Chapter Six

The light from the sun bounced off the glass and metallic buildings refracting its beams into Ratchet's room. The light hit Femka's eyes directly and slowly forced her out of REM. She squinted her tired eyes and rolled away to avoid the brightness. Was it morning already? Her hand rubbed against her eyes removing what sleep was there away. The woman stretched out her arms and legs with a mumbled squeak and sat up after about five or so minutes of laying there. Something was different about herself; she felt strange again. Her necklace wasn't glowing like it did several days ago but that awkward feeling settled in her stomach. She wasn't nervous about anything, that couldn't be it. Nausea? No, not that either. Femka wandered into the bathroom near her and yawned ignoring the feeling. The light instantly turned on before the door closed behind her. What she saw next nearly made her gasp out in absolute confusion. Her eyes were wide at the reflection that stared back at her in the mirror. Her hair. Her hair was a different color. The roots were changing color. She moved up to the mirror as close as she could get to examine the hair on her head. Her fingers sifted through it and rubbed on it.

"What the hell?" she said aloud.

From the crown of her head a few inches up was blue and purple. Femka just looked bewildered and slightly panicked. Did she eat something that did this to her? She didn't know. Maybe their food gives her species strange reactions? But, really? She ran to the shower in a hurry and tried scrubbing her hair as hard as she could. Maybe it would wash out with shampoo. Her eyes fixated on the floor to see if blue or purple coloring had distorted the water. Unfortunately the water looked normal and soapy with bubbles. The unnerved woman left the shower stall after no avail and wrapped herself in a towel just staring in the mirror and putting her hands through her hair. She noticed it was changing her eyebrows as well.

"What's going on?" she spoke aloud again. "How did this even happen?" She pondered the possibilities. "Let me think. It can't be anything I ate. Right?" Her head shook. "Put that idea aside for now. Think more rationally. Okay. Maybe… maybe the artifact did this. Yeah! When I touched it, and dropped it, I was electrocuted or something. I passed out. I've been feeling weird for days, and my necklace. My necklace keeps glowing. Why is it glowing? I don't know. I have no idea. Maybe when I was electrocuted something weird happened and now I have strange colored hair."

Her eyes narrowed in disbelief thinking her idea as stupid and she groaned putting her hands on her head.

"No, that's dumb! But what else?" Her eyes widened again. "Oh, my god. What if I contracted a horrible disease? Oh, my god!"

She remembered the button on the wall that Ratchet showed her the first night she was here and pressed it in a panic.

"Ratchet, I think you should come here and—Aah!"

She yelped unable to finish her sentence when the panel on the wall sparked with electricity the same color as her hair. She drew her hand away and stepped back as an error message came on the small digital screen on the wall. Femka held her hand breathing heavily and looked at it to see if it was hurt. It looked fine and there was no pain. The necklace around her was glowing again. She didn't know what to do or how to assess the circumstance even. She heard Ratchet on the other side of the door and Clank was by his side.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She replied "no" rather loudly and he opened the door without hesitation.

"What happened?" he looked around the bathroom wondering what went wrong.

He caught a glimpse of the error on the intercom component on the wall and tilted his head. He turned his view to Femka still wrapped in her towel. He didn't mean to stare at her so he looked away but consequently looked back again after noticing something different about her.

"Did you do something to your hair?"

"No! It was like this when I woke up!"

"Oh. You didn't eat anything weird, did you?"

"I don't know! But when I pressed that thing I almost got zapped for no reason!"

"That's pretty weird."

Ratchet scratched his ear looking back at the panel slightly confused. Clank seemed to be pondering the dilemma in his mind.

"Miss Femka, perhaps you should get changed and we will evaluate the matter then."

"Oh, yeah, right. You should do that," Ratchet said smiling nervously and sliding out of the room.

Femka sighed uneasily and dried herself off before getting changed into some clothes. The only thing she had to follow on was her own theory and it was so vague it just didn't make sense to her. Anyway, she left the bathroom with her hair tied back. The color spread more and her eyebrows were almost all blue and purple toned. She met Ratchet and Clank in the kitchen where breakfast had been put on hold when they came to her aid. She sat at her usual spot and waited for the two to join her. She was presented with something to eat when they sat down.

"So, what exactly happened?" Ratchet opened the floor.

"Alright. Last night, I was fine. I went to bed after you left the room and everything was okay. When I went to the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and my hair was this color—and I think it's spreading, too. I couldn't wash it out when I tried to either. And then I panicked and pressed the button on the wall and I almost was electrocuted."

