"When are you going to get me outta' here? You know I can't be cooped up in this place. I have things to do!"
"That's your own fault. If you'd retired like I cursed told you to then you wouldn't have had to be here in the first place!"
"If I'd retired when you told me to then Inkopolis would've been overrun by now!"
"If you'd actually cooperate with the proper authorities then that wouldn't be a problem! You just wanted to be on the front lines again. You can't relive your glory days when you're over 120 years old!"
"It'll be 120,000 before I sit on the sidelines!"
Marie allowed herself a nostalgic smile. Arguments like this had been commonplace during her childhood. Every time Gramps would visit, her mother would be arguing with him about retiring. Of course, Gramps never had any intention of doing that. Even with one heart missing he seemed just as spry and stubborn as ever.
Callie sat beside her in one of the hospital room's chairs along the outside wall, facing towards Gramps' bed. Her mother and Callie's father stood next to the bed, arguing with their father.
"Will you two quiet down. This is a hospital." Gren Cuttlefish, Callie's father, was probably the most soft-spoken person in the Cuttlefish family. His light-yellow mantle and eyes came from his father, while his more gentle and relaxed demeanor was apparently from his mother, Soreela Cuttlefish.
Silvie, meanwhile, had inherited her mother's appearance almost to a tee: the long grey-white tentacles and lime-green eyes. But she had inherited her father's stubborn spirit and even the most logical arguments between them tended to devolve into a battle of wills. She stood twice as tall as either of the inkyar in the room, helping to and was still glaring down at Gramps.
"Kind of you to remind them," came a voice from the doorway.
Dr. Heiglia entered the room, wearing a labcoat over her scrubs and a clipboard in hand. She gave Silvie a glare before she gave an even harder one at the bedridden captain.
"And you, if this keeps up I'm going to have to give you heavy sedation. You only have two operating hearts now, Mr. Cuttlefish and they both show signs of terrible stress and hypertension. There is a good reason the Precursors wrote that 'worry was the greatest cause of illness'."
"Keep your poison," Gramps grumbled. "If I'm a problem then just let me outta' here."
"Unfortunately, that's not how it works." The doctor's tone was like a teacher dealing with a demanding child. She flipped through her clipboard's sheets a few times and then looked at Silvie.
"Despite those issues, his remaining hearts seem to be taking the extra strain well for now, but with the stress they've received and his current disposition," she glared sideways at the captain for a moment. "We'll need to use drugs to keep the blood vessels as open as possible. Other than that, all we can really do is observe him for now."
"Because of his medical condition or because he might try to escape?" Gren asked, totally serious.
"Both. Although, given his lack of mobility even before this, it's mostly the former."
"I can move just fine I tell ya!"
"Dad, be quiet," Silvie hissed. "Is there anything else, Doctor?"
The doctor tapped the back of her clipboard with her fingers for a moment and then her mantle turned into a subtle mix of purple, green, and burgundy. "He really should be spending more time with kids his own age."
Silvie's mantle shifted beneath the surface, the patterns indicating a spike in tension. She had understood the cryptic message perfectly. The message delivered, the doctor left.
With her gone and the previous argument interrupted, Gramps looked in Callie and Marie's direction. Marie did her best not to notice the desperation in his eyes. It was too heartbreaking.
"And what about you two? Who's watching the shack?"
"Pearl and Marina are watching it for us."
He gave them an incredulous look. "What? Where are Agent 3 and Agent 4?"
"It's their night off," Callie answered. "The girls have had a rough week." She frowned angrily. "Poor baby Three was practically traumatized when she found you barely alive in the cabin."
"I was just fine," Gramps huffed. "I bet my heart would have restarted too if they hadn't taken it out. Besides, Three's a tough girl. She would be shocked but she wouldn't be traumatized. You two coddle her too much."
Callie and Marie's eyes narrowed dangerously, their mantles turning red.
