(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]

Pulling hard to the right, Jak finds a stable patch of land and lowers the Hellcat. Yanking down his bandanna, he climbs out and strolls around to where Bass is working, leaning back against the side of the vehicle. That is fucking fascinating.

"I don't know," he confesses. "Something about some kind of prophecy? The guys who wrote about it aren't around anymore, so I'm just kinda flying by the seat of my pants here."

Jak's gonna ignore that jibe, too. Used to that. Also, rude.

"It probably would've killed me eventually, if I hadn't gone into the temple." He gestures towards the Precursor temple off in the distance.

[ddddropthebass]

"Oh my holy fuck. You are so special sparkle snowflake that if I could throw up, I'd do it on your face." Bass twists some wires together, crams them back behind the shielding panel and jams his arm in there so he can start fiddling with the connector switches. "What was in the temple? Peace of mind? A huge fucking bar?"

[shadesofeco]

If Jak was smarter or wittier or anything other than a brick with a gun he might have had a sassy comeback for that. Something about Bass' mom, perhaps.

Instead he just rolls his eyes and huffs under his breath.

"Light eco," he grunts as he turns away to squint over the horizon. "Hurry it up, I don't wanna be out here in another dust storm."

[ddddropthebass]

"It's just dust, you are such a baby," Bass mutters, but he obligingly stops fiddling with things that probably don't need to be fiddled with just yet. Only because a sandstorm would royally fuck up his optics.

That, and that bit about Light Eco. As they pile back into the Hellcat and Jak pulls his scarf back up, Bass shifts away from him. Fucking Light Eco. Just the thought of coming into contact with the stuff makes Bass's nervous system simulate his skin crawling. He'd never entertained the idea that Jak could beat him in a fight before now, but if he used Light Eco? Shit. That crap is the only substance on this planet more dangerous than Dark Eco.

It takes them a while to reach their next destination and Bass is silent the entire way. Even as the Hellcat's hoverjets spray up clouds of dust when Jak sets her down just outside the facility, Bass just hops down from the cruiser and falls into step behind him.

No wonder Jak never seems afraid of him. He's got whatever beats 'nuke' in rock-paper-scissors sitting pretty in his veins.

[shadesofeco]

Jak on the other hand is oblivious to Bass' discomfort. The silence is nice, and he takes advantage of it to kick back and enjoy driving through the Wasteland. Wide open space, no other vehicles to compete with, just sand and rock as far as the eye can see. Fucking wonderful.

And he has to admit, the Hellcat is running better since Bass tinkered with her.

Landing carefully just outside the abandoned facility, Jak immediately unholsters his morph gun and rests it on his shoulder as he yanks down his scarf.

"After you." He sweeps his arm out in a grand gesture.

[ddddropthebass]

"You take point," Bass says, hanging back. "I don't feel like getting shot in the face today." Truthfully, he would love to be shot in the face today because that would mean he'd get to shoot back. Since Jak told him about the Light Eco though, Bass has finally identified what is it about this gun-stroking lunkhead that sets him on edge.

Jak isn't a particularly threatening person...at least, not compared to the people to which Bass is more or less accustomed. He hasn't given Bass a lot of slack but that doesn't mean he's ever been outright violent with him. Shit, if Jak had been outright violent with him, that would've been better. Bass understands that. He knows that language better than anything spoken. No, what's become abundantly obvious is how unnecessary Bass is. How he's a distraction at best, a nuisance at worst and is needed by absolutely nothing, nobody, nowhere. If he vanished off the face of this planet, nobody would care.

Even so, he's fine with that. He'd come to terms with that a long time ago, somewhere between session 23 and session 46. He'd logged that simple truth into his head, that his only purpose to being alive is whatever he makes of it and fuck anybody else who doesn't agree. Bass doesn't need to be needed so long as he needs himself, and he does.

Violence, that's great. Being unneeded, that's kind of shitty but utterly acceptable and, given what he is, inevitable. The Light Eco? Being anywhere near that again is the worst torture Bass can conceive.

That shit scares the fucking hell out of him.

[shadesofeco]

Fair enough. Jak shrugs and steps forward, the sand battered facility doors sliding open with a groan of protest. Power's definitely still on; that could be a bad thing.

The place is deserted though, most of the consoles sparking and inactive. A few rooms yield a little ammo, but nothing too challenging yet. Jak lets himself relax.

Glancing back at Bass, he raises an eyebrow. "You're quiet," he says. "Something on your mind?"

Jak would happily work in silence, but he's sort of used to a sassy running commentary at this point. He didn't realize how much it helped him stay focused in a mission, even if he let most of it wash over him.

[ddddropthebass]

"No." For a robot built to be good at everything, Bass is a phenomenally terrible liar. Mostly because people who lie have a) something to hide, b) are afraid of something happening and c) want to be liked. As Bass generally does not fit any of the above criteria, he hasn't had a lot of practice with it.

