"Marina, what the hell are you doing here?" Pearl was so dumbfounded she forgot to speak Octarian. "And you're speaking Inklish? What's going on?"
Marina giggled at her reaction. "Aha... Not well, but... spke...! Speaking!" She positively beamed at Pearl, face filled with an eager pride.
The headache slamming Pearl's temples wasn't particularly pleased with the sudden confusing developments, but Pearl herself was very curious. She rubbed her eyes, both to try in vain to push the headache back, and in disbelief that she was actually seeing Marina again. "No, yeah! That's crazy impressive! It's only been what, a few days? You're insane!"
Honestly, Pearl didn't know if she was ever going to see Marina again. She left her card, back in the hotel room, but never got a call like she'd been hoping for. Such a sudden meeting, while surprising, was not unwelcome. What was something of a problem was the circumstances.
Across from her, Marina's brow knitted in concentration as she tried to string together words. "I am... v-very... uh..."
"Why are you here" Pearl bluntly asked. "Here. In the business district. I thought I told you to avoid this place unless you had a good reason." She knew she mentioned that while they were riding in. There's nothing here worth a fucking thing. Not that Marina wasn't allowed to make her own choices, of course, but still, it twisted a part of her to be so flagrantly ignored for this place.
"Oh!" Marina's lips pursed as her eyes squinted in thought. "I get, uh, gwo... gwh... rust... oh! Job! I get job close!" Marina excitedly shouted in celebration before letting out a weary sigh. "Was that at least a little understandable?" She gave Pearl a sheepish smile.
Pearl gave her a playful smirk. "Seems like you forgot a word in there."
For a moment, Marina tensed, distraught, until she saw the smile on Pearl's face and relaxed some. "It-it's not that much harder than Octarian I don't think! The grammar's a bit weird, but I think the only actual hang up is all the different words I have to learn."
"Heh, just wait until you take a look at different dialects. But no, yeah, you're doing really good so far!" Pearl gave her a thumbs up. "When uh... when did you learn all this? ...And get a job?"
How long had it been since she'd seen Marina anyway? It couldn't have been much time, since she just dropped Marina off at the hotel the other day. Despite that, Marina had already done so much. Last time Pearl saw, Marina could hardly speak Octarian properly, wore odd cosplay armor, and gawked in open awe at anything taller than a 3-story building. Now she was out dressed like a normal person, bouncing around the city like it was nothing, and speaking basic Inklish. Ok, let's think this through. I met her five days after my birthday, so the 11th, and today is. Pearl quickly glanced at her phone. FUCK, today's the 19th? It's been eight days?! How the fuck?
Marina opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by a sudden grumbling in her stomach. It was kinda cute the way she faltered in embarrassment.
Fuck it. "You know what?" Pearl asked before Marina could speak. "Why don't you come with me, and tell me what you've been up to over some food? I don't have anything else to do tonight, and I haven't eaten since this morning. If you want to, of course, no pressure."
A few seconds of silence passed, just long enough to make Pearl doubt herself. "I-is that ok?" Marina asked, slowly wringing her hands in front of her.
"I mean, yeah. I offered, didn't I?" Pearl gave Marina another awkward thumbs up, her second in five minutes. "It's all good!"
"I..." Marina nodded slowly to herself. "I guess so... uh, a-alright then!" A smile equal parts nervous and excited snuck onto Marina's face, but the wringing of her hands didn't stop."
"Ok, cool!" Pearl nodded, meeting Marina's smile with her own. "Cool..."
They stood awkwardly for several seconds, neither one entirely sure what to do next.
"Uh, Pearl? What does 'over food' mean?" The speed of Marina's hand wringing increased tenfold as she shyly asked her question.
Pearl blinked, caught off guard by the question. "Oh, sorry! It's like, you put food down on the table, and then we have our conversation 'over' it because it's below us. On the table. Uh, in a restaurant or something, so we didn't have to stand out here in the streets and talk. Is that... ok?"
