Neo is an inkling who has lost most of her friends during the human-inkling territorial wars while growing up.

Hurting, she lives alone near the concrete boarders of inkling society isolating herself as if the war had never ended.

—Lore—

Taking place in a dystopian world where Humans, a genetic generational counterpart of Inklings and Octolings, continue to live, but only in the mere thousands of what they once amounted to in the past.

Now, humans amount to 10,000 in population, a similar amount compared to Inklings and Octolings. The world is overtaken by sea along with every major continent, just like the actual Splatoon world, but taking place on a much larger and vaster island for both species to inhabit and develop cities.

It wasn't long until both societies, Humans and Inklings, met up between the gap of their expanding city borders and began encountering each other.

At first, it was peaceful, if not unsettling, to discover something other than human or Inkling having a same level sentience, but curiosity and the need to understand took priority over the natural fear of the unknown as they began to share culture and decipher each other's languages.

When communication and understanding became efficient, unfortunately so did aggression, as they disputed land, territory, and who had the "Freshest" fashion. Of course, this was only ever important to Inklings, some Human fashion critics, and maybe Octolings, but what was really important was territory.

Inklings are highly territorial and bold due to their ever-increasing turf wars and constant fighting, "traits" of their human evolutionary counterparts.

A full territorial war broke out between the two species, and it was quickly figured out that the conventional weapons used on their own kind didn't work against their enemies; guns, human weaponry, were ineffective against their ink bodies, and vice versa for ink-based guns and paint rollers against flesh.
A few war-inspired firearm research months later, Inklings had learned how to make Humans bleed...

Inklings learned how to make conventional human firearms, and Humans discovered how to force Inklings into never being able to reform again, turning Inklings into tragic puddles of ink, never to carry life again.
These weapons are called Inkwringers, a weapon that shoots a gelatinous, dense consistency of highly dangerous neurotoxins that shuts down an Inkling or Octoling completely.

The war lasted for only three weeks due to the number of lives lost - about 2,479 casualties for the Humans and 2,003 total for Inklings and Octolings alike.

Both species ended their communications and agreed to create large reinforced concrete walls separating each other, keeping them apart on their own side of their island. The new middle land between the two borders where named the "Worn Lands.”

A no man's land for Humans and Inklings alike, as the middle has no rules or proper society; you are on your own.

Land perfect for illicit activities, or scavengers.