(no subject)

[ddddropthebass]

Who: Jak and Bass
What: One year after the defeat of the Dark Makers, Jak is a brick with a gun doing what a brick with a gun does: clean-up. He comes across an unfinished project in an old Krimzon Guard facility and his work ends up following him home.
Universe/CR: Jak-Universe AU



Clean-up, they'd called it. Really, it was more to give Jak something to do, although it was necessary to maintain the peace they'd so carefully constructed. Old enemy storehouses needed to be examined, categorized and, in most cases, blown up. Jak was the most qualified warrior to deal with any potential resistance so for the more remote posts to where it would be difficult to transport troops, Jak was dispatched. It wasn't entirely to get him out of their political hair-

Well, it was kind of for that too. But Jak was never meant to sit behind a desk. Ashelin knew it, Torn knew it, Sig knew it. Even Daxter knew it, to a degree, which is why he stayed behind as Jak went out, and hadn't that been a tough decision. Jak had taken it in as much stride as could be assumed, being separated from someone with whom he'd spent almost every making moment, and Daxter was about as happy about it but there were responsibilities to which he had to attend now, least of all the management of the Hip Hog. Things with Tess were getting serious, and for some reason Dax was actually sort of good at helping write up diplomatic legislature, in some hilarious twist of fate. So that meant a lot of staying put, something that Jak was unarguably bad at doing.

Just a few runs, Samos had asked. To tie up loose ends. If left alone, loose ends always tie themselves, and never in a way you want them to. ...he could've gone longer with that string metaphor (included something about the knots and snares of life maybe) but Jak had already since lost interest and was ready to leave.

Krimzon Guard Depot Alpha-581 was on the outskirts of the Wasteland, on one of the southern islands and only barely accessible by land. The outer walls of the depot were rusted by water and bleached pale pink by the sun, salt crusting along the seams of the plates from where the waves slapped against the foundation. Inside wasn't much better; the depot was still, sand piled up in corners and the ocean breeze whistling through holes in the roofing, manufacturing equipment in varying states of disrepair, only a handful of Deathbots wandering about the facility in confusion. Another depot set for decommission.

Only...the power grid showed one room at the center of the compound with power consumption. Blowing the building sky high would undoubtedly take that room with it, except that the Krimzon Guard were infamous for using Dark Eco in the construction of their later models thanks to Errol. An explosion with Dark Eco involved could drastically affect the surrounding ecosystem, even all the way up to Spargus. That room would have to be investigated first.

In the center of a room, near a flashing panel indication a critical power failure, is a capsule. Inside that capsule is the body of what can only be a strange-looking young boy...either asleep or dead. The panel reads CATASTROPHIC POWER FAILURE: ACTIVATE UNIT? YES/NO in blaring, blinking red. A remnant of the KG to be sure, but...definitely nothing that they'd made before. Especially with the room stinking like it'd had been painted with Dark Eco.

Comments

[shadesofeco]

Jak isn't mechanical and generally things that are try to kill him in new, exciting and excruciating ways, so no it generally doesn't occur to him to try and protect any of the circuitry or components.

The only acknowledgment to the insult is rolling his eyes and letting out a put-upon sigh. Whatever dude, he's heard worse.

But then KG-001's eyes start fucking glowing, and Jak's hand immediately goes for his gun. It's more instinct than anything, he's got a pretty healthy sense of suspicion when it comes to cyborgs. What's saved KG-001 from becoming intimately acquainted with a refreshing blast of Peace Maker ammo is the fact that in spite of everything, he still looks like a child. It's Jak's biggest weakness; kids get him every time.

Well, that one time. And it was technically him. But still.

Despite Vin explaining many times that combining and programming creatures like Errol and the Metal Heads with technology and mechanics is so complex he's still baffled the Dark Makers even managed it, Jak doesn't really understand any of this, even on a basic level. He really is just sent in to blow shit sky high and try not to get killed in the process.

"Don't even think of double-crossing me," he warns. It's probably not an empty threat. Maybe. "Two minutes and I'm gone, with or without you."

[ddddropthebass]

Aww look, it's making threats. Well- okay, he smells like dark eco and he carries a fuckton of gun mods so he's probably got a good reason to think he can carry out those threats, but KG-001 isn't worried. He was put together to be the best, so that's what he is.

But he's on the clock. So KG-001 turns and ignites the small rockets in his boots, charging down the hallway and pulling up the schematics of the facility to find- there, the power room. It might be offline, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still have tanks and tanks of eco in here. Looks like some of the cables were punctured by gunfire; that explains the power failure to the facility. At least he doesn't have to snap any of the cables himself, that would've been annoying.

