"Get me the Hunter operators now." The commander demanded, hearts racing at nearly out of breath. Three had taken one of the Hunters. That shouldn't have been possible. It was unthinkable that anyone could even escape the black mass of muscle and neurons in the first place, let alone take it home as a pet. It was a long thirty minute cycle ride back to the city, where Marina finally was able to hastily park her bike, and take the elevator to her office. She took Eight with her, shooting down any strange looks from the scientists around her with a sour, authoritative glare. Once she reached the top floor, and stormed into the reception area outside her office, she found a young Sanitized octoling girl waiting anxiously in one of the chairs lining the room. Without skipping a beat, she grabbed her by the collar, dragging her into the office as she clawed at the commander's iron grip and stuttered out a weak protest.

"Do you run the Hunters in the field?" Marina demanded, nearly shouting. She shooed the single Hunter she'd come with off to a corner of the expansive obsidian office, to hold Eight until further notice. The girl nodded timidly, clutching a marker in her fist like she was holding onto it for dear life.

"Then maybe you can tell me why the shell Three has control of one?"

"She... well. she's partially sanitized, right?"

"Yes." The commander groaned, "Because you eggheads couldn't finish a simple job."

"Well... you know Sanitization has a lot of positive effects." The scientist continued, ignoring the insult, "Enhanced strength. Response time. The sorts."

"Tell me something I don't know!" The commander roared. This made the younger girl flinch backward a bit.

"The Hunters were designed to bond with a Sanitized user." She finished, "So I suspect that this inkling... Three... managed to bond with it... and since you're not Sanitized yourself... it chose her over you."

"Fantastic." The commander muttered, rubbing her temples, "Is there any way we can get it back remotely?"

"Not without having someone on location to recover the Hunter."

"Great. Now get out."

She snapped her fingers for dramatic effect, and brought Eight to her as she peeled off her motorcycle jacket, and walked out of the office.

"Samitize Eight." She commanded into the microphone of her earpiece, "Ready a bay and rearrange the current queue. I want Zero-Eight cold by noon."

Three couldn't sleep. It'd been about four in the morning when she arrived at the cabin, exhausted and still damp. The front door had been left unlocked, and they'd woken Callie when they clambered in. She'd been worried to death, of course, and was in tears when she saw Octavio. A few long embraces and teary 'Are you okay?'s and 'What happened?'s later, Ado had managed to assure Callie that they were, in fact, alive and well. She'd made sure the three were comfortable, and only then she disappeared back to the main room of the cabin, where Ado prayed she was sleeping. She would need the rest.

Three just couldn't sleep though. She'd lie in her bed, tossing and turning relentlessly. Every so often she'd close her eyes just to try to get some rest, but it evaded her expertly. There was too much on her mind. The black sludge haunted her, clinging to the edge of the bed like a shadow of the odd deformity it was. Her grandfather was alive, and he was here, sleeping in the next room over. And Eight. Eight was out there somewhere, back in a mindless state of numb suffering.

She didn't understand the strange being that was now a part of her. Why it'd gone with her, or what it even was. It seemed like Kamabo's doing, but was Kamabo Co. still alive? Considering what Inkopolis had turned into, the possibility was certainly there. It felt like Sanitized ink, and Marina had always been somewhat of a... fanatic for Order. Considering the connections between the Octarian military and Kamabo Co., Marina could've known a lot.

If she could create something like this... and she did... there's no telling what The Order would do if it was allowed to live.

There was just too much that still didn't make sense. Too many blanks, scattered across the situation in all the worst spots. Hopefully, after a long rest, she could start to fill in some of the remaining gaps.

Callie was up and busy sometime around 7:00 AM. Ado hadn't slept a wink. The questions still flew in circles around her tangled mess of a mind, refusing to rest until she had answers. So she rose from her bed, black undergarments from the Octoleet armor sticking to her body by a light layer of sweat, and pushed the door open. The sludge hovered behind her, watching over her shoulder. Callie was making herself busy around the living room, tidying up the cabin. There was tea on the stove.

"What is that?!" She asked, pausing for a moment to look up at Ado with a look of mild disgust and major concern, "Are you okay? Is it hurting you?"

"I'm fine." Three deflected, the lie sorely apparent as she rubbed her eyes and shuffled over to her chair in the small living room, "It's... something The Order created. I don't know what. But apparently it likes me."

"Oh." Her expression grew more disapproving, "Can you get rid of it?"

"Listen, I've got it under control."

"Ado, this isn't a good idea..."

"I said I've got it under control."

"I trust you, Three. But I don't trust that. What if it's bugged? Or transmitting GPS? Or what if it's just gonna kill us? You know Marina wouldn't hesitate."

"It's not." Ado reassured, getting annoyed, "I have control. I know I do. It's a part of me. Wherever I go, it goes. Whatever I say, it does."

Callie didn't say anything, but let out a quiet sigh, and went back into the kitchen to check the tea. When she came back, she was holding two teacups, one of which she handed to Three.

"The Order isn't like Octavio's armies." Callie explained, "It's bigger. It's got control of the whole city. It's got Marie, and Ribbon, and Pearl, and everyone else you and I have ever known."

