Premonition
As the sound of a hand drill stopped echoing around the workshop, and the flares from an acetylene torch dimmed to nothing, Sheldon briefly lifted his welding mask to take a look at his handiwork.
"Hmm… maybe I should add a valve." He said to himself, examining the unfinished weapon laying on the worktable before him. Rummaging through a nearby toolbox full of parts, he selected a small metallic piece from the pile, and continued tinkering with the weapon on the table. Satisfied with the result, he carefully placed it on a weapons rack besides him, where it gleamed with a polished finish.
Sheldon had been busy tinkering and modifying the weapons that the team of inklings had given to him. Hours had passed since their meeting, and the horseshoe crab had been working into the late hours of the night to finish his project.
The premise seemed simple to him at first: modify an inkling's weaponry so the users can fight against threats that may be resistant or even outright immune to ink. He had seen inkling ink in action several times already, and more often than not the main damaging factor seemed to involve corrosion of some fashion, which would explain how it was able to destroy objects like wooden crates so easily.
As it turned out, it wasn't that simple. As Sheldon pondered the possibilities while mulling over a blueprint of the weapons he had designed, he realized that if a target might be completely resilient to the ink's corrosion, then his current lineup of weapons may as well be poolside toys. Sure, he never had to worry about such an issue before considering they were only being used in Turf Wars, but now he had to be creative.
It took a certain amount of research, which had eaten up the entire evening. But inspiration struck when he needed it the most, and with his renewed vigor he had successfully modified three of the four weapon sets presented to him. As Sheldon eyed the Dual Squelcher that was now lying before him in pieces, he brought up his handy notepad, reading through the exact specifications of the original owner.
"A support role, objective-oriented, and a team leader of sorts. Hmm…" The horseshoe crab thought aloud, yawning as he polished his goggles. "If that's the case…"
Rummaging through a huge stack of paper stuffed in a cabinet to the side, Sheldon eventually found a set of rough sketches tucked inside, and examined them under the lamplight. He flicked though each page one by one, before he selected one sketch in particular and pondered the possibilities as he poured over the drawings.
"Hmm… I might need to make a few adjustments to the original design concept, but this oughta do it!" Sheldon grabbed a pin and tacked the sketch onto a billboard right in front of him. The rough etches on the paper depicted what appears to be an autonomous fish-like robot swimming in ink. "Now where'd I stash the parts? I'm sure I have an antenna tucked away in here somewhere…"
Snowflakes fell upon Inkopolis Plaza as another day dawned upon the city. Not much sunlight fell upon the buildings today, as the sky was partially covered by a thick layer of clouds, casting a blanket of gloom over the entire city. Thanks to the overcast weather, the snow was no longer melting, and large piles of the stuff were starting to accumulate in corners of the plaza, slowly melding together into ice.
The weather was mercifully bearable despite the lack of sunlight however, as there was barely even a slight breeze blowing through the plaza. However, thanks to the events that had transpired the other day, very little inklings if any can be seen wandering the plaza. The rest were likely holed up in their homes, much too exhausted to even venture out into the streets.
At least, that was Katelyn's assumption. As she stood with her back to a snow-covered tree close to Booyah Base, she looked around, seeing next to no inklings in the near vicinity. The one or two that did pass by her were unusually quiet, not even registering her presence as they walked by.
"It's eerie… isn't it?" Mei-Lin's voice called out from behind Katelyn. The other inkling in question was occupying the other side of the tree, making a rough sketch of the manhole across the plaza. "I've never seen them so… quiet."
"I wouldn't even say they're keeping to themselves." Katelyn replied, looking at a teal-colored inkling peer upwards at the TV screen, the display entirely blank and not even broadcasting any advertisements. "I would guess they're all just waiting for the next message. Though I gotta agree with you Mei-Lin, the way they just stare up at it before just wandering off… it's creepy."
Mei-Lin nodded in agreement, pausing momentarily to check her phone. Chris had received word that Sheldon had completed his part of the bargain, and they are supposed to pick up their weaponry at Ammo Knights. The two girls had arrived first, and they had been waiting for the boys to show up.
