Orion looked down at his phone nervously, standing right outside the dorms, seeing his mother on his contacts list.

He decided Mom would be the best choice to call first, he wasn’t entirely sure how his father would react to what he was about to ask them. But even now, he still had second thoughts. All of this was incredibly scary. It was a huge change for him, after all.

But he pressed on anyway. He couldn’t go on without at least asking. He opened his mother’s contact details, and pressed the call button, holding the phone up to his ear.

The phone rang for several anxious seconds.

“Hi, Orion!” His mother said over the line, her cheerfulness partially alleviating his stress. It was just so good to hear from her again.

“Hi, Mom.”

“How are you, sweetie? You sound nervous, is everything alright?”

He bit his lip, taking a deep breath. “I’m… Going through some things, Mom. I had some… Experiences recently, and I’ve been experimenting with how I look. Oh geez, it’s hard to explain-”

“-sweetie. I think I get the gist of it. Take it slow. I’ve got all the time in the world to listen.”

Orion took deep breaths, leaning against the wall of the building. “R-Right. I think I might be genderfluid or… Intersex, I guess? I’ve been trying a more… Feminine look…”

He heard a sigh over the line. “Ah. That would partially explain why those bullies sexually harassing you the other day.”

He froze. “You… You knew?”

“Sweetie, of course we knew. The school called your father and I that very same day. Thankfully you’ve got your sister and supportive friends, otherwise we would’ve dropped everything and went over there immediately. What happened absolutely was not your fault. I experienced my fair share of sexual harassment when I was in high school, and… It’s not the first time I’ve heard of a boy pressured by other boys to transition for reprehensible reasons. I’m glad those two got suspended.”

“Mom…”

“But back on track. Are you still wearing that look?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“I’d like to see it.”

“Sure, one mo.” Her tone was a curious one rather than anything remotely negative, so Orion went into the camera app, snapped a selfie, and sent it to her. “Um… Sent it to you now.”

He waited a few moments anxiously.

“Oh my cod. Orion, you’re absolutely adorable,” she said with a delighted squeal. “It reminds me of what I tried to do when I was in school!”

That genuinely surprised him. “Huh?”

“The slicked back look with the side tentacles, I was doing that exact same look for a while! Looks like you got that from me, too. I love it.”

Suddenly the weight on him felt so, so much lighter. It was an absolute relief. “Thanks, Mom. You don’t know how much it makes me happy to hear you say that.”

“Well, if you’re calling me about that… What do you mean, ‘intersex’?”

“I… Well… I guess a feminine body with both sets of… You know.”

“Ah, I see. How did you decide that was what you wanted?”

“It’s… A long story. Not sure this is a good time to tell you.”

“That’s okay, you can tell me next weekend when your father and I are visiting.” There was an awkward pause. “Oh, right, we haven’t let you and Artemis know about that, have we?”

“N-No, it’s okay, we don’t have anything going on then, I’d be super happy if you came,” Orion smiled. Being able to see his parents again was something that’d make both him and Artemis very happy indeed. “We’ll talk about it then. I promise.”

“Okay, I’ll hold you to that, Orion. So, let me guess, you’re calling because you want to undergo physical therapy treatment and you need the permission of your father and I before you can do that, is that right?”

“Yeah. Is… That okay?”

“Sweetie. Of course it’d be okay. Anything that might make you a brighter person, I will fully support.”

“And what about Dad?”

“Oh, right. Give me a minute.” He could hear her voice being more distant as she called out to his father, “darling, Orion’s calling!”

About a minute or two passed as Orion waited.

And then he heard a slightly gruff male voice on the other end. “Hey, son.”

“H-Hi, Dad.”

“I’ll get straight to the point. Don’t worry about our permission, just go to the doctor and we’ll get it sorted. I’m proud of you for taking the initiative, especially when it comes to doing something like this. This is a big choice that’ll affect your future, but you already know that.”

“You don’t mind what I might decide to do?”

“As long as you ain’t hurtin’ anyone else, lad, I’ll respect any decision you make. It’s your body, your life. We’ll always be family, even if you’re my son or daughter or whatever. If this’ll make you a stronger, happier person, that’s good.”

He found himself noticing his cheeks getting wet. When did he start crying? He sniffed, “thanks, Dad.”

