(Start in PEARL and MARINA's real life apartment. TIMO is on the bed with the Dream Box plugged into his computer. FRYE walks in.)

Frye-Hey, Timo. How goes trying to log in as an administrator?

Timo-Not very well. It says here that I need a password to run the program as an administrator, and I don't know what it is.

Frye-How were you running it before?

Timo-Just as a guest. There's a lot you can do to the program without entering a password. That's not very safe if you ask me. That means anyone can waltz in and make unwanted changes to the program.

Frye-Anyone...like you.

Timo-My cause is just, okay? Marina's trapped in here, and I need to get her out. Just in case, though, I should apply password protection to the rest of the program.

Frye-And lock yourself out of doing anything that might help them.

Timo-Good idea. I should wait until they're out.

(He reaches to close his laptop, and then he notices something.)

Frye-What?

Timo-It looks like one of the things I can do with the password is delete Bridgett's memories. (chuckle) That crash is still possible.

(Opening theme. Cut to the elevator. ACHT is holding three chips, one turquoise and two red. MONII and PEARL are looking over them.)

Pearl-So what's the green one this time?

Acht-Drone Splat Bomb.

Monii-Don't we already have that one?

Pearl-Yeah, but with a second one, I get to drop more splat bombs.

Monii-Pearl, you don't need more splat bombs. What we need is a wider spread of smaller upgrades. That way, we'll be ready for any situation. Let's try this one.

(Xe takes one of the red chips.)

Acht-That one's Ink Damage. I'd say it's fit for any situation.

(PEARL sighs robotically and summons the Palette. MONII puts the chip in. The elevator doors open, and they step onto the fifth floor.)

Acht-Escort the turbine tower.

(They get in the cage, and it carries them onto the floor. They drop down by the turbine tower near the front.)

Bridgett-Oh, it's this little fella!

Monii-Doesn't this floor seem familiar to you?

(BRIDGETT starts firing at the tower.)

Bridgett-What do you mean?

(The platform in the middle starts rising.)

Monii-Do you see that platform rising up blocking your view of the tower?

Acht-You're at checkpoint 1.

(They swim up the platform. They keep firing at the tower as Jelletons come at them via a ramp to the back.)

Monii-And that ramp the Jelletons are going up. This is the exact same floor where we were chasing down those speedy things just yesterday.

(Xe walks around the tower to fire at the Jelletons.)

Bridgett-That can't be possible. That was on the second floor, and now we're on the fifth.

Acht-Maybe it's because this is a digital replica of the Spire of Order, not the real deal. It can just duplicate testing grounds if it wants to.

Marina-She's right. Both floors 2 and 5 are labeled "Rising-Ground.Floor."

Monii-Those aren't my pronouns right now.

(Xe turns around and fires at some Jelletons coming from the other side.)

Marina-I was talking about Acht.

(The platform starts lowering.)

Bridgett-Aw, there it goes.

Monii-Pearl, we need your help right now.

Pearl-Sorry, I can only drop bombs when my gauge is full, which it would be if we had gotten that second chip.

(Both BRIDGETT and MONII fire at the Jelletons. One of the springing Jelletons does a Splashdown.)

Bridgett-Ooh! He knows Splashdown! Didn't know that's what he did.

(She splats the Jelleton, leaving behind a spring pad. The spring pad launches them into the air as the platform rises up again. They land beside the tower and start shooting at it. MONII's special finishes charging.)

Monii-I don't know what the rain cloud can do for me in this situation, but here goes.

(Xe drops xir Ink Storm. The platform lowers. They fire at the tower from below.)

Marina-Monii, using the Ink Storm might just be perfect in this situation. It'll help you boost the tower forward, and if you need to leave it to shoot some baddies.

(The platform rises back up. They hit the tower from point blank.)

Acht-You're past checkpoint 1!

Pearl-We're at the final push! Just gotta get it to the goal!

Bridgett-Yeah. The Ink Storm is pretty underrated.

(Some more Jelletons come at them. MONII steps aside to deal with them.)

Monii-When have you used it?

Bridgett-You remember when I was trying out the Custom Jet Squelcher? It was a great way to deal some passive damage while I fired at enemies from the backlines.

(MONII launches xir canopy, knocking a way a bunch of enemies.)

