Jak, Ashelin, Torn and Olto all stood gathered at the foot of the hill, staring at the collapse of mud and the curious sight that had been revealed beneath it. Instead of damp earth, there lay a patch of grimy, bronze-coloured texture, almost blending in with the dark colour of the hillside, but it glinted metallically in the morning sunlight, and this was what gave it away.

"What is that?" asked Ashelin, now genuinely curious.

It looked strangely familiar to them all, but to none more so than Jak. He knew this exact colour from his childhood, and could recognise it anywhere, but it had been so long that he just had to check. Could it really be?

While the others stood ponderously still, he stepped forwards and leaned down to wipe away more of the mud with his bare hand. It came away easily, and the metal felt smooth and dry and unrusted, despite being buried under wet mud for who knew how long, but to Jak, this was a sure sign of its true nature. Soon he had cleared away a small area, and he knocked on it with his knuckles as the others watched curiously. The material reverberated with the unmistakeable thrum that he knew so well, dulled by the rest of the mud, but there was no doubt in his thoughts now. The feel, the sound, the colour, there was nothing else it could be.

He turned to the others with an incredulous gleam in his eyes. "This is Precursor metal."

The others raised their eyebrows.

"You mean the Precursors?" asked Olto. "The ones from all the history books?"

Jak nodded proudly.

"Wow. Cool!" said Olto with amazement, and he and the others drew in for a closer look.

Everyone took a moment in silence to realise what this meant. They had stumbled upon a hidden piece of history, completely by accident, and this hill which they had thought so ordinary was no longer what it seemed.

"But what's that doing here?" asked Torn, putting forward what he thought was the most pressing question.

"I don't know," said Jak honestly, but excitement was starting to build within him, "But there's definitely something underneath this mud!"

He continued exposing more of the metal, his forgotten childlike sense of exploration and discovery flooding back to him from so far away. On this very hillside lay an ancient Precursor artefact, and he wanted to pull it out at once and see what it could possibly be. However, even as he expanded further out from his original cleared patch, he could find no edges to the metal, no break in its smooth, featureless surface. It just went on and on the further he went, and soon, he had cleared an area large enough to lie against.

"How big is this thing?" said Olto.

But then, as Jak pulled away a large clump of earth, he found the unmistakeable calligraphy of Precursor letterings. Sensing answers, he delved deeper, and uncovered more. He continued digging around this spot until a continuous string of text was revealed, curving in a tight arc and encircling a strange, spherical protrusion shaped like a cannonball, seemingly embedded into the metal.

"What does it say?" Ashelin asked as the last of the mud came away.

Jak looked closer, but he had trouble deciphering the words. Many of the letterings were filled in with dried mud which proved difficult to extract, and the ones which could be read made no sense by themselves. Even if they were all perfectly legible, Jak still doubted that he would be able to understand them; he knew from his extensive past experience that these inscriptions usually read like complex riddles, and Keira was always the one who had been best at working out what they meant. If only she was here now to see this, to share in this moment with him...

"I can't make it out," Jak said. But he was feeling all the more motivated now by this unexpected and intriguing discovery, and judging by what he had uncovered so far, whatever lay under this hillside was no small artefact, he could tell that with certainty; it appeared to be a single, sizeable piece of metal. New suspicions were beginning to grow in his mind, suspicions which were changing his whole view of this island, and he wanted to see if he was right.

"There's got to be more under here," he said eagerly. "Come on, let's dig it out!"

Olto immediately stepped up to help, but Ashelin and Torn were not so keen on this idea, and stayed where they were. Neither of them particularly wanted to go trawling through all this mud, least of all Ashelin, who after her embarrassing fall last night, preferred to avoid going anywhere near any quantity of mud ever again at all costs, if she could help it. However, she did not admit this out loud, and put forward instead a different concern that had just struck her, one that was just as valid.

"Jak, wait a minute," she said warily, and Jak stopped. "Are you sure you know what you're doing? I mean, something about this doesn't feel right."

Jak looked back at her questioningly, not expecting her hesitancy. "Of course I'm sure. I've found loads of Precursor items just like this, and I've got a special knack for using them. Trust me on this."

Ashelin still did not feel fully at ease, however. For her, this was unfamiliar territory, she was always sceptical of the unknown, and she was not comfortable messing with things she did not understand. One look at Torn showed that he felt the same way.

"But what if it's something dangerous?" she said. "I think we should leave it alone."

