Four let out a sigh, her mantle a melancholy blue with ripples of brown. She lifted her phone above her head and stared at the dark screen. She thumbed the screen back on revealing the thread of text messages she had been brooding over the past couple of hours. She probably shouldn't be doing that in public but she couldn't help it.
Her parents had been sending her a lot of texts over the past week, far more than they previously had since she had moved to Inkopolis. Most of them were regarding what she was doing, the sorts of people she was hanging out with, and what her job entailed. All normal things, true, but the frequency with which they had been coming and the fact Four couldn't help but feel a kind of urgency behind the messages was a little disconcerting.
As a cover for her agent activities, Four officially worked for a recording studio, one which Callie and Marie frequented (and owned), giving her a reason to be seen with them. She had told her family as much, but it was a little odd how many of their questions were regarding how much time she was spending with the studio's patrons and if she was seeing them after work. That seemed normal enough, but, again, the tone of the messages felt off to her, like there was some kind of greater meaning than her parents were letting on.
Idle for too long, the screen dimmed, showing the time in bright-white letters for a single second before the screen shut off completely. It was just before 9 A.M.
"Eight's late," she mused to herself, putting the phone back into her pocket.
"I'm sure she has good reason."
Four was only slightly startled by the voice. An Octarian waitress stood nearby, wearing a cute, earthen-red serving uniform and carrying a steaming pot of tea.
Four gestured to her nearly empty teacup and the waitress dutifully refilled it.
"Sorry," she said in Octese. "Is it rude to call her 'Eight' in the presence of other Octarians?"
The waitress seemed only slightly surprised that she, an inkling, spoke her native tongue. Her smile never wavered, however.
"I don't think so. It's a name she herself accepts; although, I can't imagine why she insists on being called that. Even we tend to call her that from time to time."
Four smirked. The Octarian community in Inkopolis wasn't all that big. Although several hundred Octolings had managed to escape the domes to the relative freedom Inkopolis offered, they stuck close together and interacted often, so everyone knew everyone in their community, especially one as prominent as Eight. Strangely, many of them still appeared unaware that all members of the NSS spoke their language.
"And what's your name?" Four asked.
"Cariccha. I don't know what it means, unfortunately."
"Well, looking at you, it's probably something pretty."
Cariccha giggled and partially hid her face behind the teapot in her hands. "You're too kind. Is there anything else you need?"
"Nah, I'm good, thanks."
"Very well. Enjoy your tea."
Cariccha left and Four looked back at the wall-mounted clock. It was now past nine. Eight was supposed to have arrived almost fifteen minutes ago.
Four crossed her legs and forced herself to relax.
Schromacchi Misto was a new Octarian café that had opened its doors mere days ago, in the space next to the Squid Sister's old broadcast studio in Inkopolis Plaza. The name referred to what was originally the Octese equivalent of "plaza" or "square" but had eventually come to mean a place for official gatherings. More modern Octese simply referred to a square or plaza as a "shromo," a much catchier sounding word, in Four's opinion.
It had been designed based on an Octarian café that had been popular before The Great Turf war, with an appealing minimalist style. Every piece of furniture and decoration had been hand made by Work Detail, letting the café advertise that everything was made with real Octarian craftsmanship. It was quite a novelty amidst the glitz and glamour of downtown Inkopolis and the customers had been pouring in ever since it opened. Even now, not a single table was unoccupied and the takeout window had a lineup that went halfway down the block.
As Four was about to glance at her phone again, Eight entered the restaurant and hurried in her direction, at least as hurried as her limp and cane would let her be. She sat down across the table, still garbed in her maid uniform. The outfit, which had been a gift from Callie and Marie, still fit her well despite how much her body had been filling out over the past month or so thanks to a hearty diet.
"Apologies for being late," she said quickly, and then glanced up at the T.V screen hanging from the ceiling a short distance away. It was currently playing a beak paste commercial. "I didn't miss it," she said relieved.
Four grinned and took a sip of her tea, letting its warmth fill her and chase away the chill of the morning air. Winter wasn't far away now and it was damp out too, never a good combination.
"We could have met closer to the square if you wanted."
Eight made herself comfortable and picked up a menu. "But I wanted to come here. It's the first Octarian business to open in Inkopolis and I wasn't able to come to the grand opening."
