I

Chapter One

Amber eyes woke up with a groan. Even with the darkness that swelled the room, blocking out light from the outside world, Gaz could unfortunately tell that it was the start of a new day.

With a grunt, she yanked the blankets over her head not wanting to get up.

However, sleep's power had dissipated within seconds, and Gaz found herself leaning over the side of the bed.

As her bare feet touched the floor, Gaz was gifted with a chill that shivered its way up her spine. Narrowing her eyes, she tapped her toes on the cold floor.

She never remembered having metallic flooring in her room.

Her gaze shifted across her surroundings, then she tilted her head up.

As a matter of fact... She never recalled having hundreds of tangled wires dangling from her ceiling before either.

Aside from those two specific things however, nothing else really looked any different, at first glance. Then again, the low lighting didn't really allow her to see much in the first place.

But that should raise a red flag enough.

Gaz suddenly became aware of just how cold the air that surrounded her was. Not that she cared much for it, she was used to low temperatures, but even the air seemed a bit misplaced.

Almost inhuman.

Zim.

That was obvious enough.

She began to blindly feel along the walls for a possible light switch, but did not find one, only heightening her irritation.

Gaz glanced down to overlook herself, only to find a long, black nightshirt and grey shorts. Nothing unusual.

She pulled back the sleeves and examined her pale arms in the dim light of the room.

Not a bruise or puncture in sight.

Alright, so the stupid pathetic-excuse-of-an-invader actually did have a brain enough not to try any of his vacuous experiments on her. At least for the moment being.

Which hopefully he would be smart enough to keep it that way,

if he wanted to keep his limbs intact.

Though, as Gaz thought about it, she didn't recall seeing the narcissistic invader much recently, or being taken to his base by any means...

Or much of anything really.

Her brow creased in thought, as she tried to look over the events from the previous day, but came up blank.

Again and again.

But still nothing.

Suddenly, a flash of red and green filled her vision, before disappearing as soon as it came. Gaz gasped, holding her chest and stumbled across the bed until her back ungracefully hit the wall.

Gaz stared down at the sheets scrunched up under her form with wide eyes. Listening to the loud thumping of her heart echoing in her ears as she slowly steadied her breathing.

A bead of sweat trickled down Gaz's face as she pushed herself away from the wall, one hand still on her chest.

'Get out,'

Finally having back her full composure, Gaz contorted her face into a scowl.

What was that?

It hadn't felt like a hallucination of any sort. Even with how fast it had played out, Gaz could tell that there was a sense of realism that came with it.

It had felt like more of a memory. But of what...

Giving up on that notion for now, she started to analyze the surrounding area more carefully. The walls -just like the flooring- were lifeless sheets of metal held together by thin lines of bolts, barely visible from Gaz's position.

There wasn't another piece of furniture that she could see. The only thing friendly enough was the bed that she sat upon.

Finally aggravated enough by the unnerving silence, Gaz pushed herself off the bed and headed for what she assumed was the door.

With a hiss it slid open at her presence and she stepped out into a long corridor. The hums of the base's mechanics finally reaching her ears. After a few quick glances down both ways,

Gaz shrugged and just picked a random path that she directed her feet to.

Minutes past after her searching, but it didn't take that long to find the Irken, standing in front of one of his large computer monitors with bright foreign symbols written across it.

She silently stood in the doorway for a bit before deciding to take the element of surprise upon the alien. A smirk grew on her face as she advanced towards the unsuspecting invader until she stood only a few feet away.

It didn't appear much that he acknowledged her presence in any way, but much to her disappointment, one of his antennae twitched and he whipped around to face her with an arrogant smirk.

"Well human stink-beast, it appears your sleep-cycle is done, I presume?"

"Why am I here." Gaz spoke in more of a statement than a question, ignoring his inquiry.

Zim chuckled before he smugly grinned down at the human. "Well, it appears you've forgotten again, haven't you, little-Gaz?" he sneered.

Gaz drolly stared up at him. "Give me answers now, or I will send you into a world of pain, from which there is no escaping." she growled.

Unfazed by the girl's threat, Zim rolled his eyes and turned back to his earlier work.

"Yes, yes world of pain and pit of despair... I've heard it all before." he waved off.

One amber orb quirked open at alien's dismissive behavior before it closed once more. She scowled as she dug her nails into her crossed arms.

"Now."

Zim briskly stopped what he was doing to glare at the girl over his shoulder. With a huff, he turned back to the screens and proceeded to tap viciously on the control panel.

"Stupid demanding earth-monkeys..." Zim angrily mumbled as the screens shut off.

With an exhale of breath, the tall invader brushed past the girl, not waiting for her to catch up. The clacking of boots becoming softer as he quickly moved down the hall.

"Come, Gaz-Human, there is much we need to get done." Zim called.

A few moments past before Gaz decided to follow him into the dark depths of his base.

Day 2291