"...the shell is this?"
The passengers had poured out of the train like they'd been on it for days, stood in place for a minute or two as they collectively realized they had no idea where they were going, and then promptly gotten themselves lost as a whole. As one bold boy charged off, the rest of them blindly followed suit, ending up at the very back of the station. At least some of them had made a few new friends- on the way back, another train had arrived full with kids in the same situation as them, it seemed (what a charming coincidence!) and it was as a conjoined muddle of exasperated kids that they finally spilled out of the station doors into the bright sunlight.
At first sight, it was amazing. Skyline and buildings as far as the eye could see, the top of the everpresent tower visible even above the disappointing white tarps that still dominated most of the inner plaza a few yards away, and the pavement was welcomingly decorated with colorful chalk ink splats and swirls- but it was something else that had caught the eye of the young inklings now leaning on the fence-like barriers haphazardly enclosing the construction site: a large, black screen displaying a pixelated timer in the iconic lime and magenta that was the only color scheme this city ever used for marketing anymore. It had attracted a small crowd of curious young folk, standing as close to it as they could and throwing around ideas as to what it could possibly mean.
"It'll hit zero at 9:30 tonight." Umi noted. "Anyone know what's going on then?"
"That's, like, half an hour before we have to go home." Mari remarked, frowning. "Whatever's going on, we won't have much time to stick around and see."
"The tarps have to be coming off. It's gotta be." Deejay shouted, and several others in the vicinity voiced their approval of the idea.
"Oh, shut up. There's no way it'd match up like that." Finley sighed. "If they were gonna open the plaza, they'd do it in the morning. Although... today, of all days..." She trailed off, unable to keep her mind from envisioning what could be. The first day of summer was a pretty big event, and this was the prime viewing spot for the fireworks that were supposed to be over the bay tonight. (It was right across the pavement- some kid had already almost fallen in. The signs telling you not to sit on the rail were there for a reason!)
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it." Jyugo sighed. "And not hang around here too much longer, either. Everywhere else'll be crowded and cleaned out... I was thinking we just walk in a circle and come back here, that way we don't get too lost." The center of the city was a big circle, and since there were so many pedestrians, cars weren't allowed to drive there, so the street was basically one big sidewalk.
"Sounds good." Everyone in their little group seemed to agree with this- except for the three girls standing near the clock.
"You had a schedule, right?" Umi asked Fin. "Say something, c'mon."
"You think I want all of them tagging along?" She sighed, crossing her arms and looking away. "Let's just save it for tomorrow… Umi's got one more day, we can make it work."
Mari frowned. "Aw, but you made it special for today, and some of it won't be open tomorrow... Besides, Umi might have to spend the day at home. Here, look- Kayden? Kaaaaayden?" She ran over to her brother, the other two girls following closely so as not to get left behind by the others, who had already started walking without them.
"Yeah?" He tore his eyes away from the street in front of them to look down at the blue girl.
"Um... Finley had a whole day planned out for us three to do together, and I really don't want to let her down... Do you think we could go off and do that? Like... by ourselves?" She asked carefully. "I- you and Aster can come along, if you want, make sure we don't get lost, I just- I really want this to be fun, and Fin worked so hard, and-"
"I'm not sure about that." Kayden sighed, cutting her off with a hand wave. "It's a big city, and there's no way to split the group up well..."
"There's policemen around every corner, they'll be looking out for trouble. We all have our phones on us, and battery packs to keep them charged. I know all the emergency numbers, we won't leave the inner city circle, and we won't talk to random strangers." Fin interjected, hands on her hips. "We're not kids, you know! We can handle ourselves!"
"Well..." He looked away.
"Please?" Mari clasped her hands together, looking up at Kayden with wide eyes and making a pouty face.
Kayden sighed. "Geez, you really know how to make me do what you want..." He called Jyugo over, and they discussed it for a tense moment (in which everyone seemed to be collectively ignoring the five smaller girls begging to keep walking already).
"Alright, listen." Jyugo finally turned to them. "You text us every half hour telling us where you are, always pick up our calls, never leave the city circle, don't go into any alleyways, don't talk to strangers who aren't working where you're going, and whatever you do, don't tell mom. Got it?"
"Yay! Thank you so much~" She hugged the cross boy, grinning like an idiot, before returning to her friends, who's facial expressions matched her own. "We're in the clear!"
"We'll obviously have to go a bit fast to make sure we're back here before the clock hits zero, but I think with the hour the tour would have been in, we'll be totally fine." Fin pointed in a direction not unlike the one the others had already gone off in. "No need to get our tentacles in a bunch. Let's get going!"