Marina nodded eagerly. "Ohes! Ws'lanningoneatinationba — (Oh yes! I was planning on eating some ration ba —)" She cut herself off with a clear of her throat and an embarrassed glance away. "Sorry, uh, yes that sounds great! I'd like to spend the time with you!
Marina gave her another nervous smile. I'm starting to get the feeling 'nervous' is the default option for this girl. I guess that makes sense, since she's still new to the city. Still, it was a pretty cute trait, and the earnestness of it all made it genuinely endearing.
A sudden warmth flooded Pearl's cheeks, stalling the rest of her thoughts. Without another word, she spun in place and started forward. She gestured over her shoulder for Marina to follow. After a few steps she paused, looking over her shoulder to make sure she was being followed.
With the reassuring sound of footsteps behind her, Pearl's mind turned inward for the moment. She was struggling with the emotional whiplash from this sudden meeting. Why does Marina throw me off so much? Not even five minutes ago, she was ready to dropkick the next person to look at her sideways. Yet now, here she was, turned away and hiding a blush. It's not that she was necessarily upset about the development, more she was utterly dumbfounded at how the hell it even happened in the first place.
Pearl forced herself to slow down so Marina could catch up. "Sorry, I had an idea about where to eat and didn't want to lose it." She lied, silently urging her cheeks to calm the fuck down so she could show her face again.
"Do the other cafeterias have bad lines?" Marina asked as she fell into step beside Pearl. "I don't mind waiting if there's a closer one you'd rather go to."
Cafeteria? Does she mean, like, a food court or something? It was quite an odd choice of words, and it wasn't a language barrier thing either. Doesn't matter, I need to pick a place to drag us. What's nearby? McFlippers, Rabuka King, Wind Around, no no that's all fast food. The Sea Leaf cafe is on the other end of town, plus I don't think they're open this late... uhhhhhhhh fuck I don't know, I think there's a ramen place on the district border? Sure that's good enough.
"No need to worry about a line, the rush should already be close to done." She said. "That's one of the few good things about the Business District. Places clear out fast after most folk get off. C'mon, we're not far from it." Pearl picked up her pace a bit. "You were talking about your job, where you working?"
"It's a place called uhh... Walleye Warehouse? I don't know the first word, but the second is warehouse in Octarian."
Walleye Warehouse... right, that place. Pearl knew about it, but only distantly. It was one of the Houzuki Corp's backup contracts if they needed temporary overflow storage for something. Beyond that though, they were pretty unremarkable as far was warehouses went, just big.
"Oh cool, so you're just like, working the floor there? What's that like?"
Marina chuckled to herself. "It's a mess in there. It's like practically no one had any experience! At least I'm not out there, anymore."
"Well, that does make some sense, warehouse jobs typically have a lot of turnover." Pearl shrugged. "But wait, you're not on the floor?"
"It was all so messy and disorganized, I got turned around on my second day, and wandered into an office. I almost left, but I saw a bunch of papers with numbers on them. When I looked closer, it was kind of like a math problem, and I ended up sitting down to do them and clear my head."
What, what?
"I guess I got a little distracted doing it, because my commander walked in and seemed mad about me being there. Until he saw what I'd done at least, then he seemed a lot more pleased. So long story short, I got promoted to 'accountant' now, and I get to spend all day doing more of it!” [Marina's hands clasped together as she swooned.]
Pearl's mind spun. There was so much absurd and wrong about that story that it just had to be true. What kind of person starts doing balance sheets to RELAX? How mismanaged is that place that she could just do that!? "Huh-wuh?"
Marina giggled at her reaction. "Apparently the previous 'accountant' had quit a few days prior, so it was an open spot. Mr. Heritis had been going back to do it himself, but apparently I did everything a lot faster than even the previous person, so he gave me the job!"
"That's amazing Marina, in a lot of ways." Pearl answered honestly, genuinely bewildered by the tale. "I don't think I've heard anything like it before."
