Micro-Masters
By Snare-chan
Pairings: Daxter/Tess, mentions of Torn/Ashelin and hinted Jak/Keira
Ratings: T
Category(ies): Action/Adventure
Warning(s): Cussing, violence, spoilers for up to Jak 3
Status: Continuation, 1/7
Summary: On a routine visit to an old friend, Jak and Daxter find themselves swept into another adventure. Old faces, new toys, and the same wacky hijinx guaranteed!
Notes: The original idea for this story was of a continuation and involved Vin, but that was all. It takes place very shortly after Jak 3 – soon enough that the battles are still fresh in their minds, but later, when things have settled down.
This turned into a birthday gift for Cassandra Cassidy, since she inadvertently helped re-spark my interest for the game series, and in turn, inspired me to finish what has now come to be titled Micro-Masters. I'd also like it to be known that I've worked on this story literally every single day, in some shape or form, since I started it on paper on December 30th and until the moment I sent it to my friend in March. I might have edited a sentence or jotted down an idea, but for 67 straight days I'd studiously worked on this fanfic.
It's completed and the rest of the chapters will be posted as soon as my beta, Keppiehed, graciously finds the time to finish and return them. Whatever mistakes remain are my own.
Disclaimer: I dun own Jak and Daxter; wish I did like everyone else. They should put J&D in stock, then I'd buy it all!
Chapter 1 –
"Are you positive this procedure is safe?" a disembodied voice asked. It belonged to a deceased – at least, in body – man named Vin, more commonly known these days as the computer guru in the computer. This wasn't the first instance he'd bothered Keira with such a question.
"As safe as can be," the mechanic answered, as she had the time before that, and the time before that; equaling the same number as inquiries made by Vin. Her voice was confident, and chipper too, for being elbow deep in what amounted to someone's insides. Granted, these guts were electronic, but this particular circumstance made it impossible to separate the fact that they housed one of the greatest technological minds of Haven City, making them livelier than the average PC.
"G-give me a percentage here! Are you ten percent sure? Seventy? Ninety-nine point nine?"
"Darling, you need to chill. You've got the two loveliest machinists this side of the planet working around the clock for you. Nothing beats that," Tess said.
She was far tinier than Keira – by several feet – and her stature enabled her to crawl inside the machines and fix components that were otherwise inaccessible without disassembly. Having two sets of hands working at once made the job go that much faster, and when dealing with a jittery Vin (see: all the time), the quicker, the better.
"There are others?" Vin asked, missing the point entirely, and went unconsoled. "Why didn't you contact them to do this upgrade?"
Lifting her head from within a metal contraption and the tangled wires bundled inside of it, Keira delivered a glare in the direction of the speakers. The projector that normally created a giant image of Vin's head had been disabled to conserve power as the ladies did their work. That left the basic essentials running, such as the mainframe that housed Vin's subconscious, which was directly connected to the central PA system. At present, this was as close to regarding him straight in the face as they were going to get.
"Tess was using a metaphor, Vin. Trust me when I say the odds of you finding someone better to do this is zero-point-zero percent. Go ahead and check the math, especially since you personally requested us to do this."
"Well, your credentials are excellent. I double-checked your certifications, and on the record, the both of you have highest recommendations in the field," he conceded.
Satisfied, Keira nodded and returned to her task, when Vin hastily added, "But you two were the only options listed in the directory! My databanks may not be up-to-date – the last check was four hours ago. How am I to know if someone else didn't put in their name since then?"
Smile vanishing from her face, Keira regarded Jak for assistance; she was desperately in need of a reprieve.
He'd stayed out of the way since arriving, not knowing the difference between the importance of a blue wire and a green one, and unless a computer needed hitting, he was out of his element. Jak had mostly come because wherever Tess went, Daxter wanted to follow, and it was hard to get a 'no' in when his furry friend started talking. Jak was good at ignoring his pleas and begs in the middle of a fight, the adrenalin consuming his attention, but when it came to situations like this, it was easier to give his companion what he wanted. Plus, they had promised that they would make a habit of visiting Vin again, and this was a chance to do so.
Clearing his throat, Jak cut in and tried to distract him – for Keira's sake.
