She wasn't sure when exactly she woke up. It was a gradual thing, slowly floating towards the surface of consciousness. She simply floated for a while, slowly, slowly rising towards the top. It pulsed and vibrated with colors, distant and muted, but moving all the same. She rose, slowly, slowly towards them, their intensity quietly growing as she got closer, and closer.

And then she broke through.

She instinctually drew in a deep breath as her body lurched forward. She felt--

She felt--

Shallow.

Like she was being held over an endless pit of something that was trying to drag her back. Something, Someone, was reaching, trying to pull her in.

Like she was leaving something behind.

She reached out towards it. Was this real? Was this in her mind? It didn't matter. She reached forward, terrified of stepping closer. Or further. She was terrified of stepping anywhere. Why was she scared? Further she stretched her arm, closer, closer, almost...

"..ra? Can you hear me?" a voice she doesn't recognize asks from somewhere above her. It's fast and cold, but she can understand it. Why does that feel odd?

She is suddenly slammed into her body, lights pressing hard against her closed eyelids. She sucks in air again, while her hands curl against whatever it is they're resting on.

"Cantra, can you hear me?" The voice asks again.

"Yh..." She feebly croaks, voice quiet and weak.

"Ok good." The voice continues. "You can understand me, correct? You don't need to answer, a nod will suffice."

She starts to answer anyway, but thinks better of it when she feels the dryness of her throat. She does as instructed, and slightly bobs her head forward. The action feels wrong, like her head literally weighs less than it should. There's an...absent? feeling against her shoulder, like something should rustle against there, but there's nothing.

Lights dance above her eyelids, fast but dull. Her head's swimming, trying to make sense of everything.

"Ok Cantra, I need you to open your eyes for me."

Cantra? "..Mmm not... Can..." She weakly argues. Why is my voice is weak? How long have I been asleep.

"I need you to open your eyes for me, Cantra."

A powerful cough causes her to involuntarily heave forward, her eyes flying open while she does so. Color assault her vision, disjointed, archaic, but almost guided by some underlying pattern she just can't recognize.

She coughs twice more before speaking again. "..m'name's not Cantra..." she mumbles, voice quiet, but more present than it had been. "It's Cal--"

"Cantra, I need you to lean forward." Another voice cuts in from her left. Cal's head turns on instinct, leaning forward as she does so. There's a doctor... an octoling. They're wearing silver armor across their chest. Why is that a problem. Should that be a problem?

Cal's thoughts are stopped by the first doctor running his hand along the back of her head. He slows as he crosses the top of her head, taking care when he moves his hand over her bangs. Cal's mind comes to a complete stand still as the doctor's hand carefully pushes against a protrusion that she is absolutely certain shouldn't be there. She flinches back both in shock and pain. Just a simple poke left it sore, almost like it was a welt.

"Can you feel your sucker Cantra?" he asks, carefully prodding the protrusion (her suckers? she shouldn't...)

"...yes? I... I shouldn't... have"

The doctor moves down her bang, poking a second sucker(?), with his claw. "And you can feel this one too, Cantra?"

"I, yes, but my name's not Cantra!" Cal(?) blurts, voice finally starting to have volume. She pulls her head back and shakes it, almost as if she was trying to knock stray thoughts back into place. What is... my tentacles. "What did you do to my tentacles?" She asks.

"Hmm?" The doctor asks, seemingly caught off guard by her question.

The second doctor speaks up again. "Your right tentacle was injured, badly. We had to cut it short."

"Wh--" Cal(?) starts, before being cut off again.

"It was too injured to be saved, Cantra." The first doctor explains. "We cut the other one as well, so that your style wouldn't be ruined. A little bit more shaping and here we are." He leans forward and prods at her... her suckers one final time before trailing his hand down the shorter tentacles framing her face. "You should have full control of them again within a few days."

Full control? What... "I shouldn't be able to m--"

"Cantra, lift up your arm for me."

"My name's... it's..." Cal starts, before trailing off. She goes to lift her arms, but realizes she's still gripping the arm rests of the medical bed she's been laid down in. Carefully, she relaxes the muscles and uncurls her fingers from the edges of the rest. She freezes when she sees her claws. They're... long? I'm they... why is everything so wrong?

The doctor, either not noticing or not caring about her sudden internal dilemma, grabs her right arm and yanks it upward. He runs a finger across each claw, seemingly pushing or flicking them at random. "Cantra, your claws managed to avoid damage luckily.

"They... it's not right... they're too... long. "

"Eh, well you have been out of it for a week Cantra. The do probably need a trim." The doctor reassures her, not even bothering to look at her face while he talks.

