Chapter 31: Break-Up Blues

Days passed. Within these days, Tartar-Bots and the Eightfold Order began a more ruthless city-wide manhunt for these fugitives. The effect could be felt among even the most loyal and innocent Octarians within their boundaries, as the presence of Tartar-Bots in particular grew more and more among the streets and even in buildings.

In Octavio Tower, the Eightfold Order had grown exponentially busier as well, and more agents were working more hours. For the science team that was being led by the Marina native to this reality, things were extra busy as well, but for different reasons. Marina-2 had made significant crack-downs on her own team as they worked on their new crystal-related projects, and remained adamant about minimal distractions to their work.

Marina herself, still becoming used to this new reality, was also fully aware of the increased lookout for the Splatoon agents. She even knew about Oliver, Callie, and the apparent Octarian disguise Callie had used, which bothered her greatly. Regardless, choosing to stay on the good side of her counterpart while also staying out of her way as much as possible, she resigned herself from these thoughts and kept to her work. As the days passed, her two projects remained the same: Her work with Marina-2 on the enhanced crystal research, and her own personal work on the Hologrid project that she worked on during her own time. Every time her mind even tried to go back to the Splatoon, or even to Pearl, or Bridgett, and where they might be… she took a breath, closed her eyes, and shut them out of her thoughts as she continued her work. They could no longer be a part of her life; She had to close that door.

With her face behind her welding mask, Marina was working on some new crystal energy-transferal projects, assigned to her by Marina-2, at her own table which she had now personalized to her liking. As she worked on the machinery, other scientists in the room suddenly stood up straight, turned, and slammed their feet down. A bit confused as she heard this, Marina took her mask off and turned toward the door that everyone was facing. Awkwardly, she decided to take the same idle pose, lowering her arms at her sides.

Accompanied by multiple Eightfolds, Octavio came in on his floating throne. This was the first time she had seen him since first settling into the lab, but he definitely did not look like he was in a good mood. He floated directly toward Marina.

"M-My King." Marina cleared her throat. "I-If I had known you were coming-"

"Save it." He snapped. "Come take a walk with me."

Marina hesitated, looking back at her project. Getting the sense that someone was staring at her, she turned to look behind her, where Marina-2 was standing toward the back of the room, with her hands behind her back and her feet apart as she ominously glared at her. She tilted her head. She couldn't see Marina-2's eyes behind her goggles, but she knew what her posture was telling her…

Gulping, she turned back to Octavio.

As she walked down the halls alongside Octavio outside of the main labs, Marina put her own arms behind her back for the sake of looking professional. "My King, I'd like to apologize now for how far things have gotten out of hand with this whole Splatoon thing-"

"Why are you apologizing? Is it your fault, or what?" Octavio replied.

"I… no? Sorry, I just assumed-"

"Look, regardless of whether or not it is, these agents that came with you from the other reality are proving to be a bunch of pests. We have a bunch of Eightfolds and Tartar-Bots searching the Ray thing, searching for more clues on what they were doing, and where they might've gone. We're about to be moving the Ray to another location to continue on with that- So for now, I'm reassigning you to that location. Then you can get back to your other projects."

Marina paused upon hearing him talk about the Ray. "My King… don't you think that I might be a bit too close to that whole investigation to really…" She trailed off.

"You being close to this damn case is exactly why I'm reassigning you. My god, are you really about to drown me with the whole wishy-washy emotional sentiment thing? It's a temporary thing, it won't be longer than a day. Unless, of course, this is gonna cause a problem. Is it?"

"N-… No. Of course not. I'll do whatever you need me to do."

"Good. 'Cause the faster we get this over with, the better. 'I'm too close to this whole investigation'." He mocked her voice. "That kind of thinking is absolutely no good for you, sis. Take it from an old man and his ex-wife."

"Ex-wife?" That actually piqued Marina's interest. From what she knew, her own reality's Octavio had never married; Hell, marriage wasn't even a thing in the domes.

"Oh, yeah. We used to have a queen. Isn't that funny? But oh well, Tetricus and I were just… like water and oil, really. It wasn't pretty."

"Tetricus?" Now she was straight-up amused, recognizing that name. She smirked a bit. "You married Madame Tetricus?"

"Alright, alright." He, in turn, was instantly annoyed. "Don't rub it in."

"S-Sorry. Um… if I may ask, though… where is she now, then?"

"I took her out of the equation." He smirked. "And I hope you'll be willing do the same with your friends."

Her amusement quickly died down as she once again paused, looking down.

Octavio led her to the elevator, where some Eightfolds and a couple Tartar-Bots were waiting. He stopped in place before them. "This is the drop-off point, then. You'll be joining this team. Have fun… and don't mess this up."

Marina side-eyed him before she walked over to join them. Octavio watched until they all entered the elevator, and he made eye-contact with Marina a last time before the elevator doors closed.

Elsewhere in the same tower, among the people who have been worried about the rebellion situation, was Lydia, who was standing alone in another, much darker room. Repeating, holographic Tartar-Bot footage was playing in the center of the room, directly in front of her, as she stood there, non-moving. The footage was looping between the different battles with the Splatoon: First with Oliver and Bridgett in the library and the alleyway, then with the Splatoon in the woods by the Ray, and finally, with Oliver and Callie in the medical facility. Her focus in particular was on her own clones… she studied their very movements, their very fight patterns. Her fists silently and unconsciously clenched as she stared into the eyes of her female and male counterparts, almost without blinking.

