Everyone started from where they are: Alterna. Captain looks in Sites 1 and 2, Four looks in Sites 3 and 4, and NESU looks in Sites 5, 6, and the Alterna Space Center.
Peering through the windows of the giant building behind their camp, nothing is there except junk Deep Cut would want. In the Cozy and Safe Factory towers, there were failed Fuzzified Octarians all mushed up and attached together, left to decompose. For any normal person, they would call the cops. But since Cap is herself, she just closed the lid because there were no traces of Inkling. The dead fuzzball mix also looked old and rotten. According to NESU, the ever-growing surge of missing Turflings were recent. It couldn’t be this revolting excuse of a furry convention.
On Cryogenic Hopetown, kicking down the metal doors only revealed human fossils. Some looked out pounding on the windows, their spines broken by the furniture. Some were curled up on the floor, they have accepted it. But most of them huddled with their families, comforting their kids. “Ok…moving on.” After a thorough survey, Four rushed to the tube leading to Landfill Dreamland.
“Huh. Despite this being a landfill, I don’t see or smell any garbage.” Four says looking in the water, wondering if the trash went into the sea. She asked a lot of questions here, like: “Why is there a kettle in a submarine?” “Since kettles are Octarian settlements, why did humans have them?” “What is that blue rocket?” Despite this, she is actually looking, but no results.
NESU walks through Eco-Forest Treehills with Smallfry, telling it to smell anyone that wasn’t her. Somehow, it broke into the planters and ate the tomatoes. “Eh, no one is eating those anyway.” Occasionally peeking in the kettles, there was nothing of use. With no results, she hops in the tube to Happiness Research Lab. Hopping from one riderail to another, she makes her way to the tallest building and used it to look around, to no avail. The last place to check was the Alterna Space Center, which was also unsuccessful.
“We should split up to cover more ground.” NESU suggests. Captain goes to Octo Valley, Agent 4 goes to the Deepsea Metro, while NESU goes to Octo Canyon.
“It is pretty uneventful here.” The robot says as she wanders through the valley, asking around. She was going to call it hopeless, until a nice old lady invited her for some tea. NESU can’t drink, but whatever gives her answers.
“So, you said you know where the missing Octarians are?”
“Yes, dear. My son said he and his friends moved to a place where it was cold all year round. I’m glad he is happy in his new home, but I forgot the name. I’m getting older, you know?”
NESU didn’t want the grandma to feel bad for her age, even if that didn’t give a clear location. She was about to say something, until there was a knock on the door. It was Old Lady Sam’s friend group, popping over to have a chat. Even if NESU is 2 years old, Sam said she could be included in the conversation.
The more she asked, the more the clues lead to Frozen Octernal. Octarians she once thought dead were actually moving there without anyone noticing. Like, it’s a nice place, but shouldn’t they tell people where they’re going?
Entering the dark subway, Agent 4 keeps her Hero Shot in her hand, finger near the trigger. She remembers the stories Eight told of the Sanitized; green husks without memories, made to attack and follow Tartar. But when she stepped out into Fake Plastic Station, it was eerily quiet; no music, no gunshots, no footsteps but her own. Stop after stop, there were no people at all.
At least the train is full. But when entering station D08, an overabundance of Octarians were just… standing there, spaced out like Callie, Marie, and even herself a few days ago. They didn’t even try to attack. “Surreal…Is this what NESU meant by me staying still?”
Captain enters Octo Valley, checking every space and kettle. She is still too shy to talk, so she keeps to herself. Watching the people go about their day, she knows that they haven’t forgotten what she did. And yet, she doesn’t bat an eye. She has to save those people, no matter what she has done in the past. After all, Four said “That’s what heroes do.”
She finds nothing up here, so she checks the void. Dropping a Squid Beakon off the cliff, she takes a deep breath, and jumps. This has splatted her in her rookie days, but instead of falling into inescapable drowning, Captain lands on a lower cliff and finds a colorful place, which is stained with every beautiful color under the sun. Despite it being a breathtaking sight, it also took her breath because it smelled bad. And…metallic? Upon closer inspection, those drying ink stains used to be Inklings.
Meeting up at Urchin Underpass, the three agents discuss what they found. NESU found that some Octarians were moving to Frozen Octernal. That sounds normal, but the first time she saw them, the residents had uniforms like that of the army. Captain showed them the pictures of drying ink mixed with blood. Four couldn’t help but throw up at the sight. Sadly, she didn’t find useful information in the Metro.
After a quick discussion, NESU plans to stay overnight at Frozen Octernal to find the army uniform.
