Memoirs

"It is nice to see you, good doctor. What is that ornament hanging around your neck?"

"Oh, this necklace? This is what we called a crucifix."

"Intriguing. According to my databanks, the crucifix is used as a means of execution from ancient times. What purpose does an object depicting such a barbaric device serve?"

"Ah, that's one way of putting it. This thing is meant to represent a man that long ago died for us to absolve us of our sins… Yeah, so much for that, eh?"

"Is this man of particular importance, good doctor?"

"Hmm… Personally I wouldn't say so. But this crucifix is meant to represent a simple belief: that somewhere up high, someone is watching over us, and has plans for us all."

"A rather irrational belief."

"Heh, you're not wrong, Argo. I suppose that's what we like to call…faith."

"Faith… Humans are such strange creatures."

"Hahaha, yep, we really are. Now, what else shall we talk about today?"

"Hey, HEY! Are you even paying attention?!"
"H-huh?"

Chris shook his head. A dizzying spell had shot through his head, and for a brief moment he wasn't seeing himself talking to Sheldon while being accompanied by his teammates, but… something else entirely. Judging by the disoriented expressions on the other inklings around him, he wasn't the only one that saw that strange vision.
"S-sorry." He mumbled, his vision still blurry. "I don't think we've all quite recovered from… that."

"Well snap out of it already! What do you mean none of you have any idea where the next cross is supposed to be?" Sheldon grumbled, looking back at the huge backpack he is carrying. "I didn't want to have gone and packed all this for nothing!"

"We told you alright? It was a fluke!" Katelyn shouted, looking noticeably irritated. "The first two times we've found the crosses, we just so happened to run into people that knew where they are! Look at the Altar's message this time, how's anyone gonna recognize a location from THAT?!"

"I hate to say it… but I agree with Katelyn." Mei-Lin groaned, still clutching her head in pain. "I highly doubt that the next cross is going to be in a nearby cemetery. The graveyard sounds like a metaphor for something…"

"Uuuuurgh, I don't want to think right now!" Cobalt shouted, also looking quite agitated. "Why does everything have to be so complex?!"

Chris looked around worryingly. Everyone in the room's noticeably on edge, even Sheldon seemed rather restless despite the fact he wasn't on the floor with them a few moments ago. While he could at least understand to an extent the frustration of his companions, they're not going anywhere by raising their voices.
Gratefully, a ring tone interrupted the shouting match, and promptly dispelled the tense atmosphere in the room. A moment passed before Katelyn noticed it was her phone that was ringing.
"O-oh, sorry, I have to take this." Katelyn apologized, looking almost relieved as she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Heya, Katelyn!" Callie's voice issued from the other end, "How are you holding up over there?"
"C-Callie?!" Katelyn's eyes widened, obviously not expecting the caller. Everyone immediately turned to face her as she yelled the name aloud. "O-oh man, I'm still can't believe I have your number…"
"Hehe, get used to it, we're in this for the long haul." Marie's voice cut in. "C'mon, put us on speaker. I'd like to talk to your team. Is everyone there?"
"Y-Yeah, we're all here!" Katelyn replied, obliging. "So, what's up?"

"You've all seen it too, right?" Callie said, her voice now broadcasting to the entire room, "The latest message… It showed up at the screen in the TV studio not that long ago."
"The whole place is turned upside down thanks to it!" Marie laughed, "Good grief, I'm just watching the staff from here. They're running ragged just from this message!"

There was a brief crackle from the phone as sounds of commotion came through from the other side. Chris could barely make out the sound of one person in particular trying to yell over everyone else, barely making out something about a camera and "Don't call me Cranky, dammit!"
"Yeeeeah. I see what you mean." Katelyn said simply, trying not to laugh. Cobalt on the other hand hadn't fared as well, and he's fallen onto the floor laughing a lot harder than he should be.

"At any rate, we have to work out the location of the next cross, ASAP." Marie cut in, "We're at work right now, we'll have to do this quickly."
"We should be able to think of a lead before the staff pulls us back to our jobs." Callie added. "Let's compare notes! We might be able to help!"
"Yeah, you're right." Chris replied, watching as Cobalt finally stopped laughing and picked himself up, readjusting his mask. "Let's put our heads together."

