"With creatures of the surface driven to extinction by rising sea levels, the ancestors of Inklings were free to haul their ten-legged bodies up onto the abandoned land. This is how the Mollusc Era began."
—Sunken Scrolls 1:10 (3.1)

Saturday, 9:28 a.m.

Inkopolis Square

Cole hurriedly pushed himself through yet another crowd of people, trying to catch his breath. Panic continued to well up in his chest. Someone was stalking him.

This woman was being pretty conspicuous about it, too, he thought. She looked distinct, subdued but colorful, with a big pink hairpin and ornately patterned clothing. Cole had seen her yesterday when he walked into the lobby of Teuthida General Hospital. He took note of her neat, unusual appearance but thought nothing of it then. And today, that same woman was waiting for him as he left the Inkopolis City Jail, with the same hair in a bun, same black kimono, and same lacquered sandals. She followed him at a distance too far for him to confront but too close for him to ignore, hiding her face with a green paper parasol. Her presence couldn't have been just a coincidence.

The woman trailed him as he walked around Inkopolis Square. Several times, Cole tried to lose her, taking detours and walking through crowds, but she didn't give up. Every time he looked back, he could see her.

Well, if none of that worked, then he would try waiting her out at a public place. He shouldered his way into a nearby cafe and lined up to order a drink. No way she'd follow him in here, with all these other folks around. Something cold to drink could help him calm down a bit, too.

She didn't look like a thief, Cole thought to himself. Her clothing was too eye-catching. That just made the situation scarier, because she was confident enough to follow him around despite that and her obvious size disadvantage. Was she armed? What could she possibly want?

"May I take your order, sir?" a young Inkling girl at the register said, snapping him back to the present. He ordered himself a beverage that he'd never heard of and sat down to collect his thoughts. He wondered if Natalie drank this kind of stuff on a daily basis. Or maybe cafe drinks were just for social purposes? It was rather expensive, and everyone else in the cafe was in some sort of group. There was no way Nat could ever afford to have every meal at this place. Then again, she was a professional athlete. Nat probably made plenty of money.

And just when Cole was getting comfortable, his stalker walked in. She closed her green parasol and headed directly for his table.

He froze. Did nobody else notice her? He looked away from her and pretended to be very interested in his cup of whatever drink this was. She sat down across from him.

"Finally decided to stop running, big guy?" she asked. "I just want to talk."

He ignored her and picked at the label on his cup.

"Listen, I didn't mean to scare you. I just want to know why you're looking for Natalie Tilus." the woman continued. "Maybe we can help each other."

That got Cole's attention. He wordlessly motioned for her to continue.

"First, I'd prefer to take this somewhere more private," the woman in black said rather quietly, looking around the cafe. "Natalie and I are old friends. We used to work together as partners. We can find her if you agree to help me."

Cole narrowed his eyes at the stranger. "W-who are you, ma'am?" Maybe this was some kind of joke. A humorless practical joke.

She got up and beckoned to him to follow. "I'll tell you on the way," she replied.

"I ain't going anywhere. I have no idea who you are," Cole said firmly.

The woman sat back down, betraying no signs of emotion. She did, however, look directly at Cole's face for several seconds. He really hated it when people did that. It creeped him out.

She broke the staring contest first. "I can't tell you who I am. Not here. But I can propose a trade: I'll tell you what Natalie Tilus was doing last, and you tell me who you are and how you know Natalie."

"...Did you kidnap Nat?"

"What? No! I mean, I'm looking for her," the woman answered. "And if all you've been doing is going to the city authorities and asking around, then I probably know more than you do. You're not going to find her that way."

Cole was indeed stuck, and he wasn't going to lose anything by taking her deal. "I'll bite. You first."

"Four weeks ago," she started, "Natalie Tilus went on a research trip with her commanding officer, out to the Eastern Cape. They never came back."

Commanding officer?

"Wait, what?" Cole blurted out.

The woman talked right over him. "There was foul play involved. As far as I know, Natalie Tilus is still alive and being held in captivity, but I can't say where, exactly."

"Hang on," Cole interrupted. "Nat Tilus is a sixteen-year-old girl."

Foul play? Held in captivity?

"She's a Turf War player," he continued. "You know, the paintball thing. We talkin' about the same person, here?"

"Yes," the woman responded. "I've told you what I know. Now it's your turn."

Cole was at a loss for words. What was she even saying? This sounded so ridiculous. This sounded dangerous.

"What was Nat doing, exactly?" he ventured.

The woman gave him a blank look before answering. "I just told you. Your turn."

Cole opened his mouth in protest, but he held back. He wasn't one to go back on his word. "I'm, uh... my name is Cole." he mustered. "Me and Nat was childhood friends. Grew up together in the Falls. Neighbors. She moved out and came to the city to do the Turf War thing. Like, as a professional athlete."

The woman in black was all ears. Cole took a breath before continuing. "That was about two years ago. We kept in touch, but she stopped answering her messages recently. Nobody I know has been able to get in contact with her a couple a weeks."

"So you came to Inkopolis to look for Natalie?"

"Yeah. Her parents filed a report, but they said that maybe I could also check for them in person. I been everywhere, and, well..."

"How old are you, Cole?"

"Eighteen."

A brief silence followed, and Cole went back to picking at the label on his cup. The woman finally averted her gaze and began looking into her hands. Cole took note of her yellow, star-shaped eyes and grey hair. She looked several years older than him, he guessed. Maybe only a few; he was never good at guessing ages. Part of him believed that the woman across the table was lying, somehow, but she looked fairly relaxed. She gave off an easy-going, trustworthy vibe, which Cole could not reconcile with the fact that she had brazenly stalked someone a head taller and a great deal heavier than herself. She was better than nothing, at least.

"Look," the woman pleaded, looking back up. "I really need your help. Can we sort this out somewhere else, Cole?"

He tried his best to return her piercing gaze, but they both knew who was more intimidated.

She continued. "Natalie's life is on the line here. You'll be helping both of us."

Cole sighed. "You're the only lead I got. Where are we going?"

¤ ~ § ~ ¤ ~ § ~ ¤ ~ § ~ ¤