Author's Notes:
And, finally, Sector 1 is done with. Don't you fret, though, I don't intend for Sector 2 to be as long…
Disclaimer:
Iji belongs to Daniel Remar and his company, Remar Games. I claim no ownership to it, or any references found within this story.
Iji: Demimortal
Chapter 9: Sector 2
Iji Soundtrack: Kinda Green
"Iji! Where the Hell've you been!? You just disappeared all of a sudden, and now you're back!" A brief silence from the microphones, then another comment, "I don't get it…" The two found themselves in an area with a somewhat pale-blue color scheme. A bulky-looking door was in front of them, and behind them, the familiar brown of Sector 1. Though Satuxim thought he already knew where they were, he asked, "Dan, can to tell us where we are now?" He rebuked, "As soon as you tell me where you two went!" Satuxim sighed, then said, "Fine. But you asked for it…" He went on an unnecessarily long explanation of Sector Z, including his theories of what the place was, as well as where it came from, before Dan said, with an exhausted sigh, "You know what? You're in Sector 2 now. Happy? I'm just going to pretend that this conversation never happened. I think that's for the best…" Satuxim merely smirked, and Iji barely her back her giggles, both of them amused at Dan's expense.
"Iji, try Cracking that door." She walked up to it, and asked, a bit awkwardly, "Well… What do I do, then?" "Put you hand to it, and focus. It should come to you naturally." She did as her brother told, and suddenly, her vision was replaced with a sea of black. A three-by-five shape of cyan blocks appeared, with a ten-second counter going down next to them. A green dot was on the top-left most block, with a red block flashing in the opposite corner. Presuming that she was the green dot, and the red dot was where she wanted to go, she moved it to go one block to the right. Then another to the right. Then four down. A quick 'Beep' ensued, and the vision abruptly evaporated, the door in front of her flying open. "Well… That was… an experience, I guess…?" she muttered.
Walking through the now-opened door, Satuxim following in after her, they came to a blue and yellow box, with all manner of glowing lights around it. "Try cracking that box, Iji. There's a-" "Ooh! Let me try!" "Satuxim, I don't think that's a very good-" He ignored him, of course, and, putting his hand to it, he let the vision take over. Not even a second later, and the box flew open, and inside was a device, mainly spherical in shape. "Hell, that was too easy. I can probably clear something that easy while juggling a couple of grenades, methinks…" Picking it up, and giving it to Iji, it blew into dozens of small, cyan-shaped circles, and were absorbed by her Nanogun, like with the Null Driver. 'You got the Resonance Detonator. The power and knockback of the small blast generated by this weapon is determined by the user's Strength. Amazingly potent in the correct hands, it has just two draw-backs; it's sluggish recharge time, and the size of the blast itself, which is rather meager compared to any other Nanoweapon.'
Walking onwards with her new-found Resonance Detonator, Iji tried pulling the trigger with it. A violet sphere surrounded her for about 2 seconds, and a small mumble of pain ensued from Satuxim, who was now rubbing his aching bum. "Geez, watch out for me when you're firing that thing! If you had more Strength, that would've actually hurt!" Iji glanced down at him, sheepish, and muttered an apology before helping him up to his feet. Strolling to wherever they were supposed to go, the pair came to another room, with a ledge overhead. In the center of the room was a strange-looking machine; purple with orange indents and circuits all over it, with a large circular one at the center-top of it. "What you see in front of you is a Nanoweapon Station. It's used to combine weapons. Try doing so with your Shotgun with the Resonance Detonator," Dan's voice spoke from the nearby microphone. Walking forward and putting her hand to it, she was once again in the Crack-vision, as it can be called, and some text appeared. It said; 'Select the Nanoweapons you wish to combine.' A screen appeared over her head, with eight slots. Her Shotgun took up the slot labelled '1', and the Resonance Detonator took up '5'. Selecting the two of them, a message appeared, replacing the previous one. 'You need a Crack of at least four to attempt this Nanoweapon combining.' She was then ejected from the vision, and wound up with her rear on the floor rather painfully, not unlike Satuxim from a moment earlier. And, speaking of which, "Hah! Now you know how I felt!" Iji glowered at him, slowly getting up. "Can I have your Gun for a moment?" he requested, wishing to see if he could do it himself. Iji complied, a little doubtful that he could get the job done himself.
Putting his hand to it, he selected the '1' and '5' just as Iji had, though this time he was allowed in. Instead of three-by-five, it was now a bit more complex, this one being six-by-five. He still blew through it in just over a single second, however. "'S like I'm in a puzzle game whenever I do that. Except instead of actual strategy, it's reliant on quick reflexes." A brief silence from him, then, like a light bulb went off in his head, "Aha! Genius! I'll make a game out of it, someday! Just got to remember it, and I'll make millions out of it!" His eyes glowed a little more at this. Momentarily forgetting Iji's presence, he continued to think of the possibilities, before Iji walked over and poked him. "You done yet?" Satuxim scratched the back of his head through his thick hair, and responded, a bit sheepish himself, "Yeah. Here's your weapon back, by the way." Another message popped up on it, when it was in Iji's grasp again; 'You got the Resonance Reflector. This devious little weapon cannot deal any direct damage, but is able to reflect mass-based projectiles, like Rockets, MPFB shots, and Shocksplinters. However, it cannot reflect projectiles that travel at a sufficiently fast speed, like Machinegun Bullets, or Pulse Cannon weapon types. "Whatever those latter three are…" Satuxim mumbled, referring to the MPFB, Shocksplinter, and Pulse Cannon. "NOTE: Reflected projectiles DO NOT award kills when striking an enemy, unless you were the one who originally fired the projectile.'
"Doesn't really change the fact that you'd still be responsible for any imminent deaths because of it, though," Satuxim said, recommending that she not use it, regardless, as, again, she clearly wasn't one for killing. Iji and Satuxim walked over to the nearby Lift, noticing another door surrounded by a Nanofield. Satuxim looked at Iji for approval, and she nodded, Satuxim kicking down the door. What was inside the room surprised them a bit; A tall Tasen, easily breaking eight feet, clad in a dull blue and red armor set, with grey like the other Tasen, was sitting in a chair near a desk. A giant claw-like appendage was on it's right arm, and a Rocket Launcher was on the end of it's left arm instead of a hand. Apparently, it was testing out how sturdy the chair was, or, seeing something more comfortable than a few crates to sit on, it just decided to take a break on it. It's head immediately flew upwards, it's eyes visibly widening a bit in surprise underneath it's visor. Springing up to it's feet, and aiming it's Rocket Launcher at the two of them, it shouted, in a distinctly male voice, "Contact!"