Huddled in a circle, the inklings began to think. To the side, Sheldon noticed that he was still slinging his backpack and set the large object onto the floor, looking around awkwardly before he sat on it. From the blank expression on his face, it was safe to assume he was feeling rather left out.

"We're familiar with the details of the cross that was in Octo Valley, thanks to what you have already told us." Marie began, her voice slightly raised to talk over the background chatter that was also coming through the phone. "Remind me again, the first cross you all encountered, it was in Bluefin Depot?"
"It was under it, specifically." Katelyn clarified, "It was located in Backwater Barricade, some kind of hidden urchin hideaway that was built underneath it."
"I still can't believe there's an entire preserved village underneath the whole thing." Cobalt said, glancing to the side as he folded his arms. "I've seen it with my own eyes, and even then it's hard to believe. That cross is something else, I'm telling you."
"Underground too, eh?" Callie said, "You reckon EVERY cross is underground?"
Cobalt didn't seem to like that possibility. "Wait… are you serious?! If the crosses are all underground, then they could be anywhere!"

"Not…quite." Mei-Lin's head bowed slightly, swaying on the spot as she pondered the possible lead. "It's just a theory… but if we're led to believe these crosses are present since the beginning of civilization, the structures around them were built as a form of worship. Considering the cultural significance of these crosses, we should be able to narrow it down to places that have been present since ancient times."
"…so would you happen to know any places like that?" Katelyn asked, turning to face her friend. "You're the bookworm here, you should know, right?"
Mei-Lin shook her head, frowning. "…no. Sorry Katelyn, I honestly don't know any possible leads within Inkopolis. There aren't very many ancient structures within the city itself…"

"I think you're all approaching this the wrong way." Marie's voice cut in, speaking over the background chatter from the phone again. "Haven't you considered the possibility that the remaining crosses might be OUTSIDE of Inkopolis?"
"Hmm…. You've got a point." Chris looked up from the middle of his thought process. "The old legends said the crosses were there to safeguard the land. It IS definitely probable that there are crosses outside the city as well…"
"But that just makes the search area a LOT wider!" Callie shouted, a few background murmurs coming through the phone afterwards. "C'mon guys, isn't there anything else?! There's gotta be something that's been right under our noses!"
"The way it emphasized 'light' and 'insight' seems important." Marie suggested. "Could it have meant anything specific?"

The inklings looked up slowly at one another. There WAS something that had happened right before the message appeared.
"I… think I know." Chris spoke up. "Remember those fragments we got from the crosses? When we put them together, we had a…vision. Next thing I knew, Sheldon was right there telling us that we were having a seizure."

A clattering sound came from Katelyn's phone, before Callie's shocked voice shot out of the phone. "Wait, WHAT THE HECK?!" She exclaimed, her voice crackling somewhat from the phone's speaker quality. "Hey, are you all alright?!"
"Barely…" Mei-Lin mumbled, rubbing her head. "We're all still trying to recover from that."
"Interesting… It's almost like you received a divine revelation." Marie chimed in, "Hey, did you say Sheldon saw you all suffering from the aftereffects? You're at Ammo Knights?"
"Yep! Still here, by the way!" Sheldon shouted from a corner of the shop. "Don't mind me, carry on!"
"Right… I highly doubt it's a coincidence you were all shown that vision before the message was printed. Can you elaborate on the details?"

The image was still unclear. Straining his thoughts, Chris tried to remember the pictures that were shown to him. It was proving to be harder than he had expected, but slowly, fragments began to drift back into his mind.
"There were… two people." He spoke slowly. "One was called a doctor, the other was named… Argo. I… couldn't see what this Argo looked like, but the doctor… He looked like an inkling. But he didn't have any tentacles at all."
"Oddly mundane, except that last part." Marie replied, sounding interested. "There's one creature I know that fits that description… a human."
"A hue-man?" Cobalt repeated, a puzzled look in his eyes, "Never heard of it."
"I don't blame you, they're an extinct species." Callie said, "I'm sure you must've at least seen a few bones here and there, they're not exactly hard to miss. Though I gotta admit, I've never seen a live one…"
"I have. Well, sort of." Marie added, "This was quite some time ago, but one of our Agents got their hands on an old photograph within Octo Valley that an octarian managed to dig up. A human adult… with Judd held in his arm."

