Chapter 2: Enhance Existing Life
"Tell everyone Agent 8 has gone rogue!" Bough insisted
Callie looked surprised while Marie didn't, perhaps she expected such a thing due to her distrust of Octolings.
Inker on the hand hand looked very annoyed
"THAT'S ENOUGH! What in the world is wrong with you Bough!?"
"Me? I… I'm just telling the truth." Bough seemed to shrink back a little in the face of Agent 3.
"The truth!? This is your fault! Not Eight's!"
"B-but Eight shot us in the back."
"That was only because you were being so damn aggressive! Couldn't you tell that was the friend Eight was looking for all this time?"
"Of course I could, but she had the zapfish."
"We could have just talked it out! She had no weapon and stopped trying to run once she saw Eight."
"S-sorry, I didn't realize that." Bough apologized
"Why are you so aggressive whenever you are around those Octarians?"
"W-well, I was suddenly given the role of Agent 4 and the Octarian army was terrifying, so I had to learn to be more forceful around them."
"He had a rough start in Octo Canyon, you know the Octarian army has gotten much stronger since you've fought them." Marie explained.
"So I've heard… Maybe I should have gone with Neon instead…" Inker muttered
Neon was a wild one, but from past experience fighting in Octo Valley together, Inker at least knew she could control herself when the time was right.
Why did she pick Bough instead of Neon in the first place?
"Don't look at me, I told you four could be a bit rash at times." Marie added
Oh well, no use grovelling over mistakes.
"Do you remember which way we went?" Inker asked
"No, I was so busy chasing that Octoling that I didn't keep track."
This meant they couldn't catch up with Eight now.
"Huh... Guess we can only wait for Eight to return."
Hidden lair, Octo Canyon
Ophelia took Eight far from the manhole and Inkopolis.
There was a kettle hidden in a cliff face near the border between Octo Canyon and Octo Valley.
Ophelia approached the kettle and gave it a few hard knocks.
It struggled as it was low on power, but it eventually opened.
"You remember this place don't you?" Ophelia asked
Eight glanced around her, this area looked no different from the rest of Octo Canyon so far "Uhh, not really."
"Well you should in a moment, come on!"
The two Octolings entered the kettle.
Eight found herself in darkness.
She could barely make out Ophelia's figure in the dark.
"I need to plug this zapfish in quickly, I'll be right back." Ophelia announced
"Wait, how can you see in this darkness?"
"Oh i've been here for so long I've pretty much memorized this whole lair, I don't need to see to get around here. Be right back!"
Eight heard Ophelia's footsteps echo in the lair, until it became too soft for her to hear.
She still couldn't see anything.
She had no idea where she was.
This feeling of cluelessness, surrounded by mystery, was similar to when she first awoke in the Deepsea Metro.
Eight never liked being a test subject, but back she had a purpose; to reach the promised land.
Perhaps since this darkness felt so similar to her beginning in the Metro, a new purpose for Eight would reveal itself shortly after, just like before.
Suddenly the lights flicked to life.
Eight was temporarily blinded by the sudden brightness, when her eyes readjusted she realized she was standing before a huge building.
There was a strange symbol of what appeared to be an eel on it.
She couldn't recall seeing it, but it felt familiar, it almost felt like home.
Ophelia came running back shortly after.
"So? Look familiar?"
"Not really, but it does feel like I've been here before…"
"You have, how could you forget? Well a lot has changed since you left, I guess it's only normal… I've plugged in the Zapfish, come on, I'll show you around, maybe that will jolt your memory."
Eight followed Ophelia into the building.
"I remember you being a medic in the army, what are you doing here alone?"
Ophelia looked at her with a surprised gaze.
"Well I used to be, but Octavio put me in charge of a special project. So I'm more of a scientist now."
Eight could recall bits of Ophelia mentioning some kind of project before.
She could also recall helping…
No wait, she was a soldier right? Eight remembered serving in the army, so why does she remember helping with some sort of science project?
'Hold on, I thought I was a soldier, why would I be helping a scientist? Who am I even?' Eight wondered.
Perhaps now would be a good time to ask.
Just as Eight was about to open her mouth, she saw another familiar sight.
Glass tanks full of green liquid… Just like the ones she remembered.
Actually more like giant test tubes or a vats in a laboratory, that's probably what this place was.
Floating inside, was something that looked like an Octoling.
Eight gasped.
Was Ophelia conducting experiments on Octarians?
"What's wrong?" Ophelia asked
Eight suddenly felt nervous.
She didn't like the idea of live Octarians being used as test subjects, especially since she had been one herself.
Instinctively she found herself going for her Octoshot, then she recalled how Inker and Bough did the same and spooked Ophelia, so she brought her hand back.
"Umm… it that.. Is that a?" Eight stuttered
"It's an Octoling." Ophelia answered
Eight was in shock.
Is this what Bough meant by 'be prepared for bad news just in case' so her friend from the past was not a good Octoling?
Eight couldn't imagine what awful tests and experiments this Octoling had to go through.
"W-w-what are you doing to her?" Eight asked
"Hmm? Oh don't worry, she isn't alive." Ophelia said.
"Then what happened to her?"