Oh, how she currently regretted letting Bridgett go when she did… but Bridgett's eyes at the time held a different kind of emotion than the pair of eyes she could see in this footage. She had fallen to a moment of weakness… and this was the result.

Deep in her thoughts about this, she didn't even react as the door opened, letting light slide inside as Eva stepped in and looked at her.

Eva looked at her with concern before she walked over to a nearby wall panel. "How many times have you watched those?"

"Does it matter?" Lydia replied.

From said wall panel, Eva turned off the hologram and turned on the lights, revealing the interior of the small meeting room they were standing in. "Obsession won't always get you where you need to go. Keep that in mind."

She turned to her, annoyed. "You can claim to be a part of my family… but don't assume to know what will help me, and what won't."

"The rebellion has been around for 100 years… and we're still here." She stepped closer toward her. "They're at no advantage. You can try to relax somewhat. We'll deal with this situation in time, it's what we do."

"Did you need something?"

"To talk. Ms. Ida has been temporarily reassigned to look over the Ray, and while she's gone, we have assessments to make."

"Why me?"

In response to the question, Eva started awkwardly pacing back and forth, slowly putting her hands together. "The King… isn't exactly happy with the progress being made since you came here."

Lydia just rolled her eyes and moved to take a seat at the table.

"I'm not saying you're in trouble." Eva assured her. "The King still sees great value in your presence here, and so do I. He just… he expects more out of you."

"And I expected more out of this world, but we seldom get everything we want."

Eva looked down as they fell into silence. Lydia, robbed of having something to stare at, turned to stare blankly into the wall.

"...You may voice your disappointments about this world… but there was another thing I wanted to tell you." Eva continued.

She looked at her. "What?"

She smiled. "I have a surprise."

Lydia followed from behind Eva as she led her down the hall, down an elevator, and into another much more relaxed floor on the lower levels. Lydia looked around; The place was clearly decorated with a more laid-back atmosphere in mind for visitors, with things like paintings and plants for decorations, and cozy looking furniture like what someone would see in the previous Inkling world. Although it was nothing out of the ordinary, for Lydia, it was unlike anything she had seen before, and her mouth opened slightly in surprise.

"This way, please." Eva pressured her along, as she led her toward another room. As they made their way up, she pressed on her watch to manually open the sliding door before them, leading them into a nursery room. She smiled. "Here they are." She held her hand out toward the two familiar children that were playing a video game on a holographic screen. Even they were dressed up fancily for the Octarian's standard, with fancy, light red outfits.

Lydia watched as the kids shot up and ran over. "Mommy!"

"My sweethearts." Eva accepted them into her arms as they rushed up to hug her. She gracefully held them, pet them, and kissed their heads. Lydia watched this unfold intently, but didn't say anything, or even move.

"You said you'd have days off, but then you left and didn't come back." The girl sadly told her mom.

"I'm sorry… it's been a busy few days. We can't always predict these things, now can we?" Eva replied.

"They keep talking on the television about how there are bad people out there…" The boy told her. "They said there are Inklings in disguise."

"Are we in danger?" The girl asked.

"No." Eva continued. "I would never let anybody put you in danger."

"Promise?"

"Promise." She kissed their heads twice more.

"Who's that woman?" The girl pointed at Lydia.

"I told you about her over the phone. This is your Aunt Lydia." She stood up and smiled.

Lydia grimaced slightly upon hearing the word 'Aunt'.

"She has the Tecca name. Just like us." Eva continued.

"Really? But is she really our Aunt?" The boy asked.

She chuckled. "No, not technically, but, she's a part of our family and she's very special. I think she's earned the title, honorarily."

"Cool." He smiled excitedly.

"Won't you say hello?" She asked Lydia. She let go of her children and allowed them to crowd her.

Lydia stared down at them, studying their happy faces. She nodded at them. "Hello."

"Helloooo." They both smiled up at her. "So where'd you come from?" One asked.

"How come we've never seen you?" The other followed up.

Lydia hesitated. "I… come from somewhere else. Far away."

"Woah…" The boy pulled on her hand. "Well now that you're here, can we show you our game?"

"No."

The kids paused, looking at each other. "Well… can we show you something else, then?"

"What are you into?" The other asked.

"I'm not sure we have time-" Lydia paused as she looked at Eva, who silently encouraged her with a smile. She looked back down at them. "Well… I used to draw."

"You do?" The boy asked.

"Me too!" The girl replied. "Can I show you?"

Again, Lydia paused. "…You may.."

"Cool!" She smiled as she pulled out a small, phone-like tablet from her pocket, which of course brought up a holographic screen. She began sorting through multiple drawings she had made, and Lydia knelt down to get a better look, studying each one and just taking in the moment. She didn't say much, or even do much to encourage them, but she studied the drawings, and the youthful, excited, and innocent energies of these children. They reminded her somewhat of simpler times… and in this moment, she almost felt like she was getting those simpler times back. As she watched more and more, she even smiled a bit, but only slightly, and only for a moment.

"Your art shows promise." Lydia told them.

"Thanks." She replied, smiling brightly. "What about you? What have you drawn?"

"...Perhaps, another time, I'll show you."

"Cool!"

"Cool!" The boy echoed. Lydia gave another slight smile at them.

Eva smiled in the background, simply watching them as they got along. This went on for at least a couple minutes as they talked about their different art, and as it did, her eyes moved toward the corner of the room where the usual Thinker broadcast was currently coming on. She turned toward it.

