It Came From Outer Space (Mira-Charma13 and Dip)

Mira-Charma13 · Jan 31, 2017

Though Zim's antennae drooped back to their normal stiffness once the human's flesh left his, his posture suddenly became riddled with tension. A million thoughts as ridiculous as they were improbable surged through his glorious head. Did he do something wrong? Did he make the Dib uncomfortable? Should he have pulled away first, or would that have only made things worse? It wasn't until he bothered to glance at the Earth creature that he realized that he meant no ill will by rescinding the touch and finally relaxed.

...This was going to be a nuisance, wasn't it? The Tallest knew better than anyone else how very different humans and Irkens were. Their customs. Their beliefs. Their behaviors, mannerisms, and viewpoints. All these mixed signals...Zim wasn't entirely certain how he should be handling it.

"Suck it up!" was Zim's simple and cheerful response to Dib. "This is also good practice for the Head Surgeon. He has yet to be properly tested on how to treat a potentially serious issue cropping up in a human body." Dib was gracious enough to bring all of those helpful books on human health and anatomy, as well as a vial of his blood to be used for testing purposes, so Zim hoped that Bohemian was doing his homework. It was a vital part of his job, as the Tallest explained during the Council meeting where he chose the next Head Surgeon.

GIR giggled when Dib tried to move and escape from his grasp in the process. He waited until the human locked eyes with him before releasing his grip, beaming up at him. Zim watched the exchange with one antenna perked. "Do you want Zim to come with you? I don't necessarily have to be here, looking over stuff, at the moment. The Irken Armada is perfectly capable of storming a planet and calming a rebellion by itself." Initially the Irkens in the Bridge seemed shocked and annoyed that their leader would dare to abandon them during such a critical time...but the following praise was both surprising and pleasing to them.

"If not..." Zim shrugged his shoulders and turned his back on Dib, staring blankly at the nearest wall. "Take GIR with you." He tried not to let the human see just how eager he was to get out of this stuffy Bridge and ditch the Royal Guards, who were still far too close to him for comfort. It was unprofessional to want to abandon his duties at a time like this.

Not that he really cared all that much about the public's opinion of him by this point. They already loathed him. They already took him far less seriously than they did the two former Almighty Tallest. What did he care? If there was some kind of emergency they would get in contact with him anyway--it was a simple matter of contacting him via his work tablet or his PAK. Then again, he was infamous for blatantly ignoring calls from his underlings...especially if he was occupied with a more favorable thing.

Truth be told, he would much rather accompany the Dib. Not because he was worried, but because he figured that the two of them would have more fun that way. GIR seemed to pick up on this sentiment, because he began jumping up and down eagerly. "Let's all go together! We can get Moosey on the way!"

"It is up to the human, GIR."

"Yes, really." Salsa squinted disapprovingly at the little fireball of an Irken. "Now calm yourself."

"Oh, let him be." Jazz sounded perfectly cheerful. "It's not every day that we get to go on an exciting mission like this. We're planetary investigators, after all." Salsa grunted, but held his tongue. Jazz did get to go on some fantastic mission nearly every month. He left with a select group of senior IR members to meet with the Resisty in private. Not that he was about to say that out loud, of course...many PIT members were also IR members, but Ceedid was not one of them.

Jazz waited patiently for everyone else to settle down before taking a deep breath. "Trillian? You are in charge of the PIT while I'm gone." Ordinarily Salsa was placed in charge of the Planetary Investigation Team while Jazz wasn't there...but Salsa would also be occupied. Several Irken members of the PIT seemed to recoil with that news. A Vortian? In charge of them? Jazz didn't so much as blink. "I suggest we use my personal Shuuver." A Shuuver was a medium-sized Irken ship, on the smaller side, with no windshield to the outside--images of the world around it were instead fed to the Bridge through live camera feeds. It was an odd choice for a personal ship, especially for such a high-ranking Irken, due to its small size. But Shuuvers were also notoriously quick and maneuverable.

"Okay, then!" Skoodge stood up a little straighter. "You'd better get to a room with great reception and set up, Salsa. We'll only take off once you're ready." "Fine." The fiery Irken rose from his seat, an Irken burrito in hand, and gracefully sauntered out of the room. Jazz motioned to Skoodge and Ceedid, following in Salsa's footsteps. "This way. We'll pick up some useful items from the Armory on our way to the Hangar."

"We should sneak in after the rest of the Armada makes a perimeter around Damogran." The ships would stand side by side, as close as possible, and prevent any stragglers from escaping--though there would be enough room for Jazz's Shuuver to slide right by around the Massive. "Everyone will be fighting then. The aliens will be distracted by our troops." "Do you have the coordinates for Invader Tak's base?" "Of course I do!" Skoodge sounded almost offended that Jazz would even ask him that question. "I'm not the Tallest's glorified secretary for nothing!" Jazz openly laughed, though it wasn't in a mocking manner, as the rotund Irken whipped out his work tablet and sent the coordinates to the awaiting Shuuver.

The Armory was a short walk from the Cafeteria. Two burly Irken Guards were stationed there, but they immediately shuffled to the side when they saw Jazz. Jazz disappeared inside. He was still clad in his official armor, which was blue to suit his tastes, so all he bothered to pick up were a few fancy gadgets. Skoodge grabbed a device that delivered a nonlethal shock, so that they could stun their enemies without killing them as per the Tallest's official orders.

Jazz's Shuuver stood out like a beacon in the Hangar. It was blue, of course, and boasted several unique Irken Insignia decals. "Who wants to drive?" "Uh, not me." Skoodge was never the best pilot. He was a fantastic Invader, but his piloting skills were never that great. He had to take his piloting exam several times back on Devastis before passing it. "Ceedid?" Jazz offered, opening up the side panel and strolling in. "It's a bit larger than the average Shuuver, but it handles like a dream."

"We should try to land just outside the base, but out of view," Skoodge piped up all of a sudden. "We don't want to be seen, if possible. We should try to sneak in and retrieve Invader Tak." "I'll send her a message via her PAK when we're close enough," Jazz suggested. "If she's able to, she should meet us halfway."

Just as Jazz and Skoodge pushed their way into the Shuuver, the top panel on Jazz's PAK popped open and a holographic screen appeared in front of his face. "Set up," Salsa revealed as simply as he could. He was in the PIT's Planetarium, where the signal was strong. "All right. Use covert communications from here on out." The screen disappeared and the panel shifted closed. Instead a text-based signal was sent to all three of their PAKs, appearing as a line of words in the upper left portion of their vision.

>Is this better? Just speak. I can hear anything you say.<

"Much better," Skoodge confirmed. "We can take off now, I assume?"

>Hurry up. I haven't got all day.<

"Friendly, aren't ya?"[/hr]

Dip · Jan 31, 2017

Dib was probably the most awkward person when it came to anything that involved physical contact. Dib was a sweaty, nervous, anxious, awkward ball of blood vessels and internal organs. The very thought of romance churned his stomach and made his palms sweaty. Maybe he was repulsed by the idea of love, and that's what caused violent bodily reactions... but it seemed that everyone (or, well, everyone that he had seen on any sort of romantic comedy) experienced that in one way, shape, or form.

Dib's experience with infatuation was minimal, to none at all. He had a few violent crushes in the past, but nothing lasting too long. These are 'violent' because they happened suddenly, hitting him like a brick wall, leaving him unable to act correctly or even function properly. The feeling, much like how it had come, soon vanished in an instant, and he was back to his normal self once more.

But these feelings that Dib was experiencing with Zim were... the same and different at the same time. How could that possibly be? Dib had hated him so violently in the past and worked hard in spite of the alien, but now he absolutely thrived in his presence, talking non-stop about this thing, that thing, and the other thing. He was fine at certain points, but the feelings likened to infatuation hit him like waves. Dib would never admit this publicly, but he often found himself playing back words or phrases that the Irken spoke. He did this only on occasion, because if he did that more often, there would be no hope in himself functioning.

"But now that the Dib is here, Zim feels...well, not alone anymore. He feels welcome and happy again.", "Zim needs the Dib to function properly. And the Dib needs Zim to function properly.", "We are two halves of a whole, we work better when we are together, even if we are working against each other.", "You deserve better than that stupid ball of dirt.", "The Dib is here. And Zim doesn't feel quite so lonely anymore." And lastly, his favorite phrase, "Why would I bother tossing one of the only creatures that has ever mattered to me into space after I spent six Earth months traveling to some far-flung area of the Known Universe just to fetch him?"

Dib sighed. He would not suck it up! He hated going to the Head Surgeon's office. It was so... sterile there. Impossibly sterile. Not sterile in the good way, it was just way too clean. It wasn't anything against Bohemian, it was just his first experiences within the Medical wing that haunted and chilled him to the core. Dib doubted that anything serious would happen inside his body for the time being, but if it made Zim happy, he would do as the alien Monarch said and 'suck it up'.

The human turned soft-brown eyes towards the alien as he spoke about tagging along. Zim answered his own question about how he wasn't entirely needed, but it still felt wrong somehow. He hadn't visited Bohemian alone before, and Dib could tell that there was certain hesitations that perked up when the Tallest was around. If the President of the United States watched Dib perform a surgery, there would definatly be some hesitations within himself, aswell! As much as he wanted to see Bohemian work unporvoked...

He really did enjoy Zim's company.

The human felt like he owed him a bit, aswell, seeing as he nearly gave the Irken a heart attack. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have Zim tag along and hear from the doctor that everything was alright. His thoughts were only confirmed when GIR insisted that the whole gang comes along. Dib shrugged, and nodded his head, giving Zim both a visual and a physical sign of approval. "Come on, let's go. I might change before I get down there, so I could meet you in the Medical wing?"

He somehow knew that the Irken wouldn't approve of Dib pit-stopping for a snack on the way, so he figured it would be best to sneak a snack in while he was 'changing'.

Ceedid crossed his arms triumphantly over himself when the head commander told Salsa what was what. It wasn't every day that he got to do something like this! Infact, it was quite rare in the Irken's case. Due to his size, he had a hard time standing out amongst his peers, but when it was his time to shine, he shined brightly.

The Vortian turned to see Jazz, and smirked gently as he was promoted in absence. He nodded, sipping the broth of his stew happily. He bowed his head gently, accepting the position boost. It wasn't like they had very much to do anyway, so Trillian was nothing but an over-expirenced Nanny. No one would dare mess with the Nanny, and that was a good thing for Tril.

Ceedid took it upon himself to leave his tray. Thanfully, it was nearly empty, so Trillian simply installed the power to remove it for the small Irken. The Irken in question followed the small team, eagerly awaiting the massive weapons room. He had been in there a few times, and knew exactly what he was going to arm himself with.

While his favorite weapons killed or maimed anyone within range... that didn't mean he couldn't take one or two, right? Just as protection? He knew of a few stun-guns that had saved his hide a few times, and maybe he could find a few technological disabling lasers from Trillian's personal stash. He would just have to do some digging when he finally found himself at the destination.

Once inside the Armory, the small Irken saw the familiar Shuuver in question. When asked about a pilot, Ceedid held his tongue. He wanted to have both of his leaders come to a conclusion before he threw himself out there. This was very unusual for Ced, but it was something that he did when he wanted some form of attention or recognition. When Jazz mentioned the smaller Irken at last, he happily and eagerly took the position.

Ceedid was a careful pilot, and he was someone who took any job he was given very seriously. While Dib did hate his guts, he had made a good pick.

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 1, 2017

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Zim can meet you there. Just take GIR with you." The tiny SIR instantly jumped up and down, silently demanding that the human scoop him up into his arms. For some reason this brilliant piece of Irken technology absolutely loved to be carried and cuddled like a squishy little Earth baby. And yet...that cuddly metal baby would instantly rear up and attack if there was a serious threat to Dib's life.

Just last week a particularly pushy Irken tried to corner the human and the SIR in one of the hallways, looking for a fight. It would have been an unfair fight because Dib did not have his custom-built PAK yet and Zim was not with him (he was stuck in a Council meeting at the time, bored out of his mind). So when the Irken drew too close...GIR sat up straight on the human's shoulders, every blue panel on his body shifting to that violent crimson, and shot deadly lasers out of his eyes, striking the attacking Irken.

The poor thing's clothing was summarily set on fire, and he was forced to limp to the Medical Wing naked--much to the delight of his numerous colleagues wandering through the halls. It was the second time GIR actively defended Dib from what could have easily been a lethal attack, the first being the incident with the late Serloz. He seemed to really like Dib. It was obvious when he stopped calling him Dib altogether about a month ago and instead only called him by nicknames. That was true love right there--GIR only gave nicknames to people he really liked!

When Zim found out about the incident, he rewarded his loyal SIR unit with a few generous pounds of Irken sweets...which in hindsight probably wasn't the wisest idea. The unpredictable robot left an impressive path of destruction in his hyperactive wake as he barreled through the Massive.

"I will head straight for the Medical Wing," Zim murmured, reaching up to rub at one of his eyes with his long, spidery fingers. "I am in dire need of a recharge. I can recharge while the Head Surgeon examines you. So...meet me in the Head Surgeon's office. You already have clearance to enter the Medical Wing, but just throw a fit and ask for me if they give you any trouble." Non-Irkens were sometimes accosted trying to enter semi-restricted areas, such as the Medical Wing, without an Irken escort. This issue would be resolved once the Dib received his own PAK, but for now it was just an inconvenient thing he would have to deal with.

The Tallest pushed past his Royal Guards, who were quick to scramble well out of his way, and once again held them apart to make a path for the human. "Go on, then. Meet Zim in the Head Surgeon's office." He did sound awfully tired. His usual spunk was nowhere to be found, and while that could be partially blamed on his 'broken' state it could also be blamed on his exhaustion. With a large and rather dramatic yawn, the Irken monarch lazily hovered out of the Bridge. He seemed unsteady on his feet even though he was hovering and would often lean to one side or the other.

Zim had a long day. He deserved a nice long rest to make up for it, too! But he would have to settle for recharging for now. He couldn't afford to close his eyes while all this hubbub was going on, lest another disaster rear its big ugly head to taunt him!

Ceedid was lucky that he had a Tallest who knew just what it was like to be very, very short. Zim rarely discriminated against other Irkens based on height (though he did seem to hate all of them for other reasons). Skoodge, one of the smallest Irkens in the entire Empire, was practically the second-in-command on the Irken Empire! If Zim had it his way, there would be no height restrictions for jobs unless the restrictions were physically necessary--Irken Guards and Slave Drivers had to be a certain height because they were in charge of standing tall and protecting things.