Monii-Really? I never saw you as a backliner.

Bridgett-Neither did I until I tried the CJS.

(She swims up a ramp to get to the tower.)

Bridgett-Now, where the heck is this goal?

(The platform rises up. BRIDGETT runs onto it. She fires at the tower.)

Acht-You're at the last checkpoint!

Bridgett-We got this. Those Jelletons will never get me up here!

(She fires until the tower gets into the goal.)

Acht-Fifth floor cleared!

(Cut to the elevator. The gang is gathered together.)

Pearl-Noice! We made it past the fifth floor!

Marina-The Spire is set up to give you some good bonuses if you can clear the fifth floor. For example, if you get kicked out after that, you'll start out with 500 Membux on your next run.

Bridgett-Membux?

Marina-It's a currency I programmed in as a little incentive. Along with the extra Membux, there'll also be a guaranteed Vending-Machine Corner on the fifth floor where you can spend it.

Pearl-A Vending-Machine Corner sounds like a great place to take a breather. Not that I breathe.

Acht-It's worth your while to get past the fifth floor on every run if you can.

Pearl-But don't stop there! Let's make this THE run where we reach Order and blast it to bits! You feel me, guys?!

Bridgett-Oh, definitely. This is THE run!

Pearl-Ooh, check it out, you two. There's a Vending-Machine Corner on the next floor! Wanna get a soda and kick back for a bit?

Marina-Oh, these don't sell drinks, but for a few Membux, you can restock lives and buy color chips.

Monii-You can buy color chips?

Marina-Some even let you swap out your sub or special weapon for a new one!

Monii-But not your main? I regret picking the Brella.

Acht-Also, a Vending-Machine Corner counts as a floor. So if you hit one up, that's one less risk you take on your way up the Spire.

(She takes out two color chips, one orange and one purple.)

Acht-Or you can take one of these and do another challenge if you want.

Pearl-Yeah, if we're stupid! (to BRIDGETT and MONII) Solid arguments all around. So whaddya say? Wanna see what it's got?

Bridgett-Yeah, let's check it out. Something different for a change. Why not?

(ACHT presses the 6 button. The elevator doors open. They step out onto the sixth floor. There is a lone vending machine sitting under a spotlight at the end of a dim hallway.)

Pearl-Oh, so that's the vending machine! Let's see what we can get outta this thing.

Acht-Use the vending machine.

Monii-Is that...all we have to do?

Acht-Yes.

(They walk towards the vending machine.)

Bridgett-This is the most ominous-looking vending machine I have ever seen.

Marina-Sorry. I didn't have time to program in much else.

(They look at the list of items on the front of the vending machine. There's a purple chip, a blue chip, and a Reefslider icon.)

Bridgett-The purple one is homing shots.

Monii-But it's 500 Membux.

Bridgett-Oh, expensive stuff.

Monii-Mobile Special Charge. That's the blue one. "Fills the special gauge by moving."

Bridgett-There's a Reefslider!

Monii-That seems pretty good.

(BRIDGETT looks back at the purple chip.)

Bridgett-"Causes your main weapon to track targets. Having two or more improves the tracking." Homing shots, huh? Let's try this. Hey, Marina! Is there a Membux credit card?

Marina-I'll just handle the transactions directly on my computer.

(The machine spits out a purple chip.)

Marina-There. You now have 300 Membux and can no longer afford anything else.

Monii-That sounds really cool. Is it already on the Palette?

(PEARL activates the Palette. BRIDGETT puts the chip in.)

Monii-It must be, right? You can't remove things from the Palette.

(Xe puts xir hand on the purple chip. It makes an electronic drum sound.)

Monii-No way.

(Xe presses on the red chip next to it. It makes a chime sound. Xe presses on the turquoise chip next to that one. It makes a low drum sound. Xe presses on the red chip to the left of it. It makes a sound like a bass drum. Then xe starts pressing out a rhythm on the color chips. Xe realizes what xe's doing and stops.)

Monii-(laughing) Sorry. That was the most fun I've ever hand.

(Xe presses on the orange chip all the way to the left. It makes a chime sound. Then xe presses on the blue chime to the right. It makes a cymbal sound.)

Marina-I was waiting for one of you to notice. I made the Palette double as a sound board with the samples we use in our songs!

