Chapter 26: Loyalties
Two more large double doors opened, as Eva and a couple other Eightfolds led Lydia and Marina into the dining room that was just as red as the lobby, with a long red table in its center. Lydia's eyes widened somewhat as she looked over the mounds of food that this table held; It was an absolute feast unlike anything she had seen before, and it was collected in lots of fancy plates, alongside the goblets that had the best wine one could ask for.
"Take a seat and get comfortable." Eva told them. "The King will be here shortly."
"T-Thank you." Marina told her.
Lydia turned to notice that Eva was still staring at her somewhat, but she walked off and assumed her guard position by the wall as soon as she was noticed. Ignoring that, Lydia took another look around at the food that practically welcomed her with open arms.
As she and Marina sat down together, Lydia was still looking around at everything, wondering what she should possibly touch first. Nervously rubbing her fingers together, she paused as she noticed the casserole-type dish, with all the ingredients in the world, and pulled it close.
"I don't think-" Marina tried to interject, but Lydia was already feasting hungrily. She sighed and watched her as, within moments, she had cleared out half of that particular plate.
Lydia groaned a bit as she leaned back and held her stomach, already feeling the stomach ache. Despite that, she had a look of content on her face, in bliss, as she sighed heavily. Mere moments passed as she got over it, and decided she wanted more, sitting back up to continue on the plate.
"Slow down, please." Marina told her.
She looked at her and slowed her pace only somewhat. "Are you not hungry yourself?"
"I spent the last three months locked down in a small spaceship in the middle of outer space with a diet of mostly canned beans. Yes, I'm hungry." She straightened herself in her seat. "But there's this thing called manners. And first impressions."
"Of course, Ms. Ida. I almost forgot you lived the life of a celebrity for as long as you did."
"That's only been a memory since the Underdogs took that away from me."
"You still lived it."
"Don't start." She gave her a glare, a bit more irritated. "I put the life I had to the side for you and your father. My relationship with Pearl, my bond with Eight, all my other friendships. And, speaking of Eight, I've been doing it all for a man who never even told me that his very own daughter and now my partner in this is an exact look-alike of her."
She stared at her for a second, quite annoyed herself, before she looked back down at her food. "It was a guarded secret. Yes."
"But why? Why did it have to be kept from me?"
"Your fondness for Agent 8 was considered an obstacle, ever since she escaped and was recorded to have moved in with you. It was not a part of Gideon's plan, so he responded accordingly. And now, he too has thrown his life away for something that was bigger than him."
She sighed. "…And I'm sorry for your loss."
"What about you, Ms. Ida?" She suddenly looked at her. "You complain to me about these close-guarded secrets, but you worked with the Splatoon yet went behind their backs all of this time. How does that make you feel?"
She stared her in the eye. She still had plenty of regrets about how this had all gone down, but her answer was perfectly honest nonetheless. "…It doesn't matter what I feel. This isn't about me. Or them. I never lost sight of how important this is. My loyalties were never truly with the Splatoon, they… were always with the Octarians, even on days when I doubted it. Or at least, it was with what the Octarians should be. In a weird way… I think it was the Calamari Inkantation that made me realize that."
"The Calamari Inkantation touched us all, but never quite in the same way, it seems."
"And what touch did it give you?"
"There's a whole story behind it. But in this world we now sit in… I suspect that its legacy is gone. And it's best we leave it behind."
Marina looked down as she thought about that, and a moment later, the doors again opened. They both turned to notice as Octavio, now moving around in a smaller floating throne he was steering around like a wheelchair, made his way in.
"Already eating, huh?" Octavio said as he noticed Lydia.
"I-I'm sorry, sir, I tried to-" Marina interjected.
"No, no. I understand. You come from a reality that is far less wealthy than ours." He kept floating along until he reached the far end of the table at the other end of the room, where his own customized meal was waiting for him. "It's a pretty heartwarming story, actually. So, please, eat as much as you like."