Everyone in the room present looked at each other in shock.
"Hold on, Judd's been around long enough to have seen a living… whatever you call 'em?!" Cobalt exclaimed. "I mean, I've always found it odd that I've never seen any other creature like him around the city, but he's THAT old? Damn, he aged gracefully!"
"I remember reading about an archaeologist that has been finding and cataloguing those remains…" Mei-Lin said, surprised. "The newest remains were… twelve thousand year olds at the very least."
"SERIOUSLY?!" Katelyn was reacting even louder than Cobalt was. "I wouldn't have believed it just looking at him! He's so…. pudgy!"
"Wait, do you guys not know?" Callie cut in, "Judd didn't actually live that long. I believe he was found in some kind of container, kept in suspended animation. The container's kept in a museum in some other part of Inkopolis, but I don't think they've managed to work out how it ticks."
"Gramps had an old photo of when they won the Great Turf War though, Judd's there too. That photo had to be decades old, at least." Marie added, sounding confused. "Hmm… I suppose there's a lot about that guy we don't really know about."

"At any rate, Judd has to be our best lead! We have to find out where he is!" Katelyn shouted excitedly, "Callie, what's the museum's name?!"
"Oh, I think it's named… Shellendorf Institute?" The squid sister replied, "It's quite a few streets away from the square, but I think the nearby train station should take you there."
"Hrrrm…" Cobalt tilted his head, before shaking it. "I've never heard of that place before. If it was a Turf War location, I might've, but…"
"Oh, it's not, but I've heard some rumors they will be renovating the place into a Turf War stage in the future." Marie said, before her mood seemed to dampen at the mention of the sport. "At least… it WOULD'VE. Honestly, with Inkopolis in its current state, I'm not even sure what to think of those rumors now."

"HEY, you two! What'cha standin' around for?!" The same background voice from before came through Katelyn's phone, sounding rather irate. "I'm not gonna be the only one workin' my shell off here! Get int'a position already! We're live in three minutes!"
"IN A MOMENT, CRANKY!" Callie yelled towards the background voice, before she groaned. "Urrrgh, I'm sorry! It looks like we can't stick around!"
"Listen, once you've pinpointed the location of the next cross, let us know. We can't come with you, work obligations and all that, but I'm sure we'll track down some volunteers with our Agent network!" Marie said frantically. "For now, just head to that museum!"

"Gotcha!" Cobalt immediately bolted for the door, and ran straight outside. The other inklings merely stared at the door as it slowly slid shut, a few motes of snow drifting inside.
"Uh… shouldn't we go after him? I feel like we REALLY should." Chris said flatly. "I guess all that talking was boring him…"
"Dammit Cobalt, don't ditch us!" Katelyn grumbled, before turning to her phone. "Thanks you two, but I gotta go. Gasface over there isn't about to leave us behind!"
"Haha, I understand." Marie replied. "This is the Squid Sisters, signing off!"
"Stay Fresh, everyone!" Callie added cheerily, "Good luck!"

With that, the phone clicked and beeped as they hung up. Without a moment to lose, Katelyn chased after Cobalt, screaming scathing words into the distance that were mercifully drowned out by the wind blowing through the door.
"…this scene feels familiar somehow." Mei-Lin said awkwardly, a slight grin on her face.
"Heh, you're not wrong there." Chris replied, smiling at the remark. "We better hurry. I don't feel like peeling those two off the sidewalk a second time."
As the two inklings followed suit, silence fell within Ammo Knights. That is, until Sheldon realized he was the only one left in the shop, blinking with realization.

"….did I just get ditched…?"