Of course, the Thinker was talking about the rebellion again, referring to them as their hidden enemies that could be anywhere, even among friends. They were thinly-veiled messages about how you can't trust anyone, about the dangers of society, yada yada. She didn't want or need herself or her children to be constantly exposed to the stuff… so, sighing in silent irritation, she reached for the remote and turned the broadcast off.

"Indeed, my new friend, how can one not be terrified of what is going on?" The Thinker's voice broadcasted throughout the city. "These so-called freedom fighters, they are after our freedom. They are after what makes our society work. They want to take away everything that we are; We saw the same thing happen back in the days of the Great War. I try not to bring up such awful memories of the Great War so often on this show, but I think this situation calls for it, no? Tell me again- how does this situation make you feel?"

On the screen, the Thinker ushered to his Octoling visitor on the purple swivel chair across from him. "I'm scared. I've… never been more terrified. I look at my children, my wife, and… they're scared to leave the house now. I think I kind of am too. Knowing that these menaces to society can… make themselves look like something they're not, I just…" His voice suddenly broke as if he was about to break down crying. "What if these people are slowly tarnishing what we've built? What happens if they brainwash my children with these lies?" He lightly bit his finger. "I'm just scared… not knowing where they might be coming from next. My family is… the only ones left that I can trust, I feel like."

A long "Awwwww…" erupted from off-camera, before the Thinker rose his hand to silent the audience.

"My friend…" The Thinker continued. "I sympathize with you. A few days ago, trust was a simple law of life. It was unbreakable. Now… in the blink of an eye, things are different. And I would also like to speak to all my other friends out there-" He turned back to the camera. "This is a temporary situation. We will bring this rebellion and all of its blind followers to justice. We will bring order and trust back to our lives. And I, the Thinker, will be with you on this journey every step of the way."

Underground in Inker Valley, Marie was watching this broadcast with a complete dumbfounded expression on her face. She had been watching all of these Thinker broadcasts lately, in a constant, desperate cycle of seeing if they were going to report on Callie's whereabouts once again. Although Callie and the others hadn't resurfaced again, she was still becoming increasingly baffled and even freaked out by this complete dystopian propaganda.

"Jesus, just announce the 76th Hunger Games already." She leaned back in her chair. As she kept watching the broadcast, she saw as the Thinker brought in more visitors who gave their own sob stories about their reactions to this whole rebellion thing. She held her hand out toward the screen. "Does anyone seriously even buy this shit?"

Lucy, who was prepping one of her weapons at a table by the wall, looked at her. "You'd be surprised. To the people on the surface, we're kind of just the boogeymen."

"Well, this guy is kind of just a lunatic."

"He's an entertainer." She stood up and leaned on the table, folding her arms. "You were the same in your world, weren't you?"

She sighed. "Yeah… yeah, I mean, for a time. But not like this guy."

"Well, propaganda is still propaganda."

She shot a glare at her. "Excuse me?"

"Just saying that you might not be as different from him as you think, with the whole celebrity life that molded you."

She stepped toward her. "Pearl was a celebrity too. Does that not lower your opinion of her at all? Or are the rest of us just villains to you?"

Lucy took a pause as she thought about that, but didn't break eye contact with her. "Pearl isn't like that anymore. You don't know what she and the rest of us have been through."

"You're right, because no one will tell me."

"Yeah. And it's just all gotta be about you, huh? Again. Not so different."

At this point, Marie just glared at her until they heard someone else walk in. Lucy straightened herself as she noticed it was Pearl herself. "Pearl."

Pearl just stood by the doorway, and was in the process of changing into her white shrinking suit, putting the gloves on and tightening them. "We've got a new mission. Can you gather everyone?"

She nodded and walked past Marie. "Well, come on, then, 'Squid Sister'."

Marie rolled her eyes before she followed.

As they walked down the hall, the two of them gathered up with Bridgett, Jessica, and Jaxon before they once again met up with Pearl and other Inkling soldiers in a small meeting room. Pearl was writing down notes on the central table that the soldiers surrounded.

"Did we finally get a lead on the rest of my team?" Marie asked first thing as they came in.

"Not yet." Pearl looked at her. "We've been studying Octarian communications closely, but the Octarians themselves have yet to find them. Wherever our friends are, they're doing a good job staying out of sight. That's a good thing."

"How do we know they're not dead or dying out there?" Bridgett decided to ask.

"...We don't." She admitted. "But until we get the report that their bodies were found, we won't have a way of knowing."

"It's ok, though." Jaxon interjected. "Their bodies would probably be found quickly, so I think it's ok to assume they're still out there. So don't lose that hope."

Marie sighed. "Well, that only eases me slightly… What're we here for, then?"

"The Ray." Pearl slid some of the notes toward them. They all gathered around to see the map of some unrecognizable facility. "While studying their communications, one thing we did pick up today is that the Ray got transferred to another facility. We can quickly go in, grab it, and get out."

"The Ray?" Another soldier asked. "Should that really be our priority right now?"

"That's a fair question, but if we want to help our newcomers, we will need to retrieve it eventually. Right now, the Octarians currently have it exposed, but likely not for long. So yes, we need to grab it quickly."

Bridgett rose her finger slightly and pointed at the notes. "Because the Ray was designed by Marina with time-travel capabilities. If we can get it and find a way to repair it-"

"We can go back home and fix this entire problem." Marie finished.

Pearl just nodded in agreement.

"If they moved it to such an exposed facility, though, you know it's a lure." Another soldier spoke up. "It's not even the first time the Octarians have sprung a trap like this for us. Especially during times like these, when there's a city-wide manhunt going on."