Marina and Lydia gave each other looks before Marina took her own plate and allowed herself to eagerly dig in.
Octavio watched them for a moment, without even touching his own food. After a moment, he suddenly laughed.
Lydia looked at him. "Is something funny?"
"Not funny, persay. Exciting." He leaned forward. "Because this is very exciting. Isn't it? Doesn't everyone feel it in the air!? C'mon! A new day is upon us!"
Marina couldn't help but smile. "Yes… this is a big landmark for all of us."
"The mere fact that it was the two of you that allowed this world to come into existence is just… wow. It's existential. Terrifying. Imagine how things could've gone if it weren't for the two of you."
"We don't need to imagine." Lydia said. "The world as it was existed for 100 years before we fixed it."
"Of course, of course." He nodded. "My bad. I suppose I shouldn't be stirring up memories of that world. Especially since I was, a, what did you say, uh… I was trapped in an icicle for a bunch of years?"
"A snowglobe." Marina said. "A… fortified snowglobe."
"Whatever. And you're seriously telling me I couldn't ever get out?"
"Once or twice, but last time I checked, you were still in there. And had been for a while."
He paused. "…And you never thought to help me out?"
They fell silent for a second as Lydia looked at her. Marina gulped, feeling the judgement from both of them. "I had my cover to maintain, sir."
"...Of course… of course." He sighed. "But… I guess that's all in the past, now. Or, more accurately, it never happened."
She awkwardly nodded.
"Indeed, from now on, we look to the future." He held up his goblet. "We're going to do a lot of good together, I just know it. I can feel it."
Marina held up her own goblet to complete the toast. Lydia, although confused, followed her actions and did the same.
As they all downed some of their drinks, Octavio sighed happily. "I just have one more question about the past. If you'll let me ask."
"Of course." Marina replied.
"That tragedy, that uh… happened with that resistance. The Squidbeak Splatoon." He scratched his chin. "When you went back in time, did you see what exactly happened to them?"
Another hush fell over them as Marina and Lydia looked at each other.
Lydia simply looked back at Octavio. "Are you not already aware?"
"It was a mystery for the longest time." Octavio shook his head. "They were led by Cap'n Cuttlefish. I hadn't sent anyone after them, but they were found dead in Cuttlefish's cabin after we already won the war. Rotting. With no indication of who even did it to them."
Eyes somewhat wide, Marina looked down.
Octavio gave them a suspicious look. "Are you aware of what happened?"
"...I killed them, sir." Lydia told him.
Octavio fell silent, staring back.
"Our simulations on how to create this new world did alert us to the fact that if we left the Squidbeak Splatoon alone, they would create a lasting resistance. One that would plague you to this day."
Octavio's eyelid started to twitch as he listened.
"I gave them the chance to surrender." Lydia continued. "But they did not take it. So I took the action I saw fit."
Marina side-eyed her as more silence plagued them. A couple painful moments that felt like several pressed on.
"...Guards." Octavio commanded.
At a second's notice, some of the Eightfolds in the room walked over to the space behind the two of them, pointing their weapons at the back of their heads.
Marina immediately held her arms up. "Woah, hey, hey!"
"Stand up!" Octavio commanded.
They both did so, nervously looking around. "M-My King, we are so sorry." Marina insisted.
Lydia wasn't quite as nervous for her own life as Marina was, but she still stared at Octavio with determination. "I give my word, we took the only choice that the Squidbeak Splatoon gave us. If it wasn't for that choice, history would have reshaped differently."
He steered his throne toward them. "What use do I have for your words now, you MURDERERS!?"
"...Our determination."
"W-We sacrificed everything to create this world, my King." Marina insisted. "I promise. I promise, we've all made sacrifices, it's just how this had to go!"
Octavio stared at them before he finally let up. "Gah! Stand down." He finished with a more whiny tone.
Lydia and Marina eased up somewhat as the Eightfolds lowered the weapons.