"Unbelievable, I can't believe the two of you went from one end of Inkopolis all the way to the other on foot! Are you both crazy enough to pull this stunt TWICE?!"
"Oh c'mon Chris, to be fair we super-jumped through most of it! I'm sure those pedestrians didn't mind…. Much."
"Suuuuure, that twenty-car pileup back there definitely wasn't your fault…"

Mei-Lin laughed gently in response to that remark. Cobalt and Katelyn weren't completely winded and glued to the pavement like the last time they recklessly travelled several kilometers on foot, but she definitely saw bewildered inklings during the train ride to the museum. As Chris had vehemently reminded Cobalt, there was also a slight traffic disruption at a crossroads near their destination with a few incriminating dark blue and lavender stains left at the scene.

During that ride however, that wasn't the only thing Mei-Lin saw as she and Chris made their way from the plaza to Shellendorf Institute. With the time to process and observe her surroundings, she's noticed the state that the city's become through her own eyes. There were a considerably smaller number of civilians out in public than usual, both within the train and out on the streets. Much of them were living out their lives, seemingly holding it together, but she also saw a handful merely sitting still and barely moving, practically unmoving statues.
It disconcerted her greatly that most of the unmoving civilians were inklings. Their sullen and indifferent expressions seemed frozen on their faces, barely changing. She could remember a time not too long ago, when she shared a similar expression.

"Hey. Are you coming?"

Mei-Lin snapped out of her train of thought. Cobalt and Katelyn are already running towards the entrance to the museum, and Chris was right before her, beckoning her to follow.
"Oh…. Sorry." She muttered, looking down on the ground. "It's… just something on my mind."
If Chris had picked up on the uncertainty in her voice, he didn't show it. He merely nodded. "C'mon. We better hurry before one of them breaks something."
"I…. don't remember Katelyn being a troublemaker?" She replied, seemingly unsure about what she was saying. "Cobalt though…. Yeah. Let's go."

The museum itself looked as if it barely saw any visitors. Despite the wide open glass doors indicating that the building's obviously open to the public, the lights appear to have been turned off and there was no one else in sight, aside from a lone eel security guard that noticed the team enter.
"Oh, visitors!" The guard exclaimed, looking up from his magazine. "Lookit that, inklings too…. Never thought I'd see folks like you stop by the Institute."
"Hmm… Inklings don't come here often?" Chris asked, looking up at the faint contours of what appears to be the skeleton of a gigantic sea creature that hung from the ceiling. "This place seems fascinating enough, if you ask me."
"You'd be one of a few inklings that said that about this museum." The guard set the magazine down onto a nearby display, and went up for a closer look at the team. "This side of Inkopolis doesn't get much attention. We're open to the public most of the day, no tickets required! But even so, you kids have to be to second ones to come visit this place today…"
"Who's the first?" Cobalt asked, out of curiosity.
"I'm sure you should all know him." The eel looked over his shoulder at the opposite side of the museum, towards a set of blacked out glass doors. "That fur-covered fellah… Judd, I think his name was. He comes here every month to see one of the study projects the eggheads here take care of. Dunno what he does back there, he just waltzes in and comes out after a couple of hours or so. I think he's still in there, actually…"

The team followed the security guard's gaze, and then towards each other. They're definitely on the right track.
"Then… can we see him?" Mei-Lin asked, as nicely as she could. "We want to know a few things…"
The eel looked at the inklings skeptically while crossing his arms, before shaking his head. "Sorry, kids. I might have practically nothing to do here, but I still gotta do my job. I can't just let anyone wander back in there, those eggheads will have my scales if something breaks."
Cobalt stepped forward, insisting. "C'mon, let us in! I'm sure we'll be careful-"
"No. No you definitely won't." Chris interrupted flatly, staring right at him.