"But none of the artefacts I've found before have ever been dangerous," Jak argued calmly. "And don't you want to know what this is too?"

"Well... yes," Ashelin admitted, unable to deny her curiosity.

"Well come on, then," Jak said beckoningly. "The only way to find out is to dig it up. Who knows, it might even be something that could help us get off this island!"

There was no extinguishing his sense of prospect, and Ashelin and the others were definitely feeling the intrigue. Eventually, she deferred to his greater experience, as did Torn, reluctantly.

"Alright, we'll trust you on this, Jak," she said. "You know the most about this stuff out of all of us. But if it's all the same with you, I'd rather not spend the rest of the day getting needlessly dirty."

"Come on, a bit of mud never hurt anyone," said Jak with a playful grin, scooping up a sloppy handful. "Didn't you ever do this kind of thing when you were a kid?"

"No," Ashelin answered right away as if it were obvious. "I grew up in the palace, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Right."

"Besides," added Ashelin, "Don't you think our time and effort would be better spent re-building the boat, Jak? Like we agreed?"

"Exactly," Torn spoke up. "Whatever this thing is, there's a chance it might not help us with anything. I'd rather be working on the boat today as well."

Jak understood their reasoning and caution, but building the boat just felt so unimportant to him right now. With the discovery of this new Precursor mystery, the island suddenly seemed much friendlier, more like his old home. He was relishing the chance to re-live his childhood explorations, and would be perfectly happy to stay here all day and dig up the whole hill if he had to. But his friends, of course, did not share the same connection with Precursor history that he did; interest for such things in Haven had long ago been driven out of mind by the Metal Heads' long siege, and only a few historians had survived to continue the research. Therefore, they had never had the pleasure of getting up close and personal with Precursor items before, and they did not understand the potential or power this artefact could hold, or how much it meant to him.

Everyone stood around for a few seconds in awkward indecisiveness, unsure of how to safely proceed with this minor disagreement on their hands. The last thing any of them wanted was another dramatic falling out so soon after the one yesterday, and all were determined to be a more functional and conscientious team from now on.

"So what do we do then?" Jak asked.

"Why don't we take a vote about it?" suggested Olto, who had been watching the discussion unfold patiently.

"Alright," said Torn, satisfied by this element of democracy, and everyone else agreed too.

"OK, so who votes we work on the boat today?" said the Freedom soldier.

Both Ashelin and Torn raised their hands.

"Right. And who thinks we should dig up this Precursor thing?"

Jak's hand went up, but so did Olto's. It turned out that he was just as curious about this as Jak was, and was very interested in learning more.

"It's a draw," he said.

"So what does this mean?" asked Jak. "What do we do?"

"I guess we do both then," Olto suggested. "Split ourselves into groups. That way, everyone's happy, we won't get behind on the work, and we'll have this Precursor thing at our disposal if it turns out to be useful. How does that sound?"

"Well reasoned," said Ashelin. "I could work with that."

"Me too," said Torn, satisfied with the effective solution. "Remind me to give you a promotion when we get back home, Olto."

Everyone compromised and settled that that was what they would do; Ashelin and Torn would start work on the new boat, while Jak and Olto would try and excavate whatever was under the hill and try to identify what it could be. It was an equal division of labour and everyone was doing something they thought was worthwhile, but Jak knew that they would most likely need his help with the boat at one point or another, and he promised that he would come and lend a hand whenever he was needed.

So, they set about executing their plan. First they all returned to the camp together to finish their breakfast and so that Jak and Olto could pick up some of their hand-made tools that would help them clear the mud. They left Torn and Ashelin an axe each so that they could harvest more wood, and then headed off back to the hill.

"OK," said Ashelin when they were gone, "Let's think about this boat then. How much have we got left of the original one? Are there pieces we could re-use?"

"Only a few," said Torn, bringing over the fragments. But as Ashelin examined them, he was reminded of his actions that had partially resulted in this mess. Though he had been forgiven by everyone and most of his shame had been healed by sleep, this was a fresh reminder of his behaviour, and he was starting to feel regretful again, as if there was still something wrong.

"Ash, wait," he said shyly, taking advantage of their privacy. "Before we start this... can we just quickly talk again?"

"Sure," said Ashelin, remembering the support she had offered him yesterday. "What's on your mind?"

Torn swallowed. "I just want to know... just want to make sure... are the two of us fully OK?"

"Of course we are," said Ashelin with a little reassuring smile, and she understood at once what he was referring to. "We're still cool. Don't worry about it anymore."

