"Here we are!" The Captain boldly announced as he strode into a nearby cave. "My office!"
Quinn stared blankly back. "This is a cave."
"Right you are bucko, but it's my office too." The Captain punctuated his statement by flipping a plank of wood down from one of the cave's walls. Two sturdy looking-- if a bit rusty-- chains on either side stopped it from falling flat, instead suspending it like a desk. A small, unfolding camping stool rested atop the wood, which he quickly popped open and sat on.
"Alright let's see here..." The Captain muttered as he fussed with his backpack. Quinn slowly followed him inside the cave, scanning the other walls for any extra secrets that might have been tucked away. This situation just had to keep getting stranger, didn't it?
"There!" The Captain said as the backpack he wore thudded to the ground. "C'mere lad." Quinn stepped over as The Captain unrolled the tube of paper he carried under his arm. It revealed a massive hand drawn map of the surrounding landscape. A large, circular structure was overlaid in much darker ink, It took up nearly the entire map: an underground dome. The layout of the dome was covered in detailed writing outlining everything inside. Sidewalks, buildings, even some things added after the humans died out, environment damages, everything feasible was listed. In the top right corner of the map, a small star was placed inside the inlet surface cave they were standing in.
Quinn was stunned.
At this point, the last lingers of doubt vanished from his mind. No one person would go so out of the way for a prank or delusion. Not with this detailed of a map, sitting on a desk that had been installed in a cave at least 10 years ago. Not while he was wearing equipment that cost more G than he would probably see in his lifetime. He was honest to cod about to enter an abandoned human settlement occupied by an isolated military faction that's been down there for a hundred years.
"Now, we're starting off easy today." The Captain started, oblivious to Quinn's revelation. "There shouldn't be any activity this far out. Consider this a... eh. A scouting mission. Yer not going on any big missions until yer at least a little familiar with the place. Plus, it's always a good idea to keep the maps updated."
Quinn nodded. His mouth felt dry. His eyes still laid on the map, his mind too busy trying to wrap itself around the sheer scale of the situation to move them.
"Ok! Let's get the next step set up. Gimme a moment, it's been a minute since I've done this myself. Agent 2 helped streamline things a bunch, but there's still some manual setup." Quinn watched, stunned as The Captain pulled two large bricks of equipment out of the backpack, as well as a set of headphones and a microphone. How did all of that even fit in his little bag?
"This here's the communications equipment." The Captain explained while somehow pulling a mess of wires from the backpack "I'm not about to send ya into the domes completely alone now! I'll keep my eyes on ya, and anything around ya too."
"Is this related to the tech in the headset? Uh, scan movement and track hostiles?"
"Pretty close, but not quite. Gimme a second." The Captain quickly organized the desk, setting the first tech brick on the top corner of the map, covering the star. The large metal box had two screens stacked vertically, both currently blank. The second brick followed not long after, sat on the opposite corner. That one was a mess of dials, switches, buttons and gauges, stacked almost as tall as the screens. Quinn tried to offer his help, but The Captain was already expertly plugging cords into the two devices faster than Quinn could track.
"Now, if you'll grab that over there..." The Captain gestured past the side of the desk with his head. There didn't appear to be anything over there, but Quinn stepped over anyway. He ran his hand along the ground until it bumped something plastic. he couldn't tell what it was until he brought it up into the light; an electrical outlet with a wire running off into who knows where.
"Solar Panel." The Captain explained while holding a hand out. Quinn tentatively handed the outlet over, and the old man wasted no time shoving the power cord into it. On the desk, all the tech slowly woke up from its slumber. The screens slowly brightened, the bottom one revealed a grid while the top showed a blank radar pattern. Gauges flipped to seemingly random positions and several lights below switches and buttons blinked on.
"Feel along yer left earphone. There's a switch there, goes two ways. Push it downwards to turn it on." Quinn did as instructed, feeling along the edge of the headphone until his finger found a small notch. It took a surprising amount of force to push down, but after a bit of effort it gave in with a click. The quiet hum of static began playing through the headphones at the same moment a white dot appeared in the center of the grid screen.
"There, connection's established." The Captain confirmed with a nod. "While we're here, there's another switch on the right earphone. That's the kill switch. Shuts out ALL radio signals. Don't get em mixed up."
That just seemed bad design, but where was he to argue with the equipment designers. "Ok..." Quinn started, before gesturing towards the screens. "What is--"
The Captain cut him off. "Walk over to the mouth of my office. Watch the bottom screen."
"You sure like cutting me off," Quinn remarked, frustration woven through his tone. He scowled as he walked to where The Captain pointed. When he was about a step away from the cave's mouth, the white dot flicked from the center of the screen onto one of the white lines.
"No point in lettin ya yap if I already know what yer gonna say." The Captain told him, before knocking his knuckles against the bottom screen. "Now, that's how I track ya. Based on yer movements, what ya tell me on the radio, and many years worth of experience with these old domes, I'll trace yer movements on the map here."
"That seems a bit archaic."
"It ain't broke, and we've got the infrastructure for it. I have multiple offices all around the canyon for the other missions."
