Things have definitely gone downhill ever since the nuclear plant expedition. We discuss the issue for hours in the meeting room, but none of us know anything about where the Survival Gamers were even meeting, more or less where they would hide the stupid rock! I sigh in frustration, tapping my foot against the hard floor.

"This is ridiculous. What are we supposed to do, sit here and wait for answers to show up? At this rate the planet is as good as dead!" I exclaim. Raven's eyes widen slightly, and he smiles. I snort at him. "What are you smiling at?"

"You do care." He comments.

"Don't push it." I warn him.

"Well if you need some answers, go find them." Daxter cuts in, bringing us back on topic.

"It's not that simple." Raven points out.

"Why not?" Daxter asks, cocking his head innocently.

"Because!" Raven exclaims, then pauses to think. "Because... you know..." he trails off, unable to find an answer. Daxter laughs.

"Oh, you guys are too silly sometimes! You make things so complicated. You need answers, and you've already cleared the fact that you're not going to get them here." Daxter explains.

"Well, where would we get them?" Raven snaps, growing frustrated.

"My brother always used to tell me that when you find yourself stuck, retracing your steps is a wise place to start." He answers, winking.

"You have a brother?" I ask. Daxter shakes his head.

"No, I had a brother." He corrects me.

"Retracing your steps? I don't see how that will help us at all in this matter!" Raven exclaims.

"What about the Nuclear Power Plant?" Daxter suggests. Raven opens his mouth to speak, then stops, mouth gaping, as if an idea had just popped into his head.

"Daxter! You're a genius!" He exclaims, dashing out of the room. Daxter and I glance at each other, shrug and then follow him. We run out of the school, back through the city to the power plant. Stopping at the top of the hill, I look down at the power plant, then back up at Raven.

"What're you guys doing?" I turn around to find Jack had followed us here.

"Remember what Myrror told Jack? She said 'a Survival Gamer's strength is its weakness.'" Raven reminds us. I think about this for a second, trying to understand where he's going with this. "The Survival Gamers' strength is their experience."

"So if their strength is their weakness, then their weakness is experience...?" I question, raising an eyebrow. Raven shakes his head.

"No-well, yes, but no. Their strength is experience, their weakness is expectation. Every planet they've conquered has made the exact same mistakes we've been making!"

"Which are...?" I prompt.

"We're giving them exactly what they expect."

"Well, what do they expect?"

"That's what we're here to find out." Raven answers, nodding towards the power plant. Looking down, I notice something I hadn't noticed before. The workers are filing out the front door into the open, heading home after a long day's work. Then a peculiar worker catches eye - the Survival Gamer! I watch him walk along with the rest, who take no notice of his casual dress. Strange, you'd think they'd be suspicious of someone that isn't wearing their uniform. I think to myself. The man hops in a vehicle and begins driving towards the city. As it moves away, Raven starts quietly jogging down the hill.

"Raven?" Daxter calls after him. I look at Jack, who glances back at me, shrugging. After a moment, we give in and follow him down. I still don't understand the point of following the Survival Gamer, but I'm sure Raven's got something in mind. For a long while, we follow the vehicle through the city, the black coat of night keeping us well out of sight. Finally, the car stops just next to one of the many tall buildings. The man gets out, and goes through the building's front entrance.

"Great, now what?" I mumble. Ignoring my grumbling, Raven flicks his fingers forward, indicating for us to follow him as he heads around the backside of the building. Grabbing onto an outer pipe, Raven begins to scale the building. We follow him, climbing up two or three floors before he stops, reaching for a vent cover and pulling it off. I watch as the vent flies down, making a loud clang as it hits the floor. With the hole now exposed, Raven crawls inside. What are we doing! I think, following him inside. I nearly gasp as I reach my hand out while crawling inside the vent, but find no ground there to catch me. Looking around, I realize the vent led to a large abyss, and I spot Raven crawling around the side of the wall.

It's hard to see anything in this pitch blackness, but narrowing my eyes, I can just make out two large, vertical cables in the middle of the abyss. Staring at the cables in bewilderment, I stand up, finding my balance on a small edge poking out of the wall, and scoot around it to join Raven. In no time at all, the four of us are all balanced against the wall.

"Raven, where are--" I am cut off by a loud noise that vibrates the walls. Almost immediately after that, I see movement in the dark air, and after looking closely at it, I realize the cables have started moving. One moving up, and one down. Oh, I think nervously, we're in an elevator shaft.

The realization hitting me, I look down just in time to see a large flat surface ascending towards us. As it comes to our position, Raven steps lightly on top, the rest of us following after him. The elevator continues to climb the building, bringing us with it. When it finally stops, I hear the elevator slide open and see a light below us where the doors have parted to reveal one of the many floors of the building. Opening a hatch on top of the elevator, Raven peeks inside. Over his shoulder, I spot the man just as he walks off the elevator. As soon as he disappears, we crawl through the hatch into the elevator one by one. Raven, being the first to crawl through, holds the door open. We follow the man through the twisting, turning hallways, until finally he disappears behind a door.

For a second, we all stand there, staring at the door like sitting ducks.

