Chapter 1: A huge discovery...
Chapter Text
Octavio had been rescued by the elite team, and had not come back empty handed.
He and his rescue team had a creature in tow. Many did not know what to make of it. It towered over them in size, and had just as many familiar features as it did alien ones. It had a head covered in some kind of fuzz, it had small rounded ears, and it's limbs, while looking much larger than the average Octoling, still looked pretty scrawny. The reasoning for it was that it's cheeks were a bit concave and it looked super tired.
Whispers and rumors spread about the creature, but Octavio didn't like misinformation being spread about. (Unless he was the one to do it for the betterment of the people.)
Octavio set up a return concert and near the end, he had his turntable turn on autopilot. "My fellow Octatians..." He walked towards the end of the stage, a mic in tentacle. He marched back and forth. "I know that we haven't had the best track record, as of late, when it comes to victories..." He hung his head low for a second before looking back at the crowd with determination. "I believe that we have just discovered the means to our victory over the surface... BEHOLD, a living, breathing, HUMAN!" He pointed to the curtain and the creature was dragged forward, it tried to fight a bit against the chain around it's neck, but it was no use. "Yes! This is a human. I know that it might not look like much, given it's weakened stature, and rags it wears... But, rest assured! This human is the first step towards our victory!" He let the crowd mummer a bit.
The human bit the gag on it's mouth and eventually snapped it. "SHENO TRES KEEPA!!!" It yelled out as it fought against the restraints. Nobody understanding it's weird barks and screeches.
It took four troopers to shove it down and put on a new gag.
Octavio smirked. "See that strength? That is it in it's 'weakened' state. Imagine it at it's prime!" He watched the crowd give some weary glances. "I am not going to just let it roam about and wreck things. No, I plan to keep it locked away and conduct test to find the best way to use it. I promise, this human will be the edge we need, and then we will have the surface, once again!" He pumped his tentacle in a fist to the sky. Many in the crowd soon following. "Take it to the lab." He ordered the handlers. "We need to find out what makes it tick."
The troopers nodded and dragged the human away from the stage.
'Humans were thought to be extinct... To find a living relic... It must have some secret I can use... I intend to find it.' "That is all for now, report back to your post!" He ordered and the crowd saluted before scurrying off.
Josh struggled against the collar as he was dragged away. He snapped another one of their fake leather gags. "let me go, assholes!" He stepped on the chain to make them slip their grip, but only half let go. He still turned and ran. "I didn't get stranded in the middle of a fucking crater for a month to end up as somebody's pet!" He gaged and coughed as the two captors, still holding on, made the collar choke him. He had lost a lot of body weight form not having a proper meal for a while, the best he could find were some grass hoppers or whatever they were. Not very filling. "Gotta-gah!... Find a-*cough* way out..." He wheezed and was soon yanked back, as the other two troopers had caught up, with reinforcements.
Josh continued to struggle, but his vision soon became blurry as his lungs screamed for air. He collapsed to the ground, clinging to his last bits of consciousness. The only thing he could make out was a mess of gurgles and pink blobs encroaching on him. "God... Help... Me..." His eyelids fell.
Chapter 2: Testing...
Summary:
Warning: You have made it to the second chapter. If you think the first one was messed up, you haven't seen this one, obviously.
Chapter Text
A male Octoling walked in to his boss' main office. "The specimen is ready Dr. A."
A female Octoling in a lab coat got up from her chair. "Verry good." Doctor A1d, A for short, waved him off. She walked down the halls of the laboratory. Vats and tubs of fluids and strings of wired up machines, barely looking functional. She had helped design them all. She stopped in front of a large vat filled with green liquid, a third stage Octoling floating in it, it's body showing small splotches of skin starting to form. "Seems the Accelerated Growth Program is going well..." She jotted down notes on the progress on her clipboard. "Might request a larger sample size... Perhaps 10,500 would work..." She continued down the halls. "How is the advancements to the Octobot 2.0?" She asked a few of the engineers, who were wielding on some new pieces.
"It is still a bit slow going, but on terms of progress, we got the interior redone. Added cupholders, and better sound proofing for his next rave. Overall... I'd say it is at stage 1.2. The weapons are still being modified." The Octoling put back down the wielding goggles and started up work again.
"Verry good." She left them and made it to the last door in the facility. The interrogation/research station. Sadly, it has been used more on fellow Octolings, than inferior Inklings. She looked at her papers on the unconscious subject. "So... You are the human I was told about." She lowered her clipboard and looked at the chained up creature. the table had been modified to hold him, since before it was just a plastic case to prevent anyone from escaping. Her notes stated that it was more solid, so it was replaced with straps and chains. "Not as impressive as Octavio played you out to be." She took a prod and poked his side.
The human's eyes went wide as something was pressed against his funny bone. It gasped out and franticly looked around, spotting the Dr. It soon thrashed around, actually snapping a strap, but the chains held.
The Dr. was actually a bit startled at the sudden show of strength. She waited for it to wear itself out, the creature panting hard after no more headway was made to get out of the restraints. "Hmm... Seems you are hiding a lot of strength in that body, and you are defiantly not at 100%." She could see that it was obviously sick, or malnourished given it's loose skin. She forced it's eye open as she shined a light in it. The beast struggled, but the head strap left little wiggle room. "You have odd pupils... Shades might not work." She opened it's mouth, but nearly had her fingers snapped on. "Many segmented blunt beak parts..." She went over to it's lower half and inspected it's limbs. "Seems to have scales on the ends of fingers and toes... Likely a from of defense, or perhaps to help latch onto prey..." She brought over a step ladder to get a better reach towards the creature's middle. "Let's see what you are."
The moment she touched the creature's shorts, it thrashed much more wildly. "Shoke ne wiquesh!" It tried it's hardest to pull away, but all they were able to manage was a few inches to the left of right.
"Ugh." She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Just relax, okay? This is strictly for scientific purposes." She yanked the shorts down, and was met with a simple conclusion. "So, you are male." She began to poke and prod, but the creature fought even more. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this." She shook her head then pulled a walkie talkie out of her coat pocket. "Get me some sedatives."
A nurse walked in with a needle on a tray. "Here you go, Dr."
Dr. A took the needle. "Very good. Dismissed." She got towards the creature and stuck his side with the meds.
It didn't take long for the drugs to take effect. He continued to fight and jerk around, trying to keep the fight in him, but it was for nothing as his eyes glazed over.
The doctor oddly went and petted his head a few times as she shushed him. "Nothing personal. Just doing my job." She went back to poking and prodding areas, drawing diagrams, and getting a hands on look at how the beast functions.
This examination goes on for a good few hours, she had to readminister sedatives twice, due to the human's larger size. She did get bit once from it, but it only left an indent on her finger, nothing that would stick for long.
"Okay. I know it has been a long time on that table, I am sure you want to just rest, but we have a few things left." She went to her table and put on some gloves. "I will be retrieving samples of your fluids, skin, and fur. This might be a bit painful, but lucky for you, you probably won't remember." She grabbed a few tools and brought them over to the table. "Let's get the fluids first. That is the least painful."
Josh laid there in a weird state. His head was floaty, his muscles were jelly, and everything seemed blurry. Colors danced in his sight as he couldn't make out a thing after he was stuck with something. Whatever it was burned for a few seconds, but soon, his body went nearly numb. He came too just enough to see a blob stick it's hand in his mouth, so he bit down as hard as he could, but it still wasn't that hard, due to whatever was in his system. The only sounds he heard were muffled clangs and gurgles. It frightened him to not know what was going on, but his brain couldn't process it well, but it still felt fear.
He would slowly be coming too after who knows how long. He heard some gurgles, but still didn't understand. He tried to talk, but his mouth was still numb. The sensations hit him after a few minutes.
Pokes...
Stabs...
Pumps...
Cutting...
Peeling...
Each one becoming more and more noticeable...
He didn't know when he fell asleep, finally, but the fatigue must have finally won...
He later came too in a dark metal room, no windows, one single light bulb in the ceiling, and a bolted down door.
He reached up and felt a much thicker collar around his neck, luckily, this one had a leather strip on the inside to prevent chafing, but it only did so much. The chain holding him to the wall seemed much heavier than the one before. He looked at his arm and saw a patch of raw skin, nearly 4x2 inches, a clear indent compared to the untouched skin around it. It burned in the stale air.
He only muttered out one word...
"Fuck..."
Octavio walked down the halls of the lab and made it to the main office. He let himself in.
"How many times do I have to tell you to knoc-" She spun around in her chair and her annoyed look turned to shock. She soon shot up from her chair and saluted. "DJ Octavio! Sorry for the mix up... I thought you were one of my new nurses..." She stood as still as she could.
Octavio raised a tentacle. "At ease. I understand the annoyance of trainees." He walked around the office and picked up a snow globe, a much smaller one than the one he was trapped in for months. It being one of the many 'treasures' they found while salvage boats netted up in search of usable materials. "How goes the testing on the human?" He put it down and picked up another knickknack.
She lowered her arm and grabbed her clipboard. She tried to steady her breath. "I-It is going well. Given the lack of materials at the moment... It will take a bit longer than I would like to report..." She saw him give her the side eye. "Not that that is any of your fault, sir! It's just that morale was lowered while you were absent, and supply chains were slowed a bit. In the mean time, I was able to run a few practical test on his skin and fuzz."
"His?" Octavio turned to face her with a raised brow.
"Yes, sir. I researched him as best I could, and he is defiantly male. Seems on the young side, if you want my opinion, but defiantly an adult." She handed him some of her diagrams and sketches of the human.
Octavio skimmed them before handing them back. "Very good. You said you ran a few test on his skin, anything to note?"
The doctor seemed to get excited now. "Yes! I found the most interesting, and possibly, most useful piece of info."
"That being." He egged her on to spit it out.
"The human is immune to ink!" She went over to a large computer and pulled up some black and white photos. "I tried different liquids and seeing how they reacted. Most were very similar to how our bodies would react to them. Acids and such are a big no no. However, ink and water has a clear difference. While average Octarian skin allows these materials to pass through, the human's does no such thing. In fact, it actually repels such things!" She showed a short video showing ink and water being applied to the sample of skin she collected. The liquids bouncing right off.
Octavio looked intently at the video. "This is only the first few test we have done. This is a good start, but that does not mean you can slack on this. I want you to test every avenue you can think of for the human. I want to find any and every way he could better our people."
She did another salute. "I won't let you down, sir."
Octavio nodded. "Good. I will tell the supply depots to give you whatever you need for research, within reason. If I find you sneaking more rations for yourself..." He reached for the snow globe and promptly smashed it in his tentacle's grasp. "There will be consequences." He let the shattered glass and stand fall to the ground with a thud. He then left promptly, without another word.
Doctor A1d dryly swallowed, then got back to work.
Chapter 3: Physical Exam
Notes:
Who is ready for more human abuse! :D
Poor Josh just can't catch a break. even when he thinks things are looking up, they get worse. :(
Hope you enjoy!
Also, glad to see the "Human in Splatoon" tag slowly grow. We got story called "Expired" that looks promising, and a smut story that is... Not quite my cup of tea, but hey, maybe they will make another, similar fic, just without the... more risqué tags.
Chapter Text
Octavio stood, at the ready, next to an obstacle course. It was the main training area of his soldiers, but today, it was going to be a testing ground for a different creature. His ears picked up some noise in the distance.
"Come on, we got to go!" An Octoling male, in charge of handling the newly captured human, struggled under the resistance of the creature. "Stupid beast... Octavio does not have time for your stubbornness!" He dragged him.
"I see why you called for assistance." A female soldier huffed as she came into view, pushing against the human's back as it continued to dig it's feet into the shiny metal floor, doing little to stop the forward movement, but enough to be a nuisance.
The human let out growls and muffled screams from behind the gag around it's mouth, this time being twice as thick as the last one, to prevent snapping. He thrashed left and right, but the creature looked much worse for wear than it did the day before. Dark circles appearing under it's eyes.
Octavio took notice. 'Hmm... Perhaps it is trying to camouflage itself to look more like us.' "No way he could trick any of us with that, though." He cleared his throat once they were near him. "Good. You brought the human." He looked at his subordinates. "You are to guard the entrance. I don't want him running off and getting himself hurt. Remove the chain, before you do."
The two where hesitant at first, but nodded and went to the entrance/exit of the training dome.
The human and Octavio had a stare down. One expecting the other to make a move.
The human squinted and lunged for the DJ.
Octavio didn't even flinch.
The human was a foot away from him when a massive shock hit him. His body stiffening and doing little shakes as he fell to the ground. Reveling Dr. A with a electric rod, standing behind the creature.
"Perfect timing." Octavio praised and looked down at the, still convulsing, creature. "You are not to touch me." He stood straight up as the doctor took her post next to him, but not before switching out the collar. This one being much lighter, but having some sort of barbs that pressed against the human's neck. A faint buzz could be heard from it.
"It look a bit longer than I had hoped, but this shock collar should keep him in check and make training go by faster." Dr. A fiddled with a small remote control with an adjuster knob. "I will have similar remotes prepared for you and his handlers. Might be another day or two."
Octavio nodded. "That will suffice." He walked closer to the human and they looked at each other again. This time, the human looked much less aggressive. "You will learn your place, soon enough. Get up!" He pointed up with a tentacle.
The human refused, but a quick small shock jolted him to listen. He reached up to the collar, but he was shocked again.
Dr. A shook her head. "It is only removable by registered users, via ink recognition. No ink, zap zap." The doctor tried to explain, but she knew the creature wouldn't get it.
Octavio let out a huff. "Enough banter. I have a task for you, human." He poked the human's chest a few times then pointed towards the obstacle course. "You are to run that course."
The human looked over at the course and back at him a few times. He did not look amused.
Octavio clapped his tentacles together and another Octoling came running with a trey, soon presenting it.
The human started to drool at the food that was close enough to smell. it wasn't some kind of five star meal, but it might as well have been as he hadn't eaten anything in three days. He reached for it, but the Octoling holding the remote called out with a finger on the button. He dryly swallowed and pulled away.
"Do the course." Octavio pointed to said course and motioned with his tentacles running around. "Then you can eat." He pointed to the food.
The human weighed his options, but sighed as he walked towards the start of the course.
