"But she's harmless!" Misuno said. "She isn't controlled or anything! She just looks the same as other sanitized octolings but she acts just like you or me!"

"But she's still sanitized," Eight said.

"So?" Misuno shot back. "She's nice and likes ice cream and has feelings! So she has green skin and red fingertips and hair tips! She's just another octoling."

"How do you know she's harmless!" Eight yelled. "You don't!"

"Yes I do!" Misuno yelled back. "She was harmless even before she was sanitized. She was dropped out of the octarian army. She tried to get to the surface but didn't make it out of the Metro. She couldn't pass a single station. She only made music, for fucks sake."

"Watch your language," Marina said.

"Sorry," Misuno said.

"Eight," Keiko said. "Think about this."

"I-" Eight started. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Misuno said. "But, like, try not to freak out about her too much."

"I'll try," Eight said.

- - -

Misuno super jumped back to the grate that led back to Inkopolis. Keiko and Eight also went, because Keiko needed to get some painkillers and Marina didn't want her to go alone.

Misuno headed to her home. She and Ahato lived together with the two stars, Pearl and Marina, in their giant mansion. She didn't like the front entrance, so she built herself a secret door that lead into the small greenhouse-like room that was connected to her and Ahato's room.

"Ahato?" Misuno called. She opened the connecting door to the bedroom and saw Ahato sitting at her desk, asleep. Misuno walked to her to see a pencil in Ahato's hand and a piece of paper with half-written lyrics on it underneath her chin.

Misuno gently shook Ahato awake.

"Hmm?" Ahato said, her eyes drifting open. Her eyes, like all sanitized octolings', were mainly an almost black blue with bright cyan irises. "What is it?"

"We need your help," Misuno said. "There's something going on in Octo Canyon."

"What is it?" Ahato asked. Misuno explained the situation.

"So, we were thinking, you could swim through the tunnel," Misuno said, "and then tell us where it is relative to the rest of the Metro. You up for it?"

"Yeah, sure," Ahato said. "I'll do it."

"Thanks," Misuno said. "You should put your coat on though."

Ahato put on her giant baggy coat with a large hood.

"Follow me," Misuno said. She exited through her secret entrance/exit, with Ahato following her. They then went to the grate and ducked into it. They then super jumped to where the rest of them were.

When they landed, Eight was standing slightly behind Keiko, peering at Ahato in her large coat. When she lifted her hood and let the coat fall to the ground, Misuno could feel the fear and hostility radiating off of Eight.

"You sure you're up for this?" Marina asked. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

"Will you stop acting like my mom?" Ahato asked. "Technically, I'm the oldest one here."

"And yet you still act like your 17-year-old self," Misuno said.

"I do not!" Ahato said. "I'm thirty-seven!"

"You've only aged seventeen years," Marina said. "Because of your sanitization."

"I know," Ahato said.

"So, you're basically still 17," Misuno said.

"No, I'm not!" Ahato said. "Hmph." She crossed her arms and turned away from the group.

"Don't pout," Misuno said, throwing her arms around Ahato in a hug. "Come on, we need your help."

"Alright, I'll do it," Ahato said. And then she jumped right into the sanitized portion of the ink sea.