Author's Notes: I'm going to try to follow the Matrix's plot to the best of my ability, but there will be some key differences you'll probably notice… like the complete lack of romance between the Neo and Trinity characters for obvious reasons. You don't have to have seen the Matrix in order to understand what's going on, or the characters, because the characters are all from Invader Zim.

Warning: If you have seen the Matrix but have no idea what Invader Zim is you will be deeply deeply confused.

If you have seen the Matrix, here's a list of all the characters and who they are:

Dib: Neo

Gaz: Trinity

Zim: Cypher

Tallest Red?: Agent Jones (or something)

Tallest Purple?: Agent Brown (or something)

Tak: Agent Smith

Tallest Miyuki?: The Oracle

Torque: Choi

Nebber: A more simplistic name for the ship.

(From the Resisty)

Lard Nar: Morpheus

Shloonktapooxis: Mouse

Spleenk: Tank/Dozer

Cloaked alien: Switch

The Letter M: Apoc

Skoodge: Gizmo

Bill: Hacksaw

Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or the Matrix. Thank you.

Inside the Matrix

Gaz was sitting in a chair on board the Nebber playing her Gameslave. The room was quiet with only the green numbers running on the computer next to her making any sound at all.

She wasn't sure how long she had been a part of the Resisty, but it was starting to feel like forever. There were never any new games. She was always playing the same one.

When she heard the door slide open she didn't even bother to look up.

"Gaz?" the captain said with a slight bit of confusion in his voice. "Shouldn't you be in the Matrix looking for the chosen one?"

The girl grunted and turned away from him. This was usually the signal for the person speaking to her to go away, but since Lard Nar was the captain, he wasn't easily intimidated like the rest of the crew was.

"I don't think you understand how important this is…" he began, and Gaz knew he was going to start one of his long boring lectures. "The reason we rescued you was because we thought you might be the chosen one, but you're not. You're still very important however because of your skill in the Matrix. We need you to use that skill to help us find the chosen one ok?"

"Zim's doing it…" Gaz muttered.

"Really?" Lard Nar asked, and he looked around to see which portal the Irken was hooked up to. When he didn't see Zim anywhere, he turned back to Gaz who gestured behind one of the desks.

"Over there," she told him. "He wouldn't shut up, so I made him pay…"

Lard Nar peeked over the counter and found Zim lying beaten and sprawled out on the floor. There was a wire attached to one of the ports from his Pak. The captain gaped and quickly went to the Irken's side.

"Is he dead?" Lard Nar asked as he studied the wire poking out from Zim's Pak.

Gaz shrugged. "I don't know."

"… why me? Why…? I could have been locked up in a prison on my home planet without any of these problems, but no… I had to break out and form a freaken resistance!" Usually Lard Nar hated the idea of being locked up along side his people, but since they had 'rescued' Gaz, he'd been thinking about this possibility much more often.

"You can always go back to where you came from," Gaz growled. She was starting to get a little irritated with the captain.

"That would be pretty pointless," Lard Nar responded sounding equally annoyed. "I've come this far haven't I?" Gaz scoffed and opened her mouth to say something else, but the captain waved his hand to cut her off.

"That's enough human, I've had enough of your pessimism! You could at least try to be hopeful. We are working on freeing your planet after all."

"I never asked for your help," Gaz muttered, but she decided not to say anything else.

When Lard Nar had managed to free Zim from the Matrix, he reached to help the Irken off the floor, but Zim immediately smacked his hand away and stumbled backwards clutching his spooch area. There was green blood spilling onto the floor the captain quickly realized, blinking.

"You're bleeding," Lard Nar told him. "Hurry and patch yourself up before you get blood on the controls."

"That wretched human!" Zim spat, blood dribbling from his mouth. He wiped this away and steadied himself with one hand on the desk. "How dare you trap ZIM in that pitiful world of human slaves!? I should..."

"That's enough," Lard Nar cut him off. "Why don't you tell me why you had one of the ports operating without Spleenk's supervision?"

"Heh heh…" Zim looked around nervously. "Well…"

"He was hoping to get me to go into the Matrix so he could give my location away to the Tallests," Gaz replied.

"Stop interrupting Zim!" The Irken shouted.

Gaz shot him a death glare, and Zim quickly fell silent.

Lard Nar sighed and held his forehead. Of course only Zim would think of doing something that stupid. "They aren't going to take you back Zim, you might as well accept that and help us."

"You know nothing!" Zim accused. "I can't stand being trapped here with a bunch of inferior aliens!"

"If you're going to start acting like a smeet Zim, I'm going to have to lock you up again," Lard Nar told him with a knowing smirk.

"Fine," the Irken said folding his arms over his chest. "Zim will behave. Oh yes… Zim will behave like a good little Resisty-er and then… I will rain destruction and doooom on you all!"

