slowly removing it, revealing to me his face. He still had the same face he did when he was human. His familiar green eyes looked into mine, and I could tell that although his face was the same, he looked much more mature than he had used to be.

"I'd say I'm hardly human anymore," he said with a smile towards me. With tears in my eyes, I smiled back. He took my hand, then led me into Dad's old study room, where I saw papers all over the walls, all with depictions of DNA in some way, shape, or form. There were photos on the desk, but what was in these photos made me question everything I knew about Dad.

There were humans sitting in chairs, each one with small deformities. One had eyes with eight-shaped pupils. Another had glowing hair. A third had very sharp teeth, much like… an inkling…?

"Henry? What is all this…?" I asked with worry.

He sat in Dad's old chair, the furniture squeaking as it held his weight. I was surprised it was still in good condition. Henry clasped his hands together, looking as if he were trying to figure out a way to explain it to me.

"He was trying to force humans to evolve," he said. "All for the sake of survival."

"And did he… succeed?" I asked.

"Yes and no," said Henry. "Do you remember the serum that was injected into us by Ophelia…?"

I slowly nodded.

"That was Dad's," he said. He's… been with us this whole time, actually. That serum was originally composed of his DNA, albeit heavily altered. Mark was trying to help him, but from the documents I've read, Mark found Dad to have crossed the line at some point."

My eyes widened in realization. "Does this mean that… all octolings and inklings are–"

"No," he said. "We all evolved naturally, don't worry. We weren't some freak experiment gone wrong. No, we were worse."

"How?" I questioned.

Henry seemed to have a slight smile on his face, one that looked prideful, almost. "From what I've learned by looking at these documents, humans had discovered that marine life intelligence had increased significantly, and this prompted a meeting between scientists from around the world."

"And they decided to do freaky experiments," I assumed, not liking the sound of it at all.

"Humans knew that marine life was evolving faster than they could, so they needed to keep up by any means possible, and that meant experimentation," said Henry. "They were desperate."

That was when I remembered my dreams of the ocean. The humans had found me… "So, they used… squids," I guessed.

He raised a brow. "That's… correct. Any cephalopods they could gather were analyzed, their DNA copied, but that DNA was impartial because humans didn't have the full knowledge of genetics at their fingertips."

This was messed up. This was beyond messed up. "Were the test subjects in those photos at least willing…?"

A silence, then a sigh. Henry leaned back in Dad's chair, making it creak. "There's no evidence of agreement, sadly. These were people who were collected from the shelters, the ones built specifically to save them from death. It's ironic that it was their death trap."

I put my hands to my stomach, getting nauseous. Why was Dad of all people involved in this? Why would he keep this from me? From Mom? Or… did Mom know? I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to know about it. Was that what their final fight was about…?

"I'm sorry, Amelia," said Henry. "I didn't know this man was your father until today. It's a pity. His work was what we based our genetics on, and he could've actually saved your ki–"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed at him, my body trembling, my head in my hands. I was gonna lose it! "No! No more! He kept secrets from me! He was hurting people! He… he's not my dad! He's not my dad!"

Henry stared at me, his eyes showing signs of pity. "Amelia, I–"

"No!" I shouted. "I was happy to find my home, but now… I don't recognize it! This wasn't home! Nem-Nem was home!"

Ezra appeared besides Henry. "Amelia, your state of mind is reaching that critical stage. Calm down before it gets worse."

"I can't!" I screamed as tears flowed from my eyes. "Dad was a liar! I kept living for him and Mom! And what did I GET?!"

Henry stood up and grabbed my hand, making me stop in surprise. "For a long time, I thought I had no family. Your dad may have betrayed your trust, but you still have your brother, even if I'm… broken. Look at me."

I tilted my head up, looking at him through my tears. He smiled softly, caressing my cheek. That was Mark's smile. I could recognize my brother more and more. I knew there was still a chance to salvage this.

"I'm going to do everything I can," he said. "Your brother's not gone. If I can't remember, then please, at least let me be your brother."

I slowly leaned in, my face against his chest, my emotions doing everything they could to sort themselves out. "Okay," I whispered.

"We'll get you through this," he promised. "I will do everything I can to keep you going, okay…?"

I nodded slowly in agreement, and soon after, he took me back home to Nem-Nem. By the time we reached the apartment, it was getting really dark. With my hand in his, he led me up the stairs to the front door.

"When will you be back next?" I asked him.

He… surprised me, knocking on the front door. Looking at me, my face reflected in his visor, he gripped my hand a little tight. "I don't think Ophelia would mind if I stayed over here for a small while. Probably a few days or so…"

I had the urge to put on the biggest grin I had, but I kept calm. "S-Sure. Let's just hope Nem is… um… accepting of you staying over. If not, I can't really guarantee your stay here."

The door opened, Nem took one look at me, then asked, "And where have you been this time?"

I turned my head to Henry, who she looked at with confusion. After a few seconds, it seemed to register in her mind. "O-Oh! Are you her brother?!"

Henry nodded. "Mind if I come in?"

Nem smiled, then stepped aside. "Come on in. Any family of Amelia's is family of mine. You're always welcome here."

