Jay had a mission. A very simple but very important mission. Tell Sheldon that she saw a salmonid in Inkopolis. She meant to do it before she went on the tour with Callie and Marie but she forgot, and she doesn't have Sheldon's number. Well she used to but he send her one too many walls of text and she wound up blocking him. So now she has to go all the way to Ammoknights on a saturday, all the way to Ammoknights! Okay it was for a good reason though. Jay hoped it wouldn't take too long, she was planning to meet up with Alex and Kiaria so they could go bowling since Alex was finally able to walk again and wanted to try normal things, also so they could all catch up and just spend time together like friends do. Finally she arrives, and pushes her way into the building.

"Hey Sheldon, you got a sec to talk? There's something I saw that I think you'll want to know about." Jay says as she enters, Sheldon had just finished kitting out an Inkling with their first new weapon, level 4s were so cute like that, so excited to run into battle with their shiny new toy. Jay remembers when that was her, she giggles a little at the memory. The inkling rushes out with excitement, still wearing the white headband and cream basics, must have had their heart set on the new weapon first. Now that his business transaction is complete, Sheldon turns his attention to the agent that has just entered his place of business.

"Ah! Agent Four! Welcome, it's good to see you again! I haven't seen you in my store since you bought up the rest of the weapons on the catalogue, you really had to make sure you had ALL of them. Can't say I blame you though, plenty of Squids and Octos love getting kitted out and having as many options as possible! Now you said there was something you saw that you wanted to talk to me about, and I would be remiss if I didn't consider the concerns of one of the Squidbeak Splatoon's finest agents! Though to be fair there also aren't that MANY agents of the Splatoon so I'm not really sure there's much distinction to be made in terms of your individual skill levels since you're all quite capable-"

"SHELDON!" Jay shouts, to get him to just stop fucking talking for five fucking seconds. Jay had forgotten just how talkative Sheldon could be, she hadn't had to interact directly with him for some time. She just couldn't believe how LONG he could talk for, if she hadn't interrupted her she could've wound up not being able to meet with her league team afterwards like she planned to. They didn't have any BIG plans, just gonna go over a couple strategies before Jay had to run to meet Alex and Kiaria. But fortunately, Jay isn't above interrupting the weaponsmith. In fact she's prepared to do it again should he start running his mouth a second time.

"R-Right, sorry, important thing, I will try and refrain from talking your ear off." Sheldon blushes a little, he was truly trying to get better at not just bombarding his co-workers and customers with more words than they can stand, bad for business and bad for morale. He gives Jay a smile and plops on a nearby seat, offering one to her as well. "Talk to me, what's got you so concerned that you'd come into Ammoknights instead of bringing it to Marie or Callie to deliver to me?"

"Well… It's… the Salmonids" Jay was hoping that Sheldon would scoff, she was hoping Sheldon would laugh, she was hoping Sheldon would brush off the thought and simply say there was nothing to worry about and that it was more than under control. Sheldon's demeanor darkened and he sighs softly. This was not the reaction Jay hoped for, and all it did was make her that much more anxious. She scoots forwards on her seat a little, wanting to hear his next words as clearly as she possibly can.

"The salmonid situation is… complicated." Sheldon leans towards a shelf and pulls one of his notebooks off of it and starts flipping through the pages. Many sketches of Salmonids, as well as what look to be reports from Inklings and Octolings who had done Salmon Run shifts and had first hand experience with them. "A year or so ago, they were of no concern really… they were far enough away from Inkopolis not to even think about, plus with Grizzco in operation, the Salmonids weren't able to migrate further than they already had… but something happened in the past year that changed that."

"What happened?" Jay looks worried, she really didn't know what to say in this moment, she just really hoped that Sheldon had some kind of answer for the problem, like he was working on a super weapon to defeat them, and the only thing he needed was time to complete it… surely worst case the Splatoon could BUY him some time to finish such a weapon… right?

"Some of them got bold. Started attacking Grizzco boats, stowing away… kidnapping Inklings and Octolings to try and evolve… of course that didn't work since Grizzco is equally as equipped, if not moreso, than the Splatoon… so they were able to get them back, and fend off the stowaways… but the fact is, for a time, Grizzco had to keep its doors closed while they sorted out the issues… a couple months may not seem like much, but it allowed the Salmonids to get closer… the sea levels are falling again, more land becoming available… but not enough… the Salmons want it all for themselves." Sheldon sighs again, looking down at his notepad, then over to another one, his grandfather's notepad, from the Great Turf War.

