Chapter Text
It had been a bit less than a week since Tartar was brought in, and it was no less mysterious than the day it was rebuilt.
It hadn't been acting suspicious, but it definitely wasn't elaborating about who it was or where it came from to Grizz or O.R.C.A.
Grizz decided to take it upon himself to figure out who Tartar really was.
The door to the room Tartar had made its own creaked open, making Tartar sit up on its bed to see who it was.
"Hey Tartar, Grizz said as he opened the door a bit more.
"Oh- hi. What are you doing here?" It asked, tilting its head.
Grizz stepped into the room, "I just want to talk, you know. Maybe get to know you."
"Why?" Tartar asked back in a slightly accusatory tone, "I mean, I don't know much about you and you've been living here for a few days. I'd like to get to know you more."
Tartar laid back down in its bed, seeming more relaxed, "That... Is fair. I guess I haven't been very talkative. It still is just a lot to take in, even after some time," it patted a space on the bed, motioning for Grizz to sit down, "Take a seat."
"Oh, well... I actually had something else in mind," "Huh?"
"I wanted to invite you to come with me around Alterna. Maybe show you around this place. You've really only seen this island and there's six others," Grizz explained, "And we could talk during it, if that sounds interesting to you."
The telephone perked up at that suggestion, "Actually, that does sound better. I don't really like being cooped up in this Space center all the time," Grizz chuckled at that, "Well, let's get going, Tartar."
Grizz walked with Tartar through the winding hallways of the Space Center and onto the bridge leading to Future Utopia Island.
"You said there were six other islands, right?" Tartar asked, "Mhm, wanna just go to each in order?"
Tartar shrugged, "Sounds fine to me! Lead the way."
And so the two set off, starting at Future Utopia island and working their way around the entirety of Alterna.
ーーー
Due to Tartar's utter excitement when Grizz mentioned they could actually enter the kettles littered around each island and see what was inside them, the robot and the bear found themselves at the sixth island, the Happiness Research Labs.
It was less of an island and more of a scattered arrangement of half-sunken buildings with only thin ride rails connecting each building, making it so the two couldn't travel to the others, but that didn't matter. The first kettle on the islands was on the first building upon arrival.
The kettles originally were only made for cephalopods who could swim through grates, but all it took was a bit of prying for Grizz to tear off the lid to it. It wasn't like there would be any other cephalopods coming to Alterna, so it didn't matter.
The two hopped into the kettle and landed in a square room comprised mostly of strong glass.
Tartar looked around in awe as a soft glow of light emanated through the windows.
Grizz pointed towards a transparent gateway ahead of them, "We just go through that gate there and we'll be in the main area," Tartar nodded and walked over to it first.
Click
Both Tartar and Grizz didn't realize where the sound came from, until O.R.C.A's voice suddenly boomed from the ceiling.
"Hey guys! Didn't know you'd be trying out some kettles here!"
Tartar jumped back in bewilderment, but quickly regained its composure and cleared its throat, "Yup, I just wanted to see what was in all these, they seemed intriguing. It explained, trying to sound dignified, "Uh, where did you come from though? Your voice I mean," "Oh, you stepped onto that platform on the ground." O.R.C.A replied. Tartar looked down and noticed a small ramp it was standing on and made a small 'hm' noise.
"That alerts me if someone's in a kettle, so when you guys come back from this kettle, tell me how it was!"
"We will, Grizz said, "We should get to it now, shall we, Tartar?"
"Yup," Tartar suspiciously eyed the ceiling of the room.
"Good luck you two!"
A staticky noise came from the ceiling and O.R.C.A's voice tuned out.
"Well, that was a surprise, huh?" Tartar shrugged, "Let's head out now," Grizz said and stepped into the entrance gateway to the main part of the mission level, Tartar following close behind. At first, neither of them could see anything before them when they exited the room.
Fog covered every inch of the surrounding area, leaving almost everything invisible.
