A small, red light on an oversized camcorder turned on, indicating it was recording. The subject in the room was a tall octoling, sitting in front of a desk with their hands folded in front of them. Green eyes stared at the lens of the camera, maintaining eye contact with it as if it were a person.

"Hey, guys," they greeted, to no one in particular. "I'm just starting up this video diary in case anyone finds this sometime in the future. Heck, maybe even I'll find this in the future."

They paused, stifling a chuckle, breaking eye contact as they closed their eyes, before looking back at the camera once more.

"Guess I'd better explain why I made this diary in the first place," they continued. "As it turns out, I'm in this weird subway place mixed with a bunch of labs and stuff. Not sure how I got here; mind's all fuzzy. So, I met with a telephone that talked to me, and told me that if I got these four 'thangs' or something, then I'd be able to leave, I guess."

They ducked offscreen for a moment, before pulling out a white device. It looked like a submarine, but seemed more similar is size to a small brick. They turned it to show all angles of the device. One side simply had a small, yellow joystick, and its opposite side had what appeared to be a pocket, a blue card with white marks occupying it. "It gave me this, and left me to do whatever down here."

They paused again. Immediately, they tried to think of a way to make themselves sound less crazy than they seemed right about then. A telephone that thought on its own? They absolutely sounded like they deserved what they were about to go through.

"I am so not crazy, by the way," they rambled. "It sounds like I am, but I'm not. Like, I sound as if I belong in some sort of asylum or something just by saying that..." Their voice trailed off. "Then again, this place does remind me of one..."

They shook their head; they were getting off topic. "Anyway, I was assigned these tests, you know, to test out how smart I am or how agile I am or something. I don't know exactly how well I did, but I must've done something for the slug to tell me I wasn't continuing in the remaining tests. I asked, but all it could tell me was that I was a 'special circumstance', whatever that meant. And so, here I am, some random dude who might not escape from this place, ever, because the Deepsea's Corporate offices thought I'm too dumb for anything."

They sounded upset, frustrated, even. But a deep breath was able to calm them down, somewhat. Though, they couldn't help but think about their overall performance. What if..?

"I had to get that off my chest, guys," they explained. "I don't think I failed any of those tests, like, at all. I know I passed, so why am I so worried? Maybe... instead of being too dumb to pass, I'm actually too smart to fail! Yeah!"

They sounded a lot more cheerful at this point, realizing that maybe the 'special circumstance' was because they hadn't failed any at all. That certainly did reassure them quite well.

Their mini-celebration was cut short, as they turned their head towards the left. There was a knock on the door. They turned back to the camera. "Visitors, I'm guessing. I'll have to cut this entry short. So, for the first ever entry, this is Ahato, signing out." They flashed a peace sign, before reaching out past the lens, shutting off the recording.

-------------------------

Ahato shut off the camera. Seated on a rolling chair, they kicked themselves away from the desk, manuvering towards the door on the other side of the room. They pulled the handle, letting the door stay ajar, rolling away from the door as to let the person on the other side enter.

In the doorway stood a male octoling, tall and serious. His tentacles seemed long, swept behind him only to end atop his right shoulder. He wore a suit, which added some kind of formality to his appearance. Though, to Ahato, he seemed just as green and sickly as the rest of the octolings around.

He stepped inside, teal eyes glancing down at Ahato, who stood up as soon as he was inside. They could tell he was just as tall as they were. Ahato wanted answers, and they were getting it now that someone who knew what was going on was in their presence.

Before he could speak, they spoke up.

"Why am I a 'special circumstance'?"