"Girls, simmer," Silvie ordered. "You two have enough to stress to deal with as it is. You don't need more aggravation. Right, Dad?"
Gramps frowned. "Yeah yeah. You two should go. It's just going to be me arguing with Silvie until she gets tired."
Silvie made a shooing gesture towards Callie and Marie. "Go on. Have a good night girls." Then she glared down at Gramps. "And we'll see who gets tired first."
"Have fun," Callie said as they stood.
"And try not to wake the whole hospital," Marie added.
The Squid Sisters took one of the side exits out of the hospital and headed to the parking lot where Marie's gleaming emerald sports car waited.
"You don't think we really coddle Three, do we?" Callie whispered.
Marie flashed a black and purple colour combination through her mantle, indicating dismissal. "Nah, he thinks everyone except him was spoiled. Three and Four both work very hard. There's a difference between coddling and caring for someone who's had a traumatic experience." She scowled. "Your mother dying in front of your eyes as a child isn't something you just 'get over.' Gramps has to realize that. I think he's just grumpy because he'll probably be forced to retire, finally."
"Not without a fight," Callie said, pulsing blue. "Our parents have a real fight on their hands."
"Not half as bad as the care home will," Marie smirked. "At least, for once, that's not our problem."
They got into the car and Callie took a moment to make herself more comfortable. "I didn't say this on the way over but this car feels more cramped then I remember."
Marie paused with the key in the ignition and then let out a sigh. "Yeah…" Then turned the ignition on.
Callie watched with concern as Marie slowly leaned back and delicately gilded her finger along the top of the dashboard, her eyes suddenly distant.
"Marie?"
"Just got a funny feeling," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the engine's gentle rumble. "I feel like I'm not going to be able to fit in this car much longer."
Callie arched an eyebrow at her. "Marie, you're a firefly squid and I'm a bigfin squid. This car was made to accommodate almost all sizes of squid. Even if we get bigger than average we –."
"Callie." Marie cut her off and faced her with sober eyes, her mantle glass smooth. "We both know what's really happening to us, even if the world doesn't, we know our yun'brennen is abnormal. We've known something like this might happen since we were kids."
Callie closed her mouth, suddenly robbed of what she had been about to say, then looked out the passenger door window, up at the few stars peeking through the broken cloud cover.
"You really think it'll be as bad as that?"
"I don't know," Marie admitted. "It might not be as bad as I worry. Our yun'brennen might be causing different changes to us that we don't know about. Either way, we're changing in a way that's not normal. The gods still have plans for us."
Callie turned back to face her, this time with a smile. "Don't worry, Marie. They've been looking after us pretty good so far. I don't think we have to worry."
Marie managed to give her a smile back and then put the car into gear. "Well, I'm not certain about the future, but I do know that, right now, I'm hungry."
Callie laughed. "What a coincidence, so am I. I thought I was going to eat one of the patients back there."
"So long as it wasn't Gramps." Marie giggled. "So, Callie, which should we clean out this time? The cupboards or the fridge again?"
"Pantry."
Marie laughed. "Callie, even both of us combined haven't been able to clean out the pantry."
"Not yet," Callie grinned. "Sounds like a challenge to me."
Marie pulsed blue. "Alright. Pantry it is then. Let's just hope we don't accidentally eat each other in the process."
"So what'ya wanna talk t'us about?"
Gangrin was leaning his back against the coat room wall. Miazama and Marsh were there as well, sitting on the floor under the coats, staring at him with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.
"When we go back to Work Detail on Monday," he began, "They'll be busing us directly from here to the work site. I just overheard Priestess Gallora talking on the phone with them." Through tuk'yan, he told them to hold their comments, anticipating their demand to know how this mattered to them.
"The place they'll be taking us to is in Xapheerell Ward. Apparently we'll be cleaning out some old warehouse!"
Miazama brightened up at this news. "The ol' turf!"
