After bouncing on bounce pads for nearly 20 minutes, Numi went to the launch pad, eager to get a new mission. She had to ask Cap'n Cuttlefish for the directions, but otherwise nothing happened. Once she returned, Cuttlefish took the power eggs and armour from her, and gave her the book he mentioned.

Because Numi was a fast learner, she didn't need to spend much time with the book. Currently, she was waiting for Cuttlefish's decision, having already done the test. Her hopes were high, and so was her confidence. The minutes dragged on for Numi. Finally, Cuttlefish sighed and said "Well bucko, you did well. I'd say that this was comparable to agent 1's first mission."

"So... do I get a new mission?" Numi asked with hopefull eyes.

"Yes, you'll get a new mission."

"Yay!" Numi beamed and hugged Cuttlefish. "Thank you! I won't let you down!"

"Alright bucko, alright. I know you're excited, but let this old squid go." Cuttlefish said, doing his best to not fall over.

"Oh, sorry!" Numi said and took two steps back. "Where is the mission?"

"I'll show you. Follow me." Cuttlefish said as he turned around. He started walking and Numi happily skipped beside Cuttlefish. "So, there are two ways we get to our missions. We either walk or use kettles."

"Kettles? Those magical pots that make water hot and bubbly?"

"Erm, yes. How many things are magical to you...?"

"Everything and everyone has magic, but some have more! Birds use magic to fly, microwaves use magic to make food warm, fridges and freezers use magic to keep things cold, ooh, there are also tiny jellyfish living inside fridges! They turn the light on!" Numi beamed enthusiastically. "Planes use magic and engines to fly, zapfish are made out of magic, alien spaceships use some magic-" she continued but got cut off.

"Alright bucko, I get it." Cuttlefish said, not expecting Numi to start listing everything. After a minute he asked "Out of curiosity, did you watch the Moon landing when it happened?"

"Yup! It was a bit scary, but also very cool! I'm still disappointed that Moon isn't made out of sponge cake."

"You know, it could have been done 20 years earlier, but no one was interested then."

"Wait, really?"

"Really. Instead of happening in 2009, it could have happened in 1989." Cuttlefish said and stopped. "Anyway, here's a kettle." In front of them was a large, flat kettle with a grate on top where the cover would be. It was large enough to fit three basic forms at once. "We used to rely on octarian kettles that we found, but a few months ago Sheldon managed to make one with the help from agents 8 and 6. And this one is easier to set up!"

"How does it work?"

"You'd have to ask Sheldon, 8 or 6. Would you please stand on grate?"

"Uh... is it safe?" Numi asked nervously. "I don't want to get boiled..."

"I can assure you that it's completely safe." Cuttlefish replied confidently. "Is your ink tank full? Yes it is, do you have your gear? Yes you have." he said to himself.

"I need a full ink tank?" Numi asked curiously as she stepped onto the kettle.

"Yes. The kettle will empty your ink tank and use the ink to send you to your mission. When you land, the ink will form a single use launch pad for you to get back." Cuttlefish explained and motioned Numi to change form by showing Numi the palm of his left hand, fingers wide apart, and quickly clenching it into a fist.

"Uh, ok." Numi said and changed her form, falling through the grate. Because of how tiny her basic form was, the inside of the kettle seemed quite large to her. Pipes and gears lined the metal walls of the kettle, with a few valves here and there. Numi noticed a single lever and out of curiosity pulled it. The kettle was instantly brought to live. Gears sluggishly started turning, rapidly accelerating with each turn after a few slow turns. A hiss could be heard as something began to run through the pipes. Numi quickly shut her eyes and refused to open them, terrified of the noises produced by the workings of the kettle. She could feel the floor starting to spin, slowly speeding up. It all happened in mere seconds. The kettle soon filled with warm ink, and with a whistle, the kettle launched Numi to her mission inside of a large ink blob.

"It took a bit longer than usual... I'll have to ask 8 to check it later." Cuttlefish thought as he turned around to go back to the cabin. "I didn't even need to tell her about the lever."

