The Adventures of Agent 9 (Book 1)

Sweeter Than Sugar (Part 2)

Oh my cod, what am I going to do.

Brinn sat down beside the nearest table, eager for her newest acquaintance to wake up. Her eyes carried bags underneath them, drooping with every breath she took. She had been waiting there throughout the night, not once leaving to her own apartment in the city.

8 laid under the covers of the hospital bed, her weary body still resting from the anesthetics she took earlier that day. Her tentacles were unraveled, leaving the red locks hanging off the side of the bed, curling with every movement.

C'mon.....it's been a few hours. She should've woken up by now.

As if on queue, 8 started to stir. She rubbed her eyes and squinted towards Brinn.

"Where am I?"

Brinn moved her chair closer to the bed and held 8's hands in her own. "We're in a hospital. Do you know how you got here?"

"...No...Not at all..." 8 looked downwards.

She gripped 8's hands a little tighter and told her what she went through. After each sentence, 8 would nod and her eyes would get wider with each movement Brinn made. The sun started to rise over nearby buildings as the conversation kept going. When her story ended and a few questions were asked, Brinn decided to ask one of her own.

"Actually, now that you're awake, do you remember my name?"

8 paused for a moment in thought, "...It's Miss Three! Right?"

"Yes," Brinn smiled, "but I have another name too. My real name is Brinn, though most people call me 'Three' or 'Agent Three'."

"Wow! Wait..." 8 hesitated.

"8? What's wrong?"

"Can I have another name too?"

Brinn clutched her heart, How can one little girl be that cute? Man, the family who takes her is going to be blessed greatly.

"Of course you can have one. Now, what do you want to be called?"

"I....have no idea!" She giggled.

"Well...what do you like here on the surface so far? We could name you one of your favorite things?"

Brinn watched as 8 recalled all of the things she saw on the surface, a few she only described what they looked like. Her face softened as she watched the little girl's sun-kissed face light up, taking a deep breath in after each continuous word.

"Oh! I have one more thing too! His name's Mister Kai! He was the really cool Octoling we met earlier! He saved me from lots and lots of things, and he's super duper nice!"

Brinn nodded and smiled, "Do you want your name to sound like his?"

"Yes please!"

"Okay then, I'll see what I can do," Brinn scrolled through the newfound list in her phone of names that start with "K". Pages and pages of names she didn't know existed in the palms of her hands.

Klara? No, too girly. Karma? Not at all. Kayla? Maybe...Maybe not. None of these feel perfect. It just doesn't seem like her. C'mon...give me something...Anything! ...Oh? How about this?

Brinn glanced up from her phone, "How about Kaia?"

8's face grew into a smile she had never seen before. Childlike innocence and enthusiastic delight filled her face as she nodded long and hard.

"I weally like it! Can that be my name?! Pwetty please!?"

"Are you sure? You'll be keeping it forever." Squit. That sounded too ominous, didn't it?  Please don't cry again!