"What do you mean? Wait hold on, do you not remember project E.E.L?"
"No I don't, I remember these glass tanks clearly, but what is project E.E.L?"
"Ahh that explains why you look so nervous, don't worry this isn't a real Octoling." Ophelia explained
'Huh? Did I just see… No wait forget about that, this isn't a real Octoling?' Eight wondered
"Just curious, what do you remember about me?" Ophelia asked
"Not much, I just remember you being my friend, someone I trusted with my life. I think we were part of the same squad in the army?"
"Hmm… Well then, it looks like I have a lot to explain. What about yourself? What do you know about yourself?'
"Not much, I just know I was part of the Octarian army. I can't even remember my name. You called me Alicia earlier, is that really my name?" Eight asked
"Yes it is. You must have hit your head real hard to forget something like that."
"...Strange." Eight said
"Huh?"
"I remember the name 'Alicia' but I don't remember it being my name… I remember you calling someone else by that name before…"
"There's more than one Octoling with that name you know."
"Oh right, of course! What was I thinking haha!"
"Well then, I guess I should start from the beginning, come there's alot for you to see."
Ophelia led Eight away from the glass vats and further into what was definitely a lab.
There were many more tanks full of green liquid, some had more Octolings in it, others had strange blobs of flesh, then there were some that were completely empty.
Ophelia led Eight to a door labeled 'security' inside were several more doors, each one numbered differently.
Ophelia opened one of them, revealing a small room with a bed and a desk.
"This was your room, you were part of the security team here." Ophelia said
"Security? But I was a soldier." Eight couldn't recall being just a simple lab guard nor this small bedroom.
"We both were." Ophelia continued "Like you said we were part of the same squad. But Octo Valley was getting worse each day. It was rumored that our race would go extinct soon, so I had a proposal: project E.E.L. Octavio approved it and I was made head of the project, since you and I were close back then, Octavio made you head of security here."
"I see."
That would explain why she could recall this building and the tanks of green liquid, but not being a security guard.
She could have been a soldier assigned to guard duty, simple as that.
"Umm, what is project E.E.L anyways?" Eight asked
"I was just getting to that, come, i'll show you."
Ophelia led Eight back to the glass vats.
She showed her another Octoling floating inside one of them.
"This it, Project Enhance Existing Life, or E.E.L. In order to prevent our extinction, we were trying to come up with a way to stop Octarians from dying."
Eight's first guess was that it was something related to spawn points.
But she had been tasked with stealing Inkopolis' respawn tech before, did Ophelia not know?
"Umm, you know, we have respawn points now, so it really isn't that much of a problem anymore." Eight could barely bring herself to say it, how hurt would her friend be if she found out someone had beaten her to respawn technology?
"I know that, project E.E.L isn't meant to just respawn Octarians." Ophelia explained
She pointed at the Octoling body floating in the tank.
"It's called 'Enhance Existing Life' for a reason, we don't respawn someone, we give them a new and improved surrogate body. After all, even though we can respawn when splatted, but we can't avoid things like death by disease, age, and other natural causes, nor can we respawn if our bodies were too badly damaged before being splatted. Project E.E.L would allow us to take on a new body when we respawn. Older Octarains could even choose to become young and beautiful again instead of staying old and dry. This could eliminate death completely!"
"That is wonderful!" Eight exclaimed
This project could not just save millions, but it could literally wipe the concept of death off the face of existence.
"I've had some problems, but it's coming together nicely, sadly I haven't heard from Octavio or the army in a while and then the lab ran out of power, so I had to go steal a Zapfish from Inkopolis. I'm still sorry about that, please give my apologies to Agent 3 and 4 when you have the chance."
"Don't worry, Inkopolis has plenty of Zapfish, as long as it isn't being used to destroy Inkopolis I don't think they will mind."
"Are you sure? You know there are terrible rumors surrounding the New Squidbeak Splatoon, they say they are ruthless and don't ever forgive. I'm worried that they might come for me."
"Don't worry, I only just met 4, but I know for certain that Agent 3 is a kind and compassionate Inkling!" Eight assured her friend.
"I guess... if you say so..." Ophelia still looked worried.
Her encounter with Inker and Bough must have been a scary one.
"Well I'm glad to have you back!"
"I'm lucky to have found you."
"Since you lost your memory, do you want to see the progress we've made?"
"Sure! Wait.. we?"
"Heh, You might have remained a soldier, but you helped with a lot more than just security. That's probably why you remember these test vats so clearly."
Ophelia walked over to a table and picked up a big pair of scissors.
"Alright, now hold still, I just need to cut a piece of your hair…"
"Wait, won't that make an Octotrooper?"
"I'll just cut the tip off one of your tentacles, don't worry."
Eight felt Ophelia hold up her hair, then there was a quick snipping sound.
She felt the tentacle which was now missing a decent part of it and watched as Ophelia began chopping the severed tentacle to pieces.
She then went over to an empty vat and dropped a piece inside.
"There we go, now give it a few hours and it should begin to take shape, in the meantime…"
Ophelia showed Eight a console attached to the vat.
"You can make changes to the body here while it is still in development." Ophelia explained
"What kind of changes?"
