Chapter Text
“So, what do you think this is?” Callie says, holding something she just pulled out of a pile of junk.
Marie stops rummaging through her own pile and looks at her cousin.
It’s a rectangular object with red and blue tips and a cracked screen in the middle “Hmm…” Marie thinks for a second “Maybe a drone controller?”
The long-tentacled squid tilts her head “Then where’s the drone?”
Marie rolls her eyes “Probably somewhere in your pile”
Callie looks at the pile at least three times her size“...Well, I’ll just put this on the ‘maybe’ table”
She sets the thing aside and walks over to a small workbench she and Marie dubbed ‘maybe interesting stuff’
The white squid watches her “Seriously? The ‘maybe interesting stuff’ pile?”
“Marie, you once put a black-and-blue dress on the ‘I’m taking this home’ table just because you said it matched Four’s colors”
“For the last time, Callie, it’s white and gold”
“No, it’s not”
“Yes, it is”
Callie shoots back playfully “And here I thought you had the best eyesight between us”
“I do, and that includes fashion sense”
“Hah, only if you mean old-lady fashion sense” She pauses for a beat “Guess it matches your tentacle color, though”
Marie, pretending to be offended, gasps dramatically “Hey, excuse me for trying to find clothes that match my boyfriend’s ink color”
Callie, still teasing, grins “Marie, I get romance, but calling a dress ‘matching’?” She makes exaggerated air quotes “That’s the kind of thing our ancestors would’ve called romantic”
Marie listens carefully.
Callie notices, and knows she’s won.
“See? You can’t argue with fac-”
Marie cuts her off, tone sharp “When we were teenagers, you spent at least two nights a week in bed with someone, not even counting the random parties, and the clothes you wore back then? Even your outfit while hypnotized was more modest”
Ouch, Right in her dark era.
She continues “The only reason there’s no evidence of that phase floating around online is because I had to do damage control” Her face remains blank “That’s the most romance you’ve ever had”
“I–It was just a phase”
“Octavio would say otherwise”
Callie’s jaw drops, mix of fear and embarrassment hits her “W–what?”
“Some time after we freed you from the Hypnoshades, for the third time, by the way, he told me you used to have ‘private lessons’ with the guards assigned to watch you”
“I was hypnotized!” she snaps back instantly.
Marie’s expression doesn’t change “You know perfectly well the Hypnoshades can’t force that kind of behavior, I even checked with Sheldon and Marina, they said the same thing”
She almost smiles seeing her cousin’s growing shame, Almost.
“He even tried fixing the problem by assigning only female guards to you, but that made it worse, poor girls could barely walk afterward”
Callie freezes, face red like scarlet ink.
“Don’t pretend you don’t remember, The Hypnoshades might fog your memory, but they don’t erase it, We even saw a doctor afterward, just to be sure”
Callie’s brain scrambles for a comeback, and she finally blurts “T–that’s nothing! What about your goth phase pictures floating around the net before your first solo album?” She points accusingly “Piercings! Chains! Eyeliner thicker than Grizz’s fur!”
Marie raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms “And?”
“You’re not bothered by that? We never even found who leaked them!”
A smirk spreads across Marie’s face “Why would I be? I looked amazing in black. Plus, it was free publicity for my album”
Her tone oozes confidence.
Callie’s jaw hangs open“Wait-” she says slowly, connecting the dots “You… leaked your own teenage photos?”
Marie just shrugs “Like I said, I look great in black. And unlike you, I don’t need to hide that part of my life”
Callie glares, cornered, the pink squid has no choice but to play her last card.
“Oh yeah? What about that outfit you wear when you and Four are-”
“Brown shoebox under your bed, buried under a pile of purple shirts”
“....”
Callie silently turns back to her junk pile and starts digging again, her face still burning with ancient shame.
Marie bites her lip to hold back laughter, but it still slips out in a quiet snort.
If anyone from the outside saw the world’s most famous idols, also known as Agents 1 and 2 of the NNSS, digging through piles of junk in the underground dome of a long-lost civilization, arguing about embarrassing teenage phases… they’d probably assume it was some weird fan skit.
But the truth was simpler: Callie and Marie were bored.
You’d think they’d be busy with some high-risk mission, or maybe writing the next hit, But ever since the Grand Fest, their idol careers had been on hiatus, And as agents? Nothing urgent either, The world was eerily calm.
So why not spend their free time with friends?
Because everyone else was busy.
Pearl and Marina were ocupied in the Menverse and Smollusk (or, as Callie liked to call it, “MaternAIty leave”), and were also helping an old friend of Marina’s adjust to life on the surface.
Deep Cut? Global treasure hunt, Gone for three months, They even took Neo and Little Buddy, for ‘security’ and entertainment, respectively.
Three and Eight? Finally living together, Three’s DJing again, and Eight took a job with Armor Knights.
Grandpa was busy fixing his... strange friendship with Octavio and working on formal diplomacy.
And Four? Went back home to take care of their sick parents.
So yeah.
No backup.
No squad.
No chaos.
Just silence.
What was left for Callie and Marie was a hole in time, a forced pause, a calm so deep even boredom made no sound.
It wasn’t the idol hiatus that bothered them, Nor the temporary social silence, What really bugged them… was the total lack of NNSS operations.
Since the Menverse incident months ago, NNSS hadn’t been mobilized once, their last real action had been two years earlier, during the Mr. Grizz event.
Mr. Grizz, now apparently dead. His company taken over by a “trusted” figure, or so the Captain said, Nothing to worry about, supposedly.
Kamabo? Cleared out, victims of Tartar were rescued, and the area was waiting for full Menverse integration. Some Denizens of the deep still used the trains, Eight sommethimes visited an old friend with a plush toy in hand.
The fuzzy ooze? Gone, Little Buddy with enough time and appetite, had basically… eaten it all.
The only thing remotely resembling “agent activity” was what O.R.C.A., Alterna AI, had described as an “archaeological opportunity.”
The AI had granted access to Alterna’s underground storage sectors.
Its reasoning was simple:
> “Due to NNSS actions in biological risk containment and continued maintenance of positive relations between its individuals and Alterra, the storage system is hereby authorized for access by approved agents.
Contents are to be made available to the dominant species.
Full access contingent upon completion of the introductory course on the Universal Human Communication Line. Preventive measure to avoid accidents.”
The “learn a new language” part instantly made Pearl, Deep Cut (except Big Man), Neo, and even Eight drop the idea before it was fully explained.
The others? Too busy.
So, Callie and Marie ended up as the only available “volunteers.”
Two months of intensive study later, they finally ditched O.R.C.A.’s translation help, And when they finally got access to Alterra’s underground warehouses, Callie expected wonders, forgotten tech, impossible weapons, data that would make Octarian scientists cry.
Instead, they found what looked like a glorified garage sale.
Most of it was junk.
Broken toys.
Clothes.
Dismantled furniture.
Random machinery parts that would probably give Marina a headache.
Plushies (Callie loved those and set a few aside for Eight).
Kitchenware.
And a ridiculous amount of... things they don't even know what they are.
Callie and Marie dug through the piles for hours. But inevitably, boredom returned.
Because even in the vaults of a forgotten civilization, what they found the most… were reflections of the lives they’d been trying to avoid.