He steered the throne past them, toward the door. "This meal is over!" He yelled one last time as he headed out, leaving the two of them to think about what they had done in silence.
The Ray
Marie sighed as she sorted through the ship's storage rooms, pulling from the Splatoon's prior canned food reserves that was taken along for the space mission. She grabbed cans for everyone and headed back out.
All of the agents in the Ray were in an absolutely terrible mood as they waited nervously for Bridgett and Oliver to return from their mission. They had opened up the ramp once again for the sake of allowing fresh air and sunlight in, which was, at least, fairly relaxing for Marie after she had seen little but outer space for months. Regardless, her own frown remained stuck on her face as she went around the ship and handed a can to everyone.
"Thanks." Dylan told her as he took his.
"Welcome." She opened her own can and took a seat.
As they all got to eating, Dylan faced her. "So you really had nothing to eat but this stuff for that entire time you were out?"
"Yep."
"Wow. Bet that must've worn you down."
She shrugged. "Wasn't the worst thing in the world. Well, yeah, it was starting to get pretty frustrating, but then I started to appreciate the smaller things in life again after I almost got, well, dissected by aliens."
"Wow… yeah, I bet."
Jessica rolled her eyes as she listened, still not fully believing that whole "Safe Zone" story.
As they started to talk some more about Marie's experiences in space and with aliens and whatnot, Daniel was also listening somewhat as he sat there, and was the only one besides Callie who hadn't even opened his food yet. In fact, he had largely just been staring down at the floor, trying to ignore the voices in his head. His fingers nervously twitched as he frantically rubbed his thumb against his forefinger, occasionally closing his eyes.
Every time he did close his eyes, however, he could hear the Splatoon's conversations loud and clear…
"His eyes are closed, let's get out of here." Marie announced to everyone.
"Finally." Dylan said as he stood up.
"Just as planned." Jessica said.
"He's so gullible, falling for our tricks this easily."
"And when he's alone…" Marie continued, conversing with Jessica.
"He'll already be stuck in our trap."
"Just where we lured him."
Daniel shuddered a bit as he listened.
'Kill the lights.' The more anonymous voices in his head whispered in a chorus.
'Shut the door.'
'Kill Marie first.'
'Team can't operate if you chop down the leader.'
'Take her gun.'
'Get out of here, Daniel.'
'They lied to you, they all lied to you.'
'Daniel? Don't.'
'They have you right where they want you. Don't let them get away with it.'
'Daaaaniel…'
'Hehehe.' He could hear the giggle that Jessica used to make as a child.
'Get up and walk away, nothing's stopping you.'
'Daaaaaaaaniel…'
'Hehehe…' Young Jessica continued. 'No, Daniel, come and play with us.'
Daniel abruptly opened his eyes as he looked around. The agents around him were still talking about the same exact space adventures as before… no one was even really focused on him. But, he… he knew in his gut that something was up. They were using him for something. He just didn't know what yet.
Unaware that Jessica was watching him from a small distance, he stood up, used his Squid-form to sneak off, and walked down the Ray's ramp into the outside world. He briefly held his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked around, then continued onward, intent on getting as far away as he can.
"Daniel." He heard Jessica call out to him. He turned to see her as she marched down the ramp toward him. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"
He gulped as he awkwardly looked down, fingers still twitching as he avoided eye contact at all costs. "Away from here."
"Oh, good strategy." She folded her arms. "Where are you gonna go, Daniel?"
"I-I don't know, yet."
"You gonna go there?" She pointed at the Octo City skyline. "Is that your plan?"
He followed her point then faced her again. "Y-… You know that's not real, right?"
"It's real, Daniel." She folded her arms again. "At least… I'm pretty sure it is. Bridgett and Oliver are still getting intel for us, and until they come back, we stay here. Remember?"
"Don't give me this shit, Jessica." He said like a child, turning to leave once again. "If Oliver or- or Cuttlefish aren't here, then my deal is off and none of you control me."
She grabbed his arm to stop him. "At the moment, I'm controlling you."
