How did things turn out like this?

That was the only thing Arai could think as she sat, waiting. In many ways, her current situation was a comparative paradise; she was alone, in a quiet room, on a cushioned chair. She even had a bottle of cold water courtesy of a small amenities table that had been set up for her. As nice as all of that was, it did nothing to quell the rapid beating of her hearts.
[add mention of sore place where Agent 3 kicked her in the fight]
It was an understandable reaction. Having General Octavio himself ask for a meeting would do that to anyone. Not that I was really given a choice there. What am I going to do? Say NO to him?

So, she sat, trying her absolute hardest to not attack the bandages on her hands. The damn things were so itchy they were driving her insane. She didn't even need to wear them for scrap's sake, but enough medics had frowned after looking at her hands that she again had no choice in the matter.

With nothing else to distract her, her mind inevitably dragged itself to the fight she'd had with Agent 3. Truthfully, it was hard to remember what exactly had even happened. Imari and I were talking on the roof, then we were on the ground prepping for his approach, and then... She remembered seeing red, and the feeling of his throat in her arm. The shock of lurching into the air. The blinding, all consuming rage of realizing he escaped again.

She was fuming just thinking about it. Arai forced herself to take several measured breaths. She was past that now. Well, she wasn't, not really, but she could act like she was. If I ever get my hands on Agent 3 again, one of us won't be standing to see the surface afterwords.

A stinging in her hands pulled her from her thoughts. She was pressing on the bandages again, causing the barely healed wounds to hurt. The realization nearly had her double down on the pressure out of frustration, but she managed to relent. Instead, she grabbed the water bottle with one hand, and covered her knee with the other.

It was... fine. Not the most comfortable position, but with a slow breath, she forced herself to relax back into the chair. She got a couple minutes like that, before two sharp knocks on the door preempted someone's entry. Arai immediately shot to her feet and saluted, trying her best to imitate Imari's perfect form. "Sir!"

The imposing figure of General Octavio walked into the room. Arai had only ever seen him at a distance, to be so close to him suddenly was incredibly intimidating. Darkness hold me, he is tall.

"Rest." He flatly commanded, giving her a stare so intense that wiped any disobedience from her mind in an instant. She lowered her arm, but kept her posture straight and her legs set. He looked at her, until she hesitantly sat back down, resuming her previous position.

General Octavio regarded her for a few moments with a look she couldn't read, before nodding to somebody in the hallway. "That will be all, Lilac, thank you." The door closed a few moments later, as he walked to a desk on the other side of the room and took a seat. There were several papers already spread out on his desk, which he began to look over.

"Miss Arai Kaho." Each word was clearly defined and slow, the hallmarks of formal Octarian. "Standard infantry soldier in unit 12-C7. Under the leadership of Imari Mizuta, you and your squad engaged the inkling, Agent 3, in combat 2 days ago. Rather than the... typical... outcome of such battles, you broke from your unit and engaged Agent 3 directly. Something thus far that has otherwise yet to happen in any confirmed or documented fashion, at least." He looked up from the papers, watching her for a reaction.

"Yes, sir. That is what happened."

"Furthermore, assuming the accounts are accurate, this event was the single closest any soldier has ever gotten to capturing Agent 3, despite months of attempts. Additionally, you were not splatted in the process."

His words felt like accusations rather than a recounting of facts. Am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong?

Arai swallowed, and tried to answer with a steady voice. "Yes, sir. That is also true."

"How?"

Huh? "Sir?"

"What did you do that was different?"

"I—" This feels like a trap. "I just caught him by surprise."

"He's an evasive fighter, then?"

Arai's grip on her knee tightened. "I'd hardly even call him a fighter. He's a coward! He does nothing but drop bombs and run away! No one has been able to catch him because he never stops to fight."

"So you broke away from your unit and snuck up on him."

The metal water bottle protested quietly in her hand as her grip tightened. "He won't land near groups! Ever! Even if he does, there's two rusting bombs landing right beside him that take out the units!"

"Agent 3 seems quite the capable soldier..." Octavio mused as he slowly opened one of the desk drawers. "Strong... Fast... Intelligent."

