Chapter Two: Discoveries
The dark and dreary corridor seemed to go on forever. The faint sound of drops of water coming in contact with the stone floor made her shiver. Ashlen had never been to this part of the castle before. Now that she had time to do whatever she wanted and that her dad wasn't there to threaten her to go away with his menacing tone that only he had, she went exploring the castle, finding new and odd rooms. With every step she took there was a suggestion of a deepening puddle. 'If this keeps getting deeper I'll be swimming' she thought to herself.
The narrow beam of light coming from her flashlight was finally stopped on a metallic surface, one that she knew was a door. As she approached it, the gears turned and moved into place, and with a click that echoed throughout the corridor, the door opened. Ashlen stepped inside the room and shined her flashlight along the wall, hoping to reveal a light switch. The search didn't last long, for the switch was to the left of the door. She turned on the lights and revealed a large room.
Shelves upon shelves of books filled the room. At the very center was a long conference table, Ashlen walked over to it. Papers were scattered everywhere. 'This must have been what dad and Errol were working on', she thought as she picked up the top most paper and recognized the writing as her father's. As she went to put the paper back down she noticed an open file partially buried under some of the other papers. As she uncovered the file she saw a picture of a child, no older than three, with green hair and a necklace with the Marr emblem. Another picture was under the first, and when she first looked at it she wasn't surprised that it was a picture of Jak. She was surprised however, when she looked at the information under both of the pictures. Dark Eco Project (D.E.P): Subject shows no change to the dark eco injections.Day 715.
Suddenly a strong breeze nipped at the back of her neck and ruffled the papers. The door, which started to open again, made a loud clicking sound, which made Ashlen jump.
"This is too eerie" she said out loud, and closing the folder, she tucked it under her arm and left the giant room.
* * *
Jak slept peacefully in the comfort of his bare apartment in the slums. Not having to spend much time there he only really needed a bed and a few couches. The walls were bare and there was no real evidence that anyone was living there, no pictures of friends, no personal items, and only a few pairs of clothes.
Being too lazy to change, Jak slept in his blue tunic and beige pants. In the bed next to him was his morph gun, and on the floor was the hover board. The door to his bedroom opened slightly, and much to the intruders disliking, it made a quiet protest. The floor creaked with every step and yet Jak slept on unaware and caught up in his own dream. A head popped up at the foot of the bed and disappeared again, then in flash of orange fur the small assailant jumped on Jak landing on his stomach. Jak sat up in a wild panic and automatically grabbed for his gun.
"Hey.it's just me," Daxter yelled as he raised his arms, "geeze.talk about being paranoid. You're starting to act like Vin did."
Annoyed at Daxter's rude intrusion, Jak picked him up by the back of the neck and threw him across the room. With a thud Daxter hit the wall and then the floor. Unhurt he picked himself up off the wooden floor and brushed himself off.
"Nice to see you too." Daxter retorted, "I was just wondering where you've been, I hardly see you any more."
"I've been busy." Jak said just before he gave out a loud yawn.
"Busy! Ha.doing what? Sleeping!"
Jak ignored that last comment and got out of bed.
Outside people were going about their business. The streets were packed and the smell of exhaust was just as potent as ever. Jak looked up to the usual zoomer infested sky, and with a mighty leap, grabbed onto the rim of an unsuspecting zoomer. Simultaneously, he let go with one hand, threw the driver to the ground, and with the other he hoisted himself up to the drivers seat. Pressing on the accelerator, he sped off leaving the cursing owner behind.
Racing through the city, dodging other zoomers, hellcats, and pedestrians was one of Jak's favorite past times. Daxter held onto Jak's shoulder plate praying that the maniac driver wouldn't come to a sudden stop. Weaving in and out of people and buildings with incredible speed, it was hard to believe that he was a beginner, with only a few months experience and already class one champion. Finally easing up on the accelerator and obeying the laws of the hover zones, Jak fit into the stream of slow moving zoomers.
With an overly exaggerated sigh, that only Daxter could do, he said, "Wow. That was fun. NOT! Do you have a death wish? Or are you trying to give me a heart attack? So were are we going in such a hurry?"