"I prefer to think of traps as face-offs if you can see them coming." Jessica replied.

Although some of the soldiers chuckled in response to her comment, another one rolled his eyes. "Look, new girl? I get you're not used to our operations here, but we need to pick and choose our battles. This isn't like your other world where fighting Octarians is just a stroll on the surface."

"Enough." Pearl cut them off. "I've already considered the various scenarios and this is a fight we'll take. There will be Tartar-Bots to deal with, but it's nothing we can't handle. I'll be coming along on this one to make sure it goes smoothly and we'll be in and out as quick as we can. If anything, we're at an advantage doing it now because of how distracted they are by that manhunt."

Hearing her words, the soldiers simply stopped arguing, and some of them even nodded in agreement. The people here did seem to truly trust Pearl, Bridgett and the others had noticed.

Amid that silence, however, another voice broke out. "He's right, you know."

Everyone turned to see Daniel, who was leaning on the doorway.

"You're biting the bait." He continued. "Can none of you really see a trap when you're confronted with one? You'll all be dead."

"Oh, good, the wise one has spoken his piece." Lucy remarked.

Jessica stepped toward him. "What are you doing, Daniel?"

"I'm coming with you."

"Why? So that you can be dead with us?"

"Whatever gets me out of this hell-hole you guys locked me up in, I'm game."

"No one's locked you up, Daniel."

"Is that right? Is that what you think?" He looked around at everyone else. "You're all being lied to. You realize that, right? Marie and Pearl have been running this whole thing. Some trap to hold us all here. Or are you all in on it? Do you all think this is funny? That I don't know what you're really doing? You think I'm stupid?"

The others just stood there in awkward silence, unsure of what to say. Marie uncomfortably shared glances with Bridgett. Other soldiers then suddenly got into a more defensive position as Daniel stood up straight and stepped forward to join the meeting, before Jessica stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Get out of my way, Jessica." He growled.

In response, she put her hand on her soldier. Feeling her very real touch, he looked at her arm, somewhat surprised.

The others watched in silent disbelief as Daniel slowly fell calm once again.

Jessica nodded slightly. "…Let's go for a walk."

The others remained vigilant as Jessica led him out and into the hall. As she left, she looked back at Bridgett, making brief eye-contact with her. "I'll keep an eye on him. Go along without me." She told her before she vanished from sight.

Bridgett looked down somewhat before she turned back to the meeting.

Pearl just grabbed her notes and checked the time, sighing. "Alright, then. We don't know what kind of window we're looking at for this mission, so we should get moving. Everyone who's ready, come with me."

The assigned soldiers nodded and followed her as she walked out. Bridgett, Marie, Jaxon, and Lucy walked alongside her.

"Just like that?" Bridgett asked. "What even is the plan? How are we gonna pick up the Ray?"

"With these." Pearl pulled out a small, white disc from her suit's pocket. "I can throw one of these at whatever we need to grab, and it will shrink down for easy transport. I only have a few of them, though, so I've been saving them for a situation like this."

"Ok… but what if the mission otherwise goes sideways, with how exposed we are?"

"That's always been the risk we take with every mission, it's just how this works. There will be more of our people to keep up the fight even if we occasionally lose."

She hesitated another moment before she responded. "…Ok. But what about you? There's only one of you, and we already almost lost you once. I just… hope you're not just trying to throw yourself away or think you're expendable. I'll be there for you if you need me-"

"You're not going."

"W-… What?" She paused, taken aback by that. "Why?"

"You're a liability. You're one of their targets, because you're identical to Lydia Tecca. Being seen working with you will only make the situation worse."

She blinked. She was so blindsided by what she was saying, she may have been feeling a mild panic attack bubble up. "But… if I look like Lydia Tecca, I could probably use that to sneak past them, couldn't I?"

Pearl shook her head. "They wouldn't fall for that."

"T-… Then what about you? How are you not more of a liability than I am, given that you were Marina's girlfriend?"

She just side-eyed her. "You should join up with Jessica, keep an eye on Daniel. Besides, you could use the rest. I can tell you're exhausted."

Bridgett briefly reached up to feel the bags under her eyes, sighing. As she followed them into the garage, for which Pearl pressed a button to open the entrance sliding door, she tried pulling Pearl's arm. "Pearl, listen to me-" She was interrupted as Pearl yanked her arm from her grasp and entered the garage. "I don't- I don't want to just leave you behind again!"

"I'll be fine, Eight. You shouldn't worry about me." Pearl briefly turned to her before she led her team of soldiers toward the wall to grab their weapons.

Bridgett just stood at the garage entry-way, turning toward Marie who gave her an apologetic look in return.

"I'll just… see you later, Eight." Marie told her before she grabbed her charger and joined up with the others. "She's right, though. Maybe you should try to rest."

Bridgett just stared until the garage door slid shut in her face.

As Marie walked with the others to the Goldship they were going to depart on, Jaxon turned to her. "What about you, though? You don't think you need rest?"

Although Marie herself was indeed also forming less-noticeable bags under her eyes, she just ignored him as they all got on the ship.

As Jessica continued on her walk with Daniel, they didn't say anything, do much, or even acknowledge each other's presence too much. Jessica mainly spent the time by keeping her eye on him, and eventually, she took him back to the men's barracks.

As Daniel sat on his bed, Jessica went to pour him a cup of water. As she returned to him, they finally made eye-contact, as Jessica hesitantly spoke her next words: "Are you all calm now?"