"Well it's your second body… Anything you want, your skin tone, your eye colour, you can even change the body to be a boy."
Eight glanced at the console.
It showed an estimation of what the final result would be floating in the green liquid.
At the top of the screen was written the words 'Who am I?'
As Eight turned her attention to the console, Ophelia had other things to take care of , so she left Eight to herself.
The console presented Eight with two options
'Girl' 'boy'
The girl looked just like Eight did, the boy's face looked similar, but his eyebrows were larger and he only had a single tentacle for hair, running down the center at the top of his head.
Apparently that is what Eight would have looked like if she were a boy…
Well no reason to go that route right now, Eight picked the girl option.
The boy faded away and was replaced by another question
'My skin is…'
There was quite a selection of skin tones to choose from, but instead of choosing from a spectrum they were all a set colour..
Once again Eight didn't have a reason to go wild experimenting, so she picked her own skin tone, a natural beige colour.
The next question 'My hair is…'
Why that option was even there, Eight didn't understand, you could change your hairstyle anytime.
But why was there only two options?
It was only her current hairstyle plus a ponytailed one, does that mean she could never grow her hair to be like Marina's or those of regular Octoling soldiers?
Eight checked the pony tail option.
For some reason it reminded her of Agent 3, he had something similar right?
Maybe in Inkling society ponytails were more suited for boys?
Eight kept her normal hairstyle.
The next question 'My eyes are…'
Once again Eight was shown a variety of preset colours.
She could even choose to have red eyes which she was pretty sure wasn't a natural eye colour.
Eight's orange eyes had been pre-selected and the estimated result Octoling on screen now had her eyes wide open so Eight could see the colour of her iris.
Eight considered just leaving everything as is, but once again Agent 3 came to mind.
She wondered what she would look like if she had blue eyes like Agent 3…
Oh well, it wasn't such a big difference anyhow, Eight picked blue eyes and was then asked one final question.
'Is this me?'
What a strange way to ask a question.
The options now were: 'I'm not sure…' and 'Yeah!'
It felt strangely familiar, maybe she had done this before...
Eight selected 'Yeah!' and the console faded to black before switching to a screen monitoring the development of the Octoling inside.
Eight looked up inside the vat at the tiny piece of her tentacle floating inside.
Would that really become a full sized Octoling in just a few hours?
Also how would she transfer herself into that body once it was done?
'Best to ask Ophelia' Eight decided, but when she turned around, her friend was gone.
Eight wondered where she had run off to, maybe she had other things to do?
"Ophelia?! OPHELIA!" Eight called out, but nobody replied.
Eight didn't know where she went, nor did she know the layout of this lab, but it was only Ophelia here, so there was no danger.
She decided to explore on her own.
The lair was lined with glass vats, they were all filled with green liquid but many of them were empty.
There were some occupied by what seemed to be Octoling bodies already developed, though they were just floating around lifeless and unused for some reason.
Some vats were much larger in size, perhaps some Octarians wished to have a huge surrogate body?
Other vats only had little bits of organic material, as small as the piece of tentacle Ophelia took from Eight earlier.
Eventually the long row of vats ended and Eight found herself passing the security living quarters again.
She entered and looked around.
It still didn't look familiar, but it did give off a homey feeling.
Maybe she had lived here before and forgotten since it was unimpressive and plain compared to her apartment in Inkopolis.
Speaking of Inkopolis, Eight realized she had been gone for quite some time now.
She hoped Agent 3 wouldn't be too mad about her splatting him, she had only done it because she knew they would respawn thanks to their hero suits.
Eight decided to at least check in with the New Squidbeak Splatoon, just to be safe.
Unfortunately, her phone had no reception down in Octo Canyon.
She didn't have one of those Hero headsets that Inker and Bough used to keep in touch with Cuttlefish and Marie either.
All she had was the CQ-80, but that was linked to Marina of Off the Hook, who probably had no idea what was going on at the moment.
If she did, she'd probably be busy with Pearl doing a news segment on the zapfish theft first, though it was only one zapfish so it's disappearance might not even be worth broadcasting.
Actually Marina did somehow know that Eight completed all of Kamabo corp's tests so maybe she could be watching now?
'Oh wait! What about the chat logs?'
Eight figured that if Marina and Pearl could see and hear her now, maybe they would be trying to contact her by sending a message within a chat log.
Checking her CQ-80 Eight found that no new logs had been added since Tartar's defeat…
With a sigh, Eight kept on looking for Ophelia.
Where could she have gone?
Maybe somewhere by the lair entrance?
Eight backtracked to the start, this time she could pay more attention to her surroundings rather than just Ophelia and the giant vats.
She quickly noticed that the long row of vats actually branched off into two separate paths.
Ophelia must have gone down the second route.
Sure enough, Eight could soon hear Ophelia's voice from behind a door down the hall.
Maybe she was speaking to somebody? No, there was no other voice.
Ophelia was saying something about feeding and was whistling to someone or something.
Eight opened the door and gasped.
Ophelia stood there, feeding fish to what appeared to be a hungry horde of deformed Octarians.
There were Octobombers with four wings and a bloated and saggy body.
Disgusting looking Octolings with ink drooling from their mouths as they lay on their backs and ran around using their hair, which was much longer than usual.