---

"I still can't believe I missed that..." Pumi muttered. She was currently at cuttlefish shack with Licy. Licy was lying in bed, her legs and arms tied to the bed with a special rope to prevent form changing, leaving only her head and tentacles to move freely.

"Why's that Agent Snore? Isn't falling asleep your specialty?" Licy grinned.

"Isn't your specialty stinking?" Pumi smirked, to which Licy groaned.

"Doc said I could walk after two days, why do I still need to be in bed?"

"You asked that five times already... he also said that you shouldn't walk for four days."

"Boo-hoo!"

"Are you a child?"

"No, I'm bored!"

"Hi Bored, I'm Pumi." Pumi chuckled.

"Stop it."

"Nah. Tell me Bored, why do you always stink?"

"Stop."

"By the time you can go, this room will be left with your stench for months."

"Stop!"

"How will we get rid of that stench? Oh! We could start by-OW!" Pumi was cut off by a metal lamp hitting her in the face. She stumbled backwards and fell on her butt. "The shell Licy?!"

"Told you to stop. And it's also kind of a payback for that can." Licy replied flatly.

"There's a difference between words, a can and a damn lamp!" Pumi spat as she got up, to which Licy rolled her eyes. Pumi picked up the lamp after a minute, checked if the light bulb was intact, and seeing that it was, she walked over to the bedside table and placed it back on its spot. Out of nowhere, something covered Pumi's face. She quickly grabbed whatever was on her face and yanked it off. She took a moment to look at what she was holding: it was a long, yellow-green tentacle. "Holy mackerel, Licy! That's not funny!" Pumi angrily exclaimed. Licy was giggling as she retreated her left tentacle away from Pumi.

"Why isn't it?" Licy asked with a grin.

"That's an easy way to give someone a heart attack!"

"Nah, you're exaggerating."

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"Nope!"

"You don't have a heart attack, do you?"

"I might not have one, but that was terrifying!"

"How so?"

"It felt like someone was trying to squidnap me!"

"Mind not shouting? I won't do that again. No promises thou- leave."

"What? Why?"

"Just leave. Please."

"What if I don't?"

"Seriously, leave! Leave and lock this room!"

"Licy...?"

"Go away! Why do you think I'm tied to this bed?"

"To stop you from... oh! Oh carp."

"Leave!"

"Ok, ok, I'm leaving!" Pumi exclaimed and rushed out of the room, locking the door behind.

"Is something wrong?" Marie's voice asked from behind.

"Back already? Licy told me, no, urged me to leave." Pumi replied and turned around to face the squid sister. "I think that you can guess why."

"Things would be so much easier if that wasn't a problem." Marie sighed.

"What's in that big box behind you?"

"Crabby cakes. A lot of them. Gramps made a shopping list and accidentally wrote them on it twice. Callie took that a bit too seriously..."

"'A bit' sounds like an understatement to me. That box is almost as tall as you!"

"It's enough for a month, but Callie keeps saying that it's barely enough for three days. Oh! I've got a favor to ask of you."

"Yes?"

"Mind taking this to cuttlefish cabin?" Marie asked as she picked up a different, smaller box.

"Sure. Is the thing inside fragile or sturdy?" Pumi asked as she took the box.

"Sturdy."

"Alright! I'll get a chance to checkout that shortcut Nini found too!" Pumi beamed as she turned to leave. "Cya!" she said and left.

---

A blob of pink ink crashed on the edge of an abandoned parking lot behind a rusted van, forming a large puddle. Out of the puddle emerged a dizzy Numi, who took a few steps forward and rested against the van. "Agent 7, can you hear me?" Cuttlefish asked over the radio after a minute. Numi didn't reply. "Agent 7?"

"I can... I'm a bit dizzy." Numi replied after a few moments.

"Ah... I should have warned you about that, bucko."

"Where am I?"

"At an abandoned warehouse near the border."

"That's sounds scary... and dangerous."

"I can assure you it's perfectly safe! Anyway, your mission is to check that warehouse. I've seen some octarians carrying a zapfish with them go in the direction of it."

