bubble

Lastly, we have Operator Bubble, the youngest of this batch of promoted operators.

Yeaahhh!

(Stand still, Bubble. I know you're excited, but we can't have you stomping...)

....Yeaahhh!

Ahem, atennnnn-shun!

Rhodes Island Trainee Operator Bubble! Present and accounted for!

Bubble, this is the moment you've been waiting for since you came onboard. Are you ready?

I'm super ready!

Alright, then. Operator Bubble, you have passed the regular operator exams.

As a trainee operator, your abilities and performance have met the standards befitting a regular operator. With Dr. Kal'tsit's approval, Human Resources is executing your promotion to a regular Rhodes Island Operator.

This here is your medal certifying it. Keep at it and let's see some more outstanding results on your next exams!

Bubble puffs out her tiny chest as the HR operator bends down to neatly pin the medal on her.

Bubble sneakily stands on her tiptoes in an attempt to make herself a bit taller, in hopes of looking just as tall as all the operators who seem to be doing such amazing things each and every day.

(I'm a proper operator now. I gotta hold myself to a higher standard. No more crybaby stuff. I'm on my best behavior.)

(Just like Blaze... or Nearl. I gotta be a great operator who can help lotsa people!)

My papa's over five meters tall! He's covered head to toe in our tribal totem tattoos! When I was a kid, I followed right behind him all the time, but I could only see a little bit of the tattoos on the back of his legs!

I thought about what those tattoos were supposed to be. A painting? A weapon? Something else?

I asked Papa, but he just told me I'd figure it out when I become a warrior one day. When I finally stand on his shoulder, I'd be able to see it all.

But then, I found the answer myself! I'm the only one who knows it, too! It's... a secret map—!

Morte tastes exaggeration.

...Ahem! Nuh-uh!

Don't act like you know. In our tribe, tattoo maps are secret maps that only our braves can see, and I, Bubble, am a warrior of my tribe! I've received a mystical guidance!

I remember Midnight saying he got a mystical guidance once, too, but then I saw Orchid pulling his ear...

Focus! I'm not done yet! Following that guidance, I made my way to a secret training base. Then, there was a rumbling sound coming from behind. All of a sudden, there were, like, five hundred sandbeasts rushing at me!

I went for the mouth with one hand, grabbed its tail with the other, and sent it flying a hundred meters in one big swing!

Then, I plucked up a tree, did a big sweep, and all the needleflies behind me got smacked away!

Finally, with a sandbeast in my left hand and a needlefly in my right, riding on a five meter tall tuskbeast, I proudly charged into the gloompincers' nest and wiped the floor with them!

Morte knows that those animals wouldn't be living in the same region.

Like every warrior before me, I raised my weapon high and successfully completed my training as a brave! I saw my papa putting me on his shoulder and recognizing me as a new addition to his braves!

But how did you <i>see</i> your papa holding you up...?

...Ahem! Okay. I didn't see it. I made it up...

My papa hasn't recognized me as a brave yet, but I know I'll get there one day.

I'll stand on his shoulder, and I will get my tattoos. They'll have a map to the next brave's trial!

Just like... that map.

A map with a yellow arrow is posted on the wall in a corner of the playroom. Bubble tries her hardest to stand on her tiptoes in an attempt to read its bottommost part.

A few days ago, she saw a bunch of busy operators passing around that map. Their faces were covered in ash and scars, and they all had a serious, solemn look. It was really badass.

But they never let Bubble join in when they're hurrying down the hallway. They always stop her with an anxious look: You're still young. Get clear!

(Maybe this map is just like Papa's tattoos. It's a map to a secret mission that only awesome people can read?)

(Papa wouldn't tell me what his tattoos are all about, and those older operators wouldn't let me help them, but I'm a full-fledged regular operator now. I can help.)

(And if I do help, they won't chase me away the next time there's a big mission, right?)

Ahem, I know one more secret, and that's—this map. It's a map to a critical Rhodes Island mission!

That's our trial! Once we finish it, those awesome operators will see what we can do, and maybe they won't stop us the next time there's a critical mission.

Papa and Mama told me. Braves don't become true warriors until they go through trials that are too tough for anybody else!

I wanna try. Even if it's only for a little bit, I wanna go!

I—I want to become a Rhodes Island brave!

Whoa... Me too! I wanna become Rhodes Island's biggest brave!

I'm the biggest!

Me... Me too!

...Morte says he wants to try, too.

Okay, then have you guys heard any mystical guidances that only braves can hear?

Like, say, maybe shooting an arrow toward the east of the mountain will lead us to a treasure. Or like maybe there's a huge fowlbeast perched on a snowy mountain somewhere. Like they do in games!

I've been hearing a lot of knocking sounds in the hallway, and they sound really far away.

Definitely not Vulcan forging stuff, and it's also not the sound of my blades bumping into things. They're coming from the floor, and the pipes, even further down from Vulcan's den.

Orchid's been telling me not to go to the lower decks. They're doing something really important there. But I saw all the cool operators going to the lower decks.

Morte says there's a burnt smell down in the lower decks, and he ate it all up.

Okay... Yeah, I have an idea, then...!

They posted this map out of our reach on purpose, but we've already figured out its secret.

It's... there's a secret critical mission here aboard Rhodes Island!

That's the mystical guidance that only official braves can hear. All of you are regular operators, right?

Don't worry about it! As long as we work our hardest, as long as we finish a big mission on our own, they'll know that we actually have what it takes to help them and that we won't be a burden!

We need to make our own critical mission team and hop onto the missions that they won't let us join!

C'mon, let's go!

Bubble! And Kay...? Shamare and Popukar, too!

(Whispers) Aww... shucks. What are they doing here?

I... I'm training!

Oh, that's it? We're just here to get a couple pieces of equipment. We won't get in your way, will we?

Not at all! You wouldn't get in our way...

Then... Do you see that anti-shock pad there? What do you think? Big enough? It's like two meters long, isn't it...?

(Whispers) Let's go with that. Orchid told us to keep it from them. Let's wait till they're gone before we come to pick it up.

Do you need any help?

If you need help, I'm real strong!

I'm stronger!

Oh, no, that's okay. We can manage!

Yep, sure can. We'll take care of it on our own!

Alright, we're going now! Bye!

They're usually pretty happy about me helping them all the way to their office. Why aren't they letting me help this time?

Morte, follow them.

—Eep! Watch out!

We just took this door frame down. You kids watch out. Don't get yourselves hurt!

It's okay. I'm strong. I can help you!

Bubble, it's all loose screws and sheet metal here. Be careful...!

Hmph! That's nothing!

Where'd you get this broken doorframe?

Uh, hm... we found it during a routine inspection...

(Morte's back. This tastes like a lie.)

(I knew it! They're hiding something!)

It looks like something smashed into the doorframe, just like that time I passed out and woke up a while later...

Uh... This is just normal wear and tear...!

(It's not.)

But this doorframe's really badly damaged. Right at the top, too.

(It must've been broken by someone really tall!)

Where did you find this?

Um... On a lower deck.

Bubble glances at her little buddies.

(No mistaking it. Something big must've happened down there. They need our help. Let's go!)

Got it. Thanks!

Nobody saw us, right?

*cough*! There's so much dust! I can't breathe!

...*cough*...! The critical mission objective... the place where they need our help... *cough*...!

...should... be here!