Octotroopers with extra tentacles which seemed to lack legs and dragged itself around with it's tentacles.
What in the world was this?
Ophelia heard Eight's gasp and looked at her face.
Eight was pale.
The Sanitized Octarians at least still looked Octarian.
These…. Things... were nothing close.
Ophelia however didn't looked worried in the slightest as she tossed more fish at the creatures snapping their mouths at her.
"W-what is this?" Eight asked, trembling once again.
"They are… Well…. What is left of our first attempts at giving surrogate bodies to the deceased." Ophelia explained.
"Wait what? But… why are they like that?"
"Well they weren't meant to be that way, but the surrogate bodies didn't seem to last very long outside their tubes."
Ophelia sighed.
She looked sad for some reason.
"Does that mean, project E.E.L was a failure?" Eight guessed, if someone spent their life on an experiment only to have it fail, it would only be natural for them to be sad.
Ophelia shook her head "No, E.E.L is actually on the verge of success, these were just the first few who volunteered…"
Eight saw her friend's eyes twitch in a strange fashion, then a tear came out.
Ophelia pointed at one Octoling, which was crawling up the wall using it's hair as if it were spider legs.
"Some of the ones here, like her, were once our co-workers you know?"
"Wait really? But why are you experimenting on them?'
"We weren't. Well not at first, but you know how Octo Valley was in such a bad condition back then, that accidents would happen all the time? Well they were some of the unlucky Octarians who's life was cut short by the valley."
Eight knew about this, Octo Canyon was at risk of a similar problem due to the lack of resources.
"We thought maybe we could bring them back… But well… That happened. I can't bear to think about what their life has become, wandering around like a mindless beast, but I can't bring myself to dispose of them either, so I can only keep them here…" Ophelia explained.
Eight understood.
These weren't just failed test subjects, but rather an early and desperate attempt at saving some Octarians who had perished in one of Octo Valley's many accidents…
"Wait… You mentioned co-workers, but then why is it only you here?" Eight asked.
'Well… " Ophelia motioned for Eight to follow her.
They left the area full of strange creatures and Ophelia headed for what seemed to be her personal quarters.
Ophelia went over to a desk, pulled open a drawer and fumbled through it, until she found an old Octarian phone.
"... There were more of us working on this project, but then we heard this…"
With a few presses of buttons, the phone played a low quality but still audible recording of the Calamari Inkantation.
It jogged Eight memories a bit more.
Not the song, but rather the poor quality of the audio.
She had heard it before.
"After that battle with DJ Octavio, most of us just wanted to leave, eventually civil war broke out in Octo Valley and everyone just kinda saw it as a chance to leave, so they did." Ophelia said.
"What about me?" Eight wondered
"I think you had been retasked by then, I'm not sure why, but they moved you to Octo Canyon."
"Oh, I see… But why did you stay?"
"Well I could have left but… Don't you think it's a bit unfair?"
"Hmm?"
"Even if we have different opinions, the Octarians who still side with Octavio are still Octarians. Just leaving them in the decaying underground lairs just isn't right."
Eight agreed, sometimes she had also wondered about the other Octarians still living under DJ Octavio's rule.
A few other Octolings she had met shared similar opinions.
"Besides, if E.E.L is a success, then I'll have something to benefit both the underground lairs and Inkopolis too. I don't want to just show up and expect to be accepted." Ophelia continued. "Also… I'm a bit worried, are the Inklings really that accepting? I mean we did have that war 100 years ago, plus DJ Octavio has stolen their zapfish twice now… Wouldn't it be safer if I made myself an Inkling body first?"
It seemed like Ophelia was still a bit nervous about Inkopolis.
But if she had been listening to the Calamari Inkantation, then she was probably telling the truth about no longer working for the Octarian army back when Inker and Bough confronted her.
That would explain why she wasn't present at the Last Bastion lair.
Eight comforted her friend.
"You really don't need to be an Inkling to live in Inkopolis. I assure you it's a really great place and everyone is really nice. If you want I can take you back to Inkopolis and introduce you to everyone."
"Thanks but… I don't want to leave my work behind, I've already made it this far, I'll meet you back on the surface when the time is right." Ophelia said.
She didn't want to leave her life's work behind, Eight could respect that.
It was kind of similar to how CQ Cumber would never leave the Deepsea Metro.
"Well, at least I know what happened to you and I know a bit more about myself too. Thanks." Eight smiled
Ophelia smiled back, but then she came to a realization.
"You're leaving already?"
"Of course!"
"But why? I know you had forgotten almost everything, but you are just going to leave me here?"
"Well…."
What reason was there to leave early?
Eight didn't recall any urgency in Inkopolis, it was just the same schedule each day.
It wouldn't matter if she left… right?
Eight noticed Ophelia looking sadder than ever.
She must have been lonely, spending each day working on a science project alone for who knows how long.
'I guess it wouldn't hurt if I stayed a bit longer…' Eight decided
She approached Ophelia
"On second thought, Inkopolis isn't going anywhere. Maybe I could stay for a bit longer."
Ophelia's face lit up.
"Thank you Alicia!"