As he stepped in, he said, "I'm not so sure about that just yet."

As Nem took my hand and pulled me inside, she asked, "Why's that?"

"I've changed a bit since I woke up from cryosleep," he said, placing his hands on his helmet. "I just hope it won't change your view of me so easily."

As he removed his helmet to reveal his tentacle hair and octoling ears, Nem stared, gripping my hand tightly like a vice. "You're an octarian," she stated.

"I am," he said. "I'm unarmed, completely defenseless, and I have no intention to harm."

Nem let go of my hand, then walked up to Henry. They were pretty much the same height, which allowed their eyes to meet. Nem had this tongue-in-cheek look about her as she thought to herself. "You're her brother? And I'm guessing… what happened to you is the same thing happening to her?"

He nodded to confirm her suspicions. "I don't remember much anymore, but I'm trying my best to be the brother she needs."

"Uh-huh…" she said, not seeming to believe him. She looked to me and asked, "Could you go to your room for a moment?"

I was confused. "But–"

"Now," she ordered, and without another thought, I obeyed, heading to my room and closing my door. The moment my door clicked upon closing, I heard muffled voices. I wished I could understand what they were saying. It felt like a few questions, along with short answers, and then… the sound of thudding against the walls.

I quickly opened my door and ran back into the living room, seeing Nem and Henry in a predictable scenario. She had him easily pinned against the wall. "N-Nem!" I shouted.

"Geez, you call yourself an octarian?" she asked him, letting him go. "Not even an effort. Fine. You can stay for a few days."

Henry seemed shocked, stepping away from her as soon as she let him go. "She's a higher class than I thought," he said.

"What happened?" I asked, looking up at him in concern.

"She asked me if I was willing to attempt defending myself from her as a test. I didn't think she'd be able to pin me so easily."

"That's Nem Nemone," I said. "She used to be a turfer."

"That much is apparent, especially from her movement," he said.

Nem smiled at both of us. "Well, looks like I've got another mouth to feed for a few days. There are extra blankets in the hall closet," she said. "Make sure you're presentable at the table. That means no helmets, no weapons, no fuss, no buts, no coconuts. Got it? Got it."

That night, Henry slept on the couch. I stayed up as long as I could, though. I wanted to spend more time with him, as much as I could before Nem told me to go to bed. He and I talked for a while, and from everything he'd ever told me, one thing remained consistent: Ophelia. She had always been there, giving him orders, telling him what was right and what was wrong. However, at other points in his life, she had saved him from getting in trouble, often taking the blame for him whenever missions had gone wrong.

She was always on his mind, and that concerned me.

That next day, on Squidmas Eve, he was confused by what we were doing. That was when I'd found out–

"You don't know what Squidmas is?" I questioned him as I helped Nem-Nem set up the small fir tree.

He just stood there, staring at us. "No, I've never heard of such a thing."

"It's… a holiday where people exchange gifts," I said.

Then he surprised me with, "Christmas…?"

I stared back at him. He was slowly recovering memories of human culture. "Yeah… Christmas. It's kinda like that."

"I… didn't get you anything," he said, sounding guilty.

"You are the gift," I told him as I took a plastic star out of the decoration box. "I got my brother back. That's all I need…"

He didn't seem satisfied with that excuse, but he didn't say anything about it, instead opting to help us with the decorations. He was a little distracted by the shiny ornaments and the lights, but he still continued with diligence.

As we finished, I heard a knock on the door. Opening it, I was greeted with Bryson, Ace, and Liv, all three of them smiling. "Hey, hey!" shouted Ace. "You ready to party tonight?!"

"Thanks for coming over, everyone," I said with a smile back.

"Of course, we'd come over!" said Liv, holding up her gift to me. It was a small box, wrapped in beautiful green and red wrapping paper. I couldn't help but wear this big smile on my face.

Every Squidmas, Nem-Nem and I would open gifts on Squidmas, right at the moment the clock would strike midnight. Staying up, we'd watch Squidmas movies together and eat sweets. I'd help her in the kitchen, making cookies in many different shapes.

This year, I had decided to invite my friends. Of course, there was the difficulty of explaining to each one over text that my brother would be with us, as well as explaining who he was…

The moment Bryson locked eyes with him, I could tell that there was a score that Bryson had wanted to settle since his last meeting with Henry. I was nervous, sweating while trying to keep my cool. Bryson could handle himself, right? Right?

Ace didn't seem to have any problems, however, walking right up to Henry and patting him on the back. "Hey, you got me good at Splatfest. Maybe we could hang out?"

Henry didn't seem to know how to respond, simply staring in surprise, his eyes wide. "I…"

Liv seemed to take it well, but I could still notice an occasional glance towards Henry's direction from her. She didn't say a thing, so my mind began to wonder what she was really thinking at the time.

"Great to hear it!" Ace exclaimed. "We'll meet up later, then!"