He turned to glare at her, making full eye contact for the first time since they had even seen each other again. "Wanna let go of me?"
"Do you understand our situation, yet?"
"What situation!?" He pulled off of her. "That we're in some kind of Octarian hell? You're not even trying with your stories anymore. Things made more sense when I was back in prison! I may be crazy, but don't you dare act like I'm stupid!"
"My stories? I'm not-" She sighed, swiftly deciding on a different approach. "…Ok, I guess that for a schizophrenic like you, this would be extra hard to grasp. Fine. I can hardly grasp it myself. But whether we believe it or not, this is really happening. And I can't have you running off and making the situation worse."
"Worse!? WORSE!?" He stomped his foot down. "Things can't get worse!"
Jessica backed up slightly, ready to defend herself against him if needed.
"You left me in prison! By myself! I had NO ONE! You never even came to VISIT me! I-It was Cuttlefish of all people who came to my aid! Who gave me a second chance! Remember the last time I tried to get a second chance from you!? Huh!?"
She sighed and moved her gaze to the trees, rubbing her forehead.
"I've been at my worst, Jessica! Because of you!" He pointed at her.
Suddenly, without warning, she turned and smacked him.
He froze and rubbed his cheek.
She stared at him, waiting to see if he was going to have an explosive reaction to that, but… he didn't. From here, they stared at each other. "…You're not trying to kill me. I'd say you're at the best mental state you've ever been."
"Fuck you." He growled.
"I'm not the one who put you in prison, Daniel. Not in the grand scheme, at least. You made your choices. You turned to Ward instead of Cuttlefish first, and look what he turned you into." She pointed at his chest. "Ward's not here. I am. What are you gonna be now, Daniel?"
He didn't respond.
She stepped aside and motioned to the Ray. "Come back inside, Daniel."
He stared at her. "…You could've at least visited me, you know."
"What, so that you could go apeshit on me again?"
He shook his head. "I'm better than that now. I…" He looked down at himself. "Look at me. My aura is literally brighter, I- I talked to you in my cell every day, and you made me… better. I haven't tried to kill you, I haven't tried to kill myself… because I'm better."
She didn't respond, staring back at him.
"You see it, don't you? My aura?"
"Uhhh…" She shrugged slightly, playing along. "Sure?"
"Then you can see how much brighter I am." He patted his own chest. "Look at it."
She sighed. "…Not yet, Daniel."
He stared at her, disappointed.
After a moment, she again motioned to the Ray. "But if you just come back inside, maybe in time, I will."
He stared at the Ray, then at her.
"Come on." She motioned one last time.
He lowered his head as he slowly took a step forward. Jessica put her hand on his back as she led him back inside, then stopped on the ramp as she looked back out at the woods. "Hurry the fuck up, Bridge…" She whispered to herself.
It took a while longer, and the sun was starting to set by the time Bridgett and Oliver finally made their way back through the woods and into the Ray.
Dylan was the first to notice and stand up as he saw their approach. "They're back!"
Everyone else stood up as they saw them come up. Even Callie, who was coming out from her bedroom, walked up and listened from more of a small distance. Bridgett walked in first, with her arms sadly folded.
Jessica and Marie walked up to greet them. "And? What'd you find?" Marie asked.
Bridgett silently looked back at everyone else, while Oliver just silently stood behind her. "…It's a city of Octarians. A full city. With… with Tartar robots, and no physical media, and no Inklings. Anywhere. It was just Octarians."
The team looked around at each other. It was something they all suspected, but it was still shocking to hear words like that out loud.
"Ok…" Dylan nodded slightly, blinking. "But maybe it's not that big a deal for us, right? I mean, are they peaceful?"
"No." She shook her head. "You need some kind of ID in your wrist to even access basic items and then multiple of those Tartar things showed up to arrest us."
Jessica rubbed the base of her nose and sighed.
"We made it back fine." Oliver said. "That's what matters in the moment."