"I… I think so." He replied.

She handed him the cup, which he sipped. "Alright… because another break-down is the opposite of what we need right now. You get that, right?"

Daniel just looked down somewhat, nodding slightly. As Jessica sighed and turned to leave, she was cut off. "Jessica?" He asked.

She just looked at him.

"...Was this because you wanted to spend time with me… or are you just holding me here?"

She sighed, thinking about her answer. "Look… there's been a lot going on lately that I'm still not sure you'd believe. Right now, I just don't want a repeat of what happened last time between us, because I'm just… exhausted. You don't have to think too deeply into it."

"But that, there, was… nice… wasn't it? That was... like…"

"...Like..." She shrugged. "What?"

"Like when we were younger." The look in his eyes almost seemed child-like. "Before everything happened."

Again, she paused as she considered that. "…Yeah." She looked down, nodding slightly. "Yeah." Without another word, still feeling quite uncomfortable, she abruptly turned to leave.

Daniel set the cup down as he watched her, disappointed by how quickly she had left. Did… she want to spend more time with him… or not? He couldn't tell…

As his mind started to fill with all the negative scenarios that could possibly mean, the voices began to fill his ears, as the world around him buzzed. He leaned his head down. "No… no." He lightly smacked his own ear.

Jessica had walked too far to notice, and as she walked down the halls, it was Bridgett who she ran into next, who was coming back from the direction of the garage. She stopped in front of her, surprised. Bridgett stopped as well, nervously rubbing her fingers together.

"Why aren't you on the mission?" Jessica asked her.

"I, uh…" Bridgett, still fighting off a mount of anxiety in her own mind, sighed. She raised her fingers to do an 'air quotes' motion. "I'm a liability, apparently."

She sighed as well and stepped toward her, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "Well, guess it's just us here, then."

"...Yeah." Thinking about that, she suddenly looked down and blushed.

Jessica noticed, and trying her damndest to not make the situation any more awkward, nervously rubbed the inside of her pockets, while softly kicking one of her feet against the ground.

After a moment, Bridgett suddenly turned to walk in the opposite direction. "I'm sure that you, uh, have things to do, though-"

"Nope." She rejected that thought quickly. "I calmed the psychopathic brother down, I just… figured I'd wait to see how the mission goes."

"Oh." She stopped as she again turned to her. "Right, I… guess I'm kind of in the same boat."

Again, they fell into silence. Jessica maintained the same awkward tics she was doing, but after another excruciating moment, she looked at her. "Did you… want to find ways to… I dunno… pass the time? While it's just us, I mean?"

"Right." She nodded. "Right, I guess we can keep training together."

"Or…" She looked down. "We could try something more… relaxing? I think we could both use that."

"...Oh. Um…" She nervously cleared her throat. "Are you sure you don't want to train?"

"I-I guess if you want, we can, I was just thinking about… switching things up. I think we could both try to relax… couldn't we?"

"...Right…" She cleared her throat again, louder this time. "Right, ok. Um… what did you have in mind?"

She stared at her. "Well… I do have one idea."

Moments later, the two of them were again alone in the women's barracks, and were sitting on Jessica's bed together, throwing some worn-out cards into an old fedora, which was lying on its top on the ground a difficult distance away.

Bridgett was enjoying the game, but was struggling to land her throws at first, groaning. "What is this kind of game even for?"

"It works on your coordination." Jessica replied as she kept playing. In contrast, she was landing most of her throws squarely into the hat.

She groaned again as she looked at her. "How are you doing that?"

"Gramps showed me this game when I was doing my Agent 3 training." She kept playing with her. "We played it a lot."

"Well, can't say it's what I imagined when you pulled out a stack of cards." She kept trying. "And doesn't that make this like a form of training?"

"Sure, but it makes it more fun." She looked at her. "I told you before when we were hunting the 'Underdogs', that… you could try mellowing out a bit more. I should've tried showing this to you back then."

"Yeah, I think you were more of a hard-ass trainer than Cuttlefish is. I-I mean… was…"

Jessica didn't respond to that.

As they kept playing, Bridgett kept struggling with her throws, until Jessica eventually reached over to hold her hand and showed her how to better angle it. She blushed as she felt Jessica's hand on hers, but as she started to get the hang of it, her throws started to become more concise, and soon, she was landing more of them in the hat. She smiled. "Finally."

"There you go." Jessica smiled slightly as, after running out of cards to throw, she went to re-collect them so that they could play again. By the time she had returned, however, Bridgett was now curled up on the bed, hugging her legs. "You ok?" She asked as she sat down.

Bridgett shook her head slightly, staring blankly at the hat. "I can't remember the last time I really felt… any kind of fun…"

Jessica didn't respond, but listened to her.

"I-I mean… ok, I had a moment with Oliver, back there." She started playing with her hands. "It felt like, for even just a second, there, it felt like, things might turn back around. Because I have a brother now. But… he's not here. I don't… know where he is. Or if I'm going to see him again. And the same goes for Dylan, and Samantha, and Callie-"

"We're going to find them." She reminded her. "It's just going to take time."

