As Jak, Daxter, and Shining played together one autumn day, a question that had been bothering Daxter pushed to the fore of his mind. "Say Shining," he spoke up, "you talk to Samos more than just about anyone else, right?"
"Well, yeah," Shining replied. "It's these dreams I keep having...I want to learn enough to properly interpret them, if only to make them go away."
"Well, there's something about the way he acts that's been bugging me," Daxter pointed out. "You know how recently - ever since Gol and Maia left town - there's been a huge boom of interest in machines? Both the old Precursor stuff and anything new that can be developed?"
"We all noticed that," Jak pointed out, taking a seat nearby. "What's your point?"
"Well..." Daxter lay back in the grass, his eyes on the sky, gathering his thoughts. "Anytime just about anyone in town talks about putting more time or resources towards studying either Precursor tech or to developing new technology to harness Eco, Samos comes down on them like a ton of bricks, shouting about how those 'devilish machines' will tear the world apart, and that to do such things is disrespectful to the world the Precursors gave us, or something else like that...and the other Sages are in agreement with them."
"But?" Shining asked.
"The only exception is Keira," Daxter continued, "who, from what I can tell, Samos actively encourages to study and build new Eco machines, and to take apart any defunct Precursor tech she can find to learn how it works. The complete opposite of the stance he takes with everyone else...even though he grumbles about her interest in public." He shrugged. "Seems a bit strange, don'tcha think? It's the only time ever that Samos contradicts himself in anything."
"Well, the other Sages have talked about how Samos is the only one gifted with even the slightest touch of future sight," Shining pointed out. "It could well be that he knows that general use of such machines will prove dangerous...but Keira's knowledge of it will prove necessary."
"That's not why I think he does it," Jak pointed out with a smirk.
"Alright, leader boy," Daxter teased, poking fun at how Jak always took the lead in anything they did together. "If you're so smart, why is Samos encouraging Keira's interest in machines?"
"Hadn't you noticed?" Jak asked teasingly. "Ever since she started tinkering, she stopped cooking."
The entire group burst into laughter at that statement.
"I heard that!" Keira shouted out, her latest attempt at a combat walker sputtering and creaking under her as she marched towards them, leveling a paint launcher, the only type of weapon Samos would let her tinker with when she wasn't yet ten years old. "You're going to pay for that, Jak!" The launcher chugged for a time before launching numerous blasts of paint and water towards the three boys.
"Run!" Daxter shouted as the three took to their heels.
Once the trio had managed to escape Keira's rampage - rather easy since all three of them could run faster than the walker and Keira had to stop several times to get it working again - the trio collapsed to the ground, laughing together.
"Yeesh!" Daxter spat out once he caught his breath. "What got up her butt?"
"I dunno," Jak admitted. "I mean, she knows her cooking was terrible."
"Maybe it was you saying it that bugged her so much, bro," Shining offered. "Pretty sure she's sweet on you."
"Pssh!" Jak countered. "As if! You've seen how she snaps at me over things."
"You're the only one she snaps at over things," Daxter pointed out, smirking at the new tease game.
"Guys, stop making something out of it that isn't there!" Jak countered. "She's not even ten yet!"
"Samos was just telling me that girls mature faster than boys," Shining added thoughtfully.
"Shut up!" Jak countered, his face a little flushed.
"Oh!" Daxter laughed. "I think our fearless leader might be sweet on the little lady too!"
"As if!" Jak countered, pushing Daxter over and onto his back. As usual, this immediately spawned a three way wrestling match, ending with Shining on top of the other two as his bulkier small frame was harder to get a grip on and move for the other two. "Can we drop it now?" Jak asked finally.
Shining and Daxter looked at each other for a time, then grinned widely. "Nope!" they said together before running off.
"You guys!" Jak shouted, chasing after them.
Daxter and Shining had run in different directions, and Jak had chased after Daxter, since he could always get back at Shining once they were both inside for the night. Once he realized he wasn't being chased, he decided to go check on Keira.
Finding her having put her combat walker back in her garage and working on something else, he decided to approach her. "Hey Kei!" he called out, using his nickname for her.
"Hey, Shine!" Keira called back. "What brings you here?"
"Jak decided it was more important to chase Daxter than me," Shining replied. "Then again, he can always corner me at home."
Keira chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you're here. I've got something for you to try." Walking up, she presented strangely configured hoofshoes. "I noticed you have trouble with leaping through trees or up higher platforms, so I made these for you."
Confused, Shining strapped them on, feeling a tingle as they tapped his energy. "That felt weird," he commented.
"It's working!" Keira cheered. "Okay, now jump, then visualize jumping again in midair."
Shrugging, Shining did as he was instructed. Much to his surprise, the shoes responded to his thoughts, generating a burst of Blue Eco propelled him upward in a somersault. "Whoa!" he shouted, landing flat on his face. "What was that?"
Keira applauded. "The jump boots work!" she shouted happily. "I noticed your body generates an energy type that isn't Eco, and I was thinking about how I could make use of that...and I found an old bit of Precursor tech called an Eco Converter, which was supposed to change one type of Eco into another. It never worked, but I was able to tweak it so it could turn your energy into a specific type of Eco. I've been able to build more, but you only generate so much of that energy, so I designed the jump boots to use your energy to generate Blue Eco to let you jump again in midair!" She examined the boots for a bit. "I'll need to make some tweaks, though. You weren't supposed to face plant."
Shining couldn't help but laugh at that. "Alright," he said, standing back up to let her work. For a brief moment, he could have sworn she was lavender. Shaking his head, the brief flash passed, and he looked over the girl he was just a tad too protective of. "Say Keira..." he asked casually. "What do you think of Jak?"
"I think he's rather cute, and would probably make a nice boyfriend if he took his head out of his butt long enough to think about girls," she replied absent-mindedly.
Shining stared at that blunt response, trying to organize his thoughts. "Uhh..."
"Don't tell him I said so," she scolded. "Otherwise I'll rewire the next invention I hook you up to to make you sing falsetto."
"Duly noted!" Shining squeaked, crossing his hind legs.