"I see..." Quinn paused for a moment, staring down the equipment. "I'm assuming you're able to communicate with me by radio then?"
The Captain simply flipped a switch on the left panel, pressed a button on the microphone, and then speaks. "Yer damn right I am." His voice wasn't loud, but it was strangely close to Quinn's ear. It made sense, you couldn't really have a loud receiver if you're trying to sneak through the domes.
"And the radar?" Quinn asked, gesturing to the top screen.
The Captain flipped some unknowable combination of switches, and a bar began swinging around the circle on the radar screen. Almost immediately, a dot appeared a small distance from the center. "It does what's on the tin, I'll letcha know if anything pops up, though I think this first mission should be pretty clear."
"Right." Quinn awkwardly stood in the mouth of the cave. "Ok then. Do I just... go?"
"Pretty much." The Captain admitted with a shrug.
"Take this first." He tossed a bag over to Quinn, who caught it and peered inside. "Just fill em with ink and toss em, the lil sensors on the ends should be able to tell when they hit the ground. It'll pressurize the ink."
"I know how to use a bomb, Captain."
"Lad, I watched ya play turf for 3 days and I didn't see you use a single bomb."
"Bombs cost G!" Quinn defended, perhaps a bit too quickly. "I... I don't have much spare cash at the moment."
The Captain didn't respond immediately. "Fair enough." He eventually admitted, before continuing like nothing happened. "These ones are reusable, so grab the frame if you can. Do NOT, put yerself in danger to recover a bomb."
"Yes sir."
"Good lad. Ya ready then?"
"If you'll show me where to go."
There were a few ways to get into the domes. The easiest in terms of theoretical access were the doors. At several different locations along the mountains, there were doors leading to the dome's access tunnels. Unfortunately, all of these tunnels had been utterly closed off, both by nature, and the come's occupants, rendering them effectively useless.
The second way was the least convenient. The domes were built into an expansive cave system, explaining their scattered positions and extensive connecting tunnel system. Some of these caves had accessible routes to the surface, provided you could get out of the dome somehow.
The third was was by far the most interesting. It was called the kettle system, and it was the primary method of transport around the domes besides walking. They were rather bulky metallic stations shaped very similarly to a tea kettle. It worked similar to an inkrail, in the way that you ride your own ink across a pre-defined path. The difference is that the kettle pressurized the ink before launching it, and you, down the line at speeds much faster than one could swim. A byproduct of the pressurization process was a loud whistling sound, likely where the name and design came from.
According to The Captain, the kettles on the surface were all destroyed right around the same time the access tunnels were. Some reconnaissance in the caves revealed the actual infrastructure hadn't been taken out though, just the endpoints. A bit of elbow grease from Agents 1 and 2, both in and out of the domes, was enough to functionally restore their access. Lines existed for 6 different places within the domes. The ones on the surface had a grate on top to prevent anything from getting inside the system.
"Take a minute to test the Hero Shot," The Captain instructed. "Your first time firing should not be in an emergency."
"Anything I should know about it?"
"It's got three firing modes, each stronger than the last, but I don't want ya using the third mode until you're comfortable with the gun."
Quinn didn't reply. Instead he again leveled the gun in front of himself like he had in the cabin. This time, he focused on pushing the ink in his body out of his hand, into the weapon's handle. The handle absorbed the ink without issue, and he soon felt the tank on the top of the weapon beginning to fill. The weapon's balance began to tip off ever so slightly, causing him to bring his other hand up to hold the weapon's barrel. He paused. The texture of the grip was familiar, almost identical to the handle. Ink from his left hand, where it was absorbed by the grip, rapidly filling the bottom tank.
With one of the weapon's secrets solved and it's balance restored, Quinn re-leveled the Hero Shot, and pulled the trigger. The weapon started firing immediately, the recoil flinging his hand upwards with the weapon in tow. He released the trigger, then looked down at the weapon with a frown. Really, given the suit he was wearing, he shouldn't be surprised that the Hero Shot was far more capable than it looked. A bit more firing and he'd gotten a good feel for the weapon. He tried running and shooting, and while his aim was notably worse, with both hands it was still fairly consistent.
"Other modes you said, sir?"
"Right below the grip on the handle, should be able to roll the edge of yer palm against it, and feel a click."
Quinn did as instructed. It took a few tries to get it right, but after a few moments he was rewarded with a small click. He raised the gun to fire, and holy shit, the weapon's fire rate practically doubled. "Woah!" he staggered backwards as his hand was flung upwards by the recoil.
"Made ya jump didn't it?" The Captain laughed over the radio. "Yer just about ready lad, just one more thing."
"What about the third mode?"
"Eh... I don't want you using that one unless you have to."
"I've gotta know how to use it in case things go wrong." Quinn paused, weighing just how far he wants to push this. "I'd hate to be missing a potentially life saving option if things got really bad."
The Captain was silent for several seconds, before a slowly chuckling over the mic. "Clever aren't ya? Alright kid, pull the trigger in until right before firing, and then roll yer palm again."
