Initiating an Escape

My jump ended with me hitting the ceiling of a long, metal air vent. Thankfully, I had the insight to return to my humanoid form in the middle of the ascent, and my afro cushioned the impact. I grabbed onto the edge of the broken chamber and pulled myself forward as Marina said in Octarian, "Oh, this must be how Agent 3 got to us. Hmm…Basstian, could you hold your device out from you for a second?" I did as she requested, extending my arm outwards as my CQ-80 emitted a pulsing sound that echoed all throughout the area. "Aha!" declared Marina, "Just as I expected. Using echolocation, I discovered that these vents follow a path to the surface! All I need you to do is follow my directions and we'll be out of here." I smiled in admiration. Once again, Marina had come to the rescue with her ingenuity. "Very well," I responded, "Lead the way."

As Marina guided me through the maze-like vent, Pearl asked, "So, what were and the old guy fussing about?" My mood turned sour; at the moment, I did not want to interact with any Inkling. In fact, I did not even want to speak their language. "Marina," I stated, "Can you please tell this friend of yours that I do not wish to speak of this topic?" Marina did so, causing Pearl to respond, "C'mon, I wanna know! I can't just hear all that yelling and not know what's going on!" My steps echoed through the chambers as I spoke, "Marina, tell this squid that she is better off not knowing." My ally relayed the message, and Pearl answered, "Like hell I am! C'mon, Basstian, why you actin' like this? You're not even talking to me! I thought we were supposed to be friends." My walking turned to stomping as I said, "Marina, tell your grating gremlin that if she does not cease her inquisition, I will personally track her down when I escape this place and splat her myself. We are not friends at all. I do not want to associate with her in the slightest." Marina's voice took on a shocked tone as she responded, "Basstian! I'm not telling her all of that! Why are you being so rude to her, anyway?" I clenched my fists as I answered, "You have heard the argument. You should be fully aware of why I said the things I did!" A pause. Marina told Pearl, "He doesn't want to talk about it" before saying to me in Octarian, "Not cool, Basstian." I shook my head dismissively. What did being "cool" matter in this scenario? Inklings and Octolings, they have not been "cool" towards each other for many years. Why should that change now? Cold tension filled the air as I walked to the end of the vent, hopping out the exposed hole onto a white platform.

Looking forward, I could see that there was a whole ordeal waiting for me. Sanitized Octarians of all kinds were patrolling a series of both suspended and grounded platforms, moving back and forth with soulless eyes. "Oh," said Marina quietly in Inklish, "Looks like we've got company. This must be some sort of security protocol. But if Basstian manages to get to the end, he'll be able to get to a higher floor." Pearl responded, "But he's got no weapon! How is he supposed to get past these guys?" I sighed in exasperation. Inklings truly were idiotic. "Obviously," I said in my language, "I will have to use stealth." With that, I initiated the task, beginning with concealing myself behind a wall away from some Sanitized Octotroopers. Suffice to say, the entire process was very simple. All that was required was to observe the movements of the Octarians (being zombies, their patterns were very predictable) and move when the opportunity presented itself. Indeed, the actions I took were not so different from what I was asked to do in Kamabo's tests. As I remained incognito, I heard static through my CQ-80 device, prompting me to hurriedly hold the speakers against my clothes. "Hello," I heard Cuttlefish's voice say, "Am I coming in?" That fool! He was jeopardizing my progress! A Sanitized Twintacle Octotrooper looked my direction, prompting me to transform into my octopus form and hide in a corner. My hearts beat rapidly as the drone moved in my direction. I squeezed myself as tightly as I could until the enemy lost interest and went back to its usual business. "Cuttlefish," I whispered with quiet anger, "Stop this at once! I am trying to stay hidden!" The old coot whispered in response, "Calm down, this is important!" He continued in Inklish, "While I was watching Agent 3, that telephone he punched started making weird noises. Here, I'll let you all hear them…" Marina frantically shushed him and said in a low voice, "That's okay, Craig! Anyway, what's the significance of this?" The senile squid answered, "I can't say for certain. But I'm keeping an eye on it just in case it tries to do any funny business. As of now, I'm keeping Agent 3 as far away from the sparks as possible." Unfortunate. Nothing bad had happened to those squids. "Hmph, I thought to myself as I progressed past the sanitized guards, "Hopefully those goons get fried into calamari by that telephone." Pearl then said semi-quietly, "Nice! Hang in there, dude. Agent 3 should wake up soon." I sighed and continued on, shutting out the voices coming from the CQ-80 as I did so. Eventually, I got past the introductory Octarians and found myself in front of a long pole that led up to another air vent. Marina breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, glad that's done with. Let's see what the next floor has to offer, shall we?" I shook my arms to relieve them from the tension before crouching in my swim form and jumping upwards.

