#7 - Sanitized

Splatfest!

A Splatfest? 

Yes, a Splatfest! 

The theme this time was Ketchup versus Mayonnaise. Of course, I was on team mayo! Pearl and I celebrated together in front of all the other agents. Marina groaned. "Pearl...you look like an absolute idiot," she said.

Well, she wasn't wrong. And Pearl does go a little overboard sometimes. She eats mayo like ice cream! But that's not really bad. I mean, the only person she's hurting is herself. She's gonna get heart disease one day...

And when I went to Inkopolis Square I realized how much I had missed while I was underground.

Everyone was celebrating in the square, Off the Hook was dancing, and even Callie and Marie came onstage for a minute to dance with them! It was amazing!

But then there were the fireworks...

And as I watched the explosions of light in the dark sky, something else happened...

I woke up terrified. Another nightmare. I cried out a little, and I accidentally woke up the Octoling on the top bunk of the bed. "Don't tell mama!" I pleaded, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Mama wasn't our real mom. She was an old Octoling who raised many children, but she was a very light sleeper, and in a completely silent house with paper-thin walls, you could hear everything. Even an Octoling waking up from a nightmare.

And even if I didn't wake her up, the bigger Octarians would always wake her up to blame it on me. They knew about the nightmares.

But surprisingly, this Octo didn't wake her up, and just went back to sleep.

In the morning, we talked a little bit, and I found out that her name was Marissa. We quickly became friends, and since she was the oldest Octoling, she would stop the mean ones from bullying me. She was my first friend.

And eventually, we both joined the military to protect our Zapfish in Octo Canyon.

We still stayed friends, of course, but sadly we didn't have as much time to talk as we did before. 

But that's when I started getting bullied. Again. And this time, there was no Marissa to help me most of the time. I tried to make it stop. I really did. But whenever I told someone, they would just say, "You're in the military now. Toughen up!" And I hated it. I tried to take matters into my own hands and fight back, but I was weaker than them and I knew it. 

Eventually, I decided I was DONE. I wanted to escape. And take Marissa with me. 

It turns out that she had been facing her own problems: undiagnosed mental disorders, bullying (Although she didn't seem to care), and she wouldn't admit it, but depression. Combine that with the terrible living conditions we had and you get a barely-functioning Octoling. But we were going to escape. 

We ran as fast as we could, our determination finally allowing us to fight the Octoleet Goggles' mind control. 

And we were free.

...Except for one thing.

We had accidentally set off an alarm, and we were being hunted down by a bunch of Octolings. Too many for us to fight.

And they caught me.

But what about Marissa?

Well...the Octolings wanted to be cruel today. But they were too cruel, too careless.

And when they caught Marissa, they decided that before they brought her back, they would...teach us not to do it again. And they shot me with an Octo Shot. It hurt a lot and left a bruise that I still have today.

But Marissa?

They...completely splatted her. 

When she didn't have a respawn point.

Instantly, my only friend was gone, the only trace of her was an explosion of magenta ink on the concrete. 

I couldn't believe it. I had killed Agent 3 countless times before, and she had killed me several times as well, but we would both respawn each time.

Not Marissa.

All I remember after that was slipping out of the soldiers' grasp and sprinting to the sewer grate, the only thought I had being "I have to do it for Marissa." But JUST as I had reached the grate, The Octolings grabbed my leg and pulled me away. "NO! HELP!" I screamed, clinging onto the thought that maybe, just maybe someone from the surface would hear me. 

But there was nothing. Nothing except for the faint sounds of singing, cheering, and fireworks.

"Gotcha!" said the soldier who had caught me, right before the needle was plunged into my arm.