But, of course, Zim could never have things his way. Not completely, at least. The Control Brains pulled the strings, and they were the ones behind the discriminatory height laws. Sooner or later things would come to a head between the Control Brains and the Almighty Tallest. Jazz just hoped that before that time came the Tallest would be on their side.

As soon as the tiny Irken took his offered seat the coordinates to Tak's Invader Base popped up on the mainscreen. Jazz didn't bother sitting down and strapping himself in, though the ever-cautious Skoodge certainly did. "Wait for the ships to get in formation and then get us down there. Park it out of sight and we'll sneak in. You're the smallest, no offense, so it may be harder for the enemy to spot you. I suggest you take the lead. Skoodge, you can take the middle position."

"Why?"

"So I can be last," Jazz explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I am much larger than the two of you. I stick out. So...if one of us is going to be caught, it will most likely be me. I can fend for myself. But the two of you should move first, so that you don't get spotted with me. I can hold off the enemy while you rescue our cornered Invader."

"That's, uh...noble of you."

"Why, thank you."

Skoodge squinted sourly in the PIT Commander's direction, but Jazz pointedly ignored the unsavory stare. "We need to get in and get out quickly. Rescuing the Invader is top priority. We should also salvage the SIR unit if we can." SIRs cost a small fortune to build and losing one would be a blow, though a minor one, during this time of war. "Any information or equipment Invader Tak deems too important to lose should also be salvaged if possible. But we should focus on extracting the Invader. She's in trouble and likely needs immediate medical attention. I have limited medical experience, but it may be enough to help."

"I have medical experience," Skoodge piped up. "I worked as a Medic for a short time. I never got past Trainee status, but I still have some skills leftover from that time."

"Our combined meager skills will have to do." Jazz sounded uncertain. If Tak was at death's door by the time they reached her, there was a good chance that she wouldn't survive the bumpy trip back to the Massive's Medical Wing. That would be unfortunate, to say the least. She was a prime candidate for Jazz's Irken Resistance scouting program. He believed that she was Defective, though he had no definitive proof, and was planning on offering her a place in the Resistance if her Defective nature outweighed her loyalty to the Control Brains.

Just as the Head Advisor and the PIT Commander went silent, the Armada ships moved in. They blanketed planet Damogran like a second, much thicker atmosphere. Irkens began raining down from the sky like meteors, striking the ground and instantly going to battle. Some of them were on foot and others were in specialized mechs and vehicles. As per their Tallest's orders they tried to incapacitate and not annihilate, but it proved difficult for some of them to restrain themselves. They did outnumber the native species, though, which was staggering.

"The ships are in position," Skoodge noted, his antennae perking. "Let's get moving!"[/hr]

Dip · Feb 1, 2017

Dib had come to expect the tone of the alien to never change. He would describe it as pissed, with a hint of... some other inhuman emotion threw in there just for good measure. He never found any better way to describe it other than Zim-like. It was an amazing revelation that Zim was very Zim-like, but there was just no other way to describe it! Zim was an Irken all his own. Dib nodded in response to the other and looked down at the Irken software.

He scooped up the robot, per the usual, and held him less than gracefully for only a beat. He readjusted the squirming robot until he was cradling him like a baby. True, Dib never held a baby before in his life, but he assumed that's how regular people held children. Dib, when he was younger, never held Gaz. Mostly because Gaz never let him, but partly because the young boy didn't think that he'd do a good job at it.

Children made Dib uncomfortable. Children crying, that was even worse. There seemed to be a lot of things that made the human squirm and recoil away, but those two things were tied for first place at the top of his long list. Dib held the robot with one arm and kept his other hand free for whatever he may need. The human began a mental litany of things he needed to do before the day was done. He knew for a fact that he needed to collect his bag and laptop, but he was sure that he wouldn't be able to run and change, grab a snack, run all the way down to the Hangars, and back to the Medical Wing without getting caught by the big bag Zim himself.

Maybe if he took the short cut that he learned from Ceedid, he would be able to collect everything in a timely manner. He could stop by the Cafeteria on his way to his room, too, before he changed. He felt almost naked without his technology, but he could manage for just a little while longer. He knew how much GIR strayed from the path anyway, so the human taking a field trip with the robot was an incentive for straying away!

Dib nodded when the alien nearly dismissed him with a yawn. Dib walked down the bridge, and without too much help, made it back to his room in a timely manner. Dib pushed his way through the door with his free hand and set GIR down on the closest thing that he could find, which just so happened to be his rather messy computer desk. Dib had made it to the computer would automatically unlock the door if Dib was within ten feet of it, and lock it back up when he was less than ten feet for farther away. He had an awful habit of leaving the doors to his house unlocked, but his room always stayed locked no matter what.

Plus, Dib couldn't be bothered to remember a pair of keys. This was just the easiest option. Retinal scans weren't Dib's favorite, and he would rather keep his depleating eyesight in check for as long as he possibly could. The human wouldn't mention this to Zim, but he could slowly feel his eyes working harder and harder. Perhaps it was the change in gravity, or maybe Dib was just changing, but he wasn't entirely sure what it meant. He would have gone over the issue by himself with the use of his textbooks, but he had given nearly every last one to Bohemian.

Who wouldn't? Bohemian was the only doctor that would even come close to the human, so he wanted to make sure that the doctor did a damn good job at treating anything that might harm him. Dib slipped off his trench coat as he walked towards his closet to pick out a new combo of clothing. He took a pair of basic black pants (which had somehow managed to gain a hole in both of his knees. These were the pants that he wore when he fell from a rather large pine tree in an attempt to view a rather strange and paranormal cryptid) and an ugly tourist-like sweater from Roswell, New Mexico.

Dib collected the clothing and a pair of socks. The human was going to tell GIR not to touch anything, but it seemed like it was a little late for that. Dib walked himself around books, and made his way into his Irken-equivalent of a bathroom. It didn't take long for Dib to change, and he was glad when he did. The suit fit him perfectly, but it had hardly any breathing room. He felt like he had shed a second skin, and it felt wonderful. Dib exited the bathroom with his new clothes on, and his space-suit hanging limply on a hanger. He would have to wash it soon, but... he didn't know how.

For now, it was fine just hanging up.

"Hey GIR," Dib started. "Wanna play a game?" He smirked. "The game's called, 'Mary and GIR Run Around the Massive to Get Mary's Stuff Together Before He Goes to See Bohemian and Zim'. How does that sound? There are no losers in this game, and the winners get to go to the Hangars and the Food Court for snacks." Dib tried.

Dib scooped up the rambuncious collection of wires and metal, and held him like a child again as he made his decision. As much as he wanted to just procrastinate his doctor's visit, he kenw that the Almighty Tallest would absolutely kill him. Dib didn't want to leave him waiting either, but... Dib just wanted a soda, chips, and a burrito! Was that too much to ask? His laptop was a must have, but he felt that no one would go snooping inside his newly-personalized Spittle Runner.

Ceedid took a few seconds to look over the coordinates, and he memorized them accordingly. One thing that the small Irken was good at was memorizing things, which helped him when it came time to learn new languages and deciphering forgien code. He mouthed the corrdinates, rolling the numbers around in his mouth as he did so. Ceedid was tight in his set, and unlike the human pilot, he made sure to buckle up.

He had a bad run-in or two when it came to not buckling up. Because he was so small, he was tossed around so easily. Ceedid perked an antennae Jazz's way as he spoke, dividing his attention two ways. He smirked wickedly as the other finished. He was going to lead them?! ALL BY HIMSELF?!? Ceedid didn't dare speak, as it might distract his piloting. The look on his face was enough for anyone to know that he was one-hundred percent okay with everything that was happening.

Ceedid watched as the squadrants of ships moved in, like a highly coreographed dance. It was an amazing demonstration of the Irken powers, to say the least. It made Ced proud to be an Irken, and it made him all the more excited to serve for Irk. Ceedid took Skoodge's advice, and moved in. He was excited!

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 1, 2017

Children also made Zim uncomfortable--the human variety, that was Human children were stupid and smelly and unnecessarily loud. They spoke in a strange babbling language that rubbed him in all the wrong ways. Their crying was piercing and grating. They puked and spewed other bodily fluids constantly, wherever they went. But for some inexplicable reason...human babies seemed to love Zim. Whenever he deigned to take a bus or walk on foot somewhere, babies and toddlers alike paid special attention to him. Of course, GIR was always there to deflect attention--he loved human babies! But they made Zim extremely uncomfortable. He knew he couldn't physically attack them if they drew too close, so he whenever he spotted one coming he usually ran for it.

To this day he still had no idea what attracted them to him!

Irken smeets were a bit different. They never went through a stage where they mindlessly babbled, or couldn't eat solid foods, or couldn't walk on their own. They could walk, talk, and eat an entire Irken burrito as soon as they received their PAKs! In that regard they instantly transformed into the equivalent of a human five year-old. There was no true 'baby' stage. It was unusual, even on a Universal scale--even the Meekrob had to raise their young to a certain age before they were able to fend for themselves. An Irken smeet could be cast out on its own a week after hatching and would probably survive.

As far as how Zim felt about them...well...Dib would probably be shocked to learn that he secretly adored Irken smeets!

GIR snuggled up against the human's chest, purring like a content kitten, and settled down for the journey. He was quiet, for the most part, during the trip, though he did pipe up every once in a while in his typical merry manner.

"That guy has a funny-looking head!"

"Wanna watch Disney movies with me and Moosey later?"

"I wanna go to Foodcourtia. We're close by now, so we can go there anytime."

"Master probably gonna go on vacation soon. Wanna come along?"

Zim took several vacations an Earth year. In fact he was long overdue for a nice, relaxing vacation. He held off because until just recently the Armada was so far off from everything else in the Known Universe. Now that they were smack-dab in the middle of civilization again, things would start to change. The Resisty aside, no other foreign ships passed by the Massive in the past two and a half months. That would change now. The original estimate of six months to reach planet Irk was probably much less now. Tourist attractions would start to crop up (and Zim would gladly stop at each and every one for the Dib's sake).

Of course, that brought up another issue--Irken monies. Zim had yet to explain the monetary system of his species. Almost every necessity on the Massive was provided to Irkens for free. There were special items that had to be purchased with Irken monies. Now that the Armada wasn't on its own in a part of the Universe that was rarely traveled, Irken monies would become infinitely more important.

The tiny SIR's eyes snapped open when he was set down gently and he stood there patiently with his little arms folded behind his back, watching as the human gathered his things. Zim would, of course, worry if he found out about the Earth creature's diminishing eyesight...but he would propose a simple solution. Ocular implants. Custom ocular implants, that was. Run-of-the-mill ocular implants were crafted with Irken eyes in mind. Human eyes and Irken eyes were vastly different. Perhaps Bohemian could work with some of the scientists below to craft custom implants for the human?

GIR seemed to be behaving while the human was present, but as soon as he slipped into the bathroom that all changed. When Dib emerged from the bathroom in fresh clothing GIR was rolling around and giggling, making a burrito of himself with the Earth creature's blankets. He did immediately jump up and stand at attention when Dib spoke, however, his entire face lighting up. "I like games! I wanna get Moosey, though. He likes games, too!"

As if on cue, something soft and squishy bumped against Dib's bedroom door and squeaked in the process.

"I want nachos," GIR declared happily. "Imma share them with Moosey." He was so easily pleased.

>Watch the Massive.<

Salsa's words of warning were well-timed. The hulking monster of a ship was in the process of turning as they sped by it. Getting hit by the Massive would disintegrate Jazz's Shuuver and immediately kill all three of them. The Massive was a lethal weapon even when it wasn't on the attack! Jazz watched as it passed by in the camera feeds and didn't relax until they were out of the danger zone. "You know, I think I had a nightmare once about being crushed by the Massive."

"I have nightmares about being eaten by a Hogulus."

"The Almighty Tallest told us about that Hobo 13 debacle once."

"Oh, it's been more than once," Skoodge huffed, folding his arms across his thick chest. Jazz chuckled lightly. The way the Tallest and Skoodge behaved with each other was almost indicative of the way Irken mates behaved, but even Jazz knew that the feelings between the two of them never ran that deep. They were far too different. Their fights rarely seemed playful and were always serious. There was no love there. Only friendship, and respect. That didn't stop less attentive Irkens from speculating, though!

By the time the Shuuver broke through the atmosphere, the battle was already in full swing. Irken mechs stomped left and right, scooping the fleeing alien species into cages and corralling them into pens. One resourceful team of Irken soldiers cornered a group of them between two enormous cliffs and managed to take them all into custody. It was difficult for all of them to hold back that killer instinct their species was infamous for, and there would inevitably be some casualties until Damogran officially surrendered to the might of the Irken Armada.

Skoodge was quick to unbuckle himself as they landed. "So, I go second, right?" "That's right. And I'll bring up the rear." Jazz's long antennae twitched. "Lead the way, Ced. Salsa? How are we looking as far as enemies go?"

>The entire place is surrounded.< Salsa brought up a thermal image of the area around Tak's Invader Base, which was almost in shambles. There were a countless number of enemies, though some of them seemed to be filing out as the fighting picked up elsewhere. >You might be able to sneak in around the back, through the ventilation system. And once you're in, you should be able to make contact with Invader Tak. Just use the same covert messaging style I'm using right now, just in case she's been captured.<

"You should probably do that if you can, Ced," Jazz suggested. "You'll pick up on her signal first. And once you've established a signal we can all join in the call."[/hr]

Dip · Feb 3, 2017

Dib, on the way to the room, did chime in with some answers to the plethora of questions that the Irken SIR unit asked.

"Yeah... You're right. His head is pretty funny-looking."

Truth be told, Dib had never actually taken the time to watch a Disney movie. "Sure!" Bambi was about a fox and a sleeping Princess who ate honey and said 'bother', right?

"Wait... there's a planet that's literally just a foodcourt...?"

"Zim can take vacations from his job? He can do that?" Well, that wasn't really all that surprising. It seemed that Zim was always taking vacations in one form or the other, whether it be him dumping his workload on the other Irkens or simply avoiding his work at all costs. Dib wondered if he would be allowed to do the same, but he knew what the answer was: if Zim said he could, he could. As much as he didn't like all of the special treatment he got, one of the things he did enjoy was basically getting away with almost anything.

