Ancient Irken History (as theorized by AMK)
=Intro=
Even long before becoming a space faring race, Irkens respected height as the greatest measurement of superiority (it is possible that the taller an Irken was, the closer they were to the stars). Consequently, ancient Irken society consisted of squabbling clans that fought over the planet, with each clan being led by a Tallest Chieftain that each claimed themselves to be the Tallest one on the planet. Irkens, volatile, arrogant, and ambitious as they characteristically were, could not even agree on a name for their planet or for their race. The constant warfare between the clans over territory, resources and land (plateaus, mountains and other high land was especially fought over) shaped the Irken race into one that specialized in war. For the greater part of their pre-interstellar history, Irken society remained in this feudal system until the coming of Tallest Irk.
== The Irk Clan ==
Tallest Irk was by far the most insane, as well as tallest, Tallest on the planet. He also was an Irken who did not sleep, which was truly a unique feature. However the other Tallest largely regarded him as an inane idiot and thus disregarded his megalomaniac claims of superiority and height. As mentally damaged as he was, Tallest Irk believed that his people were destined to become masters of the universe (Irken technology at this point had reached about the same level as our own today, and Irkens had become aware of the cosmos beyond their planet), and fervently held to the ideals that he believed would lead his people to greatness. As such, Tallest Irk began his campaign to unite the clans of the planet, whether by diplomacy or preferably force. The other Tallest and their clans chose to fight.
== PAK ==
As the war dragged on over a century, there seemed to be no end in sight. It wasn't until Tallest Irk's greatest scientist invented the Pak, that Irken society would change forever. Irkens, ever since their emergence in cybernetic technology, made frequent use of cybernetic implants and modifications in the eternal pursuit of superiority over their peers. Pak, lead scientist of the Irk Clan, had invented a powerful multi-purpose implant and device which utilized the most state of the art technology. The PAK, as it was subsequently named, was meant to provide the host a multitude of useful and revolutionary capabilities, including atmospheric processing that allowed the host to breath nearly any air, and charging cells that, if regularly recharged and maintained, could keep the host awake indefinitely, essentially eliminating any need for sleep as well as extending the host lifespan for many many years. However, the PAK could only be properly utilized by bonding with the host, attaching to the spinal column and essentially gaining control of the Squeedly Spooch and thus the host would become dependent on the PAK, and to properly bond the attachment and activation of the PAK must occur during birth. But when properly attached, information could actually be inputted immediately after birth, thus every smeet born with a PAK would have a predetermined essential rudimentary knowledge, and loyalty to the clan. According to Pak, the PAK would make Irkens "500% greater." Convinced, Tallest Irk thus decreed that every new child of his clan would be fitted with a PAK, in an effort to make his clan and its warriors the most superior on the planet, thus swinging the war in his favor. It soon became clear however, that not all were genetically compatible with the PAK, and many newborns died as their bodies rejected the device. Even with many tried configurations in the PAK design, compatibility issues persisted, and PAK seemed to be a doomed project.
== Smeet Revolution ==
Tallest Irk believed the PAK was not the problem, it was his people's "messy and mixed up genes". He then decreed a new project to begin, one that would investigate genetic engineering as a possible solution to the compatibility problems of the PAK. This project, supervised and led by Scientist Pak, was the first of its kind in history, as most Irkens believed their superior genes to be "unimprovable." After much experimentation, the project's reached its greatest achievement. Pak and his team was successful in the artificial gestation and birthing of an entire column of gene customized smeets, utilizing donated sex cells and incubation tube-capsules rather than traditional Irken eggshells. Each and every smeet produced at this experimental birthing facility successfully bonded to their PAKs with few complications that were ironed out in the coming ages. Historians regard this column to be the very first true born Irkens of the current age. Declaring the project a success, Tallest Irk gave Pak 11 medals (one for every smeet birthed at the facility and one for inventing the PAK in the first place) and immediately made the birthing facilities the mandatory method of birthing for his entire clan. Consequently the traditional method of reproduction, sex and egg hatching, was rendered obsolete among the clan, and soon Irken gender would only be distinguished by different hormone production and the production of sex cells by internal primary sex organs; all external gender specific features except antennae shape eventually faded with each generation.
== Unity ==
Realizing that he could birth as many PAK equipped soldiers as he needed, Tallest Irk prepared legions of superior soldiers. With his superior numbers and superior followers, Tallest Irk subdued and conquered the other clans within a decade. Within another decade, all of the planet's population was united under Irk's banner; all wore PAKs, and all were now born in a capsule-tube birthing facilities. Tallest Irk, megalomaniac as he was, decided to name the whole planet he now controlled, Irk. His people subsequently took on the name Irkens, and Irk himself took on the the name ''Almighty Tallest Irk'', "to avoid confusion between him and the planet he controlled," he said, and the dark ages of Irken history were officially over.
== The Last Decree ==
While all of Irk wore PAKs, Almighty Tallest Irk himself, could not. Having been too old for the bonding process at the time of the PAK's invention, Tallest Irk neared the end of his life as he lacked the longevity the PAK provided most Irkens. At age 100 (in Irken years) Almighty Tallest Irk passed away, blathering inanities on his death bed, insane until the end. His last decree, however, was quite clear, and Scientist Pak, his most trusted Irken, ensured it was carried out. Tallest Irk, having lived a life of war and death of his fellow Irkens, decreed that all PAKs of Irken-kind to be inputted with one unbreakable, inerasable law that all Irkens would subsequently unconsciously follow: "No Irken may knowingly kill a fellow Irken." (A/N: This explains why the Tallest simply didn't execute Zim after Operation Impending Doom I, they could not).
== The Control Brains ==
As the first and greatest leader of Irk passed away, Irk was overpopulated as a sprawling metropolis of purple skylines, with a population nearing a trillion. While the Tallest were programmed and bred to be natural leaders, they still would need the assistance of other Irkens to administrate the divisions of Irken life. However, tall Irkens who were not so competent in leadership were still being put in important positions, merely due to their height. Also, Irkens were still ambitious, volatile creatures, so squabbling about who was taller, was common. Consequently, the government was choked in incompetence and bureaucratic inefficiency.
It was eventually decided by Almighty Tallest Green that there must be something done about this. After consultation with his scientists, the idea of putting together the information from the PAKs of deceased Irkens was arrived upon. The first Control Brain was essentially a very large PAK without the practicalities; it was a compilation of all data of all deceased PAK wearing Irkens. As such, the Control Brain also contained the genetic code of all these Irkens. The Control Brain, now sentient and aware of its purpose, was put in control of the genetic coding of the Irken birthing facilities by Tallest Green and his science corps. This first Control Brain then decided that each Irken, before the gestation process, would have predetermined a role in the Irken society, and the smeet's genetic code would be a result of Genetic Shuffling, a mixture of the genetic coding of various deceased Irkens who had played a similar role that the new smeet was destined to fill. Essentially, each and every Irken "inherited" the genetics to suit their role in society. While the system was not perfect, the Control Brain's new system worked, and with the reigns of the subsequent Tallest, the Control Brain of Irk was expanded in power and soon took over more and more administrative duties of Irken society that required emotionless non bias, including military training selection, judicial trials, and utilities. The Control Brain of Irk now essentially oversaw and supervised all Irken activity, but the Tallest were still Almighty. The Control Brain system would eventually be utilized on every planet of the Irken Empire, with a Control Brain for every planet.