"It took a bit of time to get everything right, especially because he doesn't speak Octarian, but we worked it out! There's apparently very specific ways you're supposed to handle counting money, but once he showed me the right way to do things, everything kinda clicked!"
"That's incredibly lucky. If anyone tried that in the places I've been, they'd be fired on the spot. Anyways, here we go, we're here!"
Marina gave her a confused look before turning to look up at the sign. It was a relatively simple thing, just plastic letters on the front of the shop. A slightly fancier design, printed vinyl depicting a bowl of noodles with the shop's name under it, was stuck to the store window.
"Takeru Ramen" Pearl read out. "Takeru is just a name, and ramen is just ramen in Inklish."
At the clarification, Marina's eyes lit up. "Ramen? Really?" Pearl nodded, and the rest of Marina's face lit up similarly.
"I take it you're pretty hungry then. No wasting time then, let's go!" Pearl stepped towards the doors, and Marina followed right behind. She wasn't entirely sure why ramen was such a big deal, but Marina's boundless excitement was infectious. There was a bit more of a bounce to her step than normal as they walked towards a table.
This is the best day ever!
Marina's day was already a good one. It was the third day of her new routine on the surface and she was loving it. Despite it all still being so new and fresh, there was a rightness about it that she'd never really felt in the domes. A weight was off her shoulders, and while new ones were being added and removed with the chaos of adjusting, nothing could compare to the feeling of living a life away from her former title. At least, that's what she thought until Pearl was suddenly on the road in front of her.
The shorter inkling's presence alone was enough to push this day above all the others thus far, but as if that wasn't enough, Pearl took her to a cafeteria that SPECIALIZE in ramen!! Back underground, Marina rarely ever ate with the soldiers in the central cafeteria, but when she did, she got the ramen every chance she could, regardless of the flavor. The place Pearl brought her to had every flavor she'd ever had before, and so many more she didn't even know existed.
As soon as she was at the table, she could hardly contain herself. Ration bars could go grow lichen, because this stuff was good. In under half an hour, she cleared out three full bowls, each one a different flavor. The creamy ramen was the one she was most excited for, it was her favorite the single time she'd had in the domes, and her memory of it did not disappoint.
Eventually, Marina did come back to her senses and remembered that she was here with Pearl. After an embarrassed recovery, she explained what she'd been up to the past few days.
Back at the library, Pam had helped her get everything in order for applying for residency, and even helped her get to the courthouse where she had to apply. What followed was a crazy whirlwind of days, sending her up and down the streets of Inkopolis and in and out of the library. In the end, she had the critical things Pam said she needed: an apartment, a job, a bank account, and an ID. Everything else could come later, and Marina was already working on planning everything out.
The conversation really started to pick up again when Pearl finished her bowl, sitting back with a satisfied huff. "And you did all of that in three days? And you're not falling over yourself exhausted?!" Pearl asked, her eyes wide.
"Mmhmm!" Marina nodded enthusiastically. "Pam helped me find all the programs meant to help people get here. The hardest part so far was finding an apartment, really."
Pearl tipped her hand, shaking her head in disbelief. "That's crazy. You're crazy. I was so ready to explode after getting myself moved in that I ran to the mountain to cool off, and uh, well, now you're here too."
Marina paused. "Really?"
"Heh, yeah, but I don't really want to talk about that. What do you..." Pearl stopped for a moment, obviously considering her words. "What's the plan from here then?"
The plan? "Umm, I guess I don't really... have a plan. I was mostly focused on getting myself established here, but I guess that's done now." What do I do from here? Is there anything I can do from here? There's not a chain of command to climb, or any major deadlines to meet. There's not even ranks to work up. Well, sorta. "I guess getting citizenship is next? But I can't do that for six months, and I need to spend a lot more time learning Inklish anyway before I can do that. So I guess that's my plan?"
"Hmm..." Pearl gave her a look that Marina couldn't quite read. It was like she was trying to decide something. "So, if you don't have a big plan... does that mean you're free tonight?" Pearl's head immediately ducked, her eyes flicking to the side. "Not as like a date or anything, but to like, you know... hang out? I could show you around the city a little bit?"
