Chapter Eight: Hako Wig Plant

"Woa, this place was really trashed," Florence said as the group walked in. She gazed out at the destruction. Whipped cream, wigs and machine parts were scattered throughout the plant.
"I wonder if anyone's around," Harry pondered as he began searching through the junk.
"How could one man dragging around a fish do so much damage?" Jim wondered curiously and he looked up. Above him, he saw giant cables, snapped and hanging limply.
"So what is a Hako Wig Plant anyway?" Jessica asked, stepping over a pile of wigs and computer parts.
"Well, I didn't hear much about them as a simple janitor. From what I remember it was going to be Gengai's biggest project. They had them in Wigfarm for a while for testing but they improved on the plants and were going to send them across the planet. I guess they have now. I don't know much more," Harry explained.
"Hako Wig Plants are Gengai's biggest operation across the entire planet," a new voice said. "They generate a number of things. Wigs, electricity, money and power. Hako is an energy source that can be found in most anything. At first, we began draining it directly from the planet but we soon learned of its destructive effect on the planet itself. In actuality we were killing the planet. While searching for an alternate source of power, Gengai's scientists found that some of the Hako waste was causing baldness. This was actually very profitable because after more research it was discovered that human hair is a much more efficient form of energy production than Hako from the planet. As well, the waste, if properly managed, can be turned to wigs. These wigs replaced the hair people were losing. Hako plants were around for a long time before your janitorial job, Harry. It has just been a well kept secret and very little information about the plants was released."
Everyone turned to see the source of this new voice just as the music hit. A finger snapping rhythm that echoed through the destroyed Hako Wig Plant. There stood Helga, Parrot walking up behind her.
"..."
"That's just great Helga. I guess it isn't a secret anymore, eh? Damn, you just have to ruin everything don't you?" Rusty walked up and stood beside Parrot.
"Oh no, not these guys again. Why are you here?" Florence groaned.
"We're here to find Olaf. Reports said that from here he was heading to Junon," Helga stated evenly.
"Helga, can you ever learn to be quiet? Let's get her out of here before she blabs some more," Rusty said.
"..."
"Just shut up Parrot! Let's go!"
Parrot grabbed Helga by the ear and started to follow Rusty who had already started walking away from the group.
"Hey! Ow, that hurts! Stop that! Quit it! Let me go! My ear really hurts!" Helga complained as she was dragged away.
The group stood there for a moment, staring at where the Clerks had formerly stood.
"Well, that was enlightening," Jessica commented.
"So, I guess we're off to Junon, eh? This should be some great fun!" Florence said cheerfully.
"Hey, where's Jim?" Harry questioned. Jim was no where to be seen.
Sarah gave a slight grunt and pointed with a hoof to a pair of feet sticking out of a pile of rubble and whipped cream.
Everyone sighed and walked over to the feet. Together, they pulled Jim out of the junk. In the process of freeing Jim, they also freed some of the rubble and whipped cream which just made a large mess on themselves.
"Oh great, now I have whipped cream in my hair. Ew, this stuff doesn't smell like it's very good," Jessica complained.
"It could be worse. I got some on my dress. It's sticky and disgusting. This whipped cream has seen better days," Florence said, trying to wipe some of the cream off.
"Why were you in there?" Harry asked Jim.
"I was trying to find some hair gel. I figured there should be some in here, among the rubble. I mean, why not? They have everything else. That's when I kind of got stuck. I didn't find any hair gel, either. Am I doomed to have messy hair for the rest of my life?" Jim cried out in agony.
"Yes you are," Harry said flatly. "Now, let's get out of this dump! We have to get to Junon before the Clerks!"
"Why's that?" Florence asked.
"So then we can catch Olaf before they do."
"So why do we need to catch him first? I mean, they'll just be helping us out, won't they? Why not sit around, relax for a little while and let them do all the work."
"You obviously know nothing about saving the world from unspeakable evil."
"Unspeakable evil? How do we even know that this guy is evil? He killed President Gengai for us!"
"That's exactly why he's evil."
"But we were going to kill him anyway. Olaf just saved us from a lot of hassle."
"No, I wanted to kill Gengai myself! It was supposed to be my moment of glory. He stole that from me." Harry stared blankly into space with a suspicious look in his eyes.
"What is he doing?" Florence asked. Harry continued to stare, unmoving.
"Oh, he used to do this all the time," Jessica stated. "He's 'speaking with the planet.' It gets tiring after a while. One time, I was walking home late one night and I found him in this frozen state. I got up the next morning and looked outside. He was still there, in the same place. It's pretty freaky sometimes, but after a few weeks of this it just becomes annoying."
"The only thing to do now is look through the junk for some hair gel," Jim said. With that, he started to run. He jumped high through the air and then crashed in a pile of junk. The only part of him still sticking out were his legs. He started kicking and muffled cries for help emerged from the rubble.
Sarah sighed a goatly sigh and then laid down. She closed her eyes for a brief goat nap.
Florence looked at the kicking feet and sighed, "Should we help him out?"
"Nah, let him stay in there for a while until Harry snaps out of his trance. This gives us a chance to relax," Jessica replied as she sat down and made herself comfortable. "How did we get mixed up with these idiots?"
"I wouldn't ask, it's probably best not to think about it." Florence sat down as well and laid back, using a pile of wigs to rest her head upon.