Eight's excitement was not overstated. Shromacchi Misto was technically owned by Callie and Marie, but it was run by members of Work Detail, Pearl and Marina's non-profit group dedicated to helping and organizing the Octarian community in Inkopolis. Callie and Marie wanted to try and improve the public image of Octarians and help preserve what remained of their original culture. This was important because most Inklings only knew the Octarians through the lens of The Great Turf War, and worse, the Octarians didn't view themselves much outside of that or their present living circumstances either. Even today, all the Octarians living outside of Inkling territory, lived in underground domes.
Four leaned back a bit. "And? How did yesterday's lunch with Three's family go?"
Eight smiled, big and bright. "Wonderfully. Her parents are different from Pearl's but they are still wonderful people and I swear her father is Octarian in all but species. He's so diligent in his duties as father and husband. I can see where Three gets it from, but it seems such a contrast to how I see inkling males closer to our age behave."
Four arched an eyebrow. "Pretty sure you could say the same thing about most girls too."
"Perhaps, but it does seem to be prevalent in males shown in the media as well."
Four pulsed grey. "Well, that's mostly a byproduct of our parent's generation. They were considered pretty spoiled - guys and girls, and our generation grew up knowing we would have to pick up the slack. But yeah, from what I actually know about Three's parents, it seems like her dad is on another level. Guess he was raised better than most."
"Have you not met them?"
"Not in-person. There's never really been a right time, you know? It'll happen when it happens."
A jingle from the television interrupted their conversation and both pairs of eyes turned to the screen. A talk show hostess appeared and waved at the camera as she greeted her viewers and the live audience cheered. Four immediately decided she didn't like her. Her voice was high-pitched, she spoke unnecessarily quickly, and the copious amount of pink mantle gloss made it obvious it was not her natural colour.
Eight shuffled in her seat, making it more comfortable to look at the screen. A handful of other people in the café also turned to watch.
"Our guests this morning need no introduction. Give a warm round of applause for the one and only Squid Sisters."
The audience cheered and the video cut to another camera showing Callie and Marie off stage just starting to move onto the set. Three appeared for a split second in the corner of the shot, eliciting a delighted squeal from her Octarian friend.
"I saw her! Four, did you see? Three was there, she was on T.V!"
"I saw, I saw."
"And she looked so cool!"
Four couldn't help but smile at Eight's adulation. It was both adorable and amusing, seeing her get all excited seeing her girlfriend on live T.V., however briefly. They'd been officially dating less than three weeks but Eight was already acting the part of a dutiful and loving girlfriend.
Not like I'm experienced enough to have an informed opinion though.
Callie and Marie sat down in the plush armchairs, Callie blowing kisses to the audience with a smile that could have melted ice caps. Marie was much more reserved, and the prim and proper way she sat gave her a refined air that really helped set the two apart, and yet the two seemed to compliment each other perfectly.
"She's such a lady," Four murmured.
"Marie? Yes, she certainly is. Observing her actually made it easier for me to get through my maid training." She hummed thoughtfully, frowning slightly as she stared. "They have certainly gotten bigger lately."
It was true. Despite being only in the early days of yun'brennen, Callie and Marie's heads were even with their full-grown hostess. Callie's close-fitting dress helped highlight the way her body had filled out in that same time, producing hips that even an octoling would be impressed by, and the nutriae on their chests had gotten so large that even Marie's modest robes couldn't entirely hide her new shape.
Thinking about it made Four frown, because she knew that wasn't normal. Inklings didn't usually grow so curvy and not so quickly. By Octarian standards, their bodies were more average in terms of body shape (at least for girls of good breeding stock), but it was still early days for them. Just how far would yun'brennen take them? She hoped they didn't have some kind of medical condition.
The hostess started asking them questions, such as what they were up to, what projects they had coming up, and what they planned on doing once they became full adults. Marie's answers were generally pretty direct while Callie tended to go off on tangents or elaborate a lot more than Marie did, and the hostess was constantly interrupting her to move on to the next question.
"Geez, shut up and let Callie talk," Four muttered.
"So, what do you girls think about dating while in second-puberty?" The hostess asked.
"I wouldn't do it unless you already had an established relationship," Marie said. "I'd be too afraid of biting some guy's head off. Literally." That generated laughter from the predominantly female live audience, as well as some of the others watching in the restaurant.
"That's because you're part praying mantis or something," Callie quipped. "I say that it's fine, as long as you communicate what the other party is in for. Boy's don't know what we go through so you need to cut them some slack."
"What about girls?" The hostess asked. "Have either of you dated girls before?"