It was partly because he was a foreigner, that he could get away with so much. The first time he met Jazz, he had called him by his first name, which rubbed quite a few Irkens the wrong way. He, at first, hated addressing the Tallest by his first name around others, mostly because people seemed to get enraged. He never called him 'Tallest' before, either, because that was just... weird. Way too weird.

Dib dressed himself rather quickly, and came back to the other making himself into a burrito-- well, more like a purrito, seeing as the SIR unit had a habit of purring much like a cat. It was easy to get the other to agree with Dib, and that was just what he wanted. He heard the soft thunk against his door, and decided that the three would have to run around together. It was an all or nothing deal with GIR and Minimoose, but it didn't bother Dib all that much.

The only thing that really did bug him was that one wrong move, and the whole Massive could explode. He would appease the Minimoose.

It was settled! The game would be played, and Dib would win it through a three-way tie. The human slowly pushed his way out of the room with one free hand, as his other one was currently cradling GIR. The human spent plenty of time making sure not to hit Minimoose on the other side of the door as he opened it. As soon as he saw the cute little death-ball, he closed his eyes, and walked quickly down the hall. He needed to get everything done as fast as possible, so he wouldn't piss Zim off for the second time that day.

The human managed to speed-walk to the food court in record time. He nearly placed GIR onto the ground unattended, before he recalled what had happened last time Dib left GIR alone around massive piles of food. Dib walked towards one of the tables, and grabbed the nachos that GIR wanted to share. He handed them to the electric ball of energy, and made his way over to another food table.

It was relatively easy to get his food and get out, because most of the Massive's population was off defending it's prized Invader Tak. Dib placed GIR on the ground as soon as they were some ways away from the cafeteria, and he began unwrapping his burrito as he spoke. "Ooookay," He said, taking a quick bite. It was like heaven on Earth-- er, more like heaven on Irk. "So, we did part one of three for our game. We got the food. Mission accomplished." He spoke between small bites and sips of his soda. "Now, we have to set plan two into motion: running to the Hangars. For... stuff. And things of that nature."

The stuff and things of nature he was talking about were his cables, laptop, and backpack. He could do without his cables for now, mostly because he didn't want someone to catch him fiddling with a Spittle Runner after being thoroughly thrashed by the Almighty Tallest, and because he didn't really want to reconnect everything once he was ready to pilot again. The Hangar trip was almost as quick as the trip to the food court, thanks to Ceedid for showing Dib the rather short way there.

Truth be told, he had only gotten lost in the slightest degree. He managed to realize his mistake, and he backtracked rather quickly. The backpack he had was still within the space of the Spittle Runner, and it was a simple task to unhook his laptop from the cables. He looked over the cockpit, and realized that maybe Zim had every right to be nervous. The entire left side was nearly collapsed into itself, and there was still dried blood on the windshield of the Runner. Other than that, there seemed to be nothing absolutely alarming, but there was plenty to be concerned with.

Dib zipped his bag tight, pulling it over his arms quickly. Her had managed to finish his burrito on the way to the Hangar, and now he was just left with a small bag of chips and a half-empty soda-bottle. Dib popped open the chips as he spoke to GIR once more. "Part two of three is completed. We got the-- uh, the stuff, and things of that nature, and now we just have to go to the Medical wing!" This game wouldn't take as long as he thought! He would be a few minuets late, and sure, this might make Zim mad only slightly, but at least he had all his shit together.

Onward, they pushed.

Ceedid knew exactly what he was doing. He had maneuvered past the large mothership with the utmost of ease, and slid himself through the atmosphere. The battle below was just... beautiful. In all honesty, Ceedid wanted nothing more than to be a soldier. Not an Invader, with a lust for conquering anything and everyone, byt he always knew that his heart lied on the battle field.

But sadly, his height seemed to be the biggest leading factor in his inability to fight on behalf of Irk. His eyes watched every move the Damogran people made, and they were graceful in their way of fighting. They had an advantage, and that was flying and swimming, but that didn't stop the proud warrior race from suppressing and suffocating them.

Ceedid landed just as carefully as he had flown, and unbuckled himself. He listened to what the firey Irken had to say, and nodded. He would have a chance to finally prove himself as an Irken soldier, and he was ready. The enemies would be nothing hard. While they could fly, they were very tall beings, and the short stature of the leading Irken would prove helpful for diving under foes.

Ceedid did as he was told, and led the way to victory.

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 7, 2017

"It's a food paradise!" GIR chirped happily. "Lotsa places ta eat and stuff! Doesn't have any of the Earth food I like, though, and that makes me sad." The food on Earth was one of the things GIR loved the most about it, tied handily with Earth television and followed closely by Earth animals. GIR spent the majority of his early life on Earth and grew up around Earth customs, so even though he was first activated on planet Conventia, planet Earth was like his home planet, too.

"Master goes to lots of places. He likes Resortia. Lots of ocean! Lots of islands! Tropical! Nice!" The little antenna on GIR's head bounced excitedly. "And...! Gamelandia. Lots of video games from all over the Universe! Also when he can, likes to go...um..." Those large turquoise eyes squinted. "...What he call it again? Incognito. Ditches his guard-people and leaves with just me and Moosey in disguise." That was extremely dangerous for a polarizing Universal figure such as Zim. There were many creatures in the Known Universe that would just love to get their hands on the Almighty Tallest. Many enemies of the Irken Empire. It was even more worrying due to the fact that most Irkens were not that skilled when it came to disguising themselves.

Zim was playing a dangerous game, running off without protection. If he wasn't careful and his true identity was uncovered...it could easily be the end of him.

For the most part GIR and Minimoose were quiet as they traveled with Dib to the Cafeteria. GIR snoozed while Minimoose floated along behind the two of them, that familiar dopey expression on his face. It seemed as if Dib wasn't the only one who secretly feared Minimoose. The few remaining Irkens and non-Irkens who passed by them in the hallways gave the pudgy little death machine a generously wide berth, not wanting to draw too close or agitate him.

Maybe that was why most of them stood idly by even when they disagreed with their Tallest. They were afraid of being blown up.

GIR immediately accepted the nachos, but he didn't eat them right away. He instead snagged a bowl as Dib walked by a stack of them and split the nachos evenly between their original container and the bowl. He held the bowl out and dropped it. It stopped short of falling right in front of Minimoose, who cheerfully began to chow down on his share. Not only was he a weapon of mass destruction, but he also possessed other abilities. He could deliver crushing electric shocks, see through walls, and apparently could also cause objects to levitate at will (that wasn't so surprising, considering that he was eternally floating).

When GIR was placed on the floor, he immediately clambered up onto Minimoose's back. The two of them floated around as a unit, both contently digging in to their nachos. GIR briefly lifted his face from his food when Dib claimed that one part of the mission was complete. His eyes and the panels on his body flashed crimson and he saluted the human. "Mission, part one, complete!" The intense color was quick to fade and the SIR returned to his nachos.

By the time the motley trio reached the Hangar, GIR was already finished with his nachos. He sat cross-legged atop Minimoose, humming to himself as he watched the human gather his things. Minimoose finished by the time Dib managed to grab everything he needed. GIR had already eaten the disposable container the nachos came in--he could eat almost anything, after all--but because he couldn't eat the hard bowl he instead studied it for a moment and then chucked it into the nearest trash can.

"Mission, part two, complete!" GIR echoed in that authoritative voice. Minimoose squeaked in response. That got the two of them going, and during the trip to the Medical Wing they babbled back and forth to each other. GIR prattled on about a variety of things, including which Disney movie he wanted to watch, how much he missed Earth pizza, and how many pretty planets he'd seen in the past couple of days.

It was oddly quiet in the Medical Wing. Which was strange, as Zim was supposed to be there...and Zim was rarely quiet. The reason for the silence became apparent quickly. In Bohemian's office, Zim was sitting down and had his PAK hooked up to a recharging station. Three thick wires from the station snaked into the open panels on his PAK and pulsed with energy. And...Zim was also fast asleep. Curled up in a comfortable chair, antennae twitching as he dreamed, it seemed as if he'd fallen asleep waiting for Dib. He must have been exhausted this whole time, and the stress the human caused him only exacerbated his condition. Several medical staff that passed by the room giggled when they noticed their Tallest snoozing like a smeet.

It wasn't difficult to sneak around to the back of the building, though as Jazz suspected he had to take a slightly different route to avoid being spotted because of his height. His height also caused him problems as the group moved through the ventilation system--while he was thin enough to slip into the vents, his height made it difficult for him to maneuver quickly around corners. He got stuck once and Skoodge had to pull him out. It was supposed to be a serious mission, but Jazz couldn't help snickering about his predicament. It would be a story to tell everyone when he got back to the Massive.

Jazz and Skoodge tried to contact Tak via her PAK several times during this harrowing journey through the vents, but to no avail. She was either unconscious, not paying attention...or worse.

There were three vents that led into the main room, where they suspected Tak would be, so the group split up and each took a position at a vent. While Skoodge was surprised by what he saw, Jazz was not. Tak was fighting like a vicious beast, striking down opponents left and right. While she was badly injured and outnumbered, she was able to fend off the hostile Damogran people with ease. But she was tiring, and it was obvious. When Jazz and Skoodge both hopped down from the vents at the same time, PAK legs drawn and weapons at the ready, most of the attacking enemies began to flee.

But Tak was still in fight or flight mode. Even when Skoodge called out to her she didn't respond and kept attacking. When she slaughtered two fleeing Damogran people at once, Skoodge decided to act. He lunged forward and tackled her to the ground, struggling to keep her contained. "Stop! Stop! Our orders are to capture, not to kill! You're fine now! The Armada is here! So stop!"[/hr]

Dip · Feb 8, 2017

Dib would never admit to being homesick, but if he was homesick of anything, it was Earth food. While Dib didn't hold it to such heights as the android did, he still loved the food that Earth had to offer. While the pizza aboard the Massive was, for the most part entirely the same, small details were missing ever so often. The same could be said with the sandwiches-- the bread too thick, the color too creamy, and other properties. Would it kill the Irkens to develop something closely resembling mustard?

Other than the food and the lack thereof condiments, there was really nothing else that Dib missed... But sometimes, when he was alone, he would envision his sister just across the hall. He would pretend his father to be downstairs. He would write-in the warm sun, and it was almost disappointing when he walked out of his room to see portraits of former Mighty Tallests.

The human listened to the android prattle on and on about various locations, and he wondered faintly if the Irkens ever got tired of having a straight-to-the-point naming system. Resortia? Gamelandia? Foodcourtia? Conventia? Dib soon decided that he shouldn't be one to judge. He lived on a planet named after what it was composed entirely of: Earth. Really, some new names could be useful to give some distinction.

The sound of Zim going 'incognito' did raise a few alarms within the human. It shouldn't really surprise Dib, seeing as Zim outright fought with the people who were installed to protect him. It was mostly alarming because Zim was just awful at creating alter egos, but that was mostly because Zim's ego took up any space that may be reserved for anything alter. His idea of a disguise was two contact lenses and a wig! The Monarch was going to get himself killed.

But... if it was in the name of Intergalactic Skee-Ball, perhaps it'd be worth it.

With their first mission completed, and their second following after, all the rag-tag group had to do was find themselves back to the Medical Wing. Hopefully, to a rather gentle giant. The two companions were quiet for the most part, but the peaceful quiet didn't last long before GIR began blubbering and stammering like a profound idiot, with Minimoose giving his helpful insight every so often.

It was strange to walk into the Medical Wing without hearing the roar of an angry leader. Dib began to fear that maybe Zim had blazed a trail of glory to find the human and personally rip his throat out, but it seemed that his thoughts could not be more wrong. Dib walked into the office, and looked around bashfully before he stopped at the sight of a... rather peaceful-looking Zim.

That was a rare sight, to see Zim in such a state of peace and tranquility. It was so strange, Zim couldn't help himself but observe his form. While he had slept only feet away from him the night before, he hadn't taken the time to really look at him. Dib had watched the other whilst he recharged, and he was sure he caught the Irken dozing off once in a while at Skool, but now... it was different, somehow. It was more innocent. It was actually kinda cute!

"...Dib-Human, can you hear me?" Bohemian asked from his desk, for what seemed like the fifth time.

Dib turned quickly to face the Irken across the room, and he looked back at the resting Monarch. A red color flushed his face as he realized that he had blatantly ignored the Surgeon as he spaced-out. "Y-Yes! Yeah, uh, yeah I can... I can hear you. I just..." Dib pointed to Zim, and pathetically dropped his hand. "I was just... yeah."

"Yes, it is rather quiet, isn't it?" Bohemian snickered as he raised himself from his sitting position. Before the human had ventured inside the office, Bohemian took reviewing his knowledge on the human body and it's functions. Bohemian studied the generous amounts of books that the human had supplied the late Serloz, and managed to translate them all into a readable language.

Humans were weird.

Really weird.

"Now, Human, is it true Earth Surgeons conduct physicals regularly?"

Dib shrugged. He wasn't really someone who went to the clinic very often. He wasn't even sure how long it had been since he had a proper check-up. His information papers, while they were pretty much accurate, were at least a year old. Not a lot happened on Earth within a year, but a lot could happen in space within a few months. "Maybe... I guess, yeah. Did you want me to have one?"

"It is what the books say." Bohemian nodded, and that was enough to answer Dib's question. He trusted the written word more than most Irkens should. Bohemian collected his tablet, loaded with the translated medical textbooks, and a few of the paperback books he had been leafing through previously. He made his way over to the human and led him to the examination room that Dib knew all too well.

Part of Dib wanted to wake up the monarch to join him, but Zim needed all the rest he could get. Plus, he had no reason to fear someone who tried so hard to replicate a human examination! The human placed his bag near the feet of the resting Tallest, and followed the Head Surgeon over towards the room to be examined.

It was rather strange to be so excited to inspect the human. Bohemian was, for lack of a better term, a racist. He ensured the utmost respect for Irken folk, and cared not for the other races... But somehow, being with Rhapsody, that had managed to change. Reading more into Vortian races, Meekrob people, and now Humans had somehow changed that part of him. He wanted to know more about their medical practices, and how to properly conduct a procedure to best suit their needs!

It was strange, but Bohemian liked it.

The Head Surgeon led the human inside the room, and stopped himself from closing the door behind Dib. He knew that the Tallest liked to watch anything when it came to the human's health, and he wouldn't like a strike against his good name. He had been Head Surgeon for a few months now, and he was quite pleased with the progress he had managed to make at that time! The Surgeon pulled out his tablet, and read to himself quickly.

