Character Exploration; V.P.T
She was shoved into her cell on Vort. "We'll test you in a week. And if you don't carry this one, we're making you a soldier on the front lines of invasion!" They yelled, slamming the cell door closed. V.P.T's PAK sizzled, having had to break her fall. She was bruised, but it wasn't too out-of-the-ordinary.
In truth, V.P.T didn't have a real name. That's just what she called herself. It was the initials for Vortian Production Technician. That was just a fancy title, however. Irkens and Vortians have similar chemistries, so every once in a while; a female Irken is born soley for the purpose of creating more Vortian mechanics, technicians, engineers, and weaponsmiths. V.P.T was one of those Irkens.
The breeding captains had decided that the easiest way to create a breeding environment was to inject a male Vortian with an aphrodisiac and lock him in a room with a Vortian Production Technician. Intercourse ensues, and then the technician is usually pregnant within a week. The mothers are usually allowed to name the child, unless it is required for a very important job that would require lengthy hypnopaedic programming, such as an on-the-field weaponsmith or prosthetic limb builder.
V.P.T's cellmate, who had decided against a name, helped V.P.T up off the floor. She held out a needled syringe, containing Resisty obtained contraceptives. Lard Nar and his followers felt that Vortians shouldn't be churned out like products from a factory. Many of the production technicians were Resisty supporters, trying to stop the invasions.
"No, I can't. No contraceptives. If I do, I'll be made into a soldier drone and put on the front lines. I'd be killed." V.P.T pushed the offered syringe away. "Besides, I think there'll be something special about this one. Help me think of a name."
The test was always painful. First, the PAK was temporarily removed. Then a needle was inserted into the holes on the back of the technician. Blood was drawn, a deep blue. The sapphire fluid was run though a centrifuge, then tested for the proper hormonal imbalance. This procedure only lasted five minutes, and the PAK was promptly put back after, but in the interim it is one of the most painful things that the production technicians have to endure, next to childbirth. A positive result pinged on the screen. Congratulatory cheers went up from a few of the breeding captains. A karyotype was instantly taken to determine the child's future.
"Hmm, female. Orange eyes, good. Pink skin tone, sharp teeth. Will grow to be about a head shorter than the current Tallest, Miyuki. Intelligent, but all Vortians are. Overall, mostly recessive traits. Short horns, slender; a knockout for sure. You will be allowed to name the child; no predestinating is necessary. Enjoy the next nine months!" A karyotype-reader smiled pleasantly, trying to comfort the new mother-to-be. V.P.T was ushered out of the room. Her tightly coiled antennae were humming with this information. A baby girl was on its way! Light pink and orange. She'd get all the darker pink material that V.P.T or some other technicians could find. A thousand names rushed through her head. But this child would grow to have sharp teeth and, V.P.T was certain, an even sharper wit. That wit would have definitely come from the mother's side. A special name was called for. As V.P.T was shoved back into her cell, the perfect two-barreled name flitted through her consciousness. Vadican.
Vadican Fault…
This was the worst amount of pain any creature could experience. V.P.T was lying on the floor of the cell, screaming through the labor pains. Sharp teeth, indeed! And Vortians kicked strongly when they were ready to come out! Those double-knees are powerful! Seeking a form of personal strength, V.P.T glanced over to the raspberry pink ribbons and fabrics that were lying in a heap next to her. Two long ribbons were embroidered by hand with the child's name. Vadican Fault. It sounded so strong and independent. There was an especially sharp pain pinging through V.P.T's spine. "C'mon, push! The baby's coming!" V.P.T's nameless cellmate shouted from the small bench where V.P.T's legs were propped. V.P.T clenched as hard as she could, actually biting back the pain. Her cellmate squealed as the small pink head poked out. "Keep going! Breathe; come on, she's almost here. The head's out, come on, push!"
V.P.T bit back the pain again, completely aware of the child. She felt sore in her diaphragm. The cellmate began pulling the child out, trying not to go fast because of the obvious pain that her friend was experiencing. The baby was curled into a tight bundle, vaguely stirring. V.P.T was panting from the pain, but she was alive, and that was the main thing.
A piece of string was tied around the umbilical cord, close to the baby's stomach. The string was tight enough to separate the child from her mother. The cellmate washed the baby with a water-free cleansing cloth. Vortians can handle water, but Irkens can't. V.P.T reached feebly out to her daughter, worn out from giving birth. Her cellmate wrapped the child in a piece of pinkish-purple fabric and placed her in her mother's arms. V.P.T looked at the precious bundle in her arms.
She was a pale pink, not quite prisoner 777, but not Lard Nar either. Her horns weren't fully grown yet, but from what V.P.T could see, they were a light grey. Large orange eyes completed her innocent appearance. The child bore a smirk with razor-sharp teeth. V.P.T sat up, grabbing the name-embroidered ribbons. She tied them onto the baby's wrists, making certain that the name was showing on both ribbons. She was allowed one week with the child, where the horns would reach near their full length. Little Vadican Fault…little baby Vadican.
