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

[Mira-Charma13]

"You intercepted transmissions from Conventia?" Skoodge finally tore his eyes away from his tablet, squinting suspiciously at the Earth creature. Several other Irkens seemed skeptical, but concerned as well. "That shouldn't be possible," the round Irken muttered, once again giving his work tablet his undivided attention. "I'll see if we can't step up the security measures. We've got a lot of enemies, you see. It would be all kinds of bad if classified information landed in the wrong hands."

Zim just shrugged his shoulders, apparently unconcerned about the breach of security. Though it was admittedly disconcerting that the enemy could apparently listen in on the Great Assigning and find out which planets the Irken Empire slated for conquest, the Tallest simply couldn't bring himself to care all that much. This earned him some disapproving looks from his subjects, but as usual Zim opted to ignore them entirely. Skoodge would take care of it--he was sure of that--so in his mind it wasn't really his problem.

"So..." Zim's thick antennae twitched. "We will be reaching Irk relatively soon, human. A modified PAK has already been prepared for you. But it is not yet ready. It is a blank slate. The Dib must work with Zim to make final alterations to ensure that it will not annihilate your fleshy human body. Also, you must provide a copy of your mind and personality to occupy the PAK."

"Shouldn't be too difficult," Skoodge hummed, tapping away at something or another. "I mean, we've never successfully attached a PAK to a non-Irken before--it always ends up killing the new host in the end...but it's a challenge." He briefly glanced up to meet Dib's gaze, his short antennae wiggling playfully. "And as creatures who strive for perfection in each and every way, we thoroughly enjoy a good challenge. And don't forget that the Tallest will be helping you personally with all of it. And we all know how much he hates to fail."

Zim snorted haughtily, shoving his last handful of nachos into his waiting mouth. "Zim does not tolerate failure!" he bellowed arrogantly, earning a few chuckles (some amused, some mean-spirited) from the Irken rabble filling the Bridge. Zim was infamous for his numerous failures, mishaps, and bungles. But he was nothing if not determined, and his infectious stubbornness meant that he wouldn't stop until a PAK was successfully attached to the human. With Dib there to watch his every move and rein in that reckless behavior Zim was well-known for, the two of them were sure to succeed!

For a while there was a comfortable silence in the Bridge of the Massive, with the only noises coming from Irkens working and shifting around in the background. Eventually Zim spoke up, his eyes darting from object to object. "Fascinating, isn't it?" His antennae bounced cheerfully. The longer the conversation went on, the less likely it was that Skoodge would prod him into getting back to work. "We can stop at some of these smaller planets once we get to Irk. I believe we will be moored there for a time, so we will have some free time to explore as you see fit. Zim can take you to the best ones!"

"I can make an itinerary for you. But for now..." Skoodge met his superior's gaze without flinching, "...about that list of calls you need to make..."

"Ugh." Zim rolled his eyes, using one arm of his chair to prop up one elbow and rest his cheek in his hand. "Fine. Whatever. I'll get it over with." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, glancing over to meet the eyes of his...mate? Was that the right word for it? "Enjoy the scenery, Dib-human." He seemed genuinely disappointed. Apparently, he must have been hoping that today would be a slow work day so he could just sit there and goof off with Dib. "Zim must make some stupid calls. Computer?"

"Yeah?"

"I sent a copy of the list to you." There wasn't a single ounce of enthusiasm in the Irken monarch's voice. "Start from the top and go down. I do not feel like manually making these calls."

"Very well."

Zim sank back into his chair, scowling bitterly at the screen that dropped down and blocked a small bit of the impressive view outside. It was likely that he would be sour until he no longer had work to do.

 

[Dip]

It was impressive, to say the least, that a human was able to intercept a transmission so carelessly-- and at such a young age, too! Dib could hardly stop himself from smiling playfully at the rather large Irken soldier. The human shrugged. "It was pretty easy to do. I just took a Ham Radio and slapped our old TV dish onto it, set a few coordinates, threw in some wires, and... boom, listened in.... and stuff." It was a little more complicated than throwing a few wires onto an old trucker radio and shoving a plug in a socket, but the Irkens didn't really need to know about his technical abilities.

Dib didn't have to hear about the long and lengthy list of enemies. He knew plenty of them off of the top of his head already! The war with the Meekrob was raging on and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. In fact, he had a feeling that something a little bigger was on the brink of happening. He didn't quite know what it was with his PIT mates, but his partner Nuul-Yhar seemed a little... off. A little more unhinged than usual. She became increasingly busy with her work involving Logistics, and her focus shifted from the current task at hand, the Irken linguistics planet Alpha-Baetia, to issues closer to home.

Dib knew better than to ask her about it. While he did care for his colleague, he knew better than to bring attention to himself like that. He was amongst Irkens, and a majority of the Irkens he worked with on a daily basis would take matters into their own hands if they knew that Dib had been talking to Nuul about the planet and the war. Dib knew for a fact that Zim would not care in the slightest, but Skoodge, on the other hand, would care a whole lot more.

Dib turned from the former Invader to the Tallest, and shifted his view to the window. He could see a speck of what Irk may be in the distance, and it filled him with a dull anxiety. There was so much to do once he was on the planet, and the thought of running around panicked him to his core. He knew how the Irkens on the Massive would react to the human, because they interacted with other aliens day by day, and Dib was no different! But on Irk?

Oh, that was a whole other story. He knew for a fact that a vast majority of them had never left the atmosphere of Irk, let alone traveled aboard the Massive! Dib knew for a fact that he was going to be a walking museum for all of the planet to behold, and he doubted the attraction would leave as soon as he received his PAK.

Dib, however, was pulled from his anxiety into a whole other world of fear.

