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Marina scanned the area to make sure nobody was looking at her. After all, the New Squidbeak Splatoon's hideout was supposed to be a secret - she couldn't risk anybody seeing her slink into the manhole and following her (and before you bring up the fact that the Splatoon got two of the best agents they could have possibly asked for through exactly those circumstances, you may want to look up the concept of diminishing returns). Even so, despite her attempt at stealth, Marina couldn't help but shake in pure giddiness. It doesn't matter how many times they've seen each other in person, Marina was always thrilled at the chance to see the Squid Sisters. After all, they weren't just her primary artistic inspiration, they were practically her heroes!
The first time she had heard their music was in her original home of the domes, back when she had no idea life could be better. If anything, Marina considered herself very lucky back then. She knew life down there was hard, from limited resources to food shortages, all while the place was slowly falling apart with no hope of being salvaged. So Marina applied her interest in engineering towards building weapons that could take down the Inklings once and for all, with the hope that they could all live on the surface and improve her people's standard of living. For her efforts, she was rewarded with a shortened & streamlined education, military commendations, an exalted position as one of DJ Octavio's right hands and was given the few vestiges of luxury the Octarian army could allow. Her weapons had even given DJ Octavio the confidence and inspiration to steal the Great Zapfish and take on the Inklings for the first time in a century. She truly felt like she was making a difference. That feeling began to change, however, with the introduction of Agent 3, the name given to a young and mysterious Inkling who was taking out DJ Octavio's forces throughout the domes. While Marina admittedly did not have much of an appetite of violence, hence why she tended to stay behind the front lines when she could help it, she couldn't understand how the Inklings could even think about trying to take back their one chance at salvation when they were the ones who put them in this situation to begin with. However, during the direct confrontation between DJ Octavio and Agent 3, Octavio's beats were interrupted by a different type of music that Marina had never heard of before - what she would later come to know as "that heavenly melody", the Calamari Inkantation.
In contrast to Octatronica, the name given to DJ Octavio's flavour of music, which was more militaristic in nature, the Inkantation had a pep and spunk that she didn't even realize could be a thing in music before. The lyrics spoke of celebrating the individual achievement, which was in direct conflict of Octarian society's messaging that everything should be done to service the community. And there were the performers themselves, the one and only Squid Sisters. They wore such colourful outfits, which they proudly showed off, to the society that would have deemed such a display of extravagance as being garish and ostentatious. It's at this moment that Marina realizes that this isn't the Inklings trying to be greedy. They're trying to save their way of life and this performance was a demonstration as to what was at stake to be lost. There was no way something like this, no matter how beautiful, could have been created in Octarian society, where everything had to have a specific purpose. Art for its own sake was incompatible with the Octarian creed. DJ Octavio had become so bitter and angry following his defeat a century ago that he had turned his society into an colourless, repressive and militaristic hellhole - and if he was to invade the surface, he would no doubt spread that to the entire world. To get the most out of her life, she needed to take the reins and save herself, not hope than her service to an oppressive army will lead to a fruitful future.
Marina's role in reigniting the conflict between Inklings and Octolings, however inadvertent and well intentioned it may have been, as well as her ever thinking of Inklings the way she used to, was something that loomed over her conscience even now. She was no longer hiding the fact that she was an Octoling from those closest to her and most of her anxieties have been sorted out, but she still felt immense guilt over her past, as well as for those still down there that she has not been able to save. Nevertheless, Marina was able to find inspiration in her saviours. The Calamari Inkantation originated a folk song believed to date back to the time of the humans, written as a way to give thanks to the sea for its bounty, but the New Squidbeak Splatoon had hijacked the song as a vehicle for rebellion, in order to encourage the Octarians to liberate themselves and reintegrate into society (why else would they do a big song and dance number in the middle of a fight?). For that, she owed them her life. She was an immense honour to have made friends with them, although, prior to the events involving an underground railway system that lead to her and Pearl becoming associates to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, they had only met a few times, the most notable time being the concert that they performed at together. However, Marina couldn't help but notice that Marie in particular was a little aloof whenever they would interact. Marie didn't seem to give off the impression that she was annoyed or bothered by her and she was more smiley when they were performing in stage together, but she did seem more reserved when it was just the two of them. At first, Marina was worried that she had recognized her from the domes, but this was back when Marina was hiding the fact that she was an Octoling from everyone and if Callie and Marie noticed, they didn't seem to be doing anything about it. Callie was also much more bubbly in particular and Pearl also had a bigger than life personality, so maybe it was just a matter of contrast. Marina's probably overthinking it anyway, they still got along just fine and always seemed interested in doing stuff together whenever they had the time. Plus, when she and Pearl did get into the NSS, Marina was finally able to vocalize to the Squid Sisters just what they had meant to her. They seemed overwhelmed with emotion when she told them, the two of them had to leave because they "didn't know how to respond". Marina understood perfectly, she knows what it's like to be struck by a wave of strong emotions. It's just that Marina really wanted her friendship with them to go other well and didn't want to mess it up because of anything she did.