"I am going to check your temperature, vision and hearing, height and weight... Blood pressure? and..." Bohemian looked up from behind his device. "Your... Epistaxis." Dib nodded, mostly impressed that he knew the medical term for a nosebleed. Bohemian took the nod as a good sign. All of his studying had paid off, it seemed!

The Surgeon sat the human down, and started firstly on his nose. He inspected the nose from a distance. "Now, Human--"

"Dib."

"Human-Dib, how did this happen?"

Human-Dib sighed. "I hit a windshield. With... my face."

Bohemian raised his antennae in question. "Hit a windshield with your face? Now why on Irk would you do that?"

"I forgot to wear my seatbelt?" Dib asked. "I was with the strike teams, and I was piloting this Spittle Runner, and--"

"You were the one who forgot to prepare for recoil?" Bohemian asked, a small smirk playing across his face.

"No, that was before, I actually crashed the-- wait, wait wait wait wait, how do you know about that?" Dib asked, his arms crossing over himself.

Bohemian snickered loudly, but tried his damnedest to keep a professional demeanor. It was hard, to say the least. "I have a window in my office. Everyone saw that." Bohemian chuckled under his breath, and sighed. He slipped his tablet into his pocket, and replaced the device with a pair of surgical gloves. "Stay very still, Human."

"Dib." The patient reminded.

"Human-Dib." Bohemian took both of the young man's cheeks, one palm on each side, and pulled his face towards his own to inspect the nose. He was sure to keep his distance, but he could only do so much as the position he was in. He tilted the chin upwards to inspect the bridge of the nose, and down once more to check the alignment. "Swelling, bleeding, misalignment, and pain, I assume... You seem to have broken this." He said, matter of factly. "But I can fix it. There is just an issue with your internal cartilage, some broken blood vessels. No bone, thankfully, just cells and thin membrane. I will have to manually realign your nose--"

"You're going to--"

"Break your nose in the opposite direction? Yes, yes I am. I have to, or I could always find a machine to do it for me. I have some Splitterz in my office..."

Dib gulped, and shook his head. He didn't know what a 'Splitterz' did, but he didn't want to find out. He touched the bridge of his nose gently and shook his head once more. "I'll be fine. With...Without that."

For the first time, it seemed that Ceedid had it easy because of his stature! The Irken slipped and slid through the ducts as fast as possible, stopping only to wait for the others to catch up. He felt like he was leading his men into battle, and while it was a battle, it wasn't exactly a difficult one.

While Skoodge and Jazz both seemed to take vents quite higher up, Ceedid took a route that led closer to the floor. He managed to slip and slither his way to the floor, and he watched for quite some time. He had taken the vent nearest to a cowering group of Damogran people. Thankfully, if they had noticed the Irken, they were too petrified to do anything about it.

The cause of the Damogran people's fear was one person and one person only: Tak the Invader. The Invader looked much like her base-- in a state of disrepair and chaos. Her outward appearance was enough to stop any foreign alien in it's tracks: teeth barred, hands bloodied and full, and eyes blazing. Her antennae bounced and flicked at every single motion her enemies made, and she was sure to stop them all and ensure the security of the planet.

This was her mission. Kill or be killed. Defend or become defenseless.

Tak growled when she saw a nearing group, and opened fired rapidly. She hadn't noticed the other Irkens in the room, and the others were thankful of that. If she had, there would be no promise that she wouldn't shoot them just as she had the others. The Invader, within her state, didn't notice the retreating and fleeing creatures, but only noticed that she now had the upper hand, and used it to her ability.

Atleast, she did, before Skoodged disabled her. The attack was not expected, she was too focused on destroying or be destroyed. Infact, she had no clue that the person who suppressed her was Irken! She hit the ground hard, her weapons hitting the ground and sliding out of her grasp. Tak nearly resorted to biting Skoodge, before she realized that he was no threat. The Irken's antennae laid flat against her head as she listened to what the other had to say. She was still kicking and itching to fight.

"WHO'S ORDERS?! Who gave those orders?! They all deserve to be SLAUGHTERED!" She screamed, as she struggled under the strength of Skoodge. While she was still ready to go out in a blaze of guns, she had exhausted all of her physical energy. It was rather pathetic. "Look what they did to me! LOOK!"

Ceedid emerged from his vent, and it seemed that there was no need for any action. The living beings within the base all cowered against one corner, or tried to flee the way the Irken's had come through. It was... a rather sad sight to see.

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 9, 2017

Both GIR and Minimoose were quick to beat a hasty retreat once Dib and Bohemian set out for the examination room. They both jockeyed for position on their master's comfortable lap before deciding to snuggle up and share. Zim didn't stir, though he did mumble something nonsensical in his sleep. When he did sleep he was a very heavy sleeper. Nothing short of an explosion right next to his face, or Skoodge screeching bloody murder, could wake him from a comfortable slumber. Of course, this meant he was often late for school back on Earth if he chose to sleep the night before.

Just as the human declared that he would be fine without the intervention of painful Irken tools, a bout of pleasant lilting laughter echoed from the hallway into both Bohemian's office and the examination room. Rhapsody had returned, wheeling along an intricate machine used for vision and hearing tests, and stopped short in the hallway, giggling at the state of her most esteemed monarch. Zim was slumped over comfortably in the chair, curled up into an adorable little ball, and though her laughter didn't wake him his antennae quivered and angled themselves in her direction.

"How long has the Almighty Tallest been asleep?" She sounded absolutely tickled about finding her leader in this position. "That doesn't look very comfortable, I must say. Then again..." Her thick antennae twitched as she turned her gaze skyward, squinting as the memories flooded back to her. "This isn't the first time he's fallen asleep during something important."

Zim found the life of a politician unbelievably boring. Boring in every way imaginable! So, naturally, when he got bored enough he sometimes fell straight asleep. Last Earth year he fell asleep during a joint conference call with one of the top scientists stationed on planet Vort and Skoodge had to kick him in the shin to wake him up. He also managed to fall asleep in his private Cafeteria, causing mass panic because the other Irkens believed he went missing when he was really just fast asleep with his head smooshed against the remains of his meal. Just three weeks ago during a very long Council meeting, where members stepped up to pose suggestions and get feedback from other members and their Tallest, Zim drifted off with his head propped up with one arm...and that arm eventually slipped. He ended up cracking his head on his desk. Everyone in the room burst out laughing...including him! He was still chortling as Skoodge escorted him to the Medical Wing to have his jaw checked out.

For some reason, Zim tended to laugh whenever he hurt himself in an amusing way. Even if he was really, seriously hurt.

"I have the machine," Rhapsody announced unnecessarily, proudly marching it into the room. "You want me to wake the Tallest up? He really should be present for this."

"No need."

Zim spoke in a low and husky mumble, his voice still groggy and heavy with sleep. He didn't bother opening his eyes yet, though he did yawn loudly as he reached out to scratch Minimoose behind one of his antlers. "Zim is awake." It certainly didn't sound like he was fully awake, not yet at least. Rhapsody bit her bottom lip and turned her back on the Irken leader, making a valiant effort not to giggle. Zim shook his head rapidly in an attempt to wake himself, only a thin slit of magenta visible from between his heavy eyelids. "I'm up," he rephrased, apparently having forgotten that he already declared that. "What do you need me for again...?"

"The human," Rhapsody supplied helpfully, still struggling not to crack a smile. "He injured himself flying a Spittle Runner. Remember?"

"Ah, yes..." Zim shifted and sat up in his chair, rubbing at an eye with his free hand. "Zim remembers." One eye opened halfway while the other remained squinted. He turned his head, sniffing loudly, to study Dib from a distance. "What is the damage report? Will his stupid move force him into a medical cot or not?"

"I don't think so," the violet-eyed Irken replied simply. "If it was an emergency, he would've collapsed already."

"Oh." The tall Irken rubbed at his eye again, yawning widely. "Congratulations, Dib-thing. You aren't going to die. Unless you pull a stunt like that again." He scowled halfheartedly in the Earth creature's direction. "Because Zim may just annihilate you down to your every last cell if you do. Which would be a shame, since you are one of the only living creatures he can stand, but satisfying nonetheless."

Recharging often had a peculiar effect on Irkens. It relaxed them to the point that they often dropped their guards and said things they ordinarily would never ever say.

"We're going to have to realign his nose?" Rhapsody addressed her superior, looking concerned. "...Can we do that safely without using tools?"

"Human noses are stupid," Zim commented, still sounding like he was only half-awake. "They only get broken so much because they stick straight out of their faces. Unintelligent design at its finest. Can't we just remove it and be done with it?"

"No, my Tallest. He wouldn't be able to breathe."

"Oh, okay."

Zim drifted back off, contently petting his two robotic servants. Rhapsody shimmed away from the door, a huge grin stretched across her face. She would never forget this behavior. It was just too cute! She was sure that later on, when he was fully rested and recharged, Zim would be appalled by his own erratic and adorable behavior--so much so that he was likely to deny that it ever even happened.

She sincerely hoped that the human, as well as the Tallest's robotic minions, would never let him live this moment down.

"Uh..." Skoodge's short and thin antennae quirked slowly in her direction. "...You did? You contacted me. Right? And you told me to make sure that the Tallest didn't order an Organic Sweep or kill a bunch of these aliens. Right? Because there are a handful of important ones that you wanted to secure, so we could make use of their talents. Right?"

"Are you sure you weren't hallucinating?" Jazz inquired with a hint of playfulness, finally managing to dislodge himself from his chosen vent. "I wasn't...!" Skoodge took in a deep breath, puffing himself out like an angry Earth bird in the process. "I wasn't hallucinating! I don't do that!"

"But are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Are you really sure?"

>Stop being stupid, Jazz. Invader Tak is gravely injured. Stop teasing the Head Adviser and get a move on.<

"All right, Salsa. There's no need to get snippy." Jazz took several strides forward, using his intimidating height to corral the remaining Damogran people into one corner. "I've got this handled. I'll keep them here until they can be caged. You two should get her back to the Massive, and to the Medical Wing, as quickly as possible." A knowing smile curled his jade-hued lips. "And you might want to get off of her now, Skoodge."

"Oh!" Skoodge scrambled backward as if he was struck, heartily embarrassed. "Right! S-sorry about that."

>Don't forget about the SIR.<

Both Jazz and Skoodge blinked. "...I completely forgot about the SIR." "Me, too."

>You two are useless.<

SIR units were expensive to craft, and the Irken Treasury was not that impressive at the moment. Wherever money could be saved, it had to be saved. War was a pricey thing, after all.

"You can walk, right?" Skoodge sounded a bit timid as he spoke to Tak. She was an intimidating Irken, and she was also taller than he was. Even though he was technically above her in rank, his old 'short Irken' habits were difficult to shake. "I really doubt that you want me and Ceedid to carry you all the way back to the Massive. Where is your SIR, anyway?" Skoodge swept the room with his wide-set magenta gaze, confusion etched on every inch of his face. "I don't see it anywhere."[/hr]

Dip · Feb 10, 2017

Bohemian didn't stray from his work, but his patient made his work all the harder. The human turned his head to see who spewed forth the giggles, but he was soon turned back into his previous position with his chin tilted towards the ceiling. Dib had caught a glimpse of the Trainee he had met in quite compromising circumstances. Dib was awful at names, but he remembered the Irken Trainee's name simply because it was ridiculously paired with the new Head Surgeon.

Bohemian had seamlessly memorized the sound of Rhapsody's laughter. It wasn't hard when you spent every waking second with a giggly Trainee, who seemed to find humor in the littlest of things. Or maybe she found humor in regular things, and Bohemian didn't quite get the joke. The Head Surgeon had a sense of humor, he truly did, but only when it came to medical oddities. Two-headed Smeets were ridiculous! Post-Partum Mania was also quite funny.

"No longer than thirty minutes, I suppose. Perhaps even forty, I had lost track of time.." Bohemian stated, before turning away from the human. "I offered to fetch My Tallest a proper cot, but he insisted against it." The Head Surgeon neared towards the archaic machine as Rhapsody pushed it in, and slowly maneuvered it near the human. The Irken paused in his actions once he was in the presence of his Almighty Tallest. Bohemian gave a half-hearted salute before realizing that the Monarch hadn't even bothered to open his eyes, and continued the machine's journey.

Dib turned to the side once more, and this time he wasn't stopped by the hands of an antsy Surgeon. He looked over Zim's sleepy figure, and found it almost ridiculous. Dib smirked, and struggled to introduce Zim as 'Sleeping Beauty'. He knew for a fact that maybe no one inside would catch the reference, and so, Dib kept the joke to himself.

The one thing that Dib missed most of all, he decided, was sharing pop-culture references with fellow humans. While he never really had anyone to share these things with on a personal level, if he went inside a large crowd and shouted "WAYNE'S WORLD!" someone, or a group of someones would usually, if not always, respond with "EXCELLENT!" That's not to say that Zim didn't know his Earth pop-culture, because he clearly did, Zim just had a grasp on the older, outdated stuff. A lot can change the world in six years.

Dib rolled his eyes when the former Invader asked if his little stunt would force him into a medical bed, and opened his mouth to speak. Bohemian was quicker to action than the human, and spoke on his behalf. "The Human broke his nose, but that is all I can tell at a glance. I can run an eye examination, and see if he has at all concussed his.... inner-head meats."

"Brain." Dib reminded softly. "I have a brain."

"Clearly not." Bohemian mumbled, almost inaudibly. "Only someone without a brain would go into battle without fastening their safety-belt."

To this, Dib crossed his arms infront of himself and remained silent. He did so have a brain! Surely he wasn't the first person in history to drive without his seatbelt, right? Right! Driving without a seat belt was a common thing in Earth culture. It was almost like a pass-time!

"I told you I wasn't gonna die. I told you I was fine!" While Zim did threaten him, he did it in such a way that made Dib's innards churn.

"You don't know that yet. Human symptoms can present one thing, and mean another." Bohemian reminded softly, as he finished up the arduous process of hooking up the vision and hearing machine-- affectionately titled V.A.H.M. Bohemian had to be sure, double sure, and triple sure that there was not a single thing out of place or a single thing that could possibly be looked over. It was just a habit of his, and personally, he thought it wasn't a bad habit in the slightest.

