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

[Mira-Charma13]

The silence dragged on for some time as their ragtag little group stuffed their faces full of fantastic food. It was Skoodge who eventually broke the silence, finishing off his very last bite of sandwich before clearing his throat and gazing intently at Zim. "Didn't you tell me you picked up that modified ATD for the human on your way to surgery?" Zim's antennae rose just a bit. "Mm-hm." He reached down to fish in one of his pockets. He eventually unearthed a small metal box, which he placed next to Dib's tray of food.

"ATD. Audio Translation Device." Zim still sounded distinctly uninterested, but at least that peculiar glumness that saturated his voice and expression just a short while ago seemed to be long gone. "Within are two earpieces and a metal neck collar. The earpieces will translate words that are spoken to you. The collar will translate what you say to others. You can understand Zim and other Irkens already because of the technology in our PAKs...but the Planetary Investigation Team is comprised of both Irkens and non-Irkens, so you will be needing these things to work alongside them."

"Speaking of the PIT..." Skoodge's work tablet was in his hands within seconds. "I'm pretty sure PIT Leader Jazz is back from his field work. Don't know what he found, if he even found anything, but the ship he took arrived back in the Hangar a few minutes ago. He's probably in the middle of entering his findings into the Universal Map right now. If you want an audience with him, I can see if he'll be available in the next half hour or so. That okay?"

"Ehh...I guess so." Zim made a popping sound with his lips. "I do need to discuss a schedule for the human's combat training with him...and with you, as well." "Me?" Skoodge rubbed his hands together, looking eager. "Well, my schedule coincides with yours a lot of the time. There's a bit of wiggle room there. I could probably handle training sessions every other day."

"Very well." Zim pushed some of his food around on the tray. There were only two items left by now--one sandwich and half of a burrito. "Your sessions should focus on PAK weaponry and how to combat it, as well as how appearances can be very deceiving. I will be unable to assist with combat training until my back has healed. The PIT leader is often busy. Zim suspects he will only be able to train twice a week maximum. If that is indeed the case, Zim can take the remaining day once he has healed."

"You sure you two won't end up maiming each other?" Skoodge sounded skeptical and mildly amused. "Didn't you used to despise each other?" Zim rolled his eyes, finally allowing himself to smirk. "Zim can restrain himself. He won't kill the Earth beast right away."

---

Rhapsody's entire face lit up when Bohemian spoke at last, claiming that he wanted to join their cause. She was practically beaming at him. The PIT leader's reaction was much less enthusiastic. "I doubt your sincerity." His expression seemed cold and stony at best. "You were caught creeping around in a place where you had no business being, and you've been caught red-handed eavesdropping on a conversation you had no business listening in on. But you don't want to die. And you're well aware that this young Trainee has faith in you. So you're going to try to earn our trust and then present us to the Control Brains when the opportune moment presents itself to you."

"Jazz..."

The blue-eyed Irken gave a simple shrug of his shoulders. "That is what I personally believe, anyway. As of this point in time I have no way to prove that I'm in the right. Time will almost certainly tell if I was correct or completely wrong. For now..." Jazz stood up a little straighter, keeping his hands folded tightly against his back. "I will give you a chance. One chance. That is it. But there will be rules. Let's refer to this as a probationary period, shall we?"

Rhapsody, who looked a little concerned, watched carefully as Jazz began to pace back and forth in an oddly predatory manner, his sharp gaze still honed in on the outsider. "Rhapsody will be in charge of watching you. You will stay by her side at all times and never leave it. You will work together. Dine together. Recharge together. Of course, you won't be cleansing together...but she will be in the room while you're cleansing and vice versa." Cleansing chambers were private and closed off, so they wouldn't be seeing each other in the buff...and it helped that electronic equipment malfunctioned when it came into contact with cleansing gel. So if Bohemian wanted to contact the Control Brains he couldn't take that opportunity do so--Irken PAKs would not open their panels for any reason if they detected that the surrounding environment would damage them.

The violet-eyed Irken stared incredulously at Jazz and then glanced at Bohemian. Well, that would be awkward...but if it had to be done, it had to be done.

"I want weekly reports on your progress straight from Rhapsody's mouth. If at any time Rhapsody believes that this is just an elaborate act on your part..." Jazz's antennae twitched. "She will detain you and bring you to me." He met the younger Irken's gaze. "Understood?" Rhapsody shuffled her feet against the floor. "...Understood." "Good." The tall Irken turned his back on the pair. "Now, if you'll excuse me...I have work to do. Contact me if you have any problems, Rhapsody."

As Jazz proudly sauntered away, eventually turning and disappearing into a nearby hallway, Rhapsody slowly turned to face Bohemian. "...Sorry." She sounded genuinely apologetic. "You mean a lot to me. I admire you. I've wanted to tell you about all of this for a long time, but Jazz...he's notoriously paranoid. He handpicks members for our Resistance, and you weren't on the list." Which meant that Jazz was most likely the leader of the entire Irken Resistance. She rubbed her hands together. "It's about time we got back to work, huh? I think we've gone well over our allotted break time for the day." A pleasant smile stretched across her face. "I know Jazz doesn't have faith in you, but I do! I'm glad we have you on our side!"

She seemed oddly cheerful. Her outlook was a stark contrast to Jazz's outlook. Then again, Jazz was much older...and more world-weary. He was renowned for being a fantastic judge of character, as well. It was admittedly worrying that he had so little faith in Bohemian...but Rhapsody was certain that he was wrong this time around![/hr]

 

[Dip]

The silence was comfort, but it was so thick someone could cut it with a knife. Dib would have been perfectly content with sitting and looking past the stars and beyond the moon, but he felt guilty for the lack of conversation. He felt like he had brought the deafening silence, and that it was his fault the Irken wasn't his talkative self. It wasn't long before Dib chewed straight through his straw, creating a dulled end with jutting pieces this way and that.

He turned when he heard the phrase 'human'. He saw the Irken pull something from his pocket, and Dib anticipated this to be one of his 'goodies' that the Irken spoke about earlier that day. The human looked over the device closely, and slowly placed his slushee down on the table. He used one hand to slowly raise it out of the box, and he used the other to pull the earpieces out with the same care.

Dib moved the neck collar about in his hand, looking at it closely and feeling the surface. It was immensely cold and smooth, and he likened it to the Earth metal steel. He saw that it clasped in the back, and he slowly placed the earpieces on the table as he fondled the device a little closer.

He noticed a button near the clasps on the back and pressed it as he inspected the inside of the collar. It seemed as if it didn't really translate the words, but more so the sounds that were produced. He saw a small discolored section and assumed that it lined up with here his throat would be. He had seen some minor modifications concerning this piece of technology and wondered if it was to properly fit his neck.

Dib slowly pressed it against his neck. His neck was still tender and sore from his meeting with the crazy Ex-Medic, but the cool metal felt good against his neck. He slowly clasped it around his neck, feeling the soft click on his spine. He felt like he looked like a dog, accepting a collar from his new owner. Dib reached his arms behind himself and pressed the button. He didn't need it right at that moment, did he?

The human placed the unclasped collar back inside the box it had come in and pushed the earpieces back inside their case. "Thanks," Dib said as he lidded the device. So, basically, everyone with a PAK could speak Dib's English. Zim mentioned previously that he had a language program that could teach Dib the Irken language, but until he mastered that, he had a feeling that he would be likened to a dog for a while.

Dib turned to the Irken Skoodge as he mentioned the Planetary Investigation Team, and he wondered what their leader looked like. He heard that he was as tall as Dib, but he hoped that Dib was the taller of the two. He knew height was his advantage and he wanted to keep it like that. He could deal with one Irken fighting against him and having a height advantage, and that slot was already taken by the former Irken invader.

Dib listened to the two discuss a schedule, and Dib wondered what his own schedule would look like. He figured that working with PIT wouldn't be salaried, but it was just a job to serve the Irken empire, but could he be fired? He doubted it, with Zim creating a schedule for him. He just hoped that he had a day or two to recline and relax.

The human turned to the Irken what he spoke about what his fighting entailed. Dib winced when the Irken mentioned PAK combat, a hand going up to his neck. That would be hard, he knew those things were a force to be reckoned with. He had a few head-to-head collisions with Zim's back, but he never faced it like he did with Serloz.

Dib chuckled when Skoodge mentioned maiming and fighting. His smile only brightened when Zim smirked about Dib's untimely death. So it was just the food, huh? That's the Irken that Dib knew and despised. "I wish I could say the same." Dib smirked back as he took a sip of his slush. He pretended to cough, and spoke as he did. "Cou-Irken, Cou-Scum. "

---

The Irken raised an eyebrow as he listened to the other speak. For a Defective Irken, he wasn't as dumb as he thought. Bohemian stepped forward, ready to defend his case, but the Irken continued to talk. The other spoke about having no way to prove that Bohemian was telling the truth or not, which saved the Head Surgeon.

The Irken listened to what the other had to say, and it made the other angry. He didn't vocalize his hatred for the idea, but it was obvious if you watched his antennae twitch slowly, almost vibrating. He would have no more time to himself, would he? That just meant more paperwork when it came to moving Rhapsody's schedules around to echo his.

He would have to do double the work, for hardly any payoff.

Bohemian watched as the taller Irken moved away, attending to his own personal business. He didn't bother shifting his weight at all. He looked off in the distance as he listened to Rhapsody speak. Bohemian turned silently, and walked out of the room saying nothing. He knew Rhapsody was following him, because she was assigned to him.

Disgusting.

What had he gotten himself into?

 

[Mira-Charma13]

Zim simply rolled his eyes and chuckled under his breath in response to the human's not-so-subtle jab at him. He instead turned his attention back to his remaining food items and began to pick at them, slowly finishing them off. It wasn't the reaction the old Zim would have had--not by a long shot. The old Zim would have jumped up on the table and started spouting and spewing insults at the Earth monster left and right. But yet again, it was like Zim was actively trying to avoid conflict. This behavior was quite different, that was for sure!

"You don't have any form of military training," the Irken monarch drawled in-between bites of food. "Realistically, you would be no match for Zim if he was at full health. If I were fighting full force and using every weapon I have at my disposal...you would be dispatched quickly." These statements were just as odd. Zim was never one to be realistic, especially when he was boasting about his superiority in some way or another. He always embellished the truth.

"You could try ticklin' my master!" GIR interrupted in a merry voice, swinging his little legs back and forth. His tray was now completely devoid of food, which was a rather impressive feat for such a tiny creature. "Just a liiiiitle ticklin' on his sides and he falls right over!" "GIR!"

Well, at least GIR hadn't changed all that much.

While Zim seemed to have shaken off the majority of the depression for now, some hints of tension still lingered. His body language and the look in his eyes betrayed his true feelings. His posture seemed tense and tight, and his antennae were still a smidgen closer to his head than they should have been. His eyes gave the most away. Those owlish magenta eyes avoided making contact with Dib's darker pair at all costs. No, he wasn't completely over it just yet. But at least he was trying to push his mystifying feelings to the side for the sake of making peace.

Meanwhile, Skoodge was still tapping away furiously on his tablet. "...Done and done!" He slipped the thin piece of Irken technology back into his pocket. "The PIT leader got back to me. He's in the middle of uploading the data he collected from planet Saturn to the Universal Map and the Irken Database, but he claims that he's almost finished, so...if you were to leave in the next couple of minutes, he'll be ready for a meet and greet."

"We should go now, then." Zim briefly checked to make sure Dib's tray was clear or almost clear before rising from his seat, immediately tapping his hover belt so that he wouldn't have to walk. Hovering so often made him feel uncomfortable--after all, the hovering itself reminded him of two very unpleasant Irkens--but he had to hover until his back healed up. GIR hopped down from his seat, immediately skipping over to stand between his master and Dib. Skoodge hopped down from his own seat, brushing a few crumbs from his official Council attire.