Marie, however, was staring at them. She saw that sad look on Bridgett's face. "What aren't you telling us?"
Bridgett gulped as all eyes again moved on her. She hesitated. "…Cap'n Cuttlefish really is dead."
A hush fell over all of them.
She looked down, fighting back tears. "…He was killed 100 years ago. So were his teammates. It's how this place… came to be."
Marie backed up from her silently, already tearing up. Jessica, gasping slightly, looked down in shock.
Callie, who was already in the process of tearing up, sat against the wall and curled up as she allowed herself to fully cry.
After a moment of devastating silence, Marie silently took a seat as well, staring ahead at nothing. She slowly and almost unknowingly clenched her fist.
"Marie?" Dylan slowly went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, but she did nothing to return his comfort. She was too furious, and was starting to shake as it took her over.
"...So… that's it, then." Jessica said.
Bridgett unfurled her arms as she walked up to her, preparing to hug her.
Jessica slowly looked up at her. "When I find Marina, I'm going to kill her."
"Jess…"
"No, no. In the entire history of our team, we have never been brought down this low. Even back during the Underdogs incident, Gramps… was always there for us. He was always there!" She suddenly snapped. She was now shaking in anger as well. "I wouldn't even be here with you if it weren't for him. This was Marina, and she has to pay."
Bridgett stepped forward and finally gave her that hug. "We'll get her… we'll get her, and we'll… take her in. We'll make her understand that what she did was wrong. I promise."
Marie shook her head and started fully crying herself as she listened to their words, looking down.
Jessica hesitated for a moment before she shakily returned the hug, steadily tearing up as well.
They spent those next moments silently grieving, and keeping each other company, until Bridgett broke the hug. "What about Pearl?" She walked deeper into the Ray toward Callie. "Callie, what did you see happen to Pearl?"
Callie shook her head. "I don't know where to find her, if that's what you're going to ask."
"But we have to. We've already lost enough, we can't-"
"It doesn't matter!" She suddenly erupted as she faced her, standing up. "It's too late! What's done is done! And it was all of us! Because we all made our choices!" She shouted through her tears. She coughed a bit, taking a second to calm down. "…What we should do… right now… is focus on Samantha. Before we lose her too. Because she's dying."
Marie wiped a tear from her own cheek. "I'm doing everything I can for her, but I need better than what we have in the Ray."
"Then we go find medical supplies." Dylan said.
"Where, Dylan? You heard how Bridgett described the city."
"Then we'll figure it out. But I'm not letting her die."
"Where else would we even go?" Jessica asked.
Everyone looked back at Callie, wondering if she had the answers. Callie nervously gulped.
Marie stood up and walked over to her. "Callie?"
Callie backed up again.
"Callie, you were the one who said we had to follow them. So what are we doing here?"
Callie gulped again, staring her in the eye with her own red teary ones. "I don't know… I just felt a… feeling… that dizzy feeling..." She then broke the eye contact and stared ahead, toward the Ray's ramp where they could see the orange glow of the sunset outside. "They made their new timeline and settled here. If we didn't follow them… we'd have no way of stopping them."
"Timelines." She shook her head, thinking. "Ok, so Gramps died 100 years ago, but you and I are still here. We still exist. So what, can we go back?"
Callie didn't respond.
"Callie, does the original timeline still exist? Can we go back?" She awaited an answer, but when she was met with silence, she suddenly snapped in her face. "Callie, can we reverse the jump and go back?"
She backed up some more. "I don't… know."
"You did the jump, Callie. Think! Samantha will die here if we don't find a solution fast!"
She nervously clenched her fists, closing her eyes as the dizzy feeling once again came over her. "Ok, in theory, the jump should work both ways, but we'll never-!"
"Good enough for me." She stepped past her and walked into the hall.
"Marie!" She tried pulling her back, only for Marie to pull herself from her grasp. "It's not going to work! Stop!"