Gangrin smiled, knowing he now had her full attention. "Yeah, I thought that would make you happy. I also thought you wouldn't want to be working in some old warehouse picking up cans of old fish oil when you could be looking for your old friends and hanging out with them."
"Cursed right y'ar. I ain't picken no cans while the turf's so near. I wanna go stompin'."
"Right, and I don't want to be wasting my time working a dead end job when I could be practicing turf war. So, I'll help you, and everyone else in the squad, get out of work so you can go 'stompin' on your old turf and catch up with your old friends, if you can get me to a bus stop I need to get to."
Miazama nodded. "I know the one you wantin'."
"Wait," Marsh's mantle turned a warning red. "Even if we actually do get away from the older octolings and the wet slag, what about the octoling that's always with us, and Tephilla? We'll get in trouble with the priestesses too."
Gangrin tapped his arm, the colours of his mantle changing thoughtfully. "Well, I already know how we can pull the octoling into working with us. As for Tephilla, she's actually the key to the plan."
Maizama's and Marsh's mantles both turned a greenish brown with revulsion. Gangrin pulsed grey.
"I know, I know, but listen: she won't risk getting us in trouble if it gets her in trouble. I can talk her into doing what we want long enough for us to be able to pin the blame on our glorious squad leader."
Maizama flashed red. "Suits me right."
"I don't care," Marsh grumbled. "But she's not going to let us get away. She'll get in trouble too if she lets that happen."
"I know," Gangrin said. "But the squad leaders usually have a meeting even if the work assignments are made and they send the squads ahead to get started on the first jobs, that's when we make our escape." He fixed them with a hard stare. "But I need you two to help back me up."
Miazama flashed green. "I'll do it fur the ol' turf. But I dunno where this ware'ouse gonna' be."
"But you'll be able to figure out where we are pretty quick, right?" Miazama flashed green again. "That's good enough. Now, let's see if we can figure out some of the finer points of this plan."
Four could rarely recall a time she had been so lethargic, even on a Monday. Dragging herself out of bed was a chore in itself. Her morning calisthenics and shower helped wake her up but with those parts of her routine over, she found herself slothfully making her breakfast: a couple slices of toast with fish paste spreading.
As she was finishing her last slice, her phone rang. This gave her the final jolt she needed to finally shake off the lethargy. The thought of something worse happening to Captain Cuttlefish flashed in her mind as she picked it up and tried not to feel too disappointed that it was just Kifi.
Sighing and forcing her exhaustion and frustration out of her voice, she answered.
"Hi Kifi; what's up?"
"Oh… I'm just letting you know that we've changed procedures regarding the orphans. They'll be busing directly to the work site instead of Work Detail. It should make things a bit simpler. So, we'll be leaving earlier to reach the work site at the same time."
"Oh, I see." Four paused for a moment. "You think I could just meet up with you at the work site since we always have a work-site meeting with all the squad leaders anyway? I'd like some time this morning to check up on Callie and Marie." By now, everyone in Work Detail had heard about Captain Cuttlefish..
The truth was that while Four really did want to check in on them after their first visit with the captain after his hospitalization, she just wanted to prolong her time away from Cricket Squad. She was still ashamed of what she'd done and she still wasn't sure how to resolve the issue, or face them.
"Yes, I suppose. I'll text you the location. We'll expect you at the usual time."
"Ha ha, don't worry. You know Marie would never let me be late."
"True." Kifi sounded amused. That was good. She'd hate for Kifi to have to be annoyed or frustrated with her. The octolings in Inkopolis generally regarded the members of the NSS almost as a higher caste. She couldn't help but feel like any failure on her part would be disappointing them somehow.
Give me a break, I'm only fourteen.
After getting the location from Kifi, Four finished getting ready and calculated how long it would take her to get there from Callie and Marie's place. Using the bus it would probably be at least an hour, so she should plan for an hour and a half. Even that was probably still cutting it close, especially since it was in a part of Inkopolis she had never been to before. Regardless, the last shreds of optimism she still clung to told her it would be alright. The rest of her considered it better to be away from Cricket Squad just that much longer.