KG-001 grabs one of the cables and rips it down from its brackets, leading it over to one of the yellow eco tanks. He kicks a hole into the red eco tanks just for good measure, shoves some of them off their supports to get the ground nice and coated and high tails it in search of the main breaker- ah. All it takes is a liberal misuse of the fuses and setting the breaker to flip on a timer annnnd-

KG-001 rockets outside, zeroes in on the Hellcat and jumps in, smacking an open hand on the side. "Fly, fucking go already-" because the facility sparks white on the inside before it shakes with a deafening blast, a series of concussive explosions following as the other eco tanks are ignited; the ball of fire and power swallows up half of the cliff with it, shockwave blowing back sand and rock and sloughing the land into the ocean with the echoing roar of its departure. "Hah hahaaaaaa! Did you see that?!" KG-001 stands up, wind tearing at his hair and turns around to thrust his fists into the air, wild enthusiasm twisting his expression into vicious delight. "Fucking burn, motherfucker!"

[shadesofeco]

It's not that Jak doesn't trust KG-001, it's just--

--okay he doesn't trust him. So he bolts back to the Hellcat and starts up the engine, watching the countdown on the dash. Two minutes to the dot and he's hightailing out of here, alone if he has to. The rumble from the explosions rocks the vehicle once or twice, and right about the time sparks start dancing around the entrance is when KG-001 leaps into the Hellcat with enough force to tilt it almost on its side.

Jak's got his foot on the gas before the bot's even done speaking, and he has to admit he resists the urge to whoop as they ride the first shockwave, then the second and third out past the small series of islands. Grinning wildly, he glances aside at KG-001, then back over his shoulder at the burning ruins. "Nice work, you're pretty useful. Torn's gonna love having you on our side."

Torn, unfortunately, does not love it. When they get back to New Haven, Jak is immediately dragged into a separate room for a "conversation" about his decision making skills, while KG-001's kept at gunpoint by a bunch of very nervous looking Freedom League soldiers. It's a dressing down that probably worked on most of Torn's old KG buddies, but Jak's too belligerent to let it get to him. There's a lot of "what were you thinking" and "didn't you learn anything from what happened to Errol" and "we should decommission it right now" and then Jak loses patience and pulls the Mar card.

It works every goddamn time.

Torn stops dead and gets this uncomfortable look on his face, like he's been caught tearing the savior a new one. Which to be fair, he kinda has. And then Jak insists he'll take responsibility for him, like he's some kind of crocapup he found in the streets. A little more "negotiating" later and he's finally told to just get out of there and make sure KG-001 keeps a low profile. And that this doesn't leak to the civvies.

Sighing, he shrugs as the door slides closed behind him and something heavy hits it shortly after. He's guessing a chair. "Guess you're sticking with me."

[ddddropthebass]

That Nice work burns bright like the explosion through his feedback centers, the recognition of his strength making him puff himself up with pride and return the look with his own wickedly happy expression. You're fucking right that's nice work, Jak.

KG-001 spends the rest of the trip back to Haven staring around at the world that blurs beneath them; the transition between sand and the parched earth surrounding the city, pools of pollution filling the cracks as they approach, sick swamp water stinking up the air. The sky clouds over the perpetual gray of smog clouds that hang fat over the city and KG-001 nearly falls out of the Hellcat, leaning over the edge to peer down at the skeletal remains of the city and the miserable people milling below. There are signs of reconstruction here and there; new cement in roads, some old buildings recently painted but the city is poor, still poor and parts of it are still ravaged by the dregs of war. Metalheads and his fellow KG bots still stalk the borders.

KG-001 gets all of a second's worth of a look at Torn before he's shoved into a room with a bunch of jumpy armed guards. He resists just long enough to get the message across that he's cooperating for now, but has to run the idea of breaking these guys' necks through his mind a few times before begrudgingly coming to the conclusion that his master probably wouldn't like that. Which fucking sucks, because he'd love to kill something that's been alive. Blowing up the facility had been fun but something tells KG-001 that snuffing out the flame of something's life will be a lot more satisfying.

After a few minutes of staring down the jittery guards and edging toward them ever so slightly, the door bangs open and a woman with red dreadlocks saunters in, kicks a chair around and straddles the back to stare right back at him. She has a pistol on her thigh but she doesn't reach for it and KG-001 abandons his previous prey in favor of her, because she looks way more fun.