When he raised the weapon to shoot this third time, he braced his aim so the weapon wouldn't recoil. He pulled the trigger, and the Hero Shot practically flew out of his hands anyway. A veritable beam of ink fired out of the front of the weapon. "Gauh!" A shocked cry escaped his mouth as he tried to bring it back under control. His finger came off the trigger and the weapon stopped. It took him a moment to notice that almost half the ink inside the weapon's dual tanks had been drained with just a few seconds of firing.
"That's why I don't wantcha using it yet," The Captain admonished over the radio. "Just roll your wrist the other way to take it down a setting." Quinn complied while slowly refilling the weapon's tanks. The Captain continued, "One more thing. Take one of the bombs I gave ya and tap it against the lil square on the bottom there.
"Ok." Quinn once more did as instructed, pulling one of the bombs from the jacket's shoulder pocket. He tentatively tapped the bomb's frame to the small metal box. Nothing happened. He shifted the bomb so that the small, empty ink packet held by the frame touched the box instead. Immediately, ink began to fill the bomb, much faster than he could fill it himself. The ink drained out of the Hero Shot's smaller back tank.
"It's a bomb filler!" He says, surprised.
"Sure is!" The Captain answered back. "Sheldon's workin on some new turf war gizmo, eh, a bomb launcher or something. He wanted a chance to put the tech to work rather than just fillin turf balloons slightly faster like it's gonna end up."
"Huh." Quinn looked to the filled bomb he held in his hand. There wasn't any way to disarm it, short of poking a hole in the plastic and draining the ink out. He threw it full force back the way he came. It flew a fair distance before it landed and exploded with a small pop sound and a surprisingly large spray of ink.
"Alright lad! It's time!" The Captain boldly announced over the radio.
Quinn lifted the grate on top of the kettle, settling into the small chamber. He steadied the Hero Shot and fired a short stream of shots into a small compartment on the front of the kettle. He then ducked into swim form as the grate lid closed above him. Ink began to fill the small area he was in, which quickly began to ripple. A piercing loud whistle sounded from the front of the kettle, and before Quinn could think of anything else, he was sent rocketing forward through the line, into the Octavian domes.
The ink finally began to slow somewhat after nearly a minute of moving faster than he ever had in his life, and before he knew it he had reached the end of the line. A quiet rattle announced his arrival, as he was gently deposited into the kettle's small compartment. There was no grate on top of this one.
Still in swim form, he tentatively peeked his eyes over the edge. He was looking from maybe knee-height into a covered awning with an open front. Things seem safe enough so he switched forms, rising to his full height from the kettle. It took a moment to regain full control of his body, still shaking slightly from the adrenaline rush of the journey. He shook his limbs to try and knock the excess energy out.
"Captain?" He asked quietly. "I'm in."
"How was the ride? Pretty fast yeah? Let me give ya the rundown. Right now, yer in the outermost dome. There's all kinds of different buildings and features to these places, I got em all listed on the map right here. This is one of the housing domes,. Let's see... on yer left is a tall building that the humans probably used for..." The Captain's words faded into the background as Quinn beheld what was in front of him.
It was... a city. A normal looking city was sprawled out before him. Buildings with multiple stories, open sidewalks... but all empty. The buildings were stripped of any decoration leaving only the bare metal of the walls. The sidewalks lacked any benches or planter boxes, though markings and scrapes on the ground indicated there used to be. Stranger than that the entire space was cloaked in an eerie blue glow.
He tentatively climbed from the kettle, and scanned the space he found himself in. It was a small building, with nothing, except the kettle inside, of it. An open doorway let out into a moderate sized open area, covered by an awning. A circular platform was raised in the center, which he paid little mind too. He shuffled out under the awning, marveling as the city expanded in his view. From here, it seemed to go on forever, though logically he knew there had to be a wall somewhere on the other side. Is that where the glowing was coming from?
He stepped towards the side of the awning space, intending to find the wall of the dome to orient himself. Whatever was lighting the place was doing a surprisingly good job, it was nearly the equivalent of daylight, if you could ignore the blue tint everything had. Walking along the side of the building didn't reveal much, just the sides of the building he was in before. The awning continued around the building, so he could only really see what was in front of him, which in this case was also nothing, The building to his left jutted out, blocking the sidewalk and requiring him to walk around it. And when he did, Quinn stopped dead in his tracks.
Screens. Hundreds, if not thousands of screens filled his vision. Different sizes, all overlaid, completely covered the inner walls of the domes. There was no break in the display, save for the screens that had broken and showed nothing, creating small pockets of blackness in the image. Quinn stumbled forward, barely registering as his feet hit asphalt. He craned his head upwards, following the screens. A quiet horror dawned in Quinn as his mind wrapped itself around the screen's unified display.
They showed the sky.
The same sky the humans never got to see again. This place was a tomb for a species that'd been dead for over ten thousand years. He stared at the same simulated sky they did, and he felt small. It was one thing to believe The Captain, but it was something else entirely to actually see it. People lived here. People were living here now. A strong feeling of vertigo washed through him, making him stumble against the back of the building to avoid falling.
A voice picked at him in his ears. "Quinn. Quinn, are ya with me lad?" The Captains voice broke through his thoughts.
He shook his head, trying to refind his balance. "I'm... I'm here. It's just..." Quinn exhaled, a heavy breath.
