None of us knew how it happened. None of us knew where they got all of the firepower that they had. Yet place by place, we were pushed back. Back further than our original homes, and all we knew was becoming further and further away every day. We couldn’t keep the lights on, we didn’t have the Great Zapfish anymore. While we were struggling, putting our lives on the line, the Inklings preferred to pay us no mind, partying behind the front lines and playing mock versions of the Great Turf War that my forefathers had no choice but to fight in. I didn’t even have a choice anymore now; we were losing so horribly that we had to leave our current homes. I couldn’t fight at this point, It was too much. So for now, I was left to walk on my own, away from the place I called home.
I walked for a while. I needed someplace to stay, badly. I couldn’t go back, that was occupied territory now. What was I going to do?! I could try and defect, hide inside the Inkling’s territory like a few of my friends have done, but what’d be the point?! That’s like saying “I know you’ve tried to wipe us out entirely just so you could have more lights for your disco Turf War dance party, but I forgive you!”, and that’s not what I put so much work, time spent on the battlefield blasting squid after squid for–
I fell. I fell a good distance, actually. I was completely unaware of what had happened, but in my idiotic near rage, I fell into a hole, leading into what looked like an abandoned subway line. It must have been abandoned for ages, and I really didn’t want to be there. But I fell in, and I couldn’t easily see a way out, so all I could do was start walking again. I landed in the middle of the tracks with no visible doors around, so I just picked a direction and went. Eventually though, I reached a station. An abandoned train sat in the center, which I walked up to and peeked inside.
Inside the car was, of course, nothing. Someone had already taken what was inside before, if there ever was anything. Uninterested, and with no visible way to turn the train itself back on again, I went to start walking. …That was, until I felt someone grab me from behind. I tried to turn to see who it could have been, but I couldn’t. They had a tight grip on me. All I could see was the faintest hint of a green arm, before I felt a sharp prick in the back of my neck, and something cold rushing in as fast as it could.
I blacked out after that, after my consciousness faded.
I didn’t come to for a good while. When I did, all I felt was cold underneath me, as well as on top of me, to a lesser degree. I immediately noticed the brightness though. It was unbearably bright. Hospital level bright, which it… was? This was a hospital room. One that patients would wake up in as they recovered… what was I doing here? I was jumped by someone, maybe two people, and now I’m in a hospital…? I tried moving, but my limbs didn’t seem to respond. Did I break them in the fall, and I just didn’t notice…? Was that person who jumped me trying to help me…? I truly couldn’t tell…
All I could do was stare at the ceiling and think. After a bit, I managed to look around, somewhat. There was a window on the furthest end of the room opposite the door, with a sun in the sky. …But it didn’t look real, so I tried looking somewhere else. There was a potted plant by the door in the room, but it looked to be made of plastic, so I tried looking somewhere else. The more I looked though, the more things didn’t add up.
I was eventually interrupted, though. The door to the false hospital room opening up, with a… green Octoling, with a lab coat, white shades and a mask obscuring her face, entering. She appeared rather enthusiastic, with how her body language was talking for her. It was subtle, though. Behind them were what looked to be two guards, similar green Octolings, with different black shades, and no mask. Their expressions were blank. Both were male. The doctor-like, however, was quick to start talking, stopping perfectly between the door and the bed I was stuck in.
[Doctor(?)]: Hello. Quickly getting this out of the way, you’ll be referred to now as 8088. You may refer to me as 121. Do not try to resist this too much, it will end badly for you. Understand?
I instinctually jumped. In my own skin at least, since I couldn’t move. I’m… what? I managed to get some words out.
[######]: Uh… I’m referred to as… what? I have an actual name…
[121]: Your previous name is irrelevant. 391 and 743, begin wheeling to the lower level, room R-19.
While I was internally panicking, the two guards that were behind her approached, walking behind the bed and starting to wheel it out of the room. …I didn’t even know there were wheels on it. …Wait.
[######]: W-Where are you taking me?!
[121]: Further explanation of your roles and procedures are to be given after the process of sanitization has completed. Screaming will get you nowhere in the meantime.
[######] (confused): Roles…? Procedures…? …Sanitization…? Just what do you want with me?
[121] (muttering to self): …Subject 8088 is notably not resisting prior to sanitization…
[######] (confused further): …What??
[121]: …Clearance has been granted for you to know in advance. You are to be a specialized assassin for the Kamabo Corporation. Inherent factors beyond both your and the rest of the cephalopod society you inhabit keep you from reaching your full potential.
[121]: …Sanitization is intended to remove those barriers. A form of perfection, so to speak. An irreversible freeing of the self. You’ll understand when you experience it momentarily.
I was taken aback. I could not have expected in the slightest that a corporation like this just could have… existed! A-And they just… wanted me to be a part of their ranks, no prior tests, no examinations, nothing!
[######]: … …C-Can I… opt out? I really would prefer not to be a part of that…
[121]: No. You have already been entered into the system, and preparations have already been made. There is no such thing as opting out.
[######]: Wh-WHAT?!
I freaked out. How could I not?! They wanted to just sanitize me?! I didn’t even know what that meant! She’s so vague, and the other two are just quiet! I didn’t want to be a part of any freaky experiment, much less one ran by green people I didn’t even know! Yet while I was having a meltdown on the hospital bed, I didn’t notice the syringe getting taken out from inside the lab coat of her’s. It was plunged into my arm, and I just dropped. Left to watch as the two continued to wheel me to wherever.
[121]: Please stay quiet. You are disturbing the other indoctrinees. Besides, you have nothing to fear. You’ll feel much better afterwards, in my opinion.