"T-That's not what I'm saying, I just…" She was steadily tearing up. "I was thinking, that, my entire life, has only been this short… amount of time that I spent with Pearl and Marina. I didn't, realize, at the time, that… my entire, short life, has just been… leading to this. Like I was destined to never really be happy. And I-I thought that I was finding a purpose, w-with being Agent 8, with you, but… w-what if my real purpose is just… this?" She motioned her hand out to the barracks around them. "What if I really am just, some… shitty, secondary clone for a psychopath, and my purpose was just leading to all of this? M-Maybe this is just my entire destiny, and I was genuinely never supposed to be happy. B-Because first, the world had to put me with Marina and Pearl, Marina betrayed us, she wasn't who she thought she was at all, and… a-and then, with Dylan, I just… completely lost sight of what our relationship was even supposed to be, and then it get to the point where even he is tired of me, and wanted a break, and… were we… ever even really happy together?"

She sighed. "Well… maybe you weren't. Does it matter?"

Bridgett looked to the side and wiped one of her tears. "It just means that I… thought I had this… life, with you guys, but… maybe the entire time, I've just been... alone. Alone, and living a lie." She sighed.

"...No." She shook her head. "I'm right here for you, aren't I? I've been here for you, haven't I? Do you feel alone around me?"

Bridgett looked back at her. "Well… maybe you don't have to be. I'm not even who you thought I was… am I? I'm not… real."

"Hold on, no, back up. That doesn't make you any less real. You're still exactly the same person I've gotten to know, Bridgett. You're not Lydia Tecca. You're Bridgett. You're Agent 8. You're a tough bitch of an Octoling, a city protector, and in the entire time I've known you, the entire time you've lived, you've never given up. You have a far better track record of not giving up than I do. Don't you dare try to give up on yourself now." She leaned toward her. "Marina isn't who we thought she was? True. Gideon? Total prick of a 'father'. Dylan? He's his own person who wants his own life and he wasn't happy. Lydia? Like you said, maybe a psychopath. You're not like them. You're not even like me. You're you, and no one can take that away from you. Whatever you may have seen in Project Legion can't, either. Are you gonna fucking let them?"

Bridgett stared back at her, listening intently to every word she said. A warm feeling fell over her… and with it, came a feeling of calm. She stared her right in the eye, and Jessica stared back. The space between them was short, and she could feel the warmth off of her skin. As her mind slowly went back to that moment in the Subgrid, her hand moved forward, slowly touching hers.

As Jessica looked down at their hands, Bridgett's hand then moved up her arm, and then behind her back. Again, she looked Bridgett in the eye, starting to breathe somewhat heavier.

There was most certainly a specific air between at this point; both of them could feel it, even if neither of them would yet admit it to themselves. Neither of them made another move from there, even if they secretly wanted to, leading them to both look down and blush. Yet, at least… the calmness that Jessica's presence gave was now wrapping around her like a blanket, and as it eased her, she felt her eyelids start to grow heavy. She looked her in the eye again.

Seeing this, in that moment, Jessica had an idea. "...Here." She pulled her down onto the bed, and pulled the covers over them. They laid down together and snuggled up there, facing each other. Only somewhat less hesitantly, Bridgett again reached to put her hand on Jessica's arm… in turn feeling more comfort than she had felt in a long time.

Finally, Bridgett's thoughts slowly faded away into the realm of her dreams… and she calmly fell asleep.

The Goldship

It was an older Goldship model that Jaxon had modified that emerged from Inker Valley's underground and began its automatic flight toward Octo City. On board, the Splatoon soldiers were all making their final preparations with their weapons and their plan.

On the floor, Jaxon set down a small, button-like device. "Got the rest of the data." He pressed it, and a 3D, holographic map of the building they were heading toward emerged from it. The other soldiers gathered around as Pearl walked up to it.

"We've got an entrance right here." Pearl pointed at one of the many ship port entrances. The map enlarged to zoom in and show the slot-like entrance in better detail. "We can go in disguised as one of their own Goldships, but our cover will be exposed as soon as we open up, so we'll move quickly. Jaxon and Lucy, you're leading back-up, deal with any Tartar-Bots that are present. I'll shrink to get through the ducts, find and grab the Ray, and get out." She pointed at the next exit port. "We'll get out through this emergency shaft, but don't come back for me if I miss my target."

The rest of them silently nodded.

"Alright. Remember, move quickly. Don't wanna be in there long at all. Get ready."

The soldiers continued their preparations. As Pearl stepped away and did the same, Jaxon came up to her. "I don't mean to question your judgement, but… you sure you want to make this kind of risk with yourself just to get this ship back?"

Pearl nodded. "We've discussed this already, haven't we?"

He sighed. "Just… be extra careful then."

"I will be." She patted his arm. He gave her a brief one-armed hug before he went to get ready himself.

Marie, seeing this out of the corner of her eye, turned to them and squinted in confusion as she saw this happen.

"We're closing in!" The woman at the front of the ship announced. Marie turned to look out the window at the big, floating island they were approaching. The facility they were approaching itself was the island, and it resembled a large, purple factory with many exhaust ports that jetted out from all sides. She clenched her charger a bit, wondering if, somewhere, Marina was inside…

Indeed, Marina was standing inside the facility in another somewhat dark garage; It was a considerably smaller one compared to the one the Ray was previously stored in under Octavio Tower, but was still perfectly roomy and was designated more for ship design. She was watching alongside a couple of scientists and engineers as a mobile claw on the ceiling carried the damaged Ray and set it down in its new designated area. It was still in the same state she had last seen it: Damaged, powered-down, and frozen with its ramp wide open.

As soon as it was on stable ground and the claw retreated, Marina and the others stepped up the ramp and into the loading bay, carrying their equipment with them. "Be thorough." She told the others. "Go down the list and check off what you can. We'll meet back outside."

