Chapter 6

Still soaking from the lemon soda attack, Cat silently led Jak and Keira (plus of course Daxter in the backpack) to the Retro Room. Jade continued to follow them, but she kept losing track of them because she was turning her back to make sure she wasn't being followed herself. How hypocritical. As a result, she completely failed to see the door to the Retro Room open and close. She looked around and wondered where the hell they could have gone, because the hallway appeared to be a dead end.

While Jak removed Daxter from the backpack, Cat opened a small wardrobe, rifling through it until she found a new sundress that resembled the one she was wearing right now. She removed the wet one without even bothering to hide behind the mirrored door, forcing everyone else - yes, even Daxter - to turn away. Cat spotted this in the mirror and let out a tiny, barely audible sigh of disappointment. She'd hoped Jak would like what he saw. Guess Trina was lying after all, she thought. Taken boys really do lose track of what else is available to them.

Once Cat was redressed, Jak rounded on her. "Okay," he said, "now you need to talk. What is in the Lost Sage's cave, and why did it send us here?"

Cat sighed again, louder this time, and drew a breath. "You know the Lost Sage was working on learning two different types of eco?" Jak, Daxter, and Keira eyeballed each other, then shook their heads. "Well, that's what the story says, anyway," said Cat. "Orange Eco and Purple Eco. One to change the atoms of things, and one to open dimensional bridges. Where do you think Warp Gates get their power from?"

"So you're saying..." Keira started, but Cat cut in to finish the sentence.

"The Lost Sage selected his cave because he said it was near two large eco deposits, one of Orange and one of Purple." Cat sat on a squeaky pink vinyl chair. "Of course, that's the story, and nobody really knows if it's true."

"I'm thinkin' it is," said Jak. "I mean, we got sent to this place, maybe there's Purple Eco somewhere underneath the school."

Cat smiled. "Yeah, and maybe Orange Eco, too. That's probably why I keep finding new rooms in this place every so often, the eco is changing the layout of the building."

Daxter broke in at this point. "And what about that weird hippie guy? How did he know us?"

"Well, considering how famous you guys are back home..." Cat shook her head. "I'd never seen that guy until after I came here, though. And he always said something about a place called Yerba or something like that. I looked it up on the map, it's on the other side of this world. Maybe there's more eco there. I sure hope not, though."

"Why?"

"'Cause Yerba's been in civil war for years. Can you imagine if someone got ahold of eco there? They wouldn't know to be responsible with it." Cat sighed again. "This world doesn't know much about eco, if at all. They still insist on using radioactive weapons to threaten each other with. I don't know which is more dangerous, really."

Keira rubbed her arms to ward off the chill that came to her at that moment as the A/C kicked in. Deciding to get it out of the way as quickly as possible, she said, "We need to get home, Cat."

Cat laughed bitterly. "Easier said than done. Do you know how many times I've tried to find the eco under this place? I have no idea where to start looking, and I've tried just about everywhere there is. That I know of, anyway."

Jak laughed, not so bitterly. "Well, count yourself lucky we got a young Eco Sage with us." He clapped Keira on the shoulder. "And don't try and do the modesty thing," he added as Keira looked down shyly. "You're talented, and you can help us."

Cat's hands balled into fists as Jak kissed Keira on the cheek, but only for a split second. Might as well give up fighting this fight, she thought.

"Okay," said Keira. "Let's go." She made for the door, but Cat stuck out her arm and stopped her.

"Hold up," said Cat. "Gotta make sure nobody's out there." She looked through a little peephole. "Well, shit," she cursed under her breath. "Jade followed us."

Daxter perked up at that moment. "This might seem insensitive," he said, "but I just wanna know...is Jade a lesbian?"

Cat frowned. "You know what...I don't know. Nobody really does. She's got a boyfriend, but she always seems to look at certain girls that way." She looked meaningfully at Keira, who after all was the latest victim of Jade's lustful glances.

"Maybe he's the beard," Keira suggested. "The boyfriend?"

Daxter laughed. "But boys can't be girls' beards. Isn't there some other word for that? Like boobs?"

"There's something else we don't know," said Jak. "But we need to go, Jade or not. Howsabout through the window?"

Without another word, Cat flicked the light switch off and opened the window. Jak put Daxter back on his shoulder before following Keira and Cat out into the bushes around the edge of the building.

Keira placed her hand on the ground. "I feel something," she said. "But it's pretty weak. Let me try..." She kept feeling along the ground in various directions until she finally found an eco signature she could follow. It led them straight to a blue and white metal box on wheels, with metal panels over the windows.

"No way," said Cat. "The Grub Truck?"