Survivors of Alterna: Final Run

Chapter 7: Another Failure

Inka's eyes snap wide open upon feeling a sudden jostling sensation. After a short period of disorientation, she realizes she fell asleep during the ride, and the light shaking from Clod's platform landing woke her.

Inka rubbed her eyes to help unblur her vision, and the first thing she saw was Marie curiously watching her. They both were sitting down with their knees tucked close to their chest.

A loud yawn made them direct their attention to the yawner in question, Sal. He stretched after stepping off Clod's platform, extending his dorsal fin and straightening out his tail.

After looking around, Inka recognized where they were: The Superiority Complex. They appeared to be in the cloning part of the tower, as they were on the triangular platform Akikta had tackled Sal off from.

A group of salmonids crowded around the central pillar where the console was. There was a Steelhead, a cohock, and three chums.

"What's going on here?" Sal questioned, and the salmonids jumped at his presence.

"Lord!" One chum blurted. "W-what are you doing back here?" A nervous expression was plastered all over its face as it trembled.

Sal placed his hands on his hips. "Is that question implying I'm not allowed to go where I please when I please in my own home?"

The chum shot upright with widened eyes before feverishly shaking its head. "No, my lord! Not at all!"

"Good." Sal let his arms down. "Now, all of you get out of the way. I'm cloning Ikayaki." A grave expression suddenly befell on all the salmonids' faces. None moved an inch from their spots. "Did you hear me? I said move!"

"W-we can't...clone anymore. The machine is...b-broken." A different chum stuttered.

The same chum covered its face after seeing the abrupt distortion in Sal's face. "WHAT?!" He howled, his voice echoing throughout the dimly lit chambers. "What do you mean?!"

The cohock spoke. "The purple octo damaged the control panel during her escape..."

Sal gritted his teeth, only now noticing the shallow slash mark across the terminal. From the looks of it, the damage was unintentional. "Clod, examine this!" He demanded, angrily pointing at the console.

With a sigh, the goggle-wearing salmonid slithered his way to the terminal. He investigated the damage from all angles, going so far as to zoom in with his goggles by pressing a small button on the straps, which Inka never noticed until now.

After a brief analysis, Clod peeled back from the terminal. "Well?" Sal said in anticipation.

Clod shook his head. "Well, sire, the good news is the terminal isn't critically damaged." He put his fins together anxiously. "The bad news is...it's inoperable..."

Before Sal could blow up—which he wanted to, judging by the visible anger on his face—his radio buzzed. "Father..." The voice of Masu called out. Inka fully honed her senses onto the conversation.

"Please, let this be good news, Masu," Sal responded, bringing the radio up to his ear.

Slight mumbles and whimpers came from the other end, reminding Inka of a scared child. "The human... is being helped by the squidbeaks and got away again." She said extremely fast, probably hoping Sal wouldn't properly hear her. Inka caught what she said and was quite relieved. However, if Inka understood what Masu said, then Sal definitely did, too.

Sal pressed a button on the radio; the noises from the other side abruptly cut off. He put both arms to his side and closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply. The slower he breathed, the faster his tail wagged. Inka assumed he was trying to quell his wrath, but it was to no avail. "IDIOTS!" He yelled, smashing his fist into the nose of the Steelhead, who stumbled back out of shock and yelped.