"I have," Callie admitted. "It's alright, but in my personal experience, and from what I've heard from some friends, guys seem to try harder to make you happy and none of the girls I dated made me laugh as much. Then again, I don't really know what to look for in a girl since I came from a normal family. Two of our best friends growing up were from an epeso family, but since their mothers were already bonded, we've only seen the end. We don't know what the dating phase looks like."
"Would you still consider bonding with another girl even though your experiences haven't been great so far?"
"I'm open to the possibility. I'll follow whatever road love takes me. I don't see why a girl can't make me laugh too and I know at least one girl as devoted to her girlfriend as any guy would be." Callie's and Marie's knowing smile made it obvious who they were talking about and Eight squealed again.
"She is talking about us."
Four chuckled. "Congrats." And then she giggled to herself as she imagined Three turning several shades darker backstage.
"Our generation has to have a lot more children than past generations or the population will keep dropping," Marie chimed in. "And we want to be able to set a good example for our fans and part of that means being open-minded and flexible, not to mention being responsible."
"Being boring, in your case," Callie remarked, then turned her attention back to the hostess. "But we both plan to have fun and do a lot of things before we even think about settling down."
The hostess flashed green. "Well, I was just asking because there are some statistics going around that with so many more girls being encouraged to breed, there won't be enough guys to go around otherwise."
"It's always been that way," Marie said. "But I agree, it'll be more keenly felt now."
"Our parents often tell us that their generation was way too inflexible and selfish," Callie added. "A lot of communities isolated themselves instead of keeping an eye on the world at large. It's been a tough battle for the Assembly to try and get anything done for a long time."
"I see, so are you encouraging girls to bond and form epeso families?"
"We're just encouraging everyone to keep open minds," Marie said. "The future of Inkopolis depends on it. Doesn't that make you feel kind of important? Like suddenly there's a clear purpose? The Precursors talked about the amazing things that can happen when society works together towards a common goal."
"I just wish that goal didn't mean I had to outgrow my whole wardrobe," Callie said, earning another laugh from the audience.
"Well we might be able to help you there," said the hostess, "Because coming up after the break we'll be talking about some of the latest fashion trends hitting the streets of Inkopolis. Stay tuned!"
Four frowned and stared down at the dark wood floor. What Callie said about communities isolating themselves reminded her of her hometown, Little Reef. Even to this day, it remained fairly isolated and its population found comfort in that isolation by focusing purely on the events immediately around them in a way that she heard Marie once describe as the "they can't see me, I can't see them" philosophy, and the flaws were obvious. The community relied solely on its matron to deal with the broader issues, as long as it didn't change anything in their lives.
"Four?"
Four looked up at Eight who regarded her with concern.
"Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking about what Callie and Marie said. Guess I'm gonna' have to lay a lot of eggs."
Eight said nothing for a moment, looked back at the screen, then back at her. "Perhaps we will see more epeso families with this generation."
"Probably. Especially if they make it 'popular' somehow, which might be what they meant by being an example."
Eight raised an eyebrow, her front-right tentacle curling upwards and Four pulsed blue. "Callie and Marie have a lot of friends – good friends. It's not hard to imagine them being super close with some, enough to maybe one day become bondmates." Her lips curved in a savage grin. "Who knows, maybe you and Three could end up with one of 'em."
Eight's eyes went wide as dinner plates, her face turning as blue as the deep sea.
"N-not so loud," she hushed, glancing around nervously. "Please do not tease me about such things."
Four just giggled.
After the broadcast was over, Eight had to run off and do errands. Four, meanwhile, had her own work to do.
Paying for her meal, Four made her way to the back of the restaurant and around a corner before passing through a large steel door. This brought her to a small room that seemed more like an extra-wide hallway, a few boxes stacked up against the wall.
Four first checked the door at the other end, making sure it was locked, then went to the wall itself, passing a small passcard over a particular spot just above knee-height. There was a soft click, and then the concealed panel in the wall opened, allowing her into the small corridor beyond.
The corridor provided access to a pair of rooms. One was a moderately-sized room about the size of the VIP spaces in the restaurant proper, accessed through a sliding door to the left. At the end of the hallway was another large and sturdy steel door. This one led into what looked like another small storage room, but it had a grate, which provided access to the system of pipes and tunnels that lead to Octo Valley.
Far more concealed than the usual way there via the square, Callie and Marie thought it a prudent thing to instal, especially if the Octarians agreed to peace talks.
