Underground Escape

The Octarian Lobby

They all walked out of the hallway and into the lobby. It was huge!

"Not as big as Splatsville," Captain commented, "But definitely innovative."

He wasn't wrong. The amount of screens that flashed commercials of gear, food, basically anything being sold in the stores that seemed never ending.

The little octoling giggled. "I love this place! I go here every day!"

While the inklings marveled at the place, 8 stood in shock. This wasn't how it used to look. Back when she lived here, the place was run down. Built from scraps, things were constantly falling apart. Most live in little tents and huts as homes. Her house had been extremely small, only consisting of a little camping stove and a bed, along with groceries lined against the wall. She couldn't believe that the place she used to call home had changed so much to the point where it wasn't even recognizable. She couldn't remember where her and her friends' favorite restaurant used to be.

But as she walked down the bright lighted street, she recognized the shape of the building.

The restaurant.

It had been changed into a much fancier restaurant, and the food most likely didn't taste the same. Still, she was enthusiastic and called out, "Hey guys! There's a restaurant here! Let's eat!"

The others quickly looked over when they heard "eat."

"We've been walking around for a while now, so I guess we can stop here for a bite," Captain agreed. They all walked in.

Sure enough, the place was fancy - and expensive. They were escorted to a table by a waiter.

"Wow, the stuff's not cheap! Should we even eat here?" 4 looked at the menu, wide eyed.

8 was desperate to try their food. "Of course we should! Best to spend on ourselves sometimes!"

The others looked awkwardly at her after the frantic reply. "You okay?" asked 3.

"...Besides, this may be the only place nearby to eat! Maybe the only???"

Sweat fell down 8's forehead as she took in the others' stares. She usually wouldn't have said such a thing, just agreed with the others, but she felt really depressed from the change of her original home and of the closing of her favorite restaurant. She remained quiet.

"Alright. But don't order anything above $20. We can't just spend all our money, you know." Captain said. He looked back at the menu.

"$20?? Nothing's below $20! What are we going to order, just chips and queso???"

The others laughed at 4 and started chatting normally again. 8 relaxed. But she still couldn't get the worried feeling out of her stomach. She wondered if she ever could, now that her hometown had changed.