"Last time I saw this, Eight was in here." He used the power chip to activate the lights and the device. "This didn't do anything to Eight, but it should repair what's left of me. We've had a few setbacks, but we're finally back on tr-Aah!"

There was still an Octoling in the tank, this one male. The only thing visible was the tip of his bangs. Tartar slammed his hand on the button to release him. The Octoling fell to the ground, covered in the slime inside the tank.

"We'll uh...deal with that later." Tartar pushed the unconscious Octoling aside with his foot. "Alright, I'm going to get inside, you press the button to activate it, alright?"

She nodded and gave him a salute before coming to the panel.

"Alright, we've finally made it. I can finally repair myself for good. I never thought that telephone host was actually helpful. But apparently it was."

He scrambled inside, and sat cross-legged on the bottom of the device.

"Alright. You can activate it now."

When Tartar came back out, Eight could tell he was feeling better.

"So, did it work? I hope you don't have to go back there again."

"Don't worry, I won't have to. The only thing it didn't repair was my arm. That's likely lost to Smollusk's data servers now."

"Wait, is that an Octoling?"

Tartar looked down at the Octoling he was holding. "Yes. He was inside the device still. You and him were both a thousand and eight, but you were the only one who woke, so he might be...gone. But I may be able to save him. e's going to stay in my lab for now, until I can figure out if I can save him or not. I also found a Sanitized Octoling in there, Ruby. She was a thousand and seven."

"She's alive?"

Tartar nodded. "I thought NILS would have killed most of them, but turns out she's fine. So maybe your little friend will be too. But thank you for going through this trouble for me, Eight. You know you didn't have to do that, right?"

"Well, I thought you deserved it. But let's get out of here. This place is starting to creep me out."

They didn't say another word through most of the journey back, until Eight decided to strike up a conversation during the train ride.

"So...does that mean the Octoling and I are twins?"

"No...I don't think so. You two just both answered the call of the Deepsea Metro at the same time. But who knows? Maybe he could be."

"Do you mind if I play some music?"

"Not at all."

He let the song play for a minute. "Which one is this? It sounds like Off the Hook, but I can't be too certain."

"It's Into the Light. They played this for me when we were going to Inkopolis Square after escaping...you..."

"I see. I think I remember Marina mentioning it as well. Without being focused on escaping Smollusk, I can enjoy the song better. Is this one your favorite Off the Hook song?"

"Yeah. It was able to calm me down after that terrifying event. What's your favorite Off the Hook song?"

"Uh..." He felt his face get hot. "D-do I really have to say?"

"Tartar, do you like an Off the Hook member?"

"Uhh...!"

"Tartar? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah...You're right. I do like an Off the Hook member. It's...Marina Ida."

"What? Marina? Really? I wouldn't have expected that. Is it okay if I ask why?"

"She's the only one who could hack into my system. She's smart, and beautiful too. And she was brave enough to leave the Octarian Army when she heard that song...Kind, gentle, everything about her made me fall in love with her."

"That's so sweet! I hope I can meet somebody who thinks of me the same way. The Inklings still aren't really used to having the Octolings in their cities yet, so it's been hard for me to become friends with any of them."

"What about Ron? He seems pretty friendly. He even became friends with Apocalypse, the Doombringer. I'm sure he'd become friends with you in no time."

"Well, we are friends...But..." She took down her ponytail, her hair curling up at the ends.

Tartar looked at his own hair.

"I'm not sure if he'd like me back..."

"Hm? Does that mean you actually have feelings for the boy?"

She nodded quickly. "But uh...he's always really busy and I can never find time to hang out with him anymore. Sure, he showed me around Inkopolis Square with Off the Hook, but then I haven't really seen him again."

"He was one of the people dragged into Smollusk's world of order. That could explain why you haven't seen him for a bit."

"He loves doing something called Salmon Run, but I'm way too nice for that. I got my team a Crew Wipe because I tried to befriend a Steel Eel."

"I can talk to him for you."

"Wait, what? You'll go into a shift just to talk to him?"

Tartar nodded. "I'll let him know that you want to talk to him. It'll be payback for your helping me just now."

"R-really? Thank you!"

"Of course. I still owe you a thousand lives for trying to blend you. Can you believe I actually liked you. You were my best...subject yet. I actually hoped you would rather join me than get turned into Sanitization but..."

"We're friends now, it's all good. Do you know how to get into Salmon Run?"

"I...have no idea what it even is..."

"Okay, so you'll be told most of the stuff when you get there, but I guess I have some time to tell you the basics." She showed him a picture of an orange building. "This is how you get into Salmon Run. There's one in Inkopolis Square and Splatopia."

"Orange suspicious-looking building. Got it."

"You have to stop a buncha Salmonids from storming the places, but there are special ones called Boss Salmonids. One of those bosses is the Steel Eel I mentioned."

"Ah. That makes...sense."

"You'll get to see it during the training, so the name will make more sense then."

"Oh."

"The Boss Salmonids, I'm just going to call them B-S to make it shorter, drop Golden Eggs when beat. In order to finish the shift, you have to drop at least the amount of eggs that's required per wave. The more, the better. You also get paid, so if you want cash for gear, this is the perfect chance to get some. There's a cash increase today, and it'll end tomorrow."

"I see. Thank you, Eight. How high is the estimated percentage of me getting into the same shift as Ron?"

"Uh...What?"

"How likely is it that Ron and I will get into the same match?"

"Uh, I have no idea. They're completely random, but if you open a Lobby to the Squidbeak Splatoon, I'm sure he'll see it and join."

"Uh...I'll figure out what that means when I ask about the training..."

"Okay. Glad I could help a bit."