Arai barely managed to choke down a growl. Compliments?? COMPLIMENTS??? She grit her teeth and let out a slow hiss of breath. Water dripped around her fingers from holes in the water bottle bored by her claws.

Octavio continued, uncaring about her actions. "Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd think the boy was the best of us."

"AGENT 3 IS A SPINELESS, COWARDLY PIECE OF SHIT WHO CAN ONLY FIGHT BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CONFUSION AND DIRTY TACTICS!!" Arai's hands slammed down onto the desk, before her eyes went wide. The water bottle quietly clunked against the ground; the only sound in the otherwise silent room.

What did I just do. She remained rooted to the spot. The room was frozen, save for her own ink, which was quickly flushing to white.

"Mmm, yes. I think I understand what happened." Octavio folded two of his tentacles over his chest, like he was folding his arms. He didn't seem bothered by her outburst.

Slowly, she looked down at the table. Agent 3's yellow vest was laid out before her. She'd slammed her hands down on top of it. Her claws were practically in the same holes she'd ripped just 2 days ago.

"Sir!" Arai struggled to find the right words to defend herself as she stumbled backwards. "Please forgive my actions! I... shouldn't have done that."

Octavio held up a single tentacle. "At ease, soldier. I wanted you to describe what fighting him was like. You did good. Far better than anyone else has managed to do."

The sudden whiplash left Arai confused. "Thank you, sir? I'm not sure I understand though."

"Things cannot continue as they are." He gathered the papers on the desk, before looking up and meeting her eyes again. "Something needs to change." He stepped away from the desk, back towards the door. "This room has been reserved for the rest of the day. You may spend as much time here as you like. Your Leader has been informed of this, and you will not be penalized for any absence until call tomorrow morning."

Before walking out the door, he turned to her one last time. "Thank you, Ms. Arai. Your insight has been quite helpful."

"GYAH HAHA! Listen up you spineless inklings!" DJ Octavio's voice crackled from the speakers in clear, accented Inklish.

The sudden announcement drove a spike through Marie's hearts. She'd been expecting Gramps again, but was instead met by the voice of their greatest enemy. A quick glance revealed Callie had a similar reaction. judging by the look on her face. Quinn, though, was staring at the radio with an intensity she hadn't seen since he nearly splat her that first time in the domes.

"This pointless fight has gone on long enough. No more cowardly running, it's time to face the music! Agent Three, I challenge you to a fight! No tricks, no ambushes, nothing of the sort. Just me and you, one-on-one, for the Great Zapfish you want so desperately."

"WHAT!?" Callie blurted, matching Marie's thoughts perfectly. In sync, their eyes met, before they both turned to Quinn. He's not... we can't just send him in there! (He'll be killed, we can't let that happen!)

"And before you think about backing out, let's just say, I have a certain guest who's just dying to see you, kid. Might want to show up for the show, before my words become a lot more literal."

GRAMPS!

"The fight's in three days from this message. I trust you'll be able to figure out the details with how much time you spend snooping around. Get ready, inkling, because I'm going to dubstomp you into oblivion!! GYAHAAHA!!"

The radio cut off, stranding the three agents in static.

Marie was the first to act. She signed "Stop him" to Callie, before trying to approach Quinn as gently as she could.

"Don't." Quinn's voice was cold. His eyes were still locked on the radio.

"No, Quinn, you do not have to do this." Marie insisted.

"I'm going to save The Captain." His tone left little room for argument.

"Please Quinn, think about what he's saying." Callie pleaded. "We know about the mech he's going to be in, you can't fight that!"

He didn't listen, instead robotically standing from his seat at the table and walking out of the study.

Marie signed "Stop him" again. I am NOT about to lose him too.

Callie forced a look of panic off her face before she frowned and signed "How" back.

"Don't leave. Need Talk."

The pair was out the door in an instant, nearly tripping over each other as they hurried to try and stop him. Quinn was just outside in the living room, but he was halfway into the Hero Suit already, minus the vest which had been lost the other day. He still had the same look of unwavering determination on his face.

"Quinn, stop. We need to talk about this." Callie ventured.

"What is there to talk about?" He asked, his voice completely flat, almost resigned.

