New Squidbeak Splatoon: Uprising

Octoling Life

The next day came as any other day would. Marina, Cap'n Cuttlefish, and then Bridgett all left their rooms one by one to the dining room for breakfast, which Marina would usually make. Pearl, on the other hand, usually never left her room, unless it was to use the bathroom or sneak some food for herself back to her room. It was like a time loop. Concern and anxiety ran high throughout the bunker today however, due to the knowledge that they only had so much food left.

"Hi, Eight." Marina said with a smile when she noticed Bridgett stepping in.

"Hey." Bridgett didn't even smile in return, just sitting down with her food.

"Anything on your mind today?"

Bridgett looked around the room, noting that neither Cuttlefish or Pearl was in the room. "...I wanted to ask you about something."

Marina put down her food and sat down next to her. "Shoot."

"...Why did you leave the Octarians?" Bridgett wasn't eating, instead staring at Marina with a curious look.

Marina, who was caught by surprise from the question, harshly gulped down the food that was in her mouth. "...Why are you asking?"

"I just... need to know."

Marina stood back up, staring at the monitors on the wall as if they were windows. "I don't usually like to revisit those memories."

"Neither do I."

Marina took a full 20 seconds to think carefully about her answer before responding. "When I was a kid, I looked up to Octavio as a king. As a father. I was basically a prodigy with all these crazy technology ideas in my head which I eventually personally designed, Octavio saw that in me and took me as one of his prized minions. But, you should know that they teach you things, things like... how the Inklings and the Squid culture took the Great Zapfish from us. ....It took me a long time to realize it was never ours, we were taking the Zapfish from them. ...They brainwash you is what they do. They feed on your emotions and they manipulate you. A lot of Octarians, they force into their bidding with the glasses I designed, but I didn't even need the glasses to fall under Octavio, he tricked me into it all by himself."

"You were a very famous Octarian."

"Yeah. ...It took me a long time to notice I hated it there too." Marina turned back to Bridgett. "There's no mistaking that Octavio was an evil man. And I was mistaken to have followed him. But the reason I left was... I heard the Squid Sisters sing. That day, when Agent 3 fought Octavio, it made me realize just how much I love music."

"...Did you kill anyone?"

Marina closed her eyes and turned around again so her back was facing Bridgett. "...Inadvertently."

"I killed people personally. I was a soldier." Bridgett pulled out her orange-haired Inkling mem cake and once again fumbled it in her hands. "You say Octavio was evil but... I'm not so different."

Marina turned around again. "No." She then proceeded to sit back down and grab her hand. "No. You were brainwashed, by Octavio. You didn't do it intentionally."

"Yeah, but... When you wear the glasses, there's still a part in you that's still alive, trying to fight it. I couldn't fight it hard enough." She moved the mem cake closer to her heart. "...And then I had to save the world. I couldn't fight hard enough there either."

"That wasn't your fault. Eight, you are a good person. You were touched by music the same way I was. You can't take the fall for what happened to Inkopolis."

"Well, it was her fault, wasn't it?" Marina and Bridgett turned to see Pearl was standing by the hallway with an audio recorder. "And you're wrong. You're both terrible people. And I have all the proof I need now."