“Relax, it’s dead,” Nori said and pointed at the scorched crater on the alien’s chest. “That looks similar to the wounds the alien ray gun did to the Warped. I guess they weren’t buddies after all.” She pointed at a metal-covered leg. “His boot got caught in the doorway; he probably died while trying to escape.”

Nathan pointed solemnly at the direction the alien was headed for. It looked like a room-sized circular container with a single elliptical door. A console made of light hovered in front of it. The young man moved ahead and touched the console. A chime sounded and the console flickered red.

Nathan looked uncharacteristically annoyed, but then his expression changed. He bent down and picked up a silver item from the floor.

“What do you have there?” Lana looked at the shining item curiously.

Wordlessly, Nathan put the item in her hand. It was narrow and had two extending tongs reaching together into a pointy end. A crossbar extended between the tongs.

Lana reached for the item, her fingers grabbing at the bar.

“Ah!” she cried, dropping it.

“What happened?” Nori asked sharply.

Lana gulped, “It … it grabbed me!”

Nathan bent down, picking the item again and offering it to the tall woman.

As soon as Nori’s fingers wrapped around the item’s grip, two more tongs extended from the flat side of the items, gently securing it to her arm. A message flashed across Nori’s eyes.

Disruptor, Rank: F5 (Prerequisite: level 5)

“It's a weapon,” Nori examined it closer. The grip was a bit large for her hand, but it was nearly weightless, so she had no problem wielding it with one hand. Nori tested its balance, aiming the pointed end over the walls then frowned. “There’s no trigger.”

Nathan made a gripping motion and Lana nodded. “You probably have to be level five to use it.”

“Just my luck,” Nori muttered and tucked the Disruptor into her belt. Then she bent down next to the corpse and studied it carefully.

“What are you doing?” Lana's voice rose by an octave when she saw the taller woman reaching toward the body.

“Looking for something we can use. Some sort of alien tech or maybe even this thing’s car keys.

Her fingers lightly brushed against the corpse. A stream of light flowed from the body and into her arms.

Nori gasped and snapped her arm back, breaking the flow of light.

“What happened?” Lana asked with a touch of panic. “What was that light?”

Nori took in a steadying breath. “I’m not sure. I received several text messages when I touched it. It caught me off guard.” She closed her eyes and concentrated and the messages flashed again in front of her eyes.

Inthidlon, Level 6, Dead

Tec extraction commencing

Divide to party members?

“Well?” Lana said.

“It looks like ...” Nori furrowed her brow. “The dead alien was level 6, and I’m being offered the Tec he contained.”