They set off in the direction she'd pointed, and it didn't take them long to reach their destination, despite the crowd and their slow pace. Their destination turned out to be... an old-looking, run-down dollar store. "Hope you brought your wallets, girls..."
"What's this?" Umi asked as they entered. "This is just a dollar store like we got at home. Thought we were here for the cool stuff."
"This is the cool stuff. C'mon." Fin dragged them to the back of the store, the old-looking shrimp at the counter not glancing up from his magazine once as they passed.
"Fin, I don't get it." Mari sighed. "Could you tell me what we're doing here?"
"Aw, c'mon. Don't be a killjoy... And I thought you, of all people, Mari, would get it."
"Killjoy? What joy is happening for me to kill? This is a dollar store."
"Oh, whatever. Anyway, I'm feeling thirsty. Let me just... get a soda..." Fin said, dramatically stepping over in front of a Snappi machine in the corner. As soon as she stepped on the floor tile in front of the machine, there was a noise like machinery coming to life, and the Snappi machine slid aside to reveal a doorway into a well-lit room.
"...woah." Mari and Umi's eyes went wide. They all stepped through the door into one of the nicest clothing stores the three girls had ever seen.
"Welcome to Ara Stelleana. Told you you'd wanna spend some cash here." Fin grinned, watching the other two rush off to look at the shelves of designer-brand clothing and shoes that lined the large, well-lit room. "Fin, you've outdone yourself this time." She muttered to herself, before following her friends.
They spent about half an hour in this store alone, looking at things and trying a few shirts on, but only Mari was willing to actually hand over the pretty penny required, and she left with this adorable white sunhat that everyone agreed was perfect for her.
They left in great spirits, gathering some attention from nearby groups of kids who went into the store to see what all the fuss was about, and they walked down the city circle, moving from store to store, tourist attraction to candy shop to outdoor t-shirt stand. There was a small aquarium, (they didn't hang around there for long- something about it was… inexplicably unnerving) a few more clothing stores, and a huge video game shop that blew them away, but no matter what they were doing, Fin couldn't totally take her mind off the countdown in the plaza.
The girls went to a semi-fancy salad place for dinner- Umi sat next to Mari, while Fin sat next to all the shopping bags. (She'd insisted.) They placed their orders and started chatting- the first real conversation that hadn't been 'look at this, look at that'.
"How long's it even been since we got here?" Umi asked, swatting Mari's hand away from the box of sugar packets. ("Don't play with them.")
Finley checked her phone again. "Three hours, give or take. Can you believe it?"
"Wonder how far we've walked. Wish I'd remembered my WalkBit, dad would have a hard time beating me today." Umi laughed.
"How long do we have until 9:30?" Mari piped up. "I'm not good with math."
"Two and a half hours."
"We're going back there, then?" Umi drummed a hand on the table.
"Yeah, Jyugo says he wants us to meet him there." Mari showed the other two the texts her brothers had sent her. "Besides, if we don't go back, how else are we gonna get home?"
"We were planning to go home at ten... What if there's something super cool there? I don't want Persi staying out too late, but I don't wanna miss anything, either." Fin sighed, tapping her hand on the table.
"What do you think it'll be?"
"Hell, I dunno. If it really is the tarps coming off… probably just the reveal of the renovations. Heard Inkopolis News's got a new studio there, and maybe they stopped the tours because they're getting ready to do them out of the front again?"
"That'd be nice. We could go tomorrow, before Umi's gotta go to camp."
"Do you think the Squid Sisters'll be there? I bet they'd want to do something for the news, at least. Video from their new studio?"
"Let's hope!"
"Here I was telling Persi there'd be no famous people today..."
The talking slowed to a stop as the food got there, and they paid and left as soon as they were done.
Fin had saved one of the biggest timeslots for one of the best attractions- the San-Dan toy store. The branch here was the biggest in the country- three floors, and a huge space in the middle for an actual working Ferris Wheel. Needless to say, Finley's wallet was much lighter and her bags were much heavier when they left. (She'd never get enough Kerobo plushies, and unlike the tiny little outlet stores at home, there was actually a nice selection of their branded clothing. Persimmon would be jealous.) The Ferris wheel was the first thing they went to, but afterwards the three girls almost got lost in the giant store. Thankfully, they managed to regroup just in time to leave before they got too lost in fantasy-land…
At 8:30, the sun started setting, and they made it to their final destination just in time. Fin had clammed up about this last activity until the very end, and Mari and Umi were still in the dark about their destination even when they were riding the elevator.
"This is taking forever… what floor is this on?" Umi tapped her foot. "I don't mind elevators on a normal day, but this is making me antsy."
"The roof." Fin said, as if it were nothing.