"Take some time lad, but there's something very important you need to do first. Head back into the place ya just left."
Quinn tore his eyes from the wall of screens, and walked back around the building on uneven legs. The city felt haunted now. He stepped back into the 'room' with that odd circular platform from before.
"Alright lad, there should be somethin in the center of the room."
"The platform?"
"That's, it! Now, shoot it a good several times, you'll know when to stop."
Quinn did as ordered, aiming the weapon downwards and firing. At first nothing happend, but the platform quickly absorbed his ink, changing color from a dull grey to the same blue of his ink. A few moments later, a light he hadn't seen before along the edge of the circles blinked to life, and a familiar symbol, two arrows pointing to each other in a circle, appeared in the ink.
"Its... a respawner." The last several minutes slammed into him with a freight truck. He hadn't been connected to a respawner. If he had fallen, gotten jumped, he would have died. The vertigo from a minute ago returned full force. He slammed into a wall, barely turning to his side avoid smashing his ink tank, before bending down and putting his hands on his knees.
"Breathe son!" The Captain demanded over the head set. "Yer alright now!"
Quinn was hyperventilating. It took almost a minute, but he managed to force himself to take a large breath, and then several more a few moments later. He let himself slide down the wall, until he was sitting. His hands found their way to his temples.
As Quinn's breathing began to slow, The Captain started talking again. "Yer good lad. Nothing's nearby, so take time if you need it." There was another few moments of pause before he continued. "Resources are hard to come by in the domes. Like the kettles, the respawners don't have an active supply of ink. You need to give it yer own. That one will hold a charge for 9 hours, last we measured, so we'll call it 6 to be safe."
Quinn shook his head, trying to regain his senses after the surprise brush with mortality. After a few minutes, The Captain instructed him to put more ink into it, and Quinn complied without hesitation. The additional fire revealed a second, and then a third light along the edge.
"That'll hold the full time, ready to start exploring, bucko?"
Quinn hesitantly nodded, before remembering The Captain couldn't actually see him. "Yes Sir."
"Onwards then! I'll let ya know if and when to keep yer eyes peeled.
After taking a few more moments to recover, Quinn started into the center of the mini-city. The mentions of the other 'agents' earlier in the day, his quiet paranoia about the WAR FACTION occupying these domes, and lingering dread over the respawner had him acting incredibly cautious at first. He ducked along walls and peered around corners, keeping the Hero Shot raised and ready to fire. That didn't last long, however, as no amount of caution could prepare for boredom. His movements rapidly grew bolder, pulling away from the walls and taking corners head on. Eventually, he was just walking through the strange city, marveling at the bizarre place he found himself in.
The mini-city was completely empty. Literally. Save for the buildings themselves, there wasn't anything else present. No signs, nothing hanging from a window, no benches or planters, not a piece of trash anywhere on the ground. Walking past a suspiciously empty lot, he realized there wasn't even dirt. Even the temperature hardly felt like anything, the entire place was the same 'just barely warm'. It was too empty to be considered a ghost city, as that would have implied some kind of life had inhabited the place to begin with. This was a shell. A hollow unit, missing literally anything to fill it.
The most unnerving part had to be the silence. A consistent, quiet hum of some distant air cycling system and the extremely faint buzz from the screens that lined the walls were all that he could hear. Otherwise, save for his own movements there wasn't a sound. It almost felt wrong, breaking through the ambiance with his footfalls and breathing. He continued forwards regardless, at The Captain's encouragement as much as his own curiosity.
Quinn's mind quietly worked to make sense of everything around him. He couldn't help but draw parallels to the streets of Inkopolis, specifically to the walk he had taken to the Plaza that morning. When the lights were all off and none of the advertisements were on display. Even then, with the power curfew killing the nightlife of the city, there was still life all around. Plants grew through the cracks in the sidewalk or around chain-link fences. You could hear the wind buffer a hanging sign or someone singing in their apartment. Other people still walked the streets, much the same as he had. He had passed someone working by flashlight to restock their shop. Scattered traffic was audible in the distance if you were close enough to the freeway.
By contrast, the dome city felt too still. There was quite literally nothing: no wind, no plants, no other people, no movement. Quinn shook his head, perturbed by the hollow city.
He stopped in the center of the dome to marvel at the faux sky hanging static over the city. It was overwhelmingly claustrophobic the way the sky was touchable, even if it was out of his reach. The buildings around him seemed to rise up and scrape against it. It was dizzying, how it messed with his perspective. Their rigid, straight lines bending in his vision as the subtle curvature of the fake sky played tricks on his brain. He stumbled backwards slightly, needing to break his gaze to re-center his balance.
The Captain had been mostly silent during his exploration, only offering the occasional encouragement or some basic directions. This was his chance to explore, The Captain had said, and while the literal radio silence was annoying, Quinn was also thankful for it. There was a strange comfort to the silence, now that he had taken time to acclimate to it. It was still unnerving, the entire place was, but it was also calm. It was surprisingly relaxing, combing through the abandoned cityscape. Time alone with just his thoughts, to just take it slow for the first time days. So naturally, he began to think.