Bohemian nodded when the Medic asked if they would have to do something about his nose. "I read about a technique that simply involves slight of hand. I know we can reposition it, and simply insert some CTMF through the nasopharyngeal airways here," Bohemian pointed to one nostril, "And here." He pointed to the other. He had just recently learned the word nasopharyngeal, and he wanted to show off to every one.

Connective-Tissue Mending Fluid, or CTMF, was just as it was named. It mended the dense collection of tissue, usually inside the body, and promoted cell regrowth and induced healing almost instantly. While it was mostly reserved inside the body, there was no reason why it could not be used outside of the host-- in this case, inside the nose of a Human being.

"Nuh-uh. No way, I am not getting my nose taken off today." Dib declared as he tried his best to keep fear from crawling into his words.

Bohemian looked at the human's nose once more, and thought quietly to himself. "You could still breathe. Smell? No, but that is over-rated anyway--"

"You're not. Taking. My nose. It's important to me." Dib pushed, going so far as to cover his nose with his hands. He never would have thought that at the tender age of eighteen he would be playing got-your-nose with a group of aliens in a spaceship headed for God-Knows-Where Land in the Where-The-Hell-Are-We-Galaxy.

Oh.

So she ordered that.

She must have completely forgotten as she feared for her life, her glory, and the sanctity of the mission.

As soon as Skoodge lept off her, the Irken took a deep breath, and pushed herself up quickly. Her antennae remained slick her to head, but twitched erratically at every sound and movement. "I can walk." She assured, but she mostly spoke this to herself. She didn't want anyone to touch her, nonetheless sit on her. She would never forgive Skoodge for attacking her like that, she told herself.

Skoodge was just lucky she was disarmed, or else there would be a chance that he would not live to apologize.

Tak took a moment to collect herself. She wasn't sure where her weapons had gotten themselves, but at that moment, she focused on what Skoodge had asked her. Where was her SIR unit? The last thing she remembered before her base was stormed was... MiMi fending off from a distance. But where?

Surely her unit had to be somewhere. She hadn't ordered MiMi to voyage outside, but then again, it seemed that MiMi did a lot of stuff without Tak's prior consent or approval. Tak took a sweeping glance, directly avoiding the cowering Damograns, and looked about with Skoodge.

As she calmed down from her high, she realized that... she ached. In a lot of places, she ached. Fighting off anxiety for hours on end, only to fight? It took a lot out of an Invader. Soon her antennae drooped, and she found MiMi.

Well, part of her, that is.

Tak clambered onto her feet, with some assistance from her PAK. She located a severed leg from her SIR unit, and looked about for anything else. She truely had no clue what took place between the time she made the call and she was intercepted by Skoodge.

As Tak swept about, Ceedid did the same. While he looked for the missing SIR unit, he did help himself to some of the Damogran texts that were strewn about. He had managed to find the rest of MiMi-- while she was in disrepair, she was together for the most part-- and alerted Tak nonverbally.

"Give her to me." She commanded, and Ceedid made a b-line straight to her.

Like Skoodge, Ceedid suffered from being short, and again, suffered under the hand of those who were taller.

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 13, 2017

Zim looked like he was fast asleep again, but that obviously wasn't so. As soon as Bohemian accused the human of not having a brain, a stream of juvenile giggles escaped the giddy Tallest. He didn't even open his eyes, but his shoulders trembled as he laughed at Dib's expense. He must have been fiercely battling his own exhaustion in a valiant attempt to keep himself awake. He didn't want to miss this examination if he could help it--after all, he was still very much concerned about the Dib's well-being! Inevitably, as soon as Zim started to laugh GIR chimed in as well, albeit with a bit more enthusiasm.

Rhapsody placed one hand on her hip, smiling wryly at the giggly monarch. "You act an awful lot like a Vortian drunk on red Sundew Spice when you're recharging, my Tallest. It's sort of endearing, if you don't mind me saying."

Zim pulled the foulest of faces. "Sundew Spice is vile!" he hissed, lashing his tongue against his teeth as he apparently recalled a rather unpleasant memory. "Do not speak of it in Zim's presence!"

Just like planet Earth, the rest of the Known Universe came with its own vices. Sundew Spice was a powerful alcoholic powder derived from the Sundew plant, and it was often mixed with water or another innocent beverage to create an even more powerful drink. The plants grew in a variety of different colors, each with a different level of alcoholic content. The red variety, native to planet Vort, was akin to Absinthe on planet Earth. Vortians were particularly fond of it. Irkens were forbidden from drinking it by law...but that didn't stop curious souls from sampling it at least once.

Sundew Spice wasn't the only vice, of course. There were plenty of other shifty consumables floating around! Dib would probably encounter these at some point or another. Zim hoped that the human would personally consult him before taking anything suspect. After all...he had no idea what those things would do to a delicate human body!

Rhapsody shuffled to her superior's side as he spoke, looking intrigued. "I've never worked on a nose that juts out from its owner's face before," she admitted, fascination dancing in her violet eyes. "I'm afraid I'm not as knowledgeable when it comes to this human's anatomy as you are, so...I think it would be safer for me to stick to the sidelines and observe. I can help with little things, but I don't want to end up causing him any problems. Maybe once I sit in a few physicals I can actually assist you in the future. I'd like to learn how his eyes and ear-things work."

Zim grunted, cracking one eye open. The magenta coloring of that eye seemed glossier than usual, most likely from being hidden behind its eyelid for so long. "The human's nose will remain on his face." He spoke firmly, defensively, and with such finality that Rhapsody suspected he might get angry if talk of removing the nose persisted. "He doesn't want it ripped off, inconvenient as it is, so it will stay there. And that is final."

The Irken leader was so fervently protective of his human charge that his behavior was beginning to raise a few antennae around the Massive. The generous amounts of special treatment he doled out to Dib didn't help, either. Rhapsody, Defective as she was, found it downright adorable. Jazz seemed to suspect that there was more going on then the Tallest was willing to reveal and he often dropped subtle hints whenever he was in the presence of both his leader and his human subordinate, but so far his hints fell on deaf antennae (and ears, in the human's case).

"You're sure the CTMF won't obstruct his nose tubes, right?" Zim's antennae angled in the direction of the Head Surgeon and his anxious assistant.

"I don't think so," Rhapsody replied as gently as she could. "And even if it does, it will only be temporary. He can still breathe through his mouth, right? He can just do that until we're finished."

Zim sat up in his chair with a grunt, sniffing loudly and insistently rubbing at his eyes. Apparently he was just too paranoid to lay back and rest while the human was in such a compromising position. He watched the trio in the other room with hawk-like eyes, fully prepared to spring up and go on the offensive if it seemed like Dib was in too much pain. His overprotective behavior was going to land him and the human in hot water sooner or later. He didn't even try to make it seem subtle!

Skoodge was well aware that he would never live this down. Not only was Tak unlikely to ever forgive him for jumping at her with such reckless abandon, but Jazz would never keep this quiet. As soon as he got back to the Massive he would immediately start flapping his gums and spreading the unfortunate tale. Skoodge could only hope and pray that this story never reached the antennae of his Almighty Tallest. Zim was the type that would bring that sort of thing up in everyday conversation at least once a week!

Rather than get offended when she refused his help, Skoodge decided to play the sympathy card. "You're beat up pretty bad. We should get you to the Medical Wing as soon as possible." His small magenta eyes settled on the mangled corpse of MiMi, which still seemed animate in some way or another. He wasn't entirely sure if robotic creatures could feel true pain...but Zim's little SIR seemed to be able to, so he instantly felt bad. "We'll get your SIR sent down to the labs immediately for repairs. We'll mark the project as a vital emergency so it gets fast-tracked."

Jazz had managed to calm some of the frantic members of the crowd of aliens down and was now in the process of tending to wounds. Though the Damogran people were obviously dismayed about their inevitable fall to the Irken Empire, they were obviously grateful to this singular Irken for helping them at this moment in time. "Don't forget that the Tallest is in the Medical Wing right now," he piped up, his thick antennae bouncing.

Every single Irken in existence knew about the past strife between Invader Tak and their Almighty Tallest. Zim had yet to apologize directly to Tak, which made for some unsavory tension between the two of them. But Zim rarely apologized for anything. That was to be expected of him. He felt that offering her a place as an Invader, which was what she had always wanted, was better than an apology. Zim ignored her, much like he ignored other Irkens, but with Dib there and vulnerable...there was a good chance that hostility would crop up sooner or later.

"I'll make sure he behaves." Skoodge sounded only slightly confident. There was still tension between himself and the Almighty Tallest after what happened with the Earth Creature, but they were still on relatively good terms. At least...he hoped they were. "Lead the way, Ceedid. Tak--um, Invader Tak..." He wouldn't make eye contact, apparently still embarrassed about his clumsy attack. "You should stay between us. You're wounded. Let's try not to make that mortally wounded. Okay?"

To make up for tackling her so ungracefully, Skoodge was determined to escort her back to the Armada, back to safety, and to the Medical Wing in record time. Maybe he could win back some points with the Tallest this way, too.[/hr]

Dip · Feb 15, 2017

The Irken's giggling did nothing for his shame. The SIR unit's involvement did nothing to help, either!! Was it 'make fun of the human day' on Irk or something? Dib makes one mistake, and he never hears the end of it! His arms migrated back to their crossed position as he tried to play the situation off as nothing. He mumbled and muttered something along the lines of 'stupid aliens' and 'stupid seatbelts' and 'stupid nose', but he was far too annoyed to speak up. Dib wanted this check-up to be done, so he could check-out!

Dib had no clue what 'Sundew Spice' was, but from what he could salvage from the conversation, it seemed to be some form of alcohol. The human, much like any teenager, had some brush-ins with alcohol. Nothing you could shake a fist at, really, because Dib was not the type of person to go out and actively get himself drunk, but he wouldn't lie if someone asked him if he had been given a drink or two of the fermented spirits.

Agent Darkbootie had been the one to innocently give Dib a can or two of some cheap beer on their very last face-to-face meet-up (which Dib later questioned. Surely the people at NASAplace drank something more sophisticated, or even not at all, but Dib was dead wrong! The engineers were usually roaring drunk-- who else would program a Rover to draw a penis in the red soil of Mars? No egghead would find the pastime of drawing a huge cock and balls fun unless they were boozed out of their gourd. This also satisfied Dib's questions on how no one at NASAplace seemed to actually find real evidence of life on other planets). Dib thought the beer tasted absolutely atrocious, and he never had a can again.

Dib had tried other risky behaviors before, bust mostly as a 'right of passage'. He smoked a few cigarettes and basically coughed them back up. Who would put something like that into their body willingly? Who would even want to develop an addiction to that? All it did for Dib was make his hands shake and his breath smell bad. He also bought a lottery ticket, and only lost his money! Why would anyone be addicted to things like that? If he was interested in taking any 'space-weed', Zim would be the first person he would go to. He was basically the only person he could trust aboard the Massive.

Well, not now obviously, if Zim kept roasting him like this!

Bohemian nodded as the other spoke, and neared towards the human, inspecting him one last time before he readied for the procedure. "The eyes are my favorite. Human's describe them as the 'window's to the soul'. Well, I do not know about that, I just think they're rather complicated and intriguing." He paused for a moment and turned to face the bubbly little Irken. "Remind me to send you the translated documents, they are Quite useful. And Human," Bohemian turned back to the patient, "Remind me to give you the books back. They were never mine to borrow in the first place, but... I think you will need them back."

Dib shook his head. "I don't need them back." He said. "You can have them for all I care-- you can get better use out of it than I can."

To this, Bohemian smiled gratefully. He had been nervous to write on the pages, to fold down any corner, or wrinkle any spines or bend any covers. But now, it seemed that he had all the freedom in the Galaxy. The smile slowly disappeared as he realized that he was blabbering on. The Head Surgeon slowly made his way across the room and loaded up a spare medical tray with materials he knew he needed.

Dib moved to the side to peek at what the surgeon collected. It was easy to do, given that the medical tray seemed to be hovering almost in thin air! He saw what he assumed to be CTMF, with a few gauze and bandages, and some other tools that he couldn't quite name. He assumed that Surgeon knew what he was doing, and let him collect what he may.

Dib let out a sigh of relief when the other agreed about the nose. Bohemian did nothing, but something in his body language seemed almost... disappointed. He's just waiting to cut me open... Dib told himself. He wants my inside and outside meats. Well, he can't have any meat of mine! None at all!

While Dib still felt the treatment, and still knew he was treated differently than others, he had grown less bothered by it since time went by. While he knew he wasn't going to be able to blend in properly, a little special treatment wasn't all that bad, right? A little embarrassing, sure, but entirely bad? Well... not really.
Bohemian moved back towards the human and placed the medical tray to the side of the patient. The Head Surgeon never mentioned that it would or wouldn't obstruct, but he knew for a fact that it would. But, as Rhapsody mentioned, he could breathe out of his mouth for a little while.

"Now, Dib," Bohemian started, and this earned a smile from the human. That was more like it! "I want you to keep your head perfectly still," Bohemian placed his hands on both sides of his head once more and positioned the chin at just the correct angle. Bohemian, once he was done, let go of the human. "Do not move." The Head Surgeon warned, and he then began prepping the CTMF. Bohemian did this by simply ripping a small piece of gauze and taking it with a pair of tweezers, and dunking it a few times within the semi-liquid.

Bohemian turned back around, his hand now clutching the long pair of tweezers, and turned to face the unmoving Dib. His eyes watched owlishly as the other worked, and he could read the anxiety on the human's face. "Now, on the count of three, I'll reposition your nose slowly, okay?" Bohemian started. "It will hurt a little. On the count of three." Now, this was a tactic that Bohemian had to do with Smeets, but he assumed that humans and Smeets were on the same intelligence level.

"One--" Bohemian didn't even make it to the next letter before he moved. He took his free hand, and grabbed Dib's nose, bending it in the opposite direction of where it had hit. In response, Dib let out a pained groan. But, given his current situation, it sounded more like a honk than anything else! This, while it was more painful than what Bohemian had initially said, freed up the clogged and obstructed airways and repositioned beautifully! Bohemian moved his hand up the length of the nose and held it tightly as he shoved the tweezers inside one of the nostrils.

Again, another sound emitted from the human as the material was forced up and into his nose. He kept still for as long as he possibly could have, until he could stand it no long, and absolutely had to pull away. He moved his head away just as Bohemian had finished, and he was thankful for that. Dib grabbed his nose and shielded it from the Surgeon. The rebreaking process was the most painful, but the pain had been dulled with the cool tissue mending fluid that was applied inside the nose. Dib was more offended than he was in pain.

