The plan surprisingly worked when I met with Errol, having Jak sneak past him, which I learned why Errol wished to speak with me.
"I wanted to ask you if you could join me in a mission to the Strip Mine after I finish my racing practice here. See, we're trying to gain some eco from the place for the secret mission, but we've gotten some concerning reports of Metal Heads being sited at the vicinity. We've got most of the workers evacuated, but the place needs to be swept from their influence before they get to the eco resources. They're terrible at digging, so I'll be testing my skills for about 30 minutes and then you'll join me at the mine, okay?" he asked.
"Got it, I'll do that for you," I smiled at him.
"Meet with me at the Power Station in the Industrial Sector 35 minutes from now. No being late," he said.
"I'll be fashionably early," I smirked back as we then broke off with Jak then going to the jet board challenge and for me to meet up with Keira after.
"Excuse me? Hello? I was also here for the mission of Krew's race driver, but I got sidetracked talking to Errol," I said to her.
"Wait... Errol? As in the champion? Why would you be talking to him? Are you switching sides?" she asked.
"No. I was talking to him about KG business. I'm going to join him for a mission when he finishes his racing practice. But more to the point, don't you recognize my voice, Hagai?" I asked, using her last name on purpose.
"W-What?... I... how did you know my last name?" she asked.
"Because we bunked together in Sandover for 2 years, remember?" I asked, her then poking her head through the curtains and gasping.
"AH! Dory! It IS you!" she gawked in surprise as she then ran through the curtains and then hugged me tightly. "Where have you been?! It's been almost 5 years since we got separated!" she gawked with surprise.
"It's been 5 years for you? For me, Jilly, and Maia, we just got here today, and for Jak and Daxter, they got here 2 years ago... how bizarre... and I actually know that Samos is at the prison, but I need to gain Errol's trust before I can convince him to release the old guy," I said, Keira gawking.
"How did you know that?" she asked.
"Because, when I first arrived, it was via faling through the roof of the palace and getting arrested as soon as I arrived... I was injected with Dark Eco, but Jak? He's been injected with it for 2 years straight," I sighed, her gasping at that.
"Oh my god... I can't believe I never knew! Where is he right now?" Keira asked, her then looking behind me and gasping.
"I'm right here..." he said with a forlorned sigh, as well as him having 9 orbs on hand from the challenge he'd completed.
"You got the gold record..." was all that Keira was able to say.
"It's been a tough ride..." Jak sighed.
"How long have you been here, Keira?!" Daxter asked.
"For 5 years now," Keira frowned. "So what do we do now?
"We need to find a way to get to the Baron as well as find out how to rescue Samos," I frowned.
"Well, you could try one of two things. One, win the Class 1 Racing Championships, as the winner always gets a tour of the palace. Or you could use one of the Palace support towers, but only if you can find a way to get one of the elevators powered up. But we should really think about getting out of here. I don't like this place! And some of the people are creepy," Keira pouted.
"Trust us, Keira, we all think Krew is creepy. We're only working for him because he's got vital information about the inner dealings with Baron Praxis," I frowned.
"Just be careful, that's all I ask. It'll be a while until the Class 3 races start, so maybe do something else for that time?" she suggested... and almost on cue, Jak got a call on his communicator.
"Jak, I need you for a mission, come back to the Underground right away," Torn said to him.
"I gotta go. And you need to do something as well, Dory," Jak smirked at me... I then saw the time to reach the Power Station was 8 minutes, so I then proceeded there in a big zoomer, me going there the slow method until, when I got there, I arrived at the same time as Errol!... But then, color us shocked as when we went inside, two others came in behind us! And when Errol saw the duo, he then immediately gawked.
"What?! You two?!" Errol asked as he aimed his gun at Jak, and Jak did the same, me getting in between.
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on, guys. No need to fire, let's just speak. With words," I said, the duo growling, but still withdrawing their weapons.
"What are you two doing here?" Errol asked Jak and Daxter.
"I could ask you two the same thing," Jak frowned.
"That's none of your business!" Errol pouted.
"Errol, I have a feeling I know what's going on," I said, him looking at me in confusion. "I think we're going for the same reason. The Strip Mine, right?" I asked, Jak and Daxter nodding. "Clear it out of Metal Heads?" they nodded again.
"And rescue someone who was left behind," Jak said.
"Oh no... not Vin!" Errol groaned in annoyance. "Fine, have it your way. If you fire a single shot at us, your ass is grass," Errol frowned at him.
"Same to you," Jak frowned at him as we then went through the teleporter gate together and we then arrived at the Strip Mine, where we immediately had to deal with a bunch of Metal Heads, including a lot of scorpions, the grunts, and a couple of the wasp ones. Errol and I took care of most of them as we cleared a path towards the research building, but we did speak some more on the way... as I played music on my phone to fill the void. The music choice in question? A playlist of music from the video game Undertale.
"That music is annoying," Errol frowned.
"I could play a more annoying song if you want," I smiled at him.
"Why does that sound like a threat?" he asked as I then played the song. Crazy Bus. And after, it even made the Metal Heads shriek in pain from the ear bleeding that came after.