Four travelled down the grate and the network of pipes and tunnels to Cuttlefish Cabin. Once there, she calmly strolled inside, and found Captain Cuttlefish hobbling his way to his usual place in his command chair, a mug of the freshly brewed tar he liked to call coffee in his hand.
"Ah, Agent 4, right on time." He sounded groggy too.
"Morning, Captain," she said, eyeing him as she went to her locker. "Trouble?"
The old inkyar sighed heavily and eased into his chair. His pale skin had trouble making even simple phrases in tuk'yan, so it was difficult to gauge him. Marie had told her it was a combination of war injuries and old age.
"Octos were unusually active during the night, but they never approached the border."
"Never? What were they doing then?"
"That's what you'll be trying to find out today. I've selected some points for you to check but I want to get a fresh look on things. Then, I'll probably make some adjustments. Head to the usual place to peek on that surface outpost they have going. That's where most of the activity was. We'll go from there."
Geared up, Four flashed green, although the captain's back was turned.
"Anything else I should know?"
"No, that's it. Sortie out, Agent 4."
"Yes, Sir."
Four tried to hide her disappointment. They had been waiting for over a week for any kind of response from the Octarians, but not so much as a peep had been heard, unless this new activity was some indication of their response. It didn't seem a positive one though. She would have to find out what she could and let Callie and Marie know
Her phone buzzed in her locker and she quickly checked it, but she frowned when she saw it was just another message from her mother. Setting her jaw, she turned her phone off completely and shut her locker.
"Heading out," she called, and she left the cabin.
Jogging to the border, she pushed all thoughts of her family out of her mind. There was no Tani Highwater, no family troubles, only Agent 4 and the mission she had to accomplish. She only hoped that she would have some good news to bring back to Callie and Marie.
"A very interesting proposal," Estelle Madrelle said, her mantle turning a calculated but genuine rosey colour as she set down the binder.
Callie resisted the urge to sigh as most of the pent up tension in her body finally eased. She and Marie had been working on this proposal (rather a series of proposals), for the Ministry of Culture for over a month. It was nice to hear some positive response to it after all that time, even if it didn't decide anything.
"Thank you. We thought it might be a nice way to help revitalize Inkopolis Square and maybe improve the mood with a lot of the non-inkling populations in Inopolis."
Madrelle smiled as she brought her cup of tea to her lips. "Yes, I read that part."
Callie smiled back. "Of course, just figured it was worth reiterating." Of course she read that part, you idiot, you're not supposed to go on about stuff she already knows. She wished Marie was taking care of this. These were the sorts of things she was much better at.
"And how is your restaurant going?"
"Very well, actually. We're still getting lineups a block long and it's made a lot of the local business happy for the increased traffic. That should add weight to some of our arguments about increasing commerce and trade, even if it's only a small amount."
"Very small," the older inkyora said, her mantle turning back to its natural bright-yellow colour, providing a healthy contrast to her dark skin. "This might benefit Inkopolis, in the long run, but barely enough for people to take notice." She regarded Callie for a moment and then smiled again.
"Don't worry. I doubt there will be much resistance to this. Certainly few will be opposed to more money and I'm sure this will make a lot of the foreign ambassadors happy too. The real concern is this." She lifted a larger binder, the one that contained the arguments and proposals that were more a concern for someone of her position.
"I wasn't able to go over it all myself, but I was told that there would definitely be resistance to this."
Callie frowned but held her gaze. She already knew there would be resistance to it. She was the granddaughter of one of the war's more infamous veterans, after all, but that made groundwork like this all the more important.
"I know it might seem a little insensitive for me to say this, but the war ended more than a century ago. Isn't it time we moved on? Besides, with so many Octarians suddenly coming into Inkopolis, and probably spreading throughout the country eventually, should we really be only educating people about their part in the war? It's the only part of their history we cover in school and most people know nothing of their original culture. If the only way we can relate to them is through the war, it's just going to create more conflict. We're trying to avoid that."
"I know," Madrelle said, regret showing in her mantle. "And I appreciate you coming through official channels instead of shooting your mouth off like so many other celebrities."
Callie smiled awkwardly. "I've never really thought of myself as a celebrity. I'm still just a girl from the country with big dreams."
Madrelle chuckled, ripples of buttercup yellow travelling across her mantle. "What amazes me is that you actually mean that." She shook her head and took another sip of tea.
"Callie, I have nothing but admiration for what you and Marie have accomplished, both together and apart. You've certainly made my past few years as Minister of Culture more pleasant. And, contrary to many of my colleagues, I think you've been very responsible with the influence and money you have."