"I've got some paperwork to do, so I can't come with you." He squinted in Zim's direction. "Some paperwork that a certain Tallest should be doing himself." Zim snickered and quickly hovered past his second-in-command. Anything he could do to get out of what he felt was pointless busywork, he would do! There was little that Zim despised more than sitting on his back end day in and day out and filling out form after form after form.

A shudder ran down his spine at the mere thought.

Zim once again held the circular platform until Dib stepped on, and then he released it. The trip down seemed much lighter than the trip up now that Zim wasn't feeling quite so irritable. He was still oddly silent as he led the way back out into the nearest hallway, taking a sharp right. The crowd of Irkens returning from their food breaks parted willingly for their Tallest, as usual. GIR occasionally darted ahead and tried his hand at leading the way. Zim only bothered correcting him when he tried to take a wrong turn.

The two of them babbled relentlessly as they walked along, and about the most nonsensical things too. "Are we gonna go to that Rainbow Galaxy again soon?" "Ehh, I dunno. Guess that depends on where we're headed next." "Aren't we goin' to Irk, though?" "Mm-hm." "I don't wanna go to Irk! It's all boring and stuff! And there are no puppies or kittens!" "And that's a good thing! Those little Earth critters make Zim very uncomfortable." "That's 'cause you've never tried to snuggle with one!" "And why would I ever want to do that?" "Well...they're soft and they're cuddly and they smell real nice. Oh, and they like to give sweet kisses!"

Zim shuddered again, and this time his entire face twisted with disgust. He hated being touched to begin with...but being touched by all that fur...ugh.

After some time Zim perked up, motioning toward an elevator at the end of the hallway. It differed from the others in color, sporting a unique royal blue color. "These blue elevators lead to the Planetarium, which is where the PIT does most of its work. As Zim mentioned before, it also contains the Universal Map." GIR immediately launched himself into the elevator, smacking against the metal wall and giggling in the process. "So, ehh..." Zim rubbed his small hands together. "Do you want Zim to come with you? Or will you be all right with just GIR for company? The PIT knows why you are coming, so...I mean...I don't want to intrude..."

Was he being too clingy and smothering before? Was that why the Dib got angry? Maybe it would be best to put some distance between them for a little while...

 

[Dip]

While Skoodge and Zim knew eachother on a species level and from infancy, Dib felt that he knew Zim more personally. As Zim's nemesis, Dib knew weaknesses, likes, dislikes, and other such information. Well, he did at one point, before he spent so long destroying the knowledge he possessed. Being around the Irken again made him recall a few things, but he felt that the nostalgia would be hitting him again and again.

He was mildly dissatisfied when the Irken didn't jump on the table and scream his green head off. He was glad to get a reaction from the other, but sadly, it wasn't the reaction he had been hoping for. Dib knew that the alien had changed, but had he changed that much? It had been a long six years, hasn't it.

Both of them changed, but it seemed that Zim changed more overall. Dib got taller, a lot smarter, and a lot lonelier. He, someone, managed to get less popular and but more successful when it seemed that the Irken surpassed him on all levels! Even physical!! Zim was taller, smarter, more famous, more popular, more of what Dib wasn't. Why the Irken picked Dib and not a better-qualified candidate, he wasn't sure.

His father was one of the most famous scientists on the planet! Why wouldn't Professor Membrane be the first choice? Dib recalled what the SIR unit had said before, how Zim missed 'chasing him around and stuff'. It didn't make sense for the Irken to enjoy Dibs company, did it? Dib was the root of all evil in Zim's mind, wasn't he? Dib was the only thing standing in the Irken's way of total conquest. Why would he want him back?

Zim didn't... miss Dib, did he?

The talk of combat continued, and it wasn't long before the impish SIR unit offered a weapon that Zim couldn't fight: tickles. Dib cocked his head at the Irken. "You're ticklish?" He never would have guessed. Where exactly was he ticklish? He didn't really have... sides, did he? Dib would never touch the Irken if he could help it, mostly because he was sure that the other would surely chop his hand off if he ever got the chance, but the thought of Zim being ticklish was just.... strangely human.

He faintly wondered if Skoodge was ticklish.

As Dib looked over his ticklish counterpart, he noticed something wrong with Zim. Not entirely wrong, it wasn't something that could be seen with just a quick look, but it seemed that something wasn't quite right. Was Zim affected that badly by Dib's denial of a piece of technology? That couldn't have been the case. Dib shifted his gaze at the Irken Skoodge, and noticed that he didn't even bat an eye. Why was that?

Surely Skoodge knew Zim better than Dib did, but the war vet didn't even see a single thing wrong with his Tallest! He was busy, working on something or another on his own Tablet. It wasn't long before the Irken pulled away, speaking about his talk with the PIT leader. He watched as Zim got up quickly, and Dib followed. He grabbed what was left of his shush, and toted it along with him. He wasn't going to let a perfectly good drink go to waste!

Dib chuckled as Skoodge mentioned the paperwork he was assigned-- or, more so, stuck with. Dib would have hated to be a secretary of sorts. He could sit in one spot all day quite fine, he had placed himself infront of a computer for almost all of his childhood! But filling out form after form? That was some kind of torture that no one should have to suffer through. The human would rather off himself than work at a dead end office job for the rest of his life, just filling out paperwork after paperwork, with no end in sight.

Dib entered the pad, and the decent seemed a lot smoother than the way up. Dib noticed that the Irken didn't bother conversing, or even looking at him, but Dib didn't push it. He wanted to ask what he was so... uptight about, but he knew that wouldn't do anything to help the sour mood he was in. Maybe in a more personal setting, when being outnumbered didn't scare him as much.

Dib listened to the conversation, and interjected as much as he could. "Rainbow Galaxy?" That sounded pretty! He knew of a rainbow nebula, but not of a rainbow galaxy.A bright nebula of swirling gas seems to take on a rainbow of colors when observed with infrared light. The star is enormous, about 600 times the size of the Earth-sun and 20 times as massive as it, and is one of the brightest stars in the night sky. In fact, the star is almost the size of Jupiter's orbit – about 4 1/2 times the diameter of Earth's orbit!

It wasn't long before they reached the end of a long hallway towards the elevator with a very beautiful blue color. Dib smiled. Of course the Planetarium was blue, it was Dib's new home! Dib was more excited to see the Universal Map than really meet the PIT leader, but he could fake his way through a meeting if it meant he got to observe the observable galaxies.

Dib watched the SIR unit launch himself full-speed into the elevator, and he almost took off after him before Zim spoke up. Dib raised an eyebrow. "You're asking me for permission?" He questioned. "What? Intrude?" Dib laughed it off, turning to face the taller alien. "Since when did you care about intruding?" The human crossed his arms over himself, before he joked. "I assumed it was a pass-time of yours." That was... too weird. It seemed like Zim was almost shy about going with Dib, or he was scared he was beeing... needy!

"If you think the Planetary Investigation leader is going to... to, I dunno, to hold me down with his gangly-creepy-monstrous PAK legs, you can come to make sure he doesn't. If you don't want to come, then you don't have to!" Was it really that hard? Dib expected Zim to march himself into the elevator and be the first to push the buttons, not hesitate behind and ask permission.

 

[Mira-Charma13]

All Irkens were ticklish. Especially on their sides! Because as a whole they didn't like to be touched, Irkens were left with extremely sensitive skin. Even the slightest touch by another being sent them recoiling, and if they were touched in a ticklish spot, well...they were prone to giggling wildly on the spot. Some Irkens did like to be touched...but only by close friends or a mate. They were rarely clingy, however, and possessed a wide bubble of personal space.

As Dib would almost certainly learn over the coming months, Skoodge was a workaholic of the highest degree. He never stopped working. Even while he was supposed to be taking a break to eat he had his work tablet out, tapping away earnestly between bites. And he wasn't the only one, either. Most Irkens were like this, always working and rarely relaxing. After all, the more they worked and the harder they worked, the more they could do to aid their glorious Irken Empire! Without their efforts their mighty Empire would fall into ruin, right? So they couldn't afford to stop working!

And as an added bonus, if they worked hard enough and gained enough notoriety they could land themselves a chance at nabbing one of the most revered and illustrious careers in the Irken Empire...

...by becoming an Irken Invader.

Becoming an Invader was a long and grueling process. Irkens who aspired to be Invaders first had to complete their basic military training on Devastis, which could take anywhere from five Irk years to ten Irk years. After that, aspiring Invaders were required to go through more intensive training to become Elite Irken Soliders--the best of the best! And that could easily take another ten Irk years. Five or more Irk years were necessary for specialized Invader training, and the final test was a month-long survival challenge on a planet inhabited only by beasts and predatory plant life, where the Invader-in-training would be dropped off with a pitiful amount of food and water and be forced to survive until the ship that dropped them off returned to fetch them. Many aspiring Invaders perished during this challenge.

And even if the Irken in question completed all of this training...there was no guarantee that they would immediately be accepted as an Invader. They had to work different odd jobs until their services were required. Ordinarily, the Almighty Tallest would hand-select Invader candidates with specific skill sets for certain planets. The former Tallest, Red and Purple, were fond of picking Invaders based on how funny they believed the candidate's name was.

With the exception of Invader Tak, Zim chose all of his Invaders for Operation Impending Doom III by writing all of their names down, shuffling them around so the order was inconsistent, tossing the slips of paper into the vast emptiness of space, and ordering GIR to bring twenty slips of his choosing back to him.

Dib's incredulous words seemed to dash Zim's confidence ever so slightly. The Irken monarch cleared his throat, reaching up with one hand to rub the back of his neck. "...I just..." The tension and awkwardness from before were back in full force. "I don't want to come off as being...clingy, or overbearing, so I would prefer it if you made this decision. I don't know very much about being...amicable." Zim frowned for a brief moment, as if that was a totally foreign word to him. "I'm trying my best, but...ehh, I dunno. It always seems to...backfire."

GIR watched his master carefully, looking concerned but curious at the same time. This was new. It was pretty intriguing, to say the least. The broken stuff was still there, but it seemed like it wasn't as bad as it normally was. Was it because of the Earth boy?

"So...it is your decision." Zim decided to abandon that topic for the time being. It was a ticking time bomb and he knew it--eventually, all of this awkward tension between them would have to come to a head. "Do you want Zim to accompany you or not? I can wait here if you would prefer to charge on alone. You have nothing to fear from the PIT. Their leader may be a bit cold and standoffish, but he is very accepting of non-Irkens and avoids violence when he can. This will be your primary place of work, and they will be your primary co-workers. I am the Almighty Tallest, and my presence may be too distracting for the Dib to make a proper impression on the PIT and their leader. I tend to gobble up attention wherever I go, without even meaning to. So perhaps...it would be best for Zim to wait here."

Though he didn't always try, Zim certainly shone like a brilliant spotlight wherever he went now. No matter where he went, he always got attention--both the good kind and the bad kind. He was flashy without wanting to be. He wanted the PIT to see Dib for his own brilliance, not the reflective brilliance that came from being all buddy-buddy with the Almighty Tallest.

 

[Dip]

While it seemed that all Irkens were ticklish, not all humans were ticklish. Dib assumed that Irkens had nerve endings under their skin, but it seemed that maybe their skin was more sensitive. Beneath the human skin lay millions of tiny nerve endings that alert the brain to all manner of touch and exposure to things like heat and cold. It's this sense that allows humans to keep from burning their hand off if they put it on a hot stove or to know humans know they should put on a coat and another layer of clothing when it's freezing outside.

