#7 - Sanitized

Fresh Start

I woke up. The first thing I noticed was that I was in my humanoid form. And that Eight and the Squid Sisters were looking at me. I quickly shifted back into my Octo form and curled up. 

"Aw, she went back," said Callie. "She's just shy," said Marie. Eight carried up a tray with some oatmeal and water. Marie took it from her and put it on the nightstand. "Brek-fas!" she scurried away. "Well..." said Callie. "We'll leave for now,"

And then they left. I switched back to my Octoling form to eat. The oatmeal was much sweeter than anything at Kamabo. 

Surprise science lesson!

Sanitized only have to eat in their early stages of Sanitization.

Ok bye class is dismissed

Then, I walked over to a bookshelf. Most of the books were in Inklish, but I saw that a few of them had been translated into the written Octarian language, and there were even a few that were only in Octarian. I flipped through an Octarian book, and I saw a few Inklish translation notes. Someone had been trying to translate this.

I read the notes. They had gotten it completely wrong. I grabbed a pen and corrected the notes. Then, I read a part of the book. It had lots of pictures of early designs of Octarian tech, like the Octobike, the Flooder, and the Neo Octoling armor. There was even a picture of the first-ever Octoweapons, the Octoshot and Octobrush. The Octoshot was almost identical to the Splattershot, and the Octobrush was also going to have a similar shape to the Inkbrush.

I put the book back and picked one of the Inklish ones: Everything You Need to Know About Salmonids!

It was all about the different types of Salmonids. But it seemed like the author knew very little about Salmonids, so I added in a few notes of my own. Even the Octarian trade agreement.

The rest of the day was spent flipping through info books and adding extra stuff or correcting false information. I couldn't believe how little the Inklings actually knew about Salmonids, Jellies, and Octarians. But in the Squid Sisters' whole library, there was not a single book about Sanitized Octarians.

Of course, I expected as much. But at least ONE cephalopod knew about us...right? Oh yeah, those doctors. And...I guess it would be pretty silly to write about real-life zombies...

Oh yeah, I guess that would be Eight. And there were those doctors, too.

Then, Marie came back in. I instantly switched back to my Octo form, and Marie sighed. Then, Eight came in.

"You know, you have visitors," she told me. I peeked out from under the covers. "Oh, come on," Marie said. "Everyone in the Splatoon has already seen a Sanitized. You don't need to hide,"

Pearl and Marina came in. "Marieeee! I couldn't wait!" Pearl yelled. Marie and Eight covered their ears. I slipped under the covers. "Sorry..." Pearl apologized.

"Okay, silly Octo. You can come out," said Marina. I refused, but Marina just pulled the blanket off. I curled up and squeezed my eyes shut. "Hmm...something's wrong," said Marina.

"Well, maybe she's just a mega-introvert," said Pearl.

"No, it's not that," said Marina. "It must be something with her Sanitization," 

For the next hour, they read my updated notes while I wrote more. They also tried to get me to switch to my Octoling form, but I didn't want to. At the end of the visit, they gave me a shot of Low-Tide ink (Which I didn't like) and a lemon lollipop (Which I did like).

And then they left. I switched back to my Octoling form and licked the lollipop. It was sour. I don't think I've tasted anything sour for a long time...

The next day, we went to the doctor's office again. Apparently my health was improving and I was regaining my strength. They gave me another shot of Low-Tide ink and we left. I still refused to switch to my Octoling form.

Why?

I don't know.

I don't know why, but I remember the feeling of insanity whenever I switch. Like #14-Crush is playing in my head on max volume. It feels like all the stages of Sanitization are happening at once. I can't forget the sounds of the Metro, or Commander Tartar's dial tone. I know that Agent Eight's in the same boat as me, but her Mem Cakes block the bad memories. Maybe I should've brought those with me instead of my headphones...

No. I liked my music.

Every night, I would fall asleep to a remix of Calamari Inkantation on the piano. I couldn't imagine life without music, just like nobody else can imagine life as a Sanitized.

Now that I think of it, Eight and I are pretty similar. Maybe I should try talking to her sometime.