Were things ok? He'd been on his own for 17 days. In that time, he'd secured a steady (if exhausting) income, a place to live, some basic furniture, and consistent food. That was all he'd managed to do though, the bare minimum. In two weeks? That was pretty bad. Most everything he'd read said that two weeks was more than enough time to get your feet under you. He should have friends by now, or at least someone else who knew his name. The days shouldn't be bleeding together already, it hadn't even been a month and he already couldn't tell his previous days of nonstop turf battles apart. He woke up in the morning so he could do it again tomorrow. Maybe... maybe he wasn't cut out for this. Without giving it any thought, he reached up and scratched at the spot under his eye.
Maybe he should just go back--
A loud metallic crash followed seconds later, cutting through the silence of the city with the subtlety of a bullsquid in a vase shop.
"Quinn!" The Captain shouted over his radio. "Cover!"
Quinn frantically scrambled to a side wall, hugging it. He looked around desperately, trying to find what caused the sound.
"Yer alright lad." The Captain reassured over the radio. "Radar's pinging the sound up a good ways away." He chuckled for a moment. "We're gonna need to work on yer reactions! Can't have ya freezing up out in the open like that! That's alright, we can work on that!"
"Yeah." Quinn coughed into his hand, trying to recover from the sudden burst of movement. "We'll do that later. What the hell do I do now?"
The Captain grunted. "Well, radar says nothin's close, so I don't think they're movin to ya." That was a definite sign of someone else being in the domes. The smart thing to do would be to leave now. He'd seen this amazing place, he believeed The Captain's stories, there was nothing else for him here.
...
"I'm gonna go check it out." Quinn whispered, drawing the Hero Shot and pressing himself the wall.
"Atta boy! I knew you had it in ya lad! Let's go see what these jerks are scheming!"
Quinn slowly crept along the side of the buildings. Keeping cover wasn't necessarily difficult in this faux city, given it's grid layout, but it meant he was always open to an attack from behind. The knowledge of a second party somewhere with him had transformed the dome's unnervingly calm atmosphere into one of tension. "Anyone near me yet?"
"Not yet. Keep moving northeast."
Quinn leveled the Hero Shot in his hands, and shot a thin, straight line along the ground against the building he was stalking along The blue ink faded somewhat into the dim shadows, it would be subtle from a distance.
"Firing?" The Captain asked.
"Escape path. I put it along the side of the building so it's hopefully at least a little hidden. That way if I'm being chased I have a way to gain ground."
The Captain was quiet for a few moments. "Good thinking lad! Keep them subtle, but keep it up."
Quinn proceeded towards the origin of the clang, leaving trails along the sides of buildings that he moved past. He travelled slowly, focusing mostly on making as little sound as possible. It took more effort than he wanted to admit not get lulled back into the false sense of security of the abandoned city. As he got closer to the sound's origin, a distinct high pitched buzzing sound slowly became audible.
"Stop." The Captain commanded after maybe 20 minutes of slow traversal. Quinn halted on the spot, pushing himself against the wall. He was near the outskirts of the city now, not quite directly across from where he entered, but close enough. He could see the wall of screens from where he was. Rather than getting sucked into fake sky again, he directed his focus to a short platform extended over the gap between the city and the wall. It lead into the only break in the screens he's seen; a rather large tunnel, roughly wide enough for two shipping trucks to fit down side by side. Most likely, this was the pathway to the next dome, wherever it may be.
"Ok, Captain, what's going on." The buzzing sound stopped.
"They're on the front side of the building to yer left. I wouldn't shoot here, they might be able to hear ya, since we have no idea what the group loo--
A crash just like the first one followed a moment later, only much louder because because it was only about a single block away. Using the the deafening sound echoing through the cityscape as cover, Quinn shot a stream of ink along the closest wall then pressed himself against it.
"Right." The Captain's voice was clipped, he clearly hadn't been expecting the clang either. "Eeh... take a peak around the corner. Carefully! Radar was only pinging three of them. The echoes of that damn... eh whatever it is messed up the signal though. It'll be back in a few moments."
Quinn hesitantly worked his way to the side of the building, still sliding along it's metallic frame. He peered around the corner looking for what could possibly be causing the deafening sounds. A group of three octolings, all dressed in a weird silvery armor with goggles on, one with what looks like seaweed tied around her forehead, stand on a very strange platform. It's a simple looking metal platform, with some kind of brace running along the edges. Bright yellow lights, similar in color to the vest he wore, shone in each corner. It was positioned on the corner of the building, such that it could easily slide along either side. Also, the platform is floating. There's no stands, no wires, nothing holding it in place. It just floated there.
The Captain was right again.
The buzzing sound resumed, and a bright light appears directly next to where the octolings are standing. The seaweed-wearing octoling was holding some kind of tool against the side of the building causing the light, and the buzzing noise if he had to guess. Quinn had to squint and turn his head away, but when he glanced back, he notices the obvious glow of heat-cut metal. "They're... cutting the side of the building off?" Quinn quietly asked out loud. He looked above the section of wall that was currently being cut. A large hole spanned the height of the building, like the wall was just completely missing. He looks to the ground where sure enough, two massive sheets of metal lay, having fallen from the building after being cut free.