"The fight Quinn! You're not going to that fight!" Marie folded her arms, and took a step back so she was blocking the front door. "Or what you're trying to do right now."

"What's your alternative?" He asked as he strapped the tank against his back. "Let The Captain die?"

Marie flinched. "NO! We— we need to talk things through first. We can't just charge head first into things, we're supposed to be a team!"

"You really think you can beat his big mech?" Callie was standing behind him, hovering over his shoulder as he put on the Hero Runners. "The massive thing designed to beat regiments of soldiers with a single attack?"

"If I don't, The Captain dies." The certainty in his voice was downright alarming.

"But there has to be a better way than this!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Quinn asked, glancing between them with a tired look. "This is his big show. If we don't fight him here, he'll break onto the surface and start a rampage." He holstered the Hero Shot, and loaded bombs into the shoulder pockets of the Hero Jacket with startling efficiency. "There is no choice here."

"So what are you doing now then? It's still two days until the fight!" Marie's eyes burned, like she wanted to cry. Things were going well, why did this have to happen?

"I'm going to find out when the fight is." He stepped towards the door, locking eyes with Marie. His gaze was intense enough to actually make Marie hesitate for a moment. When did he get so intimidating?

Marie gathered her resolve and squared her shoulders in response. "So you're just going to walk into the enemy base immediately after the BOSS said you should?"

"What else is there to do!? We either get the information for the fight and then take it, or we don't, and potentially THOUSANDS of people die! There is no room for decision making here! He backed us into a corner and we let it happen."

Marie froze. Fuck. Damn it he's right. What the hell do we do then? ~~(It's over, we've lost. Gramps is going to die for real this time.)~~ "Quinn, you can't run in and die either. You're one of the only people who can actually fight them, if you're gone the attack is nearly impossible to stop!"

"Like it'd be possible with me here! The only reason we have the upper hand is because we're playing hit and run on specific targets in their territory. If they move out, we're done for!"

Why is he so good at arguing damn it? Marie floundered for a moment, trying to come up with a response.

"Both of you, wait, just for a second. Hear me out." Callie asked them. She held up the sign "Please" as she spoke.

"What is this?"

Callie met Marie's eyes. "Listen... I don't think we can avoid this. Not if we want Gramps to live." She was quick to put her hands up. "BUT—" Her gaze swapped to Quinn, meeting his eyes— "that doesn't mean we need to be dumb about this."

"No, Cal. We can't just walk into the obvious trap." Do they both have a death wish or something? Marie could feel a rapidly growing headache pushing at the back of her eyes.

Callie smiled. "Think about it. Octavio is trying to control the narrative. He broadcast that message in inklish, didn't he? He doesn't want people to know he challenged us."

Marie's eyes widened. Of course. It was publicity 101. It'd look like we fell right into his trap if Quinn just walked up to him on the day of the fight. But we need the information he's got inside. I hate this. I hate this so much. But they're right. If we can turn this encounter on its head, then we might actually be able to gain something out of it, as small as it may be.

With a sigh, Marie put a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Wait here for just a second." She quickly ran through the kitchen, stopping at the closet at the end of the dining area. Inside, both her and Callie's Hero Suits were hung, with their respective weapons below them. There was a place for Quinn's suit as well, but he rarely used it.

Marie walked up to her own suit. If we're going to do this, we should do it right. She pulled her vest off the hanger, made sure nothing else was going to fall, and then made her way back to the living room. "Take this."

Quinn's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you—"

"Yes." Marie pressed her vest into his hands. "I don't like this, Quinn. I really don't like this, but you guys are right. I don't think there's a way around it." She sighed one final time, before suddenly righting her posture and sharpening her eyes. "When you go into the domes, accept the challenge. In front of as many people as you can. Make it known that you are deliberately accepting a challenge from Octavio himself."

Marie could see the exact moment the fire behind his eyes sparked to life. "I'll make a show of it."

"If you're not back in two hours, we're going down there to pull you out ourselves." Callie threatened. "Until then, we'll put our heads together and try to adapt the plan we've already got."

"Right." Quinn strapped the tank onto his back. "Finally putting my new Octarian skills to work."

