Author's Notes:
Sorry for the slow updates, I guess. Again, there's not much attention going on here, so meh. 'S not exactly a priority for me at the moment…
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 13: Reality
Iji Soundtrack: 3 Cans Later
The two were teleported to a small room with a Crackable box on a table, as well as a hole just wide enough for the both of them to slip out of. Satuxim put her down, leaning her against the table, and said, "Man, you were in over your head, there. You oughtn't let anger blind your judgment." Iji still clutched her stomach uncomfortably, and shouted at Satuxim, "I could've handled it! Why did you step in!?" Satuxim shook his head, as if lecturing a child, and, waving a finger at her, said, "I was like that, once. Way back when, almost a century ago, I thought that I could handle everything, that I was a god. Well… I ran into several near-death situations, one of which actually did end up killing me." Iji gaped a little, and asked, "Then how are you-?" He cut her off. "Yeah… Let's just say that I was proven wrong. And you know what? Just because you're now far more powerful than the average human doesn't mean that the Tasen aren't even more so. And maybe later, I'll explain the circumstances behind that scenario. But not now. We've a job to do, remember?" Iji contemplated this for a moment, before nodding and getting up, apparently getting over her pain by the time Satuxim's short monologue was over with.
Cracking the box in front of them revealed a large batch of Machinegun ammunition, not that they could grab it, which reminded Satuxim of something. "Hey, I grabbed a Rocket Launcher earlier. You want it?" That was a rhetorical question; he just grabbed the Nanogun anyways, and it Assimilated the Rocket Launcher he was holding on to. Tossing it back to Iji, he peeked over the hole, and then told Iji, "Well, we're evidently back to the ledge-climbing area. Either that, or we're just in an eerily similar area." Iji grinned a little at the way he described the area. Crawling into the hole and dropping down, the pair hopped over the ledge and began backtracking to the Security Door. On the way, they noticed that the Commander Satuxim knocked out earlier was still out cold, much to the amusement of the perpetrator of the act.
Going through the Door to the now-explorable area, they were greeted by a wall with yet another glass pane to smash blocking the way. Before that, though, there were two Cyborg Stations Iji invested some Points into, as well as another Nanoweapon Station. Requesting to see what they could make now, Satuxim walked over to it and tried all of the combinations that he could. He tried the one and two slots; 'You got the Buster Gun. In essence, a rapid-fire Shotgun that uses Machinegun ammunition.' He also tried one and three; 'You got Spread Rockets. Though the reload time is a bit longer than the normal Rocket Launcher, it fires three Rockets simultaneously at varying angels.' Trying two and three yielded no results, however, as that apparently wasn't a viable combination. He imagined that it'd be a Rocket Launcher with faster reload time, like the Buster Gun.
Handing it back to Iji, he told her, "Oh, I've added a Buster Gun, which is just a Shotgun with faster reload time, and a Rocket Launcher with Spread Rockets to that, as well. Rocket Launcher is self-explanatory, and Spread Rockets is three at once with varying angles. Iji nodded, a bit shocked as to how fast he managed to Crack her the weapons, and also how her inventory of Nanoweapons has practically doubled. Which also begged the question, "Wait, where did you get the Rocket Launcher?" "Oh, you know, about a minute's worth of walking from the top of the crates to where it was conveniently laying and back. Really, though, why are they leaving so many of these things just lying around? Kind of irresponsible, if you ask me…" "… Huh. A-Anyways, moving on…" "Agreed."
Hopping over the ledge and kicking down the Turret immediately facing them, which knocked a Scout out a dozen feet in front of them without killing it, the two hopped down a shaft and were greeted by a Soldier facing the other way, not noticing that there were two people behind it. Silently walking over to the side that the Soldier wasn't on, they came upon an explosive barrel. Motioning for Iji to stand back, he formed a magical barrier around himself, and punched the barrel, blowing a hole in the wall and revealing a secret passage, as it may have well been. This went unnoticed by the Soldier on the platform above, and it ran over, only to reveal no-one there. Grumbling to itself about those 'damned Crackers,' it went back to lousing around.
Descending the stairs into the room, they came upon a small window, and, to the left there was a small, cyan display. Walking over to it revealed a kill-count, of what they weren't sure of yet. Glancing out the window revealed a large flock of birds, flitting around it for no evident reason. Motioning for Iji to hand over the Nanogun, he used the Machinegun to try shooting one of the birds. One that was done with, he walked over to the display and saw that his kill-count had increased by one. "Yeah, just tracks your kills for the birds outside. Oh, and you may want to check this poster over here out, as well." Iji did as he asked, and she muttered, "Apparently specifications of my Nanofield… Hidden Skills… What are those about…?" She then pushed aside a strand of her hair, and ran a finger along the base of her neck, feeling a small lump on it. A bead of sweat then ran along her face. "What's wrong, Iji?" A brief moment of silence, and then, "Oh… Nothing, really." Satuxim shrugged, and walked over to the display. Since it was serving no actual purpose, he decided to go ahead and Crack it, just for the heck of it. Once he was done, it read, 'Cracked by Satuxim. Raise your Security!' Seeing nothing else present in the room besides these items, Satuxim motioned for Iji to leave with him.
Seeing the wide chasm beneath them, Satuxim asked Iji to get on his back. Using his wings, the two descended slowly, preventing any would-be fall damage. Walking over and punching a hole through the Shield Door to their immediate left, the two came by a Soldier resting against a crate, seemingly sleeping on the job. "Man, these Tasen must be bored witless if the only entertainment they can find is in their dreams." He whispered to Iji. She barely managed to suppress a snicker, and Satuxim walked over to the box and Cracked it open, revealing what appeared to be a green, rectangular container for them to grab. "Probably some type of ammunition," Satuxim said idly. Now walking to the right, they came by yet another box, this one revealing another large chunk of Machinegun ammunition. "Actually… Wait. Let me try something, here. Don't want this to go to waste…" He picked up the bullets, and tossed them into his mouth. A couple of seconds later, he opened his mouth, and they came flying back out. "Well, good to see that worked. Now we won't have to waste piles upon piles of ammo!" Iji looked a little queasy, and Satuxim quickly added, "Oh, yes, and I don't have any innards, so it hasn't gone through anything, nor is it covered in digestive fluids and/or saliva. You may feel a little bit of magical static, though. Just a little." He put it back in 'storage', as it were, and the two moved on.
Iji Soundtrack – Hade Shade
Coming by a ladder, evidently reaching up to the surface, judging by the light, Iji said, "Hey, there's a balcony up there…" Dan's voice spoke out, "Iji, don't go up there." Huh? Why not?" "Because. You're not ready for what's up there yet." "Dan, Iji has a right to know," Satuxim disagreed, taking a surprisingly serious tone to Dan. "She'll have to know eventually, anyways. Might as well just get it over with now." A brief moment of silence from the microphones, and then a disgruntled response from Dan, "… Fine." Satuxim nodded, and gestured for Iji to climb up the ladder. Doing so, she reached the surface and took in a breath of… well, not really fresh air, but outside air, for the first time in over half a year. She smiled a little bit, even if it smiled positively vile out here, until she looked up. What she saw made her gape in shock; "N… No… They're… He… He said there was only one… Oh, no…"