"Zappie-zap-zap?!" Numi exclaimed childishly.

"Uh... yes, bucko." Cuttlefish said, confused by Numi naming a zapfish the way 5-year-olds do. "In a way, you're rescuing it." he added a moment later.

Numi gasped. "To the rescue!" she exclaimed and ran out from behind the van, no longer feeling dizzy. The warehouse, a giant, old concrete building, was easy to spot. Numi noticed an open entrance and started running towards it, her heroshot ready. With how fast she could run, she was by the warehouse in moments.

"Agent7, stop!" Cuttlefish ordered, bringing Numi to a halt. "You can't just run in!"

"But the entrance is right her-"

"It might be a trap! And it's safer to sneak in."

"Oh. So it's a sneaky mission?"

"Yes."

"Okie. I'll be sneaky then. Like a ghost!" Numi beamed quietly and ran up to the wall. She silently inched closer to the door by the main entrance, opened it with a quiet creak and peeked inside. "That's a lot of boxes." she whispered, "Wait, what's that?" she asked when she noticed something move behind the crates.

"What's what? I didn't notice anything." Cuttlefish replied while Numi entered the warehouse. "In any case, stay vigilant agent 7."

"What does 'vigilant' mean?"

"... keep your eyes and ears open."

"Oh, ok!"

"Shhh!"

"Sorry!" Numi whispered and started stealthily moving towards the nearest crate. A moment later she was right by the crate and inching her way to the path on the right side of the crate. Numi took a peek from around the corner and seeing that no one was there, dashed for the next crate, which was rather large and in a group of crates. "How big is this place?" she asked in a whisper.

"Not that big. There should be no crates here though..."

"Why not?"

"When this place was abandoned years ago, everything was taken from here, even parts of the building itself were taken."

By now Numi has reached the edge of the crate group. She took a peek and saw a wide path leading to a side room of some kind. It would take her less than a minute to run over to it. Curiosity was starting to take over and Numi was about to step out from behind the crates when she saw something move. She looked a bit more to the side and saw a real octotrooper for the first time, who was busy going back and forth along a short path of purple ink on an odd platform, guarding the path to the side room. "Is that Otty?!" Numi thought and suddenly felt the urge to run up to and hug the octotrooper.

"What are you doing?!" Cuttlefish demanded when Numi stepped out from behind the box, startling her and causing her to move back behind the box. Luckily for Numi, the octotrooper wasn't looking in her direction when that happened. "What was that supposed to be agent 7?"

"Uh... I wanted to hug big Otty." Numi whispered.

"What?! Have you lost your mind? That octotrooper would splat you on sight!"

"No he wouldn't, octarians are nice!" Numi half whispered.

Cuttlefish sighed and said "If he sees you, you fail at sneaking. An agent must be able to remain unseen."

"Oh! I forgot, it's a sneaky mission!"

"Shhh!"

"Sorry."

"Hmm. From past experience I can tell that not much will happen if you splat him. And your heroshot definitely can hit him from here." Cuttlefish thought aloud.

"So I'm supposed to splat him?"

"Well, yes."

"No! I won't splat him! That's mean!" Numi declared angrily.

"What?"

"It's mean! It stings, it can hurt and desplatting is dizzying!"

"But he won't..." Cuttlefish started, but stopped and sighed before asking "How will you go past him then?"

"Uh... I... I'll find another way! Yeah, I'll just ink a path and sneak past him!" Numi replied optimistically and started pumping her heroshot while looking around. After a moment she spotted a sponge near a different group of crates that was next to a large container. She fired her heroshot in the direction and quickly swam through the ink path, popping out once to extend the path. A moment after reaching the sponge, she shot it a few times so that it was just big enough for her to reach the top of the container. She swam up it and a few moments later she was standing on top of the container. "Whoa... that's a lot of crates..."

Before her eyes stood rows after rows of crates, which formed a labyrinth of paths, dead ends loops. "Ignoring this peculiar way of, I assume, keeping the crates organised, when did Octarians get everything here?" Cuttlefish wondered aloud. "What for... hmm, agent 7, after you figure out where to go, would you mind checking what's inside some of the crates?"