Marie snorted. "Keep your sentences short if you're doing that. Now get going, your timer's already started."

Quinn opened the door, and walked out it with a wave.

"I hate this." Callie didn't mince her words.

"Me too. Now, let's try to figure this out."

"DJ OCTAVIO PREPARES FOR ANOTHER ASTOUNDING PERFORMANCE" The poster on the wall announced in bold lettering. Specific details, such as the show time and a sneak preview of the setlist filled out the rest of the page. There being printed posters at all was with concerning, but the fact that one had been deliberately put up in The Hollows was worse. I've got a bad feeling about this.

She didn't knock as she walked into her room. Warabi was there waiting, like he said he'd be. "Alright, what's so important?"

He didn't seem keen on wasting time. "You heard about Agent 3's most recent stunt?"

"Vaguely. All I really know is that he showed up."

"He accepted a challenge, from Octavio."

The announcement poster immediately flashed through Ahato's mind. "It's not just a show tomorrow, is it?"

Warabi shook his head.

"I had my suspicions that something was up when i got this this morning." Ahato pulled her pager from her pocket and showed him the screen as she sat across from him.

"There's no systems in the performance dome, and specifying 'any active commander' means whatever's going on is going to be a huge backend mess. I only just saw the poster before coming here."

"Poster?" Warabi gave her a confused look. "What poster?"

"Out around the commons, there's a poster announcing Octavio's big show tomorrow."

He paused for a moment. "Ok, you didn't hear this from me. A few hours before the show, squads of soldiers are going to roam the domes and force everyone to attend."

Ahato nodded slowly. "So, all signs point to this being some kind of showdown with Agent 3. One that the big man wants to make very public."

"It makes sense." Warabi started drumming his hands on the table, tapping out a disjoined rhythm as he thought. "It makes sense. If he does stop Agent 3, it'd be a really good thing for his image."

"Does his image need it though?"

"Yeah, actually. I don't know if you've been hearing it, but the soldiers coming through here recently aren't happy about things right now."

"I feel like there's some bias here. Getting down here actively risks disobedience charges, so I doubt we're getting the most reputable soldiers if you catch my drift."

"No, that's the thing A! You haven't noticed because you're pretty new here, but we're getting FAR more soldiers than we used to. Five months ago, Clyde was the only bouncer we had, we've added three more recently.

"Oh, shit."

"Right? It's more than just the hollows, though. The general sentiment is slowly turning on Ol' Green Eyes. He needs something to bring his image back around.

Ahato shook her head. "Where are you getting your info from?"

"My dad. It's all a big pager chain, but being behind the curtain of the military films division does tend to net some solid information."

"Mmm." Something was still bugging her. "We're missing something. There's no way that dried up piece of work could lay a hand on Agent 3, and if he's making this big of a show about it, he's not about to pass the job onto someone else."

"That's basically the same conclusion we've reached." Warabi nodded. "The info about the systems install only helps that, so thanks."

"We?"

Warabi took a deep, breath, before meeting her eyes. "This is what I really wanted to talk to you about. There's a group of us who... are... preparing for the future."

"And what does that mean."

"Well, think about it. Regardless of what happens, we could lose all of this."

"The Hollows?"

Warabi nodded. "Octavio's doing this as a grab for power, we can both agree on that, right?" Ahato nodded. "He wants stricter control, and that's going to start with cracking down on 'unsanctioned gatherings' so to say."

Fuck. "Fuck." A dull pain throbbed in her shoulder. "You're sure that's a possibility?"

"Came from the same source as the soldier squads tomorrow morning. We'll see if that's true or not."

Ahato shook her head. "Assuming this happens, what are you guys doing about it then?"

He took another deep breath. There was significantly more reservation the next time he spoke. "We're... preparing to run."

Ahato slumped back in her seat. Running away was a fantasy. A hypothetical for telling stories to little kids or fueling an angsty song. It wasn't something you actually did, and ESPECIALLY not during an active war. Even ignoring that factor, there was just no telling how the inklings on the surface would treat them. I know our classes are a bunch of propagandized garbage, but everything has to come from somewhere, right? *

But, if Octavio did shut down The Hollows, what did she have left? This was the only thing she'd found that was worth it. If she was forced back into her old life forever, could she even do it? *No, I don't think I could.