When these nerve endings are lightly stimulated -- for example, by another person's fingers or by a feather -- they send a message through your nervous system to your brain, which analyzes the message. The effect of a light touch that results in a tickling sensation, and that was a sensation that Dib had the pleasure of never feeling. He wasn't prone to fits of tickles, and he could only assume that he was tickled so hard that his brain refused to send signals to his somatosensory cortex.

The human knew that Skoodge was tossed work at quite unfairly, but he didn't know to what extent. Humans were known to work themselves to the bone, but not to the same extent as the Irken people. Humans worked as much as they were paid, and if they were paid by how much they produced, they made sure to work hard! If they got paid by the hour, they worked as slowly as possible.

Dib had only one job before he ventured out into the vast recesses of space (well, one job that wasn't being Earth's savior or a paranormal investigator). He remembered working an entire summer, about four months, at the pizza place that haunted his dreams: Bloaty's Pizza Hog.

His father wanted to teach him the value of the dollar (which was just another phrase for telling Dib to put the paranormal investigation business behind him) and told Dib that if he saved up fifty percent of his earnings for a car, his father would help him with the other fifty percent. This was enticing because Dib could only make it to a select few spots in his town on foot. There was an entire world out there that he wanted to investigate!

Hell hath no fury like Bloaty the Hog.

It was the worst thing he had ever done to himself. He had put in applications to every single shop in town, but Bloaty's Pizza Hog was the only place that hired him. Every day was a fight for survival, against the snot-nosed kids and disgusting man-babies. Dib worked there for far too long, and when his last day came rolling around, he quit as fast as possible. Dib had wanted to quit with flying colors, using explosives and the whole nine yards, but he knew that Gaz would kill him if he ever got his family banned from that place.

Why did she like it there so much? Their pizza was gross, their kitchens were unsanitary, and it was all so disgusting. He tried telling her sister, but she knew just how bad it was. Dib never knew what was wrong with her, but it seemed that whatever was wrong didn't bother manifesting itself into something worse. Dib would rather take his video-game addicted, pizza eating sister than someone who, God forbid, wore the color pink inside the Membrane household.

Dib watched as the Irken displayed very human signs of embarrassment and sheepishness, and it made Dib very uncomfortable. "Clingy?" He asked. Irkens did that? They clung to people? Dib didn't even think affection was a real thing to them, let alone the ability to form a bond like clinging. Dib had no idea what to say to the Irken before him. Amicable? Overbearing? What was he even talking about?

"You're... you're fine. You're worrying about nothing-- you're not clingy at all." He never would have thought that in a million years he would have to tell that to Zim, but here he was! "I mean, this is... different to both of us," He started slowly. "I'm not threatening to kill you, and you're over the entire 'taking-over-Earth-and-ruling-my-species' thing. We're..." Were they friends? Was that why Zim was acting so strange? He was trying to be friendly with the human?

"We're... working for the same goal... I guess. We're on the same team, for once."

Dib listened to what else the Irken had to say about the matter, and it seemed that he made his own decision. People noticed the Almighty Tallest before they batted an eye at the human, but it seemed to Dib that they were both pretty equal when it came to such things as attention-hogging and what not. While Zim surpassed him, they both shared the same level in different respects.

"You don't have to wait for me," Dib continued. "I think I know my way back, and GIR can help me back there too if you have some work to do or something." Dib shrugged.

 

[Mira-Charma13]

Zim still seemed uncomfortable, even as Dib told him straight away that he was worrying about nothing. What was the human expression again? Making a mountain out of some sort of hill...? Irkens weren't the most affectionate of creatures in the grand scheme of things. Most of them weren't even all that friendly. Though they would be pleasant to members of their own kind, it wasn't the same pleasant behavior that humans displayed to one another. Humans would go out of their way to be nice to other humans if they wanted to be friends. They were very close to their friends, often putting their needs over their own.

Irkens were an entirely different monster. They were inherently selfish beings. Their needs would always trump the needs of anyone and everyone else, including Irkens they were friendly with.

In fact...Irkens who behaved like a pair of human friends were most likely not friends at all, but mates. Human mates locked lips, constantly touched each other, and went on outings to eat food and such. Irken mates often behaved like the best of friends. They did spend a ridiculous amount of time with each other...but they rarely touched. They did get violent with each other, though, with one of the pair being the most aggressive...but they would vehemently defend their partner from any outside violence.

Red and Purple were the perfect example. Though Red and Purple rarely touched each other in any way, shape, or form, poor Purple was often on the receiving end of violence. Red threw him around like a rag doll, tripping him in hallways, smacking him upside the face, and constantly throwing things at him. Purple rarely retaliated. But anyone who dared to treat Purple the way Red treated him was in for a nasty surprise, because Red would tear them apart in an instant. They spent every single waking moment with each other--where one went, the other wasn't far behind. They argued like an old married human couple and brawled like two rival gang members in a prison fight.

Yes, they were the perfect example of a loving Irken couple!

"...To be perfectly honest..." Zim turned somewhat to the side, rubbing one of his arms awkwardly, "...Zim doesn't know very much about friendship. Your human friendship differs from what we Irkens define as friendship. I would prefer for the two of us to be on friendly terms. But..." He scowled, a frustrated aura bubbling up around him. "It will be difficult for Zim. Friendship makes Zim...uncomfortable. I have been alone for a long time. I have GIR and Minimoose...but they are my servants. And they, well...are more like smeets than anything else."

GIR opened his mouth to protest, thought about it, and then clamped it shut. Smeets were unbelievably cute, right? So was his master calling him cute?

"And Skoodge, well..." He scuffed one of his boots against the metal floor. "Skoodge means well. But...he is still Irken. And Zim mentioned this before, but...he is different from other Irkens. I don't relate well to members of my own kind. I've been an outcast for well over a century, and becoming the Almighty Tallest hasn't changed that...at least, not that much, anyway." The Irken leader glanced off to the side, looking solemn at best. "My subjects avoid me, and I avoid them. So...for the past six Earth years, I have had no one but my servants and Skoodge. Before that, I thought I had so many friends and admirers..." Thanks to the former Tallest, of course. "I thought I was doing something right. But...I guess I wasn't."

Zim cleared his throat, finally meeting Dib's gaze. "I just...I don't want to be your enemy. Okay?" He sounded stubbornly determined. "I would like to be on good terms with you. But I don't know how, and I know I'm unpleasant and abrasive, and...I have a lot to learn. Zim has tried to be nice to you, offering you things and such, but..." Confusion crept it way onto his face. "Is it too much too quickly? Or...not enough...?"

There was a brief few seconds of silence before Zim defiantly shook his head and turned around. "You'll be late for your meeting with the PIT and their leader." He sounded contemplative, as if he was deep in thought about what he just said. "You should go. I'll..." His antennae drooped ever so slightly. "I guess I'll go to the Bridge and make my weekly calls to my Invaders. If I don't do at least a little bit of work today, Skoodge will lecture me again. Just stay with GIR. He won't get lost."

GIR saluted his master, his eyes and panels turning crimson in confirmation.

 

[Dip]

Dib, to be perfectly honest, knew just as much as Zim did about Earth romance. He knew very well of second-hand accounts, like books and movies and TV shows, but he never experienced the human kind of romance that so many members of his race had before him. Dib never went on any dates, held hands, kissed, or... anything, really!

It was a mixture of Dib's geekiness, awkwardness, and the fact that he never really found someone he wanted to get to know on quite a personal level. He had crushes before, but he never really acted on them. The feeling dissipated within a few days, and he was back to his own lonesome self. He always pictured himself growing old, a wandering old man who searched for cryptids high and low.

But apparently, within Dib's simulated dream, the Irken had high hopes that Dib would take a wife.

The human listened to the irken as he spoke about his knowledge on friendship, and it seemed to be very little. Dib didn't know exactly how he felt about Zim wanting to be his friend, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt. The fact that friendship made Zim uncomfortable didn't help each other's claim, but Dib supposed that friendship made him uncomfortable, too.

Dib never really had friends before. The 'friends' he did have were only acquaintances that he spent long hours arguing with. If you asked the younger Dib if he had friends, he would have defended the people in the Swollen Eyeball Network tooth and nail. As the years drove on and Dib somehow found himself as one of the leaders, he realized that they weren't really his friends to begin with.

They made fun of him, belittled him, called every one of his discoveries a lie or fake, or the work of some sort of video software. While those were obviously bad things that stabbed at his self-esteem, they helped him work harder towards his goals in the end. They made good teammates, but he would never like to go out and journey with them anytime soon.

Zim talked about the Irken Skoodge, and how he didn't work well with his own race. Dib could relate to this, but not entirely on the same level. I mean, The President of the United States never make it his personal goal to belittle the human every chance he got. Dib nodded silently at what he way saying, and met with owlish eyes.

Dib responded quickly to the last phrase. "Is this about the Tablet?" Dib asked. "Look-- Zim, it's not that it's not enough, it's-- it's like-- it's more than enough, really." Dib started. "I mean, I'm going to be working for you, you know? For Irk, the planet, the people and everything, and I don't think I should get some kind of..."

Dib paused, unsure of what to say. "Special treatment? It's going to be hard for be to fit in-- I mean, look at me!" Dib pointed to himself. "If I was about four feet shorter, I'd have a better chance of fitting in. If I was more, I dunno, violent, or-or strong, or something, maybe this wouldn't be a big deal. But all of this extra stuff, it's..."

Dib thought back to the Serloz incident.

"it's helping you help me, but it isn't helping me help me." Dib rubbed his eyes, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he did. "I don't mean that in a bad way. I appreciate everything, I do, but I just.... want to fit in." That felt weird to Dib. He used to never care what people thought of him, but that was because he was among his own people. He was a stranger in a strange new place, and he had no idea where he fit in the grand scheme of things.

"I don't know-- forget it. Never mind."

Dib turned on his heels, and headed inside the elevator that had been waiting for him. Zim was going to head back to the bridge, and Dib was going to be late for his meeting. He felt like he had somehow done more harm than good, and that made him frustrated. He was always bad with expressing his feelings. Emotions made him uncomfortable.

The elevator closed on them, and Dib turned down to the SIR unit as they began their ascent to the Planetarium.

"That... didn't go well, did it?"

 

[Mira-Charma13]

"No. It isn't about the tablet. Not that specifically..." Zim's antennae twitched with a mixture of puzzlement and irritation. "I understand that you don't want any sort of special treatment, but..." He briefly met the human's gaze, and suddenly all the smugness and mischievous cheer of the headstrong Irken Invader from all of those Earth years ago reared its ugly, yet welcoming head.

"Don't you deserve it?" An impish glint flashed in those bug-like eyes. "Zim doesn't care much for his people, for they have never cared much for him. I give GIR special treatment. I give Skoodge special treatment, too. Ordinarily, to become a member of the Council of the Tallest, you have to be a certain height. The Head of the Council has an even stricter height requirement. And yet I gave Skoodge that position anyway, because he means something to Zim. So...as someone who also means something to Zim, shouldn't you get special treatment as well?"

Zim knew what it was like to be a particularly short Irken. He and Skoodge were the shortest Irkens in their batch of smeets. To add insult to injury, that same batch of smeets produced two of the tallest Irkens in the entire Empire--Red and Purple, who were hatched at the same exact time, and directly after Zim and Skoodge. Shorter Irkens were looked down on, literally. Even a short but skilled Irken, like Skoodge, was mercilessly bullied and prevented from moving forward in their career of choice purely because of their meager height.

To Zim, height meant very little nowadays. He could sympathize with shorter Irkens and rarely took height into consideration when offering promotions to or just speaking to them.

"By the way...Dib-thing..." Zim's antennae pressed back against his head and his large eyes narrowed into thin slits. "I don't doubt your abilities or anything, but trust Zim when he says this..." He snuck a wary glance over his shoulder, scanning the hallway behind them for any other Irkens. Thankfully it was deserted for now. Confident that they were alone Zim turned back and met the human's gaze as steadily as he could.