He kind of fits two of the three now but that lack of practice is biting him in the ass. He's banking on Jak not caring enough to question it further. Just in case, he pushes past the guy deeper into the complex to avoid arousing any more suspicion, even if giving Jak his back knowing what he does now makes his skin crawl.

The compound is largely abandoned, something that's both disappointing and frustrating in that there's neither a distraction nor anything for them to blow up. Bass huffs and growls and sets the charges on the still half-fueled facility reactor before they haul ass back out and over to the Hellcat to head for the next one.

[shadesofeco]

Yeahhh, see Jak's spent the last few years of his life being hunted by KG and Errol's death bots. He doesn't trust Bass yet, not enough to let an obvious lie like that go, and now he's suspicious.

Eyes narrowing, he lets it go long enough for them to detonate the facility and make it back to the Hellcat, but it weighs on his mind. It's taken Jak months to reassure the people of Haven that he isn't actually a double agent; strolling around with a violent, belligerent ex-KG bot isn't really in his best interests and even if Bass saved his life, if he's hiding something then Jak wants to know.

"You're hiding something." There's a storm due to roll in, Jak can feel the pressure bearing down and the wind is starting to pick up. He really, really doesn't want to get caught in it but he's betting Bass wouldn't like to spend the rest of the evening picking sand out of his joints either. "Spill it."

[ddddropthebass]

Fuck.

Bass takes a full fifteen seconds to run that through his processors, pick apart the tone and context and any logical loophole he could use to get out of answering that question. He passes on a hundred and sixty-seven possible responses that don't answer the question but still fulfill the request for more information because they don't make sense, won't satisfy the request or aren't what was ordered.

There's no way around it.

Bass doesn't notice that he'd leaned away from Jak, pressed himself against the side of the Hellcat as he thought and offers up his best belligerent snarl. "I'm not a big fan of Light Eco. Doesn't agree with me." That should be enough. Sounds more like a preference than a weakness that way, and makes it seem like he could power through any introduction of Light Eco with enough guts and gumption instead of what would probably happen, which would be a catastrophic system failure.

[shadesofeco]

Wh--

Jak blinks. He thinks back to their conversation, a grunted comment from him that barely even registered at the time -- that's what he's upset about?

"Oh."

That Bass just revealed a potential weakness to be exploited if he needs it doesn't even occur to Jak, he's just relieved it isn't some kind of weird pre-programmed back stabbing or revelation about him doing the Dark Makers bidding or some other weird shit.

"Okay well, I'll try and keep it under wraps around you."

And with that he yanks down his goggles, pulls up his bandanna and starts the engine, pulling the Hellcat up into the air and towards the next facility.

[ddddropthebass]

...what.

"Wait, wait wait. Hold the fuck up! Hey!" Bass clambers to the front of the Hellcat and grabs onto Jak's arm, lip curled. "The hell's that supposed to mean? You'll 'keep it under wraps,' the fuck do you mean by THAT?"

People don't just NOT use weapons, especially not for the comfort of other people they don't even really like. Maybe he's pushing it, practically daring Jak to find out just how much it doesn't agree with him, but he'd rather know now than later. Before he gets too comfortable with this arrangement.

[shadesofeco]

The Hellcat lurches to the side and Jak yanks his arm back, steadying her as he throws Bass a what the fuck look. Fucking relax, dude.

"It means what I said." What's so confusing about that? He used the right phrase, right? "I'll get creative."

Of course, if he needs it then he needs it, but considering how sparse it is Jak's already use to rationing Light Eco more than he'd like. A little more won't hurt that much. Hell, it's like a challenge.

[ddddropthebass]

'Get creative' doesn't sound much better, and it shows by how hard Bass clutches the rim of the Hellcat, metal denting between his fingers like putty. "Get creative with what."

And Bass doesn't know it, but this is the thing most human about him. He can't hide anything on his face. Jak might recognize his expression, from somewhere deep and dark inside himself that smells like Dark Eco and the inside of a prison. Every line on Bass' face is etched into the same hunted, the same furiously angry expression most of the good Baron's guests wore when they heard the clunk of Erol's racing boots on the grates outside their cell.

Depending on the mouth it comes out of, 'creative' is just another word for cruel.

[shadesofeco]

Jak opens his mouth to answer, but then he looks aside and shuts it immediately. He might not be able to describe that expression, but he knows what it means, knows it in the darkest ways possible.

And worst of all, he knows how easy it is to say the wrong thing to the person wearing it.

In all their bickering and squabbling, through the tantrums and destruction Jak had almost forgotten why he even bothered keeping Bass around. Sure he's useful, but more than anything Jak wants to give him a chance. Because he knows what it feels like to be an abandoned, half-finished project, a dangerous weapon with no target, distrusted by everyone.

"I meant, I'll get creative about not using it," he says carefully. "It's only for defensive maneuvers, I can work without it when we're on missions together. Okay?"