"Pretty much all of the A and B stages are in on it, and the ones who aren't have promised to not say a thing if questioned." Warabi explained. "A lot of the C stage, and even a decent handful of D stage are on board as well."

"It's... a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"Just... consider it, ok?" He asked. "All you need to do is prepack some bags and stow them somewhere until we know what's happening." He stood from the table. "I've got a few more people to tell, you probably want to tell your girl too. I know she tries to avoid the soldiers, so..."

...?

Ahato had to shake her head to dislodge that comment. "Hu-wh, what makes you think Marina is my girl?"

Warabi paused in the doorway, looking back with a smirk. "Oh please. You show up down here like you have something to prove, all tough and jaded. It took the kid to finally break your walls and make you open up, and then you lock up in that exact same way when you see her."

"That doesn't—"

"Tch. She literally followed you backstage where you two had a big fight— you're welcome for guarding the door by the way— and then all the sudden you're the brightest you've ever been, and she's hanging around more often than not."

"I!" Ahato words died in her throat. It really did look bad from an outside perspective. The idea hadn't even crossed her mind! Not in any significant way, at least. "Marina's my oldest friend. We had a falling out because of—"

Warabi put his hand up. "Hey man, no judgement. I just figured you two were sweet on each other because she makes you smile. Even Paul can only barely manage that." His face fell after a moment. "Just... keep my words in mind, ok? For you and her."

"Sure." It was a dumb idea. An awful idea. Running away from everything they've known. Moving into likely hostile territory, without any promise they'd ever be able to power their instruments again. It's gotta be the worst idea ever, right?

Still, if The Hollows were shut down, would it even be worth sticking around? Could she find purpose in the life she abandoned? Are things really this dire?

"Warabi," she called out.

There was a few seconds pause before he reappeared. "What's up?"

"My old apartment." Ahato blurted. "The second tallest building in Residential B. There's a noticable gap between two of the screens directly above the roof. It leads to the surface somehow. I saw Agent 3 use it before he started camping inside the domes."

Warabi's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"I know you guys. You've all made up this grand idea, but none of you have any real idea how to do it. This way, you at least have something to work off of."

"Thank you." He met her eyes and nodded. "Really. Let's hope all we've got to do is unpack some bags, yeah?"

"Yeah." Ahato looked back to her pager as Warabi left. His idea of them might be wrong, but his suggestion wasn't.

The sudden stress sent her shoulder into a frenzy. The muscles twitched like they were all trying to pick fights with each other, each one sending a bolt of pain through her arm. It was hard for her to even hold anything in her hand, as if her fingers were only getting three quarters of the power they should be. Cod, when this is all over I'm going to put this arm in a sling until it stops doing this shit.

Pressing her shoulder against the cold metal of her desk didn't really alleviate any of the pain. Even when it wasn't hurting, there was often an uncomfortable tingling up and down her arm. She'd gotten decent at ignoring it after feeling it for so long, but any time there wasn't anything else for her mind to think about. Every tingle felt like she was getting stabbed. Maybe there's some miracle cure on the surface, while we're being insane right?

Ahato was practically beside herself when Marina finally made it back. She tried not to let it show of course, she had an image to maintain. Still, she couldn't hide the genuine smile she gave her friend at the door. See? Nothing to be worried about.

Marina walked inside, aggressively wringing her hands as she did so. She didn't say a word. That's not a good sign.

"I'm glad you made it back." Ahato tried.

"Mmm." She walked the rest of the way into the room, past Ahato, and fell onto the bed. Her boots made a dull thud against the ground as she kicked them off before curling herself into the tightest ball she could without swapping forms. Oh, Marina.

Ahato slowly walked towards the bed, trying her best to be obvious with her movement. Despite her attempts, Marina still jolted when she sat down. Ahato tried several times to speak, but each time she stifled her own words, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Stars, why is it so damn hard to do this emotional stuff?

Eventually, she settled on "Are you alright?"