Bridgett-And you managed to program that since we woke up?

Monii-It even has a sidechain! Listen to that!

(Xe presses on the orange chip again, then the blue chip.)

Marina-Yep. I've been using the Octarian IT principle since the Spire popped up: do it fast and do it filthy.

Pearl-Really? That's not your principle in–

Marina-DON'T SAY IT!

(PEARL puts away the Palette.)

Monii-That is so cool! It actually plays sounds!

Pearl-So are we done shopping? Cool. Nothing else to do here but head on back to the elevator!

(They walk back to the elevator. Cut to PEARL and MARINA's apartment. TIMO is looking through all the drawers in the bedroom when FRYE enters.)

Frye-Timo, what are you doing?

Timo-Seeing if Marina wrote down the password for the administrator actions.

Frye-First of all, isn't it rude to look through other people's stuff? Second of all, if she really is such an ubermind, she probably has it memorized. Like, did you think about this at all?

Timo-Nope. That's the Octarian IT principle: there's no time to think. I'm sure Marina will understand. She used to work underground, too.

Frye-She did?

Timo-Yeah. I've heard Mother mention it once or twice.

Frye-Moth–Oh, you mean Marie. I didn't think she was on speaking terms with Off the Hook. I mean, she wouldn't have so readily mentioned that they used to be Agents 5 and 6 when she offered me and Shiver those numbers otherwise.

Timo-But they were still part of her past. You don't remember that whole album she recorded with them?

Frye-I know about the album. I'm just thinking that knowing them, the entire Splatoon will be at the hospital when this baby is born, and if we get Pearl and Marina out in time, it's gonna be an awkward reunion.

(Commercial break. Cut to the elevator. The whole gang is back on. ACHT has three chips: one orange, one red, and one blue.)

Acht-Alright, we can't just hang around forever. There's another challenge waiting for us on the next floor.

Bridgett-So is this floor 7 now?

Marina-Yes, it is. Floor 6 was just a vending machine.

Monii-Okay, interesting.

Acht-We have Rush Knockback, Ink Damage, and Main Ink Coverage. Ready to pick a chip?

Monii-Main Ink Coverage seems pretty good. Ink Damage is always great.

(Xe takes the orange chip.)

Monii-Let's try this.

(PEARL summons the Palette. MONII puts the chip in. The elevator doors open. They step onto floor 7.)

Acht-Protect the zone!

Bridgett-Well, at least it's only one this time.

(They get into the cage, and it carries them onto the floor. They drop onto the rising platform in the middle.)

Monii-Hey, wait a minute! Isn't this the exact same layout again?!

Marina-Actually, no. We're on Exposed_Rising-Ground.Floor.

Bridgett-Exposed?!

(A bunch of Jelletons leap out of the gusher on the high point on the left.)

Monii-Okay, now I'm starting to see the difference.

Bridgett-Where's the zone?

(She turns around. There's a zone on the high point on the right.)

Bridgett-Oh. It's so tiny.

(MONII starts firing at the Jelletons.)

Monii-But these Jelletons are so so big.

(BRIDGETT swims over to the zone and covers it up.)

Acht-Zone secured.

Bridgett-See? That was so easy.

Acht-But that small zone is a double-edged sword. It might have been easy for you to cover, but it'll also be easy for the enemies to cover if they reach it.

(The platform lowers with MONII on it.)

Monii-Wow, it looks like the Brella is covering way more than it was before.

(Xe clears a horde of Jelletons. One of them drops an ink bottle. Xe picks it up. Xe swims up the ramp to the front of the floor.)

Monii-I just remembered we haven't picked up any lucky chips.

Bridgett-That's because we don't need luck. We have skill.

Pearl-Yeah, and Bridgett has enough luck for all three of us.

(MONII finds two more Jelletons crawling towards xem. Xe shoots them down.)

Monii-It definitely does! That's a lot for a Brella, right?

(BRIDGETT sees some Jelletons coming towards her.)

Bridgett-Whoa! Whoa whoa. They're on the zone!

(She starts firing at the Jelletons. MONII runs up the ramp towards her. One of the Jelletons turns towards xem.)

Acht-You lost control.

(BRIDGETT looks up at the flying Jelleton sprinkling ink on the zone.)

