A small mem cake fumbled through her hands. The young Octoling, sitting still in her dimly room on her worn out bed, stared at it with minimal blinking, as it was one of the few things which still brought her comfort. A small, orange haired Inkling mem cake. Every night, she felt, she stared at this single mem cake, the first mem cake she ever received and the only one she kept. Her surroundings were bleak, a dome shaped room mostly made out of metal, with some paper hung on the walls, each containing a few lines of poetry she wrote. This place, this small sad room, was her home now.
With a sigh, she pulled out her CQ-80, placing it on the bed and tapping the analog stick, a sudden bright holographic screen appearing in front of her. As always, she was a bit phased by the sudden light, but shrugged it off and moved to the record tab. She tapped the analog again, a red circle appearing indicating it was recording. With a sigh, she began speaking to it.
"Dear diary. It's been.... 6 months today since the NILS Statue. Meaning that we've been in this bunker for 6 months. I still have dreams about that day and how I could've done things differently, but.... it doesn't distract from the fact that we're running out of food. Marina doesn't know what to do. No one does. Mr. Cuttlefish can't focus, Pearl isn't speaking to anybody, Marina is getting more and more anxious, and no one can sleep, I hear Pearl up at night all the time making music, swearing in her room and whatnot. No one is acting like themselves. Ever since Jessica left, we all accepted defeat, and we've been trying to keep ourselves busy, but... there's only so much one can do to stay sane down here."
The Octoling sat back, her back against the wall, her mem cake close to her heart, as she fought back ink-filled tears. "I-I don't know how to keep this up. I spent... all that time trying to make it to the surface that I never considered what would happen if there's nothing to find. This was all my fault too. The whole world rested on my shoulders, and I failed. I ended up paying that price. ....I hope that one day Tartar pays his price as well, but that day won't be today. Can't be today or tomorrow. Probably won't be ever. We need Jessica back, we need food, and, we need hope. Too bad we don't have any of that right now."
Another long sigh escaped her mouth. "Love, Bridgett. Don't get cooked." She clicked on the analog again, the CQ-80 saving her recording and shutting down. Setting it on the floor, she slowly pulled the covers over her, preparing for just another sleepless night.
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"God.... dammit!" Marina suddenly shouted as she slammed her open palm on the table. "They keep finding my drones!"
Cap'n Cuttlefish slowly and shakily carried his small breakfast meal to the table, his cane in hand as always. "Easy there, sweetheart, we only have one table."
Marina grunted under her breath as she rapidly typed on her laptop. "We're running out of materials for new drones. Tartar's creatures keep finding them. Sooner or later we're gonna have nothing, and worse still, this is gonna lead them right to our doorstep!" She suddenly slammed the laptop shut and stood up. "This is so stupid! Tartar has those things everywhere! I can't keep doing this!"
"Young lady, those abominations are mindless and you know it. They aren't gonna find us with a couple of drone parts."
Marina grasped the chair in front of her, masking a panic attack with a brief smile. "You're right. I just need to stay positive." Her brief smile now turned into a gleaming one. "Staying... positive."
A door was heard opening down the hall from the dining room, Bridgett stepping in shortly after. The dining room, which doubled as the living room in such a small place, was gray and sad just like the rest of the bunker, with metal walls and shelves with lines of canned food. The room's main light was dim and blinking, but some of the walls were lined with computer monitors hooked to the walls, which constantly showed information about the date and time, bunker temperature with other living conditions, and updates on Inkopolis' current... condition. The room overall, however, was easily the biggest one in the bunker, thus being the most comfortable room to be in.
Marina kept her smile big and shining. "Hi, Eight. I made us some seanwiches."
Bridgett left a small smile in return, but quickly returned to the usual frown as she grabbed her food and sat down.
They all sat in silence for a few moments but Marina felt like breaking it. "How is your diary going? Is the CQ holding up OK?"
"Yeah, It's fine. Might need new batteries though."
Marina's smile began to fade. "Well... I believe we have another pair but... those are the last ones. You... may have to start using it sparingly."
Bridgett got her daily hopelessness feeling early today. Soon, she won't even have her trusty CQ. "Well, I mean.... I can probably just turn to handwritten. Then we just get to worry about limited paper."