"You told me you would go on the count of three! You lied to me! You lied!!" Dib started, pulling his hands away from the now-clogged nose. "That hurt."

"You're right. I did lie to you.." Bohemian nodded, as he slipped off his gloves. "Does your nose still hurt? It should feel tender, sure, but you should not be in pain for very much longer."

"...No. No, it doesn't hurt anymore..." Dib finished. He was... rather fine, now. His nose felt clogged with a piece of slime-y cotton, but he was pretty much content at that point. Nervous, and seriously on guard? Yes, but he wasn't in an entire world of discomfort.

"Good. Now, let us begin your physical." Bohemian nodded. He pushed off the medical tray to the side and produced his tablet from his coat pocket. There, he pulled up a copy of Dib's medical records (hand-translated, mind you. Bohemian was serious about his work) and began reading them over slowly. "We will start with vision and hearing, then we will move into weight and height and run some blood pressure tests, then... I don't assume you have any respiratory problems, or any ridiculous head trauma... but it wouldn't hurt to look, right?"

While Bohemian didn't want to keep the duo-- well, Dib, Zim, GIR and Minimoose-- in his office all day, he had to be thorough. He knew how much this human meant to the Tallest, and if there was a problem, Bohemian was sure that the Monarch would want it addressed as soon as possible.

Tak knew that she was beaten up badly. She didn't need someone to remind her. She gritted her teeth gently as he talked. The feeling of 'no shit, sherlock' seemed to be Universal! Tak held her broken SIR unit in her arms, looking down at it as if he was an Irken Smeet. She loved her SIR unit, dysfunctions, malfunctions, and all functions.

Tak was looking forward to her visit to the Medical Wing, until it seemed that the Tallest had beaten her to it. This information made her want to avoid the Wing as much as possible, but she knew that that was out of the question. She knew she would be able to survive the trip back to the Massive, but any more delay in medical attention would seriously cost her.

She hadn't been badly injured, but more so overpowered. Her antennae were pulled, sure, and she was riddled with bite marks, but she was able to hold her ground. Obviously! Her wreckage and carnage was still relevant around her base and inside it, too. She was in such a state of disorganization that she completely forgot she requested to preserve the lifeforms!

Tak was just lucky she never got her hands on the Scientists. They were the ones to plot the uprising, and they were the first ones to escape from her grasp. They had been intercepted previous to the storming of the Massive, but if Tak had been the ones to capture them... well, needless to say, Zim would never get his Probability Drive.

Tak nodded slowly when she was asked to be between the two.

Ceedid led the motley crew out of the front of the base rather cautiously. He started on foot, poking his head outside of the door and checking for all signs of danger. It seemed that everything had been taken care of, and mostly everything was being packed up or being carted off. The panels on his PAK threatened to open, but he denied any access. He had wanted in that moment to approach the ship on PAK legs, but that would leave Tak open to any enemy that may spot them.

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 17, 2017

"Human eyes just look funny to me," Zim muttered, slouching comfortably in his soft, plush seat. "The white bits bother Zim and he is not sure why."

The Irken monarch suddenly wondered just how many new species the Dib now knew about it. Would the Earth creature be surprised to learn that in the grand scheme of things, humans and Irkens were startlingly similar in appearance? Two arms, two legs, two eyes, standing upright. Those were more similarities than Irkens had with a great number of other species. Only a limited number of foreign species walked about freely on the Massive. There were a few more down below in the labs, but most of them were forbidden from leaving the laboratory areas in the bowels of the Massive. They were quarantined there and had their own special Cafeteria.

He idly wondered if that little tidbit would bother the Dib. It was essentially an Irken form of segregation.

"Perhaps you ought to enter the text of those archaic Earth books, or at least the most basic of information, into the Irken Database," Rhapsody suggested to her superior, folding her arms neatly behind her back. "Maybe restrict them so that only Medical personnel can study them. That way if he gets injured and you're not around...someone else could keep him stable until you're available." She added that secondary suggestion about restricting access to the books after the Tallest's body language shifted and he stiffened uncomfortably. Zim didn't want Dib's weaknesses in text form freely available for the other Irkens to gawk at!

Both the Irken leader and the trainee Medic winced when Bohemian so ungracefully repositioned the human's broken nose. Zim was never fond of that particular trick and even took a swipe at an unfortunate Medic who tried that on him in the past. He wasn't fond of surprises, unless he was the one doing the surprising! He did clear his throat at the honking noise that escaped Dib and had to turn away to hide his silent snickering. Thankfully GIR didn't give away his master's mirth this time, for he and Minimoose had both fallen asleep on Zim's apparently very comfortable lap.

As soon as the Head Surgeon started talking about a physical Zim perked up, his antennae bouncing. "There is something I want you to check. A topic I would like you to study in-depth when you have time." He sank back further in his chair, looking utterly relaxed. "The human's external optics...convenient as they are, Zim often worries that they will break and leave the human sightless. In the event that this happens, another pair could be constructed by the teams working below...but..."

He shrugged his shoulders. "In the event that supplies are low or the Dib's eyesight worsens over time, as human eyesight is known to...would it not be easier to just give him optical implants? Customized implants, of course, made specifically for the human eye?" A healthy majority of Irkens received optical implants. Aspiring Invaders were required to have the most powerful and impressive optical implants the Empire had to offer surgically implanted in their eyes. Zim had these particular implants.

"One other concern Zim has..." The Tallest sat up a little straighter. The exhaustion from before was steadily wearing off as the recharging station served its intended purpose. "Zim wants to know if the Earth creature is getting enough immune support from what he is eating. Specifically, if his immune system is healthy enough for a trip to an alien planet or if he will need more vaccinations or something."

GIR was right on the mark when he claimed that Zim was thinking about taking a vacation soon, and bringing Dib along for the ride!

The trip back through the base was simple enough. Because everything seemed to be settling down on the surface and the Irken Armada had almost everything under control they could afford to walk straight out the front doors. The further they walked the more concerned Skoodge became about the mangled SIR unit clutched firmly in Tak's arms. SIRs were delicate pieces of machinery. When they became this damaged they were normally tossed simply because repairing them would surely end up being more costly than building a brand new one.

He could tell just from a glance that this wouldn't be an option with Invader Tak, though. The way she looked at that SIR unit was reminiscent of the way the Tallest regarded his SIR unit. SIR units were ordinarily cast aside or reassigned after an Invader completed their mission. Zim was one of the few Irkens who refused to give his SIR unit up.

Jazz's personal Shuuver was where they left it, undisturbed by the previous chaos that engulfed Damogran. Skoodge genially offered the controls to his shorter companion. He had a bit of medical experience, just a bit, so he settled for keeping a close eye on Tak's condition. He did contact the Massive in advance once they were off the ground to let them know that he was bringing the injured Invader back with him. The Medical Wing was already on high alert and treating a few other injured Irkens, but a team agreed to wait for them in the Hangar.

"Hey, um..." Skoodge didn't know how to approach this topic delicately. He knew that Tak once met the human creature that their Tallest cared so very much about, but he was certain that she had no idea what would be waiting for her in the Medical Wing. But it wasn't his place to tell, so he instead went with a different concern. "Try to get along with the Tallest for me, all right? He's a bit high-strung at the moment. He had a bit of a panic attack earlier. He was also sleeping when you contacted me with your emergency call...and I had to wake him up."

Irkens were never nice creatures when woken from a comfortable slumber. They turned into vicious monsters, in fact. It was why a good number of them preferred to recharge rather than sleep.[/hr]

Dip · Feb 19, 2017

The human eye, to the human, was about as beautiful as it could be. Whoever said that they were the window to the soul was right! Dib often caught himself looking at his eyes through the reflection of his glasses in passing. Light brown eyes, with specs of dark brown and even some green. Dib never really took the time to view other human's eyes before, but being among Irken folk, it was hard not to notice the stunning colors and variations.

The human, during his short period on the Massive, learned quite a bit about the known universe. When Dib was interested in something, he was interested in it until there was nothing more to be interested in. The first few weeks apart of the PIT unit, he had to basically be peeled from the Universal Map. He nearly overloaded his laptop on many occasions when it came to reading about the different creatures and different planets. There was just so much to know, and Dib wanted to know it all! The bodily functions of different aliens and beings, their culture and speech pattern-- everything!

Bohemian nodded when the other mentioned the Irken Database, and wrote himself a note. He would restrict the viewing alright, perhaps only letting the top Medics and Rhapsody to view the documents in all their glory. He knew from months of constant contact that Rhapsody would never hurt an ameba, let alone someone who was about three feet taller than her. The others, more specifically the people who were lined up to receive the position of Head Medic before him, would have the same attitude towards the human as the late Serloz did. The medics were good at their job, but bad when it came to a personal scale.

And so was Bohemian, but with the help of Rhapsody, he was getting better. Nicer when it came to non-Irken patients. While there was still the occasional bickering, and the occasional harsh treatment, as a whole he had learned to put his emotions behind him as he worked. Most of the credit went to Rhapsody, but he had to admit, the humans had a good idea on how to treat their patients in a medical setting. They were so clean, and sterile, and organized! Not as organized as the Irkens, but still, as intellectually stunted as they were, they had a good grasp on what they were doing.

As ungraceful as his act was, it was easily executed. Humans were so fragile, it was impressive. If Dib were to jump and land the wrong way, crack goes his skull and all of his inside meats would be splattered across the floor! One fatal punch in the back and the human could be dead within a matter of hours. It was information that Bohemian had to be careful with. It didn't make Dib feel any safer when he saw how easily the other was able to crack his nose into place. He would have to be careful in the future.

Because he was scared someone might actually take to breaking his nose, and because he didn't want Zim to laugh at him again.

Bohemian gave his full attention to his Tallest as he spoke, and took mental notes on what he was to study. "Optical implants are an option..." The other mused for a moment. "On a quite smaller level, yes. Custom made optics may take some time. I can run a test on the human's optics--"

"Glasses," Dib corrected, as he touched his nose softly with the pads of his fingers. It felt so weird, he could feel the inside of his nose mending together. It was warm and cold at the same time, but it was also soothing. It was a strange feeling, but it wasn't something that Dib was fond of. It made his skin crawl, and he just hoped that it would be the last time he would break his nose.

"Glasses," Bohemian started again. "I can run tests on the human's glasses to be sure that his eyesight hasn't been worsening. But in the meantime, I suppose we could have one of the scientists make something to act as a replacement?"

This was where Dib knew he was in trouble. His eyesight had been gradually worsening since the day he had boarded the Massive, and this was entirely due to the shift in gravity. Space flights that last six months or longer can cause changes in astronauts' eyes and vision, but those were flights within the same solar system. Dib was currently in no-mans land, and who knows what could have happened within the months of flight!

The human just hoped that Zim wouldn't chew him out too badly for letting his eyesight worsen.

"Implants are possible. I do not think they are the most necessary thing, but they are possible." Bohemian finished. It didn't seem that the human had many problems with his sight, but you never really knew something was wrong until you went and investigated.

Bohemian, once again, gave attention to his Tallest when he spoke. Bohemian turned his gaze to the human, and looked him over closely.

"Are you experiencing any respiratory pains?"

"Uh," Dib started dumbly. "No?"

"Any headaches? Throat pain?"

"No."

"Are you sick?"

"No."

Well, he seemed healthy on the outside. They could run some tests and see. The Head Surgeon turned back to the Monarch. "If the human wears his spacesuit, I feel that there is no need to update his vaccinations. I am more concerned with his ability to handle gravitational change more than his ability to fend off sicknesses." Bohemian swept his gaze at the human. "Bone tissue is delicate, and muscle mass is known to deteriorate without use, and I am unsure of your physical wellbeing at this time. You may be fine, but..." The Head Surgeon turned back to Zim. "Worse case scenario, the human would take one step onto the planet Beetleguise and breaks both of his femurs, tibias, and fibulas." Bohemian shrugged.

This did not sit well with Dib. He valued both of his legs.

"Again, I will have to run tests to be sure."

Whatever Zim was planning to do with Dib, Dib didn't want to do it anymore.

Tak, once within the Shuuver, wasn't surprised in the slightest when she heard that the other had been asleep when she hailed the Massive. Mostly due to Zim's high rank, and the rest to do entirely with her physical wellbeing, she kept her mouth shut. Had she been in better health, she would be cursing and cussing up an entire storm within that Shuuver.

Instead, she kept her mouth shut. Her teeth gritted together, almost zipping in place. Of course he was asleep. He was always sleeping on the job. Slacking here, slacking there, slacking everywhere! It was a surprise how he was even able to be the Tallest, but this was something Tak could never ask in public without being executed.

She had been keeping her mouth shut for a long time.

The trip to the Massive was speedy and quiet, thanks to Ceedid. This was a mission of the utmost importance, and as loud and boastful as he was, he knew when to keep his mouth shut. He hadn't spoken at all in the entire trip! The short Irken landed the Shuuver within the Hangar as elegantly as he had taken off, and it wasn't long until they were nearly swarmed the side of the personal vehicle.

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 19, 2017

Rhapsody was already well aware that over the months they spent together she had a positive effect on her superior the more time she spent in his presence. He seemed gentler and kinder, especially when dealing with non-Irken beings, and that was a definite plus! It was her influence. It had to be, because nothing else had changed. Privately, she felt awfully proud about it all. She knew that Bohemian had it in him to be a pleasant Irken--she always believed in him despite his cold demeanor!

But that brought up another point. Pleasant Irkens were often Defective Irkens. So...did that mean Bohemian was actually Defective? It wasn't a topic she planned on bringing up with her superior anytime soon. Being Defective was a shameful thing. Many Defective Irkens who realized they were Defective self-destructed, believing that their glorious Empire would be much better off with one less Defective Citizen. Bohemian was a proud Irken. Would he react the same way...?

Just thinking about losing him terrified her. Against her better judgement she would keep her mouth shut for the time being.
"The gravitational change shouldn't be a problem." Zim's antennae rose and then fell, twitching wildly. "Zim will have his top scientists take a better look at the human's space suit when they have time to do so. I had the suit crafted from some of the best materials the Known Universe had to offer."

And some of the most expensive materials, to boot, which didn't sit well with Skoodge--their treasury was already miserable and Zim insisted on shelling out massive amounts of dough for the Earth creature's sake.

