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"Uhm... let's see..." Aqua's head turned left and right. "Where are those Assistance workers…?"
"Aqua!"
The woman jumped, turning her head to her left: a large Inkling man wearing round glasses, a light-brown outfit with a dark-green tie popping out from the top of the jacket was walking towards the woman. His face was frowning.
"Yo-you called me?" The woman bended a bit down, as her face went paler.
"What kind of stupid question is that?!" The man opened his arms. "And where are you been?! The demonstration course is about to start!"
"D-demonstra-!" Aqua's mouth flattened. "I-If I keep asking question, people will start suspecting me… I-I was suppose to know all of this!" She swallows silently. "Ah, aaaah!" She chuckles, as sweat jumped out from her head. "Th-the demonstration course! I-I was about to come there and"
"You were going in the wrong way!" The man folded his arms.
Aqua's face became even paler, as more sweat came out from her head: her face was full of it.
"Eeeehhhmmm… I… I-I was carrying those two with me!" Her hands were pointing at Hun and Fara. "Th-they are so interested in our demonstration course."
"Huh?!" Hun's eyes grew, as her mouth opened wide. "Th-that's not"
Aqua's left hand covered his mouth, as she keeps laughing and sweating.
"Please, cooperate with me here…" She whispered, then she cleared her voice. "Th-they are shy! Ha ha ha, it-it took me a long time to convince them…!" She grins.
"… did they subscribed?" The man's right eyebrow rose.
"Th-they will!" Aqua rose, as her left hand grasped her right own and starts rubbing them. "Th-the more the merrier! Eh, eh, eh…"
The man's eyes squeezed.
"… yes…" He smiles. "… sure… then, bring them with you." He turns behind.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Hun frowned, opened his arms while whispering. "We have no time for that! My friend could be in danger, right now!"
"P-please!" The woman whispered, as she turned behind, while bending down as a waterfall of tears were coming from her closed eyes: her hands were squeezing her tentacles. "Th-this… th-this will help you finding your friend… I-I swear…!" She swallows silently.
Hun growled faintly. He turns his head to his left: Fara's face was frowning, as she kept shaking her head. Hun sighed as he returns his head to the right.
"… if we leave, that man will get mad at you… and I don't want to see that." He nodded. "Alright, we will come with you…"
"Th-thank you!" Aqua's hands clasped together, as her posture lifted and her eyes were still closed while releasing a waterfall of tears. "You don't have any idea of"
"AAAAAQQUUAAAAAA!"
The woman jumped, while gritting her teeth.
"Curses!" She sprinted, leaving a ricochet sound behind. "I-I'm coming! I'm coming!"
Hun and Fara were looking at the woman, as a sweat drop appears on the right side of their heads.
"Big bro… are ya 'ure thi' 's a good idea?" Fara's eyes were small, as her eyebrows were a bit down.
"... let's pretend it's…" He starts walking.
The boy's eyes were seeing Aqua trembling in front of the man, as her arms were stretching down.
"Get on the backstage and make sure everything is ready!" The man's right forefinger was pointing a door behind him. "I want to see you in 5 minutes… not a second later! Understood?!"
Aqua makes a salute with her right hand, as her mouth was waving.
"Yes sir!" Aqua ran past the man.
Her head turned to her left, seeing a small crowd of Inklings standing still: their tentacles were all colored in blue. Her right hand grasped the door handle, as she pushes the metallic door closing it behind her. Her back was leaning against the door: her eyes were seeing 4 Inklings, two males and two females. Each Inkling was holding a different weapon, wearing the same outfit Aqua was wearing.
Their eyes were all pointed on the woman.
"… ehm… g-good evening!" Her eyes closed, as her mouth was grinning a bit. "S-sorry if I arrived this late…!"
"… are you alright, Aqua?" The man holding a green Splattershot tilted his head to his left. "You look nervous…"
"Me?! N-no! No!" She chuckles a bit. "I-I'm not nervous… … ehm… w-well! I-I'm going to take my weapon…" She walks to her left.
Her sight was seeing different Sub Weapons on a shelf. Her head was looking around. She turned to her right, seeing a metallic closet.
"Nnnnggghhhh…!" The woman walks to the right. "Th-this is not fair…! I-I don't know anything about this room…!"
Her right hand pulled the closet's right side: a series of different clothes were hanging inside. The woman gasped, as her right hand pushed the door closet back.