"We have to try! I'm not losing Gramps yet, not here, and not like this!" She marched down the hallway.
The rest of the Splatoon followed. "What about Marina and the others?" Bridgett called to her.
"They can bathe here in their precious new world for all I give a shit, but we have no reason to stay." She walked by where the crystal was plugged in to check its status. Although the walls that surrounded it were burnt from the previous jump, it still seemed to be plugged in correctly, prompting Marie to continue along to the cockpit.
"We're trapped here!" Callie shouted like a madwoman. "We can't do anything, we're all trapped! Marie!" Giving up, she pulled back and slammed both of her fists on the wall as she started to sob. "GAH!"
Ignoring her objections, she crawled up the ladder into the cockpit, and the rest aside from Callie followed. She immediately started walking around the control room, setting up all the necessary controls to prepare a jump.
"What if it doesn't work?" Jessica asked.
"It has to." Marie insisted as she worked to set up the time and place, essentially reversing the settings as they were previously. "If we go back, we might even find Pearl."
Bridgett, Dylan, and Jessica exchanged worried glances. "Marie, shouldn't we take a second, to… discuss this, at least?" Dylan suggested.
As Marie walked up to the activation button, she stopped and looked at them. "Alright, then. Anymore objections?"
They all did some thinking, but after a moment, all they came up with was… this may have been their best option. They had no other idea on what to do. Besides, it was a mutual feeling among all of them that they wanted out of this nightmare as soon as possible, even if it was a temporary retreat so they could better prepare. Furthermore… they wanted Cap'n Cuttlefish back, at any cost.
Hesitating only one more moment, Jessica nodded at her. "…Do it."
Marie nodded back, and slammed the button. They all looked down as the ship made some electric noises, and the space around them began to slowly distort in an otherworldly fashion. The agents aside from Marie all looked up and around in amazement, seeing this effect for the first time.
Marie just clenched her fist as she heard the familiar sounds of energy building up, more than ready to go back home, before-
Sparks erupted from multiple control panels all at once. They jumped in surprise, as the activation button itself then exploded into yet more sparks near Marie's hand, prompting her to back up.
Jessica pulled Bridgett away from the explosions as Marie backed toward Dylan. Dylan grabbed her shoulder as the Ray abruptly shook around them.
Then, finally, the Ray shut down entirely, and the lights shut off, slamming them in darkness. Nothing but the little sunlight left through the windows lit up the room now, and even that was swiftly fading.
Marie looked around at the others as they let go of each other, breathing heavily in complete fear. She walked over to a nearby control panel to press some buttons, confirming that they no longer worked. The entire ship was now completely unresponsive. Then, she looked out the window, confirming that they hadn't even jumped anywhere at all. One of the first thoughts that flew through Marie's head was that it could be repaired, but then she remembered… they didn't have Marina to do it. Her breathing remained heavy and shaky as she looked around.
Retreating in defeat, Bridgett silently stepped backward and sat against the wall, fighting back tears.
They were now all stranded… and had nothing but what was left of their fractured team.
Somber piano notes filled the ears of King Octavio, as he sat in a large music-themed room, with the same red walls that decorated the other rooms in this place. He was still on his floating throne in front of the large, golden piano, playing the old tunes that he knew from before the Great Turf War. From the simpler times… where the people had known nothing but peace. He played this current piece for several minutes, enjoying the memories as much as he could, before he wrapped up, shakily lifting his old tentacles off of the instrument.
He sniffled and reached up to wipe a single tear from his cheek, before turning his throne toward the massive, old, black-and-white depiction of himself, in his younger days, alongside the young Cap'n Cuttlefish.
He slowly steered his throne forward, staring up at it as he silently reminisced. He sat like that for another few moments until the double-doors leading into the room opened up.
As usual, some Eightfolds, including Eva, came in. "They're here." One of them said.
Octavio quickly collected his cool as he returned to the piano and began pretending to have been playing music this whole time.
Behind him, Marina and Lydia walked up to him, and stopped as they faced them. "King Octavio." Marina greeted.