"Is there anything else specific you can think of?" Clank added.

Femka thought for a second and then remembered some other small details.

"Well, my necklace was glowing when it happened and the sparks coming from the thing on the wall were the same color."

"Interesting. May I see your necklace?"

"Sure. Just be careful with it."

She slipped it off from around her neck and over her head. Clank examined it closely when she gave it to him. He definitely recognized the color as being similar to the artifact; the same goes for her hair. Clank recalled the very start of their journey when they had to retrieve the artifact up to the point where it broke.

"I have a theory."

The two looked at him with anticipation and he began.

"I believe that this gem on your necklace is the same material as the artifact. With that in mind, while in the short period we were near the artifact, it was being used as a power source. However, it overpowered the grid it was on within in seconds. I believe that when you broke the artifact it transferred its energy to you by means of using your necklace as a link. Perhaps when you panicked it triggered some of this energy and short-circuited the intercom's computer. And perhaps it goes the same way for the change in color of your hair, though I cannot say why for certain. Also, this is only my theory. It may be incorrect."

"Well, it's a pretty good theory," Ratchet shrugged his brows. "What do you think?"

"I… I guess it makes sense? I don't know. If that's really true, then what does it mean?"

"I suppose it means that you have a very powerful energy source resting inside your body as we speak."

"Hmm, maybe we should test something."

"Test what?"

Clank had asked as he watched Ratchet leave his seat and exit the kitchen. He came back moments later with a small electronic device in his hand.

"Test as in see if your theory is true. If Fem did short-circuit the intercom's computer then maybe she can do it again with something else."

"Yes, but it may only be circumstantial."

The little robot gave Femka's necklace back to her. She put it over her head and looked at Ratchet who was fiddling with the small device in his hands. His ears perked up when it turned on and he handed it to her.

"This is a pretty old comm-link. I think frying it shouldn't be too hard."

"But I don't know how I did it in the first place. I was just frightened and then suddenly—that!"

"It is as I said: circumstantial," Clank said with a nod of his head.

Ratchet put a hand on his chin to think.

"Well, just hang on to it then. Maybe you can practice with it. I mean, it's probably not a good idea to have an uncontrolled power source that surfaces whenever you panic."

Femka stared at the device and let her thoughts race in her mind. This was inconvenient. First she was taken from her home and now she has learned that she has a power to control that she didn't ask for. What next? The woman didn't want to think of it. Instead she just sighed and put the old comm-link beside her untouched breakfast.

"Why doesn't anything make sense all of a sudden?" she thought. "I didn't choose any of this. How is this fair? I was starting to have a revelation, too, and now this? This just sucks!" Femka poked at her food before she ate it finally. The look on her face said she was mildly frustrated but her expression changed when an idea struck her brain. "Clank," she said turning her direction to him, "if that artifact was the reason the wormhole was created, do you think it's possible to make another wormhole with my necklace?"

The small robot contemplated her question.

"I cannot say for certain." He shook his head. "The wormhole that was made cannot clearly be explained but in theory, maybe one could make another worm the same way the first was made. But Miss Femka, it was dangerous and an entire ship was destroyed in the process. Also, there is no guarantee that one would end up where they hope to be."

"Damn it." She huffed.

"I am sorry."

"It's alright. It was worth a shot anyway. But you're right. It's not like I have the power to control the universe."

Femka sighed putting her fork down on her plate. Her food was mostly gone but now she was just in another world (mentally speaking). She slid off of her chair taking the old communicator with her and placed her dishes in the sink. Her feet started to take her out of the room.

"Hey, where're you going? You're gonna miss Blargian Roulette."

Ratchet turned his head in Femka's direction pointing to the television with a promising disposition.

"I'll pass. I think I'm gonna go for walk, just for a little bit."

"Will you be alright by yourself, Miss Femka?" Clank asked a tad worriedly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," the woman said waving her hand. "You guys showed me enough around that I can take a small walk without getting lost."