"… eh eh eh…" Sweat was jumping from her head. "… s-so frustrating…!"
"Aqua, what are you doing?" A woman holding a Splat Roller walked towards Aqua.
Her eyebrows were up and her mouth downturned.
"The weapons are inside that drawer." Her right forefinger pointed at a wooden drawer leaning against the wall.
"Ah… eeehhhmmm… I-I was thinking if I should take other clothes!" She chuckles, as her head turned to her left and her eyes closed.
"WHAT?!" The woman frowned. "Where would you change them?! We have no time for that!"
"S-sorry! I-I was overthinking!" Aqua's heart was beating faster.
"… sigh…" The woman's left hand covered her eyes. "… I hope you are joking…"
"I-I'll take my weapons!" Aqua was walking towards the drawer, pulling it with both her hands.
She bended down, staring at many different weapons: she took a Splatterscope, pushing the drawer back with her right leg.
"I-I'll take this one!" Aqua smiles, grasping her weapon tightly.
A sweat drop appears on three Inklings' heads. A short man covered his mouth with his right hand, as his cheeks puffed.
"… Aqua, did you took a serious bonk in the head?" The woman's right hand fell on her right hip. "You are acting completely different than usual…"
"I-I… I…" Her irises were bouncing left and right, as her mouth was waving and sweat kept jumping from her head.
"Do you remember my name?" Her eyes squeezed.
"Eeeeehhhmmm…" Aqua was curling a bit.
The woman's eyes expanded.
"… I'm your best friend!" Her eyebrows went up. "You can't forget my name!"
"… I guess that lying brings us nowhere." Aqua lifted her posture, as her head rose. "Hmpf, of course I don't know your name… or even this room."
The Inklings' mouth were flattened.
"… or even myself." Her eyes squeezed. "I do not know anything about me… except I found myself lying on the floor." Her eyes closed. "That would only prove that this Aqua person hurt herself on the head and now she completely forgot everything… even herself."
"… oh no…" The woman holding a Splat Roller kept moving in place. "Wh-why it had to happen right now?!"
"I'm going to call the boss!" The tall man wielding a Splattershot moved towards the door.
"NO, STOP!" The woman's right arm stretched towards him. "He would kick all of us out! This is our only chance to get a real job, remember?!"
"But Aqua doesn't remember anything!" He opened his arms. "She's even the leading Squid of the demonstration course!"
"… then, I'll be the one." The woman's eyes closed. "It's not like she wrote a contract stating to lead us…"
"Wh-what about Aqua? She can't stay here!" His head turned to his right.
"… can you please let me know more about the demonstration course?" Aqua's right forefinger was leaning on her right cheek. "What we are supposed to do?"
"This course is meant to teach Inklings the use of different weapons." The woman nodded, while looking at Aqua. "We are all using Standard ones for this introductive one…"
"A course teaching the use of weapons…? What would be the point?" Aqua's eyes squeezed. "The Turf War Station is still closed. … unless…" Aqua's arms folded. "Before I continue, I would like to apologize everyone for my attempt into remembering anything… I do remember that I was supposed to do something important, but I couldn't remember what that is…" Her eyebrows went up. "The boss scolded me… I didn't wanted to make him madder."
"That's ok." The woman smiled. "It's a good thing you let us know!"
"Anyway, why are we demonstrating a course…?" Aqua's right hand was petting her right tentacle.
"Soon the Turf War Station will open up!" The woman's eyes closed. "Thanks to the petition composed of 5.000.000 signatures."
"5 millions?!" Aqua bended forward, as her irises shrunk.
"The whole world wants Inkopolis to still remain the capital of Turf War matches!" Her right eye opened. "It's going to be a matter of time, before the station would open up… in the meantime, we are offering courses for Inklings to learn or improve their weapon skills."
"Nnnnnggghhhhh!" Aqua bended down, as her face was covered in sweat. "Curses…! N-noooo…"
"This is our big chance to have a nice career!" Putting her Splat Roller down, the woman was bending forward as her fists clenched and a star appeared on each eye. "Think about the future… legendary players learned from us! US! Our training center will land on every single history book… and Squids would pay millions to take our courses!" Her mouth formed a 3.
"Ah… I-I see." Aqua's mouth opened. "Wow… who could have thought that Aqua had those ambitious projects in mind?!"