A loud beep rang out and the creature started running. He easily swerved between cones and jumped the hurdles.
Dr. A was impressed by his movements. "I am surprised he still is able to be so lively. Given his current health."
Octavio observed the human go. Having difficulties with the wall climbs and gap jumps, but still making progress. "You'd be surprised what an organism will do for survival."
The human made it to the end, which was right next to the beginning. Having a time of three minutes and forty five seconds.
"Hmm... A little worse than a new recruit, but you are still not trained, and not at best health." Octavio watched the human's chest heave as he panted, eyeing the bowl of stew. "You completed the course. You may eat." He waved for the server to bring the bowl over.
The Server hesitantly walked towards the towering, panting, seemingly damp creature. He presented the bowl and it was snatched away.
The human stared at the contents for a second, but then remembered the gag. He pointed to it then the bowl.
"Remove the gag." Octavio ordered.
The server gulped and did as asked, with shaky hands, the gag slipped off.
The human immediately started to guzzle the stew down it's gullet, gravy and tiny bits of meat dripped down the sides of it's cheeks. It didn't stop for a breath till the bowl was empty. He panted and took his fingers, scrapping whatever he could off the sides of the bowl.
"See, I can be reasonable." Octavio smirked.
Dr. A waited patently. 'Should take affect in... 3... 2... 1.'
The bowl the human was holding fell to the ground. His hands shaking as his body swayed. He soon realized what was happening, but he barely made a move towards Octavio, before his body slammed to the ground. Drool pooling with some left over gravy onto the floor.
Octavio turned away form the creature. "Take him to the lab for further testing. We still have a long ways to go, before he is viable."
Dr. A nodded and called the two escorts to help bring him to the lab. 'I need to conduct more test on his fluids and skin...' She had used up most of what she already had for practical test, she needed more for specialized ones. 'Hopefully, I can find some way to clone him, or something of the sort. His tentacles don't react the same way ours does to make cannon fodder... What else could work?...'
Josh woke up sore and dirty. Finding the chain was back on, but the new collar was still there. Dried sweat and dust covered his skin. Having to run that stupid track had left his body drained, but it was worth it to have something to eat. The stew might have been bland, but it was food, damn it. He needed it so bad.
"Fuck... Not again..." Josh felt a similar stinging, but this time, it was on his leg.
He looked over at his calf and found a much bigger square of skin has been removed. He also soon felt pain in his hand, finding the nail on his pinky has been ripped off and was lightly bandaged.
"How did I not notice that first?..." He coughed as his throat was super dry, having not had water, besides the little bit of condensation he could make appear on the cold metal walls with his breath.
His eyes wandered the room as his gaze went over to a bucket. He crawled over to it and his initial thoughts was that it was for going to the bathroom, but he found it was filled near the brim with water.
He didn't hesitate. it might be drugged, like the stew, but he NEEDED water.
He picked up the possibly gallon or two of water and started to chug. It wasn't three gulps in that his tongue recognized a taste.
Salt.
His stomach churned and he quickly turned away from the bucket, vomiting a watery brown mix of whatever food was left in his stomach and the undrinkable water.
He felt the need to drink again, but couldn't bring himself to do more than rinse out his mouth, which the salt just made it dryer.
"These fuckers are trying to kill me..." He tried to do the only sensible thing he could with this water.
He tore a bit of his shirt off and stated to wash himself. It stung like hell on the fresh skin, but it needed to be cleaned.
After he was done, only a little water was left. Being too tired to think of anything else he could do, he laid on the cold floor, as far away from his vomit as possible, and tried to sleep.
Unknown to him of Dr. A's assistants collecting some of the bile for research. Unsure of why he had such a reaction.
It had been a long three weeks, out in the battle field. Two Octoling Elite were walking their way back into Octo Canyon. One holding a scoped weapon over their shoulder, and the other a giant brush. They were assigned to guard the kettles, and this week was their rest period and possible reassignment.
"I hope he doesn't have us back out here again... It is so hot out here!" C0R41, a Octoling with marron roots that faded from pink to white towards the ends, whined as she rolled her shoulders. Her brush being a bit bulky on the trek back to the domes.
"It could be worse. We could have been running into the enemy." M0R41, a Octoling with black tentacles that ended in sea green. occasionally looking through the scope to gage their surroundings.
C4 rolled their eyes. "Please, we are only on the look out because Octavio had some kind of plan he wanted to enact, but it seems something has changed back home. I hope to see what all the fuss is about.
M4 shrugged. "I am sure that, whatever it is, it is worth our leader's time."
Chapter 4: Troubleshooting...
Chapter Text
The human's current handler had come into the room to bring the creature for another run through the training course. "Come on. Up and at um." The human seemed to be sleeping currently, so the Octoling had unclipped the large chain from the human's neck, and attached the smaller, but still sturdy one. He began to walk with the chain in hand, but was stopped by the weight of the human, still lying on the floor. "Hey, get up." He yanked on the chain a few times, but all this did was make the human groan out.
The handler was getting impatient. "I don't want to do this, but I guess you need to be motivated." He unclipped a remote from his pocket and put it to mid power, pressing the button.
A buzz was heard and the human's fist twitched along with a small jolt. After the shock ended, his head raised slowly. It didn't show any resentment, like it usually does, just a tired look. It's dark circles being much more defined.
The handler tried to assert authority, like Octavio told him to. Not actually having this sort of position before, so he was inexperienced. "W-we have training." He tried to assert dominance, but his voice wavered a small bit. "You will get food after." He offered the proposition.
The human seemed to remember that word, as it licked it's lips, but they were not moistened. Not that the handler would notice. With a deep breath, the human got to it's knees, trying to move forward. It made it barely a foot as it's swaying body fell onto his side. Another groan escaped him, but he didn't try to get back up.
The handler began to panic. "Shit!" He reclipped the remote and ran over to his assignment. "Come on, just get up!" He shook the creature's body, hoping it was some kind of joke the animal was playing. "If you die, Octavio will turn me to sushi..." He looked around and found his drinking bucket. "Maybe you just used up too much water yesterday on the course. I saw that you were covered in water, so maybe you leaked too much..." He tried to reassure himself, and tried his best to have the water enter the human's mouth. To his surprise, it went down without much struggle.
His relief turned back to panic, as the human had the water regurgitate with foamy bile. "Fuck!" He tilted the human away and patted it's back, trying to clear it's throat, without getting the sick on him. "Uh-Uh...! Dr. A!" 'She will know what to do... I hope.' He took a deep breath and hoisted the human up, slinging him over his back. Struggling hard to move him, but he doesn't have a way to contact anybody at the moment, the intercom is down the hall. 'I got this.'
The handler slowly made his way to the door. Step by step. The human was surprisingly heavier than the handler expected, but he had to do this. His own life depended on it.
The two elite troopers had made it back to the domes a few hours ago, and after a power nap and asking around, they learned about the human and it's holding area.
C0R41 and M0R41 were walking down a hall between domes. They ditched their gear back at their shared bunks. Letting their bodies rest a bit before doing some practice laps around the training dome.
"You sure we are at the right spot? This place is meant for prisoners of war and traitors, not an animal pen." C4 Held their hands behind their head as she walled.
M4 looked back at the directions a fellow trooper wrote for them. "Yes. This is the right spot. Maybe the human is more suited for these areas, or perhaps there isn't any room there?" She held the paper close to her chest for a second. "This is so exciting! We have never had something like this happen in the domes." She gleefully let out a purr.
C4 shrugged. "What is so exciting about it? It's just a animal." Her mind pictured up the ones that were kept in the domes. Cultivated seagulls, albatross, and seals. All for the purpose of food. "I wonder if it is tasty."
M4 let out a gasp. "Humans are not just some animal to eat! Didn't you pay attention in our curriculum?"
C4 shrugged again. "Nah. Just wanted to smack some Inkling faces with my brush." She mimed the stokes she would do with her weapon.
M4 was not amused by her bunkmate. "Humans were thought to be extinct. The fact that Octavio had found one, it is such a historical event! Imagine the stories it could tell-"
*Clang* A metal cell door slammed open with a foot sticking out into the hallway. Both elite jumped a bit from it, but immediately regained composure. Only designated people could open the doors, so it wouldn't be a prison break, plus they actually hadn't had a prisoner in decades.
The handler grunted as it made it out the door, huffing hard and it's face was flush. He spotted the two. "H-hey, you two! Get over h-here and help me carry this creature to the med d-dome!" He barked out in a strained voice.
C4 crossed her arms. "We out rank you. You have no athori-"
"I have direct orders form Octavio!" He reached into a pocket and pulled out a card with a wasabi stamp. A symbol of temporary high ranks. Very rare to see. "Now, get off your asses, and help me move the human!"
The two looked at each other and nodded. They got to the door and see what he was toting. The human was half slung over his back, it's legs dragging across the metal floor.
C4 grimaced. "Yesh... It looks nearly dead."
M4 was worried. "Oh, you poor thing!" She quickly took one of the human's arms and put it over her shoulder.
C4 did the same with the other arm.
The handler was given a breather and let out a sigh. "I have been dragging him for the last two minutes. We need to hurry. He collapsed and can't seem to drink." He motioned for them to follow as he race walked towards the med dome.
Dr. A1d was looking at her notes on the human.
The doors to her office was busted open. The handler panting.
Dr. A groaned. "Doesn't ANYONE knock anymore?!" She put down her papers and glared at the interrupter, seeing who it was. "Oh. Guess it is something with the human?"
"Yes he-" The handle started, but Dr. A already started walking towards the operation room.
"Explain on the way. I had a feeling something was going to go wrong." She walked calmly out her office.
C4 and M4 stood at the ready. Being a small distance from the human, leaving room for the doctor to work, but close enough to see everything.
The handler stood a lot further way, their body shaking in fear for the worst, knowing the consequence.
Dr. A did simple checks. It's heartrate. "A bit slow compared to last time." It's eyes. "Seems spaced out and red." She clapped near it's ears and all it did was barely move it's head a few millimeters. "Tired or perhaps impaired thoughts... Hmm..." She raised up. "He seems to be having similar symptoms to ink deficiency."
The handler visibly relaxed. "Okay, that's simple, just pump him up with ink and we can-" He was smacked in the face with a clipboard. "Ow!"
Dr. A scowled. "It isn't that simple, idiot! He has similar symptoms, but, and listen to me here, he never had ink!" She yelled at him.
The handler was confused. "What does he got then?!"
The doctor sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Did you not read the packet I sent you?" She saw him look at his feet. "Of course you didn't." Another sigh. "Humans have blood. I ran test on it too, it actually would dilute the ink and fight it. So, we can't inject him with ink. It would kill him."
C4 and M4 looked back and forth from the doctor and the human, it's breaths shallow.
M4 noticed how dry it's lips looked and walked over to open it's mouth. It awfully dry. 'Hmm... It's blood dilutes ink...' "Have you tried to get him to drink water?"
The handler stopped arguing with the doctor and yelled at M4. "Of course I tried that! He threw it up when I did earlier!"
"You made him drink more!?" Dr. A slapped the back of the handler's head. "Do you not read my messages? He vomited a massive amount yesterday, I tested it for any microbes that could be issue, but I came up with nothing. It is perfectly clean seawater." She gripped the handler by the collar, lifting his smaller frame.
C4 had remember the animals that were kept. She didn't listen a lot during class, but she paid close attention when it came to food. "Seals."
Everyone looked at her weird.
C4 shrugged. "Seals can't drink seawater, they get sick. Maybe he can't either?"
Dr. A and the handler looked at her like she just said something brilliant.
Dr. A let go of the male and walked over to her table of chemicals. "I saw that his cells were getting shriveled the last time I took some skin. I am not a vet, but I do know of what happens to seals when they are given salty water." She picks up a bottle of clear liquid, labeled H2O. "It mimics ink deficiency." She attached a small nozzle and stuck it into the human's mouth. Giving a light squeeze, making the water leak down it's throat.
Everyone waited for a full minute. It didn't vomit, and was still breathing. A loud sigh echoed against the walls of the room.
"Okay. We need to do this carefully. If we just pour this down his throat, he will vomit or drown." Dr. A looked at the people around the room and pointed at M4. "You, hold this bottle and squeeze it every few minutes, till it is empty." She looks at C4. "You, I want you to monitor him, till I am sure that he isn't going to die on us." She started to head back to her office.
The handler piped up. "Uh... What should I do, Doctor?"
Dr. A didn't even turn around. "Go to assignment. You are not fit to monitor the human. These two have already shown much more competence and possibly just saved the creature's life. I am going to go inform Octavio of your replacement."
The handler stuttered and pulled out his card. "I have direct orders from Octavio, you can't just remove me!"
Dr. A walked over to him and snatched the card from him. "I was given permission from Octavio, to insure I keep the human healthy, and find a way to use it for the betterment of the army." She handed the card to M4. "Congrats. You are the human's new handlers." She looked at C4. "I will get a card for you as well. You two seem a better fit than his stupid ass." She pointed back at the old handler, who was dumbfounded. She walked out the room without another word.
The handler stomped off in a huff, mumbling about how this was unfair.
The two elites looked at each other and then the human.
"Well... At least this means we don't have to go out to the canyons anymore." M4 let out an unsure chuckle, giving the bottle a squeeze.
C4 looked at the human for a few more seconds, before just shrugging and looking at the monitors hooked up to him. "Guess we can skip training today."
Josh was blinking in and out of consciousness. He wanted to say something, but he felt liquid enter his throat. To his surprise, it wasn't salty. He took a gulp, unable to see where he was, as his vision was blurry and his head was killing him. He just continued to take a gulp then fall asleep, till water filled his mouth again and woke him up. 'Finally... Water...' His only thought before he would knock out again.
Chapter 5: Getting Acquainted With Their New Assignment
Notes:
What will happen now that Josh has more competent handlers? Read and find out! :D
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
C0R4L and M0R4L were currently posted just outside the human's chamber. They were overlooking Dr. A1d's notes. Well, more like M4 was reading them off, as C4 just fiddled with their new remote.
M4 flipped through the revised notes. "So, we need to make sure to not cause too much damage to happen to the human. Excessive shocking and choking on his collar is not to be used unless he is being very unruly. We are to make sure he doesn't cause too much damage to himself, on top of that. Seems he has a bit of a temper and doesn't like to listen to orders without incentive."