'Alicia? Right.. That's my real name… is it? I mean Ophelia said it is and it did sound familiar. Well it's better than 'Eight' I guess'
Eight decided to refer to herself as Alicia from now on.
In response to this friend, who was teary eyed over her decision to stay, Eight hugged her and assured her she wouldn't go anywhere.
Ophelia said that Alicia once provided security for this lair, while also helping her out as a friend.
She would do that again.
It was her newfound purpose, after all and everyone needed a purpose.
Perhaps she could get more of her memory back as she worked alongside Ophelia.
Alongside her friend from the past, Eight, now known as Alicia, begun to observe the glass vats containing what was going to be the final product of Project Enhance Existing Life.
She couldn't understand much of it at first, but Ophelia was there to explain everything.
Once this project was complete, maybe she could take Ophelia back to the promised land with her...
Octo canyon
Eight had been gone for a whole day.
Nobody in the New Squidbeak Splatoon had heard anything from her
Inker was here in Octo Canyon to ask Bough, Callie and Marie if she heard anything, but as expected they had not.
Inker wondered what could possibly be keeping Eight away.
As far as he knew, it didn't take an entire day to reconcile with a lost friend.
Things might not be as bad as he thinks, but just in case he should go look for her.
Inker stared into the horizons of Octo canyon.
"What are you doing?" Marie noticed Inker with a suspicious gaze towards the canyon.
"We still have a zapfish to rescue, now we have an agent to find as well, let's get to searching." Inker suggested
"Are you sure Eight wants us to find her?" Bough asked.
"Of course! We have too, we still need to retrieve the Zapfish after all."
"But like you said, that Octoling was Eight's friend. Couldn't we just wait for Eight to return on her own?"
Bough had a point.
Inker knew that Eight likely panicked and splatted them on instinct. She didn't actually turn against the New Squidbeak Splatoon, which means she might not be returning out of shame.
But this still didn't sit right with him.
"Eight's been gone for a whole day… Now that I think about it, don't you find it a bit too convenient that Eight's supposed friend shows up out of nowhere only days after Eight tries looking for her?" Inker explained.
"That's why I didn't trust her in the first place! Plus she was obviously wearing the same stuff all enemy Octolings wore." Bough replied
"Yeah but you still shouldn't have threatened her like that! Now we are going to have a much harder time finding them."
"Go easy on the kid, would you?" Marie cut in "Even if he messed up, he is still someone capable of beating Octavio."
"Yeah I get it, I'm going to look for Eight. Are you with me or not?"
Wasting no time, Inker swung back towards the canyon.
Bough watched him walk away, he glanced back at Marie for a second then went after Inker.
It was partially his fault that Eight was left alone with that supposed friend of hers… It only made sense that he'd try to help find her.
"Wait! Are we really going to search the whole canyon?" Bough asked, catching up with Inker.
"You're coming?"
"Of course! I promise I won't make the same mistakes."
"Alright then. Don't worry I'm not planning to search the whole canyon…"
Inker already had an idea, though after thinking for a moment perhaps Bough's aggressiveness in presence of the Octarian army could be useful.
"You know what, you might have to get a bit forceful again for this next bit."
Octo Canyon
Inker and Bough had returned to the place Eight showed them before.
The Last Bastion of DJ Octavio's Octarian civilization.
Despite feeling regretful over his poor handling of their previous mission, Bough was told by Inker to keep his aggressive stance towards the Octarian army.
"Hey, I'm trying hard to reflect on what I did wrong, now you're telling me to make the same mistake again?" Bough rebutted
"There's a time and place for everything. Just trust me on this, I am the most experienced of all the agents after all." Inker replied
"Didn't Callie and Marie start before you?"
"Aaaaanyways! We are going to put on a straight face and demand the remnants of the Octarian army to help guide us through the canyon."
"So we are just walking right up to them? What if they attack us?"
"Unless there is another Acting Leader Octavia leading them I think they will be fine."
Octavia was the name of a previous Elite Octoling who led the army after Octavio's defeat.
She despised Inklings and did everything she could to provoke Inkopolis into war, even with Octo Valley on the verge of collapse. Though she didn't even care about Octavio or the future of the Valley, she just wanted to be the new leader of the Octarians.
Inker hoped that whoever led the Octarian army now was more reasonable than that.
Just like last time, the Octarian army reacted quickly to the sight of Inker and Bough approaching.
They must really be on edge seeing how badly they had been beaten before.
Bough was nervous, he remembered his first encounters with the Octarian army being really scary.
He was just someone who had begun his journey into ink battles, when he saw some strange beauty waving at him from inside a manhole.
His curiosity got the best of him and before he knew it, Marie suited him up and dubbed him Agent 4.
The Octotroopers he first met were creepy, those wide eyes staring deep into him were something of nightmares.
The Octocopters and Octo Oven were no better.
Then there were the Octolings, who fought like pro turf players. He had let his guard down at first, seeing that they looked kinda like Inklings. But they were still soldiers, trained to splat him.
Bough lost two lives fighting the first Octolings before they started toying with him as he was so pathetically weak then.
Bough shuddered at the memories of that time.
He lost lives left and right and had to constantly repair and restore the Hero suit until he finally decided to put on a tough front and fight with all his might.