Femka prepared herself for her walk by putting on her shoes and grabbing her backpack to take out some items that she thought she may need. She pushed up her glasses and looked in the bathroom mirror at her hair. It was still changing. Her eyebrows were completely blue and purple toned now. Her hair was a bit lengthy going past her shoulders several inches. She sighed the smallest amount of annoyance through her nose and left the garage. It had barely been a week but she was adjusting alright. She was getting used to all the ships flying around and all the aliens about. Femka was still shy about communicating with strangers, however—even though most of them did look humanoid like her. There were always some species that would make her stare for a moment if she'd never seen them before. She didn't look too long. After an hour into her walk she spotted a place she wanted to venture to the other day but didn't get the chance to. It was some restaurant or café. Femka still wasn't all-knowing of the foods and beverages they served in this city, but slowly she was learning. Maybe they had something like coffee there. The young lady took her chances and went inside. She observed what they had on display and figured she would have to point at it since she couldn't read Markazian if she wanted to order it. She glanced around the café to see what other customers were drinking nearby. Well, it didn't do much good anyway. Her body turned to the clerk with an awkward smile and she tried ordering something regardless of knowing what it even was. Femka just pointed to the drink that looked like coffee and gave the Markazian up front the money. She took her hot drink and went outside with it sitting down on an open bench near the place. Her nose drifted over the cup to smell it carefully. It smelled nothing like coffee.

"Okay, here we go, I guess."

Her lips touched the rim of the cup and she took a small sip of the hot liquid.

"Hmm."

She drank again.

"That's not too bad. I have no idea what it is, but it tastes pretty good."

She continued to drink it more when it cooled down. Despite everything that felt wrong for her, right now was pretty good. The day was beautiful, whatever she was drinking was nice, the scenery was relaxing, and she was comfortable on this bench. A drastic improvement from last night and a couple hours ago. Her head tilted back and her eyes closed. She heard someone else sit on the bench beside her just a few inches away after a while. The daydream was abandoned when her eyes opened and she glanced discreetly at the person beside her. Oddly enough it was that Doctor Ipsin Ro. She pondered what species he was. He looked Markazian but he was sort of red. His tail looked a little different too. Maybe there were different colored Markazians? God, who knows! She wasn't schooled enough in this galaxy to make random assumptions about race quite yet. The gentleman happened to look in her direction and recognized her from those several days ago.

"Oh. Say, aren't you that woman who was with Ratchet?" he inquired.

"Uh, yeah. I was."

"I knew I recognized you," he laughed lightly. "I probably came off kind of angry that day. That was a pretty bad impression." He scratched the back of his head.

Femka smiled and looked in her cup.

"Well, it was about that artifact right? I guess I can't blame you for being angry about it."

"Ah, but I guess if it was meant to be, then what can I do, right?" he shrugged. "I don't think I've ever seen your species before." He examined her figure.

"I've never seen yours either," she added staring at him and sitting up straight.

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly from this galaxy. And you?"

"You could say the same thing goes for me, too."

"Aha, fair enough. What brings you to Meridian City?"

"How the hell do I answer that?" she thought before speaking aloud. "Oh, you know, the sights, the… people, I guess."

"I take it you must be staying with the Lombax and his friend?"

When he asked Femka simply nodded taking another sip of her drink and the man continued.

"Interesting. You know he's got quite the past behind him. Though, I'm pretty sure you've seen it all," he assumed.

"No." Her head shook.

"Really?" He seemed shocked. "How far away do you come from?"

"Far." She stressed the word.

"Oh, I see. Well, perhaps you should ask him about it," he laughed. "You'd have a night of stories, I assure you."

"Why? Did he do something bad before?" Her face looked somewhat alarmed.

"Oh, no, no. Uh… it's… hard to explain. But it is something you should investigate, nevertheless."

Femka was back to her imagination again.

"I wonder what he did?" she thought.

The possibilities were endless for her. She liked to think of scenarios in her mind but this guy made it seem like he was notorious for something by the shock on his face when she said she heard nothing about him. Though, naturally she hadn't. She wasn't from here. And it hit her then. Ratchet was her friend but she knew nothing about him. It's only been a week, sure, but shouldn't you at least get to know the person whose bed you've been sleeping in a little bit? Oh, that made it kind of awkward now when she thought about it like that.

"I forgot to mention my name. I'm Ipsin Ro," he said breaking her daydream. "I'm a researcher at the National Museum of Science and Archeology here, but I think you know that already."

"I'm Femka. And yeah, Clank already told me. Nice to meet you, though."

"Likewise," he smiled brightly.

Surprisingly, he extended a hand to shake hers. Good to know that they still do that in this universe. Femka stuck out her hand for him and he caught a glimpse of her necklace. The shine immediately fascinated him.

"Your necklace. Where did you get that?"

"Oh. This? I got it from my grandma a long time ago."

"Interesting. Very interesting. It matches your hair color," he said unaware of the circumstance.

"Yeah, how 'bout that," Femka said upon taking another sip of her drink.