"You cannot blame them, Katelyn." A familiar voice called out to them from afar. "In these trying times, it's understandable that they're lost and confused."
Katelyn turned at the source of the voice, and to her surprise she saw a strikingly familiar inkling from across the plaza, carrying a traditional umbrella that complemented her priestess garb.
"Saika?!" She exclaimed, and Mei-Lin turned around. Her friend was just as surprised by the sudden appearance of the shrine maiden. If anything, it was like she just popped out of thin air.
"It's nice to meet you too. It was far too quiet in the shrine, so I decided to come out for a walk." Saika looked around, perplexed. "Hmm… How strange. I don't see your male companions."
"Oh, they're on their way." Katelyn explained. "So… why are you meeting us out here? You could've just invited us to the shrine if you think it's too quiet."
"I wanted to check on your progress as soon as I could. I was feeling particularly curious." The priestess replied. "Tell me, how goes your pilgrimage?"
"We've made it to two crosses so far. Basically, we're halfway done! Though…" Katelyn rubbed the back of her head as she sighed. "We've hit a snag. We don't know when the next message is going to be coming out, so we've been making some prep work in the meantime."
"The cross that was in Backwater Barricade told us when the next message would arrive, but an earthquake interrupted us before the cross in Octo Valley could tell us when the one after that would've showed up." Mei-Lin elaborated. "Nothing happened yesterday, so I don't think the pattern of a new message after a successful skirmish was correct…"
"Is that so…?" Saika nodded. "No one can claim to know the whims of the gods… but I can understand your urgency."
The priestess took shelter underneath the shade of the tree that Katelyn and Mei-Lin were using, sighing as she relaxed. A misty breath escaped her lips, drifting through the icy air before it disappeared into nothing.
"Would you two say that you've picked up anything from your journey?" Saika asked, turning to look at the girls. "They say that the journey is much more significant than the destination… Was it harrowing? Enjoyable, even?"
"It's…" Mei-Lin began, but her breath seized in her throat. She still wasn't prepared to acknowledge the events of the days prior. "It's terrifying. I didn't anticipate the dangers… it was... it was…!"
"Calm down, Mei-Lin." Katelyn managed to keep her friend at ease, but she still looked worried. "But… she's not wrong. We've both seem some things out there that… well… I really don't think anyone should ever have to see."
Saika's eyes narrowed. "I… see…"
For a brief moment, Katelyn noticed that a part of Saika's serene aura seemed to have vanished like the wind, replaced with an air of melancholy. The priestess's smile seemed to have faded, replaced with an expression that seemed… pained? Disappointed? She couldn't read the priestess's emotion at all.
"…do you know what I have to do, as the priestess of the Shrine of Guidance?" Saika said, looking up towards the sky. "Day by day, I have to tend to the people that pray there, and listen to their worries. After years of listening to confessions from the people of Inkopolis and even those that came from faraway lands beyond the city's borders, one tends to gauge the general moods and happenings of the populace as a whole."
The priestess sat down, her gaze still affixed upon the clouds that hung above her. "I've realized that a vast majority of the people I've met never grasped the opportunities that were hanging before them, and lived a life of regrets. They support one another out of obligation, but in times of crisis, they can only think of themselves… it is very unfortunate, having to hear so many iterations of the same story over and over, all coming from diverse backgrounds and species. This city, no…. this world… it is afflicted with a deep apathy that has sunken into its roots long before Splatfests even stopped. It's only now that the curtains are pulled back, and we see it come to the light."
"Okay...?" Katelyn said, somewhat unsure on how to respond. "I suppose I kind of understand where you're coming from. Still…"
"Yes… despite this hopelessness, there is a chance. The four of you." Saika nodded, getting up and facing Katelyn and Mei-Lin. "The very fact that you all even embarked on a journey this dangerous to begin with and persevered despite the tremendous risks involved defies the 'status quo', as it were. It is truly commendable."
"We're… defying the 'status quo'?" Mei-Lin asked. "But… how?"