I... I guess that makes sense. Cal's brow furrows in confusion. Did she think her claws had been shorter? That didn't... didn't make sense.

Her thoughts are again interrupted by the doctor suddenly grabbing her ear. "Hey!" Cal barks, reaching to push his hand away. She gets distracted when her hand instead brushes against the... rounded shape of her ear. Whywhywhy why are they round. My ears aren't supposed to be round! It supposed to be po--

"Is something wrong Cantra?" The doctor asks as he carefully grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her ear. "Your ears might be a little sore still, you did take a pretty solid hit. You'll probably need to get them re-pierced, we had to take your earrings out to make sure everything healed correctly."

"You..." Cal starts, but the other doctor cuts her off.

"And you sure did! Everything healed back exactly how it was supposed to. You're in perfect health!"

"I... I am?" Why does everything feel so WRONG then? Nothing is right. I... I don't know where I am. Who these people are. Why does the armor bother me so much? What's going on?! Why... why can't I remember anything?!

"Alright Cantra, your checkup is complete. We'll bring in your grandfather now." The first doctor says. He gathers a few things off the counter that Cal can't see and starts for the door.

"Wait." Cal Demands, a bit more forcefully than she expected. "What's going on. Who are you two, and... and why can't I remember anything!?" She practically growls the last part in frustration.

"It's.. probably better we let him explain it to you Cantra." The second doctor says, as they follow behind the first. "He'll be in in just a second."

"Thank you, Cantra, you've been surprisingly cooperative today." The first doctor says, before hurrying out of the room. In the back of her brain, there's a quiet urge to snap at the man before he's gone, to get the last word in.

Cal follows their silhouettes as they pass outside of the room. Oh, I guess the glass is covered... She watches as the doctor's silhouettes stop next to a much larger one that stepped up to them outside. She can't hear what they're saying but the doctors seem happy about something. Her recovery? Either way, the first one is throwing his hands in the air in some kind of celebration.

Cal keeps an eye on them while she turns her attention back to herself. Her body felt sore, and she didn't know why. She fidgets in the seat, fighting both the chair and gravity to try and break free. A few seconds effort and she manages to hang her feet off the edge, a few more and she's standing under her own power. She's wearing nothing but a hospital gown, not exactly surprising given what little of the situation she's managed to piece together.

Ok, I'm in the hospital. Something... happened. My memories are foggy, did I get hit in the head? Wait! The doctor said something about my tentacle getting injured. Cal reaches around her shoulder for her tentacle but finds only open air. Right... it had to be cut. Her hand moves up, where it finds the bang the doctor prodded at earlier. She tentatively runs her hands over the suckers on the top. Her hands and thoughts still for a moment. Almost as if she's dreading the answer, her hand creeps towards the underside of the bang. It's completely smooth. Like it's always been. A deep, almost primal feeling of discomfort settles into her stomach. Why does this feel so wrong?

She stood there, utterly lost and hopelessly scared of something. What is going on? Why does everything feel so wrong? With little else to do, She stands there and slowly runs a claw much longer than it should be along the rounded shape of her ears. This isn't right.

The larger figure outside in the hallway, nods, seemingly satisfied with whatever was said, and starts walking towards the door. What did they say? Who's coming in? Gram-- "Nngh." Cantra's thoughts are brought to a jarring stop as a searing pain splits down her brain. Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow...

A knock at the door precedes its slow open. A voice, bassy and gruff, but surprisingly gentle enters the room first. "Cantra, dear, are you alright?

Cantra turns the half of her mind that isn't buckled with pain towards the door. Gramps An old man stands in the doorway. The first thing she notices is his beard, it's not gray a small bundle of magenta tentacles that hang to around his hearts. A moustache hides his top lip, the ends curling ever so slightly as eyebrows raise in curiosity above green eyes and purple pupils. The top of his head is bald, with a lone ponytail the sides and back remaining covered in magenta tentacles that fall to about his mid back. He's tall too, fitting neatly into the doorway she would have had to stretch to reach the top of. And he's strong in the heavyset way, that speaks to real musculature built and maintained despite his age. His skin is tanned, though it's mostly hidden by an ornate set of robes tied around his body. Large blocky hands rest on the doorframe, eager to come inside, but respecting her wishes. "How are you doing?" He asks with what looked like a nervous smile.

Cantra stares, looking over the old man waiting in the door. He feels... familiar. Is he...? "Gram..." She starts, but the word seemingly gets stuck in her throat. It's enough though, because his eyes widen in delight.