Torn nodded thankfully. It felt so much easier now he knew he could talk with her whenever he needed to; it really helped to strengthen their connection, to make them feel closer again.

"Alright, thanks Ash," he said. "That's all I wanted to ask. I still feel kind of bad about it, you know. But as long you're OK with it, then I guess I'm OK too."

"I know what you mean," said Ashelin sympathetically. "It's probably going to take a couple of days before I feel back to normal too, I think. Well, as normal as it gets around here," she added, glancing around the camp. Then, the thoughts and realisations she had awoken with in the night came back to her, now somehow neatly arranged and comprehensible, and a stab of guilt struck her.

"Actually, I probably owe you an apology too, Torn," she said with honest shame. "This whole war... I was so consumed by it, and I wasn't there for you when you needed someone to talk to the most."

The two of them shared a quiet moment of reflection, and both understood the way things had been. The war and the stresses that came with it had constantly demanded their attention, and the two of them had never really had the opportunity to fully talk things over in private, to get their feelings out in the open. Torn had tried, but Ashelin now realised how distant she had been, always deflecting his attempts to get close so they could focus on what needed to be done to survive. It was a difficult choice they were faced with every day, which to put first: the city or each other?

"So, I'm sorry too, Torn," she said, this time meeting his eyes so the full sincerity of her apology was apparent. "I had no idea this was eating you up so bad. If I'd known, I would have done something about it."

Though he rarely showed it, Torn did have a sensitive side, which he didn't let out as often as he should. She knew that.

"If you ever need someone to talk to again, don't bottle it up, alright? You can always talk to me, Torn, and I promise, from now on I'll always make the time for you."

Torn took in Ashelin's words, and understood. Well, at least they were both being honest and open with each other now. He had to forgive her, as she had forgiven him.

"It's OK, Ash," he said, giving her his thin smile again. "We did what we had to do, and we put the city before ourselves. That was the right thing, you know that. We can't change the past, but we can still affect the present and the future."

His familiar rationality was reassuring, and Ashelin completely understood. He was absolutely right.

She reached out an arm and pulled him closer into a quick hug, which he accepted and returned. "Now come on," she said at last, breaking apart, "Let's get to work on this boat."

Back at the hill, Jak and Olto had already begun to scrape away more of the mud from immediately around the areas of exposed metal, working further outwards in search of more features and clues to its identity or its purpose. So far, apart from the strange spherical shape in the side, they had only uncovered more plain metal, but Jak was in a positively excitable mood right now as he kept on digging away, and Olto took notice.

"So, you know quite a bit about this stuff, huh?" he asked Jak as they worked.

"Yeah," Jak replied. "There used to be things like this everywhere in the old world, and I spent pretty much my whole childhood finding stuff just like this. Old ruins, ancient vehicles and machines. Daxter and I used to go digging on the beach and exploring in the forest, and we'd usually uncover something new every week."

Olto's interest was piqued, and guessed what Jak meant by 'the old world'. Back in the city, there had been a lot of rumours and legends surrounding Jak and his origins, that he came from a far-off time and place, but he had never known what to believe. However, now he had the chance to hear it from the man himself, and anything else he knew.

"Any idea what this might be, then?" he asked.

"Don't know yet," Jak answered with a shake of the head. "I've got some ideas, but it could be anything at this stage, it's too early to tell. But that's the fun of it all, finding out as you go along," he added with an adventurous smile, just like the one he used to wear as a boy.

Olto smiled back contagiously. "What was it like in the old world, then? Before the Metal Heads came?"

"Oh, much different," said Jak fondly. "Quiet, peaceful, relaxing, no big wars to worry about..."

"Sounds nice," said Olto, leaning on his stick. He seemed to drift away in a fantasy for a moment, lost in a world that he would never know. "Wish I could have seen it. A world with no Metal Heads. Imagine that..."

"Yeah, they destroyed most of this stuff," said Jak sadly, "But I guess they never found this one." He knocked on the metal again, and the same deep thrum rang out, more sonorous now that more of the mud was gone. "Man, I love that sound."

"So how'd you end up in this time, then?" Olto asked.

"Ah, we found a time rift," Jak explained, "Not that we knew what it was back then. We accidentally turned it on and got sucked through it. Next thing I knew, I landed in Haven City, no idea where I was, and I didn't really get much of a chance to find my bearings either."

That was an understatement. Someone had somehow known that he would arrive in Haven when he did, for not a minute after he'd crash landed, he'd been arrested and dragged off to the prison to endure the two most terrible years of his life. He left that part out of the story.