"By resisting the desire to merely stand by and wait for the crisis to pass, much like many others already had." Saika replied sagely. "There is an old saying: 'those that wish to change the world must rebel against it'. I believe by the end of this journey, you shall all usher in a new era… one where we all shall be elevated to new heights, and bring salvation to us all…"
A momentary silence fell over the plaza, and nothing can be heard except the rustling of the leaves above the inklings. Curious about the silence, Salty popped out of Katelyn's hat, and examined his surroundings.
"…what was THAT all about?" Katelyn finally spoke up, dumbfounded.
"…I'm sorry, I'm rambling." Saika replied, laughing softly. "I'm barely in my twenties, and I'm already speaking like an old lady. What is the matter with me? Heh…"
"Y-yeah!" Katelyn couldn't help but laugh along with the shrine maiden. "I think I preferred you when you were a lot less serious… Do you have any more stories to share?"
The priestess pondered for a few seconds, before she managed to think of something. "Oh, I do! The other day, there was this urchin I saw carrying around this strange guitar, strapping an amplifier to one of the sakura trees outside the shrine…"
Some time passed while the three inklings exchanged stories with one another. Eventually, Katelyn spotted Chris in the distance, escorting a rather groggy looking Cobalt.
"Ah, I see them!" She said. "Hey, you two! Over here!"
"Hey, sorry about the wait." Chris replied, shooting a nasty look at Cobalt. "This idiot decided that playing video games until the sun rose despite us having an appointment today was a good idea… I had to drag him out of bed!"
"C'mon, Chris… the final boss was right there! I can't just leave it to sit unresolved!" Cobalt snickered. "Now I have no regrets and a free schedule. So… what are we doing…?"
Chris's exhausted groan could be heard from across the plaza. Katelyn tried to stifle her already uncontrolled laughter, with limited success.
"It would appear it is time for me to take my leave." Saika said, watching as Chris barely restrained himself from shaking Cobalt senseless on the spot. "It was delightful talking to both of you."
"Oh, it was! Let's chat again sometime!" Katelyn said, waving as the priestess bid farewell to the inklings and walked into the train station, disappearing into the crowd.
"Hmm. Was that Saika?" Chris asked, watching as the shrine maiden departed. "What was she doing here?"
"She was just here to check up on our progress. She was… curious?" Mei-Lin replied. "…Never mind. We've all come here because Sheldon's finished with our weapons, right? Let's go."
"Yeah. C'mon, we shouldn't keep him waiting."
The team made their way towards the shops, preparing to enter Ammo Knights together. Katelyn turned to face a still tired Cobalt, amused at his barely functional demeanor.
"…just what kind of game have you been playing to hold your attention for that long?" She asked. "I'm interested."
"Eh… maybe I'll tell you more about it later." The masked inkling replied, as they entered the weapons shop. "Right now, upgrades first."
Ammo Knights was the same as Cobalt and his fellow Turf War enthusiasts could remember it. The weapons were hanging on the walls and displayed in the glass cases as the masked inkling always remembered, and the shop's counters and benches were properly cleaned and dusted just like it was regular business hours, despite the lack of any kind of actual business to speak of since the past few weeks. Sheldon probably kept his shop in proper condition just in case any customers decided to show up.
"I was worried the lot of you had forgotten about the appointment!" A voice came from the back, before Sheldon came out of a door. "I'm just dying to show off my latest creations!"
"Sorry about the wait, Sheldon. We got a little… hung up." Chris said, shooting a dirty look at Cobalt. "So, where are they?"
"Right this way, follow me! I've set up everything back at the firing range."
As the team followed Sheldon through the door and headed towards the firing range, Katelyn noticed Mei-Lin stopping every few steps to look around the workshops they passed by.
"I don't think you've ever come to Ammo Knights before." She said, "I mean, I gotta make sure my inkbrush still works so I come here now and then, but you're probably here for the first time."
"Yeah… it is." Mei-Lin replied absentmindedly, looking at an organized shelf chock full of weapon parts. "Cobalt and Chris come here often?"