And she frankly needed the support, because while she has managed to thrive in Inkopolis, she hasn't managed to entirely avoid problems. Just a few days after taking over Inkopolis News, she found an envelope mysteriously placed on her desk. She opened it up to find a letter inside.
[Image description: a letter made up of cut up magazine letters. It reads: "Marina Ida, you cannot hide who you are from the world. You are an Octoling and that means you have no place here. The crimes of your people are simply too high. However, your celebrity status currently prevents us from doing anything. But we have spies here in Inkopolis, and we will be able to expose you once we have proof of your plotting. Consider this a warning to return back to where you came if you do not wish to be killed. You will regret coming here."]
Marina was mortified for several reasons. Firstly, the fact that someone had found her out and secondly, the fact that whoever wrote this letter managed to get inside her apartment (this being before Marina and Pearl lived together). Even worse, she couldn't talk to anyone about this without revealing that she was an Octoling - all she could think to do was lie asleep with one eye open. Fortunately, it was not long after this that she got swept into the situation involving the Deep Sea Metro, distracting her from the letter. Soon enough, she would be inducted into the Splatoon and she was able to give Callie and Marie a copy of the letter (she didn't dare tell Pearl, lest she go on a murderous rampage for revenge) in the hopes of getting protection. They swore to keep her safe and get to the bottom of this, though they did seem pretty shook from the letter. Understandable, Marina figures, given the nature of the letter.
Today, Marie has asked Marina to meet her for a private talk at the New Squidbeak Splatoon's base at Octo Canyon regarding the letter. Marina is thrilled, firstly at the prospect of no longer needing to be afraid anymore and secondly for the chance to spend the day getting to be close with one of her heroes.
After heading down the manhole, she emerged near an old shack that served as the Splatoon's current base of operations. For the most part, things were as she remembered it, but there a few things that stood out to her. It appeared as though the snowglobe that contained DJ Octavio had been moved to another location (Cod, seeing Octavio without warning the day she, Pearl and Solace came here for the first time was not a pleasant experience for anyone involved - but that was a story for another time), but more importantly, there was a makeshift table and chairs made up of some boxes. Marie sat there... strangely enough, not wearing her beloved kimono, her NSS uniform or even a casual getup, but instead a button up shirt and a pair of work pants, as if she was a secretary. Her expression looked uncharacteristically forlorn, which gave Marina pause and a sense of dread, but she chose to be optimistic about it. Waving to her, Marie can only muster the energy to raise her hand slightly before looking down at the ground again.
"Hi Marie, you said you wanted to talk to me?"
Marie, not saying anything, gestured to the makeshift chair. Marina said down and the two sat in awkward silence for a moment before Marie finally began to speak.
"...
...
...so I said that this was about the letter."
Marie's voice is mild and meek, a far cry from the deadpan snark and confidence she typically demonstrated. Marina shook her head yes, not quite sure where this was going.
"We'll get there in a minute, but first I have to tell you about something that happened with Agent 4 and me."
Marina had only met Agent 4 a few times now. The first time was when Pearl, Marina and Solace had first arrived in Octo Canyon. In contrast to 3, who simply seemed cool and distant in the short time she knew her, 4 seemed perpetually grumpy, almost annoyed by her having to be there. After that, Agent 3 and 4 were tasked with showing the christened Agent 8 how Inkopolis worked. Marina got to see them around town a few times recently and 4 seemed much more relaxed and jokey, but still had an aura of uncomfortableness to her, like she had something on her mind. She hasn't been around her enough to get a good grip on her yet, she feels.