"Probably harvesting the building for scrap. They must be getting desperate."
"What makes you say that?" Quinn asked, still looking over the scene.
"That's human metal. Not usable after this many years, unless ya got the right stuff to treat it. Without it... it's not an ideal material to work with."
Quinn was about to respond, when one of the octolings shifted, revealing something behind her. Whatever machine they were using to cut the building with was powered by a zapfish.
"Sir, I see a zapfish."
"Where?"
"Powering the machine they're using to cut the building." The line was silent for several seconds.
"Fall back for now, lad. I don't want you taking a fight ya can't win."
"Aren't we here to get the zapfish back?"
"Son, yer not getting to that machine without a fight."
"Captain--" Quinn cut himself off when he hears a cry of surprise. His head snapped up, and he met the goggle-covered eyes of one of the octolings on the platform. "SHIT." Quinn threw himself around the edge of the building, jumping into swim form to speed down the ink trail he left behind. Two thuds-- the landing of superjumps-- sound from about where he was moments ago. He scrambled out of his ink and around the building's corner, desperate to buy space. "Hell!"
"Two bodies behind you. Good call on the ink trails, just come back to the kettle!" The Captain calmly, but firmly informed him.
A stream of magenta ink flew past him, causing Quinn to cut off his own reply. One of the soldiers had just fired a charger down the street he had been on, probably covering up the trail he left. Quinn ran along the front of the building, spinning around the corner. Now on the opposite side of the soldiers, he pushed his back against the wall, trying to balance taking desperate breaths with keeping quiet. The two soldiers said something in really fast octarian, he wasn't able to make out what they say. What he could hear was the sound of footsteps approaching the corner he was hiding behind.
Quinn silently slid along the building, hoping to maybe wrap around back. No, wait, that'd put him in the line of sight of the 3rd soldier. He could still hear the buzzing sound though, so maybe they were still busy cutting into the building.
"One body rounding the building towards you, one still in the first ally where you ran."
"Captain?" Quinn asked, very quietly. "Do you know if the soldiers are connected to a respawner?"
"They should be. Lad, I don't know what you're about to do, but I still say you need to leave. Do what you need to, but run for the kettle after that."
Quinn didn't respond. He fired, drawing a line of ink on the ground from where he was standing to the back of the building across the street from him. Rather than swim through it, Quinn dove for the corner of the building he had been hugging, pulling himself around it before he could hit the ground. He created a very small puddle under his feet, before pulling an empty splat bomb out of the pocket on his back. He tapped the bomb against the Hero Shot's bomb filler, getting it mostly full before deciding it was enough. He crouched to prevent a splash before dropping into swim form and hiding himself in the puddle he just made.
One of the soldiers, hearing the gunfire, sprinted down the alleyway, shooting what looked like a modified splattershot as they follow the trail of ink around the back of the second building. The moment they rounded the corner, Quinn switched forms and chucked the bomb at the soldier before they had a chance to react. It hit the ground maybe two steps from where they stood, and then burst, taking the soldier out with a spray of blue ink. Quinn watched the soldier's soul, a small, translucent octopus-shaped thing, float towards the tunnel in the edge of the dome.
One down. In the background, the buzzing stopped.
"One body off the radar. the other soldier is on one of the floors above you, the 3rd soldier is moving away from the zapfish."
Quinn complied, ducking back onto the street he was on just a moment ago. He was careful to avoid the new spots of magenta on the ground.
"I don't know what you did kid, but good job. You've got guts."
Quinn hesitated for just a moment. "The second person, the other one who wasn't on the platform, has a charger. I don't know the 3rd one's weapon, but they have some kind of seaweed bandana the other two don't have."
"Hell." Quinn was caught off guard by The Captain's sudden swear. "An elite! Lad that's bad, you need to leave. I don't care how clever you think you are, you aren't going to beat that one in a fight. That's an order, kid."
Quinn ignored how his hearts started beating even faster, somehow. He stepped forward, foot landing in a puddle of his own blue ink. Immediately, an uncomfortable tingling feeling assaulted his entire leg, causing him to reel backwards. He held out his finger, trying his damndst to keep it from shaking, and pushed out a bit of ink. Instead of it's usual blue, the stark white of fear and adrenalin stared back at him. His ink color had changed in response to his emotions. He couldn't touch any of the blue ink he had, including the kind in both his weapon and tank. Fuck.
"You hear me kid? You don't win against them" The Captain insisted in his ear.
Another superjump thud sounded, alarmingly close to his location. A desperate idea sparked in Quinn's mind. The Elite was just around the corner of the building, and the charger was above him. He wasn't going to make it out by running. A frantic, haphazard plan threw itself together in Quinn's mind. His hearts were beating like mad. "This tank has three times the ink inside it, right? Is there enough--"
The Captain cut him off. "I don't know what you're--"
"ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!" Quinn yelled into the headset.
"It does."
"I'm coming back."