"You don't want to fit in." He sounded dead serious. "You don't want to be like them. You don't want to turn into a full-fledged Irken. You'll lose your sense of individuality. You'll lose your identity. You won't be the Dib anymore." The Tallest broke eye contact, staring nervously at the wall across from him. "Zim is not like them. So please...don't you be like them. Or...I will truly be alone again."

He didn't elaborate. He sounded uneasy enough just skimming over the topic and not actually getting into the meat of it. The Irken monarch watched in silence as Dib clambered his way into the elevator. He seemed downtrodden, almost, as he watched the elevator rise--his antennae drooped pathetically and he kept his gaze on the elevator until it rose out of sight. As soon as it was gone Zim heaved a massive sigh of...was it relief, or was it anxiety? He turned slowly, his arms coiled around his body, and hovered back down the hallway alone.

GIR peered up at Dib, blinking a couple of times before answering as simply as he could. "Told ya my master was broken." A big smile stretched across his face. "But he's a lot better now! Some of the broken is going away, 'cause you're here! He's just confused. Just be nice to him!"

The elevator seemed to take forever to reach its destination. It felt like an eternity before it ground to a halt and the doors whooshed open. The room before them was domed with a heavy glass ceiling, which looked out into the vast expanse of space. Several PIT members were at small workstations resembling office cubicles. Others bustled about the room and more gathered around tables, going over what looked like holographic maps as well as photos and video footage of different planets and creatures.

Directly in the middle of the room was a massive globe-shaped object. It seemed to be off at the moment...but it looked like it could project light of some sort. Standing beside the globe was an Irken, and it was obvious just by his height alone that he was the PIT leader. He stood at a whopping six feet and was taller than any other creature in the room, save for Dib. His skin was a pale jade hue. Stunning sapphire eyes stood out against it. His antennae were longer and thicker than the typical male's, but not curled in the slightest. A wicked straight scar cut down the left side of his face--it looked like an old wound from a sharp weapon of some sort.

The tall stranger took one look at the cheerful SIR by the unusual creature's feet and immediately knew who he was dealing with. "You must be the Earth creature." He had a deep and attractive baritone for a voice. "My name is Jazz. I am the leader of the Planetary Investigation Team." Jazz paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the unusual Earth beast. What a peculiar creature. Definitely a species he'd never seen before. "The Tallest claims that you have an interest in foreign places and alien creatures. Is that right?"

 

[Dip]

The human was taken aback when the other spoke of the being's entitlement. Did Zim really think that Dib deserved special treatment? Really? Of all people, his nemesis got it cozy? Dib did nothing but hate and belittle the Invader in front of anyone he could possibly find! He broke into his base, stole his stuff, studied him like an insect, and spied on him from afar. But yet, Dib means something to Zim?

Dib? Of all people? Keef, while he was the biggest weirdo that Dib knew (and that meant a lot, coming from a complete weirdo) he still treated Zim better than he ever did on Earth! Why didn't Zim give Keef the opportunity of a lifetime? Well, it was quite obvious why, but the question still stood. Maybe if Keef was a bit more open minded and less... weird, he would have been in Dib's shoes.

Dib wanted to argue that no, he shouldn't get special treatment, but he kept his mouth shut. Zim was being so generous, and this generosity was very strange to the human. He felt like a child who wasn't used to getting spoiled, and suddenly the child gets attacked with gifts that they never expected. Dib didn't know what to say.

Ignoring these acts of kindness would ruin any sort of 'friendship' he would hope to have with the human, but readily accepting these gifts may come off as greedy or entitled. Dib didn't want to sound like any of those things, but he sounded far too much like he didn't care about what he was receiving whatsoever.

No one had ever really gone out of their way to give Dib things before.

Dib turned up to face the alien creature when he continued his speech. He watched him look over his shoulder, and speak with entire seriousness. That seriousness took Dib back, and it left him with more questions than answers. What did he mean, he shouldn't want to fit in? Should Dib remain an outcast for Zim's sake?

What did he mean, 'Zim is not like them'? While Zim was the product of the most ridicule, he was still Irken. Still green, and fleshy, and from the mother world Irk. What made him think he wasn't like the other Irkens? Dib wondered if it had to do with GIR's master being 'broken' again. But even a broken lamp is still a lamp to an extent, and so a broken Irken is still an Irken. A broken human is still flesh and blood.

Dib was silent as he departed from the distraught Irken. He said nothing, unsure of how to better the situation. GIR responded to the situation as best as he could. Dib smiled, and spoke to the robot. "Thanks..." He didn't know what else he should have said. Why would the human's being there make the Invader happy? Questions upon questions upon questions....

Dib waited anxiously for the elevator to reach the final floor, and he gasped a bit when he saw the beauty of it. Dib hesitated before he took a step inside, and he nearly held his breath as he did. It didn't matter how many windows he saw that looked out into space, he loved each and every one of them!

Dib was a sight to see: a tall, pink, fleshy adult male with huge spectacles observing the ceiling like he wasn't going to see it anymore. The human seemed to have forgotten why he had journeyed into the Planetariun to begin with, until he heard the smooth voice of his new leader. Dib turned his eyes to the other, and turned to face him. "Yeah! Yeah, yeah." He turned from the ceiling back to the Irken. "Sorry-- just..." Dib pointed awkwardly at the ceiling. "Space, am I right?"

Do not fuck this up, Membrane.

Dib looked over the Irken, and noted that he sounded like a Jazz. His deep voice echoed throughout the hull of the Planetarium, and he felt like in another life the other would be singing along with some kind of jazz music. "I'm Dib. The Earth Creature." Dib watched as the other scoped him out, inspecting him closely.

Dib smiled, and clasped his hands together when his interests were mentioned. "Yes, that's right." He sighed. "On Earth, I basically dedicated my life to strange and alien creatures." And that was entirely true! "I'm head of an Earth investigation team myself, but..." Dib turned and looked back at the ceiling. "We don't get nearly as much done."

He hoped that the PIT would pick up the slack that the Swollen Eyeball Network clearly had.

 

[Mira-Charma13]

Several members of the PIT chuckled when the human spoke of space with such innocent passion. Most of the mocking snickers seemed to come from the Irken members, while the cheerful laughter originated from the non-Irkens. The non-Irken members were, for the most part, Vortian, though there were a few scattered Meekrob. Vortians were friendly beings as a whole--the sort of people that would give someone the clothing off their own back if they were cold. Meekrobians...not so much. They were typically just as arrogant and unpleasant as the Irkens they despised so much, though asylum-seekers who fled planet Meekrob often differed from the norm.

GIR darted forward when the laughter began, immediately making a run for the large sphere in the middle of the room. Jazz swiftly moved to block his path. The two of them played a game of chicken, with GIR laughing and the PIT leader cracking a small, but amused smile. It looked like not every Irken was annoyed by their Tallest's Defective SIR unit. "Would you mind fetching him?" the blue-eyed Irken inquired, glancing briefly at the human. "He can be cute and is very friendly, but in good conscience I cannot allow him anywhere near our precious Universal Map."

"I wanna turn the mappy-thing!" GIR declared cheerfully. "I wanna look at all the pretty colors!"

Jazz moved to place a hand on the metal edge of the huge globe, which kept it propped up where it stood. He certainly struck an impressive profile with his battle scar and his immense height. His attire was also sharp and eye-catching. It looked like a modified Invader uniform. It was the same color as his sapphire eyes. It resembled a long coat, not unlike Dib's black jacket. A tall blue collar partially obscured the bottom half of his face. Angular blue shoulder pads pointed upward. Like most Irkens he wore black gloves and boots, but the gloves were elbow-high and the boots were strappy and nearly thigh-high. The boots were steel-toed, much like the boots of a worker. A black vest covered part of the blue uniform--it was covered with straps and pockets, most likely used to hold equipment during field work. Two black straps attached to the vest at the back and snaked down, winding around his upper and lower torso--these were also covered with holsters and pockets of all shapes and sizes. From his mid-thigh downward the long coat was black in color, and the inside of the coat visible between his legs was also black as night. When he turned, two tattoos could be seen--one on his left shoulder and one on the back of his neck. They were both black Irken Insignias.

Definitely not the attire of a normal Irken. The uniforms of the other PIT members were either black or blue, in accordance with the apparent color scheme of the Planetary Investigation Team.

"This sort of work is your passion, then?" Well, that was promising. Perhaps the Tallest had more than companionship in mind when he diverted the Armada to fetch this human creature. "You have prior experience, which is admittedly unusual for a race that has barely explored the galaxy that they inhabit. It doesn't surprise me that you were never able to get good work done in an environment like that."

Jazz tapped the metal edge of the globe with two long fingers. "This globe contains our Universal Map. The Tallest suggested to me prior that this map may be of great interest to you. Is that correct?" His antennae twitched. "You want to work with us. The Tallest recommended you personally. But your knowledge of the vast world around you, of the Known Universe, is limited. So...this is what I recommend."

The PIT leader stepped away from the Universal Map, instead descending a small flight of stairs to reach the work stations. He stopped at one of them, thanked a fellow PIT member for something, and walked back with a black metal box in his hands. He approached Dib with confidence and offered him the box.

"This is a virtual reality headset. It is a tool we use to study the Universal Map on our own time. It contains the Universal Map on a smaller scale for study purposes. I would like you to diligently study the planets, species, and facts marked as 'Basic Knowledge' for the next couple of weeks. Once you have studied these things, then I will test you on your knowledge. If you pass, you may join the Planetary Investigation Team and keep learning along the way as you work for us. You will be given a schedule and must arrive on time. I'll start you off with simple things and present you with more difficult tasks as you improve. But for now..."

Jazz stepped to the side, gesturing slowly to the large globe. "Go on." He sounded playfully amused. "I know it must be killing you to have it right there in front of your face. So go ahead. Activate it. The ceiling will adjust accordingly to display the Universal Map. You move to different areas by rolling the globe. If there is a specific area you want to see...use voice commands. Just say 'map' and then the name of the location."

 

[Dip]

Laughter was commonplace when Dib spoke passionately about things he enjoyed. He had experienced it all throughout his life, and he was sure that it would only continue as he now moved on to working within the Massive. While these alien creatures have been spoiled with viewing the beautiful starry sky, Dib had been denied that pleasure for far too long. While some seemed belittling, he did hear happy giggles which lightened the mood somewhat.

The human sincerely hoped he would never get used to space. He wanted everything to be surprising and new and exciting, and he would absolutely hate for things to become commonplace. Everything within space happened... so much. Everything happened so much. The Big Bang, constant expansion, cooling, stars colliding, galaxies exploding, planets being created, nebulas being born...

Everything happened so much.

Dib peeled his eyes from the ceiling to look at the SIR unit, that seemed to be darting towards the large sphere in the middle of the room. Dib took a few steps forward, before he paused and watched the little scene unfold. Dib smiled, watching the two block each other from moving forward. He had a feeling that this was going to be fine after all! Dib finished his steps towards the large sphere, and scooped up the SIR unit in his arms.

Dib took into account the uniform that the other had been wearing, and wondered if he had to abide by a dress code. What would his uniform look like? Clearly not like the leaders, but would it be similar in color? Hopefully in size, but would he be able to wear his trenchcoat over it? The human was so excited, he was already thinking about what he'd wear!

Dib smiled when the other spoke. Investigating was more than a passion, it was a lifestyle. "Yes, it is." He confirmed. "My experience is mostly with..." Cryptids? Paranormal situations? "Metaphysical beings, and trying to prove their existence." That was the best way he could properly word 'ghost-hunter' without sounding like a total wack-job. It seemed as if it didn't work, because Dib heard a few chuckles from the back corner. He paid no mind to it as he watched the other Irken slowly.