"And in all these years, you really haven't done anything to try to get them back?"

"You think I haven't tried?" Callie answered, yelling. It was rare to ever hear Callie raise her voice.

"So many times, I went into the city."

She went on, "To their headquarters, to where the soldiers make their rounds. I tried, Adeiline. But they're not like anything we've seen before. They're so, so much worse. Can't you see that?"

She looked up with that last sentence, tears running down her cheeks in two precious crystalline streams. Ado was about to protest before the remark sunk in. Half of her skin was stained green. Black slime haunted her like a personal demon. Her eyes were two different colors, and a scar comparable in size and appearance to a glow stick ran down her face. All attributes given to her by The Order.

"I didn't choose this." Ado said, trying to keep her voice from shaking, "I don't want to become their monster again."

And she wondered if that was true.

Four was the next one up. He'd been sleeping in the captain's old bedroom, with Callie. She couldn't help but wonder if they were... she pushed the notion away, refusing to think about it any further. Murch woke up after Four, and a while longer, Ataro and Octavio. And they all asked the same question.

"What the shell is that?"

And she gave them all the same answer. Am exhausted, "I don't know," accompanied by an immense amount of self control in refusal to flip them off.

Eventually, they were all awake and gathered around the kitchen table. Ado was hardly awake, but she was praying the coffee she was nursing would at least help that. Callie was the only other one who seemed tired. The sludge was strangely complacent, resting behind her in its slight resemblance of an octoling figure. The ringing in her ears hummed away, not very loud but still very much there.

"What happened to your Hero suit?" Four asked conversationally, after clearing his throat, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh." Ado shook the cobwebs out of her brain, "I got caught in the rain on the way back from visiting his grave."

She paused, and after a second or two of consideration, decided not to tell them about her short interaction with Eight.

"Two soldiers came after me, but thankfully, Octavio and Ataro found me before they could take me in. The three of us stopped at where Octavio's been staying, and came here from there. We came across Marina, and I picked up the black crap from her. I lost my hero suit sometime in that mess."

She noticed Octavio's glare piercing her, and reluctantly added, "Eight was there."

"You saw Eight?" Four asked quickly, his full attention diverting to Ado. She just nodded. Octavio didn't seem satisfied. She didn't blame him.

"Yeah." Ado cleared her throat, and added, "You all haven't met Ataro. He's... my grandfather. He fought in the war, with the octarians."

"Oh." Four said, looking back down at the map on the table, "Another defect?"

"You could say that." Ataro smiled bitterly, "I'm loyal to the Octarians. But what Ida did was too far."

This stirred a fire in Ado's chest. She couldn't resist the urge to ask, "And Octavio's hypnotization was moral enough to stand by?"

Ataro sighed, leaning forward in his chair. The cabin filled with an air of uncomfortable tension as he answered, "It wasn't right. But he did what he knew was best for his people. And we didn't have a choice. He fought his way to the top, he earned his position, and he proved that he was a good enough leader to guide us. I would've done it differently, but I wasn't the one in charge. Alright?"

Ado huffed a passive agreement, refusing to admit defeat in the argument, and crossed her arms, asking, "So are we ready to start?"

"Now?" Murch and Four questioned simultaneously, a bit surprised.

"The captain would've." Ado explained simply.

"You know I respect him as well as anyone else here." Octavio said, "But like I told you, The Order is nothing like you've dealt with before. They've got numbers. Power. Extensive resources. Twenty years of experience and technology. This isn't another one of your one-off villains."

"You're right." Three relented, "So what do we do about it?"

"Find out what we have that they don't, and use that the best we can."

"Free will." Four started off the list.

"With Octavio and Ataro's armor, a small degree of surprise." Ado added.

"And we have Agent Three." Murch finished.

Three brushed off this last comment.

"They're afraid of you, Three." Murch continued, "Don't take that for granted."

Ado nodded. He was right.

"We've already talked about entering through the roof." Four put out, "That's certainly something they won't expect. Any ideas on how to get up there?"

"I can climb with this... this." Ado offered, gesturing awkwardly to the sludge clinging to her back, "I made it down the Octo Valley wall, and I've seen it climb up too."

"Good." Four nodded, "Any room for passengers?"

"I can take one, maybe two."

"Alright. That'll be me or Callie. Ataro, Octavio, think you two can scout an exit plan while we're up top?"

"Of course." Ataro complied, "I'll help any way I can."

"I want to be up top." Octavio stated imperatively, "I want my daughter back, and I want to see every soul that's responsible for this, face to face, so I can strangle each one of them personally."

"I can wear his armor." Murch spoke up after a short silence, "We're about the same height."

"Good." Octavio grunted, "Where's Callie going to be?"

"I could stand watch outside." She said, "I would just be in the way if I went up top, and I can keep you updated on comings and goings from the buildings."

"Alright." Four concluded, "Is that a plan?"

"If I can just phase through the roof, sure." Ado replied.

"Actually, I was thinking that thing might be able to." Four admitted, gesturing behind Three, to the living mass behind her.

"We'll see what it can do." Three noted, "Now let's figure that out before tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" Murch inquired.

"We can't wait forever." Ado returned, "Spyke and Eight are waiting for us."