Sinamoi sat in the empty room in the police station, staring at the ceiling. How long had he been waiting in here now? Maybe it was an hour, maybe several. Either way, he'd been in here ever since the police had finished questioning him and his team in the Square and had taken statements from Callie and Marie. Had she told them something that had cast more suspicion on them? Or was this part of their plan to round them up the help they needed? He wished he knew.

The doorknob started to turn and he immediately straightened up in his chair, eyes locked on the doorway. In walked what he assumed was a detective, followed by an Inkling in a military uniform. An officer, judging by the patch on his uniform. Instinctively Sinamoi was on his feet, snapping into a salute. "Sir!"

"At ease, son, I just have a few questions for you," replied the soldier, offering a hand. "Colonel Squall, 5th Battalion, 1st Company. A pleasure to meet you."

Sinamoi accepted the hand, still standing at perfect attention. "Lieutenant Sinamoi, formerly of the 3rd Shock Brigade, Octarian Army," he said. "I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability." He turned to the other Inkling. "And you must be…?"

"Detective Wake," he replied, shaking his hand. "I'm investigating the incident in the Square today."

"I'm guessing you've already questioned the two Octolings who attacked us," said Sinamoi, sitting down.

"Not yet, my partner is dealing with them," said Wake, taking his seat, along with the Colonel. "I've been questioning your friends instead. I'm just here to corroborate their stories with yours. It's mostly the Colonel's show right now."

"Yes, I'm very curious to hear about this Project CARCHARADON," said Squall, taking off his cap. "And, hearing how you all made it up to Inkopolis in the first place."

"I hope you gentlemen had a big lunch then, it's a fairly long story," said Sinamoi. "Where would you like me to begin?"

"Start with the project itself," said Squall as the detective set up a tape recorder. "What exactly is CARCHARADON?"

"CARCHARADON is an Octarian military project that was meant to create bioengineered shock troops to supplement their military ranks, possibly even replace Octolings on the frontlines of combat," said Sinamoi. "The plan was to splice Octoling and, to some extent, Inkling DNA with that of sharks to create these new troops."

"And…you're one of them," said Squall. "What did you call yourself again, a Sharkling?"

"Yes, sir, that's correct," said Sinamoi. "Once the science teams had successfully begun to…breed us, for lack of a better term, we began a lifelong training program. Everything from battle tactics, survival, and brutal physical training and unarmed combat techniques. We began training the minute we finished incubating and didn't stop for several years later. Those who graduated became full-fledged members of the military. Those who failed…were 'recycled' for use in further experimentation."

Both Wake and Squall exchanged disturbed looks at this tidbit of information. "I'm sorry to hear that," said Wake. "I had heard of the brutality of Octarian society, particularly in the military industrial sector…but that's still beyond shocking."

"So what ultimately went wrong for the project?" asked Squall. "I'm assuming something must have gone awry if only you and your team are still here."

"Simply put, Colonel, DJ Octavio failed," said Sinamoi. "He was defeated by the Squid Sisters and this Agent 3. During the course of which, the former were performing what I believe you call the "Calamari Inkantation." As you know, it had a very important effect on the Octolings. It's the reason so many of them relocated to the surface and joined your society. Well, me and my fellow Sharklings were observing the whole battle remotely, and we heard it as well. More importantly, it instilled in us the same independent thoughts that it did in our Octoling comrades."

"Which didn't sit well with your creators," said Squall, "and they terminated the project, along with the rest of your kind."

"The project was discontinued, yes, but my fellow Sharklings are still very much alive," corrected Sinamoi. "They've simply been forced into cyrogenic sleep, at least until they find some way to turn them back into mindless drones. That was why our benefactor, Dr. Angelfish, set us free and sent us to the surface. She wants to prevent that from happening."

"Tell me more about this Dr. Angelfish," said Squall, leaning forward.

