The eco seeker, also known as the seeker orb, is a Precursor artifact in The Lost Frontier. It is a small device said to point to any major source of eco, and as such was useful to Jak, Daxter, and Keira to locate the eco core amid the eco shortage crisis. Keira was the seeker's keeper throughout the game, as she, training to become a sage, had been conducting research on the peculiar device ever since the group's acquisition. The seeker required three coordinate spheres, also known as Precursor rune spheres, as well as a globule of light eco to operate, which Jak and Daxter had to retrieve throughout the game.
The seeker itself is a sphere-like object, technically a very rounded off cube with an inset sphere embedded at its core, bolted together with "locking clocks", which are four small semi-spherical dials embedded on the corners on the top and bottom of the seeker. Its exterior, and some parts of its internal construction, seem to be made of Precursor metal.
The sphere can be opened by splitting in half along its horizontal axis, and upon activation, will open up even further. The four top quadrants will split apart, followed by the opening of the sphere along its vertical quadrants, to reveal the seeker's core: a decorated column with three circular openings in which the coordinate spheres are located. Additionally, the light eco supply can be seen glowing from the core, and there is also a hovering arrow on the top which points to its coordinate spheres (if detached), or to the nearest source of eco (if fully functional).
History[]
Aeropans[]
Jak attempts to induce the seeker with eco energy.
The eco seeker originally belonged to Duke Skyheed and Chancellor Ruskin of Aeropa, though they were unable to make it work. When Skyheed brought Jak and Keira to Aeropa and discovered they were both in pursuit of a new source of eco, he and Ruskin revealed to them the eco seeker. Jak suggested that he try to activate it, and attempted to induce it with eco energy. Due to the eco shortage and his inability to transform into Dark Jak, however, this was incredibly painful and ultimately unsuccessful.
Phoenix snatches the seeker from Keira.
Keira subsequently asked Skyheed if she could borrow it to study it, as she was training to become a sage. Skyheed agreed on the condition that Jak somehow prove he could protect the seeker at all costs, to which he agreed and Ruskin specified that he face the Danger Course. If Jak was successful, they would lend them the seeker for one week.
Jak succeeded in doing so, but just as Skyheed tossed the seeker to Keira, Sky Pirate Captain Phoenix busted through the "eco seeker sanctum", swept in, and snatched the seeker from Keira's hands. Keira thus lept after the pirate and onto his airship, only to be grabbed and taken hostage by him. Jak thus chased after her, but was unsuccessful after being shot down and forced to crash land on a nearby island.
Alliance with the Sky Pirates[]
While Jak was finding a way off the island, Phoenix set up Keira in his Phantom Blade airship, with a workshop so she could study the seeker. When Jak finally boarded the Phantom Blade to confront Phoenix, the two engaged in a short brawl that resulted in the seeker being knocked out of a window and down into the Brink volcano. Keira thus forced a truce between the two until they could get it back.
Jak and Phoenix thus raced through the volcano in pursuit of the seeker, and Jak ultimately got there first, Phoenix concluding that he must have taken a "wrong turn" somewhere. On Jak's way back to the Blade, he was surprised to find that the eccentric Castaway, whom he met while stuck on the island, had stowed away on his airship. Jak brought him back to the group, figuring that his skill with mechanics could be of service for the seeker.
Tym inspecting the seeker.
Upon inspection, while the Castaway admired the work of the seeker, he refused to help them with the piece of machinery, saying that he knew the trouble presented by the seeker when he saw it. However, Keira soon thereafter convinced him to help, the Castaway saying that she had the "prettiest face" he had seen in a long time. He relayed that the device has a self-fusing locking mechanism so that not everyone can use, or misuse, the device. However, he for some reason knew how to bypass it, which opened the seeker.
Retrieving components[]
A coordinate sphere.
Keira noticed that the seeker did not have much power left, and that the arrow was likely pointing to a fuel cell, which was directly over the Brink. After retrieving supplies from Far Drop, Keira announced that the seeker no longer had enough light eco to operate. Phoenix recalled faint readings of light eco from the Aeropan research rig, and they thus set sail there. Jak and Keira then successfully generated light eco from the rig and returned to the Blade, though upon activating the seeker, Keira discovered its arrow was pointing in two different directions, one near Far Drop and one near the Aeropan barracks. She then surmised that it was pointing to two of the three different pieces it was missing, and they thus set sail for the barracks.
The Saucy Pirate strikes a bet for the rune sphere.
The barracks' coordinate sphere was found in a control room, at the end of the mission "Search the barracks for seeker piece". After this, the group traveled to Far Drop. Upon arrival, Jak was referred to the Saucy Pirate, who was in possession of the rune sphere. She refused Jak's cash offer, instead demanding a brawl, she wagering the sphere, and Jak wagering Daxter himself. Despite objection from Daxter, Jak successfully defeated her in the mission "Defeat the Saucy Pirate".
After Jak left Far Drop, Keira relayed that the second coordinate sphere was masking the signal of the third sphere, and that while the signal was weak, she believed she could follow it. After latching onto the signal, she revealed that it was coming from an old ship graveyard beyond the Brink known as Sector Zero. With the new coordinates, Jak set sail. Upon arrival, he had to fight through a vortex filled with space debris, ghost pirates, and spiky mines, but ultimately retrieved the sphere, in the mission "Find the third coordinate sphere".
Fully operational[]
After retrieving the sphere, the Phantom Blade was ambushed by the Aeropans with their newly-equipped battleship. At this point Skyheed was somehow aware of Jak and Keira's realignment with the pirates, and Jak proceeded to defend the Blade from the Behemoth.
The now fully operational eco seeker pointed back to the research rig. Phoenix recalled that the rig was built over "strange formations", and they thus concluded that the eco core must be beneath. After arrival, they rode an elevator down the excavations and found the core, but the Aeropans had followed in after them due to the betrayal of Sky Pirate first officer, Klout. The eco seeker was never seen in use again after this, though it could presumably be used to find additional major sources of eco.