“But I would like to know what exactly you’ve been getting up to lately. We’ve been hearing concerning things from Inkopolis. I hope you’ll be able to be honest with us when we come by next weekend, understood?”

Honestly? It was probably high time that his parents knew the whole story. He took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’ll tell you everything, I promise. I’m not sure you’ll like all of it, but… The last month has been more than a little crazy.”

His dad laughed. “Can’t be crazier than shoving a Sting Ray down a King Salmonid’s gullet and pulling the trigger.”

“You’d be surprised. It’s… One wild story.”

“Well, then. I’m looking damn forward to hearing it. Hope the therapy goes well. Later, squiddo.”

“Later, Dad.”

Then his mother was back on the line. “When are you having the appointment?”

“Today. I’ve got friends who managed to hook me up with a big-time doctor at the university hospital - Professor Gaudile, a platypus. Again, long story.”

“Alright, as long as he’s legit and qualified it should be fine. Call us back when you need to, sweetie, and say hello to Artemis for us. Have a good day!”

“Bye, Mom,” Orion smiled, wiping his tears as he hung up, heading for his dorm.

Honestly, it was a good thing training was cancelled today, it meant he could get this appointment done as soon as possible.

❖

“Are you sure you won’t be needing me for this?” Merga asked as the trio hung out at a table in the Square.

“You’ll probably stand out too much and potentially spook the thief,” Ayane replied both elbows on the table. “Ethan and I can handle this on our own.”

“Understood, but feel free to call me if she starts getting away. I can catch her,” Merga nodded. “So. What’s the plan?”

“She usually hits her target the night after getting her info from Spider,” Ethan explained, “always after close of business. It’s a solid gameplan, it’d be suicide to go in when people are still working, so we’ve got plenty of time before we need to set up. We’ll be staking out in positions with good visibility of two sides of the building each, and Ciel will have a few drones hovering over the building that’ll detect any movement in the air or on the rooftop. We’ll try to intercept her before she enters the building, but if we can’t, we’ll just wait for her to leave and then intercept her then.”

Ayane nodded. “Exactly. With our grappling hooks, we should be able to catch up to her. And with one of us directly pursuing and the other super-jumping ahead, we should be able to continuously cut her off until she makes a mistake and we catch her.”

“And what will you do if you do indeed apprehend her?” said Merga, crossing her arms.

“We’re not going to turn her in. We’re going to convince her to stop putting herself and the reputation of all Octolings at risk with her heists,” said Ethan. “I just hope she has the sense to listen.”

“And… You’re just going to hang out until then?”

“Not much else to do until nightfall,” Ayane shrugged. “Hope you don’t mind.”

Merga blinked, and then chuckled, “not at all. It’s not something I’m used to doing just between the three of us.”

As much as Ethan wanted to really enjoy this? The tension of what was going to happen was still at the back of his mind. He hoped he was wrong. That he was dead wrong. Otherwise what was going to happen would be so, so much harder.

❖

Orion knew his dorm-mates would be accompanying him to the hospital, and X would be waiting, but his sister and her dorm-mates as well was a bit of a surprise. But Artemis assured him that they were all there to support him. Also, there was another good reason for them to come - Professor Gaudile was handling the de-sanitisation of Ahato, so it would be nice to finally meet her.

X was waiting in the lobby, and lead them all up to the private hospital room where Orion would be having his appointment. Cinnamon cheerfully welcomed them, though even she was surprised by the large group, as was the Professor himself. Ahato could wait until the matter of Orion’s therapy was sorted.

“I’ve already contacted your parents and handled the relevant paperwork for their consent, so that’s no problem,” Professor Gaudile said, showing a copy of the relevant form, “let’s discuss your long-term treatment.”

“Um… Sure. I guess you mean more than just the regular physical therapy?” Orion asked, as he sat down on a provided chair.

“Correct. From what I understand, you wish to transition to a non-binary sexual identity,” Gaudile nodded. “That is somewhat more complicated than a standard transition surgical procedure. However, the data and samples from the fusions has been enormously helpful in potentially paving the way towards alternative treatments that might make transitioning much simpler for Inklings and Octolings.”

That actually seemed to perk up Artemis’ interest significantly. “Oh, howso?”