C4 cleaned out her ear with her pinkie finger. "Okay, don't let it die, got it."
M4 frowned at her. "The human is a he, not an it. Given the notes, it is at least smart enough to understand basic orders and reward systems, but not much else. It seems too dumb to speak Octarian or Inkish. It lets out deep grunts and gravely yells, possibly a simple language or perhaps it is simply a defense mechanism... Interesting." She was reading intently to every little note and detail. "I still can't believe we get to take care of a live human!" She hopped in place with glee.
C4 shrugged. "It's just a tall, lanky, and scrawny animal. So what, it can understand basic instruction, so can seals, if trained correctly." She wasn't so enthusiastic over the situation. "This job has been boring so far, but it beats the canyon." She looked back and forth down the hall, hoping to find anybody that could fill in the boredom gap... Nothing.
M4 continued to read. "Well, just focus on that aspect, then." She made it to the last few pages. "Okay. So, before, the human was going to the training grounds in hopes to strengthen it and get it prepared for battles, but it seems that his body keeps deteriorating. So, for now, we are to find out what could help make the human healthier."
C4 gave her a confused look. "Wouldn't that be Dr. A's job?"
M4 shook her head a bit. "It is, but she is more so trying to learn everything she can on the human, since we are going to be around him so often, we are to take the role of caretakers/brainstormers for ways to improve the human. For now, that is getting him back into training shape. Which reminds me." She picked up the large bottle filled with liquid. The taped on label stated "Salt Free Water For Seals" with "And The Human" scribbled on whatever space was left. "It is your turn to give him water."
C4 groaned. "Again? It has only been an hour!" She pouted.
M4 just handed the bottle to her. "And that is how often we are to check on him, until he shows improvement. You will be left off duty in two hours, then you are to report back here and relive me of duty in eight hours. Then when I get back, we share a shift for the last eight. We agreed upon this. During shared, we switch up who does what every hour. It is your turn."
C4 sighed and took the bottled, being nearly a gallon's worth of water. She trudged in and walked over to the human.
He laid on the cold metal floor, it's body having some color back, but still looked very tired, despite being asleep.
She sighed in defeat and did as she was instructed by the doctor. She placed the human's head into her lap, to make sure the water went down, and she carefully took the nozzle of the water bottle into his mouth, being sure it went a little ways downward as to not accidently send water up his navel cavity. "Dumb human, not being able to drink plain water..." She grumbled as she lightly squeezed the bottle. This was the sixth time she has done this today, and she was already sick of it. It didn't take long, but it was so tedious and boring.
Things got a bit more exciting, fast, as the human let out a gurgle and shook a bit.
"Shit, did it go down the wrong hole?" She pulled the nozzle out his mouth, but it was soon stopped as it's teeth bit down hard enough to stop it.
The human's eyes opened and looked straight into the female trooper's own. Both looking at each other like a deer in headlights. "Grotsa!" The nozzle slipped out his mouth and he tried to scramble away. However, it didn't make it far.
C4 hadn't seen the human move on it's own before and she was able to figure out so much in an instant of seeing it try to get away.
It had barely any energy, the creature's muscles were seemingly sagging on it's frame, and it's eyes were full of sudden fear.
The human coughed a bit as his arm wiggled as it tried to hold himself up and get away from the octopus girl, but he soon toppled over, slamming into the metal floor face first. A clang rung out.
It didn't take long for C4 to see blood leak down the human's nose. "Crap... Hey! The human hurt itself!" She called out to her partner.
M4 ran in with a first aid kit that the doctor left them. It didn't have much in terms of actual supplies, except gauze and some numbing agents to make moving the human easier. "What happened?" She saw him on the ground as he tried and failed to lift himself up. "Oh, no! You are bleeding!" She took out some gauze and tried to reach over to the bleeding area.
The human saw a hand come into his vision and fearfully jerked back, but his sudden movement didn't last long as the energy he didn't even have was spent, making him fall back down with another, but softer clang.
"Please stop!" M4 tried to get close again. "I am just trying to help." She slowly crawled over to him, but he just continued to force himself to jerk back. "He is too frighten... But, we need to stop the bleeding, he doesn't heal as fast as us."
C4 devised a plan. She turned into her octo form and silently crawled behind the human, before turning back, pulling him up, and wrapping her arms around his chest and her legs around his waist.
The human freaked out more, but was unable to do more than thrash his head, slinging the drops of blood dripping down his chin.
"Hurry up and help him!" C4 had to stop his head from moving, so she used her own hair to wrap around his, keeping it still.
M4 moved in and was able to actually get close. She hesitated when she was mere inches away.
C4 felt something wet hit her arms, that felt less sticky than the blood droplets. "What's going on? Is his blood changing?"
M4 shook her head slowly. "No... He is crying..."
The human was panting hard as it had stopped struggling, but it's body trembled with each breath. Tears streaking down his cheeks in silent sobs.
"Why is he crying? We are trying to help." C4 was less annoyed, and more confused. 'Didn't even know humans could cry.'
"Remember, he doesn't understand us." M4 wanted to use the gauze, but she felt her heart twinge a bit, seeing the pitiful human breakdown in front of her. "Hey. It's okay." She tried to say in a soothing voice.
C4 noticed the tone. "The hell you doing?"
"Him being like this is just going to make the bleeding stop harder. He needs to calm down so the blood doesn't rush." M4 didn't like to brag, but she was top of most of her education courses. One she exceled in was biology. She knew how most creatures functioned, at least on a slightly advanced level. It made her an expert marksman, as she could tell an opponent's weak point not to hard. A shot or two there, and splat. "Can you remove some of your hair near the top of his head?"
C4 did as asked, more so to see what she was planning, she kept her large from tentacles wrapped around his forehead as a type of headband, but put the others away. "Fine, his hair is nasty anyway."
M4 gently placed her free hand onto the top of his head. 'It is rather greasy...' She shook those thoughts away, and she started to give his head light pets and scratches. "It's okay. We aren't here to hurt you. Shhhh." She tried to hush him as she remembered her egg layer did long ago. "Shhhhhh."
The human opened his eyes and saw through the tears. A blurry black and green blob made a weird gurgling purr. His mind getting distracted soon by the feeling of their hands in their hair. It has been only about a week here, but this felt like the first kind contact he has had in months if not years. His confusion and weird pleasure in actually being treated nicely made his eyes stop watering and his breathing calm a bit.
"Good. Now, please be still." She took a gauze and balled up up before putting it up his nose. "There. Now, lets get that blood off you and us." She walked over to the water bottle, brought it over, and poured some onto her shirt.
"What are you doing now?" C4 was able to move her head around a bit, seeing what she was doing.
M4 continued to pour a bit and then sat in front the two. "We don't have rags, and he needs to get that blood off." She soon took it off and started to rub the human's face with it.
C4 gave her a crazy look. "The hell? You won't even shower near anybody but me, and you just go and strip in front the human?"
M4 blushed as she continued to rub off the dried blood. "It is just a human and you. Not like he would understand. I am making an acceptation" She was satisfied with how much blood was wiped off, so she started to put her shirt back on.
The human was able to see now, and got a look at her. Despite the lack of certain features, the human mind can be simple at times. He did close his eyes out of decency, but the image was still in his head.
C4's let got of his head and looked over his shoulder towards her bunk mate. "Yeah. He understands." She teased as she removed her legs from around his midsection, still holding him up, but more gentle, as he stopped struggling.
M4 soon blushed hard, her cheeks turning green. "O-oh!" She looked away. "Perhaps I didn't give his intelligence enough credit."
C4 shrugged. "Eh. He looks at least a bit 'us' shaped. Maybe female humans are similar, so it is probably more instincts. Just be sure to not let him pounce you."
M4 blushed harder at the image. "Shut up!" She covered her face and curled up, too embarrassed to do anything else.
C4 just laughed at her, letting go of the human, as she needed to hold her gut.
The human was able to keep himself sitting up this time. He looked at the two, trying to piece things together. His cheeks turning slightly red as he realized what the problem was. He wasn't sure why he was concerned about it, but maybe it was just actually being treated decently that made him try and return the favor. He attempted to slowly shuffle over to the green octopus lady.
M4 felt like she wanted to curl up and die, but she was soon distracted by the feeling of something rough graze her tentacles. She looked up from her hands to see the human was petting her.
"Shhhh. Shhhh." He looked hesitant, but he continued to give her gentle head pats.
M4 was stunned for a moment then she sputtered out a laugh. "Hehehe... I appreciate the sentiment." She gently removed his hand from her head. "Okay. that enough excitement for now." She stood up and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
A few knocks were heard on the door. The door opened and an a cook came in. "Got the human's daily ration." He held a bowl of stew as he stood near the door, not wanting to be anywhere near the human.
"Ah. Then that means I only got one more hour before I am off duty." C4 got up and took the bowl from him. "Dismissed." She shooed him off.
He didn't stay a second longer as he hurried down the hall.
The human staired down the bowl having felt like he hasn't eaten in days.
It was about a day and a half, but he doesn't know that.
"Okay. Think you can handle this?" C4 held the bowl in front of the human.
He snatched it quickly, but before he took a gulp, he hesitated.
M4 saw this and looked into the bowl. "What's wrong?" She tilted her head to him.
The human saw her tilt her head and mimed eating the bowl and then becoming woozy.
"He remembers being drugged." C4 rationalized. "Surprised he is able to." 'Might not be as stupid as I thought.'
M4 looked worried. "Come on, you have to eat." She lightly pushed the bowl closer to him.
He still just looked at the bowl, hesitation plain on his sunken face.
C4 wasn't up for games. "I want this over with." She stomped over and yanked the bowl from him. She took a gulp from the food and handed it back. "There."
The human waited a few seconds, and saw her not get sleepy, so he took the bowl and guzzled it down.
M4 smiled. "There we go. Good work." She took the bowl back when he was done licking it clean. She gave him a quick pat on the head then made him lay down after he left out a yawn, but he didn't freak out.
The human felt tired, but it must have just been exhaustion.
C4 tapped her foot. "Come on. He is obviously tired."
M4 nodded and walked out the room with her partner. "At least he ate it."
C4 nodded. "Yep." She took a step and nearly fell over, she caught herself against the wall.
"You okay?" M4 looked at her concerned.
C4 nodded a bit and stood up. "Yeah, I am good. They put a lot in that stew."
"A lot of what?" M4 tilted her head.
"Drugs, obviously." C4 tried to stay upright.
"Wait, it WAS drugged?!" M4 looked at her with wide eyes.
C4 yawned and stretched. "Yep... Strong stuff too." She let out a yawn. "Guess they don't want him using that fresh energy from eating to try anything."
M4 was trying to process that her bunk mate was currently fighting off passing out. "I guess that is a good point..." She opened the door enough to look at the sleeping human, drool pooling near his head as he snored, the gauze blocking his nose holes. "I hope it is enough to sustain himself. He is pretty large."
"Oh, yeah. He is large. I felt it. With my leg." C4 held back a snicker... poorly.
M4 realized what she meant and her face went green. "Oh, come on, you can't be this childish!?" She tried to keep her voice down, as to not wake the human, even though it was unlikely he would.
C4 let out a loud belly laugh. "Oh, lighten up. He is just a dumb animal."
M4 pouted and looked away. Her mind going back to how the human acted as he was conscious. The fear, the cries, the pets, and the memory. 'I am not so sure...' She tired to busy herself with the packets she was reading earlier. Trying to see if she missed anything on the human's intelligence.
She however, found nothing speaking of it, besides what she already told her bunk mate.
Notes:
I think having a nose bleed today had me think this up. Hope you enjoyed! :D
Also, hope it didn't feel too rushed.
Chapter 6: My New Handlers Are... Nice?
Notes:
Yeah. This chapter and the last one has felt a little more light hearted than the other, maybe things will go south soon? Maybe things will start to improve? We will see.
This is Josh's pov of the last chapter, with an extra bit near the end.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Josh woke up to gargling on water. The sensation jolting him awake and made him bite down on something he felt in his mouth. He tried to move, but his limbs felt weighted. He was able to get his eyes open and he soon noticed his position.
He felt the soft, but tone legs under his head as he looked up to the owner's eyes. His vision taking a second to focus. As soon as they did, he jolted away as fast as he could.
"GetAway!" He yelled as he tried to crawl away, despite his efforts, his arms immediately gave out and his head went dizzy. He slammed into the metal floor and he felt something crack. Soon smelling copper and feeling something drip onto his lip, it wasn't hard to deduce.
He wanted to get up, but he was struggling to get his limbs to even move an inch. 'I have to get away!' He grunted and groaned.
"Shel may leka!" He heard the Octopus woman with pink tentacles yell out and he heard the door quickly open.
Josh was able to get his Barings a bit and moved his head over to look at the new person, not getting a good look, except some black and green blob.
"Mekwa Quelsha?" The green blob called out.
Josh seemed to get a little bit of strength back and propped himself up to try and get a better look, just in case they tried something. 'What batshit thing are they going to do now?...'
The green blob let out a gasp and started to move towards him. "Me, ko! Shek lo inkstz!" They reached into some box and started to B-line towards him.
Josh tried his best to get away from the mystery object, but the sudden jerk made his head go dizzy again and his limbs failed him yet again. 'Damn it!' The back of his head hit the floor.
The blob tried to say something, but now his ears were ringing, not like he would understand anyway. He just continued to try and distance himself any way he could, get only a few inches by using his elbows and shimmying away. 'I don't want to be tested on again!' His muscles screamed at him to stop, but his fear was keeping him going.
However, he soon found himself caught by, what he assumed was, the pink tentacle lady. Arms and legs wrapping around his body. He tried to thrash about, hoping he could bite them or something, but his head was soon caught too, being wrapped up in tentacles.
The hold was tight and his fear only elevated... Until the fight in him left, his body slacking as the whole situation started to dawn on him.
He was hungry...
Thirsty...
Damaged...
And most of all...
Terrified.
'Please... No more... Please...' He didn't have it in him to actually speak as tears soon welled up in his eyes, blurring his vision even further. He wasn't sure where he had the water for tears, but the only thoughts in his head where what might happen to him.
A new test?
A crazy experiment?
