Splatoon Manga: CybeRun

Chapter 5: Setting Up

⭐Chapter 5: Setting Up

The first thing the squidbeak did was check the place for the machine. Flip pointed it out, and the group had to move the shattered blender pieces aside to get through to it. It looked like a blue dome on top of a metal cylinder, and several parts of it were dented up and broken. Some sparks were flying out from stray wires, and every now and then it would emit a small, quiet beep. It was also fairly large, and it could probably fit people inside it. Rider took a short glance at it before turning back to the group.

"Hachi and Nana? You're up."

Both octolings stepped up to the machine to have a look. It was pretty beat up, but they still kept looking at it. They couldn't tell where it had come from or what exactly had busted it up so badly, but they got to work. They moved some of the stray wires aside with long rubber poles they'd brought so their sparks wouldn't hurt anyone. Hachi then noticed another glint out of the corner of his eye. There was a large yellow crystal on a metal panel on the machine. It seemed to be set in there firmly.

'I wonder if that is its power source...' he thought to himself.

The two octolings then sat down and began examining the metal. The other squidbeak looked with interest.

"Uh...is there anything we can do to help?" Goggles asked.

"Oh, we are not done inspecting this machine! There is still much to see on it!" Nana replied.

"Do you at least know where it came from?" Rider asked.

"Well, I...we have never seen a machine like this before..." Hachi mumbled.

Emperor merely sighed.

"Do I need to call our mechanics?"

"Look, I know you said you could do that yesterday, but we can't do that now. Wouldn't it be considered cheating?" Flip asked.

"Hmmm. I don't know..." Emperor mumbled, stroking his chin with his eyes squinted at the machine.

Prince was fixed on watching the two octolings tamper with the metal panels on the machine. It looked interesting...

"Yeah, I don't want your whole family getting suspicious of a group of teenagers messing with an unknown device deep underground," Gloves said. "Then again, we've done crazier."

"Alright, alright, I'll give them a chance or whatever," Emperor grumbled.

Flip sighed as Goggles ran over to the octolings. He eyed what they were doing, since technology wasn't really his thing. Prince also walked over with him, but the two kept their distance from the working duo. So now their whole test was up to these two? Flip found it to be a little...wrong.

I mean, all that studying for nothing? Wasn't this exam for all of them? Even if she got credit for being in it and doing nothing, she still couldn't really help but feel wronged. But hey, what could she do?

She thought about where everyone else stood in this situation. Rider knew about weapon parts, because Sheldon had hired him to run ammo knights while off on some adventure with Goggles. However, that didn't make him a mechanical expert, and he would probably stay out of this. Even if Hachi and Nana ALSO knew about weapon parts, octolings in general were smart, as they'd also built tech for their lives underground. Emperor just didn't want to get his hands dirty.

Flip looked at Nana, one of her best friends. Nana was currently readjusting a gear that was within a panel of the machine, and seemed to be too busy to talk with the others unless it was a status report. Flip wanted to help, but she was still waiting for them to give her the "okay" before proceeding. As she was about to ask Rider if waiting was necessary, she heard one of the octolings speak up.

"I think this could possibly be a time machine," Hachi said.

"I thought those were just some sci-if fiction thing," Rider grumbled.

"Well, it is only a guess. This machine could do anything, and we all know what kind of wacky things we've been going through," Hachi replied.

The others nodded their heads in agreement.

"If it IS a time machine, please don't mess it up and send yourselves to a different time," Flip sighed.

"Naturally," Nana said with a smile.

Hachi looked up at the rest of the squidbeak, who all seemed to be anxiously waiting for the two to say something. He looked back at the machine, the yellow gemstone still firmly in place. Him and Nana had secured most of the loose things, so it should be okay.

"Alright, you guys can help us out now!" Hachi called out to the others.

The squidbeak gathered around the broken machine as Hachi and Nana explained what was going on, and handed out rubber gloves they'd brought with them. They just needed extra hands to tie in and remove some things while they worked on other parts. It seemed simple enough. The group got to work, though Emperor was still hesitant to get his hands dirty. It was almost like he'd exchanged his overprotectiveness for an ego.

Hachi and Nana started working around the top of the machine, but neither of them dared to go inside. They weren't prepared to test the machine's limits yet, and if the machine activated, it could have disastrous results. If it exploded, they also would have the risk of their friends nearby, which wasn't good either. While everyone else worked on putting in replacement parts, Flip looked at her task. She just had to disconnect some already existing wires and reattach a different color.

As Flip reached out to do it, she paused. She wasn't sure if this was right, or if she was doing the right thing. Upon looking at the rest of her teammates, she saw that they were all doing their tasks without a problem...except Emperor, who was still trying to do it so he wouldn't get messy. Sighing, she reached out and did her task, careful not to let the sparks fly too close to her. Everyone else seemed to finish their task after hers with relative ease.

"So uh. What's next?" Gloves asked.

Hachi and Nana looked at the squidbeak, before looking at the machine's door. It was crooked and dented, but it looked like it still worked. Hachi sighed.

"We're going to need you guys to back up."