Splatoon: The Last Human

Studying the Present: Part 4

"Auntie Tamara told us not to touch anything," Austin had started playing with a massive skull; its thick teeth protruded from the front of its face, giving away to an ancient predator. Austin put his head in between its molars, then acted dead before letting out a laugh, " Come on, Cora, lighten up a little bit; you've been sad ever since we left the forest," Austin said, turning into squid form to escape the tusk devils skull. Cora felt anger bubble up, " And you don't? " Austin climbed on top of the tusk devils skull, put his hands behind his head, and lay on top of it, " I do," he said, staring at the glassy ceiling, " But I don't know him, or if he has weird intentions,"

"Weird intentions?"

"Yeah, like in that movie Destiny of Professor Shore, where he meets that weird alien, becomes friends with it, then tries to take his brain when he falls asleep,"

"Wasn't that movie horrible?"

"My point is that you've known him for three days, and I rather not lose my only friend,"

Cora smiled, "Only friend? What about Pontus and Beel?"

"Pontus is tired all the time, and Beel is only interested in food; I'm more surprise she hasn't eaten any of us yet," Austin snickered.

Silence filled the room, momentarily broken by far-away echoes of Tamara and the stranger talking. Cora thought about what Austin said and understood his concerns; a weird-looking stranger being friendly toward you isn't a good sign, but what happened at his ship, him burying his crew members, made her believe he wasn't evil. The look on the stranger's fair face hides a deep sadness he didn't want to express; maybe on his planet, crying is a weakness; if so, she wishes she could comfort him. Needing to distract herself from those thoughts, she called out to her friend, "Austin, want to check out the shark jaws?" Austin stared at her, "Are you feeling any better?"

"No," she replied, "But maybe checking out those sharp teeth would make me feel better," Austin sighed before smiling, "Alright, as long as I get to tell you a bunch of shark puns," she regretted her decision.

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Talking with Tamara made Hayden regret his decision. Tamara is a talkative sort and leaves no room for punctuation; he learned that once she's on a subject she adores, Tamara talks at an incredible speed that she reverts to her language. What he learned about the "Inkling" history so far is that they evolved from the seas, similar to the Stem tetrapods; the only difference was that the Inklings came from...squids. Hayden was confused; squids are intelligent creatures, but nature was not kind to them. Squids only lived up to three to five years; predators saw them as delicacies, overshadowed by their cousins, octopi or cuttlefish; they were an underdog species when humans were around, and the thought they evolved into a sentient race piqued his interest.

"Not only did the squids evolve but other sea life as well, shrimps, isopods, even the octo-" she stopped as if she was reconsidering her words, "Anyway, many of the sea life managed to come on land, and we've built a pretty peaceful society; though we've had some hiccups in our times," she looked away shamefully, "And I'm pretty sure human society was a way more peaceful then ours," that comment had stung, even though Hayden wished to refute that statement, "Yeah, humanity got along together, even if we weren't as diverse as your era, we all came together in the end," he only told a half-truth he didn't want humanities descendants to think their precursors were bloodthirsty creatures.

He will tell her about the dark parts of human history once he explores the world more; for now, he'll focus on the bright sides.

"To move on from that subject, we call that period of evolution the Mollusc Era; unfortunately, some parts of our history are missing from the records, so I don't have all the information with me at the moment," Tamara gave an apologetic smile. "That's ok," Hayden said, "Even humanity itself could not find every part of their history,"

"So, humans were as lost as we are,"

"More than you think," he thought

Dull orange crept into the museum's radiant windows as nearby crickets sang their lullaby into the starry sky. "Tumusugu, it's already getting dark, and it looks like you're about tired as a salmon going upstream," Tamara said, her hair glowing with red bioluminescence as her red-glowing eyes scoured the darkened halls. Despite the fatigue, Hayden watched Tamara with fascination as the chromatophores danced within her tentacle-like hair, "Nuzo nezonedgu migaine muwai noinegaine means my eyes are up here," she chuckled. Hayden blushed with embarrassment, "Sorry, bioluminescence was rare back in humanity's era, so seeing it in action is like watching nature's artwork," Tamara smiled as the tip of her sharps ear turned red.

"Humans are such strange creatures, and the fact I had the chance to talk to one means I should play the lottery tomorrow," Tamara and Hayden chuckled, "So, you have a place to sleep? I wouldn't recommend sleeping in here; Old Puddles might mistake you for a relic and put you on display,"

"No, my old sleeping spot-"

"Uncomfortable?"

"...Guess you can say that," Hayden said, discomfort permeating his voice

"There's an apartment complex in Inkapolis Plaza; used by young Inklings, but adults could rent a room if they want,"

"That's cool, but I don't-"

"Have money, and sure as noineji can't speak our language, but that's where I come in," Tamara gave a cheeky grin,

"Oh?"

"I'll pay for your apartment, and you'll use that time to get used to the world around you; noineji, maybe you could even work here if you don't end up in a display case,"

Hayden sat still; it's strange to help someone this much, especially when you don't know much about them. For this kind act, Hayden wanted to repay Tamara tenfold. "For now, you can crash at my place until tomorrow," Tamara got up from the bench and walked down the hall where Cora and Austin had ventured. She found them cuddled together near a herbivorous animal that's fur was similar to a cloud. Tamara smiled, "And I told you, little minnows, not to touch anything," Tamara picked Cora up into her arms as Hayden slumped Austin over his shoulder. "You know, with you here, Hayden, it might be an interesting Splatfest this time around,"

"Splatfest?"

"I'll tell you later," she winked.