"You want to spend more time with me?" Marina asked, slowly.
"Well, yeah! You're nice and cool, and you don't uh..." Pearl's gaze fell to the floor as her voice trailed off, before she cleared her throat and looked back up. "Ahem yeah anyway I can like, show you all kinds of cool little nooks and crannies if you want to see them."
"That'd be amazing!" A delighted warmth pooled inside Marina, one that only made her more excited for this unexpected night. It was hard for her to even wrap her head around the layers of ideas here. Not only was the entire thing entirely unplanned, but it was because someone wanted to spend time with her. With Marina! And it was Pearl!! Pearl was here! And got her ramen! And wanted to spend MORE time with her!!
Pearl looked shocked for a second, like she was actually surprised about Marina's answer for some reason. "Sick! Cool. Uh yeah. Let me get the tab real quick, and then we can go, how's that sound?"
Why Pearl needed to grab a tab, or even exactly what the tab was, Marina didn't know. It sounded quick though, so she just smiled. "Sounds great! I'm ready when you are!"
It turned out, with a little exploration, the city was even bigger than she thought. A lot denser then she thought too. Now walking the same streets she had to her first library visit, Pearl casually highlighted how there were much more than a single entity in most of the buildings. Many had three or four, each occupying a few of the floors. That alone made the streets feel magnitudes larger, but that was only one aspect of things. Alleyways her eyes had once glossed over were filled with smaller stops. Sub-floors only accessible through semi-obscured stairways hid even more of the city underground. Frequent popup events made the streets themselves a constant, ever-changing attraction. There was so much more crammed into every single space than she ever thought was feasible.
To Marina, this hadn't made things in the city feel more oppressive. In fact, counterintuitively, it made everything feel more alive. The towering buildings suddenly had a purpose; they weren't monoliths of a single entity, but something of a community space, shared by many. The crowds weren't all clamoring to one thing, but to just as many places as there were people. Realizing this density, this grand system both massive and small, made the city make sense to her in a way it hadn't before. Suddenly, life was teeming from every nook and cranny; everything had its place, even if she didn't specifically know it.
With this newfound awe, they wandered through the streets, talking about all the places they passed. As they travelled, Pearl read out signs they passed, and explained what each place did if Marina didn't know. There were so many strange and seemingly pointless places that had crowds of people. The stores made sense, the cafeterias she could understand, but the... bowl ling location didn't quite line up in her mind. Was it really entertaining to just... roll balls at pins? Pearl swore it was more entertaining than it sounded.
Eventually, Pearl was pulling her towards a place called 'Arowana Mall', a place described as "A whole buncha shops all crammed into one building." Which was honestly a pretty confusing description given the revelation Marina just had on the way here, but as she stepped inside, she had to concede that this was, in fact, its own thing. Rather than a street, this was a much narrower, long, climate controlled hallway with much smaller stores densely packed along both walls. There were at least 4 floors to it too, though it was hard for her to tell for certain. Marina couldn't even see the whole first floor, as the stores turned a corner at the end of the hallway.
Once more, Pearl took the lead, explaining what the different shops were called, and what they offered as they walked passed. The stores were different here, much smaller, or in some cases, almost exclusively just a service counter. The first time Marina stopped to look at something that caught her eye, Pearl led her into the store itself, where she got to take a much closer look around. Their adventure through the mall took her through many places: a book store, a tech store, many stores centered around a specific good, like candy or candles, and a large cafeteria. Clothes shops seemed to be the most common, but each one seemed to do something to differentiate themselves from the others.
The store they were currently browsing through was considered a 'high end clothing outlet'. The clothes inside were beautiful, but the first time she saw a price tag, Marina thought she might faint.
"Stars above... I didn't think anything could be this expensive." She set the pair of gloves back on the shelf, rubbing her eyes to try and push the 7-figure price tag from her mind. "It'd take me seventeen days of work to afford those!"