Dib watched as the other tapped the globe, and he instantly wanted to see it in action. His hands itched to press themselves against the sleek metal, but he restrained himself. He wanted to run to the strange object with the same enthusiasm as GIR, but he needed to impress this Irken if he had any hope of being successful on the Massive.

Dib watched as the other slowly walked and retrieved a black metal box. Dib took it in his hand, and slowly dropped the SIR unit softly onto the ground. Dib used one hand to open the box, and slowly inspected it's contents as the other spoke. The headset was thin, and it looked like he could place it over his glasses with ease. If need be, there could be minor adjustments to the body of it, so it could be attached to his glasses.

He would have to think about that. He would be able to carry the world right along with him for simplicity sake! Dib closed the box, and turned back to the Irken before him. He had been getting so many goodies... he didn't know what to do! "Thank you, Jazz." Dib smiled, and his smile slowly grew as he watched what the Irken before him was motioning at.

No way.

No way.

Dib slowly moved his way towards the large globe, and pressed his fingers against the cold metallic surface. He turned to Jazz, just to make sure that he wasn't kidding at all, and turned back to the globe. There was a small group of buttons near the top of the surface that must have acted as the control panel, and Dib inspected them closely. He was thankful that the Irken empire used simple symbols to turn things on and off. Dib slowly pressed a button near the top with a line-like symbol, and he soon turned on the entire Universal Map.

It was just beautiful.

 

[Mira-Charma13]

At first GIR flailed his little legs wildly when he was ungracefully scooped up into less than familiar arms. When he swiveled his head around and realized it was Dib, a huge, dopey grin stretched across his face and he happily snuggled up against him. It seemed like Dib already had GIR's approval. That wasn't an incredible feat, of course, as GIR apparently liked just about everyone. He made friends easily and rarely allowed mean-spirited comments or actions to get to him...unless he was physically injured. But GIR's approval did mean something to Zim.

"Metaphysical beings?" Jazz echoed, looking intrigued. "Paranormal creatures is what you mean, yes? Those spoken of in legends and rumored to exist, but there is very little proof to show that? We study them as well--loosely, of course. We investigate claims and the like concerning supposedly mythical beasts from afar when they crop up, and when we are in the area or near a Warp Drive we head straight there to do field work and investigate."

He quirked an antenna in the Earth creature's direction, faintly recalling that space travel was a foreign thing to him. "Warp Drives can be artificial or crafted around an existing wormhole. They act as fast-travel machines, taking us from one place to another in no time. There are none in the immediate area, as your humble corner of the galaxy is a bit isolated, but as the days go by you'll start seeing a few."

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "But there is a size limit as far as ships go. For natural wormholes the size limits are strict. For artificial Warp Drives, the size limits are relaxed. But...something as large as the Massive, for example, is unable to fast travel because of its mass. We of the PIT can still fast travel for the sake of research, so we have a bit more freedom. We just have to make sure that we can find the Armada again after we come back through."

The blue-eyed Irken gave a slow bow of his head in response to being thanked, even though more chuckles and murmurs broke out among the rabble--not all of them were negative. "Commander," he corrected lightly. "I am the leader of a team within the Armada that also serves as a strike team if we are attacked by an outside force, and thus Commander is my given role and the name anyone who works under me is supposed to call me. I don't really mind being called by my actual name, but...better safe than sorry."

Of course...this meant that Dib would eventually have to learn how to pilot an Irken ship properly. Zim would attend to that later, once he was fully healed and more comfortable with his surroundings.

A hush fell over the room as the human approached the Universal Map. There was tension, of course, but there was also cheerful amusement. Many of these creatures were just as enthusiastic about exploring the unknown as Dib was, but not all of them were friendly. Jazz also watched carefully. It didn't matter too much if this Universal Map was damaged, as all information gathered from it was sent straight back to Irk--where another Universal Map was housed and guarded zealously.

The second that button was pressed the ceiling panels darkened until the starry sky outside could not be seen. The globe lit up with brilliant white light. The light shot out and projected itself onto the ceiling and the similarly dark walls, crafted specifically for this purpose. And that was it--the map was on display. Everything was displayed on a tiny scale, but with proper colors. For each planet, moon, and galaxy that appeared a little blip materialized above it that showed off a name in Irken, as well as a small red circle in one corner that obviously meant there was more information there. Some planets, like Earth, also had what appeared to be a bright green leaf marker beside the red dot, most likely to indicate that there was life on that particular planet. Others had a gray leaf, perhaps suggesting that they once held life and no longer did. Mars was marked with one of these gray leaves. The map was currently displaying the surrounding area, which meant the Milky Way galaxy was still in view on the far left side.

"Well? What do you think?" Jazz sounded interested in hearing what the human had to say. "Impressive, yes? Keep in mind that if you haven't already, you will need to learn written Irken to work with us--the entire map is in Irken. Your headset also has the Universal Map displayed in Irken, but it is a tool built for newcomers to the PIT...and they aren't always Irken. So I added a simple AI long ago that will read the text to you if you tap on it in your virtual space."

He folded his arms behind his back. "You've never been to our mother planet, have you? Irk? You could get a better look at it on this map. As well...if you'd like, you can alter any information we have on your mother planet and its surrounding planets while you are here. We know very little about planet Earth and the other planets in your galaxy. Only what the Tallest has recorded in this map about it."

Zim was never totally accurate with his descriptions of things on Earth, so it was very likely that the current information about the Milky Way galaxy was wrong...or, at the very least, skewed.

 

[Dip]

Dib held GIR loosely as the IRken software kicked wildly, like a fish out of water. He couldn't help but chuckle as he saw the wide smile spread across the robot's features. The human was thankful that the sound thrashing hadn't affected Dib whatsoever, the last thing he would want is a black eye from the robot's flying limbs. That certainly wouldn't look good, now would it?

Dib listened closely as the other spoke about the paranormal, and a huge dopey smile spread across his own face that seemed to echo what GIR wore. Dib was so scared of looking like an idiot in front of his new leader, but it seemed that he didn't have to worry! The fact that the paranormal seemed to study the paranormal was absolutely mind-boggling. It was thrilling!

Were there space-bred Bigfoots running around? Dib was on board before, but now it seemed like he was signed up and not willing to leave whatsoever! Dib would have to owe a huge thank-you to Zim for getting him hooked up with the investigation team. He had doubted the correctness of taking Zim's offer before, but now he knew that this was he wanted to do in life. Not just Paranormal Investigations, but GALACTIC PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS!

The next question was, when can Dib start?

Dib's smile dissipated when he was correctly, and a red blush crossed his face. He was so caught up, he completely forgot the formalities of that situation! "Commander-- Commander, right, yes, sorry." Referring to Zim casually for such a long period, and then switching to a professional title would be a challenge for him. Dib only had to work with the teacher's titles like Misses, Miss, and Mister. Even then he just dropped that an went right to their last name. Well... all with the exception of Ms. Bitters.

Hell hath no fury like Ms. Bitters.

Piloting an Irken ship wouldn't be a problem. He knew how to handle a car, and he knew how to (somewhat) pilot Tak's ship-- well, he did, anyway. The point was, he knew (for the most part) what he needed to do in order to get his ship off of the ground. While he understood that Irkens were assigned their own computer, and each ship had that computer installed, Dib wondered if he would be flying alone.

The last time he tried downloading his personality into Tak's ship, the entire system crashed and had to be rebooted. He assumed that it must have had something to do with Dib forcibly overriding the Irken technology, but in reality, Dib had a pretty dark sense of humor. He had self-deprecative ways of coping with things, and often made jokes about himself getting seriously injured or maimed, or even killed.

It only seemed to worsen when Zim left, which was strange indeed...

The Universal Map flashed itself on, and Dib watched in bright-eyed wonderment. His eyes danced around the foreign words and letterings as he slowly tried to remember what each one stood for. It wasn't long before Dib made out E-A-R-T-H, and it's surrounding planets like J-U-P-I-T-E-R and V-E-N-U-S and S-U-N. He mostly guessed that the surrounding planets were such, because they seemed to match letters.

Dib was excited to study and explore his own map. The human was sure that this was going to be the easiest test he would ever take! Dib turned to the leader when he asked what the other thought. "Do you want to know what I think? I think this is amazing!" Dib turned back to the ceiling. "Everything is so... organized. So neat, and everything." Dib had tried his hand at piecing together a map of what he knew the Universe to be, and it just ended up as sticky-notes on a blue sheet with bleach spilled over it.

Dib had a surplus of information to give to the PIT leader. He knew everything there could be to know about his own solar system, but he doubted that it would be useful at all to the other. They weren't going near Earth, right? But it was still a good idea to catalogue any information that they could get. Dib made a mental note to type out some descriptions of each of the planets for Jazz so he could add it to the Map.

 

[Mira-Charma13]

FIRST MONTH, FIRST TWO WEEKS​

By the time the first week drew to a close, Zim was generally in a better mood and mindset than he was when Dib first set foot onto the Massive. They were still awkward with each other and occasionally argued, but thankfully the fighting never came to blows. Jazz was out doing field work with five other PIT members when Dib was finally well enough to start combat training, so it was left to Skoodge to put him on the right track. The rotund little Irken was a master scrapper and was easily able to take anyone taller than him and less experienced than him in a fight. He seemed more than happy to sit down and go over each and every one of the weapons a typical Irken PAK contained, including the PAK legs and the lasers they could shoot from their tips.

He also genially offered to teach Dib how to use his own PAK weapons if he did end up getting a PAK of his own. Skoodge seemed to be perfectly fine with the human, though the formal manner in which he still behaved suggested he didn't quite see them as friends yet.

Near the end of the second week Jazz returned from his field work and the human was given the promised test to see if he would be able to join the Planetary Investigation Team. As both Jazz and Zim suspected, the test was passed with flying colors. Zim gleefully informed his Earth companion that he had to be fitted for a uniform by a couple of Irken stylists, which was always embarrassing--Zim had to sit through such fittings whenever he damaged his clothing or if he needed special attire for a formal event.

Zim finished modifying GIR during this second week, as well, and now the little SIR listened to Dib just about as well as he listened to Zim. He had yet to slip into duty mode, however. He had to adapt to having two masters instead of one. Zim's orders would always trump any orders Dib gave, so technically Zim was the master and Dib was the lesser master. GIR also didn't refer to Dib as his master, instead calling him by nicknames he bestowed on him many Earth years ago, before Zim left Earth--these names included big-headed boy, Earth boy, and Mary (GIR was particularly fond of that last one).

FIRST MONTH, LAST TWO WEEKS​

Just as Zim suspected, both he and Jazz were a busy Irkens with packed schedules. Jazz had to sit down with Skoodge and the Tallest for lunch to work out a proper schedule for the human's combat training. The PIT leader only managed to train with Dib once during this week. He used a scythe-style weapon along with his PAK weaponry. It was apparently a handmade weapon he picked up in a foreign land, in a galaxy where outsiders rarely dared to tread. He had a wealth of knowledge on combat and even offered Dib a weapon of his own to use.

Zim's injured back had finally healed. He seemed a lot happier, as well, able to move about freely and stop using his hover belt as his primary form of transportation. His enthusiasm peaked during the end of the first week and he decided to take Dib on little tours of the more obscure rooms on the Massive. There were the Snack Pods, where the snacks Irkens loved so much as well as their entire food stock were stored. He also dropped by the Armory, where spare weaponry was kept in case the Armada was attacked, and showed Dibs the secret nooks and crannies usually only accessible by the Almighty Tallest--like the private lounges, private cafeteria, and the private media room, which seemed to be one of GIR's favorite places.

Though Zim's outlook seemed much brighter, he was still a bit awkward around Dib...and they still bickered, of course.