"An... Annihilate?" No one said anything about that. That wasn't... a real possibility, right? That wouldn't happen in real life, right? Was that some kind of joke? Zim was known for his twisted sense of humor, sure, but annihilation? The human swiveled his head around when the rotund Irken spoke, and that did nothing to soothe his beating heart. "Wait wait wait wait," Dib held up his hands to pause the conversation. "I-I don't-- I mean, I just-- wait," Dib brought his hands back into himself, and placed his chin on the palm of his hand, tapping it gently with his pointer finger. He thought deeply about the future situation he was about to be placed in.

He came to the conclusion that maybe... he wasn't okay with dying.

Dib turned to Zim, and looked down onto himself. He wasn't sure if the idea of working with Zim made him feel better or worse about the situation. Dib knew that Zim was comfortable working with humans, and Dib was the most human thing he knew... but Zim was also one to get off track very very very easily. While the human and the Irken both knew that there was no reason to distrust the other (atleast, the human knew that. He was in love with him, duh.), he knew there was reasons-a-plenty to be nervous.

As Dib's nerves slowly settled to the bottom of his being, a calming silence found itself over the bridge. Dib, per the norm, watched as planet after planet passed along the way. It wasn't long after until Zim spoke up, and Dib faced him. He smiled, almost girlishly, as he thought about visiting each and every planet with his new... Mate. Thing. "Yeah, actually, that would be... neat."

Neat. Are you fucking kidding me? Neat?

"Er, cool. It would be cool."

Smoothe. Nice save, Membrane.

It was a millisecond of day-dreaming, and that was enough for Skoodge. Work was brought up once more, and Dib couldn't help but roll his eyes. Zim had that effect on people-- everyone got distracted in just a moments notice!!

The distraction within the room slowly melted away into steady work, with both Skoodge and the human keeping a relatively close eye on the Irken Monarch. The first few calls were amazing, and flowed very smoothly, with little to no hitches whatsoever! But soon, the laziness and boredom that comes with babysitting soon set in, and Dib resorted to getting sucked into his iPhone, and Skoodge, his tablet.

Forty levels of Candy Crush later, Dib averted his eyes from his dying cellular device and noticed a few things.

1) Skoodge looked like he hadn't peeled his eyes from that tablet in hours.
2) It got... very quiet. Too quiet.
3) There was no Monarch or Android, to be seen.

Dib sat there, for a solid moment, entirely unsure of what to do in his current situation.

 

[Mira-Charma13]

It wasn't until Skoodge caught a slight bit of movement in his peripheral vision that he finally tore his gaze from his tablet. At first his small magenta eyes settled on Dib before they panned to the now-empty chair the Tallest was supposed to be occupying. His eyes darted about the room, noticing that everyone else was just as absorbed in their work as he and the Earth thing were with their personal devices. After some fierce calculating went down in that wide head of his the Head Advisor let out an award-winning sigh, which caught the attention of several other Irkens as heads raised from work stations.

"Really?" He sounded disappointed--not just in the others, but in himself as well. "No one saw the Tallest leave?"

There was movement among the rabble as the other Irkens in the Bridge looked left and right, up and down. They seemed shocked when they realized that their monarch had truly managed to slip away without any of them noticing. And then...

"Um...we did."

The Royal Guards stationed outside poked their heads in front of the archway. There was a male guard and a female guard. The male, the one who spoke, seemed terribly nervous.

"And you..." Skoodge fixed a flat stare on the nervous duo. "You didn't stop him."

"...No."

"You let him go."

"Yeah..."

"When I know you heard me say he had work to do today?"

"Yeah, but--"

"How could you do that?!" Skoodge jumped out of his seat, pocketing his beloved tablet for now. "You let him walk right out without saying anything at all? Have you got brain worms or something?! Now he's got a head start! He could be anywhere by now!"

The male guard flinched, but the female did not. "He is our Tallest," the female guard responded as simply as she could. "Who are we to question him leaving?" Skoodge groaned in an over-the-top manner, dropping his head into his hands. He stood there like that for a moment with some very concerned gazes settled on him before he straightened out again, letting out another sigh, and peered over his shoulder at the human.

"I don't know how he managed to tiptoe out of here without alerting you or anyone else. Especially considering he has his exceptionally loud and rambunctious SIR unit with him." That just boggled Skoodge's mind. Sure, he was still fuming...but he had to admit that it was impressive. Zim was well-known for being sneaky. Skoodge couldn't even remember the number of times Zim roped him into sneaking around the Academy after lights out...or the number of times he got caught while Zim managed to slip away unscathed...

"We'd better go look for him," the Head of Council muttered sourly, trudging his way through the Bridge archway. "If you guys get any calls while we're gone, just put them on hold like usual. This shouldn't take too long." Once in the hallway, Skoodge whipped his trusty tablet out again. "I'd bet all the monies I ever earned that he's in his Private Cafeteria. No one can get in there without his express permission. I'm not gonna even bother trying to call him. He won't answer. I knew he was in a bad mood today, but I didn't expect him to up and vanish. Especially with you there."

He paused for a split second before grinning up at Dib. "He might have sent you some kind of message on your phone-thing. I'd check if I were you."

Zim had indeed attempted to contact Dib...but only through e-mail. He had minimal understanding of human cell phones or computers. He knew that he could send e-mails using the Irken Correspondence Network. He could probably configure it to send texts to Dib's cell phone, though.

The first e-mail let the human know that he was skipping out on work and that he was welcome to join him whenever he wanted. The second warned him that if he showed up looking for him with Skoodge and tried to drag him back to work that he'd pay dearly for it later. It was probably an empty threat. The worst he'd do at this point was have a screaming match and/or a nonlethal fistfight with the human.