Pearl seemed startled for a moment, before an easy smile covered her face and a hand flew to her neck. "Ha, yeah, I guess I did kinda forget the budget, huh? Can you, uh —" Pearl glanced around before grabbing an oversized, puffy jacket from a nearby rack to hold over her chest — "can you blame me for looking though? When things look this good?"
Visualizing Pearl in that kind of jacket was... not the most appealing look, but there was also something endearing about it. "I guess not, but there's no way I can afford anything here if I want to buy food."
"Oh yeah for sure, I uh, I just wanted to show you what was waiting at the top! Let's go peak at some more affordable stuff." Pearl clumsily threw the jacket back on the hanger before quickly waving her forward.
The next store was a lot less impressive in regards to presentation, but had more than enough inventory to make up for it. And the stuff inside was cheap, cheaper than the clothes she'd already bought, in fact. She was holding up a plain black t-shirt when she remembered what Spyke had said when she first met him. Maybe I should go say hi? Tell him I figured out what a mall was.
They wondered for a while longer, before Pearl pulled her to one final, specific store. "Alright, one more stop before the exit, and I think you'll like it." Pearl gave her a wink before pointing up at the sign. It had something written in incredibly loopy lettering set in front of two discs, one large black one, and a second smaller gray one, both with holes in the center. "It says 'music alley' though it's nearly impossible to read," Pearl explained.
The inside was delightfully bland. Behind the counter, a shark slouched over a bin flipping through small thin boxes. Dozens of the black discs depicted on the sign lined the top edge of the wall. Shelves held boxes of equipment below them, and Marina almost tripped as she walked in, because she actually recognized several of the products. It was all music equipment, like Ahato used; turntables, keyboards, synthesizers, and a lot more she had seen other musicians using.
"See? I knew you'd be interested. C'mon in." Pearl chuckled from a few steps ahead. "Take a look, see if there's anything you like.
Marina slowly stepped inside, somewhat unsure of what exactly it is she should be looking for. Rows of basic folding tables held plastic crates with the same thin plastic boxes as the attendant. There were dozens of these crates, each with a little sign under it with words she still didn't know the meaning of. Each of the little plastic boxes had a picture on the front, with varying amounts of Inklish text. The edges were usually some kind of ridged texture, but it wasn't a universal constant it seemed.
Carefully, she pulled one of the boxes from the closest crate to inspect. The picture showed a group of three people very casually standing out in a field, hands in their pockets. As she shifted it around in her hand, she experimentally squeezed the sides, and let out a small "oh!" in surprised when the front popped up. It's holding something!
Inside was a disc with a similar art to the outside held on a small peg. Not knowing what else to do, Marina gently fished her claw around the edge until it popped free. The underside was an odd reflective silver color. These must be the things on the sign outside. I wonder what they're for?
She held it up to the light, squinting as she watched different bands of colors dance along the tiny ridges she was just noticing. It's... well I doubt it's a weapon. It's probably half decent aerodynamically, but it's too dull to be any real danger. Maybe they're supposed to be decorative, like the larger black ones? The reflection is pretty, but I wouldn't use it like that. And then there's the box they come in... She looked back to the little plastic box. There was the obvious indent where the disc would sit, but there was something else; a little booklet filled with Inklish text. The front of the booklet was also the art the front of the box. Is this like... a memorial of sorts then? Were these three important figures?
Marina's head shot up as sound poured from the speakers on the ceiling. The roar of a crowd filled the inside of the store to the brim, before suddenly all but vanishing. The sound was so sudden it took her a few seconds to realize that it was a recording someone was adjusting the volume of. She scanned the store, and no one seemed alarmed by the sudden noise. Pearl was still digging through one of the crates a bit further into the store, and the attendant was bent over behind the counter, twisting something with his fins. Is he the one that started the —
Marina froze. Those voices. She recognized those voices. Where... Where did she know them from? The recording quickly devolved into a flurry of words she couldn't recognize, but that didn't matter. She was transfixed, her entire focus locked onto the pair of voices, trying to remember where she knew them from. Trying to remember... why she felt a pit open in her stomach as she listened.
