Returning to HQ quickly, Smith tended to Nathan's left arm where the wound was. It thankfully wasn't as bad as it seemed to be, and was patched up simply with a gauze bandage, saying that it shouldn't take long to heal. Since the Hero Suit was long sleeved, the bandage was covered. After a few hours of resting and recovering, Cuttlefish called the group to the main base.
"Okay," said Cuttlefish, "Sooo no progress today, huh?"
"Nothing but a few bruises and cuts," said Nathan.
"Be thankful the squids have regeneration abilities," said Smith
"We do?" said Agent 2.
"Kinda. It's sort of strong, but it should help his cut heal within only a few days. Since it's just a medium-sized cut, it should take only around 2 to 4 days."
"That's a relief," said Diana.
"Yeah. Anyway, did we find anything at all during that last mission?"
"Nope," said Agent 1.
"Ca- I mean, Agent 1..." said Agent 2, "...is right. We didn't see ANYTHING."
"I did," said Nathan.
"Huh? You did?!" said Diana.
"Yeah. Remember that container, Diana?"
"Yeah?"
"The yellow ink vanished, as it normally should. I found some interesting things in it."
"Like...what?"
"Tubes. They were like...ducts or something. One of 'em was big, and connected to the bottom. It was like...something for ventilation or something like that? I don't know. The others were connected to the bottom too, but were inside instead of outside.
"What?" said Cuttlefish.
"I think I know what he's talking about," said Smith as he used a remote to put a picture of the container on the supercomputer screen. "Is that it?"
"...How did you-?"
"I explored the area a bit after I patched you up. I took this picture while exploring, and I found another one, too." He then had another picture of the other container, the one Nathan was smashed into, placed onto the screen. Both were cropped to fit the screen.
"I encountered both of those," said Nathan, "That second one over there, I was smashed into that one. The shard that caused my cut must've been from that."
"They rammed you into it?!" said Diana in horror.
"No, they BLASTED me into it. Those Octolings had a Triple Blaster on 'em. They fired at me, and the knockback forced me back, and then...'CRASH!' I was thrown into that thing."
"Ouch!" said Agent 2.
"Yeah."
"At least you're okay!" said Agent 1.
"At least."
"Well anyway," said Smith, "I've been examining these containers. The tubes appear to be used for ventilation, but then I looked around and found this." Smith took a bag and took out a rolled up blueprints sheet."
"Blueprints?" said Nathan as Smith handed it to him.
"Yep. Found 'em in a crate hidden under the big platform."
"Hmm..." Nathan examined the blueprints, "It's some kind of containment thing. It's a glass cell, built to house Inklings according to this."
"So what are the tubes for?" Diana asked.
"Um...aha! They ARE for ventilation. The big tube is retractable, and in the event their is no 'fresh' air somewhere, like on a moving ship on a large box or other containment unit, it is connected to an oxygen tank or something like that."
"Okay, and the smaller tubes?"
"I don't know why they did it like this, but the big tube bring the air into this small box-like thing on the bottom. The small tubes have multiple holes in them, and that's how the air gets inside."
"Octarian technology is weird..." said Agent 2.
"Well...that solves that problem," said Agent 1, "But we STILL don't know why they're capturing Inklings!"
"Ugh! I know!" said Nathan, "This is getting too complicated...We need to search more, maybe defeating the bosses in the boss kettles will shed some light."
"Perhaps," said Smith, "But we should wait 'til tomorrow to do that. It's getting dark out. If you get lost on your way to the bedrooms, remember that there's a map of the entire HQ programmed in your wristwatches."
"Okay," said Diana, "But...what's their actual name? What are watches called?"
"I think I'm gonna call it the Hero Watch. How does that sound?"
"Sounds fine to me," said Nathan.
"I like it!" said Agent 1.
"Hey," said Diana, "Who are you two, anyway?"
"You already know we're Age-"
"No, you're REAL names. I'm getting tired of calling you by your codenames."
"Oh! Uh- Umm..." said Agent 1.
"Oh hey, look at the time!" said Agent 2, "Time to go to bed, let's go!" Agent 2 grabbed Agent 1 and headed out of the base room.
"What's with them?" Diana asked, to Cuttlefish especially.
"I dunno," said Cuttlefish, "Even though they're my granddaughters, I don't know everything about them...heh heh. I guess they just don't want to reveal their identities right now? Sometimes I just can't understand those two."
Nathan was silent, but he felt like he knew who they could be. "Okay...Let's just head back." Nathan and Diana followed their maps on their Hero Watches to the hallway with the three doors to the bedrooms.
"The one to the far left is yours," said Smith as he entered his lab across from the bedroom doors.
"Wait...what?!" said Diana, blushing.
"What?" said Smith.
"We have to...share a bedroom?!"
"There are changing rooms over there. No need to worry about...uh...you know. Things...And the bedrooms are for when you're staying at the HQ, it's not your new home." Smith closed his room door. Nathan and Diana looked at each other.
"This is gonna be weird..." said Nathan.
"Let's just...change into our pajamas one at a time..."
"We didn't bring anything, though...what do we-"
"There's sleep gear, ya know!" Smith interrupted, talking from behind his door, "Cuttlefish washed 'em already, so they're good. They're in the changing rooms."
"Okay..." Nathan said to himself as Diana facepalmed.
"I'm just gonna change..."
"You may do that..."
Meanwhile...
In a large, sandy area, almost a desert, close to Octo Valley, Nero's army had constructed a large camp. The Airship was parked right on the camp's edge, and there were multiple tents and temporary homes all over the place, with Octolings talking to each other and hanging out.
Abigail, being part of Nero's army, was also in the camp. She was in her large tent, experimenting with weapon parts, trying to build a new weapon from the parts. Her tent was yellow, and had many lanterns throughout. The was a portable workstation placed by a wall, with a mattress close to it.
Abigail, or Abby as she was nicknamed, liked to tinker around with weapons and other gear to create new weapons or gear out of them. She was especially interested in making weapons for a certain cause, one that no one else knew. Another Octoling suddenly stepped into Abigail's tent.
"Abigail?" she said.
"AH! Wha-" said Abby, "Oy! Edith, PLEASE don't do that, especially when I'm working!"
"Sorry about that," said Edith, "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you since your argument with Captain Nero."
"Weapon experimenting, as usual."
"...What's this project?"
"I...don't know, actually. I'm planning on making it an enhanced version of the Inkling weapon called the Splattershot. I'm planning on calling it the Octoshot. But uh...I still need to work on a few...kinks. It's uh...unstable at the moment."
"I see. I'm glad you're on our side. You're the best weapon maker in the Octarian army!"
"...Yeah, I guess."
"You guess? What do you mean you guess?"
"Nothing...important. To you, anyway."
"Abby, I've known you since childhood. If there's ANYTHING you have on your mind, just say it!"
"No. It's best you don't know this one."
"...Wha- You sick or something?"
"What?! No! I'm fine! Just uh...err...stressed, let's say."
"Okay...I'm leaving now."
"Bye!"
"See ya!" Edith said as she exited the tent. Once she knew Edith was gone, she took out some blueprints for many weapons used in the Great Turf War by the Inklings. She had found them while out on her quests looking for parts and materials she could use to build. She lay out one of blueprint on her desk and examined it.
Abby read the blueprint's label, "Anti-Octopus Weapon Blueprints: Aerospray RG." She then looked at her unfinished Octoshot. "Hmm...why make a normal weapon using just blueprints..." She grabbed her Octoshot. "When you can make a customized version of that weapon!" Abby then went to work to build a new custom weapon.