He couldn't let anyone see how nervous he was, otherwise they'd take advantage of him again.
Inker on the other hand was much more calm and composed, he had seen and fought more than enough for two lifetimes and wasn't fazed by the Octarian army anymore.
Seeing how calm Inker looked, Bough hid his nervousness and put on a much more serious face.
He had to be forceful with these Octarians, that was what he learned from his time in Octo Canyon.
Like last time, an Elite Octoling came out to meet them, while the rest of the Octarian army stood by in large groups, ready to pounce on a moment's notice.
To Bough it was pretty intimidating, to Inker he just thought it was a good target for a splashdown.
"What do you want?" the Elite demanded
"You know what we want. Give us back our Agent and our Zapfish!" Bough replied
This time Inker didn't try to stop him.
They already knew the Octarian army didn't have the Zapfish, but there was no need to tell them that yet.
"If you're looking for Zapfish you're in the wrong place. If you looking for a whopping however, you can stand right there." The Elite said as targetting lasers from Octosnipers were trained on Bough and Inker.
While Bough was now even more frightened, he was used to hiding it by now.
He wasn't shaking in his shoes and he kept his stare on the Elite Octoling, doing his best to ignore the white lasers in between his eyes.
Bough had to answer a threat with one of his own.
"Very cute, splatting us here ain't gonna stop us. But you're welcome to try, we are taking our Zapfish and our friend back one way or the other."
Bough and the Elite Octoling stared holes into each other.
Inker, watching from the side, grinned just a little bit. But he also had to be ready, they didn't know what the Octarian army's leadership was like now that Octavio was gone again.
He held his Hero Shot in both hands, ready to shoot on a moment's notice.
This also had the effect of further pressuring the Octarians.
Though Bough was also under quite a bit of pressure.
Bough was actually an energetic and friendly guy, this tough act didn't suit him at all.
That's why Inker hadn't been expecting it the first time they met the Octarian army.
Of course, the Octarian army didn't know Bough, they just knew him and someone who beat all their great Octoweapons and their army on his own.
The Octarian army on the other hand, was significantly weakened now that they had no leader, no Zapfish and their machines were running on Power Eggs.
However, like Bough, they couldn't just show themselves being weak, that is why the Elite Octoling was here to put up a show of strength.
Neither Bough nor the Elite Octoling would avert their gazes from each other, though Bough couldn't really tell as the Elite's eyes were hidden behind her goggles.
Who would crack first? Bough, or the Elite Octoling?
Bough was doing his best, trying not to let cold sweat start dripping down his face.
In this case however, the Octarian army believed they had more to lose than Bough and Inker did.
"If we really had any zapfish, do you think we'd greet you with only regular troops?" the Elite finally broke the silence.
"Then who else would it be? We both saw an Octoling running off with a Zapfish in hand." Inker said, drawing attention towards him and giving Bough a chance to breathe.
"Well why don't you ask your good friends in Octo Valley?"
"We would, if the zapfish hadn't been brought to Octo Canyon."
"We had nothing to do with that!"
"Then I suppose there is no reason to keep us from looking around is there?"
At that, the Octarian army stiffened.
"Forget it! We aren't letting you pass, no matter what." the Elite declared.
"Why not? What are you hiding in there?" Bough said with a scrutinizing gaze.
"You think we will let Inklings into the only habitable place left in Octo Canyon? Get real, we are still enemies."
"If you won't let us, there are other ways we could get past."
"I've already told you, we have no Zapfish."
"And I don't believe you, like you said, we are enemies."
"Grr…"
Despite their advantage in numbers, the Elite Octoling getting much more pressure from Inker and Bough.
She felt that if an all out battle was to break out, more Agents from Inkopolis would probably arrive. Or maybe even an Inkopolis army…
Maybe even the New Octopolis Octarians, who no longer supported Octavio would jump in.
Quietly, the Elite gulped and tried to think of some other way around this situation.
Of course, Inker already had something in mind.
"Who's charge here? I'd like to speak with them."
"That would be Acting Leader Erica Bowes." The Elite said
"And where is she?"
"You're looking at her."
"Well that's convenient."
"Like I said we have no Zapfish. We might be low on power but I never ordered any raids on Inkopolis."
"Well if you insist, then I bet you'd know some other places in Octo Canyon we could check."
"What? Haven't you checked all the other lairs?" Bowes asked
"If they had a zapfish, they'd be powered. But all of them are still dead, well the ones we are aware of at least."
"So you think we have it? Well you're wrong, there much more to Octo Canyon than you know. We'll show you where the other kettles are hidden in Octo Canyon, but only because there is no reason for us to fight. Got it?!"
Bowes made a series of gestures to which the nearest Octoling reacted to by snapping to attention and hurrying off into the Last Bastion.
"Deal, I have to say you're much better at this than Octavia." Inker remarked
"Pfft, Octavia was a fool who just wanted to be on top. And don't try to flatter me, as soon my subordinate comes back. I want you all long gone from here!"
"Of course, if we find our missing zapfish we won't need to come back."
"Then just this once I'll wish you luck."