"Of course, we will make sure that every legends learns from Inkopolis…" The woman's right hand fell on her right hip, as her eyes closed and her posture lifted. "Our city is simply the best! It must always be the best, since it let us 5 grow properly… the other cities are all greedy and egoistic." Her eyes opened, as her face frowned. "They deserve to boil in their same pot… adding all the mockery they receive."
"Wh-what's up with that statement?!" Aqua's eyes shrunk. "Why she hates those other cities…?"
"There is a reason why their Turf War Stations are so worthless…" She smiles widely, keeping her eyebrows down. "… Inkopolis and its citizens will always be the best! The whole world knows it! They would pay millions to live here, after all!"
Aqua's head turned around: the other three Inklings were nodding and smiling. Her face became paler.
"Wh-what is up with those Squids?!" Sweat covered her forehead. "They keep attacking the other cities… … I wonder…" Aqua's head rose. "Did Aqua approved this?"
"Approved…? Pff! That would soo not be it…" The woman closed her eyes. "… she's the one who created the petition."
Aqua's eyes expanded.
"She hates the other cities even more than us!" The woman chuckles. "If it was for me, I would simply force them to become exactly like Inkopolis… but she wants to see them worshipping the whole city!" Her arms folded. "To a certain degree, I like her ideas… a lot." She nodded. "I want to be a role model for the whole planet… so everyone will follow our same ideas and praise us, forever!" She grins.
Everything turned dark around Aqua.
"… disgusting. I have never seen such Squids who hated other cities like this… … and I'm supposed to promote such thing, making sure the whole show goes well? No… not on my watch. Aqua is a terrible, terrible person… but now she's under my control: I can change her reputation and make sure she is forced to follow the good ideals, so no other Squids will become as egocentric as her."
She frowned.
"Aqua is the leading team, huh? If she drops out… I can foil their plans, once and for all."
The darkness surrounding the woman went away.
"… hmpf, you claimed that person is me?" Aqua shakes her head. "I'm afraid you are incorrect."
The Inklings' eyes expanded.
"Huh?!" The woman's mouth opened wide. "Bu-but"
"What you just said… it disgusts me to no end." Aqua's head rose. "You can't be a friend of mine… you are the one deserving to boil in your same pot!" Her right forefinger pointed the woman down.
"Eeeeeh?!" Her arms went sideways, as she stretched upwards and her irises shrunk.
"Are you nuts?!" The tall man frowned. "We are always been friends! Why would you attack us?!"
"Because you are all awful people…" Aqua's head lowered, as her eyes closed. "Hating all those cities, as if every single one of them is worthless… without having any proofs in your sides."
"Their Turf War Stations are used!" Sweat covered his forehead. "Criminals are running the whole Turf War business!"
"And you really think that ours couldn't fall in the same category?!" Aqua's right forefinger points at him. "Pathetic. Your close-minded attitude must been exposed and mocked at."
The man growled. Aqua folded her arms.
"I no longer intend to work with criminals like you… the demonstration is"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" The woman's right fist went forward, as her right cheek twitched. "YOU WANT TO BLOW EVERYTHING UP BECAUSE OF THIS?!"
"… you are indeed forgetting…" The man closes his eyes. "… in times like this, we need to find a job. This is our only chance to utilize our degrees fully, without risking to not pay our rents at the end of the month."
"Degrees…?" Aqua's eyes squeezed.
"We were students from the university: that's where we met." The woman's eyes were watery, as her mouth was trembling. "We are all big fans of sports… before graduating, we wanted to open courses where Inklings could learn how to use weapons and love Turf Wars as much as we do!"
"Actually, me and Manta joined this some time ago." The short man folded his arms, nodding. "We left our jobs at the gym, in order to venture in this newer one: much more active and satisfying if you are asking me!" He chuckles a bit.
"They are very good, Aqua! Actually, all of us are extremely competent in Turf War matches!" The taller man grits his teeth. "Our boss approved our project after a long discussion we all did! You can't throw that effort out of the window!"
"… tsk, I'm still cooperating with Squids who hate other cities without a reason." Aqua's head shakes. "If you can't find any jobs here… maybe you should try elsewhere."
"WHAT KIND OF SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?!" The woman's hands fell on her head. "YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY! YOU CAN BUILD YOUR OWN LIFE AROUND THIS BUSINESS!"
"You said that you were really excited for this job!" The man frowned even more. "You really wanted to be a coach, since you would socialize with many Inklings… something which you are really looking for!"