He doesn't get very far before Jak comes back, looking like he'd had his favorite toy taken away. KG-001 logs that expression and associated behavior for future references in the back of his mind, standing up from where he'd crouched over in the corner and cracking his knuckles. "No shit, genius," KG-001 calls, the sound of his knuckles like door deadbolts sliding home in the bad side of town. "That was the plan already. I'm not getting passed around like fucking ordinance, no thank you. Not if this is the usual stock you assholes employ," and he jerks his chin at the soldiers to emphasize his point.

[shadesofeco]

The soldiers startle when KG-001 even glances in their direction which makes Ashelin roll her eyes and Jak smirk in amusement. Most of these guys are the lucky fuckers he didn't cap back when Praxis was in charge, there's no love lost there.

Nodding his head to Ashelin -- and getting a nod in response -- Jak leads KG-001 out of HQ. Thankfully they're in the nice part of town, the area full of zoomers and people in clean clothes with enough food to eat. It's expanded in the last year, but not as much as Jak would have liked.

"So what am I supposed to call you?" He looks over the line of zoomers parked outside. None are his, but that doesn't really matter. Zoomers are basically never locked down, he just takes whichever one he wants at that particular moment.

[ddddropthebass]

"My serial designation is KG-001," he says in a tone of voice that plainly portrays how stupid he thinks Jak is for asking that question. He waits for Jak to pick a zoomer and follows his lead, grabbing one of his own and circling it with no small amount of glee. Stealing vehicles? Fuck yeah. "If you're asking about a name, then I obviously don't have one."

[shadesofeco]

Jak sounds distracted when he finally answers, like he's not really listening. "People around here don't really like the Krimzon Guard. We need a better name for you."

There, this one's pretty shiny and new. Not for long! Jak hops onto the single rider and flicks the ignition on, a grin taking over his face as it purrs to life. No one bothers taking the key with them anymore, otherwise someone would just cut the wires. At least this way there's a chance it'll be unscathed if it's still there when they get back.

Jak pauses for a moment, then turns his head back towards KG-001. "How about Kaz?" Before he gets an answer he tugs his goggles down and changes flight zones, zipping into traffic.

He can keep up, right?

[ddddropthebass]

Well he's going to have to learn if only to object to that stupid fucking name.

They zip through palace grounds and the surrounding areas and KG-001 tells him how stupid that name is, but he's also keeping a close eye on the city layout. Fucking hard to navigate, especially with the limited hovering capabilities of these smaller vehicles. Maybe he'll see if he can dig around in some networks, try to find city blueprints to download because photographic memory or not, learning this layout is going to be a bitch if he has to wander every square foot of this city.

They pass through the more destitute areas and KG-001 notes the change. "So why's this city so fucked up?" he shouts conversationally over the roar of the wind and whining engines. These things are fast but they sound dinky as shit.

[shadesofeco]

Yeah it was kinda tough for Jak at first too -- especially since he was usually being tailed by at least four KG bikes and a Hellcat with sirens screeching all around him -- but you learn quick in Haven. It's pretty much sink or swim, and either way you're probably getting Hep C from the water.

Jak grits his teeth, then glances over. "The things that made you fucked it up a long time ago. Then we fucked it up some more. Now we're doing damage control and trying to fix it."

They pass through the ruined industrial sector and traffic begins to disperse. Huge potholes mar the landscape, chunks missing from buildings and scorch marks on the ground show the battles that were waged there just a few months ago when they were running the last of the KG bots out of town. Someone left a bunch of flowers and a bottle of liquor in a corner in memory of a loved one; the flowers are wilted and dying, the bottle empty on its side.

It's depressing, but Jak's come to accept it as home. The stench of the harbor gets stronger, along with the delicate odor of Brutter's fish processing plant and the heavy aroma of fermenting hops. A tanker's horn blares as it slowly pulls up to the docks guided by a number of FL soldiers, ready to unload its cargo. At least the trade routes between Spargus and Kras are holding up for now.

Dropping to the pedestrian flight level, Jak slows and barely lets his zoomer come to a stop before he disembarks outside a showy bar with a giant glowing ottsel mascot above the sign.

"There's a couple apartments above the bar, you'll get used to the smell."

[ddddropthebass]

"Oh, do you have to get used to stuff? Sucks to be you!" KG-001 grins and elbows Jak in the side as he pushes in through the door first. "I can just turn off my sense of smell."