Did they just want to toy with him?
Did they want to hurt him?
Did they want to shock him?
He couldn't take the suspense. He shivered as he let out a sound he didn't know he could make.
A whimper.
Not a cry.
Nor a scream.
A pathetic whimper.
One of hopelessness and fear.
'I am just a play thing... An experiment... A pet... I am not a person anymore...' His mind was racing while also zoned out. Time seeming to slow down during all this, but also rush past.
A sensation snapped him out of it though.
A soft sensation.
Not a yank.
Not a choke.
Not a shock.
It was something that almost felt alien to him.
He was being petted. Like a scared puppy. He was being petted...
He heard an odd purring sound and it made him open his eyes out of curiosity.
There, he saw the green blob in his face. Making out the outline of a female. Hearing her let out this strange purr and the gentle scratches made him shut down in a different way. He was confused.
He has been here for a week, at least the days he can remember... And this is the first kind action he has had happen to him.
He couldn't help but let the calm overtake him, at least a little bit. He soon felt something get shoved into his nose, but he could tell it was just some cotton cloth stuff, probably to stop his nose bleed, which he completely forgot about from the episode he just had.
He was still processing everything when he felt s wet cloth get pressed against his face, he nearly freaked out again, but he noticed that it wasn't being forced against him like waterboarding, it was just wiping his face.
He heard the two talk to each other for a short bit and the cloth was removed from his face. The tears being wiped away and his vision was clear enough to see where the cloth came from.
It was the green girl's shirt, and he soon learned three things.
1. They apparently don't wear bras.
2. These Octopus people don't have nipples.
3. His body was wanting to be stupid.
He soon closed his eyes as his curiosity soon turned to embarrassment, but the image stayed in his mind.
He heard her soon let out a series of high pitched clicks and gurgles. He felt his body stop being held and he opened his eyes to see her curled up.
He noticed the bit of her cheeks not being covered by her hands were green. It didn't take a genius to see she was upset. The other one was seemingly laughing as he heard something like a belly laugh while drinking water.
He doesn't know what came over him, but perhaps one kind gesture deserves another.
He slowly made his way over to her and tried to pet her head, his hand shaking from the strain, but he was able to let it rest on her head. "Shhhh. Shhh." He tried to return the kindness he was given, something was telling him to stop, but he continued.
Her head peaked out and she let out a giggle. Standing up and brushing herself off.
The food guy from the other day came in and Josh's body went ridged.
The green one gave him kindness, he has not.
The bowl was snatched up by the pink girl and brought over to him.
He took the bowl and was about to eat, but then he remembered what happened last time.
The two looked at him oddly and he debated explaining. 'Maybe they would listen?...' He heard a quiet voice speak in his head.
He pretended to drink some and made himself look sleepy.
They talked to each other and the pink one took the bowl and took a gulp.
He waited a few seconds and she was still standing, so he took the stew and guzzled it down like the last one. His belly ceasing it's cramps as it nearly filled him completely. He was unsure what the meat was, but it was food, so down the hatch.
He handed the bowl back and his body suddenly got tired. 'That food was good... Must have used up a lot of energy from the struggle.'
The two moved him over to were he normally slept, the metal being slightly cleaner in the area from him moving it out of the way during his sleep, or it sticking to him.
His head touched the ground and he was out.
M0R4L was staying on duty, she left the food bowl near the human's resting spot, it having been her fifth day on this new assignment. Trying to keep everything more professional than the odd exchange her third day was. 'Best not to confuse the human. He is just my assignment. Nothing more.' She has noticed that the human wasn't getting worse, but not better either, so it was decided that his rations would be doubled for the time being. Luckily, the first one wasn't drugged so he wouldn't be sleeping all the time, but the second one was always filled with tranquilizers.
She asked the doctor about that, and she said it was to keep the human in place and actually have a sleep schedule. M4 kind of understood. Being held captive in such a place would probably make an animal struggle to sleep out of fear.
The water bottle has been left in his room, as it was demonstrated to him. He understood it was safe to drink. it was a bit impressive to see him understand so quickly.
She brought up his showings intelligence to Dr. A, but she dismissed it as mimicking. She also advised from showing affection to the human. Being that it was to be used as a weapon against the enemy of the surface.
Another thing they were to do was gather samples when needed. Saliva was easy when he was asleep, but she did accidently cut too deep when she was ordered to take skin samples. The aids handling that part from now on.
Dr. A said that his blood was showing signs of improvement, so the salt free water is helping.
She had a few people come by to catch a glimpse of the human, but she wouldn't allow it when he was awake. She noticed how tense he was with the cook, so a random person would likely yield a similar, if not worse, reaction.
She has yet to use the shock collar. The papers said that frequent shocks were used to motivate the human, but she hasn't had to do such a measure yet. He might hesitate, but he hasn't outright refused an order yet, though, most of the orders at the moment have just been basic rehabilitative exercises to help rebuild the function the human seemed to have lost. He has been making slow improvements. He was able to crawl from one end of the room to the other a few times, but he still can't stand for more than a few seconds.
It makes her a bit sad to see the creature, which the first findings shown good ability, but now, doing worse than an early stage Octoling during pre boot camp. 'I hope to see him in his prime one day. He seemed to show so much potent-'
Her thoughts were broken by an odd noise. It was muffled and the pitch was deep. She put her ear to the door and used her training to zone out all other noise around her.
Singing.
She was hearing singing.
Nothing that she has ever heard, but it was definitely a melody.
Music outside of Octavio's performances were not allowed. Any outside or home brewed music was to be reported.
However, she listened. Curiosity getting the better of her.
Josh leaned against the back wall, looking at the dimly lit room around him, having seen his skin already turning a bit pale.
The same room, everyday... So dim... So cold...
He needed to keep himself from slipping, so he looked back to a song that he listened to back home when he felt the weight of the world on his back.
He took a deep breath and started to sing... As images of his life kept him grounded.
"Day to night, dark to light, Fall the sands of time.
Let the years like the gears Of a clock unwind.
In your mind walk through time Back to better days.
Memories, like a dream, Wash tears away.
Like a star in the sky, Darkness can't reach you.
Light the night, joy is light, Till the new dawn.
Cast away your old face Let go your spite,
With this mask I'll ask To borrow your light."
He looked at his arms as he repeated. Staring at the patches of skin removed and the scar left on his palm, still healing.
His mind was flooded with childhood memories.
Birthday parties...
Holidays...
Getting his license...
His first job that he hated...
His parents...
His skin patches stung as tears dripped onto them.
He repeated the song again, his voice shaking as he rocked himself back and forth.
M4 carefully opened the door just enough to look inside and see the state the human was in. 'Music is not a thing animals normally know... That wasn't any words in Octarian or Inkish... Where was this song from?...' She watched him continue to sing to himself as he rocked, not noticing the audience he now had. Seeing the anguish on it's face as it just kept repeating the song. Over and over. eventually just humming the tune after it's voice seemed to break. 'Poor thing...' She did her best to memorize the whole thing. 'C4 will not believe this.' She quietly closed the door as she waited for the shared shift to start.
Notes:
Lyrics from "Song of Healing" (Majora's Mask) - Vocal Cover by Nicki Jensen [w/ Lyrics] By Zelda Universe on Youtube.
Chapter 7: C4 yourself.
Chapter Text
C0R4L was standing watch at the human's cell. The elite melee Octoling was bored, but she remained at her post.
Nothing of note has happened so far, much to her disappointment. "M4 said that the human was singing... Well, I haven't heard a peep." In fact she hadn't seen him do much of anything.
She soon started to worry that her easy position to no longer be available, and opened the door to peak inside.
She surveyed the area, but the human was in the same spot that it was in before. "Hey, you alive?" She spoke up to the creature.
The human barely raised it's head up to give her a glance, before letting it's gaze drop back to it's feet. Seeming uninterested.
"Hey, I know you aren't supposed to move around a whole lot, but you barely moved an inch in nearly two whole days." She shut the door behind her and move towards the slouched human. "Come on, just, at least crawl a bit." She noted that he didn't even flinch as she got closer to him. "Yo, human, you sick?" She waved her hand in front of his face, but all that got was a huff out of him. 'What can motivate him to move... Oh, right.' She unclipped the remote from her waist and branded it in his line of sight. "This make you wanna listen?" She shook it around.
She noticed the human did react more to it, but not by much.
He looked at the remote with wider, but not by much, eyes, before something stunted his fear. He let out a sigh and hung his head lower.
Her arms dropped to her sides. "Huh... I was told that worked..." 'What now?...' She looked over the creature as best she could. She noticed that he looked much healthier, but his body language showed much tiredness, which shouldn't be there as she know that the beast was knocked out cold from the sedatives given to him every night. 'He seems healthy, but is uninterested to even move... Uninterested...!' A bulb went off in her head. "You are bored." She smiled as she thinks she figured it out. "I will be right back." She held a finger up as she hurried out the cell.
Dr. A1d was testing some of the human's fluids as she looked at them under a microscope. "Hmm... Despite the lesser number of genes... It shares some grate similarities to our own... Interesting." She dotted the notes down as she watched another set with how human blood reacts to certain ink borne diseases.
C4 knocked before barging in. Nearly making Dr. A nearly knock over a large sample size. "Dr. A!"
The doctor through her head back with a huff of frustration. "When I said to knock first, that means 'Wait for a response.'. Ugh!" She laid the clipboard down. "What is it?"
"I think the human is bored." C4 quickly responded.
Dr. A blinked a few times before raising a brow. "So?... Why is that a problem?"
"Well, he won't move." C4 tried to explain.
"He isn't supposed to be moving much." Dr. A rolled her eyes.
"But he hasn't moved an inch in two days!" C4 exaggerated.
"Did you try to give a command?"
"Yes. He only looked at me briefly."
"Did you brandish the remote?"
"Yes. He showed only slight fear for a moment."
"Did you administer a shock?" Dr. A raised her brow again.
C4 hesitated for a moment. "Well... He didn't show much fear for the remote, so I assumed he would have a similar reaction to actually being shocked."
Dr. A frowned. "You should go try that then. It shouldn't be too hard to get him to move with a few controlled shocks. Worked before."
For some reason, C4 didn't like the idea of shocking the human. Why? She wasn't really sure. "Isn't there a less harmful way to go about this?"
Dr. A's frown turned to a scowl. "Do not begin to sympathize for the human. He is a tool to better Octarian society, not to be a pet." She roughly poked C4's chest a few times. "I put him in your care since you two seem to be smart enough to do it, but I won't hesitate to replace you. Now, go do your job. Get him to move. We need to get him back into training shape." She turned back to her workstation. "Dismissed." She waved her off with her back to C4.
C4 hesitated for a second, but soon stood at attention. "Yes, ma'am." She turned to lean and her eyes glanced at the various items on the shelves. Something catching her eye.
Dr. A1d heard a small shuffled before hearing the door. She turned back, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. "Hmm... Must of just been a dome shake." She went back to work.
C4 held the item she snatched close to her chest. The small ball looked insignificant enough to not be noticed off the shelf. The ball was clear and a bit hard, but had a bit of give. Likely made of some form of rubber. There was some strange statue in the middle. It had a strange yellow creature with two red dots on it's face. She suspected it was some kind of toy, so she took it.
C4 opened the cell to see that the human was still in the same spot, the dust looked a small bit disturbed, but likely just small shuffles. "Hey." She tried to get the human's attention, but he didn't even look up this time. "Hey!" She tried again, but all this did was make the human flinch for a second. "Uh. I got you something." She lightly tossed the ball towards him.
The ball bounced a few times, but it didn't have enough force to bounce the whole way. It rolled to beside the human.
His head turned to it and picked it up slowly. His face remaining uninterested, but his eyes soon went wide as he inspected the object. Turning it over a few times. He gave it a few squeezes and a smile grew on his lips.
"Guess you just needed a toy." C4 gave a sigh of relief, but soon went to panic as she saw tears spill from the human's eyes. "Shit! What's wrong?" She went to move a little closer, but she was stopped dead in her tracks by what she heard.
Laughter.
The human was laughing as he rubbed the ball to his cheek. A smile completely plastered on his face. He gave the ball a few test bounces before repeating his nuzzle/cry/laughing session.
"Huh?" The Octoling was a bit confused by his reaction. "You must have really wanted a toy..." 'Or... Perhaps it is familiar to him?... No, of course not. That thing must have been fished up ages ago, and the human was reportedly in it's young adult stage.' She brainstormed a bit as the ball zoomed past her, bouncing off the walls of the cell.
The human tried to get up and chase it, but his legs must have been asleep from not moving for so long as he couldn't stand.
He moved a bit too fast for the caretaker's liking. "Hold up, you just went form no movement to zooming around, you are going to hurt yourself!" C4 ran after the ball and caught it.
The human looked at her with worry.
C4 saw this. "I ain't takin it. Here." She threw it at the ground and it bounced once before making it to the human, who caught it.
He looked at the ball and her for a few times. He took a deep breath and threw it back in a similar fashion.
C4 caught it, no problem. Soon, she threw it back.
The human followed suit after reaching for it and grabbing it.
The two soon made a game of tossing the ball back and forth, having it bound on the ground once. If someone let it bounce twice the thrower would look at the other smugly.
This went on for some time. The ball was in the Octoling's grasp when a knock was heard on the door. 'Shit! Got to hide the ball so nobody can snitch!' She had to think of a place fast.
The door opened to the chef holding the bowl of food he brought every feeding time. "Got the human's food."
C4 walked up to the chef and took the bowl from him. "Thanks. We were just getting done with exercising the human, so this will help a lot."
The chef looked at her weirdly. "Uh... Sure. Whatever." His gaze seemed to drift downward as he saw a weird bulb coming from one side of the female's shirt. "You okay? You seem to have a growth." He pointed to the lump.
C4 saw this as an opportunity to get him gone quick. "Rude! That is one of my ink sacks, thank you very much. One is just blooming a bit early for mating season. Stop looking, perv!" She pretended to look disgusted and half covered her chest with her arms.
The chef soon blushed and looked away. "Ah! S-sorry, miss! I will... Just see myself out. Have a pleasant day." He hurried off.