"Can we at least wait until he comes out?" Katelyn suggested. "How long has he been in there?"
"He should be out in…" The security guard checked his watch, "around 20 minutes or so, give or take."
"I… suppose that's fine." Katelyn's hat wriggled, and the Sea Snail inside peered through a gap. "Oh, you're thinking what I'm thinking, Salty?"
"Coo!" The critter replied, popping out and positioning himself on Katelyn's shoulder, examining a nearby exhibit.
"Sounds like a plan." Katelyn turned to face her friends. "Well, while we're here and all… wanna look around?"
"…sure." Mei-Lin replied, eyeing the skeleton hanging from the ceiling, and reaching for the sketchbook in her backpack.

It hadn't even been five minutes, and already Cobalt was bored stiff.

Normally, staying awake to listen to Chris talk strategy would've been dull enough, but the museum somehow managed to surpass even that. The masked inkling could see all around him a whole variety of musty and brown relics, none of which could bring him to pay attention for even for a second before it lost him completely. It was all dates, brief inscriptions and broken things for all he cared.
So, Cobalt's resigned to sitting down at a nearby bench, staring gormlessly from afar at his friends which appear to be more absorbed by the museum than he did. He could spot Chris on the other side of the museum examining what appears to be a slab of rock with three sets of indecipherable scribbles on it, Mei-Lin looking up and down from her sketchbook and drawing something again, and Katelyn… walking right towards him?

"Hey." She said, sitting down next to Cobalt. "Bored already?"
"Kinda obvious, isn't it?" He grumbled, nodding slightly. "I don't get it, what's so special about staring at a bunch of moldy crumbled stuff?"
"Well…" Katelyn pondered for a while before responding. "I suppose it's like being able to appreciate how far we've come by looking back at how primitive we used to be?"
"Hmm." Cobalt snorted, and leaned back on the bench. "I don't like thinking too hard about that sort of stuff. I mean, it's not like what's already happened will affect us that much… we can't change it anyway, right?"
"I…. don't think you quite get the message…" Katelyn replied, unsure how to follow up.

A few seconds passed with neither inkling speaking to one another. Not keen on the awkward silence given the current circumstance, Cobalt decided to strike up a different topic.

"So… bit out of the blue, this one." He said, "What DOES your mother do?"
"Oh…!" Katelyn abruptly replied. It was obvious she didn't expect such a question. "Well…"
"What, is it the usual cliche?" Cobalt asked. "Mother works in some cushy, high paying job in some big-name company?"
"…not quite." Katelyn said, shaking her head. "But you're close… she works at Tentatek, as a store manager in the branch close to Flounder Heights."
"Wow. Big shoes to fill." Cobalt blinked, impressed.
"Yeah…" Katelyn nodded. "I don't know what she does there, but she often comes home with a pile of paperwork. I often have to prepare dinner for the both of us."

"Both…?" Cobalt repeated, noticing the choice of words. "Single mother, huh…"
"Oh-" Katelyn seemed to regret letting such a detail slip. She looked away towards nowhere in particular. "T-that's right."

Another pause. The security guard passed by the two inklings, a mug of coffee in his large hand.

"I… didn't mean to pry." Cobalt bowed his head in apology. "My bad."
"I-It's okay." Katelyn replied, smiling. "She was raising me by herself as long as I could remember. I never really asked where my father went, to be honest."
"Raised you all by herself, huh?" The masked inkling replied. "Dang, that's one tough woman. Taking care of a kid AND having to work that much."
"Mmhmm." Katelyn nodded. But her smile didn't quite reach her eyes…

"…my own mother never had a job." Cobalt eventually said, after another pause.
"Huh…?" Katelyn replied flatly. "What do you mean?"
While she couldn't see Cobalt's facial expression, Katelyn noticed the dip in his shoulders as the masked inkling recounted some memories of his own. "I can barely remember her face… but I still recall my time as a little kid. Our home, if you could even call it that, was some back alleyway just behind Arowana Mall."

