Your Mementos

Two

It was only fifteen minutes ago that Marina and Pearl advised the S4 to wait for the monorail that takes them around the subway station, and wished them a piece of luck along the way. And to stay strong, for everyone in Inkopolis was rooting for them.

The S4 now resides in the back of the monorail, doing their own thing. Army is reading his manual, Mask and Skull are taking a small nap, and Aloha was too worried about what could've happened to you to be absent-minded. Needing some fresh air, he takes a fleeting look at his group before going up to the front of the monorail.

The monorail looks like it could be built from a year ago at the dead of night. Without the sunlight, Aloha could still conclude it could be around very early afternoon; this was the time it would've been very bright and sunny in Inkopolis if he could imagine. Grey above, grey below, and a tunnel of black fills his vision when his pink irises dart to the monorail's blurry windows. The air is just as musty, and the litter remains in the vehicle.

Aloha walks further and further into the monorail until he sees a translucent blue sea cucumber with a small conductor hat. He vividly remembers Pearl and Marina installing a tab into his inkphone about this character.

You will meet C.Q. Cumber who works as a subway conductor and guide to the underground sea faculty. Despite his mysterious looks, this diminutive dude is a total pro and takes his job quite seriously. Whenever you're in trouble, try talking to him.

"Welcome aboard. All S4 members that have the CQ-80 device can display the map. Leave nothing behind." C.Q. Cumber speaks aloud on the speaker. He turns away as fast as his little body can be capable of to meet the eyes of the inkling in the room. "That includes you, Pink."

"Ah, Pink?~ Well, who would've known I would've been called that in the creepy monorail," Aloha sighs disbelievingly, despite the small smile that crept upon his lips.

"False. I have been told to address a pink squid as 'Pink' when I see one," C.Q. Cumber responds.

Aloha begins to grow interested and tilts his head to the side. "That's kinda fresh!~ Even with such slim odds of seeing a pink squid down under!"

"She seemed to believe that a pink squid will show up when she was nearing her stop," C.Q. Cumber responds, catching the attention of Aloha. "No way! Did she happen to have the Takoroka visor?!~ The visor just like mine, but sideways?" Aloha was giddy, and rambling at this point. He points to his golf visor atop and even turns it around to have it resemble the tiniest bit of your visor. Aloha could barely contain his excitement, he had found a big lead to your missing whereabouts.

"I am busy now. Come talk to me another time." The sea cucumber shoos him away, obviously overwhelmed by his energy, and proceeds to turn around towards the front of the monorail. Aloha sighs and turns to where he came from until a raspy voice calls his name to attention.

"Well now, are you the pink squid that I heard so much about?" Aloha turns around to meet with an elderly inkling sitting at the far edge. "Come sit down Pink." Aloha chuckles and sits down next to him, only to meet with a smack in the back of the head lightly with his cane.

"How could you leave that poor octoling to fend off for herself? Do you know how many times she has respawned and sat down exactly where you were, exasperated?! You should be ashamed of yourself young squid," Aloha yelps and turns into a squid form to avoid the lecture.

"She didn't tell me she was here all alone... I thought she didn't want to talk to me anymore!" Aloha turns back to his normal form, slouching on the seat and stretching his arms like a starfish; he practically melted in the seat.

"Ho-ho!" He chuckles heartily, swinging his cane up and down. Surprised by his reaction, Aloha turned his head to see his beard moving with every laugh that came out of him. After a while, he sets his cane back down and looks at the window ahead of him. "That young one couldn't ever stop talking about you! She'd go blabbering my ears off, and my ears are as youthful as an S+ ranker's."

Aloha couldn't help but smile faintly hearing about you, even though you weren't here beside him; it seemed like no matter where he went, there's always some way where you weren't fully out of his mind. It also looked like you were in the minds of everyone else he came across in the metro.

"Really? She always seemed so shy! First time I met her, she couldn't say a word..." Aloha reminisces with a smile on his face, placing his hands on the seat and throwing his head back in content.

He looks at the scratched ceiling as he thought about the time they first met. "It was kind of unexpected to see her.~ I was just walking out of the lobby, with my .52 Gal twirling in my hand... and I saw this cute octoling who about to bump into me, so I just pretend to shoot her with the little 'pew' and everything when her chest collided with my weapon!"

He can't help but laugh at his own story; he can't help but laugh at how stupidly ecstatic he is just talking about you right now. He raises his hand from the seat to lift up his golf visor slightly as he closed his eyes in nostalgia. "And what was even fresher was that she played along too, she clasped her heart and was supposed to stumble backward... but she slipped backward accidentally! It was so quick that I had to run over to her and drop my weapon, and hold her so she can drop slowly onto the ground. And we just laughed and exchanged numbers after that."

The old squid sighs and closes his eyes as well. "Young love, so foolish but yet so alive... Just hearing about it makes me feel kicking for another rap song!" He opens his eyes, blinking twice before turning his head to ask, "What is your name, Pink?"

Aloha laughs and extends his hand out towards the inkling. "I'm Aloha, the freshest member of S4!~"

"I go by the name Cuttlefish. Cap'n Cuttlefish! The unreasonably attractive hero of Octo Valley!" He replied back with spiff, shaking his hand eagerly. "Come see me after your stop."

"I will, Cap'n! Count on it~" Aloha stands up, waves a 'later', and turns around to go back to his original spot before a sudden tremor causes the monorail to shake. With a swift motion, Aloha instinctively grabs onto the pole to steady himself.

After a while, the vibrations gradually ceased and Aloha lets out another relieved sigh, freeing his hand from the pole and holding it close to his heart.

"Attention everyone. This is C.Q. Cumber." Everyone on the train that remained idle was now listening to the speaker as it began playing the announcement. "The subway lines have been deactivated due to the intensity of the recent tremors. It will take a while to activate all possible entrances before we can continue moving on. Would the S4 please come forward and claim their CQ Card?"

With a reassuring inhale, Aloha adjusts his golf visor side to side before firmly adjusting it forward; He begins walking forward to the front of the monorail once again, with his members close behind. And then, another announcement begins to speak, C.Q. Cumber's voice now more impatient than the last. "And hurry. We don't have all day."