Marina peaked up at her, over top her arm. There was a moments hesitation, like she was searching for words to say, but she ultimately relented with a shake of her head.

"Heh. Me neither." That didn't seem to be the right think to say because Marina curled back into herself a moment later. What's going on with you?

It had to be something with her job as the Head Engineer. Given the massive event coming tomorrow, Octavio wouldn't want one of his sharpest minds sitting on the sidelines with that coming up. Maybe Marina was part of his plan to beat Agent 3? A spike of anxiety shot through Ahato's hearts. What if she's getting in trouble for running down here? She said that wasn't something to worry about, but she could have just been trying to save face.

"I... I've been assigned a job. For tomorrow." Marina finally spoke.

"Relating to the show?"

Marina nodded, but didn't say anything else. Well, time to try something I guess.

"Funny thing actually, me too." Ahato set her pager next to Marina, so she could see the message on it. She drew a deep breath before speaking. "I'm not going."

"What!?" Marina jolted upright. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to get yelled at by thirty different commanders about things they don't understand. And..." Ahato thought hard about her next words before she spoke. If Octavio won, he'd make sweeping grabs for power anywhere he could get it. And that'd include this. "I don't want to help whatever show he's planning."

"You... won't?" Marina stared at her, more confused than anything.

"Nope. It's... complicated."

Marina just stared at her like the idea hadn't ever occurred to her. "I don't think I want to either..." she mumbled.

Ahato's eyes widened, but she didn't let herself react beyond that. There's no better way to do this, is there? "Do you want to run away?"

"Huh!?" The question caught Marina so off guard that she nearly lost her balance whipping her head back to Ahato.

"Marina... I need you to promise me you won't talk about this to anyone, ok?"

"O...k? Acht, what is this about?"

The nickname brought a smile to Ahato's face, but it didn't last for long. "Things don't look promising from here out, Rina. Win or lose, when Octavio lashes out for power. He'll likely take The Hollows down in the process." It felt wrong, saying it all out loud, but it was true. It wasn't worth the grief that false hope would cause, so she didn't even bother trying to persuade herself otherwise. Maybe things would work out in the end, but I'm certain of one thing.

Ahato reached forward and grabbed Marina's hand. "I won't go back to my old life, and I'm certainly not letting him work me back into the military."

"Acht I... you can't..." Conflict danced across Marina's face. Her breathing picked up as her pupils dilated.

Before she could spiral, Ahato grabbed her other hand. "Marina, this won't be able to continue. Octavio isn't going to let you run off like this for much longer. Can you go back to how things were before?"

Marina frantically shook her head. "I can't go back to that!" Her plea was concerningly desperate.

"I don't think there's any other way this can go, then. Even if The Hollows don't get closed, you're going to be stuck somewhere you don't want to be."

Ahato pulled Marina in for a hug before the panic could get any worse. Her shoulder screamed against the sudden weight, but she just bore it with a grunt. "There's a group of us who are preparing to run if things go bad, but that's a worst case scenario. If we do, I want you to come with us Marina."

"I... I don't know." Marina finally caught herself and pulled out of the hug. "But I can't just... not go to my assignment."

Ahato scooted back, just so she could press her arm against the cold headboard of the bed. "Can't you just walk out?"

"Can I what?"

"I mean, if you look like you're doing something important, is anyone going to stop you?"

"No, I... I guess not."

"Sick. If you can slip out, I'll help you get to the rest of us in the Hollows via pager. The network will be pretty stressed though, so updates might be slow."

Marina looked out into the distance for a few moments before slowly nodding. "Ok... Ok. We'll try. I can't do what he wants me to Acht, I just can't."

Ahato offered her best smile. "You don't have to. We'll skip it, and then... try and figure out what to do next."

"Ok." Several deep breaths later, Marina met her eyes and returned a tenuous smile. "Sounds good."

"For now, let's just try and rest. You spent a lot of time with the keyboard the other day, didn't you have something you wanted to show?"

"Oh, yes!" Seeing just how eagerly Marina jumped on the different topic did a lot to restore Ahato's feeling of confidence. If she could bounce back from a conversation like that so easily, then maybe everything will work out if they both keep their heads on straight. Ok girl, let's see what you've made.

