Now Inez finds out what neutramatter is. There is actually a missing scene from this in which Inez ponders on what she's been told, and the chapter ended with Hacker announcing things were ready. In the end though, the ending this chapter actually ends with worked out better, and there wasn't much left to tell, actually.

And sorry again for another late chapter. By all accounts, it should've been up yesterday, but I had to leave for work before I could finish uploading. :|

10.

Furthering

The Grim Wreaker had continued on it's aimless course after Hacker had given up finding Buzz and Delete after they had escaped. Besides, Hacker had other plans he wanted to keep up with as well...

After finally leaving the Cyber Field, the command was sent through the Wreaker's circuitry to retract the laser cannon for the first time since it had been disabled in the battle with the fleet of J-21s. And so retracted it did. Kind of. It's movement capabilities had been damaged, and it could only retract halfway. But once Hacker arrived to work on it, he realized it would be for the better, for the cannon wouldn't be able to leave that position after he was finished with it.

And with that thought, he quickly set to work, modifying and adding onto the laser cannon, until it was something very different from the mere laser cannon it had been before...

Inez had spent a very long time alone in her cell after Buzz and Delete had escaped. Hacker never did come back to the cell to "deal with" Inez, leaving Inez to wonder what would become of her. She also wondered if Buzz and Delete got away okay as planned, and succeeded in reaching Control Central and spreading the word of what Hacker planned to her friends.

She certainly hoped they did, because all hope resided with the two robots at the moment. She was starting to suspect there was very little CS-1 and the rest of the Cybersquad could do without the aide of Buzz and Delete. Once they got that aide, she hoped help would shortly come, leaving her to wonder what her friends planned to do to stop Hacker and save her.

Suddenly, Inez was aware of the sound of footsteps coming towards her, interrupting her thoughts. Jumping to her feet, she waited for whomever it was to appear.

It was Hacker.

For a long moment, he silently stared into the cell at Inez, glaring. Inez stared back, forcing herself to remain calm. Finally, Hacker inserted a key into the lock of the cell door and unlocked it. Pulling the door open, he entered the cell with a rope to bind Inez's hands. Holding it up, the villain silently motioned for Inez to hold her hands.

Inez obeyed, not wanting to bring down Hacker's wrath, and held them out. Hacker took them, brought them behind her back and tied them. Inez wondered why she even needed to hold them out in front of her if this was what Hacker was going to do, but said nothing. Giving the rope an extra tug, Hacker then motioned Inez to follow him while going out the door at the same time, not stopping to see if Inez was following him.

Puzzled by how silent Hacker was, Inez followed him. They walked through the abandoned hallways of the Grim Wreaker in total silence. Inez contemplated the idea of making a break for it, seeing that Hacker was paying so little attention to her, but as Hacker was slightly more off his rocker than usual and thus his actions were very unpredictable, Inez decided to not risk it.

Finally, they arrived on the Wreaker's bridge. Inez continued to follow Hacker halfway across the room, but then Hacker motioned for her to stop. Inez obeyed. Hacker continued on walking to the control panel for the portal-generating device he had built and typed in a variety of commands. Then, he grabbed the belt-like device and earpiece radio and handed them to Inez.

He didn't say to put them on, but Inez figured that was what he was telling her to do. He was just doing it silently. Seeing where this was starting to go, Inez put on the belt-like device and fitting the earpiece into her ear. Seeing she was ready, Hacker went back to the control panel and activated a portal.

"In." Hacker ordered, pointing at the portal and speaking for the first time.

Inez shot Hacker an odd glance, and then stepped through the portal and into the neutramatter dimension...

All it appeared to Inez was a world completely filled with white. Save herself and the portal she had just stepped through, there was nothing discernable to be seen within it. The entire dimension was just white for as far as one could see, just like normal space was as black as far as one could see.

