(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 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.

[ddddropthebass]

Jak turns and heads over to the bar to pick up Daxter and KG-001 watches him go, frowning. As Jak heads up the stairs he pushes himself up and yells after him, "Don't think you can buy me off that easy," and...gets no reaction. Rrgh. Shit.

KG-001 shoots a sharp, "What," at Tess at the counter before settling into the booth, folding his arms, closing his eyes and going still.

[doeseverything]

Dax rolls his eyes as Jak climbs the stairs and heads into his room. "You sure know how to pick 'em, Jak." He leaps down from Jak's shoulders onto the dresser and stretches, snapping his goggles off and kicking his jeans elsewhere. "How long're you gonna stay in town for? Torn's already sicced you on somethin' else?"

[shadesofeco]

"Picked you, didn't I?"

Jak grins and ducks the pillow that narrowly misses clipping his ear.

"I dunno." Kicking off his boots and flinging off his goggles, he unclips his armor and lets it fall to the ground with a loud thunk. "He said there's some... compound somewhere in the Wasteland. Old Marauder smuggling routes, there was a cave in and some equipment got unearthed. Wants me to go check it out sometime."

And as eager as Jak is to get back into things, he does feel guilty constantly being away from Haven. Ever since Damas died he's had this weird sense of responsibility, like he's supposed to be here, doing something. Of course all the things that need doing are things he sucks at, so instead he's just goofing off with explosives and guns and doing donuts in the desert with Kleiver's vehicle collection.

Sitting down hard on the bed, he groans and flops back, closing his eyes. A day off would be nice but knowing Jak, he'd be bored after three hours and when he and Daxter get bored bad things happen.

[doeseverything]

"I picked you," Daxter says as he retrieves the pillow he'd chucked at Jak and shoves it against the wall beside Jak's chest. He stomps on it a few times to soften it up before throwing himself down on it, half-draped in the crook of Jak's arm. "Why d'you keep taking those lackey details, Jak? You're better than most of the crap he gives you." Dax knows why, but it doesn't stop him from asking, if only to get Jak to think about it.

[shadesofeco]

Nope, Jak's asleep.

Or at least, pretending to be.

Because that is a really, really uncomfortable question and he generally doesn't like talking about the dark eco tests. They were years ago now and the pain has dulled -- thanks both to time and light eco -- but he still wakes up shouting, drenched in sweat sometimes. Still goes quiet for a few days, still drinks far, far too much, still slips off to spend hours at the gun range without answering his communicator. It still affects him more than he likes to let on, even though everyone's figured it out already. Ashelin still isn't comfortable facing all the terrible things her father did in that prison, and Torn isn't exactly the touchy-feely "let's sit down and talk about our emotions" type. So, life just goes on like normal and everyone pretends things are fine. It's the Haven way.

And then he really did fall asleep, because now he's waking up and his mouth tastes gross and his head is pounding and Daxter's butt is in his face. Grimacing, he shoves the ottsel away and grumbles something about manners before pushing himself up and stretching for his boots, half-heartedly tugging them on and leaving them unfastened. Fuck it, it's not like anyone else is here, the bar is still closed and he can get something to wake himself up with before checking in with Tor--

Oh.

The previous day's events come rushing back at him when he sees KG-001 in the booth and Jak clenches and unclenches his fists, jaw tightening. Wordlessly, he steps over and shakes his shoulder to wake him up. "Rise and shine."

[ddddropthebass]

Daxter drops it because Jak won't answer anyway, and he shoves at Jak's shoulder for a while as punishment for ignoring him and pretending to be asleep until he finally passes out himself. He actually drank a lot of that bottle too, so even when Jak shoves him upon waking he barely moves, just flopping back onto the pillow with a grumble and passing back out. He doesn't have to be up for hours, there's no fucking way he's getting out of this bed.

KG-001 is exactly where Jak left him, eyes still closed, arms still folded. When Jak shakes him he moves slightly, like a person really asleep instead of a robot turned off and there's a quiet engaging click and a hum as his main power generator comes back online and warms up. His eyes open slowly and he looks up at Jak, unfolding himself from the booth. ...he really did come back and wake him up. Huh. He wasn't sure Jak even would.

It takes him a second to move past that realization, process it and tuck it away and then he tilts his head back. "You look like shit. Also you should shave, because your face is molding." The dangers of having green facial hair.

[shadesofeco]

...what? Jak rubs his cheek and scowls petulantly. He is way too hungover for this bullshit first thing.

"Whatever."