By now, it was a simple process getting into the gated community Calie and Marie lived in. The other celebrities and big names Calamari Castle sheltered rarely brought visitors other than family and not with nearly as much regularity as she and Three had visited. Now that Three was living there, there was basically just her.
The weather was warmer today than it had been on the weekend, with scattered clouds threatening to rain in the late afternoon, but it was windy, making the on-foot portion of the trip rather unpleasant.
Once she reached Callie and Marie's door, rather than knock, she simply walked inside. The sight that greeted her was a little bit of an odd one.
It wasn't odd to see Three eating breakfast at the kitchen counter, but it was odd to see the person currently behind the counter, cooking four very large pots on the stove. At a glance, one could be forgiven for thinking it was Marie, but Four would never mistake anyone for Marie.
Silvie put a hand on her hip and stared at Four disapprovingly with her lime eyes.
"Young lady, I do not know where you grew up, but in this country it's proper manners to knock before entering."
Four swallowed anxiously. Silvie was a strict mother and disciplinarian. She'd met her only once before but that one time had left quite a strong impression, reducing the normally stalwart and mature Marie to a remorseful child. Three had given her very stern instructions before meeting her that she was to remember her manners at all times. She'd forgotten Silvie was staying there while Captain Cuttlefish was in the hospital. Three would give her a stern warning about forgetting such an important thing, later.
"I'm very sorry, Ma'am." Four made sure to bow her head and flash submission. "They usually just tell me to walk in."
"Then they are not treating you properly. In my house even family knocks before entering. It's much the same for most people. Take care to remember that for the future."
"Yes, Ma'am. May I come in." Silvie closed her eyes and gave a curt flash of green.
"You may."
As she turned back to the stove she asked, "have you had breakfast?"
"Yes, Ma'am, I did. Thank you."
Four was very glad that manners was something she had picked up from Marie. Her home had always been pretty lax about that kind of thing.
As she approached the kitchen, an awful smell hit her. Whatever it was smelled like a mix of sawdust, glue, and spices mixed in. Was that coming from the pots that Silvie was cooking? She dared not comment.
Four ignored the small as best she could and sat next to Three. They had seen each other just last night but Three had a worried crease on her forehead she hadn't had before. Glancing at Silvie for a second, Four looked back at Three and whispered, "did something happen?"
Three met her gaze and was about to answer when a groan came from the hallway. Marie emerged first with Callie right behind her. Both of them looked groggy and as if they had stayed up very late.
"It's about time you two got up," Silvie said sharply. "Were you planning on sleeping all day?"
Marie let out a sigh, her mantle brown. "Mother, we have to sleep more than we used to. You went through this, you know what it's like."
"When I went through this, I was taking care of a little brother and a father who stubbornly refused to get a proper job, so I didn't get to eat as much as I needed to. Considering the state we found you two in last night, that's clearly not a problem you're having. Don't expect any pity from me, young lady."
Four raised an eyebrow in Three's direction. Three leaned in to quietly explain that last night she and Silvie had come home and found Callie and Marie passed out inside the walk-in pantry from, what looked like, a food coma. After putting them both in Marie's bed, they had to go to one of the 24-hour grocery stores to restock.
Yeah, my mom would probably be pretty mad too if I did that, even if it was my own house.
That thought brought up the unpleasant memory of her mother's last message and her continued stubborn silence. She hadn't actually told Three, Callie, or Marie about it yet. They had enough to worry about.
Callie and Marie sat down on the other side of Three and Silvie placed two large cork discs in front of them. A look of dread came over the two girls before Sivlie set one of the simmering, foul smelling pots in front of each of them.
Callie made a face. "That's pligrei, isn't it?"
Four frowned. "What's pligrei?"