"Okie! What does peculiar mean?"

"It means unusual, bucko."

"Oh." Numi stayed on the container for one more minute, after which she changed form and went back down through the still inked sponge that was slowly starting to shrink. She briefly changed back to make a new ink trail and swam down it, jumping out to extend it. She continued her mix of swimming and inking for a few minutes, going to the far side of the warehouse and down an empty path. She jumped out of the trail and changed back to her humanoid form when she reached a T split in the middle of the path.

"Can you open one of those crates? Without breaking them if possible." Cuttlefish asked.

"Sure!" Numi beamed and rushed over to the nearest crate. She set her heroshot aside and tried fruitlessly to lift the top off. She climbed on top of the crate, which was a challenge because of it being much taller than her, and tried again. She failed once again and almost fell off in the process. She puffed her cheeks in anger, stomped a few times and tried again, but harder. A few moments later she slipped and fell off head first, hitting her head on the hard concrete floor.

Numi lost her consciousness for several seconds. When she regained it, the first thing that her mind focused on was the pain: a strong, throbbing headache. Numi grabbed her head and curled into a ball, tears starting to form in her eyes. She felt dizzy, nauseous and confused. "Agent 7, are you alright?" Cuttlefish asked. No response. "Agent 7?" Still no response. "Bucko?!"

"D-dun't... s-s-sheut... plese..." Numi quietly mumbled the slurred words after a moment.

"Can you repeat?" Cuttlefish asked with a worried tone.

"... I... I s-s-seid... dun't s-sheut... plese..." Numi replied with a delay.

"Sssss, not good, not good... you lost counsciousness after falling, you have slurred speech and slow responces... how do you feel?"

"...I...f-fall...? ...M-my h-h-hed is... owie..."

"By Kraken, you must have suffered a concussion!"

"...A...wut?"

"We're abandoning the mission, I'll get different agent to do it... but how will you get back with a concussion..."

"...f-fluing...t-t-entacle..." Numi said as a sound of a single propeller neared her.

"What? Flying tenta- octocopter! Bucko, you must hide!" Cuttlefish urged. Numi didn't move for a few minutes, before slowly sitting up. She reached out for her heroshot and tried to grab it, while still holding her head with her other hand. She felt more nauseous while doing it and remained so even after she stopped with the heroshot by her side. But it was too late to hide. The octocopter hovered above the crate from which Numi fell, staring at her, judging if it was worth using ink on her.

Numi sluggishly crawled to the wall opposite to the crates and tried to stand up, using it and her heroshot as support. She managed to stand up after a few attempts, but her legs buckled after a moment and she fell backwards, hitting her back against the wall and sliding down into a sitting position with a sudden stop, worsening her already strong headache. She dropped the heroshot and grabbed her head, wishing that the headache would go away soon. The octocopter remained there for a few more moments, and after assuring itself that Numi wouldn't run off, hovered away.

Numi didn't move for a few minutes, waiting for her headache to go away. She turned her radio part of her headset to not hear Cuttlefish, who actively made her headache worse. "I... I f-failed..." she mumbled to herself, her speech still slightly slurred. She could faintly hear a single propeller and two sets of footsteps to her right, getting closer and louder with each passing moment. Numi slowly rotated her head to the right and saw the octocopter again, followed by an octoling and an octotrooper. At that moment Numi felt glad that she knew Octarian. "I can... ask for help..." she thought as the octarian trio approached her.

"See? I didn't lie about an inkling being here!" the octocopter exclaimed triumphantly to the octotrooper, who rolled his eyes.

"Why didn't you splat it?" the octotrooper muttered.

"Why waste ink on something that can barely move?" the octocopter shrugged.

"Quiet already!" the octoling barked and turned to the octocopter. "I expected to see something more than a short inkling. Why didn't you splat her?"

"Because it can be taken prisoner! Just look at it, it can barely even move!"

"I...I'm no... 'it'..." Numi mumbled in Octarian. She got looks of shock and disbelief from the octarians.