"I hadn't seen or heard much from 4 the past few days. I know she's out with 3 and 8 a lot, but we expected at least a call or a text giving us an update on what's happening. I was actually starting to get a bit worried there that something may have happened with her.
Then, just yesterday, before I messaged you, she suddenly burst in here and practically tackled me. She was sobbing her little hearts out and was apologizing endlessly.
You've seen her a bit, you know she has a tendency to pick fights with people. I don't know the whole story there but apparently she's been like this for a long time. Recently, though, this friend of hers, who happens to be an Octoling, got into a big injury lately and she feels responsible for it.
Back when I first enlisted her, I was desperate for an agent. 3 and Gramps were gone and Callie was squidnapped."
Man, Marina did not need that reminder. When the Great Zapfish went missing the second time, she instantly knew what had happened and when Callie went missing at the same time, she had a sense of dread that they were connected. It gave her immense guilt and anxiety, which fortunately gave way to relief when everything worked out - and on the same day she helped save the world no less!
"I was standing by the manhole in my kimono with my umbrella, trying to get someone curious enough to follow me. But Zenni told me that she was actually pissed because she thought I was looking at her funny. She was actually going to fight me before I gave her a weapon to fight the Octarians."
Marina had to admit that this series of events were actually really funny to her, but she couldn't help but wonder something all of a sudden. While Marina had seen Agents 3 and 8 in combat and could picture 4 out on the field, she had never seen Callie or Marie fight before (not counting Turf War). It wasn't something she could imagine easily, the two of them going against her kind. It makes her suddenly wonder what exactly Callie and Marie do in the Splatoon.
"She can be really aggressive out in the battlefield and apparently that's because she likes to take her anger out on the Octolings down there. She even told me she stopped going to Turf War because she found this more fulfilling. I didn't think much of that at the time. Now Zenni feels bad and keeps calling herself a monster because she thinks she tried to kick the Octarians while they were down. And after everything you and Solace and Callie have told me about the situation down there...
...I'm starting to wonder if all of us haven't been doing that."
"Marie, I get it. My people stole the Zapfish and you were right to try and take it back. Ideally, we wouldn't be fighting at all, but as long as Octavio was down there, he was going to provoke a you guys to do so. And I know the soldiers down there can be tough, he certainly trains them down there young enough, so Zenni fighting harder may have actually been smart. You don't have to feel guilty about this, especially since I know you're at least trying to do the right thing, even if they make it hard to do so.
I mean, you liberated hundreds, if not thousands of my people thanks to the Calam..."
"Marina, you've already told all of us what you think that concert was about, but I'm afraid that it's just a coincidence. The fight between Agent 3 and Octavio was tough and she needed the boost. That song dates back to the time of the humans, it's resonated with people for thousands of years."
Marina is actually very surprised to hear all of this, but quickly rationalizes that it doesn't take away what she got out of the song herself and how it led to her freedom. And besides...
"You've still done so much for us, though! Saving us from DJ Octavio, welcoming Solace with open arms, being a positive role model for all of those displaced Octolings... and I know for a fact that you want to see peace between the Inkling and Octolings as much as you do. Now what we're all together, we can finally do it! You should be proud of yourself for everything you've done!"
As Marina is talking, trying to convince Marie of everything she has meant to her and trying to get her out of this weird funk, jump up from the table and holds her arms out at her. But throughout this conversation, Marie has become more and more visibly distressed. She tries to open her mouth to speak, but there are a few false starts, needing a moment to calm down enough before she can try to start talking again.
"...
...Marina, I
...we were the ones who sent you that letter."
Marina lowered her arms and sat down. She said nothing and did nothing, wearing a neutral expression on her face.
"You've met Gramps, of course. Cod knows we love him more than anything else on this planet, but... he taught us wrong. All of us. And that's not meant to be an excuse for anything or make it sound like I'm deflecting the blame, it's just meant to be an explanation.
We didn't want to save you or even just take back what was ours... we wanted to kill you. We actually looked into turning off the enemy's respawn points so they couldn't come back from being splatted, but we couldn't figure out how to do that without taking out our respawn either and that was too much of a risk.
I told Agent 4 to be wary of any Octolings in Inkopolis Square because they may have been spies. I kept calling the Octarians "Octoslobs" over the intercom and though I've been trying to stop, I can't help it sometimes. It's drilled into my head.