"AUGH! Turn that racket off or I'm smashing it apart!" Errol shouted, me then doing so immediately. "That sounds more like ear rape than a song," he growled.
"That's one of her wake-up alarms. It gets everyone up, so it's good for something," Jak groaned.
"Don't. Play that song. Ever. Again," Errol frowned at me.
"Yes sir," I frowned at him as we then finally reached the research building after leaving behind the corpses of at least 70 different Metal Heads, clearing the mine completely in the process. And when we got there, we opened the door and Vin started shooting like a madman.
"AAUGH! STAY BACK!" Vin shouted.
"Do something, Jak! This guy's CRAZY!" Daxter shouted.
"Hey! Are you Vin? We're here to help!" Jak shouted.
"STAY BACK!" Vin shouted again.
"Vin, this is commander Errol! Stand your ground! We took care of the threat already!" Errol shouted at him.
"Ooh.. oh... friendlies? Whew... so... where's the army?" he asked.
"Uh, we're it," I smiled.
"What?! Just four of you?... What do they think I'm worth?" he asked.
"They? Who is this 'they' you speak of?" Errol asked as he then looked at Jak and Daxter and then frowned. "Are you working for the Underground, Vin?" Errol asked. And Vin gulped at that.
"We'll discuss this in the Power Station. This place is a danger zone as of now," I frowned, them nodding as we got in the teleporter and then arrived at the Power Station in an instant. And Vin looked at the computers and sighed.
"Vin, I want answers. Why would you work for the Underground?!" Errol asked, but Vin started to freak out from his tone of voice, which I held Errol off after.
"Easy, Errol. Let me do this, please," I said, him growling as he nodded after. "Okay, Vin... I'm going to ask you calmly, and I expect a calm answer. Can you tell me as to why you would be working for the Underground?" I asked, Vin sighing after.
"M-My wife..." he said, me immediately gaining interest. "She was such a nice person... able to soothe me in my stressful moments... then one day, she realized that she was able to use Red Eco... t-then... the Baron started the program... that horrible, horrible program... you know what I'm talking about, Errol," Vin said, which made the commander frown. "They plucked her off the streets because they heard she was able to use Eco... they did it with all the other citizens that could use Eco, any kind of it... she was injected with Dark Eco for a whole two weeks... she died shortly after..." Vin said with a sob from his voice. "That's why I'm working with the Underground. I lost my wife to that horrible program... and she was pregnant at the time... I don't want that to happen to anyone else!"
"I see..." Errol frowned at him.
"From what I heard, Errol, that program is basically glorified torture to anyone that wasn't me. And that's why Jak hates you especially. 2 years striaght, and you never once treated him nice," I frowned, him growling at me after. "Look, let's just agree to disagree and move on from here. But just know this. So long as I'm around, no more DW testing will happen. If I find out that more tests are done to innocent people, I will not hesitate to beat you to an inch of your life. And THAT is not a threat. It's a promise," I frowned at him with a deep gravelly growl in my voice, Errol frowning as he tried to grab me with his arm, but I countered him with flipping him onto the ground, him gasping at that. "Isn't it weird how your armor is full of Red Eco? Just touching it and I get buff," I frowned at him as he then groaned and got up.
"Fine. I'll tell Praxis to stop the testing, since he believes it to be a failure. And for showing your strength, both in the Strip Mine and just now, take this," Errol frowned as he gave me a blaster upgrade for my pistol, which I then placed it on and smiled at how I got it on in a snap. "I'm going to need to think to myself for a bit after this, so I'd recommend going to do something else for now... and staying away from me for a bit," Errol pouted at me as he then left. "And don't worry, Vin. You're a valuable asset to the Baron, so just make sure that the shield walls are still operational and you can do whatever you wish," Errol said, which Vin sighed in absolute relief as Errol then left and Jak looked at me with a smile.
"What's with the smug smirk, Jak?" I smiled.
"Nothing. Just surprised at how you told him off and then slammed him in the ground when you're 2 feet shorter than him," Jak smirked at me.
"I've been meaning to do that since you told me about how painful it was for you," I smiled at him. "Now, Vin, do you have any other missions for Jak or me to do?" I asked, but Daxter then got on my shoulder instead.
"I've detected that there's a drop productivity at the Drill Platform. It's probably some Metal Head eggs sucking away power! I'll need you to use the Warp Gate to go to the Platform and destroy every single Metal Head Egg you can find!" Vin said. But before Jak could join us?
"Jak my boy... I need you for a mission at the saloon. Meet with me asap," Krew said, me smirking at that.
"I'll handle the Drill Platform with Daxter, you go to the saloon in my stead, 'kay?" I smirked at him.
"Yeah, and thanks again for making me smile," Jak said as he then left and it left me and Daxter alone with Vin.
"And thanks for saving my butt at the strip mine... for getting rid of that program... and for giving me immunity," Vin smiled.
"I would've done so at some point regardless, simply because I hate it when innocent people get hurt," I smiled at him as Dax and I proceeded to the Drill Platform. It was time to blast some Metal Heads and some Metal Head Eggs!