C4 snickered as she went over to the human, who was slightly out of breath. She handed the bowl to him, but his eyes were looking around. "Oh, here is your ball." She unzipped her top a bit and reached in, taking the ball out and handing it to him. "Try to keep that safe." She zipped back up her top and put a finger over her lips with a wink.
The human seemed to take it a bit differently than expected as a blush seemed to hint on his face as he dryly swallowed. His mind soon went to the food, which he guzzled like always. He was nearly done when he stopped.
C4 looked at him quizzingly.
The human lifted the bowl towards her.
"Come, on. I know you aren't done. You always finish those." She looked at him unamused.
The human did a quick fake out of a drink and then pointed to the bowl and her.
"You want me to eat the rest?" She took the bowl and did the same pointing.
The human nodded then pointed to the ball and himself showing a wide smile before pushing the bowl towards her ever so slightly.
C4 didn't understand why he would give up some of his ration. Nobody in the domes would ever do such a thing, even if they hated the meal they were given. All was eaten. She debated refusing, but her stomach did a quiet growl, not having a lunch break till her shift was done. 'It isn't the drugged one... So, it should be fine.' She took a sip, but soon downed the rest as for some reason, the human's food always was of high quality. Full of big chunks of meat and fat, with the gravy being made from some of the melted fat. It was a meal usually reserved for the top of ranks , like herself, to get every now and again, but the lowly human seemed to get it everyday. 'Strange...' She licked her lips and sighed. "I needed that." She gave the human a few head pats then went over to where the bowls were collected at the end of the week.
The human looked at her expectantly with the ball in hand.
C4 shook her head. "I got to stand watch. My shift is almost over, but we can play tomorrow." She waved as she went to the door.
The human slouched a bit and went back to his usual spot, but he did bounce the ball a few times in front of him. Happy to have the ball with it's little electric mouse prisoner. 'Same boat, huh?' He let out a dry chuckle.
Chapter 8: Shocking Developments
Notes:
Sorry if this is a bit of a short one, got a lot happening currently (I am okay, though, just busy.) ,so motivation is a bit thin. Hope this tides you guys over for a bit. :)
Chapter Text
Octavio waited patiently at the starting line of the training grounds, waiting for the arrival of the human.
"Come on, H. Can't leave Octavio waiting." A voice was heard down the hall.
"Yeah, I know you aren't 100% right now, but the boss' orders." Another voice was heard.
Octavio spotted the two new handlers that he was notified by Dr. A1d about. "Ah, two of my top specialist. How goes the new assignment. Not the most exciting, i would presume?" He asked to seem polite, but his tone showed no real interest.
M4 saluted and stood at the ready. "M0R4L reporting: Things have been going well, sir. This new assignment might not be action oriented, but I wouldn't call it dull." She soon shut her mouth.
C4 saluted and stood, much less stiff, but still at attention. "C0R4L reporting: I find that watching the human is much more entertaining than it sounds, sir."
Octavio eyed up the human.
The human glared back, but did not make a move.
"Hmm... I see you are beginning to understand your place here." Octavio walked towards him and circled around. "You had the doctors worried for a moment, what with your little collapse and loss of body mass." He poked and prodded the human.
The human gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to clobber the giant octopus with the weird helmet.
"Still less mass than when we found him, but I plan to change that." Octavio turned his attention to the two handlers. "I recall hearing you call him 'H'. Mind explaining?"
Both flinched, but M4 spoke up. "Well... You see, sir... We thought it be best to refer to the creature in a quick and simple phase, to better let it understand when we call him, as he seems to have difficulty understanding speech. After a few attempts, we found that just calling him 'H' seems to work." She explained.
C4 piped up right after her. "The name was picked from the research packets we were give when we started the assignment. Since he couldn't grasp 'Specimen' we found just 'H' works."
The human's eyes would move to however said H.
Octavio would smirk if he could. "I see. Then, perhaps you can get him to run the course. It has been quite a while since he has attempted it, and I want to see how far back we are in terms of progress."
They both nodded. "Yes, sir!" The two soon got behind H and pushed him towards the starting line.
H did not break his glare with Octavio until he was right at the line. Seeing as there was no way around it, he got ready.
Octavio smirked as the human's back was turned to him. 'You still have some fight in you. That's good, but your temper is another issue.' "Prepare the countdown." He ordered.
M4 nodded and stood by the start button, grabbing a stop watch, unsure if the human was up to the task. 'He has shown improvement, but his muscle mass is still less than he had...' "Ready... Go!" She pressed the buzzer and started the timer.
H ran forward in a sprint, but it was soon apparent that he had a much less graceful time through the course.
He would stumble over his feet...
Bump into corners...
Struggle on the climbs...
And slowly lost speed as he got near the end...
The human's chest heaved as he crossed the line again, leaning against a pole. A thin layer of moister already accumulating.
"Two minutes... Forty sever seconds." M4 called out.
C4 checked the time. "Better than I thought he would do, given how he looked out there."
Octavio huffed. "That is slower than even a larva. Make him do it again." He ordered.
C4 looked over at H and saw how worn out he was. "Sir, if I may... He is already pretty winded." She tried to reason.
"All the more reason to make him go again. I expected a loss in time, but that is unacceptable. Do. It. Again." He squinted at the handlers.
M4 and C4 didn't want to incur their leaders wrath, so they begrudgingly pulled H back to the line.
H looked at the two with confusion as his breathing calmed down a bit, but he still took deep breaths.
"You gotta go again, H." C4 told him as she lightly nudged him.
H did not look happy, but he saw the worry on their face, his gaze moving over to the overgrown octopus. He let out a huff, but got ready.
M4 stood at the buzzer again. "Ready... Go!" She hit the button.
H struggled even harder on this one.
He slammed into walls for cornering too fast...
Fell on his face twice...
Took even longer to lift himself up on the climb...
And barely made it to the end before falling over...
H heaved even harder as his face was drenched this time.
M4 looked at the timer and swallowed hard. "..."
Octavio did not like wasting time. "The results?" He raised a brow.
M4's mouth opened and closed a few times, but she knew she couldn't do that for long. "Three minutes... twenty three seconds..." Her hair went a bit limp.
C4 winced and looked down at the human, who was occasionally coughing with it's deep breaths.
Octavio did not look pleased. "This is unacceptable! The human must learn to do better." He stomped a tentacle onto the metal floor, the calloused limb making the floor give off a loud tang. "Make him do it again, and this time, use the collar."
C4 looked between her superior and the human. "Sir, the human is in no shape to go again."
Octavio marched his way over to her. "You may be the handlers, but I am still your superior. Now, do as I say, or you can be demoted to Splatlands combers!"
M4 and C4 paled at the thought. To be stuck walking the dessert for weeks on end in a straight line, only to go a little ways off and turn back around to look for scraps and remains of the weak. It was a hellish job, meant for those who disrespected the DJ or his methods.
"Come on, H. You gotta get up and do it again." M4 tried to help him up.
"What did I just say?" Octavio spoke up, making her flinch. "I said to use the collars. Make him get himself up."
The two looked at each other, then at the human, who was trying to sit himself up. They didn't want to use the shock collars, since the human hasn't outright disobeyed them...
But orders were orders...
C4 was the one who pulled out the remote before M4 could. 'Sorry, H...' She set the shock to low and pressed the button.
The human seized up and let out a gasp before a quick yell, as his body was shocked. He looked up to see that C4 was the one to do it. His face showing about as much shock as he was administered a moment ago.
C4 took a deep breath. "H... You have to go again." She tried to keep her hand steady as she pointed to the starting line. Soon shakingly hovering her hand over the button. Her curls seemingly twisting tighter.
H did not want to test her, so he stumbled to the line.
M4 sunk in on herself a small bit as she stood at the buzzer. 'He isn't going to do better... That is obvious...' She peeked over to Octavio, who had a look of sick satisfaction. 'He knows that.' Her hair threatened to curl up like a fist, but she kept it mostly under wraps.
The button was pressed and the human started a jog.
"Not fast enough. Shock him." Octavio ordered.
C4 hesitated a moment before pressing the button.
H grabbed the collar as his body locked up a second. He soon picked up the pace as best he could.
He unfortunately tripped and fell on his face.
"Shock him for every time he falls or fails to keep up with a task." Octavio kept his eyes on the human as he spoke. 'You will break soon. I know it.'
C4 nodded and administered a shock. 'Sorry, H.'
The human got up and continued.
Every fall was a shock...
Every unsuccessful climb as a shock...
Every corner hit was a shock...
Stopping to catch his breath was a shock...
Being still too long because of a shock... was a shock.
The human crossed the line and collapsed face first, becoming unmoving, minus his chest.
M4 looked at the time. "F-five min-"
Octavio held up a tentacle. "I know he took longer." He looked down at the human, before turning to make his leave. "He obviously has a lot of progress to make up. Next time, why don't you actually do your jobs and train him, instead of just letting him laze about?" He asked the two, but didn't let them answer. "Take him to his cell. Keep him form dying. Despite how you may see it, I want the human alive and fit." He walked towards the exit, stopping right at the doorway, but he did not turn around. "If he happens to die due to negligence, then I guess it is your faults." He left the three as he walked down the hall.
M4 and C4 looked at each other with similar sorrowful gazes, before moving the look to the human. The two lifted him by his shoulders and dragged him back to his cell. The two not saying a word, but an air of understanding was met. They saw the scorch marks on the human's neck, where the barbs of the collar were located.
'H is in trouble...'
Chapter 9: Attitude Problems
Notes:
Not sure if we are back or not, but I felt like making a chapter.
Things aren't back to normal just yet, but it is getting there. (Nothing to worry about, promise.)
Hope I still got it, and that you enjoy. :)
Warning: Not so friendly human in this chapter. :(
Chapter Text
M4 and C4 were both inside the human's cell. The two were trying their best to get the human to calm down.
"Look, I know that you are mad at us, but we had to do it." M4 tried to calmly state, her hands out to signal 'calm down'.
Specimen H. stood slightly leaned down, fist and teeth clenched, and a low rumble escaped his throat. His glare was staring daggers into the two, but he didn't make a move.
It had been like this since he woke up...
*Earlier*
Josh felt the skin around his neck cry out in pain. It made him awake with a gasp.
"Fuc-Gurk" He flinched hard from the soreness that flared up from speaking. 'Fucking hell...' He reached up towards the spot of pain, and his fingers curved around the collar.
He felt searing hot pain from where he touched, and his fingers felt a heat radiating off of it, as well as some kind of crust in a few areas. "Gah!" 'Fuck!... Damnit...' He retracted his hand and took a few slow deep breaths.
'My throat is fucked... Talking hurts like hell... Most likely burned to hell and back... Why is it?...-!' His memory soon came back to the rigorous laps he was forced to do. 'That motherfucking octopus!...' He wanted so much to yell out, but he knew he would just hurt more, so only a growl rumbled in his throat.
'Bastard... couldn't just let me take a break... And then the shocks by.... THEM.' His mind went back to the two who have been watching him. 'They are the ones who actually shocked me... After all the nice way they have been treating me, compared to the other bastards... Was it all an act?-Those bitches!'
Josh felt his body tense with anger as his head turned fuzzy, the growl turned to an actual yell that sounded strained and broken. "GahchraaAAAAAAAA!" His vision soon blurred with red as the pain only made him more pissed off.
He had to do something... Anything, to let this rage go. He first threw his ball he saw on the ground and chucked it with all his might. It ricocheted off the wall with such force that it caused the room to vibrate with noise, causing the human's headache to grow even worse.
"GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAH!" Not satisfied, he punched the metal wall with reckless abandon.
He felt a snap, but he didn't register it. Only taking a second to catch his breath.
The door to the cell swung open quickly and both his 'caretakers' ran in with shocked faces, which were even more shocked when they saw the blood starting to drip from his hand.
M4's hand went up to her mouth with her gasp.
C4 looked a little more calm, but still showed concern. "Hey, you need to lay down. You still aren't recovered from yesterday." She took a step towards him, but stopped as the human went into a defensive stance and a growl started to reverberate off the walls.
M4 tried to take a slightly more gentle approach. "H,-" She saw the human's eyes snap to her. She tried to keep from flinching. "You need to calm down. I understand that you might be mad at us, but you can't be hurting yourself." She made herself look a bit smaller and started to inch closer to him.
The human's bleeding hand wobbled as it was balled up, obviously in pain, but the human showed no concern. The shaking grew stronger as M4 got closer and closer.
M4 could see the deep seeded anger behind his eyes, they were both analyzing and dazed at the same time. "It will be okay." She spoke quietly as she got ever closer, trying to make herself look as harmless as possible.
C4 saw something change in the human's posture as her partner was close to arms reach. She noticed his arm muscle tense. "Wait!-"
The human saw M4's face turn and he swung. His injured fist making contact with the green Octoling's cheek.
The force was surprising, given the human's wreaked body. M4 was launched a short distance away, her cheek having a red blotch on it.
The human made a step towards the down handler.
C4 sprung into action, launching herself at the human, ready to pin him down, but the human had different plans.
Specimen H. grabbed C4 by the throat with his good hand, holding her in the air as she gasped for it.
C4 was trying to pry his hand away, but his grip was too much. She could feel her ink circulation lowering, her vision soon going blurry.
The human was seemingly merciful as he chucked her away, her back slamming into a wall.
C4 took deep breaths as she felt her throat heal, trying to get on her feet. She reached for the remote. 'Got to stop him...'
The human spotted it and charged.
He was soon staggered by something jumping on his back and yanking on his collar, irritating the wound and making the pain too much for him to continue his movements.
M4 hand to act fast, so she did the first thing to come to mind. Her gambit seeming to work as the human both choked and yelled out in pain. "I am sorry, H, but I have to do this!" She screamed over his cries.
C4 watched the human slowly lose the fight in him as his body started to wobble, tears soon filled the human's eyes, and he fell into a heap.
M4 let go as soon as he was on the ground and helped her partner. "You okay?"
C4 nodded. "Y-yeah... That was unexpected... He shouldn't be that strong."
M4 nodded back. "He didn't quite seem to be all there. He has never acted like this to us before... But his past notes show aggression."
"Well, I would probably be pretty pissed if I had been shocked so much. Not like we aren't to blame for that..." C4 rubbed her neck to make sure everything felt back to normal.