“How do you think Inklings and Octolings are able to maintain a duality of consistent forms when changing, as opposed to, say, the bipedal form being completely different each time, nevermind keeping clothing and equipment intact? The simple answer is that the body stores a set of instructions, essentially ‘transformation memory’, that allow it to know the exact specifications of the form you wish to switch to,” Gaudile explained, showing some slides on the computer by him. “The physical therapy involves the gradual and careful alterations of these instructions to alter the bipedal form. While most characteristics can be altered, even in swim form you still retain your sex organs (even if they’re not normally visible), and thus that isn’t included in the memory for shapeshifting, which is why normally it’s impossible for this kind of physical therapy to alter them.”

“So how do the fusions help?” Orion asked.

Cinnamon chimed in, “because we discovered that both Diana and Artris’ genetic ‘transformation memory’ includes genetic information not normally included in singular Inkling or Octoling sequences… Including sexual organs. The Professor has theorised that it might be possible to append that information onto your ‘transformation memory’ sequence, allowing the alteration of biological sex through shapeshifting.”

Just as everyone else started chattering excitedly, Gaudile raised a finger. “Before you get too excited, of course, this is little more than conjecture. For all we know the genetic information could do absolutely nothing, or worse, cause negative side effects in non-fused cephalopods. Orion, what I’m saying is that you’d be exposed to a fully experimental treatment, and I can’t be certain of what the results would be until it is done. Which is why I recommend starting with a more traditional physical therapy treatment first - doing all of it at the same time may introduce too many variables at once that may cause side-effects. Understood?”

While the explanation did damper Orion’s expectations somewhat, he nodded. “Yes, I understand, Professor. I still want to go through with it, but I’ll do the regular therapy first.”

Gaudile smiled, and turned to the computer, opening up some kind of program that showed a virtual representation of an Inkling. Connected to the computer was some kind of high-tech band, which he handed to Orion. “Please put this around your neck.”

Orion stretched out the band, which was just stretchy enough to allow him to put his head through it, and he let it go around his neck. It was thankfully not too tight as to be uncomfortable. “What’s it do?”

“You’ll see. Try transforming.”

Orion nodded, and transformed on the spot, noticing that the band didn’t change, instead wrapped around his swim form body. He changed back, and it was back to being on his neck. “It doesn’t change…”

“Exactly, otherwise it’d be unable to perform its function,” Gaudile remarked, as the program was suddenly filled with information, and the Inkling on screen changed into an identical copy of Orion. “It not only records your ‘transformation memory’, but it will also facilitate the physical therapy process.”

“Now this takes me back,” Karlene smiled, “I used an older model of one of these. It works pretty well.”

Koji nodded, “now you just make adjustments in the program until you get the kind of body you want.”

Gaudile moved aside to allow Orion access to the computer mouse, and Orion got up, starting to make adjustments. It was hard to believe that he was able to decide all of this for himself. He recalled seeing Diana in the mirror, and used that as the basis for what he was aiming for.

When he got to the chest, he froze, recalling Butch and Shinji’s jeering, and the nightmare. He had been thinking about what he wanted, and the reality was… He really did wanted to be cute and, well, sexy. There wasn’t anything wrong with that, was there? But was it worth being looked at like-

“Ori. Choose what you want to be, not what other people want you to be,” Axl said, putting his hands on Orion’s shoulders. “It’s okay.”

“Thanks, Axl,” Orion said softly, as he put the settings in. No more doubting himself, it was now or never.

Artemis looked over his shoulder, and whistled. “Geez! You’re gonna be super cute when the therapy is over. Why doesn’t everyone just do this?”

“Because it’s mostly limited to adults and juveniles undergoing any kind of gender transition process,” Cinnamon said. “Also, the tech’s expensive, so…”

Orion winced. “I’ll try not to break it.”

“Don’t worry, it’s covered. I run a company with shockingly deep coffers, now,” X chuckled, “when it comes to helping my friends, money’s no object.”

Gaudile uploaded the settings to the device, and unplugged it. “There we go. Keep that band on your neck as much as possible. You might feel a slight sensation at first, but I believe most people become easily accustomed to it. It will adjust your ‘transformation memory’ over time towards the settings you specified. I suggest you transform regularly each day. It should be safe for use in ink battles, but I wouldn’t recommend wearing it while taking a bath or shower.”

