'I'm awake'
I woke up in another tank, and I'm genuinely surprised to find myself still alive. I thought I would be eaten by that monster, but it appears the humans got to me first.
"Ah, you're awake."
I instantly shoot around and see Lady Mirth sitting in a chair behind a small wooden table holding a magazine and staring directly into my eyes. She places the magazine to the side and begins to speak.
"Yes, I know you're intelligent and can understand human speech. I figured that out when you gave a thumbs-up to the maid, and from the plan you made to escape from the dogs. From what I can tell, your list of abilities includes color changing, incredible body control, intelligence, and you can spray ink to blind people."
"Now I'm going to be clear here, little octopus, you are now not only a gift for my little sister Meira, but a vital resource of House Roslin, you will be monitored around the clock by at least two guards, all briefed on your abilities. You will be kept here until Meira's birthday, where you will officially be her main research subject. Did you get all that?"
"Now you have proven yourself an escape artist, so I will now be giving you my most compelling argument on why not to try to escape. Marcel, please bring it in."
A skinny young man wearing a full chef's uniform wheels in a large cart that only has a large dish with a cloche covering it. He stops the cart in front of Mirth and places a fork and a knife wrapped in a napkin, then he places the plate right in front of her. She grabs the handkerchief and places it in her collar, then she grabs the knife with her left hand and her fork with her right. Marcel lifts the cloche, and underneath is a large grilled octopus with lemons as a garnish. She then starts slowly eating the entire grilled octopus, first starting with the tentacles, eating each individual tentacle slowly and methodically before moving onto the next tentacle. Next, she plucks out the eyes of the octopus and eats those like grapes. She then finishes the dish by slowly eating the large head of the octopus, and all the while she was staring at me dead in the eyes, never looking away for a second.
She then placed down her cutlery and cleaned her mouth with her handkerchief. She got up out of the chair and thanked Marcel for the meal before departing.
'Humans are scary.'
Hey guys, welcome to my new tank. It's a large cylindrical tank with minimal decoration so as not to clash with the open floor plan of the room around it. Let me give you the tour. First, let's start with this beautiful and sturdy 1-inch-thick reinforced glass; it's so incredibly sturdy that even if I were 100 times stronger, I couldn't even put a dent in it, and yet it's still clear as crystal. What amazing craftsmanship! Next, we have this state-of-the-art water filtration system. With water being pumped through a vent in the roof of the tank and micro holes all over the sides of the tank to let old water out, you can be sure this tank will both stay clean and keep you nice and secure inside. Now, people, I know what you're thinking, "but what about home security. How can I know my guppies are safe here?" Well, our head of the Neighborhood, Lady Mirth, has given us here two armed guards to ensure we stay nice and safe here in our homes forever. After all, this is a prison.
Yeah, there is no getting out of this tank, so I have a simple plan: I'm gonna chill out. There are no opportunities out of this tank yet, so it's best to wait and observe what I can do to get out of here. But not to disappoint, I'm still going to practice using MP while in my temporary domicile here, so it's training montage time again, cue music.
Thus began my training, mostly it was replication training, but sadly, it was tough. There was nothing to look at to practice with, unlike the boat, but it did have its upsides. Because I had no stimulation, I realized that the better I can picture something, the more detailed my replications can be. Another benefit is the filtration system, since the water is constantly being cleaned, I can practice using my ink, I haven't had the chance to infuse MP into my ink, and I think it's going to have some decent results.
I have kept constant surveillance on the guards in case they say any information I can use and to be honest, these guys are fucking boring. All they talk about is food or the weather. These two once had a twenty-minute discussion on why they both agree that bagels from Bob's Bakery on the fourth ring are the best in the city. Genuinely, I think Mirth is still mad at me for spraying Wade; she's getting sprayed if I ever get out.
...
Back down to the bar with Oscar and Beau, they are significantly more drunk than before, and at least six beer mugs are next to both of them. Oscar's eyes widen as he sees Muk walk toward them from the entrance.
"Ey cappy, welcome, we've been waiting for you patiently, yup, absolutely BRRRRRP"
Muk walks over to Oscar and punches him on the back of the head, then sits down between him and Beau.