"SHUT. UP." Gaz warned balling one of her hands into a fist and raising it in a threatening manner.

"You're both going to drive me crazy…" Lard Nar spoke quietly to himself. He cleared his throat and summoned their attention again. "How about that boy we've been watching? Have you had any luck getting in contact with him?"

"I've tried… but Dib's head is so stupid he doesn't listen," Gaz replied, and she lowered the Gameslave away from her face.

"He is your brother correct?" Lard Nar asked.

"Unfortunately."

"The Dib was a horrible stupid pig-beast," Zim remarked. "He was always trying to expose me, ZIM, but he never did!" The Irken cackled at this, but no one bothered to respond to him. Zim was just being Zim after all.

"He listens to the voices in his head, so I thought he would listen to me," Gaz rationalized. "I guess it just made him more paranoid than usual. He hasn't left his apartment."

"Why don't we just write him a letter or something?" Lard Nar suggested. "He has a computer right? We can just re-write the Matrix's code a little bit in that area and… Zim!? Where do you think you're going? You are not allowed to leave this ship understand!?"

"Let go of Zim's arm Vort-filthy!"

_

Inside a futuristic capsule filled with life giving fluid, a figure stirred. His mind was connected to a large machine which generated the Matrix. His body was suspended in fluid, but his mind was racing with thoughts and memories of a place that didn't exist outside the program.

Bang Bang.

Dib woke with a start when he heard someone banging on the door. He glanced at the clock and muttered something to himself before turning to the computer screen. "Hey… this isn't the Bigfoot article I was reading…" he mumbled to himself as he adjusted his glasses.

You better listen to me Dib, or I'm going to make you feel pain like you've never felt before…

His eyes widened, and he reread the message.

Bang bang.

"Hey Dib, its Torque," the person at the door called. "Open up."

Dib turned off his monitor before going to answer the door which was bolted shut. He undid the numerous locks and bolts, and he peered out.

"Hey Torque…" he greeted.

"So… are you going to make me stand out here all day or are you going to invite me in?"

"I didn't actually think you would come," Dib admitted opening the door wider so Torque could step inside.

"What can I say? I'd do anything to get away from that Keef kid, besides; you said you were going to give me that new hacker program you've been working on."

Dib raised a brow, and Torque frowned and folded his bulky arms over his chest.

"Oh! That program! Right… actually I kind of forgot about it because of that new bigfoot sighting that happened a few days ago," Dib said raising his hands up defensively.

"Whatever man…" Torque replied looking away. He turned back to Dib after a while, his frown replaced by a concerned expression. "So have you heard anything about your sister that went missing?"

"No… there's no trace of her. The police say they're doing all they can."

"That's too bad man… and your father?"

"They still say it was an accidental death; a chemical explosion in one of his labs."

Torque was quiet for a moment. Finally he sighed. "So why did you call me out here? Don't tell me you're just lonely. That's why I keep telling you to get a girlfriend." When Dib didn't reply he sighed again. "Look… me and some of the guys from school are going to a party tonight, and if you aren't doing anything I guess you can tag along with us."

"I don't really like leaving the apartment…"

"You're going to get fired from your job if you keep missing days like this..." he walked back out into the hall and turned to regard Dib once more. "I'll come back later to pick you up, and you know none of your excuses are going to work with me, so just accept you're coming already."

"Fine, I guess I could leave for a little while. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" Dib replied as Torque waved over his shoulder and continued towards the stairwell.

Dib closed the door and bolted it shut as soon as Torque was gone. Since his father died and his sister disappeared, Torque had been coming over more frequently. At first it was because Dib offered him Gaz's old game systems, but recently he'd been coming over for almost no reason at all.

When he turned around, he froze and stared wide eyes at his computer that had somehow turned its self back on. It was also typing on its own. He quickly sat down in his computer chair and leaned in close to read the words.

How dare you ignore me Dib! How dare you! When we find you, I'm going to make you wish you were never born, understand!?

"What is this…?" Dib asked himself out loud.

I'm not supposed to use my name, but I thought that even someone as stupid as you would have figured it out by now.

"A ghost?"

Think harder Dib…

"Wait!" Dib exclaimed nearly tipping over in his chair. "Are you Gaz's ghost!?"

Close enough moron… now stop acting stupid and come out of your apartment. Lard Nar wants to meet with you for some reason.

"Wait… you're Gaz…?" Dib questioned staring at his computer screen stupidly.

DIB… IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO HUNT YOU DOWN AND TEAR THAT STUPID MACHINE FROM YOUR HEAD…

Sorry about that Dib, your sister isn't being very cooperative.

"Wait… what do you mean you'll tear the machine from my head?" Dib asked feeling the back of his head with both hands. "There's nothing there."