M4 looked over at the human, he was curled up and shaking, holding his bleeding hand in his other one. Tears pouring down his cheeks and fresh blood now slowly streaking down his neck from the scraped burns from her choking maneuver. She made a few steps towards him, but her hand was grabbed by her partner.
"He is dangerous." C4 warned.
M4 looked at her then back at him. A feeling of hurt and empathy filling her chest. "He was always been dangerous, but we make him so." She quietly walked over to the human.
He saw a green blob coming closer in his peripheral vision. The human curled up more, tucking his hands under his chin, preparing for punishment. He flinched when he felt a cold hand touch his head, but he was confused when the hand started to rub back and forth gently.
M4 made a quiet gurgling hum as she petted him. "It's okay, H. You are safe right now. No need to fear." She continued to pet the human.
H. had cautiously turned his head up to look at her, seeing a gentle caring expression, not a cold and resentful one. The hands on his head soon starting to gently scratch. He wasn't sure what compelled him to do it, but he moved his head to lay in her lap.
"That's it... You are safe. No shocks, not pushing you to your limit, just me, you, and C4." She continued to hum, soon making a tune out of it. Trying to replicate the song that the human would sing to himself.
H. recognized the song, his body soon growing more tired and hurt more as his body relaxed. The tears not coming as much, but they still steadily dripped onto the Octoling's legs. Soon joining in on the humming, but his was interrupted by his sobs.
C4 saw the display and tried her luck, making her way over to his back and started to rub small circles into it with her palm. "It's will be okay, H." She tried her best to match the hums. Not being as musically inclined as her partner.
...
The human would collapse from exhaustion in a few minutes, giving the two a chance to doctor the human's hand and neck a bit, after cleaning themselves up a bit.
M4 kept his hand raised as C4 bandaged him. "It was quite scary to see what he is capable of..." The green Octoling pursed her lips.
C4 finished up bandaging him, putting the roll in the first aid kit they were given for emergencies. "Yeah. I can definitely see what Octavio sees in him. Humans are no joke..."
M4 lowered his hand gently. "He can be so gentle, but this was a complete switch flip... I am worried for when he wakes back up..."
"If he does, you can just pull that move on him again." C4 tried to reassure her.
M4 grimaced. "I didn't want to do that, but I couldn't think of what to do, I left my remote outside, plus, I didn't want to shock him in the first place." She felt her chest tighten as her thoughts flipped back and forth from his prone form, his raging strength, and his kind yet scared treatment he showed towards the two. "He doesn't deserve to be treated like this..."
C4 saw her expression and tried to steer her back. "We are under orders, we can't go against Octavio's wishes, it would be a death sentence." She looked over at his form. "It doesn't matter what is right or wrong, all that matters is that we follow orders." She felt so helpless in his grip, not ever having been that close to death before. She had been splatted before, sure, but never had she been choked... It honestly made her feel a small bit excited at her core. 'So strong...'
M4 nodded. "I know, I just hope he lets up a bit on him. Being pushed this far is obviously bad for H..." She gently moved his head off her legs, feeling the cold air hit the warmed up spot. She let his head down on the floor, but before raising up, she kissed his forehead.
C4 gave her a look as the two walked to the door. "The hell was that?"
M4 tried to hide a blush. "I just thought it would help calm him down." She tried to explain.
C4 raised a brow. "He is out cold, can't get much calmer."
M4 tried to brush it off. "Whatever, I was just trying to help."
C4 looked skeptical. "Whatever you say." She shrugged.
Josh was lost in a sea of pain and anger as he slept, his skin felt like it was on fire and frozen at the same time, but he strangely felt a calming warmth spread throughout himself as if somebody was hugging him. The pain going a bit at bay, but he still felt it lick his skin.
Chapter 10: Complex Feelings
Notes:
Wow, a chapter that ISN'T completely messed up, how about that?
Hope you enjoy! :D
Chapter Text
M4 sat on her stool outside the human's cell, she was rereading the packet that was given to her and C4 when they started doing this assignment. It being the really only reading material they were allowed to have near the human. 'Octavio's orders...'
It hadn't been little more than a day since what happened with H.'s outburst.
'He was so angry...' M4 grimaced as his enraged form seemed to still be fresh in her memory. 'But... He looked so scared as well...' She saw the mindless panic behind his glare, the trembling amidst his seething, and the power coming from a creature that thought is was about to die. 'He struck me...' Her hand hovered to where she was punched, it being fully healed.
'I felt my beak nearly crack, and threw C4 like she was nothing... With how worn out the course had made him... he shouldn't have had that much strength. The human is full of surprises.' She put the folder down and looked down at her hands as she laid them in her lap. "He was pushed to his limits, and that was the consequence." She spoke aloud, but soon shut her mouth. 'Speaking freely like this is dangerous, keep it in your head, stupid.'
M4 took a deep breath and tried to get her thinking back on track. 'H. doesn't deserve to be treated like this... He clearly has some form of intelligence, as he can hold grudges and even knows how to create music... His emotions also seem a bit too intense to just be animalistic... But, there is nothing I can really do for him. We are all to stay below the surface, until Octavio reclaims the surface... If we ever will...'
She let out a sigh. 'I can't just let him go, it would be a death sentence for both of us... But, what else can I do?...' She pondered a bit on what she could do to make his stay a bit more bearable. 'What would the human enjoy, that I can get him?...' She couldn't ask for a toy, due to the fact C4 was denied one before. She couldn't ask for different food, as his rations were ordered by Octavio himself and were the highest quality ration available. 'One of his few kindnesses...'
She ran through a list of possible things, then it hit her. "I know what I can do." A determined look graced her face for a few seconds, then she replaced it with her normal neutral look as she entered the human's cell. The door creaking alerting him to her presence.
The human looked up from his spot against the wall. His eyes widened and his body visibly tensed, but not showing the anger as before... Just fear.
M4 raised her hands and slowly took the remote off her belt loop, placing it on the ground and kicking it away to a corner farthest from either of them. "I am not going to hurt you, H. Just let me loom you over." She put on a small smile as she walked slowly over to him, keeping her hands up and palms open to show no tricks.
H. was still tense as she came closer, but less so from the display. His head ducking a bit to hide his neck as best he could without it hurting.
M4 pursed her lips for a second, seeing the human in pain. "I know, I did a number on you yesterday... I am sorry about that. Really I am." She got a bit closer, almost in arms reach. (Her arms.)
The human closed his eyes and looked ready for something bad to happen...
However, something bad never came.
H. felt the familiar sensation of a cold gentle hand on his head, slowly rubbing back and forth.
It took a few seconds, but he opened his eyes to see the green Octoling was petting him with a small smile on her face.
M4 made sure to smile a little wider when she saw he was looking at her. "See, I am not going to hurt you, H." She continued to pet him and added a few scratches here and there.
H. felt himself calm down a bit as he was trying to trust her again. His body was still super sore from yesterday, his hand was killing him, despite it being bandaged up.
The pain was apparent to the Octoling as she saw tears start to well up in his eyes. "Oh... I bet you are still hurting... I wish I could give you something for it, but then I would be questioned about it... Then I would have to tell them about what happened..." She too looked at him with a hurt expression. She wanted to help, but was limited in what she could do in the moment, so she just upped what se was currently doing.
H. felt slender arms go around his top half as he felt the top of his head being squished by two soft pillows.
M4 had leaned over a bit and started giving the human a hug, being sure to rub circles into his back as she started to hum his favorite tune to him. "It's okay... Let it out... You are safe right now... That's it." She spoke between hums.
The human felt himself start to be rocked back and forth, the humming seeming to make his body relax even more. Like his handler's voice was a siren song to his fear. He reached up and wrapped his arms around her waist, adding to the rocking and slowly added his voice to the melody.
She was a bit surprised that he reciprocated the hug, but she felt the warmth coming off of him, it giving her own sense of calming. "I can't give you much to help, but I can offer this..." She lightly tapped his head.
H. stopped his rocking and looked up to her.
"Companionship." She whispered and leaned down, leaving a kiss at the top of his forehead. She tilted her head and smiled with her eyes closed.
H. was stunned. He was unsure of the octo girl's intentions. He worried that this might be a trick of some kind, but his memories go back to how the green one has treated him since she was assigned to him. He decided to let himself fall for it, if it was a trap, it was the closest he got to comfort and kindness in this whole damn place. He reached up and pulled her into a slightly tighter hug.
M4 felt herself get pulled by his grasp, the human's arms locking her in place, but not squeezing her. His face was squished into her exposed midsection and she couldn't help but let out a few quiet giggles from his warm breath tickling her cold skin. "Hehe... Seems you accept." She started to pet his head again with a little more speed and pressure, but not too much. "I'm happy that this is working." She gave his head a quick peck, but went back to petting.
The two stayed in that position for a while, but eventually the human let go of her.
M4 would then sit down in front of H. and keep him company till it was her time to switch.
The cell door creaked and C4 walked in. "Oh, thank goodness you are in here. Was worried for a second, since you weren't on your stool." She saw how close her partner and the human were to each other. "Why are you putting yourself in reach of him, he could snap again, and then what?" She noticed the collar remote was not on M4, soon spotting it in the corner. "Why is that over there?" She pointed to the remote.
M4 rolled her eyes. "He was scared of it, so I put it over there. I have been like this of over an hour, he is perfectly fine to approach, so long as you do so the right way." She explained and stood up.
H. raised his good hand as a sign of 'Wait.', but he stopped himself short. Unsure of what to do, now that the pink one had shown up.
M4 gave a melancholy smile and gently patted the human's cheek. "It's okay, H. It's just my my turn for a break. I will be back later, promise."
The human laid his hand over hers before she could pull it back, he nuzzled her hand a second before giving a quick kiss to it, then let it go.
M4 tried to hide a blush as she felt her chest warm a bit. "Be good." She turned to pick up the remote and started to exit the cell.
C4 was bewildered and followed her quickly out. "The hell was that about?"
M4 tried to not show much emotion as she started to walk down the hall. "I don't know what you are talking about."
C4 quickly got in front of her partner and held out her arms to stop her. "THAT. You acting all goody goody with the human. We are under orders to care for him. Not care about him!" She hush yelled at her, not wanting anyone to pick up on their conversation. Sound travels far in these halls.
M4 huffed and pushed her partners arm down. "I am merely making the human be more co-operative. How I do that is allowed by our guidelines. However you see fit to accomplish that, that is your business." She tried to cover her tracks as she started to make to pass her. "By the way, don't lie to yourself, I see how you look at him." She gave her the side eye, but her face remained neutral as she made her way back to her barracks.
C4 was left speechless, then let out a huff before going to her post on the opposite stool. 'She is hiding something...' Se crossed her arms and grumbled to herself. "The hell she even mean?" 'I see how you look at him.' She heard her partners voice replay in her head.
She tried to deny it, but her belly felt a tinge of warmth. "It's too damn early for this." 'Season isn't for another week.' She continued to grumble as she sat with an unpleasant expression.
Chapter 11: Simple Instincts (Spicy)
Notes:
Something is going on between our two handlers, what could it be? Sorry if things are moving a bit fast, just thought it was time to get to this these parts. :o
Warning: This gets spicy.
Chapter Text
C4 was trying to clear her mind, but her partner's action kept her attention. 'Why would she let him kiss her hand, and why was she putting her hands on him like that?... Plus, she kissed his head yesterday...' "She is being weird." She huffed.
'I really shouldn't care, but she knows we aren't supposed to be too goody goody with him.' She was perplexed on several aspects of it.
Her hand hovered up to her neck. 'He nearly killed me yesterday, and she is treating him like he is a baby seal. She should be more cautious.' She held her throat and did a test squeeze. Feeling the muscle give a bit as she continued to add pressure, but as soon as she was starting to feel her throat close, she couldn't grip any harder, soon letting go and taking a breath. 'He was able to completely cut off my breathing... I can't even get half that.'
Her body let out a shiver as she could feel how hard she was handled still fresh in her mind. 'I've never been stopped so easily... It takes at least three basic foot soldiers to pin me down, and he held me up with one hand.' Her ink ran cold as she the thought of the human easily killing her sent a shiver throughout her. Sure, they have pads, but she had never been splatted in that way. To have your throat crushed and slowly fade.
Her mind was swirling with coming to terms with nearly splatting.
'Would I even splat?...'
'He is a force to be reckoned with...'
'Is that the power that Octavio wants?...'
'Could he have done that the whole time?...'
'He isn't even at full strength...'
'What is he at full strength?...'
Her thoughts continued on this path, but a few other thoughts soon creeped up, quiet at first, but soon gaining volume.
'How many troops could he go through if he was fully unleashed?...'
'His power is impressive...'
'Would he eat us, given the chance?...'
'His form is exotic...'
'The human seems intelligent... But by how much?...'
'The last of his kind...'
'We are lucky to have caught him, and not the other way around...'
'No human females...'
'What would he do with us if we were caught?...'
'No human mates...'
'His kind would likely kill us all if he weren't the last.'
'Human needs a mate...'
'Are female humans as dangerous?...'
'I need mate...'
'What does a female human look like?...'
'Need mate with strong genes...'
'Are they bigger than males, like Octolings are?...'
'Human has strong genes...'
'I should mate with hu-!'
"Ahh!" C4 shook her head and slapped her hand against her cheeks. She could feel her ink rush to them, surely making them tint pink. 'Clear your head, dumbass!'
She felt a heat emanate in her gut, laying a hand on her stomach caused a small pit of achiness. 'Shit... Season is affecting me early.' She took a few deep breaths, but she could feel her chest tighten. 'Fuck... Already?'
Every year, an Octoling goes into season. This is when their body is ready to mate. Now, given their current status in the domes, the troops are under orders to not mate until they are relieved of duty, or given permission straight from Octavio. The reason, there would definitely be too many mouths to feed and already cramped living space would be filled even more. There are rumors of certain Octolings being chosen to be year round breeders, but nobody has able to prove this.
During season, a female Octoling grows in size by a few inches, and their ink sacks swell up. This is to be a showing of good genes. Bigger ink sacks = better fighters. Males don't receive any size, but their colors gain a more neon hue, making them more eye-catching. Both males and females also secrete hormones to show they are ready for children.