"No! Give me back my baby girl!" V.P.T hollered down the hall, being held back by three guards.
Vadican was screaming. "Mamaaa!" She clawed at the arms of the wet-nurse pulling her away, the ribbons now tied around her fully grown horns. That was the first word she had ever said.
"Vadican! No!" V.P.T pulled her last ounce of strength into fighting the guards as they dragged her off to soldier training. Before passing out from exhaustion, she swore that the Irken Empire would pay for stealing her daughter. They would pay…
V.P.T weighed the laser rifle in her arm. She was standing guard on the largest bank on Irk with another soldier drone. She'd tried to find some Resisty presence in the ranks of the drones, but the closest she got were the "traitors" used for target practice. Her laser wasn't strong enough to start a solo riot, and there wouldn't be any supporters anyway.
It had been years since Vadican was stolen from her. Miyuki had been killed by an energy absorber created by a young Irken soldier/scientist student, Zim. Spork had suffered a similar fate a few years later. Now the tallestship was held on two pairs of shoulders; Red and Purple, decanted at the same time as the young Zim, now a promising Irken Invader. The first Operation Impending Doom was occurring today. No soldiers would be needed until the call for invasion was sent by the invaders. Front line drones, like V.P.T, were lucky to live through their first battle, not counting any injuries.
V.P.T remembered Zim. She had been the one to be released into the Education Hall after him. Somehow, she still remembered being shoved into the release tube, stopping it up. Horrible World Overload Day 1, it was called. He had been trouble since the day he was decanted. Alcohol in his blood-surrogate, they said.
V.P.T was yanked from her thoughts when she heard the explosion. An alert pinged through her PAK. "All soldier drones to the city center! A rouge doom walker is destroying this half of the planet! Stop the defect!" Why was it that V.P.T followed the order, when the end of the Empire was all she wanted?
The doom walker was plodding through the city, blasting lasers at anything and everything. Several escape ships were shot down, even before they got up in the air. V.P.T stared at the giant mechanical monster. How was SHE supposed to fight THAT? The other drones weren't helping, and were in fact marching straight into the path of the monster! It was like they wanted to die! V.P.T looked around. There was a good roof a few feet away, flat, with plenty of handholds up to the top. From there, she could jump down onto the doom walker and…well…make it up from there.
V.P.T started climbing. Several fellow soldiers were dying at the defect's feet. Self-preservation was rushing through her veins, but she ignored it. She had to defeat the doom walker. Irk was her's to devastate! Such a vile place…the Resisty would be proud of her chivalry. On the top of the building, she had a completely new angle. The top was all glass, a perfect dome. V.P.T clutched her laser rifle, undoing the safety. She leapt, firing at the automatic setting. The glass began cracking.
V.P.T landed on the unstable surface of the shattering dome. Before she could slide to safety, she saw a familiar and malevolent face. "Zim!" she shouted, before the glass was destroyed. There was a sharp pain in her right eye as she fell. A ship caught her and flew off.
V.P.T saluted the Resisty flag in the hallway of the last remaining Vortian ship in the universe. She caught her reflection in the gleaming metal. Her PAK was a standard pink and grey. Her robe was purple with long black sleeves, a black belt, and a black collar that came up to just under her eyes. A scar ran along her right eye. Her eyes were green. Her antennae were tightly coiled springs that hung down into her face.
"Come on! I need to connect you with our spy on the Massive! We can't dawdle." Lard Nar's voice boomed at his newest recruit. She was an assassin, previously a production technician on Vort. She showed promise, even though she was Irken. Her sheer hatred for her own kind was near appalling. Nar knew of some technicians, however, so he knew that they had bad treatment. They're own kind let them get raped, then pregnant with no contraceptives, then giving birth in the cells, and finally pulling the child away from the mother and forcing them into soldier drone training. That was why Lard Nar wanted this spy on the Massive to be connected with his new assassin. The spy was a Vortian slave to the Tallest, technician-born, as all Vortian slaves are. V.P.T would appreciate this connection, he thought. He opened the door to the transmission bay, saluting to the Vortian on the screen.
She was about a head shorter than the current Tallests, with pale pink skin. She wore a grey top and a dull green skirt. A raspberry pink belt and shoes added color to the outfit, highlighting her orange eyes and complimenting the matching pink ribbons tied onto her short horns.
"Allow me to introduce you to Fault. She's technician-born, living on the Massive. Fault, this is V.P.T, a former Vortian Production Technician. I'm sure the two of you will get along swimmingly." Nar introduced the two. Fault smirked her approval. V.P.T, however, was dumbstruck. She blinked a few times, staring at the ribbons. The embroidery was still there…
"Vadican?"
A/N: Yay! This is my new OC, V.P.T! Vadican Fault is also an OC of mine. I have five others besides them, mostly humans. ^^;. TheBlueAndOrangeTeam said that I should post this, so this is for you! Yeah, and, well, R&R, and stuff. Oh, and check out my Rocky Horror Picture Show/Invader Zim crossover! It needs some reader love!