SECOND MONTH, FIRST TWO WEEKS​

Zim accidentally revealed that he liked some things about planet Earth as the days went on. Whenever GIR started to sing Earth music, Zim always tapped one of his feet to the rhythm. Just as GIR showed interest in having an Earth movie and TV night with Dib sometime, Zim also expressed mild interest. He tried to act like he would just show up for Dib's sake and to make fun of all of the inferior Earth stuff, but anyone with eyes could see that he was eager to see some Earth entertainment again.

The Planetary Investigation Team was hard at work editing their Universal Map to reflect the true nature of planet Earth and the surrounding planets in the Milky Way Galaxy. As expected, a lot of Zim's information was exaggerated, quite negative, and sometimes even completely untrue! Zim accompanied Dib at first to see just how badly the human was butchering his past entries, and of course just sat there and complained as his old and inaccurate descriptions were gutted. He was eager to show Dib his mother planet, planet Irk, on the Universal Map while he was there. It was a massive pink planet surrounded by three thick and distinctive metal docking rings. Two moons orbited around it, one larger than the other. Irk was situated farther from its star than Earth was from its Sun. As Zim mentioned before, it was about the size of planet Jupiter...so it practically dwarfed planet Earth on a grandiose scale.

Jazz left for more field work at the tail end of the second week. He didn't take Dib wih him. He explained that the human would need to be fitted for a space suit before he could start doing field work. That would be difficult, of course, seeing as Dib was a species that was rarely seen...but if anyone could do it, the Irkens and Vortians that worked in the laboratories could! He suggested that Dib ask the Tallest to grant him an audience with the Head Scientists (one Irken, one Vortian) on the Massive.

SECOND MONTH, LAST TWO WEEKS​

Zim was in a foul mood when the first week began. He remained stalwartly silent about why he was in such a repugnant mood, but rumors floating around the Massive suggested that he had a fight of epic proportions with his second-in-command. Zim and Skoodge bickered on a regular basis, but big fights like this came once or twice an Earth year at the most. GIR tried to explain it as best as he could to Dib, but he always got some information wrong. According to the little SIR, Zim was trying his damnedest to weasel his way out of going to a planet called Judgementia for some reason or another. But he didn't seem to know anything beyond that, though he tried his hardest to remember.

While Zim avoided everyone except for GIR for a couple of days as he calmed himself down, Skoodge still happily spent time with Dib and helped with his combat training. He wouldn't talk about the confrontation, either, but that was probably out of respect for the Almighty Tallest.

Jazz returned from field work at the end of the first week. Strangely enough, he didn't seem to have much research on hand and neither did his fellow PIT members. He did return with some rock samples and an unusual plant for his PIT members to study--he assigned the plant to the group Dib was currently tasked to work with.

Near the the end of the second week, Zim and Skoodge had managed to reconcile. They were together a lot now, presumably because they wanted to make up for lost time.

THIRD MONTH, FIRST TWO WEEKS​

Zim was in much higher spirits as the first week got underway. He spent a lot of time in the Massive's Bridge making calls and whatnot. He suggested that Dib join him sometime when he had a spot of free time, just to see what his day to day work as the Almighty Tallest was like. GIR, as his master requested, was almost always by Dib's side when he wasn't working. He walked Dib all the way to the Planetarium elevator every day and watched him go up. By the time Dib's shift ended, GIR was there waiting for him. Because Jazz and Dib seemed to be on good terms, Zim wasn't worried about the human getting attacked or anything while he was working with the PIT.

Near the middle of the second week, Zim got a call from one of his Invaders. He prattled about it one day during a meal with Skoodge and Dib, though he conveniently neglected to mention the name of the Invader or even the name of the planet said Invader was...well, invading. He did mention that the Invader in question was a female, though, which narrowed things down just a bit.

Zim had yet to participate in any manner of combat training with Dib. It could easily be blamed on the awkward interaction between the two of them. They still weren't friends--neither of them would admit that, so obviously it couldn't be true yet. They still argued, as well. GIR still claimed that his master was broken, but that he was much better than he was before Dib came along.

At this moment in time Zim was all sprawled out on his bed, relaxing after a long day of making calls to people he disliked and snapping at his Irken staff. Minimoose was curled up by his feet, purring like a content kitten. GIR was all snuggled up by his side, snoring up a storm. Zim didn't like to sleep, as he felt like it was a waste of his otherwise valuable time, but when his mental exhaustion caught up with him it was nice to doze off for a bit.

---

Rhapsody was in a much better mood now that she was alone, even if it was just for a second while her superior cleansed. They'd gotten to the point where she trusted Bohemian enough that she felt like she could just wait outside of the cleansing room for him, though he was still required to stay in the room while she cleansed. She didn't realize when she agreed to shadow Bohemian that the two of them were such different beings. Rhapsody was a sweet and gentle pacifist, accepting of creatures of all shapes and sizes and very respectful to anyone and everyone regardless of their rank. She often had to step in and apologize for her partner's caustic behavior.

At the moment she was waiting for Bohemian to finish cleansing. She had herself practically glued to a nearby floor to ceiling window, gazing out into the vast emptiness of space. She didn't even realize she was singing until thirty seconds had passed. Secretly, she had aspirations of making a career out of music...but the Control Brains outright laughed at her when she made that request, so that was a no go right now. Ordinarily she was self-conscious about singing in a public place, but there was no one else around...

...She'd forgotten that Bohemian was still close by in the cleansing room...

 

[Dip]

ꜰɪʀsᴛ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ: ꜰɪʀsᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs​

The first two weeks were as slow and awkward as anyone could expect. Dib had to learn a lot of things, and he learned them right quick. Dib spent long days studying, and long nights studying. He studied his Universal Map, and he studied his Irken language. Zim had installed the program to Dib's desktop and his personal laptop, and the human had taken the time to adapt it into a font, so Dib could take notes in the language that he tried to learn.

While he had these programs installed on his personal devices, he never took the time to install any Earth internet access. It wasn't that he didn't want the wirelessness, and it wasn't like he didn't want to communicate with his fellow Earthlings, he just wanted to focus all of his attention to more pressing matters, like getting employed.

While he was basically guaranteed the job, thanks to Zim, he still had to show he was qualified enough to take on the responsibility. The studying was easy, he could sit down and look at the Map for as long as possible, and he was thankfully gifted a learners version of the Irken Map. He listened to the descriptions of the planets, and read the Irken texts across the screen. Irken was much like English, where one word or phrase would mean two things or even three things. He was able to study, but it was the problem of studying after combat training that really threw him off.

The first few lessons were easy and hardly required work. He learned the basics: weapons and skills and whatnot. But when his arm fully healed, that's when he really started to feel it. Training would leave his rail-thin form fatigued and leave his muscles screaming. He had never trained for combat in his life, and he felt like he was prepping for the military. Skoodge worked him to the bone, tooth, and nail.

And to top it all off, GIR started calling Dib Mary.

The first two weeks were busting through at the seams. He woke up early, studied as he cleaned himself, quizzed himself in Irken as he ate breakfast, studied the Map within the Planetarium, trained like a boxer with Skoodge or Jazz, and returned to his room entirely defeated. He was thankful when his studying paid off, and he aced the Planetary exam with a 99.999%. The .001% that he managed to get wrong was because he tried showing off and writing his name in Irken, but he managed to write "Bid" instead of Dib.

The fitting process was very strange and very uncomfortable. There were so many hands on him at one time, he had no idea what to do with himself. It was bad enough that they commented about his height, but they also commented about his body hair. It wasn't Dib's fault that his father was hairy, and he had passed that gene to his one and only son!

After the fitting, Dib was given a Planetary Investigation Team Uniform that fit him well and seemed to closely resemble ones that his other crew members wore. He looked like an Irken invader, but with a proper blue uniform. He got the very familiar black gloves and boots, but they were far less extravagant that Jazz's. They were just regular, mid-calf boots and wrist-length gloves. The uniform was relatively form-fitting, but it had some give here and there. He had the option of wearing a coat that was made by the stylists, but he opted for his own trench-coat.
​

ꜰɪʀsᴛ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ: ʟᴀsᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs
​

"No, okay? Fuck you. Fuck you, fuck your 'field research', fuck your PhD, fuck your inconclusive evidence, and fuck you in your spookyhole. We all know that's a picture of your ugly dog sniffing your shit-quality webcam. Don't you ever try and tell me that that's Bigfoot. I've seen Bigfoot, and I've also seen pictures of your ugly rat-looking dog."

With the help of Zim and his Computer, Dib finally did manage to get a connection to his desktop computer. Dib was currently in a heated argument with one of the newest members of The Swollen Eyeball Network. Dib was currently arguing with Agent Spookyhole, and to be perfectly honest, Dib only allowed him to join the Network because his agent name was really funny.

"I swear to God, Mothman." Spookyhole groaned, rubbing his eyes from behind the screen. "I told you this, like, a hundred times! Bigfoot walked into my house, and used my computer to look at porn--"

Dib slammed his hands on his desk. "BIGFOOT--" Dib took a deep breath, and tried to keep from yelling. He had to remember, he wasn't in his own house anymore, and his walls weren't soundproof. "Bigfoot would never, and I mean never walk through a metropolitan area at 5:45 PM just to go straight to your house, let alone look at porn!" Dib put his face in his hands and groaned loudly. "BIGFOOT WOULD NEVER LOOK AT PORN, OKAY? Bigfoot has morals!"

"What makes you think Bigfoot has morals, Agent Mothman?" Agent Nessie asked,

Dib groaned even louder at that question and rubbed his eyes. He could feel Agent Nessie's smirk from galaxies away. Dib didn't bother moving his hands as he continued to speak "Listen, okay? Listen to yourself. Do you think Bigfoot goes out of his way to--to... I dunno, jerk it to Earth porn?"

There was silence before Agent Spookyhole asked quietly. "Earth porn?... There's other kinds of porn?"

Dib shot up and raised his hands in defense. "I didn't mean that-- I mean, like--like, how there's-- y'know? You got your regular porn--"

Agent Nessie shook his head and spoke. "Ah, buh'jeez, Mothman, pull yourself together. Forget it, freak. What do you have to present? You've missed six meetings these past four weeks, so whatever you have better be good." Dib placed his hands on his desk and looked down nervously. He had completely forgotten that he had to share his latest findings with the Network, he had been so busy with other pressing items.

Dib sat silently, and smiled nervously into his webcam, shrugging his shoulders. "Heh, yeaaaaah, about that...."

​

sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ: ꜰɪʀsᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs
​

While Dib was someone with eyes, he also was someone who had to wear glasses. Dib always invited the Irken along to make fun of the culture of Earth, but to be honest, it was good to just sit and watch something just the three of them (four if you counted the cute little explosive named Minimoose). Dib had made the mistake to show the trio his favorite show 'X-Files', and he received harsh criticism for it.

It wasn't "realistic" or "possible", but he could accept those claims. What he couldn't accept was when Zim offered the suggestion that the show was actually, "not good". Dib was sure that the other said that just to piss Dib off, and it worked.

Dib had worked on the Map as he promised and supplied pages upon pages of information on Earth and the entire solar system-- including Pluto. It was still a planet in Dib's heart, and it would always be just that: A planet! Zim had something to say about every point that Dib included, and Dib had some choice words back at the alien. Earth was more than just 'a smear of fecal matter in the galaxies collective underwear'.

While the human desperately wanted to go on a field trip with the Planetary Commander, but he knew that a space-suit was required. Dib scheduled a meeting with two scientists, and he hoped that they would just transfer his measurements from the stylists so he could avoid all of that contact.

