Author's Notes:
Yes, I decided to cover Sector Z before going on with the actual story. It was one of the things I've been looking forward to the most about writing this story, actually, along with Sector Y. Yes, I'll be covering that abomination of a place, as well. Even if it is mildly scary…
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 7: Sector Z
Iji Soundtrack: 1/2fabrikat
The pair ended up finding themselves in an unusual place; slowly floating down through a black and blue space, with small, blue cubes flying by in the background. They landed on a platform made of blue… cube, things. It's hard to describe, trust me. Iji ducked down and put her hand on it, finding it surprisingly solid. "Well, this is strange. Unnatural, really," Satuxim idly commented. Walking over to the edge and peering over, he noticed another area to land on. Figuring that there really was nothing better to do but sit there and wait to die, which'd be rather pointless, he told Iji to jump off, saying, "Judging by our slow descent, I'd say that there's evidently little gravity to be had here. Let's get a move on!" He jumped over the edge. Iji hesitantly did the same. Indeed, Satuxim was right in his assumption; they descended at about a foot per second, not really accelerating at all. It took about a minute of this descent to land on the floor below, which was composed of the same stuff on the platform above them. Noticing yet another place to go down to, they did the same from just a minute ago. While they were dropping, Satuxim asked, "So, what do you think this place is all about? I don't know why, but I'm having a sense of déjà vu…" Iji merely shook her head, uncertain as to what this place was supposed to be, though curious as to why Satuxim had a sense of familiarity with this place.
Upon landing again, the two walked to the only direction they could, trying to progress to what they thought would be the end of this place. After a couple of minutes, they noticed a… blob, for lack of a better word. It was blue, and floated in the air, as if trying to look for something. The two continued on, trying to ignore the anomaly currently floating around their heads. That is, until it tried to head-butt Iji, knocking her to the ground. Satuxim swiped at it with an unseen strand of magic, and it was cut in half before dissipating. A brief hiss of pain later, and Iji was back up. "Geez! What the Hell was that thing's deal!?" Satuxim shrugged. "At the very least, now we know to kill any on sight. Well, as much as the term 'kill' can be applied to these things. Who knows if they're even living beings. Actually, wait a second…" Satuxim stepped forward, and, swinging his hand out, a small ball of dark energy formed. He put his hand to it, before retracting, the shape disappearing. "Yep, not living things. Just strands of computer data. Strange… It's almost like we're in a video game of some sort…"
Moving on, the two went along, jumping over ledges and destroying more of those blob-like things. They, soon enough, came to another chasm to drop down. Doing so, and landing on a perfectly horizontal surface, Satuxim realized, "… Huh. I think I know what that first part was." Iji glanced over. "Really? What is it, then?" "You ever heard of Metroid?" "Yeah." "I think that was Norfair, from the NES game." Iji let out a mild gasp. "Wh- Really?" Iji stayed silent for a moment, then added, "Actually, now that I think about it… Yeah, that was Norfair. Who would've guessed it?" Satuxim opened his mouth, and Iji quickly corrected herself, "Nevermind, don't answer that question." Satuxim let out a mild chuckle.
Walking around a bit, Satuxim began to notice a pattern of the new section of the Sector. "Hold on, I'll be right back," he said, flying off. Getting a few-dozen feet away, he saw what he was looking for. Gliding back to Iji, landing a couple of feet way, the Angel pointed out, "This may sound a tad morbid, but this part of Sector Z is shaped like a skull. I'm beginning to think that we may be inside someone's imagination, like the logbook earlier said." Iji merely shook her head, not really wanting to think about this place. It was just too weird for her standards, simple as that. Satuxim, on the other hand, had seen much stranger, so he was perfectly willing to invest his thoughts into this place. What does this place mean? What does it represent? Where did it come from? And, in general, just what is this place? He's spend a long time thinking, even after he left this place, that much, at least, is certain for him…
Getting to the bottom of the supposed skull, the two noticed a strange, small cube that flashed rapidly between green and orange. Walking over and putting his hand to it, Satuxim suddenly found himself in an even stranger area; a room of metallic, blue walls, and orange platforms that seemingly hung on nothing. Blue spike balls, which, almost creepily enough, had eyes, stared at him as they spun around their surfaces. Iji teleported in soon after as well, and, seeing what he had, commented, "I swear, this place just keeps getting weirder and weirder…" Again, Satuxim shrugged. "Not my place to judge how this place was made, or who made it. Nor is it yours, methinks."
Jumping past the Spikers, as Satuxim began to call them, shooting when necessary, and being wary of the spikes, the pair eventually ended up at a small alcove, with a similar appearance to the previous Norfair stage. Strolling over to another green and orange cube, they were taken to a room of stone, with purple orbs encased by orange barriers running along the walls. Ignoring them for the most part, they kept on walking and vaulting past the 'enemies', and came to yet another cube, this one taking them to a chrome-colored, large-scale, blocky set of rooms. Robots built seemingly out of pixels, with two protruding 'arms', were floating around. Electing on going right first, the two noticed some suspended green cubes. Seeing as how Iji didn't have the ability to fly, she began jumping across them, as there was no other way to progress for her. Satuxim merely waited on the other side, covering her from the Drones that attempted to float over to her.
After crossing another set of these green blocks, the two came by a logbook, though this one was gray. Picking it up and reading it, Satuxim let out a minute laugh. Handing it over to Iji, she had a different reaction, grimacing a little instead. "It would seem that we weren't the first to get here besides the Tasen," he noted. "Most interesting…" Satuxim took the logbook from Iji and put it back on the floor, and the two went back to the start and headed in the opposite direction. Climbing up more cubes, the companions came to a room, fairly similar to all of the other they came by. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Satuxim, however, widened his eyes a little. "Hah… Double secret. Clever." He flew over to the top-right, punching a hole in the wall to reveal another room. Crouching by the edge of it, holding out his hand. Iji took it, and he hoisted her up, beginning to walk to forward again. At the end of the room was a curious-looking Poster; a pink rabbit with blue eyes, a red smile, and the words 'senast 2001!' writing over and underneath it. Walking over to investigate, words flashed over it, like with the teleporter back in Sector 1: 'This Poster is too epic to unlock! –reallyjoel'. Paying it no heed, he reached over and attempted to decipher it's meaning. "Bah. Makes no sense…" he mumbled. Motioning for Iji to walk out of the room, he did the same. "What was that Poster about?" she inquired. He described it's contents to her. "Yeah… I don't think we're meant to understand it. Probably something pointless, anyways." she agreed. Satuxim then hopped over to the indent in the ceiling, punching a hole in that as well. Iji hopped after him, and the two came by yet another teleporter. Without a word, they both walked in, wondering just what else this enigmatic place had in store for them…