The small team nodded and split up.

Marina, at first, silently looked around the loading bay, before she made her way deeper into the halls to begin her scans. She carried a small scanner she had been provided with as she scanned down the halls, for fingerprints, signs of tampering, and other signs of activity or whatever else the Splatoon may have previously been doing here. She checked the storage and food reserves to see what was missing, she double-checked the power slot where the Axcian crystal was supposed to be to see what kind of damage had been caused, and checked the cockpit, where she again paused and silently looked around.

As she suspected, there wasn't really much to analyze here, but… she couldn't help but let her surroundings remind her of her last adventures she had with the Splatoon… in their journey through the stars together. When it was just her, Pearl, Marie, and Callie…

No, no, she couldn't think about that. Quickly finishing her scans and observations, she made her way back out into the hall, where one more trip down memory lane waited for her as she came down near where her old bedroom door was, for the room where she and Pearl had been living… She paused, noticing it was open a crack. She could take a look inside.

She slowly, very slowly, inched her hand toward it. Her steps toward it were slow, but before long, her fingers were inches away from touching the metal walls… even if it was just for a peek…

No. No, she couldn't do that to herself, either. Forcing herself to step back, she lowered her hand and silently stared at it. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she had to remind herself: Those days were behind her, and that was no one's fault but her own. There was absolutely no good in reminiscing now. After hesitating one more moment, she walked away.

The Goldship, as per the Splatoon's plan, soared into the facility through the entrance until it found a dark spot to land in the landing deck, hiding itself among other Octarian vehicles that were parked here.

Jaxon and Lucy stepped in front of the group as everyone prepared for their exit. Holding his gun and a small tablet screen for his use, Jaxon reached for the entrance button in the wall. "Everyone ready?"

"Ready." The soldiers all held their weapons. Pearl pressed a button on her glove, which caused her suit's white helmet to appear and form itself around her head, sealing her inside.

Jaxon pressed the button and held his gun forward as the ship opened and the ramp formed, creating a walkway to solid ground. He and Lucy led the charge as they headed out on their planned path, pointing their guns in all directions. The path was so far clear, but they knew it wouldn't stay that way as they trekked deeper into the facility.

"Stay close to us." Lucy told Marie as they made their way into the hall. Marie just did as she asked as she kept her weapon pointed and followed closely from behind.

As they navigated the halls, sneaking their way along, Jaxon took the opportunity to lay down some mysterious devices Marie hadn't seen before along the halls that they passed, hiding them. Aside from that, they themselves used their cephalopod forms to hide from any Octolings and Tartar-Bots that they passed within the halls, inching toward their destination.

Using his tablet, Jaxon helped Pearl navigate to the duct entrance, found its location in the wall, and pulled the slot open. She turned to Pearl. "Can't promise the alarms won't activate once you go through, but, you're up. Good luck."

"You too." Pearl ran toward the wall, jumped, and pressed the button on her glove to shrink down. In her miniaturized form, she soared into the duct opening precisely and with ease.

Jaxon closed the opening behind him and turned to the others. "Alright, let's get out of here." He turned with the others to go back the way they came. This time, however, they didn't make it far at all before the alarms activated. They all looked up.

Marina was still in the Ray with the others when they too heard the alarm go off. Immediately concerned, Marina looked around at her group before she exited the ship and looked around the garage. The room was now being lit by the occasional flashing lights, and the alarm was loud enough that it was hurting Marina's ears, causing her to wince.

The other analyzers stepped out as well, looking around. "Is it the rebellion?" One of them asked.

"Gotta be." Another replied. "Let's go!"

Marina felt her hearts sink as she heard their words. What if it was someone from her original team, come to retrieve the Ray? She wasn't prepared for a confrontation like that… She turned to the others. "Someone has to- wait!" She could only watch as she noticed that they were already running off, and they left her sight a moment later.

Gulping, Marina briefly ran back into the Ray to look through her bag at what she had left at her disposal. She sorted through her tools and notes before she pulled out the black taser gun, which made a powerful electric sound as she powered it on, as it erupted with some red light.

She stepped out of the Ray once again and looked around, holding the gun close.

Bright lights flashed through the halls that the Splatoon was navigating, with the apparent attempt of blinding and dazing any intruders that dared come into this place.

This effect was not lost on Marie as she did her best to follow her teammates, and they were forced to take cover as they heard gunfire down the hall. They ducked behind the walls in an intersection to dodge the gunfire of some Tartar-Bots and Octoling soldiers.

"On your knees, rebellion!" One of the Octolings shouted. "You've got three seconds!"

Jaxon and Lucy waited that exact amount of time, not moving, before they looked at each other and nodded. "Now."

Chaos erupted as Jaxon pressed the button on his tablet, causing multiple bombs from the traps he had lain to suddenly explode, taking out several incoming targets and throwing off the Octarian's pursuit.

"C'mon!" Jaxon shouted as he and Lucy led the way back where they came. Although the Octarian offensive was delayed, it did not permanently hold off the small army of Octoling soldiers and Tartar-Bots that were coming from all sides, and before they knew it, a sudden barrage of lasers erupted upon them.

This did nothing to lead to the Splatoon's surrender, however; Valiantly, each of the Inkling soldiers made their stand, as Marie and some of the other soldiers, using the precious seconds where they weren't blinded by light flashes, aimed and fired at the Octoling soldiers before taking cover, repeating that cycle. Lucy and some other soldiers, meanwhile, attacked the Bots as they dodged their lasers, firing at them with their own lasers and slowly weakening their defenses, until Lucy was able to get in close and take them out with her sword.