"I could put that aside, easily…" Aqua's eyes squeezed. "For now, I'll stay away from such individuals like you." Her head lowered. "That would ruin my reputation of being a good citizen... which is someone who doesn't hate other cities without a clear reason."
The woman starts walkin
"STOOOP!"
Aqua's head turned to her right: the woman's left hand grabbed her right arm. Tears were coming down from her eyes.
"… wh-what happened to you, Aqua…?" She sniffed loudly. "… wh-why are you hating us, all the sudden…?"
Aqua's head rose.
"… because you are the primary example of worthless Squids who hate others…"
"No! That's false!" The woman grits her teeth. "We don't hate others… we hate the other cities' systems! They take advantage of Turf Wars, by forcing Inklings into fighting every day… otherwise their houses and belongings are all gone! All of this, to entertain the other sea creatures!"
Aqua's eyes squeezed a bit.
"They are awful, Aqua! You know that very well… you were in one of those, before coming in Inkopolis." The woman nodded. "You know what it means to be used… your father was used as well, do you remember that?!" She leaned forward.
Aqua's mouth opened wide, as her irises shrunk.
"… my father…?" Her eyes blinked.
"Yes…" The woman closed her eyes. "… he did all he could to save you from the prison they kept you… y-you can't disappoint him!"
Suddenly, everything went negative around Aqua for a moment. She gasped loudly, as she walked backwards.
"No… i-impossible!" Her hands squeezed her tentacles. "It can't be that all the cities are abusing the Turf War system…!"
"Well, we meant to say around the region."
Aqua turned behind, seeing the taller man frowning.
"The majority of the other cities around the world are decent… although, they are still nothing compared to Inkopolis'." He lowered his head. "This course could actually help other Inklings escape those cities… Inkopolis can hold all its citizens without any problem."
He nodded.
"You used this course as your campaign for opening up the Turf War Station once again… making Inklings pay for learning the weapon styles and give them a secured job as Turf War players."
Everything turned black around Aqua.
"No… noooooo…" Aqua's eyebrows went up, as her teeth gritted. "I-I can't let them open the Station! The scientists are going to run experiments on everyone! … wait… isn't it a huge coincidence that this woman took that candy?! The same woman who promoted the opening of the Station…?"
Gradually, the background turned a bit white as shadow Inklings appeared behind her: her hands grasped her weapon tightly, as she turns behind and holds the weapon's trigger.
"… why in the world she would eat such candy?! There must be an answer… … eureka!"
BLAM!
A shadow Inkling exploded.
"They are running a demonstration course, promoting the future opening of the station… they never expected me coming inside this mall, after all!"
Her right forefinger was holding her weapon's trigger.
"They couldn't just kick me out… otherwise other people might find the whole situation too suspicious! They needed a plan… which is to make me play the part of Aqua and continue with the rest of the project, without saying a thing. … why did they make me play her role? If I was kidnapped, I wouldn't really know anything about this…"
Her weapon was pointing towards a shadow Inkling… … …
BLAM!
The shadow Inkling exploded.
"If I would say anything, they could simply shut me down… this method would make sure I would never attempt an escape, since I wouldn't have any control of myself at all!"
Her right forefinger kept pressing the trigger…
"This answer explains why they choose to make me play a role… although, it's still not enough."
A shadow Inkling kept blinking faintly. Her weapon was pointing at it.
"… why playing her role?! They were forcing me to play her part… without saying anything which may reveal the whole situation… … I'm seeing a pattern here…"
Her eyes were seeing through the scope. She was breathing silently… … …
BLAM!
The shadow Inklings… exploded!
"… finally… the ultimate answer I needed. The reason why this weird situation is happening in front of my eyes. Aqua… she wasn't a random target at all." Her head rose. "They forced me to play her role, without revealing anything… … what if Aqua herself didn't want to play her role at all, this night? … after all, she was standing in front of a palm tree… she was nowhere near the stand at all!"
The woman frowned.
"The demonstration was about to start… and my friends were too busy looking for me… … there is only one thing to do, then." Her head rose.
Gradually everything returned to normal.
"… Aqua… she may have evidence with her. Something to show at everyone… …" Aqua's eyebrows were down. "Does Aqua have a smartphone…?"
"Her smartphone? Yes, it's in the closet…" The woman's right wrist rubbed on her left eye. "… why that question?"