Yet there was gravity, or some kind of force that pulled Inez downward. And her feet was standing on something solid, like a floor or something. Inez just couldn't see it. Either way, the laws of physics as Inez knew them didn't quite apply here.

But this was one thing that Hacker didn't care about.

"Alright you." the villain's voice said over the earpiece. "We're picking up from where we left off last. Part number forty-four. Get started."

"Fine." Inez said, and went for the belt-like device.

It was the most important tool for the task Hacker had bestowed upon Inez. She had no clue how it worked per say, but it involved preset blueprints for each individual part for the device Inez was to make, and the substance that filled this dimension. Inez knew it was called neutramatter, and that it was key to Hacker's plans, but that was it.

Whatever the case, Inez was to work. And Hacker would be after her if she didn't; he somehow had a means of monitoring her progress while she was here. Pulling a control panel-like device from the belt, Inez typed in the number forty-four and then enter. The device hummed briefly, then the part in question, curved to create one-fourth of a large loop, appeared in the air. Inez grabbed it, and held it aloft, still amazed at the fact that this device could just make things appear.

"Now place the part on the upper right corner of the device." Hacker ordered.

Inez obeyed, taking the part, and placing it on the circular device that surrounded the portal, working to attach it in place.

"Hacker," she said as she worked, "you know, you owe me a few explanations."

"Do I now?" Hacker asked.

"Yes, you do." Inez said. "How can I help you build something if I don't even know what it is, or how it works."

Hacker was silent for a moment. Inez thought for a moment he was going to refuse to explain. Then, Hacker started talking.

"Tell me what you do know." Hacker requested. "I'll fill in the blanks, if you absolutely must know."

"Well," Inez said, breathing heavily as she worked to attach the part. "I know that this is another dimension, that it contains something called neutramatter, and that you have tools already that takes advantage of it, and that it's toxic to Cyberspace materials."

"Not toxic per say, more like...incompatible." Hacker explained. "As Cyberspace matter varies from Real World matter, it's bound to have different effects. For instance, baking powder reacts very different when combined with orange juice rather than vinegar."

"Okay." Inez said. "So what is neutramatter?"

"Guess." Hacker said.

"Let's see, I would presume it's some kind of matter." Inez said. "I get lost at the neutra- prefix, though. It kind of reminds me of neutrons or something like that..." she stopped working suddenly. "Wait." she said. "Neutra...neutral. Neutral matter."

"Exactly." Hacker said. "Neutramatter is the matter in-between matter and antimatter."

"But then, that means it would allow you to do whatever you wanted with matter and antimatter." Inez said, catching on. "Create it, destroy it..."

"Exactly." Hacker said again, sounding pleased.

"That's the plan." Inez said, catching on. "You're going to use neutramatter to gain control over the materials that make up Cyberspace! You could destroy it and recreate it with ease!"

"Exactly!" Hacker said. "But first, I need some neutramatter."

Inez froze, stepping away from the device. "It's a collector." she realized. "I'm building you a means of getting this neutramatter!"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Hacker asked.

Inez pulled off the belt-like device and threw it to the ground...or whatever Inez stood upon. "You can't make me!" Inez said.

"Then you will suffer!" Hacker proclaimed.

"No, you can't, not while I'm in the neutramatter dimension!" Inez said. "Remember? Cyberspace matter is incompatible."

"Ah, but I have ways of getting around that." Hacker said, and Inez heard a switch being thrown.

Electricity suddenly shot from the portal and zapped Inez painfully, causing her to shout out and fall to the ground. And it continued for several moments before the switch was thrown again and it ended. Inez slowly picked herself up.

"Did you really think I didn't have a way of keeping you in line when I kidnaped you?" Hacker asked, chuckling. "Now pick up the part creator, and get back to work."

Inez weakly picked up the belt-like device, figuring out that it used neutramatter's neutral properties to create matter upon request, not like it mattered at the moment, and reattached it to herself.

"That's better." Hacker said. "Now work!"

Inez obeyed. She didn't have any other choice.