Slouching over to the bar, he fumbles with the coffee pot until it flickers on. Tess, the angel that she is, already set it up before she left for the night. Which is great, because Jak cannot figure out for the life of him anything past "on" and "off" for that damn contraption.

Setting a mug down on top of the bar, he uncorks a bottle and adds a generous slug of something that smells like gasoline. "Do you need like... food? Fuel? Eco?"

[ddddropthebass]

KG-001 snickers to himself when Jak scowls, sliding out of the booth. Heh. What a loser.

"Nope." KG-001 boosts himself up to sit on the bar because he figures that'll make someone angry (hopefully) and ignores the way it creaks dangerously. "Don't need anything, I just keep going. No fucking revolting digestive tract like what you animals have."

[shadesofeco]

Jak flinches slightly when the bar creaks -- mostly because if that thing gives way it's gonna make a lot of noise that he is absolutely not able to deal with -- then tops his mug up with strong, black coffee. It's not good coffee, but frankly he wouldn't know the difference anyway.

"You don't recharge?" Jak squints at him, then takes a sip and grimaces. Tastes gross but at least it'll get him moving. "Not ever?"

[ddddropthebass]

"That's what 'I keep going' means, dipshit." KG-001 shifts his weight to make the counter creeeeeeak obnoxiously. "Do you want the care and feeding rundown? It'll be excruciatingly awkward for me but if it'll get you to stop asking fucking stupid questions, I'll soldier on."

[shadesofeco]

Ughhhhhhh stoooooooop.

Jak just shoots him a withering look. "I'm good."

He's almost as annoying as Daxter when he's found a button to push. Dragging his fingers through his hair, Jak yawns and trudges over to a booth to settle in and finish his coffee while he wakes up.

"We've got a mission, I told Torn we'd be there in an hour."

[ddddropthebass]

"Does this mission involve explosions? 'Cause that's what I was promised." KG-001 picks at a splinter boredly. He's not expecting much. Promises are bullshit anyway, things parents use for little kids to keep them from screaming their irritating little heads off.

[shadesofeco]

Jak snorts and smirks over his coffee.

"All my missions involve explosions."

Some, y'know, unintionally but still.

[ddddropthebass]

KG-001 searches Jak's face for a trace of a lie. He tilts his chin up, staring judgmentally before finally breaking into a sharp-toothed grin, kicking his feet up onto the bar and leaning back against the wall, hands behind his head. "All right. I guess I'll go with you after all. I was wondering if I should ditch you and go for joyrides today, but if we're really gonna blow something up then it's worth tagging along." Like he has a choice either way; if Jak told him to go, he'd have to go. He's pretty sure Jak doesn't completely get just how much power he's got though, and he'll definitely play that ignorance to his advantage for as long as possible.

[shadesofeco]

dude stop staring that's creepy and weird

Twenty minutes and three cups of coffee later Jak looks a little less like warmed up crap. Finally evaluating himself ready to tackle Torn's particular brand of bullshit, he pushes himself out of the booth.

"C'mon, let's go get into some trouble--" Pausing, he wrinkles his nose as he drags his zoomer out from the corner, miraculously still in place from where he "parked" it the night before. "I still don't know what to call you."

[ddddropthebass]

"That's your problem then, isn't it? Come up with something." KG-001 ambles out after Jak and pokes around at the zoomers lining the street before selecting one at random. He punches a few fingers through the circuit cover, pulls out two wires and splices them until the engine turns with a click and the zoomer drifts to the side.

KG-001 drives just as dangerously as Jak but always keeps a few paces behind him, some kind of hard-coded directive forcing him to keep an eye on his so-called master to make sure he doesn't die. Ugh. He should find a loophole around that; he's not going to let himself get scrapped to save this loser's sorry ass if he gets himself killed by being stupid.

The mission -which Torn is not happy about KG-001 going on- is just to clean out a Metalhead nest just outside of Dead Town. The water stinks and sets off all kinds of chemical alarms in his head, which makes sense considering how careful Jak is to avoid touching it. There isn't much opposition; a few of the crawling, catlike metalheads and mostly lizards and frogs, but the water bubbles ominously in a few places. Jak lingers when they pass an old, mostly-rotted thatch hut just past the last of the buildings and the sludge begins to sink into the earth to give way to stone pockmarked with potholes and waterlogged caves. "This is bitchwork," KG-001 complains. "How the fuck are we gonna blow anything up here? This is gross. You know my hair's synthetic, right? Doesn't clean well, doesn't fucking grow back. I'm gonna smell like this cesspool for weeks."