The only thing either of them could see was a bridge from the platform they were standing on leading into the mist.
"Jeez, why's everything so foggy? How is this even possible underground?" Tartar asked, trying to wave away some of the fog to no avail, "I don't know either, O.R.C.A has their ways I guess," Grizz muttered, "They did say there was a kettle like this somewhere, but I forgot where for a while. Of course it has to be the only one we can reach here..."
Tartar patted Grizz's shoulder, "Aw, it's okay, we can still look around this place!" It said, "Fine, we'll just have to be careful. I have no idea how far down these kettles go."
From what Grizz could roughly see, the telephone's face changed to one of distress, "Let's not think about that..."
The two carefully traveled across the bridge and arrived at a much larger platform. In the center was a towering rectangular structure with glass walls, revealing the goal inside.
"So do you that... know what thing was for here?" Tartar asked and pointed at the structure. "That was the objective anyone doing this had to get to. I'm not completely sure how they would've gotten to it in this kettle, though." The bear confirmed and walked around it.
The two came to a red grate overhanging a lower portion of the platform.
In the area below, from what Grizz could see, were unopened crates littered around, a couple of fake trees, and a bridge leading to somewhere he couldn't see.
Grizz and Tartar carefully dropped down from the higher platform and continued traversing the kettle, Grizz ahead of Tartar to scout out the area better.
It was all going fine from then on. Nothing went wrong and the two spent the time chatting about the mysterious and confusing nature of the kettle.
Something felt off though.
It was quiet. Far too quiet.
O.R.C.A said all the kettle had at least a few enemies somewhere.
But there was no sign of anyone.
That should've made Grizz feel better, at least they wouldn't have to fight anyone and Tartar wouldn't have to know about the fuzzy ooze, something Grizz knew he'd have to tell it about, but this moment didn't feel right.
It should've felt fine. But it didn't.
The lingering worry something or someone was lurking in the fog still gnawed at him.
It wasn't until he and Tartar turned a corner that Grizz sensed something wrong with his surroundings.
Footsteps. Quick and agile ones, darting around like a predator stalking its prey.
They were being followed.
It was too late for Grizz to get Tartar to dodge the fuzzy Octoling's blaster shot when she jumped out of her hiding place right behind it.
"Tartar, look out-!"
CLANG
The sound of bolts coming undone and metal falling to the ground rang in the air, signalling the Octoling hit the back panel of Tartar's head.
"TARTAR!" Grizz yelled as Tartar fell to the ground, clutching the back of its head, "ACK-! What was that!?" It cried.
Grizz looked back at the Octoling who shot Tartar. She stood proudly at her attack, spinning her blaster in one hand triumphantly.
When she noticed Grizz glaring at her she jumped back in recognition of him.
One of the side effects of the fuzzy ooze was that anyone afflicted by it would follow any order from Grizz, so he knew what to do.
"Out! I order you to get away from us!" Grizz roared at her, gnashing his teeth in an attempt to look more threatening.
The fuzzy Octoling hissed in response, but did as Grizz said and rushed away into the fog, leaving him and Tartar by themselves.
Grizz turned to the telephone who was still crouched on the ground, staring at his broken head panel on the ground.
"Tartar! Are you okay?" Grizz asked, even though he knew the answer very well.
"Grizz, what's this purple stuff?
Grizz hesitated.
He needed to tell him about the fuzzy ooze, but that would take too long, and he didn't know how much longer Tartar would stay conscious.
"... I'll tell you later. We need to get you some help, Tartar," He said, kneeling next to it to support it in standing up, "Do you think you can walk?"
After what felt like an excruciating eternity of silence from Tartar, it finally spoke, its voice faltering and unnaturally breaking up.
"I don't... think I can, actually..." The telephone trailed off before collapsing.
ーーー
"So you are gonna tell it, right?"
"Yeah, I will. He needs to know."
"Okay, should I stay in here or do you wanna talk to it alone?"
"Alone would be better."