And the thing is, most of the other Agents have their own grievances with the Octarians and we have all done some pretty horrifying things, but they all at least have some sort of reason why they may feel that way. Callie has always been the most sympathetic towards Octolings out of all of us, but she's been a little wary lately after being squidnapped. Agents 3 & 4 have had some pretty nasty run-ins with some Octolings that left them pretty banged up. And Gramps has PTSD from the Great Turf War, he's constantly worried the world will be plunged into war again.
But me?
I'm just some racist pig that keeps hurting people even though I have no reason to!
...including you.
I'm the one who came up with the idea to do a letter and I was the one to write it. That's why I'm the only one here right now. Everybody else wants to apologize to you & Solace and everyone will get the chance but you needed to hear this from me.
...
...
...
...look, I feel like I should apologize and ask for forgiveness, but what's the point? I don't deserve it.
I'd be remiss to not ask you to forgive the others though. They've all made mistakes but I know they're all still decent people. The kind of people you deserve to have as friends.
I know you look up to me as a role model. As one of your idols, a hero.
But I'm not any of those things.
I'm a monster. And you need to know that so you know not to be around me anymore.
...
...
...
...I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you, and I'm sorry that I can't be the hero you want me to be, the hero that you deserve.
...
...I'm just... so sorry."
By the time Marie was done talking, she couldn't even bring herself to look Marina in the face. But when she tried to get up to walk out, she was stopped by Marina, still stone faced (though her eyes were starting to show more emotion), having reached across the table and wrapped Marie's arm. Surprised by this action, Marie is momentarily pulled out of her pity. Marina then moves closer to Marie, sits next to them and put their hands in hers.
”...
...
...
...did Cap'n Cuttlefish show you the dossier on me that he has?"
Marie shakes her head no.
"Are you aware of the Flooders? Or the Great Octoweapons?
Marie shakes her head yes.
"...I built those."
Marie flinches in surprise, with wide eyes.
"I built them because I thought that would help. I have never been one for violence, but I did hate the Inklings as much as anyone. I thought they were the reason we were suffering. But the truth is, there isn't just one thing that led to where we are now that's easy to blame, it was a combination of us not being taught any better by our leaders and a bunch of little mistakes we ended up making along the way.
Even though I know better now though, I still feel guilty every day that I was the one responsible for the Great Zapfish being stolen the first time, because the army finally had weapons to take on the Inklings. I felt like I didn't deserve the life I do now because of that and everything I do, from being the best bandmate Pearl could ask for, to helping an old man and one of my kind escape from an underground train, to trying to save the world, has been me trying to make up for every bad thing I've ever done... and to live up to both Callie and you.
And yet, here you are, sitting here, trying to convince me that you're the bad guy here.
Well, you're not the bad guy. Neither of us are. We're both victims. Victims of a world that wants to tear people like us apart. But I don't want that. I want everybody to be friends at last. I want peace between the Inklings and the Octolings. I want the fighting to stop, and deep down, I think you want that too. Because while you say that you're just an irredeemable monster, here you are, sitting here, taking the blame for the others and trying to make it right. That you thought to do this all on your own tells me that I was right about you from the start.
Maybe I'm being too naive. Maybe another person would see what you've done and wouldn't dare forgive you for it. But I don't care, I still want you to be my friend.
...
...I still want you to be my hero."
"...
...
...
...b-but..."
Both Marie and Marina start to tear up. Marina pulls her into a deep hug as they both begin to let out a good, long cry.
Neither of them realized this at the time, but this was an important day. This was the moment the New Squidbeak Splatoon changed forever. No longer preoccupied with fighting Octarians, they would instead put their energies toward becoming what people like Marina had thought and wanted of them in the first place - liberators, saviours... heroes.
There would be many hurdles to overcome and some mistakes were to be made. But together, all of them would strive to be the heroes that everyone deserved.
"GET THE F*#$ BACK HERE YOU F%ING DONKEYS!"
Of course, several years later, when Callie accidentally let loose the existence of "a letter that they really regretted sending" to Marina and were then forced to explain what had happened to Pearl, she was not as open to forgiveness initially, as the chainsaw she was brandishing while Marie, Callie, Agent 3 and a dehydrated Craig Cuttlefish were on the run would demonstrate.
Marina would eventually convince Pearl that it was all in the past and that they should let bygones be bygones, but until then...
"I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO IKAYAKI"