Facets, Book 1: What Is And What Should Never Be

Chapter 1: Discovery

"Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost." ― Erol Ozan

Ratchet stared intently at a plaque, surmounted atop a short stone pedestal. It stood in front of the large monument consisting of huge, stylized gears, in the plaza on Fastoon near where he and Clank found Aphelion a few years ago. He crossed his arms and squinted at the words embossed on the plaque, which were in the lombax language.

"Fff...Faaaaldun...Kala?" Ratchet turned to glance questioningly at Clank, who nodded in approval.

"Well done, Ratchet. Now can you tell me what 'Faldun Kala' means?"

Ratchet turned back to the plaque and gave it some more thought. "Hmmm..."

Clank raised a metal index finger. "Ratchet, perhaps I can gi...", but was quickly interrupted by the young lombax.

"I can do this!" he shot back. "Just give me a minute!" Ratchet scratched his right ear for a moment...a habit of his whenever he was deep in thought. "Oooh! I know! Umm...'invention'? No, not that..." He was growing frustrated and grumbled under his breath, squinting as he concentrated on the plaque.

"Oh! 'Innovation...innovatiooooon square!"

Clank laughed slightly. "Yes, Ratchet. That is correct. Very good! The download of Ms. Apogee's language database has proven extremely useful."

Ratchet grinned and pumped his fist in the air, as Clank put his hand over his face and shook his head in bemusement...then turned to observe the surrounding buildings and the familiar gear monument.

"Perhaps we should have a look around", the robot suggested. And with that, the two of them began a thorough and lengthy exploration.

A few hours later, after climbing over some rubble, and more refuse of the old battle between the lombaxes and Emperor Tachyon's forces, Ratchet found a metal sign hanging on the wall of a building. The sign was partly scuffed and burned beyond recognition, but some lettering was still visible. He turned and looked down at his old friend.

"What does this say?"

Clank pressed a few buttons on his computer pad and put his metal fingers up to his chin. "Hmm. According to what I am able to decipher from this sign, this building contained a scientific testing facility. If we can dig enough of the rubble clear of the door, we should be able to get inside."

Ratchet nodded. "Good idea, Clank! Let's do it." It took a couple of hours of hard work, but the two of them managed to clear enough rubble to get to the door of the building, and its controls. The latter were smashed beyond repair, though it was not apparent how or why that occurred.

"It would seem that this door was purposefully blocked. Someone placed all this rubble here to keep others out. Very strange."

"What could be inside that was so terribly important to protect? Ratchet asked.

Clank shook his head. "I do not know. Perhaps we had better try to get inside and see if we can discover the answer."

Ratchet climbed up onto the remaining rubble and began working at the loose wires in the door controls, attempting to cross circuit the signal that would cause the door to open. After several frustrating minutes of effort, he succeeded in activating the door. There was a loud hydraulic hiss, and then the door began to move to the left on its track, with several fits and stalls, and a loud, unpleasant metallic whine.

"This thing's certainly seen better days", Ratchet noted with a laugh, for which he was rewarded with one of Clank's usual expressions.

In the lobby of the building were the signs of a terrible fire fight. Blast marks on the walls and the floor, makeshift barricades, some toppled or damaged from blaster and grenade strikes. The remains of furniture and wall decorations had fallen and were in a terrible state, and there was a fine layer of dust covering everything.