"Now what?" I ask.

"We bug them." Raven answers, sighing.

"Bug them? Raven, he knows who we are! If he sees us--"

"That's not what I meant! Come on, haven't you guys ever watched spy movies? To get information on an individual, a spy will plant a 'bug' - a device that will transmit audio back to a home computer - somewhere in the target's 'personal space,' to gather intel on what the person says or does. Usually they put it in something like an office, or their home, depending on the situation." Raven explains.

"And I suppose you happen to have one sitting in your pocket?" I mutter sarcastically.

"No, of course not! I'm resourceful, but I'm not that resourceful." Raven retorts.

"So, is there a reason we're here at all if we can't plant this 'bug?'" Jack cuts in.

"Yes, we're still going to bug them, but we're going to have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Tin can phones?" Daxter pipes up, biting his nails with excitement. Raven rolls his eyes.

"No, we sit and wait." He states bluntly. I let my arms fall limp beside me, gaping my mouth in disgust.

"You mean we're going to just sit outside this idiot's house all night?" I exclaim.

"No, we'll take turns. One of us will keep watch, the other three will sleep."

"And where do you suppose the three off-guard will sleep? Not only that, how're we going to listen to him from outside his house?!" I challenge him.

"Klere, would you please chill out? This is not that hard to decipher. There's a janitor's closet over by the elevator, I saw it when we came in. And yes, we're going to listen from outside. These apartments, if you didn't know, are extremely small. All you need is a funnel to press against the door and you can practically hear anything that goes on inside these miniscule apartments." Raven explains, irritated at my many questions and doubts.

"Ha ha! Jack, this'll be just like the time we snuck into that school on Mirkedon!" Daxter exclaims in excitement. Jack folds his arms, glancing down at the ground.

"I don't think it's going to be exactly like that, Dax." he mumbles.

"Alright, I've got first watch, I'm going to grab a funnel from the janitor's cart over there. The rest of you go hide in that broom closet and for heaven's sakes, keep quiet!" Raven exclaims. Rolling my eyes, I hesitate, watching Raven as he begins to walk off to the cart, then following Jack and Daxter to the closet. Finding the closet exactly where Raven had said it was, we open the door cautiously, then, finding no one there, flick on the lights and take a quick look at it.

"Well, this is cozy." I comment sarcastically.

"Wait, we're not all sleeping in here, are we?" Daxter asks, glancing at Jack.

"Of course we are, now come on, get in." Jack answers impatiently.

"But the teacher always said no purpling at camp-outs." Daxter protests innocently. I resist the urge to laugh. Jack rolls his eyes in annoyance.

"Get in, Daxter!" He snaps, shoving his giggling friend inside the closet. Smirking at the two of them, I follow them into the tight broom closet. I pull at the door, but find that I'm still not far enough in.

"Move over." I mumble, teasingly giving Jack a kick so that he stumbles a few steps deeper into the closet. Looking over his shoulder, Jack gives me a quick glare, then turns back around situating himself in the confined space. I shake my head in amusement. As much as I hated being stuck in this closet, I found myself laughing at the two of them. Two very different people, and yet so close. Literally... I think, trying hard not to laugh. Having closed the door and turned out the light, I feel my way into a comfortable position, sighing at the thought of what this night may or mayn't bring.

******

It took a while, but eventually we all stopped moving and fidgeting. I could hear the sound of a clock ticking somewhere in the room, Jack's calm even breaths, and Daxter's long sighing. Eventually, I start hearing murmurs. Confused, I flick my ears around, refusing to open my eyes. Finally, angling my ears towards the two friends, I can just make out Daxter humming a little tune.

"Fried ham, fried ham, cheese and baloney..." he sings softly. From the location of the humming, I can tell that Daxter's head is just to the right of my feet, which are stretched out across the floor. Moving my foot slowly, I feel around until I find a soft, flat surface, which vibrates as he sings. Knowing that's his chest, I curl my foot back, then outstretch it, giving him a good kick, smiling with amusement at his reaction.

"After the macaroni--oof!" He huffs. "Hey, what gives?" He whispers in my direction.

"I'm trying to sleep." I reply.

"Ah, come on, we could all do with a little music. On cold, dark nights, with nothing to do, when you're just waiting for something to happen, for someone to say something. Those nights of anticipation when you just can't sleep like a child on Christmas Eve." he rambles on to himself.

"I take it you have experience with such nights?" I question him, partially sarcastic, but another part of me curious.

"Oh, of course! Haven't we all? Everyone's had one of those! Whether it's a grim night, with children crying, women screaming, and guns going off, or if it's just a comfortable child too excited to fall asleep. Either way, we've all had them." He answers.

"I guess that's true..." I mumble. I can't see anything, but I hear Daxter shift, and I know he's turned his head and is looking at me.

"You're thinking about something, aren't you?" He asks. I blink.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You're thinking about something I just said. You're usually so dismissive, but you've actually stopped to think about it."

"What do you mean, I'm 'dismissive'?" I snap.

"I mean you usually don't take things into consideration. You're very quick in your replies, at least, usually."