The inside of the building is an embarrassment. KG-001 is literally hours old and he knows this place is gaudy and ugly as shit. There's flashing lights everywhere, those neon signs of dancing naked lady silhouettes, nasty pool tables and scraped up counters everywhere. This is probably meant to be kitchy but instead it just looks stupid, in his humble opinion. The damn thing even actually HAS rats, a huge orange one right up on the counter. "Ugh," KG-001 says pretty loudly. "You live in this dump?"

"Jak!" The rat hops down from the bar and jumps up onto the holo-table in the center of the room. "What the hell is this?! No kids! Unless he's for food."

KG-001 snorts. "You're food."

[shadesofeco]

Ow, you dick. He doesn't have armor there. Like getting elbowed by a steel girder.

Scowling and rubbing his side, Jak follows him in. The bar hasn't changed much since Dax took it over, though it does smell remarkably less foul. That might also be because Tess actually cleans for real now instead of just pretending for Krew.

"It's a long story." That's for both of you assholes.

Jak sits down on an ammo crate with a tired grunt. God damn it's been a long day. "You live here too now," he points out to KG-001, then shrugs at Daxter and speaks quietly. "He's another KG experiment."

Yeah, the adrenaline's wearing off and the enormity of what was going on in that factory's starting to sink in. They were experimenting on a kid even younger than he was. Errol was fucking crazy when he was human and Jak knew he went even further off the deep end when the Dark Makers resurrected him, but making robots is one thing. Using kids for it?

Fuck. Jak doesn't even really know if KG-001's a cyborg or completely mechanical but honestly he's not sure he wants to know. Either way it's creepy as shit and completely goddamn wrong.

Unfastening his boots, he kicks them aside and starts unhitching his armor. "He's staying with us for a while."

[doeseverything]

Daxter's about to throw a monster bitchfit because he doesn't care how long the story is, he doesn't even care what the story is because this little shithead is NOT staying in his palace, not a single night, he can get his lavender ass back out onto the street and-

He's another KG experiment.

Shit.

And Dax visibly deflates too, because he knows when he's beaten. Jak is a prick because he's not doing it on purpose either, so Daxter glares at the punk as he saunters over to a booth and throws himself into it, feet up on the table like Erol always did and looking like he owns the place. WHICH HE DOES NOT. THIS PLACE IS DAXTER'S, NOW AND FOREVER.

"Y'know, buddy? You're an asshole," Dax says conversationally as he hops up onto a barrel next to Jak. "He can stay. He's on a leash!" Dax cranes his neck to screech at KG-001 from across the bar. "A REALLY SHORT LEASH!" The shithead just flicks him off and Daxter grumbles, hopping down and scurrying over to the bar. He drags back over a bottle of the purple stuff, thumping it onto the table in front of Jak and plucking out the cork with his claws. This is a story better told wasted.

[shadesofeco]

Jak startles a little when the bottle thunks down in front of him. This is why Daxter's good for him; he'd have way too much of a tendency to get stuck in his own head otherwise. At least listening to him make crappy jokes, breaking up fights with him and Torn and dealing with him backseat fighting while they're out on missions is a good distraction.

"He'll be okay, he'll... we'll figure something out." Of course, this could be a huge mistake and Jak might just be adopting a ticking time bomb and asking Dax to sign off on it. "Maybe light eco would work."

Doubtful.

[doeseverything]

"Oh yeah of course, light eco. Let's just mosey on down to the drugstore and pick some up." Daxter takes the first swig from the bottle before thunking it back down. "Jak, even if it would work, you'd probably need enough t'drown him in it. Not that I'd argue against a good old-fashioned drowning in his case, but there's cheaper ways to do it."

[shadesofeco]

Rolling his eyes, Jak snatches the bottle off the table and takes a long drink. He shoves it back.

Daxter's right though. There's light eco in the Wasteland temples, but even Jak had to bypass a ridiculous amount of security to get in. Getting KG-001 in without tripping some kind of fail safe trap would be next to impossible.

"Guess you'd better get used to him until we can think of something else."

[doeseverything]

"OohhHHH no, he's your problem, pal. If you're gonna bring home a stray, it's your job to housetrain i- HEY!" Dax leaps up onto Jak's shoulder and points at where KG-001 is unscrewing the bolts that hold the table in place. "You break it you buy it, you little mutt!"

KG-001 rolls his eyes and throws himself back into the booth again, sulking. Daxter turns on Jak and gives him a Look.