Aqua walked towards the closet, pulling the right side. Lowering her sight, she tracked down a small shelf where different smartphones were showing.
"Yours is this one." The woman holding the Slosher picked a large, white device passing it to Aqua. "I believe the code is 0439."
Aqua presses the screen with her thumb on the numbers: suddenly, many squares popped out. Her thumb presses on a pink diary image: several rows were showing. The top one was reading "10/10 - IMPORTANT DISCOVERY I DID!". Aqua smiled, as her right thumb pressed on that word.
"… as I suspected." She nodded. "Everyone, please listen to this…"
I almost forgot to write the yesterday's diary entry! What can I say right now?! I hate being so darn right!
I knew this was too good to believe… unfortunately, I must reveal the truth. It really pains me a lot, actually… … the course is a scam! The boss is working for a company who runs experiments on Inklings! He will make us use special cases, according to the needs of this company!
There is no escape… even Inkopolis is being used for criminal reasons! Without even noticing it, we are all workers of this company which we can't quit at all! They will force us working hard… even if the station is still closed! Luckily, there is a way out! Even before this nightmare will start…
… I'll put small microphones inside vases, so people would listen out loud the scam who's hitting us! They can't do anything to save themselves… I have photos of their websites stored in my smartphone. All I need to do is to press the Microphone button… and say everything.
I need to talk with my friends, before the plan starts up… wish I could have done that before, but the demonstration was about to start in one hour and I need to buy all those small microphones! Besides, what if my phone calls are all listened?! I feel spied here… luckily, my diary is rather secure, since its system is almost impossible to break!
Anyway, once I finish placing all the microphones and find my friends in the backstage... I'll tell them everything! They need to block the backstage door, since the boss is going to be mad for my delay. Hopefully things will go well…
Aqua's head rose: the 4 Inklings face went pale, as their eyes almost popped out.
BUMF, BUMF!
"WOULD YOU 5 GET OUT OF THE ROOM?! IT'S BEEN 10 MINUTES SINCE YOU ARE INSIDE!"
Aqua smiled.
"… you know what to do, now." She nodded.
The taller man pressed his back against the door. The short man rushed, pushing the door down as well. The door handle moved.
"HEY! ARE YOU BLOCKING THE DOOR?! HEEEEYYY!"
BUMF, BUMF, BUMF!
Aqua's right thumb moved the screen, pressing on a Microphone icon. She cleared her voice…
"Everyone, this is an important message said by Aqua Whalona. I'll reveal the following"
!
"AAAH!" Mirii's eyes grew wide.
A scientist woman was holding a helmet with both her hands: she was smiling, as her eyes closed.
"Congratulations, Mirii… you did it again." She puts the helmet on the table to the right.
"… is this the whole test?" Mirii's head rose, as her eyelids lowered.
"I didn't thought that Aqua had notes on her smartphone… but thanks to you, we also know which Squid we must capture next." The woman's eyebrows went down, as her head turned down-right.
"You didn't know?!" Mirii frowned.
"We weren't sure: we got rumors about Aqua's suspicious activities. We had another plan in mind for her… but then, you came with your friends. That's when we thought to use you for our experiment AND to make sure Aqua would finish up her demonstration course…" The woman's arms folded.
"Grrrr…" Mirii's eyes squeezed. "You morons… you knew that I would crack this enigma very easily, didn't you? Why didn't you let another person do her job?!"
"Cavies were all busy with their experiments… if the experiment went wrong, at least none of our brains would get fried." The woman grins. "Besides, we didn't expected your rather complicated needs… that almost blew up everything! And the notes… you had to find something in her smartphone, didn't you? There is nothing we could do at that moment… except, listening to her note."
Her eyes closed.
"I'm sure her friends are all busy helping her waking up… while the assistance workers are putting out all the microphones hidden inside the vases. It was a nice try… I give you that. Aqua might still think that her microphones are still well-hidden from us…" She sighed. "But the plans are all foiled… and that man is going to pay everything!" Her eyebrows lowered, her eyes opened and her smile grew.
"Th-their boss?" Mirii's mouth opened.
"He's not too aware of the whole situation… he's going to learn all the truth, soon enough!" The woman bended down. "Meanwhile, you'll play as a cavy a little longer…"
Mirii growled, as her eyes squeezed and smoke was coming out from her ears.
"It's going to be a matter of time… I'll find my way out of this!" She snorted. "Just wait and see…"