Agent 38: In The Making

Chapter 7: Iso Padre

The last few weeks down in the Metro had been physically and mentally draining. Agent 8 was completely exhausted, sore, furstrated, sleep-deprived, and overall felt like she wanted to cry every few seconds. So far, she'd completed 5 of the 10 lines, Line B, Line C, Line H, Line J, Line A, and had two of the four thangs. Iso Padre seemed very pleased at the fact that she kept bringing in more and more Mem Cakes. The small treasures that the cephalopod gave her were, really, the only things that were actually hers.
     Eight stepped on the train, about ready to pass out. She'd just completed the Girl Power Station with about an hour of sleep in total from the whole week. In other words, her eyelids were fascinatingly heavy, her body was astonishingly sore and felt like sandbags that she had to drag around, her vision was somewhat blurry and overall, she felt depressed. Agent 8 walked towards Iso Padre, popped the latest Mem Cake in her mouth, and sat down next to him, letting the pictures play out in her mind.
     Once the memory had played out, she felt Iso Padre gently nudge her with one of his pincers. "Young squire, you look darker than the subway tunnels." He murmured. "Something's on your mind and it's weighing down pretty heavy, isn't it?" Agent 8 turned to him, teal-green ink smeared on her face from the previous battle. She nodded slightly. "You wanna talk about it?"
     Eight looked down again, huddling closer to herself. She thought about the pressure of getting back to the surface, taking Cap'n Cuttlefish with her, and finding Agent 3 in the process. Along with amnesia. And all of the stress laying on the shoulders of a 16 year old girl. The tears filled her dry, inkshot eyes (Instead of bloodshot, I'll use the word inkshot), and she let them as they rolled down her cheeks. Thank cod Cuttlefish was in the next train car, he'd laugh at her for being this weak.
     She looked up at him and burst into sobs, leaning on his shell. He turned to her and gently wrapped a few pincers around her.
     "It's ok, just let it all out." He said. "Tell me what happened."
     Eight tried to swallow the lump in her throat and spoke for the first time in almost a month. Actually, for the first time since she got on the train. "I-It's just," She sobbed, voice soft. "I'm only eighteen and need to complete all the lines a-and get out of here with C-Cuttlefish and find his friend A-Agent 3 in the process and I'm so t-tired and s-sore and I j-just feel like there is s-so much pressure on me and I have a-amnesia so n-now I really have to complete a-all the lines to regain my- my memory."
     "Young squire," Iso Padre said, looking down at her. "How are you only eighteen? No child should have to do something this treacherous. You're not even an adult yet. I'll have to have a word with that squid. In the meantime, don't cry, for not all hope is lost. You see, you are stronger than you assume, young squire. You've completed several lines and found several thangs. You have lasted more than anyone on this forgotten train. The test subjects who give up are stuck on this train 'till their very last days, but you have cut through the gloom, and now some of the people down here may be able to escape, all thanks to you." He pulled away and lifted her chin to meet his eyes. "You have been more successful than anyone I've ever known."
     "Y-you really mean that?" Eight whispered. He nodded with a smile.
     About a half hour later...
     Agent 8 had asked C.Q. to go to get the third thang, since she already had a clear route to it. It was pretty far though, so it would take a while to get there. Meanwhile, Iso Padre had been mumbling to himself and had been somewhat fidgety, as if he was planning something. A minute or two later, he stood up and walked into the next train car, where Cuttlefish was seated. The doors slid shut behind him and she heard muffled voices as they talked. Curious, she pressed her ear to a part of the door where it wouldn't open automatically, and listened.
     "I don't care if she's an Octarian soldier," said Iso Padre's voice. "She's an 18 year old CHILD who should not be running through these crumbling halls, passing tests to get your butt out of here!"
     "Iso Padre, listen, I-" Cuttlefish stuttered.
