Pat found himself waking up the next morning. He was accustomed to little sleep, but he knew something was off when he opened his eyes to see that everything was still blank. He slowly lifted a hand to his head, stopping when he felt something squishy. He stopped, moving his hand to the side of his head and lifting up. His vision to his left cleared up, as he realized what was happening. Loorea had snuck out of her room to sleep with him. She currently was situated on his head, snoozing peacefully. He shifted his head to the side to breathe, struggling to not disturb the Vinkling's slumber.
Laying on the couch, Pat stared blankly out into the random space of the room. Over and over, he ran over yesterday's ordeal in his head. He went from the medication he had taken, to Loorea's stunt with the ink bottle. Pat tried to stop himself, but other thoughts crept in after the last one sank. He held back a yawn as he looked about.
He focused his attention over to a clock that he spent at least a few hours yesterday learning to read. "Ten already?" He muttered to himself.
"Huzz?" He heard and felt Loorra's groan. The little squid looked around, and then down. "Oh, sorry!" She slid off his head. She changed form on the couch as he slid his legs down, both sitting side by side. Pat slightly yawned, still not fully awake.
Loorea shifted next to Pat, wrapping her webbed tentacles around herself like a blanket, sitting to his left. "Pat, can I ask you something?" She asked after a moment of sitting there. She looked up to him.
"Yeah," he answered, shifting his attention to her. "What do you need?"
"I... I don't know. After that visit yesterday I just felt… weird. The way Kathleen looked at me... and everyone's reaction to me drinking the ink..." She let out, shuddering. "Am I..."
"Loorea… don't do that to yourself." Pat interrupted before she got too into it. "Take it easy. I'm supposed to be the strange one here, not you."
She looked up to him. "So I'm not weird to you?"
"Everything here is weird to me..." He muttered to himself. He stopped, looking over to her. "No, it's just something that's unique with you." He said, trying not to force it out. Conversations like this, or in general, weren't his best.
Loorea thought about what he said for some time. She then smiled, leaning into him. "Thanks, big bro." She said as her rightmost tentacle slid up around his shoulder, somehow not impaling him.
Pat chuckled, glad she was feeling better. He leaned back while Loorea continued to lean on him. Did she just call me her brother? Pat thought to himself.
They sat on the couch for some time, but soon, Pat stood up. "We should get going or someone's going to MAKE me extinct..." He muttered, getting up to get his usual clothes. Loorea sat there for a little bit before heading off to get out of her pajamas. When she returned, she found Pat waiting at the table, bags, canteen, coat, and all. He was squinting at the newspaper, putting effort into reading the inkling language.
Pat gave up on the newspaper idea, putting the paper down. "Why do I bother?" He muttered, not noticing the Vinkling. She changed, her little cephalopod form flopping up onto his shoulder, giving him a moment's surprise. "Ready to go?" She squeaked.
"Yeah." He got up, throwing on the hat and grabbing his umbrella. They left the apartment, Loorea content with her position on his shoulder. They made their way on the streets. Pat looked up, having rather taken this from roof to roof to avoid any possible contact.
He walked for some time, having felt like the walk had gotten longer than he remembered it. Loorea slid down, walking herself behind him. They walked past a similar alleyway, but he couldn't place his finger on why this one stuck out to him. He shrugged, moving on from it.
Loorea looked down the same alley, curiosity taking over as she saw a hunched figure glancing her direction. She stood there for a brief moment before approaching the figure. It seemingly disappeared, leaving Loorea standing confused. She turned to follow Pat when she felt a hard yank on the backside of a tentacle.
Pat had been walking on until he heard a high pitched "Eeeeeeeeeeeep!" sound behind him. He turned just to barely see Loorea being dragged down the alley. He immediately ran to the entrance, just to see the outline of the two join with the darkness of the alley.
"Hey!" Pat rushed down the alley. He turned to look around the area, nothing was around the immediate area. Pat walked in more and more, creeping into the darker part of the alley. "Loorea?!" He called out, his back to the exit. Something rolled out of nowhere in front of him, moving slowly, almost without purpose. The glass cylinder stopped a few rotations in front of him. It was clear with something red inside.