There was a bell that rang in the distance counting the number hours of the day it was so far. Ipsin looked at his comm-link for the time and gasped lightly.

"Crap. I need to get back to the museum." He stood up from his place. "Well, it was a pleasure to chat with you, Femka, but I need to move along. Perhaps we can chat again sometime? Until then, good luck in Meridian City," he said hurrying off in the direction of his employment.

"Sure, thanks and bye!" she waved and finished her drink. "Alright, time to go home."

The walk home was uneventful but nice in its own way. Femka took her time and finished her unknown drink along the way. When she entered the garage she could hear the two talking. The television was on and she picked up electric sound with her ears. Sounded like Ratchet was playing a video game. Before she stepped into the room where all the action was she caught her reflection on a metallic surface. Femka saw that her hair was all the same color now. It made her sigh and roll her eyes up with the "why me?" expression. She entered the room at last and noticed that Clank was sitting across the room reading something while Ratchet was in another spot on the couch playing his game. The mechanic's ears perked when Femka crossed the threshold of the entrance. She thought her dog when he did that and it always made her laugh on the inside. It was a thing she was still getting used to.

"Greetings, Miss Femka," the sentient robot welcomed her return.

"Hi," she said taking a seat on the other side of the sofa making the position of the lotus with her legs.

"How was your walk?" Ratchet asked still playing his game with an intense stare.

"Pretty nice. I ran into that guy, uh, Ipsin."

"He didn't bother you, did he?"

"No, not really. He seemed pleasant today; actually, he apologized for the other day, too. He seems like a nice guy." Her eyes were occupied on the screen as she spoke. "He was interested in my necklace, too."

"Oh, yeah, sure, no doubt. He probably noticed the material."

"Ratchet, that is only our theory," Clank put in flipping a page of his book.

"Yeah, but still, he's probably thinking the same thing. It's his job to notice things and make postulations."

"I believe it is only in his job to research a designated subject matter."

"And that's a designated subject matter."

Femka listened to the two disagree with one another for a minute before staring at her necklace again.

"Where did you come from? What makes you so special?" she thought in her curious mind. "If this is the same the material as that artifact then how did it get in more than one place? More than one universe? I wonder if there's more of this stuff out there?" She kept thinking until she heard Ratchet groan in disappointment aloud.

He had thrown back his head in anguish at the game over title on the screen.

"Aaah, Clank! See what you made me do?"

"I did not make you do anything. It is not my fault that you cannot diverge your attention to two subjects; or perhaps that you cannot play the game well in the first place," the little robot laughed his signature chortle.

Ratchet mocked his laugh sarcastically before looking at Femka with a roll of his eyes. She curled her lips to hold in a small chuckle of her own from the comedy of her friend's misfortune. She watched him start again from the mission he was playing and sat back relaxing into the cushions of the couch. She continued to watch and occasionally chat with two for a couple hours. It was that kind of day to be boring, and honestly it helped Femka to relax in her environment and to forget about her troubles. Throughout the day she asked Ratchet about his past when she was suddenly reminded of it when she looked at her necklace again. The topic surprised him at first but naturally he was glad to tell her everything—and Clank was there to make sure he didn't exaggerate the stories. It took the two an hour to give their adventures in a nutshell and then an additional two to explain the stuff in between. Femka was captivated the whole time. She couldn't believe some of it at first but she had to remind herself of where she was to begin with. It all seemed like a fairytale to her or really something that came from Hollywood or books. Villains, beasts, alien invasions, giant robots, death rays, time travel and everything else was covered. She had to ask a million questions just to understand one topic at a time. From her perspective, Ratchet and Clank were some kind of heroic ensemble, protecting the universe and fighting evil. It astounded her to no end. The story was interesting from a personal point of view. The Lombax wanted his share of adventure and got it, but after it kept coming he just wanted to live normally again. The development of his character interested her greatly. But Clank assured her that no matter what they did there would always be evil lurking in their universe to which Ratchet only sighed annoyed stating that it's not their problem. Even if it wasn't their problem, things seemed to make their way to the duo regardless. Ratchet concluded that anything wrong that happened was probably Captain Qwark's fault. Femka inquired about the strange man only knowing little about him, like what Ratchet described in his stories. Now, she knew more. Clank would clear the room of any bias, so Femka could judge for herself. They explained the fiendish Dr. Nefarious to her as well and even Percival Tachyon. Femka nearly had an input overload by the time they finished telling stories and explaining their lives to her. But now she knew more about her friends.