"Alright, good luck, Grizz. Tell me what it says, okay?"
"I will. See you when we're done, O.R.C.A."
The door shut behind Grizz, leaving him by himself to wait for Tartar to wake up.
After Tartar collapsed, Grizz had to bring it back to the room they started in to tell O.R.C.A about the events that had just unfolded. Luckily, Tartar was surprisingly light, so carrying it wasn't too much of a hassle.
Once Grizz arrived at the room and O.R.C.A was alerted of his return, he explained what happened to O.R.C.A, who offered to help him fix Tartar's head once they got back to the Space Center.
After figuring out that some of the fuzzy ooze had seeped into Tartar's inner mechanisms when it hit him, causing him to power down, they had managed to fix him quite quickly in one of the various lab rooms, but when they finished, it didn't immediately wake up like before.
It just stayed idle, the only sign that it might ever power on again being its internal fans still whirring ever so slightly, as if it were struggling to gain consciousness.
They also agreed while waiting that they needed to tell Tartar about the fuzzy ooze and what Grizz had done. There wouldn't be any other way of explaining how it got damaged without bringing it up.
Eventually, the whirring of Tartar started to pick up its pace, a sign to Grizz and O.R.C.A it might be powering back on. so O.R.C.A left the room for Grizz to talk to it himself.
Tartar still didn't wake up.
More minutes passed without any difference in fan speed, nor any other signs Tartar would rouse any time soon.
This is my fault. Of course it's all my fault.
If I didn't tell Tartar about the kettles, this wouldn't have happened.
If I acted fast enough, Tartar wouldn't have gotten hurt.
Why can't I just help people? I'm always hurting them.
I'll never change, will I?
More and more of Grizz's spiraling thoughts piled up in his head, threatening to drown him out from anything else in his surroundings.
Being around Tartar managed to distract him for long enough and ignore them, but being alone now made it all come back like a tidal wave.
"Grizz? is that you?"
A robotic voice snapped Grizz out of his thoughts.
Tartar was awake.
"Tartar! You're alive!" Grizz exclaimed, his ears perking up.
"Yup, I guess I am," Tartar said, looking around the room.
A moment of silence came over the two. Neither wanted to speak first about the events in the kettle.
"I'm sorry about what happened, Tartar, Grizz started. "I'm sorry you got hurt and-"
"Woah, woah, woah, what do you mean you're sorry? You weren't the one who busted the back of my head!" Tartar interrupted Grizz, "It was that Octoling that got me! No need to apologize!"
Tartar looked down and thought for a moment, "How was there an Octoling, though? Didn't you say no more cephalopods would be in Alterna? And what even damaged me?"
Grizz took a deep breath. Now he'd have to tell Tartar.
"Tartar, I'm going to need you to bear with me for a bit. There's a lot to explain. You'll just have to wait till I'm done to tell me how you feel about it."
Tartar tilted its head but said nothing.
"What you got damaged by was something called fuzzy ooze, it's a substance that can turn cephalopods into mammals. Mostly. That fuzzy Octoling only attacked you because you weren't a mammal."
"Before you ask who made it, it was me."
The telephone seemed taken aback by Grizz's confession, but he continued.
"I created the fuzzy ooze because I wanted mammals back. Seeing the world as it is made me... Angry and I ended up creating a company to aid in the creation of the ooze."
"I did a lot of terrible things, Tartar. I tricked and manipulated people. I captured Octolings to turn them fuzzy and trapped in these kettles. I tried to destroy the world. And I hate that I ever did it. I regret everything," Grizz looked away from the telephone as he talked, too afraid to make eye contact and be even more vulnerable.
"The only reason I'm telling you this is because you need to know. Keeping this a secret from you wouldn't be fair."
"Make of this what you will, Tartar. I just want to be honest."
Tartar said nothing.
"It's- it's not like I'm proud of this, I hate that I did this, believe me," more worry racked at Grizz's head.