"Can confirm, pretty much everyone is going to the performance dome." Quinn assured as he walked through the door.

Callie tried not to let her face show as she tied her tentacles up in their bow.That's it then. I guess some part of me was hoping it'd turn out to be a lie or something. She let the same familiar numbness seep through her thoughts, burying the feelings of doubt and wrongness that wanted to overwhelm her. It was just a Wednesday but to the left today.

"Does your headset work?" Marie asked him as she pulled her gloves onto her hands.

In response, Quinn reached up and pushed the switch on his headset. "Yup." His voice came clear through the earpiece in Callie's ear.

"That's pretty much everything then." Marie concluded. "We tested the camera and the mics while you were out, including the backups. And the computer..."

"Working quite well!" a nasally voice added from the edge of the room. Sheldon sat at the coffee table, which had pushed to the edge of the room to give them space to warm up, typing away at a laptop.

"Good. The broadcasting equipment works too, right?"

Marie shrugged. "As good as we could test it. It's kind of hard to gauge that thing without giving ourselves away."

With a small tug, Callie cinched her bow into place and looked around for her gloves. "I'm just glad we finally have our comms again. I haaated running around in there alone."

"Tell me about it." Marie paused, like she was debating her next words. "I'm just a little paranoid that they'll get us with it somehow, you know?"

"We're already blasting full color HD video at them, I doubt the radio signal is what'll give our position away."

"That's true." Marie stopped to massage her forehead. "We need to figure out how to strengthen the radios so we can keep using them after we're done shining a spotlight directly onto ourselves."

"I might be able to help with that!" Sheldon's voice made them all jump."

"Really?" Quinn asked.

"Yup! The military encryption you all use is quite the marvel to behold. It's intricate design made it all but impossible to crack. Of course, that was a hundred years ago, and technology has progressed quite a bit since then. If we utilize..."

Callie tuned out his rant as she walked up to Marie. "We're really doing this, huh?"

"One final showdown, to end it off. I hate that we're doing it on his terms, but it gives us the chance to crash his show, and we need to take it. For Gramps."

"For Gramps." Callie nodded, her eyes trailing off to the side.

"Out with is." Marie demanded. "Something's on your mind, and we're not doing this on unsure footing."

"I don't know..." Callie hesitated, unsure if she wanted to pry at her emotions right now. Things were stable right now, she could work with this.

"Come on..." Marie teased while grabbing her shoulder.

"I just.. it feels wrong for things to cross over like this. We're literally being idols as part of being Agents and I just, don't know how to feel about that."

"Huh. I never really thought about it like that. That's kinda cool."

"I guess..." Things weren't supposed to mix like this. Idol work and Agent work were mutually exclusive, mixing them was a surefire way to get their secret leaked. More than that, it just felt wrong. She'd divided these part of her life for a reason. The expectations and rules were so different between them, there wasn't any way they could possibly mesh.

"Hey." Marie gently grabbed her other shoulder. "I know this is confusing. It's hard to wrap my head around it too." She paused, freeing one of her hands. "Just think of it in three easy steps: Agent, Idol, then Agent again." She held up the corresponding numbers as she spoke.

"That's... Yeah. I can do that. It's not too hard."

"And remember. If we have to resort to radio broadcasting, we have the separate version of out lines in case it gets picked up by anyone up here. It'll just seem like an odd, random mini-show of our greatest hits we'll lie about on a talk show in two years."

"But what if our identities get leaked?"

"Hey, being paranoid is my thing." Marie teased her with a soft punch in the arm. "Still, I know where you're coming from. We became Agents to protect people, and if that means being exposed... well, I hope they're all thankful."

"I hope so." Callie stood for a moment, trying to reorient herself with the new information. "If we're gonna be exposed, it's gonna be because this is out best show yet!"

"There you go! That's the spirit we need." Marie clapped twice in celebration, the sound muffled by her gloves.

"We're just that amazing!"

"Yeah!"

"And cute!"

"You more than me."

"And perfect!"

Marie chuckled. "I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's good energy."