Callie pulsed a light green. "Thank you."
"But you are both still very, very young, and as wise as you two are for your age, there are a great many things you still don't know about the world, even Calachora. Your own grandfather is a veteran but so are many members of the Assembly. Those old prejudices won't go away easily."
"I know." Callie tried to keep the aggravation out of her voice, but the effects of yun'brennen were making it harder than ever to control her emotions. "I'm not as concerned about them as I am about my own generation. So far, most of them have been accepting the Octarians as they are: good people who have just grown up in unfortunate circumstances. I don't want people trying to change their minds based on old grudges and information that's hopelessly out of date. That's not just unfair, it's practically criminal."
Madrelle's mantle displayed the equivalent of a holding gesture. "I understand, and I agree. Certainly there's a lot more interest in Octarian history and culture now with this sudden influx of Octarian refugees and with Marina becoming so famous. People want to know where they came from."
"Marina's been doing a lot of good work keeping all the Octarians above the poverty line and trying to maintain a good public image for them. It's helped a lot."
"I'm sure it has, but other people are starting to take notice of that and there's already been grumblings."
Callie huffed, her mantle turning maroon. "About what? They've been doing nothing but contributing to society. They're hardly a problem."
"That depends on your point of view." Madrelle gave her a motherly smile. "As I said, you're still very, very young. You don't realize how out of touch people can get when they've been in a position of power for a long time. Too long in the clouds to be grounded anymore without crashing and burning first."
Callie's mantle darkened slightly. "I've never met a matriarch who was that out of touch."
Madrelle's mantle turned a questioning yellow. "But you've certainly heard from some of them. All the ones demanding you lock away a large portion of your wealth and withdraw from public life, saying you have too much wealth and power for someone your age and that your level of influence is dangerous."
Callie scowled and rippled red. "I like to think they are a minority."
"They are, but minorities tend to speak very loudly to compensate and make themselves seem bigger than they are. Just the nature of politics, I suppose. The Precursor's spoke about it at length. My point is, that if you're going to try and do anything about the country's general view and policies towards Octarians, they're the ones going to be giving you resistance, and they have more influence than you might realize."
Callie's hands clenched under the table. "And how am I supposed to push back against them?"
"You need allies, my dear. Political, business, cultural, all of those." She patted the large binder. "Because this is only going to give more ammunition to your critics. I urge you to take another look at the situation and try and revise the proposals or wait for a more favourable time." She pushed it across the table to Callie, who took it with no small amount of disappointment.
She and Marie wanted to try and lay some kind of foundation that would make the transition to true peace easier. Most inklings only knew about the octarians through the lense of war, a dangerous and highly biased viewpoint. They didn't know about the many famous composers, artists, scientists, architects, and engineers that had contributed to the world over the millenia.
"This though," the minister gestured to the smaller binder. "Is worth pursuing. I see no reason not to preempt a lot of the issues that will inevitably arise as more foreign species settle in Inkopolis."
Callie nodded, trying not to look too dejected. Turning Inkopolis Plaza into a kind of cultural centre would be a good thing, and it would certainly earn them points with certain groups, but it wasn't as direct as they were hoping.
"Well, thank you for your time, Minister."
Madrelle held up a finger. "Just a moment, Callie. There's something else I wanted to discuss with you."
Callie kept her mantle even and her expression as stoic as possible, but her stomach and ink sac both tightened. "What about?"
Madrelle took another sip of tea. "Well, it's partially fallen on the Culture Ministry to try and encourage people to breed. Our population has been on a downslope since the war, with most couples only producing one or two children, if they have children at all. As it is now, every girl of your generation would have to lay a dozen eggs to get the numbers back up to pre-war levels."
Callie gritted her beak behind her lips. The minister must have seen their interview on TV just the other day.
"It's really that bad?"
"Yes, and nobody sees it improving anytime soon. We're already suffering a labour shortage and it's only going to get worse. I know you girls have been doing your part to encourage people to have more kids but more needs to be done. Honestly, we're having trouble thinking of what more we could do."
Callie rubbed her thumbs together for a moment, her mantle churning under the surface with thought.
"For people of our generation, the idea of being parents is pretty intimidating, even unappealing. It doesn't help that a lot of media has shown just how rough or unpleasant it could be. Media that actually shows some of the good and wonderful things that come with having a family might be a nice place to start."
"Only if people want to watch it," Madrelle pointed out. "It needs to make money if companies are going to produce it."