"W-Wh-" Katelyn sputtered. "You were homeless?!"
"It's not too bad, all things considered." Cobalt replied, though his tone doesn't seem particularly sincere. "We were lucky, to be honest. Of all the homeless folk out in the streets, we happened to have set up shop right behind a fast food joint. You wouldn't believe how many folks get rid of perfectly edible food. Sometimes we get handouts from the chefs that had too much left over. We never had a day where we went hungry, at least…"
"But that's still terrible!" Katelyn exclaimed, decidedly aghast. "Living out there in the cold, in the rain… I couldn't imagine…"
"Eh, it's all in the past. I mean, I shack up with Chris now, after all." The masked inkling seemed a bit more at ease. "His parents are good folk, they had a spare room they let me sleep in. With all the Turf Wars I participated in, I could afford to pay the rent too."

"I see…" Katelyn was still noticeably unsettled. "Does Chris… know?"
"He does." Cobalt replied shortly. "Honestly, I'm indebted to him, so when he told me a long time ago that he wished to one day participate in Turf Wars, I followed him. Prepared as much as I could, until we're both over 14 and ready to jump right in."
"So that's why you two are so eager over playing it together…" Katelyn mused. "Honestly, with how the two of you disagree when it comes to strategies and all, I couldn't even tell."
"Heh, I suppose it does look that way, doesn't it?" Cobalt's face was still not visible, but Katelyn could see the slouch in his shoulders vanish.
Despite that, she can't help but feel Cobalt might have left out a few details…

"THERE YOU ARE! I CAN'T BELIEVE THE FOUR OF YOU LEFT ME BEHIND!"

Everyone in the room turned towards the source of the voice. Sheldon was standing right in front of the sliding glass doors, the inkling's modified weapons stacked up high in his arms and obscuring his upper torso completely.
"Oh….right." Cobalt said flatly at the swaying pile of ordnance. "I thought my backpack felt a little light…"

Katelyn could only sigh exasperatedly at that remark.

With a sway of his paw, Judd sprinkled a pinch of salt over the frying pan before him, and a delectable smell floated up to his face. Satisfied, the cat took the grilled fish off the stove, and placed it into a nearby plate. Slightly burnt…. Just as usual.
He has repeated this ritual countless times. On the day after a waxing half-moon appears in the sky, he would come to this place, and perform the same routine over and over. He was grateful the staff always let him borrow the staff kitchen, though whether it was due to his status as Turf War judge or simply because of his… unique composition making him a possible test subject for the staff, he never knew.

As he paced down the corridor with the grilled fish in his outstretched paws, Judd thought back to the day when Splatfests were stopped, and Inkopolis came to a standstill. In his many years as the Turf War judge, it was certainly a first to be out of a job for once. Once the inklings stopped coming to the tower and the long winter kicked into full force, he had abandoned the comfort of his usual sun-soaked perch and meandered all over the city.
To many it would be unbearably dull. There are only so many back alleyways and rooftops one can visit before they all start to blend together, but Judd didn't care that much. Perhaps it was in his nature, or it might've been the fact he's taking what's essentially a long vacation after years of being the only referee in the city, but he found the long periods of inactivity strangely relaxing.

The cat turned a corner, passing by a closed door with 'Lab 1' inscribed on the front. He could hear mutters coming from beyond the door, but he didn't care to pay attention to what they were saying. His attention's affixed on a large metal door at the very end of the corridor, with 'Display Storage' welded to the front.
Setting down the plate to the side, Judd eyed the handle on the large steel door. From an observer's perspective, it might seem like the handle would be too high for a creature of his generous proportions to reach, but much like the grilled fish Judd had performed this simple action countless time. It was all in the paws, and the abdomen, he just needs to time his actions correctly. Contract, stretch, and… there we go. Picking up the dish, Judd walked through the now open door, closing it silently behind him.

Judd eyed the device before him, placed under a conspicuous spotlight hung from up above. It was just as he remembered it... polished to a fine gleam by a caring curator, with not a speck of dust set upon it despite the musty wooden boxes lying forgotten in the corners of the room. Propped atop the device was a heavily weathered photo inside a cheap photo frame, depicting Judd being held in the arms of a man. His face was cloaked in shadow, but Judd has seen it within his dreams numerous times.

It was a cryopod. His cryopod. As pristine as it was when he first pawed open the glass and opened his eyes for the first time since several millennia.

"Meoowr…. (We meet again… Professor)."