"Uh, so, how's the Eco Grid holding up?" he asked. The opening was weak, but his social skills were weak, so he didn't think much of it.
"Oh, you know, demanding. Like my mother, might I add. Always nagging about needing more of this, that or the other thing. For some reason, one side is losing power more than the others. I've tried to investigate the matter, but my scanners haven't picked up any anomalies."
"I can check into it later, if you'd like. Maybe there's something nesting in the power lines that you can't find," he volunteered.
The concept of getting some action was welcome. Things had quieted too much for Jak's liking, and the tension was making his trigger finger twitchy. Scouting the Eco Grids might alleviate some of his pent up stress, though he doubted he'd find anything. It was frustrating how he couldn't catch a break when he wanted it, and when he received it, he couldn't properly enjoy it. Story of his life.
"R-really? You think you could do that for…for me?"
The hope in that question almost made him feel guilty for not making a trip here sooner and more often. He imagined that being cooped up, alone, when the unknown lurked so closely was setting Vin on red alert and threatening to overload his circuit board.
"Yeah, sure. Dax and I can do that as soon as Keira and Tess are finished."
"What do you mean 'Dax and I'?" the ottsel, whose name was referred to, quipped. He'd been conversing with Tess. His idea of a discussion, of course, being entirely one-sided on his end and simply handing over tools as requested, until he heard his name mentioned in conjunction with the makings of an assignment.
"Jak, you can't volunteer me for whatever, whenever! I have an important business to run, ya know."
"Come on, Dax. It's for a good cause."
"Bars don't run themselves!"
"Oh Daxie-kins, you don't have to pretend to be a big, powerful provider in front of me!" Tess said, her tone filled with adoration and carrying up from the confines of a steel tower. "I already know you're a savvy businessman, and I know how much you love adventure. So you go ahead and have your fun, and while you do, I'll look after our place."
As Daxter struggled to find a way out of this, Jak rolled his eyes. Tess had an entirely different picture of his friend than what reality offered.
"That's sweet of you, pookie, but our baby needs me. I've neglected the Naughty Ottsel too long as it is, and there's a lot of work to do on it, thanks to Ink-face's lack of interior designing skills."
"Phooey! All it needs is a new coat of paint and a woman's touch. It'll be fine for one day, and who knows, maaaaybe there'll be a nice surprise for you when you return."
Unexpectedly, Keira's wrench slipped, knuckles catching on the edge of a panel as her concentration snapped at hearing that portion of the chat. Jak wasn't faring that well, either, mentally backtracking and trying to block the last three minutes from his life. Also noteworthy: this was the first time thus far that Vin had hushed.
"Well," Dax started, shattering the disturbed silence, "in that case, I won't mind going with my buddy. I mean, how bad can it be? We've recently defeated evil gods and a hybrid creation against nature. That doesn't leave a whole lot that we can't handle, am I right?"
"Oh, pudding-cakes, that's the brave ottsel I remember and love!" she said, popping out of a small hole and giving her boyfriend a hug. "You'll have to tell me all about it when you get back, my little snuggle-"
"And I'm done," Keira said as she screwed in one last bolt. Dusting off her hands, she turned to Tess. "What about you? Finished installing everything?"
"Oh, you bet! Easier than painting my nails," Tess declared. Following the other girl's example, Tess climbed out and cleaned up loose ends, grabbing a large dial with numbers ranging from zero to fifty on it. She dropped it in place, sat down on top, and like a merry-go-round, spun to tighten the part into place. When it was firmly set, she shook her head to clear it, dizzy from the ordeal.
"Y-you're done? Already?" Vin asked. He sounded a bit suspicious. "You made sure to connect the-"
"Vin," Keira said steadfastly, but not unkindly. She could understand that this was his well-being at stake, and respected his reason for concern, but she had earned her reputation. No way would she cut corners or take unnecessary risks. She said as much, along with adding, "We're going to take this slow and triple check everything, I promise. Then Jak and Dax here will go on their cheery way and inspect the exterior grid for you. Now let's test your new hardware."
She flipped a switch, activating three keyboards that unfolded from a hidden compartment. With skilled fingers that typed too fast for Jak to follow, she started inputting sequences that had other machines starting up and opening specific software. Their lights flickered on – a soft glow that eventually grew into a bright, blue shine, and the monitors came alive.