C4 had already noticed her chest piece being tighter, but she hadn't started secreting. 'I am still early...' She breath a sigh of relief. 'I still got time.'
She tried to get her mind off it, but the more she tried, the more her get feeling grew. She needed relief, but she couldn't leave her post.
C4 huffed and puffed. "Fuck... Need to clear my head..." 'I could ask for leave... No, they would never approve it... Fuuuck this is annoying...'
Luckily, there was a distraction, however it was a bit of an annoying one.
The cook came down the hall with the bowl of food in hand. Like he did every day. "Got the human's food." The cooks teal hair seemed to be a slight shade brighter than normal, but otherwise, he was the same. He took one look at C4 and knew what was up. "Hey, I see you are a bit early too." He looked up and down the hall a bit before whispering. "Y'know, we could help each other out a bit." He was being way more foreword, due to his hormones taking the lead.
C4 scoffed at him. "As if I would go for a scrawny one like you."
The cook leaned forward a bit more. "C'mon. We ain't got to do anything too crazy. We could use our mou-"
"I am about to pop you in the mouth if you don't get out of here!" She glared daggers into the cook, letting out a growl.
The cook paled a bit and quickly put the bowl down before running. "S-sorry ma'am!" He yelled down the hall.
C4 was huffing even more now and kicked the wall. "Fuck! Now I am even more worked up." She yelled over the ringing her foot caused. She grumbled as she picked up the bowl and headed into the human's cell.
The human was startled by the commotion and was even more on edge as he saw how angry the pink Octoling was.
C4's eyes met his and as she got closer, she saw him take a more defensive stance. It made her eyes glaze over a small bit, as she was taken back to yesterday. 'He still has so much fight in him, despite being scared... That's hot.' Her gaze went from mad to a smug smile. "Lightbulb."
The human still stood at the ready to throw down if need be, but his body trembled a bit.
C4 wanted to get a closer look, but also didn't want to attacked again, so she took one out of M4's book. "Calm down. I am not going to hurt you." She took the remote off her belt and started to make her way over to him.
H. saw the display and lowered his fist, confusion being clear on his face.
"See? I am not going to hurt you. I got your food, see?" She waved the bowl in front of him, but just as he reached for it, she pulled back. "Nuh uh uh. If you want this." She placed the bowl next to the remote and swayed her hips as she bent over. "You got to help me with something." She raised back up and continued to sway as she approached him.
H. was even more confused, not sure why she was acting like this all of a sudden. He backed up a bit, but his back met the cold metal wall.
As she got close, C4 got on her hands and knees, slowly crawling over to him and making him lower his legs by gently pressing on them. "See, I promise not to be rough." She pursed her lips and gave the air a kiss in front of him.
H. raised a brow as his face started to heat up from the display in front of him.
"Let me ask you something." She knew the answer, and the fact he couldn't give one. She sat herself onto the human's thigh, doing one slow grind forward till she was face to face with the human. "You ever been with an Octoling?" She gave a half lidded smile as she reached up and slowly pulled on her top's zipper.
H.'s eyes soon went wide from the realization on what was happening.
M4 made her way to do her joint shift with C4, having brought a bigger uniform for her partner, as she noticed her body already starting to change. "It always hits you different every year." She hummed a tune she had made up in her spare time as she reached the cell, finding C4 to not be at her stool. "Huh." 'She must be playing with H. Hopefully they had made up.' She opened the cell and was shocked by what she saw.
C4 was busy grinding hard against H.'s hips as said human had his good hand on one of her ink sacks, massaging it, and the bad one laid on her lower back. C4's uniform being discarded to the side, having a few splotches of ink on the fake leather. The human's bottoms seeming to be at his ankles, also covered in ink. The two were in a lip lock as they laid in a small puddle of similar, yet lighter colored ink. His food bowl showing no signs of being touched.
M4 quickly slammed the door behind "What the fuck are you doing!?" She screamed, gaining the attention of the two, who looked at her with wide eyes.
C4 tried to say something but her body soon tensed up and relief washed over her, which was quickly replaced with embarrassment. "Uh... Round 4?" She awkwardly laughed.
H. was trying really hard not to make matters worse by keeping himself from doing what the pink Octoling just did. It was proving difficult though.
Chapter 12: Fuming Anger and Taboo Temptation (Spicy 2: Electric Boogaloo)
Notes:
Yeah, a bit of an odd chapter, still a bit spicy. Lots of dirty talk and seduction. Probably the closest you guys will get to full on smut, way more than Big Guy. Hope you enjoy! :)
If you want to make a smut fic out of this chapter, I would read it. Same with if you choose to use the Big Guy version of mating day. Or just of a human and splatoon characters. Haven't seen a female human x inkling/octoling on AO3 yet.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
M4 was showing a side she rarely ever showed. "How could you do that with him!" She yelled at her partner as said partner stayed sitting on the human's lap.
C4 rolled her eyes. "Calm your sacks. It isn't that big a deal." She raised up a bit and turned herself around.
H. felt the cold air hit his special area, making him shiver, but couldn't raise his shorts, due to C4 still sitting on his legs.
M4 blushed hard as she notice the puddle beneath them grow a bit wider, she shook it away to focus. "You had sex with the human, we aren't supposed to do that!"
C4 stood up quickly and tilted her head as she started her way towards M4. "Where does it say that, cuz I have read that packet three times at least. it doesn't say anything about that."
M4 soon got closer, but refrained from touched her. "We are not to get attached with the human!" She shoved the spare uniform into C4's chest. "And make yourself decent, what if somebody comes in here?"
C4 snickered to herself. "Heh. Somebody already has come inside."
*smack*
H. looked over at the two, worried for how things will play out, while also trying to get the sticky ink mixture off his legs so he could put on his shorts.
M4 held her hand up. "Take this seriously!"
C4 rubbed her cheek for a second. "Okay, ow. Second, what about you?" She moved her face closer to make their noses nearly touching.
M4 raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
"You were getting pretty friendly with the human yesterday. You even egged me on with your little comment when I questioned you about it!" C4 poked M4's chest hard.
M4 scoffed. "I meant to be NICER to him, not to fuck him! And speaking of eggs, do you have any idea how much trouble you will be in if you are carrying now?!"
C4 did not look amused. "What's more nice than going to pound town?" She did a crude hand gesture. "And don't worry, it is still too early, and even if I was in full season, he is a completely different species, how the hell would I get pregnant?"
M4 was about to say something, but hesitated. "Even if that is the case, it is still wrong what you did." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared.
C4 scoffed and gave her own glare back. "For your information, he went along with it. Not at one point did he try to stop me, I wouldn't just force myself onto him, what do you take me for?"
"Right now, I am not sure." M4 looked down at C4's still naked form. "Put on the damn uniform, already!"
C4 just dropped the clothes in front of her. "What, you jealous of my superior bust?" She smirked and bounced her chest with her hands, making them jiggle a bit.
M4 had a light blush. "Stop trying to change the subject!" She huffed. "Plus, yours just came in early, mine are going to be bigger by the end of the week."
C4 stuck her tongue out. "Well, like I said earlier, he never tried to stop me, he even started to kiss me as I started grinding. Seems to me he liked it."
M4 was about to say something, but was interrupted by C4.
"I really don't see the problem you have with it, not like you wanna fuck him, so you just keep being his friend, I will be his cocksleeve. Which, by the way, he is an accurate definition. Given first hand experience." C4 put a hand on her hip and gave a smirk.
M4 was silent for the next few seconds, her face darkening.
C4 sputtered out a laugh. "Oh my cod, you wanted him too, didn't you?"
M4 gasped. "I d-do not! I just don't think it is right to do that to him!"
"Why not? He isn't an animal." C4 shrugged.
"Becau-" M4 paused and backed off a bit. "What did you say?"
C4 rolled her eyes. "He isn't an animal. Dude literally is capable of conscious thought. He ain't like a seal or seagull. If H. is okay with getting down and inky, why not go for it?"
M4 was silent for a second. "I... Didn't think you thought of him like that..."
"You thought I thought he was just a mindless animal?" C4 watched her nod. "Ugh, yeah, sure, I thought that when we first got assigned to watch him, but it doesn't take a genius to see he is sentient. You think I would risk getting in trouble to steal a ball for just some animal?"
M4 crossed her arms. "You never said anything or treated him otherwise."
"We have to keep appearances. We would likely get reassigned if it was found out how we view him. You yourself had hidden your feelings when we leave his cell. Upon your little speech yesterday, I felt that I should let up a bit when it came to actually being in the human's presence. I also just happened to be horny, and dude was willing. Had to get him to understand at first, but he took charge from their. So, you can stay mad all you want, but it is silly how you are. Well, now it is spelled out for you. You still going to be pissed?" C4 started to put on the new uniform, as the mood has been ruined and her inner fire calmed down.
M4 opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it, doing so a few times before she was able to find the right words. "Okay... So, we both agree that he his more than an animal. I wanted to show that through friendship, but it seems you decided a different approach..." Her hair started to wriggle and curl. "I wouldn't have thought he would also view us in that type of manner... That is why I went the friendship route." Her cheeks had now begun to glow green as her hair soon curled even tighter. "Do you think he would... Like me like that, too?..." She rubbed her arm.
C4's eyes widened slowly. "Ah, so you do want to fuck him." Her smirk grew.
M4 pouted and looked away from her. "I just want to make up for how we treated him... Your method is much quicker than mine..."
"Uhuh. Sure, lets go with that." C4 looked over at the human.
H. had gotten most of the sticky ink off of his legs and had moved himself out of the puddle to put on his shorts, having watched the back and forth between the two, seeing the green one getting mad and now was looking embarrassed. The pink one had just a smug expression. He saw them both look at him, and he just stared back.
M4 looked at her partner and worked up the courage. "Can you help me start? You seem to know how to get him started, so I want to be sure I don't mess up..."
C4 patted M4's shoulder. "Yeah, sure." 'This will be interesting.' "First, you need to get on level with him, be sure you swing your hips, got to get his attention."
M4 gulped and turned to him, slowly walking over to the human, her hips swishing back and forth.
H. watched her get closer, his body tensing as he felt like something was about to happen.
C4 spoke up. "Ok, now, get in his lap. Be slow so he doesn't freak out."
M4 nodded to her and gently sat herself onto H.'s lap.
H. could tell that the green one was slightly heavier than pink, but it is obvious that the weight is from her slightly larger hips and chest. He took a deep breath and held it, as he had an idea where this was going.
C4 nodded again. "Good, good. Now, gently rock your hips against him and start talking to him. Then if you feel it start undressing. The rest will follow suit." She took a seat on the floor a little ways away from them.
M4 swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "H." She spoke out in an almost whisper.
H. lifted his head just a bit, to show he heard her. His face soon tinting a hint of red.
"I know we mistreat you sometimes, but I want you to know that I don't mean the mean things we have to do... so, I want to make it up to you. If you will let me." She started grinding her hips against him and gave his cheek a quick peck.
H. blushed a bit more as he found himself in a similar situation as before, a certain part of him having no arguments.
M4 froze for a second as she felt it. 'My cod... She was not joking.' She took another deep breath for herself and smiled. "I am glad you accept me." She gently grabbed his hand and put her zipper in his grasp.
H., having barely anyone to confide in, took this chance without a second thought. Something nice to happen to him for a change, not having to fear, and also, being able to take charge... He went for it.
M4 saw him quickly unzip her top and he tossed it aside. "I see you are egar-Oh!" She felt herself get pushed onto her back.
C4 leaned forward. "Oh, he didn't do that with me, what is he-?"
Her question was answered by the human soon leaning over M4 and tugged her shorts down, tossing them along with his own soon after.
M4 was left speechless as she wasn't expecting this, but she saw him stop as their areas were mere inches apart.
H. was lined up and looked at the green Octoling. As if he was waiting for her to do something.
M4 saw he was waiting and did a quick nod. "Do it."
C4 watched as her partner was taken by the human, hulking over her colleague. She was able to see a bulge, and, despite going slow, how M4 was being dragged a bit on the cold metal floor.
Moans filled the cell, and the movements of the human gradually go from slow methodical trust, to full on pounding her into the floor.
M4 was unable to do much besides gasp out and let a dopy smile grace her lips.
C4 watched as the human showed just what he was capable of.
After round two, C4 couldn't just sit by, so she joined in. "I wanna be human handled, too!" She laid at the ready beside her panting and spent partner.
H. was more than happy to show pink how powerful humans can be.
The cell had to be scrubbed multiple times that night.
Notes:
C4 don't give a fuck.
M4 is too submissive.
H. is just the ride of a lifetime, for them.
Chapter 13: Torn Apart, and Put Back Together... But Not The Same!
Notes:
Warning: Last chapter was the last hurrah... It is all down hill from here...
Double Warning: This chapter is fucked up. This is the body horror chapter.
(Yes, I know this has taken a long time. I write when I feel like it, and I just happened to get the urge to try today after reading comments. Hope this is a good one.)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
M4 and C4 were dreading today.
It had only been two days since the two handlers had... copulated...
Both handlers were feeling relatively good, thinking that them having an outlet for their instincts had snuffed the urges.
H. had even shown much gentler behavior towards them. He had also grown a bit clingy, but the two didn't seem to mind, since his body heat was comforting.
However, today, they had gotten a summons by Octavio to do another run at the course.
When they came into the cell, they saw the human's eyes light up, but his face soon soured when the two tapped on the remotes attached to their belts.
H. understood what that meant, so he gloomily trudged his way over to them as they attached the chain to his collar.
Octavio walked into the training done and spotted the three at the ready. "Good. Seems he is showing more obedience." He looked the human up and down, spotting the bandage in his hand. "What happened to his hand?"
C4 took a silent breath before answering. "The human fell onto his hand and seemed to cause some damage, he seems to still be a bit hindered, but he is capable of moving his fingers."
Octavio stared at the bandage for a few seconds. "So long as he can do the course." He got into his usual spot for observation.
M4 moved H. over to the starting line as C4 went over to the timer.
Octavio raised a tentacle. "Begin." He lowered it fast.
C4 pressed the button and H. began to run.
He had done much better compared to last time, but he showed discomfort when his injured hand was used to lift himself up, trying to use the better one, but some spaces required both.
It was looking like he was actually going to make some progress compared to last time... Until he reached the gap jump.