"Well, sometimes there's no need to think. I mean, not hard, anyway. Sometimes the answer just comes naturally." I explain. Daxter laughs.

"'Naturally,' you say? Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'think before you speak?'"

"Of course! Take it your brother told you that one as well?" I snap. There's a slight pause before he replies.

"My brother told me a lot of things. All of which I believe to be very true and very wise. My brother was a good man. He was very serious when need be, but he always loved to have fun." Daxter answers. I smirk.

"You really take after that side of him." I mumble. "Doesn't it ever bother you? Know-it-alls with all those weird sayings? When they try to go all 'wiseman' on you and you haven't a clue what they're saying?" I ask him.

"My brother was not a know-it-all!" He exclaims, then continues calmly, "And I've never had anything against those type people. We can learn from people like them, Klere. We can learn from anyone, really."

"Ha! Learn from anyone. What can you possibly learn from people doing everything wrong? What about those people?"

"Learn from their mistakes."

"Are you two going to keep talking all night?" Jack grumbles.

"Does singing count?" Daxter asks. I break out in smirks at his odd, yet very accurate question.

"Please don't sing another one of Henry's nursery rhymes..." Jack pleads sarcastically.

"Why? Nursery rhymes are soothing. Besides, that wasn't a nursery rhyme, that was more like... a road trip song." Daxter comments, mostly to himself.

"Henry? Is that your brother?"

"Was, Klere. Tenses matter." He jokes.

"So it was your brother?" I ask, exaggerating the 'was' intentionally.

"Yes." He answer softly, then jumps on to another question. "Do you or did you ever have any siblings?" I shake my head, then curse myself under my breath, realizing he can't see me in the dark.

"No, just me and my parents. Things went downhill, though, when she showed up." I mutter.

"She? You mean Vickie? And the wizard?" Jack prompts.

"Yep, that's her. Oh, when she showed up, lots of things happened." I mutter, thinking back two years ago.

Vickie was one of the most famous - or rather, infamous - aliens yet on this planet. She was also one of the first to arrive. It was never really clear what her motives were, but she came to the planet long ago and started abducting, killing, doing all sorts of harmful things with the humans. Her second hand, Mirlendaow is what they called him, was a wizard who eventually double-crossed her, and set up a sort of "concentration camp" inside a passive volcano, and started killing the locals at a disturbing rate.

It was only then that a Governess by the name of Jeanette rose in power. Her and her supporters started taking aliens captive, mainly Tailers. It was that time where planet Titranis had exploded, and all the Tailers were migrating in large numbers to this new-found "planet Earth." As Mirlendaow executed humans, so Jeanette set up her own concentration camp, and executed aliens. From there, the war became deadlocked, and everyone was miserable, humans and aliens alike.

"I take it your parents were killed during the war?" Jack asks, interrupting my thoughts.

"No, not exactly. We did get taken captive though, by Jeanette. She probably would've killed us eventually, but she never got the chance. Both my parents somehow caught a very strange case of... you could say... amnesia. They forgot almost everything in an instant, and it wasn't long after that a group of rebels broke in and started tearing up the place. My parents and I both escaped but we got separated and..." I trail off as the memory of it plays over in my head. Like watching a movie in perfect quality. I remember every detail. Every face, every scream, every war cry. Every jumbled thought I had, every time I had called out to my parents but received no answer, and I knew I wouldn't because I knew they didn't remember. They probably still don't remember me now. Whatever happened that night separated us permanently, and I know I'll never see them again...

"I've heard a lot of things about the so-called Vickie." Jack mutters, breaking the silence. "Most of them being bad things. And if even half of what I've heard is true then...well, I almost don't blame the humans for hating us so darn much." He admits.

"Vickie was a terrible person. Goodness knows why she felt the need to start a full-scale war on this puny, miserable planet." I think aloud, bitterly.

"Indeed, many unnecessary deaths came from that. But it will not help to dwell on it. We can, however, learn from it." Daxter encourages.

"Yeah, right. Welcome to reality. We don't ever learn. I realized that eight years ago, probably one of the main reasons why I left." Jack whispers to himself.

"I thought you said--" Daxter begins, but Jack cuts him off.

"I know what I said, and I meant it. There was more than one reason I decided to leave that stupid ship, and quite frankly I'm still trying to figure which reasons were actually reasons I left." There is a long silence, and no one dares to speak after that. The room feels tense and heavy, like all of our confessions was weighing the air down. I feel like a fool for exposing myself like that to two teenage boys I hardly knew, but there was nothing I could do about that now.

Out of nowhere, the door swings open, and we're greeted by a rush of light, shining in from the hallway. And a tired Raven standing at the door.

"Klere, your turn." He says, letting out a yawn. Sighing, I pull myself to my feet, trudging over to the door to listen in on a man that we're only partially sure of that he's a Survival Gamer. For all we know, we could be wasting an entire night, sleeping in a broom closet, talking about all our tragic pasts! How unnecessary! I think to myself, leaning up against the cold wooden door, trying to blot my thoughts out and concentrate on the target inside. Ah well, I think to myself, today's failures just may bring tomorrow's victories.