Her focus was interrupted when the words suddenly cut out, interrupted by a nearly imperceptible squeaking sound. Less than a half-second later, music was suddenly blaring from the speakers, the sudden jolt enough to make her jump. Is the attendant skipping through the recording? Songs flew by, barely getting through their opening riff before suddenly, everything stopped.
Loud, blaring synths began to echo through the store, pushed on by a punchy drumline. Each beat was like a hammer against her chest, echoing the frantic beating of her hearts. Words in a language she didn't know rang out over the rows of crates, cheerful and upbeat. Marina didn't know how to react —
She knew this song. She knew this song, in a way she didn't know any other.
Standing in the bleachers, her face obscured, a bag of stolen tools at her side. Watching the Octobot King. Agent 3. The Squidbeak Captain. She was there. She was there. The fist arced through the air, back towards its source. It was the one part she hadn't finished, the compromise she'd made to visit her friend. It failed. She failed.
Stars above, darkness hold her, Octavio LOST.
She was there, she was watching the Octobot King spin out of control, its pilot dazed. Agent 3 preparing to finish the job, freeing the Captain. She needed to run. She NEEDED to RUN.
NO
NO
NO
IT DIDN'T MATTER WHAT Responsibility to her people SHE HAD OR the good her work did for them! SHE WAS NOT GOING TO DIE HERE!
She had to GO, it was happening! It was........
It... was a recording. She wasn't in the domes. She wasn't running for her life. She hadn't been for a while. A memory, that was all.
Marina forced her eyes open, and looked around the store. It couldn't have been more than 10 seconds since the music started. No one was looking at her, no one had seen her almost lose it. A loose collection of people started stepping in, obviously drawn in by the music playing overhead.
Visibly shaking, Marina lowered herself to the floor right where she stood. Her hands grasping the edge of the table tightly, desperately anchoring herself to the now. She was on the surface. She was in Inkopolis. She was OK.
As she slowly calmed down, voices continued to sing, and Marina continued to listen. The music had an energy to it, a call to anyone who could hear it to join them and indulge in it. To forget their worries and just enjoy the experience. It didn't DEMAND attention like all the music she'd heard before her time in The Hollows. It made her want to join them, to feel the ecstatic joy of music too. For a moment, she let herself ride with the music, listening closely to the joy and wonder it held within.
The song swelled into its grand chorus, the two singers effortlessly navigating the winding melody. The melody... Marina knew this melody. Not the words, but the contour, the shape it took. For a fleeting second, Marina was standing in a crowd of soldiers again, but it wasn't Octavio's defeat. The ceiling was lower, the lighting dim and dark. Her best and only friend up on the stage, performing her set for the crowd.
"I caught a signal, it wasn't from down here."
"You got music from the surface?"
"Yeah! It was by pure chance, but Marina, it sounded heavenly. I had to- I just worked."
Marina knew this melody. She knew it well, how could she not? It was the first thing she'd heard when she finally admitted she wanted to be free. It was Ahato's melody, the one she'd heard, taken, and transformed into something else. The simple through line she'd built an entire set around, weaving throughout the duration of the show.
A weight settled heavy on her soul as a chill pulled itself down her spine. Things had been so busy for her, moving to the surface, meeting new people, getting an apartment and a job and an ID and a bank account — but she'd forgotten. She forgot about her friend, the whole reason she'd been brave enough to run to the surface in the first place.
How could I do that? What is wrong with me?
"Yo, Marina? You ok?" Pearl was standing beside her, offering a questioning look.
"I'm... fine." Her answer came slowly. "Just remembering something."
Pearl regarded her for a second, before her eyes jumped to the speakers on the roof for a moment. "Was it the song?"