"How you feeling so far, Vin?"
"Kind of tingly. Is that supposed to happen?"
"I think so."
"You think so?"
Undaunted, Keira didn't flinch at his tone, and continued typing as she said, "I've never worked on a sentient piece of equipment before, so I'm not sure what they should or shouldn't experience during this process. But nothing's flagging, so I think we're in the clear so far. Are you picking up on the upgrades yet?"
"Mm, yeah, there they are. I'm…I'm really impressed that you two managed to add all of this."
An extensive wall of text appeared, changing colors as they were checked off as functional, and what was left had its coding fiddled with.
"Okay, that should do it. Tess, gradually put it up to full power. If it holds, then we're stable."
At her behest, Tess did as instructed, little by little adding wattage. A screen with five bars on it started filling up, and when the numbers reached one-hundred percent, she gave Keira the thumbs up. Diagnostics, with words that would doubtfully be clarified in a dictionary because of their complicated purpose, came and went. Daxter watched them in boredom.
"Somebody change the channel on this thing."
"Working on it. Syncing up with the network in three…two…one," Keira said.
Camera feeds started showing up. Jak recognized the Slums and other districts as they started to appear. All the computers were running at full capacity, filling their ears with a soft humming noise.
"Connection is complete. Prior systems, online. Communications, online," Vin droned, sounding uncharacteristically less human as he spoke to them, until, "Security…okay, that's weird."
Pausing, Keira and Tess glanced at the main screen, Vin's holographic head appearing. None of them remembered the image looking so grainy – possibly due to interference, or the feed not quite caught up to the standards of the new equipment.
"Weird how?" Jak asked, acknowledging the dread that was settling like a knife in his spine. It prickled all the way up his back, causing him to roll his shoulders to loosen them. Subconsciously, he was gearing up to fight or run.
"Oh Precursors' beards, remember that little problem with the Eco Grid I was mentioning? Well, I wasn't picking up something before, but there's d-definitely something there now! Those new precautions I had you ladies install have pinpointed the issue."
"What is it? And where?" Keira demanded to know, fingers on the fly again, when suddenly everything acted up. The consistent blue glow of the machines started creating a rainbow effect as they flashed off and on in different colors. The monitors went black, and Vin's hologram turned off with them. Next, things started moving on their own, especially Keira's keyboard.
"Hey, Vin!" she yelled, reaching for the keyboard she'd been using. Jak grabbed her wrists and stopped them short of having the panels snap her fingers in half as they disappeared into them. "I wasn't finished!"
"N-n-n-n-ot meeeeeee."
The 'e' in that last word continued screeching after Vin stopped speaking, the noise hurting their ears. Daxter and Tess covered theirs, their sensitive hearing above even Jak's and Keira's. The sound must have been excruciating.
"Knock that racket off!" Daxter said. Tess whimpered in agreement.
Jak reached for his gun, intending to shoot until he hit whatever was making the noise, but it was Keira's turn to nab him. She wasn't strong enough to prevent him from bringing his Morph Gun into the open, but he halted from unloading on the room at large when she took hold of him.
"No, don't! If you hit a main component, you could kill Vin! It's too risky!"
"We have to do something!" he pointed out, having to yell to be heard over the squeal of the computers.
Warmth, like a coiling tree viper, began filling the room as the machines overheated. There was also the telltale smell of a fire starting nearby, because Jak identified smoke and hot steel. It tinged the air, sending Keira into a panic.
"Shut him down, Tess! He'll blow if this continues!"
"I'm trying!" she said, her tiny hands aided by Daxter's as they forcefully pulled plugs on their side. Keira rushed over to the hover platform, intending on interacting with some of the equipment higher up, but whatever she planned on doing couldn't help at this point. Sensing the impending explosion, Jak barely achieved shielding her with his body; the both of them were sent soaring into a wall and slumped down on top of a workstation. He could feel controls jabbing into his side, and Keira's fingers shook as they clung to his shirt.
She might have said his name – twice? – and Daxter's, too. Keira was asking the ottsel a question, but he must not have heard, because she was calling out louder.
Shrill.
He tried to respond and ask why she sounded like that.
But he couldn't.
To Be Continued…