As they stood, waiting for the Octoling to return, Inker wondered what other information they could get from this Elite…
He did catch Eight's supposed real name right? What about her friend's?
"Do you know anything about an Octoling named Ophelia?" Inker asked
"You'll have to be more specific than that. We have hundreds of Ophelias here."
"How about one that isn't here?"
"What would I know about some traitor?"
"Is there anyone you know named Ophelia, who was part of the army but left?" Inker could recall Eight mentioning that her friend was from the army.
The Elite scratched her head.
If she was to avoid endangering the survival of Octavio's loyalists, she had to at least recall something to satisfy Agent 3.
"There was a medic turned scientist with that name, though she vanished around the time when Marina Ida, Cathrine Blake and a handful of other well known individuals deserted as well."
"What about Alicia?"
"Once again, be more specific!"
"Someone mistook Agent 8 for an 'Alicia' last time we were here, did they not?"
"There are alot of Alicias here… Though now that you mention it…. There was an Alicia who appeared to be good friends with someone named Ophelia, they were quite noticeable considering how making friends is discouraged within our society."
"What happened to her?"
"That Alicia also disappeared, we assumed she deserted the army as well."
Finally, the Octoling came running back with a small USB key in hand.
She gave it to the Acting Leader, who tossed it over to Agent 4.
"There, that should show you every other kettle in Octo Canyon. Now get out of my sight!"
New Octopolis, Octo Valley
After their encounter with the Octarian army, Inker and Bough returned to Inkopolis, but only for a brief moment.
Inker took Bough to a bus headed for Inkopolis Plaza.
In the meantime he called Kal and told him to let a certain someone know he was coming.
Bough overheard all this and was confused, but still followed Inker as he brought him into the manhole to Octo Valley.
They passed by familiar places as Inker led Bough back underground.
"I'm guessing this is supposed to have some kind of map of Octo Canyon on it?" Bough wondered, holding the USB in his hand.
"Yep, I figured since we haven't heard from Eight yet, she must be pretty far into Octo Canyon. So I figured we might as well try and get a map of al the kettles you haven't explored."
"You know, it wouldn't be unlikely for the Octarian army to try and remove certain lairs they don't want us knowing about."
"That's why we aren't going back yet. Ever been to New Octopolis?"
"No I haven't."
"Well, that's it" Inker said, pointing at a city in the distance. "And that's where we are going."
Bough looked at a bright city in the distance.
Unlike Octo Canyon, that city actually looked like a habitable place.
It was brightly lit, the buildings seemed properly maintained and the streets were bursting with activity.
Though it was much smaller than anything in Octo Canyon.
Bough wondered what could possibly be living here, to his surprise it was also populated by Octarians.
They even had an army of their own, Bough felt a bit nervous as a patrol of Octolings marched by the outskirts of the city.
They were wearing an older model of Octoling armor and goggles, they also had magenta ink and red tentacles looking just like the Octolings he had fought in Octo Canyon.
However, the Octolings here had a different shade of red, unlike the bright scarlet red of the Octolings from Octo Canyon, the red of the New Octopolis Octolings was a darker crimson, while their ink was a brighter magenta compared to the dark magenta of the Octarian army.
A few Octolings here recognised Inker and waved over to him as they passed. Inker waved back.
When they entered the city, there were more Octarians of various colours, many of them recognized Agent 3 and greeted him, while he greeted them back.
"You seem quite popular here…" Bough said, with a slight hint of envy.
"Well a lot happened down here. To be honest I don't even recognise this place anymore, but at least the Octarians still remember me." Inker explained "To think the Undercity would change so much… At least Nautilus base hasn't been moved."
"Nautilus base?"
"It used to be the Octarian Army's largest military base here, until the New Octopolis Octarians took it over."
"I get it, so the Octarians here are the ones who don't want to follow Octavio, but don't want to live in Inkopolis either."
"Yep."
Inker and Bough tried their best to navigate through New Octopolis, but it was difficult since the city had changed so much since Inker was last here.
Plus all the street signs were written in Octarian.
Inker knew which direction Nautilus base was, he just didn't know how to get there.
"Uhh… I hate to say it, but I probably could have planned this a little better." Inker admitted.
They would walk in the right direction but would soon find themselves at a dead end and have to turn back.
Before they knew it, they were lost.
Luckily for Inker and Bough, someone else had been looking for them ever since they heard from Kal that they were coming.
Well this person wasn't the one Kal contacted, rather she was someone who wouldn't skip the chance at what could be considered another adventure.
"Hah!"
Out of nowhere, Neon leapt down and wrapped her arms around the two Agents.
"What is this Inker? Didn't you promise you'd let me know if you were doing more fun stuff?" She said
Neon not only had her usual Turf War gear on, but she had both her Custom E-Liter 4k and the now outdated Custom E-Liter 3k slung across her back, she was also wearing the spare Hero Headset Cap'n Cuttlefish had given her the last time she wanted to fight the Octarians.
"Neon? How did you know we'd be here?"
"I heard it from Kal, so I rushed over here! By the way what is taking you so long?! I was waiting at Nautilus base for almost a whole hour!"
"I uhh…"
"He got lost." Bough said
"Pfft" Neon snicked "You really got lost!? Hahaha! I can't believe it! You can fight an army of Octopi but can't navigate a city!"