"I mean, they're regular Turf War players. I'd guess so. But ehh… speaking of them…"
Katelyn looked back towards the winding corridor, and she couldn't even see the shadows being cast from the others. Mei-Lin might've gotten a little TOO absorbed by her surroundings…
"I think we might be holding them up right now." She said, looking back at her friend. "C'mon, Mei-Lin! We'll tour the place all we want later!"
"Must we…?" Mei-Lin replied, sounding rather disappointed as she reluctantly tore her eyes off the schematics pinned on a nearby billboard.
The firing range itself seemed no different than usual. Squid-shaped balloons lined the halls, prepared to be popped and inflated again as part of their role as target practice. In a corner of the room, piled up high was the team's weaponry… only they were considerably different in appearance since they gave them to Sheldon. Cobalt was staring down on the weapon pile, utterly confused.
"Uh…. Sheldon?" The masked inkling said as he peered down at the pile from every angle. "I don't see my Sploosh-O-Matics. What did you do to them?"
"Ah, yes. I had to do a bit of …drastic reworking to meet the demand." The horseshoe crab engineer replied. "This is why we're here, we'll need to make sure these babies work as they should. So… let me just give you all your weapons first."
One by one, Sheldon handed out the reworked weapons to the team members. The surprise in the inklings were pretty obvious as they realized how much their equipment had changed.
"Okay, just what the blazes did you do to my brush?!" Katelyn asked, hefting her inkbrush over her head. The handle seems considerably elongated, and she seemed to be having trouble carrying it in one hand. "It's so heavy now!"
"At least yours is still a brush! I don't even know what Sheldon did to my guns!" Cobalt replied, looking down at his weapons. It would be a stretch to call them guns anymore, as they now resembled large metallic gauntlets with nozzles in the center of the palms. "What, am I supposed to punch people with these?!"
"Mine's…. mostly unchanged, I think." Mei-Lin said, looking at her Splatterscope. "But I can't really tell…"
"Well, mine's mostly the same too, except for this bit right here." Chris added, looking down at his dual squelcher. There appears to be an antenna installed to the side of the weapon. "I also got some subs that I don't recognize... I guess we'll find out what they do once we test them out?"
"So is everyone all set? Ink tanks prepped? Alright, good." Sheldon turned to Katelyn, beckoning her forward. "We'll test yours first."
"Sure." Katelyn replied, fastening the last latch on her modified skates.
As Katelyn slid forward on her skates, Sheldon pressed a button, and inflated a new target for his demonstration. Interestingly, the target seemed to look different from the rest of the ones in the back, made of a sleek material.
"So I didn't expect to find skates being handed in among the weapons, but I recognized the octarian handiwork. The modifications on them are… inspired, but they didn't have enough imagination, if you ask me." Sheldon said as he gave a condescending chuckle. "I've taken the liberty to add a new function to them. By expending your ink reserves, you can charge forward at incredible speeds while leaving a sizeable trail behind you for your teammates to follow. Just… watch where you're going, you wouldn't want to peel yourself off of a wall."
"Uh huh…" Katelyn replied, processing the information. "And how does my inkbrush having such a ridiculously long handle have to do with this?"
"I was gonna get to that. So, see that latch to the side of the inkbrush? Flick it."
"What, like this?" Katelyn replied, doing as Sheldon said. Part of the handle popped off, revealing a metallic gleam-
"WHAT THE?!" She exclaimed, quickly stuffing the handle back on. "Sheldon, you didn't-"
"Oh, I did." The horseshoe crab seemed rather full of himself as he made his grand reveal. "I've given a cutting edge improvement to the weapon… in the literal sense."
"You did WHAT?!" Cobalt yelled, seemingly just as surprised as Katelyn was. "What made you think that was a good idea?!"
"Well… I came to that conclusion after researching your fighting styles. Blame the research material, not me."
"I'd love to see what Sheldon's been reading up to come up with THIS." Katelyn groaned, looking down at her weapon as she 'unsheathed' the blade, revealing a short katana that was about half of her height in length. "Gods, I was wondering why the brush was so heavy!"