"Man," said Pearl as I crawled through the ducts, "That was the most boring thing I've seen in my life! When's Basstian gonna get a gun?" Marina replied, "Luckily for him, the sector he's headed into is likely to have something helpful. I did some snooping, and I discovered that the upcoming place is where Kamabo Co. keeps their weapons." Pearl cheered, "Cool! Can't wait." Somehow, I agreed with the Inkling. A way to defend myself would be welcome. I did not wish to express this, however. Instead, I shuffled my way to the next area with the assistance of Marina's navigation skills.

"Well," said Marina as I exited the vent, "We're here. Go ahead and look around to see what you can find." I agreed, walking through the dark, empty, concrete room. As I roamed the vast space, Marina said to me in Octarian, "I still can't believe you, Basstian. What you said towards Pearl was completely uncalled for. Like she said, you're supposed to be her friend! What changed?" I pried open a grey steel crate and answered, "For someone of your intelligence, I did not expect you to be so ignorant. Do you not think that I would abhor Inklings after the recent events?" Marina stopped for a minute before gasping in realization. "Oh," she said in a hushed voice, "You're talking about that." She said to the others in Inklish, "Uh, sorry everyone, but it looks like we're having some technical difficulties! I'll have to disconnect everyone, but I'll let you all join back when everything's fixed." I heard two short beeps, which I assumed was an indicator that both Pearl and Cuttlefish exited the conversation. With only us two left, Marina said in a soft tone, "You're hurt about Craig using the z-word, aren't you?" My movements slowed as I remembered that event. I stayed silent for a moment before answering, "You are not incorrect." Marina replied, "Mm, I thought so." She took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing, "What he did was very uncalled for, that's true. I understand why you're so angry at him. But Pearl didn't do anything wrong! Why are you mad at her, then?" I marched around a corner and answered, "Why should I not be cross with her? All Inklings are the same." Marina responded, "Excuse me? All Inklings are the same? Where did that come from?" I explored a gadget-filled room and stated, "My returned memories revealed to me the truth. Inklings have been nothing but enemies to us since the Great Turf War. They lock us underground, steal our Zapfish, and generally make our lives a nightmare. Agent 3 himself was the one who caused me to lose my memories in the 1st place. Agent 3, the Inkling who infiltrated our home and ripped our hope right out of our tentacles." I spoke in a solemn tone as I explained, "My dear friend Emma had her sister lost thanks to those squids. Her little, innocent sibling, Marina. I learned such details using the mem cakes, but I never pieced them all together until now. Now that I am aware of all the Inklings have done, I can never forgive them, especially not after what Cuttlefish did."

Marina took a moment to process the information before replying, "I understand what you're saying, Basstian. I know that us Octarians and Inklings have a dark past. But don't you think it's time for us to move past that?" I slammed shut a golden chest and exclaimed, "Are you mad? We cannot coexist, Marina, not after all they subjected us to! How could you even conceive the idea of reaching peace?" I furrowed my eyebrows as I continued, "Actually, I believe I know of the cause. You are a traitor. Because you abandoned your own kind, your psyche has been twisted by the influence of the Inkling menace. It is pointless to attempt to fix you; you are already too far gone." Marina huffed, "Fix me?! The only person who needs fixing here is you! I left Octo Canyon for a reason; I knew that life on the surface was far better. The Calamari Inkantation that I heard on that day was the most vibrant, creative, and uplifting song I've ever heard. Compare that to the usual song that Turquoise October churns out. I won't lie, I like their music, but it's just not as inspired as the Calamari Inkantation is. If our two culture's music is that different, of course I would want to learn more about the Inklings!" Her voice grew emotional as she continued, "And you know who I met when I reached the surface? I met Pearl. She's the most energetic, interesting, and confident person I've ever met. She was the one who taught me about her specie's vibrant culture. And let me tell you, Inklings are nothing like what DJ Octavio told us. They are friendly, accepting, and fun to be around. Sure, they can be aggressive, and there was that thing with Craig, but those are only small parts of the whole group! You can't hold onto this grudge forever; it's time to make a change."

I did not respond. I did not know how to. Instead, I simply walked through the area, a conflicted look on my face. Wordlessly, Marina reconnected both Pearl and Cuttlefish. "Ayo," said the former, "We're back! Where you at, Basstian?" Preferring not to respond, I silently navigated my way towards what I hoped to find: a weapon storage room. All of the tools were taken except for one: the Octo Dualies. "Ayo," said Pearl, "Dualies! Now we're cookin'!" I inspected the two guns with interest. How did Kamabo acquire these Octarian weapons? Ah, it did not matter. The important thing was that I now had a way to fight back. With that, I attached the two guns to my ink supply and moved on.