Quinn grabbed another bomb. This one he filled manually, white ink expanding the packet it as he counted each tense second it took to fill. The instant it was primed, he charged around the building and cocked his arm back like he was about to hurl the thing. Rather than throw it though, he instead just flicked his wrist, tossing it ever so slightly forward. The elite soldier ducked out of the way, having expected him to throw it at them. The moment the bomb hit the ground, Quinn jumped towards it, changing to swim form mid air. The bomb exploded just before he reached it, letting him land in its puddle of white ink. Before he even landed, Quinn began charging a superjump.
The moment he made contact with the ground, Quinn pushed as much ink as he could through his swim form tentacles, rocketing himself into the air. He transformed back to his adult form while in the flying, spinning his body instinctually so his feet hit the ground. A very satisfying thud announced his successful landing on the floating platform. It buckled ever so slightly, but otherwise hung firm in the air.
Now that he had a few seconds of breathing room, it was time for the hardest part. Quinn concentrated, trying to shift his ink back to it's usual blue, the same color that was in his tank and gun. Unfortunately, the higher emotions ran, the harder it was to override the body's natural response. He was able to shift the color back somewhat, resulting in a light blue. It would have to do. He triggered the tank's release, ink quickly flowing back into his system via the lines in his pant legs. It caused a gross, sticky feeling in his legs as the tank's blue ink mixed with the light blue in his body, but it wasn't painful, so it would work.
He pulled a third bomb from the pocket on his jacket and tapped it to the sub filler, watching as it quickly inflated with his normal blue ink. With a shout of frustration. Quinn swung the bomb, almost like was trying to punch with it, towards the Zapfish. At the same time, he reached behind him and flicked off the limiter on the bottom of the tank. A surge of ink crashed into his legs just as the zapfish's electrical barrier exploded in a shower of almost glass-like particles that vanished in the air soon after.
He screamed in response as he pulled the limiter from the bottom of the tank, allowing the blue ink to spill out onto the ground he was standing on. The zapfish joined him his choir of shouts as Quinn pulled it from the machine. The floating platform immediately buckled in the air, causing Quinn to start running through every swear he knew as he scrambled to escape. He dropped into swim form again, falling into the ink puddle from the draining tank, the zapfish was held by two of his smaller tentacles while the others prepared. Like before, he immediately began charging a super jump before he even hit the pool of ink, only this time, once he landed he let himself sit in the ink for a few moments. The charge absorbed all the extra ink he had surged himself with before he pulled the limiter, and much more from the dense puddle made by the tank's spillage. As soon as the platform began to fall, he launched high into the air, riding a super jump far more powerful than he'd ever jumped in his life.
Quinn soared over the dome's hollow city, zipping straight over the central square where he heard the first chunk of wall fall. He continued his arc, landing about two thirds of the way through the dome with a heavy thud. He landed square on his feet and broke into a full sprint, conserving as much of the momentum from the jump as he could. He blitzed through the remaining streets, completely abandoning stealth in favor of a frenzied charge to the exit. When he arrived at the small building housing the kettle, he hardly had time to slow down, much less stop. He blazed into the room with the kettle, turned and let his right shoulder absorb the impact as the wall brought him to a complete halt. Quinn barely took the time to register the Zapfish squirming in his left hand, the grip around it firm but not tight. He completely ignored the pain from his shoulder as he threw himself into the kettle, ink fired into the receiver from the Hero Shot in his right hand. Once in swim form, he lifted the zapfish out of the line with his tentacles so it could breathe while they traveled. With a whistle significantly quieter than the one that brought him here, Quinn was shot towards the surface.
Finally, he arrived at the end of the line, coming to a stop in the same, louder kettle he left some time ago. With shaking limbs, Quinn kicked the grate lid open pulled himself over the edge, landing unceremoniously on the ground in a small puddle of blue ink he brought over the edge with him. He transformed back to his adult form, but otherwise just laid there. Lazily, he unharnessed the nearly empty ink tank, pushing it aside as he stared up at the sky. The real sky. A low rumble started in his chest, just barely riding out on his breath as he exhaled. Quickly, the feeling grew, and full bodied laughter ripped itself from his lungs. Before he knew it, Quinn was howling, tears streaming down his face. He hoisted the Zapfish up in the air, laughing even harder as the little creature looks around curiously. The frantic, almost panicked laughter echoed through the valley as feelings of triumph, fear, confidence, dread, and most of all relief washed through him.
He almost missed The Captain's approach, but the distinct tap of the bamboozler against stone was enough to tip him off. The old man half-scrambled up the small hill, stopping when his eyes landed on Quinn and the zapfish. Quinn did not miss the obvious surprise written through The Captain's entire body.
Quinn struggled for a moment, his muscles protesting, but he worked himself into a sitting position. "Captain! Look!" He said between bouts of laughter. He thrust the zapfish forward again while smiling brightly up at The Captain. "I got it!"
"I see that..." The Captain agreed, his tone flat. Quinn felt his blood run cold. His face slowly fell as he looked up at the old man, who seemed to be studying him. Quinn tried his absolute hardest to not squirm away from the sudden inspection. He wanted to run, but instinct told him that running from The Captain would be the worst possible option right now, so he talked instead.