"Oww, what was that for, Captain. Oh, if it's that, I promise I wasn't cheating, my hand just slipped then-"
"It's not that Oscar, the octopus u guys brought escaped from the tank, so Mirth asked me to deliver that for her."
Muk signals down the barkeep and signs for him to get him a beer. Beau's ears perk up at the mention of the octopus.
"Oh, it escaped. Have they found it yet?"
Muk gulps down his still frothy beer and then answers Beau's question.
"Yeah, they did, but I got all the way outside and blinded a servant and my dear Precious."
Both Oscar and Beau feel a shiver run down their spine at the mention of that behemoth; they're both still sore from when they were invited to "play" with it.
"That octopus is still alive, right?"
Oscar asked.
"Yes, it is. I tell you that little devil is smart, it pretended to be a dog toy and even let me play with it with the dogs for 30 minutes. Meira is really going to love it."
"Why do you get Meira fish boss? Is she a cook or a collector?"
Beau finally chimes in here to explain to Oscar.
"Every member of the Roslin family has some sort of hobby or passion. My wife likes fighting people, Mirth likes to run the household, so she sets up every party and hires every member of staff, too. Miss Roslin, Muk's wife, is heavily involved in the politics of the city, and she likes nurturing talented people. Meira likes studying fish or anything that has to do with the lake. She's very quiet most of the time, so I don't know much about her."
"Wait, if Miss Roslin is a Roslin, then doesn't that mean Muk married into the family?"
"Yup, I did. Are you surprised, Oscar?"
"Not at all, I am just curious how you won the heart of Miss Roslin."
Muk, with his chin held high, begins to tell the story of how he won His moon pies' love.
"Well, I first saw her when I was six years old. We met at the pier where I was working as professional thieving scum and the moment, I laid eyes on her it was love at first sight, I proceeded to pledge my undying love for her there on the spot and was immediately slapped across the cheek and disregarded. And after that, whenever I saw her, I would once again profess my love and propose to her, naturally being rejected. It wasn't until we both turned 16 that she felt so tired with me constantly proposing to her that she said if I could catch an adult golden Sheetshark by the time I turned 18, she would accept my proposal. Two months later, I brought 2 grown adult golden Sheetsharks to her front door."
Muk starts laughing heartily at the memories of that day. Beau chimes in before drinking another drink.
"Yeah, most of our journey's bottoming, we don't make a profit, it's the miss who pays the expenditure costs."
"Wait, so basically, Captain brought in two trophies to become a trophy husband?"
"PFFFF"
Beau immediately spits out his drink and starts dying laughing on the floor.
"OWW, why did you hit me this time, Captain?"
"Just keep drinking, Oscar," Muk tells him, now missing his beaming smile from before.
...
It's been roughly six or maybe seven hours since I woke up, and I have practiced a lot with my ink and have learned a few new things. One, I can basically change anything to do with my ink. I can change the color, viscosity, and poison levels of my ink to a wide variety, with limits, though, as any large changes cost a lot of moss energy. I have practiced some more mimicry, and I have to say that after my little walk outside, it has helped me do bigger stuff. I can now do a convincing human leg, but nothing more than that is just too little detail for the size, or vice versa. I haven't practiced anything outside this room or gone to see through, and why is that? Because these guards don't know everything about my abilities.
They both clearly don't know how intelligent I am, as they keep saying things like "what a dumb fish, I wonder why we are guarding it."
'Words hurt, guys. I'm an octopus, that means I have three times more heart than you guys.'
And from what I remember, when Mirth was listing my abilities, she never mentioned my ability to become transparent. I think she just assumed how I got out was an accident on Wade's part.
'Wade, I still love you, man.'
They have been mostly feeding me mollusks and crabs, just like the ones they had in the main tank every few hours. They place it in a chamber, then they close the lid above it, then they open the floor below it to drop it in the tank. After they fed me, the shift of the guards finally swapped out. And the very first thing I hear is very interesting.
"Man, I can't believe we are so lucky to be guarding an octopus when the party is going to happen."
"Why is it easier than being at the party?"
"Didn't you hear they're dropping the barrier for the party, so all guards will have to be on alert at all times then."
"Yeah, you're right, this will be easier."
I can't wait for the party.