"No clue," Eight said. "Thanks for letting me stay at your place."

"No problem," Keiko said. "Besides, my mother said she's going to stop helping with rent, so I needed to get a roommate anyway."

"Oh," Eight said. "Um. . . Where will I sleep?"

"We can get a bed tomorrow," Keiko said. "In the meantime, I have a mattress. I'll get it out." She got off her bed and opened the closet door. She rummaged around before pulling out what looked like a big crumpled bag with a cord.

"Stand back," Keiko said. Eight stepped backward as Keiko plugged the cord into a socket in the wall. The bag suddenly unfolded and inflated in about two seconds. Keiko set down the bag and tossed a sheet and blanket over it. "I'll go grab a pillow from the front room," she said.

Eight waited in the bedroom. She sat down on the mattress and pulled out her old CQ-80.

The ID card slid out of the pocket on the top. It fell into Eight's lap, face up. There was a picture of her face, with the number 10,003 displayed next to it. The logo of the Kamabo Corporation, the company that ran the Metro, was in the top right corner of both sides.

"I'm back," Keiko said, walking into the room holding a pillow underneath her right arm. Then she noticed the CQ-80. "I thought you didn't have a phone."

"Oh, this?" Eight said. "This isn't a phone, it just kinda looks like one."

"What is it then?" Keiko asked, sitting down on the mattress.

"It's called a CQ-80," Eight said. "It's used for traveling in the Metro."

"Oh, right," Keiko said. "Misuno had one of those too."

"Misuno?" Eight asked. "Who's that?"

"She's an Octoling, like you," Keiko said. "And she also did stuff in the Metro. She was the one who managed to defeat Tartar."

"Wait. . ." Eight said. "Tartar was defeated?"

"Yep!" Keiko said. "I mean, I kinda helped, but it was Misuno who did it."

"You helped?" Eight asked, very confused.

"Yeah, I did a little bit," Keiko said.

"I'm so confused," Eight said. "Why were you in the Metro? I thought only octolings were in the Metro."

"Well, that's kind of a long story. . ." Keiko said.

"Well, tell it please," Eight said.

"Well, let's see," Keiko said. "About five years ago, I was an agent in what was called the New Squidbeak Splatoon. I was Agent 3, and did this whole thing with retrieving stolen zapfish or whatever. Then, about two years later, Captain Cuttlefish and Misuno got trapped in the metro. They, or really Misuno, gathered the four thangs."

"The thangs!" Eight exclaimed.

"Yeah, the thangs," Keiko said. "Anyways, I managed to find them and save them from being blended into the goop. They went on to the surface, but I. . ." Keiko shifted the tentacle on the right side of her face to reveal what looked like a cyan stain. "Tartar got me. Misuno freed me, but I still have those memories, and this scar, as reminders." She moved her tentacle back. "So I hide it."

Eight noticed that Keiko's right eye suddenly was now a softly glowing cyan color, the same as the scar. "Um. . . Keiko?"

Keiko's eyes went blank. She stood up and clawed at her face.

"Keiko!?" Eight asked, a little scared.

Keiko dropped her hands and stood there, silently. Then she turned to Eight. Her scar was now glowing the same color as her right eye.

"I-" She said. "M. . . K. . ." She awkwardly stepped toward Eight with her arms outstretched, but then stopped suddenly. The glow disappeared from her scar and eye and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Keiko!" Eight said, rushing forward. She pulled Keiko onto her bed and shook her gently.

"Wha?" Keiko said, her eyes fluttering open to see Eight peering down at her. "Waah!" She yelped, sitting up quickly and scooting backward. Then she stopped and grabbed her head. "Ow, ow, ow, ow. . ."

"Are you alright?" Eight asked.

"Yeah," Keiko said. "Just a headache. What happened?"

"I don't know," Eight said. "Your eye was glowing. . ."

"Oh. . ." Keiko said. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! That thing just kinda happens and I can't control it so I'm really really-"

"Hey," Eight said. "It's okay. Really."

"But-" Keiko started.

"Nope," Eight said. "It's fine."

"Really?" Keiko asked.

"Really," Eight responded.

"Doorbell!" Keiko said. "I'll get it!" She stood up off the bed but then fell back down again, holding her head.

"I'll get it," Eight said. She exited the room and walked to the front door. She unlocked and opened it to see Niika.

"Oh, hey Eight," She said. "I forgot, you're staying with Keiko, right?"

"Yeah," Eight said. "Come on in. She's in the bedroom." Eight closed and locked the door after Niika before following her.

"Hey, Keiko," Niika said. "How're you doing?"

"It happened again," Keiko said. Niika sat down next to her on the bed and put her arms around her. "It's happening more often now and I don't know why and, and. . ." She started crying into Niika's shoulder.

"Hey," Niika said. "You're okay. You're safe, right here, right now. Not anywhere else." Keiko nodded. She sat up and wiped her tears away.

"Hey, um. . ." Eight said. "Keiko?"

"Yeah?" Keiko asked.

"I wish I could say I understand," Eight said. "But I can't, because I don't. I wish I did."

"It's weird," Keiko said. "Whenever it happens, I barely remember anything, but when it does happen, I feel like everything becomes sharper."

"Sharper?" Niika asked. "What do you mean by sharper?"

"Well, for one thing, my hearing gets better," Keiko said. "So does my sense of smell, and my eyesight improves."

"So, it's like, your senses get better," Eight said.

"Basically, yeah," Keiko said. "Oh, and I think I get stronger."

"That's really cool," Niika said. "Imagine if you could figure out how to control it, you could use it during a turf war."

"That could be cool," Eight said.

"I don't think that'll work," Keiko said. Then, suddenly, her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and took the call. "Hello? Oh, hey. Uh-huh. . . Yeah, I can join. No, it's fine." She hung up and looked at Niika and Eight. "I'm going to help some other friends with a ranked battle. Do you guys want to come?"

"Sure!" Niika said.

"Yeah, I'll go," Eight said.

"Nice," Keiko said. "Let's go."