Ellie hums quietly to herself as they walk through the tunnel, the soft sound filling both girls' ears as they progress. Agent Three seems to at least be a bit... not more friendly, per se, but less business-oriented. More... personal, not nearly as cold as she had been, maybe a bit more relaxed. The deep clomping sound of their boots echo through the hall, bouncing off the walls and filling their ears. The inkling is not particularly a fan of how open their backs are, so she occasionally takes a moment to look back and check their six, while her ears remain constantly perked up, listening for any indication that someone or something is approaching their unguarded flank. Ellie would do the same, but she's completely unarmed, so all she really has to fight with are her claws.
It isn't long until they reach a large chamber, with a room off to the side full of various boxes and crates, and a few launch belts and bounce pads. The walls are a muted grey, and a strange device sits at the entrance of the room. Three looks around for another way, but...
"Dammit, there's an Octarian lock in the way of the other hall. And I'd bet Cap'n's Bamboozler it's in one of those boxes. But... what the hell is that other tech? It looks Inkling, but I've never seen anything like it before. Careful, I dunno what it does. Probably best to find a way around it, if we can."
As Three wonders to herself, Ellie scans around the room for enemies, and, finding none, just... Steps into the machine, which instantly supplies her with an ink tank and an octoshot.
Three just about has a coddamn heart attack.
"What the hell were you thinking?! What if that was meant to kill you? There aren't any damn respawn points around here, that would've been permanent!" She scolds the octoling, her lips set in a scowl. Ellie can't help but flinch at the inkling's harsh tone, recoiling and looking away guiltily. She may not understand every word Three is sayng, but she understands that she didsomethingwrong.. After a few moments, Three pauses in her tirade, and lets out a quiet sigh.
"... Sorry about that. Didn't mean to blow up at you. Just... I was already stressed out, even before all this- underground bullshit."
There's another sigh, and Three gently pushes past the octoling, dropping her head against the wall.
"At least we know these things are safe now, all they do is give you weapons. Fuckin' weird tech though, why waste time in a machine when you can just carry your gun with you?"
Ellie shrugs in confusion. She understands that sentiment perfectly well, but since she didn't have her own weapon, she guessed she'd have to stick to these for now. Bluh.
As the two cephalopods ponder the point of an equipper machine, two sets of ears perk up as they hear the familiar, if a bit muffled, shwing of an Octarian key.
"Bingo. Let's go find it, then. It sounds like it's up on that ledge, maybe?"
The taller octoling nods, and they make their way into the room, scanning the area for anything other than the key that might be useful.
After almost twenty minutes of breaking boxes and launching themselves with belts, Three getting in a tiny bit of extra practice and Ellie testing her throwing arm, they finally leave the room, Ellie groaning a little bit as the machine takes her weapon away from her. She was nearly defenceless without one, aside from her claws. which made both her, and the Agent she was stuck with very nervous.
"Mmmm... this is weird. I don't trust it. We need to figure out how to get you a weapon from outside one of those things. Actually, what's your best weapon? we could probably at least build a makeshift, until we get decent parts."
Ellie perks up. Three seemed to be getting a lot more comfortable with her, and she was glad for it. She didn't think she could handle the tension they'd had before for much longer.
"Brush!!" She smiles, making a sort of slapping motion with her hand. Three pauses for a moment, thinking, and then nods quietly.
"Alright... if we find the right parts, we can definitely make you a brush. And... let's get to work on your Inklish. First, whatever you just said, the Inklish word for that is 'Brush'. Try it out."
"B... Brush. Brush!" Ellie can't help giggling, a bright smile on her face, and she decides to test out names. Pointing first to the agent in front of her, and then to herself, she stutters out another attempt at the inkling language. "You... Tree. My El-lie."
That gets a small smirk out of the green inkling, and she shakes her head. "Close, but not quite. You're learning quick, though, so it shouldn't take too long for you to get the hang of it."
Ellie seems pleased with herself, and lets out a little purring noise as the pair starts off down the hallway, past the lock and into the unknown once again.