Tartar still stayed silent.
Dread creeped its way into Grizz's mind once again as he held his breath for Tartar's response.
There goes another potential relationship.
Grizz would've expected Tartar to lash out or be mad, but instead, it let out a short laugh, "Seriously? It happened again?" its voice was tainted with slight disbelief.
Grizz's head clouded with confusion, "Excuse me? What do you mean again?"
Tartar shook its head, "Sorry, sorry, I mean- uh-" it seemed to be struggling with its words.
"So funny thing, Grizz, I've done almost that exact same thing too!"
Those words seemed to stop Grizz's world for a moment. He couldn't even form coherent speech to reply to Tartar with.
Again?
Someone has done this before?
Someone might understand?
Someone is just as horrible as me?
Tartar is just as horrible as me?
Why would Tartar do something like what I've done?
It wouldn't have a reason like mine, would it?
No way, no way, it's lying, it has to be.
"Excuse me, are you joking? Grizz asked, slight anger tinting his voice, "No, no, I'm being serious! I just don't know how else to say that in a serious way," Tartar explained as he waved his hands frantically.
"It sounds like a crazy coincidence, know, but I've tried to destroy society with weird goo before too! Wow what a small world it is! Two attempted world-enders meet up in a weird underground city!" Tartar said in a high pitched and light-hearted voice, but its expressions showed strain, like it was internally regretting ever speaking.
A silence fell between them again.
"I assume you want to know more about what I mean by that," Tartar muttered and Grizz nodded, unable to really speak at all.
"Like you, I also hated how the world was. I thought these sea creatures didn't deserve the planet, and like you, I also made a business. Kamabo Co. to, uh- capture and brainwash Octolings with something called sanitizer. I guess it's similar to that fuzzy ooze of yours in that way," Tartar admitted, "And obviously like you, I don't want what happened to happen again! I hate what I did and it was terrible!"
"I understand."
For a few heartbeats the two of them didn't say anything.
Tartar sighed and looked to the floor.
"Well now what?"
"What do you mean?"
"We've just told each other about our entire history of being horrible, now what do we do with this?"
Grizz thought for a moment.
"We try to change."
Tartar looked up from the ground at that.
"We both admit we don't want to repeat what we did before, so let's not. We change and become better."
Tartar went silent again, then jumped down from the table it was sitting on and grabbed Grizz's paws enthusiastically. "Of course! I mean, obviously! What else can we do?"
Taken aback by the sudden contact, Grizz just shook Tartar's hands like a formal handshake, "Right, I'm glad we agree on this," he said somewhat awkwardly.
Tartar quickly pulled his hands away from Grizz, "Oh, sorry about that, I just got a bit excited," The telephone chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.
"Where do you think we could start? Trying to change. I mean."
I have an idea on where we could start, or at least I could start, Tartar said, "Really? What do you have in mind?"
"You know how I mentioned the business. I used to run? It was really a metro rather than an average business though, but that doesn't matter! There's someone who worked there I want to talk to about everything."
Grizz tilted his head, "But are you sure he'll still be working there? If you're not there to run the place, will anyone be there at all?" He asked. "See, I'm not very sure about that." Tartar admitted, "I'm just hoping that maybe there's a chance he's still there. If you don't wanna go 'cause of that I can probably go alon-"
"No, I'm fine going, whether that person is there or not. I suppose going out of Alterna and seeing a new place would be good for me too," Grizz cut in, "I can tell O.R.C.A where we're going too, I'm sure they'll be fine with it as well."
Tartar's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's great!"
"Then it's settled, we can go back to the Metro in a few days and try to find this C.Q. Cumber person," Grizz extended his paw for Tartar to shake again, who soon did early, "Sounds good to me, Grizz!"
And just like that, Grizz surprisingly felt better about, well, everything.
At least someone understood what he went through and did, and understood he could change.
They could change, both of them.
If they tried, they could.
Our actions will never be repeated. I make sure of it.