"How did you even find your way through all this?!" Inker asked
"Did ya forget how we did it before? I had Sky guide me through."
"Sky is here too?"
"So is Kal, and Cuttlefish and Off the Hook and pretty much everyone, we are all worried about Eight ya know!"
"Everyone is there huh… Well then we should hurry."
"No need! I always leave Squid Beakons around don't I? Just hang on, we'll be at Nautilus in no time!"
With that Neon tightened her grip on the two agents and prepared for a super jump.
"Urk…. Ne-Neon!"
"I- I can't brea-"
"Oops, sorry!"
Neon quickly ran her arms under Inker and Bough's shoulders as she had been accidentally choking them before.
Like Neon had said, they were quickly brought to Nautilus Base.
Inker and Bough found themselves inside a heavily fortified compound.
"What are ya waiting for? Come on!" Neon hopped enthusiastically, while Bough was busy looking around."
"Right, I need to see Victoria." Inker agreed
Victoria was one of the Octarians who rebelled against Octavio but didn't move to Inkopolis.
She was still serving as a soldier here.
"Well, looks like your land legs aren't as quick anymore." Cuttlefish commented as Inker finally arrived.
Everyone else had already been there waiting.
Well almost everyone.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting, I ran into some uhh…. Complications."
"You got lost didn't you?" Victoria commented
"Why do you think that?"
"The same thing happened before right?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Meanwhile, Bough looked around but saw no sign of the squid sisters.
"Where's Callie and Marie?" he asked
"Yeah didn't you say you'd tell them?" Kal added looking at Cuttlefish.
"Hmm, oh yeah! I think Agent 2 was grumbling something about 'Cal put those damn shades on again!' and said she wasn't coming."
"Oh I think I know what's going on…"
Bough wondered if he should go help, but that same event had happened so frequently that Marie started becoming adept at dealing with it alone.
Plus he had to apologize to Eight and her friend once they found her.
"Anyways we need a computer, Bough give me that USB." Inker said
As Inker had guessed the Octarian army had indeed supplied them with a map showing the locations of every single kettle in Octo Canyon as well as detailed information on what the lair within contained.
"That's a lotta ground to cover, are we really supposed to find Eight with this?" Neon asked
"Well not really, this is just the first part." Inker turned to Victoria. "This base used to belong to the Octarian army, so do you happen to have any older records of Octo Canyon stored in Nautilus base?"
"You know I'm just a normal soldier now, I'm not sure if they'll just hand that kind of stuff over to me…"
"Are you sure? You did lead the New Octopolis Army before." Kal pointed out
"That was only because everyone wanted me to do it."
"Then there's no reason they'd stop you now."
"I get it, I'll go ask around."
Victoria left for a while and soon returned.
"You're right, we do have a map of Octo Canyon stored here, come with me."
Victoria led the group to a room filled with screens.
This used to be a mission control room for the Octarian army.
Victoria brought up both the old and newer map of Octo Canyon side by side.
"Wow, looks like Octo Canyon has changed a lot." Victoria noted
There were much, MUCH more kettles on the newer map compared to the old one.
"I've been here already.. And here… and here…" Bough pointed out all the kettles he had already discovered
"Alright! I get it! Stop showing off!" Neon complained
"Huh?"
"She's still mad over not being picked for Agent 4, ignore her." Sky explained
Moving on, Inker was repeatedly glancing between the two maps.
"Is all this really necessary? I mean come on, Eight just found an old buddy, it's not like she's been kidnapped or anything." Pearl commented
"I thought so too, but don't you find it strange that we haven't heard from Eight all this time?"
"Who knows? Maybe their throwing a rad party and Eight's too busy having fun."
"It's only one friend from Eight's memory, not exactly something to party over."
"Well who knows, hey Marina, do Octolings throw partes when they meet up with old friends?"
"I'm not sure, because of how dangerous our cities had become, we were discouraged from making friends under Octavio's rule, so I find it odd that Eight has one." Marina explained
"All the more reason to find her." Inker insisted.
He looked back at the two maps.
If they were to cross out all the ones Bough had been too, that leaves them with around five kettles on the old map and seventeen on the new one.
"Hey don't just stare! Tell us what's on your mind!" Neon insisted, though Inker tuned her out, figuring Sky would control her later.
Eight's supposed friend…. Ophelia was it? She said she wasn't working for the Octarian army and she didn't run in the direction of the Last Bastion.
They had to be somewhere deep in Octo Canyon for them to be unable to reach Eight, even through her hacked CQ-80.
So cross out all the lairs close enough to Inkopolis, that would include all those Bough already found.
Bough also suggested that the Octarian army might have omitted some kettles from the map.
That is why Inker had an older map side by side, if there was a lair hidden on the new map, hopefully it would show on the older one.
Inker looked at both maps again.
Without counting the ones Bough discovered, there were five unexplored kettles on the outdated one and seventeen on the new one.
However looking closer, thirteen of the kettles were only listed on the new map, four were listed on both….
And one kettle was only listed on the old one…
"There!" Inker said, pointing to the specific lair. "That is where we are going."