Now, it was her turn to share the spotlight and give them an insight of what her life was like. Unfortunately, she thought it would be dull compared to everything she just heard. Whether if it really was boring or not they listened keenly and asked their own questions and she answered them the best she could. She lived a completely different lifestyle. There was only one dominant species on her planet and hardly anything space-traveled save for satellites and the occasional man on the moon. She mentioned the different races of human beings on her planet and some of the animals that inhabited it also. The foreigner mentioned everything she could think of, even her friends or family and school life at her university. Her old life was very mundane in comparison to the one that was currently substituting it. Their culture exchange led them into the evening where Femka found herself pretty relaxed and happy. Though things were difficult at the moment, she tried to keep a positive outlook for her future, even if her hair was blue and purple and she was far away from home.

Come night Femka was in Ratchet's room making the bed ready for her sleep and getting into some night clothing as well. When she pulled the covers away that were tucked into the mattress under the pillows she remembered that it wasn't her bed—Ratchet had been sleeping elsewhere—and she felt bad. She left his room into the dark hallway that was barely lit by some small green lights on the floor. Everyone went to bed for the night, she assumed, but when she checked the living room where Ratchet had been sleeping, he wasn't there. Femka was curious enough to search for him. He must still be awake. There was a metal staircase that spiraled up to another floor near her. She saw a brighter light coming from a hallway it reached up to and decided to ascend the stares. When she made it to the top of the stares, down the hallway was a glass-type door that led to the outside. As she approached the door Ratchet's figure was seen on the other side standing there leaning against a rail. Femka quietly entered on the terrace and the Lombax turned his head slightly upon hearing the door and her footsteps. His tail motioned back and forth with a curious look about his face.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now," he said turning his head away from her gazing outward.

"Well, I was looking for you." She stood by his side and leaned on the rail as well. "I was wondering if you wanted your bed back yet. I can't imagine it being all that comfortable on a couch."

"Hey, you'd be surprised." A smile cracked through his lips. "No, actually, that thing is pretty uncomfortable to sleep on, but I wouldn't subject you to it."

Femka smiled breathing a quick exhale through her nose when she did and looked down at the city below.

"Were you always this self-sacrificing?" she questioned looking back to him.

"Nah. It took a lot of tries and failures for me to get to where I am today, sharing my bed with strangers."

She giggled lightly through her nose.

"Ratchet," she spoke quietly, "I know last night you told me you were the only one of your kind left and you mentioned it again in your story, but," she paused. "But I wanted to know, how do you cope so well with it?" She stared at him.

A small sigh left his nostrils before he spoke as he kept his eyes outward.

"Well, I never had a mom or a dad to take care of me. I never had friends who were just like me or looked like me. It's… hard to miss something that you never really had."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No, no, it's alright." He turned to look in Femka's direction to continue. "I know my parents are gone and my species might be gone, too, but I cope well, because I've learned from all the things I've been through. I did mean it when I said I had to go through lots of tries and failures to get to where I am today. But on that note, even back then, I probably still would've shared my bed—but only because you're a girl."

She couldn't help but smile and chuckle again at his comment. At least he was being honest; and she felt flattered as well.

"I'll take your word, then."

Femka looked out with her friend to the city and the sky above it. Some of the stars could be seen as well as other planets through the light pollution. It was a beautiful place. She wished that she brought her camera or something to capture it and keep it forever.

"Ratchet," Femka asked while pointing up, "what's that planet?"

The mechanic gazed upward.

"That's Jasindu, home to some very hostile alien life. It's very pretty there, though."

The woman continued to stare up at it through her glasses. It seemed so close to them but she only imagined how far away it really was. She continued to gaze at the vast amount of space above her and daydream. Ratchet brought his head back to level with the horizon and stared somewhat bemusedly with an arched brow at Femka who was almost in a trance with her chin in the air. He gathered that she was one to get lost in thought pretty easily. He took his perplexity elsewhere when he noticed to men walking on the other side of the airway. One of them was Ipsin; the other was a colleague of his.

"Man, that guy is weird." Ratchet asserted with a shake of his head wondering why he was walking around aimlessly this late at night.

He turned back to Femka who was still in her own world and tugged on her ponytail with a whistle to get her attention.

"Hey, I'm going inside."

"Huh? Oh."

Femka came back to reality quickly and followed her friend back inside the garage. Sleep was starting to knock at her door anyway. She said goodnight to him and went to his room to tuck herself in for the night. She was out within moments and dreaming of tomorrow.