"Cantra!" He says, rushing into the room. Before Cantra can offer any resistance, he sweeps her into a hug, his powerful arms feeling equal parts entirely foreign and strangely familiar as they wrap around her. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"What... what happened?" Cantra asks, confusion evident. Is he my Gram-- A spike of pain shoots through her head, completely derailing her thoughts. She grunts as she recoils, unable to get her hands to her head.

"Oh, Cantra." Sympathy is laden in his voice. "Hold on." He (Gramps?) not gramps not gramps not gramps not gramps let go of the hug. Cantra's hand flies immediately to her head, where she clutches at the side like that has any effect on the fire tearing through her skull. A pair of strong but delicate hands land on her shoulders, slowly guiding her across the room to a chair. "The doctors did say you might experience frequent headaches for a while.

Cantra turns her head, glaring at the Old Man from under her hand "What Happened?" she demands more forcefully than she intended to. A quiet urge to push harder, to demand an answer, whispers from the back of her mind. She ignores it, her question will be answered, there's no need to be pushy.

The Old Man sighs, she can't tell if it's out of frustration of disappointment. "Head injury. Building collapse. You went scouting for potential salvageable material with some of the soldiers.

Soldiers? Scouting? Am... am I in the domes? "And then I hit my head and tentacle?" The Old Man nods sagely. "Is that why everything's... fuzzy?"

"I'm afraid so." He pauses, and swallows hard. "We weren't entirely sure you were going to wake up, Cantra."

"Heh." Cantra laughs dryly. "Well, I'm glad I made it at least." She feels that tug at the back of her mind again. Urging her to say something she never thought she would. Instead, she grunts and rubs a knuckle against her forehead, trying to massage her pain away. "Why did I do that?"

"I told you not to go to the condemned domes, so naturally you ran right in." He sighs and turns away. Domes? So I am in the Domes! I need to tell... need to tell... who do I need to tell? The Old Man continues, oblivious to her internal plight. "Maybe it was my fault, I should have known you'd go because I told you not to."

"Of course it's not your fault!" She says, automatically trying to reassure her... her Gra...ndpa that everything is alright. It was my own fuck up anyway. Again that urge, that push to just let it loose. It was growing deceptively tempting. "It, it was my own screw up, alright? Don't go blaming yourself for my mistakes."

His mustache rises as he smiles, meeting her eyes with gratitude in his. "Thanks, princess. It means a lot to hear you say that, Cantra."

"Yeah? Don't get used to it." The words fly out of her mouth with a dismissive tone before she has a chance to think about it. That's... that's not right. I shouldn't...

The Old Man, no Grandpa's shoulders bounce with quiet, mirthful laughter. "Oh, there you are! I was worried you were going to be stuck being all polite!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She snaps, leaning forward in her seat and glaring at him. Why am I being so pushy?

"Gyahahahaha!" His whole body shakes as he laughs. "It's just relieving, to see my granddaughter coming back to herself after the injury. Would you deny an old man that little bit of relief?"

Cantra(?) leans back with a huff. Well, G...Grandpa isn't reacting negatively to it, and he's supposed to tell me what I can and can't do. So I guess it's ok then? "I guess not." She begrudgingly admits.

"Eh..." Grandpa starts, "Before you end your agreeable mood, could you do me one favor?"

Cantra(?) rolled her eyes. It felt weirdly fulfilling to do so. Normally she'd just sit all pretty and attentive, and then accept no matter what. But why would I do that, that's stupid. "Depends on what it is." She offers, flipping a hand towards him, urging him to speak.

"No more running around in the domes with the soldiers, at least until you've recovered. It might be months until you can move your tentacles again." He reaches over and flicks her bang, causing Cantra(?) to slap the air and sputter. Grandpa chuckles before continuing. "Please, for my sake, focus on your other passion, music and performing."

No more running around? Well, I guess I can't really remember it, so I don't know what I'm missing. "Sure, I can do that." Cantra(?) agrees. She shrugs her shoulders while leaning backwards in the chair. Her arms come up so her head is resting in her hands as she lounges. "You're gonna need to get my equipment though, my studio is--"

And she freezes. Where is the studio. WHERE IS THE STUDIO? Sparks of pain dance around her brain again. I know I have a studio... its right by... the news? What does the news have to do with anything? The pain gets worse, Cal ducks her head, curling it to her knees as she hugs herself tightly. I... I know there's a studio... it's... it's where we...

We?

There's a hand on her shoulder, interrupting her thoughts. Cantra(?) violently sweeps outward with her arm. "I'm FINE!" she roars, despite wincing at the spike of pain it sends through her temple. She's heaving for breath as she looks over the room, at who was trying to disturb her.