No kidding…

That was your sister again… She refuses to give me the keyboard!

"Oh I get it… you're some sick person who gets a kick out of tormenting others on the internet. Well that's not going to work on me you see!" Dib said as he pulled his computer's main cable from the wall. "Take that Psycho hacker!"

Loser.

The white letters scrolled across the black screen, and Dib's eyes widened in surprise. "But… wait. My computer doesn't have any power! How can you still be typing?"

Have you ever heard of the Matrix?

Of course you've heard of the Matrix Dib! You wouldn't shut up about it!"

"Ok wait… there are two of you? Can just one of you type at a time?" Dib asked.

Just follow the creepy dog.

"Wait… what do you mean creepy dog?" Dib asked gripping the sides of his monitor, but the screen had gone blank. "The creepy dog…? That could be any dog in the city."

Dib was too distracted by the strange message on his computer to think about Bigfoot anymore. Instead he lay on his bed and tried to figure out what the hacker could possibly want with him. He'd heard the name Lard Nar before; he was a wanted criminal but he knew more about the Matrix than anyone else.

Sure Dib made illegal programs sometimes when he was bored, but to associate himself with a dangerous guy when he was getting close to a promotion wasn't something he really wanted to do, but he was pretty sure that had been his sister talking to him.

"Well… if Gaz is as scary as a ghost as she was in real life, I better do what she says…" he decided. Besides, Lard Nar was infamous at the office. It might be interesting to meet him face to face.

Torque came by an hour later with Zita and a girl with purple hair he assumed was Gretchen. He hadn't seen either of them since Middle school.

"Alright man, ready to go?" Torque asked and Zita scoffed and hung onto his arm. "I don't understand why we have to bring him along. He's only going to say something crazy and embarrass us," she said.

"Zita, relax," Torque told her evenly. "Dib's been through a lot these past few years. It couldn't hurt to have him hang out for a night."

The unfamiliar girl was wearing sunglasses, and she kept her head turned to avoid looking at Dib. She had a dog on a leash, and it stared up at him with large crazy eyes. Dib blinked down at it. The creature kind of looked like the dog that would follow him and Gaz to school sometimes.

"Hey, that dog…" Dib began, and the girl growled. "Yeah? What about it?"

Dib raised his hands up defensively. "Nothing… it's just…"

"Come on guys, I've called us a Taxi, it's going to be here any minute," Torque remarked. He led Zita by the arm and Dib followed them outside to the yellow taxi that had pulled up to the curb. The girl with the dog seemed familiar with Torque, and he held the door open for both ladies before squishing into the back with them. This left Dib with the passenger's seat next to the driver.

It dropped them off in front of a nightclub. There was no line, and since Torque knew the security guy standing out front they were able to get in without any problems.

The bright lights flashed from the ceiling as wild music played in the background. Torque and Zita wasted little time joining the dancers on the floor while the girl and her dog took a seat at the bar.

Remembering what the message had said, Dib joined her, and she removed her glasses and stared at him with a very serious expression. "Here," she said pulling a cell phone from her jacket pocket. "I was going to have it delivered to you, but Lard Nar insisted I bring it now."

"Oh uh… thanks?" Dib replied holding the phone up to take a better look at it. "What am I supposed to do with it?" he asked.

"Wait for a call duh," she answered. She bent down and unhooked the little dog from its leash.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Don't you recognize me moron? I'm Gaz."

Dib's mouth fell open. His sister had become a grown woman since the last time he saw her. "Gaz… but… they told me you were dead."

"You were right about the Matrix," she begrudgingly admitted. "Take the call. I have to leave."

"But…" Dib tried to protest when Gaz rose from her seat.

"Stop it Dib. You can't come."

"Why not? Where are you going?"

"I can't tell you," she hissed between clenched teeth. "Can you do this or not Dib?"

"Yeah… sure I can take the call, but Gaz!" he reached out to stop her, but she balled her hands into fists and pulled away.

"I mean it Dib, touch me and I'll make you regret it," she turned and began to walk away much to Dib's confusion. He watched her disappear into the crowd before sitting back down at the bar.

He stayed until he was kicked out in the early morning. Torque had left with Zita hours ago and he couldn't find a pay-phone to call a cab. After debating for a little while, he decided to use the cell phone Gaz gave him to call a taxi.

When he got home he bolted the door shut and fell into bed. He stayed up a few hours pondering about what had happened that day. Gaz was alive, or at least she seemed to be alive. "Wait…" he sat up and stared at his computer. "She's the one that hacked into my computer! But coming back to life… I really hope she isn't a zombie. Maybe she never died… and I'm talking to myself again. Great."

More Notes: I'll try to update this one at least once a week... yup. Good luck to me.