"The roof? Finley, this better not be one of those crazy theme park things, you know I hate those…"
"Of course it's not. I wouldn't do that to you."
"Then what are we doing…?"
The elevator doors opened, and them and the other passengers walked out onto the roof…
From the top of the building, they had a perfect view of not only most of the city circle, but Inkopolis Bay and the beautiful sunset.
"Woah…" Mari ran up to the railway. "It's gorgeous…"
Umi followed, but Fin darted off to the side for a moment, returning with her hands full. "One for everyone." She grinned as she handed each of her friends a snow cone.
"Ooh! Where'd these come from?" Umi asked, looking over it.
"Food came with the ticket. Hope you like strawberry, that's all they had."
"Ticket? To what?" Mari tilted her head.
"That." Fin pointed up, and the other two girls turned back around just in time to see the start of the city's biggest event all day- the first summer fireworks. The explosive lights went off with a colossal bang, and more followed them, illuminating the city in a colorful glow. The three girls stood in awe, staring up at the display above them.
"Even I didn't know they'd be this beautiful…" Finley spoke again after a while. "This is amazing…"
"I can't believe you went and set all this up for us. Dinner reservations, Ferris wheel, fireworks show…"
"I mean, it's the first day of summer break! Go big or go home, am I right?" She laughed, pushing her hat up a bit.
"I'm gonna have to pay you back for this at my Christmas party." Mari smirked. "'Go big or go home'… We'll see who's extravagant then."
"Don't let's start arguing now, the fireworks aren't even done yet." Umi rolled her eyes, playfully nudging the others with her shoulders.
"Yeah… let's just enjoy this." The orange girl's smile softened.
The fireworks lasted an hour, and Finley couldn't be happier.
It was almost fully dark when they left- there'd just be enough time to reach the plaza in time to see whatever hullabaloo was going on there and then catch the 10:00 train. They left at 9:10, and got back to the plaza at 9:20, going right instead of left, but it seemed like the word had spread about the countdown and everyone else had the same idea, seeing as the area around the plaza was absolutely packed. Luckily, the eldest of the boys stood out (mainly because he was waving his arms), and they were able to reconvene with the others quickly. As soon as they were spotted, Jyugo rushed over and tightly hugged Mari.
"Thank goodness you're alright, I should never have let you go off on your own..." (Fin got the feeling that was singular, not plural.)
"Fin!" The orange inkling's attention was caught by a squeaky voice calling her name, and she turned just in time to see Persimmon rush up and jump up for a hug, almost making Fin drop everything she'd been carrying.
"Hey there, Persi." She laughed, ruffling her little sister's quirkily-styled hair. "Did you have fun?"
"It was amazing!" The little girl was carrying her own singular shopping bag and a Cinnabun plush that was bigger than her head (and probably what she'd spent most of her money on).
"We walked a lot an' bought things an' there was a guy with a guitar on the street an' Nicia gave him a coin an' there was a really tall building with a spinny spinny thing that we wanted to go on but Jyugo said no an' there was a dancing bear an'- an'-" Emille rambled until she was out of breath. "...an' it was fun."
"Where did y'all eat?" Fin let go of Persi, adjusting her bags.
"Pickin' G's."
"Oh, really? All the nice restaurants here, and you go for fast food..."
"Well, if you're so fancy, where did you eat?"
"This really nice salad place called The Kelp Bowl."
"No way!..." The talking and recapping (and sibling bickering) went on for a few moments, until Aster clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Okay, alright, guys. We got two minutes until that clock goes off, so- so let's make a plan. I think we should stick around and see what's up, but still leave by 10 so everyone can still get some sleep. Sound good?" He asked, and everyone approved (including Jyugo, who's seal of approval seemed to have made him quite happy).
As the final two minutes ticked down and a hush fell over the gathered civilians, Fin's mind was racing, full of dreams and visions and hopes, but also plenty of doubts. Nothing so big could have such a small method of announcement... right?
3.
2.
1.
00:00
The screen went black.
And then it lit up again, playing- of all things- the opening to Inkopolis News. It cut to the studio- no, a different studio, decorated the same as the normal one but certainly a different room, and the lights were off, and no one was there. The scene froze in silence for a tense moment, and then the camera slowly panned to the left, revealing the view from the studio window- Inkopolis Plaza. It was dark under the tarps and hard to see, but no one had a moment to really look before the screen shut off, folded itself up (somehow) and retracted into its base.
There was a moment of silence.
All the streetlights in the area came on, illuminating the rapidly darkening area.
There was a loud clunking noise, and then a mechanical whirr.
And then, all at once, the tarps were whipped off.