     "Cuttlefish, she's a CHILD! Barely even 18! These subway halls are dark and depressing and not at all fit for the environment a young adult, with so much potential, should be in! You are the only adult here that is even close to her guardian, so stop acting like a freaking child!"
     "I- um- I- yes, sir!" Cuttlefish's voice mumbled. They both were quiet for a long moment, and Eight heard Iso Padre's footsteps thumping towards her. She quickly scrambled back to her seat and pretended like she heard nothing as Iso Padre walked in with a somewhat triumphant face.
     He sat down next to her and crossed all his arms again. "I apologize if you heard some of that."
     She laughed. "Iso, I heard it ALL. Thank you for standing up for me like that, you really did not have to. You have my respect. Oh, and I promise I will show you all my Mem Cakes before I eat them."
     He smiled. "Thank you, young squire. You have filled that void of despair with hope once again."
     "Attention, passengers!" C.Q.'s voice said cheerfully through the speakers. "We are now arriving at Testing Room HO6, Break & Bounce Station!"
     Agent 8's three hearts all skipped a beat. The third thang. She was so, so close to getting to the surface! She smiled up at Iso Padre and jumped to her feet, suddenly energized again, and walked out the door. As she stepped onto the Equipper, she caught herself wondering if she would miss the old cephalopod once she was on the surface. Eight clicked on the photo of the Splattershot and the glass flew down around her, leaving her with the weapon. As she inked the ground to swim towards the electric barrier that guarded the thang, Marina, Cuttlefish, and Pearl were chatting in the background.
     "There's something suspicious about this room..." Marina said cautiously.
     "Oho! Reminds me of the good ol' Bluefin Depot." Said Cuttlefish.
     She walked up to it and shooting at the barrier until it finally exploded. She reached up, pulled it away from the thing that made it float (She had absolutely NO IDEA what it was called), and placed it on a cart that she'd dragged along with her. Agent 8 pushed it onto the train and recieved a very pleased look from the Cap'n as the train raced back to the Central Station.
     Once they'd arrived, she wheeled the cart with the thang out of the train car and into the dim light. The telephone immediately turned on and started speaking in his somewhat distorted, mostly cheerful robotic voice.
     "Hey!" It yelled. "You found the third thang! You da bomb, fo rizzle."
     As she pulled it off the cart and pushed it next to the telephone where all the other thangs were, she saw Cuttlefish with a worried look on his face.
     "I wonder why we haven't found Agent 3 yet..." He muttered. "Should I put up a missing Agent poster?" Eight thought for a moment, then nodded. Cuttlefish pulled out a sketchbook and started scribbling away on it. After a minute, he showed her a female Inkling with a weapon in hand. "This was Agent 3, right?"
     Agent 8 thought for a moment. "Have I met him before?" She asked.
     "Aha!" He suddenly yelled. "You said him! You might really remember him after all! Try and remember him. Agent 3 has the same armor as the drawing, and his hair is up in a ponytail, but I can't recall much else about him..."
     Cuttlefish sketched out another drawing of an Inkling boy that somewhat matched his description.
     "Um..." Eight mumbled, trying to picture an Inkling that looked like that. Something flashed behind her eyes.
     The harmonious melody played as the Inkling jumped off of what seemed to be a floating UFO, slamming his fist down into the ground a few feet in front of her.
     Agent 8 replayed that scene in her mind until she got a full picture of what Agent 3 looked like. Assuming that the Inkling from her memories was Agent 3.
     "He had... tan skin, a bit lighter than mine... and I'm pretty sure he had orange eyes... Right?" She guessed.
     "Magnificent!" Cuttlefish said. "Maybe you're memory isn't doomed after all! And by the way, you have met Agent 3 before."
     Eight smiled. Things were looking up. She would be on the surface soon, feeling the sun and wind brush across her skin.
     She'd be there soon.

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Word count: 1572

I think Iso Padre should be Agent 8's uncle. He's a great father figure. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Chapter 8 is coming!
Word count: 1567