The Reluctant Hero (Splatoon)

Chapter 9

"The first battles of the Great War ended in victory for the Octarian forces. The diligent Octarians easily dominated the Inklings, who were unable to wake up early enough in the morning to defend themselves."
—Sunken Scrolls 1:12 (3.3)

Sunday, 5:01 a.m.
Cuttlefish Cabin

Back under the shack, Cole checked his phone for messages. He had several, as well as seven missed calls from his mother and Mrs. Tilus. He sighed, rubbing his eyes. What would he tell them? He could say that he was helping the authorities search for Natalie. That wasn't entirely false, but he'd get a lot of questions that he didn't want to answer. He could try telling them that he found a new lead on his own. No, too ambiguous. He'd get even more questions.

He eventually went with a lie. I couldn't find Nat, but I'm sure she'll turn up. Visiting a friend from high school, be back in a few days. Not really in character for Cole, but at least it sounded more plausible than Brb saving Nat from terrorists. He flopped onto the couch and yawned. By now, the sun should be rising. Cole was tired, and he couldn't remember when he had last slept.

Meanwhile, Marie sat at the safe house's computer, reading through decrypted documents. She had grabbed a laptop from Suction Cup Lookout and pulled its storage device out. It was their only hope for new leads, at least for the time being.

"Hey, Agent 4, check this out," she said enthusiastically.

"Just tell me what it is."

"We've got some good intel! Get over here."

"...What's it say?"

"You're no fun," Marie huffed. "Two things. One, where Agent 3 and the captain went." Cole sat up. "And two, there's a cell of Octolings already in Inkopolis. They're serious about getting their hands on more Zapfish."

Cole walked over to the computer, looking over Marie's shoulder. He asked, "Where they take 'em?"

"You mean Agent 3 and Gramps?" Marie pointed to a word on the screen. "A place called Beaker's Depot. Some kind of armory in Octo Canyon, apparently."

"How do we get there?"

"Hm... it's in Octo Canyon, but that's all I know," Marie answered, touching her chin. "I'll ask Cece to investigate for us, get a map and give us the low-down. But we need to deal with this Octoling cell, first. They have a nighttime op planned in The Reef, a popular shopping and recreation district. Stealing a bunch of Zapfish during construction, from the looks of it. We can intercept them pretty easily, if this plan here is what they're going by."

"We should hand that intel over to the police. We can let law enforcement deal with it while we do our rescue."

Marie gave him a stone-cold stare. "Didn't you hear me? We don't know anything about the place yet. We'll get to Beaker's Depot after we have enough info to actually form a plan. And you know how the cops work—everything they get involved in goes on TV. That's a no-go."

"Let's just charge in, like we did today at the lookout. That worked out great."

"That wasn't charging in. We had a plan. We knew what we were doing today because of Cece."

"We knew nothing about who was inside."

"Yeah, but today was different. Waltzing into a lightly-guarded lookout and stealing stuff is much easier than breaking people out of a fortified armory. Besides, the Octoling cell is making a move tomorrow night. We'll wait until—"

"No," interrupted Cole. "We ain't got time. What if they take Natalie and your boss somewhere else again? We need to head to Beaker's Depot while the trail is still fresh."

Marie turned back to the computer, resting her chin on her hands.

"We're short on people," Cole added. "We get to the depot, and we can double our manpower and get our best agent back. I'm sure the boss would also appreciate not being locked up."

"The captain would scold me for not doing my job," Marie shot back. "My job in the NSS is to monitor threats and intervene on behalf of the citizens of Inkopolis. We have to go back to the city tomorrow. Ignoring a threat like this when we can stop it is like letting murder happen."

"So is not going after Agent 3."

Marie sighed, spinning her chair around to face Cole. She gave him one of her annoyingly long stares before saying, "I know you're concerned about Natalie. I kinda get how you feel. I still have zero idea where my cousin is, and honestly it's killing me inside."

Cole felt a twinge of guilt.

"But we still have to take these one at a time," Marie continued. "Inkopolis needs the Zapfish just as much as we need the Octarians to not have them. We'll get Agent 3 back, I promise. Just not right now."

Cole said nothing. He was irritated, but Marie was right. Marie being right made him even more irritated, but lashing out would accomplish nothing. So, he swallowed his pride and let his frustration ebb. Marie was right. There would be a time to get Nat back, and that time was not now.

"Get some sleep, you deserve it," Marie said. "There's a cot in that room, I'll take the couch. I'll notify Cece about Beaker's Depot first thing in the morning."

"Fine. Night."

Marie smiled. "Good night, Agent 4. Thanks for not getting me killed today."

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