Tartar stumbled to the panel and scanned the CQ Card.
"User not authorized."
He scanned it again.
"User not authorized."
"Come on, you lousy piece of junk! I think you are forgetting one thing; I created you, I own you! Let me in at once!"
It stayed silent.
"Please?"
"User not authorized."
Tartar screamed and kicked a hole through the panel. The doors opened. "User au-au-authoriz...ed..."
"Finally."
He entered and nearly tripped on a stray cord on the ground.
"This place is a mess..."
He had asked Eight for his CQ-80 back before going in. He knew the way to his hidden lab, but figured the way would have changed after NILS was destroyed. The CQ-80 would at least show any other options for getting there, even if the map did not update.
Halfway there, the ground shook and a piece of the ceiling fell and nearly crushed him. NILS fell a bit more.
"I better hurry."
He hurried the best he could, he finding it incredibly difficult to go very fast with half a leg. He was nearly to his lab when his arm fell off, hitting the floor with a loud crash. He reached for it.
The slime that made up his body had been melting away on that hand, revealing his robotic innards had also taken an Octoling shape from the respawn. He flexed the fingers.
"I thought..."
He heard a sound and shot straight. He pulled out his E-Liter and charged it.
"Who's there?"
There was no response. He put his weapon away and grabbed his arm.
"Looks like Sheldon connected it to what he thought was my arm. While I'm in my lab, I'll have to fix that mistake."
He heard the sound again.
"Alright, now I know you're in here! Show yourself and you will not get harmed!"
Something fell as they ran away. He kept the weapon out.
"I can't keep losing focus. If I don't repair myself soon, I'm in trouble."
His lab received the most damage. Test tubes were broken, the glass scattered across the floor. He went to the desk and sat down. The chair leaned back, and he had to kick his feet to get the balance back.
He worked on reconnecting the prosthetic first. If he was lucky, the revival of his body would also bring back his arm. Unfortunately, the inner workings in it were lost forever. A spark flew out, and he dropped the tool he was using.
"Carp."
He grabbed it from the floor, and something touched him from behind. He shot up and hit his head on the desk.
"Squit, squit, squit! Why does the dang tentacle have to be so sensitive?!"
He checked behind him. There was a Sanitized Octoling. She was a low-ranked soldier, and the glasses were cracked.
"Huh? Oh, the noise must have been you. Were you trying to get my attention?"
Her hand flinched away from him.
"You were trapped in here when NILS was destroyed, huh? Well, I could use an assistant...Come here."
She came a little closer, and he took the shades off her face. He never realized how much he looked like the Sanitized until he saw her eyes.
And the fear within them.
"Forget retrieving their memories, I need to save them from what I've done. I need to find a way to undo the Sanitization."
He finished repairing his arm, then faced the Octoling again.
"Well? Do you think it should hold?"
She stayed silent.
"Wait." He turned to the Grand Computer and activated it. He went through his files until he found the one he was searching for. "Test subject one-thousand and seven. You were deaf, which is to say you could not speak. You quite the issue to work with, but you obeyed nonetheless."
The screen flashed, then shut down.
"Aah! The power must've gone out. That means something happened to the energy core, which means I won't be able to repair myself until I fix the issue. Come with me, Ruby."
He stood and started off, but stopped when he realized she did not follow. He looked at the shades he was still holding. He put them back on her and ordered for her to follow. She complied.
He could feel the guilt's iron grip in his chest.
The energy core floated in the water below. The sparks were shocking the water around it. It was a death move to go down and retrive it, especially for Tartar.
"Hmm...How are we going to do this? We don't have much time, because NILS could come crashing down any minute, and neither of us can grab it in this condition. This may just be a lose-lose situation." He twirled a hair tentacle around his finger. "How about you say we call it a day, huh? I'm sure we can find another power source."
She pointed off to the side. There, high on the wall, was a small hall. A light came dimly from the end.
"I see. So there may be a backup power supply in there. Odd, I don't remember that hall being there...You might have just given me an idea. Stay here."
She saluted him and he left her behind.
He walked along the wall, nearly falling twice. He managed to just barely pull himself up the second time. He scrambled into the hall and took a minute to breathe.
"Alright, nearly landed in the water of death. Death water. Not a great way to die."
The hall was pitch-black. He fumbled around in his pockets for a source of light, but came up empty.
"Alright, looks like it's time for my map." He realized that he'd accidentally left it at the computer. "Grrah! Tartar, you fool! You're not supposed to leave your stuff behind!" He punched the wall.
It thudded like glass, then it glew green. Large tanks of unused Sanitization lined the walls. He finally realized where that hall was. It led to main experiment room.
"I never knew this connected to my lab like this."
He gently touched the crack on the glass. It broke a bit more, causing him to flinch away.
"But this glass was bullet-proof. So how could a simple attack break it? Unless...Unless this part is the main pressure point of NILS! I need to get out of here, quick."
The glass cracked more and sprayed Sanitization in his face.
"Ugh! Blech! That tastes so disgusting!" He covered his face with his hands until he had enough time to stand. He moved away from its line of fire and attempted to tape it shut. When that failed, he just continued on.
The room on the other end of the hall was a comfortable size, with little signs of damage. He grabbed the glowing object from the desk off to the side.
"What's this?"
It was a power chip. Tartar had constructed an army of them just in case if something happened. It was a weaker one, but it should power the device for long enough if he was quick. He went back to the Octoling.
"Got it." He held it out to her, between his pointer and middle fingers. "Come on, I know where the device is."
She followed him.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure I can undo what I've done to you. I promise