"It should be able to protect the human's squishy meats from being pulverized by gravitational changes." Zim stretched his stiff legs out with a satisfied sigh. "I would not even suggest taking the human on such trips if I didn't feel confident that he would be safe."
He shrugged his shoulders, scratching his neck as he glanced off into the distance. "I was just thinking of taking the Dib to Foodcourtia, Vort, and Resortia. All of which have similar gravity to planet Earth. Vort and Resortia also have similar air quality and make-up compared to planet Earth...so Zim suspects the Dib will be able to traverse those two planets without a space suit. Foodcourtia is iffy because of the pollution. I will have to look into it further."

Foodcourtia was a given. It was one of GIR's favorite planets in the entire Universe! Zim didn't care for it simply because of the poor experiences the planet gave him...but he would suck it up for the sake of GIR and the human. Vort was more for Dib than anything else. It was the hub of the Irken Empire's engineering and scientific community, and it was where most of the new technological advances came from. Resortia was exactly what it sounded like--a resort planet meant for relaxation.

"We're going to Foodcourtia?" GIR suddenly lifted his head, looking awfully groggy and rubbing at his mechanical eyes. Leave it to GIR to be dead asleep and instantly stir when food was mentioned.

"Not now, GIR. Another time."

"Oh. Okay. I wanna show Mary around Foodcourtia! I wanna take him to the Candy Factory and all mah favorite restaurants!"

"Sure, sure. Just don't get him killed."

"Yaaaaay!"

"Well..." Zim propped one elbow up on one arm of his chair and nestled his head into his open hand, watching intently with perked antennae. "Get on with the rest of the physical." He paused. "How often do you believe the human will need a proper physical? Once a month, perhaps? Humans do not normally travel through space. Those that do often receive extra medical attention."

Anything he could do to keep the Dib healthy, Zim would do it! He meant well with his concern and the way he doted on his human...but he could often be smothering with his devoted attention. In this department he didn't care all that much if he irritated the Earth Creature--he would never not be concerned about his well-being!

Zim was no stranger to criticism from his subjects, and harsh criticism at that. He usually brushed it off and ignored any naysayers. That was his personality, after all--blissfully oblivious to most wrongdoing on his part. Some comments cut into him worse than others, though. Anything about being useless, a disgrace to the Irken Empire, or Defective was bound to make him uncomfortable. Ordinarily he refused to let anyone know that the comments got to him. GIR, Minimoose, and Skoodge were typically the only ones he went to when he felt like venting and getting all of those pent-up emotions off of his chest.

If Dib was lucky, Zim would also start coming to him for comfort as well.

The medical staff that swarmed the Shuuver knew better than to bring a stretcher. Invaders were the proud sort, and Tak was particularly proud. Even if she could barely walk they suspected that she wouldn't be caught dead being carted off on a stretcher. They did immediately introduce painkillers through the panels on her PAK and kindly offered to escort her to the Medical Wing.

They informed the group that the Medical Wing was packed by now...in the front sections, at least. Injured Irkens and captured aliens alike were being treated. The only free room left was a room directly across from the Tallest and his human charge. Skoodge knew this was a bad idea--Tak and Zim in such close proximity was a recipe for disaster.

"We don't really have another choice if it's the only room left, right?" A hint of foreboding tainted his voice. "We can get back to our duties, I guess," he added to Ceedid, nervousness washing over him in waves. He sure hoped the Tallest didn't think these room arrangements were his idea. He was already in enough trouble as it was![/hr]

Dip · Feb 19, 2017

Being Defective had never once crossed Bohemian's mind, and the Head Surgeon planned on keeping it that way.

Dib, upon hearing that Zim had spent so much time and effort on his space suit, once again felt the maggots of affect slither through his intestines and into his heart of hearts. Whoever said they had butterflies in their stomach was lying. Butterflies were never appropriate for the feelings he was feeling. It wasn't caused solely because Zim had worked so hard to ensure his safety, but it had more to do with the fact that no one had ever worked that hard for Dib before.

Bohemian had nothing more to say on the matter. If Zim was confident in the work being done, that was all that could be asked. He nodded gently and pulled his tablet from his lab coat once more. He tapped away at it, setting reminders after reminders. Contact scientists, learn more about the human eye, upload the secure documents, yadda yadda yadda. It seemed that as the Head Surgeon was working on the human, he had almost neglected to send the proper medical teams to retrieve and assist fallen Irken and Damogran people. He assigned rooms promptly and quickly, being sure to reserve a single room for the fallen Invader.

"I would highly recommend at least a Breathalyzer when traversing throughout Foodcourtia." Bohemian mentioned behind the screen of his tablet. "We have extra oxide tanks, and a mask could be fashioned to fit the human's mouth and nose."

Bohemian turned to Dib, slipping his tablet back into the pocket of his coat. "I understand humans go to the dentist? And they are... 'put under' with gas?"

"Yeah?"

"Then a Breathalyzer will not seem foreign to you. It is just a mask, with two tubes connected to a portable oxygen tank." Bohemian turned to the side as he spotted the human's backpack. He motioned to it gently. "It can fit in there. Most Irkens simply have one installed within their PAK, but you are certainly not Irken, and you certainly do not have a PAK. They are usually reserved for the Vortian scientists and engineers, but with a new mask with some alterations, you'll never know the difference."

Dib had a vague idea of what it would look like. The good thing about Irken technology is that they didn't mess around with fun words like humans did. A Thermometer on Irk was basically a 'temperature stick'. The transportation cube he was given was called, quite literally, 'The Thing!' How hard was it to decipher the meaning of a Breathalyzer? The answer: Not very.

Dib perked up when he heard that there would be a trip to the three planets. He knew plenty of Vort and Foodcourtia-- the PIT crew could take credit for that-- but he had never really done much research on Resortia. From the name, he could only guess that it was a Resort. There goes irk, naming things just as they see them.

Dib was more excited to visit Vort than any other place, to be quite frank. The human and the Vortian Trillian often spent time talking about the planets they investigated and visited, but it seemed that their conversation always circled back to their home planet. Vort sounded like someplace the human would like, and Earth was, in turn, someplace with Trillian.

The way Dib talked about the planet around the winter months seemed like a dream come true for the Vortian electrician. Glittering and blinking lights everywhere, as far as the eye could see? Count him in! Dib had shown him a few pictures of the lights in question, and impressively enough, Trillian managed to create a string of alien Christmas lights for the human! The string of white and blue lights was now strewn about the human's room, but they were currently unplugged due to the low plug-in space.

Who knew extension cords were so rare in the known universe.

While Dib was mostly anticipating a visit to Vort, he guessed that maybe running around a candy factory couldn't be that bad. While the whole idea of visit these planets was enthralling, Dib was met with some hesitation. What if something like this-- A sudden hail and an attack-- were to happen, with the Almighty Tallest not there to instruct? Dib assume that Skoodge would take charge, but surely something more had to be done!

"Every month? I do not think that is necessary. I would go at least once every two months, personally." Bohemian started. "On Earth, humans receive one about every six months--"

"I, uh..." Dib started. "I never went every six months on Earth."

Bohemian turned to the other, his antennae perking with confusion, as if the information was somehow bewildering to the doctor. "How often did you go?" He asked.

The human shrugged, almost embarrassed to answer. "I think the last one I had was about... oh, I don't know... Four, or five--"

"Oh my." Was all Bohemian had to say. The human didn't even have to finish. This new information was alarming to the Head Surgeon. The Surgeon was never a fan of missing appointments. He turned to face his Monarch. "My Tallest, I believe one every single month will suffice."

This news was draining to Dib. "I know for a fact that I don't need that many physicals."

Bohemian shrugged. "Doctors orders."

Tak, if she was forced into a stretcher, would have fought in the Hangars like she fought on Damogran, and that was /hard/. The painkillers worked their magic, but it made Tak feel almost entirely numb. Her whole body ached, and it was hard to function when the killers worked at a blink of an eye. She was escorted, but walked alone for the most part. The warrior followed one of the medical staff, but the rest seemed to tail closely behind her.

If Zim had to blame anyone for the room arrangement, it would have to be Bohemian.

Oopsies!

"Good." Ceedid decided. "I'm starving. I did a good job today, I'm going to reward myself." And with that, the small Irken's PAK legs decided, and he was soon skittering away from the Medical wing.

Tak wished she could just run away from her situation, but she knew that she had to face it like the cold and calculating Invader she was. She was escorted into the medical bay, and was soon surrounded by Irkens who only had her best interest in mind.

Dib looked past the Head Surgeon, and squinted off in the distance. He Head Surgeon saw how much the other strained to see, and he raised his antennae steadily. "Are you having trouble seeing something, human?"

Dib turned his gaze to the Irken before himself. "What? Me? No. Shut up, I just..." He human turned back to view what was behind the Surgeon. "Is that..."

"...Dib?" Tak asked under her breath. Her antennae rose from her head, nearly standing up as straight as a post.

The human, sure that it was her, decided to do the most human thing he could ever think of doing. His hand shot up into the air, and he waved at her as if to say hello from the other side.

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 19, 2017

Zim pulled the foulest of expressions at the mere mention of an Earth dentist. He managed to worm his way out of ever having to set foot in an Earthen dentist's office...but like a good little Invader, he did his research on the matter. After doing said research, Zim made sure he took very good care of his teeth. Irken teeth were strong and hardy and very rarely gave their owners any problems, but just like human teeth if they were neglected for long enough they would begin to rot.

Poor germaphobic Zim. He spent several hours cleaning his teeth after watching an extensive video of a root canal, swearing up and down that that would never ever be him in that chair!

In stark contrast with Bohemian, Zim wasn't alarmed to hear that the Dib avoided going to the doctor at all costs back on his home planet. Earth doctors strove to be the best that they could be...but for some mind-boggling reason, a good number of them didn't become doctors to help other humans. They became doctors for the money involved in the profession. These doctors were infamous for having a poor bedside manner and refusing treatment to anyone who couldn't fork over enough cash. Unfortunately, these sorts of doctors were just about everywhere.

For the life of him Zim couldn't understand how a doctor could refuse to treat a patient simply because they were too poor to pay. Irkens weren't like that. Irken doctors were always willing to help other Irkens, regardless of whether or not they could pay. Medical treatment was free for Irkens and non-Irkens traveling on the Armada. In other places non-Irkens were charged...but again, they were rarely turned away if their condition was serious. How could a doctor ever turn a patient in need away so easily...?

Zim would never understand human beings. If one was sick, one should be able to depend on their kinfolk to help heal them! It was the right thing to do.

"If it's just a physical..." Rhapsody seemed hyper-focused on what her superior was doing. She didn't want to miss a second of this physical. "In the future, I could take care of it. Without the Tallest here to bombard us with questions and distract us..." the trainee and the Almighty Tallest shared a mischievous grin, "...it'll be much easier. You'll be done quicker, too."

She paused, her thick antennae rising and then falling. "Of course, if I think something's terribly wrong I'll have to run off and fetch the Head Surgeon. I won't make any decisions about further treatment without his input, in case I made a terrible mistake."

Even after all of this time she still wasn't confident in her abilities as a Medic. She admitted before that this was not what she really wanted to do with her life--she wanted to sing and entertain for a living. In this sense she and Zim were similar. Both of them went through jobs rapidly, quitting or being fired within a week or two and moving on to the next thing.

By the time another team of Medics arrived with Tak, Zim was distracted by his work tablet. He was tapping away, probably asking Skoodge how everything went, when the newly-arrived Invader spoke. "Yes, yes, it is the Dib-thing. Your eyeballs are not betraying you." He wouldn't even glance in Tak's direction. That was probably for the best, given their violent and turbulent relationship.

"I apologize for our late arrival," he muttered, antennae twitching absently. "We were ambushed by the Resisty. They promised to leave us alone if we gave them some food." Zim shrugged his thin shoulders. "We were in a rush. We didn't have time to crush them under our mighty Irken boots. So we threw some superior Irken food in their faces and told them to get lost. Ah, yes..."

He finally tore his gaze from his tablet, but chose to keep his eyes fixed on what was going on with the human. "Skoodge tells me that your mangled SIR unit is on its way to the labs right now. He has requested that the Scientists there keep me posted about the progress. So Zim will let you know when the repairs are finished."

Rhapsody was privately impressed that the Tallest wasn't trying to start a fight. Ignoring Invader Tak wasn't exactly the best alternative...but at least it kept them from going at each others' throats!

"What went wrong, exactly?" Zim sounded only mildly curious. "Zim knew Damogran would be a tough challenge. It is why he sent you, because you are just as stubborn and hardheaded as Zim is and he knew you would appreciate the challenge." A planet similar to Earth, with similarly ignorant and stupid denizens, seemed like a boring mark for someone as skilled as Tak. Look how quickly she managed to set her plan in motion on Earth! Her skills were put to better use on a more challenging planet.

"Did you pay attention to her reports, my Tallest?" Rhapsody inquired slowly. Zim made a popping sound with his lips and turned his gaze skyward. "...For the most part." He sounded slightly guilty. "Zim is a busy Irken. He had Skoodge take detailed notes for him." Zim's massive workload could partially be blamed on his distrust of his Irken subjects. The Almighty Tallest usually split work fifty-fifty with the Council of the Tallest. But Zim didn't trust the Council members, aside from Skoodge, with important paperwork, such as signing new laws into effect. So he and Skoodge were saddled with most of that busywork. It ate into the time they could afford to spend making video calls to their Invaders.

The two of them were horribly overworked. Maybe it was time for Zim to open up to Dib just a bit more and allow him to help with official matters. It would be something like a promotion for the human, except he would be able to keep his position within the PIT and would only have to help Zim and his haggard Adviser out on certain days when the workload became unbearable.

Dip · Feb 19, 2017

Dib was lucky to come from a well-to-do family. His father, basically being the most important scientist of Earth, had nearly the best medical and dental plan that America had to offer. Dib and Gaz had their needed check-ups, had their teeth cleaned as often as needed, and they were able to visit the doctor when they were sick. Well, in Dib's case, when he got injured.

His injuries when he was younger mostly consisted of bullying, but as he grew out of his awkward freshman years, his injuries were mostly tied with things going absolutely horribly wrong. Modifications blowing up in his face, injuries due to scientific discovery, and as of late, his situation with the giant tree in the woods near the outskirts of town.

While the visits between Gaz and Dib did cost a pretty penny, there was absolutely no dent in the families wealth. It wasn't surprising that Dib was able to fork over about a hundred dollars for a new picture camera every time Zim managed to destroy it! It wasn't at all shocking when Gaz was able to buy the brand new game and counsel every time it updated. While they were privileged, they never bought entirely frivolous items (note, the entire collection of the X-File is NOT frivolous. It is important for field study!).