"I'm going to go see Torn at the Palace."
"Man.you really are bored. Please tell me it's not a social gathering, cause that would be the dullest get together EVER. I can picture it now, you two sitting down across from each other, speaking in mute, with the hum of crickets in the background."
"Funny." Jak said sarcastically.
Jak parked the zoomer at the foot of the steps of the palace. He then took out his purple security pass and swiped it through the appropriate slot. It was nice to enter the palace without security tanks and guards shooting at you. The red carpet extended from the entranceway into the rotunda, a large circular room with golden walls and a dome shaped sunroof. Pictures, of what Jak had concluded family members of the Baron, lined the walls. The grandest picture of all was the picture of Marr, which was by far the biggest picture as well as being the focal point of the room. Jak found it hard to believe that he was related to such a savior. Jak looked away from the picture and returned to looking for Torn.
"Hey buddy, how are we going to find Torn in this place it's HUGE!" Daxter pointed out, as Jak walked through door after door.
"Dax, you ask a lot of questions, but you do have a point about this place." Jak replied. And with that said, he grabbed the nearest krimson guard by the shoulder armour and turned him about. "You look like you know what's going on, where the hell is Torn?"
"I.."
"Come on, we don't have all day!" Daxter interrupted. Jak glared at Daxter, who cowered to the back of his shoulder plate.
"He's not here Jak," said a female voice from behind him. It was Ashlen. "He's left to attend to the city, but I'm glad you're here. We need to talk."
Daxter jumped off of Jak's shoulder and landed in front of Ashlen, "Mmmm. Baby, you must be a broom, cause you just swept me off my feet. My name isn't Elmo, but you can tickle me any time you want to. Are those astronaut pants 'cause."
"Say one more thing and you'll be a eunuch for the rest of life." Ashlen said and turn to Jak, "Jak we need to talk. Alone."
"Sure."
Ashlen walked off with Jak following closely behind.
"I'll just stay here and.well.make sure these guys do their jobs." Daxter yelled after them, " and don't worry about me I'll be fine!"
The dark and dreary corridor seemed to go on forever. The faint sound of drops of water coming in contact with the stone floor made her shiver. Ashlen had never been to this part of the castle before. Now that she had time to do whatever she wanted and that her dad wasn't there to threaten her to go away with his menacing tone that only he had, she went exploring the castle, finding new and odd rooms. With every step she took there was a suggestion of a deepening puddle. 'If this keeps getting deeper I'll be swimming' she thought to herself.
The narrow beam of light coming from her flashlight was finally stopped on a metallic surface, one that she knew was a door. As she approached it, the gears turned and moved into place, and with a click that echoed throughout the corridor, the door opened. Ashlen stepped inside the room and shined her flashlight along the wall, hoping to reveal a light switch. The search didn't last long, for the switch was to the left of the door. She turned on the lights and revealed a large room.
Shelves upon shelves of books filled the room. At the very center was a long conference table, Ashlen walked over to it. Papers were scattered everywhere. 'This must have been what dad and Errol were working on', she thought as she picked up the top most paper and recognized the writing as her father's. As she went to put the paper back down she noticed an open file partially buried under some of the other papers. As she uncovered the file she saw a picture of a child, no older than three, with green hair and a necklace with the Marr emblem. Another picture was under the first, and when she first looked at it she wasn't surprised that it was a picture of Jak. She was surprised however, when she looked at the information under both of the pictures. Dark Eco Project (D.E.P): Subject shows no change to the dark eco injections.Day 715.
Suddenly a strong breeze nipped at the back of her neck and ruffled the papers. The door, which started to open again, made a loud clicking sound, which made Ashlen jump.
"This is too eerie" she said out loud, and closing the folder, she tucked it under her arm and left the giant room.
* * *
Jak slept peacefully in the comfort of his bare apartment in the slums. Not having to spend much time there he only really needed a bed and a few couches. The walls were bare and there was no real evidence that anyone was living there, no pictures of friends, no personal items, and only a few pairs of clothes.
