"General, sir?"
The General switched one of the screens to show an Elite Octoling, standing at attention. "What is it, Captain?" he asked, his voice low.
"Unfortunate news, sir," she said. "The assassination squad has failed. Two were killed, and two are now in custody of the Inkling army. What's worse, the Inklings now may know all about Project CARCHARADON."
The General shut his eyes, taking in several deep, slow breaths. "This turn of events is unfortunate," he finally said. "What's the status of the mind-wipe program?"
"Still far from complete," said the Elite Octoling. "If we were to even attempt it now, it would cause complete mental collapse of the subject. It would be like reducing the Sharklings to carrots."
"Then we have no other options but to proceed as normal," he said. "Ensure that the science teams stay on task. I want that program finished as soon as possible."
"Understood, sir," she replied. "What of the fugitive Sharklings?"
"I'll take care of that," he answered, grinning wide. "I'm going to call in Black Fin Squad."
Inkopolis, Apartment Building
Sinamoi looked at the apartment door in front of them. "So this is the place?" he asked.
Keket checked her phone. "This is the address she gave us the other day," she said. "So, we going to knock or just stand here looking ridiculous?"
"I'll do it," said Hector, knocking on the door.
It swung open almost instantly. "Hi, glad you could make it, guys!" said Zuni with a big grin, wearing yet another crazy fashion creation. Before the others could react, she practically yanked them into her apartment and shut the door. "Welcome to our humble home!"
"Oh? There's more of you here?" asked Keket.
"Yeah, my parents are at work right now, but my brothers and sisters are all here!" said Zuni. "Come on, let me introduce you to them!"
Inside the apartment were several other Harelings, a boy and a girl older than Zuni, and several others who were younger. "That's my older sister, Kyla, and my older brother, Ahmed," she said, gesturing to the older duo.
"Hi there," said Kyla in a friendly voice. "Nice to finally meet the friends Zuni's been talking our ears off about."
"Yeah, sounds like you all had quite an exciting first encounter," said Ahmed. "Getting attacked by Octoling spies and saving the Squid Sisters? Heck of a story."
"We didn't quite rescue them," said Sinamoi. "More like they got caught in the middle and I just did what I could to keep them safe."
"Still counts, though," said Ahmed.
"And this is my younger brother Kenta, and my little sisters Maki and Yasmine," said Zuni. "Guys, this is Sinamoi, Keket, Hector and Jabb. I told you about them the other day."
"Are you guys really shark people?" asked Kenta, looking up at Sinamoi.
"Yes, young one, we are," said Sinamoi with a smile. "How else would I get these impressive chompers?" He grinned slightly, showing off just enough teeth not to alarm the small boy.
"Wow, that's cool!" said Kenta. "Have you ever bitten anybody?"
"Well, there were a few times during my training days," said Sinamoi. "But I'll tell you all about that when you're bigger, I promise."
"Okay!" said Kenta with a big smile.
Yasmine was talking to Hector. "How come you wear those funny looking glasses?" she asked.
"Oh, you mean my visor? It helps me to be able to see," said Hector. "I was blinded years ago in an accident. One of the doctors was able to build these so that I could see again."
"Really? So you can't see anything at all without them?" she asked, tilting her head, her little hare antennae wiggling slightly.
"Nope, as blind as you would be in a pitch dark room," he said.
Keket was talking to Maki, telling her a story about her younger days. "So next thing he knows, he's flat on his back, short a few teeth and with a swollen eye and a bloody nose," said Keket. "You can bet he kept his hands to himself after that."
"Wow! You're really tough," said Maki, eyes wide. "And did everyone start giving you space after that?"
"Sort of," said Keket. "See, Sharkling males actually prefer strong competent females. So I ended up gaining a lot of respect, which made me more popular." She sighed and added, "Yeah, I broke a lot of hearts but I made a lot of good friends."
"So Zuni tells us you guys were…made by the Octarian military years ago?" asked Ahmed, bringing out some cans of soda for their guests.
"Yes, bioengineered is the proper term," said Hector. "But once DJ Octavio lost, we were all frozen away."
"Wow, no wonder you still look so young," said Kyla. "Maybe I should look into getting frozen one day."
"Eh, I wouldn't recommend it," said Keket. "You don't dream in cryo, and when you wake up you feel like you have a hangover and an ass kicking…uhh, pardon my choice of words. I know there's children present."