“How long will the process take?” Orion asked.

“With this model? Approximately about a week,” Gaudile said. “But it’s best to wear it for about a fortnight to ensure the changes stick. After that, come back to me and we’ll discuss next steps.”

“Thank you, Professor, for taking the time to help me,” Orion smiled, “I imagine you’ve got a pretty busy schedule…”

“It’s fine, things aren’t so hectic at this time of day,” Gaudile smiled back.

“Oh… So you’re X’s friends as well…”

Orion turned to the hospital bed - he had practically forgotten about Ahato, who had woken up. She was still very much partially sanitised, but over half of it was now gone. She looked weak, but she was smiling.

“Oh, Ahato! It’s so nice to meet you at last!” Iris came to her side, smiling widely. “How’re you feeling?”

“Better. Still got a long way to go, but… Getting better,” said Ahato. “Iris… I never thought we’d meet like this. You didn’t know me, but I knew about you, and I wanted to meet you. You seemed so scary when you were a colonel, but now…”

“Wait, you wanted to meet me?” Iris blinked.

“Yes… I imagine you didn’t know, but… I’m your cousin. On your father’s side.”

Iris gasped, as did half the people in the room. Orion figured her family must’ve been more complicated than he realised, considering nobility politics were involved.

“That’s great, Iris! You’ve got family here!” Artemis grinned.

Iris was actually tearing up. “I thought I left all my family behind when I went to the surface… But now… Oh, right… This is Artemis, my girlfriend,” she said, gesturing to her.

“Yo! Nice to meet ya, Ahato!”

“N-Nice to meet you too,” Ahato said. “I know you all came to support Orion, but… Thank you for coming to see me, too.”

“Nah, it’s alright, we would’ve come to see you when you were ready,” Axl smiled. “Orion’s appointment was just a good excuse.”

Orion honestly felt a bit guilty. He felt like what was going through was small potatoes compared to what Ahato had suffered. Having her very free will taken away and basically enslaved…

Ahato seemed to notice his expression, and smiled to him, saying as if she read his mind, “you don’t need to feel guilty, Orion. You deserve to get help for your problems, too.”

“How did you-nevermind,” he said, coming over to her, putting his hands on the side of the bed, “you’re literally bedridden. You were robbed of your free will and memories.”

“I appreciate you putting my problems above yours, but it’s okay. At the end of the day, it’s all about the two of us becoming the people we really want to be, right? I was never cut out for being a soldier, but I wanted to become a DJ who could make music people would love, and I knew the surface was where I could do that. And through having the body you want to have, you want to be a stronger, more confident person, right?” Ahato took his hand, with a weak chuckle, “it’s partly because of you and your friends that I’m here, and free. So I know you deserve to be free and happy, too.”

Orion smiled back, putting his other hand on hers. “Thanks, Ahato. I hope you make a full recovery. I really want to hear the kinds of music you’ll make here on the surface.”

She grinned, “me too. When I’m back to my old self, I’m going to rock Inkopolis like nothing it’s ever seen before.”

❖

Ethan was so freaking bored.

Turns out a stakeout at night in questionable weather conditions wasn’t as thrilling as one might expect - in fact it was actually rather dull. Ethan was sitting under a dark blue tent at the top of a building, with a full view of two sides of the Tau Enterprises building. Ayane was on the opposite side, doing the same. The tent would not only keep any rain off but also be difficult to spot in the dark. Fortunately, skies were clear for the time being. The drones in the sky above were being operated by none other than Mega Water S.

But they needed to keep an eye out for the entire night. And for all they knew, the thief might not even show up, which would render this whole exercise a massive waste of time. Part of Ethan was hoping that would be the case.

“Heads up, the drones are detecting movement around the outside of the building. Looks like our thief has finally arrived,” said Mega Water S.

Well, carp. So much for that hope. Ethan took a look through his binoculars, and with the sky as a backdrop, he could barely make out the thief zipping towards the side of the building with the Zipcaster. “Copy that, I see her.”

They had already looked at the building for potential entry points, and the only viable entrance was through getting into the ventilation system at the top of the building. Indeed, she was making her way up towards the top.

“Alright, wait for her to get up there and then we super-jump,” Ayane said. “It’s our best shot to corner her.”