Cuttlefish grunted. "It's a miracle we even have paper."
"Hey. Positive thoughts." Marina, at this point, was singled out as the only person in the bunker who actively attempted to stay positive, even if it didn't really work. Her brief smile everyone knew too well returned. "I'm gonna go check on Pearl. Don't get cooked." She said with a catchy tone and a point as she walked out.
Pearl's room was a mess. Clothes everywhere, and at least 3 random electric guitars laid out on the floor, two of which were broken. Out of the group of four, Pearl cared the least about hygiene by far. Pearl herself still laid sprawled on her bed in an awkward belly position when she heard a knock on the door. Marina slowly opened it and entered.
"Hey, Pearlie. There's some seanwiches out there for you. I made them just the way you like them." Marina said with hopefullness. To her usual dismay, Pearl refused to answer. "...Will you please come out?"
Pearl moved just a little bit to change her position. "Hm. Maybe later."
"Alright. Just come out whenever you're ready, K Pearlie? ...Don't get cooked." She paused for a moment before leaving just to see if she would reply with "Stay off the hook" like the old days, but silence ensued. No matter how little she wanted to accept it, Off the Hook was no more.
With a sigh, Marina closed the door behind her and retreated back to the dining room. When she entered, she noticed Cuttlefish looking up at the monitors on the wall with Bridgett casually sitting toward the back of the room staring at her mem cake. The screens were taken over by three big pictures of Marie, Callie, and Jessica Murdock, AKA Agent 3. Under each picture laid big red text with a threatening font, "MISSING (PRESUMED DECEASED)".
"Cuttlefish! I told you not to open those!" Marina yelled as she went to the keyboard and turned off the monitors.
"Pull those back up! I need clues on where to find them!" Cuttlefish yelled back as he attempted to push Marina aside for the keyboard. Marina held her ground and shoved him back, not even bothering to mask her panic attack now.
"You're not helping anything by looking at these! There's no clues to find!"
"Just let me find them! I need to find them!" Cuttlefish was getting extra shaky now.
"Cuttlefish, as much as I hate to say it, they're dead! Everyone is dead! Jessica left, and she's mostly likely dead too! You can't just go out to Inkopolis and survive!"
Cuttlefish dropped his cane and slowly sat down, tears streaming down his face. "No... Not my Squid Sisters. Not my babies..."
Marina, now crying as well, sat down next to him and grabbed his hand for support. "I need you to stay strong, otherwise I can't stay strong myself. Please, you can't keep looking at those and giving yourself false hope. Who knows, maybe... maybe one day we can pull together our resources and get out there to stop Tartar, and avenge them, but... you can't keep holding on to them like this. Let them go."
"We're not stopping Tartar in a million years. Not without Jessica."
"Who said we need Jessica? We have the next best thing" She pointed toward Bridgett.
"You don't understand, Jessica was one of the most skilled warriors I've ever seen. Nothing could stop her. Bridgett couldn't live up to her even if she tried her hardest."
Bridgett rolled her eyes.
"C'mon, don't say that." Marina sighed. "Eight knocked her teeth in when she was brainwashed, remember? I have no doubt she could do it again."
"I have doubts." Cuttlefish picked up his cane and slowly stumbled to his room. Marina and Bridgett were left to silently stare at each other as the daily sense of hopelessness fell over them both.
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'What are the chances Jessica is still alive?' These were the thoughts that went through Marina's head at midnight in her room. Most of Inkopolis was wiped out in the NILS statue attack, with any survivors being finished off by Tartar's custom made minions, but Jessica was with them when they escaped the blast radius, and she only ever disappeared the day after. If there was any way left to remotivate the team, it was getting Jessica back. Although still doubtful of her survival, Marina opened her laptop and opened her word document.
"Agent 3,
If you are alive and reading this, Captain Cuttlefish needs your help. I know you have the skills and training to face Tartar, so please return to Cuttlefish Bunker so we can regroup. No one holds your brainwashed attack on Eight against you, and I hope you'll make the right choice and come see Cuttlefish again. Don't get cooked.
Marina"
With her message typed out, she quickly encrypted it and sent it through Tartar's online server. "Oh, god, Jessica. We need you now more than ever."