Silvie put her hands on her hips and glared at the two idols. "It's a very healthy, nutritious, and very filling food that's ideal for eggnant inkyora or those going through a particularly rough yun'brennen – who have no right to complain about what food they're given when they eat so much of it. Do you two have any idea what a mess you made in the pantry?"
Neither of them answered, they just silently grabbed a spoon and started eating from the pots.
To Four, it looked like a sticky, white paste with green flecks. Thick and heavy, clinging to the spoons and stretching before finally tearing. Almost like dough.
Neither Callie or Marie showed any dissatisfaction with the meal however. Perhaps because they were afraid to or perhaps they were simply too hungry to care. Four felt that now was probably the time she should leave. She'd have to hurry to make it to the work site on time.
"I'd better get going. I have work today."
"Good luck," Callie said. "I'll be stopping by there later."
Halfway to the door, Four froze in place. "You'll… be stopping by?"
"Just to check on things. It was my idea to put the orphans to work so I have to take responsibility for it."
Four swallowed. "Uh… sure. Okay." Now she was even more anxious. She would have to find a way to reconcile with Cricket Squad or Callie might lose faith in her. She didn't want her or Marie to be disappointed. Four worried about all these things the entire way to the work site.
"You recognize this place?"
Miazama looked around, rippled of green flowing through her dark-purple mantle. "Aye. Hazn' changed much. Not tha' usual turf, but near enough."
The warehouse Work Detail was supposed to clean out wasn't as old as the other sites they had been to. Apparently, the company that owned it was planning to renovate the building. Why anyone would bother renovating anything other than a temple in Xapheerell Ward was beyond Gangrin.
All the surrounding buildings looked like they hadn't seen business in years, most of them boarded up and neglected. There were no people around either, but he couldn't imagine a lot of people hanging around a bunch of dilapidated old warehouses.
"Do you know which way we need to go?"
Miazama flashed green. "Easy, but we be taken the long way 'round. Can't go through clicker turf alone."
Marsh frowned at her. "Clicker turf?"
"Crabs. Inklings and crabs always showin' red."
Gangrin wasn't surprised. Most crabs rarely got along with any other species and they had more than a few wars among themselves too. Xapheerell's crab gangs were pretty notorious in Inkopolis and only the ward's existing inkling shoals kept them in check.
Cricket Squad gathered near an old barrel full of rain water with a thin top layer of ice. Tephilla made a point of distancing herself from the rest of them. Vella, by contrast, got as close to Marsh as possible without touching, the two glaring at each other and neither willing to move further away, lest they show weakness. Gangrin hoped that wouldn't interfere with the plan.
Tani approached them next, and all members of Cricket Squad braced themselves. Gangrin, Marsh, and Miazama had all agreed to hold their tongues, but he didn't know about Vella.
Tani stopped in front of them, her mantle noticeably duller than usual. She looked embarrassed but did not avert her gaze as she stopped and addressed them.
"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said before, especially not the way I said it. I don't expect you to forgive me, I don't expect you to like me, I don't expect you to like this job either. But either do the work or stop showing up. If the priestesses don't let you stop showing up, then I'll talk to them directly. Whatever you want to do with your lives is none of my business."
Silently, Gangrin was glad she saw it that way. Unfortunately, first impressions couldn't be undone, and now he hated her guts. That was just how things were. It didn't change anything.
"Just let us get started on the job for now," Gangrin said, trying to hide the anticipation and tension in his voice. "You have to go to the Squad Leader meeting, right? As long as Tephilla is with us, you won't have to worry about us getting in trouble. We just want to get it over with."
Tani glanced over at Tephilla, her mantle turning a questioning yellow. Tephilla looked like a caught robber, having attention suddenly thrust on her.
"Okay then, Tephy's in charge until I get back."
"What? I can't be in charge of…" she made a vague gesture towards the rest of the squad. "This."
"Why not?" Tani demanded. "You're part of this squad whether you like it or not. You think standing a little further away from everyone else changes that? It doesn't. You're associated with them whether you like it or not. You want the priestesses to see how great you are; prove it through your deeds."