So. Much. Contant.​

sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ: ʟᴀsᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs
​

Within the first days of the week, it seemed that Zim was less... Zim-y than usual. He didn't even bother talking to the human whatsoever, which really threw Dib for a loop. He had attributed it to Zim's being 'broken' and 'strange' and 'scummy', but a few rumors floated around that Skoodge and the Tallest had gotten into a bit of a fight, and Dib could see it happen with relatively little imaginings.

Dib would get angry too, if his First-in-Command left all of the work he had to do to the human. He didn't really blame the Irken, but at the same time, he didn't know how to soothe the suffering Tallest. To be quite frank, Dib was a little upset that Zim didn't talk to him and instead opted to talk to GIR. Was GIR better qualified to fix feelings between friends? ...Well, actually, probably. But even if he was more qualified, Dib still didn't like the idea of it. He never vocalized these feelings, mostly because he didn't want to make things worse for the other.

While Zim worked out his issue with Skoodge, and Jazz gave Dib and his fellow PIT members the simple job of inspecting a leaf and a few pebbles, it was relatively slow for the Human. Dib took to the internet most of the time and kept to himself. It wasn't long before his internet shenanigans caught up with him, and soon, he was found by a very familiar user. Dib was called via Skype very randomly, but his confusion soon melted into excitement when he realized who was calling him: it was Gaz!

Dib answered quickly, and he was soon shot with questions. He didn't have the time to say hi before he was interrogated by his purple-haired little sister. She had her webcam turned on, and it looked like she was at her own desk back in her room. She hadn't changed within two months.

"Why did you lie to me?"

"...And hi to you too, Gaz--"

"Shut. Up. Why did you lie to me?"

Dib quirked an eyebrow. "Lie to you about what?"

"Where are you?"

Dib paused. "In... my... new apartment. The-- uh, the recording... people, they gave it to--"

Gaz blew a raspberry. "Bull-shit, stink-head."

Dib gasped, and pointed a finger at his computer screen. "I'm gonna tell Dad you just cussed at me--"

"Dib. I can see space in your window."

In an instant, Dib grabbed his webcam and repositioned it away from the window. "N-- uh, no you can't."

Gaz groaned. "Dib, you know I knew Zim. Dad showed me the letter you wrote him. Why didn't you tell me you went with Zim?"

Dib went silent and looked to face the wall next to him. He had gone six years without talking to Zim, but now that he was around again, not talking to him was hard. For the first few days of the week, Dib was met with silents when he waved at the Irken. It was easy forgetting someone you never saw, but it was hard not talking to someone you lived right next door to. "Look, Gaz, it's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's that--"

"What?"

"I didn't think you'd--"

"Didn't think I'd what?"

"You'd--"

"What?"

Dib slammed his hands down on his desk. "You'd never believe me! I didn't think you'd believe me, okay? No one ever does. Dad never did, and you never did until you saw for yourself that he was-- you know. If you didn't believe me that he was an alien, why would you believe me that he came back after all this time? What-- was I suppose to go and be all like," Dib raised into a falsetto, " 'Hi, Gaz! It's me, Dib! Zim is back after six years, and now he offered me a job!! And I'm leaving!!! Byeeeee!!!!' Was I suppose to say that? Would you have believed me?"

Dib rubbed his eyes. "Gaz, I don't want to talk right now." That was a lie. He wanted to talk to someone, but he didn't want to talk to his sister. "Call me when you're less bitchy."

Gaz made a face and pretended to be Dib. She even got the voice down! "I'm telling Dad that you cussed at me--"

Dib closed out of Skype and shut down his computer.​

ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ: ꜰɪʀsᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋs
​

At that current time, Dib had been experiencing the best nap of his life. He had worked hard that entire day, following Zim around and watching as he worked just for the hell of it. Well, it wasn't exactly hard work, but it was still work. A nap was long overdue. Dib had never really intended on sleeping, but he had found himself in such a comfortable position on the floor, it was hard for him not to fall asleep.

Dib was positioned on the floor in such a manner that if he opened his eyes and looked straight up, he had a perfect view of the window near himself. He molded a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor facing the window, and Dib had managed to fall asleep leaning back against them. He had spent the time reading, and he was surrounded by small stacks of books and notebooks. He had been reading quite contently until he made the mistake of asking the Computer to lower the lights, and he read near only the light of the stars.

Dib hardly ever dreamed, but when he did, the dreams were interesting.

Dib found himself inside the Cutter that had transported him from Earth to the Massive all those times before. Everything seemed the same, except for a few details that seemed rather off. Dib was sitting with Skoodge, watching the take-off of the planet Earth. Dib was crying again, because it was so beautiful.

They floated their way across space, and Zim spoke up about needing vaccinations. They transported the human cargo through the massive, parading him around quite oddly, and the trio soon found themselves inside a large theater. Dib was entire alone on stage, and he slipped from his transport container onto the foreign platform.

The human was soon joined with a band of Irken Surgeons, and Dib noticed one in particular, with a very strange sickly yellow hue and rather brilliant amber eyes.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," The Irken Serloz spoke. "I bring you: our newest subject." Serloz pulled a clipboard from behind his back, and began reading some items off the paper before him. The papers... looked a lot like the items Dib brought for Zim. "Weight: 150 Pounds. Height: Six foot zero. Name: Dibble Membrane. Age: Eighteen Earth years. Sex: Male. Gender: Male. Race: Human. Ethnicity: Mexican American...."

As Serloz read off everything from the sheet, he turned to find Zim and question what exactly Serloz was doing. He was suppose to get shots, not be a test subject for the entire Irken race! Dib looked about the crowd nervously, before he caught sight of the three aliens he had traveled with. GIR had changed, somehow... his adorable blue-teal color had shifted into a blood red. Skoodge seemed to be clad entirely in Invader attire, and he looked like he had just gotten out of a battle that he had clearly won.

Zim was the most changed out of all three. His features looked grotesque. His eyes were the size of unidentified flying objects, and his teeth were filed sharp. His claws resembled that of a praying mantis', his antennae looked bug-like in character, covered with nerves and hair. The Almighty Invader looked like a giant bug, and he was looking right through Dib. In his claw, he noticed the glass tube of his own blood.

He could have sworn he saw Zim lick his lips...

Serloz put away the clipboard, and turned to face the human. Dib tried to back away from the Irken he knew only as a traitor, but he was trapped. Dib looked down at himself, and saw that he was trapped. PAK legs from every angle came down and pinned him to his spot. Dib was raised into the air, and struggled to break free. He couldn't breathe, they clamped tightly around his lungs and mouth. Dib felt needles in his arms, and he turned to Zim with panic spread through his entire being.

Zim did nothing. Zim wasn't on his side. Zim wasn't his equal anymore.

Zim had won.

The ceiling of the theater slowly opened up to the spectacular view of space. Open space. Limitless space. Overwhelming space. The Irkens turned into bug-eyed, bug-looking, bug-monsters. No one looked human. Dib was truly alone. He writhed and struggled to free himself from the PAK legs, and he soon caught a glimpse of the Surgeon who had so willingly put the Human on displace.

"Trust me. I'm a Doctor."

Dib closed his eyes tightly, and heard loud knocking, only growing louder in volume. When he opened his eyes again, he was within the dead space that he seemed to once enjoy. Dib opened his mouth to breathe, but the air was forcibly removed from his lungs. He tried to move, but the legs still held him tightly. He heard laughter. Hysterical laughter, that seemed to come from Zim's mouth entirely.

The human gasped for breathe, but none came. He opened his eyes, and saw nothing but space before him. His eyes grew wide with panic as he realized his nightmare had come true: he was in space. He was alone. He couldn't breathe. Dib flailed wildly, unsure of where he was or how he had gotten there. As soon as he regained movement of his limbs, he felt pins and needles move up and down his body. Dib expelled a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, and gasped for air. He breathed deeply, and exhaled quickly. He could hardly control his breathing, and it soon turned into loud and erratic hyperventilation.

He grasped at his clothing, brushing off the spidery PAK legs that seemed to grip him like a phantom. He had lost his glasses somewhere in the process, but he didn't care. He gripped his t-shirt tightly, and tried to suppress sobs and shallow breaths of anguish and fear. He didn't have the faintest idea of where he was, or if he was alive anymore, or if he was alone.

Dib let go of his shirt as he pushed his hands to his face. The pressure of space hadn't exploded his head, so he knew he was still alive. Had that been a dream? Dib moved a hand to his heart, and felt the irregular beating. He held his breath, and tried to keep from gasping and sobbing. He wasn't sure when the tears began streaming down his face, but he couldn't stop the free-flow of terror.

It wasn't long before Dib was no longer alone anymore.

Dib heard the crashing sound, and turned wildly behind him. He saw a silhouette of a figure-- a tall... bug like creature. All Dib had done to calm himself down was thrown into the vastness of space. Dib pushed himself away from the figure, and tried to do something-- anything-- to keep this bug away from him. Dib tried screaming, but it came out as a loud wheezing sound. Was it Serloz, back to finish what he had started?

"N-No," Dib gasped. It was all he could bring himself to say. "No--No, no! No!!"

---

Those three months were awful.

He had spent so much time with Rhapsody, it was sickening. Rhapsody had done something to him, but Bohemian couldn't think of what it was. When Bohemian had once only had work on his mind, he always thought of her. When performing surgery, he only asked her for help with the patient, and everyone else simply handed both of them the tools. When he was alone, he wanted to be around Rhapsody again.

This was the plan all along, wasn't it?

Bohemian had been diligent to cleanse himself, ready to escape the pod and return to the work he was so fond of. He thought about what he had to do to finish out that day. He knew that he had to run some check-ups, observe some decontaminations, and make sure that a few of his former patients were healing up nicely during their recovery process.

His train of thought suddenly derailed when he heard the most beautiful singing he had ever experienced. He shut off the decontamination chamber, and did nothing but listen.
​

 

[Mira-Charma13]

Zim was sleeping comfortably when the peculiar sounds first pierced the otherwise silent air. He didn't wake at first, but his sensitive antennae stood straight up in his slumber and angled pointedly toward the sound. One twitch. Another twitch. With the third twitch, Zim finally stirred, stretching his long legs out and raising his antennae even more. His official Tallest armor hung on the wall. When he was alone in his quarters and wanted to relax he changed into a comfortable dark pink robe. Of course, his black corset stayed on--without it his poor spine could snap if he so much as turned over in his sleep.

It was only after about thirty seconds passed and Zim fully came out of his sleepy haze that he realized those unusual sounds were sounds of distress. He sat up slowly, his antennae twisting this way and that until they eventually settled for pointing in the direction the sounds were coming from.

The Dib's chambers...? That was...strange. Was he having a nightmare? Zim was no stranger to nightmares. He slept only occasionally, but once every three times he was sure to suffer from some kind of bad dream. He wasn't too concerned at first, as he sat there scratching aimlessly at his antennae for a moment. "Computer?" He sounded awfully groggy. "Check on the Earth beast for me." Another moment of silence passed as the Computer did just that.

"Uh...master?" "Mm?" "You, uh...you might want to head over there. Like, right now." "Why?" Zim's antennae shot up into the air. "Is there a problem?" "He's, uh...rolling around on the floor and convulsing. Looks like he might be having trouble--oh."

Before the Computer could even finish speaking Zim was up and out of the room--GIR, who was just coming out of a deep sleep himself, groggily tottered after him. The Tallest rapped his knuckles sharply on the human's door. "Open up, human monster!" He tried his best to sound annoyed, but it barely concealed the concern in his voice. When several bouts of knocking did nothing, GIR joined in and knocked as well. The sounds picked up in volume and intensity--now Zim could clearly hear that Dib was struggling to breathe for some reason or another. Was it a medical emergency?

If that was the case...there was no time to waste!

