#[ 'grown rather close to' theyre gay brad ]

[inkparagon]

Despite how quickly OE can be beaten, Kouki was trapped in the Deep Sea Metro for easily three months, if not more. Even before being found by Cuttlefish, he had his memory taken and his physical ability analysed, hence the hospital tags, which in itself took a few days.

The most notable delay to his escape was despite finding all four Thangs pretty quickly, Kouki insisted on completing all the trials, to “prove” himself as being worthy of The Promised Land. Even as he tried to complete them as fast as he could, there were days when he was so physically exhausted he couldn’t attempt any of them. He spent a lot of time sleeping on the train, or else in a corner the residential areas of the civillian districts. His CQ points could be used to buy food, and on occasion, clothes or other provisions, but he only used what was necessary, even if Pearl was willing to always lend a hand.

Manuel spent that same amount of time in the Metro, but by comparison, had a much easier time. He was found by a certain conductor, and was drafted into being one of Kamabo Co’s employees. His job was to go through the tests, with no danger of splatting mind, and to make sure everything was working as planned, whether they be the trial’s mechanics themselves, or the cameras used to watch applicants. If not checking the trials, he was given other menial jobs to do, usually to the benefit of the conductor, who he’d grown rather close to. He had the employee Kamabo Blue ink colour instead of his normal orange ink.

Manuel never had any interaction with Commander Tartar, and only one interaction with the thing known as the “Telephone”, where he received his CQ-80. Due to this, Manuel had very little, if any, knowledge of the actual going ons of the facility, even if he had his suspicions.