Cosmo The Octoling

Chapter 8: Part 3- Debrief

"Oh... who are you..?" I embarrassedly asked

"Right... you wouldn't really know us being an octoling who was part of the octoling army for most of their life... but we are the Squid Sisters, I am Marie and she is Callie" Marie points to the purple haired inkling, who is revealed to be Callie.

"Nice to meet you two, but don't you all go by agent numbers?" I asked

"OH, I am agent 1 and Marie is Agent 2" Callie answered

"Sorry for the incident... I was driven purely by emotion and it made me act foolishly." I apologized

"You were already forgiven... we know it must of been especially strong surge of emotion with the state of your legs and the fact you were able to ignore the pain which was likely worsen with each step... and the battlefield sadly does have a side effect of ruining some lives." -Marie

"thanks..."

"And we cant exactly make you our enemy after what we saw" she mumbled quietly

"What was that?" I didn't hear her

"You'll be a valuable ally in our team!" Callie said, changing the tone

"Uh huh... where is the Captain anyway?"

"The Captain is preoccupied with the registering the surroundings" Marie answered

I get up

"What's going on here exactly?" I ask

"We believe the great zapfish is located here and just need to track it down..." Marie answered yet again

"Welp, guess I gotta locate and retrieve the fish... cya"

"Wait! You don't even an agent uniform yet, let me get you one" Callie said

"Seriously? You aren't even wearing one, why should I?"

"Just take it, it's added protection against ink" Marie budded in

"Fine" I grab the oversized clothing and tried to put them on...

...

The shoes are way too big, my feet slip out if I even try to walk

The jacket can work... just have to roll up the sleeves... and tighten the hole at the neck... and it doesn't have the strings to do so... great

The headphones were too large... am I seriously this small... I'm not that short

'You do realize you're like a whole foot shorter than the average octoling... hate to break your pride... but you're probably as short as it gets for your age." Sakuya rudely added

'Hmph, rude, you could have said that in a nicer way'

'Sorry, if I did, you would never really accept that you're just short'

Ugh...

"Callieee, it's too big, the won't stay on my feet or my ears"

"Uh... those were the smallest size..." she responded

"bruh."

"What? You're pretty much the size of a child... no offense. But we won't have anything the size of a child since this a dangerous job."

"Hmph, well I can't wear these, the size difference will affect me in combat and will slow me down."

"We'll have to make custom equipment for you then... but it will take some time." Marie said

"how long?" I am getting tired if this conversation...

"3 to 9 days" she answered

"... fine"

I walk away...

So much furry substance... what even is it...

'Unknown, but it is fabricated by someone' Sakuya answers despite me not directly talking to them

'I'm still too exhausted to use the power of the bond... But... I feel... emotionally better... even after such an outburst'

'Hmmm how are we going to get past this substance without the power'

'Not sure.. you can't touch it or else it encases you in fur, according to the former captain at least and you haven't given yourself time to rest and you might be pushing your limits'

'Might just be unable to progress until I regain my strength then...'

This place is obviously fake... but it is also so real...

You can see the walls of this dome which pretend to be the sky... also... what is that large machine in the middle...?

'That is a space shuttle, a machine designed by humans, or as you may know them

as... mammalians. Not sure what it is doing here though'

'It still surprises me just how smart you are but also how emotionally unaware you are' I accidentally said too much...

'Hey, that's only because you weren't willing to tell me anything real important about your past aside from the facts and keep out the impact it had on you...'

'Heh... sorry, I'll try to open up more since you're my partner... the person I can trust

the most'

'Cosmo, we should go look for the Captain for what to do'

'Those inkling girls...they sounded familiar... their voices feel like they were already embedded in my memories... but I don't remember where...'

'You'll find out soon enough, but we have work to do.'

'Alright... where even is the Captain?'

I look around... but no sight of them...

Lets see... I should probably just focus on recovering my strength...

I sit down on my knees... put my hands together... and close my eyes...

Breath in....

...

...

Breath out....

...

...

I open my eyes and we are back at the Sacred Sakura

Guess I got to continue training

or...

"Oi Sakuya!"

"What?"

"Wanna hang out? You have a physical body now, at least here..."

"Hmmmm sure, why not"