"I-I knew the only way I'd make it out was with a super jump. I-I knew the tank had the extra ink so I-I knew I could use it to jump and get away." When The Captain didn't respond, Quinn's ramble grew more frantic. "O-oh I lost the bomb frames! I threw the bombs but didn't bring them back like you said I should! I-I... I can go back in and get them! O-or I can pay to replace th--" He was cut off by a gentle hand falling on his shoulder. His entire body jolted, every muscle tensing as his head head swiveled back to look at the person behind him.
The Captain stood, spare hand on his cane, looking down at Quinn with a gentle, almost sad face. No trace of anger visible anywhere on his body. "Quinn, I'm just glad you're alright."
What?
The Captain huffed before working his way down to sit next to Quinn. The old bamboozler cane was laid across his lap; the handle was practically laying in Quinn's hand. "It's not typical, what we do out here in the Splatoon." The Captain didn't look at him while he spoke. Instead he stared out into the large canyon before them. "It takes a lotta trust to do something like this. You trust me to guide ya through these domes, keep ya updated with the correct information, and to warn ya if anything bad is coming up."
Quinn nodded to show he was following along. He knew where this was going. He'd lost the bomb frames. He'd betrayed The Captain's orders, getting the zapfish rather than retreating. Worst of all, he had yelled at The Captain over the radio. He wanted nothing more than to shrink, to just vanish from the spot, as if that would save him from the consequences.
The Captain's hand fell gently on his shoulder again. Quinn's entire body tensed, and he turned to look at the old man. When their gazes met, The Captain resumed talking. "You put all your trust in me, following me out here, taking the gear I gave you, traveling into the domes alone."
Quinn's face remained impassive. Internally however, he prepared for what was coming.
The Captain continued. "I want to apologize, Quinn. You did all this for me, and I still didn't trust you in turn."
Quinn's mind froze. Huh? "Huh?"
For a brief moment, there was a gleam in The Captains eye, before a small, sad smile crossed his lips. "Trust is a two way thing, kiddo. You trust me to give you the right info, and I trust you to do the right thing with it. You proved me wrong kid, you did what I thought you couldn't. It was reckless and dangerous, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that I should have trust in you."
It took Quinn almost two minutes to wrap his head around what The Captain said. "You mean you're not mad about me disobeying your orders?"
"I was worried, kid. You've never been in the domes before, there was no telling how you would react."
"Leaving the bomb frames behind?"
"Bombs were made to be exploded, you used them perfectly. Grabbing the frames back is just a bonus. Sheldon can make 30 of em' in a night."
Quinn pulled away slightly. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. "For y-, yelling at you?"
The Captain chuckled. "No, kid. That was a wake up call for an old man like me."
Quinn returned to his stunned state. He wasn't mad? "What... are you then?"
The Captain smiled, his eyes crinkling as he looked at Quinn. "Quinn, I'm proud of you."
And Quinn didn't know what to do with that. Proud...? No, The Captain couldn't possibly mean, like, pride. He was just some random squid off the streets! How could The Captain be proud of him?
The Captain narrowed his eyes for a second, before nodding his head slightly. "What happened in the fight? I was watching on the tracker & radar, but you were moving so fast, I wasn't really sure what was going on!"
That jolted Quinn out of his own head. "Ok well, um. It started when one of them spotted me peeking around the building, I had to duck back and swim through the ink I left behind..." Quinn explained everything in the fight, growing more animated while he talked. The Captain watched with a smile, chiming in with praise when Quinn explained something impressive or noteworthy. Eventually, The Captain motioned for him to stand. Quinn helped The Captain to his feet, and the two started back to the office-cave. Quinn talked all the while, until he reached what had just happened with exiting the kettle.
"There was just... it was so much. I didn't know how to feel. So I kinda felt all of it I guess?"
"A good mission'll do that to ya." The Captain agreed with a wink as the two steped back into the cave. Conversation remained light as Quinn helped him unplug and pack away the tracking equipment, and before long the two were headed back out towards the cabin. The sun was crossing the horizon by now, casting the entire place in the rapidly-purpling hues of sundown. They both shuffled into the the Cabin's main room, breathing heavy sighs of relief to be back inside.
Quinn's face fell when his eyes landed on his own splattershot and ink tank, still resting on the couch where he had set them. "Uh, is there anywhere you want me to set this stuff?" Quinn asked, gesturing vaguely to the equipment he wore.
"Drape it over the back of the chair, I'll clean it up before you come back."
Quinn froze with the ink tank halfway unclipped.
"Back?"
"I figured you'd come back, yeah? After today's performance..." The Captain admitted in a light tone, though a some worry was present as well.
"You want me to come back?" Quinn asked, caught off guard by the question. Did he want to come back? Back to a cabin in the middle of nowhere? Back to military gear worth more G than his soul? Back into enemy territory?
Back to The Captain?
Quinn knew his answer, but he forced himself to evaluate the other option anyway. Don't come back, play turf war until he went completely insane or his body gave out. Don't come back, and quit turf to pick up a shitty retail job that he won't get anywhere with because he's only 14? Don't come back... and go back home? No.
"I'd... like to come back, if that's alright with you, sir."
The Captain's eyes lit up, but he managed to keep his demeanor more controlled. "Wonderful! I knew I could count on you Quinn! Starting today, you are Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon!"