Chapter Text
Octavio escaped. That’s bad. That’s really bad, actually. Captain Three, Marie, and Callie are off in the Splatlands investigating the disappearance of a large group of Octarians coinciding with a never before seen energy reading, and the Captain made specific care to make sure Eight and I knew not to let Octavio break out. “If he breaks out and regroups with that many soldiers,” they said, “we may not be ready for what that force can do with this energy we’re picking up.”
Hold on, how did he even break out? The snowglobe’s base is here, but there’s not a shard of glass or a single stain on the wood. I would’ve expected him to leave some residue behind as he slid off, but there’s nothing. So that should mean someone broke him out and took him somewhere, right? So where did he even go, and who broke him out? Most domes in the Canyon have been empty for a while, and even Cephalon HQ only has the bare minimum of Octarians to keep it running. Wait, actually, I should Cephalon to see if he’s been there.
- - - -
Well, Cephalon gave me even more questions than answers. At this point, I’m a regular as one of two visitors the place ever gets, along with Agent Eight. However, the front guards were apprehensive to let me in. I guess I was also suspicious of them, considering Octavio broke out, so I probably didn’t look very upbeat or friendly to them.
They escorted me to the Elite Octoling in charge. Strange, Cephalon hasn’t been this cautious with me in two years. What happened? Before I could ask my escorts, we got to the Elite Octoling, Cara, and she had her own questions for me.
“Where is the Octobot King?”
“Isn’t it still in its storage unit? With all those records? And how’d you get Octavio freed without leaving a mark?”
“WAIT. OCTAVIO’S FREED?! AND HE DIDN’T COME BACK FOR US?”
At this point, the two Octolings that accompanied me here broke into hysterics, and I guess I can’t blame them for that. After all, I can’t imagine what I would do if I was told the Captain and Squid Sisters left the Splatlands desert and went to some unknown location without a trace. Cara was also muttering to herself frantically, so I figured I should remind my hosts I was, y’know, here .
“So. Octavio is gone, and the Octobot King is gone. Both of us wrongly assumed the other did that for their own goals. Now that we know we were wrong, we’re both out of leads for where our protected object of importance went. Now what?”
She didn’t say anything for a long time. Long enough that I noticed that the hood on the hoodie my hero gear was snagged on the headphones. Long enough I had time to awkwardly take the whole headset off to fix that. Long enough that I noticed that the Octoling guards standing to either side of me had their Octo Shots pointed to paint my feet. Long enough that I saw the one on my left eye my Dualies. If this somehow goes completely sideways, we’re in an open room. I can’t get any easy cover, but I can dodge roll freely enough to get out. I don’t want to have to engage in proper combat, it’s taken a lot to gain their trust in the three years since I was first here to fight Octavio and a brainwashed Callie.
Y’know, the main turning point in Cephalon’s opinion of me was when we recruited Eight to the New Squidbeak Splatoon two years ago. The Octarians holding Cephalon together were impressed that this Octoling wanted to live in Inkling society, and they were astounded that she wanted to be in the NSS. Honestly, I was surprised she came back after going through the Metro, very nearly dying several times in several ways, and having to fight Three. Even if I can beat Three in training sometimes, they scare me when they’re serious.
“Hey Agent Four, I’m talking to you,” Cara yelled at me. Ah. I got lost in thought. That’s embarrassing. After mumbling a quick apology, I looked up to the Elite Octoling staring down at me from her desk, seaweed swaying despite there not being a breeze.
“As I was saying, just leave. Go home. Obviously, we each have a lot to do and neither of us know where to go off this. Make your reports or whatever your Splatoon has you do anytime something happens. Hope your next check-in isn’t about the worst situation that month.”
I really wanted to see if we could do a bit of working together to see if we could collectively find out more. However, before I could ask, I was swiftly escorted back to the launchpad outside Cephalon HQ.
Cod, I’m in so much trouble if I can’t get this report through to them. When the three of them left, Marie took a moment to tell me two things: keep Octavio contained and keep Eight out of life-threatening danger. It’s not like the world needs either to happen again, but one of those events happened. I better make this report now if I want the Captain to see it. I don’t know if they’re out of range yet.
After setting Tentakeel Outpost as my coordinates, I sank into the launchpad, soaring to get to the computer in Cuttlefish Cabin.