"Hello?" Pat asked as he approaches the object. It was a large jar, with a strange attachment to the lid. Inside was a little Vinkling squid shaking in fear. He looked the jar over and moved to take the lid off. The moment his hand went into contact with the jar both he and Loorea were shocked.
"EEEEEE!" She shrieked in pain, as she quivered even more.
"What is going on?!" He asked while shaking the zapped hand. He quickly looked over the jar in panic, just barely noticing the shadow behind him. Something big was in its hand from what he could tell.
"Hey!" He turned and blocked an incoming blow with his umbrella. The second strike snapped the umbrella in half, opening up a clean shot for a third. He didn't get a good glimpse at his attacker before everything went dark. When he next opened his eyes he found himself in an unfamiliar place, having been tied up by someone he recognized.
"Tell me this is a joke..." He groaned.
"Oh, trust me, I don't joke. You have a lot to answer for." The Elite answered. She tightened the cuffs more than necessary, only stopping when she was satisfied with the pain she inflicted on him. Amber stood above Pat, satisfaction spread all across her face. "Aww... did the little puppy think mama wolf was going to let him wander out in the open world alone?" Her voice oozed sarcastic cuddly talk.
The human shivered from both the presence he was in and that he felt cold. He tried to reach for his pockets but he realized that he had neither the free movement nor pockets to reach for. Looking down he realized that he had been stripped of his coat and bags.
Pat grunted as he was picked up and pushed against a brick wall. "Not so special without your toys huh?" She taunted, spinning around to exaggerate that she had taken his coat, canteen, and satchels as her own trophies. She stopped, getting serious now that she had her laugh. "Now, I believe that the we have a little meeting to attend to." She smiled, pulling him along without his consent. "Don't run and I'm certain we could get along fine."
"Where are we?" he demanded.
"Home dummy." She responded being vague because she felt like it. "And don't worry, I have the little girl taken care of." The Octoling tapped a bag as she gave Pat a motivational strike.
As Pat was drug through the corridors, he realized that this place was actually more familiar than he originally thought. He noticed the architecture oddly gave him a sense of déjà vu. The place had an odd military feel to it. Then he figured it out. He had been taken back to the kettle. So when a group of Octotroopers who seemed to recognize the three of them walked by, that was the kicker.
They soon reached a guard, who looked them over. "I wasn't expecting to see the likes of you ever again."
"You thought wrong, tell the boss I've brought some guests." Amber snapped.
"Well Travis, is it me or the Director who could pluck off your tentacles with our bare hands?"
"I-I will have her know." The male Octoling immediately complied, rubbing his head along the way.
Amber waited eagerly, impatiently waiting for this chance at redemption. She stared at Pat, determined to not be undermined twice. Her simple waiting became impatient tapping in the spot.
A few rooms down, the Director was in her office. Word had been flying around that one of the elites who had gone out had returned with a special artifact. She knew there was only a select few possibilities for who this could be. An intercom buzzed, she simply pressed down before the trooper in the other end could report. "Send them in." She ordered.
"Y-yes ma'am" the Octarian on the other side acknowledged, surprised by the immediate answer. The Director turned and waited her guests to enter. After a moment's waiting, she finally heard the approach of two people to the door. She watched, almost amused as Amber hauled in her prize. The Elite stopped, holding a deathly grip on Pat as she dropped Loorea's jar down.
"Poly-8, reporting in, extraction successful." Amber reported in, giving Pat a shove to the ground. She pulled the jar out from a satchel and dropped it next to him, Loorea still shaking inside.
The Director looked over Pat, eyes taking him and adding all they gathered to her calculations. "I'm impressed." She turned to Amber, "I wasn't expecting to see you or this again."
"That means I'm back in the project, right?"
"Of course, but I'm not going to offer you a third chance after this. Take this squid to a cell, then report back here. I may just have one more thing I have for you."
"Yes ma'am." Amber eagerly saluted before picking up the jar. She gave the jar a tap, taunting the poor girl inside. Chuckling could be heard down the hall as she left the room.
"So… you are this... human I've heard so much about." The Director inspected him, watching his moves with interest.