"I… can picture you with a katana, actually." Mei-Lin commented, looking at the contours of the blade. "Why not… dance with it?"
"Oh c'mon, Mei-Lin! You can't expect me to- Hmm. Actually…"
With the weapon in hand, Katelyn took up a stance, and began to sway to a music that she could only hear, drawing shapes in the air with the sharpened edge. Suddenly, she lunged at the target and sliced straight upwards, popping the balloon with one swipe.
"…I changed my mind. I can work with this." Katelyn said, smiling at her handiwork. "This thing's pretty hefty for someone like me, but I'll manage."
"Yeah… Good luck trying THAT out on something that's fighting back." Cobalt remarked, watching the tattered target replace itself. "I'm betting that you'd end up flailing that thing like you've been thrown in hot water."
"You're…. probably not wrong." Katelyn replied simply, and shrugged. "But a girl can dream, right?"
"Cobalt's up next." Sheldon said, turning towards the masked inkling. "So, as you can see, I've decided to get a lot more creative here."
"You don't say…" Cobalt replied, looking down at the gauntlets he's now wearing. "Why metal fists? I'm not even a melee fighter like Katelyn is!"
"The Sploosh-O-Matic is designed for close-ranged combat. The barrels for those guns are still there in your palms in case you need an inking option. You should be familiar with it in that aspect."
"Yeah, but what's with the OTHER nozzles lining the back of the gauntlets?" Cobalt asked. Looking down at the back of his hand, he could see what appear to be reworked Charger barrels pointed away from his fingers. "I can't shoot anything with these pointed the wrong way."
"That's the fun part!" Sheldon exclaimed. "Those nozzles are meant to boost the power of your punches. If you ever find anything you can't ink, you just have to hit it really, REALLY hard. Plus, those boosted punches should leave trails for you to retreat into if you ever need them."
"…I like the way you think." Cobalt clenched one of his fists, looking down at the knuckle joints of the gauntlets. Short metal spikes protruded from his knuckles, looking particularly lethal towards anything at the receiving end. "Let's see if these do work as you say."
With a battle cry, Cobalt charged forth towards the target balloon, and went wild. As if he was being filmed, he jabbed, punched, and kicked the target as dramatic as possible, before he finished it off with an ink-boosted punch, popping the balloon as he swept across the field. The charged punch obliterated the balloon, and the masked inkling just kept going through and right past the torn pieces, only stopping as he abruptly collided with the opposite wall and keeled over.
"Whew…. That was fun!" Cobalt yelled jubilantly, despite still being dazed from the collision. "I think the spikes aren't sharp enough though, they didn't even puncture the balloon the moment I landed one hit!"
"Guess we'll work on that." Sheldon replied.
Watching as Cobalt walked dizzily along his own ink trail back to the spectating group, Sheldon turned to face Mei-Lin and her Splatterscope.
"Oh… It's my turn?" Mei-Lin asked, stepping forth cautiously.
"Yep." Sheldon replied. "Admittedly, there isn't much I can do with your weapon. It looked like a Splatterscope, but the internal workings looked completely different when I opened it up. I assume you got that from the octarians as well?"
"…yes. Someone gave this to me." Mei-Lin looked down at the Splatterscope in her hands, and thought of its previous owner. "She was… a nice person."
"Well, I'm not sure who you're talking about, but I'm surprised the octarians managed to tack a Special like THAT on that weapon. Perhaps if that concentrated blast were more focused… Hmm…" Sheldon drifted into a train of thought briefly, before he snapped out of it. "Ah, that can wait. There WAS one modification I managed to attach to the product though: an electric bolt."
"Electric…?"
"Yes, you heard me correctly. I had to consult a few reliable sources to procure Zapfish for this feature. Since you're not a dedicated Sub user, I rewired a handheld generator to electrify your shots. It SHOULD be enough to incapacitate a target… in theory."
"If you say so…" Mei-Lin replied, cautiously pointing her weapon at the target balloon. Noticing a new switch to the side of the gun, she flicked it, and felt static coming from the insides of the sniper rifle. Holding her breath, she pulled the trigger.