"Sounds pretty rough," said Ahmed, opening one of the soda cans. The minute the can popped and hissed, the Sharklings all stepped back, suddenly alert, eyes riveted to the can like it was a live grenade. "What? What's the matter?" he asked, worried he'd done something wrong.
"What the heck is that thing?" asked Keket, pointing at the can.
"It's a can of soda," said Kyla matter-of-factly. "It has a pop top that you open to drink it. Have you…never seen one before?"
"There's a lot of things we haven't seen before," said Jabb, relaxing. "May I see one?" He picked up the can and pulled the tab, watching as the can opened. "Oh I see now! The tab pops open that flap, and then you can drink from the can! That's handy!"
"Yeah, perfectly harmless," said Ahmed.
"Just one question, though. What do you do when you want to close it?" asked Hector.
"I don't think you're meant to," said Sinamoi. "You're just supposed to consume the entire thing in one sitting."
"Yeah, pretty much," said Kyla. "You guys hungry?"
"Well, a little bit," said Jabb. "But we don't want to impose."
"Nonsense, you guys are guests, and you're Zuni's friends," said Ahmed. "Any friends of our sister are friends of ours." He went into the kitchen and came back with two bags of chips. "You guys want Crab Bake flavor or Seasoned Squid?"
"Well we've never had either before," said Sinamoi. "So it will be a surprise either way."
"In that case, let's have a little of both!" said Zuni, ripping into the bags.
They all spent the afternoon hanging out with Zuni and her family, chowing on chips and soda and watching some classic TV shows.
"Well this has been fun, but we need to get going now," said Sinamoi as he stood up.
"Awww, do you have to?" asked Yasmine, her antennae drooping.
"Our parents will be back soon, and I'm sure they'd love to have you guys stay for dinner," said Kyla. "They'd love to welcome you to the city."
"That's very generous of you," said Sinamoi. "Still, we shouldn't-"
"I'd love to stay," said Hector quickly. "In fact, we all would! Wouldn't we, guys?" He turned to the others, and got a chorus of agreement.
Sinamoi rolled his eyes and turned to Kyla and said, "Well, there you have it. We'd be happy to join you all tonight."
"Great, then that's settled!" said Ahmed, standing up. "Come on, guys, let's get the table set and help set up the kitchen. Mom and Dad will be home soon!"
As they all hurried to get things ready, Sinamoi couldn't help but smile. It wasn't the regimental, military cooperation he'd grown up around, but he could see the bond that they all shared together. It made him miss his own family all the more, and made him more determined than ever to succeed. Then maybe his brothers and sisters could live just like families up here did.
Octoling Base Glass Lake
Four Sharklings stood in front of the General's desk, standing in the only available light in the chamber. One female with an officer's insignia on her combat armor, and three males, all wearing the same cold-blooded expression on their faces.
"Black Fin Squad, good to see you again," said the General, leaning forward just enough to let his face barely been seen in the glow of the screens. "I trust you had a nice long sleep, Captain Caliga?"
"Too long for my taste," said Caliga. She shook her head slightly, causing her long black shark tail hair to swish side to side. "Honestly I'm ready to get back into action," she added, her yellow eyes practically glowing.
A tall strong male behind her with a silvery short tail braid hairstyle and dark gray eyes spoke up. "Yes, sir, I don't want my skills to get rusty. I need to get back into the hunting grounds," he said with a nod.
The second male, Noctis, said nothing at all. He simply ran a hair over his dark violet short dorsal fin hair, his matching eyes watching in an almost creepy fashion.
The final member of the squad, Nero, spoke next. His hair hung in a split shark tail style, dark blue to match his narrow eyes. A 1st Lieutenant's insignia was on his chest plate, indicating he was the next in line of command. "Tell us, sir, who is the unfortunate target you want us to bring down?" he asked.
"Four of your fellow Sharklings were released to the surface about two weeks ago," replied the General, one of the screens rotating to face the squad. "Specifically, these four," he added as the faces of Sinamoi and his group were displayed. "I want you to track them down and eliminate them. They may be planning to release the rest of your kind before we've had time to perform the essential mind wipe. Do you think you're up to the task?"
"Sir, it would be a pleasure," said Caliga with a slow grin. "I've been itching for a chance to pummel those four for years. We'll terminate them and be back in time for coffee. Just leave it to us."
"Very well then, you do that," said the General. "Don't disappoint me, Caliga."
Caliga held her grin and responded, "Not a problem…General Megalodon, sir."