"That would be me." He said non-nonchalantly.
Lydia had once again noticed that Eva was still staring at her, and this time, she squinted at her as Eva regardlessly turned away and returned to her guard position. She looked down in confusion and turned back to Octavio. "...Ms. Ida and I talked it over. I wanted to apologize for-"
"Quit it." Octavio sighed. "…Cap'n Cuttlefish was a friend of mine. It was true. But…" He stopped playing and straightened himself somewhat. He slowly turned the throne back toward them. "You did what you did to create our world and make it as best as it could be, correct?"
She nodded. "Yes. Correct."
He stared at them, almost in a threatening manner, as they nervously stared back. After a moment, however, he suddenly chuckled. "I knew as much." He steered his throne away from the piano and past them. "I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."
"That's not necessary, my King." Marina said, somewhat awkwardly. "I fully see the errors of what we di-"
"But there are things in this world that are bigger than Cap'n Cuttlefish. After all, he's been dead for 100 years. At this moment, as we speak, in fact… there are forces out there that still fight against us."
"I… pardon?"
"Admittedly, the world you helped me create is not as perfect as you believed it would be. Which means that we all still have work to do here." He motioned his tentacle toward the wall. "I want to show you something."
They looked over in confusion as a slot in the wall opened up, and three Tartar-Bots walked in. They stepped into a perfect line and then saluted.
Squinting a bit at these fascinating robotic designs, Marina slowly walked up to investigate. From there, she could see the codes on their shoulders, alongside the Tartar labels. "C-Commander Tartar?"
"Commander? Hehe. Cute. These are the Tartar-Bots." Octavio continued. "And this one in particular picked up some interesting footage."
The one in the middle turned toward Marina and opened up its face, projected in front of them a holographic video recording of… Bridgett and Oliver.
Marina's eyes widened as she backed up, instantly recognizing her.
Lydia clenched her fist and stepped closer as they watched the first-person recording of the two agents getting chased in an alleyway, before Bridgett turned and punched it with a Splashdown, knocking it back.
Marina felt her hearts sink as she shakily looked down and covered her mouth. They… they had been followed. Her mission had already been jeopardized.
"Your surprise shocks even me." Octavio said as the Tartar-Bot looped the footage. "If you pay attention… you'll notice that the girl in this recording looks exactly like you." He looked at Lydia. "Care to explain?"
Lydia was furious, but she did her best to hide it as she looked at him. "One could call them… me. My doubles. My… inferiors." She looked back at the video. "The one they would call Agent 8, and… my DNA, shoved into an unnatural male form." She clenched her fist. "They're both turncoats for the Splatoon. I can only think that they seek to tear down what we've built."
"Hm…" He steered the throne closer to them. "The world is still filled with threats against my empire. No matter how hard we try, we still have to fight for the perfect Octarian world every single day. This is just the latest threat to it. If you can prove yourself against these doppelgangers… you will have my trust."
Lydia looked at him.
He smirked. "What will you suggest we do, Lydia Tecca?"
"...Kill them." She said with absolute certainty. "If they followed us here, there are possibly more Splatoon agents waiting in hiding. Perhaps, the entire remainder of their team. But they should be weakened. I've already taken Cap'n Cuttlefish and Pearl Hime away from them. We'll kill them all… and remove all other threats if we must."
He nodded in approval, chuckling. "That's what I like to hear." He leaned back. "Let's see to it, then."
Marina stared at the ground, her hearts racing. She had hoped the Splatoon she left behind would stay out of this… she hoped practically with her fingers crossed that it was all behind her…
Now, however, she still had one more mission to complete.
It was unbeknownst to them that their conversation could be heard from somewhere else, somewhere far away. A hidden figure was listening from their radio, that broadcasted the secret feed of the bug that was planted on one of the Tartar-Bots. This person put the radio down and looked over the notes on a nearby table before they suddenly vanished in a brief flash of light.