All I could do was lie there, watching the ceiling pass by. Tile after tile, apparently. My thoughts became cloudier. It was getting harder to think, but I wasn’t on the verge of passing out just yet. Like a mix of the weight of being tired alongside the airiness of being drunk. In the midst of it, I let something slip I only sort of wish I hadn’t.
[######]: …S-So I… won’t be able to screw anything up here…?
She seemed to regard me with a renewed interest after I said that. A glare of curiosity from behind the white shades that drained any sense of life from the wearer, not that much was visible on her in the first place.
[121]: …You needn’t worry about that. I’ll be seeing that you turn out competent myself…
[######]: …I kind of wish I… could have had something like that happen when I worked for the Octarian Army… almost got discharged so many times…
[121]: I see. Then if you do not attempt any further resistance, this will be even easier for you.
[######]: Y-Yeah, I’ll… I’ll try…
I barely even noticed the elevator we went into in the midst of that conversation. It looked the same as the hallways. In fact, everything seemed to blend into each other, I couldn’t tell how much time has passed. Had they been wheeling me around for five minutes, or half an hour? I didn’t know. Before I realized it, they were opening a door, moving me into another brightly lit room, and locking the bed into place. I couldn’t see, the lights above me were too bright. Brighter than the room before. Blindingly bright. The most I could tell was there was the sterile air. Like a cloud of nothing but disinfectant. I almost threw up. I was lucky I didn’t, I didn’t think they would like that.
[121]: Unfortunately, you will have to be awake for the procedure. You will feel everything that happens to you. But… think of it like this. You will scream now. But afterward, you’ll look back on it, and cherish that it happened.
[######]: …I… don’t know… about this….
But 121 – if that was even her real name – didn’t respond. She was already at what looked to be an older computer, staring at the screen with a focus I couldn’t even begin to have. The other two guards though were still here. They still scared me. But what they did themselves scared me somewhat more. Two stands, used for IV drips, were placed on either side of me. Nothing was on them, but I was already starting to sweat a little. Moments later, one plastic bag filled with an oily green substance were placed on each, a thin tube trailing downwards onto the floor. I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t want to handle it. Was what I said earlier really how I felt, or was that a false that this “sanitization” did to me? I didn’t even get long to think about that.
121 walked up to me. Or, well, the side of the bed, rather. With precision I couldn’t even fathom, a tip of a needle was placed on the end of the tubes of the IV bags, then inserted into one arm. Then the other. I felt nothing at first.
At first. It burned. It burns. Ow, it burns. OW, IT BURNS. IT BURNS SO MUCH! OH COD IT HURTS AND IT BURNS, I’M GOING TO DIE I–
I didn’t notice myself screaming. Nor 121 running back to the computer placed elsewhere, as if to keep tabs on me. I didn’t even notice the world fading out in front of my eyes, all I knew at that one moment in time was that everything burned. It burned to no end, I couldn’t handle it.
Moments later, I was running. Running down an office hallway, beige walls and an empty interior, a liminal space in itself. I was running from something. Oily green sludge flooding into the hallway from behind, gaining on me at one point and only barely being outrun the other. I was scared. Terrified for my life, even! I needed to get out of here! I had one chance when I saw a set of double doors. Making my best attempt yet to outrun the imitation of ink, I darted through the doors and into the empty conference room, slamming the doors shut behind me. I was a fool, though. I’d trapped myself.
It seeped in from the crack beneath the door. Slowly, as if teasing me. I backed to the opposite wall, the “ink” kept getting closer. I didn’t want it to burn any more, but it was going to. It spanned the entire distance between my feet and the door, and I could barely even breathe. The only thing I wanted at this point was to die.
As if it answered my plea, I didn’t feel a burn when it got to my legs. If anything, it felt like… it didn’t exist. As if it was out of my control, limbs that weren’t my own. Limbs that didn’t belong to me. Limbs I didn’t have permission to use. I remained against the wall. I don’t remember if it was from fear or just forgetfulness. If it didn’t hurt, I could probably swim to the door in a feeble attempt to escape, but the whole place must have been flooded by now. So, I just stood there. I stood as it got to my knees, then my waist, and finally my neck. I stood with bated breath, uncertain and terrified.
I had half a mind to just dive into the sludge and get it over with. I thought it would burn me and it didn’t, so maybe if I dive in expecting it to kill me, it wouldn’t? It was a naive thought, but I don’t know any better. I couldn’t have. So, I gave up. I dove into the sludge. It was an oddity, though. An unfamiliar body that refused to listen to my commands mere moments ago listened to this one specific one. The one to give up. I didn’t question it. I didn’t have the mental room.
What I saw in front of me though was a sight I was only somewhat hoping not to see. I was green, just like them. 121 and… the others? My friends? Who were they, anyway…? Who was I? 8088? That’s what they said, wasn’t it…? I couldn’t remember. My mind was fogged. It felt like it wasn’t my own just as much as my body was. I felt different, someone transplanted into a completely different body. Floating there, thinking to myself. I thought for a while, until I heard something important.
[121]: Exit standby, 8088.
I woke. I no longer needed to be in standby.
[121]: Designated name, designation, position, and the company you work for.
I responded. I needed to give the information.
[8088]: Designated name: Illumi. Designation: 8088. Position: Silencer. Company: Kamabo Corporation.
[121]: …Then you have came out well… Perfect. Let’s see to getting you the first specifically assigned task. I’d like to see how you work in the field.
I didn’t respond to that. I didn’t need to, and I wasn’t requested to. What was important was that my first orders would be given to me soon. I am to execute them perfectly. That is simply what I need to do.