Marina nodded, still listening as close as she could. The music soldiered on, as bouncy and energetic as ever. Even through the sudden shock of emotions, Marina found herself drawn to it. When the song finally drew to a close, Marina felt her entire body suddenly relax. She hadn't realized it in the moment, but she'd been pushing herself higher, towards the speaker in the ceiling, like it'd somehow give her more music if she got close.
"Wow, I take it you like the Inkantation then?" Pearl gave her a playful bump of her elbow.
"I-is that what it's called?"
"It's the name of the song, yeah. It's supposed to be like a folk song or something, I dunno."
New music had come on, but naturally, Marina didn't recognize it. It was still the same voices, and the same style of music though, just a different song. She strained her ears, scanning for... something? A reference, an echo, anything of the 'Inkantation' in this new song.
Pearl cleared her throat. "Do you.... want to hear it again?"
"Huh? Wha?" Marina jerked her head down to look at Pearl. "How'd you know?"
Pearl gave her a flat look, eyes bouncing between Marina's face and the ceiling. "Call it my intuition," she answered flatly. "Ok, hold up, I have a better idea, come to the counter with me."
Pearl caught the attention of the shark behind the counter. "Hey, do you speak Octarian?" When the shark answered "no" in Inklish, Pearl lulled her head for a moment, before shooting a rapid fire burst of questions at the shark. Marina tried her best to pick out what she was saying, but she could only catch a scant few words. After a few more questions, the shark took a step back and started digging for something under the counter.
"What did you ask?" Marina asked, trying vaguely successfully to split her attention between watching the attendant, talking to Pearl, and listening to the music.
"Well, since you liked the Inkantation, and given how you keep staring at the ceiling like you can see the freakin' music notes... I bought you a few CDs, and a thing to play 'em with."
As if he was cued, the attendant returned to the counter with two of the small plastic cases on top of a box with a picture of some round machine printed on it. A pair of headphones sat across one of his fins, which were delicately, if gracelessly, slid onto the counter beside the stack.
"CDs?" Even with her relatively primitive Inklish, Marina could recognize that as an acronym.
Pearl handed the shark a key card and pulled the items closer. "Yeah! They're like — they put the music on the disc, so you put it in the CD player and it plays the music for you!" She opened one of the cases and showed off the disc inside.
"It's a... storage device?" Marina asked tepidly, giving the disc a sideways look.
A very light tinge of red suddenly colored Pearl's cheeks. "Yeah! The whole album is on there. Here, I'll show you how to use it outside, so we're not holding up the line." Behind them, a group of young inklings stood impatiently, each clutching a plastic case in their hands.
"Right..." Marina collected the CDs from the counter as Pearl grabbed the headphones and device. She looked over the artworks as they walked out. The first album had a bright white background, with large shapes drawn with yellow lines. Two silhouettes stood in front of it, each striking poses with their arms held up. The second one was similar, with two inklings, one with long black tentacles and pink ink, the other with short grey tentacles and green ink, were posed on a massive stage, with a roaring crowd in front of them."
"It's just a basic CD player, nothing super fancy." Pearl explained as she picked a bench in the mall's center hallway. "You just slap a CD inside, and plug in the headphones, and boom, music. There's a few buttons to skip songs n' pause n' stuff. Hand me the live performance CD?" After a few beats of silence she quickly added, "The uh, the one with Callie and, ng— and Marie on the stage."
"Oh, here!" Marina quickly passed the case over, watching as Pearl carefully took the disc out, put it in the player, and closed the lid. After she flipped a small switch, the disc immediately began to spin, a quiet whirring sound coming from the device. The headphones plugged into a little port on the side, and Pearl handed them over with a smile.
Marina hesitated a moment, headphones in her hands. Pearl hammered at one of the buttons with two arrows on it as she stared at the back of the CD's container, until she let up with a smirk. A squeaking sound nearly identical to the one she'd heard in the store escaped the device, until it returned to the normal whirring from before.
Slowly, she slipped the headphones over her ears. Marina was thrust into the Inkantation once more, but this time, she was ready for it.