Bohemian didn't like the idea of Rhapsody going solo, so he knew he would have to supervise her, even if it was just from a distance. It wasn't that Rhapsody was anything like the former Head Surgeon, it was that she was rather slow and klutzy, and if anything happened to Dib, it would be on the Head Surgeons head. Bohemian had the utmost faith in his workers, and all of his trainees were promising, but Rhapsody was a different story.

"...Okay." Bohemian was unsure, and he didn't fully believe the words coming from hs mouth, but again, she had never done anything entirely wrong before. Something incorrect? Yes. Something detrimental to the wellbeing of the Massive's patients? Never. But the human was a rather... tender patient. Irkens, no matter how Defective, could only be so gentle.

Dib, to be honest, was a little insulted when the Irken didn't respond to his friendly wave. Maybe she is still mad about her ship. Dib thought to himself. Maybe she hates me. Well, she hated me before, but would she still hate me? If she hated anyone, it would be Zim before it was ever the human being. Zim had ruined her pride, her dreams, and her life. Infact, Zim almost took her life away from her!

She did hate Zim before Dib. She hated Zim far more than she could ever hate Dib, but that didn't mean there wasn't enough hate in her heart for everyone. Tak was silent as the swarm of nurses and trainees clustered about her, connecting cables and machines to herself and her PAK unit in a flurry. She dropped her antennae flat against her head and crossed her arms over her chest, but a rather tentative Irken managed to stop one of her more seriously injured arms from reaching across her body.

Tak snarled, but did her best to keep her temper under control. She turned to the human with lidded eyes. "Why are you here, meatball?" This came out more rude and forceful than she had initially planned, but there was just so many people about her, she felt a little claustrophobic. It didn't help any that there was a gaggle of Damogran folk in the next room.

Dib made a face, more offended that she called him a meatball. "Well, you see, I was called into battle, so I went to the Hangars. I hopped into the Spiddle Runner and I just went out into space, y'know? So, I was piloting, and--"

"Stop with the talking!" Tak raised her voice only slightly, and that was to stop the prattling foreigner. "Why are you here?"

"I was getting to that. I was piloting, and I forgot my seatbelt, as people often do..." This last comment was mostly directed to Zim, who had berated him for the mistake the most. "And I--"

"Here! Why are you HERE! On the MASSIVE!" Tak took her free hand and rubbed at her purple eyes. She was surrounded by idiots. An idiot Monarch, idiot medics, and now an alien lifeform whose entire existence was compiled into one stupid clot named Dib.

"Oh! Zim picked me up."

That was enough for Tak. Talking to the human did nothing to help the pain she felt. Whilst it was lessening, being amongst stupid people helped absolutely nothing. Tak turned to Zim, her antennae pressed against her head, as she listened to the nonsense that dripped from his voice. She nearly snarled once more, but she managed to hold her tongue. "You were stopped by the Resisty?" In hindsight, that wasn't actually surprising. They had rather intelligent people among the crew, and with Zim leading the shit-parade across the galaxy, anyone could probably be able to take over the Massive.

Tak only nodded when the topic of her SIR unit arose. MiMi had never recovered when GIR managed to control her. She had become almost useless half the time, but Tak could never bring herself to scrap her precious robotic companion. MiMi and Tak grew especially close on the planet Damogran, it was a shame that the disgusting life forms amongst the planet did that to such a prime example of top-notch Irken software.

Once her Tallest asked what went wrong, Tak's antennae twitched with the utmost annoyance. She gripped at the sides of her medical cot as she looked down at herself. What went wrong? Everything. What went wrong, exactly? "You....You...You failed to send a small team of Armada ships to Damogran to help me control the conquered population. You failed to read my status updates. You failed to realize that technology was not adequately adapted to the environment of Damogran-- which you would have known if you bothered to listen to my updates! You went wrong, exactly! You, you, you! You ruined my mission! You ruined MiMi! You ruined everything!!"

A trainee had stepped back from the angry ball that was Tak, and she did so just in time. If she had does so much as touch the angered Irken, she would surely be maimed or wounded. "I had the planet secured for weeks! I restricted their food, doubled their workload, collected and extracted materials, EVERYTHING! I blew up their MOON, Z-- My Tallest," She was lucky she stopped herself before she seriously compromised her mission. "I did everything right..."

And that was all she had to say on that matter.

Dib, the entire time, turned from Tak to Zim, and back to Tak again. If this entire situation could have been avoided with a day or two worth of paperwork, Dib would have done it in a heartbeat. The entire confrontation was awkward and it made Dib uncomfortable. He wasn't even on the receiving end of it! He adjusted his weight from his sitting position, shifting so he could make a dash out of the door, but Bohemian placed a hand on him, as if to tell him, 'you're not leaving my office that easily.'

Dib, at the end of Tak's rant, had nothing more to say than "...Sorry." He wasn't apologizing on Zim's behalf, or on his own behalf. He was apologizing because he felt genuinely sorry for her!

Mira-Charma13 · Feb 19, 2017

Both Zim and GIR snickered instantly when Tak referred to the Earth creature as a meatball. Unfortunately enough for Dib, this new moniker Tak had so ungracefully bestowed upon him would follow him for quite some time. Zim was fond of unusual and mildly insulting nicknames, especially if they sounded funny to him, and meatball definitely fit those parameters! Rhapsody could only smile and shake her head. Being Defective herself, she could understand how easy it was for the Tallest to get distracted...especially if the situation at hand wasn't appealing in the slightest.

He snorted the instant Tak began to berate him, his antennae pressing down against his head and his eyes narrowing until they were little more than pale ruby-hued slits on his face. There was a retort resting on his tongue, a very bitchy retort most likely, but he somehow managed to hold his tongue until Tak had finished her tirade. Perhaps it was because the Dib looked so forlorn, hearing about her tale.

Zim would never admit out loud that he was a sucker for any form of those so-called 'puppy dog eyes' creatures tended to adopt when they were upset or very much wanted something. GIR took advantage of this on an almost daily basis. If Dib were to realize the effect that sad and forlorn look had on the Irken monarch, he could also use that to his advantage!

"You mean Skoodge failed to send a small team of Armada ships to aid you," Zim corrected simply, one antenna rising while the other remained pressed firmly against the smooth top of his head. "Skoodge is in charge of monitoring the progress of half of the Operation Impending III Invaders. Your name is on his list, not Zim's list. If you want to blame anyone for the way the situation got out of hand, then blame Skoodge."

That wasn't entirely fair. Technically speaking, directly assisting the Tallest when it came to Invaders and Invasion Operations was not in Skoodge's job description. He was meant to advise and delegate from a distance, not directly involve himself in those matters. By law, Skoodge didn't have to sit in on hours upon hours of calls and reports from Invaders out in the field and carefully document each and every fact he considered to be of importance. He didn't have to work himself to the bone just to make sure the Tallest completed his allotted work for the day. He worked so hard because he was so close with Zim. Any other Irken wouldn't be doing what Skoodge was doing right now, not even for the sake of the Tallest!

Throwing his closest Irken confidant under the bus so willingly was a rather lousy thing for Zim to do. Sure, he was angry with Skoodge right now...but where would he be right now without the smaller, chubbier Irken's loyalty and devotion...?

"And your mission isn't ruined." Zim's antennae bounced and he leaned back further in his chair. "It has been salvaged. The alien species is under control. Casualties were minor. The scientists you strove to protect despite the rising unrest are all safe and uninjured. The planet is under Irken control. And once everything is settled...Zim will conduct the usual meeting with the Planetary Conversion Team and you will give your opinion on what should be done with the planet and its people." At long last his magenta gaze dragged over to meet Tak's darker violet gaze. "As Zim stated before, there is a reason why he tasked you with conquering planet Damogran. It was bound to be a challenge no matter what anyone did. Zim suspects that even if the requested team arrived at its destination, the outcome would have been the same. I knew long before I sent you out on your mission they would not go down without a fight."

He yawned, rubbing absently at one of his eyes. "And your SIR unit will be fine. I've seen GIR in worse shape and he came back from the labs in near mint condition."

"Mm-hmmmmm." GIR nodded in an oddly sage manner. "I ate a bomb. It looked like a jawbreaker!" He stuck his little tongue out of his mouth. "Didn't taste like no jawbreaker, though."

"What's a jawbreaker?" Rhapsody sounded intrigued, but wary at the same time. "It sounds dangerous. Does it really break jaws?"

"It is an Earth sweet," Zim muttered, totally disinterested in the conversation. "It is like a large gumball."

"What's a gumball?"

"Never mind..."

Tak's very presence seemed to be pissing Zim off. He was trying so, so hard not to spin around and blow up on her. Not for shouting and spewing threats at him, because he was usually always up for a good verbal battle with someone he disliked, but for upsetting the Dib. The subtle signs that he was getting angrier and angrier were there. His antennae were low, but not quite pressed against his head. The cricked tips of his antennae twitched and curled every now and again. His right eyelid twitched occasionally, as well. Every once in a while he tapped one of his feet impatiently against the metal floor underfoot. His shoulders were tense and tight and he drummed his fingers against his cheek.

His constant fidgeting even woke Minimoose up. His two robotic minions apparently sensed their master's discomfort, because they snuggled up against him as affectionately as he could. It seemed to have some effect, because he reached down to run his fingers through Minimoose's short fur.

Dip · Feb 19, 2017

Bohemian, from a medical standpoint, had to agree with Tak. The human was a meatball, he concluded.

The response that was delivered did nothing to calm the Invader. She was already furious at the rotund Irken for flinging himself at her, but not at all like she was for Zim. Throwing his second in command under the bus like that was a low blow. It didn't surprise the other Invader that Zim covered his own ass so willingly, but it did disturb Dib just slightly.

He always knew that Skoodge got the short end of the stick, but did that mean that Dib was in the same boat as Skoodge? Part of him had to doubt that, but he wouldn't put it past Zim to point a finger at the human. But six years had changed Zim, and he had seen a drastic change in his character. Maybe he might pony up to his mistakes when it came to the human charge, but it seemed that he acted the same as he had before when it came to his own people.

Tak turned her gaze to the side as her Tallest informed her of her mission. Whatever he was getting on about, he was wrong. The mission was ruined. She had failed as an Invader. She was trained to handle anything, and she got overwhelmed. She felt ashamed and humiliated, and thus, projected her anger outward. The scientists she protected were just that, in protection, but she would never be able to face them with decent civility. She doubted that she could ever look a Damogran in the face again!

Tak knew there was a reason for her being assigned to Damogran, and she had a hunch that it was to see her fail. Zim was out to get her. He was always out to get her! She gripped hard at the cot beneath her, but slowly released her grasp. She had failed her mission. That was that. She was just glad she didn't pay for it with her life.

The tentative trainee watched Tak for a moment as she began to calm down, and slowly neared towards her. The trainee wrapped Tak's arm in gauze and skittered away almost the moment she was finished. Tak had nothing more to say on the matter. She was alive, and so was MiMi, as it seemed.

It was devastating to watch the poor SIR unit get torn apart by the angry mob of Damogran people. The Damogran people were just so... massive. So tall, and thin, and agile, with nimble fingers and quick actions. She could fend off two, maybe three with enough help, but they swarmed her in clusters of ten, twenty, or even more. Tak looked down at her gauze and readjusted the job that the nervous Medic had performed.

Dib, once again, felt uncomfortable. The thought of deciding the fate of a planet was something that unnerved him, ever since he first came in contact with Zim again, and the Monarch asked the pressing question of what he would do with his home planet. That question had bothered Dib for the longest time, and it still did! The thought of destroying a race of people, an entire history, a whole planet was just something that the human couldn't possibly wrap his head around.

He was thankful that he wasn't a Damogran citizen. He turned to the side to view the small cluster of aliens in the room nearest to Tak's. Dib was pulled from his thought when the rambunctious SIR unit mentioned a jawbreaker. Dib smiled gently and watched as the Irken tried to understand what the treat was.

"It does break jaws." He added softly.

"Oh my."

Dib had never experienced the feeling first-hand, but he had nearly broken a tooth or two when it came to hard candy. Dib wanted to go into further detail about the technicalities of gum, but he decided that now wasn't the place or the time for any sort of discussion on Earth goodies. He turned to the side to view a rather... pissed looking Zim.

The body language he was experiencing seemed to be classic Zim, but it was the twitch of the eye that really told Dib that something was bugging him. The human turned away and looked back at the injured Irken, who seemed to be recovering quite well on her own.

The Invader, once her bandages were properly in place, turned back to view the human. He was... taller. With longer hair, and a few more scrapes and gashes. He must have gotten those in that accident he was going on about. Tak stopped dead in her train of thought and opened her mouth to speak.

"Spittle Runner."

Dib raised an eyebrow at the Invader. "...What about it?"

"You mentioned that you piloted one today, correct?"

"Yes--"

"Where is mine?" Tak asked suddenly, not even bothering to wait for a respond. Dib felt his heart sink into his stomach. That was the last thing he wanted to discuss with her. "There was minimal activity sometime six Earth years ago, and then it suddenly peaked a year after. You updated the hard drives and hacked through my computer program. You installed your own AI. It seemed as if you worked on it every single day, Earthling."

That was the time in Dib's life when he worked hard to try and find Zim. He upgraded the Runner, downgraded it, cleaned it inside and out. He had tried everything to figure out what Zim was up to! He had installed Satelight Radio, Infrared Scanners, Personal Decoders, the whole shebang. Dib said nothing as she continued to speak, almost looking guilty.

"The activity continued for almost two years... and then it stopped entirely."

"That's, eh... that's because I kinda... sorta, maaaybe took apart the entire ship. And destroyed the hard drives.... And set it on fire... And recycled the scrap metal after the fire." He took the money from the scrap metal and bought a slushee, but he didn't include that part in the story.

Tak eyed the human, her purple pupils narrowing into thin slits. "Why on Irk would you do something that stupid?"

To this, Dib shrugged. He had an answer to that question, but that was a more private thing. He missed Zim? He was alone? He couldn't stand to be faced with another disappointment?

"... I got really angry." He said simply, and that was a good enough answer for Tak.

"I see." She could understand being really angry.

It Came From Outer Space (Mira-Charma13 and Dip)

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |

The Almighty Tallest

| Noble Village Witch St. Maerius |