"Say that again!" the octoling ordered after a moment.

"I'm no... 'it'..." Numi repeated after a moment and added "P-plese dun't... s-sheut... m-my head... h-h-hurts..."

"You can speak Octarian?!" the octotrooper exclaimed, making Numi cover her ears. She nodded.

"What do we do with it?" the octocopter asked.

"We'll take her for interrogating." the octoling said. She approached Numi, picked her up and threw her over the shoulder, with her facing backwards. She then tossed Numi's heroshot to the octotrooper, who barely caught it. The trio turned around and began walking back, the octoling mixing skipping, marching and jumping into a nauseating ballet.

"I... feel... s-sick..." Numi mumbled after a few short minutes.

"Good." the octoling said with a smirk.

"...Plese... stop..."

"Oh, do you not like a walk?" the octoling asked mockingly and started jumping instead of walking. "Is this better? Heheh, of course it is."

"I... I'll..."

"You'll wha-?!" the octoling didn't even finish as Numi emptied her stomach all over the octoling's back.

"I-I'm... so-" Numi continued to vomit for a few moments. "-rry... I'm... sorry... I d-deedn't... m-meen to-"

"You disgusting piece of shit! Ugh!"

"Well, you kind of were asking for it." the octocopter said, chuckling slightly.

"One more word and I'll feed you to landsharks." the octoling hissed. "As for you, inkshit." she sped up her pace as she said it. A few short moments later she walked through the door that Numi saw earlier. "I'll make sure your stay here is painfull!" she said and threw Numi on the floor.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what happened Atta?" another octoling asked, jumping up from a chair.

"That shit threw up all over my back, that's what happened!" Atta spat. "Tie her up or something, I need to wash that off." she added, kicked Numi's legs and stormed off. The octotrooper silently walked in, left Numi's heroshot on a table and walked out.

The octoling sighed. "As if she wasn't a pain earlier..." she murmured and walked over to the crying Numi. "You shouldn't have come here... now I've got more things to do..."

"W-w-why... was s-she... m-m-meen?" Numi cried.

"You speak Octarian, huh? Bad mood and she despises inklings."

"W-why?"

"Not telling. Now get up."

"...I c-cen't... m-my legs h-h-hurt... a-and my h-hed even m-more... and I feel d-d-dizzy..."

"Did she beat you on the way?" the octoling asked, to which Numi slightly shook her head negatively. "Then why does your head hurt?"

"...I dun't... r-remember..."

"There were dusty bootprints on one crate, so I think it fell off a crate. Maybe it hit its head?" octocopter suggested.

"You still here? Aren't you supposed to be patrolling? And when will you stop calling people 'it'?" the octoling asked, murmuring the last question. The octocopter chuckled and left, almost hitting the lamp as he flew out.

"I... I want h-home... t-to go... h-home..." Numi mumbled.

"Well, you aren't going home." the octoling said and started walking towards another door. Behind it was a  small janitor closet, with a stack of chairs on the side. The octoling walked over to the stack, took a single chair and walked back out, placing the chair by the table. She then took one of several ropes from a shelf, walked over to the now sitting Numi, took her ink tank off and carried her over to the chair, tying Numi to it in moments. She then attached something small to the back of Numi's neck.

"Owie!"

"Wait, that actually hurt you?! How bad is your pain tolerance?!" the octoling exclaimed.

"Dun't sheut... plese..."

"I feel bad for you now... pain tolerance like that... it was barely a pinch!"

"...Wut is it...?

"Try changing form." the octoling replied smugly.

"...uh... okie?" Numi replied and tried to change her form. Nothing. After a few moments she closed her eyes, focused and tried again. Nothing. A few more moments later she fully focused and tried  for the third time. Nothing.

"It prevents form changing" the octoling smirked.

Numi opened her eyes with tears forming again. "S-so I-I... c-cen't change f-f-form e-ever again?" she sobbed.

"As long it's attached to you, and knowing Atta, most likely for the rest of your life." the octoling replied, causing Numi to start crying. "Great..." the octoling thought and let out a silent groan.