Being too lazy to change, Jak slept in his blue tunic and beige pants. In the bed next to him was his morph gun, and on the floor was the hover board. The door to his bedroom opened slightly, and much to the intruders disliking, it made a quiet protest. The floor creaked with every step and yet Jak slept on unaware and caught up in his own dream. A head popped up at the foot of the bed and disappeared again, then in flash of orange fur the small assailant jumped on Jak landing on his stomach. Jak sat up in a wild panic and automatically grabbed for his gun.
"Hey.it's just me," Daxter yelled as he raised his arms, "geeze.talk about being paranoid. You're starting to act like Vin did."
Annoyed at Daxter's rude intrusion, Jak picked him up by the back of the neck and threw him across the room. With a thud Daxter hit the wall and then the floor. Unhurt he picked himself up off the wooden floor and brushed himself off.
"Nice to see you too." Daxter retorted, "I was just wondering where you've been, I hardly see you any more."
"I've been busy." Jak said just before he gave out a loud yawn.
"Busy! Ha.doing what? Sleeping!"
Jak ignored that last comment and got out of bed.
Outside people were going about their business. The streets were packed and the smell of exhaust was just as potent as ever. Jak looked up to the usual zoomer infested sky, and with a mighty leap, grabbed onto the rim of an unsuspecting zoomer. Simultaneously, he let go with one hand, threw the driver to the ground, and with the other he hoisted himself up to the drivers seat. Pressing on the accelerator, he sped off leaving the cursing owner behind.
Racing through the city, dodging other zoomers, hellcats, and pedestrians was one of Jak's favorite past times. Daxter held onto Jak's shoulder plate praying that the maniac driver wouldn't come to a sudden stop. Weaving in and out of people and buildings with incredible speed, it was hard to believe that he was a beginner, with only a few months experience and already class one champion. Finally easing up on the accelerator and obeying the laws of the hover zones, Jak fit into the stream of slow moving zoomers.
With an overly exaggerated sigh, that only Daxter could do, he said, "Wow. That was fun. NOT! Do you have a death wish? Or are you trying to give me a heart attack? So were are we going in such a hurry?"
"I'm going to go see Torn at the Palace."
"Man.you really are bored. Please tell me it's not a social gathering, cause that would be the dullest get together EVER. I can picture it now, you two sitting down across from each other, speaking in mute, with the hum of crickets in the background."
"Funny." Jak said sarcastically.
Jak parked the zoomer at the foot of the steps of the palace. He then took out his purple security pass and swiped it through the appropriate slot. It was nice to enter the palace without security tanks and guards shooting at you. The red carpet extended from the entranceway into the rotunda, a large circular room with golden walls and a dome shaped sunroof. Pictures, of what Jak had concluded family members of the Baron, lined the walls. The grandest picture of all was the picture of Marr, which was by far the biggest picture as well as being the focal point of the room. Jak found it hard to believe that he was related to such a savior. Jak looked away from the picture and returned to looking for Torn.
"Hey buddy, how are we going to find Torn in this place it's HUGE!" Daxter pointed out, as Jak walked through door after door.
"Dax, you ask a lot of questions, but you do have a point about this place." Jak replied. And with that said, he grabbed the nearest krimson guard by the shoulder armour and turned him about. "You look like you know what's going on, where the hell is Torn?"
"I.."
"Come on, we don't have all day!" Daxter interrupted. Jak glared at Daxter, who cowered to the back of his shoulder plate.
"He's not here Jak," said a female voice from behind him. It was Ashlen. "He's left to attend to the city, but I'm glad you're here. We need to talk."
Daxter jumped off of Jak's shoulder and landed in front of Ashlen, "Mmmm. Baby, you must be a broom, cause you just swept me off my feet. My name isn't Elmo, but you can tickle me any time you want to. Are those astronaut pants 'cause."
"Say one more thing and you'll be a eunuch for the rest of life." Ashlen said and turn to Jak, "Jak we need to talk. Alone."
"Sure."
Ashlen walked off with Jak following closely behind.
"I'll just stay here and.well.make sure these guys do their jobs." Daxter yelled after them, " and don't worry about me I'll be fine!"