[shadesofeco]

Jak just. Covers his face.

This was a really, really dumb idea. Even for him it was dumb, and he knows it. But the worst part is, he knows he'd do it again if he had to.

Sighing, he drags his hands down his face. "I'll go talk to Vin tomorrow. Maybe he can... fix the programming or something." Make him slightly less destructive. Or belligerent.

[doeseverything]

"Be honest with me big guy: is this a cry for attention? Or maybe it's a biological clock thing? You feeling like you're ready for kids?" Dax scales back down Jak's arm and grabs for the bottle, tipping it so he can take a drink. "Like a teen mom thing. 'I'll keep the baby because it'll love me no matter what!' Is it like that?"

[shadesofeco]

"Yeah, sorry Dax, I'm replacing you. I need a new best friend, someone who has guns for arms and was put together by our worst enemy."

He gestures for the bottle, already feeling a little less morose about the whole situation.

[doeseverything]

"Hey! Technically, I was made into a god by our worst enemies. In a roundabout way. Shut up, it counts."

Dax settles on Jak's shoulder as he recounts the story, reaching for the bottle every so often. The perch serves three purposes; one, they can keep their voices lower so the little monster doesn't overhear. Two, Dax can feel as Jak relaxes by the set of his shoulder and three-

Well, three is because as necessary as their time apart is, Dax misses Jak too. It's hard to go from being with a guy twenty-four seven to only seeing him maybe once a week. Jak could be getting into serious trouble without Daxter around to remind him that they are in fact mortal creatures that can easily die from gunshot wounds or metalhead stampedes or any other crazy fucking thing that might happen to them.

[shadesofeco]

And Jak does tend towards the reckless. As much as he rolls his eyes and huffs, he does need these lectures now and again. A few months ago he broke his foot and ended up laid up for a few days while he waited for all that light eco swimming around in his system to do its thing. He was being too generous with his powers, using up his eco stores too quickly and then finding himself backed into a corner when he really needed them. Daxter hadn't said anything, but the fact that the two of them were inseparable while he was healing said a lot.

So yeah maybe, just maybe if KG-001 can cooperate and not be a giant robotic prick, then he can actually help watch Jak's back and make sure these cleanup missions run as smoothly as possible.

But, that's for the future. Right now he's tired and feeling the bruises from today, he's a little drunk and the bottle sloshes as he picks it up, almost empty. Draining the last mouthful, he jostles his shoulder to see if Daxter's still awake. "C'mon buddy. Time to hit the sack."

[doeseverything]

"Wha?" Daxter pushes himself up, claws dripping the edge of Jak's shoulder guard as he shakes himself out of his stupor. "Mmmkay, hold up. Hol- wait a minute." He slides down from Jak like a drunk liquid and stumbles over to the bar where Tess is dragging bottles down after closing up. He takes a minute to talk with her and then they rub foreheads. She knows the deal. When Jak's in town Dax is with him, and she's the most perfect wonderful understanding bombshell of a babe for it. He's so lucky.

"What about your killer robot dog?" Dax asks as he hops back onto Jak's shoulder. "That thing is not staying on all night. Not without nobody watching it."

[shadesofeco]

Jak takes a moment to scrub his hands over his face and try to rub out some of the numbness while Dax does his gross cutesy thing with Tess. Ugh. So gross.

Dragging himself to his feet, he stretches lazily, then squints at KG-001. "I don't think we can just shut him down, Dax."

Ambling over, he leans against the side of the booth. "Do you... sleep? Or... recharge or something?" Fuck if he knows how this kinda thing works.

[ddddropthebass]

KG-001 tips his head back and gives Jak a sneer. "Don't want to leave me unattended, huh?" He should've expected it, especially after the whole deal with Torn and Ashelin and those fucking cowards for soldiers earlier, but-

Well. Eh. He barely knows this asshole anyway. He's not any different from anybody else; expecting more is just inviting more disappointment. Everything is beneath him and this prick is no exception, master or not.

KG-001 sniffs. "I can go into standby. I won't wake up until someone physically shakes me. Is that good enough for you?"

[shadesofeco]

"Works for me."

And it does. Jak really does believe KG-001 can be redeemed. He might have been built or conditioned as a weapon to be used for evil but hey, so was Jak. If he can overcome it then so can KG-001, and Jak'll do what he can to see that happen. It doesn't mean he trusts him just yet though.

"I'll wake you up in the morning, see if we can find some shit to blow up."

Work with him, and Jak's got your back, bro.