---

"That sure is a nice shortcut." Pumi thought as she neared cuttlefish cabin. She reached it uneventfully a minute later and walked in through the open door. "Oh, heya Cap'n!" she beamed to Cuttlefish and placed the box she was carrying on a small foldable table. "What are you doing? Anything fun?" she asked as she approached Cuttlefish.

"Huh? Oh! Agent 4. I didn't hear you come in." Cuttlefish said, somewhat startled. He took off his headphones and turned around.

"Just call me by name. And what are you doing?" Pumi replied.

"Weren't you supposed to be on a mission?"

"Oh, the mission to the shop that Callie and Marie did? I overslept it, hehe." Pumi said with a smile.

"I see. Then why are you in your hero set and with full gear?"

"I was too lazy to change..." Pumi admitted after a moment, to which Cuttlefish sighed. "What's that on the screen?" she asked a moment later and moved closer to have a better look.

"Oh, uh... i-it's um... old mission recordings."

"Really? Can I watch too? Do I need headphones?" Pumi pumped.

"Uh, yes, you need headphones, BUT I only got these, so you can't."

"Aww. Can I at least hear whose mission it was?" Pumi asked and without waiting for an answer took the headphones off of Cuttlefish and put them on. "Just for a moment."

"Sitneru et era?" a hostile sounding voice asked, which belonged to an octoling aiming an octoshot at the camera with her right hand, while holding a knife in her other hand.

"Atta, mat hakra tyc kroto." a calmer voice said, which belonged to an empty handed octoling behind the first one.

"Kete ra, Otra! Sitneru et era?"

"...D-d-drynuca Numi..." Numi's voice said in a sobbing manner. Pumi's face darkened upon hearing her younger sister, turning with a glare to Cuttlefish without uttering a word.

"Tre rak era rafka kato?"

"...Na gallo pruk..." Numi replied, which visibly angered the armed octoling.

Pumi took off the headphones, still glaring at Cuttlefish. "What is this supposed to be?" she demanded in a cold tone. Cuttlefish didn't say a word. "What is this?!" Pumi demanded again, raising her voice.

"... I sent agent 7 on a mission... this is the view from the camera in her headset..." Cuttlefish muttered. He could see Pumi become red with anger as he said those words. "I told her to open a crate... she climbed onto it and fell off... I... I think she suffered a concussion..." he added a moment later.

"WHAT?! YOU FUCKING WHAT?!" Pumi exploded. She grabbed Cuttlefish and started shaking him as she yelled "TELL ME THIS A JOKE! TELL ME THIS JUST A FUCKING JOKE!"

"It isn't! She needs-"

"WHERE IS SHE NOW?! WHERE?!"

"In a warehouse at the border, 8 and Sheldon's kettle will take you there!" Cuttlefish exclaimed. Pumi let go of Cuttlefish and immediately ran out of the cabin, heading for the kettle.

---

"Who are you?"

"Atta, no need to shout."

"Shut up, Otra! Who are you?"

"...M-m-my name is Numi..."

"How did you get here?"

"...I can't tell..."

"And why's that? Do you perhaps need some encouragement?" Atta threatened, bringing her octoshot closer to Numi's face. "There's no-"

"Look inkling... Numi, I don't want to hear screams so please, just cooperate and answer the question." Otra cut in.

"W-why are y-y-you so m-mean?" Numi nervously asked.

"Because you're an inkling! Inklings are our enemies! Now answer the question!" Atta barked, making Numi jump in fear.

"B-b-but o-octarians a-a-are our f-f-friends. I-I ha-have a-an o-oc-octoling friend! E-e-eve-everyone s-s-should be f-friends!" Numi stuttered.

"This won't work." Otra said after a minute of silence. "How about we try my way now?"

"As if it's going to be any better. But fine, knock yourself out." Atta muttered and stepped aside.

"P-please don't shout... My h-h-ead hurts..."

"I won't shout. And I'm glad that your words aren't slurred anymore... even if you stutter." Otra said in a friendly tone as she approached Numi. "So Numi, how did you get here?"