"Open the door, Computer!" "...I can't." "I am the Almighty Tallest!" he bellowed at nothing in particular. "You will permit me access!" "I can't do that. It's against my programming. You told me yourself that--" "Disregard those orders!" "It's too late for that. Sorry." "Ugh!"

Zim planted his feet firmly on the ground. Four segmented and viciously sharp-tipped PAK legs burst out from his PAK. "Get out of the way, GIR!" The little robot did as asked, scurrying out of the line of fire as the four spider-like legs pointed their sharp tips at the door. A loud explosion rocked through the hallway, rattling the pots of several plants and almost knocking several paintings off of the wall. The door fell straight to the ground, leaving a wide-eyed and panicked Zim standing in the doorway with his PAK legs still on full display.

He immediately raced forward to see if there really was a medical emergency, but he froze in his tracks when the human retreated, still struggling to breathe, and in much less words demanded that he stay away. Confusion glimmered in his magenta eyes. GIR chose this moment to bolt into the room, striding straight past his master and to the human. He reached out and timidly touched his arm.

"It's okay, Mary. Do like me, okay? Breathe in...breathe out." He repeated this mantra in a soft and soothing voice. It was obviously something he'd done before in the past, possibly for his own master. Zim kept his distance, his antennae drooping sadly and his posture tense and tight with worry. He was itching to rush forward and help...but his very appearance seemed to be exacerbating the situation and he didn't want to make it any worse by trying to touch the human.

He wasn't sure how, though. He was under the impression that Dib would surely bust out laughing if he ever saw him in this fuzzy pink bathrobe.

---

---

Still in her own version of la la land, Rhapsody's singing became louder, freer, and more confident the more she neglected to think about where she was what exactly it was that she was supposed to be doing in the first place. She had a stunning voice, able to hit both high and low notes in admirable fashion. The song that passed through her lips was one of feeling free--of pursuing one's dreams. It was certainly fitting, considering her own personal dilemma about wanting to make music for a living and being unable to do so thanks to the Control Brains.

She finished her song on an impressive note and with a satisfied sigh. She wasn't even watching for Bohemian to emerge from the cleansing room. Well...at her core she was Defective, after all. Regular Irkens were considered to be perfect beings. They were bred to be perfectionists and to fear failure. Rhapsody was the sort that believed a little failure here and there was a good thing. Making mistakes was healthy. Being picture perfect all the time...well, that was a little boring, wasn't it?[/hr]

 

[Dip]

Dib had to admit that GIR running full speed towards the human did nothing to his nerves, until he heard the soft words 'Mary' uttered from the software's mouth. Dib groped blindly the robot, reaching for his hand. He knew that that was GIR because of his voice, but without his glasses, he was utterly defenseless.

Dib turned to the door, breathing deep and shallow breaths. In his panic, his eyes deceived him. As he slowly calmed down, he realized that he had made a mistake. "...Zim?" Dib started slowly, like he was unsure whether or not it was actually him. "... I thought you were..." Dib paused, and turned back to the window he had fallen asleep in front of. He felt like a child, who had made a big deal out of nothing and managed to cause a whole heap of trouble. A dizzy feeling flowed through his veins as he was reintroduced to what oxygen was. Dib still hiccuped for air every now and again, but he managed to control his breathing. He turned away from GIR's gaze, feeling very uncomfortable.

"I-I just had a bad dream." Dib started, but that was an understatement. He had a night-terror. "I don't have my glasses, and I..." Dib swallowed back a hiccup, and pulled a hand away from GIR to wipe at his eyes. "Sorry.." Dib didn't want to explain himself to the Irken, mostly because he wasn't sure how the other would respond to the dream. Dib wasn't even sure how he could respond to the dream!

He was taken from Earth, he knew that much. The dream was on the Massive... He tried to piece together what the dream could have possibly been about, but that used far too much brain power at that moment, and he was sure he lost far too many valuable brain cells within that little scene he had.

Dib was no stranger to night terrors and bad dreams, and seemed to be a friend to them. Most of them were never as bad as this one, and this one absolutely took the cake when it came to the level of real-ness. Dib wanted to tell what the dream was, but he was scared that Zim would laugh at him, or possibly become angered.

How would Dib tell Zim that he had a dream that Zim betrayed the human in front of his entire race?

Dib slowly felt feeling return back to the tips of his fingers, and he wiped away any stray alligator tears. "I'm sorry." Dib started, sighing. "I'm-I'm fine now." His heart was still pounding, and all that excitement left him with a headache and a bad taste in his mouth. Dib was fine to stay up for the rest of his life, but he wasn't fine to go back to sleep.

---

Bohemian had dried himself off silently, and dressed himself as quickly as possible. He stood silently outside of the doored chamber, and rode that voice like a rollercoaster. Slowly, he emerged from the cleansing chamber, and watched as Rhapsody sang to herself.

It was really nothing he had ever heard in his life. Bohemian listened intently, his antennae rising and dropping with every note she sang. As soon as she had finished her one-Irken concert, Bohemian stepped outside of the chamber in full.

"That was excellent." He stated, bluntly.

 

[Mira-Charma13]

GIR was happy to grab onto the human's hands when they groped blindly for him. Everything about him seemed comforting--his voice, his words, and even his insistence on making gentle physical contact. Though he couldn't quite voice it at the moment, this was something he was all too familiar with. Zim was no stranger to nightmares, and half of those nightmares turned into night terrors. Whenever that happened, the three of them--Zim, GIR, and Minimoose--always curled up in bed together and watched some Irken TV...even though Irken television wasn't nearly as scintillating as Earth television. GIR faintly wondered if the mainscreen in their room could access the Earth internet, too...

Zim reluctantly kept his distance, though his antennae did perk up when his name was called. He didn't seem angry or annoyed...but he did look sympathetic. "...Zim understands. This is something that happens to him on occasion, as well. This is probably why GIR reacted quicker than I did." GIR flashed his master the sweetest of smiles. An adorable squeak came from the direction of the destroyed door. Minimoose floated lazily into the room, wearing his signature dopey smile. As he made his way across the room, possibly to join GIR in comforting the human, Zim peeked over his shoulder at the damage he'd done. The door was still smoking, for crying out loud!

"Eh-heh-heh..." A sheepish smile curled the Irken monarch's lips. "I apologize for annihilating your door. I'm quite good at annihilating, so it's probably totaled. Computer?" "Yeah? What is it?" "Repair the door." "Oh, yeah." The Computer sounded mildly amused. "Now I've gotta clean up your mess, huh?" "Yep!" "Well, okay, then." Mechanical arms dropped down from the ceiling and scooped up the door. Though the process to repair the door, which involved several arms and a few laser beams shooting from them, should have been loud it actually produced some appealing white noise in the background.

The Tallest spared a glance around around the room when the Earth creature mentioned his ocular lenses. When he spotted them he moved forward slowly in an attempt not to startle Dib. As he did so Minimoose reached the human and happily flopped over onto his lap like a big goofy dog. Zim bent in an uncomfortable-looking manner and scooped them up with two long fingers. He approached the human cautiously at first, but bent down slowly with the glasses in hand...and placed them perfectly on his old rival's face.

"You can see now, yes?" His antennae bounced curiously. "Are you feeling better? Zim is here to save the day, so you can quit spewing eye leakage around now." GIR snickered, but not in a malicious way. He decided to plop down next to Dib and snuggle up to his side, just like he always did with his master whenever he had a similar episode. Zim stood there awkwardly for a while, rubbing his arm and staring off to the side.

"...Do you want to be alone?" He sounded hesitant about leaving. What if he left and the Dib started again? "Zim can leave if you want. But his minions will probably choose to stay here." Minimoose seemed quite comfortable and had no intention whatsoever of moving. GIR was the same exact way. The little SIR didn't want to leave Dib until he was certain that he was actually feeling better. Zim often put on an act to make others think he was feeling better when he really wasn't, so by this point GIR had become an expert at deciphering whether or not someone actually felt good or not.

---

---

Rhapsody jumped like a startled prey animal when she was addressed and spun around, looking surprised to say the least. "Bohemian! Don't do that! You scared me half to death!" She heaved a massive sigh and leaned against the nearest wall, using it for support. After a few moments passed she scowled off to the side, looking absolutely mortified. "Sorry if my singing annoyed you. I know it doesn't really have a purpose or anything, so a lot of people think it's annoying."

That was another thing she hated about her own people. If something didn't have a purpose, what was its reason for existing? Everything had to be useful. Rhapsody was often ridiculed back in the Academy for keeping pretty trinkets from her travels, simply because they served no purpose other than to look pretty and remind her of her travels. While Irkens did enjoy music, they always looked down on any one of their kind that chose to make music for a living. Because, really, how did singing and playing instruments advance their end mission as a species of Unviersal Conquest in any way, shape, or form?

But it was something she enjoyed. Something she was passionate about. And she wasn't about to let the Control Brains take that away from her.[/hr]

 

[Dip]

Dib had recalled a few rare moments in his childhood when he was plagued with night terrors and he had someone who could come and check on him. His father, being the busy man that he was, rarely had time to stay home and usually supervises his children via monitor, and when he was home he was usually too busy to check on them himself.

Fits of terror lessened the more and more he grew up, but they became more and more terrifying as the years went on. As a child they were nothing but overly-sensitive nightmares that left him in a small pool of tears, but slowly other components began presenting themselves. Sleep paralysis, insomnia, cold sweats, fevers, and sometimes fits of screaming occurred during the worst phases of his dreaming.

Regardless of Zim's sympathies, Dib felt entirely embarrassed. Was he really that loud, that the alien next door could hear him? The human had trouble catching his breath, was it really that loud? While dreams of the terrifying nature were out of his control, he didn't mean for anyone to really take action. While the human appreciated the attention he was receiving from both GIR and Minimoose, it made him a little uncomfortable.

As a child, his father would simply walk into his room during these fits and wake him up slowly from his dream. He only remembered one or two times that this happened, but those times stuck with the human. His father would talk about the dream with Dib, and try to figure out what had happened to cause the dream. Was it something that he ate? Was he upset about something? While Dib hated logical reasoning most of the time, in those cases it helped him figure out the root of his problems.

Dib didn't much care for his door at that moment, and mostly cared that he wasn't being attacked by any bug-like alien creatures. He was just being investigated by a regular alien creature, and that was enough comfort for the human. Dib watched as Zim slowly maneuvered his way around the room, slowly reaching to collect his glasses. He felt like a child before, but now it was clearly obvious.

Dib thankfully took the glasses face-first, and chuckled when the other told him to stop crying. "Thank you so for breaking down my door." Dib joked softly, with a roll of his eyes. He wiped the rest of the water from his eyes, looking back at the other with tired, red and brown eyes. "I really appreciate that. You sure saved the day this time, Zim." Sarcasm dripped from his voice. He was entirely serious as he joked, unsure of how to illustrate his gratitude.

Just as Zim was hesitant to ask if he should leave, Dib was hesitant to answer. He didn't want Zim to leave, but he wasn't entirely sure if Zim should stay or not. While part of him wanted to be alone and think through this by himself, he wanted to talk to someone about his issue. Dib shrugged, and looked down at the moose on his lap. "I mean, if you want, you can leave. I just feel bad for waking you." Dib looked back up at the alien and motioned at his pink robe. He laughed slightly, and sighed to collect his breath. "You can stay if you want."

That was the most approval that Zim would get from the paranormal human.

---

Bohemian had to pad himself on the back when he caused Rhapsody to just nearly ten feet into the air. He smirked unapologetically. Bohemian was skilled in the art of sneaking about! The Head Surgeon watched as the other Irken tried to calm down from the surprise attack.

He would have raised an eyebrow at the other's statement, but he simply tilted his head. Annoying? It was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard! "It wasn't annoying at all." Bohemian stated. He actually quite enjoyed it!