Yeah, Deca Tower was weird.

This thing was one of the poor victims of the attack on Inkopolis—from what I'd heard, the huge bird bot I saw in Sharktown was what knocked it over. But, after the train tracks, this happened to be the first thing the city decided to fix. Not that there was much to fix, anyway.

The square was empty that day—at least, emptier than it usually was. There were still pairs walking here and there… and no other Octolings in sight. Sighing to myself, I walked inside the tower. It was empty.

As I looked upwards, I saw there were no more floors above this one. Then the rest must have just been a tall block of advertising. But since only one of the screens had been replaced, a long, black pole sat in the middle of Inkopolis.

The only things on the ground floor were an obnoxious number of tiny, flashing light bulbs and two rows of identical machines on each side.

Tentatively, I stepped up to one and tapped its screen. This must have been where new "accounts" were made. Because the first thing it asked me for was a name.

"Sky," I whispered as I typed it in.

Date of Birth.

I… I didn't know. Uh, sixteen-ish years ago? Would it take a date three years ag—

Yes, yes it did.

A waiver.

There was no way I was going to read that.

And a signature and photo. I stood out of the camera's sight for the photo and waved my hand in front of it.

The last thing they needed was a username, that "the system will use to refer to me." That was it?

Uh… Night… Fall? NightFall, yeah. That was an Inkling term, wasn't it?

The machine spat out a card for me. It had all of the stuff I typed in, and the picture of a blur that looked kinda like a bird with a motor tic. I took it, glanced at the food again, then moved on.

Below the ground floor were some basement levels, only accessible through an elevator that I to swipe the card in. I found a lobby and, after swiping my card at the door again, slipped inside. Empty.

The room smelled better than I'd expected. Though I didn't think it'd stay that way for long. Turf Wars had reopened just a while ago—maybe people were still recovering from the attack on Inkopolis.

Regardless, I stayed and plopped down on one of the chairs.

What the heck was I doing?

Admittedly, I had no idea what I was getting into. Which, in some part, was why I was there. I couldn't have just hidden in my apartment for the rest of my life, could I?

The door opened again. I turned my head down and shut my eyes. Opening them a crack, I saw a tall Inkling, holding a really large Brush and wearing a green hoodie.

I suddenly felt a little off in my own awkward clothing. Deepsea didn't have the best wardrobe. I couldn't have helped it, it was the only set I had.

I didn't feel threatened by him, though. I just felt... cold. In the literal sense.

"Hey!" he said, sitting down across from me. He didn't notice my eyes, huh?

"I thought I was the first one here." Turning around up, he looked up at a screen I hadn't noticed. My bird-with-a-motor-tic photo was pasted onto it with the username and my… level. Which was at a flattering 1. His profile was up there too. He had an actual photo. "Is this your first match?"

"Y— Yeah," I stammered. Funny how I could be sarcastic with a machine but not with anyone in person.

"Know what to do?"

I cleared my throat. "I read the rule book." That much was true. I'd kinda just skimmed through the pages and called it a day. I had a general idea of what to do but had no idea how it was scored. Were there any penalties for ditching?

Somebody else walked in and wordlessly took a seat. Another Octoling, looked a little like me. She glanced at my face, and I pretended not to notice. And instantly, I felt a little more on edge.

"Isn't it a little weird being the first one here?" said the guy across from me.

I avoided eye contact. "Not the weirdest thing," I said, staring at the screen behind me.

I waited for a reaction or even another question, but none came. A fourth person—a second Inkling—walked inside, and then a short tone played from the screen. It slid the list of people in my team to the corner and displayed in large, custom-font letters, "Opponent: Lobby F." In another corner was a display of the battlefield. Somewhere they called "Kelp Dome".

A dark spot on the floor opened up, rotating out like a camera aperture. The ally who sat across from me got up and fell through the opening feet-first.

Hopefully that was normal.

The second Inkling stepped in, then the Octoling girl sitting by me shifted in her seat, got up, and crouched down before diving in. I waited for the other two to enter, then followed after them.

I broke the surface of the liquid and looked down. This was what the rule book called the "Spawn point"—which must have been the inkling name for regeneration pads. I gripped the captain's Octo Shot duplicate harder. Kelp Dome was warm.

Now, I was here to fight, but this was my first time doing it as a literal sport. There weren't too many illegal maneuvers—at least among the ones I tended to do. Skydive was obviously out. Did this thing even have a Splashdown?

The stage was symmetrical, so the enemy team would have no disadvantages that we wouldn't. Good choice by whatever committee decided this stuff, I guess.

Unless the battle was heavily one-sided, most of the conflict would be in the middle. It would be nice to take the central high ground as soon as I could… but the way these were set up didn't allow for much long-term strategy.

I shut my eyes again and waited for the noise the rule book mentioned. I smirked to myself, and for the first time, thought that if the memory suppression was the price I had to pay to be here, then it was worth it.

The sound rang in my ears, and I dove off, firing and covering the ground in... orange? My hair was orange? How did they— Was it that weird liquid I had to swim through to get here?

It didn't suit me, but I didn't really care in the heat of battle. I passed the gun to my right hand, holding it out to cover my right side as I swam down the left lane. The rest of my team was gone now, but there were patches of our color down the other side.

Perfect. I didn't have to worry about the other half of the stage.

I rounded the wall in the far left corner, spinning my weapon to cover as much ground as I could. The only ways to go from here were up or to the center.

Up had obvious risks—I'd have the high ground, but the floor was open to anyone to shoot through. So I picked the center.

Already there was a Blaster, which I found trying to ruin my team's hard work. I dashed up to him, and he turned his attention to me. I dodged left, jumped right, then sent its user back to the regeneration pad. Didn't even get a drop on me.

I swam away to the opposite corner. I reloaded and braced myself for a fight.

And just as I jumped from behind the wall, a whistle blew. My stomach sank. It'd only been thirty seconds—someone must have broken a rule. It wasn't me, was it?

"Match canceled," said an automated voice from a distant speaker to my right. "Return to the lobbies."

I groaned. At least it was fun while it lasted.

"What... happened?" said the guy that sat across from me earlier.

I pointed at the screen in the corner of the lobby. In large, bold letters, it said "Maintenance". Great impression for me. My first-ever match was canceled. Well, at least I didn't do anything wrong.

"Huh. Nothing we can do about it. I did think it was weird that it reopened this early." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Hey, didn't catch your name?" he said to me, propping his now-dry Brush on the wall.

A probably-creepy grin crept onto my face. I looked him in the eyes. "Sky. I'm Sky," I said. I looked down, flustered.

"Sid. Nice to meet 'ya. See you around." He grabbed his Brush by the bristles, flipped the handle into his other hand, then left the lobby. Another shuffled out with him.

I moved to leave after them, but another voice spoke up and stopped me. "He's... off, isn't he?" said the last one in the lobby. But in Octarian, the language. I turned to her. It was the Octoling with the long hair.

"Maybe? I don't know him that well?" Her eyes— they were a striking shade of purple, just like mine.

She leaned on the wall and squinted at me as if she were inspecting me. "Hey, does the name Annabelle ring a bell?" she said.

"No." That was a lie. I heard the name as I watched Akash Octrope die. Lovely memory, that.

"W— well then, that's me. Call me Annie."