The result however, was not what everyone in the room had expected. The moment the shot connected, an extremely powerful surge of electricity coursed through not just the target, but through the ink that was already coating the floor around it. Arcs of lightning erupted throughout the targeting range, forcing the onlookers backwards.
"A-ah!" Mei-Lin yelled, falling onto her back as the power surge went just as quickly as it came, revealing what remained of the targeting range. The powerful electric shock had scorched the target balloon as well as the area around it, utterly evaporating the surrounding ink and leaving burn marks all over the floor. The stench of ozone was strong in the air.
"That's… excessive." Chris said, dumbstruck at the sight.
"Yeeeeah…" Cobalt agreed, watching smoke trail from the burn marks. "That's gonna do more than just incapacitate a target, I'd say."
"Oh for the love of- I should've taken into account the ink that's already on the floor." Sheldon exclaimed, walking up towards the target balloon which wasn't inflating for some reason. "Aaaand the target mechanism's fried. Looks like we'll have to postpone this testing session for now."
"Well, we WERE testing to see if the weapons worked." Cobalt remarked, looking down at the Splatterscope on the floor that Mei-Lin dropped during her panic. "This one worked alright… probably a LITTLE too well… imagine if she ended up frying us by accident while we were fighting!"
"Cobalt! Watch what you're saying!" Katelyn yelled, glaring at the masked inkling. Mei-Lin had let out a sharp gasp upon hearing Cobalt's words.
"O-oh. Whoops?"
"I-It's okay Katelyn..." Mei-Lin replied, sighing as she dragged herself up. "I'll be fine…"
"You better be. Jeez…" Katelyn shot a look at the masked inkling. "You really need a filter over your mouth, you know that?"
"Well, with the testing range out of commission, we'll need to skip testing Chris's weapon for the time being." Sheldon sighed, picking up Mei-Lin's Splatterscope. "I'll go and make a few tweaks on this thing, you guys can wait outside."
"Sure." Chris replied, turning to his team. "C'mon, let's go."
"Alright." Sheldon watched as the inklings left the testing range, before he began muttering to himself while he made his way towards the closest workstation. "Might need to change up the generator to lower the voltage… maybe add in a diffusion failsafe too. I'm sure I can just swap out one piece for another and get it done…"
"Man… Sheldon's sure taking his time."
"I'd like to see you come up with suggestions, Cobalt."
"Ah, small talk's better than nothing, buuut…"
As they waited for Sheldon to finish his last-minute modifications, the inklings decided to wait at a corner of the shop, huddled together as a group. A cold wind from outside blew through the gaps in the doorway, whistling as it chilled them.
"…waiting around's seriously boring." Cobalt grumbled, shivering as he watched snowflakes drift from the sky outside.
"It's not like we have much of a choice." Chris replied. "Until we know where to go next, all we can do is prepare."
"It's been two days though!" Katelyn added. "I mean, I'm glad we all got the chance to take a breather, but I'm not sure we should be standing around like this."
"Could there be something we haven't done?" Mei-Lin interjected. "Back in Octo Valley… we never got the chance to ask the cross when the next message would be. What if there wasn't an exact date to give to begin with?"
"Hey… I don't think I've even considered that!" Katelyn exclaimed, facing her friend. "But… what exactly would we need to do to continue?"
"I… don't really know." Mei-Lin admitted weakly. "Is there something we CAN do right now?"
A few moments passed as the team considered the possibilities. Cobalt gave up almost immediately, shaking his head in frustration. But amidst his irritated grunts, Chris recalled something.
"The fragments." He said aloud. "There WAS something we haven't tried. Is it possible to put them together?"