"Marie's a pretty big stakeholder in a few production companies. I'll talk to her about it."
"I would be grateful, but I doubt it'll be enough to change anything."
Callie frowned. The last thing she wanted was for Calachora to try and adopt some kind of breeding program like what the Octarians used. The thought of it made her stomach knot, but perhaps there was a way she could turn the situation to her advantage. Gramps was fond of the saying, 'you can never have too many weapons.'
"What about orphans? What's being done with them?"
The minster frowned, not understanding. "Orphans? Well… I haven't looked into it, but I can't imagine it's easy for them to get adopted these days."
"I would imagine not, but what is being done with them, exactly?"
Madrelle tapped her finger on the table, her mantle colour stoically staying its natural yellow. "Not much, I imagine. The Ecclesiarchy does it best to teach and give them something of a life, but their numbers are suffering as much as everywhere else. I admit I haven't really looked into it myself. It's a little outside my area of responsibility."
"Suppose I could arrange even more opportunities for them; the opportunity to learn useful skills and be productive out in the real world instead of being cooped up in an orphan's hall. I'm not trying to put down the Ecclesiarchy, I know they're doing the best they can under the circumstances, I'm offering a means of helping them, taking some burden off."
"How exactly?"
"Are you familiar with Work Detail?"
"That non-profit group helping the Octarians? Of course. Are you planning on having the kids work with them?"
"Why not? They have more work than they do people; it's a chance for them to learn some skills and earn some money. You'd be surprised how much those octolings know. They're quite familiar with the concept so I'm sure they'd be on board. I'd just have to arrange it and work out some of the details. I'd have to talk with the coordinator on the side of the Ecclesiarchy too, of course."
Madrelle's eyes narrowed, her mantle rippling with a multitude of thoughts. "I suppose that would take some of the burden off the ecclesiarchy, but I'm curious how you see this helping our population situation."
"On its own, it probably won't do much, but that's not the main point of it." Callie spread her hands. "I'm hoping some of the work ethic the Octarians have will rub off on them. It will also give them a leg up on life. Besides, if nobody's taking care of what few orphans we have, then what justification does the government have in encouraging people to make more babies?"
Madrelle pulsed grey. "I suppose I can't argue that point. It's not like I'm expecting some magic lamp to land in my lap and fix all of this. In the end, children learn by example, and if their parents aren't having many children, what would compel them to? As far as they're concerned, it's just more work and more expense for no appreciable gain." She sighed. "I think we've become too materialistic."
"Not yet we haven't. Our generation is still open to spirituality. The splatfests helped prove that. Not to mention a much greater proportion of our generation goes to congregations compared to our parents and grandparents."
"Really?" Madrelle didn't bother to hide her surprise. "I wasn't aware of that statistic."
Callie smiled. "You might say it's part of my business to look into such things."
"I see. Well, let's hope it isn't just a trend. Do you think it's possible to convince the emerging generations to have more children?"
"Of course. But we can't have it be something as cold and dry as a citizens duty or anything like that. That would work on Octarians but not us. It has to be something more personal."
"And what might that be?"
Now it was Callie who gave her the questioning look. "You're a mother; shouldn't you be telling me?"
Madrelle laughed ruefully. "Oh, how true, how dreadfully true."
Callie smiled sympathetically. "Afraid that's all I can do for now, Minister, but feel free to talk to me or Marie some other time. If we come up with anything, we'll be sure to call you."
"I appreciate it."
Madrelle handed her the large binder. "Maybe we'll be able to get back to that one, eventually."
"Eventually," Callie agreed, and she stood up. "Until next we meet, Minister Madrelle." She bowed and flashed white before leaving the lounge.
Three waited in the hall outside, wearing her black bodyguard uniform, a single ink pistol at her hip. She fell into step just behind Callie without missing a beat.
When they entered the elevator at the end of the hall and the doors shut, Three asked her through tuk'yan if everything went alright.
"Better than I feared, worse than I hoped." Callie sighed. It had been quite a while since she had used that persona near the end, the one which was capable of scheming in a way far too dark and pragmatic for Callie the Squid Sister, but the Legate did have its uses, even in Inkopolis. "And we've got some new work to do. I may need you to cover a patrol for Four in the next few days."
Three frowned and turned a questioning yellow.
"Something I'm working on."
The doors slid open and the two stepped out. Callie just hoped Marie, Pearl, and Marina would be on board with this scheme and she started to think about what aspects she hadn't told the minister she would tell them, and what she would keep concealed, for now.