“Right,” Ethan said, grabbing his Hero Roller and making sure his grappling hook was secured to his arm. “Sandy, keep those drones on her. We can’t afford to lose her tonight.”

Right as the thief went up and over the top, he used his super-jump, rocketing right to the top of the building. A couple of Squid Beakons had been placed there exactly for that purpose.

Ethan and Ayane landed at roughly the same time, startling the thief, who was attempting to open a ventilation shaft. Ethan called out first. “Hey, we just wanna talk-”

Suddenly, she super-jumped away. Ethan swore under his breath as he estimated her trajectory and followed immediately after. She knew. She anticipated we might be staking this place out.

He landed on the same building as her, some distance away, and as expected, she had a Beakon of her own to immediately jump to, and was already trying to make her getaway. He held a hand up to his headset as he broke into a sprint, “she’s in my sights, I’m in pursuit!”

“Keep on her, I’ll try and catch up and maybe get ahead of her!” Ayane replied.

Time to put the hook to good use. He noticed the thief was more than a little surprised when he successfully hooked onto a spot on the building she was zipping towards, right next to her, and zoomed right over, but she wasted no time getting onto the roof and making a run for it. He leaped up to the top as well, making good use of his Roller to speed up. “Please, stop! I just want to talk!”

It was a frantic, intense pursuit across multiple buildings. She was quick, but so was he, and he was determined to not let her out of his sights. Unfortunately, at this point the rain had picked up again, as if the universe had chosen this specific moment for the dramatic weather.

Eventually, however, the thief simply dived off the other side of the building. As Ethan rushed to see where she went, she launched herself back up, tackling him to the floor and holding an ink dagger to his throat. “Stop. Following. Me.”

He found this strangely familiar. But at the same time, it confirmed what he feared was the case. “Not until I talk some sense into you, Marino.”

“So you knew.” The inky ‘suit’ melted away, revealing Marino in her modified Octarian gear. “When did you figure it out?”

“I suspected it after chasing you the first time. I’m not the smartest tool in the shed, but it wasn’t that hard,” Ethan grinned. “Your movements, your agility… Also, your ass. Big giveaway, that one.”

“Ugh, you’re incorrigible,” Marino said, with an amused smirk. “I should’ve known it’d come to this the moment you told me you were hunting the ‘thief’. I know you mean well, Ethan, but I’m not stopping. I’ve already come too far.”

“Marino… Don’t make me hurt you.”

“Yeah, good luck with that. I’ve already got you pinned again.”

His hand glowed as he focused his ki. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I’ve got a new trick up my sleeve that’s perfect for getting me out of this little situation.”

Marino blinked, confused, “what on Earth are you-”

“HADOKEN!” He launched a one-handed fireball at her, knocking her right off - it wasn’t that strong, but it was enough to get her off him, and he immediately got back onto his feet, gripping his Roller. “See what I-“

A thrown ink dagger slashed his hand, causing him to drop the weapon immediately, and Marino was already in his face, attacking with a second dagger. He stepped back, dodging her strikes, before knocking the blade out of her hand with well-aimed kick.

The pair circled each other, as he took on an Ansatsuken stance, while she took on an Octarian CQC stance. She smirked, “so you know martial arts, too. Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Have good luck with women, apparently!” Ethan smirked back, but he warned her, “Marino, just stop. We can talk about this.”

“NO!” She rushed him with quick hand strikes, “I have to do this!”

“What do you mean, ‘have to?!’” He blocked and deflected the strikes, if barely, countering with quick blows of his own, “you’re not making any sense! I want to help you!”

Marino ducked and dodged them. “You can help me by minding your own business! I’m helping people in need by doing this!”

“Maybe, but you’re taking on a massive risk!”

“YOU DON’T THINK I KNOW THAT?!” Marino swung a flurry of powerful kicks, “but I can’t stop now! I have to make up for what I’ve done!”

And there it is, Ethan thought to himself as he braced himself, blocking the incoming flurry, barely holding up before unleashing a hurricane kick. The multi-hit spinning kick surprised Marino so much that it sent her sprawling. As he landed, he panted, “Marino… I get it. But there are other ways you can-”

Suddenly, she reformed the Zipcaster suit, latching right onto Ethan’s chest, and zipping over to him, drop-kicking him before he could react and sending him sprawling as well. “MAKE ME!”

