Chapter Text
“Welcome to Lemuria Hub. Next stop, Splatsville.” The train’s brakes screeched to a halt as we approached the platform. I heard faint chatter as people exited and entered the car I was in.
Despite this train running from Inkopolis Plaza to Splatsville, the seats were super uncomfortable. I tried sinking into them and getting comfortable for the last 10 minutes of my trip, but the cushions were just too thin and uncomfortable. I saw someone sleeping across the aisle, I wonder how they managed that. Not only were the seats uncomfortable but the whole car was hot and smelled of metal and sadness.
If you couldn’t already tell, my destination was the city of anarchy itself, Splatsville. The city that Deep Cut and lots of people looking to make it big in the Turf War scene called home.
I was travelling, actually, moving to Splatsville for work. I–or I should say we, I’ll get to that in a moment–got a letter telling us to travel to Splatsville for a “Once in a lifetime!” job opportunity. With absolutely nothing to lose, I grabbed my younger brother, made him get all his current affairs together, packed his shit, and we left for Splatsville.
Now that I think about it, saying “Younger brother” is a bit of a stretch. I’m Echo, and I have a twin brother, Silence. He’s–how do I say this lightly? Mute. He can’t speak. A while ago in the domes, we were doing something stupid, and he survived a blaster shot to the neck. Mute guy named Silence. How ironic, I know. He’s been mute for 13 years, but I feel like that’s made our bond even stronger. Having to accommodate his needs really brought us together. Anyways, enough about us and more about our new job offer. According to this mysterious letter we were both given, we were to travel to Splatsville to meet our employer somewhere in the station. It sounds stupid, I know, but I was bouncing between jobs despite having a degree in Weapon Engineering–full ride actually. Education in the domes really wasn’t that bad. Sometimes I miss the time before I thought about fleeing the domes. When I was innocent, when Silence had his voice.
“Hey, Silence,” I tapped him in the shoulder. “What do you think Splatsville is gonna be like?” He thought for a second.
“Don’t ask me. I’ve never been there.” He signed back to me, letting out a little breathy attempt at a laugh. It’s just a side effect of being mute.
I lightly punched him in the arm. “I was asking a serious question.”
“And I gave you a serious answer.” He smirked at me while signing.
“I hate you so much.” He hit my shoulder lightly and let out another measly attempt at a laugh. Despite these really uncomfortable seats, being with Silence distracted me from the pain I’m gonna have to endure for the next week when I get up. Seriously, who thought that perfectly vertical seats on a train that runs such a long distance would be a good idea? It doesn’t matter. We were in the home stretch.
Despite the city still being a good twenty minutes away, the Turf War Lobby was still visible from this far out in the desert. The city was beautiful under the sun and probably even more beautiful up close. I guess I can’t do much more than wait.
“Welcome to Splatsville. This is the final stop before this train loops back to Inkopolis Plaza.” No more turning back. I grabbed my bag, checked my pockets, and stepped off the train for the first time in hours.