Aniya happily walked to the train station. She had the best haul she had ever gotten. They were all extracted from debris from the coast of Inkopolis Plaza. Her Smallfry pet, Lil' Buddy, also happily followed her back; as they had helped save the world from a giant bear named Mr. Grizz and Lil' Buddy got the best feast in his life.
She slowed to a walk and examined the flipped-over tower. One of the Sunken Scrolls depicted this tower and an Inkling holding tightly onto it, as giant waves crashed against it.
"I wonder what that tower was..."
Lil' Buddy hurried off in a direction that Aniya had never ventured to before. She rushed after him, wondering where his strong nose would lead her to this time. To her hope, more valuables.
He stopped by the shore, a long ways from the city. Aniya had finally caught up to him when he moved closer to the tide and pulled out a grey hat with a deep blue brim and a strange symbol in the center of a white circle above the brim, which sat on a black area that wrapped around the brim's edge.
"Huh? A hat? Looks profreshional..." She peeked down at Lil' Buddy over the hat. "What'd you find there, Lil' Buddy?"
He began tugging at something in the water. Aniya peered at the water to find the arm of an Octoling. Lil' Buddy was tugging at the sleeve. She gently moved him aside and grabbed the gloved hand.
"Up you go!"
She pulled them out, falling backwards into the sand. Lil' Buddy scurried over to check if she was okay, then to the Octoling.
She dusted the sand from her shorts and Tri-shred tee as she stood. "Alright, you're good to go now. Huh?"
The Octoling was green, it holding a pale complexion to it. He wore a light blue tunic with shoulder pads, a metal hanging from the right side of the tunic and a red light on the other side. His pants had perrywinkle lines on either side of them, the ends being blocked from his knee-high boots that also bore the symbol printed onto his cap.
"Hello?"
She moved his face so he was facing her. His hair reminded her of a mix of the Octoling Warriors and her best friend, Hiro, simultaneously. His hair was against his supposed ink color, as it was green-not perrywinkle like the coloring of his pants had implied-and held within them light green lines in a crazed and un-parallel pattern, a few dots of the opposite color lying here-and-there as well.
She noticed the gold-colored headphones he was wearing and gave one side of them a good tug. She leaned in close to his ear and said, "Wake up!" in the loudest voice she could muster.
He shot up immediately. "[Uhg...]" His voice sounded semi-robotic.
She moved away from him and leaned in closer to his face. His eyes and eye mask blended together, as they were both black. The only thing that made his eyes attractive was the gold that made up his irises. They shone slightly when the sunlight hit them just right. His pupils were black stars.
"Hello there! I rescued you from the water."
He examined his hands, his gaze then moving to Aniya. "[Hello there!]" He hopped up, now standing over her. "[I see you have a pet there, how [ERROR!]"
"Huh?"
He held out his hand. "[My name is...Um...Well that's not fresh! I don't know who I am!]"
Aniya noticed a strange tentacle sticking out from the back of his head. It was a deep blue at the base, which morphed into a yellow-green at the tip. It only had two succors.
"You sound so happy for not knowing who you are..."
"[ERROR!] I am unable to [SLANG NOT FOUND!]"
She accepted his hand and he helped her to her feet, as she had been sitting on her knees. "You're talking kind of weird..."
"[Nonsense! This is how I speak! I think...?]" He tapped his chin. "[Hmm...now you're making me think. I don't like thinking too much. It'll [ERROR] my [SLANG NOT FOUND.]"
"You sound busted up," Aniya said. "I'll bet if I take you back to Splatopia with me, Sheldon'll be able to patch you up."
"[Sheldon? That sounds familiar...]"
"Yeah, no kidding! Sheldon's the best inventor in both Inkopolis and Splatopia! Come on, I'll take you to the train."
She walked with him to the train station just as the twelve pm train was coming to a stop. She entered the doors and pulled the Octoling along with her. She sat in her usual spot, Lil' Buddy hopping onto the spot on her right and falling fast asleep. Aniya pat the spot on her left, and the Octoling sat down.
"So, you don't know what your name is?"
He shook his head. "[Nope! Nothing! Not a scrape, crumb, or [ERROR] about me!]"
She took another look at his hat. "Looks like..." Her gaze moved to his tunic. "Hmm...Headphone Cap?"
"[Um...nah.]"
"What about Tentacle Head?"
"[That's got to be a joke.]"
"Okay, okay. Octo Commando!"
He gave her a strange look.
"I'm not very good with names, sorry! I mean, I even named my Smallfry 'Lil' Buddy!'"
He giggled. "[Yeah, that's not very creative, isn't it?]"
"Hmm...What about...?" She thought of the way he dressed. "That aesthetic..."
"[What...?]"
"Commander? That fits, right?"
He considered it for a moment. "[Commander...It feels like there's something else there, something more. But I don't recall what it is. Commander's fine.]"
They rode the train in silence for a moment before Commander decided to speak again.
"[What's your name?]"
"Aniya."
He had expected the conversation to last longer. He settled on asking another question. "[What's Splatopia?]"
"The City of Order. Literally everybody lives there now. I'm surprised you even managed to forget about it." Her shellphone buzzed on her lap. She examined it, Commander leaning closer to peek over her shoulder. "Looks like the maps updated. Let's check the news."
On the screen were an Octoling and Inkling. The Octoling was a male with straight hair, the bangs blocking his eyes and the back fell to his neck. He wore a suit with a red tie. The Inkling was a female, her hair tossed into a messy bun. She wore a maid's dress. Their hair mirrored the other in color, the Octoling having red hair with blue tips and the Inkling blue with red tips.
