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After the events of the Great Turf War, as you may know, the Turf War Station was created in the past to let young Inklings learn how to fight. The old generation never had any intentions of creating a war school though: instead, they wanted to create a sport which was fun for everyone.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to convince people, since they considered Turf Wars as "A kiddy sport". Besides, Inkopolis had serious economic problems back then… many families were poor and education was still scarce, so not many Inklings could take better jobs. Actually, there weren't many jobs to begin with! No one wanted to waste their time with mere, childish sports…
After some time, the government itself had a meeting with the Turf War Station staff: basically, the government proposed a secret project, which would help the sport becoming a true success. The project was known as "Project Neo".
Neo, because the Turf War sport was the only hope for the entire city. Yes… this project is the cause of the entire economic system everyone knows about the sport: you play while wearing branded clothes, you get paid based on your performances. Later on, Ranked Battles were introduced so real tournaments could officially exist.
Inklings got informed about this… and suddenly, all those critiques completely disappeared. Basically, everyone joined Turf War matches and invested so much of their time, that many families were getting really rich!
People from other countries saw such money-making system… and transferred into Inkopolis, to start their new career and fame! You don't have any idea, how good that project was…! Inkopolis became one of the most important cities in the entire world, after just 3 years of using this system.
Despite the huge interest in Turf War matches, Inklings grew an interest for education and other sports too… especially older Inklings, since having educated children was considered an achievement to show off against other families. Not to mention, popular Turf War players who also know math was considered the freshest status, a celebrity could have.
That's why Inkopolis is very fond to education… and that's also why, the city isn't just Turf War matches. For many years, Inkopolis was considered the city of the dreams… and still to this day, no city is as rich as Inkopolis. Not even those cities who are applying the same tactics used for their Turf War Stations.
I became the CEO of this station, after many years of experience inside the Turf War fields and graduate with the maximum grades. Only when I acquired this position, I learned about Project Neo… but only recently, I learned more behind this supposed "good" project.
It all started with my husband… he's a scientist. Long ago, he found a job inside those labs which at first, he claimed that they were researching new medicines. Then, one day… we had a discussion about his job. He was the one to bring that argument… he wanted to warn me about Project Neo.
He thought that the entire lab was researching new medicines… because, what they were doing in the labs was to run experiments by using selected cavies. By cavies, I don't just mean seamice… Inklings were also used!
He was one of the first scientists to complain about this decision… unfortunately, his complains were rejected because the entire job would have been meaningless. He had several chances to speak with the cavies… and discovered that those were almost all Turf War players.
He said their names to me… and I recognized every single one of them. Most of them are known Turf War legends, standing in the S+ rank! Apparently, their matches were used as experiments to test their general performances… only in one or two occasions, they played after receiving a special substance which is not considered harmful for their health.
He thought those were new medicines… instead, they seem to generally improve an Inkling's skills, as those legends became much faster and stronger than before… and in some cases, they even became smarter! Although, it wasn't that noticeable…
Despite all those positives, my husband discovered weird health problems on each of them… for example, an Inkling's eyesight dropped drastically, forcing him to wear glasses. An Inkling girl had a sudden tentacle growth, even the small four ones behind her head.
My husband noticed that those "medicines" were the responsible… so he tried to stop the whole research, finding a cure for the newer health problems, but the superiors refused his complains. Not only, they wanted to keep the project which only recently he learned its name… but they wanted to take new cavies and give them the new, improved medicines for future Turf War matches.
When he told me this, I decided to do whatever I could to close down the Turf War Station and save those lives… I just got lucky that those Stingray fiends came out of nowhere. I had so, my excuse to shut down the tower, without letting others know about Project Neo…
In fact, my husband heard voices that he wasn't suppose to know about this project… or even its name. After doing some private research, he found that Project Neo wasn't limited to just one lab… it seems that several labs are involved!
Unfortunately, he can't ask anything about them… otherwise, he would be fired. Actually, those voices also claimed that the organization behind the project would have ruined his life and the ones who were close to him.
We don't know what they have in mind, with this project… the true intentions of it. The only thing I can do is to inform you, Mirii. You may not know this, but many people talk about you… and just recently, I learned you were an Agent who knows something about Project Neo.
I wanted to personally meet you and inform you about this. I couldn't just meet you normally, since the Inkopolis Security Team usually guards the entire city… except this tower. I had to invent the following scene: you and your friends tried to take vital documents from me, but instead you tried to stop me after you broke down my remote, since I wanted to call the police at the Storage Room located at the top.
Since I told you lies, you naturally acted in front of the security cameras placed on almost every room… expert Agents would tell by just a glance, if someone would just act or not, so that's why I had to tell you those crazy plans and let you believe them!
As a bonus, because the tower received damage, I can postpone any future openings and keep the tower shut. Mr. Tarfo would never penalize you with this excuse… nor he'll attack the tower anytime sooner! I knew he would choose you and your friends, Mirii… he thought you would figured out how to steal those documents, faster than most of the available Agents.
… why I know Mr. Tarfo? Who talks about you? … well… I think you should get some rest, Mirii. Your eyelids are getting down and you kept yawning. I'm sure the other Agents would ask you some questions, tomorrow. I promise that next time, I'll explain more about why I know those voices… for now, just focus on solving the Project Neo mystery.
Goodbye, Mirii… and thank you for listening at the whole situation.
…
…
…
Knock knock.
…
Knock knock knock.
"… wh… what…"
Knock knock.
"Is that… the door…?"
…
"... my head is hurting a lot… my limbs feels so non-energetic… … maybe those knocks were coming from a dream… no wait… were from a collection of a mindless mess of information… dreams are just… a collection… zzz… zzzzzz…"
"Hey Mirii, are you in there?!"
"Wh-what the?!" Her eyes were slightly seeing a desk, covered in darkness. "Grina?!" Her head turns left and right.
"Pfff…! The short kid didn't get enough sleep?"
"Wh-what did you said?!" Mirii's eyes were faintly seeing the door.
Quickly, the door pulled as some light penetrated inside the room: Grina was smiling, as her hands were on her hips.
"Good morning, short genius." She closes her eyes, grinning. "You may be small, but you sure love to sleep until lunch!"
"Lunch…?" Mirii's eyelids were in the middle. "Why are you saying"
"Eh eh." Grina's eyes fell on Mirii's clothes. "I didn't knew the mission clothes were also your pajamas."
Mirii's eyes expanded: she tilts her head down, seeing the same clothes used yesterday… even the shoes! Her jaw dropped.
"Girl, like that's something I have never seen!" Bars walks near Grina's left side, raising his right hand. "Sleep kinda tricked you up, a lot…"
The girl closes the door, leaving a slam in front of Grina's face. She turns over the boy, shaking her head slowly.