"I can't tell!"

"Why?"

"I j-just can't..."

"But why can't you? Just say why."

"I can't..."

Otra sighed. "Alright, let's move on then. What were you doing?"

"Uh... e-exploring."

"Curious, eh?" Otra asked with a slight smile. "I was like that. Got in all sorts of troubles."

"R-really?"

"Really. Who didn't mess around at some point? Nice scarf by the way."

"T-thank you. I-it's my second favourite thing."

"What's your favourite thing?"

"My plushie, Otty!" Numi beamed.

"You have a plushie? Lucky."

"You don't have a plushie?" Numi asked and gasped when she got a nod in response. "But everyone needs a plushie to hug!" she exclaimed, making Atta burst out laughing. "What?" Numi asked with a confused expression.

"Ignore her. What food do you like?" Otra asked.

"Ooh! Muffins and inkmelons are my favourite! I like candy too, but I'm rarely allowed any... I also like blueberries, especially as jam." Numi began listing.

"Do you know candy like this?" Otra asked as she pulled out a single piece of candy from her pocket. Numi got starry eyes at the sight.

"It's a toffee pop!" Numi exclaimed, starting to drool slightly, her eyes fixated on the toffee pop, following even the tiniest movement of the candy.

"You can have it, but only if you tell us exactly why and how you came here." Otra offered. "Deal?"

"Uh... I'm... I'm not sure..."

"Make it two then." Otra said and pulled out another toffee pop from her pocket. "How about now?"

"Um... I..."

"Ooor, I can eat them myse-."

"NOOO!"

"Do we have a deal then?"

"Yes!" Numi exclaimed in a heartbeat.

"You know what to do to get them." Otra said, teasing Numi with the candy.

Numi was about to start telling, but stopped, realising that she shouldn't, but the candy she was being teased with made a quick work of all her locks. "I'm Agent 7 and I was sent here by Cap'n Cuttlefish to explore this place, and I used a strange tea pot to get here. He later wanted me to check what's in the crates. It's a secret, so don't tell anyone else." she said, Otra hastily taking notes. "Can I have them now? Pretty pleaaaaaase?"

"Of course." Otra replied with a smirk and placed the candy the arm rests of the chair.

"Yay! Thank-... uh... I, I can't reach them... or open them..." Numi realised.

"Exactly."

"Untie me!"

"Nnnnnoooope. Just take the candy, it's right next to you." Otra grinned.

"Y-you're mean!"

"And you're a squidbeak agent." Otra said and turned to her friend. "Atta, DJ Octavio might promote us if we give him a captured agent!" she pumped

"You're right! But I wanted some fun with her..."

"Well, as long as she's lives, I'm not stopping you." Otra shrugged.

"O-Octavio? But he's a super villain!" Numi exclaimed. The two octolings looked at each other and exploded with laughter a moment later. Their laughing muffled the sounds coming from outside the room.

"Good one." Atta said after a few moments, wiping a tear from her eye. "But not enough to change what'll happen to you." she added with a grin, setting her octoshot aside and slowly approaching Numi with a knife.

"I-I-I want h-home!" Numi shouted in fear, starting to cry again.

"This'll be-" a pink-inked curling bomb slid into the room, its priming about to explode. "-fun!" Atta finished with a yell as she tried to jump aside, while Otra only managed to partially turn around as the room was filled with the ink explosion. Otra fell over, Atta was launched into a wall and Numi barely managed to keep her chair from falling backwards.

Pumi stormed inside and quickly scanned the room, her heroshot ready to follow. She has changed her ink colour to match Numi's earlier to make the rescue go smoothly. Seeing that neither of the octolings was moving Pumi rushed over to and untied Numi, who immediately hugged her. "I know, Numi, but there's no time. We're going. Now." Pumi said, gently patting Numi's head with her free hand. She noticed a small device attached to Numi's neck, which she gently removed.

"T-t-they're mean!" Numi sobbed. She let go off Pumi after a few moments and got off the chair.