Marsh snickered and Gangrin allowed himself a tiny grin. For once, most of the squad was in agreement with their squad leader.
Tephilla's demure and compliant facade fell for a moment, spite flashing in her eyes for an eyeblink. If Tani noticed she didn't react. Tephilla was stuck though, and she knew it. If she refused then it risked ruining her image as a responsible and trustworthy person, compromising her status with the priestesses.
She flashed reluctant concession and Tani's mantle went green with satisfaction.
"The first job is to pick up the loose product and put them on the appropriate pallets that already have the same sort of product on them. I hope that's simple enough."
"We can do it," Gangrin said, allowing a carefully measured amount of hostility in his voice to show. "And we'll stack it properly, this time."
"No problems then. Get to it."
Tani turned around and headed away from them, going towards the gathering group of squad leaders. Gangrin allowed himself a smile. So far, things were going according to plan.
Tephilla led the way into the warehouse. Some of the other squads were starting to move in their direction, meaning they wouldn't have much time before they could move and get caught by someone else.
Gangrin slipped close to Miazama and whispered to her. "Which way should we go?"
"Back way, if there's one. You can 'andle it?"
"I said I could. Leave it to me."
They entered the warehouse building proper. It was actually quite well stocked with all kinds of products, but it was pretty obvious that the building needed renovations. Some of the ceiling joists looked like they were just barely managing to hold up the roof, and the whole space smelled musty and damp.
Miazama gestured to a door at the back of the warehouse that was slightly ajar, likely to help air out the building. That was their escape route.
Gangrin slid next to Vella who, during the walk over, had spaced herself from Marsh.
"Hey, uh, Vella. You want to see more of the city, right?"
Vella frowned and stared at him suspiciously.
"Why would you assume that?"
"Because from the way I've heard you talk with Tani and the other octolings it doesn't sound like you have a lot of freedom. Actually, you sounded a lot like you were a prisoner."
"A hostage," she corrected, but her tone became noticeably less hostile and more interested. "What are you suggesting?"
"Well, since you don't seem keen on the work and you don't like Tani either, why not come ditch work with us and explore the city without restrictions?"
Vella looked at him, aghast. "Abandon our duty?"
"What duty? Didn't you just say you were a hostage? You're being forced to do this against your will. Or maybe you're not a hostage and you're just using that as some kind of excuse."
Vella's face flushed. "It is no excuse. I am a hostage." She grimaced. "But even so… And why are you –."
"Look, I'm sure you're afraid of being punished, but you're already a hostage, what more could they do to you?"
Vella considered this for a moment, then her face hardened with determination. "Very well. When?"
Gangrin pointed to the slightly open door. "We're going through there. I just need a minute to deal with Tephilla."
Gangrin moved up to the front and walked next to Tephilla. She was scanning the room, cans and other goods scattered across the floor, no doubt from careless handling of the pallets.
"Hey, Tephilla, you want out of this squad, don't you?"
"Yes."
No hesitation. Not even surprised from him actually talking to her? Well, whatever.
"The only way for you to do that is to get Tani in trouble and to make us look like more trouble than we're worth. So, let's run away."
Her mantle darkened and rippled with doubt. "What will that do besides get me in trouble? Tani just put me in charge."
"But you didn't want to be in charge, she forced it on you. You tried to tell her that you weren't ready but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She just tried to dump all her responsibilities onto you. You did your best, trying to at least keep us out of trouble, since you couldn't actually stop us from running."
Gangrin could see the gears in her head turning as she pieced the fabricated story together in her mind, no doubt making some of her own edits. After being called out by Tani in front of all of them and no longer in sight of the supervising priestesses, she had dropped her persona almost entirely.
"Where are we going?" She asked, and Gangrin grinned as he lead Cricket Squad out the door.
See, Tani, this is how you lead. You don't force people to do something, you make them want to do what you want. You can't tell me the first thing about leadership.