"What are you saying Sheldon?" Jay asks softly, trying not to sound worried but failing miserably because of how concerned she is. She just wants some answers and she hasn't even told him what she saw yet, but surely it won't be good when she does given how he's reacting now. She's worried that maybe it's too late and all hope is already lost… but surely that can't be true, there's no way they've reached the point of no return already.

"I fear… the 'Last Great Turf War' is going to become… 'Great Turf War One'. Because we're going to have to defend our homeland from an army of Salmonids… an army that is quite familiar with fighting Inklings and Octolings no less… I've been working on creating weapons to fight the salmons more effectively, but Mr. Grizz is stubborn, only wants to use HIS weapons… so most of my weapons are only theoretical…" Sheldon flips through his notes more, trying to see if he can find anything useful.

"Sheldon.. I think… I really need to tell you what I saw then… I think I should've told you a while ago now actually." Jay feels bad about not bringing this up sooner, but at the time she had JUST started dating her long time crush, forgive her for having her mind elsewhere at the time. But now is not the time for regrets, now is the time for action. Jay wastes no time, taking a deep breath and just saying what she needs to say before her nerves get the better of her. "I saw a Salmonid… IN Inkopolis park… it was just a Smallfry, and it was by itself… but I saw it. I SPLATTED it when it tried attacking me…"

"...Oh dear… the threat is much closer than I realized. You said just the one? That's actually good, means we might have enough time to prepare… Jay, thank you for telling me, I will relay this information with my contacts in Inkopolis security, we will do everything we can to prevent it from becoming a full scale invasion… but, Jay, as an Agent of the Splatoon… be ready to fight if we need you." Sheldon sighs and puts his notebooks back on the shelf, but he does give Jay a soft smile as well, trying to reassure her.

"Always will be Sheldon. Just… Why now? Why of all times would they be in Inkopolis NOW?" Jay asks, wanting to understand what could possibly have the salmons attacking the city now rather than sooner. Grizzco had reopened ages ago and was operating as normal, so she wondered what it was that was letting them into the city.

"...I have a theory, and it's not a nice one, but it IS one I've had for quite some time… it's… the destruction of Kamabo. While they did a ton of harm to any Inklings or Octolings or even Octarians that fell in, they also did a lot of GOOD in terms of keeping the Salmonids at bay, since any that got too close were simply shot down by sanitized Octo Snipers… without Kamabo in place, that's a gaping hole that Salmonids can now just swim right through."

"Shit… Alex and Kiaria aren't going to like that at all." Jay scoffs, angry that the place that had caused so much pain and suffering for her family could've possibly been part of keeping her new home safe. It wasn't worth the tradeoff in her mind, she'd rather have to fight to defend her new home than have had her family hurt… but now she has to do both.

"Yes, precisely why I would like to keep that little tidbit out of their ears for as long as possible, at least until they've had some time to recover mentally from the ordeals they've faced. Which brings me to one more thing, if you could speak with Kiaria and get her to come in it would be very much appreciated, I've been working on some experimental armor, it has ink jets built into wrist canons to create a brella-like blast of ink from each wrist, but it can be shifted to fire like a blaster instead as well! It should be highly resistant to all forms of ink as well… but the unfortunate thing is, it's based on Null Armor that she salvaged from Kamabo, which means it currently only fits HER body. Hopefully I can fabricate something less rigid in the future for use as Hero gear for the entire Splatoon, but for now I just need her to come in so I can test the prototype!"

"Huh, I am not going to remember a single detail about what you just said but I'll be sure to tell Kiaria you wanna see her! Is uhm… is there anything else I can do to help right now Sheldon? Anything at all to help prepare for facing the Salmonids?" Jay stands to get ready to leave, but she still looks at him and waits for him to confirm that he's said everything he needs to say before she leaves.

"No, no… for now, just keep living your life. If things go well, you likely won't even need to think about this anymore. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, hopefully this will all be a soon forgotten memory. Now go, I know you must have other plans today, I will keep doing what I can to keep Inkopolis safe." Sheldon smiles and nods, giving her the okay to leave.

"Thank you Sheldon… for everything…" With that, Jay turns and leaves the store. She isn't entirely sure how to feel about what happened, about what she learned. But what she DOES know, is that she's goddamn Agent Four of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, she isn't going to let some stupid fish take over HER home. Especially because it holds her new friends, her new family, and a little of her old family as well. Speaking of new friends, she sees her team sitting at a table near Crusty Sean's food truck. She pushes down her worries and goes to greet them, Jessie, Allie, and Malina, her team, and her friends.