"Can you walk? You aren't dizzy, are you?" Pumi asked worriedly.

"I-I think I c-can." Numi replied and waddled over to her ink tank. She put it on and looked around. "Where's my h-heroshot?"

"There's no time, we're leaving."

"I c-can't leave i- I see it!" Numi beamed and waddled over to her heroshot, while Pumi trotted towards the door. Numi picked up her heroshot and turned to leave, but stopped to look back at the octoling. "A-are they ok?"

"Uh, yeah. Now let's go!" Pumi said without looking at the octolings. Atta turned her head, firmly grabbing her knife.

"Okie." Numi said and continued waddling towards the door. Atta got up and after regaining her balance lunged towards the nearest of the two Parlo Sisters with a hatred filled cry and a knife in her hand. Numi quickly turned around, losing her balance as a result. She fell backwards while looking at Atta with a terrified look. Pumi's reaction was too slow, just having turned around to see Atta being within arm's reach from Numi. Numi closed her eyes just before hitting the ground, which caused her to accidentally pull the trigger of her heroshot. Atta yelped and dropped her knife, falling right in front of Numi. "S-sorry!" Numi exclaimed after a moment, just before Atta exploded into a puddle of ink.

"Are you alright?!"

"I-I think."

"Y-y-you... you killed her!" Otra yelled at Numi, lying on the ground with her head raised.

"W-what? I-I didn't! S-s-she'll desplat i-in a moment!" Numi exclaimed in Octarian.

"There's no S.P.A.W.N pads here! She's dead! She's not coming back! You murdered her!"

"N-n-no... I-I-I d-didn't m-m-mean to... I-I'm sorry! I-I'm s-s-so s-sorry!" Numi panically stuttered, tears forming in her eyes. Pumi took a notice to that. She ran up to Numi, helped her up and ran out of the room with her, eager to get back to cuttlefish cabin as fast as possible. Their escape was fast and unchallenged, with Numi crying through it the whole time.

"What was that about?" Pumi asked once they exited the warehouse. "Why are you crying? What did she tell you?"

"S-s-she s-said t-t-that I-I k-k-k-killed t-that o-octoling!" Numi cried. "A-and t-that I-I-I'm a m-m-m-murderer!"

"Shit... shit, shit, shit... Cap'n, you crossed the fucking line. You're fucking dead. Fuck!" Pumi thought. "She must've been lying!" Pumi said confidently.

"S-she s-s-sounded v-very u-upset."

"Octolings can easily fake emotions."

"B-b-but C-Coco s-said t-t-they c-can't!"

The two sisters soon reached two puddles of pressurised ink, one pink, one yellow. Pumi changed her ink colour back to yellow and stepped into the yellow puddle. Numi hesitantly stepped into the pink puddle. "All you have to do is superjump. The puddle has enough pressure to send you back." Pumi said.

"B-but I c-c-can't c-change forms a-anymore!"

"Wha? Oh, the thing on your neck. I removed it, so try changing." Pumi reminded. Numi focused and changed to her squid form. "See. Now, superjump, I'm right behind you!" Numi superjumped after a moment of hesitation, draining her entire puddle to launch herself back. "This shouldn't have ever happened..." Pumi thought and superjumped after a moment. 

...

Alpha drone technical status report - 51:

Main systems: OK
Secondary systems: OK
Stealth systems: OK
Battery: 99.9%
Primary and secondary weapon systems: OK
Manipulator arms: OK
Scanners: OK
Emergency teleporter: FULLY CHARGED

Current mode: scouting/analysing
Primary objectives:
    1 - locate the source of deep signals
    2 - survive
Secondary objectives:
    1 - avoid interactions other than observation with any form of local intelligence
    2 - collect samples
    3 - destruction of allied technology to prevent capture
Protocols dictate self-destruction upon sustaining critical damage or capture.


Field report - 11

Detecting a large energy signature, possibly related to enemy activity. Moving in to investigate. These reports will experience a delay of 12 standard hours to reach the home base.

Scouter drone Alpha, end of transmission.