Bridgett-Hey! Stop doing that!

Acht-Zone lost.

(BRIDGETT splats the Jelleton and covers the zone.)

Acht-Zone secured!

(MONII's special finishes charging.)

Bridgett-Hey, did you buy the Reefslider at the vending machine?

Monii-No. You're the one who bought the homing shots.

Bridgett-Oh, yeah. I forgot.

Monii-You forgot? We were there five minutes ago!

Bridgett-My brain work bad, okay?

(MONII sighs and drops xir Ink Storm. Then they both start fending the zone off from Jelletons.)

Bridgett-You were right, Acht. This tiny zone is harder to manage than I thought.

Acht-35 ticks left!

Marina-Almost done, guys! Hold the line!

(MONII opens the canopy to knock back some Jelletons.)

Monii-It's actually doing some damage. It's actually kind of working for me. Go, Brella!

(Xe launches the canopy, clearing out the Jelletons.)

Acht-That's the difference between having a good chip and...not having it, I guess.

(MONII splats the last of the Jelletons. One of them drops a Marina can. MONII swims down and grabs it.)

Bridgett-Oh, there's a bunch of 'em coming.

(MONII swims back up to the zone.)

Monii-Oh, boy.

(Xe throws a sprinkler at the bottom of the ramp and starts firing at the Jelletons from above.)

Monii-Wait a minute. Did you give me sprinkler and Ink Storm?

Marina-Don't underestimate the power of a passive kit.

Bridgett-Oh, I get it! Because umbrellas protect you from the rain! That's why the Brella has Ink Storm.

Acht-Just 10 ticks left! Oh, but you lost control.

Bridgett-What?!

(She looks up at the flying Jelleton above her.)

Acht-Zone lost.

Bridgett-Aw, man! There's these guys still!

(She splats the Jelleton. She recovers the zone.)

Acht-Zone secured.

(MONII's special finishes charging.)

Monii-We are totally doing this with Brella, and I'm not going to complain about it even for a second..

(Xe drops xir Ink Storm.)

Pearl-BOOM!

(She drops a splat bomb.)

Bridgett-Go get 'em, baby! Let's do it!

Acht-Seventh floor cleared!

(Cut to the elevator. The gang is back on.)

Pearl-Huh? Do we get something extra on the next floor?

(ACHT takes out three turquoise chips. MARINA checks her laptop.)

Marina-Ah! We're coming up on a bonus floor! On floors like this, you either get a color-chip saturation or a bonus challenge.

Acht-A color-chip saturation sets a color chip to every empty slot on your Palette. Only on that floor, though. The color chips you get are randomly picked. The only thing they have in common is their tone.

Pearl-Then can we get the blue-green ones? That's my favorite color.

Marina-Whereas a Bonus Challenge gives you an extra objective separate from the main one on the floor. You don't have to do it, but if you do, it'll earn you some bonus Membux!

Pearl-Not seeing a downside here. What do you think, guys? Wanna give it a go?

Monii-You say that as if there's a way to opt out of the bonus floor.

Acht-You technically can by picking a chip that isn't Drone Killer Wail.

(PEARL gasps.)

Pearl-You had me at Killer Wail. Sign me up!

Monii-Yeah, we gotta do the bonus.

(ACHT hands xem one of the chips. PEARL activates the Palette, and MONII puts it in. The elevator doors open, and they step out onto the eighth floor.)

Acht-Defeat the fleeing foes!

Marina-And don't move in kid form!

Pearl-No running around this time, huh? Down with the tyranny of legs! TENTACLES FOR LIFE!

(They get into the cage, and it carries them out to the floor. They drop down on the highest level.)

Marina-Quick! You're already losing money!

Monii-Oh no!

(Xe shoots a little puddle for xemself and hides in it. They jump down to the lower level behind one of the wheeled Jelletons sleeping down there. BRIDGETT starts shooting at it. It rolls away.)

Bridgett-Get 'em! Get 'em!

(She runs after the Jelleton and splats it.)

Monii-So let me get this straight: any time we spend in humanoid form is costing us money?

Marina-Yes.

Monii-Okay then.

(Xe dips back into the ink.)

Bridgett-Dude, too easy. Try harder next time.