The pair put the last of their costumes on in a comfortable silence while Sheldon droned in the background. "—A significantly stronger signal, capable of penetrating—"

"Ok zip it you two." Marie cut his ramble 'short' with a glare she gave both of them.

Quinn gave her a side eye in turn, to which she smirked in reply, but ultimately didn't say anything.

"I want us to review the plan in full one final time." Marie tone was laced with authority; the sign that things were getting serious now.

"Step one!" Callie called, only mocking her cousin's formal voice a little bit. "The four of us ride out to the site we picked to do our show at, which was chosen because of it's relative proximity to the dome in question, but is still a considerable length from any cave entrance. Then, we build the stage while Quinn runs underground."

At the mention of his name, Quinn stepped forward, his face mirroring Marie's look of seriousness. "I have two objectives. One, if I can, before appearing 'on stage' so to say, I need to try and plug this thumb drive into one of their computer systems." He held up the drive he'd mentioned. It was actually Callie's, as indicated by the pink plastic and the large C initial with hearts drawn on around it. She wasn't using it, and they were pressed for time anyway, so she didn't have a problem with giving it up.

"If my understanding is correct, then the networking scheme underground should be one large distributed network, so any computer will suffice." Sheldon clarified.

"Noted. I'll try—"

"You might need to adapt the driver to work with their systems, so I'll give you the tools for that before you go."

Quinn's face fell. "Alright, sounds good. Just—"

"Additionally, you'll most likely have the best shot at looking into the small, exterior server rooms along the edge of the dome. Like they said, if you can't find a computer, we can fall back on broadcasting the show into the—"

"Sheldon."

"Sorry."

Quinn too just a moment to steady his breathing. "I wait for your signal. When you three are ready, I'll jump into the arena, and... fight." No one in the room was happy to hear him say it so plainly.

Marie broke the silence that followed. "We'll monitor the fight at first, to make sure that you're doing alright. After enough time has passed, or of it seems like his show is about to reach its climax, we brute force our way into their systems and hijack the show!"

Callie punched her fist to add emphasis.

"During that time, I will continue to try and get into their systems." Sheldon explained. "If you could get that drive plugged in Quinn, things would be quite a lot easier. It's essentially a backdoor that will install itself on their systems, embedding itself deep enough that it should remain undetected; a rootkit basically! Really, the code is quite—"

"Speed it up."

"It will let me connect to their systems and stream the performance directly, which is much more reliable and secure than attempting to overwrite it via boradcast."

Things were silent for a few moments. Quinn narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Sheldon, who either didn't notice, or didn't care. "How do you know so much about computer systems like this. I thought you were a weapons guy?"

"Information is a weapon in its own right!" Sheldon gleefully replied. "Of course, my knowledge is quite rudimentary, and far from the 'best' way to do something, especially when compared to my understanding of weapon mechanics. But, they do say that knowing is half the battle!"

Quinn stared a moment longer, before relenting with a shrug. "That's fair. I don't think there'd be any other possible way for this attack to happen otherwise, so it's a good think you know it, as 'rudimentary' as it might be."

"Indeed! My father was quite interested in the emerging digital world! He may not have gotten my grandfather's love for weapons like I did, but he got the passion all the same."

Quinn nodded, obviously not really sure if there was anything else he should say. Sheldon returned to typing away on the laptop, and Marie met Callie's eyes. "Ready?"

"If there's anything anyone wants to do before we get started, now's the time." Callie announced. "I'm gonna go chug an energy drink, and then I'm good to go."

"Oh! Let me check the cameras first!" Sheldon quickly typed something on the laptop, before turning it to show him. Four separate video feeds were shown, all based on cameras they had fit into the Hero Suit. One as in the Headset, one in the shoulder of his Jacket, one just on the top of his ink tank, looking behind him, and one on the edge of the Hero Shot.

Callie watched from the edge of the kitchen as she chugged her drink.

"Good." Marie looked between the laptop and Quinn. "This was, we can decide when to start the show, so you don't have to worry about trying to figure that out in the middle of the fight."

"It also means we can watch your back!" Callie cheered between drinks.

Quinn stared at the screen for a few moments. "Alright. Let's do this."