As the day progressed, my brother joined us all for movies. He had never watched any before while he was an octoling, so it was pretty much a new experience for him. Mark used to love watching old movies…

And Henry… seemed to love it, too. He would comment on the main characters and their actions, and would even shout to warn them in times of peril. I just couldn't help but smile when I saw that at one point, both he and Bryson shouted when one of the main characters had been badly injured.

Later that night, five minutes until midnight, we were all gathered around the small tree, where we had all placed our presents for each other. I stayed close to Ace and Henry, chatting with them and making jokes. Henry, however, was more focused on the presents under the tree.

"I had no idea this was a thing," he said. "If I had time, I would've gotten you something."

I shook my head with a sigh. "You're worrying too much about it. I'm just glad you're here. You're my present."

"Yeah, dude, she's been looking all over for you," said Ace. "You really think she cares about whether or not you got her something?"

Henry didn't answer. He simply watched silently.

As the clock hit midnight, Nem shouted, "Alright, kiddos! Time to open those presents!"

As I grabbed the first box, I noticed it was very light. Confused, I tore off the wrapping, noting golden writing all over a white surface. It was… a case, but not just any case…

It was a necklace case, and inside was the most beautiful necklace I'd ever laid my eyes upon. It was a golden string of sapphires and rubies, and in between them all in the center of the string was a sparkling diamond.

I stared, wondering who it was from. Had I even checked? I looked at the wrapping, seeing… Bryson's signature.

"Merry Squidmas," said Bryson, seeming to keep himself from smiling.

"Th-Thanks, Bryson," I said, smiling. Ace and Liv quickly took the chance to hand their presents to me, making me jump in surprise.

"A-At least open your presents first, guys!" I pleaded.

Ace and Liv were just giggling, unable to keep themselves from enjoying the moment. "Fine," said Ace. "Bryson, open your present from her."

"Already did," said Bryson, holding up a handmade sweater. He had this soft, genuine smile on his face. Because Bryson had everything due to being rich, I had to get him something he couldn't expect, and that seemed to amuse him.

Liv opened her box quickly, pulling out a few accessories. They weren't much, but I didn't have a lot of cash. I got her some of the three-slotted accessories, hoping they'd help her in her next match.

She smiled, then gestured to the present I was holding. "Your turn, Amelia."

I sighed with a smile back, opening it up to reveal a… bracelet. It consisted of multi-colored fabric, red, green, and yellow, with depictions of squids on it.

"I hope you like it," she said. "Three slots empty for you, and it took me a week to get. That accessory is rare."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a friendship bracelet," she said. "I did a lot of Salmon Runs to get that for you. Cleared out the chips and gave you a few chips separate from it so you can choose what abilities you want in it.

My smile grew a little wider. "Thank you!"

"It's no problem!" she said. "Now, Ace, your turn. Open your present from her."

Ace quickly opened up his gift, and the moment he saw what was inside, his expression lit up. "Woah! There's no way!"

I chuckled nervously. I had done as Hector had asked, detailing what I could about human fashion and culture, and in return… he let me pick what gear I wanted. I knew Ace by now and his love for splatlings, so…

"You got me a Kensa Mini Splatling!" shouted Ace. "This thing has an Ultra Stamp special! How did you afford this?!"

"A friend," I said with a smile. Considering Liv was friends with Hector, she had all the access she could ever want to the gear his company had, so accessories were all I could really get her. At least with Ace, who didn't have special connections, I could give him something special.

"And now it's your turn!" he said, pointing to my gift.

As I tore off the covering, my eyes widened. It wasn't just any weapon. It was an E-liter 4K Scope, a high-end sniper of ink weapons. It had the farthest range of any weapon in its caliber. Now I had a new weapon to work with other than my dualies…

"I… Th-thank you!" I exclaimed.

"No problem!" Ace replied. "I couldn't let you keep fighting with just one weapon!"

Later on, I found out that Bryson had gotten Liv and Ace both an impressive set of Enperry gear. Liv had gotten Bryson a large pack of ability chips, Ace some gear, and Ace had gotten Liv some books, and Bryson a new game for some VR set Bryson had.

Nem had gotten me a set of Dualie Squelchers. They looked almost like a power drill, a long nozzle on the end of each that allowed them to fire at incredibly long ranges. In return, I gave her a few movies I was able to earn cash for through Turf War. It wasn't much, but it was the only thing I could really give her that she liked.

I hugged her tightly, then gave

And then… came the surprise gift for Henry.

We didn't have much leftover. By asking Ace, Liv, and Bryson for their help over text, we were all able to get Henry his own gift. He was astonished by this startling fact, holding the box in his hands.

"B-But I didn't get you anythi–"

"OPEN THE GIFT, YOU SQUIDLET!" shouted Bryson.

Henry immediately did so in haste, somehow intimidated. Inside, he found a heart-shaped locket…

He held it up in curiosity. Looking at me, I could tell he had questions.

"I want you to be in our Squidmas family picture," I said in excitement. "Please?!"

He hesitantly nodded, and as we all got into place for our picture, I couldn't help but wonder what it would've been like had my brother been here from the beginning. That didn't matter anymore, however. He was back now, and I was determined to help him remember everything. This was the closest thing I had to family.

And I appreciated it.