Keeping the path forward as clear as they could make it, they continued to follow Jaxon's lead until they started to get closer to their ship, where another Octarian offensive team was waiting for them in the garage. Repeating their defense strategy from before, the Inkling soldiers all took cover among the different ships, coming out to make their attacks and make progress forward when they could.

As they made progress, Jaxon squinted as he noticed that a team of Octolings had already retrieved their stolen Goldship and were holding it hostage to prevent their escape. Once he found more cover, he simply got back on his tablet, pressed some buttons, and then turned to watch as the modified Goldship exploded in a fiery spectacle, taking out those Octarians as well as nearby ones. He chuckled a bit to himself.

"New target!" Another Inkling soldier shouted. "This way!" He began to lead them toward another Goldship for them to steal.

As Lucy tried following Jaxon and the others, she was thrown off as two Inkling soldiers before her were shot lethally enroute and thrown to the ground from the force. She paused, eyes wide.

As those two Tartar-Bots came over to clear that area, Lucy silently growled to herself as she held her sword and went around the ship from which she had taken cover. From there, with extra aggression, she screamed as she unveiled herself and ran out at them. She used her sword to block their lasers as they turned to fire at her, before she ruthlessly slashed at them, successfully taking one of them out by cutting off its head in one slick move. Way in over her head, she was swiftly overpowered as she tried jumping to do the same to the second, but was thrown from the air as it swatted her away, cutting her in the leg. She struck the ground and groaned as the Tartar-Bot swiftly moved in for its own finishing move.

Sparks erupted from it as one of its own spears was stabbed through its chest, and just like the rest of its kind who had met this fate, twitched and began to power down as it sank into a heap.

Marie, standing behind it, panted heavily as she let go of the spear and let it collapse. She grabbed her own arm, which was visibly bleeding from the ongoing battle. Lucy just stared back at her, but said nothing, while her eyes nonetheless remained filled with rage.

"Are 'thank you's not a thing in this world?" Marie grumbled as she reached her hand to help Lucy up. Lucy let herself get pulled to her feet.

The surviving Inkling soldiers closed in on the closest Goldship that had been pointed out, where Jaxon was already in the process of getting it open. "Move, move!" He shouted as it formed its ramp and began to open up.

Lucy held her own wound as she made her way in with Marie, following the rest of their allies as Jaxon rushed to seal the ship up once again. The ship continued to rumble as yet more Tartar-Bots arrived to attack it, but regardless, the Octarians could no longer fend off their escape as the ship was sealed, and Jaxon moved to place a new USB into its controls to begin the hacking process.

Once they were in the clear, the Inkling soldiers could start to relax, and Jaxon could start getting the ship into the air, he reached for his earpiece to contact Pearl. "We've successfully extracted ourselves. Tell me your whereabouts. Please tell me you got through the ducts."

He paused. A moment passed, but he heard no response. His eyes widened.

"Pearl?"

The alarm and flashing lights continued on and on as Marina stood in guard of the Ray, knowing that someone would possibly soon be coming for her. Whether or not it would be someone familiar, she didn't know. She kept her thoughts on the mission, and nothing else.

Aside from the noise, she was completely by herself and in silence. Her scanner that she was continuously using did appear to be picking up movement on this floor, but she had no idea from where. As she looked around, she couldn't see anything, or hear anything… yet something was drawing closer.

Shakily, she charged up her taser and made her way forward, again checking her scanner to see what it brought up. She looked ahead.

Hearing the slightest sounds of movement, she turned to notice as one of the tools nearby another ship suddenly moved on its own, and she fired in that direction. The taser hit nothing, leaving her to gasp slightly. Who was here? She backed up somewhat in anticipation.

Moments passed, and her scanner suddenly started to go ballistic, letting off a repeating beeping sound. She looked down at it, squinted, and then hit it before she slowly turned around.

All within the next second, a bright flash of light suddenly erupted in her face as a figure appeared and punched her as hard as she could; Within that second, in a knee-jerk reaction, her hand again fired the taser and struck the figure as well. Both were sent flying back.

As Marina rolled to a stop, she groaned and coughed, as she dropped her scanner. Getting on her knees, she again aimed her taser. "D-Don't move!"

As the figure's suit briefly malfunctioned in response to the taser, the figure was left with no choice but to lift up her mask. She looked at Marina, and in turn, Marina saw her face.

Her eyes widened like dinner plates. "P-… P-"

They fell into silence for that moment as they stared each other down. Pearl stared back at her former lover, her mind racing, but she did not let herself get frozen for long. Swiftly, she pulled out her disc and threw it at the Ray. All at once, in response to the disc, the Ray was shrunken down just like the suit until it was nearly invisible.

"W-Wha… Hey!" Marina shouted, and as Pearl rolled to grab the shrunken-down ship and slip it into her pocket, she fired more taser rounds at her, this time missing her shots.

Pearl stopped and gave one last look at her before, as quickly as she could, she summoned her helmet and disappeared in a flash of light.

In the aftermath, Marina was left completely stunned as she dropped her taser, sitting down and staring at where the Ray used to be.

A mere moment later, some Tartar-Bots began to arrive on the scene, coming up behind Marina to check the status of the Ray. All they were met with at the scene was Marina, trembling, by herself.

"Who was here? What happened?" One of them asked.

All Marina could do was whisper in shock. "...P-… Pearl…?"