"Hello, Splatopia!" The Octoling cheered. "We're Tako and Yaki, sweeping the city with news."
"Tako, did you hear?" The Inkling asked, Commander assuming she was Yaki. "The Great Zapfish has returned."
"What?! Really? How come I didn't know about this? I'm always the last one to get important news..."
"Yes, and the city's power is stronger than ever thanks to it." She smiled.
"The Squid Sisters released a new album," Tako mentioned. "It's the best! I love that song so much."
"I don't think I've heard it yet," Yaki pondered. "But I did hear about its release. The lines in the stores are too long for me. I'll wait a few weeks for the craze to die down."
"Okay, but you're missing out!"
The screen was swept over by a broom effect and the screen behind them no longer had an image of the Squid Sisters' album cover displayed on it.
"Hey! Here are the main battle stages!" Tako made a drum roll on his legs and pointed directly at the screen behind them as two courses showed up on the screen. One was called "Pacific Path."
"Did you hear about the shop being built here? I heard they wanted more young people to come here instead of the stores at Marine Market." Yaki explained.
"Those two are always getting in a feud! I still choose Marine Market, they have a candy shop there!"
"You're going to get cavities..."
Aniya turned off the screen and started off the train as it slowed to a stop at the station. Commander and Lil' Buddy followed her.
"Follow me. Don't get distracted from the city, you'll get to see it later."
The buildings reached to the sky, the sun glimmering off of their many windows. Commander had indeed gotten distracted by the city, and Aniya pulled him along by his wrist. She brought him to a short building that looked like a pawn shop. The sign above it read "Ammo Knights." Aniya entered.
"Sheldon! We've got a new customer. He doesn't have a weapon. He might be a noob."
"[Noob...?]" Something bumped his foot, so he lifted it to check.
A Horseshoe Crab scurried under his lifted foot and over to the counter. It popped into the air to reveal a humanoid figure with the Horseshoe Crab on his head.
"Hello, hello! What are you in the market for today?" He adjusted his glasses. "Oh? Aniya, is this who you were talking about?"
"Yup. His name's Commander. Have fun." She walked into a room.
"So, you have no weapon? Well, I have a wide stock of them, so choose the one you know how to use!"
Commander glanced around at the weapons lining shelves and walls. "[Uh...um...I don't know how to use any of them. You see, I lost my memory [ERROR], so I don't even remember my original name. Commander is what Aniya and I agreed on [SLANG NOT FOUND]."
Sheldon rubbed his chin. "Hmm...The way you're talking hints towards an android, possibly? I'll fix it, if I can, but you'll have to pay for it, sorry. You can't get everything for free! I am running a business, after all."
Commander pat himself up and down. "[I don't have any money, but I found this...card.]" He handed it to Sheldon.
He squinted at it and adjusted his goggles again. "I've seen this card before. Maybe it could work as a hint for you missing memories?" He handed it back.
The card was blue and white, the symbol on Commander's hat printed onto the top right corner. On the back was a symbol of an eye with faded words that read "K C" from what he could see. There were clearly more letters there, but they had gotten washed off from the sea water. He replaced it in his pocket.
"[How do I get [ERROR]?"
"You can do Turf Wars! I guess that's why Aniya took you here, huh? Let's take a look-see..."
He hopped off the counter and scurried over to Commander. He walked in a quick circle around him, examining him thoroughly, then retreated back to his counter. He began scribbling on a sheet of paper.
"Let's see...Thin build, strength is more-so in the arms, making the arms a bit thicker than your legs..."
Commander examined his arms. "[Really...?]"
He went to the shelf of weapons directly behind him. He held out a toothpick. "What color?"
Commander squinted at it. "[Green. It's been used at least twice.]"
"Excellent vision...Maybe, ooh! I know just the one!"
He went to a shelf that held a variety of long weapons on it, a few with black cylinders attached to them. Sheldon brought over a ladder and removed one from a top shelf. He handed it to Commander.
"This, my tall, green, friend, is known as an Eliter 4K! The furthest range out of all the snipers. Not many people can use these weapons, so seeing somebody like you able to makes me so happy! Your upper arm strength is enough for you to carry it while standing! Since your legs aren't as strong, I decided to give you a bomb to reach far distances. The Splat Bomb is helpful, as you can quickly splat people who dare tread too close to your position. Once the Splat Bomb touches the ground, you have about three seconds before it explodes. You can take your terrain to your advantage to sneak a Splat Bomb their way. Interested? You can always choose a different weapon, mine is just a suggestion."
Commander adjusted his grip on it. He rested it on his shoulder and aimed at the wall with it. A small beam of red light pointed directly where he had aimed. "[Hm. Seems [ERROR] enough. But I have no currency to pay for this.]"
"Ohoho! The first weapon is always free, my friend! Don't worry about it!"
Aniya came over to him. "Ready to go? I heard what Sheldon said about paying him for the repair job, so I'll show you how to do a few Turf Wars. Come on. I wanna start before the courses change again."
Commander followed her outside. "[How often do they change?]"
"Every two hours, but we already wasted half an hour in there."
"[Half an hour? [ERROR]?!"
Aniya nodded. "There's a tournumate I'm participating in. The sooner I get you trained in Turf Wars, the sooner I can hop back in."
"[I want to help you. With the [SLANG NOT FOUND]"
"Tch. Really? You don't even know how to use a Splat Bomb. You'd have no chance."
"[Let me try, at least? I'm sure I'll learn better if I learn firsthand.]"
Aniya sighed with a smile. "Alright, come on."