"Bet your world would feel the same way to me," Olto said, unaware of just what Jak had really been through upon his arrival. "But what about the eco? I'll bet there was lots more before the Metal Heads used it all up."

"Oh yeah, there was plenty of eco," Jak explained fondly, rolling in this more pleasant direction of the conversation. "My friend Keira — she's from the past too — thought there was an ancient underground pipeline running eco through the whole planet, opening up in these vents. We found a few of them; I could walk right through the eco streams and absorb all its power, and I could activate old Precursor artefacts with it."

"Whoa, wait, you can do that?" asked Olto in disbelief, and he halted in his work completely now.

"Yeah," said Jak proudly. "According to the sages, I had a unique talent for it. I was the only one in the village who could channel all types of eco."

Olto was amazed both by the fact that there had once been so much eco, and that Jak had some sort of control over it. Eco channelers were now so rare in the modern world that they had become but a legend.

"Wow, you're full of surprises. Now that I've gotta see!" he said enthusiastically.

"Well, if we ever get enough eco, I guess I could show you some day," said Jak, looking at his muddy hand and flexing his fingers. "I think I can still do it. I haven't tried it properly for a long time."

"Maybe there's eco in this thing here," Olto suggested. "It could be part of that old pipeline you mentioned!"

"Could well be," said Jak. "Let's keep digging and find out!"

They got back to work, encouraged by their discussion and the new possibilities it realised. But as they worked, the morning wore on and the sun climbed higher overhead. In all the preceding cloudy days, they had forgotten how hot it could get on this island, and now it was reflecting off the metal right back at them.

"Whew, this is hot work," said Olto, wiping away the sweat from his forehead and leaving a muddy smear in its place. "Think I need a break."

"Me too," said Jak, smirking at Olto's muddy face.

They both climbed down to ground level to stand in the cooling shade, and looked up at what they had revealed so far. A wide expanse of Precursor metal, from the bottom of the hill almost to its summit, now shone in the sun, making up almost a quarter of the hill's size. But if their progress was anything to go by, there was still much more to dig out. Whatever this thing was, it was big, much bigger than even Jak could have anticipated, and he was starting to suspect that it actually took up the entire hill. It might not even be a hill at all, but an intact Precursor monument or structure of some sort, overgrown and reclaimed by nature. Could they get inside it? Would there be a door somewhere?

"Looks pretty mysterious, doesn't it?" said Olto.

"Yeah it does," Jak agreed.

"And to think that this was here under the hill all this time," Olto went on, "And we never knew..."

As they stood there looking upon it for longer, Torn emerged into the clearing. "Hey Jak, we... whoa..."

He stopped dead at the sight of what had become of the hill, and Jak and Olto looked around at him.

"Our thoughts exactly," said Olto cheerily.

"So have you found out what it is, then?" asked Torn.

"Not yet," Jak answered, but he was continually speculating. "There still seems to be a lot left to uncover. I think we've only just started. Anyway, what were you going to say?"

Torn got back on topic. "Yeah, so we've been thinking about the new boat, and Ashelin and I both think we should build some pontoons out of stronger timbers, ideally whole tree trunks. What do you think?"

"Could work," said Jak, taking his mind off the Precursor mystery for a moment, but it was threatening to consume all of his intrigue and attention. "Sounds sensible anyway."

"That'd be a lot of work, though," Olto said cautiously.

"But I think he's right," said Jak. "Our last one broke pretty easily. It might be the best option we have."

"Anyway, we'd appreciate a bit of help with this now," Torn said diplomatically. "Can you help us cut down some trees?"

"Yeah, I think we've done enough here for now," said Jak with a last look up at the exposed metal. "It's getting a bit too hot to work on this now anyway."

"Great, but Ashelin says you two need to wash up before even setting foot in camp," said Torn with a little humour.

"And then maybe some lunch," added Olto, patting his thin stomach. "Digging up this hill was hungry work."

Jak listened, but his eyes remained distractedly on the Precursor metal. This hill concealed a hidden Precursor relic of some kind, seemingly untouched and undiscovered by the Metal Heads and their destructive hand, cut off from everywhere else. But what was it for? What was it doing out here in the middle of the ocean? Did this island hide even more artefacts, waiting to be rediscovered?

One thing was for sure, that despite how long they had already spent here on this island, and all of the challenges they had been through so far, there was still lots to discover.