"Oh right! You mean those things the crosses gave us?" Katelyn replied, watching as Chris reached into his pocket and withdrew the strange stone sphere pieces. "Hmm…"
"Looking at them now… I suppose they look like they form a whole sphere." Chris said, examining them as he put the quarters together experimentally. "I don't see any interconnecting parts though, how are you supposed to connect them-"
There was no anticipating what came next. As the pieces came together, a powerful light suddenly burst forth from the fragments, far more intense than the electrical surge from earlier. The light intensified, slowly enveloping their vision until they could see nothing but white…
"WHAT- WHAT IS HAPPENING-"
"…and what of your kind, good doctor?"
"My kind? Well… It's hard to sum it all up in a few sentences, but I suppose… we're not very good when it comes to foresight. How else did we end up in this state?"
"I see. What else do you have?"
"Hmm… really, there isn't much else I can say about them. I lived down here for most of my life, it's not like I can see what they did firsthand."
"That's unfortunate. What about the databases from the outside world?"
"I suppose that is possible. But going outside now… hmm…"
"…"
"…"
"I suppose it's nearly time for me to rest. I shall see you again tomorrow."
"I understand. We shall discuss more tomorrow. Have a good night, doctor."
"Good night… Argo."
"*gasp* W-What in the name of R'lyeh was that?!"
Chris snapped out of… whatever had happened to him. His vision was still blurry, and everything around him sounded muffled as if it were being smothered by a pillow. Still gasping for breath, he realized he had collapsed somehow. Noticing the cold sensation of concrete, he realized he was lying face down on the floor.
"About time you came to! You guys took long enough!" A voice came from somewhere outside his peripheral vision.
Chris tried his best to focus, dragging himself up from the floor. It wasn't long before he realized two things: Sheldon was standing in the doorway to the target range, looking mortified. He wasn't the only one that had collapsed either. Looking around, his teammates are all in various states of disarray, barely even functioning.
"Ugh… my eyes!" Cobalt groaned. He seemed to have fared better than Chris had, but only barely. He was covering the eye holes on his gas mask with both hands. "Everything's still white! Oh god, I haven't gone blind, have I?!"
"My ears are ringing!" Katelyn yelled, clutching the sides of her head. "All this white noise! I-it's too much!"
"…I… I can't… think straight… Help…" Mei-Lin definitely fared the worst. She was practically a shivering wreck, barely able to even move from one spot.
"What… what happened…?" Chris sputtered. "It wasn't just-"
"Jeez, don't worry me like that!" Sheldon interjected, running up towards the inklings. "I heard the message alarm in my workshop so I came running out, and you were all squirming on the floor like you've all been doused in sea water or something! I should be the one asking you all what happened!"
"I-I'm not sure…" Chris replied weakly. "We were trying to determine what to do, when… urgh… I can't…"
"Wait, hold up! Did you say something about a message alarm?!" Cobalt interrupted, breaking off Chris's train of thought.
"Yes!" Sheldon shouted indignantly. "Look outside!"
The gang peered outside, and sure enough, the once blank TV screen was now occupied by a shot of the Splatfest Altar. A new message has been printed, and the camera had zoomed in onto it, putting it in prominent display:
Insight bestowed, upon which new paths come forth.
Witness the light, and your path shall become clear.
The Spirit of Sentience awaits, slumbering within the earth.
A graveyard of sinners, where their regrets fester.
May your pilgrimage open your eyes, and bestow clarity upon you.
"No idea what the heck it's going on about, but that's my cue!" Sheldon yelled, running back towards the back of his shop. "I'm gonna go pack my bags right this instant, we'll depart in five minutes sharp!"
"Wait, but what about the testing-" Cobalt began.
"Field testing, my friend! Now if you excuse me, I gotta get prepared!" Sheldon's voice trailed off into the distance, as he ran down the corridor just beyond. "Good grief, where's my toolbox…"
"Well… there he goes…" Katelyn groaned. Her expression was still pained, and she was still trying to cover her ears. "But… what was…"
As the inklings eyed each other in confusion, Chris tried to make sense of the images and sounds that were still bouncing around in his head, to no avail. His eyes trailed downwards, resting on the stone fragments that had fallen out of his hands in the confusion. They had fused together perfectly, as if they were never broken apart to begin with.
"More questions than answers…" He mumbled to himself. "Just what is going on…?"