Grandpa is waiting, standing just out of her reach, with a pair of pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other. "Easy Cantra, just breathe. These will help with your headache, ok?" Grandpa take a slow step forward, holding both items in his hands out to her. Cantra(?) hesitantly takes the pills and chases them with the water. She surprises herself by drinking the whole glass in one go. Some of her headache backs off almost immediately.

"...thanks," She grumbles, looking away.

"You're going to need to keep taking one of those. Every day, until the doctors say to stop. It's to help stabilize your mind." Every damn day? She winces as the still-present headache throbs. Maybe that's not a bad idea actually. She brings her hand down from the side of her head, only for her claw to get hooked on something. "Am I wearing sunglasses?"

"Did the doctors not explain it?" Grandpa asks, his voice indignant.

"No." Cantra answers with the most "duh?" voice she can manage.

Grandpa's fist curls for a second, before he relaxes. "My apologies, I thought you knew. Another side effect of the hit to your head is a rather strong light sensitivity. It's unfortunate, but I figured it wouldn't be a bad time to try out one of your ideas."

"Oh yeah?" Cantra(?) asks, her voice flippant. In one quick motion, she yanks the shades upwards, pulling them off her eyes. Immediately, she's assaulted by the worst headache she's ever remembered having. Her thoughts shut off as her instincts scream for her to cover her head. She can barely tell what's happening, until she feels she shades get shoved back onto her face. The headache doesn't stop immediately, but it begins to wind down, tick by tick, until she's able to think again.

Grandpa looks over her, concerned. "There I go again... tempting you with rules. I'm sorry Cantra, I should have phrased that better."

"Yeah?" Cantra bites back, throat sore from screaming, though she doesn't remember doing so. "Stop making it so damn tempting to ignore you then."

A fond smile crosses Grandpa's face. "I'll try my best princess. Now! Like I was saying, I took one of your old ideas and passed it to the engineers. Your glasses there, they've got a screen on them. Don't worry, the lenses are designed so you don't see the patterns, but everyone looking at you can. It'll be perfect for your brand!"

Cod, my head hurts. "My brand, eh? First thing we can do for my brand is make sure I get the credit for these glasses. They were my idea after all."

"Of course, of course. Do you, ah, remember the layout of the dome by chance?"

Cantra shakes her head. "Not a damn clue."

"That's alright princess, I'll get someone to show you around."

"I could just, ya know, walk around?"

Grandpa pauses for a moment, "You could, I won't deny that. But, you've not even been awake for 30 minutes Cantra, we can't be sure you're not going to relapse and fall over unconscious on us. At least let me send a soldier with you."

"Fine." Cantra agrees in a clipped tone. He has a point. unfortunately.

Grandpa reaches out to the window and knocks in a specific pattern. Almost immediately, the door opens, and a soldier walks in. Silver armor wraps up her body like a sash, above waxed canvas boots and a short shirt of the same material. A bandana designed to look like seaweed wrapped around the top of her head, ducking under short tentacles framing her face. The style was very similar to her own hair cut. She wore a pair of red glasses and carried a weird black and white splattershot shooter at her side.

"General Octavio." The soldier greeted with a bow.

Octavio?! Why did that name set of alarms in her head. There's something... bad about him! He... he denied... me from exploring with... with the soldiers. And, and I'm scared of the name because I'm scared he'll be mad at me for disobeying! But he's not mad, so everything's alright!

Octavio clears his throat before gesturing to the soldier. "Cantra, this is Lilac. She'll be your guard until we assign you your own squad next week".

"Hello, Ms. Cantra." Lilac said, nodding reverently. Is... is that the same voice as that other doctor?

"Ew. Drop the Ms. thing, none of that. Just call me Cantra, that's my name after all. Also, have I see you before?"

"No ma'a-- er, No, Cantra. Not recently at least. Octavio has informed me of your condition, I will do my best to guide and educate you as I guide you around."

"Cool. Let's go eat." Cantra says, tipping herself out of the chair and onto her feet.

"Eh, pardon? M-- Cantra, it's not time to eat yet. Meals start at--"

"Mmm. Yeah. Don't care. I wanna eat. I've been asleep for a week and I'm hungry now. You don't want to keep someone as great as me waiting now, do you?"

Lilac looked to Grandpa Octavio, who simply nodded. "Very well. Come with me Cantra, let's get you some food."

Cantra leisurely stepped over to her grandfather, who she hugged before turning and following Lilac out the door. "By the way, don't tell me what to do."

"I'll keep that in mind Cantra. Now, please follow me to exit High Command. We will make arrangements in the communal meal hall.