Ethan managed to roll back onto his feet, launching a full Hadoken, “WHY ARE YOU SO STUBBORN?!”

“It’s all about pride! I thought you’d understand!” Marino leaped over the fireball, coming at him with a diving kick.

“Yes, I DO!” He countered with a Shoryuken, knocking her out of the air. As she was sent tumbling to the floor, he landed, panting, “but other people come before my pride! What about the other Octolings? What about your sister?”

Marino groaned, slowly getting back up, but she fell onto one knee. “But all of my training… Everything I’ve learned as an Octarian soldier… I can’t just let that go to waste… I’ve done too much to just walk away. Not until I’ve made up for what I’ve done. To Inkopolis. To you.”

“Marino…” Ethan sighed, walking over to her, and getting down onto one knee. “I already forgave you, so you don’t need to do anything for me. I think you’re being a bit over-dramatic, you haven’t done that much harm. Marina seems to be pretty at peace with just living her best life here in Inkopolis. You didn’t chose to become a soldier, and neither did she, but…”

Marino sobbed, tears streaming down her face, “I just wanted to put my skills to use to help Inkopolis… But without anyone bad to fight, the only thing I could do was be a thief…”

“I think you’ve done enough thieving to give back to Inkopolis as it is. Sooner or later the cops will really get serious about catching you, and then… Look, it’s okay to stop before it gets to that point,” he smiled, sitting down next to her. “Nobody else has to know. Especially not Marina. Maybe you could join the New Squidbeak Splatoon or something, we could use someone like you.”

Marino was on both knees, not saying a word as she cried. Ethan just hugged her. Her crying was drowned out by the sound of the rain.

But soon, she wiped her tears. “You’re right. I can’t keep doing this. If I get caught… I don’t want to know how disappointed Marina would be with me.”

“Just go home, Marino,” Ethan smiled, “we can talk more tomorrow.”

“Yeah, if we stay out here you’ll both catch a cold,” Ayane said dryly as she and Merga walked over. “Nice work, Ethan. Well, squit, now I feel bad for getting on her case.”

“How long have you two been standing there?” Ethan chuckled, as he let go of Marino.

“For a while. That was a good fight, shame we couldn’t join in, but then again, that wouldn’t have been fun,” Merga shrugged. “So I suppose this matter is finally resolved, then?”

“I… Yes. I promise I’ll stop stealing from now on,” Marino said, as she got up, and picked up her daggers. “I have a lot to think about.”

As she super-jumped away, Ethan sighed, “that was even harder to do that I thought it’d be.”

“Go home, Ethan. We’ll debrief tomorrow,” Ayane said, as she and Merga teleported out.

“Oh, geez, go home in the pouring rain, sure…” Ethan chuckled, as he picked up his Roller and got moving.

❖

Ethan was settled back in to his apartment, relaxing as he watched TV, wearing only a simple shirt and shorts. It wasn’t going to be long before he went to bed. This had been one shell of a night.

And then someone knocked on the balcony door.

He turned, to see Marino standing there, with a wave and a smile.

Ethan got up, going over to unlock the door, opening it, “Marino, what are you-”

Marino just responded by planting a kiss right on his lips, pushing him back and closing the door behind them. She quickly broke the kiss, smiling, “thank you. I’m sorry for making so much trouble for you and Ayane.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” he smiled, putting his arms around her waist, “but geez, coming over like this, you’re completely soaked.”

“Well, not like I plan to wear this for much longer.”

Ethan had no idea what she meant until she started taking off her clothes, leaving her wearing only a sports bra and underwear. His eyes widened, face completely flushed. “Wait, what are you-”

She kissed him again, pushing him right over towards the bedroom and right onto the bed, shoving him onto his back and getting on top with a sultry smile. “You have a lot to learn about romance, lover boy. Fortunately…” She pulled something out of her cleavage - a strip of flat, white packets, “I’m in the mood for a private lesson, free of charge.”

Oh.

OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH.

He decided not to question where and when she bought those, and grinned, “well, Miss Ida, I’m ready to learn~”

They embraced for another kiss.

Tonight was, to put it lightly, one of extremes. But right now, Ethan was more than happy that it turned out well for everyone… And he was more than happy to enjoy his ‘reward’ at the end of it.