"Yeah, I am." He stayed on the ground, not moving far from the position. "I assume you are the one everyone answers to."
"You are correct in that. I am charge of this entire project." She walked up to him, glass in hand. "Care for a drink?"
"No." Pat refused, standing up, drawing in the art and everything else that was orderly placed in the room. "I'd rather have answers."
The Director chuckled, putting the drink down. "It is only natural for someone to want that. Well, since this is a civil discourse of sorts, I'll explain. The first reason is that you simply know too much, both you and that Vampire Squid." She walked up to Patton, eyes narrowing. "The second reason is related to you alone, and I'm certain you have some idea what it is already."
"You want me to help you in some way." Pat deduced.
"Yes, that does save me from some explanation." She confirmed. "However, I still think this idea is far-fetched. According to what we have seen and gathered about you and your race, your invulnerability to ink could be rather useful to us." She swiftly made her way around Pat, releasing him from the cuffs the were beginning to cut into him. She tisked as she looked over the cuffs, observing that Pat couldn't change to escape them.
"You want me to fight with you, just so you can take over everything." Pat leaned up against a wall, turning away from the Octoling. He rubbed his wrists, allowing the circulation to flow through them again.
"No." She answered, she unlocked a hidden door, swinging it wide to reveal a giant map on the behind several paintings. There was a map, the likes of which shown the entire mass of land the two races had once shared, and now fought over. Pat turned and looked at the map, taking it all in. She pulled the human's attention to a body of land separate from the island. The small landmass extended to the end of the map itself, having more uncharted on the map. "This is what I have in mind."
Pat took it in. "You've found a separate place to move your populations, so you have the fish things working for you so you can pack."
"Again I must correct you, only a select few will be coming with us." She crossed her arms. "The idea is that we train and equip the Salmonids with weapons to take on the Inklings and their city. Once we have what we are after, the order will be given to eliminate all that is left."
Pat backed away from her, disgusted at the idea. "You'll wipe out all of your past and leave this place a wasteland just because you can?!"
"Correction, I can't risk having any one follow us out of vengeance or any other reason. There will be plenty of land for these... things to inhabit. So we won't worry over those fish coming by for a long time."
"And what the hell do I have to gain from this?"
"It depends." The Director dropped her arms down, moving them behind her back. "If you are as competent as I have heard you can be, then I may just secure you a spot with the select."
"And what if I don't want to?"
"I guess it would be a shame, but I suppose that other younger cephalopod could become conditioned to our cause if we need it." A sadistic, fake grin spread on her face. "We won't need you, and I just did explain so much of this to you, so you'll most likely be the final relic of your kind to become forgotten."
Pat looked at her, failing to see the logic in her words. "That's... that's..."
"THAT'S DISGUSTING!" another voice shouted.
The two of them turned to the source of the declaration. Amber had returned from sending Loorea from the cell. Goggles off, she looked at the map on the wall in bewilderment. They both could tell that she had been listening in for some time. The Director didn't look surprised, smiling as if she had already planned on Amber returning by now. "I can understand your how you are confused, however, there is nothing for you to terribly be concerned over."
"You would take out the majority of our race just to enjoy your own paradise for yourself?!" The soldier stood there, still taking it all in.
"That is a harsh way to put it. But if you do as well as you have you'll certainly have a secured spot." The Director looked at Pat. "That reminds me, you have one more thing to do..."
"That is?" Amber stood on guard, awaiting her order.
"I know you have been getting your hands on some unique prototypes of ours as well as collecting some ancient artifacts, as I can see from your latest expedition." She motioned to Pat's coat and bag she had claimed. "That considered with this thing's immunity and unwillingness to join us, you are to execute him here with any weapon of your choice."
"Do I get a say in this?" Pat asked sheepishly, hating how almost no one asked for his opinion in these matters.
The Director shook her head as Amber complied, pulling out a well preserved Uzi she put in the bag earlier. She pulled the goggles back over her face, covering any emotion she could have shown.
Pat wildly looked from Amber, to the Director, and back again, as he desperately tried to think of something to do. "I am going to waste this entire round right here, all for you and my race." Amber said. Pat could have sworn that there was a smile for a moment, before she pulled her finger down upon the trigger.