"She's one of the Octarians top scientific minds," said Sinamoi. "She's the whole reason CARCHARADON ultimately became a success. She's also closely linked to several major projects that the Octarians are still working on in secret. I daresay that if she were to be rescued along with my brothers and sisters, she'd be quite the treasure trove of intel for you."

"You're a perceptive one, Lieutenant," said Squall with a smile. "I like that. Now, exactly how many Sharklings are there in total, counting you?" he asked.

"Counting me and my team…there's about two thousand of us," said Sinamoi. "I know, it's a massive number but that was how many were made."

Squall let out a low whistle and leaned back in his chair. "You don't go small, do you, son?" he asked. "Two thousand individuals…that's one big influx of refugees you're talking about."

"I know it's a lot to ask of you all, Colonel," said Sinamoi. "But we're talking about the potential slavery of an entire species here. If the Sharklings aren't liberated, they'll be mind wiped and sent out there against Inkopolis and its entire population, and from there they could spread to other cities around the world. Much like true sharks, they'll be relentless predators tearing through anything in their path. Nobody deserves to live like that, nobody. They deserve a chance at the kind of life that can only come from living among the Inklings, a life where they're free and able to pursue their own destiny."

Squall drummed his fingertips together, deep in thought. Eventually, he leaned forward again and said, "You're a dedicated individual, Lieutenant, I respect that. And you're absolutely right, one can't simply stand aside while this…travesty of sentient rights is happening under our noses. At the very least, we need to preserve the security and safety of our citizens." He stood up from his chair, followed by Detective Wake.

"Colonel, sir?" asked Sinamoi, standing as well.

"Give me a week," said Squall, putting his cap back on. "I'll contact you again, with a plan in place. Cod as my judge, we'll save your whole extended family, come Hell or high water."

"Sir, you have my thanks," said Sinamoi, smiling. "I'll be ready and alert for your message."

"You do that," said Squall, about to leave. "Oh, and here's some advice, son: learn to loosen up while you're here. If you're going to live in Inkopolis, you've got to learn to let loose and have fun. Even an old war seahorse like me knows how to kick back." He smiled and winked before leaving the room.

"Well that's all I need," said Wake, passing Sinamoi his smartphone. "We have your number and address, we'll call you with any further developments, or if we need to ask more questions. In fact, I do have one question to ask you myself. Tell me honestly…" He leaned in a bit closer and asked, "What did it feel like to toss that back-stabbing bitch through that window?"

Sinamoi thought for a second before grinning and saying, "It was the best feeling in the world."

"Alright then, I guess that's everything," said Wake. "I'll just finish up the paperwork and like I said, we'll give you a call if we need anything. Take care." He left the room as well.

Sinamoi looked at his smartphone and noticed that there was a message from an unrecognized number on it. It said, "We'll be in touch, too. Thanks for keeping us both safe when the action went down! We'll return the favor soon enough, we promise!" It was signed with the letters C and M.

Sinamoi smiled and put the phone away and left the room. He found his team waiting for him in the lobby.

"Hey is everything okay?" asked Keket, standing up. "They said you were being questioned by some military suit."

"Yeah, some Inkling colonel," said Sinamoi. "It's still a little soon to tell, but I think we may have just taken a big step closer to saving the others."
"Well that's good," said Jabb. "After that huge mess in the Square, it's nice to know we made progress."

"I agree," said Sinamoi, looking around. "Hey, where's Zuni?"

"She was let go before any of us," said Hector. "Gave us her number and her address, though. Invited us to come visit when we get the chance to. I think we just made our first friend up here, sir."

"Yeah, I think we did," said Sinamoi. "And guys? Never mind the rank and file. While we're up here, let's just use our names. What do you say?"

The other three exchanged looks, and Keket asked, "Who are you and what did you do with our stiff-assed squad leader?"

"Just taking some friendly advice, Keket," said Sinamoi. "If we're going to live up here, we're going to have to hang loose. Now come on, let's go home. I think we've all earned an early day."