He had done it normally many times before, a simple five foot gap between a ten foot drop. Larva's play honestly...
However, for some reason as H. prepared to jump, his foot seemed to slip.
The human let out a yelp as he fell into the hole, unable to get a grip on the smooth walls.
Two sounds rang out in quick succession.
The crack of the human's leg bone, and his pained screams.
His two handlers ran over as his screams were louder than the buzzer signaling the end of the timer. They paled at the damage.
Specimen H. laid on his stomach as he wailed. Blood slowly pooling around his lower half as a jagged piece of bone pierced through the flesh.
"H.!/H.!" Both the handlers were starting to panic.
"W-what do we do?!" M4 was afraid to touch him.
"I don't know! We don't have bones, so how would I know what to do about a broken one?!" C4 yelled back.
M4 noticed H. was laying on his bad hand. "We need to flip him."
C4 was not in any mood to argue, so she helped her partner carefully flip the human over.
More damage was revealed. His bad hand seemed be bleeding as well as the bandage had a large dark red spot, not to mention two of his fingers bending the wrong way, looking nearly like the his leg, without the bone actually poking out.
H.'s screams died down a bit after getting the pressure off his wounds, but they still burned in searing hot pain.
"Well. This presents a problem."
The two handlers flinched as they were startled by their DJ appearing behind them.
"DJ O-Octavio! H. is critically injured..." M4 swallowed hard, afraid what the DJ will have done about it, given the past injuries.
A few scouts ran into the room. "DJ Octavio! We heard screams, is everything okay in here?" The leader stood at the ready.
Octavio turned away from the human. "The human has been injured, move him to the medical wing. Send him to Dr. A1d, immediately." He walked past the scouts.
The scouts saluted. "Yes, sir!" They said in unison and scrambled around the human, picking it up above their heads, not seeming to be bothered by H.'s screams or the blood dripping onto one of the scouts.
"Move out, girls!" The scout leader shouted as they marched quickly, but steadily out the training dome.
The two handlers quickly followed, the squad already passing Octavio. But, before they passed the DJ as well, he spoke out.
"You two are dismissed for now." The DJ spoke matter of factually.
M4 looked at him confused. "Sir... This was just an accident. We didn't cause this."
"I said you two are dismissed for now. You two are relieved for duty for the time being. Report to your barracks and stay there till I tell you otherwise." Octavio spoke with a bit more bite.
C4 butted in this time. "H-hey, we have been doing a good job keeping him in check! Why are we dismissed?" She wasn't sure why she was arguing with her DJ, but she felt that she at least deserved an explanation.
Octavio did not look amused, but let out a quick sigh. "The human is in critical condition, it will be monitored by Dr. A1d for the time being, so no need for you two to crowd the lab." He started to walk away from the two, stopping after a few steps, but did not turn to look at them. "Plus, it is unwise to put two larva carrying soldiers to work. Especially in such a rare circumstance."
The two paled and looked at him in shock. "W-what d-do you mean, s-sir?..." M4 stuttered out.
Octavio let out an unamused huff. "I have been around for over 100 years. I know the signs of a carrying female from just the posture. But, your demeanors and the smell is unmistakable. And, given that you both spend almost all your time with the human, it is unmistakable of the donor." He turned his head just enough for them to see him looking smug at them. "I do look forward to seeing the offspring's capabilities. That is the only reason you are not being locked up in a cell, as, early breeding before prior allowance is a punishable offence. If the final product is beneficial, then you won't be charged."
The two subconsciously put their hands on their stomachs. Their breaths shallow as their minds swarmed with both joy and fear over the news.
A snap from the DJ brought them back. "I have given my orders, if you two aren't at your barracks by the time I reach the lab, you WILL be put in a cell, far away from your assignment."
The two gulped and ran off to follow their orders.
Octavio watched them scurry away before he continued his trek.
H. laid on the hard operating table as he was given the sedative he had before. The pain still being felt, but much duller, and unable to articulate anymore screams. The occasional groan did escape his lips every now and then.
Dr. A1d huffed as she looked over the charts and her 'patient'. "So, any guesses on what we can do?" She asked the leader of the livestock dome.
Said leader shrugged. "Usually when such an injury happens, we just put down the animal and grind it into sausage or something similar, as that usually crushes the bones to where they aren't a problem to swallow." He was soon smacked in the back of the head.
"Idiot! We can't kill the human! We need to fix it's leg, and you are the best person to help me with a solution!" Dr. A1d yelled at him.
The male rubbed the back of his head. "Ow! Hey, not my fault your science project is broken! The thing looks half dead already. Plus, with how pale he is looking, I bet he is going to croak any minute now."
Dr. A1d growled at him and watched the livestock dome leader cower. "I have orders to keep him as alive as I can manage! I can't help that he is more fragile than expected."
They had already hooked up the human to some tanks filled with the human's blood. It had been collected over the weeks it had been here for such an occasion. The bone was still sticking out, but a massive bandage was taped down over it, so it was currently out of view.
"Um... Maybe we could just push it back into place? We do that with the seagulls when they fly into the window of their cage. Just 'pop' it back in?" The livestock leader offered.
Dr. A1d contemplated it. She let out a long sigh. "Worth a shot."
Josh felt a hard pressure on his broken leg. He wanted to yell out to stop, but the only thing that came out was a gargled groan. 'The hell are they doing?...' He felt the pressure increase quickly. 'You can't just push it back dumbas-!'
*CRACK*
Josh did manage to let out something close to a scream at that point. From the fresh sensations spreading across his leg.
Dr. A1d and the livestock leader felt the give and looked at each other. Giving a quick smile, thinking they fixed it.
"It feels smoother, lets see if it worked-Ah!" The doctor removed the bandage and a good two inch piece of bone rolled off the human's thigh, and it fell onto the floor with a thudding clang.
The two paled as a hole was now only visible, starting to gush blood.
The livestock leader let out a nervous chuckle. "Well, at least the bone isn't sticking out anymore... Hehe..."
The doctor quickly sent a burning glare at him. "Get out before I do the same to you."
"But I don't have bone-"
"OUT!" She yelled as he started to run out of the lab. She huffed hard as she was absolutely pissed, until she felt herself standing in a puddle, looking down at the deep red surrounding her. "Shit!" She quickly put the bandage back over the human's leg and applied pressure. "Hey, imbeciles! I need assistance! Stop working on the Octobot!"
The engineers ran into the lab, covered in grease and ink. "What you need boss?"
"Guh, you are all filthy, I can't have you touching his wounds!... Go get cleaned and hurry back!"
The engineers ran over to the showers, giving a quick bow to Octavio as he entered past them.
"How goes it, Doctor?" Octavio watched the doctor scramble around.
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Dr. A1d asked as she replaced the blood tank.
"Granted." Octavio walked carefully around the puddle of blood, getting as close to the human as possible.
"It is hell, sir... I don't know how the human's body works when it comes to healing. I don't know what is salvageable... That dumbass livestock jackass ended up being much more harm than help." She picked up the broken off piece of bone. "I don't even think his leg is salvageable at this point, and his hand is a mess of tendons that are much more complicated than out ink pressure controlled limbs." She listed the plastic cover on the human's injured hand.
The fingers were back in the right direction, but the skin on the top of his hand was removed to show multiple tears in the tendons connecting to each finger.
"Even if I save the hand, motor function is fucked!" The doctor pulled on her tentacles.
Octavio rubbed his chin, calculating whether to just pull the plug on this plan, but then he remembers the human's handlers/mates. 'I need to at least keep him alive long enough to see if that bears fruit...'
The engineers ran in, now cleaned up considerably. "We are here Dr.A1d!"
"Good, um... Just... Uh...Hmm..." She finally got the human half stable, but she was unsure of what the next course of action could be.
Octavio looked at the engineers and got an idea. "Doctor, you say that his leg and hand aren't worth saving?"
Dr. A1d hesitated for a second, worried she was going to lose her most interesting experiment ever. "Y-yes, sir. The damages are quite severe... I even found a massive fracture in his jaw along with broken teeth."
Octavio let out a hum. "Hmmm... I have an idea." He pointed to the engineering lead. "Tell me, do you think you could resize the OctoKing's pieces?"
The leader tilted his head. "I suppose we could, but what advantage would a tiny OctoKing be?"
Octavio smirked under his tentacles. "I don't want a small Octoking." He looked over at the human, thinking of a word he found in a human book that was read to him by Shellendorf before the Great Turf War. "I want a cyborg."
The engineers looked at him confused. "What's a cyborg, sir?"
Josh was snapped back to consciousness. Feeling something cold and pointy pressed against his upper thigh. 'What now?... Are they trying to put another needle in me?...'
His answer was soon found as he felt a quick rip across the flesh, feeling it hang on the mystery object, tearing it with relative ease, but it didn't go that deep.
He let out groan as he tied to open his eyes. 'The fuck are you doing, assholes! Cut off my leg?-!'
The object pushed back the other way much quicker and harder, ripping more flesh, feeling like he had hooks in his leg, ripping it apart slowly like a loaf of bread. 'I wasn't being serious!' He was able to crack hi eyes open just enough to see a few feet away.
"Grrrrraaaaaaahhhh!" The pained sounds bubbled up his throat as did a bit of bile as he saw the massive hand saw being manned by two Octofuckers.
Back and forth...
Back and Forth...
BACK AND FORTH!
They only stopped when they reached the bone.
The only movement Josh could do to fight it, was shiver as he tried his damnedest to pull away from the madmen cutting him to pieces.
His moment of calm (If you can even call it that...) was interrupted by a whirling noise. 'Oh, no..'
He felt arms hold his leg down as the strange machine inched closer towards the wound. His eyes tried to make it out, but couldn't quite get past the blurriness.
When it made contact, he felt the vibrations all through his bones, the pain being slightly less worse than the saw, as it was quicker, but it was still a searing pain that literally echoed across his skeleton, but soon, he didn't feel the vibrations in his hurt leg.
That only worried him more. 'Why can't I feel it?...' He tried to move his foot with all his might, but didn't even feel a twitch. 'Please don't tell me...' He tried to lift his head, only managing to get a quick glimpse down, but it was enough to see what was happening.
The Octofuckers carrying his leg over their shoulders.
'No...' His breathing quickened as his eyes started to spill tears.
Josh heard the main lady's voice call out and he felt a jab in his neck. The weird sedatives working their magic again.
He was able to at least stay awake long enough to see the ones with the buzzing machine heading towards his hand, and another pair heading back with some dark object hefted over their shoulders like his leg was.
'Lord... Help me... Please...' His mind started to black out again.
"Cutting off the human's arm was much easier than his leg, as they had to cut into it with a regular saw before the handheld buzzsaw could reach the bone and finish the job." Dr. A1d spoke to her audio log.
"The human's jaw was also removed for worry that it couldn't eat due to pain."
"Attaching the enhancements were a little complicated, but they managed to make a neuro-link through it's spinal cord, adding a spinal brace to keep it from breaking and causing paralysis. The signal highway of the cord's nature helped with not having to lead wires to every piece."
"Octavio instructed us to create a reward/punishment system into it's enhancements. Two implants into it's neck will either pump sedatives or administer a shock similar to it's collar. As Octavio still doesn't trust the human to behave, especially now."
"Troubleshooting was a bit difficult, with the sudden wake up of the human as they were calibrating him. He ended up using the rocket fist and gatling ink gun as he panicked... At least we know the shockers work."
"After it's initial wake up, it had calmed considerably. Seemingly just following blindly. He-...It seems much more... Somber now."
"It will be moved back to it's cell, but it's handlers aren't to see it yet. Octavio has informed me of the circumstances.- Refer to Hybrid Project H/O.- Octavio feels it is good they don't see his now for for the time being, so they are to be put under guard. It is unknown what prolong absence from the human's mates will do to it. -End of Audio log: Specimen H. Mechanical Hybridization Operation." Dr. A1d turned off the recorder. Taking a look at the broken leg suspended in a large tube filled with preserving fluid. The limb long dead, but the liquid kept it from rotting, for further study and tissue sample collection. 'Hopefully this doesn't bite us in the ass...'
Back in the human's cell, it was dark, but not by a switch being hit, the remnants of the bulb sat on the floor as the only light coming in came from the slot in the door, being left open to let his new handlers have visual on H.
The human sat slouched against the wall. His bouncy ball in his good hand, he would occasionally give it a squeeze. Not uttering a sound.
That isn't to say the cell is quiet. The constant tapping of metal on metal could be heard rhythmically as he tapped each main finger in quick succession. The sound still unnatural to the human, but he continued, as it was the only thing keeping him from ripping his metal slab of a jaw off.
His breathing was heavy as he tried his best to stay together.
'I am me...' He told himself.
'I am me...' Again...
'I am me...' And again...
'I am me...' *Tap Tap Tap Tap*
'I am me...' *Tap Tap Tap Tap*
'I am me...' *Tap Tap Tap Tap*
'I am... me...' *Tap Tap Tap Tap*
'I am... me...' *Tap Tap Tap Tap*
'I am...' *Tap Tap Tap Tap*
"I...' *Tap Tap-*
His breathing became much more ragged as his grip on the ball grew too tight, making it slip out of his sweaty grasp, and it bounced a few times before rolling against his 'new' leg.
He paused for a moment, his 'new' hand laid flat against the floor.
Then he quickly closed it into a fist, the fingers scrapping the floor and even left sparks as it scraped into the metal, peeling some shaving into his palm.
'I am a monster...' His eyes welled with tears, but not a single one spilled down his still flesh cheeks. Knowing that it would lead to shocks...
Like last time...
Notes:
Hey, so just a quick shout out to hamstergod8, who put "Big Guy" as their inspiration for their fic. Link at the end of "Big Guy" to their fic, or you can just check the "human in splatoon" tag.
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Brokenhear61 on Chapter 1 Mon 13 May 2024 05:57AM UTC
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Your_Mexican_Reader on Chapter 1 Mon 13 May 2024 11:43PM UTC
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Last Edited Fri 08 Aug 2025 09:53PM UTC
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Your_Mexican_Reader on Chapter 4 Mon 08 Jul 2024 07:03AM UTC
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Your_Mexican_Reader on Chapter 7 Mon 12 Aug 2024 12:35AM UTC
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