(Some large Jelletons spew out of the gusher nearby. BRIDGETT starts shooting at them.)

Bridgett-Is there a bonus objective?

Pearl-If I had hands, I would so facepalm right now.

Bridgett-Alas, she does not tell me what it is.

(She splats away the Jelletons.)

Bridgett-Also, where's Monii?

(She sees the ripple of MONII swimming through the ink.)

Bridgett-There you are, Monii! What are you doing in the ink? You bein' a scaredy-squid?

(She swims up an Inkrail to the top level. She finds another wheeled Jelleton farther down. She jumps down and shoots at it as larger Jelletons close in on it. She gets the wheeled Jelleton between herself and the larger guys and splats it.)

Acht-One left!

Pearl-Noice! This one's almost in the bag!

Bridgett-Hang on. You guys are scary.

(She runs over to where the last wheeled Jelleton is. Then she finds some larger Jelletons crawling down towards her. She watches as the wheeled Jelleton wheels away.)

Bridgett-Wait wait wait wait wait!

(She starts firing at the larger Jelletons. One of them rams her.)

Bridgett-Ow.

(She alternates between firing and reloading, splatting the enemies one by one. Then she swims up the ramp to the highest level. She sees the last Jelleton stopped on the lowest level.)

Bridgett-I'm droppin' in.

(She glides down behind the Jelleton.)

Bridgett-Dive bomb him! Yeah!

(The Jelleton drops a bomb and starts scooting away. BRIDGETT splats it.)

Acht-Eighth floor cleared!

(Cut to the elevator. The gang is back together.)

Marina-Alright, you two. The maximum bonus you could have gotten was 215 Membux.

Monii-And what did we get?

Marina-Zero.

Monii-What?!

Bridgett-Was there an extra objective that we were supposed to get? 'Cause I did not notice.

(MONII, MARINA, and ACHT facepalm.)

Bridgett-Well, what is it?

Marina-You weren't supposed to move in kid form. I said it right as you arrived on the floor.

Monii-That's why I was in the ink the whole time. I didn't want to lose any money.

Bridgett-I was fighting those Jelletons all by myself. You could have helped me out a little.

Monii-And you could have swum a little. Now we're stuck with no bonus.

Marina-In Bridgett's defense, there's no way you could have gotten that maximum bonus. You would have had to get in humanoid form at least to shoot down the Jelletons.

Monii-You're right. I'm sorry for getting mad.

Bridgett-Thanks. It wasn't your fault that we lost the bonus. It was mine. I was the one who forgot the extra objective. All because my brain work bad.

Pearl-Hey, you gotta stop defining yourself by your brain coral. Your brain might work bad, but you're still Bridgett.

Bridgett-But my brain coral is what's gonna kill me. Think about it. Somewhere down the line, I'll be stuck in a hospital bed, and you'll come to visit me, and I'll be like, "Who are you?" and I'll have to watch you get this look of agony on your face as you realize one of your best friends doesn't know who you are anymore. That's the future I have ahead of me. You think I can just not think about that?

Pearl-I know it's a hard concept to grasp, but allow me to explain. It's not a degenerative disease that's doomed to kill me, but when I lost my fingers, it...affected me a lot more than I tried to let on. I mean, I tried fighting the very next day? Five years ago me was stupid. Anyway, I was just horrified every time I looked down at my hands because I'd see a vital part of me was gone. Sure, fingers might not seem vital, but you don't start to appreciate them until they've been sliced off. As I looked down the line, I realized I was going to have to live the rest of my life with this horrible, disfigured hand, and I got scared. I'll admit it, okay? I was scared. I was scared of living as an eight-fingered freak instead of an Inkling.

Bridgett-What did you do about it?

Pearl-What did I do about it? I discovered that my life was more than just two fingers. Even after the incident, I was still a world famous pop star, I still had a flippin' awesome Inkopolis News gig, and I had a wonderful girlfriend who is now my fiancée. So do you see these fingers?

Bridgett-No. You don't have hands.

Pearl-Oh.

(She looks at her left appendage.)

Pearl-I don't have hands.

(She looks at her right appendage.)

Pearl-Or arms.

(She looks down.)

Pearl-Or legs.

(She looks up.)

Pearl-And I'm okay with that. Hm.