Chapter Text
Eight looked down, fiddling with her thumbs. Her already injured back was stiff as sticks, and the Splatoons, quite frankly slightly embarrassing, budget was not being spent on chairs. Despite Captain three being the, well, Captain, Marie was doing most of the talking- with the occasional chime-in from Callie.
“The Captain said that some of the fuzzy ooze has been coming back, taking over the tests. Now, I’m all for this blasted facility being destroyed- but we need to deal with that fuzz as soon as possible,” Marie spoke, tone leveled.
“Yeah! Hence why we are sending you all out,” Callie leaned back; for the situation, her voice and mannerisms were quite relaxed. “Go and do those tests to clear up that fuzz!”
‘Tests?’ Eight flinched involuntarily upon hearing that word. It didn’t seem like anyone else had noticed, luckily. What type of agent would she be if she still couldn’t control her fear after even just hearing that word? Despite the tremor this word brought with it, she was more confused than anything. Did the octarians copy kambaco? Why would they need tests of any sort?
“The Capn’ and four are heading out to survey the area around these tests. Eight and Neo-three, your up to go into these tests and find that ooze” Marie’s voice was slightly sympathetic as she said this, and Eight didn’t doubt that she would let her back out if she needed. However, Eight had already decided that she would try to do this, even if it brought back many painful memories.
However, as she heard the assignments, she deflated- just a bit. She had been excited to catch up with Four and Captain 3, or even just hang out with Callie and Marie at mission control. She didn’t dislike the newbie; despite their initially rocky start. Neo-three had only been mentioned occasionally in conversation on the way here, so Eight had no idea what to expect.
What didn’t she expect? A young squid, probably 15 or 16 at the oldest, and a smallfry. Despite the improvements in the relations between inklings and octolings, many inklings were still inherently weary of octos. Eight assumed that the inherent paranoia towards her species, as well as the agent being forced to fight similar elite octolings for so long, led to the new agent immediately lashing out and trying to attack Eight. However, they did apologize profusely after, so Eight couldn’t fault them too much.
Despite the brash behavior from the introduction of the two, Eight learned they were relatively quiet. Honestly, Eight doubted if they could speak; however, as if making up for this, they were highly observant. They always seemed to pick up on the slightest of Eight’s mannerisms during their few conversations. All that said, she did feel a bit guilty for her disappointment, the kid hadn’t done anything, and now they would have to deal with Eight's baggage that tests like this carried.
She heard Marie mumbling something else to the Captain, who quickly shook their head. She was about to comment on it, before being ushered out of the room by Callie,
“Good luck and stay fresh!” She called, grinning as she pushed them out of the tent and waved to them as they walked further into the distance.
After what seemed like an eternity of walking, neither of them saying a word, they arrived at the designated kettle. Eight looked over at the notepad Neo-three was holding; the test was designated as: “Ink fast, Hotshot” Neo dropped the notebook into her hands, quickly making a flurry of hand movements. At Eight's confused face, they sighed and slowed down. Eight didn’t have much experience in sign language, but she had grasped the basics from when the Captain had partially lost their voice.
‘ I’ll go in first. Wait here. ‘
Eight nodded, watching as the younger squid dived into the kettle. Although it was muffled, she could hear a robotic voice speaking.
“In this mission, you must destroy the targets before they fly away. For extra power eggs, you may clear off any remaining fuzz. should have never trusted that bear… ”
If Eight remembered, that mechanical voice was called ‘Orca.’ Apparently, it was some sort of overseer of the facilities, and if it was anything like C.Q then she didn’t want anything to do with it. She curled up her fists, her nails would probably draw hints of blood from her palms, but whatever worked to calm her down, she supposed. That’s when she heard those words. Those dreadful words that had been burned into her mind.
“Test failed.”
Eight spun around, just in time to see Neo-three slipping out of the crate. You didn’t have to be observant to tell whatever had gone on in there was… less than pleasant, to say the least. The younger agent still had some pink ink coating her skin and tentacles, The majority of which left burns from wherever they had touched. The tiny small fry was curled into its basket. Eight looked over to the younger agent with sympathy, and was about to say something, but was shot down by a glare.
‘I’m fine.’
‘But can you take the next test.?’
Eight sighed, yet nodded.
Eight didn’t really remember the next test. She remembered going in, getting splatted a few times, and getting out. However, the one moment she recalled was when she ran out of ink. She had braced herself from impact from the back, expecting the bomb to explode. No, a heap of pink, sizzling, likely acidic ink was dropped onto her from above. It felt as if she was being melted- and then she respawned. The pain didn’t completely diminish, however. No matter how many times she submerged herself in friendly ink, she couldn’t shake that burning feeling, and the light smell of smoke coming from the tips of her tentacles- which were now lightly brown and, what was the human word? Cooked.
Eventually, Eight came out of the kettle. She didn’t bother to give a status report, or tell the other agent about the fuzz; she simply walked over, and enveloped the younger agent into a hug, hearing a squeak of surprise, before they returned it.
‘I know your first time doing a test ca be ha-‘ the agent started signing, but was abruptly cut off by Eight.
“No.” She spoke; her voice was firm. But if you were looking, you could see the tears pricking at the sides of her eyes and clear sympathy shown in her gaze. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you had to go through those dreaded tests.”
Neo-three shook her head, offering a slight smile. ‘ I’m fine. I’ve done them before. I overreacted. I shouldn’t have sent you in alone, even if you were familiar with the test format. I nearly forgot how hard my first fail test was, but seeing you..’ Neo’s hand movements slowed, as they clenched their fists and looked down.
“Your first time?” Eight prompted.
‘I had failed a test, I didn’t pop all the balloons in time, and they flew off. I thought the balloons would reset, and I would be super jumped back to spawn….’
Occasionally, Neo would sniffle, or their hand movements would slow for just a few moments. It was, honestly, heartbreaking to see. Was this how she had felt when that bomb exploded for the first time? Despite the metro being some of her earliest memories, she could barely recall such things. If she had broken down like this, she was certainly thankful to the old captain for comforting her.
The hand movements picked up again, albeit more slowly.
‘I didn’t expect that ink to fall. It burned, and so I screamed. It wasn’t like normal ink, more of a thick, acidic sludge, which got lodged in my throat. Even after I respawned, the entirety of my body was burning, but I couldn’t give up, not then, not now.’
The younger agent's features were more determined after saying that, but Eight could still make out the slight shaking of their hands, or the way they would occasionally wipe their eyes when Eight looked away for a moment.
She couldn’t say much after that. So instead, she just pulled the other in for another hug. The other returned much quicker this time, crying into Eight’s shoulder. She sighed, whispering to the younger agent.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, too.”