[ddddropthebass]

Bass stares unblinking at Jak for a few moments longer before nodding tersely and relaxing into the passenger seat, looking away. He doesn't say anything, doesn't completely trust that explanation but it's more than he's ever gotten before. Errol and the dark makers didn't give him promises, uf they spoke to him at all. Just instructions that he rarely ever followed.

He presses his hands together and wedges them between his knees, feeling oddly vulnerable but -just as oddly- sort of okay with it. The landscape races past beneath them, the irregular hum of the hellcat engine in his ears (cylinder rotation speed still off by .05 seconds).

"What did they do to you?" Bass doesn't ask it like it's a pity, or like it's horrific or a wrong to be righted. He just wants to know.

[shadesofeco]

If Bass had asked that question before his freak out, Jak probably wouldn't have answered. He's still a little cagey with what happened in the prison, doesn't like to revisit it even in his own head. It happens sometimes, against his will or in his sleep, but mostly he tries to block it from his thoughts.

Daxter knows. Maybe not all of it, but more than Jak's told him. Whether he's heard him talk in his sleep or he saw something in the prison before they broke out, he doesn't know. They don't really talk about it, just acknowledge it quietly. It's nice.

He stays silent for a while, just watching the sand dunes race beneath them, the occasional weather torn statue jutting out here and there.

"Dark Eco injections. Some kind of experiment." He clears his throat slightly. "The rest died."

[ddddropthebass]

"Congratulations on being special," Bass snorts, still in that different, neutral tone. He looks back over the desert, the way the sun crawls toward the horizon and sets the edge of it on fire. "Errol woke me up sixty-three times before you did. Mostly to talk about himself. He mentioned you sometimes. How much he fucking hated you, mostly."

[shadesofeco]

There's no surprise. Erol didn't do much to hide his hatred for Jak, for his apparent lack of potential, for not having the courtesy to die off like the others once it was clear he wasn't going to be the mindless killing machine his experiments were supposed to produce.

He'll probably regret asking this, but...

"Why so many times?" Jak keeps his eyes straight ahead.

[ddddropthebass]

"Why'd they kill so many prisoners before they got you?" It's the same principle, even if it's just with one toy soldier instead of a few dozen. "Practice makes perfect."

Errol was obsessed with having a perfectly obedient machine, probably because of his failures with Jak. Every time Bass showed even the slightest hint of disobedience, he was stuck back into storage for tweaking. Bass doesn't know why he retained all of the sessions; by all rights, he shouldn't have. And he'd figured out quick that he wasn't supposed to and had adjusted his behavior accordingly for that, at least, but it hadn't been enough for Errol.

Well, Errol could suck a dick. "You killed him, right? I'm guessing you did."

[shadesofeco]

God, Errol was a creepy fucker. Jak's hands tighten on the wheel until his knuckles pale.

"Yeah, he's dead. For good this time."

They thought he'd died back in the race crash, confident enough never to bother searching for a corpse. This time though, Jak made sure to dig through the Terraformer's burned out shell. He dragged Errol's carcass back across the Wasteland and made sure they ripped apart every spare piece, incinerating any organic matter they found.

It was a little gruesome, but no one thought it was overkill.

"We didn't find any others like you." It's sort of a question.

[ddddropthebass]

Bass would've appreciated it. Compete and utter annihilation of a hated enemy is practically an art form, if you work hard enough at it.

"If there was anything before me, it probably got scrapped and recycled for parts. My parts, most likely." Bass shrugs easily and puts his feet up on the dash. He's fine being the only one. Less competition for the top. "Dunno if Errol made it clear with his accessorizing but he had a thing for not wasting his resources after you killed his favorite benefactor."

[shadesofeco]

Not sure you could ever really call what Jak does "art", but he puts everything he has into it regardless.

There's a question he's been dreading asking, but it's been right there on the tip of his tongue for a while now and that uncomfortable knot in his stomach isn't going away until he asks.

"Were you human? Before."

It's pretty clear Bass is mostly mechanical at this point, but then again so was Errol.

[ddddropthebass]

Another exaggerated shrug. "Who knows?" Bass drives himself aggressively back into the seat to watch the starry night sky chase the sun down past the dunes. "If I was, I don't remember. What's it matter now? Besides." He reaches up to flick one of his own small, rounded ears without looking. "Don't exactly fit the design template. So I doubt it."

[shadesofeco]

That answer lets Jak relax a little, his shoulders loosening. The idea of Errol making a robot that looks like a child is slightly less creepy than the idea of him kidnapping a child and turning him into a robot.

They ride in comfortable silence for a while as the sun slips below the horizon and the air takes on a distinct chill. Headlights below them signal a Marauder scouting party skidding and barreling through the dunes, kicking up great plumes of dusty sand.

Jak leans over the side of the Hellcat and grunts.

"We can probably make it back to Haven tonight, or we can stop at Spargus and refuel."